Tjasa Ferme, Ilona
Tjasa Ferme is a versatile theater and film actress whose natural talents for the live arts manifested very early on. Born and raised in Slovenia (the country that gave the world the legendary avant-garde band Laibach and the maverick philosopher Slavoj Žižek), she started performing almost as soon as she could walk. A daughter of a rock musician, she has often been joining her father on stage as a band mascot, dancing and playing a tambourine.
Tjasa was accepted to the Master Program in performance at the prestigious National Acting Academy (AGRFT). In 2005-06, she was awarded the Sever’s Prize for classical theater roles, and in 2006, a Vesna Award (the Slovenian equivalent of an Oscar.) Her career quickly took an international turn: she appeared in film and theater projects produced in Germany, Italy, Brazil and France.
Tjasa‘s New York theater credits include the hit sex comedy Cocktales: Confessions of a Nymphomaniac (written and performed by Tjasa Ferme, directed by Kira Simring); it premiered at NYC’s The Abingdon Theatre. Her writing for Cocktales was described by NYC critics as “nothing short of brilliant.” The show ran for several weeks to sold-out houses and was later produced in Miami and shown as part of Art Basel. She also directed and starred in a short film Ophelia’s Flip, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2012. Her recent appearance in Before God Was Invented was praised by the nytheatre.com reviewer as “a standout performance.”