Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Dawn Alden of The Valley

We recently had the chance to connect with Dawn Alden and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dawn, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
We recently filmed a few fight scenes to be projected on a “television” screen in The Porters’ upcoming production of Coriolanus, and I designed the fight choreography. Every time I approach a new project, I wonder if I can come up with anything original. I’ve been choreographing violence for the stage for over 30 years now, and it seems like I must have exhausted all the possible combinations! But then the actor-combatants and I start to work, and the ideas flow, and before you know it, something new has been created that is perfect for this group of people, in this project, at this time in history. It’s kind of miraculous, and it always makes me feel such pride and joy to be part of this continuum of creation for the stage that has been around for over 3000 years, and is still going strong today.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the newest of the three Associate Artistic Directors for LA’s own The Porters of Hellsgate Theatre Company. We are a classical theatre company, whose founding goal was to produce every single play in the Shakespeare canon. The company started producing in 2006, and we are now only four plays away from reaching that goal!
I started working with The Porters in 2017, and it was the first Shakespeare I had been able to do since moving to LA from Chicago. My background is in classical theatre and stage combat (the stage version of stunt work). In Chicago, I worked on quite a bit of classical theatre, and founded and ran an all-female stage combat theatre company called Babes With Blades.
When I first moved to Los Angeles I focused on film and television work, but found myself less and less satisfied with it as time went on. I decided to dip my toe back into stage work around 2014, and I quickly realized what I had been missing! There’s nothing like the thrill of a live audience, and nothing (for me) that compares to the challenges and rewards of classical text. Since becoming part of the artistic leadership of The Porters in 2023, I dove in with both feet, and now couldn’t be happier to eat, sleep and breathe classical theatre again.
I’m currently in rehearsal for The Porters’ fall play, Coriolanus, which will open on November 8th in NoHo. Next Spring, we’ll be co-producing As You Like It with Coeurage Ensemble, and in the summer of 2026 I’ll be producing the third season of our reading series, Radically Miscast Shakespeare.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
As an actor, it was a teacher in undergrad who told me that he thought I should give this whole professional acting thing a try. He was the first one who encouraged me to try what up to that point had seemed an unrealistic dream, who assured me that I had talent, and gifted me with his belief that the theatre world would be enriched by my contributions.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I’ve always been afraid of everything! At some point in my late 30s, however, I realized that I couldn’t use that as an excuse – that I could still do things even if I was afraid of them. Once I turned that corner, it became a game: *because* I was scared of something, that meant I should probably do it!

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Whose ideas do you rely on most that aren’t your own?
One of the joys of working with an artistic team is that you have the opportunity to bounce ideas around. The Porter’s Artistic Director Will Block, and my co-Associate ADs Gus Krieger and Thomas Bigley, are all seasoned classical theatre artists with experience and creativity to spare, so our discussions are exciting, and brimming with possibility. Collaboration is the lifeblood of the theatre! I know if there is ever a tough artistic decision to be made, I can reach out to one of them for advice and support, and visa versa. If two heads are better than one, four heads are a dream come true.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I grew up in a conservative household, where the expectation was that the arts are all well and good for a hobby, but no sensible person thinks to try to pursue them as a profession. As a result, my bachelor’s degree is in Zoology, rather than Theatre. But once I got out on my own, I realized that the only reason I was making it through the day in my sensible office job was because I had a rehearsal to go to that night.
I went back to school and got an MFA in Acting, and although I still rely on side hustles to fully cover my bills, I’ve managed to live a joyful and creative life by doing theatre wherever and whenever I could. This is, without a doubt, what I was born to do, and I am thrilled to return to it here in LA.
Even if I took a circuitous route to get here, one of the wonderful things about acting is that there is no wasted time. Every year you live, every experience you have, even if it has nothing to do with theatre, makes you a better actor. Living your life gives you more to draw on when you enter the rehearsal room, makes your choices richer and deeper. If you start late or have to take some time off, you are still growing, still learning, and that investment will pay off the next time you step onto a stage.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.portersofhellsgate.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portersofhellsgate/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePortersOfHellsgate
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@portersofhellsgate/featured

Image Credits
Photos by Mike Quain, Lucia Ledoux, Jesse Saler.