Theresa Robbins Dudeck, PhD, is an international theatre scholar-practitioner with expertise in improvisation and applied improvisation. In both corporate and academic settings, she is frequently invited to present talks and facilitate applied improvisation workshops that focus on changing the way people and organizations lead, create, and collaborate. Dudeck is 2019-2020 Fulbright Scholar, which took her to Brazil to teach and direct, and is considered one of the foremost teacher’s of Keith Johnstone’s impro system of actor training. She serves as Johnstone’s literary executor, is the co-founder of one of the only international symposiums focused on theatrical improvisation (the Global Improvisation Initiative ), and is co-director/executive producer of the YouTube docuseries “On Keith: Artists Speaks on Johnstone & Impro.”
Dudeck wrote Keith Johnstone: A Critical Biography (Bloomsbury 2013) and is co-editor of two books on applied improvisation published by Methuen Drama: Applied Improvisation: Leading, Collaborating, and Creating Beyond the Theatre (2018) and The Applied Improvisation Mindset: Tools for Transforming Organizations and Communities (forthcoming 2021).
At PSU, Dudeck teaches Improvisation I and II, facilitates workshops for OAI, and is currently developing several applied theatre projects with faculty across disciplines. Other courses Dudeck has developed and taught at previous academic institutions include improvisation for leadership development, dramatic theory and criticism, theatre for social change, theatre and performance history, dramatic literature, directing, character building, script analysis, acting and movement for singers, and acting (all levels).
Dudeck worked as a professional Los Angeles-based actor/singer/dancer before entering graduate school. She has directed twenty-seven theatre productions over the last two decades, several of which were new plays in development. She is also an instructor at Artists Repertory Theatre and on the faculty of The Actors Conservatory, both based in Portland.
Dr. Dudeck earned a PhD in Theatre Arts from University of Oregon and is member of Actors’ Equity and the Screen Actors’ Guild.