Rae Cofsky ‘17 Transfers Theatre Skills to Virtual Realm

Cofsky is an actor, model, mentor, and MFA student in San Francisco at the Academy of Art University. After she graduated from WSU in 2017, she stayed on campus and worked through the department of residential life with the Orientation Program. She was happy to work her “day job” to pay the bills and start pursuing her true passion for Theatre Arts. Her first professional choreography job was also at WSU, working with Eric Parness and the Theatre Program’s production of “Urinetown: The Musical”.

In October, she was cast in her first professional theatre production at Custom Made Theatre Company in San Francisco in a production of “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson”, a pop-punk musical about the dangers of populism and power in the wrong hands. Since the pandemic hit, she has been able to book virtual theatre performance opportunities, from staged readings in New York City, to short films and voice-over gigs. She is currently in a staged reading of “The Other Side of Eden: A Queer Perspective” where she plays Eve. This will be the first public performance of this script, and Cofsky is excited that it can be shared across the country through Zoom.

Cofsky chose to go into acting because it “gives her life”. Because she is so passionate about theatre arts, one of her goals is to be a theatre professor.

“Just by putting myself out there and experiencing life’s ups and downs, I get to relive and share the human experience over and over again. It’s a beautiful story of love, obstacles, heartbreak, humor, and hope, and I love being a part of it,” said Cofsky.

“So much of my education at WSU came from experiences outside of the classroom and getting involved in anything I could get my hands on. I was an RA, an Orientation Leader, Tutor, note-taker, member of multiple committees and clubs on campus (shoutout to MTG), and all those experiences were a huge part of preparing me for my career in the ‘real world,’” said Cofsky.