Elana Kepner (she/her) is theatre teaching artist, voice, dialect and text coach, director, performer and a Certified Assistant Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®.  Her teaching practice centers on exploring a radically inclusive approach to Shakespeare for humans of all ages through imagination, acting, voice and movement work.  Born and raised in Marin, Elana returns to the Bay Area after forays in Eastern North Carolina, Northeast Ohio, St. Louis and Kansas City.  Highlights from Elana’s extensive career as a teaching artist include piloting Shakespeare Squadron, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival’s advanced teen training program, and teaching the progression of voice and speech courses for the BFA performance degree programs at East Carolina University, as well as serving as voice, text and dialect coach for mainstage productions. Most significantly, Elana served as Founding Artistic Director of Whirligig Stage (Greenville, NC), where directing credits included Macbeth, Newsies, A Midsummer Night's Dream and James and the Giant Peach for Whirligig Youth Academy with actors ages 7 to 18.  Elana earned her MFA in Acting and Directing from University of Missouri, Kansas City, and trained with Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA.  Elana is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and Voice and Speech Trainers Association.