MATTHEW GLASSMAN

I am a father/ writer/ actor/ director of original, ensemble theatre.  Performing, creating, and collaborating  is my passion & calling. I am the former Co-Artistic Director and Ensemble Member for over 20 years of Double Edge Theatre. During that time, I co-created and performed in dozens of site-specific spectacles and indoor performances that toured to major art centers (Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Meyerhold Center) and rural, urban, and far flung communities around the world. I also contributed to the creation, evolution, and sustainability of Double Edge’s The Farm, a vibrant rural and international center for theatre and living culture.

I love making connections between the realms of imagination with the becoming of community, the unfolding of dreams, the awe of the natural world, and building grass-roots movements toward systemic change. I believe art is intrinsic to the health and happiness of a community. Making art in and with a rural community has been a singularly formative experience.

I teach at Trinity College a course on dreaming & creativity and make artistic work there. 

I also consult foundations, orgs, and artists, and do lots of work to support artists and create meaningful encounter & exchange. This last thing around artist exchange I'm especially proud of a project, especially a project called art & survival (2014-2019)--an international convening which gathers artists, activists, and change-makers for a 2-day reflection on the inner workings of artistic practice and its impact on culture and movement building. 

In the last 2 years I've returned to working with children as part of my artistic work. The project is called the unnameable children’s project and fashions itself as a black mountain college for kids. 

I'm currently working on two performances, Across the Ninefold River, a community-based, walking spectacle & mourning celebration, workshopped at Trinity College in April ‘23; and Shabbos, with Mexican-Jewish writer Ilan Stavans, currently in progress. I'm excited about this because my Jewish culture and imagination is core to my identity and artistic expression.

artistic director
long match & unnameable children’s project

you can see a full cv/ bio here


but i want to name a few things from my career up till now of which i’m most proud:

my time in double edge (2000-2022), my artistic identity, acting and aesthetic was formed here. i’m proud of helping develop summer spectacles, the de training methodology and programs, and its model of sustainability.

art & survival biennial (2014-2020) created by me and nick slie (mondo bizarro, new orleans) and other amazing artists & changemakers (javiera benavente, ebony golden, daniel alexander jones, and others). we convened at double edge’s farm researchign intersection of art, mysticism, land, and activism.

rural arts work, living & working as a rural artist in ashfield has taught me so much and getting to work with Art of the Rural and other rural artists/ communities is incredibly meaningful.

i am the baron (2019), an original adaptation of Adventures of Baron Munchausen, co-directed by me and Jeremy Eaton, co-written by me and Mitch Polin, and co-created with the double edge ensemble.

work exploring jewish imagination: i owe so much to my mentor & director Stacy Klein in this department. her work & direction taught me so much. she introduced me to Bruno Schulz when we made Republic of Dreams about his life and art. there’s more to say about this.