Rena Heinrich received a B.A. in Theatre Arts from LMU in 1994. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Theater Studies at UC Santa Barbara and received her M.A. in Theater and Dance from Cal State LA. Rena's research explores the depiction of mixed-race subjectivity in contemporary performance, direction, and plays. Other areas of interest include: neuroscience and spectatorship, Asian/Asian-American theater, and Chekhovian drama.
Rena has directed and performed in over 50 productions, including film and television, appearing on such series as Ally McBeal, Pacific Blue, and The Young and the Restless. Her theatrical work has been produced in Los Angeles by Company of Angels, TeAda Productions, The Latino Theater Company, East West Players, Playwrights' Arena, the John Anson Ford Theatre, Artists at Play, Highways Performance Space, the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, and Casa 0101.
Rena recently directed the world premiere of In the Forest of Detroit for Dramatic Women at Center Stage in Santa Barbara. She directed the nationally touring production of Refugee Nation at Intermedia Arts/Pangea World Theater in Minneapolis and co-directed its critically acclaimed production at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 2012. She directed So the Arrow Flies for the Arts Council Korea's 2012 International Performing Arts Series at Dongguk University in Seoul, and her original production of Kokoro (True Heart) is featured in the Dramatist Play Service published version.
Rena is immensely grateful for the excellent education she received from Diane Benedict, Ron Marasco, Judith Royer, Katherine B. Free, and all the theatre faculty at LMU. Their foundational teaching continues to influence her life as an artist and a scholar.