Interview: Theatre Life with Joanie Schultz

Today’s subject Joanie Schultz is currently living her theatre life as the director of Frida…A Self Portrait. It is a tour de force solo piece written by and starring Vanessa Severo about the life of artist Frida Kahlo. The show runs through November 8th at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s (STC’S) Klein Theatre.

Joanie is continuing her long association with Frida…A Self Portrait having previously directed the show at Writer's Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, GEVA Theatre Center, Portland Center Stage, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre; The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Quantum Theatre and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. She has also staged the show internationally in Rio de Janeiro.

This is not the first time she has directed in our area. Previous DMV theatre credits include Hand to God, Cry It Out, and 2.5 Minute Ride at Studio Theatre, and A Doll's House at Everyman Theatre.

She is currently the Associate Artistic Director of Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Besides Frida…A Self Portrait, previous directorial credits there include Mrs. Christie, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, Birthday Candles, Vietgone, and Origin Story.

Joanie is the recipient of the 2025 Zelda Fichandler Award, TCG Leadership U,  3Arts Make A Wave Award, and a Drama League Fellow.

She has also been nominated for a Helen Hayes and Joseph Jefferson Award.

Solo pieces are one of the hardest types of theatre to execute successfully because if the performer isn’t up to the challenge of being alone with their audience, It can end with some horrifying results.

Frida… A Self Portrait is totally successful in accomplishing what every good solo piece should be. It features a truly captivating performance by the immensely talented Vanessa Severo, a physical production that doesn’t rely on gimmickry to help tell the story, and sone truly remarkable direction by the very talented Joanie Schultz. All I can say to you is GET THEE TO STC for Frida…A Self Portrait.

Joanie Schultz is truly living her theatre life to the fullest.

How did you get interested in working in the theatre?

I was six years old. My older sister wanted to audition for the community theater A Christmas Carol in the town where I grew up, and my mom made her take me along—I was cast as Belinda Cratchit and fell in love with the entire experience—but mostly the community building that we all do in making a play. The collaborative experience had me hooked and I never looked back.

Where did you receive your training?

I got my BA at Columbia College Chicago, and my MFA at Northwestern University. 

What was your first professional theatrical job?

I guess it depends what you define as professional. I was paid to be a singing sled dog in a new musical called Lady Lou when I was 12. My first job in Chicago theatre at 19 was as ASM on a stage version of Reservoir Dogs, lots of cleaning blood off white shirts and handling stage guns. When I graduated from undergrad, my first paid directing gig was a children’s theatre production of Beauty and the Beast (not the Disney musical, a short children’s theatre version.)

How did the script for Frida… A Self Portrait come to you?

I was lucky enough to meet Vanessa Severo in Kansas City when I was asked to come direct a world premiere play she was cast in at Kansas City Rep. We loved working together, and when she was awarded the Fox Fellowship to develop Frida…A Self Portrait, she asked me to direct. I immediately said yes and then she said, “do you want to read it?” I knew I wanted to work on it with her—she and I have a creative understanding that is full of rigor and play and collaborative joy.

What were your first thoughts after your initial read of the script?

That I couldn’t wait to see it.

Do you find directing a solo piece harder than a show that has an ensemble of actors in terms of keeping the audience engaged?

I have a true love for solo work, I think there’s an intimacy in it because the audience necessarily becomes a scene partner, even when there is a fourth wall. Vanessa goes back and forth between speaking directly to us and then being in scene with multiple characters, all of which she’s playing or creating for us, which keeps us on the edge of our seat. This play is full of surprises—just when you think you’ve figured out the mode of performance, it shifts. But the entire time, she invites us to feel included, either because she’s speaking to us or because of the way the play ignites our imaginations.

You’ve directed at several area theatres. What do you enjoy the most about working in the DMV arts scene?

The audiences are smart, thoughtful, and worldly. DC has such an international audience, which is especially powerful for this piece.

What does the rest of 2026 and into 2027 hold in store for you workwise?

I’m the Associate Artistic Director of Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where I’ll be producing work all year and directing I Am My Own Wife this spring. Then we bring Frida… A Self Portrait to Oregon Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 2027.

Special thanks to Shakespeare Theatre Company's publicity goddess Heather C. Jackson for her assistance in coordinating this interview.