Leyla DeMolina

BAX Teaching Artist

A headshot of Amy Mitchell, a black person with a soft smile, black braids, a beanie on her head, and stylized urban clothing. They have on an oversized white Adidas shirt layered with a black turtleneck and ripped blue jeans layered with black leggings. The photo has been taken in front of a darker urban background.

Leyla DeMolina (she/her) is an actor, writer, organizer, and piemaker who finds delight in immersive work and interdisciplinary storytelling. She holds a Theater Arts and Performance Studies degree as well as an English degree from Brown University where she completed a thesis on Shakespeare and devising rituals of care in performance.

Having worked in both film and theater, Leyla has a particular joy for new plays and collaborative processes. Leyla’s performance background includes immersive training, contemporary dance, Shakespeare, Viewpoints, and film acting. She has had the opportunity to work and study with such wonderful NY based theater groups as Third Rail Projects, Fiasco Theater, SoHo Shakespeare, Oye Group, and the Underground Skills Exchange.

As a teacher, Leyla’s favorite thing about working with young makers is the freedom and presence it reminds her to keep finding in her own practice. To be able to build worlds with them and encourage their instincts to play, communicate, and find connection is continuously joyful.

Leyla’s current independent work fixates on a fascination and frustration with translation, familial archives, and memory. Recently this investigation led to a workshop and presentation of her first play, Mnemosyne, which in addition to writing she was able to perform with a dedicated group of collaborators and a whispering bear.

Leyla has additional writing published in the Institute of Art and Olfactions’s first volume of their journal Alabastron – The Scent of Identity and in the New York Boricua Resistance newsletter Ahora Sí. Leyla also volunteers her time organizing with community efforts for comprehensive healthcare for the NY Metro area. You can find her in Brooklyn to ask her about this and what pies are in season.