DIRECTOR

STORYTELLER

EDUCATOR

COLLABORATOR

A woman with curly blonde hair and blue eyes wears a blue shirt and looks at the camera

BACKSTAGE WITH BROOKE

Brooke Echnat is a freelance director, actor, and theater educator based in Pittsburgh, PA.

As a director, Brooke specializes in curating immersive experiences, developing new work, and creating community-centered theater. Her work aims to provide audiences with opportunities to explore innovative and captivating worlds, reconnecting them with their childhood sense of curiosity, imagination, and play.

Brooke stands with her arms crossed and smiles in the Galactic Starcruiser at Disney World
Brooke sits in a theatre's seats holding a script during rehearsal

CURRENT HAPPENINGS

  • ALL THINGS PITTSBURGH PLAY FESTIVAL

    This August, Brooke will be directing two plays as a part of Ensemble Actor’s Theater’s All Things Pittsburgh Play Festival. The festival will feature Ten 10-minute plays by 10 Pittsburgh Playwrights, inspired by all things weird and wonderfully Pittsburgh!

    August 1st-3rd, 2025

    Peirce Theater, Downtown Pittsburgh

    Click here for Tickets

  • CAMPFIRE STORIES

    In September, Brooke will be directing Vigilance Theater Group’s 2nd Campfire Stories. Join us for an immersive night of storytelling around the campfire and under the stars.

    More Details to Come!

    September 5th-14th, 2025

    Ticket Details Coming soon

  • NATIONAL THEATER INSTITUTE

    This Fall, Brooke will be training at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Theater Institute for their Directing Semester Program.

    Learn More about NTI

  • WALDEN

    In Winter 2026, Brooke will be returning to Bucknell University (her Alma Mater), to serve as a Guest Director for Bucknell University’s Department of Theatre & Dance’s production of Walden by Amy Berryman.

    In the near future, Stella and her fiancé, Bryan, are waiting at their remote cabin for Stella’s estranged twin sister, Cassie. Raised by their astronaut father to be NASA scientists, the twins have taken different paths: Cassie has just returned from a successful moon mission, while Stella left NASA behind. When Cassie arrives, old conflicts reignite, forcing the sisters to choose between life on Earth or pursuing a future in space, as humanity’s fate hangs in the balance. Walden is a thrilling and engrossing new play that wrestles between the gravitational pulls of duty and desire.

    DETAILS TO COME