Rachel Dickstein

Rachel Dickstein is an Associate Professor and Co-Chair of Theatre and Performance at Purchase College, SUNY. She is a distinguished deviser, director, and choreographer specializing in theatre, opera, and dance-based performance. Since founding the Obie-winning Ripe Time company over 20 years ago, she has produced ensemble-based adaptations of literary works, receiving commissions from prestigious institutions like BAM and the Annenberg Center. Her work explores women-identifying bodies' negotiation of identity through memory and imagination, blending historical literary analysis with contemporary socio-political themes.

Key educational background includes a BA from Yale College. Her awards include the 2015 Lortel Award and residencies at Berkeley Rep Ground Floor, LMCC, and the Watermill Center. She currently holds a Drama League Impact Residency at LPAC.

Her research focuses on adapting canonical literature into performative works, with notable productions such as SLEEP, THE WORLD IS ROUND, and BLOOD MOON. These works interrogate gender dynamics and cultural constraints through interdisciplinary performance.

Grants and fellowships include the NEA/TCG Directing Fellowship and Drama League programs. She teaches courses like Directing I, Ensemble Creation, and Adapting Virginia Woolf, emphasizing collaborative devising and literary adaptation.

Ripe Time’s productions have been showcased globally, including at the Prague Quadrennial, and received critical acclaim for their visual innovation and thematic depth.