Hi, I’m Olivia Candocia.
I HELP people feel ALIVE AND CAPABLE.
My heart and soul is dedicated to creativity, whimsy, play, and collaboration.
Currently you can find me directing theatre productions, lead teaching preschool students, and attending graduate school for Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Drama Therapy.
On and off the stage, I strive to live 4-dimensionally. My 4D directing means incorporating experiences that are pleasantly surprising, often leading to moments of nostalgia. To me, life is meant to be felt and experienced. So, with everything I do, it is my goal to give people permission to feel and experience life fully. Maybe that’s through incorporating the sight of confetti as you enter a room, the smell of your favorite incense, or the taste of melting chocolate. Who knows. We can find out together.
As I merge my way into the mental health field, I plan to use narrative and action based interventions to help my clients access their stories, emotions, and trauma.
I have worked as a performer and teaching artist all over the United States. Some highlights include: Chicago Playback Theatre Company, The Illinois Shakespeare Festival Touring Company, The National Theatre for Children, and Chicago Performing Arts.
I look forward to giving others permission to play as I continue the next part of my journey.
A full list of my performance training can be found here.
My projects focus on
community building, play, and the human condition
Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble
Founding Member/Conductor/Performer
Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble is a performance ensemble, which brings personal stories told by the audience to life onstage using improvisational theatre, movement, and music. Audience experiences of any kind, from the profound to the ordinary, from the joyful to the sorrowful, are worthy of attention, respect, and a voice with CPTE.
THE 2020 CLEANSE
Co-created with Sarah Ford
A monthly event filled with self-care and intention. Every day during the month of December, 2020, members were greeted with self-care/pay it forward challenges. At the end of each week, those who completed all of the challenges were entered into a raffle to win a a prize. The 2020 Cleanse became more than an event, it became a supportive community that encouraged and welcomed vulnerability.
THE SEEDS WE PLANT
Self Created
A multi-media project & personal travel blog seeking to explore and document the essence of human connection. I traveled across the country interviewing strangers about the metaphorical seeds that have been planted in their lives and the legacy they wish to leave behind. Written and filmed interviews are available via my Instagram and Youtube Channel. The official website is currently under construction.
THE KINDNESS CONFETTI PROJECT
Self Created
Dedicated to spreading kindness and joy.
It began my junior year of college.
Every Monday I would set up a list of kindness ideas and 50+ feel-good goodies for passerby’s to grab. People of all ages and demographics participated. They blew bubbles around campus, shared and ate chocolates, popped bubble wrap to ease their stress, and placed smiley face stones around campus.
The KCP also had a private group of ten people looking for some self love and guidance. Members would receive an occasional care package, advice, and a kindness idea all based on a specialized survey they filled out..