Josh is a Lecturer in Improvisation and an Alda-certified Facilitator at the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University where he works with scientists and researchers on how to better communicate their work/stories through improv techniques. Though he began working with the Alda Center in March 2019, he has been a professional theatre & teaching artist since 2003, teaching & performing all over the world (Japan, Iceland, Italy, Spain, Amsterdam, Canada, London, Paris, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Hawaii, NYC/Broadway). Josh is a staunch advocate for finding “play in our everyday” and using this tool in applied improvisation techniques in conjunction with empathetic listening. Josh holds an MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College.
SOTL’s pre-professional training and residency program in collaboration with Perry Central School. Each spring, students are immersed in a intensive theatre-making process that culminates in a performance(s) at PCS, as well as during the summer as a pre-show “Green Show” before SOTL’s mainstage touring performance. The goal of the program is to introduce students to the process of theatre-making from creation to script to rehearsal to performances, while creating a homegrown pipeline of talent for the professional company
Founded in 2013 while a grad student at Sarah Lawrence College, the Mnemonic Theatre Project uses puppetry and improvisation to make puppetry and improv comedy performances for seniors living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Josh won a 2014 National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellowship for the program, and had it featured on the PBS documentary series, Visionaries.
Voices UnCaged is our theatre outreach program serving the incarcerated. Founded in 2015 by Associate Artistic Director Chad Bradford, Josh and Shake on the Lake (SOTL) has annually taught this program in residence at Groveland Correctional Facility since 2016, working with the incarcerated population to create devised performances inspired by Shakespeare and self-reflection by the inmates, for the inmates. SOTL also performs their annual summer touring productions inside Groveland Correctional Facility.
This two-week long puppetry residency in Ms. Adolf’s 3rd & 4th grade art classes culminated in the construction of 120 rod puppets, some of which were featured in the Perry District Art Show, as well as the dancing aliens of Mos Eisley spaceport in the PCS Groundlings performance of Shakespeare’s Star Wars
Founded in 2013 while a grad student at Sarah Lawrence College, the Mnemonic Theatre Project uses puppetry and improvisation to make puppetry and improv comedy performances for seniors living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Josh won a 2014 National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellowship for the program, and had it featured on the PBS documentary series, Visionaries.
Shakespeare’s Star Wars, our 2017 Groundlings program, a mashup of Shakespeare, puppetry, and Star Wars. Adapted and directed by Josh Rice, in collaboration with the students of Perry Central School.
SHAKESPEAREMANIA!, our 2018 Groundlings program, mashing up the worlds of Shakespeare and WWE-style professional wrestling. Directed and designed by Josh Rice, in collaboration with the students of Perry Central School
Teaching Artist for Young Audiences of Western New York