Laura Gardner
Laura Gardner as “Constance” from King John in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles)
Based in Los Angeles, Laura appeared on Broadway in Smile, Off Broadway in The Cocktail Hour, Other People’s Money and Welded directed by Jose’ Quintero. She toured nationally in Showboat, Doonesbury, Oliver and My Fair Lady. Her extensive regional credits include the Arena Stage (DC), Huntington Theatre (Boston), Cleveland Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, and the NC Shakespeare Festival in roles that ranged from “Lady Macbeth” to “Miss Hannigan”. Los Angeles credits include six plays for the Pasadena Playhouse, Will Geer Botanicum, Westwood Playhouse, Tiffany Theatre, Fountain Theatre, Deaf West and the Celtic Arts Centre. She is a member of the Road Theatre and Rogue Machine.
Some of her TV and film credits include Guest Star appearances on Chicago Med, Law And Order, Svu, Seal Team, Animal Kingdom, Outcast, The Romanoffs, and Criminal Minds. You may have seen Laura and her actor husband, Frank Collison recurring on the NBC hit, My Name Is Earl. She was the lead in Marriage Material, a short film Oscar finalist in 2019.
Laura kept busy during the pandemic connecting with award winning Shakespeare Republic and doing three Zoom benefits for the Actors Fund: Two performances of Marilyn, Mom, And Me by Luke Yankee playing his mother: Oscar and Tony Winner, Eileen Heckart, (which she later performed to raves at The International City Theatre in Long Beach), and Sitting And Talking by Lia Romeo with Frank Collison and directed by Dawson Moore. She also taped a radio version of Janice Goldberg’s stage play, Rose Colored Glass, and much more.
Laura was on the faculty of the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood for over 19 years and then at the satellite school in Australia. She has taught actors with disability in Los Angeles and Berkeley and taught in NYC at HB Studio, Stella Adler Institute, and the American Academy of Art. She teaches workshops all over the country as well as in Great Britain. She was the drama consultant for the Compton School District.
She has been a Featured Artist at the Valdez Theatre Conference in Valdez, Alaska for the last 19 years where she created the Monologue Workshop.
WHO HAS LAURA PLAYED IN SHAKESPEARE REPUBLIC?
Shakespeare Republic audiences will remember Laura from her poignant and deeply affecting work as Constance from King John in Shakespeare Republic: #AllTheWebsAStage (The Lockdown Chronicles), a performance that saw her awarded alongside the rest of our amazing cast with Best Ensemble Cast (Drama) at the 2021 British Web Awards, Best Ensemble (International Narrative) at the 2021 New Zealand WebFest, Best Ensemble Performance at the 2022 London Web Fest in the UK and nominated for Best Ensemble Performance (Drama) at the 2022 International Academy of Web Television Awards in the USA.
Find out more about Laura here: https://www.actingwithlaura.com/