Gab Cody

Special Visiting Faculty, Directing

Gab Cody creates immersive, devised and site-specific work as well as theater meant-to-be-performed in a theater.

She serves as lead writer and co-creator on the immersive urban adventures DODO, (produced in tandem with the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History and Bricolage Production Company), Ascendants, STRATA and OjO produced in Pittsburgh and at the La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls Festival, Daylighitng the Stream an ecological urban adventure produced with Works on Water/Underwater NY on Governor’s Island, NY, and Studio A: Immersive Engagement an embodied sensitivity and diversity training event. Her plays have been staged at the La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The August Wilson Center for African American Culture, The Pittsburgh Playhouse, Quantum Theatre, New York City’s New Dramatists and Urban Stages, Coconut Grove Playhouse, and at theaters in Seattle, Chicago, and Sydney, Australia. She has served as a panelist and moderator at the TCG national conference and the Dramatists Guild national conference, leading conversations on immersive and site-informed theater. She served on the Devised Committee at the Dramatists Guild, led by Doug Wright (and including Elevator Repair Service, the Debate Society and Tectonic Theatre company), which produced a new contract template and Devised Theater materials available to all companies working collaboratively. Ms. Cody also produces, directs, and writes for television and independent film.

Yong Suk Yoo

Associate Professor of Directing

he/him

Yong Suk Yoo teaches MFA Directors Lab course and co-teaches Expanded Theater with Lawrence Shea and Chelsea Warren. He serves on the Season Selection Committee, representing the Directing Area, and advises departmental productions directed by BFA and MFA students.

Yong Suk Yoo is an international theater director and educator renowned for his intercultural and interdisciplinary performances. His innovative approach integrates new media and digital technology into the performing arts, resulting in groundbreaking productions. Notable works include “When Spring Comes to Hills and Dales,” “Oedipus the King,” “A Dreamplay,” “Love and Information,” and the Korean premiere of “White Rabbit, Red Rabbit.” He also created “A Silent Table,” using live broadcast technology, immersive performance, and four-sided holo-film projection mapping. He is an associate professor of directing at Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, having previously taught at Texas State University, Daeduk University, and Hanyang University in South Korea.

In 2002, Yong Suk co-founded the DREAM PLAY THEATER COMPANY (DPTC) with Jae Yeop Kim. Inspired by August Strindberg’s “A Dreamplay,” DPTC focused on new Korean contemporary dramas and participated in various theater festivals in Korea. His involvement with Hyehwadong Il Bunji Theater Laboratory (HIBTL) influenced his master’s thesis. In 2008, he was honored as the Outstanding Emerging Artist in Theater by the Arts Council of Korea.

Yong Suk revitalized community-based public art through alternative spaces and independent performances. In 2006, he launched the “Hibernation Project,” an annual theater incubation initiative for young artists in Seoul. His experimental piece “S.T.A.R.” premiered at the Seoul Marginal Theater Festival in 2006. In 2009, he founded the ART CREATION GROUP DIRECTING STUDIO (ACGDS), which became a resident art company at the Seokyo Art Experiment Center. As the artistic director of WOULD YOU COLLAGE since 2016, Yong Suk continues to push the boundaries of contemporary performance.

Throughout his career, Yong Suk has taught at various institutions, fostering relationships between students and the professional performing arts field. At Daeduk University, he was the youngest professor in the university’s history, producing numerous musical and theatrical performances for local communities. His teaching philosophy emphasizes interdisciplinary practice and a global contemporary understanding of art.

Yong Suk pursued an MFA in directing at the California Institute of the Arts, refining his aesthetic and developing a unique poetic, visual style. His thesis production, “A Dreamplay,” and other projects like “When Spring Comes to Hills and Dales” and “Oedipus the King,” highlight his ability to collaborate with diverse groups and create innovative performances.

Yong Suk Yoo’s dedication to internationalism and diversity in the arts is evident in his work and teaching. He believes that fostering new perspectives and intercultural connections is essential for the growth of the arts. Yong Suk is married to actress Joo Ryoung Kim, known for her role in the Netflix series “Squid Game,” and they have a daughter, Katherine Hayoung Yoo.

“My exploration of theatricality is deeply rooted in the intersection of ancient traditions and cutting-edge innovations. By embracing the diversity that enriches our artistic community, I aim to redefine the theatrical experience as a dynamic process that fosters transformation, discovery, and intellectual engagement. This approach transcends conventional boundaries, integrating digital media to create innovative works that resonate with and challenge contemporary audiences.” – Yong Suk Yoo

Kim Weild

Area Chair & Associate Professor of Directing
John Wells Directing Program

she/her

Kim is the Area Chair for the John Wells Directing Program and an award-winning live-performance director/creative-generator/bridgebuilder/educator/researcher. Her unique and versatile approach to directing spans a multitude of genres and styles, and she is renowned for her seamless collaboration with d/Deaf and Disabled artists, leading to the creation of groundbreaking, inclusive bi-lingual performances that integrate American Sign Language and voiced languages.

Kim’s work investigates themes of otherness while actively highlighting the advantages of difference—whether it is culture, language, gender, ability, socio-economic class, or race—disrupting and challenging contemporary perceptions about what is “normal.” At the heart of her practice is the question: What is required of us to begin to understand another human being wholly?

In 2023, building upon her decades-long expertise as Artistic Director of Our Voices, she became Co-Creator of The Apothetae Residency at The Public Theater in New York (with Gregg Mozgala and Katherine Williams) a company dedicated to the exploration and innovation of Access Aesthetics and Disability Performance.

As director of Keith Hamilton Cobb’s widely acclaimed play American Moor, Kim helped shape the play over eight years. American Moor is now part of the Folger Shakespeare Library’s permanent collection, is published by Methuen Bloomsbury, was filmed for Lincoln Center Performing Arts Library, and is taught worldwide.

Kim has been recognized with a Drama Desk Award nomination for Unique Theatrical Event and has received the N.Y. Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Performance Art Production, the Eliot Norton Award, two IRNE Awards, two AUDELCO Awards, the Cleveland Critics Circle Award, and N.Y. Times Critic’s Pick. She has received commissions from prestigious institutions such as NYC’s High Line and N.Y. Live Arts/Live Ideas: Celebrating the Worlds of Oliver Sacks. Her multiple fellowships and residencies include the Park Avenue Amory Artist Residency, the Archive Residency, The Kennedy Center Fellow, the Schubert Fellowship, and the Williamstown Theater Festival-Foeller Fellowship. She is the first recipient of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s Guest Artist Initiative, a Women’s Project alumna, and an Associate Artist with The Adaptations Project. She is the 2022 finalist for the prestigious Alan Schneider Director Award.

Her work has been presented and produced at Shakespeare’s Globe London, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood’s Linde Center for Music and Learning, New York Theater Workshop, Cherry Lane Theatre, ArtsEmerson, Red Bull Theater, Beckett Theater, Goodspeed Musicals, Primary Stages, New York Live Arts, Pittsburgh City Theater, Pittsburgh Playhouse, Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Mark Taper Forum, Williamstown Theater Festival, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Beall Center for Art and Technology, The Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, The New Ohio Theater (NYC), Teatro alla Scala, and Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center. Her production of Uncle Vanya was an official selection at the Prague Quadrennial. She directed The Bacchae and The Birds in multiple venues in Greece and is also the co-writer of the new “Fusion Musical” Dusty, about the Queen of Blue Eyed Soul, Dusty Springfield, which ran for eight months on London’s West End.

Her Broadway work includes Associate Director duties on the musical Amazing Grace and three Michael Blakemore productions: Terrence McNally’s Deuce with Dame Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes; Mark Twain’s Is He Dead? starring Norbert Leo Butz and Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit with Dame Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett, Jayne Atkinson, and Christine Ebersole, Off-Broadway, she has been Associate Director to Tina Landau on Iphigenia 2.0 at Signature Theatre and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Wig Out! at The Vineyard Theater.

Proud SDC member

www.kimweild.com

Andy Wolk

Adjunct Faculty, The John Wells Directing Program

Andy Wolk is an award-winning writer and director for film, television, and theater. He returns to Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, where he earned his MFA, to teach in the The John Wells Directing Program.

Mr. Wolk’s writing and directing career began with the much-lauded HBO movie, Criminal Justice, which made Time Magazine’s “Ten Best” List. Starring Forest Whitaker, Anthony LaPaglia, and Rosie Perez, Criminal Justice received the Silver Prize at FIPA in Cannes and was named Best Cable Movie of the year. Whitaker, LaPaglia, and Perez were all nominated for acting awards and Mr. Wolk was nominated for the Writers Guild Award. He received the Writers Guild Award for writing Natica Jackson on PBS which starred Michelle Pfeiffer.

He has been nominated for the Directors Guild Award twice and the Cablefax Award as Best Director. He has directed numerous episodes of shows such as The Sopranos, Damages (for which Glenn Close won an Emmy Award), and The Practice including the death penalty episode for which Alfre Woodard received the Emmy Award and Mr. Wolk received the Humanitas Award. He directed the acclaimed Ugly Betty episode that featured the coming-out kiss between two 15-year-old boys along with the pilot of the long-running HBO comedy hit Arliss. Recent episodes directed include Station 19, Manifest, Seal Team, along with almost 100 other episodes.

He has also been writer and director on many movies including Deliberate Intent, FX’s critically praised first movie, and the acclaimed Fighting The Odds for Lifetime, The Defenders: Payback, Choice Of Evils and Taking The First, three highly-rated movies for Paramount, and Showtime starring Beau Bridges, Martha Plimpton, and E.G. Marshall, based on the classic 60s show. He has directed a dozen other movies with actors ranging from Peter Falk to Rob Lowe to Patricia Heaton to Katey Sagal.

Mr. Wolk’s other writing credits include HBO’s Emmy-winning From the Earth to the Moon, produced by Tom Hanks, and the award-winning Tales from the Crypt starring Demi Moore.

Mr. Wolk’s career started in the theater. He directed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and The Winter’s Tale, each of which had successful Off-Broadway runs under the auspices of Lincoln Center and he has directed plays at Manhattan Theatre Club (where he worked on staff for five years) and the Open Space in London. Most recently, he directed workshops of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Timon of Athens at CSC in NYC and ANTIGONE in LA.

Wolk has been on the directing faculty of the American Film Institute, and has been a Creative Advisor and Artistic Director at the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriting Lab. He has taught Film Directing at Carnegie Mellon and Screenwriting at the University of Pennsylvania. He has an MFA from the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon (where he was a Shubert and a Heinz Fellow) and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania where he was awarded the Thouron Scholarship. He has just completed writing and directing the film Rough Magic: Exit Shakespeare.