Melissa Jones Briggs

Melissa is a theatre artist trained in London and New York. Her work combines acting and directing technique with research from the field of social psychology to provide actionable insight into how one’s behaviors and nonverbal cues affect everyday personal and business interactions. Melissa also develops and directs theatre curricula for at risk and severe special needs youth, empowering students to explore their relationship to power and authority and to express their authentic voice through devised performance. Research and teaching interests include multidisciplinary theatre practice; psychology of performance; quotidian application of performance craft in public and private life; methods of theatre technique that build social cohesion and community resiliency; the role of informal arts play in personal and organizational development; elements of theatre and improvisation in design theory and pedagogy. Her teaching focus bridges the gap between the the privileged and the marginalized, the professional and the creative, the academic and the practitioner.