Marissa Chibas is a performer, writer, and educational administrator who has worked in a wide variety of theatrical forms for over two decades. She is currently the Head of the Acting Program at the California Institute of the Arts.
Her American premieres as an actor include; The Keening at the American Repertory Theater in Boston, The Predator’s Ball directed and choreographed by Carol Armitage at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Democracy in America at the Yale Rep directed by Travis Preston, Judgement Day by Odon von Horvath at Baltimore Center Stage directed by Jackson Phippin, and Two sisters and a Piano at the McCarter theater directed by Brian Kulick. On Broadway Ms. Chibas played opposite Sam Waterston in Abe Lincoln in Illinois directed by Gerry Gutierrez, and was Nora in Brighton Beach Memoirs directed by Gene Saks. In 1993 Ms. Chibas was Julie Danton in Robert Wilson’s production of Danton’s Death at the Alley Theater in Houston. Her New York premieres include Eric Overmeyer’s Dark Rapture at New York Stage and Film, A.R. Gurney’s Another Antigone and Overtime at Playwright’s Horizons and Manhattan Theater Club respectively, and Hurricane at CSC directed by Barry Edelstein.
In 2002 Ms. Chibas played Edgar in the Center For New Theater at CalArts’ inaugural production of King Lear at the Brewery in Downtown Los Angeles, and at the Frictions Festival of Dijon in 2003. Ms. Chibas participated in the Sundance Theater labs of 1997, 1998 and 2004 where among her roles there she played Eva Luna in the dance/theater bi-lingual version of the Stories of Eva Luna directed and choreographed by Della Davidson.
Ms. Chibas has been an active participant as a director and actor with the 52nd Street Project, an organization devoted to uniting professional artists with inner city kids in the New York area in order to create theater. Other educational experience includes teaching acting at the Harvard Summer Program, and at NYU Playwrights Horizons Theater School for 5 years. Ms. Chibas has performed and worked with Junior and High School students in both the Manhattan Theater Club’s and Manhattan Class Company’s youth initiatives. She has served on panels at the Mark Taper Forum and at CalArts. Ms. Chibas is on the boards of Blank the Dog Theater and Automata, both based in LA.
Ms. Chibas is the author of Eddy’s Conscience a screenplay about her uncle, Eddy Chibas, a Cuban political leader of the 40’s who committed suicide during a live radio broadcast in 1951. Marissa adapted and directed The Writer on her Work based on the compilation of essays by women writers edited by Janet Sternburg. Her solo performance piece, Chasing Cuban Tales, is based on the stories of her Cuban revolutionary father and her mother, runner up Miss Cuba 1959.
In addition to the credits listed above Ms. Chibas has worked extensively in the Resident Theater such as; The Mark Taper Forum, Arena Stage, The Old Globe, and Actors Theater of Louisville. She has been seen on television in Law and Order and FEDS. On film she appeared in Lewis Klahr’s The Speed of Turqoise which played at MOMA, Getting Away with Murder with Dan Ackroyd, and Henry Fool directed by Hal Hartley.
