TRISTON P. PULLEN

Born in Sulphur Springs, Texas, Triston P. Pullen started acting at the age of seven. He is a freelance director with a desire to bring new life to classic works, as well as create new and innovative productions through Eastern influences. He is an educator, artist, director, scenographer,  and playwright.

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As an educator, the root of Pullen's pedagogy has been rooted in advocacy and facilitating conversations about politics, activism, aesthetics, culture, personal identity, sexuality, gender identity, and religion. Pullen asks students to broaden their theatrical horizons and to use theories as a tool for inspiration while creating work that is meaningful for both their lives and the community around them. He is dedicated to engaging and providing innovative educational initiatives to undeserved communities, allowing all ages to have access to art, film, performing arts, and concerts.

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As a director, Pullen creates theatre that focuses on the spiritual nature built within any given text, allowing rites of passage to help create storytelling. Using cultural, political, and spiritual perspectives to create deep character connections and real human interactions, Pullen strives to create productions that use a modern ritualistic lens to connect with the audience on a more meaningful level. Using a combination of Viewpoints, Suzuki, the tools and philosophies of Stanislavsky’s system, and Eastern forms of performance art, Pullen actively looks at how to create new and innovative forms of art that is both diverse and inclusive for the team creating the work and the audience viewing the work. 

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In 2014, Pullen created his own summer repertory theatre company, Studio 1621, in Sulphur Springs, Texas. His mission was to provide arts to communities that have limited access to the arts, develop art education initiatives to the community that raised him, and to create scholarship programs for young artist in the North East Texas area. 

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Triston works diligently with playwrights (Aaron Levetmon, Rachel Robyn, and Colleen Hoover—New York Times Best Selling Author) to create new works that reach audiences in new and non-traditional ways. Recently, with the support of the Walt Whitman Initiative in New York City, Pullen created a biographical drama entitled "Songs of Memories: A Whitmanic Queer Discovery."

As a freelance director, his work has been seen in Santa Fe, North East Texas, Memphis, and New York City. He has had the honor of working with:

Robert Benedetti, 3 time Emmy award-winning producer

Alaina Warren Zachary, Broadway vet

Shep Sobel, Founder of the Pearl Theater

Amanda Zarr, LA-based actress

Bill Westbrooks, NYU Professor

Jon Jory, world-renown director (Pullen’s directing mentor)

E. Loren Meeker, Opera Director

Kathy Morath, Broadway vet

Sarah Brown, International Artress and Director 

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Triston is on the board of the Walt Whitman Initiative, The Dairy Festival, Studio 1621, and Shadow Festival- volunteering for many more!

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In 2017, Pullen graduated from Santa Fe University of Art and Design, where he earned a BFA in Acting and a Minor in  Design. In May of 2021, Pullen graduated from the University of Memphis where he earned is  MFA in Directing with an emphasis in ritualistic and islamic performance.