Maryssa is a long time Resident Artist with SF Shakes and Program Manager for Shakespeare For All Neighbors. Maryssa is also an actor, director, and educator, with an emphasis on social justice and classical theatre. Wanlass has appeared on the mainstage in multiple shows and taught in nearly every program. Maryssa discusses themes and directorial vision for one of Shakespeare’s late romances Cymbeline.

SF Shakes: Tell us about your history with SF Shakes?

Maryssa: I started with SF Shakes in the 2011-2012 school tour of Macbeth, where I played Lady Macbeth, a witch, and a murderer (I think). I had just been laid off from a corporate retail job and I wanted to throw myself into acting and teaching, and SF Shakes allowed me to do both of those things. Since then I’ve had a robust teaching career with SF Shakes, teaching in almost every program. I have been a Resident Artist since 2013. I’ve also appeared on the Free Shakes stage in maybe six productions, getting to play such roles as Hermione in Winter’s Tale and Jaques in As You Like It. In 2019 I developed a program to deliver storytelling workshops to our neighbors experiencing homelessness, using Shakespeare as an inspiration point to empower people to make up and tell their own stories. We currently have four teaching artists working in SF’s Tenderloin district doing this work in our “Shakespeare for all Neighbors” program.