Core Company Members
Juliana Frick
Founder and Director
Juliana Frick is an award-winning physical theater artist, acrobat and former musician based in Berkeley, CA. She is passionate about the creative process and works to build an environment of wild imagination and fierce commitment among collaborators.
She grew up touring with acclaimed youth-troupe Circus Smirkus from ages nine to fifteen. Juliana received a BA in music and storytelling from Hampshire College in Western, MA, completed the professional training program at Dell’Arte International, and trained under James Donlon and Leonard Pitt at the Flying Actor Studio. Juliana is a founding core member of the dramatic acrobatic troupe UpLift Physical Theatre.
Her work has been supported by Theatre Bay Area’s CA$H Creates program and the NET/TEN virtual exploration program. Her work has toured nationally and internationally. In 2022 she received an award for “Original Application of a Physical Language” at the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater in Egypt for UpLift Physical Theatre’s original acrobatic show Through The Waves.
In 2017, Juliana was diagnosed with a rare illness that caused profound hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction. As a chronically ill and late-deafened adult, Juliana is a proud Disabled artist who strives to make the creative process and performance accessible to all.
She is also a mother to an endlessly inspiring and delightful 5 year old.
Juliana's high-energy stage presence, virtuosic physicality and comedic timing captures the imagination of audiences, young and old. You can read more about her work here.
Molly Armstrong
Producer and Artistic Board Member
Molly Armstrong is a performing artist and creator based in Oakland, CA. She trained at Dell Arte International in Blue Lake, CA. She has collaborated with Brooklyn-based physical theater company Under The Table and her work has been shown through out the U.S. as well as the Netherlands.
She is the lead singer and songwriter of local punk band, The Big Forgive. She has worked as a childcare provider for many years and now enjoys being a parent to a very entertaining 5 year old.
Molly is adept at creating funny, eccentric characters and instantly creates connections with kids through her warm and sincere presence.
Jessica Ferris
Producer and Artistic Board Member
Jessica Ferris is an admirer of pebbles and twigs whose life-long theater practice sprang from her elaborate childhood games of make-believe. Her work has orbited around solo and ensemble devised theater, and she has worked as a producer, director, writer, choreographer, and performer. She has created immersive theater in collaboration with Juliana Frick since 2011; their projects have included an adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time as well as Project Elijah, a months-long bespoke story/adventure for a pre-teen boy. In addition to helming her own productions, Jessica has trained in immersive set design and choreography with Punch Drunk, and she has orchestrated the logistics of an Odyssey Works production, a bespoke, immersive performance for author Rick Moody. The performance was expansive, taking place over the course of three months and encompassing distant locations including Saskatchewan, Canada, New Jersey and New York City. Locally she has taught with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s youth education program, and she has collaborated with Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Thirteenth Floor Productions, and Uplift Physical Theater. She believes there’s nothing more important than nurturing kids’ imaginations, open hearts, and connection to nature.
Jessica is an expert in organizing narrative threads into an immersive format so that audiences have a meaningful, magical experience.
You can read more about her work here.
