About Us
Ben Zingos is a multidisciplinary theatre artist who studied at San Francisco State University where he earned his B.A. in acting and M.A. in theatre arts. His main focus with directing and designing is working in found spaces, using an immersive design methodology he codified during his thesis work. As an actor, he specializes in Meisner technique; and as a playwright he explores themes of masculinity and trauma, along with the effects they have on children. He recently staged John Logan’s Red immersively in SFSU’s scenic paint shop, and directed the first staging of Lynn Mari’s new play Glue at a local wine bar in Venice, CA.
Molly Anders recently graduated from the University of Washington with a BA in Communication and a Minor in Drama focusing on directing immersive, collaborative and safe theatre spaces. Originally from Seattle, Molly has always been active in the PNW theatre scene. Some of her most recent projects include directing How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying through the University of Washington’s ‘StageNotes’ as well as directing Thirst through Seattle’s Lowbrow Opera Collective. She was also the Stage Manager for Space Pirates Theatre Collective’s debut production, Lynn Mari’s Glue.
Board of Advisors
Born and raised in Kolkata, Dr. Sukanya Chakrabarti, an artist-scholar-teacher, received her doctoral degree in Theater and Performance Studies from Stanford University. She is an Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at the Department of Film and Theatre, at San Jose State University. Dr. Chakrabarti is the author of In-Between Worlds: Performing [as] Bauls in an Age of Extremism, which examines the performance of Bauls, ‘folk’ performers from Bengal, in the context of a rapidly globalizing Indian economy against the backdrop of extreme nationalistic discourses. Her works have been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Indian Theatre Journal; Asian Theatre Journal; Modern Drama; Urban Geography; Ecumenica: Performance and Religion; and Emergency Index. She published a chapter in Troubling Traditions: Canonicity, Theatre, and Performance in the U.S. published by Routledge. She currently serves as a Member of the Executive Committee at the American Society for Theatre Research (ASTR), and as the Co-editor of the journal Theatre Topics, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Both as a scholar and an artist, she is interested in spaces and their contribution to meaning- making, placemaking and storytelling. Her current and ongoing research project is on performances of the South Asian diaspora across generations of immigration in California. As an artist, she has worked as a playwright, director, dramaturg, and performer in New York, the Bay Area, and Kolkata. Most recently, she served as the Cultural Dramaturg for Public Obscenities (Pulitzer Prize finalist) written and directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, produced by Soho Rep and NAATCO, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. More details about her projects can be found on her website: www.sukanyac.com.
ANNE GALJOUR is a playwright, actor, producer, and playwriting teacher. Her playwriting credits include TURTLES & ALLIGATORS, OKRA, BIRD IN THE HAND, QUEEN OF THE SEA. Solo performance credits – YOU CAN’T GET THERE FROM HERE, ALLIGATOR TALES, HURRICANE, and THE KREWE OF NEPTUNE. Her theatrical works have been produced by Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Manhattan Theatre Club, Southern Rep in New Orleans, the Magic in SF, Climate Theatre and numerous college and theatre festivals around the country. She has won numerous awards for her plays and solo performance work. Her recent collaborations with Robert Moses Kin Dance Company’s, FABLE & FAITH and THE CINDERELLA PRINCIPLE, both premiered at Yerba Buena Center For The Arts and received subsequent tours. She is lecturer emerita in the Creative Writing Department at San Francisco State University. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Sam Mazza foundation, working to support the next generation of artists and arts educators in her community.
Michael Schweikardt (Set Designer) enjoys a successful career as a set designer for opera and theater companies across the United States and abroad. Off-Broadway productions include: Bloodsong of Love (Ars Nova); ReWrite (Urban Stages); The Black Suits (The Public Theater); The Plant That Ate Dirty Socks (Theatreworks USA); Things to Ruin (Second Stage, The Zipper Factory); and Tryst (Irish Rep). American Regional Theater Credits include productions at The Old Globe, Cleveland Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Virginia Stage Company, Cape Playhouse, Papermill Playhouse, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, and numerous productions for Goodspeed Musicals including Fiddler on the Roof, Carousel, Showboat, Annie Get Your Gun, 1776, Big River, and Camelot. Michael has had the honor of designing multiple large musicals for the MUNY, America’s oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre. Productions there include Into the Woods, The Addams Family, Hello, Dolly,! South Pacific, Mary Poppins, The Music Man, and Sweeney Todd. Michael has designed over 50 musical productions at California Musical Theatre in Sacramento, California creating new productions of classic musicals in-the-round with some of the most talented professional actors and directors available. His touring productions include Ella, a musical about jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald, Motherhood the Musical, and James Taylor’s One Man Band. In addition, Michael has designed multiple opera productions including Il Trovatore, Turandot, La Rondine, and Vanessa, among others. Other notable productions include Oklahoma! Starring Kelli O’Hara and Will Chase celebrating The Oklahoma State centennial, and the American Premieres of Frank McGuinness’ Gates of Gold and The Bird Sanctuary. Internationally, Michael has designed the long-running productions of Marie Antoinette the Musical for TOHO in Tokyo, Japan (10th anniversary), and Phantom for EMK International in Seoul, South Korea (9th anniversary). He has been awarded multiple honors for his design work including the Broadway World Award, Carbonell Award, Connecticut Critic’s Circle Award, St. Louis Critics Circle Award, and the Kevin Kline Award. In addition to his professional design career, Michael is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University, School of Theatre & Dance. Essays published in Teaching Performance Practices in Remote and Hybrid Spaces (Routledge 2022); Performing Ethos, (Vol. 10); Teaching Critical Performance Theory in Today’s Theatre Classroom, Studio, and Communities (Routledge 2020); and Text and Presentation, 2019 (McFarland 2020), demonstrate his research focus on the tension between materiality and ephemeral performances. He serves as managing editor for design at thetheatretimes.com and is co-editor of Prompt: A Journal of Theatre Theory, Practice, and Teaching. His work can be viewed on his website: www.msportfolio.com
M. Graham Smith is a freelance Director, Educator and Producer. He was raised just outside New York City and has been based in San Francisco since 2004. Recent directing credits include World Premieres of Obie winner Christopher Chen’s Home Invasion, Kevin Rolston’s Deal with the Dragon at Magic Theatre & Edinburgh Fringe, and Kait Kerrigan's Father/Daughter at Aurora and the West Coast premieres of Mia Chung’s You for Me for You at Crowded Fire and James Ijames’ White at Shotgun. His most recent World Premiere is the new musical, The Mortification of Fovea Munson, which premiered at The Kennedy Center in March ‘23. He is currently developing a new play, FDR’s Very Happy Hour for The Perelman Center for the Arts in NYC, centering d/Disability and Access in an immersive environment. He teaches at American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He’s a graduate of the Dell’arte School of Physical Theater and Wesleyan University where he directed the first workshop of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In The Heights. https://www.mgrahamsmith.com/
Native Californian Eleanore Tapscott is a metro DC—based director and actor. A graduate of the University of California—Berkeley, she moved to NYC to study classical theatre in the National Shakespeare Conservatory’s training program. She worked at various off-off-Broadway theatres, including serving as artistic director for Westside Repertory Theatre, which specialized in presenting plays from the classical canon before relocating to metro DC. In the DC area, she is an award-winning actor and director, who has had management or leadership roles with various performing arts groups, most recently as the executive director of the Actors Center, an organization providing resources to theatre artists at various stages of their careers. She currently manages seasonal planning for the Little Theatre of Alexandria.