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We are proud to announce the following recipients of the Fall 2025 CA$H Theatre Grants. Learn more about CA$H Theatre.

Cash Grant Logo. A green circle with lower case white lettering that says tba. On the right are the words Cash Theatre where cash is spelled with $ instead of an S. Underneath that is the word Grant in smaller font.

CA$H Performs

CA$H Performs is a $5,000 grant that supports fully produced performances of theatre projects that are open to the public.

The Antifa Comedy Hour 

The Antifa Comedy Hour is a night of gleefully anti-fascist comedy featuring sketches, characters, and songs written by local Bay Area comedians Phil Wong, Tirumari Jothi, Rebecca Pierce, Alvin Adrian Lee, Sarah Ranney, and April Pascua. The evening will be directed and emceed by Phil Wong, loosely following the format of a late-night talk show. The Antifa Comedy Hour will be presented in San Francisco in Spring 2026. 

Megan Calfas 

Crushing is a live storytelling show that explores transformative experiences in love, performed in San Francisco in Spring 2026. Crushing will feature local artists telling original, true stories about formative experiences in romantic love. The show will be curated through a call for submissions and through direct outreach to local professional artists and organizations. http://www.crushing.show 

Jordan Guingao  

Indios Bravos is a world-premiere trilogy of historical comedies inspired by pivotal moments in Filipino history. Featuring an ensemble of Bay Area actors and created by local Filipino American writers, producers, and directors, the production will premiere at Bindlestiff Studios in San Francisco in 2026. https://jorduingao.my.canva.site 

Molly Rose-Williams 

Eileen is a world-premiere play, staged as a dance, featuring seven queer/trans Bay Area performers, to be presented at The Ashby Stage November 4–8, 2026. Eileen is a play-staged-as-a-dance, a-dance-staged-as-a-play, where both play and dance are happening at the same time as fully developed versions of themselves. A third entity is born—something harmonious, dissonant, idiosyncratic—something that is only possible when the two forms collide. http://www.mollyrosewilliams.com 

Lysol Tony-Romeo 

Are You There, Luigi? It’s Me, Margaret is a world-premiere play created by Short & Tall Productions featuring an ensemble cast of Bay Area performers that will be presented at Eclectic Box in Spring 2026. Are You There, Luigi? It’s Me, Margaret explores the phenomenon of Luigi Mangione, what the public reaction to his alleged crime has been, and what that says about our current sociopolitical climate. This work incorporates themes of the US health care system, trans bodily autonomy, corporate corruption, and the moral bankruptcy of American law enforcement. This play will be performed while his trial is in progress. https://www.instagram.com/shortandtallproductions/ 

CA$H Creates

CA$H Creates is a $2,500 grant that supports the development of artistic theatre projects or capacity-building projects not directly tied to a fully produced performance of a piece.

Wynne Chan  

Mimi & Jo is a new play based on an essay playwright Olivia Swanson Haas published about a secret she’d kept for over a decade: during her senior year of college at a prominent Bay Area university, she was in a secret relationship with the popular dean of undergraduates at her school—a married woman twice her age. Part queer love story, part cautionary tale, Mimi & Jo is a coming-of-age play set to original music that explores the intimacy of creative collaboration, exposes the pain of hindsight, and attempts to reconcile the gray space between attachment and abuse. Director Wynne Chan and playwright Olivia Swanson Haas will use the funds to workshop and finalize the script in early 2026. https://www.wynnechan.info/ 

The Director’s Collective 

The Director’s Collective is a group of early-career directors looking to further their education as directors by working with peers. Director’s Collective members Ben Chau-Chiu, Claire Ganem, and Ciera Eis will use the funds to produce three scene study nights in Berkeley or San Francisco, a mixer for directors at A.C.T., and skill-sharing nights with mid-to-late career directors in 2026. https://www.instagram.com/directorscollective_bayarea/  

(Photo directors mixer hosted by The Director’s Collective)

Lauren Doyle

Lauren Doyle, in collaboration with theatre artists Chloë Angst and Katie Zeisl, is creating a new theatre company for disabled and neurodivergent theatre makers and their allies in the South Bay, with a showcase scheduled to perform in Spring 2026. Calico Theatre Company is an inclusive, accessible, welcoming home for neurodivergent and disabled artists, allies, and advocates of all backgrounds, and a safe space for creative expression and exploration. The funds will be used for establishing Calico as a nonprofit and launching its first project.  

Micia Mosely 

The Lesbian Lab: The (Re) Awakening of A Black, Middle-Aged Doctor in the United States is a new solo full-length theatre piece in development, targeted to premiere in Summer 2026. Structured as an irreverent academic presentation, this work weaves together personal storytelling, sharp comedy, and hard-earned wisdom to create an experience that resonates across communities. The show speaks directly to Black folx, Gen Xers, lesbians, and academics while building bridges to audiences far beyond these identities. The funding will support the work of the writer/performer, co-writer, and director while the work is in development. http://www.miciamosely.com 

Nicole Jost  

Nicole Jost and writing partner Maggie Grabmeier are creating You’re Not the One for Me, a queer musical rom-com set against the backdrop of a Bachelor-esque reality TV show. Victoria Vargas, host of The One, a hugely popular show with millions of viewers across the U.S. tuning in to watch one man date twenty women before finally choosing “the one” for him, feels miserable and stuck. The night before filming starts on Season 10, she meets a woman at the hotel bar who will change everything– a woman who, as it turns out, is actually a contestant on this season of The One. Grabmeier and Jost are working with local pianist and composer Jord Liu, along with Bay Area singers, to create a full demo recording of You’re Not the One for Me. https://www.grabmeierandjost.com/ 

(Photo of Maggie Grabmeier and Lucca Troutman performing an excerpt of Grabmeier and Jost’s past CA$H Theatre funded project, Love U at the 2025 TBA Spring Soirée. Photo by Tasi Alabastro)

Trudi’s Sunset Cruise  

Retirement: The Musical is a new musical in development by Lori Bodenhamer and Jes Distad. When celebrity financial expert Trudi Gordan launches her “Sunset Cruise” aboard The Prosperity, she promises passengers smooth sailing to retirement. But when hacktivist pirates hijack the ship, her anxious assistant Dana has to take the lead while everyone on board must redefine what “security” really means. Through heart, humor, and songs about budgets, index funds, and the courage to change course, the show transforms financial panic into laughter and hope, sneaking financial education through the comedy door. The funding will support a developmental workshop in 2026.  

Sid Zhang   

Samsara Hotel is a site-specific multimedia performance set in three adjacent hotel rooms. Immersive and surrealist, the show invites its audience to walk freely among the rooms that seem to exist in the same hallway. But behind the doors, each room is situated at a different time of day in a different season. The audience follows the guests staying in these rooms– three women of three generations– as they nonchalantly encounter unusual occurrences and untangle their family memories. A physical theatre performance with minimal speech, Samsara Hotel tells three guests’ stories through their interaction with space and objects. The funding will support project development and a workshop production. http://ksidzhang.com  

CA$H Sustains

CA$H Sustains is a $5,000 grant that supports the general operating costs of a Bay Area theatre company.

Analog Theatre 

Analog Theatre’s mission is to create multidisciplinary, devised performances that inspire collective acts of imagination. Their work celebrates old-school, low-tech theatre magic, including mask, mime, puppetry, clowning, live music, and improvisation. They create performances and platforms that invest in our richly diverse community of Bay Area artists by providing paid opportunities to develop their experimental works-in-progress, and organize events that welcome the community to witness the growth of theatrical art and artists in real time. http://analogtheatre.org 

Fuse Theatre  

Fuse Theatre encourages meaningful engagement in communities through theatre. Fuse elevates voices often unheard and stories often left untold in order to spark dialogue and learn with audiences. They strive to create meaningful theatre experiences that foster civic engagement, made stronger by the many voices, perspectives, and experiences they bring into their projects. They believe in the power of storytelling to present social issues in a personal manner. https://www.fusetheatre.org/ 

Pinecones and Portals Hiking Theater Company  

Through storytelling, Pinecones and Portals empowers children to harness their imagination to create their own magic. The interactive nature of their outdoor performances allows young audiences to see themselves as a community and work as a team to achieve common goals, practicing their resilience and determination facing the unknown and laughing a lot along the way. http://www.pineconesandportals.com 

(Photo of Pinecones and Portals Hiking Theater Company performance)

Theatre Lunatico 

Theatre Lunatico, the resident company at La Val’s Subterranean Theatre, is an ensemble physical theatre company devoted to narratives that place women and other marginalized perspectives center stage through the interpretive lens of storytelling and commitment to gender parity casting. They combine theatre, dance, improvisation, movement, and voice to produce dynamic, intimate, immediate theatre, with the aim of developing a deeper engagement and inherently memorable connection with audiences. Theatre Lunatico disrupts patriarchal structure through their approach as a collectively governed company, as well as in the collaborative ensemble environment of their rehearsal rooms. http://TheatreLunatico.org 

CA$H Theatre is grateful to have the generous support of our funding partners, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Gerbode Foundation. 

Fall 2025 CA$H Panelists

Sandra Criswell (Creates and Performs) 

Sandra Criswell (they/she) is a queer Filipinx actor, writer, director, producer, and facilitator based in Oakland. Their recent acting credits include Heart/Coal in “Darkheart: A Concert Narrative” by Golda Sargento and Hannah in the short horror film “Altar,” which she also wrote and co-produced. Sandra is a producer for Queer as Fuck, a short play festival for and by queer and trans people of color, at Bindlestiff Studio, the epicenter for Filipinx/a/o-American theater in SOMA Pilipinas. 2025’s QAF also featured their most recent directing project “Through the Garden” by Dom Refuerzo, and their most recent short play “Cursebreaker.” They have nearly two decades of experience as a facilitator in reproductive and racial justice spaces across the country, and their theater-making practice puts that spirit of liberation, community, and healing at the center. In 2026, they look forward to co-producing the 10th Anniversary of Queer as Fuck, set to take the stage at Bindlestiff in Fall 2026. You can follow their work on IG @sandraholla.  

Alanna Darby (Creates and Performs) 

Alanna Darby (she/her) is an actress, singer, writer, and fundraiser. Recently she recurred as Christine Jorgensen in Ryan Murphy’s Monster: the Ed Gein Story on Netflix. Screen credits include HBO Max, Showtime, and Gala Films. Regional credits include ACT, Berkeley Rep, Center Theater Group, La Jolla Playhouse, Actor’s Theater of Louisville, San Francisco Playhouse, Marin Shakespeare, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, The Jewel Theater, SFBATCO, and many more. You can find her on Tiktok (130k) and all social platforms @alannastarby. MFA from American Conservatory Theater, BA from USC. 

Scott Ragle (Creates and Performs) 

Scott Ragle has been an active member of the Bay Area theatre scene for years, showcasing his talents as an actor, director, photographer, and musician. He’s collaborated with a wide range of organizations, including Shakespeare & Company, Ashland New Plays Festival, SF Shakespeare Festival, Marin Shakespeare Festival, We Players, Thrillpeddlers, Performers Under Stress, and many others. Here’s an interesting fact: he’s cycled all the way from San Francisco to Los Angeles four times, raising money for charities dedicated to fighting HIV/AIDS.  He’s also a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA. www.scottragle.com • scottragle.photography .  

Aisha Rivera (Creates and Performs) 

Aisha Rivera is an actor, visual artist, playwright and poet from Napa, CA. Favorite acting credits include Yerma (Shotgun Players), Dead Man’s Cellphone (Upstage Napa Valley), and Cymbeline (Berkeley Shakespeare Company). Aisha is also the current Poet Laureate for Napa County. Their poetry can be found in the poetry anthologies Poetics without Borders and Latinas, Gender, Race, and Class… Aisha is a multi-disciplinary artist who hopes to center diversity, equity, and inclusion and make art with impact. 

Anna Marie Sharpe (Creates and Performs)  

Anna Marie Sharpe is a Black and Filipino actor, screenwriter, and teaching artist in the Bay Area. Sharpe holds two degrees from UC Berkeley. Theatre highlights include Nollywood Dreams (San Francisco Playhouse), Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Aurora Theatre Company), A Christmas Carol (American Conservatory Theatre). Film highlights include Sorry We’re Dead, and “The Best Time.” Sharpe makes her directorial debut in “For the Culture,” which is currently raising finishing funds for post-production. Text fortheculture to 44-321 to support her film. IG: @_amarie3 (she/her) 

Isaiah Mateas (Sustains)   

Isaiah Mateas is a dedicated theatre educator committed to creating transformative arts experiences for young people. After earning a B.A. in Theatre from UCLA, he worked throughout the Los Angeles theatre community, developing youth-centered programming and creative projects. Isaiah has also worked with incarcerated youth through Advot, using theatre as a tool for expression, healing, and empowerment. He strives to build accessible, inclusive spaces where every student’s voice has power and possibility. 

Rebecca Novick (Sustains)   

Rebecca Novick is a theatermaker, cultural strategist, and consultant based in Berkeley, California. Her theatrical work focuses on community-engaged script development, mixed professional/community ensembles, performances outside conventional spaces and plays dealing with pressing social issues. Rebecca’s cultural strategy work builds on her deep belief that art can change the world. She continues to explore the questions of who gets to call themselves an artist, whose stories get shared, and how we can build artistic processes that embody the kind of justice we are striving for. Learn more about her work at rebeccanovick.org 

Axel Osterberg (Sustains)    

For more than 45 years, Axel Osterberg has lived at the intersection of art and service, immersed in the transformative power of theatre. Osterberg’s path has woven together seemingly disparate roles—baking bread at Tassajara Bakery, cooking for hospice patients, and walking beside neighbors as a field chaplain. Each experience taught Osterberg to recognize the sacred within daily life, where compassion and creativity are inseparable. Today, these threads come together in Sanctuarey.org, a 501(c)(3) arts and social practice organization that offers living arts workshops. Through theatre, writing, and painting, Osterberg seeks to hold space for healing, reflection, and collective imagination. Osterberg’s work as a theatre activist is grounded in the belief that performance can be both a mirror and a catalyst—revealing truths while inspiring action.