K. O'Rourke
Assistant Professor of Theatre
K.O. is a bicoastal actor, movement director and educator. She is a member of the 9th cohort of trauma-informed teaching artists through Bartol Foundation. She has collaborated with many regional and international theatre companies as an actor, director, intimacy director and choreographer, including Bristol Riverside Theater, Teatro Delle Due, Moon Puppet Theater, Kalinari Dance Theater, Lantern Theater, People’s Light, EgoPo Classic Theater, Maples Rep, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Philadelphia Theater Company, Saratoga Shakespeare Festival, Walnut Street Theater, Inis Nua, Theater Exile, Azuka Theatre, Simpatico Theatre and Wilma Theater.
Research/Studies:
Intimacy and consent-forward spaces for stage and film, movement for the actor, and Russian and Ukrainian language studies. She is a certified yoga instructor (ashtanga-based vinyasa). She studied Zen meditation at the San Francisco Zen Center as a guest student, and continues to develop the ways in which that practice is able to inform all her affairs. K.O. runs a nonprofit ballroom dance company, which collaborates with under-served areas based in Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Camden.
Recent Theater:
Cabaret (Bristol Riverside Theater), Dot (People’s Light).
Recent TV:
FBI (CBS), #MiniMocks (Comedy Central).
Recent Film:
Dark State. Barrymore nominations for Best Featured Performance, Detroit (Philadelphia Theater Company), Taming of the Shrew (Lantern). Barrymore nominations for Outstanding Choreography, Emma (Lantern) It Girl (Simpatico), Anna (EgoPo). Director of Programming for Dancing With The Students. Upcoming international exchange includes The Ramayana in Indonesia (EgoPo Classic Theater, Kalanari Theatre Movement, Papermoon Puppet Theatre), which will culminate in June of 2023 when the US teams hosts the Indonesian company for a public performance in FDR Park in South Philadelphia in collaboration with the Philadelphia Indonesian Cultural and Heritage Festival.
Education:
MA, Theatre Studies (Villanova University), MFA, Theater - Acting (Temple University)
