David’s approach as a teacher combines his extensive experience both acting and studying the craft. He was fortunate to work directly with Stella Adler, herself, studied and taught the Meisner technique, and under various other teachers who trained and inspired him with the great work and ideas of Jerzy Grotowski, Lee Strasberg, Harold Cluriman and Peter Brook.
In 1992, David co-founded Labyrinth Theater Company. He co-wrote Labyrinth’s original mission and established an aesthetic emphasizing a multi-disciplinary, self generating, ensemble-based philosophy. He wrote and performed in three solo and many full length plays at Labyrinth, which is a company that has grown from 13 members to over 140, including winners of the Oscar, the Pulitzer, Tony and Emmy awards. His third multi-media solo effort, Shmoo, was seen by then incoming Labyrinth member, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who decided to produce it on Labyrinth’s, then main-stage space at HERE Arts Center. David’s new piece, Lucky Penny, was recently chosen to be part of Labyrinth’s Barn Series in December of 2015.
David also conceived and co-designed two inspirational theater programs for Labyrinth: The Ensemble Workshop and the Intensive Ensemble. In addition to the Stella Adler Studio, he has taught students attending the theater programs at NYU, Columbia, Bard College and currently teaches at HB Studio.
David is also an award winning actor, writer and filmmaker. In 2015 he co-starred alongside Vincent Pastore and David Proval in the commercial Off Broadway play, “A Queen for a Day,” directed by John Gould Rubin. On television he has appeared on Blue Bloods, Broad City, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, Damages, Club land among others. He has enjoyed a career acting on stage and film in New York and around the country, collaborating with luminaries like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ellen Burstyn, Lee Blessing, John Patrick Shanley, Sam Rockwell, Eric Bogosian, Christopher Walken, Joe Pantaliano, Julia Roberts, Alan Alda and many others. David is the winner of the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship award as a video artist and directed the award winning short film, “The Callback,” starring Sam Rockwell. He has also acted in films produced by Martin Scorsese and Dustin Hoffman.
