Zak Berkman

Zak Berkman is a multifaceted, award-winning artist—a director, dramaturg, writer, composer—with over 25 years of experience producing theatre and developing new American plays. Before joining People’s Light in 2011, Berkman was the Founding Executive Director of Artistic Programming with Epic Theatre Ensemble, an OBIE, Amnesty International, and Drama Desk Award-winning Off-Broadway company that premiered nationally and internationally acclaimed plays such as Nilaja Sun’s No Child…, Judith Thompson’s Palace of The End, and Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths. Epic Theatre Ensemble was also heralded for its extensive arts-in-education programming, receiving the 2010 Coming Up Taller Award. Berkman served as Associate to the late Broadway producer Margo Lion (Angels In America, Seven Guitars), and held posts at New York Stage & Film and Manhattan Theatre Club. As a playwright, works include a forthcoming adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (with original music also by Berkman), Such Things as Vampires (co-writer/composer, Barrymore Award for Original Music), The Harassment of Iris Malloy, Beauty on the Vine starring Olivia Wilde, and A Breath Short of Breathing. He has written for daytime television, including NBC’s Days of Our Lives, and was a directing intern with As The World Turns. He has been a contributing writer for Howlround.com, including a series about the New Play Frontiers Commissioning & Residency program at People’s Light, and has spoken at numerous Theatre Communications Group (TCG) national conference panels.