The Poet Who is Not in Trouble with Her King is in Trouble with Her Work

Ashley is an activist and artist dedicated to creating theatre that challenges the status quo. Though born in New York, she was raised in New Jersey and has traveled extensively throughout the world, most notably in the Middle East, where she lived in Beirut, Lebanon while studying Arabic and Middle Eastern theatre performance. Her interests include utilizing theatre for peace building, healing and empowerment in conflict zones and in marginalized communities both home and abroad.

 

As a stage director, Ashley's work has been seen at TEDxWomen, The White House, United Nations and on tour across the United States with United Nations Foundation's Girl Up Campaign. Select New York City credits: GirlPower: Survival of the Fittest (2010) and GirlPower: Voices of a Generation (2009) in the NY International Fringe Festival, Decadent Acts (playwright/director) at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity for which she received the Planet Activist Award, My Name is Rachel Corrie (Kraine Theatre), Documentary: A Suicide Narrative (playwright/director -- Gene Frankel Theatre and Brecht Forum). Regional: New Jersey State Theatre. She's a long time organizer and advocate of the V-Day Campaign to end violence against women for which she received the national LUNA Bar Award for Production Excellence for The Vagina Monologues in 2006.

 

Performed roles include Charlotte in Beyond Therapy (Porch Light Productions), Hecuba in The Trojan Women (Schimmel Center), Lulu in Cabaret (Staten Island Shakespearean Theatre) and appearances in new play readings at Primary Stages. Select TV credits: Onion New Network, A Closer Look (Pilot), MTV's Global Summer - Lebanon. 

 

As a playwright, Ashley's work has been seen in Manhattan Theatre Source's Estrogenius and Testogenius Festivals, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, Kraine Theatre, American Theatre of Actors, Looking Glass and Gene Frankel Theatre. Her short play "Live from Pod 305" is published in the 2011 Book of Estro. She has been called "Reminiscent of Tony Kushner in that she wants to use theater to make a political point, but without sacrificing an ounce of entertainment value... a writer to keep an eye on" by Show Business Weekly and has received critical acclaim for her work from the New Yorker, Backstage and NYTheatre.com.

 

Ashley is a Founder/Artistic Director of Co-Op Theatre East  and Founder/Artistic Director of Project Girl Performance Collective. She is alumna of the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics - EMERGENYC and American Theatre Wing's - SpringboardNYC programs and proud member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab.

 

Ashley holds her M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and BA in theatre directing and sociology/anthropology with minors in women/gender and Middle Eastern from Pace University.

ASHLEY IS...

A BLOGGER

 

A Loyal DEMOCRACY NOW Viewer 

 

A supporter of  INDEPENDENT MEDIA

 

A PHOTOGRAPHER

 

An avid gardener and  BIRDER


A sender of greeting cards

 

Absolutely batty for episodic television including

OZ

HOUSE

LAW AND ORDER: SVU

THE X-FILES

 

On a quest to find the best cupcake in New York City

 

Proud Alum of

PACE UNIVERSITY

TISCH SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

SPINGBOARDNYC

EMERGENYC 

LINCOLN CENTER THEATER DIRECTORS LAB

 

A former writer of X-Files and ER fanfiction

 

Influences

Eve Ensler, Radical Politics, New York City, Frida Kahlo, Bertolt Brecht, Dance, Anna Deavere Smith, Augusto Boal,  Amy Goodman, Jane Fonda, Nicholas Kristof, Gloria Steinem, Cindy Sheehan, Tony Kushner, Howard Zinn, Moises Kaufman, Rachel Corrie, Susan Sarandon, Suze Orman, Judith Malina, Lisa Kron, Noam Chomsky, Emma Goldman, Anderson Cooper, Susan Sontag, Rachel Maddow, Oprah, Arundhati Roy, Dali Lama, Christiane Amanpour, Eddie Vedder, Deepa Mehta