Gwenn Gideon
NYC Actress and Director
A little bit about me:
I am an actress and director born and raised in Rhinebeck, New York. I first began peforming on stage as an Irish Step Dancer in a locally-based performance group at the age of six. After getting a taste of the energy received from a live audience, I couldn't get enough! Coming from an acting family (both of my parents are actors), I grew up with a love and appreciation for the theatre. Performing in school plays all throughout middle and high school, as well as founding my own student run activist theatre company, I decided that I wanted to continue to study this amazing art in college.
At Bucknell University, I received an Arts Merit Scholarship for Theatrical Performance and earned my B.A. in Theatre and Psychology. I learned more about what draws me so much to theatre. Besides the amazing thrill I get when I perform, there is something incredibly special about getting to learn so intimately about other human lives and connections.
I was fortunate enough to have several acting and directing experiences while at Bucknell, one of which was a yearlong project that aimed to raise awarness of human sex trafficking through theatrical technique, using Augusto Boal's Theatre of The Oppressed exercises. I was able to witness first hand what an enormous impact this type of theatre can have on a community. During the summer of 2013, I had the amazing opportunity to work as a general production intern at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park. This experience allowed for me to gain a greater appreciation of all aspects of the theatre as I was working on lighting, costumes, sound, and set design, which furthered my own acting and directing capabilities. Through my studies at Bucknell as well as my outside experiences, I have been able to fully understand the endless abilities and opportunities that theatre can create.
Theatre has an immense power that can make people stop, think, and want to change. Theatre has the ability to tell the stories of silenced voices. As a lifelong activist, I truly believe that theatre and social change go hand in hand with one another. I cannot wait to see where this journey takes me!
