Actor Dennis Schebetta kicks off Opening Night of the 2025-26 GFS Season, “Milestones!”
Dennis Schebetta Bio:
Dennis Schebetta is an actor, director, and writer in film and theater. He has previously taught at Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Bellevue College. Dennis currently teaches at Skidmore College and SPAC.
Trained in the Meisner technique by William Esper, New York City, as well as in physical theater techniques informed by Lloyd Williamson, Meyerhold, and Lecoq, Dennis explores the dynamic intersection of these methodologies in his practice and in his teaching. His current research regards psychological well-being in performance and actor training, especially as it relates to consent-based practices. He is also interested in the intersection of technology with theater, particularly robots and multimedia.
As a theatre director, he has directed off-off Broadway and regionally at theatres such as Ensemble Studio Theater, 29th Street Rep, Vital Theater, City Theatre, and 12 Peers Theater. For Skidmore, he recently directed Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson and Heddatron by Elizabeth Meriwether.
As a film director, his short My Date with Adam, which he produced, wrote, and directed, won “Best Comedy” in the High Desert International Film Festival and was an official selection of New Filmmakers LA, New Filmmakers NYC, Boston Sci-Fi Festival, Phoenix International Film Festival, and the London Sci-Fi Film Festival. Other theatrical directing credits include Soldier Song (also writer), Romeo & Juliet (a hybrid film/theater production), American Soldiers by Matt Morillo, Dog in the Manger, Agamemnon by Aeschylus, Nine by Arthur Kopit, the devised production 7 Minutes to Midnight, and the world premieres of Neena Beber’s Part of the Story and Seth Kramer’s Prelude to 35.
As an actor, he recently performed as Don John in Saratoga Shakespeare Company’s Much Ado About Nothing and Capital Rep’s Next Act New Play Festival. Other theatrical acting credits include An Ideal Husband, The Tempest, August: Osage County, Marjorie Prime, Peter and the Starcatcher, California Suite, Shining City, Slasher, Play, and Big River.
Q & A with Actor Dennis Schebetta:
GFS: Can you please tell us a little about yourself…
DS: I was born in the Bay Area and grew up mostly in northern Nevada, moving to New York City to study acting and pursue a career in the theater. I did many day jobs, mostly in an office, as well as stage-managed, directed, wrote plays, and produced theater, as well as acting. I attended Virginia Commonwealth University for my MFA and then moved to Seattle, where my wife pursued her PhD. I started my academic career first at Carnegie Mellon and then at the University of Pittsburgh before finally landing at Skidmore College six years ago. I love living in this area, being close to nature but also being able to be part of a thriving artistic community – theater and music. I’ve enjoyed working with so many talented artists in this area, from Saratoga Shakespeare Company, Adirondack Theater Festival, Northeast Theater Ensemble, and Capital Rep.. I’m a big fan of SPAC and Caffe Lena, and other places to watch live music and enjoy live theater
GFS: When did you first encounter and connect with Shakespeare’s works?
DS: In high school, I read Macbeth, and it just grabbed my imagination and sparked something in me. It felt like I was reading an action movie script. It might have been the first time I understood what was going on. It just had so much - witches, a ghost, murder, battles. And then Hamlet was my favorite play for a while - I remember watching the PBS Great Performances version with Kevin Kline over and over, mesmerized and entranced. My first Shakespeare role was in undergrad as Sampson in Romeo & Juliet – I got to start the big group fight in the show with the line “I do bite my thumb, sir!”. They literally put a rapier and dagger in my hand, and I learned to fight and speak the text, and I thought, “Well, this is fun; how can I do this for the rest of my life?!”. I did another play, King John, at school, and studied Shakespeare while doing Meisner training with Bill Esper, but it wasn’t until a lot later in life when I met and took classes from John Basil that I really dove back into the world of the bard. That also started a friendship (and mentorship), and we ended up writing an acting book together. He had studied and worked with John Barton from the RSC, so I learned so much from him about how to have fun and play with the text as well as break it down and make it work for you as an actor. He once told me that if you want to really get good, you have to speak some text every day, just a little bit here and there. A sonnet. A few lines from a speech. Anything. It becomes part of your DNA. Although I’ve acted in a good number of productions, most recently at Saratoga Shakespeare, and directed a few plays, I find that teaching it and exploring it in class makes me understand even more. It deepens my love, and I admire the beauty and the complexity.
GFS: What do you like most about Acting?
DS: Theater is all about the connection between actor and audience. And acting, for me, is about being truthful and present in the moment. There’s no substitute for that, no app, no AI chatbot that can do that. There's also the joy of it, too, of course! Actors get to play, to use their imagination, to have fun, as well as be storytellers. We can embody such great heroes, like Henry V, or show us the face of villainy, like Richard III. I’m also a bit of a nerd and love to dig into the world of the play and the history and times.
GFS: How do you feel that Shakespeare connects with audiences still today?
DS: Shakespeare is universal because he was writing about humanity. All the things that Henry V goes through are the same things that leaders have to go through. Managing the cost of going to war, knowing who to listen to and who to trust, breaking old friendships that no longer serve, forming alliances, political dances, and merely trying to rouse soldiers to keep fighting. It’s all so human. And so much about Shakespeare is about love of humanity – how we love each other, like Romeo & Juliet, for example. Or how we fail in love or become jealous, like Othello or Winter’s Tale. I tell my students to always look for the humanity. These aren’t just kings and queens or people from other times - they are family, friends, and the working class. They are us. As Hamlet calls it, “The mirror of nature”.
GFS: What is your favorite line from any of Shakespeare’s works?
DS: Since I’m directing As You Like It right now, I will have to go with “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players."
GFS: Who are your influences in Shakespearean works?
DS: I don’t think I have any influences from the works...
GFS: What does classical music mean to you?
DS: The world would be very empty (and silent) without the vast beauty of classical music. I’ve listened to classical music since I was in high school and used to do my homework to it (I know, I’m a nerd!). My gateway to the greats like Stravinsky and Beethoven or Vivaldi was listening to movie soundtracks (like John Williams’ scores for Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark). I use music a lot in my teaching and try to convey how important rhythm and tone can be to our bodies. How music tells a story. You can feel music in your body - you physically feel the vibrations, and in that way it is a sensory experience. And it connects us to our emotions, which we may not want to admit. We are not just thinking beings, but feeling beings. Classical music explores high emotion - the big feelings like anger, joy, grief. This is similar to what good drama does. Shows us the heights and depths of humanity. Classical music can be even more abstract and even more expressive, showing us emotions we can’t put into words.
DS: When not acting, directing, and writing in film and theater, and teaching at Skidmore College, what does Dennis like to do in our region?
GFS: I try to keep up with seeing shows in the area, of course, which can be hard in rehearsal, or see a movie. I feel like as I get older, I’ve become a bit of a homebody, wanting to seclude myself with my wife and daughter and just watch movies, play some guitar or harmonica (I’m a wannabe Bob Dylan), or curl up with a good book. I love to browse through used bookshops, as well as support my local bookshop, Northshire. You also might find me catching a show at Caffe Lena, which is one of my favorite spots for live music. We live not too far from Moreau Lake State Park and so enjoy trail hikes there and other places. I’ve recently gotten back into sketching and watercolor work, which is a nice way to exercise a different part of my activity and brain. My daughter is a ballerina and is currently rehearsing the Nutcracker, so we drive her to class and rehearsal a lot. We try to keep busy.
GFS: What are you looking forward to most about this performance and collaboration with the GFS?
DS: The whole intersection and conversation between the Shakespearean words and the music - so curious to see how they will inform each other. To me, Shakespeare is music, so it makes sense, and I hope that shines through in the performance.
Click here to purchase tickets to Sound + Shakespeare on Sunday, October 5, 2025, 4 pm, Hudson Falls High School
For more information on the 2025-26 season of “Milestones,” click here
To purchase 2025-26 season subscriptions, click here
To learn more about Dennis Schebetta, visit his website: https://www.dennisschebetta.com/bio.html