Cliff Mayotte

Director, SFYT DREAM Ensemble

he/him

Cliff is an award-winning arts educator and director with over 35 years of experience. He is currently at work on a stage version of Mark Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger for SYYT that will premiere in 2026. For SFYT, Cliff directed touring productions of Gary Soto’s In and Out of Shadows and the world premiere of The Afterlife, which was performed across California and toured to the Kestenberg International Festival of Student Theatre in Bosnia in 2019. Other SFYT directing credits include The Burials by Caitlin Parrish and Hamlet at Red Poppy Art House and Hayes Valley Art Works. From 1997-2000, Cliff served as the Education Director for the Tony award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He has also directed plays for such notable local companies as Aurora Theatre Company, Shotgun Players, Marin Shakespeare Company, Magic Theater, Rough and Tumble, and The Marsh. Cliff has received awards from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, Drama-Logue, SF Weekly, and the Beverly Kees Educator Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. At SFYT since 2014.

“SFYT is a really loving community, and there is genuine appreciation and support for everyone regardless of where they're coming from or what they may be going through. In my classes, I hope that students gain an appreciation of their own creativity and agency and come to value the power of collaboration.”