MORIAH MARTEL
Actor::Artist︎︎
I’m an actress from rural New England. I started acting in the attic of a Victorian carriage house with a scrappy band of country kids. We put on a play every summer and did everything ourselves, the writing, directing, design and promotion. I was the youngest when we started, 6, so I grew up this way, playing a mermaid, a ghost, a duchess, a prince…
This says a lot about me and I’ve been involved in independent new work ever since. I’ve performed with The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare and Company, Classic Stage Company, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Sandglass Theater and the CalArts Center for New Performance. My first feature screenplay was selected for Full Spectrum Features inaugural producers lab and my short films have screened throughout the US. In 2019 I founded Look at This, a creative platform that organizes opportunities for accessible creativity. In 2023 I wrote, produced and performed my first solo show, The Mermaid on Stage. I’m a graduate of CalArts with a BFA in acting and a self designed minor in film.
I’m interested in art that creates something outside the boundaries of what is known. I’m always striving to ask “What if we did it this way instead?” and cultivating the bravery to say “I’ll go first.” In all my work, I seek to ignite and engage my audiences - to make them feel alive. An alive audience realizes their agency to actualize their lives and create a better world.