Harley Winzenried (She/They) is a theatremaker with a voice that she uses without apology. Having been described in the press as displaying “skill beyond her years,” she is a multi-faceted theatre artist specializing in acting, teaching, and dramaturgy. As a practitioner of the theatre, she possesses a compassionate dedication to implementing the performing arts as an agent of unification. This is exemplified in her experience in the theatre, a majority of which has consisted of all-women collaborations to produce queer and feminist work.

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Winzenried is an actor with power, adept at finding the nuances in roles where strength and softness collide. She acquired her first professional acting credit in the 2015 US premiere of Evan Placey’s Girls Like That at Paper Lantern Theatre Company as the production’s leading role, a performance described in the Winston Salem Journal as “convincing and poignant.” She made her New York City acting debut as Alex in Lizz Mangan's short play, Okay., which was produced at Manhattan Repertory Theatre in 2018 under the direction of Olivia Bishop. After completing her apprenticeship at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, she returned to the stage in 2019 to take on the role of the precocious and verbose #11 in Sarah DeLappe's The Wolves at Actors Theatre of Charlotte under the direction of Sarah Provencal. Her experience with acting for film is represented by her work in the leading role of Idle, an independent short directed by Alexis Brunnert and Nathan Knox that explores the nuances of a young woman's navigation of her social anxiety.

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Her work as a dramaturg brings her endless joy as she supports playwrights in their efforts to magic whole worlds into existence. She recently assisted in production research on Check Case Status, a virtual play detailing the experience of life as an immigrant in the United States; this piece was produced as a fundraiser for organizations that assist people fighting to survive this system. Another favorite project was the development of Ruthless Nightingale's inaugural production: In The Spotlight by Lindsey Ruzza, which was produced at the Loft at the Davenport Theatre in 2018. 

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Winzenried's administrative endeavors are in service of cultivating spaces for diverse voices and providing resources to underserved communities. Guided by this aim, she has worked in providing support to non-profit theatre organizations, concert series, a labor and employment law firm, Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and to the National Theater Institute.

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In her time as an educator, Winzenried has worked with young people ages 4-15 in various camp and after-school settings using a play-based process to devise, develop, and perform original pieces. Her method results in the development of an ensemble and encourages theatremakers of all ages to participate in collaborative world-making.

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Harley Winzenried is a proud alum of the National Theater Institute (Fall 2017) and graduated with a BA in Drama and Minor in Musical Theatre from UNCG in the Spring of 2018.