Karin Hendricks-Bolen
Associate Professor,
Mainstage Production Director
Contact
- Office: Bldg. 45, Rm. 103A
- Phone: 805-756-5079
- Email: khendr04@calpoly.edu
- Pronouns: she, her, hers
About Karin Hendricks
Professor Karin Hendricks-Bolen is the Associate Chair and an Associate Professor of Acting and Performance in the Theatre and Dance Department, teaching courses in Acting, Voice and Movement, Musical Theatre, and First-Year Experience. She holds an MFA in Acting from the University of California, Irvine, and a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Arizona. In 2026, Hendricks-Bolen was honored with Cal Poly’s 2025–26 Distinguished Teaching Award in recognition of her excellence and dedication to teaching.
Hendricks-Bolen works in professional theatre as an actor, director, and dialect coach. She served as a Resident Artist and Head of Movement Curriculum at PCPA (The Pacific Conservatory Theatre) for nine years, during which she taught and directed actors in training. She co-founded the Verbatim Community-Based Theatre project Community Speaks!, which performed annually with PCPA from 2009–2016.
Hendricks-Bolen holds a certification in Eli Simon’s Clown technique. After completing a mentorship with Simon, she has taught his approach to clowning for 17 years, during which she has devised and directed more than two dozen original clown shows. She was also mentored by Annie Loui, founder of Loui Movement Technique (LMT).
Additionally, she has worked and collaborated with renowned teachers and directors, including Scott Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Robert Cohen, Philip Thompson, Paul Barnes, Nancy Stark Smith, Annie-B Parson, Anne Bogart, Leon Ingulsrud, and Mihai Maniutiu. She has spoken at conferences and taught workshops for La MaMa Umbria International, the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC), California Educational Theatre Association (CETA), National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), StateraArts, Hollins University, PCPA’s Teacher’s Weekend, Umpqua Community College, and The Great American Melodrama. Workshops taught include Bridging Movement and Impulse, The Story Matters: Supporting Gender Equity through Conscious Theatre-Making, Introduction to Verbatim Theatre, Rules of Comedy for Actors, and The Simon Clowning Technique.
Hendricks-Bolen is the proud faculty advisor to Cal Poly’s comedy improv troupe, Smile and Nod, and has had the pleasure of accompanying the student-led ensemble to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe three times (2018, 2022, and 2026).