Acorn Productions Hires New Director of Training

Acorn Productions, a non-profit theatrical education company dedicated to nurturing the performing arts in Portland, is thrilled to announce that they have hired Carmen-Maria Mandley as the new Director of Training for Acorn Acting Academy, currently located at Mechanics Hall in downtown Portland.

In her new position, Mandley plans to build upon Acorn's almost two decade-old tradition of developing acting talent by adding a number of new specialized offerings to the usual slate of beginning and continuing classes. Mandley brings a wealth of theater education experience to Acorn, including stints at Portland Stage Company and Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts. Since Acorn first offered their signature Acting for Ordinary People classes in 1998 on Congress Street, the company has introduced countless actors into the community through it various programs. Acorn's fall semester will begin the week of September 26th with registration beginning in the next week. Interested students are encouraged to visit Acorn's website at www.acorn-productions.org or email acornacting@gmail.com.

"I am most excited about partnering with Michael Levine on this adventure to continue to bring classes to Portland and its surrounding areas that push, engage, invite, and illuminate actors of all ages and experience levels," Mandley said about her new position. "Having taught for Acorn during the past year, I have grown to love and cherish the community, the sense of camaraderie, and the deep desire of the students to push forward, widening and deepening their toolboxes as artists. The bravery, joy, scholarship and transformation that occurs in the classrooms is staggering, and I am so grateful to take a leadership role in its forward momentum." Mandley plans to continue to teach Shakespeare classes and a clown intensive workshop in the fall as she assumes her new duties.

Mandley is currently the Director of Training for Acorn Productions and The Community Engagement Manager for Theater at Monmouth. Previously she was the Education Director and Literary Manager for Portland Stage and a teacher, actor, director and artisan for Shakespeare and Company for 12 years. She is a company member of Bare Portland, Founding Artistic Director of the Nickel Shakespeare Girls (National touring), Founding Artistic Director of Bare Theatre (Raleigh, NC) and a produced playwright and poet. Carmen attended National-Louis University in Chicago, Illinois and continued her training at Shakespeare and Company and at the Dell' Arte International School of Physical Theatre. She has been actively directing, teaching and performing Shakespeare for 20 years.

Acorn Productions' mission is to invigorate the community of performing artists in Southern Maine. Acorn seeks to nurture new performance pieces, develop artist collaboratives, train new talent, and make the Arts Accessible to a wide spectrum of the general public. Acorn creates a dynamic and fun hub of theatrical activity featuring a community of nurturing local theater artists dedicated to educating and engaging students of all ages and levels of experience. The company challenges impassioned actors with master level training that stretches actors to help them grow. All of Acorn's programs are open and inclusive and focus on new work by emerging playwrights, as well innovative and accessible performances of Shakespeare that focus on pushing actors ability to act and interpret Shakespeare by immersing the audience in the live theater experience.

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