Deb Gottesman

Deb Gottesman is a founder and Co-Director of The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts in Washington, DC.  She is the director of The Theatre Lab's Life Stories Program, recipient of the Mayor's Arts Award for Innovation in the Arts and the Caron Community Leadership Award for a "record of leadership in the area of chemical dependency.”

She is also a professional actress who has performed frequently at Woolly Mammoth Theatre as well as at Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, Keegan Theatre, and the Washington Shakespeare Company, among many others. She has directed more than thirty productions at The Theatre Lab, including Ragtime, Les Misérables, West Side Story, The Laramie Project, and My Soul Look Back and Wonder (which premiered at Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and is now the subject of a feature length documentary by Academy Award-nominated Producer and Director Nicole Boxer), as well as productions for Catholic University’s Musical Theatre Department and National Geographic.

Deb received her M.F.A. from Catholic University and has taught drama at the Round House Theatre, Woolly Mammoth and American University. She is a 2003 recipient of the prestigious Linowes Leadership Award for her contributions to arts education for underserved populations. Along with Buzz Mauro, she has co-authored three books on applied acting, all published by Penguin Putnam.