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Jack Shea, Professor
Jack Shea is the Coordinator of the English department’s Theatre Arts Program. He teaches acting, directing, playwriting, script analysis and interpretation, and he directs many of the Program’s theatrical productions. Before joining the Westfield State faculty in 1997, Professor Shea was an Assistant Professor and Guest Artist in Residence for four years in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Memphis where he taught acting in its Bachelor of Fine Arts program and directing in its Master of Fine Arts program. During his time in Memphis, he also worked as an actor and director at Theatre Memphis. He taught as an Instructor at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles prior to teaching at Memphis. He worked for many years as an actor and director in San Francisco and Los Angeles, accruing numerous credits on stage and in film and television. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists (AFTRA). He is a member of and trains regularly with the New York-based Michael Chekhov Association (MICHA), working with Mala Powers, Joanna Merlin, Lisa Dalton, Phelim McDermott, David Zinder, and Lenard Petit among others. In addition to holding two certifications as a teacher of the Chekhov acting technique, he also has extensive training and experience in the Stanislavski system of acting, having worked with Delia Salvi, Peggy Fuery, Salome Jens, Jean Shelton, and Harold Clurman among others. He recently acted and directed for four years with the Becket Playwrights Festival in Becket, Massachusetts. Professor Shea is also active in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. He holds a bachelor’s degree in History from Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa). He earned a Master of Arts in Critical Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); his thesis focused on the duality of the Irish national character as depicted in Sean O’Casey’s Dublin Trilogy. He also earned a Master of Fine Arts in Acting, and a Master of Fines Arts in Directing from UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film, and Television where he studied with George Schaefer, Michael Gordon, Michael McLain, Catherine Fitzmaurice, Delia Salvi, Edit Villareal, Rae Allen, and Frank Condon. He is also a member of the Westfield State chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.
Sabine Macris Klein, Assistant Professor
Sabine Macris Klein teaches dramatic literature, theory and criticism, theatre history, and acting styles for the Theatre Arts Program in the Department of English. She joined the Program’s faculty in 2003. Her scholarship interests focus on German theatre and the history of women in theatre. Dr. Klein has a Ph.D. from the City University of New York Graduate Center, where her writing focused on the working conditions of actresses in early twentieth-century Germany and early productions of Ibsen plays in Germany and America. As part of her doctoral studies, she spent a year abroad with the Graduate Program in Theatre at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany. Before coming to Westfield State College, Dr. Klein began her teaching career at SUNY-Oneonta. She has also performed or directed with a variety of professional and semi-professional theatre companies, most notably the Los Angeles Theatre Workshop, Glimmerglass Opera, the Cooperstown Theatre Festival, and Orpheus Theatre (Oneonta, NY). Dr. Klein recently presented her research on images of America in early German Drama at the American Society for Theatre Research and a paper examining Caroline Neuber’s repertoire reforms at the German Studies Association. She has published in Western European Stages and New England Theatre Journal. Dr. Klein also serves on the Board of Directors for the New England Theatre Conference.
Elinor Parker, Assistant Professor
Elinor Parker teaches Scenography, Costume Design, and Scene Design in the English department’s Theatre Arts Program. She joined the faculty in 2003. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Kansas in Scenography, a holistic method of stage design that incorporates costume, lighting, and scenic designs into one unified expression. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. Although her specialty is costume design, she is extensively involved with all the design and technical aspects of the theatre productions in the Theatre Arts Program. Professor Parker is a member of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) and is active in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Some of her credits include designs for The Crucible, Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, The Cherry Orchard, The Importance of Being Earnest, Camelot, and Anything Goes.
Russell Swift – Assistant Professor
Russ Swift is an Assistant Professor specializing in Lighting and Sound Design in the Theatre Arts Program at Westfield State College. Prior to coming to WSC Russ taught at Emerson College for 15 years in the Performing Arts Department. Russ is best known as a Lighting Designer for such companies as Gloucester Stage Company, Wheelock Family Theatre, Worcester Foothills Theatre, The Lyric Stage Company of Boston, the Boston Conservatory, the Jewish Theatre of New England, and the Publick Theatre of Boston. He has also been Lighting Supervisor for Chamber Theatre Productions (Boston) and has designed for the Boston Lyric Opera, the Worcester Forum Theatre, Boston Playwright's Theatre, and The Theatre of Newburyport. His design work has been seen at the Milwaukee Repertory, Bristol Riverside Theatre, American Ensemble Theatre, the Caldwell Theatre, KewPee Corporation, and the Trinidad Theatre Workshop. In addition, Russ has been Production Supervisor on tour for Stephan Petronio Dance, Technical Director for Northeastern University, Resident Designer and Technical Director for the Campbell Performing Arts Center at the Groton School, Assistant Lighting Designer at New York City Opera, and Production Stage Manager for the Madison Lakes Festival. He has served on the Executive Committee for the New England Theatre Conference as Vice President for Finance and Administration and Secretary, worked as a theatre consultant for the internationally known firm of Artec Consultants, and conducted workshops in lighting and sound for such groups as Eastern Massachusetts Association of Community Theatres, Bentley College, and the Boston Public Schools. Russ is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, United States Institute of Theatre Technology, Theatre Communications Group, Stage Source, and Alpha Psi Omega Dramatic Fraternity.
Michael Filas, Associate Professor
Michael Filas is a member of the English department’s Theatre Committee that oversees the Theatre Arts Program. He is the head of the department’s Writing Program. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from San Diego State University and his Ph.D. in American Literature and Culture from the University of Washington in Seattle. He joined the English department’s faculty at Westfield State College in 2001. His research specialty is technology and culture, with an emphasis in cyborg studies. In April 2004, he served as the dramaturg for the Theatre Arts Program’s production of Karel Capek’s R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots). Professor Filas teaches a variety of courses including American literature, cultural studies, creative writing, film, fiction writing, and screenwriting for feature films.
Ernie Iannaccone, Technical Director
Ernie is the Technical Director at Westfield State College. Ernie has a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from New York University in Lighting Design. He has a BA in Music Education (Bassoon Major) from New Jersey City University, where he designed the lighting for various productions including Jesus Christ Super Star, Die Fledermaus, and West Side Story. From 1993-2004, he was the Administrative Associate and Production Manager/Lighting Designer for The Yard. He has designed lighting for many modern dance choreographers including Gus Solomons, Jr., Joanna Mendl Shaw and Nicholas Rodriguez. He has been a stage manager for Stiefel & Stars, Ethan Stifel, Artistic Director and Costume Crew for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. At the Vineyard Playhouse on Martha's Vineyard, Ernie has designed lighting and/or sets for over thirty productions. He also designed sets and lights for the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School's production of Grease and Camelot.
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