MEET YOUR TEACHER: KATRINA SYRRIS

Multi-Hyphenate Creative Professional

Katrina Syrris calls upon over 20 years of experience in the arts and leadership to help her students achieve their artistic and professional goals. She began teaching in 2019, and has since taught a variety of inspirational and educational seminars including workshops, webinars, and panel discussions. Katrina teaches one-on-one acting lessons to the motivated actor, all ages and experiences are welcome. When she isn't teaching, she's been known to write and produce original plays, write and perform feature length standup comedy sets, and produce thought-provoking videos to social media.

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Katrina has been recognized as a leader both as an artist and executive. She has been a  proud nominee for the Distinguished Alumni Award with the ICCTA, a recipient of the Certificate of Leadership with the YWCA, and a nominee for the Margaret Hillis Award for Leadership in the Arts in 2024. Her theatre company, Goodly Creatures Theatre, has also won awards for excellence since 2021, including The Best Live Theatre in Kane County. As an actress Katrina has been nominated as Best Actress for her performance as Alice in The Drowning Girls, and as Best Ensemble in the cast of Boeing Boeing.

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Katrina's creative and business expertise has been featured at the Blue Box Cafe, Sugar and Rhyme Coffeehouse, the Lake Cook Career Collaborative, the Schaumburg Public Library, and the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. Katrina has led marketing educational programming for Paul Gregory Media, and appeared in their "Mission Matters" podcast. She has also appeared as an expert panelist at various panel discussions in media and the arts. 

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Katrina is an MBA Candidate at the University of Illinois Chicago, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Aurora University. Katrina's theatrical career began as a child, and blossomed into leadership when she began directing shows in her mid twenties. Katrina has performed consistently throughout the greater Chicagoland area for over 20 years. Katrina founded Goodly Creatures Theatre in the spring of 2018 and has led the organization from a boutique troupe to a regionally recognized institution known for its Shakespeare in the Park series, pop-up performances, and educational workshops. Under her leadership, Goodly Creatures has received awards year after year for excellence in the performing arts.