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Curriculum vitae for Nick Fesette
Email: [email protected]
Cell: 518.578.5607
Website: nickfesette.net
Education
Ph.D.
Cornell University
Theatre Arts, 2018 (expected)
Special committee: Sara Warner (chair),
J. Ellen Gainor, Bruce Levitt
B.A.
Hamilton College
Theatre, 2009
Magna cum laude with Departmental honors
Minor: Creative Writing
Honors thesis title: “The Hunger Artist”
Committee: Carole Bellini-Sharp (adviser),
Mark Cryer, Doran Larson, Craig Latrell
Research and Teaching Interests
Performance Theory, Critical Theory, Critical Prison Studies, Theatre for Social Change,
Popular Culture, Embodied Authorship, Acting and Directing, Dramatic Literature
Teaching Experience
2013-present Cornell University
Graduate Instructor:
PMA 1120: FWS: “You’ve Got Time”: An Introduction to Prison and its
Representation (18 students) (two semesters);
Teaching Assistant:
PMA 2800: Introduction to Acting (16 students) with J. Ellen Gainor;
Engl 1131: FWS: Mastering College Reading and Writing (9 students)
with J. Ellen Gainor
2008
Hamilton College
Teaching Assistant:
Theat 201: Intermediate Acting (12 students) with Carole Bellini-Sharp
Grants, Awards, Fellowships, and Honors
2015
Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA) Grant, Cornell University
For AGIT Lab
The CCA Grant Program offers direct financial support ($1000) for the
development of new, experimental, and exceptional arts projects by
Cornell students, faculty, programs and departments.
2014
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Marvin Carlson Award, Cornell University
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Title of essay: “Performance, Prison Strike, Zombie: Steve McQueen’s Hunger
and the ‘Reflection Machines’”
The award consists of a cash prize ($250) and certificate and is given to
the best essay in theatre and performance by a Cornell student (graduate or
undergraduate).
2013, 2016
SAGE Fellowship, Cornell University
The SAGE fellowship is an internal fellowship for Cornell University
graduate students. The fellowships cover tuition and provide a stipend for
living expenses, usually in a student’s first and fourth years.
2009
The Carter Family Prize Scholarship, Hamilton College
The Carter Family Prize is awarded to a student who excels in the visual
or performing arts, who is a talented writer and who maintains a minimum
average of 85.
2009
The Calvin Leslie Lewis Prize Scholarship in the Dramatic Arts, Hamilton
College
The Calvin Leslie Lewis Prize is awarded to students who have
demonstrated an interest and ability in oral communication in its broadest
aspects and who have actively and successfully participated in programs in
the dramatic arts.
2009
The Senior Prize in Theater, Hamilton College
The Senior Prize in Theater is awarded to the outstanding senior
concentrator in theatre.
2007
The Edwin Barrett Prize, Hamilton College
The Edwin Barrett Prize is awarded to a student who, at the end of the
sophomore year, has made a significant contribution to the College’s
theatre program.
2005-2009
The Bacot, Gunn, Kempf Family Scholarship, Hamilton College
This half-tuition scholarship is available to students from Oklahoma,
South Carolina, Texas, and Essex County, New York in order to
encourage geographic diversity among the Hamilton student body.
Candidates are chosen by their high school performance, standardized test
scores, demonstrated leadership, and community involvement.
Conference Participation
2015
Presented a paper entitled “A Prison Mural Performs: The Inspiration of
Apokaluptein:16389067” as a part of the Theater History Symposium at the MidAmerica Theatre Conference, Kansas City, MO (March 19-22)
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2014
Presented a paper entitled “Where the Walls Contain Everything…: The Birth and
Growth of a Prison Theatre Group” (with Bruce Levitt) at the Marking Time:
Prison Arts & Activism Conference, Rutgers University (Oct 8-10)
Community Engagement
2013- present Auburn Correctional Facility, Phoenix Players Theatre Group (PPTG)
PPTG is a grassroots transformative theatre collective founded in 2009 by
Michael Rhynes and Clifton Williamson, incarcerated men in the Auburn
Correctional Facility in Auburn, New York. The group uses theatre
techniques as an artistic and therapeutic process through which a
transformative journey is initiated, leading to personal and social
redemption. As a facilitator I helped the group in rehearsals and
performances.
Extracurricular Activity and University Service
2014- present Cornell University Association of Graduates in Theatre (AGIT), treasurer
AGIT advocates the needs and coordinates the voices of graduate students
within the field of Theatre Arts; provides a forum that actively seeks to
connect academic work with creative practice; and facilitates an ongoing
conversation within PMA and across the Cornell campus about our own
current work, new ideas, and movements in theatre studies at large. As an
officer I helped raise funds for and produce AGIT’s biannual presentation
of creative work. AGIT received funding from CCA as well as from the
PMA Department.
2005-2009
Hamilton College, Untitled@Large, senior member
Hamilton’s only student-run theatre group produced 2-3 shows per
academic year, including Shakespeare-in-the-Glen, a one-act play festival,
and a fully staged musical. As a senior member, I helped raise and manage
funds for these productions, in addition to producing, directing, and/or
performing. Untitled@Large received funding from the Student Activities
Board as well as from the Theatre Department.
2005-2009
Hamilton College, The Buffers
Hamilton’s all-male a cappella group, founded in 1950.
2006-2009
Hamilton College, Yodapez improv comedy, senior member
Hamilton's oldest comedy troupe. As a senior member, I helped organize
and produce two performances each semester in addition to performing.
Yodapez received funding from the Student Activities Board.
Directing Experience (Representative)
2015
Cornell University
Friedrich Schiller’s Bad Girls Club
A multimedia devised mashup of reality TV and Schiller’s
The Robbers (1781), co-dir. Erin Stoneking
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2013-present Cornell University
Ten-Minute Play Festival
A series of short plays produced, performed, directed and
written by Cornell students annually
2011- 2013
NYC
Itchy Boys
A music performance group.
2009
Horse Trade (NYC)
The Hunger Artist
Solo performance adaptation of Kafka
2008
Red Room (NYC)
Miss Julie
August Strindberg, co-dir. Randi Rivera
2008
Hamilton College
His ** Can Open a Better Room
Romina Memoli Amador
2008
Hamilton College
Words, Words, Words
David Ives
2008
Hamilton College
Titus Andronicus
Clown adaptation of Shakespeare
Theatrical Performance Experience (Representative)
2015
Cornell University
The Glass Menagerie
Tennessee Williams, dir. Bruce Levitt
2013
Walkerspace (NYC) Set in the Living Room of a Small Town American Play
Jaclyn Backhaus, dir. John Kurzynowski
2012
Theater for the New Fat Fat Fatty
City (NYC)
Alex Kveton, dir. John Kurzynowski
2012
Incubator Arts (NYC) Pretty Pictures Are Everything
Jonathan Cottle, dir. Randi Rivera
2012
HERE Arts (NYC)
The Three Seagulls, or MASHAMASHAMASHA!
Jaclyn Backhaus, dir. John Kurzynowski
2011
WorkShop Theater
(NYC)
Relent: An Indie Musical (staged reading)
Jenny Grace Makholm, dir. Braden LuBell
2011
Walkerspace (NYC) The Lady’s Not For Burning
Christopher Fry, dir. Brian Close
2011
Terry Schreiber
Studios (NYC)
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The Changing Room
David Storey, dir. Terry Schreiber
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2011
TheaterLAB (NYC) The Shape of Things
Neil Labute, dir. Brayden Hade
2010
Turtle Shell (NYC)
Manhattan Transfer
Adaptation of John Dos Passos, dir. John Cooper
2009-2010
Company XIV
(NYC)
The Apple Trilogy
Austin McCormick, baroque-burlesque dance theatre
2009
303 Bond St
(NYC)
Balm in Gilead
Lanford Wilson, dir. Gioia Marchese
2009
Hamilton College
Eurydice
Sarah Ruhl, dir. Craig Latrell
2008
Hamilton College
Roberto Zucco
Bernard-Marie Koltès, dir. Carole Bellini-Sharp
2008
Hamilton College
Big Love
Charles Mee, dir. Craig Latrell
2007
Hamilton College
Stone Cold Dead Serious
Adam Rapp, dir. Craig Latrell
2007
Untitled@Large
(Hamilton)
The Last Five Years
Jason Robert Brown, dir. Randi Rivera
2007
Hamilton College
The Water Hen
S.I. Witkiewicz, dir. Carole Bellini-Sharp
2006
Untitled@Large
(Hamilton)
Taming of the Shrew
Shakespeare, dir. Rebecca Gross & Carrie Boehm
2006
Hamilton College
Streetcar Named Desire
Tennessee Williams, dir. Craig Latrell
2005
Hamilton College
As You Like It
Shakespeare, dir. Carole Bellini-Sharp
Other Training
2010-2011
Terry Schreiber Studios
Scene study: Terry Schreiber
2009-2010
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Lucid Body
Physical performance: Fay Simpson
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2007
The O’Neill National Theatre Institute Moscow Art Theater (MXAT) Semester
Acting: Sergei Zemtsov, Igor Zolotovitsky
Movement: Natalia Fedorova
Russian theatre history: Anatoly Smeliansky
Russian cinema: Galina Aksenova
2003
New York State Summer School for the Arts School of Theatre
Acting: James D. Luse, Joan Twiss
Professional affiliations
ATHE
MATC
Languages
French and Russian (reading & writing proficient), Spanish (beginner)
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