Jack Facts:
My name is Jack Oleg (they/he) and I’m a Chicago-based actor, voice coach, sound designer, and all-around theatermaker.
My first experiences in theater-making began by playing out imaginary situations in my backyard, and it became clear to me that I was an actor when I started to rehearse the moments I was playing by going back and working them to make them more specific and fun to do. This way of thinking started around age six, and I haven’t looked back since.
I love process, I love asking hard questions, but above all else, I offer to a room the feeling of fearlessness and spontaneity that I had as a kid.
“Work hard, play hard” pretty much covers it for me.
I began my acting training at the Goodman Theatre in their summer intensive in 2017 and I received my undergraduate degree in Acting from the University of Minnesota / Guthrie Theater B.F.A. Actor Training Program.
Both of these educations greatly shaped the artist I am today. I believe that “the artist’s duty is to reflect the times” (Nina Simone), an artistic ethos passed on to me by my incredible, compassionate, and revolutionary teachers at the Goodman.
The Guthrie gave me a text-based training that challenged me to explore both classical and contemporary texts through equally sensual and intellectual experiences of language.
Growing up immersed in these traditions of Chicago theater and classical theatre alike, my artistic philosophy as a theatermaker is the pursuit of creating productions that feel in touch with an energy as old as time itself and as new as the times we’re living in.
