Lyam B. Gabel (they/he) is a trans* director, performance-maker, and community organizer who creates containers for collective remembering and radical celebration. He splits his time between the mountains of Eastern, PA and NYC. They are currently working on DADDY, a performance and public health resource about pregnancy and birthing in a transmasculine body. Their work, the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table exploring queer care from the 1980s-present received a National Performance Network Creation Fund commission, was shown at the Theatre Communications Group annual meeting in 2022, and is being exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial. He specializes in new play development and work with solo performers. Recent NYC directing credits include My Cousin Nelu is Not Gay written and performed by Diana Lobontiu at The Brick and Amm(i)gone (co-director) written and performed by Adil Mansoor at University Settlement. They have developed work at Ars Nova, Judson Church, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pipeline, Ashland New Plays Festival, The Theater Offensive, and The New Orleans CAC among others. Lyam worked for eight years in New Orleans where they founded LAST CALL, a collective that documents and interprets neglected queer history. With LAST CALL they co-created and co-directed Alleged Lesbian Activities, a nationally touring musical about the history of lesbian bars funded by the NPN Creation Fund, the MAP fund, and the NEFA National Theater Project. With physical theater ensemble NEW NOISE they directed Jubilee, a dinner and performance that asks white audiences to reckon with familial patterns of racism (MAP ‘17). Other previous work includes a triptych of Greek tragedies adapted into a live film, an adaptation of Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale performed in a historic church, and an immersive installation at Parse Gallery. Drama League Resident 2023 and 2021, Drama League Fellow 2017. He holds a BFA in Acting and a BA in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University. Lyam is an Assistant Professor of Acting and Directing at Lehigh University.
Website: www.lyambgabel.com