Dara Malina is a director of theatre, opera, performance art, and video. Her personal practice interrogates abjection, gender, violence, discomfort, and comedy.
In collaboration with Lacy Rose, Dara recently directed Lacy’s concert with her Starling Ensemble as part of Mabou Mines + RE/VENUE's AND... festival. It was a musical seance featuring surrealistic, genre-defying original art songs that explored time, metamorphosis, the Divine Feminine, and the cycle of birth-death-rebirth. Previously at Mabou Mines, Lacy and Dara developed an opera adaptation of Clarice Lispector's THE PASSION ACCORDING TO G.H. as part of their Resident Artist Program. Other opera projects include the world premiere of THE ARTWORK OF THE FUTURE, a new opera by Eric Moe and Rob Handel at HERE, and a series of opera music videos with The Pleiades Project.
Often working on new plays, she worked with Nurit Chinn on her adaptation of INTERNEE NUMBER 6 by Maria Eisenstein, a memoir about the fascist internment of Jewish women in Italy during the Holocaust. Dara collaborated with Amanda Horowitz on the development of her play, HEAVENLY FOOLS, under the guise of the Rutgers University MFA Playwriting program. She completed the Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship developing COACH COACH by playwright Bailey Williams. As theaters began opening up post-pandemic, Dara directed Alexis Roblan’s SAMUEL, a critically-acclaimed audio play/walk-through experience at The Tank, which critic Helen Shaw called, “deliciously lurid.”
She was Associate Director to Ian Rickson on August Strindberg’s CREDITORS adapted by Jen Silverman as part of the TOGETHER, a theatrical collaboration between Sonia Friedman, Hugh Jackman, and Director Ian Rickson.
Dara has worked as a guest director and educator at Barnard College, Rutgers University, Ramapo College, LIU-Post, Pace University, Montclair State, and Alfred University. Next, she will be directing at Bard College and will return to Ramapo to teach and direct in their upcoming season. MFA, Columbia University School of the Arts. Member: Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Georges Affiliated Artist. www.daramalina.com