Take 5 with Performing Arts Artist-in-Residence Joe Juknievich

Our expanded Artist-in-Residence program is pleased to welcome Joe Juknievich to the 2025/26 cohort in the area of Performing Arts. Most recently, Joe assistant directed and conducted dramaturgical research for The Umbrella's production of TICK, TICK... BOOM! Previously, he served as Assistant Director on The Umbrella's production of Network. As a theater director and deviser, Joe has also worked with Central Square Theater, BEDLAM, The Players' Ring, Entropy Theater, Firehouse Center for the Arts, Prescott Park, UMass Lowell, Praxis Stage, and Exiled Theatre. An active, thoughtful, and energetic presence, Joe was so ready to discuss his influences, passions, and priorities as an artist and collaborator for his "Take 5" blog feature!

Learn even more about Joe at JoeJuknievich.com/

What’s your earliest or most treasured memory of making art?

Some of my earliest and most treasured art memories come from the Titan Drama Club at Nashua High School North (2008–2012). Mentored by teachers like Medina Mahfuz Gauthier and Walter Freeman, we were encouraged to choose plays, write original scripts, and direct our own productions. The first play I directed was a one-act I wrote called What Are the Odds, about subway passengers whose lives unknowingly intersect during a technical delay. Drama club was also where I forged some of my closest friendships, including Colin Closson, who officiated my husband’s and my wedding earlier this year. That collaborative ethos continued at the University of New Hampshire (2012–2016) with student-run Mask and Dagger, where I directed Dog Sees God by Bert V. Royal and Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl. UNH is also where I met collaborators Kayleigh Kane-Gervais and Isabelle Beagen. Together with Kayleigh, Colin, and Isabelle, I co-founded Entropy Theatre in 2019, a Boston-based fringe theater company. One of my most treasured Entropy memories is directing the regional premiere of Jen Silverman’s The Moors, a production that embodied the collaborative, daring, and exploratory ethos that guides my work today.

What most excites you about your current projects or portfolio?

I’m currently serving as Assistant Director to Ilyse Robbins on Tick, Tick…BOOM! and to Scott Edmiston on To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as Central Square Theater’s Breaking the Code. What excites me most is collaborating on reviving period and political works in contemporary contexts, inviting audiences to reexamine familiar stories through the lens of today. As part of my Umbrella residency, I plan to present two staged readings exploring similar themes, offering space to develop new ideas while continuing to explore historical and queer perspectives in theater.

Who do you most admire who is currently working in your field?

I’m inspired by playwrights and directors who push boundaries in form, voice, and social engagement. Sarah Ruhl, Paula Vogel, Suzan-Lori Parks, Michael R. Jackson, Young Jean Lee, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dave Malloy, Jen Silverman, Jeremy O. Harris, Jordan Tannahill, Anna Deavere Smith, and Taylor Mac challenge me to experiment with narrative, musicality, and political engagement. I’m equally inspired by directors and collectives like Anne Bogart, Richard Schechner, and Katie Mitchell, whose work emphasizes ensemble collaboration, physical precision, and process-driven methodologies. Boston-based directors such as Paul Daigneault, Dawn M. Simmons, Maurice Parent, Bryn Boice, Pascale Florestal, Steve Maler, David Gammons, A. Nora Long, Megan Sandberg-Zakian, Summer Williams, and Josh Glen-Kayden continue to model inclusive, rigorous storytelling. Separately, Peter J. DiMuro, a mentor whose work is informed by his own mentorship with Liz Lerman, inspires my practice through socially engaged, collaborative approaches.

What are you most looking forward to experiencing or accomplishing during your Umbrella residency?

I’m eager for time and space to experiment, develop, and refine ideas in collaboration with others. The residency allows me to integrate directing, dramaturgy, and performance-making while exploring how theater can function as a living archive of queer experience and political resistance.

What’s your philosophy as a teacher of and/or ambassador for your art form?

I view teaching as an extension of directing—an act of collective inquiry. My philosophy centers on curiosity, rigor, and generosity: helping students embrace experimentation, cultivate artistic courage, and connect creative impulses to larger cultural and political questions. I believe the process of making art should empower people to imagine—and rehearse—the world as it could be.