The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales Ep346 - Diane Paulus: Six Floors of Masquerade Madness
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Mar 25, 2026 
Diane Paulus, Tony Award-winning director and artistic director at the American Repertory Theater, shares her music-first staging roots and family theatrical legacy. She discusses creating immersive theatre from The Donkey Show to Masquerade. Expect talk of six-floor audience choreography, reimagining scores, front-of-house as performance, and the massive logistics of making immersive worlds feel intimate.
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Photo Of Her Father Sparked A Directing Calling
- Diane Paulus discovered a photograph of her father directing Brother Rat in Tokyo, which made her realize directing was in her DNA.
- Her father directed for the Army Entertainment Corps and founded the Far East Players, shaping her theatrical upbringing.
The Donkey Show Invented Downtown Club Theater
- Diane described creating The Donkey Show as a midnight, DIY disco-immersive retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream that started with two classmates at Columbia.
- They built viral buzz by making attendees VIPs who could return if they brought a paying friend, moving from piano store to clubs to off-Broadway.
Audience Makes Theater Exist
- Diane argues theater only truly exists in the presence of a live audience because the event happens in the vibrational space between actor and audience.
- She frames theater as a visceral, ritual act distinct from filmed media and dependent on audience completion.