Stephanie Temple (Conservatory Director)

Stephanie Temple, a Central California native, has been at NCTC since 2002, working as an teacher, director and Children’s Playwright-in-Residence. Ms. Temple specializes in curriculum development and creating devised works, and she enjoys mentoring both students and teaching artists. With a Master's in Drama from SFSU and a B.A. from the University of Southern California’s School of Theatre, Ms. Temple is also an actor, puppeteer (most recently seen as Kate Monster in NCTC’s Avenue Q,) and a director/choreographer. Over the past twenty years, she has taught acting, improvisation, dance and musical theatre at NCTC, SFSU, CSU Stanislaus, Merced College, PCPA Theatrefest and currently runs the drama program at Live Oak School in Potrero Hill. As director of the Family Matinee program, Ms. Temple has adapted and developed original plays such as Goldi Locks and the Three Aliens, Sock Puppet Jamboree, Bollywood Sleeping Beauty, The Odyssey, and Rock ‘n Roll Cinderella.

Kathleen Lee (Conservatory Programs Manager)

Kathleen Lee (also known as “Chicken Nugget” to some of her students) hails from sunny Santa Monica, California. Kathleen holds a bachelor degree in drama and education from San Francisco State University. A techie turned teacher Kathleen has experience in stage management, technical theatre, producing, acting, creative writing, and directing. She’s lead workshops in New York City, Miami Florida, Mexico City, Stockholm Sweden and most recently Havana Cuba. Through her work teaching around the world, Kathleen has uncovered a love of travel and teaching and believes being a global citizen promotes a greater appreciation of similarities and differences cross-culturally. Kathleen holds a 200-hour certification as a yoga instructor and specializes in prenatal and kids yoga. Get ready to stretch your imagination! 

Daniel Owens (Music Director of Youth and Teen Ensembles)

Daniel Owens is originally from San Diego and has worked as a performing musician and music educator in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly 20 years. He received his B.A. in music from Sonoma State University and completed a California single-subject teaching credential in music through SFSU and UCLA. He has taught music to youth at various schools, including Aptos Middle School, Creative Arts Charter School, Live Oak School, and Belmont Oaks Academy. In addition, he has worked at NCTC as both a live performer in The Marvelous Wonderettes and as a music director for Really Rosie. Daniel currently directs the music and drama programs at Marin Preparatory School.

April Deutschle (Youth & Teen Musical Theatre, After-School Drama)

April Deutschle holds a BFA in Acting from the Academy of Art University. She has a passion for physical comedy and clown. Having written and performed in her own one-woman show she has a zest for creating and devising interactive work. Having been in NCTC's world premiere of Everything That's Beautiful she is excited to be back and share her knowledge and experiences with the community. 

Marielle Duke (Teen Acting Ensemble)

Marielle has directed with Boomerang Theatre Company, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Manhattan Theater Source, World Theater Day, and Metropolitan Playhouse, among others. She is the Artistic Director of Adaptive Arts Theater Company, a non-profit theater company whose mission is to make theater more accessible to individuals with Invisible Disabilities. With Adaptive, she’s directed a devised adaptation of Goethe's Faust, Mensch’s All Hail Hurricane Gordo, Brecht’s Good Woman of Setzuan, Barrie’s Alice Sit by the Fire, and multiple workshops for their “Autism Initiative” program. As an educator, she has spent close to a decade working with artists from 1 to 80 years old. She has spoken across the country on ways to create accessible theater performance for populations with disabilities. BA in Theater (Directing) and Creative Writing from Drew University and Masters in Educational Theatre from City College.  She recently relocated to San Fransisco to pursue her Masters in Drama Therapy at CIIS. She is thrilled to be joining the New Conservatory Theatre Center team this year! 

Sophie Nelson (Creative Drama, Resident Artist)

Sophie Nelson grew up in Southern California but is happy to call the Bay her home! She just recently graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Theatre and Performance Studies and a minor in Education and is excited to put her learning into practice. An actor as well as a teaching artist, she has been lucky to assist some incredible teaching artists in the Bay Area, including at the California Shakespeare Theater and Berkeley Playhouse. Having studied commedia dell’arte at the Accademia dell’Arte in Italy, Sophie hopes to bring to the classroom the same spirit of silliness, fun, and creativity that she garnered there! More than anything, she hopes to continuously work toward creating classrooms that engage students’ own knowledge and lived experiences. She would like to act as a facilitator in the classroom, helping to guide students toward their own unique understandings of dramatic expression! She is so happy to be joining this incredible and passionate group of artists and absolutely cannot wait to see what her students will create together!

Jenny Rosen (Resident Artist)

 A company member at BATS Improv since 2003 Jenny served as Dean of the BATS School of Improv for four years.  She regularly performs long and short form improvisational theater at Fort Mason Center. As a teacher and coach, Jenny has worked with students from ages 2 to 102.  She has taught for StageWrite, Live Oak, Haight Ashbury Cooperative Nursery School and dozens of other schools up and down the Bay Area.  She enjoys using theater games to inspire collaboration, positivity, and creativity in and out of the classroom.  A specialty is the incorporation of classroom curricula into theater training! Jenny has performed in Aspen, Improv Olympic (LA), The MET theater (NYC), The Moth and at the SF Fringe Festival.  She has created original musicals for 64 4th graders at the Cathedral School for Boys, and can make up full length musicals on the spot. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Jenny Rosen lives in Potrero Hill with her husband and two children, Henry and Magnolia.

Lauren Kivowitz (Resident Artist)

Lauren Kivowitz is a performer, a teaching artist, and an inclusive arts consultant with a strong background in theatre, improv, and music. She has a Master’s degree in Applied Theatre from CUNY School of Professional Studies and has facilitated classes for folks of all ages and abilities, using combinations of music, role-play, improv, story-telling, and play-building. Lauren is a passionate advocate for increasing accessible and inclusive creative arts practices, and is excited to contribute to the growth of this field in the Bay Area!

Sophie Iribarren (Summer Youth Ensemble)

Sophie Iribarren is an NCTC alum who now teaches acting to the next generation of students. As a student, Ms. Iribarren participated in Teen Summerstock, High School Performance Ensemble, Musical Theatre and performed in several Family Matinee productions including, The Wizard of Oz, Anansi, the Clever Spider and the title role in Rock ‘n Roll Cinderella. She is currently a 7th grade Special Education teacher with a BA from UC Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Education from SFSU.

Alex Akin (After-School Drama)

Alex Akin, born and raised in San Francisco, graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre from The University of Michigan.  She recently moved back to the Bay Area, having spent the last 5 years performing across New York City in various festivals and shows.  Some of her favorite credits include Fancy Nancy (Vital Theatre Co.) and Merrily We Roll Along (Astoria Performing Arts Center).  She is very excited to be a part of the NCTC's Teaching Artist team!  Having been in many youth arts programs herself, she knows how wonderful and inspiring it can be and she's so thrilled to contribute and go through this creative process with her students.

Natalie Ayala (After-School Drama)

Natalie Ayala was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. She has a B.A. in Theater Arts from San Francisco State University. Natalie was most recently seen in Plethos Production, In The Heights, as Yolanda. She believes that everyone deserves to shine and is looking forward to teaching theater and becoming part of the new NCTC team.

Marie Cartier (After-School Drama)

Marie Cartier is a multidisciplinary artist born and raised, living and working in San Francisco. A trained actor, her work in theater also spans everything from light and sound operation to props design and education. She recently completed an artist in residency with the San Francisco Mime Troupe and created the original show, Yesterday is Tomorrow in collaboration with her sister and performance partner, Genie. Marie also goes on biking adventures to add to her Plein Air SF painting series, celebrating the natural beauty of San Francisco and Northern California. She holds BA's in Theater and Peace and Conflict Studies from UC Berkeley. (Check out the wide variety of her work at mariecartier.weebly.com)

Remi Majekodunmi (After-School Drama)

Caitlyn Tella (After-School Drama)

Julia Thollaug (After-School Drama)

Julia Thollaug is an actress and choreographer who has been teaching performing arts in Bay Area public schools for the past ten years. She has taught, among other subjects, elementary school Shakespeare production and high school musical theater dance for mixed-level ensembles. She is excited to join the team at NCTC! 

Cynthia Roberts (After-School Drama)

Cynthia is an experienced teaching artist- she's making a return to NCTC's satellite program to continue her work in creative drama! She is the founder of Monologue Makeovers, a drama coaching company, which is committed to motivating students to express themselves, build confidence and unlock their creativity. 

Francisco Rodriguez (After-School Drama)

Francisco Rodriguez is a theatre-maker, primarily as an actor and educator. He has worked with a number of theatre companies and schools within the bay area. Francisco is the founder of Teatro Sublingual; developed while living in Guadalajara, Mexico. His work focuses on spreading and uniting the diverse and rich art of Mexico and Latin America. FranciscoTeatro.com. As a teaching artist at NCTC Francisco is excited to serve communities in need of arts education. 

Carlos Vargas (After-School Drama)