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Michael “Dola” Amendola is a San Antonio and Philadelphia-based performer-creator, director, and educator interested in the personal, creative and sociological benefits of communal play. He has performed in 60+ productions across the United States including 600 shows with the Off-Broadway hit, Drunk Shakespeare; Baal (starring Gabriel Luna, directed by Obie and Lucille Lortel award-winning director Dustin Wills); the solo show Every Brilliant Thing; Our Town at ZACH (Austin Critics’ Table Award for ‘Best Supporting Actor’); and 100+ performances as Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the ASC. He is the director and co-creator of 5 Stagehands Fall Out of a Closet (the goose crisis) which had a sold-out run at the 2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and was nominated for Best Comedy. He earned a BFA in Acting from Texas State University, an MFA in Devised Performance at the Pig Iron School for Devised Performance studied Shakespeare with The Royal Shakespeare Company. He has also studied clown and jeu extensively with internationally-renowned teachers including Giovanni Fusetti, Aitor Basauri, Christopher Bayes, Sophie Amieva, Jon Davison, Adam Lazarus,and Julia Proctor. Michael also facilitates classes in devising, clown, improvisation and characterization and has taught at Duke University, The Pig Iron School, Rowan University, PhysFest NYC, Philly Improv Theater, Circadium School of Contemporary Circus, Austin Shakespeare, Cannonball Festival and the American ... view more »
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Artist Statement of Work
Tell us about your work (style, approach, philosophy, subject and/or theme):
I believe that the fear of failure, of not knowing, of being shamed is a means of oppression that deprives us of feeling whole. I want us to be excited that we don’t know and move with curiosity, not fear. I want us to embrace the fact that we are stupid animals trying our best to play “civilization” together under absurd circumstances. That’s why I make art, teach theatre and challenge perceptions using the language of “play” as a superpower.
“Play” is not a childhood relic, but a force to be cultivated throughout life to learn, empower, connect, feel pleasure and discover miraculous possibilities. Play foolish to disorient power. Play vulgar to invite poetry. Manifest unrecognizable creatures to recognize more of ourselves. Dance like a spicy octopus because it’s fun.
I want to make art that reveals the potential of what we weren’t looking for. Art that welcomes you to BIG lopsided worlds with space for grief to breathe, existential crises to sing, and enthusiasm to be unapologetically unordinary. I want us to make art that demands we play with ferocious curiosity and smirk at each other when we fail because it simply makes us dumb animals better at being, and being together.
