Artistic Associates | Company Members

Margaretta Campagna

An actor, translator, and filmmaker, Margaretta has performed in the United States, Canada, and France in both French and English. She first worked with Akropolis Performance Lab in 2006, playing Tiresias in Seneca’s Oedipus. She played various characters in APL’s Week 2 world premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days / 365 Plays (2006) and Sonya in Uncle Vanya (2014). Since becoming an APL Artistic Associate in Summer 2014, she has performed in Pomegranate & Ash and The Glas Nocturne (Seattle cast), and assistant directed Ecce Faustus. Other Seattle theatre work has included the role of Vido in the North American premiere of Jose Pliya’s Le Complexe de Thenardier (directed by Joseph Lavy) and performances with Theater Schmeater, Arouet, Theatre Simple, Unexpected Productions, ReAct Theatre, Shakespeare Northwest, and more. She also has led workshops in effective group leadership and directing through UWOnCue Educational Resource at the University of Washington. Margaretta’s film work includes acting credits in Scene From an Office (Official Selection, Local Sightings Festival, 2011) and Sans Vie (Best Local Foreign Film, STIFF, 2010), as well as translation and co-direction credits for Sans Vie. She is Assistant Casting Director on Syfy’s Z Nation Season 2  and 3. She holds a BA in Drama from the University of Washington, with additional training from Bilingual Acting Workshop, Freehold Theater Lab/Studio, Jet City Improv, Bridges Stage Company, Glenn F. Haines, and Tony Doupe.

 Sara Kaus

Sara Kaus, a small-town girl and University of Northern Iowa theatre graduate, has been acting in professional children’s theatre since 2009. Sara toured the Midwest as an actress and workshop leader with the Traveling Lantern Theatre Company  in Greek Mythology and, more recently, as Wart in The Sword in the Stone (2015). As a three-year company member of the Rose Children’s Theatre, she performed in mainstage productions such as Velveteen Rabbit, House on Mango Street, Annie – The Musical, Bridge to Terabithia, Pinkalicious – The Musical, and Peter Pan. She relocated to Seattle to perform in and lead workshops for the 2013-2014 Open Door Theatre touring season. For Stone Soup Theatre’s Alice in Wonderland (2015), she played March Hare and Alice. Sara joined Akropolis Performance Lab as an Artistic Associate in 2014, bringing a passion for acting and a belief that great performance not only entertains but educates, inspires, and even stirs audience members, themselves, to action. With APL, she has performed in Pomegranate & Ash,  The Glas Nocturne (Seattle cast),  Ecce Faustus, and Crime + Punishment.

Tyler Polumsky

Tyler Polumsky has worked professionally as an actor, director, producer, musician,  scenic designer, and teacher. He found his true creative voice and artistic aesthetic studying acting and directing with the late Mark Weil at the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. During his nearly 10 years in Tashkent, he became the first and only American to work in Ilkhom’s Main Ensemble, performing in the standing repertoire and touring with the group to Russia, France, Poland, Japan, and elsewhere. As a Master Teacher in the Ilkhom Theatre School of Drama, he taught acting (M. Chekhov, Stanislavski, Vakhtangov, Grotowski), plasticas (Physical Improvisation and Biomechanics), and elocution (English and Russian). As Assistant Master, he taught Lecoq Methods (masks, clown, buffoonery),  fencing and acrobatics, voice, and theatre history. Since returning to Seattle in 2012, Tyler has worked with The Seagull Project, appearing in The Seagull, The Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard. He has taught with Freehold, presented workshops and master classes at the University of Washington, and taught and directed at Cornish College of the Arts. He joined Akropolis Performance Lab as an Artistic Associate in 2015, created the role of the Bad Angel for APL’s production of Ecce Faustus (2016) and is Raskolnikov in Crime + Punishment (2017-18). He prefers the long form, ensemble-driven approach to the craft such as is practiced by APL, which better reflects his roots in the Russian theatre tradition.

 

Emily Testa

Emily joined Akropolis Performance Lab as an Artistic Apprentice in 2014 and was promoted to Artistic Associate the following year. With APL, she has performed in Pomegranate & Ash, The Glas Nocturne (Seattle and touring casts), Ecce Faustus, and Crime + Punishment. On stage, she was last seen in Annex Theatre’s Silhouette.  Additional theater credits include Parley, Theatre Off Jackson, ArtsWest, Cafe Nordo, Theatre Battery, Blood Ensemble, WARP Theatre, and ReACT.  Recent film projects include the J-Horror inspired EMIKO, which won eight Bleedingham Festival awards. As a graduate of Cast Iron Studio’s Talent Diversity Initiative, she starred in Park’s Epiphany, the writing and directing debut of fellow graduate Clare Chun, who has submitted the film to HBO’s Asian Pacific American Visionaries short film competition.

 

Junior Artistic Associate

Catherine Lavy

Catherine, who plays Madame in our upcoming production of The Maids, made her theatre debut in 2006 in APL’s world premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days / 365 Plays, Week 2, and stepped into a formal Artistic Apprentice role in summer 2014. She appeared in the Seattle and touring production of APL’s The Glas Nocturne (2015-16) and originated the role of Echo in Ecce Faustus (2016). In 2011, she made her vocal solo debut singing “Panis Angelicus” for nearly 2,500 people at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall – backed by the Cascade Youth Symphony Orchestra and Shoreline Schools Honor Choir. She also sang with the Seeds of Compassion Choir for the Dalai Lama’s 2008 Seattle appearances. A recent graduate of Shorecrest High School, she appeared in Urinetown (2018, Dance Captain), James & the Giant Peach (2017, Dance Captain), Bring It On! The Musical (2017, Truman Squad Dance Captain), Thoroughly Modern Millie (2016, featured tapper, Lucille), and Mary Poppins (2015). An Honor Roll student and avid Girl Scout, Catherine earned her Silver Award, serves on Western Washington’s Highest Awards Committee, is a multi-year participant on the Global Action Team, and represented Girl Scouts of Western Washington as a delegate to the Fall 2017 national convention. She sang with Shorecrest’s elite Chansons vocal ensemble and is an advanced Irish Step Dancer (Grafton Street Academy).

Artistic Apprentice

Kyrie Dawson

Kyrie began participated in our Summer 2018 Open Training Sessions, and we quickly recognized how great she fit with the ensemble. Kyrie is serving as Production Assistant for The Maids, where she’ll be introduced to our distinctive approach to performance making. A Northern California native and recent transplanted to the Pacific Northwest, Kyrie earned a BA in Mathematics (December 2017) from Lewis & Clark College at age 20. She actively participated in the Lewis & Clark theater department, performing in Mud, Antigonick (directed by Rebecca Lingafelter, who played Lady Macbeth in APL’s 2001 inaugural production), and The Arsonists, as well as studying Linklater vocal work, Suzuki physical training, and directing. In a Summer 2017 internship at Sonoma Valley’s Transcendence Theater Company, Kyrie helped bring live performance to the stone ruins in Jack London State Park. She also spent four summers in Sonoma with the Avalon Players, performing Shakespeare under the Stars at Buena Vista Winery. Kyrie is passionate about fostering community, using performance to encourage reflection in the audience, and finding unique ways to tell familiar stories.