Drama
Education
B.A. San Francisco State
M.F.A. Carnegie Mellon
Biography
An NYU faculty member since 1998, Jeffrey Eric Jenkins teaches theatre history, theory, and criticism. He is editor of
The Best Plays Theater Yearbook, an annual collection of commissioned critical essays and comprehensive reference on the theater season.
Under the Copper Beech: Conversations With American Theater Critics, a collection of oral histories edited by him, appeared in 2004. Recent books include articles in
Interrogating America Through Theatre and Performance (Palgrave, 2006) and
Angels in American Theater: Patrons, Patronage, and Philanthropy (Southern Illinois UP, 2007). Jenkins has contributed essays, articles, and reviews to publications ranging from daily newspapers such as
The New York Times and the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer to journals such as
American Literary History and
Theatre Journal. Before joining the faculty at NYU, he taught at
SUNY-Stony Brook, the
University of Washington, and
Carnegie Mellon University. He was a member of the
BAM management team for Peter Brook’s
The Mahabharata and
The Cherry Orchard and he has directed more than thirty productions in theaters around the United States. Jenkins is a former chairman of the
American Theatre Critics Association, serving on the association’s executive committee for six years. He is a member of the board of directors of the
American Theatre Wing , for which he chairs the Wing’s
Grants and Scholarships Committee. He also chairs the
Henry Hewes Design Awards, which are generously funded by the Wing. Jenkins serves on the board of the
Theater Hall of Fame and the national advisory committee of the
William Inge Theatre Festival.
