Natalie Novacek

Biography

NATALIE IN A NUTSHELL

Natalie is a freelance director based in Minneapolis, MN. Her intimate productions have garnered critical acclaim for their precise balance of humor and heart.  Her interpretive work thrives in contemporary American texts as well as firmly established texts in the theatrical canon.

Natalie is passionate about working collaboratively with designers, writers, and performers as a generative director. In 2014, she began development on a design-driven adaptation of Moby-Dick; or, The Whale titled The Book of Ishmael. She is currently working on a creative editing of Shakespeare’s War of the Roses tetralogy (Henry VI, parts 1-3 and Richard III) that focuses on the journey of Queen Margaret.  Margaret was developed in part by a 2017 Drama League Rough Draft Residency.

Natalie was a 2005 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival National Selection Team Directing Fellow in Washington D.C. and a 2016-2017 Directing Fellow at Asolo Rep in Sarasota, FL. She is an alum of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab and the SDCF Observership Program.

Natalie is a former teaching fellow for the University of Texas at Austin. She has directed for many academic institutions, both at the high school and university level.

Natalie received her M.F.A. in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin and her B.A. in Theatre Arts from Minnesota State University Moorhead. Natalie is a proud Associate Member of the Stage Director and Choreographers Society.

IN THE PRESS

“Director Natalie Novacek artfully balances this production on a razor’s edge between comedy and dark intensity, doing justice to a work that neither trivializes its characters’ concerns nor indulges in polemics.” — Lisa Brock, Star Tribune (A Bright New Boise)

“The entire cast dances and bounces around onstage while simultaneously moving the furniture on and off. This ingenious solution keeps the comedy and offbeat energy of the play going even between scenes. It seems silly to call a strategy for scene shifts inspired, but it really is. It fits the play perfectly. Rather than pretend scene changes aren’t happening, they turn them into a party.” — Matthew A. Everett, TC Daily Planet (Fuddy Meers)

“Director Natalie Novacek and her amazing cast find all the humor and heart in Haidle’s script and left the audience begging for more!”— Todd O’Dowd, l’etoile (Kitty Kitty Kitty)

“Director Natalie Novacek has done masterful work with the pace and staging of the show; her smart choices ensure that the audience’s attention never has a chance to waver.” — Sophie Kerman, Aisle Say Twin Cities (Thom Pain)

INTERVIEWS WITH NATALIE

Inside Asolo Rep: The Great Society and The Originalist
Natalie Novacek Ask A Director
10 Questions for Loudmouth Collective’s Producing Artistic Director Natalie Novacek Pioneer Press