James Al-Shamma

Biography

Dr. James Al-Shamma is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Belmont University. He completed his undergraduate and graduate education at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he received a Ph.D. in Dramatic Art, an M.A. in Dramatic Art with a Directing Emphasis, and a B.F.A. in Theatre/Acting. At Belmont University, he teaches theatre history and literature, scriptwriting, improvisation, and other courses. His directing credits at Belmont include Hamlet: Hold off the Earth Awhile, Argonautica, Three Sisters, and Our Town. He has also taught at Texas A&M University-Commerce, where he directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Dr. Al-Shamma is a leading scholar of Iraqi theatre. He has authored and co-authored articles on the subject in Arab Stages and the Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. He is co-editor and co-translator of Contemporary Plays from Iraq, an anthology of nine works available for the first time in English, and co-authored the introduction to Contemporary Plays from Iraq, Vol. II. His forthcoming Theatre of Iraq under Occupation, 2003-2011: Lamentation, Homeland, Identity, with Amir Al-Azraki, will be the first monograph on Iraqi theatre to be published in English. He has authored, as well, two books on contemporary American playwright Sarah Ruhl.