Welcome - my name is Jacob Siaki, and I am a director, writer, teacher, and creator from Southern California. In my search for roughness and immediacy, I have directed plays in black box and mainstage theaters, parks, and strangers' backyards. Check the Productions page to see more of these projects! I like to work on very new or very old plays - working with (or being!) the writer allows me the freedom to make the work my own and present it in ways that are interesting to me.
I am deeply interested in theatre’s ability to transform both the artist and the audience. Stories need a community in order to exist, in the same way that communities need stories in order to thrive; art is necessarily relational. I want to give my audience the freedom to add what they brought with them into the theatre space - emotions, histories, opinions, and dreams - to the art they are experiencing. In this way, I believe that the artist and the audience can be closer than expected, both sharing in the communal act of creation. My goal is to create art which offers this responsibility to the audience through a montage of image and impression, resulting in a constant daydream that is more than the sum of its parts.
I would love to connect - you can contact me for any reason through the form on the Home page or at savvycattheatre@gmail.com!
Besides directing, I have designed sound for several shows (most recently, Ahab's Fable with More Theatre SB), stage managed (most recently, for Mother Can You Hear Me? at the 2025 Westmont Fringe Festival) and served as production assistant for Lit Moon World's 2025 festival in Santa Barbara. I have also acted in numerous productions, both festival and mainstage. After graduating, I founded Savvy Cat Productions in Orange County and directed its inaugural performance of Peter Quince's A Midsummer Night's Dream in August 2025.
