1972 Wayne Brinda, Ed.D.

As an educator, researcher, and stage director, Wayne is currently Co-Founder/Artistic Director of Prime Stage Theatre and Assistant Professor of Secondary Education at Pitt/Bradford where he focuses on adolescent literacy. Since the Playhouse days, Wayne directed many high school musicals, was Assistant Stage Manager for Pgh Civic Light Opera, Stage Manager for the Playhouse Rep Company in the late 1970’s, and Director of the Red Barn Theatre in Allison Park for 10 years. He received a MA in Theatre from Penn State in 1986, worked for Marcus and Shapira law firm in Pittsburgh, was an announcer on WDUQ, and directed several community theatre and college productions. He now produces and directs shows for Prime Stage.

A former instructor of English and theatre for Sewickley Academy Sr. School and The Oakland School, he followed Bill Leech as Director of Playhouse Jr. until 1993. Wayne got his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Duquesne University in 2004. His dissertation Bringing Literature to Life for Sixth Grade Reluctant Readers: A Collaborative, Participatory Study using Theatre for Young Audiences Experiences to Address Literacy was nominated as a finalist for a national research award by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education and is listed in Dissertation of Note by the Children’s Literature journal.

As a Museum Teaching Fellow at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, he conducts research and delivers presentations on using young adult literature and the theatre to teach the Holocaust. A reviewer for Middle School Journal, he also delivers papers and presentations on adolescent literacy and Holocaust education in Krakow, Poland and for the National Council of Teachers of English, The Teachers Teaching Teachers conference, The National Middle School Association, the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, and at the International Reading Association 21st World Congress on Reading in Budapest, Hungary. Wayne has published articles in Stage of the Art, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, and ALAN Report.