Ronald Jenkins

Ronald Jenkins, a former Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellow, has facilitated theater workshops in prisons in Italy, Indonesia, and the United States. A Professor of Theater at Wesleyan University, Jenkins specializes in documentary theater focusing on themes of social transformation and human rights.  He has directed and/or translated the plays of the Italian Nobel Laureate Dario Fo and the Israeli playwright Joshua Sobol for numerous theaters, including the Yale Repertory Theatre, the American Repertory Theater at Harvard, and the Royal Shakespeare Company in London. His recent book, Saraswati in Bali, is the third in a trilogy documenting sacred temple performances in Indonesia as catalysts for community activism.  His articles have appeared in The Drama Review, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, UNESCO Theater Bulletin, The Jakarta Post, and The New York Times. A former circus clown, Professor Jenkins holds a doctorate from Harvard and a master’s degree in buffoonery from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College. Currently he is translating an eighteenth century sacred play that is performed regular by the villagers of Venafro, Italy in honor of their Patron Saint Nicandro. 

B.A. Haverford College; Ed.D. Harvard University