A Little About Me…
In a creative career that encourages hyphanites, I have many! I consider myself to be an actor, writer, playwright, screenwriter, artist, devisor, consultant, coach and all around creative collaborator. I have lived in two of the most artistic metropolitan cities in the world, and have had the opportunity to work on many incredible projects. I feel extremely fortunate to have found where my passions and purpose interests, and that is in telling stories.
I am originally from Massachusetts, South Shore, to be exact, born into a Greek-immigrant family. I was drawn to the performing arts at a very young age and spent most of my spare time at dance, acting, and singing classes. Wanderlust hit me hard, and when it came time to pick where to go to university, I took the leap and moved to the UK! Big leap, I know, but my impulsivity and sense of adventure have opened up some interesting opportunities.
I attended Kingston University London for Drama and Music. At the time I was focused on learning everything I can about acting. But I still really enjoyed singing and music. My drama course was focused on physical theater and devising, while my music part of my degree focused on music business, history and jazz singing.
I did enjoy my drama lessons, learning many diverse storytelling techniques from clowning, to Lecoq, Labon, Viewpoints and so much more. And even though I found these physical theater training valuable, I really wanted to have classical acting training. I got into the Guildford School of Acting at the University of Surrey and embarked on a vigorous, one- year Master program. I learned about my voice, extended the study of my physical storytelling and learned how to analyse and perform classical text. All in all I had spent six years in London training, learning, working, and traveling all over Europe. Eventually the need for a new adventure settled in again and I decided to move back over the pond; this time to New York City.
I pretty much hit the ground running once I arrived in New York. I took acting auditions, ran around midtown to auditions, and all in all figured out my new life in one of my dream cities. I will be honest to say that I found the hustle a little gruelling, especially working hard to audition for underwritten female characters and stories that didn’t really excite me. I made a very good friend, a fellow actor and Massachusetts native, and we began a writer partnership.
We decided that we were going to create our own experience and then began the most thrilling year of my life so far. I found that I not only really loved to write, I was good at it too! We started to adapt Chekhov’s masterpiece, Three Sisters, in hopes that one day I would act as Masha and, she, Irina. We set the story in Honolulu, Hawaii; before, during and after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. We not only got to perform this play in a festival, but we also were nominated for two New York Innovative Theater Awards.
After that, the writing floodgates burst open. I continued to write and perform with my friend, and also started to write and perform my own work. I’ve had work produced in various festivals and readings in New York, California, Massachusetts and even the UK. I am not very good at sitting at home and waiting for the phone to ring, so I networked and collaborated with a lot of different artists. I have written and performed on podcasts, have written articles for OnStage Blog and LadySpike media, I have written and performed sketch comedies, and have performed and collaborated with many theater companies.
Most notably, for the last three years, I have been working with Infinite Variety Productions. The documentary theater company dedicates itself to shining the light on the untold stories of women in history. I had the amazing opportunity to portray a real-life badass woman; Jeanne Christie. Jeanne was a Donut Dollie during the Vietnam war. Through transcripts I assisted in telling her story and that of 4 other incredible women. I have traveled with this show all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Borderlight Festival in Cleveland and to San Antonio, Texas to perform for the Women Overseas Service League. It has been one of the most impactful experiences as an artist getting to share the stories and hear the stories of many other women veterans.
Then of course the world turned upside down during the Coronavirus Pandemic. I moved back to Massachusetts and though it has been a tumultuous year at times, it had solidified what I value most and what I want the world to look like.
I cherish my artistic community and I have made it through the hard times because of their support and art. I continue to collaborate on many diverse artistic projects and have developed my dramaturgical, screenwriting and acting skills. I’m even learning French! I am determined to continue to tell women centric and driven stories, depicting honest portrayals of tenacious, witty, gritty and messy women; because we are all those things and much more.
As a surprise to no one who has read up to this far, wanderlust and the urge for adventure has struck once more. I decided to move back to London to pursue a Masters degree in Dramaturgy and Writing for performance at Goldsmiths University. I have rediscover the city, met new artists and traveled again and have fallen in love all over again.
Currently, I am working as a dramaturg for Infinite Variety Productions in preparation for taking Pretending to Fly to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer!