About Us

Theater Between is a performance collective located in Santa Cruz that develops original works for the stage. Employing the model of "devised theater," we create original performance material  physically, viscerally, and improvisationally. Such approach also provides a creative springboard for writing and producing of new plays. In our work as a whole, we explore the potential for individual and collective transformation in a world caught in an environmental and spiritual crisis, contesting radical otherness and moving towards the restoration of our bond with the living web.

Aleksandra Wolska, Founder & Artistic Co-Director

​Aleksandra is a theater director, playwright (The Feast of the Hungry Ghosts and The Performer), teacher, and filmmaker. She holds an MFA in Directing (Boston University) and a Ph.D. in Dramatic Criticism (Stanford University). Her directorial credits range from originally devised productions to plays by Shakespeare, Ionesco and Beckett. She directed The Wall at the Santa Cruz Fringe Festival, All Wear Bowlers, and machines machines machines machines 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, Aleksandra is an independent scholar working on a book Theater of the Spheres: The Art of the Staging Cosmos. As a filmmaker, she 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, Literary Director & Artistic Co-Director

Jerilyn has worked with teenagers for the last 17 years, helping them transform their thinking about themselves and their capabilities so that they can access greater power and joy with which to live their lives. 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. Recently, he played Mr. Martinelli in Never Here (2017), a feature film with Sam Shepherd and Mireille Enos. A co-founding member of Stanford Theater Institute, he played the part of the Old Man opposite Geoff Hoyle in The Chairs (Ionesco), Gogo in Waiting for Godot (Beckett), Tukros in Ajax (Sophocles). At Stanford, he played Khlestakow in Inspector General (Gogol), Woyzeck in Woyzeck (Buchner) and Feste in Twelfth Night (Shakespeare). His other notable roles include Stanley in Streetcar Named Desire (O’Neil) and Macheath in Three Penny Opera (Brecht). Jarek 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 his emotional body guide him like a compass. His acting work in experimental and improvisational theater inspires and informs his work. Website