Isabel Lee Roden
actor / writer / musician
Hi! I’m Isabel (they/them).
Proud Filipino-Chinese, Genderqueer Actor and Creative.
Represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.
Currently Chicago-Based, available as a local hire in NYC, LA, D.C., and more.
Classically trained with a rebellious streak, you can find me onstage and onscreen chasing the beautiful, terrible, exhilarating things we can do with language.
What's new?
What's new?
What's new?
What's new? What's new? What's new?
Spring 2025
Playing Feste (and composing original music!) in Twelfth Night at the American Shakespeare Center, directed by Nana Dakin.
Playing Olivia in A Bold Stroke for a Husband at the American Shakespeare Center, in collaboration with Expand The Canon, directed by Emily Lyon.
Assuming the one-man-band foley artist track in The Hound of the Baskervilles at the American Shakespeare Center, beginning May 3rd.
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DC Theater Arts:
“Roden’s physical impulsiveness, coupled with the way [they] just burst out with Juliet’s lines, convinces you that [they’ve] never had these thoughts, let alone spoken them, ever before.”
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DC Theater Arts:
“As Speed, […] Isabel Lee Roden has a similar reversal of character; no sooner do we see them as the modest Juliet one night, than we see them as outspoken, and fully capable of making us laugh ourselves silly, here in Two Gents.”
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Buzz Center Stage:
“Roden’s vivacity and marvelous comedic bearing were exceptional - this was their debut with PrideArts and they’re definitely a keeper!”
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Chicago Theatre Review:
“[They] make Shakespeare’s text crystal clear, something which is helpful to the 21st century theatergoer’s ear.”
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Windy City Times:
“Isabel Lee Roden brings both comic energy and unabashed fury to the Nurse.”
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Chicago Theatre Review:
“Isabel is terrific at mastering both the verse and the vocabulary.”
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Dr. Peter Kirwan:
“Roden put in their best work yet at the ASC with a protean, delightful performance characterized by side-eye and a slow smile […] Roden’s poise and control combined with Seiler’s effusiveness and wasted energy made this one of the most fun comic tensions within the play.”
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The Pantagraph:
“Viola (an ingenious Isabel Lee Roden) washes up on shore in mid-1950s coastal Italy […] Viola falls head over heels for Orsino. […] You literally see them fall in love and it’s electric.”