Despoina accidentally discovered theatre at the age of 8 when the art class was full, and she became its servant for life. Her creative inquiry challenges contemporary theatrical practices regarding the audience experience, with a focus on experiential performance, interactivity and immersion, audience studies, pedagogy, artivism, site-specific/site-responsive performance, digital technologies, and collective work. She particularly sees an interdependence between scenography and directing regarding the perception of performative spaces by participants and spectators.

This set of interests is informed by Despoina’s personal, professional and academic trajectory. As a practitioner with a combined background in engineering and theatre, Despoina operates in the undefined area between chaotic creativity and technically-oriented meticulousness, while she has a multifaceted approach to narrative storytelling, socio-cultural critique and audience impact and engagement. Her 24-year exposure to theatre through acting, directing, devising, scenography, dramaturgy, production management, and playwriting is complemented by a five-year faculty position at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where she spearheaded and was heavily involved in reviving the theatre academic program, taught courses and advised projects on- and off-campus, mentored and directed productions, and facilitated dialogues on cross-disciplinary interactions.