DN Bashir

Assistant Professor of Theater and Performance

Primary Academic Program: Theater and Performance

Biography: DN Bashir is a playwright, theater-maker, and assistant professor of theater and performance at Bard College. Their accolades include the Fisher Center LAB Residency, MacDowell Residencies (2016, 2023), BAU Institute Residency at Camargo, Catwalk Institute Residency, and the 2021 Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting from the New York Community Trust, among others. They are a two-time recipient of the NYSCA Playwright Grant Award. 

Bashir’s work has been commissioned, developed, and supported by organizations such as Jack Arts, Soho Rep, WP Theater, the Playwrights’ Center, Bushwick Starr, Clubbed Thumb, the Dutchess County Historical Society, and the Fire This Time Festival. Published works include contributions to Our Red Book (Simon & Schuster) and The Immeasurable Want of Light (MacDowell, 3 Hole Press, (Writ)ual MixFest at Atlantic Theater). Notable stage plays include Night of Power, Room Enough (MacDowell, Playwrights’ Center), The Chronicles of Cardigan and Khente (Soho Rep), and Emily Black is a Total Gift (New Georges). Digital Media have screened at the Institute of Contemporary Art-London, England, Women in the Director’s Chair International Film Festival, Chicago and MIX Experimental Film and Video Festival, NYC.

Bashir’s theatrical works critique nonfunctional social systems through a fusion of traditional and experimental forms across stage and digital media. Known for biting humor and incisive narratives, Bashir bridges the chasm between carceral captivity and abolitionist creative praxis, transporting audiences to radically reimagined worlds and offering glimpses of reparative, alternative futures.

BFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago; MFA, Columbia University School of the Arts. At Bard since 2021.
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Location: Fisher Center for the Performing Arts