directing portfolio
directing
Working privilege
director: elena toppo
playwright: rawchayl sahadeo
tc squared theatre company (2024)
Elena facilitated discussions with actors to provide playwright with feedback, coordinated rehearsal schedules and interpreter schedules as well as guided actors in character choices for staged reading.
Assistant Directing
Dracula
director: melissa bernstein
playwright: steven dietz
newton theatre company (2024-2025)
Elena worked with the director to create a movement vocabulary for the actors for the supernatural elements of the production as well as choreographed the horror moments in the show.
Photo Credit: Teresa Curtin, Dracula Newton Theatre Company 2025
la lengua no tiene hueso
director: luz lopez
playwright: gaby tovar
moonbox productions theatre (2023)
Elena consulted with the director on blocking, lighting, sound choices, took character arch notes and facilitated discussions with the playwright to help with further development.
La Lengua No Tiene Hueso Boston New Works Festival Moonbox Productions Theatre Company, Boston Center for the Arts, 2023.
turning the tide
co-directors: elbert joseph (ej) and betsy goldman
playwright: Various
moonbox productions theatre (2020)
Elena assisted actors in shaping their devised pieces, working primarily with the Deaf actors, consulting on sign choice and transcribing ASL into English text for the interpreters as well as captions.
Assistant Directing internship
julius caesar
director: brynn boice
playwright: william shakespeare
commonwealth Shakespeare company ARC (2020)
Elena assisted the director by coaching apprentices on their monologues, character arcs, assisting in stage combat choreography, consulting on text analysis. Their work was also showcased through a scene they solo directed within the show.
Production Photos Julius Caesar, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company Apprentice Program, Modern Theatre, Boston, 2023