Elliot Leffler

Elliot Leffler is scholar and artist who investigates how Applied Theatre can be used as a catalyst for intercultural dialogue and coalition-building. He has led theatre projects with Jews and Palestinians in Israel, with Kurdish and Arab Iraqis, with white, black and coloured South Africans, and with racially-diverse houses of worship in the United States. His scholarship about these intercultural ensembles has been published in journals including The Drama Review, Theatre Topics, and Research in Drama Education.  His research and Applied Theatre projects have been supported by a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, a Dorot Fellowship, a Frank M. Rarig Fellowship, and a University of Minnesota Global Spotlight Grant, among other grants and awards from within the University of Minnesota and Reed College. Elliot has taught a broad range of classes, including Acting, Directing, Improvisation, Devising Theatre, Theatre History, and Performance and Activism in South Africa, in addition to teaching within his specialization on Applied Theatre.  In productions on college campuses, Elliot has devised and directed plays that have actively engaged audiences in dialogue about 9/11, capitalism, tax policy, and racial and class inequity.