About

Reviews highlights:

"Keith Burkland gives a brilliant and nuanced performance as Melody."

A Touch of the Poet

The Inlander

“Keith Burkland and Karen Nelsen turn in

some of the best performances of the season.”

Ah, Wilderness!

The Local Planet

“It is Burkland who galvanizes the production. As Peck, he is mesmerizing as a broken-down soul.”

How I Learned to Drive

The Spokesman-Review

An English Major, to an Electrician, to an accomplished Actor

I grew up in a small town in North Dakota in the 1960's. It never occurred to me that

I could become an actor. Well, here I am 70+ productions later with a deepening respect and passion for the art!

An electrician by trade in my dad's business, my fascination for filmmaking took me

to San Francisco in pursuit of gaffer work. Soon I joined a film production company

started by friends.

My Acting Style

I have an extensive theater background and I'm known to deliver nuanced

performances with a sense of pause, and an emotional breadth, that lends

a layered portrayal to my characters.

So my style also lends itself to film very well.

Training

Everything I am as an actor I owe to the late Jean Shelton founder of the Actor’s Lab.

I began my studies at her San Francisco studio. Jean taught her brand of method

acting that was all about "objectives" and script analysis.

Jean directed me in four plays including The Dumb Waiter. Other valued teachers include: Wendell Phillips, Brian Scott, Meryl Shaw, and Richard Seyd.

Recently I've trained at The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington DC.

Extensive Experience

In my nearly 40 years of acting, in over 70 stage credits, I appeared in plays by playwrights ranging from Beckett to Vogel to Mamet to Reza to O'Neill to Shakespeare.

Key Roles

Some of my key roles include the avuncular Nat in Ah, Wilderness, the brooding Robert in Betrayal, the menacing Mitch in The Caretaker, and the bewildered Didi in Waiting for Godot.