Djola Branner, Director
Theater Faculty and Staff List
Full Professor, School of Theater, CVPA
Edward Gero, (Associate Professor, B.A., Montclair State College) is Performance Area Head for the School of Theatre at Theater at George Mason University.
Assistant Professor, School of Theater, CVPA
Mimsi Janis is an assistant professor in the School of Theater at George Mason University. She is also an actor and teaching artist in the DC area.
Associate Professor, School of Theater, CVPA
Kristin Johnsen-Neshati is Associate Professor of Theater at George Mason University, where she has taught theater history, dramatic literature, dramaturgy and dramatic criticism since 1993.
Executive Director, Mason Community Arts Academy and Assistant Professor, School of Theater, CVPA
Mary Lechter, (BA University of Maryland) is a graduate of University of Maryland, College Park with a BA in Theater and Speech Communications, Mary has been working professionally as an actor since 1985 in the Metropolitan Washington area, Los Angeles, and New York.
Adjunct Faculty, School of Theater, CVPA
Kaiulani Lee, (B.A.,American University; Honorary Doctorate of the Arts, Bowdoin College, a student of Lee Strasberg, Sandy Meisner, Jerzy Grotowski and Uta Hagen). Kaiulani Lee brings to her teaching more than thirty-five years of experience in theater, film and television. Ms. Lee has starred in over a dozen plays on and Off- Broadway. She has been nominated for the Drama Desk Award on Broadway and has won the Obie Award for “Outstanding Off-Broadway Achievement.”
Writer in Residence, Professor, School of Theater, CVPA
Film Faculty Screenwriting Concentration, Film and Video Studies, CVPAHeather McDonald (MFA, NYU Tisch School of the Arts) is professor of theater and head of playwriting and dramaturgy concentration.
Undergraduate Academic Advisor, School of Theater, CVPA
Sara Simanski is passionate about supporting students with their collegiate journey. She has worked as the Academic Advisor for the School of Theater since 2010, working within the College of Visual & Performing Arts since 2003. Sara is a member of the Mason Academic Advising Network (MAAN) and the CVPA curriculum committee. Her previous university experience includes working as part of the Admissions office at the College of William and Mary. Sara holds a BA in Psychology from George Mason University (2001).