Sarah Shin (she/her/hers) is a Schwenksville-raised, Boston-trained, Brooklyn-based Korean American theatre artist. After years of studying classical piano, Sarah got obsessed with performing in musicals probably because it was the closest thing at the time to being a KPOP star without leaving the country. In high school, she found her way into directing and self-producing small concerts as a way to raise money for the school music department. Today, Sarah is a performing artist whose work lives at the intersection of cultural work, creative leadership, and community engagement. Her stories are often uncovering and activating folk and local histories and exploring how to keep community alive amidst our rapidly evolving relationship to technology and globalization.
As a director, Sarah worked across the country at the regional, fringe, and collegiate level, including Boston Globe’s 2022 Top 10 Pick The Chinese Lady (which also received 5 Elliot Norton Award Nominations and 1 Win). Her work has been funded and supported the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theatre, The Boston Foundation, NEFA Public Art for Spatial Justice Grant. She worked as Associate/Assistant to Trip Cullman, Barry Edelstein, Sammi Cannold, Diana Oh, Kelly Galvin, and was the SDC Observer for Broadway’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, directed by Tommy Kail. She is a member of Roundabout Directors Group Cohort 4, and previously the Resident Director of Ma-Yi Writers PlayLab. She recently was in residence at the Public Theater to develop a re-envisioned, multimedia production of wAve by Sung Rno.
As a performer, Sarah has shared space with Clubbed Thumb, Pan Asian Rep, Ma-Yi Theater, Ping Chong & Co., Joe’s Pub, La MaMa Experimental Club, Asian American Arts Alliance, Chuang Stage, and more across the NYC and Boston scene. She has trained in Physical Theatre at Accademia dell’arte in Arezzo, Italy, and Encompass Collective. She is currently developing her solo-ish project “Dolsaem,” returning to her musical roots, and now songwriting.
Sarah also co-founded the social collectives Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston and Queer Asian Babes – continuously uplifting the culture and community that have supported her creative work and journey.
When she’s not working, you can find Sarah practicing yoga, playing soccer, or drinking some iced barley tea at the Korean spa, post-KBBQ and Karaoke ;). BFA Theatre Arts Boston University.
Her grandfather started the first Korean American newspaper in Philadelphia when he first immigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s, and her father owns a Japanese and Korean restaurant – almost 20 years running. Sarah hopes to continue the legacy of being a badass Korean American and loving food.