Daniel Leeman Smith (he/they)
NYC Based Director, Playwright, Producer & Educator
Citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma
“Daniel’s work as a playwright, director, producer, educator, and activist offers an incredible example to our students of the kind of artistic citizenship our curriculum aims to make possible.”
Director
Smith is a director whose work is rooted in the spirit of collaboration and radical joy and infused with sass and panache.
“His work is bitingly entertaining and staged with the kind of energy they used to call pizzazz.”
“Leeman Smith’s world is far from traditional – it transgresses the edges of gender, absurdity, social commentary, and queerness.”
Writer
“Daniel’s discussion of the interiority of the individual, as well as stressing that the body tells a story, wherein he challenged the students to physicalize their work,
encouraged them to be proactive about making choices in their groups, rather than being stuck in cerebral exchange. Daniel’s excellent preparation of visual details in his powerpoint made the ideas he was exploring spring to life for the class. In sum, Daniel Smith is a natural teacher, and as an artist and scholar, he has an impressive and inspiring amount of aesthetic and pedagogical knowledge.”
Educator
Upcoming Shows
Feb. 29 - March 9, 2024
Perhaps the World Ends Here
by Daniel Leeman Smith
NYU Tisch School of the Arts
New York, NY
April 5 - 21, 2024
The Boarding School Play
by Blossom Johnson
Alter Theater Ensemble
San Rafael, CA
April 26 - 28, 2024
Stories of the Land
by Melissa Tantaquidgeon Zobel, Madeline Sayet, Candyce Testa, & Madeleine Hutchins
Dramaturgy by Daniel Leeman Smith
Long Wharf Theatre
New Haven, CT