Laura Standley

Laura Standley is Associate Professor of Theatre at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) where she teaches courses in Acting and Directing. She holds a BA in Theatre from University of Central Oklahoma and an MFA in Acting from University of California, Irvine. Recent collaborations include performing in the staged reading of 'A Family Business,' by Chris Thorpe, at Theatrelab NYC with the company she helped found, Ground Up Productions. The play tells the story of the writer's real-life encounter with the diplomats and activists of (ICAN) the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, and their journey to change the world. In the Berkshires, she performed in 'RELEASE,' a new devised work she helped create with Second Street in Pittsfield to advocate for and tell the stories of formerly incarcerated Berkshire area women. In Oklahoma, where she's from, she directed Oklahoma Shakespeare's first ever Zoom performance, 'Three Sisters,' where she also played Masha, and directed, choreographed, and designed sound for their Broadway World award-winning production of Kate Hammill’s 'Sense and Sensibility.' She studied under master teachers Robert Cohen, Catherine Fitzmaurice, Dudley Knight, Annie Loui, Ragnar Friedank, Joanna Merlin, Barney O'Hanlon, Lenard Petit, Ted Pugh and Fern Sloan. She is a trained advocate for new, safer methods of choreographing scenes of stage intimacy, nudity, and sexual violence, and facilitates conversations using intergroup dialogue as a tool for understanding people’s multiple experiences. New York directing credits include 'Pump Boys and Dinettes,' 'Lobby Hero,' and 'Burn This' with Ground Up Productions. Favorite academic directing credits include her current project directing Maria Irene Fornés', 'The Summer in Gossensass,' Caryl Churchill's 'Cloud 9,' an evening of two Fornés works, 'Mud' and 'The Successful Life of 3,' Ibsen's 'Hedda Gabler,' and Stephen Berkoff's 'Agamemnon.' Laura has taught at University of North Carolina - Charlotte, Stony Brook University, Chapman University, and University of California, Irvine. She is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Voice and Speech Trainers Association, Association of Theatre Movement Educators, and the Michael Chekhov Organization. Laura is fascinated with the intersection of movement, action, and the theatre experience. Her work focuses on the stories of women and investigates how theatre is changing and how it utilizes collage-like thinking to create compelling new works. Her goal is to create dynamic, movement-based performance for the stage that impacts the common good.