Teaching Artists

Full-length plays include The Delays, BREAK, The Storyteller, < 3, Love Scenes, and Portrait of the Widow Kinski. Her writing has been produced and developed around the country, including with Theatre Vertigo, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Something Marvelous, Victory Gardens, Portland Center Stage, Chicago Dramatists, The Blank Theatre, and Spooky Action Theater. The Delays received the 2019 Drammy Award for Outstanding Original Script, and The Storyteller won the 2020 International Thomas Wolfe Playwriting Competition. Sara Jean holds an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University, and is a member of the Dramatist Guild and LineStorm Playwrights. Her plays are available on The New Play Exchange.

Orion is a licensed Drama teacher and longtime Theatre artist - and is a proud member of the Actors' Equity, National Education, and Oregon Education Associations. He is also heavily involved in Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Access & Anti-Racism work - and has acted as student, panelist, facilitator, and collaborating educator with the Racial Equity Coalition of Southern Oregon, the Deconstructing Whiteness Learning Space, the Leading Equity Center, and Matthew Reynolds Consulting LLC. Orion is classically-trained, and received his BFA in Theatre Arts, as well as his Master of Arts in Teaching degree, from Southern Oregon University. He is thrilled to collaborate with the community's cohort of young storytellers and creators! May the Learning never cease!

Kamilah is a dramaturg, playwright, and educator originally from North Carolina. She holds a B.F.A. in Theater Education from UNC-Greensboro. Most recently, she served as the artistic assistant at Two River Theater in Red Bank, NJ, and formerly spent several seasons at Asolo Repertory Theater in Sarasota, FL, and Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC.

Muffie is a dance artist, choreographer, performer, and movement researcher. Her career has included performances and collaborations that run the gamut, from the Chicago Theater to the New York underground, on the stage and behind the scenes; always shapeshifting to serve the artistic and dance needs of her community, herself, and the changing times. Her work has been presented at the Art Institute of Chicago, Movement Research Festival (NY), The Gibney Dance Center (NY), and Newmark Theater (PDX). Delgado Connelly’s work holds space for the silenced, invisibilized, and disappeared while demonstrating the infinite and ever-expanding complexities of the bi-racial and the steadfast invincibility of the Indigenous mother.

Nicole Marie Green is a Pacific Northwest-based actor, director, and theatre educator. She grew up in Nyack, New York where she began studying theatre at a young age within the Rockland County community. She earned her undergraduate degree in Theatre Arts and Public Relations from Flagler College in Saint Augustine, Florida. After a few years living and working in NYC, she decided to head midwest to pursue an MFA in Acting and Directing at UMKC. Nicole has been a working multi-hyphanate artist for over a decade with a focus on physical and ensemble based theatre. Currently she resides in Portland, OR where she loves to teach yoga, cook, walk her dog, and find the funkiest veggies at the farmer's market. Nicole is a proud member of Actor's Equity.

An actor, writer and director, Heath holds a M.F.A. in creative writing with a focus in playwriting from Goddard College and a B.A. in theatre with a focus in performance from Humboldt State University. He also studied Korean dance and performance styles in Jinju, South Korea with USD Modern Dance. He is currently an Ensemble Member with Fuse Theatre Ensemble and Theatre Vertigo and a member playwright with Linestorm Playwrights. Poems and essays have been published in Spring Time Magazine and The Pitkin Review. Heath's work has appeared online in Pif Magazine, MiGoZine and Korea4Expats. He is a contributing writer with The Universal Asian and has also contributed lyrics to albums released by Ultraviolet Hippopotamus (Background Music) and The Turnips (Stop Watch Time Drop).

A Portland Center Stage resident teaching artist, Tyler has been seen onstage in The Importance of Being Earnest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and tick, tick…BOOM!, as well as assistant directing Dracula: A Fenimist Revenge Fantasy, Really and The Brothers Size. Additionally, his play Even Faster than a Blink was part of the 2022 Jaw New Play Festival. Tyler attended Marymount Manhattan College and is a proud member of AEA and The Dramatist Guild of America. Tyler offers individual coaching/audition prep for monologues and musical theatre, as well as script analysis and feedback for emerging playwrights. Each session is designed and tailored to your specific needs. One to two hour sessions are provided at Portland Center Stage.

Before joining Portland Center Stage, Chip held the role of artistic associate/resident director at Kansas City Repertory Theatre for seven years, where their directing credits included School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play, Welcome to Fear City, Sex with Strangers, and A Raisin in the Sun. Beyond KCRep stages, directing credits include Becoming Martin by Kevin Willmott (world premiere, The Coterie Theatre), dwb: driving while black (Lawrence Arts Center), and 4:48 Psychosis (The Buffalo Room). Chip has developed work with playwrights including Kevin Willmott, Kara Lee Corthron, Brittany K. Allen, Catherine Trieschmann, Darren Canady, Andrew Rosendorf, Michelle T. Johnson, and Michael Finke. They have developed work at The William Inge Theater Festival, NYU Steinhardt’s New Plays for Young Audiences, Orlando Shakes’ Playfest, Midwest Dramatists Center, Kansas City Repertory Theatre’s OriginKC: New Works Festival, and Portland Center Stage’s JAW Festival. Chip has a B.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

Kristen was born and raised on the island of Oahu and has worked as a fight choreographer, stage manager, and teacher in the Portland theater community for the past eight years. She graduated with a B.F.A. from Southern Oregon University and has worked professionally with Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Profile Theatre, Defunkt Theatre, and many more. She has been recognized for her fight choreography four times by the Portland Drammy's and is a proud AEA stage manager.

Andy is an actor, improviser, and teaching artist from Kansas City, MO. He earned his BFA from Avila University and his MFA from Purdue University. Since then he has performed at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, the Coterie Theatre, the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, the Kansas City Black Rep, and Spinning Tree Theatre. As an improviser he has traveled to perform in Chicago, Detroit, San Diego, Indianapolis, Houston, and Baltimore with his comedy duo Snooze Button. While teaching, Andy focuses on creating a safe environment where students are able to push themselves creatively and discover their own unique voice.

Holly is a playwright, composer, lyricist, performer and teacher. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), Maestra Music, and LineStorm Playwrights. She holds a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Marylhurst University and has over 26 years of experience as a performer and teacher. Holly is currently co-writing a musical with Lolly Ward that will have a reading in April 2024 at Artists Repertory Theater.

Yasmin Ruvalcaba is a Portland based director, writer, and arts advocate. She centers her work around advancing equity, honoring mentorship and education, and promoting community outreach and engagement. Yasmin is currently working at Advance Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE) as the Program Manager. She is excited to spend her time working with Portland Center Stage as a teaching artist. Yasmin has also engaged with her community through directing. Most recently as the assistant director for La Ruta (Artists Repertory Theatre) and La Isla En Inviero/The Island in Winter (Bag&Baggage Productions). Yasmin is also an active writer in the community. Two of her monologues are currently featured in Theatre Diaspora’s Here on This Bridge: The -ism Project.

David has played piano locally for the Oregon Symphony, Portland Opera, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Resonance Ensemble, Anonymous Theatre, and has been featured on All Classical Portland radio’s “Thursdays at Three.” Past piano credits also involve work in Minnesota with the Guthrie Theater and in Michigan at the Interlochen Arts Camp. As an actor David has been nominated for a PAMTA and Broadway World’s “Performer of the Decade” for his performance in Murder for Two at Broadway Rose Theatre.

Local credits include Persephone with Bedrock Theatre, The Most Massive Woman Wins at Deep End Theater, Dream/Logic with Hand2Mouth Theatre, and Sleepwalker at Headwaters Theatre (Fertile Ground Festival). New York credits include Volupté with World Theatre Lab, Spring’s Awakening and Balm in Gilead at The Marilyn Monroe Theatre, and The Darger Projects at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. Recent film credits: Magnificent (winner of the LGBTQ category at Oregon Independent Film Festival), Lonesome George, irl, and Love, Cheryl. She has a B.F.A. in acting from New York University and has studied at The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and Stonestreet Studios.

Joellen is a Portland-based actor, director and teaching artist. She has performed locally with Artists Repertory Theatre, Anonymous Theatre, Shaking the Tree Theatre, Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble, and others, as well as regionally with Seattle Shakespeare Company. When creating and performing her own work, Joellen is passionate about storytelling that connects audiences more deeply to their environment. In 2016, she co-founded Bedrock Theatre, a performance collective that combines storytelling, live music, and hiking in parks and wilderness areas. She has also directed site-specific works for Renegade Opera and Enso Theatre Ensemble. Joellen received her MFA in Acting from the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program. joellensweeney.com

Julana is a Portland local with an extensive career in dance, music, and theater. In 2016, she returned to the stage after a career of teaching with Portland Public Schools where she created the full-time dance program for Franklin High School. Since returning, she has been seen in numerous productions including Crowns (Portland Playhouse), Cop Out (Red Door Project), Cuba Libre (Artist Repertory), and the one-woman show Mala (Coho). She recently filmed the feature film Losing Addison starring Sherilyn Fenn, and played the recurring role of Paula in hit Netflix series Trinkets. Julana can also be seen performing as the lead singer for popular Latin-Jazz orchestra The Bobby Torres Ensemble.