Director & Playwright Incubator/Mentor Program

Playwright Mentor

Rachel Atkins (she/her) is the scriptwriter for the multimedia educational theatre company Living Voices, with 12 shows on history and social justice in ongoing touring repertory, seen by over 4 million audience members throughout the US and Canada. Her play Black Like Us (Original Works Publishing) received the TPS Gregory Award for Outstanding New Play, two Seattle Times Footlight Awards, and was an American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award nominee. A 3-time Gregory Award nominee for Outstanding Playwright/New Play, her work has been produced extensively in Seattle and around the US, Canada, and Brazil. Rachel is a Dramatists Guild member and holds her Master’s in Educational Theatre from New York University.

Director Mentor

Annie Lareau has been an actor and director in the Seattle area for over 30 years. For the past seven years she has served as the Artistic Director of Seattle Public Theater. Prior to that she was the Interim Artistic Director at ArtsWest as well as the Education Director at Book-it Repertory Theatre. Her directorial resume includes The Tempest (2020), Pericles (2018), As You Like It (2015), and the touring productions of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth for Seattle Shakespeare Company; My Antonia (2019), On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (2013), and various educational touring shows for Book-It Repertory; Hometown Boy (2023), Admissions (2019), The Call (2018), Vanishing Point (2017), and Grand Concourse (2016) for Seattle Public Theater. Her favorite acting roles include: Antonia in My Antonia (Book-It 2008), Nadia in Vertical Hour (2008), Mistress Ford in Merry Wives of Windsor (Seattle Shakes 2019). She has taught theater for both children and adults at Seattle Repertory Theater, ACT, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theater and served as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Cornish College of the Arts as well as a guest artist faculty member at Syracuse University. She holds a BFA from Syracuse University and a M.Ed in Arts Education from Harvard University.

Curriculum Supervisor

Sophe Friedman is a director and educator who most recently participated in The Shattered Glass Project 2021-2022 incubator program as a director. She directs both professionally and at an educational level as well as created and taught a class at North Seattle College called Using Devised Theatre as a Catalyst for Social Change. Sophe has worked with TSGP since 2019 where she directed A Series of Small Cataclysms and currently serves as an advisory board member. She holds her Master’s in Education from Loyola Marymount University and Bachelor’s in Theatre from Chapman University.

Program Facilitator

Rebecca O’Neil is a Seattle-based actor with a passion for equity in the theatre and a profound interest in using the theatre to tell stories about all kinds of people, at all the intersections in their lives. A 2019 of the MFA Arts Leadership program at Seattle University, she applied her classroom work to the development of The Shattered Glass Project. As well as her degree from Seattle University, she holds an MFA in Acting from University of Portland, an MA in Teaching from Willamette University, and a BA in Dramatic Arts from Mills College. Rebecca serves on the board of Theatre Puget Sound as the interim president. She is the proud mother of Jade, Gemma and Rafferty, and grandmother of Leila. Peter: I couldn’t do this without you.

Teaching Artist | Cultural Competence Workshop

Kathy Hsieh (she/her) is the Racial Equity in Grantmaking Strategist for the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. A change agent in transforming the City's arts funding program through an anti-racist lens, she helped the agency earn the Seattle Management Association's first Race & Social Justice Management Award and has been a featured presenter and trainer on racial equity, identity conscious casting, and anti-racism for throughout the U.S., Canada and even for Shakespeare’s Globe in London. She is also an award-winning theatre artist and a Co-Executive Producer and founder of SIS Productions, an Asian American female-led company. She has been honored by the National Association of Asian American Professionals in Seattle as their Artist of the Year, by The Seattle Theater Writers Gypsy Awards with A Special Award of Recognition for Excellence in Playwriting, by Verizon’s Asian Pacific American Bash's Innovator Award, an International Examiner Community Voice Award in the Arts, a Gregory Award for Sustained Achievement in Theatre, and a Seattle Chinese American Citizens Alliance’s Fred Yee Citizens Award.

Teaching Artist | Consent and Brave Spaces Workshop

Jasmine Lomax is a Cornish College of the Arts graduate working tirelessly to help shape the Seattle Theater Community into a healthy, creative, and collaborative environment. Some of their recent credits include The Niceties (Associate Director/ Fight Choreographer) with Intiman Theatre, Tiara’s Hat Parade (Director) with Book-It Repertory Theatre, PASSOVER (Intimacy Director/ Co-Fight Choreographer) with The Spot Sun Valley, This Bitter Earth (Intimacy Director) with Seattle Public Theater, and The Bonesetter’s Daughter (Assistant Director) with Book-It Repertory Theatre.

Teaching Artist | Consent and Brave Spaces Workshop

Ian Bond is a Seattle based fight and intimacy director, actor, and educator. His choreography has been seen at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle Rep, University of Washington, Washington Ensemble, Taproot Theatre, The Shattered Glass Project, Book-It Repertory, Seattle Shakespeare, Village Kidstage, and ACT Theatre. Ian is a co-founder of PNW Theatrical Intimacy and member of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. He is also a motion capture artist (Ghost of Tsushima) and professional Game Master. www.ianbond.org

Panelist | Design Panel

Parmida Ziaei is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist and designer based in Seattle. Parmida has designed various interior, architectural, immersive and entertainment spaces and has been a scenic and production designer with many Seattle theaters including ACT, Village Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, ArtsWest, Taproot Theatre, Seattle Public Theater, among others. When not designing, Parmida performs, choreographs and teaches as a movement artist. Parmida is the co-founder of Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble. parmidaziaei.com

Panelist | Design Panel

THORN MICHAELS has designed and assisted for 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle Opera, Village Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, ACT, Santa Fe Playhouse, Kentucky Opera, Lincoln Center, San Francisco Opera, New York City Ballet, and others. She holds an MFA in lighting design from University of Washington (2016). For more about her work, please visit thornmichaels.com.

Panelist | Design Panel

Bella (they/she) is a Mexican-American scenic artist and designer originally from San Diego, CA. Bella is passionate about utilizing theatrical design to bring underrepresented stories from creators of color to life on Seattle stages. Past projects include work with Seattle Public Theatre, Shattered Glass Project, Macha Theatre Works, ArtsWest, Freehold Theatre, Taproot Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society, and Village Theatre. bellariveradesign.com

Panelist | Design Panel

Zoé Tziotis Shields is a Greek-American, Seattle-based costume designer, actor, and Certified Life Coach. Zoé is committed to creating a space within the theatre that promotes building a shared vocabulary for actors to communicate their needs through the design process that reflects their characters and their bodies. If we want our artists to have longevity and sustainability, we must prioritize taking care of their minds, bodies, and souls, supporting actors to take audiences on a journey during every performance. Past costume design work includes work with General Gabler's Theatre, Macha Theatre Work, Book-It Repertory, ArtsWest, Seattle Shakespeare Company's Education Tour, Cornish College of the Arts, Dacha Theatre, Horse in Motion, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Intiman.

Panelist | Navigating the Playwright/Director Relationship

Desdemona Chiang is a Taiwan-born American director/writer based in Seattle, WA and Ashland, OR. She works in a variety of genres, including new plays, Shakespeare, and musicals. Stage directing credits include The 5th Avenue Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, South Coast Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and ACT Theatre, among others. Sundance Institute AAPI Fellow. American Film Institute DWW+ 2023-24. MFA Directing: University of Washington

Panelist | Navigating the Playwright/Director Relationship

Maureen Hawkins has been a professional actor and director for the past 50 years. She is a member of Actors Equity and Sag-Aftra and has performed with many Seattle Theatre companies including Seattle Rep, ACT, Intiman, Parley, The Second Stage, The Empty Space, and others. She has directed several shows for Stone Stone Soup Theatre and for Pacific Play Company and recently, WANT for the Shattered Glass Project. in addition, she has directed dozens of shows at Seattle middle and high schools as a guest artist. She is currently pursuing a venue for an Equity Members Project production of "Strong Waters" by Claire Zaslove.

Panelist | Navigating the Playwright/Director Relationship

Claire Zaslove was born and raised in Vancouver, B.C. She earned her B.A. at Yale in English and Theater Studies, and then her M.F.A. in Directing for Theatre at the University of British Columbia.

Claire’s work as a playwright is influenced by her background as a director, and as an actress on stage and screen. A member of the Dramatists Guild, Claire is the author of several plays and translations, and a family guide to classic movies.

https://www.clairezaslove.com/

Panelist | Navigating the Playwright/Director Relationship

Shermona is an actor, director, and adaptor, transplanted in Seattle by way of Kentucky. In addition to working artistically for over two decades in Seattle, Shermona has enjoyed a myriad of opportunities both nationally across Washington, Oregon, and Pennsylvania and internationally in Canada and Turkmenistan. Shermona’s work has been seen on stages at The 5th Avenue Theatre, Sound Theatre Company, ACT, Intiman Theatre, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Anything is Possible Theatre and theater simple, among many others. Shermona also serves as Co-Artistic Director for Sound Theatre Company.

Panelist | Navigating the Playwright/Director Relationship

John Langs has served as Artistic Director since 2016. He joined ACT in 2013 as Associate Artistic Director. Langs’ 20–year freelance career afforded him the opportunity to work with many prestigious theatre companies across the country. He has directed productions at Playwrights Horizons NY, Ensemble Studio Theater NY, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Lookingglass Theater Company in Chicago, Circle X in Los Angeles, The Resident Ensemble, New Century Theatre Company, Washington Ensemble Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Company. Langs received his directing degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Some of his favorite directing credits include The Shaggs Philosophy of the World (Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle Award for Best Original Musical), and Brothers Karamazov (seven LADCC Awards including Best Production of the year and Best Direction) and directing Kurt Beattie in King Lear. e\. As a dedicated fan of original work, Langs has shepherded over a dozen projects to their premier production.

Panelist | Navigating the Playwright/Director Relationship

Yussef El Guindi’s most recent productions include “Hotter Than Egypt” at Marin Theatre Company, ACT in Seattle, and at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (2022-23 Henry Award winner); and "People of the Book" at ACT in Seattle. He won the American Blues Theater’s “Blue Ink Playwriting Award” for “Refugee Rhapsody” in 2021. Bloomsbury/ Methuen Drama recently published “The Selected Works of Yussef El Guindi.”

Pilar is a Mexican-American multidisciplinary theatre practitioner from Santa Fe, New Mexico. They attended Cornish College of the Arts. Seattle Directing Credits: Fade (Seattle Public Theater), Las Mariposas Y Los Muertos (Forward Flux) and Terra Incognita (Annex Theatre). As a performer Pilar has been seen on the stages of Strawberry Theatre Workshop, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Wooden O, The Icicle Creek New Play Festival, ActLAB, Ese Teatro, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Seattle Public Theater, Annex Theatre, & many others

Director

Aidyn Trinity is a multi-disciplinary theatre artist whose study has focused on applied and community-based theatre. She graduated from Western Washington University in 2022 where she performed classical voice and theatre, practiced costume design, and led workshops inspired by Theatre of the Oppressed. Aidyn is excited to work in Seattle again as she grew up here and has a profound love for the Seattle performing arts scene.

Director

Christie Zhao is a theatre director, interdisciplinary artist, and art leader. As the artistic director at Yun Theatre in Seattle, Christie's work tackles complex social issues, explores identity and culture, and challenges conventional narratives. She is passionate about documentary theatre and new work development. Past directing credit: "Caught" by Christopher Chen, “Good Enemy” by Yilong Liu, “Two Goldfish (Who Become Heroes) by Olivia Xing and Gefei Liu and "Monologues of n Women" with Yun Theatre.

Director

Divya is a creative practitioner/warrior and a performance artiste. She loves creating site-specific, immersive, experimental, and devised works. She holds an MFA in theatre arts, is a trained cinematographer, a Scuba diver and a Reiki healer. She practices the Margolis Method. Divya designs & facilitates creative rituals through Epiphany Sutra – a world of re-imagined rituals. She also works with youth. Her cultural roots, immigrant life, & self-learned artistic pursuits significantly shape her artistic identity.

Playwright

Jourdan Imani Keith, Seattle’s 2019- 2022 Civic Poet, is a Pushcart nominated author. Her play, an Afro-futurist trilogy was awarded support for “The Uterine Files: Episode One” by office of ARTS and Artist Trust. Featured in Forbes and on NPR, her Orion Magazine essays, Desegregating Wilderness and At Risk appear in the Best American Science and Nature Writing Anthology, as well as text books. The founder of Urban Wilderness Project she leads its R U An Endangered Species™ Women and Whales First: Poetry in a Climate of Change campaign. A recipient of the 2022 US Water Alliance Outstanding Artist prize and a 2018 Americans for the Arts award, her TEDx Talk, Your Body of Water became the theme for King County's 2016-2018 Poetry on Buses program. Her essays and poems are in Prairie Schooner, Terrain, Cosmonaut, YES magazine and Seismic.

Playwright

I am a scientist and physician, who minored in musical theater dance as an undergraduate. That has lent to being a trained observer with a lyrical lens. I write to foster my life, and to affect others so that they may foster their own in a positive way.

In 2011, I had just finished a postdoctoral fellowship, and as a single mother, was raising two fabulous daughters. That year, I was 'let go' from a job that I had been at for two months. I was overqualified, they said. It was unexpected and traumatic. My blood pressure elevated and my heart would not stop racing. I turned to creating a world that I could control, dressed in my concerns, plus all the elements I love, including the natural world, order, deep relationships, magic, food and family.

My overall goal as a writer is focused on the deconstruction of calamities as well as joy, through examination of the paths which lead to them. In this way, the stories can be used as tools, as we discover ways of interjecting means to enhance joy, or interrupting dysfunction before calamities happen.

Playwright Team

Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones met at Cornish College of the Arts where they both graduated Magna Cum Laude. They began their artistic partnership shortly after graduation, particularly interested in developing new works focused on femme and nonbinary identities. They have a keen interest in storytelling that explores the theatre of questions and use their writing to, as Cesar A. Cruz said, “comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.”