Aesthetic: Gia is known primarily as director for the theater and an acting coach. Her aesthetic focuses on a detailed physical and highly visual approach to storytelling. She sees directing as a medium of time and space and is most attracted to projects that feature an attention to language and/or push the boundaries of form and style, often employing choreographed movement as an avenue to the subtextual landscape.

Recent credits 2007: BLUE BEFORE MORNING, by Kate Mc Govern (Terra NOVA Collective, staged reading); HOT DAMN, by Casey Wimpee, (The Binge Festival, Working Man’s Clothes Productions, NYC); THE JEWISH WIFE, by Bertolt Brecht, (Stone Soup Theatre Arts Staged Reading Series, NYC); HEART’S DESIRE, By Caryl Churchill, (The Atlantic Theatre Company Acting Program, NYC); Remounting of I WANT WHAT YOU HAVE, by Saviana Stanescu (Make Mine A Million, NYC, Pace University); Upcoming: Jan-Feb.’08 Tour of GATES OF EQUALITY, by Stanton Wood, (Urban Stages, NYC, Educational Outreach Program) March-April 2008, directing: LOVE PERSON, by Aditi B. Kapli, (The Marin Theatre Company, CA., NNPN Rolling World Premiere). Remounting of I WANT WHAT YOU HAVE, by Saviana Stanescu, directed by Gia Forakis (Women’s Project, Gala Event, NYC, Julia Miles Theatre, NYC.).

Other recent credits 2004-07 include: I WANT WHAT YOU HAVE, by Saviana Stanescu, (The Women’s Project’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fund$” site specific short plays project, The World Financial Center, NYC); PICNIC, by William Inge, (Bay Theatre Company, Annapolis, MD); THE RIVALS by Richard B. Sherridan, (Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Cold Spring, NY); THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND, by Tom Stoppard, (Guest Director, The Lee Strasberg Institute, NYU/NYC); ACTS OF MERCY: PASSION-PLAY, by Michael John Garcés, (Rattlestick Playwright’s Theater, NYC); Shakespeare’s THE WINTER'S TALE, (Milwaukee Shakespeare, Milwaukee, WI); PORT AUTHORITY THROW DOWN by Mike Batistik, (Workshop, Cape Cod Theatre Project); IRON, by Rona Munro (The Kitchen Theatre Company, Ithaca, NY); DANCING AT LUGHNASA, by Brian Friel (Guest Director, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts); FRAG by Michael John Garcés (HERE, NYC); COATHANGER, by Mac Wellman (WOW-PAC-Benefit, Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, CT).

Additional Theater Credits 2001-2004 Include: Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, Robert Patrick’s Kennedy's Children and Gertrude Stein’s Ladies Voices. She has also directed new plays by Rolin Jones, Last of the Chatterbox Wolves, and by Kate Walet, A Book Of Two.

Background: Gia was a founding member of Epic Proportions Productions where she functioned as director, producer, playwright, and performer for 10 years, creating 17 original works for the stage in New York, including: DIA Downtown, T.W.E.E.D. New Works Festival, West Bank Downstairs Theater Bar, Dixon Place, Pulse Theatre, Access Theatre, and the Phantom Theater in Warren, VT.

Education: She holds a BFA in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Directing from Yale School of Drama. Affiliation: Gia is a member of the Women’s Project Director’s Lab, an affiliated director with The Lark Play Development Center, a New Georges Affiliated Artist, a member artist of Wingspace theater collective, and a member of SSDC (the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers).

FILM: Screening October 2007, short film based on Michael John Garcés’ play, frag—directed, produced and adapted by Gia Forakis.

Teaching: Fall 2007: Guest Lecturer, Lee Strasberg Institute, NYU: Working With The Director: Creating original workshop production based on Tennessee William’s A Streecar Named Desire, titled: The Streetcar Project: Fall 2006: Guest Director, Lee Strasberg Institute: The Real Inspector Hound, by Tom Stoppard.

Ongoing: Gia teaches acting, and offers private coaching sessions for performing artist of any discipline and actors preparing audition material, and workshops in One-Thought-One-Action© a detailed, physical approach to engaging text.

Contact Gia at 718.208.6583 or GiaForakis@aol.com
Download a copy of Gia's current resume