GAIL
SHALAN
VOICE ARTIST ACTOR PUPPETEER
I'M A U.K. TRAINED STORYTELLER IN NEW YORK CITY.
I was raised in culturally-rich Berkshire County, Massachusetts where I was lucky enough to work with Shakespeare and Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, and others before my passion for storytelling propelled me to Boston, New York, Rome, London, and Bristol, earning my MFA in Acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and performing at renowned venues such as The Bristol Old Vic, Edinburgh Fringe, Cherry Lane, and St. Ann's Warehouse. I bring my diverse background of experience in performance and training to all my work.
Most days I am telling stories behind the mic, as a narrator and voice actor across many genres. Amongst other narration accolades, my solo narration has garnered praise from The School Library Journal, Vulture Magazine, BookRiot, as both Apple Books & New York Times Must-Listens, I was listed as a 2023 & 2024 Voice to Know by Audiofile Magazine, am a multiple-Earphones Award winning narrator, and was honored with the 2024 Audie Award for Best Middle Grade for the multi-cast recording of What Happened to Rachel Riley? and the 2024 Audie Award for Best Young Adult for my solo narration of This Terrible True Thing.
When not performing, I'm out and about exploring with my partner and our very sweet and sassy puppy, Edith, listening to or making music, basking in the worlds of visual art, art history, poetry, myths, folklore, or, alongside my writing partner Kaiya Jones, creating new stories for your ears, eyes, and hearts.
A keen believer in exploring universality through specificity, I’m always happy to engage in conversations about my own life experience, heritage, and identity. I’m passionate about stories that center generational healing and mental health, that navigate the sticky spaces between childhood and adulthood, and stories that ask who am “I”? And who are “we”? And what dwells in the space between us, what dwells in the space within us? For that’s where the greatest discoveries and curiosities lie.
AUDIOBOOKS
VOICE OVER
• Whisper Room in Double Walled Studio
• DAW: Reaper, Logic Pro, Ocenaudio
• MIC: AT2035
• INTERFACE: Audient ID4
• MacBook Air
• Source Connect, ipDTL, Phone Patching Capabilities
I've worked as a puppeteer and puppet-builder/designer since 2011 in theatre and film with Outcast Cafe (Edinburgh Fringe Festival & New York Fringe Festival), Hive Mind (Toy Theatre Festival @ St. Ann's Warehouse), Maiden Phoenix Theatre Company, and more.
I trained in the Bunraku style of puppetry with Tom Lee (Warhorse, Disfarmer). Other styles of puppetry include hand and rod, shadow, found object and toy theater.
I'm proud of my work in the award winning short film, Coyote Girl, for which I made the puppets and starred as Riley Ann. And I am currently developing two adapted works with puppetry at their core. Feel free to ask me about them-- I love talking puppets!
I believe that puppets are an essential and powerful tool that return us to the roots of storytelling magic.