Originally from Houston, TX, Jesse (he/him) spent several years as a freelance theater director based in New York City before joining the faculty of Texas Tech University. He works primarily on new and contemporary plays. Some favorite projects include Say You Heard My Echo with spoken word artist Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai (HERE Arts Center); The Betrothed by Dipika Guha and Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom by Jennifer Haley (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Cape Cod, MA); The Netflix Plays (Ars Nova); The Tens (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Zen Ties by Y York, based on the children's book by Jon J. Muth (The Rose Theatre, Omaha, NE); and How I Learned To Drive by Paula Vogel (FSU/Asolo Conservatory, Sarasota, FL). He has developed new work at the Lark Play Development Center; the New York International Fringe Festival; The Kitchen Theatre Co. (Ithaca, NY); and the Yale Cabaret.  He was the Artistic Director of the 2010 Yale Summer Cabaret and served as the Staff Repertory Director of The Acting Company. He is an alumnus of the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, where he conceived and directed a four-person adaptation of King Lear; the Drama League’s Directors Project; the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab; and the Civilians R&D Group. Jesse received his MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama. He is thrilled to be working with Sarah Norris and New Light Theater Project.