Rate My Professor Maile Speetjens

Maile Speetjens serves as Associate Professor of Costumes, Hair, and Makeup in the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Emerson College and an MFA in Costume Design and Technology from the University of Georgia, Athens. Her career in costume design and technology extends across regions from Boston to Hawaiʻi. Previously, she worked as Costume Shop Manager and Special Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Colorado State University. She contributed over ten years to Hawaiʻi Children’s Theatre on Kauaʻi as a designer, director, and teacher, and directed Kids Do It All, a devised children’s theatre program in Colorado, for four years. Speetjens also serves as the Theatre Concentration Undergraduate Advisor and has been involved in various departmental roles, including production contributions during the COVID-19 pandemic where the costume shop under her leadership produced critical face masks.

Speetjens’ recent creative research features costume designs for Aloha Attire and Conversion of Ka’ahumanu at Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu, Twelfth Night at Lyric Repertory, and ‘Au’a ‘Ia: Holding On at UH Mānoa Hana Keaka. She has earned Poʻokela Awards for Costume Design for A Midsummer Night’s Bollywood Dream (2019) and The Last King of Bali (2020), both produced at UH Mānoa Kennedy Theatre. As Design, Technology, and Management Chair for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 8, she influences regional theatre education and production standards. Her research interests include empathy-centered pedagogical strategies, alternative approaches to design work and course construction, design for Hana Keaka (Hawaiian medium theatre), and new strategies in digital draping technology. Speetjens teaches courses such as Introduction to Costume Construction (DNCE/THEA 354), Beginning and Advanced Costume Design (DNCE/THEA 356/656), Stage Makeup Workshop (THEA 357), Historic Costume and Decor (THEA 641), and Advanced Costume Construction (THEA 654). Her work supports student practicums and graduate workshops, fostering collaborative educational environments in theatre production.