Theatre and Dance

izlar

Tamera Izlar

C.T. Vivian Scholar / Lecturer
Theatre History & Directing
Office: Sallee 215
Phone: (309) 298-2905
Email: TN-Izlar@wiu.edu

Tamera Izla is an Advocate for the Arts. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Kentucky and a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from Western Illinois University, she has worked as an educator, director, acting coach, actress, playwright, dramaturg, and storyteller. Dedicated to allowing voices previously unspoken to become heard, she has worked short and long-term with variant communities to respect, remember, write, and perform their stories.

She recently earned a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for HR Certificate from Cornell University; she remains an Advocate for Social Justice as a changemaker, community planner, and outreach specialist. As an educator, she has taught at Howard University, Goshen College, South Bend Civic Theatre, the Sister Island Project (Dominican Republic), Bellas Artes (Dominican Republic), the Fayette County Detention Center, Bluegrass Community College, Actor's Guild of Lexington, and Morehead State University. She has also served as an Artistic Associate at Triad Stage, a professional regional theater in Greensboro, North Carolina.

A Theatre Workshop Coordinator, she has led workshops internationally and presented her directing work in the United States and abroad. In addition, she has used theatre as a vehicle in which to prevent recidivism and promote education as an English as a Second Language (ESL) Instructor. Working at the Fayette County Detention Center in Lexington, Kentucky, she has also served as a Job Skills Instructor for immigrant and non-immigrant incarcerated inmates.

As an Advocate for the Arts, she works painstakingly to empower others to discover, respect alternative voices, and share their unique perspectives. A dramaturgical director, some past directing credits include Ghost the Musical, Rabbit Hole, The Pajama Game, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, A Lesson Before Dying, The Bluest Eye, Anna in the Tropics, Blithe Spirit, A View from the Bridge, and Wit.

She is proud to be the recipient of the 2023-2024 Rev. Dr. C. T. Vivian Teaching Scholar/Lecturer of Theatre at her alma mater, Western Illinois University.