TEA ALAGIĆ is an internationally acclaimed Bosnian director, writer, producer, actor, and educator. Celebrated for her highly visual, physically dynamic approach, Tea draws on circus and trapeze training, the traditions of Jacques Lecoq, and immersive theatrical techniques to transform text into embodied ritual with bold theatricality. Critics have called her work “vivid, vital, and a lot of fun”, with The New York Times noting her ability to create “a vivid, very recognizable world”, and The New Yorker praising her direction in the North American premier of Elfriede Jelinek’s Jackie, highlighting her skill in finding “infinite variety in Jelinek’s long text… make this smashing of an old icon worth a visit.”
Tea’s work has premiered across Europe and North America, and her notable professional credits include Little Amal at Lincoln Center Plaza, Fear by Matt Williams at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, and the world premiere of Anita Čeko’s Faraway Kandahar at the National Theater in Split, Croatia. Her world premier production of Academy Award–winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size at The Public Theater received worldwide recognition, establishing the play as a landmark in contemporary theater and bringing McCraney international acclaim. The production featured Brian Tyree Henry in a powerhouse performance and later toured to The Old Globe, The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and The Studio Theater in Washington, DC. Her North American premiere of Elfriede Jelinek’s Jackie, starring Tina Benko, at NY City Center received multiple distinctions, including nominations for the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show and Outstanding Sound Design. Tea’s revival of Stew and Heidi Rodewald’s Passing Strange at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia earned wide Barrymore Award recognition, with nominations for Outstanding Overall Production of a Musical, Outstanding Direction of a Musical, Outstanding Leading Performance in a Musical, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Media Design, Outstanding Choreography/Movement, and Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical.
Tea holds a B.F.A. in Acting from Charles University in Prague and an M.F.A. in Directing from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University, where she received the Julian Milton Kaufman Prize in Directing. Initially trained as an actor with luminaries Peter Brook, Ariane Mnouchkine, Simon McBurney, Robert Lepage, and Richard Foreman, she later performed internationally with her company Stateless, which she led as Artistic Director from 1997 to 2001, touring devised theater productions worldwide — from the Toronto World Stage Festival and Salzburg Festspiele to the Singapore Arts Festival, Israel Festival in Jerusalem, and Mass MoCA in North Adams. For her performance as Ophelia in Sulayman Al-Bassam’s All Hamlet Summit, she received the Edinburgh Fringe First Award and a Best Actor nomination at the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theater.