Theater &Directing Portfolio

Voice, Text, Adaptation, and Collaboration

Philosophy

A highly trained and versatile voice and text specialist, I bring over four years of conservatory-level voice, speech, and acting training, an MA in Shakespeare & Creativity, and extensive practical experience coaching, directing, and collaborating with actors, dramaturgs, and ensembles. My expertise spans Shakespeare and heightened language, verse speaking, scansion, accent and dialect coaching, breath and resonance work, and physical-emotional embodiment techniques inspired by Lecoq and other integrative approaches. I have directed, coached, and facilitated actors in classical, contemporary, devised, and new work, helping performers connect deeply with text, intention, and emotional truth while maintaining vocal health and expressive clarity. Known for a collaborative, supportive approach, I excel at integrating voice and text work with a director’s vision, adapting exercises for individuals or ensembles, and ensuring that actors are confident, fully prepared, and expressive in rehearsal and performance.

Please use the links below to navigate—or feel free to peruse it all.

Process & Approach

Core Skills

Why This Matters

Text Analysis & Adaptation

Coaching & Directing

Narrative Space Design

Testimonials

Education & Training

Collaborations

Mentorship & Teaching

Contact & Opportunities

Process & Approach

Begin with the text as the foundation, collaborating with actors to uncover the world of the play and the inner life of their characters through analysis, voice, and movement
Integrative approach combining classical techniques, physical-emotional embodiment, and ensemble collaboration
Coaching actors in Shakespeare, heightened language, verse, and scansion
Accent and dialect work to enhance character authenticity
Prioritizing vocal health while fostering expressive freedom
Tailoring exercises and rehearsal strategies to individual and ensemble needs
Treat actors as experts on their characters, guiding them to deeper understanding through text analysis, vocal work, physicality, and collaborative exploration
Supporting actors’ emotional connection to text and clarity of intention
Collaborating closely with directors and dramaturgs to realize a shared vision
Assisting in rehearsal management, preparation, and actor readiness for performance

Core Skills

Directing & Voice/Text Coaching

Text Analysis & Scansion – Skilled in breaking down Shakespearean and other heightened texts for clarity, rhythm, and meaning.

Verse & Heightened Language – Coaching actors to interpret poetic and rhythmic texts with natural expression and emotional truth.

Integration with Director’s Vision – Adapting voice and text work to complement a production’s aesthetic, staging, and ensemble dynamics.

Dramaturgical Collaboration – Working closely with dramaturgs to refine text, clarify meaning, and support production goals.

New Work & Devised Theater Development – Facilitating actor and playwright collaboration during workshops, readings, and ensemble-devised projects; guiding language, rhythm, and vocal choices in creative development.

Accent & Dialect Support – Researching and coaching region-specific, period-accurate, and stylistically appropriate accents; experienced with Cockney, French, Irish, British RP, Texan and Standard American.

Breath, Resonance & Vocal Health – Techniques for vocal stamina, clarity, projection, and expressive range, including tension release and voice freeing exercises.

Emotional-Physical Embodiment – Using grounded movement, weighted gestures, and deliberate physicality to connect emotion and text for performance.

Scene & Character Work – Supporting actors in identifying objectives, stakes, relationships, and subtext for truthful and compelling delivery.

Adaptation & Translation – Modernizing or editing classical texts to maintain meaning, rhythm, and accessibility for performers and audiences.

Collaborative Workshop Design – Creating tailored warm-ups, exercises, and rehearsal plans that integrate voice, movement, and textual analysis for individuals or ensembles.

On-the-Floor Problem Solving – Quick adjustments in rehearsal for projection, articulation, pacing, or clarity while maintaining actor confidence.

Actor Empowerment & Mentorship – Fostering supportive, collaborative environments that build ownership, confidence, and expressive freedom in language.

Textual Editing & Clarity – Helping writers and actors identify confusing phrasing, awkward rhythm, or inconsistent tone in both classical and contemporary scripts.

Interdisciplinary Collaboration – Coordinating with directors, designers, actors, and playwrights to ensure voice and text work aligns with overall production vision.

Rehearsal Room Diagnostics – Identifying and addressing pacing, diction, clarity, or vocal stamina issues quickly and effectively.

Creative Writing & Adaptation

Scene-for-scene adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays - reimagined in modern contexts while preserving structure and themes

Translation of heightened texts into accessible modern idioms that retain rhythm and nuance

Structural dramaturgy - shaping narrative arcs, refining character journeys, clarifying thematic threads

Collaborative devising with ensembles, blending collective authorship with textual precision

Editing and refining classical and contemporary scripts for clarity, rhythm, and tone

Exploring adaptation as cultural and temporal transposition, situating classical stories in contemporary social/political contexts

Teaching & Mentorship

Designing and teaching playwriting curriculum for secondary students

Mentoring emerging playwrights through character development, dialogue, and story structure

Coaching students in Shakespearean monologues, scansion, and performance technique

Creating safe, collaborative learning environments that foster risk-taking and discovery

Supporting student productions from script development through casting, rehearsals, and final performance

Facilitating ensemble-based creative writing and performance workshops

Why This Matters

My integrative approach equips actors to engage deeply with the text—whether classical, contemporary, or devised—while connecting intention, emotion, and vocal clarity for performance. By exploring physicality as a tool for emotional truth, performers develop fully embodied characters that resonate with audiences. This methodology also prepares actors to adapt to diverse directorial styles and production needs, fostering versatility, confidence, and expressive freedom in every rehearsal and performance.

Text Analysis, Adaptation & Modern Translation

I Am Helena: A Novel Retelling of All of Shakespeare's plays – Author & Text Analyst | 2019–Present

Ongoing novel project adapting key scenes from all of Shakespeare’s plays into modern-day language while preserving original meaning, rhythm, and character objectives.
Conduct detailed text analysis: iambic pentameter, word definitions, rhetorical devices, and scene objectives inform each adaptation.
Apply dramaturgical and actor-oriented techniques to ensure the adapted text remains performative, emotionally resonant, and stage-ready.
Translate original verse into accessible modern English while maintaining character voice, tension, and dramatic intent.
Collaborate with visual and editorial documentation: side-by-side comparisons of original and adapted text demonstrate methodology, scansion, and translation choices.
Highlights expertise in: verse speaking, scansion, text adaptation, dramaturgy, and performance coaching.

Annotations & Analysis

Character Objectives & Emotional Truth
- Helena mirrors Isabella’s defiance; Mr. Pullman mirrors Angelo’s authoritarian manipulation.
- Modern language enhances clarity while keeping the tension and stakes high.
Rhetorical Devices Preserved
- Original metaphors (“mirrors”) and contrasts (“weak vs. strong”) are retained.
- Modern phrasing ensures actors can perform the text naturally without losing nuance.
Scansion & Rhythm Notes
- While strict iambic pentameter is not maintained, emotional beats align with the original rhetorical pacing.
- Lines are broken into performable units for actor breath control and emphasis.
Actor Coaching Insights
- Emphasize intentional pauses on moral contradictions (e.g., “Women are weak, too”).
- Encourage grounding through physicality matching emotional weight: heavy steps, measured movement, slow hand gestures during tense lines.
- Use subtle vocal inflection to highlight manipulation vs. defiance.
Name Translation & Rationale
- Polonius → Neil Pullman: Derived by splitting and reordering “Polonius” (→ “Nius” + “Polo”). “Neil” emerges from the front half, while “Poll” originally served as his surname. To underscore the character’s banality and universality — he is meant to embody many bad men, not stand out as unique — the surname evolved into “Pullman,” a common, grounding name.
- Ophelia → Lia: Retains the essential sonic element of “Ophelia” while simplifying into a modern, widely used name. Establishes both continuity with the Shakespearean role and accessibility for contemporary audiences.
- Helena: Named by her mother, a Shakespeare scholar, after the Helenas of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and All’s Well That Ends Well. The choice reflects Shakespeare’s rare depiction of women who act on their own decisions rather than being defined by others — a thematic anchor for Helena’s character arc.

Skills Demonstrated

Text Analysis & Translation: Preserving Shakespeare’s meaning while modernizing syntax, rhythm, and emotional context.
Verse Awareness & Scansion: Recognizing meter and emphasis to guide performance.
Actor-Focused Adaptation: Creating dialogue that is immediately performable and emotionally truthful.
Dramaturgical Insight: Maintaining thematic integrity of original text.
Applied Coaching: Guiding actors to inhabit emotional and physical truth in performance.

The Winter’s Tale: A Modern Adaptation – Playwright & Text Analyst | 2016–Present

Scene-for-scene adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale set in 1990s and 2000s California, reimagining Leontes as a man experiencing Bipolar I disorder with mania, paranoia, and delusions.
Conduct detailed text analysis to identify rhetorical devices, repetitions, and thematic patterns; translate these into modern idioms while preserving dramatic function and psychological truth.
Adapt long Elizabethan monologues into fragmented, pressured modern speech, aligning with manic symptomology and maintaining heightened dramatic cadence.
Contrast Leon’s manic voice with Caleb’s grounded responses to highlight the dissonance between delusion and reality.
Collaborate with actors through coaching techniques that emphasize psychological embodiment, rhythm, and emotional truth in performance.
Document adaptation methodology through side-by-side comparisons with Shakespeare’s text, annotations, and analysis of scansion, rhetoric, and clinical frameworks.
Highlights expertise in: textual adaptation, dramaturgy, psychological-dramaturgical analysis, performance coaching, and modern verse translation.

Annotations & Analysis

Character Objectives & Emotional Truth
- Leon: Experiencing Bipolar I mania with paranoia and delusions.
  - Objective shifts erratically: seeking confirmation, demanding validation, escalating to violence.
- Caleb: A stabilizing force.
  - Objective is to defuse and disengage, but confusion and hesitation reveal his limits.
- Emotional truth emerges through the contrast: Leon’s spiraling instability versus Caleb’s grounded normalcy.
Rhetorical Devices Preserved
- Shakespeare’s lists, repetitions, and obsessive questioning condensed into fractured modern outbursts.
- Example: Leontes’ “Is whispering nothing? … If this be nothing” becomes Leon’s “This pencil is nothing… HER. HER. Nothing.”
- Retains repetition-as-paranoia, reframed in contemporary idiom.
Scansion & Rhythm Notes
- Modernized prose but retains heightened cadence.
- Leon’s speech: fragmented, pressured, escalating pace — manic rhythm.
- Caleb’s speech: hesitant, punctuated by “Um…” and pauses — grounding rhythm.
- Contrast in rhythm mirrors psychological gulf between characters.
Actor Coaching Insights
- Leon: Coached for pressured speech, erratic gestures, fixation on small objects (the “pencil”), and abrupt emotional shifts.
- Caleb: Coached for grounded realism, hesitant pacing, understated confusion.
- Interaction demonstrates how manic paranoia disrupts ordinary conversational flow.
Scholarly Context
- DSM-5 criteria for Bipolar I manic episode include:
  - Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity → Leon’s certainty of “knowing the truth” despite lack of evidence.
  - Decreased need for sleep → implied in Leon’s restless, obsessive thought pattern.
  - Pressured speech → reflected in his fragmented, urgent dialogue.
  - Flight of ideas or racing thoughts → his leaps between subjects (“pencil… California… baby… HER”).
  - Distractibility → fixation on irrelevant objects (the pencil).
  - Increased goal-directed activity → attempts to coerce Caleb into action (“Kill him”).
  - Risky or dangerous behavior → plotting murder in delusional certainty.
- Shakespeare’s Leontes exhibits many of these features; the modern adaptation emphasizes their clinical resonance.
Name Translation & Rationale
- Leontes → Leon (Leonardo Sicilia): Retains classical weight while grounding him in a modern Sicilian-American identity. As a powerful partner in a California law firm, Leon embodies both heritage and contemporary authority.
- Camillo → Caleb: “Camillo” is rarely used today; “Caleb” preserves similar letters and cadence while feeling natural in modern usage.
- Hermione → Helene: “Hermione” is strongly associated with Harry Potter in modern culture; “Helene” retains classical resonance and recognizability.
- Polixenes → Philip: Simplified to a widely used modern name beginning with the same letter; the medial “l” provides continuity while shedding antiquated associations.

Skills Demonstrated

Actor-Focused Adaptation: Crafting dialogue that is performable, emotionally truthful, and grounded in psychological realism.
Dramaturgical Insight: Interpreting Shakespeare’s rhetorical spirals through modern mental health frameworks.
Applied Coaching: Guiding actors to balance heightened mania with naturalistic responses.
Psychological-Dramaturgical Research: Aligning Shakespeare’s Leontes with contemporary clinical symptomology (Bipolar I mania with paranoia).

Directing

The House on Monaco

Written and Directed by Annika Nori Ahlgrim

Nori Society — Mountain View, CA
August 2024

Role: Playwright & Read-Through Director

Production Description:
This staged reading explores themes of abandonment, addiction, and depression as three middle-aged children confront the hidden trauma of their mother’s troubled past. The work delves into complex family dynamics and the lingering impact of childhood wounds.

a80aa3a12941f816eab2fa575bc1f713-uncropped_scaled_within_1536_1152.webp

The Seagull: A New Adaptation

Written and Directed by Annika Nori Ahlgrim

Nori Society — Mountain View, CA
July 2021

Role: Playwright & Read-Through Director

Production Description:
A modern-day retelling of Chekhov's haunting dark comedy. This is a play about how things are. This is a play about a Seagull. A play about a young girl and the boy who loves her more than his own life. This is a play that makes us question ourselves and the world around us. What does it mean to be an artist? Who are we in the world? What destroys us? How and why do we live despite unhappiness? Sometimes painfully understandable, this play will challenge your desires and beliefs and explore art and life through the eyes of ten selfish artists. It makes a mess of love, leaving a path of destruction. 4f, 6m.