Jake is a theatre and film director based between Berlin and Brooklyn, NY. Jake's interest in interactive multimedia began with a question: is it possible to share the same air between audience and actor between continents?
For 12 years in New York, he worked both on and off-Broadway, working on new work by writers such as Adam Rapp ("Bingo With the Indians" -- Williamtown Theatre Festival), Eric Pfeffinger ("Tiny Baby" -- Actors Theatre of Louisville), Tommy Smith (Workingman's Clothes), Eric Sanders (Brick Theatre) and many others. He spent several years as the Artistic Associate at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre where he helped nurture the voices of new and upcoming writers from all over America.
Internationally, Jake has worked as both a director and video designer. His video projects have been seen at 3-Legged Dog (with Theater Mitu), Chinese Cultural Council, HERE Arts Center, PS122, Sibiu Theatre Festival (Romania), Transylvania International Film Festival (Romania), Tacheles (Berlin), IdaNowhere (Berlin), and the Delphi (Berlin).
He currently serves as the International Literary Advisor to TimeWave -- a festival exploring the themes of Transformation in the 21st century. Writers include Neil LaBute, Craig Lucas, Naomi Izuika and more.
Jake Witlen
New York City // Berlin, Germany
Artistic Board
OD@C
Which Direction Home
Experimenting with new technologies, Jake is interested in the intersection between art and life -- how it is that we are able to share emotion over a harsh instrument such as the Internet. With the idea that theatre is based on a shared breath, his work has continually searched to explore these deep truths about life and art.
He has made documentary films in Ecuador and India (available here), and has worked on new translations of plays from Japan (Michi Yamamura), France (Alexandra Devon) and been associated with numerous touring productions from all over the world.
For the Internationalists, Jake has directed "You Don't Know What Love Is" (Finland; Around the World); Seven Deadly Sins, Gluttony (Public Theatre, New York); "Rubble Room" (Berlin; winner of the 2010 Zitty Best of Award), the Virtual Dinner Party amongst others.
The Virtual Dinner Party
Around the World 2011
Rubble Room
Around the World 2010