David Esbjornson

David Esbjornson is a director and producer who has worked throughout the

For seven years (1992–1999) he was artistic director of New York City's Classic Stage Company, and since leaving that post he has become one of country's most sought after freelance directors. With a list of production credits steeped in the classics from those years at CSC and as a guest director in such leading regional theatres as the Guthrie Theater, Esbjornson has also established himself as an interpreter of choice for playwrights such as Tony Kushner, Edward Albee, and Arthur Miller.

He holds an MFA from New York University, and a BA in Theatre and English from Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota.

Credits

Esbjornson has staged

Among the world premieres to Esbjornson's credit are the first production of Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, and the first staged presentation of Perestroika, both at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco, which received seven Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Awards, including best direction and best production.

Other world premieres include

Esbjornson has served as a resident director at the O'Neill Playwrights Conference, New Harmony Project, and the Iowa Playwrights Festival. He received a 1989 NEA-TCG Directing Fellowship, and is on the Board of ART/NY.

Awards

Classic Stage Company received the Lucille Lortel Award for Body of Work in 1999 at the end of Esbjornson's tenure as artistic director. During his time at CSC, he directed many productions for the theatre, including Neal Bell's Thérèse Raquin (OBIE Award for Outstanding Direction), Beckett’s Endgame (Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival), Ellen McLaughlin's Iphigenia and Other Daughters (Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Direction), John Osborne's The Entertainer (Drama League nomination for Best Revival), and Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane (Lucille Lortel Award and Drama League nomination for Best Revival).

References