Nikki Ann Hartman
Associate Professor · Tenured
Department of Theatre Honors College
College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
She/Her/Hers/Herself
About
Nikki is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist who has been creating and producing theatre professionally for more than 4 decades. As an SDC Theatre Director, writer, actor and Professor of Theatre Nikki’s theatrical interests run in the Theatre of Social Conscience, Magical Realism, Solo Performance, and Farce. The Founding Artistic Director of The People’s Repertory Theatre Company, a company dedicated to Theatre of Social Action, Nikki remains committed to producing work that makes theatre essential to her community. A recipient of a 2026 Voxel Artist Residency, Nikki’s personally and politically charged one-[trans]-woman play, Doll Parts…, will have its world-premiere at The Voxel Theatre July 21 – 26, 2026.Recent directing credits include: the world-premiere of Susan McCully’s delicious farce Voracious, David Auburn’s Proof, Melanie Marnich’s These Shining Lives, Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, the multiple award-winning production of Diana Son’s Stop Kiss, and Jessica Dickey’s The Amish Project with the Munich Film Akademie (MFA) in Munich, Germany.
Nikki is a certified Meisner Acting Teacher and an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Nikki also teaches and directs for the Munich Film Akademie in Munich, Germany.
Research interests
As a director, scholar, and theatre producer, Nikki moderated and/or served on panels and presented at national symposiums throughout the United States. Along with a research grant for a study on “The changing elements of language, image, and performative techniques in alternative theatre performance,” Nikki's paper, “Social Conscience and the American Theatre” was presented as part of the Milton Center’s National Panel Discussion on Responsibility and the Arts. An advocate of inter-disciplinary work in the arts, Nikki served as Moderator for numerous National Symposiums, including: Dead Man Walking: Theatre, Social Change, Prison Ministry, and the Death Penalty, Staggering Toward America: We the People(s)… Defining a National Identity, and Live from the Front Lines: Is Anybody Listening? Nikki's paper on Samuel Beckett’s Rough for the Theatre 1, along with its simultaneous production, were part of The National Symposium on Samuel Beckett. Her paper, “Considerations in Presenting Mission-Centered International Arts Programming” was presented at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival in Ottawa, Ontario. In 2017, Nikki was selected to work with internationally renowned directors, playwrights, and theatre artists from around the globe at the La MaMa International Director’s Symposium in Umbria, Italy.Nikki continues to produce in a variety of theatrical genres, artistically and academically my interests focus on the Theatre of Social Conscience, Magical Realism, Solo Performance, and Farce, and has been repeatedly cited for excellence as a theatre director. Nikki's productions of Susan McCully’s delicious farce Voracious, David Auburn’s Proof, Melanie Marnich’s These Shining Lives, Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, the multiple award-winning production of Diana Son’s Stop Kiss, and Jessica Dickey's The Amish Project in Munich, Germany, have been noted for the strength of their ensemble work. Nikki's production of Noises Off! at UL Lafayette received 10 Awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and was chosen to represent the region as an example of Excellence in Theatre Production at Region VI’s Regional Conference in Amarillo, Texas. In New York, as Director- and Dramaturge-in-Residence, Nikki was a member of the production team responsible for writing, producing, and staging the musical Voices with The New York Institute of Dance and The Kaleidoscope Dance Company. Along with directing professionally, Nikki was the Founding Artistic Director of The People’s Repertory Theatre Company.
A Certified Meisner Acting Teacher, Nikki directs and teaches in the United States and Munich, Germany.
Teaching interests
My vitae sites and student evaluations evidence my accomplishments as a seasoned teacher of diverse student populations. I have substantial experience teaching throughout the theatre curriculum at several academic, pre-professional theatre training programs. I am a rigorous, compassionate, and disciplined teacher. At UMBC, I teach acting, directing, and theatre performance within the BFA in Acting and BA in Theatre Studies Degree Programs, and teach a performance-based Contemporary Theatre course within the University’s Honors Program. I am proud to say that many of my former students are working professionally in theatre, film, and television as actors, directors, stage-managers, technicians, and theatre artisans in Chicago, New York, NOLA, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.After completing my Meisner Acting Teacher Certification training in 2017, I founded the Baltimore Meisner Workshop, a professional studio where, in addition to my work at UMBC, I teach a Meisner-based approach to actor training. Teaching internationally, I was honored to be selected by World Learning to serve as a Fulbright Specialist, and in 2018 I designed and co-taught a 4-week Summer Acting Intensive for teachers and students at the Munich Film Akademie in Munich, Germany.
Education
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Other, Directing
— Illinois State University (1992) A Scrap of Paper: The Chase for Balanced Reason is Nothing Less Than a War
- BS, Theatre Arts - Directing — State University of New York, Oneonta (1983)
- Other, Theatre Arts — Nassau Community College (1979)