Theater

Overview

The California State Summer School for the Arts Theater Program offers intensive professionally-oriented acting training for students who are serious about exploring the craft of acting and the possibilities of the art of theater in the modern world. An open mind, an adventuresome spirit, the desire and ability to work hard and enjoy it, the capacity to be a part of an ensemble, and a passion and willingness to explore a variety of approaches to acting are more important prerequisites for this program than extensive prior theater experience.

The focus of the program is two-fold. First, it is about training, with an emphasis on the development of the actor’s physical instrument. There is rigorous physical work in every class. Students are placed into one of six groups which meet daily for a 2-hour core acting class. Each of these acting groups moves between classes in Tai Chi Ch’uan, movement, physical comedy, contact improvisation, stage combat, dance, and voice, Mondays through Saturdays throughout the four-week session. There is no separate “musical theater program”: however, there is a Musical Theater Workshop, offered as an elective, for all students in the program. We wish to encourage all who sing, or who are new to singing and do not identify themselves as singers to have the opportunity to explore this work. All students with an interest in singing for musical theater are invited to sign up for this elective. Other electives include Shakespeare, mask, theatrical clown, and acting for the camera.

Second, it is about the life of an actor. CSSSA annually schedules performances, lectures and seminars with visiting actors, casting agents and companies to expand each student’s vision of the art form, and to provide a practical, realistic picture of the various choices within the profession. The list of guest performers in the Theatre Program has included The Faustwork Mask Theatre, Daniel Stein, Charles Fleischer, Mara Neimanis, The Green Fools Physical Theatre Society, The Ghost Road Company, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Brenda Wong Aoki, The Dell’Arte Company, the Oxblood Theatre Company, Lume, a Brazilian physical theatre troupe in their first US performance and residency. Most recently, CSSSA has hosted Universes, a performance group that fuses theater, poetry, jazz and hip hop, Theatre Movement Bazaar, Diavolo Dance Theater, the Shamans, an award-winning company from Hungary, and Dave Malloy’s Ghost Quartet performance group. Special seminars were conducted by casting agent Deborah Barylski, Chris Anthony, Associate Artistic Director of Los Angeles Shakespeare Center, actors James Belushi, Helen Hunt, Peter Kors, Leonard Nimoy, Calvin Remsberg, Nancy Travis, stunt coordinator Dean Ferrandini, and others. Students have direct contact with all visiting artists and lecturers.

There is no performance component to the Theater Program, and no show at the end. Process takes priority over product in this program. There is a weekly departmental assembly, every Monday night of the summer session, entitled Bits & Pieces, in which work from classes, exercises and assignments is shared among theater students and faculty, and with other members of the CSSSA community. The pieces are critiqued, refined with faculty input, and often repeated. It is a way for students to work in a larger context and learn from others. There is also a weekly departmental Connections seminar, which provides a framework for discussion of the performances seen and the classes taken during the week.

In addition to required classes, seminars and performances, theater students have opportunities to collaborate with participants from other departments in the development of scripts, monologues, films and performance art projects.

Students currently enrolled in grades 8 through 12 are eligible to apply. (CSSSA is open to students entering grades 9, 10, 11 or 12 next fall 2025. CSSSA is also open to students who are graduating from high school in the spring of 2025. You can still do the program the summer after graduation.)

B.J. Dodge

B.J. Dodge is the Chair of Theater and teacher of Movement, and Mask. B.J. is retired from California Institute of the Arts, where she worked primarily with Community Arts Partnership at Plaza de la Raza, making original plays and adaptations of plays with youth from Lincoln Heights, CalArts students and alumni, and artists from Los Angeles and beyond. She is a teaching artist in semi-retirement, teaching and directing as an adjunct at various institutions. She is on the teaching faculty at Orange County School of the Arts.

Damian D. Lewis

Damian D. Lewis is a Los Angeles native with Louisianan roots. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School of Theater, and is currently Co-Head of BFA Acting at the CalArts. He is a father, director, mentor, coach and arts educator, who has been teaching the craft for over 20 years. Since his directing debut of James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner in 2002, Damian has gone on to direct over 30 shows, including productions of In The Heights, Twilight L.A. 1992, For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide when the Rainbow is Enuf, various Shakespeare and Greek texts, as well as Tartuffe. His most recent works include productions of Much Ado About Nothing, Appropriate by Branden Jacob-Jenkins and the 2019 critically acclaimed world premier of Salvage, written by Tim Alderson. During CSSSA, Damian teaches Acting and Stage Combat.

Sayda Trujillo

Sayda Trujillo was born in Montreal and grew up in Canada, Guatemala and the USA. A theatre-maker specializing in voice and movement, as well as devising original physical theatre performances. She holds a BFA in Acting from CalArts; a post-graduate certificate in Physical Theatre from the Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre; and a Masters in Voice Studies from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. At CSSSA Sayda teaches Acting, T’ai Chi Chuan, and Voice and Speech.

Jessica Hemingway

Jessica Hemingway works in theater, dance, and film. Jessica holds a BFA from California Institute of the Arts. She currently works and lives in Los Angeles creating both solo and collaborative performances with musicians, dancers, and filmmakers. At CSSSA she teaches contact improvisation and acting studio.

Roman Sanchez

Roman Sanchez is a producer, director, educator, and M.F.A. candidate in Yale School of Drama's Theatre Management program. He's worked throughout the country with organizations including the International Thespian Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and Lime Arts Productions. He is the author of Preparing For College Theatre: A Guide For Performers, Technicians, and Designers. At CSSSA, he teaches Acting, Audition & Professional Development, and various electives.

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Julieta Garza

Julieta Garza is an actor, creator, and educator who is passionate about using theater as a tool for connection, healing, and transformation. Julieta’s experience includes teaching, directing, and performing with children of all ages in schools and theaters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Northern California.

Julieta received an MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre from Dell’ Arte School of Physical Theatre in June 2021, and a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and a teaching credential from CSU Dominguez Hills. Julieta’s theater roles include: “Remains'' an ensemble theater piece, “The Taming of the Shrew” performed with the Shakespeare Center LA, “Translations, Missed Communications”- a Dance/theater piece, and “The Journey”, which she directed at Highways Theater space. Julieta is delighted and grateful to join the CSSSA faculty for the second year this summer.

Hugo Armstrong

Hugo Armstrong is a theater community mainstay garnering numerous accolades including six Ovations Awards, five Drama Critics Circle Awards and three Stage Raw Awards. He has recurring roles on three TV series and has appeared in over thirty different film projects as well as lending his voice to numerous podcast series and as current co-host to the Oldhead Two Hour Radio Hour on Blast Radio.