Nathaniel Justiniano

Nathaniel (Natty) Justiniano is a queer, Cali-Rican multi-hyphenate theater artist. His professional creative practices include acting, devising, directing, and movement designing. He has performed with Whitesnake Projects, Shakespeare Orange County, Son of Semele Ensemble, Cornerstone Theater Company, The Dell'Arte Company, Thrillpeddlers, Cutting Ball Theater, and We Players, among others. In his most recent work, he directed and co-devised a bouffon show for Shambles Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Good Ones, which satirically skewered inaction and virtue-signaling among progressives. He also served as the Movement Designer for the regional premiere of The Hombres by Tony Meneses, a co-production of Teatro Chelsea and Gloucester Stage. He is the Artistic Director of Naked Empire Bouffon Company, a company he founded in 2009 with an activist mission to devise hilarious, cutting, and visually-provocative satires that catalyze urgent discourse. With multiple award-winning shows, official selections in international performance festivals, and frequent tours across the United States and Canada, Naked Empire has become North America's premier bouffon company.

He has also served as a professional community organizer. He was a Program Manager at the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, the National Conference for Community & Justice, and Cornerstone Theater Company. His activist performance work has been amplified by features in national and international publications such as American Theatre Magazine and Howlround.

Hired through the Presidential Faculty Inclusive Excellence program, Justiniano is the Head of Movement and teaches courses in Performing Arts. Previously, he served as Movement Designer for UC Berkeley's TDPS department, and as the Director of Physical Comedy for the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival. He has taught at the San Francisco Clown Conservatory, Kinetic Arts, Sacramento City College, University of Southern Illinois - Edwardsville, and the Juilliard School.

"Nathaniel Justiniano is a Bay Area comic treasure, with elastic physicality, impeccable timing and contagious silliness." —San Francisco Chronicle

"Devilishly dangerous theater!" —Huffington Post