stacie chaiken
writer  •  performer  •  teacher 

stacie.chaiken@gmail.com  •  www.whatsthestoryla.com

7   8   9
solo performance (writer/performer)
2009	The Dig: Death, Genesis & the Double Helix. 
The Dig was originally commissioned in 2003 by the Center for Jewish Culture & Creativity (LA/Jerusalem) and has received additional support from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Durfee Foundation. The Dig was presented, in workshop, by the Untitled Theater Company #61 as part of their Festival of Jewish Theater & Ideas, June 2009, and is scheduled for a Los Angeles premiere at the Odyssey Theatre in the winter of 2010.
1997 	Looking for Louie: A second-generation Russian Jewish American (sometimes) Redhead goes off in search of the mysterious great-grandfather, about whom nobody would ever speak. With a live string bass score. Premiered at Pacific Resident Theatre (2000); The Immigrant Theatre at the Tenement Theatre, NYC (2000), Stages Theatre Center Hollywood (2002-2003); the Cameri and Arab-Hebrew theatres, and Israel tour (2004), and US tours.
1996 - 	That Same Stubborn Nose, New Georges, New York City.
1994 - 	Sifting Thru Ashes, New York City theatres
1992 - 	State of the Art, Manhattan Class Company, West Bank Cafe, New York City theatres

other performance (representative)
los angeles theatre
2007 	Nava in Master of the House, the English language premiere of a play by Shmuel Hasfari,
	Laguna Playhouse. dir. Richard Stein.
1999 	Beth in Otherwise Engaged, by Simon Grey, Pacific Resident Theatre
1997 	Constance Wilde in the world premiere of Ronda Spinak’s Oscar Wilde’s Wife, 
	the Odyssey Theatre
1996 	Hannah (u/s) in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia, the Mark Taper Forum 
new york & regional theatre
1994 	Hannah in Edith Stein, by Arthur Giron, Jewish Repertory Theatre, New York
1993	Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Lincoln Center Theatre at the Vivian Beaumont, New York. 
	dir. Gerald Guttierez.
1991  	Leah in The Immigrant, by Mark Harelik, at Pennsylvania Stage Company, Allentown, PA
1988  	The world premiere of Principia, by David Greenspan, Home for Contemporary Theatre & Art, NYC
1987 	The world premiere of Jack, by David Greenspan, Home for Contemporary Theatre & Art, NYC

1986 	Albertine at 30 in the US premiere of Michel Tremblay’s Albertine in Five Times, Lincoln Theatre,
	Hartford, CT, dir. Andre Brassard.
1987 	She, a solo play, written & directed by Ronn Smith, CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA
film & television
1997 		When I Was a Boy, American Film Institute feature
1992 to 1993	Recurring roles on ABC’s All My Children and Loving  
1990 		Claire, a short by Alvaro Varela (Academy Award nomination; London Film Festival)

publications & productions
2005	Getting Off the Fence, a Los Angeles/Tel Aviv Partnership, created in collaboration with the Community Theatre Department of Tel Aviv University and Beit Tshuvah, a residential facility for treatment of addiction, based on Jewish learning in Culver City. The play explored the polarity between residents and non-residents, and was created over the course of a five-month workshop.
2002	The Golden Rule, a play about religious diversity and tolerance, in Cootie Shots: 
	Theatrical Inoculations Against Bigotry (ed. Norma Bowles), TCG, New York.
2002	Nada No Es Nada, (English/Spanish), a play about immigrant experience in the Esperanza Housing Community, Los Angeles.
2001	“The True Me,” in Fringe Benefits’ Clothes Minded, a play about appearance and identity, developed in workshop with young women in the Lubavitcher community of Crown Heights, New York, touring California schools.
2000  	“The Poet,” adapted and directed by Ellen Sandler for the Jewish Women’s Theatre Project, for the 
Edge of the World Theatre Festival.
1999  	“A Valley Girl Midrash”, in Dancing on the Edge of the World: Jewish Stories of Faith, Inspiration, & Love, (ed. Miriyam Glazer) Lowell House, Los Angeles.
1997 	“Family Dinner,” in Fringe Benefits’ Turn it Around: 90210 Goes Queer, a play about homophobia, touring California high schools.
1997 	Beyond Blame, a documentary film about medical practitioners involved in catastrophic medication error, Caribiner International, Los Angeles.
1993  	A Wish Book, Random House, New York.

directing (representative)
1980	Assistant to director Peter Brook, The Birds and Les Ik,  La Mama ETC, NYC.
1979	Assistant to director Richard Schechner, The Balcony (Jean Genet), the Performing Garage, NYC.
1978	Director/translator, The Imaginary Invalid (Moliere), The Staircase Theatre, Santa Cruz, CA.
1978	Director, Petroleum Centre, 1899, (Merle Kessler) Berkeley Stage Company, Berkeley, CA 
1977	Adapter/director, The Tingle, (from Andy Warhol) Berkeley Stage Company & 5-city California tour
1976	Adapter/translator/director, Job (Oskar Kokoschka), Zellerback Playhouse, Berkeley, CA

teaching
2001 to present: Founder and Artistic Director, What’s the Story? Workshop.
An ongoing workshop in personal story for professional writers and performers, working for the stage, the page, and the screen. The workshop presents works-in-progress to the public monthly, at the Odyssey Theatre.
2001 to present: Adjunct Assistant Professor, Performance Teacher, School of Theatre, Univ. of Southern California.
Fundamentals of Acting; Intermediate & Advanced Scene Study; Solo Performance, Directed Research projects involving personal story; Advisor on student-produced projects; Faculty Advisor to the Women’s Theatre Organization.
2005 to present: Freshman Seminar Instructor, USC College of Letters & Sciences.
Invited, yearly, to create a course in this program designed to give incoming freshman “opportunities to work closely with distinguished faculty members, who might inspire them to more ambitious conceptions of their college careers.”
Spring 2005: Master Classes, The University of Tel Aviv, Israel
Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant: Solo Performance/Personal Story Workshop; Shakespeare in Performance.
December 2004: Guest Lecturer, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv
“Investigation of Gesture” for the Schools of Theatre & Fine Arts. A practicum on the use of static and kinetic gesture for theatre artists and visual arts, taught jointly with Dr. Ruth Weisberg of the School of Fine Arts at USC.
December 2004: Guest Lecturer, Bar Ilan University, Tel Aviv
“Biblical texts Here & Now,” for the Shaindy Rudoff Graduate Program in Creative Writing. A seminar on deep personalization and immediacy of Biblical texts in creative work.
December 2003 to January 2004: Master Classes, The University of Tel Aviv, Israel
Fulbright Senior Specialist Grant: Solo Performance/Personal Story Workshop; and American Texts in Performance.
2001 to 2003: Instructor, University of Judaism School of Continuing Education: What’s the Story? 
A workshop on creative process using oral history and family story. I continue to guide many of the student projects, initiated during these courses.
2000: Guest Lecturer, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
“Story Telling & Solo Autobiographical Performance”
1997 to 2002: Workshop leader, Fringe Benefits, Los Angeles
Story-culling workshops on issues of diversity; theatre and social justice in Los Angeles and New York.  
1994 to 1996: Acting Instructor, Circle Repertory Company, New York
Advanced scene study, “Bad Behavior”, and a collaborative Actor-Director workshop.

education & professional training
1977 	M.A., Theatre with focus in performance & directing, University of California, Berkeley
1975 	B.A., summa cum laude, Theatre & Religious Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis
	
1996 to 2001	Larry Moss, Los Angeles
1993  	The Royal National Theatre Studio, London: Tutors: Michael Joyce; John Burgess; Juliet Stevenson; Patsy Rodenberg (dialects); Ken Campbell (solo performance)
1992 to 1993 	Vocal Production: Kristin Linklater, New York
1989 to 1991 	Two-year Meisner Training Program, Kathryn Gately, Gately-Poole Studio, New York
1979 to 1993  	Physical Technique: Loyd Williamson, Actors Movement Studio, New York
Other influential teachers: Vivian Matalon (Performance/Style/Text); Lenore Dekoven (Performance/Film/Script Analysis); Alan Langdon (Acting); Jerzy Grotowski
professional affiliations
Actors Equity Association  •  Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists  •  Association of Jewish Theatres
Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity, Los Angeles/Tel Aviv, affiliate artist and cultural ambassador
Dramatists Guild of America  •  Independent Writers of Southern California
Los Angeles Stage Alliance  •  Pacific Resident Theatre, Los Angeles  •  Screen Actors Guild

grants & awards
2009		The Durfee Foundation Artists Completion grant for collaboration with videographer 
		Danna Krinsky, for The Dig.
2008		Artist in Residence, Hebrew Union College
		Grant to teach a story course (Personal Midrash) to advanced rabbinical students.
2006    		Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture fellowship for The Dig.
2003 to	2008	Fulbright Foundation Senior Specialist Roster, in the field of Performance and Story:
		2003 and 2005 grants for teaching residencies at Tel Aviv University.
2004 & 2005 	Writing/Performance Fellow, in residence at Mishkan Omanim, Herzliya, Israel, supported by the Center for Jewish Culture & Creativity, for Looking for Louie and The Dig.
2004  		The Durfee Foundation Artists Completion grant for collaboration with string bassist 
		Eli Magen, for Looking for Louie.
2003 to 2008 	California Arts Council Roster of Touring Artists: Looking for Louie
 2003 		University of Southern California Arts Initiative Faculty Collaboration Grant:
		The HOME Project, an investigation of immigrant experience and story in the Armenian community in 			
                           Glendale, California. 	
2002 		City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department Artist in Residency Grant.
The HOME Project: El Projecto Mi Tierra, an investigation of immigrant experience, in residency at Mercado La Paloma, a project of Esperanza Community Housing.
2001 to 2002  	University of Southern California Arts Initiative Faculty Collaboration Grant.
	The HOME Project, an investigation of immigrant experience in the USC Community.
	Weekly workshops with faculty, students, and staff, born outside the United States, culminating in a public
 	sharing of stories, music, and food at the Village Gate Theatre, University Village. 
mailto:stacie.chaiken@gmail.comhttp://www.whatsthestoryla.comshapeimage_1_link_0shapeimage_1_link_1

photo: danna kinsky

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