Grant McGowen
Producing Artistic Director
Grant McGowen is a Founder and the Producing Artistic Director of Pinch 'N' Ouch Theatre. He is an Award-Winning Director, Actor, Playwright, Teacher, Cinematographer, and Producer.
His producing credits include films: Happy Place, La Familia, Death Of The Deal, Girls Life, Let's Make It, Alone, Circuit, No Such Thing, The Voyeur, Heavy Water, Deadbeat, No Soliciting, Margo and the Universe, and The Mother Load; Theatre: Rent, tick tick... BOOM!, Venus in Fur, The Antipodes, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, This Is Our Youth, The Way We Get By, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Fool For Love, Glengarry Glen Ross, Girls Life, Gideon's Knot, The Aliens, Pizza Man, Water By The Spoonful, The Shape Of Things, Reasons To Be Pretty, Lobby Hero, Tape, Body Awareness, Bachelorette, Sex With the Censor, Beauty Runs on Light Feet, Baby Steps, Struggle Session, Some Girl(s), Assistance, Let's Make It, Wall Street Wedding, Scratching, and Speed the Plow.
Performing credits include theatre: Rent, tick tick... BOOM!, The Way We Get By, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Aliens, Wall Street Wedding, Assistance, Some Girl(s), Tape, Autobahn, Reasons to Be Pretty, Three's a Crowd, Strange Snow, The Glass Menagerie, Hamlet, The Shape of Things, La Ronde, Oklahoma!, and Footloose; Film: Let's Make It, The Stain, Moving On, No Soliciting, Finley; TV: Being Mary Jane, Margo and the Universe, Drop Dead Diva, Single Ladies, Killer Couples, Brohan, and several TV commercials.
Directing credits include films: Happy Place, La Familia, Absent Minded, The Meaningful Life of Art & Henry, No Such Thing, Halloween: The Shape Stalks, The Voyeur, Deadbeat, Boys Life, The Decision; TV: The Mother Load, Margo and the Universe, McCullom; Theatre: Rent, tick tick... BOOM!, Venus in Fur, The Antipodes, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, This Is Our Youth, The Way We Get By, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Fool For Love, Glengarry Glen Ross, Girls Life, Water By The Spoonful, Pizza Man, One Minute Play Festival, Lobby Hero, Bachelorette, Autobahn, Speed the Plow, Sex With the Censor, Baby Steps, Struggle Session, Beauty Runs on Light Feet, and Let's Make It.
Playwriting credits: Wall Street Wedding ("Best World Premiere of 2014" by Arts Atl), Let's Make It ("Best Productions of 2013" by Arts Atl), and his latest play, Girls Life. Screenwriting: Absent Minded, Let's Make It, Deadbeat, Margo and the Universe, and McCollum. Grant's plays challenge audiences with important contemporary issues such as social equity, equality, self-image, LGBT+, censorship and stigma.
Grant was featured in Atlantan Magazine's "Most Important People to Watch on Atlanta's Arts Scene." He won "Best Actor" in the 72 Hour Film Festival for his performance in The Stain. He won "Best Actor" in Philadelphia's Project 21 Film Festival for his performance in Moving On, also nominated for "Best Film." His play Wall Street Wedding was named "Best World Premiere" by Arts Atl and was nominated for the 2014 Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award. His play Let's Make It was acclaimed as one of the "Best Productions of 2013" by Arts Atl. The feature film "No Soliciting," which he starred in and Produced, won "Best Film" at the Atlanta Underground Film Festival. The film also won "Best Acting Ensemble" and "Best Fiction Film" at the Gwinnett Film Festival. In 2017, McGowen was nominated "Best Director" and "Best Cinematographer" by the 48 Hour Film Project in Atlanta. In 2018, he was nominated for "Best Director," "Best Editor," "Best Cinematographer," and "Best Writer" by the 48 Hour Film Project in Atlanta. He was nominated for "Best Director" by Broadway World in 2018 for directing Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf. In 2020, he was nominated again for "Best Director" by the 48 Hour Film Project in Atlanta.
Press: "Teaching artist Grant McGowen and the hardest working man in the theatre business conducts courses into the finer points of acting..." (-The Backstage Beat). "Director Grant McGowen has gotten fine, sharp performances from all his actors, in every play. As an observer of the Atlanta theatre scene for quite awhile now, I must say that I'm excited by what Mr. McGowen and Pinch 'N' Ouch are offering to Atlanta. It appears that more and more of the city's finest actors want to work with him. Live theatre needs a sense of being on the edge, unafraid of new ideas, new plays, new actors. I think Mr. McGowen is the real deal, and I hope he sticks around." (-Atlanta InTown Paper). "Grant McGowen is quickly becoming a voice of his generation." (-Pure Politics). "Grant McGowen can really make a career in comedy if he wanted to" (-Punchline Magazine). "...raw, daring... McGowen's gutsy actors give naturalistic, powerhouse performances... that seems all too real... If you go for bold and 'now' theater with a hard edge, this [theatre] is well worth checking out. Ultimately, Grant McGowen deserves strong credit, because his director's hand is never obvious." (-East Atlanta Patch). "...impressively, the actors under the direction of Pinch ‘N’ Ouch founder Grant McGowen are so present and spontaneous that there are moments when the show almost doesn’t seem scripted at all. There’s a remarkable note of naturalism, of casual, quiet intimacy..." (-Arts Atl) "...the biggest surprise, however, is Mr. McGowen. I’ve been seeing shows at Pinch for some time, and I knew he had a good voice—but not this good: He has range, power, flexibility and can be quite thrilling to listen to. A star is born in his own theatre." (-Atlanta InTown Review of ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’)
Grant is a graduate of the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts where he studied Acting. He resides in Atlanta, where he is the current running Producing Aristic Director and a Teaching Artist at Pinch 'N' Ouch Theatre.
NPR Interview on "City Lights" with Grant McGowen
AM1690 Interview with Grant McGowen
Meet Grant McGowen of Pinch 'N' Ouch Theatre in Kirkwood
Backstage Interview with Grant McGowen
Grant McGowen on the Meisner Technique
Backstage Beat Interview with Grant McGowen
Showguide Magazine: Meisner 101 with Grant McGowen
Creative Process: Pinch ’N Ouch Theatre Offers Youthful Enthusiasm and Edgy Fare
Backstage Beat: Grant McGowen Teaches Meisner Acting Classes