Michael Bigelow Dixon
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Directing
College Productions
Attack of the Monster Crabs
Attack of the Monster Crabs
Brecht's Antigone
Brecht's Antigone
Animal Farm
Animal Farm
Today Is History
Today Is History
Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions
Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions
Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions
Lawrence Booth's Book of Visions
Shakespeare in Mind
Shakespeare in Mind
Shakespeare in Mind
Picture
Picture
Picture
College Productions

My Mother#*^%#! College Life, Conceived by Jon Jory and Created by Brooke Jennet
​          and Michael Bigelow Dixon                                 Transylvania University                          2017
Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka                                     Transylvania University                          2016
Beware Wolf ... And Other Nightmares*  Monster monologues and one-acts Transylvania 2015
Shakespeare in Mind* a collage play by a dozen authors   Transylvania University               2014
Lawrence Booth’s Book of Visions* adaptation of Maurice Manning's poetry   T.U.              2014
Today Is History* by Transylvania Students                    Transylvania University                   2013
Attack of the Monster Crabs* by Kelsa Dine             Goucher College                                        2012
Animal Farm (musical) adapted by Peter Hall           Goucher College                                      2010
Antigone adapted by Bertolt Brecht                       Goucher College                                             2010
The Secret Life of Losers* by Megan Mostyn-Brown    Carleton College                                  2006
Ice Glen* by Joan Ackermann                                Carleton College Players                               2003
Knuckle by David Hare                                         Brown U. Summer Theatre                              1980
Antigone by Sophocles                                         North Carolina Central University                  1979


Professional Productions
Beautiful Again
Beautiful Again
Wit
The Blue Room, Match Games
2 B or Not 2 B, Match Games
Nixon's Nixon
Turn of the Screw
Creditors
The Philadelphia Story
The Philadelphia Story
Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure
Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird
Sex Habits of American Women
Sex Habits of American Women
Boats on a River
Boats on a River
Peterson Creative Photography and Design
Peterson Creative Photograph and Design
Peterson Creative Photography and Design
Professional Productions

On the Verge                                                            Commonweal Theatre                                2019
​Ghost-Writer by Michael Hollinger                    Commonweal Theatre                                2017
Outside Mullingar by John Patrick Shanley     Commonweal Theatre                                 2015
Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure by Steven Dietz    Commonweal Theatre            2013
Ellis Island (Symphony with Monologues)  Project SEE & Lexington Philharmonic      2013
The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry                         Commonweal Theatre                     2012
To Kill a Mockingbird adapted by Christopher Sergel      Commonweal Theatre              2011
Turn of the Screw by Jeffrey Hatcher                       Commonweal Theatre                          2010
Sweet, Sweet Motherhood* by Jeremy Kareken,        HERE, New York                              2010
Yankee Tavern* by Steven Dietz                            Florida Stage                                               2009
Match Games*, an evening of ten 10-minute plays      Actors Theatre of Louisville          2009
A Christmas Carol*, new adaptation by Allard & Dixon     Commonweal Theatre            2008
Boats on a River by Julie Marie Myatt        Los Angeles Theatre Works - NPR Radio      2008
Ward 57* by Jessica Goldberg                               Florida Stage                                                2008
Well by Lisa Kron                                               Park Square Theatre                                         2008
Boats on a River* by Julie Marie Myatt                  Guthrie Theatre                                        2007
Sez She* by Jane Martin (w/ Liz Engelman)                         Illusion Theatre                        2006
Boats on a River* by Julie Marie Myatt                  Guthrie Construction Zone                    2005
The Story* by Joaquin Vences                               Pillsbury House Chicago Ave Proj.          2005
Ice Glen*  by Joan Ackermann                              Florida Stage                                                 2004
The Sex Habits of American Women by Julie Marie Myatt    Guthrie Theatre                    2004
The Bill of (W)Rights* by 10 playwrights                           Mixed Blood Theatre                   2004
Mercy of a Storm by Jeffrey Hatcher                        Illusion Theater                                       2004
Mercy of a Storm by Jeffrey Hatcher                        Florida Stage                                            2003
The Sex Habits of American Women* by Julie Marie Myatt     Magic Theatre                    2003
Beautiful Again* by Melanie Marnich                     Commonweal Theatre Company          2003
Pleasure Cruise* by Kira Obolensky                       Guthrie Experience Program                  2002
Black Sheep* by Lee Blessing                               Florida Stage                                                  2001
Wit by Margaret Edson                                        ATL Mainstage Production                          2000
Standard Time* by Naomi Wallace                         Humana Festival of New Plays              2000
Creditors by August Strindberg                              ATL Free Theatre Production                 2000
Nixon’s Nixon by Russell Lees                             ATL Mainstage Production                        1999
Hold Me* by Marianne Harding Hales                     ATL Showcase                                        1999
Lunchtime* by Robert Marcato                              ATL Showcase                                            1999
Nightswim* by Julia Jordan                                  ATL Showcase                                              1998
Guest of Honor by Richard Strand                          NPR Radio/Anthem                                 1998
Lonely* by Ann Marie Healy                                 ATL Showcase                                               1997
The League of Semi-Superheroes* by Val Smith & Michael Dixon ATL Showcase             1996
Median* by John Stinson                                     ATL Showcase                                                 1995
Lysistrata* by Vladimir Prahcharov                                    ATL Showcase                                1994

* signifies first production/world premiere)    
Member:  Stage Directors and Choreographers 
 Sez She, 2006, Illusion Theatre received Minnesota's IVEY Award for Best Production in the Twin Cities.

Directing: Workshops and Readings 

Wake Up, Mrs. Moore by Julie Myatt                                 GeVa Theatre                                           2011
Behind the Eye by Carson Kreitzer                                     The Playwrights’ Center                         2009
Enchantment by Carson Kreitzer                                         The Playwrights’ Center                        2009
Dog and Wolf by Catherine Filloux                                                The Playwrights’ Center              2009
The Dalai Lama Is Not Welcome Here by Elaine Romero       The Playwrights’ Center               2008
Women Who Tidy Up by Ai Nagai                                                The Playwrights’ Center               2008
Inana by Michele Lowe                                                     The Playwrights’ Center                             2007
Calley’s Tally by Betsy Howie                                          Guthrie Theater                                            2005
The Boys by Jeffrey Hatcher                                              Guthrie Theater                                          2005
The Secret Lives of Losers by Megan Mostyn-Brown             The Playwrights’ Center                 2005
Vrooommm! by Janet Allard with Michael Dixon                 TheatreWorks, CA                            2004
Shadow Language by Kelly Stuart                                      Guthrie Theater                                        2005
Boats on a River by Julie Marie Myatt                                Guthrie Theater                                      2005
Sexsting by Doris Baizley with Susan Raffanti                      The Playwrights’ Center                   2004
Ada by Rosanna Staffa                                                      Guthrie Theater                                           2003
The Sex Habits of American Women by Julie Marie Myatt     The Playwrights’ Center             2003
Mayhem by Kelly Stuart                                                   InterAct Theatre Company                       2003
A Bright, Clear Sky by Kristina Halvorson                          Guthrie Theater                                    2003
Incognito by Janet Allard                                                  Guthrie Summer Conference                  2002
Good Boys by Jane Martin                                                            Guthrie Theater                              2002
Discovery of America by Arthur Kopit                                 Guthrie Theater                                    2002
Mayhem by Kelly Stuart                                                   Guthrie Theater                                           2002
Wintertime by Charles Mee                                               Guthrie Theater                                         2002

Resident Director, The Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis, MN (2007 – 2009)
Responsibilities included directing workshops of plays in progress by American and Japanese playwrights; heading the Core Writer program; moderating public events and post-show discussions; and scheduling and producing 25 workshops each year.

Directing Reviews

Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure by Steven Dietz, Commonweal Theatre Company, Lanesboro, MN  2013

Director Michael Bigelow Dixon, whose work is well known in Minnesota, has taken the material confidently in hand, and has fashioned a standout production.  There is a timely theme overarching the action (both figuratively and literally); some bold and surprising casting choices (which work); a brisk pace just on the good side of feverish; and a deft handling of the inevitable romance, appallingly overblown by Gillette, mercifully tempered by Dietz, and tamped down to an acceptable palatability by Dixon….. [T]his production will be remembered longer, stronger and better than most.  Michael Bigelow Dixon and his gifted cast, from their shining enclave in rural Minnesota, just may have mastered the Game. – James Briggs, http://mcmurdoscamp.wordpress.com

Sweet, Sweet Motherhood by Jeremy Kareken, HERE, off-off Broadway, NYC, 2010

Director Michael Bigelow Dixon does a superb job of keeping the proceedings believable, not an easy task. In this he is abetted by excellent design work from Ray Neufeld (sets), Christopher Brown (lights), and Zoë Woodworth (video).  – Clifford Lee Johnson III, Backstage

Match Games – 10 Ten-Minute Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville, 2009

Suavely directed by Michael Bigelow Dixon, the ensemble performs short plays that take the audience through romantic episodes ranging from youngsters awakening to the opposite sex, dating difficulties, marriage and breakups to the bedroom of a long-married couple whose love life has passed the point of impetuous passion.  –  Judith Edgerton, Louisville Courier-Journal

Ward 57 by Jessica Goldberg, Florida Stage, 2008

Under Michael Bigelow Dixon's smart and precisely calibrated direction, and thanks to the currents of tension and feeling that flow between Kapil and Morris, Ward 57 gets a penetrating, illuminating world premiere. – Christine Dolan, Miami Herald

Director Michael Bigelow Dixon provides remarkably fluid staging, partly due to Jim Fulton’s lighting and partly due to having characters seamlessly flow from one scene to the next. —Bill Hirschman, Sun Sentinel

Boats on a River By Julie Marie Myatt, Guthrie Theater, 2007

Dixon and designer Victor Becker, who uses tarps and bamboo furniture to create the ramshackle locales, give us a journey that is both theatrical and documentary (aided by the artful integration of Ted’s gritty video journal)….The coup de theatre comes at the end, as the child prostitutes revert to being children again, joyously riding bicycles that they long had wished for. It is a moment of simplicity and powerful tears, thanks to playwright Myatt, director Dixon and an affecting cast.   – Rohan Preston, StarTribune

Director Michael Bigelow Dixon wrangles all these intersecting stories well, drilling for detail in performance and presentation…  – Dominic A. Papatola, Pioneer Press

Ice Glen by Joan Ackermann, Florida Stage, 2004

A professional world premiere, this production steered by Michael Bigelow Dixon should induce theatre artistic directors around the country to program Joan Ackermann's lyrical, impeccably crafted play….Set in 1918 in a Berkshire cottage going to seed in the wake of a death, the story charted the re-awakening of its principal characters, each of whom were frozen in some respect.  Ackermann's language was as exhilarating as a spring thaw, the characters were fully realized, and the plot never sagged into the predictable.  –  Jan Sjostrom, Palm Beach Daily News

Now at Florida Stage in a world premiere gracefully directed by the Guthrie Theater’s Michael Bigelow Dixon, Ice Glen is billed as a comedy, but it’s an uncommonly rich and layered on… Some of Ackermann’s plot twists are surprising, some predictable, but the play is always energized and engaging.  
– Christine Dolen, Miami Herald

The script is getting its professional world premiere at Florida Stage. Unlike many other first-time productions, this one betrays no awkwardness. Under the sure direction of Michael Bigelow Dixon, who steered an earlier student production, all the elements have come together in a harmonious whole.  
– Jan Sjostrom, Palm Beach Daily News

The Florida Stage delivers a sparkling premiere for Ice Glen… As the Florida Stage’s guest director for Ice Glen, [Dixon] brings out the warm radiance of Ackermann’s style… –  Jack Zink, Sun Sentinel

Michael Bigelow Dixon (of last season’s Mercy of a Storm) again directs with a gentle touch, shepherding a play which could be precious with a more emphatic approach. – Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post

The Sex Habits of American Women by Julie Marie Myatt, Guthrie Theater, 2004 and Magic Theatre, 2003

Michael Bigelow Dixon, who directed the world premiere of this script last year in California, delivers a smooth, sure-handed staging…of a show that effectively pricks at a sensitive subject while never taking itself too seriously. – Dominic P. Papatola, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Directed at the Guthrie Lab by Michael Bigelow Dixon, it’s a production with wit to spare.    – Quinton Skinner, City Pages

Myatt’s comic drama, which had its world premiere at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre last weekend, is… gracefully directed by Michael Bigelow Dixon…. The cast is as solid as Dixon’s production.  – Chad Jones, The Tribune

Smartly directed by Michael Bigelow Dixon, whose background includes Louisville’s Actors Theatre and the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Sex Habits displays a production polish rarely encountered at the Magic.  – Charles Brousse, Marin Independent Journal

Bill of (W)Rights, Ten Short Plays at Mixed Blood Theatre, 2004

The concept itself is so compelling and so immediate that it would be worth seeing “Bill of (W)Rights” for the experience alone, regardless of the quality of the plays.  But Mixed Blood artistic director Jack Reuler and Guthrie Theater literary director Michael Bigelow Dixon, who conceived the project, have assembled a skilled and diverse ensemble of writers.  For the most part, their quick-hit plays find their mark….In Kelly Stuart’s “Spyware,” staged [by Dixon] with an exquisite sense of claustrophobia in a cramped spotlight loft, a married couple bickers about who is reading whose e-mail, in a snarky but intriguing look at the issue of “unreasonable search and seizure.”  –  Dominic P. Papatola, St. Paul Pioneer Press

Bill of (W)Rights is an extraordinary case; we might even call it great…. Conceived by Guthrie literary director Michael Bigelow Dixon and Mixed Blood artistic director Jack Reuler, Bill of (W)Rights comprises 10 short plays by nine writers and brings together 24 actors and five directors. – Dylan Hicks, City Pages

Mercy of a Storm by Jeffrey Hatcher, Illusion Theatre, 2004

Ironically, Hatcher’s tale was inspired by a juicy circumstance rife with melodrama.  He has pushed beyond that facility and journeyed with two people caught in the cruel pincers of fate, whose love is not sufficient to overcome their own actions and the expectations of society.  His co-conspirators in a marvelous staging that opened Friday at the Illusion Theater in Minneapolis are director Michael Bigelow Dixon, who senses the tragic soul of the play’s protagonist, and two excellent actors – Steve Hendrickson and Carolyn Pool.  – Graydon Royce, Star Tribune

Directed with an adriot, wry touch by Guthrie literary director Michael Bigelow Dixon, the production at once touches on and eschews the stereotypes that you’d anticipate in these two characters. … And so, though it’s a period piece, its deft creation and execution – carrried out with style, skill and panache – makes it feel like a brisk breath of fresh air.”  – Dominic P. Papatola, St. Paul Pioneer Press

It’s the heat between these two actors that gives this production its sizzle.  Director Michael Bigelow Dixon, who is artistic associate and literary manager of the Guthrie, draws performances from Hendrickson and Pool that made me care about this unlikely couple.  Under Bigelow Dixon, I get a strong sense of ensemble collaboration in this production, from playwright through sound designer.   – Minneapolis Magazine

Mercy of a Storm by Jeffrey Hatcher, Florida Stage, 2003

Hatcher, director Michael Bigelow Dixon and actors Steve Hendrickson and Carolyn Pool are all Minneapolis-based theater artists, smart ones who know that heaven is in the details.  They’ve brought this period tale of class conflict, jealousy and deception to a place where the snow is artificial but the emotions are powerfully authentic.  In other words, they get good weather, Florida Stage audiences get more good theater.– Christine Dolen, Miami Herald

As George and Zanovia struggle to weather the storm that’s rocking their marriage, Hendrickson’s and Pool’s carefully calibrated performances, Hatcher’s lucid words and Michael Dixon’s sure-footed direction ensure that we’re there with them, urging them toward a safe harbor. – Jan Sjostrom, Daily News

Beautiful Again by Melanie Marnich, Commonweal Theatre Co., 2003

The Commonweal Theater Company of Lanesboro sent what is to be an annual tradition of performing new scripts by Minnesota playwrights off to a great start by doing everything right…The play, which opened Friday, is also admittedly one of Dixon’s favorites, and fortunately the theater company got him to direct it.  Dixon did well by the play…imaginative staging is another key to success.  – Christina Killion Valdez, Rochester Post-Bulletin

Black Sheep by Lee Blessing, Florida Stage, 2001

Guest director Michael Bigelow Dixon, literary manager of Minneapolis’ Guthrie Theater, shows himself to be a man of visual and verbal dexterity.  Note his dream logic scene transitions, as characters vanish in front of our eyes or transmute into each other.  Even without much to say – at least by Blessing’s usual standard – Black Sheep manages to be wordy, but it rarely feels like it, thanks to Dixon’s staging flair.  — Hap Erstein, Palm Beach Post

Dixon…rigorously guards the boundaries of Black Sheep’s dream state.  Inside, he juggles symbolism, parody and satire with finesse.  – Jack Zink, Sun-Sentinel

Director Michael Bigelow Dixon and a terrific cast unerringly hit the right notes, finding a tone that makes even the most outrageous idea seem perfectly normal in the Winship’s twisted world…Black Sheep has its own weird logic, and Dixon coolly keeps a sometimes wild ride from veering off track.  
— Christine Dolen, The Miami Herald

  • Home
  • About
    • Bio
    • cv
    • Contact
  • Theatre
    • Director
    • Playwright
    • Dramaturg/Literary Manager
  • Teaching
    • College/University Faculty
    • Workshops & Master Classes
  • Publications
    • Book: Breaking from Realism
    • Articles
    • Books, Monographs, Journals Edited
  • Breaking from Realism: Workshops
  • Evil Genius: Monsters on Stage
  • Headspace Theatre & From the Neck Up Acting Company
  • Children's Books
  • Ultra Photography Portfolio