Sophia Skiles is a NYC-based theater actor and teacher. She has performed in productions directed by May Adrales, Chay Yew, Ralph Peña, Andrei Serban, Mary Zimmerman, Richard Foreman and David Herskovits, among others in regional theaters throughout the midwest and east coast. She was most recently seen in Michael Kahn’s final production for Shakespeare Theatre Company in Ellen McLaughlin’s new adaptation of Oresteia, for which her work in the ensemble earned a Helen Hayes nomination. Sophia is honored to draw on longstanding artistic affiliations with Ma-Yi Theater Company (http://ma-yitheatre.org) and National Asian American Theater Company (http://www.naatco.org). An experienced educator, Sophia has taught theater across a broad spectrum of learning communities, as a teaching artist in public K-12 schools to theater programs at Mount Holyoke College, SUNY Ulster and SUNY Purchase. Sophia is a dedicated community activist, having served among lead organizers for the Obie Award-winning Theaters Against War (THAW). Her work as two-term elected public official as Trustee of the New Paltz Central School District Board of Education focused on identifying and undoing systemic inequities, as well as supporting leadership and community among families of color and those with non-English home languages. BS, Performance Studies (Northwestern University), MFA, Acting (Columbia University). artEquity (https://www.artequity.org), 2016 cohort.