Paul Austin began directing his senior year at Emerson College with Arthur Miller’s, A Memory of Two Mondays, and wrote the book for and directed a musical based on the comic strip Peanuts. Since then, he has directed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, at his own theatres, and at Sarah Lawrence College where he also taught acting and directing.

Included in the scores of plays he has directed are Long Day’s Journey into Night, by Eugene O’Neill, The Birthday Party, by Harold Pinter, Yerma by Garcia Lorca, Sophocles’, Antigone, The House of Blue Leaves by John Guare, and Chekov’s Three Sisters.

Among the new plays he has introduced are I am A woman, a one-person show compiled with and for Viveca Lindfors, Percy Granger’s Eminent Domain, Shirley Lauro’s, The Contest, Michael Moody’s, The Fool, and Rilla Askew’s By the Time We Got to Woodstock.

The Contest, by Shirley Lauro. Ensemble Studio Theatre

“…the production, as directed by Paul Austin at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, is impeccable.”

Mel Gussow, NY Times

Long Day’s Journey into Night, by Eugene O’Neill. George Street Theatre

“Enough cannot be said about of Paul Austin’s direction. To see it is to admire it. He has paced the marathon play perfectly.  … the most thrilling piece of canny direction and moving acting we’ve seen in some time.”

Dan Zigler, Globe-Times

House of Blue Leaves, by John Guare. Cricket Theatre

“Paul Austin’s staging of the 1971 Obie Award winner is almost unbelievably good.”

Roy M. Close, Minneapolis Star

Eminent Domain, by Percy Granger. Circle in the Square on Broadway

“Paul Austin’s staging is cannily thorough…. the five-member cast is seamlessly good, another compliment to Austin.”

Village Voice

“Part of the enjoyment stems from Paul Austin’s handsome and subtle production…”

Feingold, Village Voice

“Director Paul Austin has staged a nearly flawless production…”

Joanna Langfield. WMCA

“this fine production, adroitly directed by Paul Austin.”

William A. Raidy, Newark Star-Ledger

“… the performances Paul Austin has directed are uniformly excellent.”

Walter Kerr, NY Times

McCarter Theater, Princeton.

“Under Mr. Austin’s astute direction, the actors achieve a unity and an intimacy that warm the McCarter’s broad stage.”

Mel Gussow, NY Times

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, George Street Playhouse

“… in the meticulous and sensitive hands of director Paul Austin…”Of Mice and Men” is more than alive: it is vibrant.”

Andy Seiler, The Home News

“…a brilliant production… Paul Austin stages the work as on ongoing ballad of doom and horror…”

Mirko Tuma, News Tribune

Paul Austin has been teaching acting for many years, while busy with his career as actor and director. Hundreds of actors have passed through the doors of his various studios to begin or refresh their careers in the theatre. And many have gone on to become to become accomplished professional actors. Others have taken their love for the theatre and used the skills they discovered to teach, to write, produce and create theatres of their own. Mr. Austin was a recipient of the Teachers who Make a Difference award from the Creative Coalition at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013.

In addition to teaching and coaching privately, he also taught acting and directing for many years at Sarah Lawrence College. He has also been a guest teacher at Rutgers University, the University of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute.