Jeff Allen Young is a performer, acting coach, playwright, and director. He loves a good story,and is grateful to participate in one of the greatest collaborative art forms (Theatre). Jeff enjoys encouraging those around him, discussing the role of the artist in society, and is passionate about advocating for both safe spaces and the artist’s well-being. His approach to performance and directing is influenced by an amalgam of theories and practices by artists such as: Stanislavsky, Declan Donnellan, Anne Bogart, Michael Rohd, Yoshi Oida, and William Ball.
Jeff Allen Young has been awarded the Helen Hayes Award (Best Ensemble, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare Theatre Company), the College of Fellows Jane Alexander Award for Acting, and has been recognized by the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival as an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Recipient.
Jeff Allen Young is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and has had the pleasure of performing with the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), Fogler Theatre, Okoboji Summer Theatre, and the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival. One of his favorite performances was in Hamlet, where he worked under the direction of American Theatre Hall of Fame (and Tony Award winning) recipient Michael Kahn; Jeff loved experiencing a modern take on Shakespeare’s work. Jeff worked as a teaching artist with STC for a number of years, where he taught Camp Shakespeare, Intro to Acting, Intro to Improv, and Beginner Playwriting courses. Jeff has had the pleasure of seeing several of his 10-minute plays come to life, and is grateful to have performed in several new plays/musicals.
Jeff is happily married to his wife Esther; they enjoy creating and traveling the world. He is a military brat, and has moved more than thirty times in his life; seeing so many parts of the world introduced him to a love of diversity, and an appreciation of various cultures and their stories. In his free time, he enjoys reading the Red Rising series, and working on his various writing projects. Jeff is grateful to still be living, after surviving one of the world’s most venomous scorpion stings in Zimbabwe (while doing missions work), and enjoys both roasting and drinking coffee.
