Jan Probst is an actor, filmmaker and award-winning playwright. She lives in Berkeley, California, where she writes for stage, page and screen. Jan encourages everyone to find their voice and write from the heart.

 

~ enter stage left ~

In her own words…

The 1970s ushered in the Women’s Movement and the Gay Rights Movement, and continued the rise of political theater collectives. An exciting time for independent theater!

I joined with some creative friends to found an ambitious women’s theater group, known as The Whole Works.

This act was followed by serious study of martial arts, and in 1984 I became a founding member of Streetwise: Women’s Martial Arts Theater.

Our work was deeply rooted in the movements of the time. Although my time with these groups was short-lived, my love for the theater endured.

 

~ stage play ~

 

Always a writer/performer, I continued to explore the stage.

I was fortunate to work with acclaimed theater director Amy Mueller (Playwrights Foundation), as she guided me through the harrowing journey of creating a solo show. I wrote, acted and produced No Fences.

My study of the craft of acting continued.

Under the tutelage of Philip Bennett, I became immersed in the Stanislavski system, and discovered the joy of Shakespeare; Bobby Weinapple of Seydways Studios helped me explore the intimacy of acting for the camera; and I tackled commercial acting techniques at Full Circle in San Francisco.

Three very funny women, Joan Mankin, Annie Larson and Karen Ripley, helped me earn some laughs.

I enjoy performing and creating a role, as I have done in regional productions. My favorite time on stage, however, has always been in staged readings. I find it thrilling to be involved in the development process of a new play.

Throughout my time on and off stage, I have continued to write.  Which is how I one day found myself on the campus of San Francisco State University, enrolled in an infamous masters program in creative writing.

And that’s when the real fun began.

 

~ finding my voice ~

Graduate school was nothing like those frenzied coming-of-age years as an undergrad, when I spent more time studying the war in Viet Nam and embracing a then-fledgling Women’s Movement than I ever did in the classroom. It was an amazing time, there’s no doubt, and helped shape who I have become.

Many years later, as I entered my first graduate seminar in playwriting, I felt like I’d come home. Even the syllabus was exciting! I studied with and alongside excellent writers, digging deep into a craft I had come to truly love.

 

 

All of my instructors were (and are) working playwrights:
Michelle Carter, Brighde Mullins, Brian Thorstenson, Roy Conboy, Anne Galjour

I happily forged new connections in the world of theater.

Three and a half years later, I emerged with a handful of scripts, a head full of ideas and a graduate degree: 
Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

 

~ stage to page ~

 

The road to becoming a playwright has been fun, crazy, awkward, frustrating, surprising and exhilarating.

My work has been staged in local, regional and national venues:

Women’s Work at Venue 9

Cutting Ball Theater Mr. Five Minute Play

California Travel Troupe at The Exit Cafe

SFSU One Act Fringe Festival

San Francisco Fringe Festival

Off-Market Theatres/C.A.F.E.

ATHE Conference 2005

KCACTF National Festival 2004

Greenhouse Festival, SFSU, ’02, ’03, ’04

Monday Night Marsh

Speakeasy Theatre

Bingo, Water and Blood, In the Dumps, Infectious, No Fences and Palm Sunday have each found their way to the stage for a reading, workshop and/or production.

In 2004, my short play The First Page was selected as a national finalist for KCACTF and received a staged reading at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

And I’m still writing.

I’m blessed to live in an area that actively supports new work for the stage.

Like many others in the dramatic arts, my roots extend back to childhood. At the age of eleven, I happily claimed the drama award at Campfire Camp, for portraying the character of an aged toy shop owner – a silent role.

Although the characters I portray on stage or screen may sometimes be speechless, as a writer, I am not.

I search for the story that wants to be told, and the words to tell it.

Jan Probst
Berkeley, California