2019 Drama League Fellows

““These exceptional directors are going to change the face of the American theatre, of that I’ve no doubt,” says the Drama League's executive artistic director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks.”

"A final nod must go to director Sophia Watt for the perfect harmony she creates from a cast that we’ve neither seen together on a stage before nor imagined previously. We have Houston powerhouse talent, up and coming exciting performers and actors we adore and wish we saw more of. Under Watt’s assured hand, this cast has both the energy of a first time outing and the ease of regular colleagues.

The rest is pure magic.”

"Sophia Watt's direction has brought out two fine performances at just the right pace to keep things taut and immersive.
’Oleanna’ demands to be seen again, and The Landing Theatre Company has just the right chops to bring it to life at 14 Pews. It feeds off the intimate space, and they have found two actors who have the energy to deliver the message at the right pitch to make the audience squirm. You may not be entirely comfortable, but you will be riveted and surprised at how things you thought you knew change and twist as they are examined. This is exactly what a great night at the theatre should be.”

" The Landing Theatre’s production, for instance, starts out feeling almost opposite to Rich’s interpretation, more in line with a feminist ‘Get Out’ than a right-wing attack on #MeToo. Sinclair crosses her arms, a universal sign of self-guardedness. She moves a little away when the man huffing in front of her leans in her direction. Director Sophia Watt gives us signs of Carol’s discomfort.
…Here is where the production says something that the play never did, honing in on the idea of emotional safety. It asks us, through Sinclair’s body language, whether the definition of safety should be defined by the perpetrator or the victim. ‘It’s not for you to say,’ Carol tells John, calling him a ‘yapping little fool’
...Watt almost wrangles a newfound sense of sincerity out of the script.’”


“Director Sophia Watt navigates the emotion of Ruhl’s play with an almost choreographic eye. Watt’s approach is sophisticated and carefully restrained when necessary, as well as efficient. Watt also shows a way with the actors, who all shine in their performances.

Gently emotional and touchingly intelligent, Main Street Theater’s production of The Oldest Boy: A Play in Three Ceremonies is a gripping, thought-provoking play.”

“ Watch out for Sophia Watt. Last month, at the Landing Theatre, she directed a challenging production of David Mamet’s ‘Oleanna,’ a play from 1992 that was supposed to be a takedown of leftist/feminist PC culture but today feels like a #MeToo-era reclamation. And now she’s part of a team that has modernized a play written by a man more than a hundred years ago: Henrik Ibsen’s ‘Hedda Gabler,’ from 1891.
…In “Oleanna, Watt had to wrestle the script away from Mamet to make sure the female character was more than a man’s thesis. Ibsen proves an easier writer to reclaim."

"Called ‘Creatures of Habit’ (written by Blaise Miller and directed with verve by Sophia Watt), it is by far the best and most fully realized play in the series. Equal parts funny, scathing and cringe-worthy, this is a show that holds up a mirror to some of our worst online behavior and shames us into seeing. Tweeters Justin Gibbons, Faith Fossett, Estee Burks and Brandon Hobratschk could be any one of us. Probably have been us, if not on social media, then in direct conversation or thought as we levy ultimately empty sentiments instead of action in times of crisis."