Lisa Channer

Lisa Channer serves as Associate Professor and Head of the BA Performance Program in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance within the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Holding an M.F.A. in Directing from Yale School of Drama (2000), a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Massachusetts (1989), and a Certificate of Training in Embodied Teaching Practices from Dell'Arte International School of Theatre (2020), she specializes in directing, physical theatre, creating original work, Russian theatre, ensemble theatre, and filmmaking. In the field of Arts and Culture, Channer's career encompasses extensive directing and producing across theatre and film. She is co-artistic director of Theatre Novi Most, a Minneapolis-based company dedicated to fostering artistic and cultural connections between the United States and former Soviet states. Previously, she co-founded Sleeveless Theatre, a feminist ensemble operating from 1989 to 1997.

Channer's productions have been staged at renowned venues worldwide, including New York's Public Theatre and 92nd Street Y, Yale Repertory Theatre, Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, Amsterdam's ITs Festival, Belfast's Old Museum Arts Centre, California's Z Space, Russian festivals like Bodyword and Osobniak Theatre, and Minneapolis institutions such as Walker Art Center, Illusion Theater, Playwrights’ Center, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Red Eye Theater, and Park Square Theatre. A recipient of Fulbright and Fox Foundation awards, she served as an Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Residential Faculty Fellow in Spring 2025, developing “Eileen in '60,” a documentary film exploring her mother's 1960 secret pregnancy and adoption through family archives and interviews on reproductive rights. Notable creative works include films Standoff and Girls of the Painted Bird (2022/2023) with Savannah Reich, the robot-performed play RANT at Red Eye Theater and Z Space, and co-directing a Kurt Weill–Bertolt Brecht Festival with University of Minnesota units. Her interdisciplinary practice significantly impacts theatre arts education and performance creation.

Professional Email: chann006@umn.edu