Andrea Arden

Andrea Arden has been living and working as an actor, director and teacher in the New York City area since 1987. She was Co-founder and Artistic Director of the theater company Pendulum, where she directed and performed work that toured throughout the New York area and to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Andrea has worked with such companies as the New York Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Primary Stages, American Stage Company, the National Playwrights’ Conference, the Women’s Project and Productions, New Jersey Repertory, the Shoestring Players (winning the coveted Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) and Cafe Theater, Inc. in residence at George Street Playhouse. She traveled through Europe and Russia in an original duet performance piece, Eggs in a Briar Patch, as well as created, performed and toured her one-woman show, The Cry of the Children. She spent a year in residence with Théàtre dû Solèil in Paris in conjunction with the Experimental Theatre Wing, NYU. Andrea is now the Artistic Director of the theater company, THEATRE LILA, producing work throughout the country and in residence in New York City. As a Senior Facilitator and Executive Coach, Andrea has facilitated programs in leadership presence for clients including Royal Bank of Scotland, Capital One, American Express, Novartis, General Electric, COACH, and United States governmental agencies.

Andrea has devoted her life to exploring the power of theatrical storytelling and what makes theater a vital link to our humanity in modern society. Maintaining her belief that theater has the possibility of transforming a community, she is committed to challenging and moving people beyond their everyday realities.

She received her BFA in drama from the Experimental Theater Wing, New York University, and her MFA in directing from Rutgers University. Andrea is an Artist-In- Residence at the Somerset County Performing Arts Conservatory and was a featured teaching artist in the Annenberg Foundation/CPB channel “The Art of Teaching the Arts” video series. She is also a certified Feldenkrais “Awareness- Through-Movement” teacher.