Jeff Janisheski’s abilities and wisdom have taken him from positions in Connecticut, New York and even Sydney, Australia. Now, he offers his guidance as the new Artistic Director for Cal Rep and chair of the theater arts department at Cal State Long Beach.
Though he’s only been on the job for a month, he’s already becoming active in the department’s direction.
Janisheski sat down to discuss his implementation into the university.
In your bio you mention wanting to create more “indelible events.” What did you mean by that?
Theater is a place that makes memories, and what happens is when you see a show, you walk away with a handful of memories or moments in your mind. So, our job as artists is to make memories – memories that will stay, memories that will be valuable. What I hope we can accomplish is creating those memories that stick in people’s brains and will resonate and reverberate over time. It might be political issues, or social issues, or it might be pure phenomenal entertainment.
Do you have any plans or ideas you are spearheading for accomplishing your goal in creating a more charged connection between the stage and the audience?
My whole career has been about building community and creating collaboration. Over the past eight years I’ve been leading two major theater schools – one in Australia, another one in Connecticut at the Tony-Award winning Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Each of those places have been about finding a connection to the community, finding out who the community is, and having our work speak more to them. [They were also about] creating collaboration with the students and with the faculty so the whole school becomes a little mini-company. What I want to do here at Cal Rep and in the theater arts department is really try to bring back that sense of company… so that our work can be a spark, [and] can be this exciting force both on campus and off campus
How successful have you been at getting to know this community in the short time that you’ve been here?
I think what I excel at is listening. My whole teaching is built on that core skill that I practice as a teacher and as a leader. That’s what I do everywhere I go, I listen deeply to what’s needed at that place. So, even when I interviewed, I was listening to what the needs were and how the department needed to evolve because it’s an incredibly strong department. There’s a lot of phenomenal teachers here, a lot of great energy and so my job is to harness that– and I think I’ve been succeeding because that’s what I do, I listen.
You seem to have had a very impressive career at locations around the world, so what brought you to California – specifically Cal State Long Beach?
I lived and worked for nine years in New York City and I really wanted to move to the west coast and live in California. It’s the part of the country I’ve always dreamed about living in. I specifically wanted to be near a major city like Los Angeles but still in a more residential and affordable and quiet place like Long Beach where I could raise my family. I specifically wanted to be at a school like CSULB that has the mottos of access and excellence. I’m first-generation college student in my family, I really believe in reaching out and connecting to students that perhaps have a similar background. And, I believe that excellent education should be affordable, so the mission of CSULB in general aligned with my values
What knowledge did you gain through your educational background and previous work experience as an associate artistic director that you will be implementing in your work here?
The first lesson I teach all my students is how to lean in, and I mean that metaphorically. So, to lean in means to be ready to jump, to take action, to not wait, to not sit back and rely on some other opportunity to come along. An artist has to be incredibly proactive because no one is going to hand out an opportunity.
Why were the productions for the fall season chosen?
The season that’s in place was chosen prior to me coming on board. But, what I think is quite exciting about these plays is the eclectic range of the productions. So you have classic work like John Webster, plays that are part of the American canon like “A View from the Bridge,” as well as musicals [like] “Stop the World.” You have quite a range of style and periods of plays and I think that is a great reflection on the range of what we teach our students to tackle.
What can audiences expect from the upcoming performances of “A View from the Bridge?”
I’m quite excited about “A View for the Bridge,” directed by CSULB alumn Jeff Paul. He’s a phenomenal director, and I think what’s wonderful about his work is how actor-centered it is. He’s really an expert at forensically working with actors to get very subtle nuanced work out of them. [Audiences] will also see a play that is incredibly important, that tackles the dark-side of the American dream and all of what they thought America was is warped and distorted. So it’s also a very timely and political piece.