Bio

Raised in the theatre, and hooked as a technical apprentice while still in elementary school, Jim builds on over 30 years' experience as an artist, educator, and researcher specializing in new plays for and by young people.

Jim is the 7-12 grade theatre teacher for Holmdel Township Schools, an adjunct professor in the Program in Educational Theatre at NYU, and a member of the New Jersey Thespians State Board of Directors where he coordinates the annual NJ Thespian PlayWorks program. Previously, Jim was an Artistic Associate for the New Plays for Young Audiences Series at the Provincetown Playhouse and Director of Education for Writers Theatre of New Jersey (WTNJ). At WTNJ, Jim taught playwriting & acting and led devising workshops for youth. He was the director & producer of the annual New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival and oversaw implementation of literary and performing arts workshops in schools across the state. His additional teaching experience includes theatre courses at Manhattanville College, Monmouth University, and Middlesex County College, as well as playwriting and arts integration workshops for teachers. Jim is a certified teacher of Theatre and English in New Jersey where he has also served on the advisory boards for both the Middlesex County Vocational Technical High School of the Arts and the Union County Academy for Performing Arts; Jim also consulted on theatre exit exams for the NJ Department of Education. In 2017, Jim developed the inaugural playwriting program for New Jersey Thespians, the state chapter of the International Thespian Society / Educational Theatre Association.

Jim specializes in the development of new theatrical works by and for youth. His research is published in journals including Youth Theatre Journal and ArtsPraxis and he has presented on his work with young writers at international education conferences. His doctoral dissertation, titled Taking Them Seriously: A Study of the Long-term Impact of Participation in the New Jersey Young Playwrights Festival, focused on festival participants’ perceptions of how collaboration with professional theatre artists as a young writer guided subsequent career work, personal development, and education. These findings inform his classroom and rehearsal room pedagogy. While conducting dissertation research, Jim created The Young Playwrights Guide, a resource for young writers to locate publication and performance opportunities for their work. His dissertation proposal was a finalist for the Phi Delta Kappa Dissertation Award in 2015.

Jim was awarded the Lowell S. and Nancy Swortzell Graduate Scholarship (2008), a NJ Governor’s Award for Arts Education (2009), an Award of Excellence from the NJ Theatre Alliance (2018), and is a member of the Liverpool Central School District Fine Arts Hall of Fame. Jim volunteers as an Assistant Scoutmaster for BSA Scouting and is a proud advocate for Children's Alopecia Project.

Jim holds PhD and MA degrees in Educational Theatre from NYU and graduated magna cum laude with University Honors from Niagara University with a dual major BFA in Theatre and English. He is married to Bridget DeVivo, director of the award-winning drama program at Oak Hill Academy. Together, the direct a troupe of three children and one pug.