NIEGEL SMITH.
an award winning theater director and performance artist
the Artistic Director of NYC’s Obie Award winning theater, The Flea.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY.
Niegel Smith is a Bessie Award winning theater director and performance artist. He is the Artistic Director of NYC’s Obie Award winning theater, The Flea guiding the organization through its refounding as a hub for experimental art by Black, brown and queer artists. He is also a board member of A.R.T./New York and was a ringleader of Willing Participant, an artistic activist organization that whips up urgent poetic responses to crazy shit that happens.
He has helmed the productions of theatrical concerts by John Batiste, Taylor Mac, Suzan-Lori Parks, Lady Rizo and En Vogue; music theater works including The Hang, Plays for the Plague Year and The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist. His premiere productions of new plays and musicals and his participatory walks and performance art have been presented at museums and theaters around the US.
Niegel is the recipient of the Black Theater Alliance Award for Best Direction, City and State’s Trailblazer in the Arts 2025, and Sainthood from The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
ARTIST INTERVIEW.
Stay tuned for the interview, to be released on September 21.
“Yes, I love a great play with a great story that’s sophisticated and asks the audience to struggle and work. But I also make work that punches and pushes and shoves at boundaries we’re less comfortable with.”
combines an absolutely singular and beautiful
CREATIVE VISION
with a
COLLABORATIVE SPIRIT.
- THE NEW YORK TIMES
GALLERY.
Discover photos and videos from Niegel's work.
CREDITS: Father Comes Home From the War, Goodman Theatre Chicago, photos by Liz Lauren; headshot courtesy of the artist; The Fre, by Taylor Mac, directed by Niegel Smith,The Flea, photos by Hunter Canning; The Hang, by Taylor Mac, directed by Niegel Smith, HERE Arts, photos by Maria Baranova.