Punch Theatre strives to create bold physical theater that uses the power of the actor’s body in motion to communicate with our audiences.

We are dedicated to developing the skills of emerging theatre artists, who will use their talents to create socially relevant theater that bridges gaps between theater, dance, circus arts, and masked forms.

Punch Theatre is committed to the education of young people, and we pledge to donate a portion of our ticket sales towards exposing local students to physical theater.

Punch Theatre takes its name from the beloved Neapolitan folk character, Pulcinella.  Pulcinella is a trickster who has its roots in commedia dell’arte, a masked physical theater form of the Italian Renaissance. Pulcinella and his fellow stock characters embody the physical agility and strength that Punch Theatre will strive to achieve.

Commedia dell’arte was a theater for the populous, and worked towards social change through parody and satire.  We believe that theater today still holds that power.



Our Team



Vanessa is our Founding Artistic Director and is a recent graduate from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she earned her B.A. in English and Theatre, with acting and directing concentrations.

Vanessa studied abroad at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy, where she first discovered her passion for physical theater.  There, she studied commedia dell’arte, mask-making, acrobatics, Roy Hart voice technique, and clown.

At Muhlenberg College, Vanessa directed Eugene Ionesco’s The Lesson, and Vaclav Havel’s The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, which was selected to perform at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region II.  The production won the regional competition and was named an alternate for the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  Vanessa was invited to attend a series of workshops at the Kennedy Center and was awarded Stage Directors and Choreographers Associate Membership.

Vanessa was the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Observer for Primary Stages’ In Transit, an a cappella musical directed by Joe Calarco.  Vanessa was also the assistant to the director for the east coast premiere of Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, directed by Cameron Watson.  Vanessa is looking forward to a bright future with Punch Theatre.

For more information about this company please click on either of the following links:
Physical Theatre
Physical Theater