Growing with MATURE BEYOND HER YEARS, 18-YEAR-OLD CHIARA HAS NO PROBLEM JUMPING BETWEEN SHAKESPEARE’S TWELFTH NIGHT WITH A STUDENT CAST AND WILDE’S AN IDEAL HUSBAND WITH AN ADULT CAST. BY: LAUREN SPEIRS
Chiara Padejka comes to TNP by way of Brooklyn where she studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Her performing career started with ballet dancing and she studied at Steps on Broadway in Manhattan. Chiara knew she didn’t want to be a professional ballerina. She loved living in the moment and drawing from the story but the technical demands of dance were not something she was passionate about. She remembers being in a dress rehearsal for a ballet performance and the director of the program came in to watch. The director said “Everyone’s great on the technique but Chiara’s doing something different.” From there she became more invested in acting and started studying with Katie Capello (writer of Netflix’s new Grand Army). From Katie’s work, she found a sense of female empowerment and a depiction of how women are portrayed in society. In NYC, Chiara also started studying Tennessee Williams and found a strong foundation in classical works.
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TNP BACKSTAGE
She was then fortunate enough to study in the UK at the British American Drama Academy which offers two different programs to study with British theater professionals. Here, Chiara studied voice, movement, accents, and dialects. She had the opportunity to watch performances at The Globe and The Royal Shakespeare Company. “It was a wonderful experience to not only work on our craft but also learn what life as an actor is like and what that entails.” Chiara’s introduction to The Naples Players was a bit of a blur! Her mom called her and said “They’re having auditions today, can you think of something fast and come here?” to which Chiara responded, “Ugh...okay, I’ll come, but nothing will come of it.”
She did the audition and a few days later got a call to be in The Sound of Music. “From there, one thing led to another and I got other opportunities so...thanks, Mom!” Chiara’s grateful she stumbled across The Naples Players last year.
AN IDEAL HUSBAND
