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River Navaille

performer, director, and Educator on California's Central Coast

 

Biography

 

Headshot by Sarah Horn Gaudoin

Actor

River Navaille is an actor, singer, director, and educator local to Seaside, California - a guest on Rumsen Ohlone & Esselen land, currently called Monterey County. As a nonbinary performer, River enjoys the challenge of playing with expectations of gender both on and off the stage, from androgyny to the extremes of femininity and masculinity,

River plays with a variety of styles, from clowning to naturalism, from ensemble movement to Shakespeare. Their work is an exploration for joy & meaning, no matter the context.

River believes in the life- & world-changing power of theatre. Their mission is to bring folks who've lacked access to theatre not only into the seats, but also onto the stage.

SINGER-SONGWRITER

River is a songwriter and vocalist whose music centers around carefully crafted lyrics that can bring about both laughter and tears. With a voice sometimes likened to Joan Baez or Joni Mitchell, River's fluttering soprano is matched by a richly emotional chest voice. Visit the music section for videos and recordings.

River is a classically trained vocalist with experience in vocal jazz, musical theatre, and opera. Their voice is influenced by HRT, so they have a unique range & timbre.

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EDUCATOR/DIRECTOR

River is a faculty member of the Theatre Arts & Cinema department at Hartnell College, where they teach Intro to Theatre, Acting, Devised Theatre, Script Analysis, Media Studies, Children’s Theatre, and Film History. They also teach Theatre, Acting, Intercultural Drama, and Film Appreciation for Monterey Peninsula College.

River has directed for Western Stage, Paraphrase Productions, & assistant directed for The Jewel Theatre. They directed devised projects as a UC Santa Cruz student.

In 2016 River founded the Seaside High School Dramatic Arts program in conjunction with Monterey Peninsula College, where they were awarded the national NBC RISE America grant. There, they directed over a dozen productions in unconventional spaces including stairwells, hallways, and a wrestling studio. Thanks to the NBC grant & other funding sources, River & their students were able to convert a classroom to a fully functional Blackbox Theatre, where SHSDA continues to flourish.

POET & Playwright

River has performed spoken word poetry at Monterey’s Middlebury Institute of International Studies, the Rubber Chicken Poetry Slam, the West End Festival in Sand City, Monterey Peninsula Pride, Palenke Arts, & the Eclectic Collective.

River is the author of a solo play entitled "Binaries," produced with The Western Stage project Nevertheless, She Persisted. In a blend of poetry and prose, song and movement, it explores the polar extremes of life and death, mania and depression, male and female.

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Contact me for inquiries, comments, or to book performances, workshops, private lessons, and other events.

Thank you for visiting my website. Follow me @rivernavaille.