Director, educator, and Yale faculty member, Yura Kordonsky and Actor, teacher, and NYU Grad Acting faculty will join The Actors Center Resident Company this fall for workshops devoted to Chekhov scene study and creating original material through play.
Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Yura received his MFA degrees in Acting and Directing from the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theatre Arts, Russia, under the direction of Lev Dodin. He has taught, performed, and directed internationally since 1989. He was previously a resident actor and director at the renowned Maly Drama Theatre–Theatre of Europe in St. Petersburg.
His directing credits include his original play Disappearance and House of Bernarda Alba by Lorca (Maly Drama Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia); Uncle Vanya by Chekhov, The Marriage by Gogol, Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, Marble by Brodsky, Bury Me Under the Baseboard by Pavel Sanaev, and Zinc Boys by Alexievich (Bulandra Theatre, Bucharest, Romania); The Lower Depths by M. Gorky and The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov (Hungarian Theatre, Cluj, Romania), The Encounter (UNESCO ITI congress, Manila, Philippines), Fatherlessness by Chekhov (Orkeny Szinhaz, Budapest), Last Day of Youth by Tadeusz Konwicki (National Theatre “Radu Stanca”, Sibiu, Romania), The Seagull by Chekhov and Erendira by Marquez (German National Theatre, Timisoara, Romania); The Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov and Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare (National Theatre, Bucharest), Peer Gynt by Ibsen, Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, and The Bald Soprano by Ionesco (Wesleyan University, CT), A Diary of a Madman by Gogol (West End Theatre, Gloucester, MA), and Canterbury Tales by Chaucer (Riverside Theater, New York), among others. He recently adapted and directed a production of Gogol’s The Inspector with Yale Rep.
Yura’s productions have won numerous international awards including Golden Light, Governor’s Award, and Bravo Award for the Best Production (Russia), Union of European Theatres’ Award for the Best Production (Italy), multiple UNITER Awards for Best Production and Best Director (Romania), and the Special Prize of the Romanian Ministry of Culture.
As a performer and director, Yura has toured in more than twenty countries and taught acting and directing in the US, Russia, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, Philippines, and Romania. Since moving to the US in 2001, he taught at Wesleyan University, where he served as Professor and Chair of Theater Department, as well as at Columbia University, UC San Diego, George Washington University, Colgate University, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
He currently serves as Associate Chair of Directing and Professor in the Practice of Directing at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.
Danielle Skraastad is a director, teacher and actor. Danielle teaches Games at NYU’s MFA Graduate Acting Program. She has worked on the development of The Games Project since 2006. She has previously taught classes and workshops for SUNY Purchase, SUNY Albany, The Actors Center, the National Alliance of Acting Teachers, QuestStar, SummerStage, The Heifeitz Institute, among others.
Danielle’s acting credits include an upcoming show at The Tank called Legerdemain, the Broadway production of All My Sons, IHO and The Wake at The Public Theater, The Pain and the Itch at Playwrights Horizons, Midwest Porn at The Tent, The Lucky Ones at TheaterLab, Hurricane Diane at New York Theatre Workshop, Anon at The Atlantic, Lidless for Page 73, Red Haired Thomas, Cressida Among the Greeks and The Eyes of Others at The Ohio, Carrie PS 122 with Theater Couture, Big Times with WET, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with The Continuum Project, New Day at Theater for a New City, Fugue at The Cherry Lane Theater and Lascivious Something at The Cherry Lane (Mentor Project). Regional credits include Berkeley Rep, The Kirk, Two River Theater Festival, The Wilma, Hartford Stage, ACT/Seattle, Portland Stage Co, StageWorks/Hudson, The Lantern. TV/Film: Gasbag (web series), Unforgettable, Law & Order, SVU, Fringe, Mercy, 27 Dresses, The Business of Story. Danielle’s directing credits include the Rope In Your Hands (Frigid Festival), Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train and A Hudson Holiday (StageWorksHudson), and original plays Confidence Camp, Road Trip and Junior Year (SummerStage). At SummerStage she also directed several Shakespearean productions including Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
