"Josh has become a brilliant,
effortless and gentle genius in his teaching.
His work is startling in its insightfulness
with young professionals, and he builds
rapport so thoughtfully and carefully that
his students are able to relax and reveal
themselves more and more authentically.
He both inspires and celebrates his students’
growth. He continually challenges and pushes
his students and – as I have witnessed many times –
does so with little need for confrontation.
He is so very patient, and listens more carefully
than almost anyone I’ve ever known.
That may be the rarest of qualities in his many gifts,
and it is a quality that has, gratefully, influenced
more and more of the directors here at
Shakespeare & Company in our Education program."
-Kevin G. Coleman
Founder and Director of Education
Shakespeare & Company
Josh is an Associate Professor and serves as the Head of Acting in the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Wright State University. Since joining the Dept's diversely skilled faculty in 2016, he has taught all levels of acting in their BFA Program for Acting and Musical Theatre students.
Josh specializes in Shakespeare and various courses in contemporary scene work, as well as directing University productions. In all explorations, he focuses on combining the Inspiration drawn from thorough text analysis (detailed “detective work”) with bringing each Individual students’ Authentic Voice to their craft for purposes of effective storytelling. (A playful combination of their breath, their instrument, their point of view, their wit and their imagination.) He invites actors to explore daring levels of immediate Availability in their stage Play. This includes the Availability to Listen, to be Inspired and to openly Share their Full Selves with every scene partner- especially their audience.
Previous to joining WSU, Josh taught acting as an adjunct with University of Albany and was a Guest Artist at the University of Connecticut and Smith College.
A member of Shakespeare & Company since 2006, Josh served as senior Education Artist in their nationally recognized Education Program. He taught acting (through Shakespeare) and directed numerous productions in various residencies and workshops during his 10 years teaching there.
Josh is particularly proud of his 8 years working in Shakespeare & Company’s award-winning Shakespeare in the Courts Project (where he also served as Program Director for 2 years.) This highly specialized Program (which is nationally recognized and was celebrated in a White House ceremony in 2006) “works closely with juvenile court judges and the probation officers of Berkshire County to engage adolescent offenders and those in need of support and provide an alternative to traditional punitive measures. Adjudicated juvenile offenders work with Shakespeare & Company artists and participate in classes, rehearsals, and performances of scenes from Shakespeare’s plays.” (Shakespeare & Company website, 2020.)
In 2020, Josh was honored with Wright State University's Presidential Award for Faculty Excellence: Early Career Achievement Award as well as an Early Career Achievement Award with the College of Liberal Arts.