NANCY KAWALEK
Nancy Kawalek is a New York theatre-trained actor whose credits include
Strider on Broadway, as well as several leading roles Off Broadway, including a one-woman show,
Alice Without, which she also co-authored. Performing in regional theatre, Nancy has been privileged to work with directors such as Frank Galati, JoAnne Akalaitis and Dennis Zacek. She has also acted in film, television and numerous commercials, as well as on National Public Radio's acclaimed Selected Shorts series. A graduate of Northwestern University in Theatre and Performance Studies, Nancy honed her improvisational skills with Chicago's distinguished Second City. Santa Barbara audiences may recognize Nancy from her role as Doris in
The Loman Family Picnic at the Ensemble Theatre Company and from her frequent performances with Speaking of Stories. Among her credits as a director is the documentary film,
Lost and Found, and currently, The Brain Project, a new multi-media play about the brain. As a Studio Professor at UCSB, Nancy teaches acting, directing and the adaptation of literature for the stage. She is the founder/director of UCSB's Professional Artists Lab, a dynamic artistic laboratory in which professional actors, directors, writers and producers create and develop new works in theatre, film, television, radio and multi-media performance. Nancy is also the founder/director of STAGE (Scientists, Technologists and Artists Generating Exploration) at UCSB. STAGE is comprised of both an international script competition that awards a $10,000 prize to the best new play about science and technology, and a developmental lab where professional artists create multi-media theatre pieces in which science and technology play prominent roles in content and/or form.