Professional filmmaker and dancer EVAN SHEN ADLER was born in Santa Cruz, CA, and realized his love for dance and movement arts at a very young age. As a student at Cabrillo College and UC Santa Cruz, Evan began to understand the importance of knowledge and discipline in dance.
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Theater Arts Alumni
Emmy Award winner ASHLEY NICOLE BLACK was a UCSC theatre arts student from 2003-2007. She delivered a commencement speech at Theatre Arts graduation, which she thought was very good even though her dad fell asleep during it.
Abel is pursuing his MA in directing with exploratory research work in digital acting. He graduated from Brooklyn College with emphasis in arts administration. He is devoted to cultivating interdisciplinary collaborations, supporting the actor as a creator and pioneering new work. Previous productions include; “Utopia D2H”, “COLLIDE: GALAXIES IN MOTION,” “The Latina Project”, based upon a 200 interviews, and “Sabanas: Life through Dreams” which was featured in the New York International Fringe Festival.
Natalia Delgado grew up in the heart of Los Angeles. She received her Bachelor’s at UCSC with a degree in Theater Arts and Education. She has been featured in shows such as Zoot Suit, Twilight Los Angeles, and In the Heights. She is pursuing performance and educational outreach with the hopes of utilizing theater as a teaching tool and instilling more passion for the arts.
Costume designer CHRISTINA DINKEL just graduated six years ago but already has a very impressive resume.
Dance therapist BIANCA FILLION graduated from UCSC in 2011 with a BA in Psychology. She went on to get her MA in Expressive Therapies: Dance Therapy with a Mental Health Counseling Specialization from Lesley University.
Samantha is an actor, writer, and director from Redlands, California. Her areas of interest include: Shakespeare, Stanislavski, and queer escapism via the arts. She received her BA in Theatre, Film, and Digital Productions, with a concentration in acting, from UC Riverside in 2020.
Claire Ganem grew up in the suburbs of Baltimore. Last spring she graduated from Nazareth College of Rochester, NY with a BFA in acting and was awarded The Baranowski Award for graduating theatre arts students. In her spare time, she is a volunteer staff member for Open Space Arts, a non profit theatre in Reisterstown, Maryland. She is taking this year at UCSC to pursue directing. Her research interests include performance in relation to community building and feminist theories.
After earning a BA in Theater Arts from UCSC Victoria Gardiner stayed on to pursue an MA. Victoria's main focus in theater is dramaturgy, the art of enriching a production with scholarly research, but also occasionally moonlights as a director and writer. Her primary artistic interests are in modern adaptations of ancient Greek and Shakespearean plays. When she's not working in the theater Victoria spends her time working on game design.
Carolina has studied in Bogotá, performed in and organized various festivals around Spain and Colombia. She is a founder member and was a volunteer coordinator of RET - Red de Escelas de Teatro. Currently, she is working on a project staged with UC Santa Cruz students: a bilingual (English & Spanish) play by José Domingo Garzón based on the novel Pedro Páramo.
Freelance Lighting Designer SHERRICE MOJGANI arrived at UC Santa Cruz in the fall of 2003. A Merrill resident, she enjoyed an early morning trek across campus to Theater Arts, whether for an 8am class or a light hang.
Dance instructor and performer AMELIA NOMMENSEN studied Marine Biology and Dance at University of California: Santa Cruz from Fall 2010 through Spring 2014.
Tanner Oertel is the Artistic Director for The Barn Theater. After receiving his BA in Theater Arts from UC Santa Cruz in Spring 2017, he immediately began the MA program here. His interests include directing, acting, improvisational comedy, and drag. Tanner is also a member of UCSC's premiere improv team Someone Always Dies. He is currently directing The Memo by Vaclav Havel in The Barn Theater (performs November 17-19 @ 8pm).
Alyssa is a performer, poet, and art-maker who grew up on the Central Coast in Prunedale, California. After receiving her BA with a double major in Theater Arts and Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she is pursuing an MA in Theater Arts. Alyssa has been involved in productions on the UCSC campus as a performer including Lion in the Streets and the Shakespeare to Go production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona in 2017. Utilizing her background as a performer and writer, she hopes to bring theater into classrooms and community spaces as a tool for education that can not only assist students in their academic pursuits, but also help them to better understand their communities and the impact their voice can have on the world around them. In her free time, Alyssa enjoys spending time in the Cowell Press, where she explores book arts and typography.
BRIJANA PROOKER is an award-winning writer, actor and filmmaker at WOOF Productions, her production company inspired by her rescued Golden Retriever-Chow Chow, Woofie.
Dancer JENNA PURCELL attended UCSC 2007-2011, graduating cum laude with a BA in Literature and a minor in Theatre Arts (Dance Emphasis). She enjoyed the unique, hands-on dance education offered at UCSC, studying and performing with both the Theatre Arts and Physical Education Departments all fou
Ryan is a theater practitioner, musician, clown and poet. He graduated from UC Irvine with honors in Acting, Directing and Sound Design. He also is a part of several companies, such as Synthetic Unlimited, White Wall Productions and ClownMa Dell'arte.
Peyman was born and raised in Iran and has been working with different theatre groups as a playwright in Tehran.
JOCELYN SHRATTER graduated with a B.A. in the Theater Arts from UCSC in 2009. She completed the Fifth Year Graduate Certificate Program in 2010. She will be starting an MFA program in Dramaturgy at Columbia University in Fall of 2012.
Media and projection designer, GREG TOWLE focused on design and technical opportunities while in the UCSC Theater Arts department. He worked in the scene shop and designed a few departmental shows. He was even able to assist a professor in several professional designs.
Hip Hop performer DANA TURNER had the amazing opportunity to study dance during her studentship, taking classes that allowed her not only to build her skill in dance, but also to develop a care for the craft itself, leaving her inspired to see what she could create.
Kudra is a director and theatre artist from the Bay Area, California. They are currently the Artistic Director of Barnstorm Theatre Company here at UCSC as well as Barn Rat Theatre Collective, a small company born and raised in the age of digital theatre.
Non-profit grant writer CHELSEA WELLS graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 2013 with a degree in Modern Literary Studies and a minor in Dance.
Amber is a Stage Manager and Lighting Designer who has worked primarily in Southern California. Her focus has been on Musical Theater and Dance performance, but she also has Designed and Managed plays.