About

Cara is a theatre maker based in Saint Paul and an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Graceland University. Most recently she directed the world premiere of Avi Amon and Tim J. Lord’s musical Through the Sunken Lands at the Kennedy Center for their Theatre for Young Audiences program. Read more about the show at:


Her work in the Twin Cities includes credits with the Guthrie Theater, the Jungle Theater, The Playwrights’ Center, and the University of Minnesota Guthrie/BFA program. Prior to arriving in Minnesota, she earned her Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin where she directed several readings, workshops, and productions including Lost Girl by Kimberly Belflower, Girls in Cars Underwater by Tegan McLeod, and The Wild Party by Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe which garnered seven Austin Critics’ Table Award nominations. She returned to Actors Theatre of Louisville during her time in Austin to direct pieces in The Tens for the Professional Training Company. Prior to graduate school, she was an intern at Actors Theatre of Louisville under the mentorship of Les Waters and Meredith McDonough where she directed AI Company projects and assisted on shows in the 50th Anniversary season and the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Cara is a native of California where she has developed work with several companies including TheatreWorks, City Lights Theatre Company, Dragon Productions Theatre Company, The ’06 Ensemble, and Transient Theater where she directed their inaugural production, The Egg Play, and received a FringeNYC Overall Excellence in Directing award. She earned her BA in Drama from the University of Portland (OR) where she discovered her vocation directing a production of Stop Kiss. And if you’re ever looking to win her over, nacho cheese Doritos and conversations about Olivia Colman go a long way. 

View Cara’s resumé here.

photo by Tracy Martin

photo by Tracy Martin