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Office Location: ASC 282
(205) 996-4401

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

• BFA, National Academy for Theater and Film Arts in Bulgaria, Directing
• M.A., Sofia University, Slavic Literature and Linguistics
• PhD, University of Washington, Theatre History and Dramatic Theory

Vessela Warner, Ph.D., is a professor of theatre history, dramatic literature, and dramaturgy. Her research focuses on South Slavic drama, post-communist theatre, and postcolonial and performance theories. She co-edited Staging Postcommunism: Alternative Theatre in Eastern and Central Europe after 1989 (University of Iowa Press, 2020). In addition to this international collection, Warner has contributed chapters to Decolonial Perspectives and Dramaturgy in Global Perspectives (Bloomsbury Press, 2025), Routledge Companion to Contemporary European Theatre and Performance (2024), Contemporary Balkan Cinema: Transnational Exchanges and Global Circuits (Edinburgh University Press, 2020), The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy (2015), From Exsilium to Exile: Forced Migrations in Historical Perspective (University of Gdansk, 2014), and International Women Stage Directors (University of Illinois Press, 2013), among others. Her articles have appeared in Slavic and East European Journal, New England Theatre Journal, Slavic and East European Performance, Balkanistica, TheatreForum, Ecumenica: Journal of Theatre and Performance, and many others. Warner has dramaturged for Alliance Theatre, Atlanta GA and Overground Physical Theatre Company, New York City. She served as President and Vice President of the Bulgarian Studies Association for seven years.