Meriah Sage

A photo of Meriah Sage

Assistant Professor and Director of the Applied Drama & Theatre for the Young, Director of Theatre

School of Communication, Media & Theatre

 

[email protected]

Biography

Meriah Sage (she/her/hers) is an assistant professor and director of the Applied Drama & Theatre for the Young MFA & MA program at Eastern Michigan University. Meriah has worked as the Education Director for the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, IL; Apple Tree Theatre on Chicago's North Shore, and the Aesthetic Education Program with Education for the Arts, part of the Intermediate School District in Kalamazoo, MI. She has worked as a Teaching Artist/Facilitator for many organizations including the National Educators Workshops with Lincoln Center Institute, International Thespians Festival, YouTheatre with the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts, and Education for the Arts. Meriah earned her bachelor's degrees from Western Michigan in Theatre Performance and Elementary Education, her MFA in Applied Drama and Theatre for the Young from Eastern Michigan University (2010), and is a certified teacher with the Michael Chekhov technique through the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium (GLMCC). 

Following graduation from EMU in 2010, Meriah worked as a Parttime and Fulltime Lecturer in EMU's School of Communication, Media & Theatre Arts,  teaching, directing productions (BUD, NOT BUDDY, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, SHAKING EARTH, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE, ANTIGONE) and acting as the assistant director for the Center for the Study of Equality and Human Rights. 

Prior to returning to EMU in 2021, Meriah was the Head of Theatre and an assistant professor at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio, where she taught script analysis, acting, directing, and theatre education courses and directed many mainstage productions, including CABARET, MOTHER HICKS, NEWSIES, EURYDICE (RUHL), IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY and ORDINARY DAYS. 

Her research interests include application of the Michael Chekhov Technique, Arts Integration/Drama in Education, Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), and seeking out the hidden history of BIPOC artistics and organizations in Drama and TYA. In Summer of 2022, Meriah received an EMU Research/Creative Activity Award for "Pushing the Limits: Michael Chekhov's Acting Technique in Rehearsal and Performance" and performed in a production of OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD in Cleveland, Ohio. Sage has presented at conferences for the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, American Alliance for Theatre in Education, Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium, International Thespians Festival, Mid-America Theatre Conference, and Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed.

Education

  • MFA, Applied Drama & Theatre for the Young, Western Michigan University
  • BS, Theatre Performance & Elementary Education, Western Michigan University 
  • Teacher Certification, Great Lakes Michigan Chekhov Consortium

Courses

  • CTAR 220 Teaching Through Theatre & Movement
  • CTAR 222 Play & Drama in Human Experience
  • CTAR 322 Theatre for Children
  • CTAR 329 Performing Theatre for the Young
  • CTAR 501 Fundamentals of Dramatic Experience
  • CTAR 529 Production Theatre for Young Audiences
  • CTAR 565 Studies in Educational Drama & Theatre
  • CTAR 627 Playwright & Young Audience
  • CTAR 658: Theatre for Young Audiences 

Advising

  • Applied Drama & Theatre for the Young, MFA & MA

Professional Affiliations

  • Association for Theatre in Higher Education
  • American Alliance for Theatre in Education
  • International Performing Arts for Youth
  • Mid-America Theatre Conference
  • Pedagogy & Theatre of the Oppressed
  • TYAUSA