Derek Goldman

Derek Goldman is an award-winning international stage director, playwright, producer,
educator, festival director, adapter/ deviser, curator, and published scholar. He serves as
Artistic and Executive Director of The Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics (The Lab) at
Georgetown University, with a mission “to humanize global politics through performance.” He
is Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at Georgetown with a joint appointment in the
School of Foreign Service as Professor of Global Performance, Culture and Politics. He is director
and co-author of the internationally celebrated play “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski,
which has been performed to acclaim Off-Broadway and at leading theaters such as
Shakespeare Theater Company, Berkeley Repertory, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Spoleto
USA, as well as in the UK, Spain, and 4 cities in Poland. He also co-directed and co-authored the
new feature film version (Remember This) which has received awards at numerous festivals and
aired nationally on PBS Great Performances. Goldman has directed over 100 theatrical
productions and worked regularly as an adapter/playwright at off Broadway, and international
and regional theaters such as Steppenwolf in Chicago; Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Folger,
Ford’s Theater, Lincoln Center, Theater for A New Audience, Baltimore Center Stage, Everyman,
Mosaic, Woolly Mammoth, Theater J, Segal Center (Montreal), and many others. He received
the President’s Award for Distinguished Scholar-Teachers as well as the Provost’s Award for
Innovation in Teaching for his work around the world on In Your Shoes, a groundbreaking
approach he created to counter polarization and build trust by using innovative techniques
rooted in theatrical performance, dialogue and deep listening. His In Your Shoes workshops
have been shared with thousands of participants around the world. He holds a Ph. D. in
Performance Studies from Northwestern University. Most recently his celebrated world
premiere devised production The ART OF CARE was named one of the top productions of 2025
by The Washington Post and is now the centerpiece of The Lab’s larger Art of Care Initiatve.