Today we’d like to introduce you to Elissa Wolf

Elissa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?

How I got to where I am today, well I’ve always really been interested in stories. I loved listening to bedtime stories when I was younger, and I would imagine intricate storylines when playing with my Barbies. Even in elementary school my sister and I somehow convinced our mom to let us host plays on the patio in our front yard during the summers. We would invite our neighbors over and they would be our audience. Looking back sharing stories was just something I did. I believe I mentioned this the last time we spoke, but I just think my parents saw my love for performing and wanted to support that interest. I guess I always knew theatre and acting made me happy and I didn’t want to let that go.

I really started envisioning acting as a career path in high school. Luckily, I had one of the best theatre teachers you could ever ask for, Jeff Nesseth. Likewise, I was fortunate enough to go to a high school that had theatre classes. I remember when I got to college, I realized that theatre classes at the high school level were not standard for many students. Throughout high school, I took either a theatre class or choir class every year. I even took a few tech theatre classes. My high school also did two productions a year. We would do the fall musical and then we’d have the spring play. And I’ll be the first to admit that I’m significantly more of an actor than I am a singer. I remember freshman year at Burlington Central, they were doing Agatha Christie’s, The Mousetrap. I didn’t care what part I got. I just wanted to audition and see what happened. I’ve always loved murder mysteries. I’ve always loved Agatha Christie. So, I was excited to audition. After auditions, you know, you wait, and you wait. Then Friday afternoon comes, and they post the cast list and you’re holding your breath. You’re checking for your name and there it is…Elissa Wolf…next to the character of Mollie Ralston. I was over the moon. From freshman year to senior year theatre was just kind of my life. I didn’t get cast every year and at the time that was difficult to process. But I think it’s important to learn about the rejection of theatre early in life. You get those rejections, and you have to ask yourself, “Okay, how am I going to handle this? Am I so dejected and heartbroken that I never want to feel this way again? Am I going to walk away?” Or do you know that this is what you’re meant to do. You know there will always be a next time. I think that’s a valuable lesson to learn at a young age because theatre is not an easy career and there will always be rejection. There will always be parts you miss out on. It’s how we handle those situations and pick ourselves back up that reflects what we can do. So, I know high school was a pivotal point in setting me up for where I am today.

College was college. It’s where I continued to foster my love of Shakespeare and where I got to interact with text at a deeper level. I learned more about the nuances of Shakespeare’s language, and I realized that Shakespeare sparked something in my soul that felt magical. Then fast forward to the spur-of-the-moment decision to apply for an MA in Shakespeare and Creativity. Since my master’s Shakespeare’s had a hold on my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I loved my master’s. The Shakespeare and Creativity program at the Shakespeare Institute holds a partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Their partnership is, “rooted in a vision of theatre as an engine room for creative thinking and research.” We learned from RSC practitioners and the program emphasized the connection between art and society. My master’s is where I realized how research can contribute to fuller stories. I believe solid research provides a better audience experience and that allows the whole community aspect of theatre to be so much richer. I think the research aspects of theatre often get overlooked. It wasn’t until I was in professional theatre that I really encountered dramaturgs, and not even every professional theatre has them. But when given the opportunity to work with a dramaturg or have one on staff I’ve always found them to be a benefit. The research they do can really help everybody connect to a singular world. We have a better foundation to build off of, allowing everyone to approach a project from the same page and I think that helps enhance the director’s vision.

I’ve always been intrigued by how academic work can inspire artistic work. When I had to do my master’s dissertation, I looked at the use of asides in Shakespeare, exploring their performance implications. The work I did with asides during my MA has continued to occupy a huge portion of my brain and I just couldn’t let it go. I’m sure like most people during the pandemic I really started to reflect on aspects of my life and career. For me, it was recognizing that I loved acting, but my heart wasn’t in it anymore and I needed to step back. But I knew theatre as a whole was where I belonged. So, I started figuring out what other career paths I could pursue in theatre. That’s when I really started to get more into dramaturgy, directing, and research. I’ve had the chance to share my work as an artist/scholar at many conferences. The conversations and presentations I’ve had at conferences are what pushed me to apply for a PhD. It’s crazy to think that this December will wrap up and I’ll start the new year in a whole new country. But I’ll be pursuing something I love. The path I’ve taken might not be what I originally planned, but I know that as long I pursue what I love and what makes me happy I’ll get to where I need to go.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?

I think most people who pursue a career in theatre know it won’t be a smooth road. It’s definitely a bumpy road that requires a lot of hard work and a lot of emails. Like I said earlier, a big portion of this job is rejection and that rejection can feel very personal. However, after a certain point, you eventually realize that it’s not personal. You learn that the people putting together a show are looking at a number of variables outside of your control. I think being a director has made me understand this more. You can love so many actors who walk into an audition room, but you only have so many roles. It’s the casting puzzle and sometimes depending on where you have to fit people it means that you don’t get the chance to offer the role to somebody who did a really lovely job. Another thing I struggled with when I first started out as an actor was the sense of failure I felt if I wasn’t booking work consistently. I had to figure out a constructive way to fill the void if I wasn’t working on a project. For me, I knew that whatever I decided to fill my time with needed to help my career. I had done a lot of stage work, but I wanted to start transitioning to film acting. At the time I had no concept of the film and commercial market in Chicago. So I started with a Google search, which led to learning about casting and talent offices in the area. This was a whole side to acting I had very little knowledge of. I knew learning about casting and talent agencies would help me understand the business side of acting. Through searching on the internet, I found some internships available. I ended up securing an internship with a talent office in Chicago, along with an internship at O’Connor Casting. Both of these opportunities gave me a whole new insight into acting. I studied what casting agents look for when actors are in the room. I learned how to give actors feedback and take notes, as well as witnessed how casting makes their decisions. While at the talent office, I observed how talent is selected for breakdown submissions, I assisted with filming self-tapes and got a better understanding of the relationship between talent agents and casting. In addition to these internships, I also started taking classes for film work.

I think a big misconception is that when you finish college you know everything. I realized right away that my training gave me one way of looking at things. To really understand the market you’ve chosen to be in you need to continue your training outside of school. I highly encourage those who have finished school to continue to take classes to hone their craft, or maybe there are skills you feel like you need to learn more about like improv or stage combat. Or perhaps you feel like the training method you received at school didn’t click. There are so many acting methods Stanislavski, Chekhov, Meisner, Adler, etc. When you’re out on your own you find that you can really cater classes to your needs as an individual. I found the Meisner method to be my go-to and that was not a method that we really explored in college. I found Meisner when I took classes at Black Box Acting Studio. It was something that I could really wrap my mind around. Many of the times when I signed up for classes I remember feeling like I wasn’t ready. I think that’s part of what has been bumpy about pursuing a career in theatre, we always want things to feel perfect. Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and push yourself before you’re ready. Find those classes and improve your talents.

The road will be bumpy, but like I said earlier it’s about how we respond that matters. I know during the pandemic it was really hard to imagine how we were going to get through everything. I don’t know if that just made me panic, but for a good portion of the pandemic, I just sent emails. I sent emails to theatres, to directors, to artists, etc. Perhaps I was searching for another form of connection, especially at a time when new connections felt impossible. Maybe I was just grasping at straws, who knows? Yet somehow as a result of my incessant emailing, I did end up having some really wonderful and fruitful conversations. And those conversations allowed me to add some wonderful people to my creative circle. Additionally, I received some wonderful opportunities. So sometimes you just need to send the email because you never know what could happen. Maybe you’ll connect with one of your favorite directors, maybe you’ll get the chance to audition for a show, maybe you’ll teach a class, or maybe you’ll get to be part of an audio play. Send the email it’s worth it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?

I consider myself a creative practitioner, which is just a fancy way of saying I’m an actor, director, dramaturg, and scholar. I specialize in Shakespeare. As I mentioned. my work with Shakespeare focuses on asides; with an emphasis on finding linguistic indicators to identify lines as asides in Shakespeare’s plays, along with identifying indicators for specific forms of “aside address” and applying them to performance. During my research, I’ve hosted workshops with actors analyzing how various aside functions and deliveries affect performance choices and audience understanding. Something that I feel needs more attention within Shakespearean scholarship is the application of academic theory to theatrical practice. My work aims to bridge this gap and provide actors with a new tool to use when approaching Shakespeare’s text. At the core, my main goal above all else is to make Shakespeare more accessible. Over the last four years, I’ve shared my work at several conferences around the world. I am so thankful that my love for Shakespeare has allowed me to travel and connect with so many amazing individuals and organizations.

As the start of my PhD program draws closer, I’ve paused working on theatrical projects and have begun offering more Shakespeare coaching. I assist actors working on Shakespearean text. Typically, I help with monologue preparation for auditions. When coaching I always start by asking the actors what they feel they need help with, and then from there, we dissect the language of the text. There are so many exercises and methods to use when working with Shakespeare’s text, which allows actors to discover what works for them. It’s all about fitting the lesson to the actor.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?

I love ice cream to the point of being an ice cream snob. One of my first jobs was working at a local ice cream shop called Kimmer’s. I worked as a scooper during my first summer with them, but I eventually became one of their ice cream makers. As a result of my ice cream making experience, I have a pretty high standard for ice cream. I know I annoy my family when we go out for ice cream. I’m the person in line asking, “Is this low overrun? What is the butter fat percentage? What machine do you use? Do you make your own waffle cones?” I’m just really passionate about my ice cream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elissawolf.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eliwolf007/

Image Credits

First Headshot – Ian Mclaren

Second Headshot – Esther Boston Photography

What We May Be – Royal Shakespeare Company

BritGrad 2023

Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare on the Sound