Claire Ganem is a Bay Area-based theatre director who specializes in new play development. She loves stories that explore feminine rage, queer joy, and the chaos of our rawest deepest emotions. Her work is radically collaborative and aims to connect people to their inner selves, the natural world, and each other in joyous, loving, and empowering ways.

Claire is a current company member and ambassador at Playground SF. In addition to Playground, her work has been featured at Cutting Ball Theatre. Town Hall Theatre, 3Girls Theatre, Z Space, Pianofight, Left Coast Theatre Company, and Magic Theatre, where she was an artistic direction apprentice during their 2018-2019 season. In 2024, Claire co-founded the Bay Area Directors Collective, a Theatre Bay Area grant recipient, whose mission is to support local theatre directors through peer-to-peer lateral mentorship.

Claire is also a passionate educator who works with students of all ages. She is a guest lecturer at UC Santa Cruz, a teaching artist at Town Hall Theatre, and a naturalist at local parks around the East Bay. Claire holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Nazareth University and an MA in Theatre Arts from UC Santa Cruz.

In her spare time, Claire loves baking extravagant cakes for her loved ones and going for long hikes through the redwoods.