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! 

M. Graham Smith (Adult Drama Club)

M. Graham Smith is a San Francisco-based Director, Educator and Producer. He is an O’Neill National Directing Fellow, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival FAIR Fellow and a resident artist at SF’s Crowded Fire. Graham has directed at HERE in New York City, and venues in San Francisco including A.C.T., Aurora Theatre, Central Works, Crowded Fire, The EXIT Theatre, PlayGround, Brava, The Playwright’s Foundation, Cutting Ball Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, Golden Thread, SF Opera, and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor. He teaches at A.C.T.'s actor-training programs, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Occidental College, Colorado College and at Barcelona’s premiere Meisner Technique program in Spain.

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.

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. 

Francisco Javier Rodriguez (Resident Teaching Artist, Reader’s Theatre)

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 and the Artistic Director of the Mexican American Conservatory Theatre. 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.

ELINA ANSARY

ELINA ANSARY is a San Francisco native (and NCTC alum) living in NYC as a freelance painter and scenic design artist. A graduate of the Julliard School Professional Apprenticeship Program, Elina has worked as a scenic artist at Lincoln Center Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Juilliard School, Theatre for a New Audience. In addition, her work could be seen on the sets of My Fairy Lady and Frozen on the 2018 Tony Awards. Elina has also worked as a scenic painter for television with NBC and the History Channel. As a classically trained fine art painter, Elina has shown her work in residencies and shows in Australia, Brooklyn, New York, and San Francisco. When not painting, Elina loves to travel and hang out with her one-eyed cat named Gertrude.

EVAN JOHNSON

EVAN JOHNSON is an Oakland based theatre-maker, playwright, and teaching artist. He is the writer/performer of Don’t Feel: The Death of Dahmer, PANSY, and BARN OWL. In 2006, Evan graduated Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, and he’s worked independently as a teaching artist and freelance performance maker ever since. Evan has collaborated with Bay Area choreographers Jesse Hewitt (FREEDOM), Hope Mohr Dance (ridetherhythm), Liz Tenuto (The Two Legits, In the Velvet), and Deborah Slater Dance Theater (A Seat At The Table). He’s a House Artist at CounterPulse in San Francisco and the Founding Director of Cosmic Elders Theater Ensemble and Harvey Milk Center for the Arts’ Junior Acting Troupe.

More on Evan’s projects can be found here: www.evanjohnsonplays.com

Marielle Duke (Adult Drama Club, 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! 

Chris Morrell (Special Guest Teaching Artist, Puppetry)

Chris began learning puppetry in 2012 and has been teaching groups and classes for the past 5 years. On-stage performances include “Rights of Passage” and four annual productions of “Avenue Q” at NCTC, for which he won Outstanding Performance for a Featured Actor in a Musical at the TBA Awards in 2015. For two seasons, Chris was also one of three puppeteers working on SF Opera’s “puppeteaser” video series. While sometimes teaching classes for private clients like Google, Chris has also trained company members for several theatrical companies, including Killing My Lobster’s “Puppetry of the Lobster”  and several subsequent productions of “Avenue Q”, which he also Assistant Directed for NCTC’s 2018/19 season.

Alicia Piemme Nelson (Drama Explorer)

Alicia Piemme Nelson - is an award-winning SF/Bay Area-based actor, clown, and teaching artist. Originally a ballet dancer, she eventually turned to musical theatre and finally discovered that her heart lies in physical comedy. She is a  graduate of Boston University where she acquired a BFA in Acting. She has also trained in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy at Accademia dell'Arte where she studied commedia dell'arte, and in Papingo, Greece as an apprentice with One Year Lease Theater Company with whom she studied Greek tragic theatre Alicia is passionate about all things that spark the imagination. She is an avid believer in playing pretend, making a fool of yourself, diving in head-first, and increased diversity in theatre. She hopes to make theatre accessible to its youngest audiences and, in doing so, inspire creativity in the generations to come.

Rachel Garlin (Special Guest Teaching Artist, Songwriting)

Performing singer-songwriter Rachel Garlin has toured nationwide on the indie-folk circuit and recently won accolades for composing the title track for “Out There,” the world’s first musical in augmented reality. With a natural stage presence and an affinity for quirky-intellectual songs (from the melancholy to the rousing), Rachel is a community-minded artist who was recently featured in the SF Chronicle for being “the neighborhood entertainer, comedian, cheerleader and soother all in one” after starting a series of COVID-era concerts from the edge of her garage. Rachel’s latest release “Mondegreens” (April 2020) was produced by Julie Wolf premiered in Curve Magazine and Americana Highways. When not on virtual tour or playing music, find Rachel playing house with her wife and three kiddos.

Remi Majekodunmi (After-School Drama)

Remi Majekodunmi was born and raised in England where she earned an MFA in Acting from the renowned Drama Studio London. Ms. Majekodunmi is a multidisciplinary artist with experience as an actor, director, and playwright. She received a Peabody Trust Award and London Arts Council Theater Award for her semi-autobiographical play Sacrificed which was featured in the London Fringe Festival. Through NCTC’s after school drama program, she teaches acting to underserved youth, and also works as a docent at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco.

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.

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.

Caitlyn Tella (After-School Drama)

Caitlyn Tella has eight years of experience engaging youth and adults in theater and performance education. She has worked with the San Francisco Opera Guild, San Francisco Arts Education Project, American Conservatory Theater, and StageWrite, among other organizations to teach theater, physical acting, and to write and direct plays for youth. As an actor, she is represented by NYLO Talent Agency, and she is a theater artist whose work has been supported by Theater Bay Area CA$H Creates, San Jose Repertory Theater Emerging Artist Lab, Hemera Foundation, Elsewhere Studios Artist Residency, and others. She holds degrees in Theater from UCLA and Naropa University.

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.

MARIE CARTIER (Director of Teen Performance Ensemble)

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.