Elaine Vaan Hogue

 Elaine Vaan Hogue is a director, actor, and teacher.  Working in various styles and disciplines Elaine’s primary focus is a physical approach to acting, directing, and devising new works.  Elaine performs, directs, and teaches in diverse settings—professional, university, community– across the country. Elaine is a passionate and active member of The Magdalena Project, a dynamic international cross-cultural network of women’s theatre and performance facilitating critical discussion, artistic support, and training.  The Magdalena Project’s reach extends across generations and is represented by every continent.   Elaine has participated in many Magdalena festivals and gatherings.  She is profoundly influenced by the work of El Grupo Yuyachkani (Peru), Dah Theatre (Serbia), Odin Teatret (Denmark), and Teatro delle Radici (Switzerland). Meeting and collaborating with incredible women from different countries and diverse cultures is food for her soul and a creative necessity.

Elaine is extraordinarily grateful for these ongoing artistic exchanges. Elaine is also the Co-Artistic Director and founder of The Gypsy Mamas, a grass-roots laboratory sustaining creative exploration and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in the creation of new work.  She particularly loves collaborative creative adventures in which artistic roles are fluid.  Gypsy Mamas projects include Creation: Mythic Weavings (an installation/performance exploring creation myths), When Jennie Goes Marching (a performance remembering the women who disguised themselves as men and enlisted and fought in the American Civil War), The Future of Ice (a performance/installation inspired by Gretel Ehrlich’s book about the disappearance of winter due to global warming). Regional directing work in the Boston area includes The Kite Runner, Imagining Madoff, The Amish Project, Baltimore, Oleanna (New Repertory Theatre), The Tempest (Arts After Hours), A Disappearing Number (Underground Railway Theatre), Crave (Nora Theatre Company), Metamorphosis, Walking the Volcano (BCAP).

As an actor she has most recently appeared in Mrs. Packard (Bridge Rep/Playhouse Creatures), The Road to Mecca (BCAP), Friends of Armenia (Faneuil Hall).  Elaine is thrilled to be performing in two world premieres this coming year—The Journey (BCAP/Inmotion Theatre) and Dark Room (Bridge Repertory Theatre). Elaine has newly ventured into the realm of “cyberformance” collaborating with fellow members of The Magdalena Project (New Zealand, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Serbia).  These experimental cyberformances are What’s in the Water? (Magdalena Festival, Brazil), All The Better To See You With (Transit Festival, Denmark), MagFest KISS (Amsterdam), and trans-hack-feminist UpStage Jam (Eclectic Tech Carnival). Elaine is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (Associate), SAG/AFTRA, The Magdalena Project.