Staff

CLAIRE AVITABILE

Executive Director & Founder

claire@tctwentypercent.org

Originally from both California and New England, Claire settled in Minneapolis in 2005. With a passion for new work and giving voice to those who are often silenced, she began 20% Theatre in 2006 and has been leading the organization as Executive Director ever since. She’s been recognized as a Top LGBTQ+ Leader in the Twin Cities (2012) and as Artistic Director of the Year (2014) by Lavender Magazine, and received the Women of Distinction prize from Century College (2012). When not working, Claire can often be found swimming in Lake Nokomis, traveling to new cities, or exploring new recipes.

 

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KRISTEN STOECKELER

Marketing & Communications  Manager

kristen@tctwentypercent.org

Kristen is 20%'s newest addition. Working on everything from admin to communications to design, Kristen helps make 20% run. Born and raised in St. Paul, she has worked in the performing arts and arts education in Minneapolis for over a decade. When she's not working, Kristen enjoys dancing, biking, and spending time with loved ones. She also works as a freelance video producer.

Stoeckeler

MARCELA MICHELLE

Artistic Director

marcela@tctwentypercent.org

Marcela Michelle is honored to be named the Artistic Director of 20% Theatre Company. Some 20% Theatre credits include: ACTOR - And She Would Stand Like This (2015, Harrison David Rivers, Q-STAGE: New Works Series), Ballast (2017, Georgette Kelly), The Terror Fantastic (2017, Nicole Jost), Waafrika 123 (2018, Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko); DIRECTOR - Ballast (2017, Asst. Dir), Demons In America (2018, Q-STAGE), The Naked I: Recognize/d (2018), Brujeria for Beginners (2019, Q-STAGE), The Naked I: Revitalized (2020). PRODUCER/CURATOR - Exposition: Queer Performance and Conversation (2016, 2017), Queer Prom (2018-2020), Q-STAGE New Works Series (2018-2020), Controlled Burn (2019-2020), and The Naked I (2018-2020).

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Additionally, Marcela currently serves as Artistic Director and Co-Producer of Lightning Rod with Kat Purcell and Yoni Tamaing (since 2017), is the Rehearsal Director for 2018 McKnight Fellow Taja Will’s work Blood Language, is a workshop facilitator for Walker Art Center’s Teen Takeover, and recently taught for Uprising Theatre Company’s Summer Acting Intensive.

She was the Artistic Director and Co-Producer of body fail body (2019) with Kat Purcell for the Guthrie Theatre’s Dowling Studio. She has co-produced and performed in work with Pangea World Theatre including Only I (2018) and Mother Courage and Her Children (2019), and was a mentee in their 2019 iteration of The National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation (with Art2Action) with mentors Meena Natarajen and Dipankar Mukherjee. She choreographed Titus Andronicus and Much Ado About Nothing for Mission Theatre Company, appeared in Hannah Holman’s Persephone (Cowles Center for Dance), and was a company member of Visions of Sugarplums: The Burlesque Nutcracker (2015 - 2017).

In 2018, Marcela was a part of the National Curatorial Council for Mixed Blood Theater’s On Our Own Terms Transgender Play Festival, selecting works and appearing in the staged reading of No Bull (Bennett Fisher). Marcela has performed with Umbrella Collective in workshops of Penelope (2016), Intellectual Property (2017), and Spook (2019, Suzanne Victoria Cross, Ricardo Beaird), and in a staged reading of The Gordon Parks Project (2019, Harrison David Rivers) for The History Theatre. Her performance art has been featured in Queertopia (2014, Bedlam Theatre, Intermedia Arts), Project 42 (2018, Minnesota Museum of American Art), and Soft Boundaries (2018, Juleanna Enright, Gamut Gallery).

She has been a featured speaker or panelist for The University of Minnesota, Hamline University, Twin Cities Theatre Bloggers, Mixed Blood Theatre, Minnesota Theatre Alliance, and A Man’s Guide for Appropriate Behavior in the 21st Century. As a Burlesque and Cabaret entertainer Marcela has worked extensively with Black Hearts Burlesque, Dykes Do Drag, Patrick’s Cabaret, Carnivale Revolver, The Minneapolis Burlesque Festival, and was the host and headliner of DADDY, voted Best LGBTQ event of 2018 (City Pages).

"First Person" created by JamieAnn Meyers

Board of Directors

Riley Jay Davis | Member-at-Large

Zealot Hamm | Member-at-Large

Azul Kmiecik | Secretary

Marcela Michelle | Member-at-Large

Keila Anali Saucedo | Co-Chair

Dana Lee Thompson | Member-at-Large

Track Trachtenberg | Treasurer

Hunta Williams | Co-Chair