Elise Kauzlaric

About Me

Elise Kauzlaric is an Associate Professor of Theatre and has been teaching for CCPA since 2011. Elise received her BFA in Musical Theatre from The Webster Conservatory of Theatre Arts and her MA in Actor Training from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London.

Elise’s teaching centers around training self-aware and critically reflective actors who continually challenge themselves to grow as artists. As a multi-disciplinary theatre artist her teaching draws on psycho-physical practice from numerous approaches: Rodenberg, Linklater, Berry, alongside Laban, Michael Chekhov, LeCoq, Bogart and the work for Frantic Assembly and Pilobolus.

She has been an active member of the Chicago theatre community for over two decades working as a director, actor, and dialect coach. Her work has been seen at Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Timeline Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Irish Theatre of Chicago, The Michigan Shakespeare Festival, the hypocrites, Griffin Theatre and many others. Elise’s work around Chicago has been recognized by the Jeff committee through multiple nominations: Direction and Production (Northanger Abbey, Mariette in Ecstasy), Artistic Specialization-Dialects (Busman’s Honeymoon, Punk Rock) and Supporting Actress (On the Shore of the Wide World).

In the Chicago tradition, Elise has been a proud member of Lifeline Theatre's artistic ensemble since 2005, specializing in the process of literary adaptation and development of new plays. As part of this artistic collective Elise has contributed to the development of over 70 new works and passes this valuable experience in collaborative development onto her students.