Sasha Eden is an actor and producer. She was selected by The UTNE Reader as one of the 25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World, and is the recipient of The Harlequin More Than Words Awardfor being a “real life heroine.”
Born and raised in New York City, she began acting professionally at the age of ten, while studying at The Neighborhood Playhouse. An accomplished actor, her work has been featured on stage, television, and film. Selected Credits include: Film: The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Hers & Them (dir. Ned Benson), Uggs for Gaza (dir. Brooke Berman), Tonight at Noon (dir. Michael Almeryada), Fall to Rise (dir. Jayce Bartok), Sunburn. TV/Web: “Law and Order”, Kc and JoJo’s “All My Life” (MTV video nominee), and the web series “Changing Gears”(by Christian Finnegan). New York Theater: US Premiere: Bold Girls (by Rona Munro, directed by Hayley Finn); World Premieres: Scab (by Sheila Callaghan), BFF (by Anna Ziegler), I Stand Before You Naked 2 (by Joyce Carol Oates), Waitress (written and directed by Adrienne Shelly), The Morgan Stories (written and directed by Adrienne Shelly), Bottom of the World (by Lucy Thurber, directed by Ian Morgan), LOVE hosted by Diane Von Furstenberg (by Brooke Berman, directed by Abby Epstein); Revivals: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Moonworks’ at The Connelly Theater), Bus Riley’s Back in Town (Zipper Theater, dir. Chris Messina/Ross Stoner). Regional Theater: The Women’s Project & Magic Theater’s world premiere of A Very Common Procedure (by Courtney Baron, directed by Loretta Greco). Sasha has appeared in workshops of new plays at The Public Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights’ Theater, Playwrights’ Horizons, New Dramatists, The Lark, Urban Stages, New Georges, and WET Productions, and was a founding member of the NYU Graduate Writing Program’s acting company.
Sasha began her producing career working for advertising giant BBDO, producing national commercials for Pizza Hut, Snickers, and Duracell. In 1999, she co-founded the critically acclaimed non-profit organization WET Productions, with a mission to develop and produce original content for the stage and screen that challenges female stereotypes and advocates for equality. Throughout her fourteen-year tenure as WET’s Artistic Director, Creative Director, and resident actor, Sasha developed and produced all of WET’s world premiere plays, programs, events, marketing, and partnerships with the goal of advancing the employment of women in the entertainment industry. The New York Times has called Ms. Eden’s work “polished, professional...the kind that bespeaks attention to detail and respect for craft” and in 2004 she was featured in a NY Times Arts and Leisure article for her ground-breaking work with WET. WET’s theatrical collaborators included Julia Jordan, Lucy Thurber, Anna Ziegler, Sheila Callaghan, Joyce Carol Oates, Brooke Berman, Adrienne Shelly, Leigh Silverman, Rosemarie DeWitt, Alysia Reiner, Anna Deavere Smith, Ally Sheedy, Abby Epstein, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Paul Rudd, Chris Messina, and many others.
In 2004, Ms. Eden co-created WET’s Risk Takers Series, a citywide media literacy and leadership program that changed the lives of over 600 New York City teenage girls, teaching them how to look at the media with a critical eye, and learn the distinction between an empowering risk and a damaging risk. Additional producing credits include The Concert for a Healthy Birth, co-hosted by Ricki Lake and Christy Turlington for the non-profit organization Choices in Childbirth; The 1st annual benefit for The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, featuring performances by Alanis Morrisette, Mary Louise Parker, and Edie Falco; co-producer for the feature film Fall to Rise; and outreach development producer for Elizabeth Giamatti’s film A Woman Like Me.
Current projects in development include the immersive multi disciplinary work The Theatrical Culinary Project,co-conceived by director Marlo Hunter, with a menu and meal created by Chef Carla Hall; plays written by playwrights Jeff Augustin, Martyna Majok, Daniel Pearle, and Julian Sheppard; and Party Lines, a grass roots action group created to galvanize Americans to organize their communities and call congress members with unified messages of change. www.uspartylines.com.
A frequent and inspired public speaker, Ms. Eden has been featured at events for Vogue, The American Theater Wing, North Carolina School of the Arts, Berkley College, The UJA, and New York Musical Theater Festival. She is on the advisory board for The Adrienne Shelly Foundation, is a regular consultant for independent producing artists, and teaches at HB Studios, Primary Stages ESPA, and Neighborhood Playhouse. Currently, Sasha lives in Brooklyn with her son.
Sasha Eden