Arthur Adair: Associate Professor
Email: AAdair@qcc.cuny.edu Office: H-126
I was born in Astoria, NY & the first in my family to attend college. Theatre has always been a defining part of my life. For me, theatre is an exploration of the human experience through the telling of a story. What I enjoy most about theatre is that it's live, "in the moment;" employs every aspect of the visual & performing arts; & lasts only for the moment, it is ephemeral.
I was cast as Romeo in 2nd grade & wrote my first 5-Minute play for a 3rd grade variety show. In high school & college, I worked both as a "techie" & actor. Throughout my career, I have worm many "hats." I enjoy every aspect of the theatre - backstage, onstage, front-of-house - it matters not, as long as I am "in the room" & part of the company. I have been fortunate to have had a handful of mentors throughout my career without whom I never would have realized my goals.
My first visit to Queensborough was in 2003, as a guest artist playing the role of Iago in Shakespeare's Othello. Working alongside the students of QCC had a profound effect on me & inspired my decision to become a professor. By 2006, I had earned my M.F.A. in Theatre Directing at CUNY Brooklyn College & was back in the QCC Shadowbox Theater as an adjunct faculty member.
My advice to students considering QCC is stop considering. Complete the application. Register for classes. Get to work. Enjoy the ride & complete your degree. I have never met a student who regretted receiving their associate's degree from QCC, in fact, it's quite the opposite, I meet people all the time who regret not going to community college before their 4-year program. It's the smart choice. Have doubts? Email me. Let's chat.
My advice to students attending QCC is go to class & do the work. Get organized. Set your goals. Make a Plan. Be positive & get it done. Life is a marathon, not a sprint. Question everything.
Fun Facts:
I have performed on 4 of the 7 continents.
A play that resonates with me is The Zoo Story by Edward Albee.
A film that resonates with me is The Brutalist directed by Brady Corbet.
A book that resonates with me is Siddhartha by Herman Hesse.
My favorite destination is camping, under the trees, on a river.
Upcoming Work
Professional Highlights
As Educator, Inaugural Faculty Fellow for Student Success (QCC-CUNY; 2021-23).
As Playwright, Director, & Designer: Original, musically-charged works of theatre: Your War’try Grave; Manifest the Whale, the Teacup Destiny; S-s-s-t-o-n-e-d-d-D: An American Oration; Sound of the Sun & "classically-contemporized" staged adaptations: Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones; Anton Chekhov's Three Sisters (translation); Sophocles’ Oedipus; Euripides' Bacchae; & Georg Buchner’s Woyzeck.
As Director: Medea of the Laundromat by H.M. Koutoukas; Balls by Paul Foster; & Chasing the New White Whale by Mike Gorman.
As Director at QCC: Church by Young Jean Lee; Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets; A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen (adaptation); Far Away by Caryl Churchill; Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry (adaptation); In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks; Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman; 12 Angry Jurors by Reginald Rose adapted by Sherman L. Sergel; A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare (adaptation).
As Actor: Member of the Great Jones Repertory Company. Notable roles: Soldier, The Trojan Women; Aegisthus, Fragments of a Greek Trilogy; Creon & Choros, Medea; Dionysus, Bacchae; Iago, Othello; Jesus, Il Grande Inquisitore; Odysseus, Odyssey; Polynieces, Oedipus; Zeus, Seven; Adam, The Angel Project. Notable Directors: Georgia McGill, Andrei Serban, Ellen Stewart, Elizabeth Swados, Deborah Warner.
Notable Venues: La MaMa, NYC; Totanac Pyramids of Tajin, Mexico; National Theatre, Serbia; Toyama Performing Arts Center, Japan; Campo de Fiori, Italy; Carnuntum Amphitheatre, Austria; Lincoln Center, NYC; Petras Open Air Theatre, Greece; The Sanctuary of Aphrodite, Cyprus.
Professional Membership & Leadership: Stage Directors/Choreographers Society (SDC); Actors’ Equity Association (AEA); Dramatist Guild of America (DG). Award-winning designer, Set (Innovative Theatre Award/NYC); Light (B. Iden Payne/ATX). KCACTF Leadership: Past Coordinator, Student Directing Initiative, Region II (2014-2019), Region IV (2009-2012). La MaMa: Artist-in-Residence (1997-07).
Education & Training:
- M.F.A., Theatre Directing, CUNY/Brooklyn.
- B.A., Communication & Creative Arts, SUNY/Old Westbury.
- SUNY/Nassau Community College.
- Mineola High School.
- Alva T. Stanforth Middle School.
- Floral Park-Bellerose Elementary School.
Classical & Post-Modern actor/director/designer training incorporating Chekhov, Linklater, Stanislavski, & Viewpoints.
Favorite Quotes:
“If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe.”
- Abraham Lincoln
“The technique of any art is sometimes apt to dampen, as it were, the spark of inspiration in a mediocre artist; but the same technique in the hands of a master can fan that spark into an unquenchable flame.”
- Josef Jasser
“It takes a long while for a director to cease thinking in terms of the result he desires and instead concentrate on discovering the source of energy in the actor from which true impulses arise.”
- Peter Brook
