Theater welcomes multidisciplinary artist and actor, Ally Poole, to its performance faculty roster, Fall 2021

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The School of Theater and the College of Fine Arts are thrilled to announce its newest faculty addition, Ally Poole, in the performance program starting fall 2021. A multidisciplinary artist working between the US and the UK, Poole’s practice spans performance, sound art, film, musical theatre and opera.

Poole’s solo work is a blend of live art, theatre and installation while covering issues of race, politics and pop culture through her perspective as a Black American. She is a co-collaborator and sound designer for the female-led theatre collective, Hot Cousin, performing in Don't Talk to Strangers as Carl Sagan and in Toxic Crazy Lucky Stronger as Ally.

Most recently seen in The Show Must Go Online's productions of Henry VIII, Antony and Cleopatra, All's Well That Ends Well, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Henry VI Part II and The Merry Wives of Windsor, Poole made her London theatrical debut in Women of Troy at the Arcola Theatre, directed by Bec Martin-Williams.

Poole has had residencies as a sound artist at Fringe Arts Bath, LADA, Wendy.Network, and the 2019 Prague Quadrennial and has sound designed for shows at VAULT Festival and Edinburgh Fringe.  Her exploration of sound and performance has led to a series of sonic journeys created specifically for headphones, including her headphone piece, 45 Beats: A Soundwalk in the Dark , first commissioned by Fringe Arts Bath: CoLab Sound Exhibit and then selected as a "Once More With Feeling" project from the Live Arts Development Agency. Poole is also developing her first solo-project, Her Laborious Madness, which is a post-dramatic adaptation of Jorge Louis Borges' short story, The Secret Miracle. She is both writing and composing music/sound for Her Laborious Madness, which is meant to be presented through headphones.

Poole, who will be joining the theater faculty as assistant professor of instruction in performance, is a Texas native and has recently completed an MFA in Advance Theatre Practice from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England. She completed a BFA in Theatre Arts with an Emphasis in Acting and a Music Minor from Stephens College. Upon her graduation she served as the Arts Administration Intern at the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY where she gave a "a tour de force performance" as Maribel Purdy in Catherine Trieschmann's Crooked.