About Us

Theater Between is a performance collective in Santa Cruz, CA committed to exploring and bridging the boundaries of Otherness, learning the language of connection within ourselves, with each other, and with the natural world. We recognize theater as a forum for transformation, inspiration, and deep relationship. When you portray the worst villains and come to love them, you find something within yourself that loves no matter what. And that love is what we wish to put forth in the world.

Aleksandra Wolska, Artistic Co-Director

​Aleksandra is a theater director, teacher, filmmaker and an Artistic Co-Director of Theater Between, a performance collective located in Santa Cruz, CA. She holds an MFA in Directing (Boston University) and a Ph. D in Dramatic Criticism (Stanford University). Her directorial credits include numerous productions from original works to plays by Shakespeare, Ionesco and Beckett. She directed The Wall at the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival, All Wear Bowlers, and machines machines machines with Rainpan 43 at Here Arts Center in NYC. Nominated for Drama Desk Award, All Wear Bowlers achieved international acclaim touring USA, Europe, Asia and Australia. Formerly an Assistant Professor of Theater Arts at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Wolska is now an independent scholar working on a book Theater of the Spheres: The Art of the Stage in the Cosmological Perspective. As a filmmaker, Dr. Wolska wrote and co-directed the documentary "The Heart of a Bell", which premiered at Pacific Rim Film Festival in 2011. She works and lives in Santa Cruz. Past work 

Jerilyn Kass, Artistic Co-Director

Jerilyn has worked with teenagers for the last 16 years, helping them transform their thinking about themselves and their capabilities. Her insight into human behavior and her sensitivity to the possibilities within have helped her craft gorgeous poetry and co-create plays with depth and interest. She is the owner of Higher Standards Academy, an SAT and ACT prep company, and Evolve Transformational Coaching, a life coaching organization. She co-directed The Wall at the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival and authored the poetry book What I Couldn't Tell You. Jerilyn lives and works in Santa Cruz.

Jarek ​Truszczynski, Actor

Jarek received an MFA in Drama and Musical Theater in Gdansk, Poland. Before immigrating to the USA, he established himself as a versatile performer and theater artist in his native country, becoming a member of the National Theater of Warsaw. As an actor, he excelled in a variety of genres from drama to musical theater, starring as Stanley in Streetcar Named Desire (O’Neil) and Macheath in Three Penny Opera (Brecht). After his arrival to the U.S., Mr. Truszczynski acted both in film and on the stage. His film credits include Mr. Martinelli in You Were Never Here with Sam Shephard and Mireille Enos and detective in Painkiller by Rainshadow Films. As a co-founding member of Stanford Theater Institute, he performed, among other roles, the Old Man opposite Geoff Hoyle in The Chairs (Ionesco) and Gogo in Waiting for Godot (Beckett). His other Stanford Summer Theater and Stanford appearances include Tukros in Ajax (Sophocles), Khlestakow in Inspector General (Gogol), Woyzeck in Woyzeck (Buchner) and Feste in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare). In addition, Mr. Truszczynski has designed stage sets for several productions for local and national companies. He works and lives in the Bay Area.

Mathew Schreiber, Sound Artist

Mathew’s composition sensibilities are rooted in his love for the sounds of the world. He finds inspiration in the smallest of moments where patterns and resonance reveal music that becomes illuminated. The human domain is as much a part of the world’s music as is the natural world.  A roaring train or a distant car alarm can give way to as much music as a songbird or the thundering surf. Music is in the ear of the beholder.
When composing for theater, he takes the approach of a curious designer, looking for what each moment needs in order to bring the scene to its fullest expression. A scene may need the actors to be immersed in a specific emotional realm which is evoked by music or a soundscape. While developing a piece, he goes beyond the sonic quality and lets it impact him emotionally. He lets his emotional body guide him like a compass. His acting work in experimental and improvisational theater gives him a unique perspective. This gives him access to the vast possibilities that the imagination has to offer. For example, a scene may need something incongruous to bring out its ethos. Perhaps a ticking clock for a seething argument, or a rising crescendo for a wordless revelation.