Michael Place was a founding co-artistic director of Washington Ensemble Theatre (2004 - 2009) where he directed The Mistakes Madeline Made and performed in 10 productions including Finer Noble Gases, Swimming in the Shallows, Crumbs Are Also Bread, Never Swim Alone, Mr. Marmalade and God's Ear. Elsewhere Michael has appeared as Atreyu in The Neverending Story and in The Outsiders with Seattle Children's Theatre, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet and Lorenzo in the Merchant of Venice with Wooden O/Seattle Shakespeare Company, Bud, Not Buddy with Book-It Repertory Theatre, Jun Kaneko's production of Madama Butterfly with Opera Omaha, and at the National Council on Foundations in Four Short Plays on Four Big Ideas directed by KJ Sanchez. He has also worked extensively over the past seven years as a company member with the Pacific Performance Project (P3 East), lead by artistic directors and Suzuki master teachers Robyn Hunt and Steve Pearson, including the productions Myra's War, Suite for Strangers, and Shogo Ohta's The Water Station performed at the Here Arts Center in NYC. Michael is also a co-founder of SeaPlace Studios where he is the resident Suzuki instructor. Michael is a Seattle native, holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Washington and is currently pursuing an MFA in acting from Yale University.