Allison Taaffe, a 2007 graduate of High School South, is in an upcoming performance of “Othello” in New York City. Preview performances begin Thursday, June 20.
Taaffe was born in New York City and raised in West Windsor. “As a child my parents were always taking me to see ballet and theater,” she says. “My parents, however, are not at all theatrical. My mother, Catherine, is a pediatric nurse at University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro and my father, Robert, works in sales management.” Her sister, Catie, is also an actor. A graduate of South in 2009, she is studying drama at Marymount Manhattan College.
“Before I really got into acting I studied ballet quite seriously,” says Taaffe. “For a while I thought that was what I might do.” She became active in High School South’s drama department. “I took my first crack at Shakespeare during my sophomore year when I played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet,” says Taaffe. She went on to play Gloria in “Damn Yankees” and Cassie in “A Chorus Line.”
“Demis Ashton, who no longer teaches at South, had a huge influence on me in high school,” says Taaffe about the former director of the school’s musicals. “She is an incredible woman and she coached me as I was preparing for college auditions. There were also many teachers in the English department who were very encouraging and were very invested in the arts scene at school.”
Taaffe attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she majored in drama and minored in French. During her first two years she studied in the Playwrights Horizon’s Theater School program, which focuses on both acting and directing. She then auditioned for the school’s Classical Studio, which focuses exclusively on Shakespeare and acting in verse. She graduated from Tisch in 2011.
“I still dance and sing, but I am not as interested in musical theater as I was as a high school student,” says Taaffe. “I really love the classics and still study with former teachers from NYU. I am still seeking representation and working toward an equity card and try to go to open calls for theater as regularly as I can.”
An avid runner, Taaffe ran two half marathons this past spring. When she is not acting she works for the New York Running Company on the Upper West Side.
Taaffe is hesitant to offer advice to students interested in pursuing a life in the theater. “I’m not sure I have enough wisdom to offer students yet. I still feel like I’m searching for hints on how to make it in this business myself. I think the best advice I could give is to get involved in any type of theatrical endeavor that you can and seek out mentors wherever you can. Meet lots of people and hang on to the ones whose work you find interesting. Be brave and be passionate.”
Since graduating she has participated in weekly scene study classes taught by Darci Picoult, a former teacher of acting at Tisch, and Louis Scheeder, the dean of the drama department. The class comprises mainly NYU alumni.
“After working on a scene from ‘Othello’ a few classmates decided to hold an informal reading of the full play. I was asked to read the role of Emilia, Iago’s wife,” says Taaffe. “And so, a small group of us all gathered together at an apartment in Washington Heights one winter evening in 2011. But the reading ended up being the start of a much longer journey. Inspired by other acting ensembles that explore texts deeply over an extended period of time, the group continued to work on the material for an entire year.”
The group continued to meet to rehearse and explore the play. “We are all young actors juggling day jobs (or two or three) all the while figuring out how to get our foot in various theatrical doors,” says Taaffe. “In a way, this production is a way of creating our own door and taking charge of our own early careers.”
In addition to the artistic planning, logistical and financial planning required a lot of preparation. Adam Reich, playing Iago, stepped in as the producer, and Daniel Spector came on as the director. “The play has been cut down to two hours and will be a lot more energetic and fast paced than most productions,” says Taaffe. “Our intention is to keep costume and design contemporary and minimal and to let the text and storytelling be our primary focus.”
The Kinetic Theater Ensemble, Access Theater, 380 Broadway, New York. Opens Thursday, June 20, with performances through June 30. $18. www.othello13.com or 800-838-3006.
