by CalArts Community Arts Partnership
Theater
In the CAPSA Theater Lab, students will embark on an incredible journey of creativity and self-discovery. Through a three-week-long workshop of activities covering a wide variety of theater skills, students will co-create their own magical worlds, stretching their imaginations to new heights. From writing and design to acting on stage and screen, students will explore a range of topics and learn how to bring their ideas to life with the guidance of expert instructors. Collaborating with one another, students will have the opportunity to showcase their incredible work at the end of the Theater Lab. Together with their fellow students and instructors, they will choose which elements of their performance or presentation they would like to focus on and share with the world. Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity to develop your own creative voice! Reserve your spot in the CAPSA Theater Lab today and unleash your full potential!
Tom Zhang, Lead Instructor
Tom Zhang is an L.A. based teaching artist dedicated to creating performances that use humor to explore race relations and American identity. As an actor and writer, his works focus on telling stories typically left out of mainstream entertainment, which currently means telling jokes about his parents and growing up Chinese in Florida. Tom has great comedic timing, which you can tell because he graduated from CalArts with his Master of Fine Arts in Acting in the middle of a pandemic-induced lockdown.
Hao Feng, Lead Instructor
Hao Feng hails from Atlanta, Georgia, and recently completed his M.F.A. in Acting at CalArts. He received his B.S. in Neuroscience and B.A. in Piano Performance from Emory University, and MPhil in Music and Science from the University of Cambridge. Hao has previously been a teaching artist for the Alliance Theatre, Serenbe Playhouse, and has also taught at CalArts. As an actor, he has performed in Nightwalk in the Chinese Garden, directed by internationally acclaimed Taiwanese director, Stan Lai, the Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, as well as with LA-based Asian-American theatre collective, Artists at Play. Aside from acting and teaching, Hao enjoys dancing, piano, and photography, but most important of all, eating.
Natalie Ferguson, Lead Instructor
Natalie Ferguson is a visual artist with a background in community art, photography, sculpture, set design and installation art. Natalie is a current graduate student in Scene Design in the School of Theater at California Institute of the Arts. Natalie is from Winnipeg, Canada and before coming to California, programmed and facilitated free-of-charge youth art programming for six years, with a great organization called Art City. Natalie is excited to work with you all on some fun theater projects this summer!
Nic Prior, Current Student Instructor
Nic Prior is a young, Non-Binary Theatre Artist, currently based in Los Angeles. They are passionate about all aspects of their diverse artistic portfolio, including Acting, Writing, Directing and Performance Art. As an actor, Nic has worked extensively in the United States, the United Kingdom, and their home country of Australia. Nic is the Co-Artistic Director of Fleshmarket Co, an LA based Theatre company, for which they have also performed, written and directed. Nic is currently focusing their energy on writing and working towards building a more robust portfolio of Performance Art. For more info visit www.nic-prior.com.
Kenzie Caulfield, Current Student Instructor
Kenzie Caulfield started getting involved with theater design and production when she was thirteen, as a volunteer spotlight operator for a local theater group. Throughout high school, Kenzie was involved with many productions, in various technical roles. The mentors Kenzie had in high school played a huge part in cultivating her interest in technical theater, as well as her interest in teaching the practice to others. In addition, starting college has not only increased Kenzie’s general knowledge of technical theater, but also her desire to teach it to others.