About Us

Marc Clopton – Founder/Educator

Founded in 1991, The Studio is a 501©(3) theater. The Studio serves as a vital cultural resource for the community: to inspire, enrich and engage audiences and to develop both the art form and the individual by encouraging full creative expression. The Studio has offered both aspiring and established actors and writers, and their audiences, an intimate, creative experience we call “interactive theater”.

Marc Clopton has taught locally for more than twenty years. His drama teaching credentials also include: The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Performance Group at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA; Gene Bua’s Acting for Life in Burbank, CA; the UCLA Adult Education Program; and his own studio classes in Los Angeles.

Marc’s directional credits include: Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal,” Bernard Pomerance’s “The Elephant Man,” Tennesee William’s “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Steve Faria’s comedy “Sense” and musical “Things That Matter,” Linda Goodman’s “Daughter’s of the Appalachians,” de Ghelderode’s “The Women at the Tomb,” and Deborah Vine’s “Love, That Four-letter Word.”

Marc performed at the Player’s Club in Manhattan in Bud Schulberg’s rewrite of “The Disenchanted,” the glamorous script about the life of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald.

“When I see a student come through the door, I don’t see a beginner or an expert, but a full person full of mystery and inspiration, an actor with a life’s worth of experiences which will inform their work.”

Kimm Wilkinson – Executive Director

Kimm (Lamprey) Wilkinson’s future shifted after she took her first acting class at The Actors Studio. As Executive Director, she is thrilled and honored to carry on the legacy of founder Marc Clopton, her mentor, friend, and colleague.

In addition to her thirty-year history of acting, producing, and directing for the stage, Kimm is a well-known and accomplished member of the local arts community.

She held several positions during her long tenure at the Firehouse Center for the Arts. She began as the box office manager, became the production manager, and ended her career there as artistic director. Additionally, she has worked with many of the past and present performing arts organizations and collaborating artists in the Newburyport including: Acting Out Studios, Anna Smulowitz Productions, Dark Horse Productions, Exit Dance Theater, Harbor Theater Festival, Little City Comedy Company, The Performance Project, Sirius Theater and Theater in the Open.

As the past vice chair of the board of directors of Theater in the Open, Kimm served as chair of the development committee and was instrumental in designing and executing new fundraising campaigns and building audiences.

Kimm is grateful for this full circle moment that brings her back to what inspired her life in the arts. She currently lives in Newburyport, MA and has deep roots in the community and surrounding towns.

Executive Director

Marc Clopton

Board of Directors