Meet our Fall Faculty!
Christopher Bayes (Founder of The Pandemonium Studio)
began his theater career with the internationally acclaimed Theatre de la Jeune Lune where he worked for five years as an actor, director, composer, designer and artistic associate. In 1989 he joined the acting company of the Guthrie Theater where he appeared in over twenty productions. His roles included Caliban inThe Tempest, Edgar in King Lear, The Herald in Marat/Sade and Harlequin in Triumph of Love. In 1993, commissioned by the Guthrie Theater, he produced his one-man show This Ridiculous Dreaming based on Heinrich Boll’s novel The Clown.
In New York, he has directed The Servant of Two Masters at Theatre For A New Audience, Red Noses by Peter Barnes,Four by Feydeau, The Bourgeois Gentleman, The Moliere One Acts, and The Love of Three Oranges by Carlo Gozzi at the Juilliard School; The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere, The New Place by Carlo Goldoni, We Won’t Pay...by Dario Fo, and his new adaptation of Moliere’s The Reluctant Doctor of Love for New York University’s Graduate Acting Program; The Raven by Carlo Gozzi at NYU’s Experimental Theater Wing; Ubu Roi at both NYU’s Experimental Theater Wing and Fordham University; and Timeslips at HERE.
Additionally, he has staged several original works including Wreckage at P.S. 122, The Big Day (a clown show)and The Fiasco Bro. Circus at the Juilliard School, Zibaldoné at HERE and the Present Company Theatorium,The Fools/Los Locos Del Pueblo at Touchstone Theater, Necromance, A Night of Conjuration at Dixon Place,Clowns. at the New York International Clown Festival and The Public Theater and Even Maybe Tammy at The Flea.
Outside of New York, his directing credits include Servant of Two Masters (Yale Rep, Shakespeare Theater, Guthrie Theater, Arts-Emerson and Seattle Rep), Doctor In Spite of Himself ( Intiman Theater, Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep), co-production of Scapin at the Intiman Theater in Seattle and Court Theater in Chicago, Comedy of Errors at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Len Jenkin’s new adaptation of The Birds at Yale Repertory Theater, Endgame at Court Theater, The Moliere Impromptu at Trinity Repertory Theater.
He was part of the creative team for the Broadway and Touring productions of THE 39 STEPS for which he created additional movement and served as Movement Director. He also created the Movement/Choreography for John Guare's Three Kinds of Exile at The Atlantic Theater.
He has received numerous awards and grants including a Jerome Foundation Travel/Study Grant, a General Mills Foundation Artist Assistance Grant, and both a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship Grant and a Career Opportunity Grant. He is a 1999/2000 Fox Fellow.
He has taught classes and workshops internationally at Cirque Du Soliel, Williamstown Theatre Festival, , the Big Apple Circus, Interlochen Arts Center, Vassar College, Stella Adler Conservatory, Bard College, Fordham University, University of Texas Graduate Acting and Directing Programs, National Shakespeare Conservatory, University of Minnesota Graduate Acting Program, the Guthrie Theater, Iowa State University and Theater de la Jeune Lune.
He has served on the faculty of the Juilliard Drama School, the Actor's Center (founding faculty & master teacher of physical comedy/clown), Yale School of Drama, the Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab, the Academy of Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington D.C., New York University's Graduate Acting Program and Tisch School of the Arts. His most recent position was that of Clinical Professor of Theater, Speech and Dance at Brown University and Director of Movement and Physical Theater at the Brown/Trinity Consortium. He is currently Professor and Head of Physical Acting at the Yale School of Drama.
Annelise Lawson (Co-Founder and Director of Administration and Enrollment)
is an actress and director. After first studying with Christopher Bayes at the Yale School of Drama, she’s since collaborated with him both in the rehearsal room and out – training with him as a teacher’s apprentice and going on to become a founding member of The Pandemonium Studio.
As a teacher, Annelise’s work focuses on developing technique and style through students’ personal sense of fun. Her areas of expertise include Clown, Commedia dell’arte, and the Russian Étude method – an improvisatorial rehearsal tool designed unleash an actor’s imagination into the world of the text.
Outside of The Pandemonium Studio, Annelise teaches Chekhov and Shakespeare at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and the New School for Drama.
Annelise has previously taught at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts (New Studio), Shakespeare Academy at Stratford, the Stella Adler Conservatory, and the international LungA Arts Festival in Iceland.
As an actress and maker of collaborative theater, her recent credits include How to Live on Earth (Director, Yale), Masha in Three Sisters (Two River Theater), Anna in Babes in the Woods (world premier, Signature Theater), Edmund in MONUMENT (HERE Arts Center; LungA Arts Festival), Masha in Dmitry Krymov’s √3 Sisters (International Festival of Arts & Ideas). Other credits include Arcadia (Yale Repertory Theatre) The Oresteia, Our Lady of 121st Street, ...And Sometimes Why?, The Troublesome Reign of King John, The Tempest, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, (Yale School of Drama); Middletown (Yale Summer Cabaret); The Secretaries, (Yale Cabaret), and The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe (First Folio)
She holds an MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama, and certificates in Acting from American Conservatory Theater, the British American Drama Academy, iO Chicago, and the Moscow Art Theater.
Gabriel Levey (Co-Founder and Director of Faculty and Curriculum)
is an actor, teacher and theatre maker straddling the divide between Northampton, MA and Brooklyn, NY.
Over the last 15 years Gabe has collaborated with Christopher Bayes as a student, teaching apprentice, actor, assistant director and teacher. Now, joining together to create The Pandemonium Studio could not be more of a thrill.
In addition to Acting as Play at The Pandemonium Studio, Gabe teaches Physical Acting, Clown, and Shakespeare as Play at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New Studio; as well as Clown at the Yale School of Drama Summer Acting Conservatory.
In Northampton Gabe teaches The Fun of Failure and Acting as Play at Completely Ridiculous Productions, a Training Center and Theatre Lab for the development and performance of theatrical comedy, founded in 2019.
Gabe has taught classes and/or workshops at The Berkshire Theatre Group, Northern Stage, Galim Dance, Smith College, Amherst College, Shakespeare & Co., The Professional Performing Arts High School in Manhattan, and The Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter High School in Massachusetts. He also works as an acting coach, specializing in BFA and MFA auditions. Over the last 5 years alone, Gabe has assisted individuals get accepted into the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, Juilliard, NYU, Brown/Trinity Rep, Columbia, The Pig Iron School, Steppenwolf, The Actor's Theatre of Louisville, CalARTS, UCSD in addition to RADA, Guildhall, Rose Buford, and Central School of Speech and Drama in London. For more information visit: www.gabriellevey.com
A maker of theatrical comedy, Gabe's original work includes the clown duet Dwellicle 109 (IRT); the solo show Brainsongs or the play about the dinosaur farm (Yale Cabaret); an ensemble piece And now we do LINDBERGH’S FLIGHT by Bertolt Brecht (Yale Cabaret); The Most Beautiful Thing in the World (Yale Cabaret/Boston University/Cloudcity); How to Help the Self Needs Help with Carol A. Jantsen (The Peoples Improv Theater); and most recently A Super Serious and Not at All Funny Reading of Stories I Wrote After Brain Surgery, which kicked off Completely Ridiculous Productions first season of new work at the Northampton Center for The Arts.
Gabe received a BFA in Acting from Boston University, and an MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama.
Eric Davis
is a multi-award winning performer & director with over 20 years of teaching experience in clown and bouffon. His critically-acclaimed bouffon show, Red Bastard, won dozens of 5-star reviews as well as awards for Best Theater, Most Outrageous Show, Commitment To Community and multiple Best of Fests across the globe, including Edinburgh International Fringe Festival where it was named Top 5 shows in the UK. To date he has performed for over a million audience members world wide in addition to creating original roles for Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS and ALEGRIA. For more info about the man and the beast, go to: redbastard.com
Layna Fisher
is a theater-maker, director, and producer with a specific emphasis on clown/variety, site-specific performance, physical theater, and the creation of original works. Her artistic approach centers around creating spectacles in public spaces, devising theater pieces, and fostering community connections through art. She believes in harnessing individual uniqueness to construct and embody the stories we carry, fostering a stronger bond with ourselves and others.
Layna has taught performance around the US including NY, Orlando, Wisconsin and LA. Internationally, she has taught in Doha, Qatar, and for several years in Sierra Leone - where she created and taught workshops and built theater projects. Several of the programs worked with former rebels seeking healing through the arts.
As a performer, she specializes in Shakespeare, Commedia, and devised pieces. She has been a member of esteemed groups such as Studio 42, Stolen Chair, Telluride Rep, Faux-Real, and her own company: Lawnfish Productions. Through her company, she produced her acclaimed solo show 'Truncated,' as well as 'sKin,' 'Subversions,' and 'Squirrel Variety Show.'
As a Director, recent credits include: Assistant Director alongside Chris Bayes for the Yale and NYTW production of 'For the Honey You Gotta Say When;' The Cintas Fashion Show 2023; the 40th Anniversary live production of 'Thriller;' and a multicultural flash mob for SWVL's IPO.
Producer credits include: Tribeca FIlm Festival, Sierra Leone International Film Festival, Doha TFF Film Festival, Howl Arts Festival, Underground Zero Arts Festival, Ariel Dorfmans ‘Widows’ with Hal Brooks, and many devised theater pieces in and around NY.
She has held residencies with The Field, Chashama, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She has extensive training with Raina Von Waldenburg and Christopher Bayes, the Actors Center, and the Pit. In 2022/23, she successfully completed the Pandemonium Teacher Training program and apprenticed under Chris Bayes. She previously attended the performing arts high school Dr. Phillips, as well as AADA, and the Oxford School of Drama.
Annie Piper
teaches at Kula Yoga in Tribeca, The Shala and Prema Yoga in Brooklyn. She is on the movement faculty at NYU's Tisch School of Graduate Acting and The Yale School of Drama. She is the co- teacher of 'The Open Voice' with Jessie Austrian at NYU's Gallatin School. She is certified to teach trauma-sensitive yoga by both the Trauma Center in Boston and with the national organization Warriors at Ease, and continues to bring yoga to veterans throughout the New York area. She has served on the faculty at the Brown University / Trinity Rep Consortium as well as undergraduate Theater Studies at NYU. Formerly an actor and director, she received an MFA in Acting from The University of Minnesota and a BA in Theater from Oberlin College. She certified to teach in 1997 at OM yoga, and studies Qi Gong with Thomas Droge. She is also a Reiki practitioner based in Brooklyn, New York.
Justine Williams
is an actor-creator and director who makes performances and films. Her work is informed by 20+ years dedicated to the “pandemonium arts” — training in clown, commedia dell’arte, bouffon, physical comedy, and the playful instigation techniques of Theater of the Oppressed.
Justine has been an artist-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Media Lab, and an artist resident/fellow at Queer | Art, The Public Theater, The Orchard Project, Ars Nova, New Georges, Dixon Place, Abrons Arts, NYWIFT and Lighthouse Film Festival.
Her work as an actor/director has screened at film festivals such as New Directors/New Films at Lincoln Center/MOMA, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival and Woodstock Film Festival, among others.
Justine has been on faculty at the David Geffen School of Drama since 2013, where she teaches acting through play, collaboration and ensemble-devising, and where she facilitates the development of new plays. Based between Brooklyn and Paris, Justine is also a licensed coach and offers private/group coaching for actors/artists on craft and creative life.
began his theater career with the internationally acclaimed Theatre de la Jeune Lune where he worked for five years as an actor, director, composer, designer and artistic associate. In 1989 he joined the acting company of the Guthrie Theater where he appeared in over twenty productions. His roles included Caliban inThe Tempest, Edgar in King Lear, The Herald in Marat/Sade and Harlequin in Triumph of Love. In 1993, commissioned by the Guthrie Theater, he produced his one-man show This Ridiculous Dreaming based on Heinrich Boll’s novel The Clown.
In New York, he has directed The Servant of Two Masters at Theatre For A New Audience, Red Noses by Peter Barnes,Four by Feydeau, The Bourgeois Gentleman, The Moliere One Acts, and The Love of Three Oranges by Carlo Gozzi at the Juilliard School; The Imaginary Invalid by Moliere, The New Place by Carlo Goldoni, We Won’t Pay...by Dario Fo, and his new adaptation of Moliere’s The Reluctant Doctor of Love for New York University’s Graduate Acting Program; The Raven by Carlo Gozzi at NYU’s Experimental Theater Wing; Ubu Roi at both NYU’s Experimental Theater Wing and Fordham University; and Timeslips at HERE.
Additionally, he has staged several original works including Wreckage at P.S. 122, The Big Day (a clown show)and The Fiasco Bro. Circus at the Juilliard School, Zibaldoné at HERE and the Present Company Theatorium,The Fools/Los Locos Del Pueblo at Touchstone Theater, Necromance, A Night of Conjuration at Dixon Place,Clowns. at the New York International Clown Festival and The Public Theater and Even Maybe Tammy at The Flea.
Outside of New York, his directing credits include Servant of Two Masters (Yale Rep, Shakespeare Theater, Guthrie Theater, Arts-Emerson and Seattle Rep), Doctor In Spite of Himself ( Intiman Theater, Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Yale Rep, Berkeley Rep), co-production of Scapin at the Intiman Theater in Seattle and Court Theater in Chicago, Comedy of Errors at the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Len Jenkin’s new adaptation of The Birds at Yale Repertory Theater, Endgame at Court Theater, The Moliere Impromptu at Trinity Repertory Theater.
He was part of the creative team for the Broadway and Touring productions of THE 39 STEPS for which he created additional movement and served as Movement Director. He also created the Movement/Choreography for John Guare's Three Kinds of Exile at The Atlantic Theater.
He has received numerous awards and grants including a Jerome Foundation Travel/Study Grant, a General Mills Foundation Artist Assistance Grant, and both a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship Grant and a Career Opportunity Grant. He is a 1999/2000 Fox Fellow.
He has taught classes and workshops internationally at Cirque Du Soliel, Williamstown Theatre Festival, , the Big Apple Circus, Interlochen Arts Center, Vassar College, Stella Adler Conservatory, Bard College, Fordham University, University of Texas Graduate Acting and Directing Programs, National Shakespeare Conservatory, University of Minnesota Graduate Acting Program, the Guthrie Theater, Iowa State University and Theater de la Jeune Lune.
He has served on the faculty of the Juilliard Drama School, the Actor's Center (founding faculty & master teacher of physical comedy/clown), Yale School of Drama, the Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab, the Academy of Classical Acting at the Shakespeare Theater in Washington D.C., New York University's Graduate Acting Program and Tisch School of the Arts. His most recent position was that of Clinical Professor of Theater, Speech and Dance at Brown University and Director of Movement and Physical Theater at the Brown/Trinity Consortium. He is currently Professor and Head of Physical Acting at the Yale School of Drama.
Annelise Lawson (Co-Founder and Director of Administration and Enrollment)
is an actress and director. After first studying with Christopher Bayes at the Yale School of Drama, she’s since collaborated with him both in the rehearsal room and out – training with him as a teacher’s apprentice and going on to become a founding member of The Pandemonium Studio.
As a teacher, Annelise’s work focuses on developing technique and style through students’ personal sense of fun. Her areas of expertise include Clown, Commedia dell’arte, and the Russian Étude method – an improvisatorial rehearsal tool designed unleash an actor’s imagination into the world of the text.
Outside of The Pandemonium Studio, Annelise teaches Chekhov and Shakespeare at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale and the New School for Drama.
Annelise has previously taught at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts (New Studio), Shakespeare Academy at Stratford, the Stella Adler Conservatory, and the international LungA Arts Festival in Iceland.
As an actress and maker of collaborative theater, her recent credits include How to Live on Earth (Director, Yale), Masha in Three Sisters (Two River Theater), Anna in Babes in the Woods (world premier, Signature Theater), Edmund in MONUMENT (HERE Arts Center; LungA Arts Festival), Masha in Dmitry Krymov’s √3 Sisters (International Festival of Arts & Ideas). Other credits include Arcadia (Yale Repertory Theatre) The Oresteia, Our Lady of 121st Street, ...And Sometimes Why?, The Troublesome Reign of King John, The Tempest, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, (Yale School of Drama); Middletown (Yale Summer Cabaret); The Secretaries, (Yale Cabaret), and The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe (First Folio)
She holds an MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama, and certificates in Acting from American Conservatory Theater, the British American Drama Academy, iO Chicago, and the Moscow Art Theater.
Gabriel Levey (Co-Founder and Director of Faculty and Curriculum)
is an actor, teacher and theatre maker straddling the divide between Northampton, MA and Brooklyn, NY.
Over the last 15 years Gabe has collaborated with Christopher Bayes as a student, teaching apprentice, actor, assistant director and teacher. Now, joining together to create The Pandemonium Studio could not be more of a thrill.
In addition to Acting as Play at The Pandemonium Studio, Gabe teaches Physical Acting, Clown, and Shakespeare as Play at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New Studio; as well as Clown at the Yale School of Drama Summer Acting Conservatory.
In Northampton Gabe teaches The Fun of Failure and Acting as Play at Completely Ridiculous Productions, a Training Center and Theatre Lab for the development and performance of theatrical comedy, founded in 2019.
Gabe has taught classes and/or workshops at The Berkshire Theatre Group, Northern Stage, Galim Dance, Smith College, Amherst College, Shakespeare & Co., The Professional Performing Arts High School in Manhattan, and The Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter High School in Massachusetts. He also works as an acting coach, specializing in BFA and MFA auditions. Over the last 5 years alone, Gabe has assisted individuals get accepted into the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, Juilliard, NYU, Brown/Trinity Rep, Columbia, The Pig Iron School, Steppenwolf, The Actor's Theatre of Louisville, CalARTS, UCSD in addition to RADA, Guildhall, Rose Buford, and Central School of Speech and Drama in London. For more information visit: www.gabriellevey.com
A maker of theatrical comedy, Gabe's original work includes the clown duet Dwellicle 109 (IRT); the solo show Brainsongs or the play about the dinosaur farm (Yale Cabaret); an ensemble piece And now we do LINDBERGH’S FLIGHT by Bertolt Brecht (Yale Cabaret); The Most Beautiful Thing in the World (Yale Cabaret/Boston University/Cloudcity); How to Help the Self Needs Help with Carol A. Jantsen (The Peoples Improv Theater); and most recently A Super Serious and Not at All Funny Reading of Stories I Wrote After Brain Surgery, which kicked off Completely Ridiculous Productions first season of new work at the Northampton Center for The Arts.
Gabe received a BFA in Acting from Boston University, and an MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama.
Eric Davis
is a multi-award winning performer & director with over 20 years of teaching experience in clown and bouffon. His critically-acclaimed bouffon show, Red Bastard, won dozens of 5-star reviews as well as awards for Best Theater, Most Outrageous Show, Commitment To Community and multiple Best of Fests across the globe, including Edinburgh International Fringe Festival where it was named Top 5 shows in the UK. To date he has performed for over a million audience members world wide in addition to creating original roles for Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS and ALEGRIA. For more info about the man and the beast, go to: redbastard.com
Layna Fisher
is a theater-maker, director, and producer with a specific emphasis on clown/variety, site-specific performance, physical theater, and the creation of original works. Her artistic approach centers around creating spectacles in public spaces, devising theater pieces, and fostering community connections through art. She believes in harnessing individual uniqueness to construct and embody the stories we carry, fostering a stronger bond with ourselves and others.
Layna has taught performance around the US including NY, Orlando, Wisconsin and LA. Internationally, she has taught in Doha, Qatar, and for several years in Sierra Leone - where she created and taught workshops and built theater projects. Several of the programs worked with former rebels seeking healing through the arts.
As a performer, she specializes in Shakespeare, Commedia, and devised pieces. She has been a member of esteemed groups such as Studio 42, Stolen Chair, Telluride Rep, Faux-Real, and her own company: Lawnfish Productions. Through her company, she produced her acclaimed solo show 'Truncated,' as well as 'sKin,' 'Subversions,' and 'Squirrel Variety Show.'
As a Director, recent credits include: Assistant Director alongside Chris Bayes for the Yale and NYTW production of 'For the Honey You Gotta Say When;' The Cintas Fashion Show 2023; the 40th Anniversary live production of 'Thriller;' and a multicultural flash mob for SWVL's IPO.
Producer credits include: Tribeca FIlm Festival, Sierra Leone International Film Festival, Doha TFF Film Festival, Howl Arts Festival, Underground Zero Arts Festival, Ariel Dorfmans ‘Widows’ with Hal Brooks, and many devised theater pieces in and around NY.
She has held residencies with The Field, Chashama, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She has extensive training with Raina Von Waldenburg and Christopher Bayes, the Actors Center, and the Pit. In 2022/23, she successfully completed the Pandemonium Teacher Training program and apprenticed under Chris Bayes. She previously attended the performing arts high school Dr. Phillips, as well as AADA, and the Oxford School of Drama.
Annie Piper
teaches at Kula Yoga in Tribeca, The Shala and Prema Yoga in Brooklyn. She is on the movement faculty at NYU's Tisch School of Graduate Acting and The Yale School of Drama. She is the co- teacher of 'The Open Voice' with Jessie Austrian at NYU's Gallatin School. She is certified to teach trauma-sensitive yoga by both the Trauma Center in Boston and with the national organization Warriors at Ease, and continues to bring yoga to veterans throughout the New York area. She has served on the faculty at the Brown University / Trinity Rep Consortium as well as undergraduate Theater Studies at NYU. Formerly an actor and director, she received an MFA in Acting from The University of Minnesota and a BA in Theater from Oberlin College. She certified to teach in 1997 at OM yoga, and studies Qi Gong with Thomas Droge. She is also a Reiki practitioner based in Brooklyn, New York.
Justine Williams
is an actor-creator and director who makes performances and films. Her work is informed by 20+ years dedicated to the “pandemonium arts” — training in clown, commedia dell’arte, bouffon, physical comedy, and the playful instigation techniques of Theater of the Oppressed.
Justine has been an artist-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Media Lab, and an artist resident/fellow at Queer | Art, The Public Theater, The Orchard Project, Ars Nova, New Georges, Dixon Place, Abrons Arts, NYWIFT and Lighthouse Film Festival.
Her work as an actor/director has screened at film festivals such as New Directors/New Films at Lincoln Center/MOMA, Rotterdam International Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival and Woodstock Film Festival, among others.
Justine has been on faculty at the David Geffen School of Drama since 2013, where she teaches acting through play, collaboration and ensemble-devising, and where she facilitates the development of new plays. Based between Brooklyn and Paris, Justine is also a licensed coach and offers private/group coaching for actors/artists on craft and creative life.
To ask questions, email admin@thepandemoniumstudio.com
