ABOUT PARK COFIELD

Park Cofield is director of theater and opera, a puppet designer, playwright, and community builder based in Los Angeles and Atlanta. His original theatrical projects and puppets have been commissioned by the Center for Puppetry Arts (the largest non-profit in the United States dedicated to the art of puppetry), Georgia Shakespeare, Art on the Atlanta Beltline (the largest public art program in the U.S.), The Alliance Theatre, Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theater, and Gateway Performance Productions.

He has a degree from Emerson College in Boston and has traveled extensively in Europe to study performance with Eugenio Barba and Odin Teatret. Park is most known for his bi-lingual stage adaptation of the classic film and book, The Red Balloon, produced by Théâtre du Rêve, Atlanta’s unique French-language theatre company which premiered in 2011 and was remounted in 2012 due to sold out performances and audience demand.

In the fall of 2011, he was awarded the prestigious Altvater Fellowship with Cornerstone Theater Company, a leader in community based theater work in the U.S. During his time with Cornerstone, Park helped to produce Creative Seeds, a two week long festival to kick off the company's Hunger Cycle and worked as the project coordinator for Talk It Out: A Community Conversation to Fix School Discipline, a new initiative addressing suspension and expulsions in Sacramento. He also spearheaded community engagement efforts in Richmond, CA around healthy living and a vote regarding a tax on soda and sugary drinks.

His work with opera includes directing The Atlanta Opera’s educational tours for the past three years, including the first ever commission for the company, Rabbit Tales, an original opera based on the folk tales of Joel Chandler Harris. He has also assistant directed for Yuval Sharon, of Los Angeles’ newest opera company, The Industry. Park is also in the process of talking with composers about developing a series of new operas for young audiences.

This past November, Park directed the U.S. premiere of ZAGAZOO, written by famed children’s author and illustrator Quentin Blake. This show is currently available for tours in the U.S. and is featured on the website of Plays for Young Audiences.

Park is also the Program Associate for Network of Ensemble Theaters, a national service organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for ensemble theater practices in the US. He manages and runs the NET/TEN grant program,  a funding program designed to support ensemble-to-ensemble knowledge, sharing and relationship building.

He is a member of the Dramatist Guild and TYA USA, the US branch of the International Association of Theatre for Children & Young People.    

Read more about Park and see examples of his work at: www.parkcofield.com