Productions/Press
2005 - present
2005 - present
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When The World Was Green; A Chef’s Fable
by Joseph Chaikin and Sam Shepard, directed by Kirsten Brandt
Sledgehammer Theatre February 2005
Nick Fouch, sets; Mary Larson, costumes; Jennifer Setlow, lighting; Ruff Yeager,
originial music
Brandt’s staging, on Nick Fouch’s austere set, with Jennifer Setlow’s meticulous
lighting, is quiet and ceremonial... if you’re open to the pull of memory and
imagination (more than to reason and linear narrative), this gentle, wise, image-
laden allegory may sweep you away as it did me.
-CRITIC'S CHOICE San Diego Union-Tribune
Kirsten Brandt’s precise direction of this enigmatic, elegiac play highlights the lush,
poetic imagery. -KPBS
There is a limpid beauty to this fateful synthetic legend, with its leisurely image-rich
poetic language, staged like a stately fairy tale by Kirsten Brandt... - Backstage west
by Joseph Chaikin and Sam Shepard, directed by Kirsten Brandt
Sledgehammer Theatre February 2005
Nick Fouch, sets; Mary Larson, costumes; Jennifer Setlow, lighting; Ruff Yeager,
originial music
Brandt’s staging, on Nick Fouch’s austere set, with Jennifer Setlow’s meticulous
lighting, is quiet and ceremonial... if you’re open to the pull of memory and
imagination (more than to reason and linear narrative), this gentle, wise, image-
laden allegory may sweep you away as it did me.
-CRITIC'S CHOICE San Diego Union-Tribune
Kirsten Brandt’s precise direction of this enigmatic, elegiac play highlights the lush,
poetic imagery. -KPBS
There is a limpid beauty to this fateful synthetic legend, with its leisurely image-rich
poetic language, staged like a stately fairy tale by Kirsten Brandt... - Backstage west
Lobby Hero
by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Kirsten Brandt
The Old Globe, Cassius Carter Center Stage, May 2005
Nick Fouch, sets; Mary Larson, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, lighting; Paul Peterson, sound
In one of director Kirsten Brandt’s many splendid and meticulous touches, we glimpse Jeff
employing the dead hours of his graveyard shift to study such questing modern moral classics as
Kerouac’s On the Road. -CRITIC'S PICK Backstage West
Under the confident, rock-solid direction of Kirsten Brandt (the former artistic director of
Sledgehammer theater, who proves here, unequivocally, that she can do as well with fast-paced
realism as with wild visual extravaganzas), the cast is uniformly excellent.
-CRITIC'S PICK’s San Diego Theatre Scene & KPBS
Rubbing my face into the stinking mess of a moral dilemma is an honorable job for a playwright
but must the characters be so human and so eloquent as Kenneth Lonergan’s quartet in “Lobby
Hero”? And must they be brought to such poignant, heart-wrenching life as director Kirsten
Brandt has led the Globe’s talented cast on the Cassius Carter Center Stage, a vivid reality that
had seasoned first-nighters pounding the arms of their seats in sympathetic anguish?
Obviously, yes, if a management can assemble sufficient talent to work at the required level. And
that, please believe me, is what’s happening at the Globe with this relatively unheralded new play,
its four stalwart heart-breakers and its sublimely sensitive young director. -sandiego.com
Director Kirsten Brandt succeeds in creating viewer apprehension and maintains the play’s
ambiguity, so that motivations are intriguingly out of sync with the actions of the characters.
-Variety
Yet the characters are so finely etched by the playwright, and so vibrantly embodied here by a
quartet of actors under Kirsten Brandt’s direction, that you may find yourself slipping into that
uncomfortable place where you begin to care, really care, about what happens to these people.
Empathy is Lonergan’s oxygen, the thing that fuels his writing and makes his characters live so
large where it counts – in the imagination.
-CRITIC'S CHOICE & One of the Top Ten Productions of 2005 San Diego Union-Tribune
The play’s best feature is its deeply textured characters, brought to vivid life by the cast and Kirsten
Brandt’s crisp direction. Cordileone has played dozens of characters in Lamb’s Players Theatre's
ensemble over the years, but he has never shown the comedic potential that blossoms under
Brandt’s hand as Jeff. -North County Times
...to the credit of director Kirsten Brandt, the show is thought-provoking and funny..
-San Diego Reader
by Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Kirsten Brandt
The Old Globe, Cassius Carter Center Stage, May 2005
Nick Fouch, sets; Mary Larson, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, lighting; Paul Peterson, sound
In one of director Kirsten Brandt’s many splendid and meticulous touches, we glimpse Jeff
employing the dead hours of his graveyard shift to study such questing modern moral classics as
Kerouac’s On the Road. -CRITIC'S PICK Backstage West
Under the confident, rock-solid direction of Kirsten Brandt (the former artistic director of
Sledgehammer theater, who proves here, unequivocally, that she can do as well with fast-paced
realism as with wild visual extravaganzas), the cast is uniformly excellent.
-CRITIC'S PICK’s San Diego Theatre Scene & KPBS
Rubbing my face into the stinking mess of a moral dilemma is an honorable job for a playwright
but must the characters be so human and so eloquent as Kenneth Lonergan’s quartet in “Lobby
Hero”? And must they be brought to such poignant, heart-wrenching life as director Kirsten
Brandt has led the Globe’s talented cast on the Cassius Carter Center Stage, a vivid reality that
had seasoned first-nighters pounding the arms of their seats in sympathetic anguish?
Obviously, yes, if a management can assemble sufficient talent to work at the required level. And
that, please believe me, is what’s happening at the Globe with this relatively unheralded new play,
its four stalwart heart-breakers and its sublimely sensitive young director. -sandiego.com
Director Kirsten Brandt succeeds in creating viewer apprehension and maintains the play’s
ambiguity, so that motivations are intriguingly out of sync with the actions of the characters.
-Variety
Yet the characters are so finely etched by the playwright, and so vibrantly embodied here by a
quartet of actors under Kirsten Brandt’s direction, that you may find yourself slipping into that
uncomfortable place where you begin to care, really care, about what happens to these people.
Empathy is Lonergan’s oxygen, the thing that fuels his writing and makes his characters live so
large where it counts – in the imagination.
-CRITIC'S CHOICE & One of the Top Ten Productions of 2005 San Diego Union-Tribune
The play’s best feature is its deeply textured characters, brought to vivid life by the cast and Kirsten
Brandt’s crisp direction. Cordileone has played dozens of characters in Lamb’s Players Theatre's
ensemble over the years, but he has never shown the comedic potential that blossoms under
Brandt’s hand as Jeff. -North County Times
...to the credit of director Kirsten Brandt, the show is thought-provoking and funny..
-San Diego Reader
The Bird and The Waterfall
music and libretto by Kirsten Nash, directed by Kirsten Brandt
Show N' Tale Productions July 2005
Shelley Stewart Hunt, choreography; Michael Creber, music direction; David Lee
Cuthbert, lighting design; Jesse White, sets; Mark LeCorre, sound design
This world premiere workshop production was presented at the Kay Meek
Center in West Vancouver, B.C. For more information please visit
www.kirstennash.com.
music and libretto by Kirsten Nash, directed by Kirsten Brandt
Show N' Tale Productions July 2005
Shelley Stewart Hunt, choreography; Michael Creber, music direction; David Lee
Cuthbert, lighting design; Jesse White, sets; Mark LeCorre, sound design
This world premiere workshop production was presented at the Kay Meek
Center in West Vancouver, B.C. For more information please visit
www.kirstennash.com.
The Frankenstein Project v2.0
written and directed by Kirsten Brandt
Sledgehammer Theatre October 2005
David Lee Cuthbert, sets, lights & media; Mary Larson, costumes; Jeff Mocus original
music and sound design
Bold, ambitious, and stirring…Brandt has become a disciplined and inventive theatrical
storyteller.…fresh theatrical blend of sound, image and movement…
It revisits urgent questions of art, religion and science at a time when the specter of
Frankenstein's monster is closer to reality…
Line for line Brandt's script… is provocative, richly allusive stuff.
The acting is sharp and sure… the most polished, provocative ensemble work at Sledge
in many a season. - -CRITIC'S CHOICE San Diego Union-Tribune
... the direction is precise, the performances meticulous, and the stage pictures are
often gorgeous... There's also a deliciously creepy soundscape... ... the play will certainly
unnerve and disturb..." - KPBS
...one of the best-looking shows ever staged at St. Cecilia's. - The Reader
Brandt and Sledge are venturesome in their concepts and innately curious about their
world, and that's a major reassurance in a city where froth has so often ruled the roost.
-San Diego City Beatc
written and directed by Kirsten Brandt
Sledgehammer Theatre October 2005
David Lee Cuthbert, sets, lights & media; Mary Larson, costumes; Jeff Mocus original
music and sound design
Bold, ambitious, and stirring…Brandt has become a disciplined and inventive theatrical
storyteller.…fresh theatrical blend of sound, image and movement…
It revisits urgent questions of art, religion and science at a time when the specter of
Frankenstein's monster is closer to reality…
Line for line Brandt's script… is provocative, richly allusive stuff.
The acting is sharp and sure… the most polished, provocative ensemble work at Sledge
in many a season. - -CRITIC'S CHOICE San Diego Union-Tribune
... the direction is precise, the performances meticulous, and the stage pictures are
often gorgeous... There's also a deliciously creepy soundscape... ... the play will certainly
unnerve and disturb..." - KPBS
...one of the best-looking shows ever staged at St. Cecilia's. - The Reader
Brandt and Sledge are venturesome in their concepts and innately curious about their
world, and that's a major reassurance in a city where froth has so often ruled the roost.
-San Diego City Beatc
A Christmas Carol
adapted by DW Jacobs, directed by Kirsten Brandt
concept and production design by David Lee Cuthbert
San Diego Repertory Theatre December 2005
music arrangements by Steve Gunderson; choreography by Jean Issacs
Mary Larson, costumes; Jeff Mockus sound design
starring Greg Mullavey and Victor Morris
[The Rep] has scored again with this lively and ambitious new version ingeniously
conceived, designed and lit by David Lee Cuthbert and directed by Kirsten Brandt...this
"Carol" could become one of the best of the 14 productions the Rep has staged.
-San Diego Union-Tribune
This year, it’s an all-American version, set in Chicago from the 1920s to 40s. And a
beautiful sight it is to behold. With the wisdom of Christmas Present, the Rep brought in
the ever-imaginative duo of director Kirsten Brandt and designer David Cuthbert, with
Steve Gunderson contributing original music and arrangements. Scrooge and Marley’s is
a speakeasy…this delightful version is a gorgeously realized portrait of early 20th century
America….. If you haven’t been inspired by this timeless story of greed, transformation
and redemption, this is the time and the Rep is the place.
-KPBS
adapted by DW Jacobs, directed by Kirsten Brandt
concept and production design by David Lee Cuthbert
San Diego Repertory Theatre December 2005
music arrangements by Steve Gunderson; choreography by Jean Issacs
Mary Larson, costumes; Jeff Mockus sound design
starring Greg Mullavey and Victor Morris
[The Rep] has scored again with this lively and ambitious new version ingeniously
conceived, designed and lit by David Lee Cuthbert and directed by Kirsten Brandt...this
"Carol" could become one of the best of the 14 productions the Rep has staged.
-San Diego Union-Tribune
This year, it’s an all-American version, set in Chicago from the 1920s to 40s. And a
beautiful sight it is to behold. With the wisdom of Christmas Present, the Rep brought in
the ever-imaginative duo of director Kirsten Brandt and designer David Cuthbert, with
Steve Gunderson contributing original music and arrangements. Scrooge and Marley’s is
a speakeasy…this delightful version is a gorgeously realized portrait of early 20th century
America….. If you haven’t been inspired by this timeless story of greed, transformation
and redemption, this is the time and the Rep is the place.
-KPBS
Third
by Wendy Wasserstein directed by Kirsten Brandt
TheatreWorks January 2008
JB Wilson, sets; B. Modern, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, lights;
Cliff Caruthers, sound
Wasserstein tells the story in a succession of short, truncated scenes - beautifully
orchestrated by Kirsten Brandt (associate artistic director at San Jose Repertory)
……in Brandt's staging, "Third" is so sumptuously packaged and the actors are so
appealing that it's easy to overlook the thin content of Jameson's course
- Polite Applause San Francisco Chronicle
As always, Wasserstein glories in a gift for lacerating self-exposure. When
Theresa has a hot flash/anxiety attack at an academic review, director Kirsten
Brandt (of San Jose Rep) stages the reverie as a full-out Pirandello fever dream.
- San Jose Mercury News
by Wendy Wasserstein directed by Kirsten Brandt
TheatreWorks January 2008
JB Wilson, sets; B. Modern, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, lights;
Cliff Caruthers, sound
Wasserstein tells the story in a succession of short, truncated scenes - beautifully
orchestrated by Kirsten Brandt (associate artistic director at San Jose Repertory)
……in Brandt's staging, "Third" is so sumptuously packaged and the actors are so
appealing that it's easy to overlook the thin content of Jameson's course
- Polite Applause San Francisco Chronicle
As always, Wasserstein glories in a gift for lacerating self-exposure. When
Theresa has a hot flash/anxiety attack at an academic review, director Kirsten
Brandt (of San Jose Rep) stages the reverie as a full-out Pirandello fever dream.
- San Jose Mercury News
Christmas on Mars
by Harry Kondoleon directed by Kirsten Brandt
Old Globe Theatre June 2006
Nick Fouch, sets; Angela Balogh Cain, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, ligths;
Paul Peterson, sound
Imagine laughing at pain and crying at comedy and you’ll have some idea of the
wild and woolly tone of Harry Kondoleon’s “Christmas on Mars.” And such
contradictions don’t begin to describe the emotional zigzags of this one-of-a-kind
script, now in a roller-coaster of a production directed by Kirsten Brandt… She’s
[Brandt] three for three at the Globe now, having assembled a quartet of actors who
make emotional and comic sence of ‘Christmas on Mars”, a show that, more
crudely staged, could easily sink into a shapeless mishmash.
- CRITIC’S CHOICE San Diego Union Tribune
Brandt is meticulous in her character studies, she knows how to build an edge and
energy into scenes, and she finds humor in the most unexpected placed. She’s
the ideal director for the work of Kondoleon… -North County Times
…Sounds like fairly ordinary stuff on paper. But add Kondoleon’s clever, stinging,
offbeat language with Angela Balogh Calin’s out of this world costume design and
Brandt’s eye for the ridiculous and wacky, and the play begins to spiral into deeper
and deeper levels of humor, absurdity, tragedy and, yes, humanity.
– San Diego.com
The acting couldn’t be better and neither could Kirsten Brandt’s direction
- La Jolla Village News
by Harry Kondoleon directed by Kirsten Brandt
Old Globe Theatre June 2006
Nick Fouch, sets; Angela Balogh Cain, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, ligths;
Paul Peterson, sound
Imagine laughing at pain and crying at comedy and you’ll have some idea of the
wild and woolly tone of Harry Kondoleon’s “Christmas on Mars.” And such
contradictions don’t begin to describe the emotional zigzags of this one-of-a-kind
script, now in a roller-coaster of a production directed by Kirsten Brandt… She’s
[Brandt] three for three at the Globe now, having assembled a quartet of actors who
make emotional and comic sence of ‘Christmas on Mars”, a show that, more
crudely staged, could easily sink into a shapeless mishmash.
- CRITIC’S CHOICE San Diego Union Tribune
Brandt is meticulous in her character studies, she knows how to build an edge and
energy into scenes, and she finds humor in the most unexpected placed. She’s
the ideal director for the work of Kondoleon… -North County Times
…Sounds like fairly ordinary stuff on paper. But add Kondoleon’s clever, stinging,
offbeat language with Angela Balogh Calin’s out of this world costume design and
Brandt’s eye for the ridiculous and wacky, and the play begins to spiral into deeper
and deeper levels of humor, absurdity, tragedy and, yes, humanity.
– San Diego.com
The acting couldn’t be better and neither could Kirsten Brandt’s direction
- La Jolla Village News
This Wonderful Life
by Steve Murray directed by Kirsten Brandt, starring Dan Hiatt
San Jose Repertory Theatre November 2007
Robin Roberts, sets; Brandon Baron, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert,
lights & projections; Jeff Mockus, sound
Associate Artistic Director Kirsten Brandt staged the show beautifully,
providing an escalating cinematic counterpoint to the solo
performance… Brandt’s canny orchestration of Hiatt’s versatility creates
a seamless shift in tone - Polite Applause San Francisco Chronicle
An enchanting one-man retelling of the classic 1946 Frank Capra picture,
this San Jose Repertory Theatre production is sweeter than
gingerbread….Director Kirsten Brandt wisely frames the actor with only
skeletal pieces… - San Jose Mercury News
by Steve Murray directed by Kirsten Brandt, starring Dan Hiatt
San Jose Repertory Theatre November 2007
Robin Roberts, sets; Brandon Baron, costumes; David Lee Cuthbert,
lights & projections; Jeff Mockus, sound
Associate Artistic Director Kirsten Brandt staged the show beautifully,
providing an escalating cinematic counterpoint to the solo
performance… Brandt’s canny orchestration of Hiatt’s versatility creates
a seamless shift in tone - Polite Applause San Francisco Chronicle
An enchanting one-man retelling of the classic 1946 Frank Capra picture,
this San Jose Repertory Theatre production is sweeter than
gingerbread….Director Kirsten Brandt wisely frames the actor with only
skeletal pieces… - San Jose Mercury News
The Tempest
by William Shakespeare, directed by Kirsten Brandt
Shakespeare Santa Cruz, August 2007
Patty Gallager, choreography; Jed Ike, sets; Brandon Baron,
costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, lights; John Zeretke, music
Shakespeare's The Tempest is a rich and magical play,
overflowing with mythopoetic elements. The current production
in Shakespeare Santa Cruz's outdoor festival glen is an elegant
and highly enjoyable experience that brings great clarity and
comedy to this often complex and multilayered story… Themes
of freedom, forgiveness and redemption mitigate his [Prospero’
s] bitterness, and director Kirsten Brandt handles the final
resolution of the play with exceptional depth and compassion . –
The Metro
There is less razzle-dazzle, but more humanity in Kirsten
Brandt's soulful and engaging 2007 production. She allows
plenty of room for broad comedy and playful spectacle. But she
also understands that the crux of the play is the complex pas-de-
troix between the magician Prospero, his "monstrous" and
abused slave, Caliban, and his beloved (but still enslaved) spirit
Ariel; the trio becomes the heart of her production….. yet is the
tender gesture Brandt devises by which Prospero and Caliban
appear to forgive each other at last as they part. It's a telling
moment of reconciliation that underscores the humanism in
this thoughtful, fresh and imaginative production. - Good Times
by William Shakespeare, directed by Kirsten Brandt
Shakespeare Santa Cruz, August 2007
Patty Gallager, choreography; Jed Ike, sets; Brandon Baron,
costumes; David Lee Cuthbert, lights; John Zeretke, music
Shakespeare's The Tempest is a rich and magical play,
overflowing with mythopoetic elements. The current production
in Shakespeare Santa Cruz's outdoor festival glen is an elegant
and highly enjoyable experience that brings great clarity and
comedy to this often complex and multilayered story… Themes
of freedom, forgiveness and redemption mitigate his [Prospero’
s] bitterness, and director Kirsten Brandt handles the final
resolution of the play with exceptional depth and compassion . –
The Metro
There is less razzle-dazzle, but more humanity in Kirsten
Brandt's soulful and engaging 2007 production. She allows
plenty of room for broad comedy and playful spectacle. But she
also understands that the crux of the play is the complex pas-de-
troix between the magician Prospero, his "monstrous" and
abused slave, Caliban, and his beloved (but still enslaved) spirit
Ariel; the trio becomes the heart of her production….. yet is the
tender gesture Brandt devises by which Prospero and Caliban
appear to forgive each other at last as they part. It's a telling
moment of reconciliation that underscores the humanism in
this thoughtful, fresh and imaginative production. - Good Times
Rabbit Hole
by David Lidsay-Abaire directed by Kirsten Brandt,
San Jose Repertory Theatre May 2007
Kate edmunds, sets; B. Modern, costumes; David Lee
Cuthbert, lights; Jeff Mockus, sound
In Kirsten Brandt’s expert staging realistically understated
emotions, comic touches and a stunning multilayered
performance by Stacy Ross make for a deeply affecting
drama. - Polite Applause San Francisco Chronicle
As directed by Kirsten Brandt, this Rabbit Hole resists the
tendency towards melodrama, the teary catharsis the play
can evoke, in favor of subdued resonance. - San Jose
Mercury News
by David Lidsay-Abaire directed by Kirsten Brandt,
San Jose Repertory Theatre May 2007
Kate edmunds, sets; B. Modern, costumes; David Lee
Cuthbert, lights; Jeff Mockus, sound
In Kirsten Brandt’s expert staging realistically understated
emotions, comic touches and a stunning multilayered
performance by Stacy Ross make for a deeply affecting
drama. - Polite Applause San Francisco Chronicle
As directed by Kirsten Brandt, this Rabbit Hole resists the
tendency towards melodrama, the teary catharsis the play
can evoke, in favor of subdued resonance. - San Jose
Mercury News
Hold Please
by Anie Weisman directed by Kirsten Brandt,
Old GlobeTheatre April 2007
Michael Vaughn Sims, sets; Mary Larson, costumes; David
Lee Cuthbert, light; Paul Peterson, sound
Critic's Choice San Diego Union Tribune
“…which has barrels of laughs in Kirsten Brandt savvy
staging but also contains agonies of wasted lives that howl
thought the halls of commerce and industry these painful
transitions days…. It’s Weisman that found the content for
such a disturbing dreamscape but it’s Brandt who breathed
into it all the stubborn humanity and desperate passion.
– sandiego.com
Adding to the crackling energy of Weisman's script is Kirsten
Brandt's edgy, electric direction - North County Times
by Anie Weisman directed by Kirsten Brandt,
Old GlobeTheatre April 2007
Michael Vaughn Sims, sets; Mary Larson, costumes; David
Lee Cuthbert, light; Paul Peterson, sound
Critic's Choice San Diego Union Tribune
“…which has barrels of laughs in Kirsten Brandt savvy
staging but also contains agonies of wasted lives that howl
thought the halls of commerce and industry these painful
transitions days…. It’s Weisman that found the content for
such a disturbing dreamscape but it’s Brandt who breathed
into it all the stubborn humanity and desperate passion.
– sandiego.com
Adding to the crackling energy of Weisman's script is Kirsten
Brandt's edgy, electric direction - North County Times
Photo Pending