Brian Jennings

Education

MFA, National Theatre Conservatory

AB, Princeton University

Brian Jennings is a Connecticut based actor, director and teacher. He was recently appointed to a tenure track position at the Hartt School, having served on the Adjunct Faculty since 2015, and at the College of Arts & Sciences from 1999-2015. He was a longtime member of the Core Faculty at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, serving as Theater Department Head from 2017-2023. As a member of Hartbeat Ensemble, he has developed roles in Flipside, Comply, and most recently, Sleepover Stories. He directed multiple incarnations of Ebeneeza: A Hartford Holiday Carol and collaborated with musician Samite Mulondo to develop his autobiographical solo show, Resilience. He directed the world premiere of Talvin Wilks’ Jimmy and Lorraine: A Musing, as well as subsequent productions at the Ko Festival and Pillsbury House in Minneapolis. His adaptation, RAVE: The Bacchae of Euripides - Remixed was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He performed on multiple tours with the National Theater of the Deaf as a voicing actor and playwright. He has played the roles of Oberon, Malvolio and Macbeth as part of Artfarm’s Shakespeare in the Grove. He was named Teacher of the Year by the International Network of Performing and Visual Arts Schools in 2004. He has been the recipient of a Surdna Arts Teacher Fellowship and the Gordon Clark Ramsey Award for Sustained Creative Achievement. He has participated in teaching artist exchanges with colleagues in Cape Verde and South Africa. He holds degrees from Princeton University and the National Theater Conservatory. He lives in Bolton, CT with his wife, Eileen.

Interest Areas

• Acting
• Theater for Social Justice
• Theater & Media
• Shakespeare