KATIE KAY CHELENA
THEATER ARTIST
KatieKayChelena.com // KatieChelena@gmail.com // EMC
@KatieKayChelena // @NYNeoFuturists
Hey y’all!
Katie Kay Chelena is a theater artist and educator from the mountains of North Carolina. She is currently based in Lenapehoking / Brooklyn, New York. She is a member of the New York Neo-Futurists and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her original performance art and plays have appeared at the Kraine Theater, New York Shakespeare Exchange, the New Ohio Theater, Queens Museum, and House of YES. In her work as an educator, she guides people of all ages and abilities to experiment with performance and poetry as a means of amplifying their voice, telling their stories, and building joyful community. Katie is the lead theater faculty at North Carolina Governor’s School West. She has also taught with the New York Neo-Futurists, the School of the New York Times, Stages on the Sound, and Quality Services for the Autism Community.
Katie is interested in multidisciplinary and DIY performance art, theatre as both raucous punk party and holy tabernacle, and bringing the spirit of queer Southern celebration and communion into all of her work.
Most recently, she has led the pivot from in-person performance to digital shows for the New York Neo-Futurists, developing and hosting their interactive livestream show CYBERWRENCH. She is currently working towards an M.A. in Arts Politics from NYU.
PERFORMANCE
New York Neo-Futurists
Ongoing: Ensemble member since 2018 and writer/performer/director in THE INFINITE WRENCH, an ever-changing attempt to perform 30 plays in an hour
Producer and writer/performer/director in CYBERWRENCH, a monthly digital live show featuring Neo-Futurist experiments
{my lingerie play}
Performer in EVEN IF YOU FOUND ME LIKE THIS, created by Diana Oh
The New Ohio Theatre-
One Minute Play Festival (various festivals 2016-2018), dir. Dominic D’Andrea
Playmakers Repertory Company-
Into the Woods (Granny, Milky White, u/s Little Red), dir. Joseph Haj;
Midsummer Night’s Dream (Fairy, Movement Captain) dir. Shana Cooper; Cabaret (swing u/s Kit Kat Girls) dir. Joseph Haj
Flat Rock Playhouse-
Children of Eden (Ensemble) dir. Paige Posey;
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Fauntelaire) dir. Betsy Bisson
North Carolina Stage Company-
Chrysalis (Nora, Lead Writer) devised with dir. Todd Weakley
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill-
30 Plays in 60 Minutes (Ensemble, Writer, 3yrs) devised with dir. Kevin Spellman;
Tales from Ovid (Juno, Nurse) dir Jeremy Skidmore;
9 Parts of Desire (Mullaya) dir. Peter Friedrich;
Uncommon Women and Others (Holly) dir. Stephanie Linas;
Julius Caesar (Decius, Ensemble) dir. Josh Wolonick
DIRECTING
HERE Arts Center-
Assistant Directing with Ari Laura Kreith:
Singing Beach by Tina Howe (Premiere) with Theatre 167
NYC Festivals-
Guest Director, the One Minute Play Festival
Assistant Directing with Nathaniel P Claridad:
July House by Patrick Robinson at FringeNYC 2015
Endangered Species by Nilan Johnson in residency at the Drama League 2016
A Hotel in Eden by Jackson K. Hanks at Thespis Festival 2016
Playmakers Repertory Company-
Assistant Directing with Libby Appel:
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang
University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill-
Shakespeare’s R+J by Joe Calarco (co-directed with Nathaniel P Claridad);
July House by Patrick Robinson (first production);
30 Plays in 60 Minutes (devised with the Modern Shakespeare Society, 3 years)
Southern Rail / The Station-
tiny frightened animals by Ben French (first production, site specific at community beer garden between railroads)
TEACHING
North Carolina Governor’s School
Lead Theater Instructor: taught Neo-Futurism, Viewpoints and Suzuki, and devised theater practices in an early-college summer program
New York Neo-Futurists
Lead workshop teacher, Intern Salon facilitator, Education committee co-chair
Stages on the Sound
Teaching Artist with focus on building literacy and social skills with young people with autism, as well as building storytelling skills and Shakespeare performance with neurotypical middle and high school students
Online workshops: Hard Times Hope Revival and BAD POET
Creative workshops developed to provide prompts and tools for connection and expression during the pandemic through multidisciplinary art practices
Hunts Point Alliance for Children
Teaching Artist for the Storefront Ensemble, a theater devising program for middle school students in the South Bronx
Girl Be Heard, NYC
Teaching Artist in after-school program for middle and high school young women, focus on empowering girls to create original performances about sociopolitical issues and identity
University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill
Teaching Assistant to Julie Fishell for Shakespeare Performance
WRITING
In Process: WOLF RIVER, a mythic choreopoem exploring Southern women’s role in progressive organizing and community care
New York Shakespeare Exchange
Member of the Playwright Diversity Cohort
University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill
Creative Writing Minor- Independent Studies in Performance Poetry, Anthology with Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Cellar Door Literary Magazine
“A STEADY DIET OF ACID”
GASLIGHT RIOT
Poetry Zine- a queer Southern coming of age
EDUCATION // TRAINING
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA- CHAPEL HILL
BA in Dramatic Art, May 2015
Creative Writing Minor
Richard and Christopher Edward Adler Award for Artistic Excellence
Student Commencement Speaker
Independent studies in Poetry, Directing, Shakespeare
Poetry with Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Miller Voice Method with John Patrick
Acting, Directing, Shakespeare with Julie Fishell and Jeff Cornell
Teaching Assistant for Shakespeare Performance
Andy and Cindy Griffith Award
SITI Company
Skidmore Summer Intensive 2013, Steel Hammer
New York NeoFuturists
Workshops Level 1 and Level 2
North Carolina Governor’s School
Theatre Class of 2010
High School Summer Program for Academically and Artistically Gifted
Flat Rock Playhouse YouTheatre
Company Member and Conservatory Student 2001-2011
Hendersonville High School
Class of 2011