Ayelet Schrek
About Me
Ayelet is a theatre maker and educator based in San Francisco, California. They specialize in the intersections of arts and socio-politics, the integration of multiple artistic forms, and facilitating brave and generous workspaces. In addition to their professional artistic pursuits, Ayelet enjoys a panoply of hobbies including music, dance, crafting, and wandering San Francisco's abundance of parks.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Ayelet's affinity for theater was evidenced at an early age; even pre-verbal, they attempted to participate in family games and storytelling. As language developed, so did a rush of stories Ayelet would dictate to their parents or act out with their friends. Ayelet and their life-long friend Eva would write musical plays for when their families got together for holidays, and write, direct, and record videos as a form of play.
When Ayelet turned seven, they began to participate in theater classes after school, and attended the Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for the first time. This began their formalized education in theater. Every subsequent summer was spent at a variety of performing arts camps. In middle school, they chose drama as their elective, and continued to do theater and art classes after school.
Ayelet then attended The Jewish Community High School of the Bay, where they came under the mentorship of Dylan Russell, the creator and director of the drama program. Ayelet participated in all twelve theatre productions as actor, director, playwright, dramaturg, and technician. They received a deep and thorough training with Dylan, and participated in theatrical endeavors outside of school such as the Young Playwrights Inc 'Urban Retreat' and Playground SF's 'Young Playwrights Project.' They also began interning with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, which would provide Ayelet's first professional teaching artist job once they turned eighteen.
Ayelet attended Brandeis University, where they continued to pursue theater, joining the Boris' Kitchen sketch comedy troupe their first week on campus, directing one full-length show per year and a smattering of shorter pieces, co-founding the Brandeis Association of Rising Dramatists (BARD), Brandeis' first and only playwriting club, and acting in several projects. They also wrote as a theatre critic for two of the school's newspapers, had work published in multiple literary magazines, and participated in protest and social justice work. They worked on campus for the Theater Department as 'head usher' for productions and 'stitcher' in the costume shop. They graduated summa cum laude with high honors with a BA in 'English,' and minors in 'Theater Arts' and 'Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation.'
Post-graduation, Ayelet returned to San Francisco and found work as a sewing teacher with Wee Scotty, before landing in a position as Production Manager for the Jewish Community High School of the Bay's Theater Department. They've continued to work with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, teaching camp during the summers and residencies during the school year, and are currently co-leading SF Shakes' Education Workgroup, creating, adapting, and implementing programming. They've acted with Shortlived at PianoFight (they were in the winning play!), SF Shakes, Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, 6NewPlays Collective, 3Girls Theater Company, the Dramatist Guild, and the Olympians Festival. They've had their work produced with Pint Sized Plays at PianoFight, Fresh Play Sunday Reading Series with the SFPL, and were part of Playground SF's writers pool. They've completed a directing apprenticeship with Playground SF, directed for their Young Playwrights Project, and will be directing a touring production of "A Midsummer Night's Dreame" with SF Shakes in the Spring.
A Quick Overview of Identity
Name: Ayelet Worton Schrek
Pronouns: They/them (or pick your favorite non-binary pronoun!)
Gender: Non-binary; genderqueer; agender femme
Sexual Orientation: Queer; in progress; complicated amirte?
Race: White
Ethnicity: Eastern European Jew
Religion: Secular Judaism; contentedly agnostic
Nationality: From the USA
Ability: On the anxiety end of the neurodiverse spectrum; chronic pain; Elher's Danlos
Socioeconomic Status: Born middle class; currently income poor but with security nets
Education: Undergraduate degree; extra-institutional learning
Languages: English (hella fluent); Spanish (básico); Hebrew (basic)
Questions about any aspect of my identity? Please feel free to reach out and ask!