About

Zoë creates theatre

to spark imagination

and open hearts

to the magic of transformation.

As a theatre director, I strive to create conditions where artists and audiences can free their mischievous child-like imaginations and reunite them with their loving and vulnerable hearts. When the imagination and heart team up we have the power to transform ourselves and our communities. As an artist my mission is to reject perfectionism, embrace humor, and invite others to see beyond what we’ve been told is possible.

Through my experiences as a transgender woman existing outside the boundaries, I have expertise in observation, problem-solving, and a flair for creating new possibilities. I delight in creative challenges and embrace conflict as a path for growth. My goal is to empower artists to take up space with their bodies, imaginations, and hearts so that they feel and know that theatre belongs to them.

Bio

Zoë Adams is a Brooklyn-based theatre director originally from Spring, Texas. She is the 2024–2026 Drama League Stage Directing Fellow and recently served as Assistant Director to Anna Shapiro on the Tony Award–winning EUREKA DAY at Manhattan Theatre Club. Zoë has collaborated with New York Stage and Film, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Red Bull Theater, and will direct a new project for DirectorFest this February, produced by Spoke Media. She is currently the Co-Creative Director of the 2025 Glamour Women of the Year Awards. An alumna of Columbia University’s MFA Directing program and an Associate Member of SDC, Zoë is drawn to theatricality, spectacle, and bold, imaginative worlds—and dreams of one day directing the Olympics Opening Ceremonies.

Zoë studied puppetry and object manipulation with Mervyn Millar at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Viewpoints with SITI Company, and Moment Work with Leigh Fondakowski of Tectonic Theatre Project.

MFA, Directing, Columbia University

Headshot photography by Patrick Donovan