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Acting Portfolio

Although Marco is primarily a director, his entry into the world of performance was in acting. When possible, Marco continues to cherish the opportunity to play in collective imagination - most often by devising with The Devised Puppet players.​​

 

Scroll through a catalog of Marco's experience acting in theatre, voiceover and new medias.

The Devised Puppet Players

 

Founded at UCLA in 2015, while developing

The Devised Puppetry Project - the company ​joined the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry in 2019 and has continued to develop work building on their shared interest for found objects and the emotional connections we establish with them.

 

The Devised Puppet Players believe in puppetry as the medium to investigate our most primal instincts for community, pursuits for familiarity, and understandings for what generates fear. The company believes in discovery through the act of play and seek to reshape the way we look at the ordinary, from our trash to our shadows.

 

Additional Theatre Work

Ruffles                   Max’s Nasty Town by David Dickens        dir. Megan Colburn                              Ballview Theatre Co. 2024

Emiliano               Women and Servants by Lope de Vega      dir. Silvia Blush               LA Escena Classic Theatre Festival 2018

Jack                        Bench Play* by Danielle Bongiovanni    dir. Kayla Erikson                                     Working Title Rep. 2018

Uncle Vanya          Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov             dir. Charles Jin                         UCLA MFA Directing Thesis 2018

Camillo/Chorus   The Winter’s Tale in rep w/ Henry V         dir. Will Block                                             Act 3 Theatre Co. 2017

                               by William Shakespeare

Talthybious           Trojan Barbie by Christine Evans            dir. Beth Lopes                        UCLA Undergraduate Season 2017

Sorn                      Stupid F#%*ing Bird by Aaron Posner      dir. Michelle Gong                  UCLA MFA Directing Thesis 2017

Amiel                    And They Put Handcuffs on the Flowers    dir. Margaret Starbuck                               Act 3 Theatre Co. 2016

                              by Fernando Arrabal

Uncle Vanya

by Anton Chekhov 

Translated by Annie Baker​

dir. Charles Jin

 

Featuring:
Marco Rivera, Davia Schendel, Pranshu Mishra, Emily Mellman, Grant Gerber, Tieren Salstrand, Jill Galbraith, Danielle Bongiovanni and Max Havas 

​

Designed By: 
James Maloof, Jeff Behm, Keilani Geave and Ryan Marsh

​

Stage Manager: 
Jessie Vacchiano

Trojan Barbie

by Christine Evans​

dir. Beth Lopes

 

Featuring:
Rey Jarell, Marco Rivera, Viva Rose, 

​

Designed by: Hakan Yoruk, Maddison Carroll, Dan Corrigan, Cricket Myers


Stage Manager: Brynna Mason​

Women and Servants

by Lope De Vega​

dir. Silvia Blush

 

In 2018 Marco collaborated with the UCLA department of ​Theatre and the UCLA Classics Department to translate and perform Lope De Vega's play at the innagural LA Escena festival. The project was headed by UCLA professor Barbara Fuchs. 

VO, Motion Capture, and New Media

Ensemble               59 Acres - A Speculative Soundwalk          dir. Marike Splint            La Jolla Playhouse's WOW Festival 2024

Ensemble              Grand Theft Auto VI                                  Rockstar Games                        Multi-platform Video Game 2022

59 Acres

59 Acres (A soundwalk)

 

In 2024 Marco provided voiceover work for 59 ACRES a site-specific, immersive soundwalk that takes you on an urban odyssey exploring the built environment and natural world around La Jolla Playhouse and UC San Diego. This poetic, meditative and innovative work offers new ways of seeing and listening as it navigates you through the physical, cultural and geographical landscapes we inhabit, in search of the extraordinary amidst the mundane. 59 ACRES was Commissioned and presented by La Jolla Playhouse’s WOW Festival

GTA VI(Grand Theft Auto 6)

Marco's first experience working in new media was in 2022 when he provided voiceover and 3-D scanned performances for Rockstar Entertainment on GTA VI. The Video Game is slated for release late 2026 and is considered the "most anticipated game and potentially the biggest game launch in history, winning awards even before release" - IGN Magazine.

Film

Ghillie                     Lead                                                         dir. Owen Campbell                                 UCLA MFA Thesis 2019

Hot Night Out        Supporting                                               dir. Hena Ashraf                                         Independent Film 2018

Senseless                  Lead                                                         dir. Ryan Williams                    UCLA Undergraduate Thesis 2017

Training

Jean-Luis Rodrigue                                                                         Alexander

Amy Chafee                                                                                     Fitzmaurice

Tom Orth                                                                                        Grotowski

Marike Splint                                                                                  Viewpoints

Judy Moreland, April Shawhan                                                     Scene Study

Joe Olivieri, Michael Hackett PhD                                               Shakespeare, Moliere and Goldoni

Tom O'Connor                                                                               Movement

Paul Wagar                                                                                      Voice and Dialects

Ed Monaghan, Tim Weske                                                             Combat: Boxing, hand to hand, knife, Sabre

Stephen James                                                                                 Improv-Groundlings

Farhang Pernoon PhD, David Gorshein PhD,                             Dramaturgy, Play-reading and Analysis

Chantal Rodriguez PhD, Shawn Metzger PhD,

Eva Heppelman PhD, Guillermo Avilés-Rodríguez PhD​

UCLA School of Theatre B.A. Emphasis in Directing and Acting

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