Hey hey!

My name is Shai Vaknine and I am a multi-disciplinary theater artist who is completing my BFA in Theatre Arts at Boston University. I believe that collaboration is the most important tool in an artist’s toolbox. I am incredibly passionate about creating art and new works with everyone on an equal playing field. As a director and actor, I am drawn to works that discuss queerness, Judaism, and the moral complications of being human. As a queer jew, I believe that art is incredibly personal, and getting to bring my own perspective to this material is something I am very passionate about. I make art for the younger version of myself who felt lost as a queer individual. I make art to incite conversation and to bring about release. I don’t think art is therapy, but I think that it can be therapeutic. I make art for anyone who feels like they can’t authentically express who they are, and theater has become that form of release for them. I was born and raised in New York, and I am currently based in both NYC and Boston.