Scholarship and Biography

Adrianne Krstansky is a professional actor and currently Professor of Theater Arts and the Louis, Francis and Jeffrey Sachar Chair of Creative Arts at Brandeis University. In the New England area she has performed at Huntington Theater Company, Hartford Stage Company, The American Repertory Theater, Speakeasy Stage Company, Boston Playwrights Theater, New Repertory Theater, Lyrics Stage Company, Gloucester Stage Company and Commonwealth Shakespeare among others. She is the winner of Boston's Eliot Norton Award and Independent Reviewers Awards for her performance in Come Back Little Sheba at the Huntington Theater Company and an Independent Reviewers award for her solo performance in Every Brilliant Thing at Speakeasy Stage Company. In New York City and regionally she has appeared at The Shakespeare Theater in Washington DC, The Kitchen Theater (NY), The Public Theater (NYC), Atlantic Theater Company (NYC), Steppenwolf Theater (Chicago), LaJolla Playhouse (CA). Film credits include featured roles in Columbia Picture's Little Women (Greta Gerwig), American Woman, The Company Men and the HBO miniseries, Olive Kitteridge and AMC's Invitation to a Bonfire. She developed and performed the lead role in the new play The Art of Burning by Kate Snodgrass at the Huntington Theater and Hartford Stage Company. She recently appeared in Leopoldstadt at the Huntington Theater and will reprise her role in December in Leopoldstadt at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington DC. She works as an actor on new play development with the Huntington Theater, Boston Playwrights, among others. Her adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s A Mark on the Wall was presented at the International Virginia Woolf Conference 2014.

She has worked as a director at Shakespeare and Company (Lennox, MA) Actors Shakespeare Project ( Boston) and Merrimack Repertory Theater (MA)

She is a tenured Professor of Theater Arts at Brandeis University where she teaches Acting and Improvisation. She is the recipient of multiple teaching awards at Brandeis: the Michael Walzer ’56 Award for Teaching, the Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Mentoring and the Ratner Distinguished Teaching Award. She holds an MFA from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of California, San Diego and has a BA in Theater Arts from Beloit College. She is a member of the Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

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Honors

Mazer Award to study Suzuki and Viewpoints with Anne Bogart's SITI Company in Saratoga Springs, NY
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2000-2001
Michael L. Walzer Award for Teaching
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 2007
Eliot Norton Award Nominee - Brittanicus -Outstanding Large Production and Outstanding Ensemble
Boston Theater Critics Association, 2007
Nomination - Britannicus - Best Production, Best Ensemble
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2008
Eliot Norton Award Nominee GARY by Melinda Lopez, Best Production
Boston Theater Critics Association, 2008
Eliot Norton Award - Best Solo Performance - Bad Dates, Merrimack Repertory Theater (director)
Boston Theater Critics Association, 2009
Best Solo Performance Nominee - 2.5 Minute Ride at New Repertory Theater
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2010
Best Solo Performance - Bad Dates, Merrimack Repertory Theater (director)
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2010
Best Production Nominee - Body Awarness (Actor)
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2011
Best Actress nominee, Three Viewings
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2012
Best Ensemble - Round and Round the Garden, Gloucester Stage Company
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2013
Winner Best Production - Tribes by Nina Raine
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2014
Winner - Eliot Norton Awards Tribes: Outstanding Production
Boston Theater Critics Association, 2014
Nominee for both Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Production, Come Back Little Sheba, Huntington Theater
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2016
Outstanding Actress, Large Theater, Come Back Little Sheba, Huntington Theater Company
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2016
Eliot Norton Award for Outstanding Performance by an actress, for Come Back Little Sheba, Huntington Theater Company, Large Theater Category
Boston Theater Critics Association, 2016
Eliot Norton Award for Outstanding Ensemble, The New Electric Ballroom, Gloucester Stage Company
Boston Theater Critics Association, 2016
Eliot Award Nomination: Outstanding Performance, Blackberry Winter, New Repertory Theater, Midsize Theater
Boston Theater Critics Association, 2016
Outstanding Solo Performance nominee, Blackberry Winter
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2017
Outstanding Solo Performance nominee, Every Brilliant Thing, Speakeasy Stage Company
Independent Reviewers of New England, 2019
Eliot Norton Award, Boston - Outstanding Production, People Places and Things
SpeakEasy Stage Company, 05/2022
Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Teaching
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 05/2017
Mark Ratner Distinguished Teaching Award
Brandeis University (United States, Waltham), 05/2023

Organizational Affiliations

Louis, Frances, and Jeffrey Sachar Chair in Creative Arts, Department of Theater Arts, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Brandeis University

Affiliated Faculty, Interdepartmental Program in Film, Television and Interactive Media, Brandeis University

Education

University of California, San Diego
M.F.A.
Beloit College
B.A.