Our Team

David Koff (HE/HIM):
FOUNDER, Improv Trainer & Teacher

David has appeared on the TV shows “The West Wing”, “The John Larroquette Show”, “Sesame Street”, and others. Check out his acting reel here to see more of his work. He learned improv at The Groundlings, with Groundlings alum Stan Wells at The Empty Stage Theater, and lastly with the great Bill Steinkellner in his master class.

David’s produced fully or partially-improvised shows for the stage since 1995, including the long-running “Fake Radio” and “The Wonderful Woman of Oz”.

In Portland, prior to opening Change Through Play, David taught improv classes and performed at Curious Comedy and The Brody Theater. He also taught at CSz.

In 2017, David received a RACC grant for his applied improvisation work at St. Andrew Nativity school. That work led to a documentary you can watch here and, in 2018, delivering keynote about his students at the AIN conference in Paris. You can watch his presentation to learn more or visit David on his website.

Mary Pat McCoy (she/her):
Improv Teacher & Facilitator

Mary Pat majored in dance theatre at San Jose State University (with a stint in NYC), and performed with Mobius Stageworks, a dance-theatre company. She's worked with Young Audiences as an Artist in Residence teaching creative dance, clowning, juggling, and improv in Portland-based schools. She joined CSz Portland in 2003, performing short-form improv there for 17 years. She's also done silent improv with "Concerto for Piano & Mime", musical improv with "The Screaming Mee-Mee’s" and "Note Takers", and coaches & performs with "Been There", a senior improv group. Mary Pat has been a member of Change Through Play's advanced lab for over 2 years, performing with the group "The Changelings".

Brittney Van Eck (she/her):
Client Development

Brittney’s been an integral member of our team since 2021. She brings a background of social media and communications saavy to Change Through Play and has helped anchor how we promote what we do and where.

Brittney is born and raised in South Africa and continues to live there even now. She is our first ever remote employee! What began during the pandemic has blossomed into a true partnership.

Brittney has become our client liaison and development staffer. In that role she’ll be helping the students in our Portland improv classes along with our clients who reach out to us for corporate and business training in Portland.

Christine is our new assistant and is looking forward to supporting the dynamic work of Change Through Play.

Christine is a theatre director, deviser, and administrator in Portland, OR. Her work explores gender, identity, theatricality, and liveness. Her process is rooted in deep collaboration, consent-forward practices, trust, and play. Christine has worked with Portland Playhouse’s Fall Festival ofShakespeare, St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Redtwist Theatre, Reject Theatre Project,Philadelphia Artists Collective, Theatre Contra, Arden Theatre Company, Theatre Horizon, Berkshire Theatre Group, and others. She is a regular collaborator of the writer-performers Jimmy Grzelak and Martin Levy. She received her MFA in Directing at The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she was named a Michael Maggio Memorial Scholar. 

Janet Scanlon (she/her):
improv & Theater Teacher

For many years, Janet's been a well-known actor and improviser in the Portland metro area. She's an alumnus of The Brody Theater and still performs regularly at The Siren Theater. She also appears regularly in plays, sketch shows, and improv performances in Portland, as well as in festivals around the US & Canada. Catch her on the Season 7 opener of Portlandia on IFC.

Learn more about Janet on her website.