WENDY KNOX, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Wendy Knox is Artistic Director of Frank Theatre in Minneapolis, where she has directed nearly 70 productions since founding the theatre in 1989. She has directed and produced works including Blitzstein’s THE CRADLE WILL ROCK, Durrenmatt’s THE VISIT, Alice Birch’s REVOLT. SHE SAID. REVOLT AGAIN., Claudia Rankine’s CITIZEN, Brecht’s THE GOOD PERSON OF SETZUAN, George Brant’s GROUNDED, Brecht-Weill’s THE THREEPENNY OPERA, an original adaptation of Kafka’s METAMORPHOSIS, Brecht’s MOTHER COURAGE, Carr’s BY THE BOG OF CATS and McDonagh’s THE PILLOWMAN (presented by the Guthrie Theater) as well as the premieres of THE WOMEN OF TROY (company adaptation featuring a blues-based score by composer Marya Hart) and Carson Kreitzer’s THE LOVE SONG OF J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER.
Knox has worked extensively as a freelance director. She recently directed Park Square Theatre’s hit show MARIE AND ROSETTA by George Brant. For eight years, she directed sold-out productions of David Sedaris’ SANTALAND DIARIES at Portland Center Stage (Portland, OR), as well as two successful stagings at Syracuse Stage (Syracuse, NY) in 2008 and 2015. For Skylark Opera, she directed BERLIN TO BROADWAY WITH KURT WEILL, and THE SOUND OF MUSIC at the Ordway Center. At the Guthrie Theatre, she directed the sold-out production of LYSISTRATA, and two of Frank’s productions have been presented in the Guthrie’s Dowling Studio. In the Twin Cities, her work has been seen at Hennepin Theatre Trust, Skylark Opera, the Southern Theater, Pillsbury House Theatre, Park Square Theatre, the Playwrights’ Center, Children’s Theatre Company, Red Eye Collaboration, Illusion Theatre, the Cricket, Northern Sign (performed in English and American Sign Language).
She has served on the faculty and as a guest director at Vanderbilt University, Hamline University, Macalester College, the University of Minnesota, Grinnell College, Augsburg College, the University of Northern Iowa, North Hennepin Community College, South High School and the Perpich Center for Arts Education. For seven years, she worked as a teaching artist in Children’s Theatre Company’s Neighborhood Bridges program, a partnership with the Minneapolis Public Schools that involves storytelling, theatre and writing exercises aimed at teaching critical literacy. She served as chair of Kulture Klub Collaborative, an arts-based organization that connects homeless teens with artists and also served on the Minneapolis Arts Commission. She also led Frank’s school residencies in Minneapolis and at South Ridge School, north of Cloquet, MN.
Knox was named “Director of the Decade” by Lavender magazine, as well as several “Best Director” mentions in City Pages’ Best of the Twin Cities. She received an MRAC/McKnight Next Step grant to attend the LaMama International Directing Symposium in Italy, as well as two McKnight Theatre Artist Fellowships, recognizing outstanding work by professional theatre artists. She has been the recipient of three Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Fellowships, two Jerome Travel and Study Grants and two Diverse Visions grants from Intermedia Arts. She was a Fulbright Fellow in Finland where she worked as an assistant to the Artistic Director of Helsinki City Theatre, and she received a specialist research grant from the Finnish Ministry of Education to research new theatrical forms in that country. She holds an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Washington (Seattle), and a B.A. from Grinnell College.
