Lauren Graffin Estrada

Lauren Graffin Estrada Instructor, Theater

Ph.D. in Drama, Ulster University, Northern Ireland

M.A. in Applied Theatre, University of Exeter, England

B.A. in Drama with Irish History, Ulster University, Northern Ireland

Lauren is originally from Northern Ireland. She completed her education in the United Kingdom before moving to the United States with her husband. Lauren began her career as a young performer, and eventually decided to focus on socially engaged performance practice. Lauren has worked extensively as a community performance facilitator, and her Ph.D. research focused on site- and community-based practice.

She has worked in different contexts with a wide range of communities. For example, Lauren has made short films with youth at risk of being incarcerated, crafted a play with young men going through rehabilitation, co-created a sound piece with a history group engaged in peacebuilding in Northern Ireland, facilitated acting and theater workshops as part of the Fathers Inside Program in a prison, and facilitated reminiscence projects within a community. Lauren was also the director and producer of an inter-generational community theater in Northern Ireland for several years and was able to direct several productions in that role.

Lauren has published her research in Studies in Theatre and Performance and has presented her work at the American Society for Theatre Research, International Federation for Theatre Research, Irish Society for Theatre Research, as part of the Performing Archives conference in NUI Galway and as an invited guest at Boston University. She is also in the process of becoming a Canvas Certified Educator.

Prior to taking up her post at Sheridan College, Lauren taught on two continents. In Northern Ireland she taught at Ulster University and Queen’s University Belfast. In California, she taught at Chaffey College and San Bernardino Valley College.

Lauren joined Sheridan College as the Instructor of Theatre at Sheridan College in 2020, where she continues to teach, lead, and guide her students. Every semester, she directs a play for the students to showcase their talents.