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Playhouse Northwest Acting School

Located in West Seattle - (206) 919-7407

Meisner Instructor Lisa Skvarla


A group of people standing around in a room.Lisa’s two passions in life are acting and martial arts, and she has many special skills that align with her two life passions. She’s an executive producer, associate producer, acting teacher, self-defense instructor, fight performer, and an actress who enjoys doing her own stunt work.

Lisa received her degree in Television Production and Communications from Clarion University in Pennsylvania. She is a SAG/AFTRA actor and has appeared on numerous national television shows including “Northern Exposure,” “Bill Nye the Science Guy,” “Case Closed,” and the Discovery Channel’s “The Worst Thing that Ever Happened to Me.” Internationally Lisa appeared on the popular Japanese Television series “The World’s Astonishing News.” She has also appeared in numerous commercials, industrials, web series, and theater productions in the LA, Portland and Seattle Markets.

In 2013 Lisa founded Playhouse Northwest Acting School, which was a dream come true because she loves helping other artists to learn, grow, and prosper in their careers.

This training has a tendency to not only improve careers but to improve lives. Meisner really is a super power. — Lisa Skvarla

Her goal is to elevate acting in local communities across the region.  

Lisa appeared in the award-winning feature film;”Woodstock or Bust” with Willow Shields (from Hunger Games) and Meg DeLacy ( from The Fosters) that came out this past spring. She also appeared on the TV show “Wonderland Murders” that was released in February. Lisa is currently involved in the comedy soap opera “All My Lives” which films monthly in the Seattle area. She is also a singer in the Coeurdalene choir that will be performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City May 2026.

Lisa is a 4th degree Master in Tae kwon do and was the proud owner of Lee’s Martial Arts for 15 years in West Seattle, Washington. For three years Lisa served as the chairwoman for the American Women’s Self-Defense Association and has taught self-defense and rape prevention courses to women and girls across the country.

Filed Under: Bios

Fundraiser by Lisa Skvarla


A group of people standing around in a room.A group of people standing around in a room.

Hi, I’m Lisa Skvarla, an actress, producer and school owner of Playhouse Northwest Acting School. I am helping to produce the feature film Blindfold, a sci-fi fantasy that will be released later this year, and I need a little help. Film making isn’t cheap, and we are in our final stages of preproduction and need to raise the final $5,000 for set design, insurance, and food expenses for the cast and crew.

This is the first movie I’ve produced since the pandemic shut us down and it’s a huge opportunity for actors to work again. Blindfold is a local film⎯made in Spokane, Washington and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho⎯and many local artists from the Pacific Northwest are involved and excited to get back to work again.

Would you please consider donating to this fundraiser? If everyone could give even $10 or $20, it would help make this movie a reality. Click here to donate.

About the Movie

On the Starship Incubator, the most important thing is not who you know, but to whom you are wed. Seventy-three years into their enterprise to find a more inhabitable planet, the generations of the Starship Incubator are more concerned with perpetuating the species than the social discord around them.

Central to the Incubator’s social and pragmatic life is the courtship ritual known as The Season in which young adults are matched, and married, through a dating app and a series of speed-dates. In order to “perpetuate the species,†each couple is required to have “1.2 children, in a manner of speaking.†Issues of fertility, gender, love, romance, technology and code take center-stage during the first half of the film.

The second half of the film has a sharp pivot, as issues of government control, class divisions, and lifting the veil to prove that things are not what they seem become central to the story.

About the Director

Misty Grace Shipman is an experienced director who has worked on several independent films, including the movie pilot PIXEL, a short film, TIGER LILY IS MY LITTLE SISTER, which covers the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, PARASOCIAL, a feature film, BOWSER’S CASTLE, a short film, and now, BLINDFOLD. She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Grant through the state of Washington for her work on PIXEL, and she was the recipient for a SAGA grant from Spokane Arts. She has received multiple awards for her writing, from the Barnes and Noble Katie Herzog Young Writers Award at the age of seventeen, to the prestigious Hemingway Fellowship in 2015. She is a Ph.D. student in Literary Studies at the University of Washington with an emphasis on film and is represented by Kelly Sonnack of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

Thank you for supporting the arts. I appreciate it so much!
Professionally yours,

Lisa Skvarla

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Blindfold movie, Lisa Skvarla, Misty Grace Shipman, Starship Incubator

Meisner March Madness Acting Challenge 2021


Filed Under: News Tagged With: #Meisner #Acting #fun #prizes #wedidit #PHNW #Meisnermadness #winners

Win Cash and Prizes! Feeling lucky?!!! 😃


A group of people standing around in a room.
To register go to https://playhousenw.com/donate/

Filed Under: News Tagged With: #takethechallenge. #Meisner #Acting #fun #prizes #letsdothis #PHNW. #Meisnermadness

Happy Holidays from Playhouse Northwest Acting School! ❤


Gift Certificates are now available! You can apply them towards acting classes (in-person or online), summer camps, workshops, kids classes, and/or private lessons. They make the perfect holiday stocking stuffer! To order, call the PHNW office at 206-919-7407. Or email playhousenw@gmail.com.
A group of people standing around in a room.A group of people standing around in a room.

Filed Under: Upcoming Classes Tagged With: 2020style, Acting, adults, fun, holidayseason, kids, love, Meisner, playhousenw, shopsmallbusiness, SupportSmallBusiness, teacher

Award-winning Playhouse Northwest Acting School has now opened registration for the 2020 Meisner Classes. (Fall Quarter) 


Award-winning Playhouse Northwest Acting School has now opened registration for the 2020 Meisner Classes. (Fall Quarter)     

Both Online and In-person Classes are now available. 

Register here: playhousenw.com/meisnerregistration/

The structured Meisner classes are the backbone of what we do. These classes are designed to be taken in sequence, each level lasting nine weeks. At each level, on-camera, improvisational, and business skills will be interwoven into the curriculum.

If you’re serious about transforming your acting, this is the place to start. For professional actors in film and television, it’s no secret that Meisner work is their superpower in both their life and their career. The benefits include a greater sense of truth, emotional depth, and flexibility in your work.

Beginners and experienced students are welcome. Outside practice is required. Students will work individually at their own level and will grow at their own rate.

On-Line Classes will run Thursday, October 8th, and run through Dec. 3rd. 

These interactive meetings will take place LIVE on ZOOM.

The class will meet each Thursday from 7:00 PM-9:30 PM PST. If a makeup or extra class is needed it will be held Thursday, Dec. 10th.  

Price: $375   *** (Early bird special before Sept 1st: $325) 

Creative Financing/Scholarships available on request (with an interview). 

All levels are welcome. Each student will work at their own level. 

First-time Meisner students will have a group orientation scheduled prior to their first class.  

In-Person Classes (Spokane/Coeur d’Alene area) start Wednesday, October 7th, and run through Dec 2nd.  

If a makeup or extra class is needed it will be held Wednesday, Dec 9th. 

Wednesday evening classes: 7:00 PM- 9:30 PM

Where: Jacklin Arts Center (405 N. William Street, Post Falls, Idaho) 

Price: $375   *** (Early bird special before Sept 1st: $325) 

Creative Financing/ Scholarships available on request (with an interview). 

All students will be required to follow all the COVID-19 safety guidelines. We are leading the way by providing safe and healthy practices in the classroom. If there is a change in the COVID-19 situation we will make the needed adjustments. Students’ safety and health come first. 

Level 1 and Level 2 students only. First-time Meisner students will have a group orientation scheduled prior to their first class.  

To register or for class descriptions, please visit: https://playhousenw.com/registration/

Students are also welcome to pay directly by Venmo to  Lisa-Skvarla-1 or call the PHNW office to register by phone. 

To learn about the instructor, Lisa Skvarla, please visit: https://playhousenw.com/lisa-skvarla/

For additional questions, please call the Playhouse NW Acting School office at 206-919-7407. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
4408 Delridge Way SW
Seattle WA 98106

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