About Caroline Ducrocq
Born in Paris, Ms. Ducrocq received her Baccalaureate in Philosophy, Latin and Greek. She was awarded the Henry Rollan Prize for Acting, and chose to expand her acting knowledge in New York. Following studies at the H.B. Studios, she enrolled at the NYU School of the Arts in 1971, subsequently graduating with a BFA from the Theatre Program.In 1974, Ms. Ducrocq joined artistic directors Kristin Linklater, Joe Chaikin and Peter Kass as a founding member of the Working Theatre company in NYC. Funded by CBS, the Mellon and other American foundations, this acting- Teaching company was dedicated to the theater of great texts, from Shakespeare to Beckett. The actor's voice, body, emotion and intellect all received intense work to fulfill the demands of the playwright's particular world and period (versus an more intellectual interpretation). Trained to teach this creative process, Ms. Ducrocq ran workshops, in addition to performing, in New York and throughout the United States.From 1978 to 1981, as NYU School of the Arts' first French-born faculty member, Ms. Ducrocq taught acting full-time at that institution. During this period she also participated in Manhattan's avant-garde theater scene as an actress, with some of the most exciting directors in NYC, including Leo Shapiro, Wallace Shawn, Grotowski, Andre Gregory, Henry Smith and Richard Schecner. At the same time, she created and operated a private acting studio (Tomorrow's Performing Artists) and directed several productions in NYC. These included The Maids, The Seagull, Beckett's Short Stories and Robert Dunn's The Folon Exhibition. Additionally, she directed theater workshops in prisons, such as the House of Detention in Queens (for men) and Westchester (for women).In 1980-81, Ms. Ducrocq co-directed The Tempest and Richard III at the Canadian National Theatre of Ottawa.Since moving to Los Angeles in 1981 she enlarged her focus, both producing and directing three theatrical productions in Hollywood: Family Snapshots by Sam Henry Kass (starring the late Thalmus Rasulala); Scratch by James Abbit; and Moliere's The Misanthrope. The latter, a multi-cultural production, received six nominations in various categories from the NAACP Annual Theatre Awards, and won five-- for Best Producer-Director (Ducrocq), Best Actor (Kene Holliday), Best Supporting Actress (Rosielee Hooks), Best Supporting Actor (Djimon Hounsou) and Best Costumes (Mary Cheung).Ms. Ducrocq feels acting taught her how to know characters by experiencing them. Teaching showed her the unlimited choices to interpret the written material, and consolidated her gift to bring good performances out of actors, which led to directing. Maturity brought the desire and capacity to communicate a whole world, rather than the life of one person, to the audience.A desire to go from the theater to film followed, in order to achieve greater control over the story to be told by adding visual elements and a musical score to transcend the content of the words. So Ms. Ducrocq produced and directed her first film, a half-hour short entitled The Deli of the Lord. She fell in love with all the aspects of film-making. Deciding to learn more about the visual craft, she completed a variety of film courses at UCLA.Since then she adapted one of Chester Himes novel "" The Lunatic Fringe" for the screen.Active in the USA and France, Ms. Ducrocq continues to serve as a consultant and script doctor; she also coaches actors, in private sessions locally and on lo...