David Zarko, director


Directing	Stage Directors & Choreographers Society
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Selected Credits: New York & International		Two-Page Directing Resume PDF
Full Production Credits: Training Programs		Curriculum Vitae PDF
Acting		email David
Playwrighting


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Selected Credits: Regional
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Richard III	William Shakespeare	Virginia Shakespeare Festival, 2013
A Christmas Carol	adapted by David Zarko	WVIA TV & FM, Sordoni Theater, 2011
Under Milk Wood	Dylan Thomas	Electric Theatre Company, 2010
Lawnchairs (premiere)	Nancy Hasty	Electric Theatre Company, 2010
The Very Nearly Perfect Comedy of Romeo & Juliet	Zuppa del Giorno, based on the Bard	Electric Theatre Company, 2009
A Christmas Carol	adapted by David Zarko	Electric Theatre Company, 2008, 2009, 2010
Arms and the Man	George Bernard Shaw	Electric Theatre Company, 2008
Doubt, a Parable	John Patrick Shanley	The Northeast Theatre, 2008
A Christmas Carol	adapted by David Zarko	The Northeast Theatre, 2007
The O. Henry Conspiracy	created with Richard Grunn & Duane Noch	The Northeast Theatre, 2007
Prohibitive Standards (devised)	Zuppa del Giorno, scenario by Steve Deighan	The Northeast Theatre, 2007
An American Wife (premiere)	Michael Downend and Karen Blomain	The Northeast Theatre, 2007
The Poor of Scranton	Dion Boucicault, adapted by John Beck	The Northeast Theatre, 2006
The Key (devised in part)	Richard Grunn	The Northeast Theatre, 2006
Waiting for the Parade	John Murrell	The Northeast Theatre, 2006
The Woman in Black	Stephen Mallatratt	The Northeast Theatre, 2005
The Waiting Room (premiere)	Simon R. Brook	Virginia Premiere Theatre, 2005
The Same Life Over (premiere)	Mark Medoff	The Northeast Theatre, 2004
Legal Snarls (premiere)	Steve Deighan	The Northeast Theatre, 2004
Lettice and Lovage	Peter Shaffer	The Northeast Theatre, 2004
Three Stories by Chekhov	Anton Chekhov, adapted by David Zarko	The Northeast Theatre, 2003
Noble Aspirations (devised)	Zuppa del Giorno, developed in rehearsal	The Northeast Theatre, 2003
A Christmas Carol (premiere)	adapted by David Zarko	The Northeast Theatre, 2002
The Apple Cart	George Bernard Shaw	Cider Mill Playhouse, 2002
The Glass Menagerie	Tennessee Williams	The Northeast Theatre, 2002
Additional Particulars	Ed Simpson	Keystone Repertory Theatre, 2002
Benefactors	Michael Frayn	The Northeast Theatre, 2002
A Perfect Ganesh	Terrance McNally	The Northeast Theatre, 2001
The O. Henry Conspiracy	created with Richard Grunn & Duane Noch	Sullivan County Summer Theater, 2001
The Foreigner	Larry Shue	Keystone Repertory Theater, 2001
Wenceslas Square	Larry Shue	The Northeast Theater, 2001
Der Talisman (with music)	J. N. Nestroy	National Theater for the Performing Arts, 2001
Mananas de abril y mayo (with music)	Calderon	Nat'l Theater for the Performing Arts, 2000 & 2001
The Barber of Seville (with music)	Beaumarchais	National Theater for the Performing Arts, 1999
Grimms' Fairy Tales (premiere with music)	Sheila Biggs, Katie Rosatti, ClayZambo	Nat'l Theater for the Performing Arts, 1999 & 2000
Tour de France (original musical)	Lila Martin	Nat'l Theater for the Performing Arts, 1998 & 1999
Elephant Sighs (premiere)	Ed Simpson	Keystone Repertory Theater, 1998
Lend Me a Tenor	Ken Ludwig	Summer Theatre-by-the-Grove, 1994
Lend Me a Tenor	Ken Ludwig	Michigan Ensemble Theatre, 1993
The Fantasticks	Schmidt and Jones	Michigan Ensemble Theatre, 1992
Greater Tuna	Williams, Sears & Howard	Allegheney Highlands Regional Theater, 1991
The Boys Next Door	Tom Griffin	Summer Theatre-by-the-Grove, 1991
The Nerd	Larry Shue	Summer Theatre-by-the-Grove, 1990
The Bear and The Proposal (premiere)	Anton Chekhov, adapted by David Zarko	Catskill Mountain Theater, 1989
Musical Comedy Murders of 1940	John Bishop	Summer Theatre-by-the-Grove, 1989
Kaufman and Friends (music and comedy review)	Geo. S. Kaufman, compiled by David Zarko	Catskill Mountain Theater, 1988
Spoon River Anthology (with music)	Edgar Lee Masters	Catskill Mountain Theater, 1987
Female Transport	Steve Gooch	The Bear Republic Theater, 1984
La Ronde	Arthur Schnitzler	with Greg Fritsch, Rainbow Ensemble, 1984
Division Street	Steve Tesich	The Bear Republic Theater, 1983
Play it Again, Sam	Woody Allen	Rainbow Ensemble, 1983
The Elephant Man	Bernard Pomerance	The Bear Republic Theater, 1982


A very funny surrealistic play by Australian playwright Simon Brook, this was a production with old friends and a total joy to work on. It played at the Kimball Theatre in Williamsburg, VA.
There are no reviews that I can find.


This is a wonderful play by Ed Simpson about male bonding and the need that guys sometimes have to run away from it all. The production I directed was the premiere production of the play. It has since been made into an independent film starring Ed Asner and John Cariani.
There were no reviews.

When I took the job at TNT (later ETC) I asked the board for criteria for chosing plays. They said to choose anything I wanted to do. So, I did. This play was on the top of my list at the time. It deals with issues that are current and important, uses imagry that speaks strongly to me (as a meditator) and does so with humor and a strong and wiley theatrical flair.

It's a production done so well that, I guarantee that by the end of an evening at Brooks you will be both kissed by laughter shedding a few tears. For in this play the two emotions beautifully intertwine to create a memorable evening of theater. Hats off to Producing Artistic Director, David Zarko for an exceptional job. The production demonstrates great sensitivity, hard work and incredible nuance to the author's intention. Joe Caputo, The Scranton Times		"A Perfect Ganesh" is notable for its richly theatrical presentation, well-staged by TNT. It will likely inspire you with questions -- questions that you may not even be able to formulate until after a good night's sleep. Alicia Grega-Pikul, Electric City

		Benefactors is one of the most challenging plays I've worked on. Fortunately, I had a cast that was up to it and kept me on track. I staged it in the round which reflected the shifting alliances and loyalties that are the fabric of the play, and helped to illustrate the leaps in time and space that Frayn weaves through his script.

The language demands one's concentration but is riveting and born out of the realities of the specific yet familiar characters. Director David Zarko wisely builds his production around these people, keeping technical elements effectively simple. Alicia Grega-Pikul, Electric City


	This was the premiere production of two related one-acts by Ed Simpson. The actors, Duane Noch, Nathan Anderson, Amber Irvin, and Geoff Gould, are four of my favorites to work with anywhere, anytime, and I love Ed's plays, so this was a fantastic experience that still seems like it happened just last summer.
		There were no reviews

One of the challenges with with deciding to do A Glass Menagerie is that the public seems to think of it as rather glum. I don't see it as glum at all, and we didn't do it that way. Cynthia Hewett played Amanda in her forties, still attractive, caring, and with a sense of humor. She was ambitious and prodding but also charming and likable. This allowed her motives to be understandable and her actions, well-intended. Cynthia's performance brought the play's depth and complexity into full relief.

That is an awesome task for any theater group. TNT's professional company handles the job beautifully. The cast artfully walks a tightrope, tautly drawn over the playing area in their choreographed ballet between the two distant points of illusion and reality...one of those rare moments in the theatre. TNT is to be applauded for bringing a classic to the area stage. Joe Caputo, The Scranton Times		Once again, TNT has proven itself worthy of the label professional... Whether you've always been in love with live theatre, or you have yet to experience the magic, this production of "The Glass Menagerie" will summon forth your passion. Alicia Grega-Pikul, Electric City

Michigan Ensemble Theater was an especially ambitious company started by Barry Cole with Gary Garrison and Maggie Lally in Traverse City. We auditioned in three cities, assembled a strong company, and had excellent technical support. Then, when the producer posted reviews on foam core in the lobby, by policy, and one of them spoke unfavorably about the fellow playing El Gallo, the actor threw a fit and got himself fired. The male understudy, Guy Molnar, stepped in on a day's notice and did the rest of a six week run, and beautifully. But that was the least of it. On the first night of the run, before official opening, the fellow playing Huckleby developed nodes on his larynx and was told he could not sing for five weeks. Maggie looked at me and noted that I knew the show better than anyone else there, so I stepped in that night and did all but the final performance when the original actor was able to come back.

There were reviews but I can't find them.

	What I recall enjoying about this production was its music hall quality; concise scenes that could stand alone, each with a strong motif, and an emphasis on language that is rich in its musicality. I don't know if I was able to get any of that to show in this production, but it was my first chance to direct a play that intimidated me and I will always remember it fondly.

Under David Zarko's consummate direction, Bernard Pomerance's award-winning drama comes alive with sensitivity, resourcefulness and compelling power. Zarko choreographs his cast on a dark stage minimally set with a runway... Zarko's staging and direction seems to make... ethereal concerns materialize on stage. Rick Chatenever, The Santa Cruz Sentinel

	All I really remember about this production was that the writing amazed me. Shue's craft in telling a story is only outshown by his ability to slide into jokes without warning. His penchant for silliness is unrivaled in its success.

Much of the credit for the success of this Summer Theatre-by-the-Grove production lands squarely upon the shoulders of director David Zarko, who possesses a sick but extremely creative vision of comedy. The Indiana Gazette

	This show was so much fun. With apologies to Mr. Allen, I took some liberties with staging. We put the whole play on a sound stage so that the play itself was being shot as a movie with Bogie as the director. We added a grip, and a camera man, and a makeup girl, and the curtain call was filmed and shown on a screen set up for the purpose. It was terrific, and the cast eagerly and generously contributed to making the interpretation work.

With Zarko's resourcefulness evident throughout, the [play] proves to be a winner. Zarko came up with the novel touch of turning the play into a film-within-a-play... this very creative addition to Allen's original vision will leave even viewers very familiar with the original play delightfully surprised. Rick Chatenever, The Santa Cruz Sentinel

	I had a terrific cast for this production. They totally understood that in farce it is imperative to play each act as a comic device and not to allow yourself to get caught in playing individual gags and bits. I have to agree with the reviewer on this (I don't always, even when they are positive), they nailed it with class, skill, and an unrelentingly urgent forward motion. Wish I had pictures.

Under David Zarko's deft direction, the ridiculous complications pile up with gravity-defying skill, sending the audience on a dizzying joy ride with the top down and the pedal floored. Traverse City Herald

This was Zuppa del Giorno's premiere creation. We held weekend meetings and skill-swap sessions starting in August 2002 and periodically until April 2003 before formal rehearsals began. During that time, we created a scenario using classic commedia characters and plots as inspiration, but we named characters and structured plots ourselves. During rehearsal, the physical lazzi was choreographed and a set-piece created so that performances could be largely improvised. There was lots of audience interaction, and even the set-piece changed (by consensus) every night. The four actors played 14 characters with full costume changes.

Daring, innovative, risky, energetic, silly, hysterical, refreshing, outrageous. It may sound like a mixed-up list of adjectives rather than the lead line for a review, but Friday night's performance of the Northeast Theatre's Zuppa Del Giorno: "Noble Aspirations" is just that, and about as varied and spontaneous as the patterns of letters found in a bowl of alphabet soup. Only this time, the "soup of the day" is very fresh, creatively concocted and served up with the theatrical flair one can only expect from the talented professional theater company at TNT. Joe Caputo, The Scranton Times


		I chose this play as a vehicle for the two actresses involved, Page Clements and Mary Ethel Schmidt. Pete Rush gave us a set that was a full two stories high and rotated to reveal different aspects of the same structure which created distinct locations for each of the three acts.
Directed by producing artistic director David Zarko the comedic presentation surely meets the strict criteria set forth by Lettice's unconventional Shakespearean actress mother - that is to say it enlarges, enlightens and enlivens. Alicia Pikul, Electric City

		For as successfully as director Zarko has steered the play's course smartly along its bottom line of simplicity, astonishing effects are achieved in Jim Langan's lighting design and Bart Fasbender's sound support. Alicia Grega-Pikul, Electric City

This play is pure storytelling, and it gave me, the designers, and the actors ample opportunity to refine our various crafts in that regard. For me -- meeting both the demands of the show and the brand-new space -- it meant stripping the production down to what was minimally needed to sustain the tension and thrill of the tale.

	I spent a lot of time with the actors for this production, helping them with accents and language, with relationships, with allowing their interpretations to come from a grounded and genuine place. I got to direct this again for the American Academy many years later, and was thereby afforded a chance to correct my mistakes in not having spent enough time with the arc and unfolding of the story in the earlier production.

Director David Zarko establishes the mood in the first few moments, and the pace is spare and elegant throughout. Ann Bennett, The Paharonian Green Sheet

I created a word-for-word stage version of the classic tale for this production. The script has been revised and used several times since, but this was the only full production, the others being some variation of a staged reading. Anyone seeking a really unusual and affective Carol that brings all of Dickens' wit, humor, and commentary with it, should check out this script (under "Playwrighting" on the home page.)

		There were no reviews.

These were translation/adaptations I began in the mid-seventies when my high school Russian was still enough available to be up to the task. The plays were brushed up for production in the late eighties, and dusted off for this production 15 years after that. Clockwise starting with the one below, they are The Barbarian, Swan Song, and The Proposal. Check "Playwrighting" for samples.
		There were no reviews.

	This may be my favorite project of all time. Or at least one of them. Legal Snarls was the second show that Zuppa del Giorno created, and I asked my old pal Steve Deighan to fashion a script in the style of the Marx Brothers, but completely original. I put it all on wheels so that actors could scoot around on a table or chair or bench. Pete Rush, whose brilliant set it was, put us in the square with working doors at three corners and a door frame on the fourth. No effort was made to conceal the "backstage". The whole thing felt like a circus, and was wonderful, zany, fun.

		Director David Zarko consistently guides the action in slapstick circles that visually enforces the audio gymnastics of Groucho's wit. Alicia Grega-Pikul, Electric City


Tony Award-winning playwright Medoff worked closely with The Northeast Theatre's artistic director David Zarko on the world premiere production of his play. Set in modern-day New Mexico, the minimalist script was subject to substantial change hours before opening last Thursday. Still, the show has received standing ovations from reportedly sizable audiences. Alicia Grega-Pikul, Electric City
Mark sent me this play late in 2002, and I was instantly intrigued by it. It is a love story set within a detective thriller. We worked on it together, both before and during rehearsals -- Mark always open to my suggestions -- and right through the last preview. The cast, bless them all, worked with us, relearning whole pages of dialogue as revisions came in, then putting them into performance that night. The result was a strong script that was starkly beautiful.


	I love this sweet, gentle, touching play. I chose it because I wanted to work with these particular women, together. The play captures the characters' circumstances more honestly than most plays (or movies) about wartime, and with humor.
	Refreshingly, John Murrell's "Waiting for the Parade", now on stage at The Northeast Theatre, presents a more complex picture. The drama follows five women on the homefront during World War II, each struggling to survive and make sense of it all as they, as the title suggests, pass the time until war's end. The greatest strength of Murrell's play is that these women are distinct characters, and the greatest strength of TNT's production is the strength of the five actors cast in the roles. Matt Smith, Electric City

	Richard Grunn came to this show with a few character studies and some puppets. Together we massaged it into a charming piece about self-discovery at a railway station's lost and found.

There were no reviews.	Coleman Smith accompanied on the fiddle.

	When Boucicault finished his New York run of The Poor of New York, he took it on national tour. To encourage attendance, he changed the locality to each city it visited.
While common knowledge dictates no one wants to be poor, Boucicault's uncommonly virtuous characters find the blessings in it. Hunger and endangered shelter aside, they wear their lack of resources like a badge of honesty, and carry hearts so big they spill forth from the ribcage. Appealing to local writer and historian John Beck to localize the antique script, The Northeast Theatre's producing artistic director David Zarko bravely wrestled a beast of a production into being. Alicia Grega, Electric City
	We needed a large cast play with elevated language for the previous season's conservatory grads, and this one fit the bill.

Created by local playwrights on a local theme and setting, and cast mostly with local actors, audiences adored this play.		There were still some structural difficulties with the script when we began rehearsals. I suggested edits, deletions and re-writes which the playwrights graciously and enthusiastically incorporated.


	"An American Wife" is a gift we've waited too long already to open. Unwrap it with your grandmother and your 10-year-old nephew, and marvel at its touching, funny, familiar and brave contents. Alicia Grega, Electric City

This was a collaborative effort between TNT and the Theatre Program at Marywood University involving six students and five members of Zuppa del Giorno. We developed a scenario with the assistance of Steve Deighan, then improvised a full length play around it until the actors had a strong set piece. No two of the 15 performances were exactly the same.

There were no reviews.

This was the fourth production I did of this play. Because it is a devised piece, it evolved and changed with each revival. Each new Kyle Carter (on the suitcase, here played by Conor McGuigan) brought something new to the script.

For all its charm, "Conspiracy" could be perceived as slow by eyes accustomed to today's standard of sensory overload. If you can't sit through a silent film you might see your attention span challenged. All the more reason to disengage from your monitor of the moment and experience the imaginative instigation of live theater in its purest form. Alicia Grega, Electric City

	This brilliantly taut play is a dream to direct, and much trickier for the actors than I first realized.
Perhaps the greatest challenge of presenting this play is ensuring the balance Shanley intends. Under the direction of The Northeast Theatre's producing artistic director David Zarko, this production aces that test. Each of the play's four characters is equally likable while also proving a little unsettling. Each has a good case and presents a good argument. Each really appears to care for the boy Donald Muller and genuinely want what is best for him. And that is why the play is not about the issue of sexual abuse at all. And neither is it about the church. That is merely the backdrop on which these characters relate to each other, or more accurately, fail to relate to each other. Alicia Grega, Electric City

The basic conceit for this production was that the lovers were red-nosed clowns caught up a world dominated by characters from commedia dell'arte. The clowns, ever innocent and seeking affection, grabbed our hearts, while their families and friends, focused on status and image, led them terribly wrong.		As Mercutio’s (wisecracking) final words in Romeo and Juliet demonstrate, there is a place for humor even in the midst of the ”gravest” tragedy. Maximizing this model to its most ridiculous proportions, Zuppa del Giorno’s "The Very Nearly Perfect Comedy of Romeo and Juliet" is a schizophrenic experience likely to leave you with mixed emotions. The intriguing modern commedia production continues at Electric Theatre Company in Scranton through Sunday. Alicia Grega, Electric City

	We began with the notion that the play tries to be a comedy (most of the time) until very late in the story. Mark McKenna directed the clowns, Angelo Crotti worked with me on the commedia, and I did my best to knit it all together while playing two small roles. My only regret was not being able to see the whole thing, uninterrupted. Audiences loved it (aside from a few Shakespeare purists).

A funny play with a dark undercurrent, it moves the audience quickly through contrasting moods and emotional colors. This was a premiere production but the script needed little work, and what work was needed, the playwright quickly picked up on her own.

	If you act before the end of the month, you can see the "dark comedy" in its perfectly charming world premiere at Electric Theatre Company. "Lawnchairs" is set in a vaguely Southern suburban backyard in 1967. ETC producing artistic director David Zarko directs his keen four-member cast to a subtly comedic exploitation of a script that's notably been scrubbed clean of nonsense. Alicia Grega, Electric City

Dylan Thomas' play has more than 60 characters. We did it with six actors. I distributed the narration among all the actors, and of course everyone played about ten roles. The action moved in almost a dance-like fashion over the beautiful and evocative set by Matt McCormick.		. . . director David Zarko's artful staging brings clarity. . . The six-member ensemble portrays these and 40 more characters with an affectionate compassion. Alicia Grega, Electric City