Announcing the 2026-27 Arts Leadership Residents
Qian Zhang at the Pear Theatre
Qian Zhang will head the Fresh Produce new works program at The Pear Theatre under the mentorship of Artistic Director Sara Kannen Dean.
Zoe Chien at PlayGround
Zoe Chien will serve as Executive Producer for both the PlayGround Festival of New Works (May 2027) and Free-Play Festival (August 2027) at PlayGround under the mentorship of Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann.
Tiiu Rebane at Town Hall Theatre Company
Tiiu Rebane will lead the Co-Production Partnership Program and direct a mainstage production at Town Hall Theatre Company under the mentorship of Executve Director Morgan Dayley.
The Arts Leadership Residency funds aspiring artistic directors and managing directors in residence at Bay Area theatres for a 12-16 week residency during which the residents will be mentored by the artistic and/or managing director and lead a significant project during the season.
About the 2026-27 Arts Leadership Residents
Qian Zhang (she/they) is a Bay Area-based theatre actor, designer, and musician. Qian is passionate about using storytelling to build empathy and help create a more just and compassionate world. Qian strives to continuously grow their skillsets to better create impactful theatre and is grateful to Theatre Bay Area for the 2026-2027 Arts Leadership Residency and the opportunity to develop new works with the Pear Theatre.
Celebrating 25 years, the Pear Theatre has been part of the Santa Clara County arts community, developing a reputation for big, bold, and brave theatre in a small and intimate space. Founded in 2002, Pear’s mission is to offer theatre that inspires artists and challenges our community to see the world fully through intellectually stimulating, emotionally powerful, and quality productions. Our programming includes classics, contemporary plays, local playwrights and world premieres, with an unwavering commitment to diverse voices and an inclusive environment for artists, staff, volunteers, and audiences.
Zoe Chien is a mixed-race Taiwanese and Italian-American actor, model, casting director, theatre producer, teaching artist, and arts administrator. She received her BFA in Theatre from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Zoe is the Artistic Lead for 3Girls Theatre Company, and is the Casting Director and Associate Producer for PlayGround. She is a PlayGround company member, and a graduate of the 2023/24 PlayGround Producing Fellowship. She is honored to receive the 2026 TBA Arts Leadership Residency Grant.
Founded in 1994, PlayGround is a leading playwright incubator and theatre community hub. PlayGround’s mission is to support the development of significant new playwrights helping to launch them onto the regional and national stage. Over the past 30 years, PlayGround has developed more than 2,000 original short and evening-length plays by some of the nation’s most promising new writers. Alumni include Lauren Yee, Jonathan Spector, Geetha Reddy, Aaron Loeb, and Ruben Grijalva, among others. https://playground-sf.org
Tiiu Rebane has worked professionally in the theatre for nearly three decades as a performer, administrator, and advocate. Before her eleven-year tenure at San Francisco Playhouse, Tiiu worked in ticketing, front of house, and concessions positions in orgs across NYC, and performed in nearly all 50 states and overseas. She is a proud member of AEA and sits on the boards of Ring of Keys and Playwrights’ Foundation. She is delighted to expand her theatrical work in partnership with Town Hall.
Town Hall Theatre has been bringing people together in Lafayette for more than 80 years. From live theatre and youth education programs to community events, we create opportunities for people to connect, tell stories, and share in the experience of making and enjoying theatre. We’re proud to be a place where people of all ages can find their community, get creative, and feel at home.
The 2026-27 Arts Leadership Residency Panelists
Tasi Alabastro (he/him) is a multi-hyphenate artist based in San Jose, CA. He is an SVCreates Emerging Artist Laureate and a recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award. He’s currently writing and illustrating his first graphic novel, adapted from a short play inspired by surviving a hurricane in a shipping container. You can catch his podcast “Art Time Job” on all your favorite platforms—it’s a fun listen you won’t want to miss! Selected acting credits include Red (The 222), Sisters Matsumoto (Center REP), The Play That Goes Wrong and Twelfth Night (San Francisco Playhouse), A Christmas Carol (American Conservatory Theatre), Manahatta (Aurora Theatre Company), Every Brilliant Thing, Vietgone, and Stupid F*cking Bird (City Lights Theater Company). Directing credits include the inaugural AAPI Playwright Festival at Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS) and assistant director of Clyde’s at City Lights Theater Company. He is a senior company member of the Red Ladder Theatre Company, a nationally acclaimed, award-winning social justice theatre company. tasialabastro.com | @tasialabastro @artbyalabastro @artimejobpodcast
Kimberly Braun is a singer, writer, teaching artist, and director. She earned her Bachelors of Music in Vocal Arts at the University of Southern California, where she studied opera, musical theatre, and jazz, and she received her Master of Arts in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University. Kim independently released an album of her own music, Growing Up, and wrote and performed the award-winning one-woman musical, A Woman Grows in Brooklyn. Kimberly has worked as a musical theatre teaching artist in the SF Bay Area for 15 years and has enjoyed teaching with the Children’s Healing Project (a partnership between TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital), and at A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory. She also works as a music and vocal director for Bay Area high schools, including Cupertino, Monta Vista, and San Leandro High Schools, and she was the conservatory director at Hillbarn Theatre and Conservatory from 2024-25. She is the recipient of the 2025-26 Arts Leadership Residency grant from Theatre Bay Area, working and mentoring with A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory. As an artist and educator, Kim’s underlying philosophy is that the performing arts teach us to be better humans through connection, creativity, joy, and shared humanity. Kim lives with her family in the East Bay.
Raisa Donato is an artist originally from LA who found a home and community in the Bay Area. Theatre, film, and martial arts have greatly influenced their life. They have found that the greatest impact they can have on the world is by connecting with individuals through dynamic storytelling and sparking conversations around art. Their fight choreography can be seen in Man of God, Yerma, She Kills Monsters, The Magnolia Ballet, and many more. They are also a recipient of the TBA Arts Leadership Residency for 2025–2026 and have the honor of working with Shotgun Players to continue their journey toward becoming a leader in Theatre Arts! RaisaDonato.com
Gary Graves has been a resident playwright and company co-director at Central Works since 1998. He has been a part of developing 81 world premiere productions with the company, many of which he has either written and/or directed. Titles of plays he has written include: Red Virgin, Richard the First (a trilogy), The Grand Inquisitor, and most recently, The Prince Part 1 & Part 2. He led the Central Works Writers Workshop for over a decade, and taught playwriting at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre for over two decades.
Kimberly Ridgeway is an award-winning director, playwright, actor, and producer. Kimberly has directed projects for many Bay Area theaters including Altarena Playhouse, Central Works, City Lights Theatre Company, Dragon Productions Theatre Company, Oakland Theatre Project, New Conservatory Theatre Center, SF Playground, St. Mary’s College, Theatre Rhinoceros, Palo Alto Players, 3Girls Theatre and TheatreFirst; as well as for Three Willows Theatre (TX), National Black Theatre (NY), and Spokane Civic Theatre (WA). Some of her favorite acting roles include Shelly in Colman Domingo’s DOT, Mrs. Muller in Doubt, Duchess in Wonderland (World Premiere), Biz in The Human Ounce (World Premiere), and Camae in Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop for which she won the BroadwayWorld San Francisco Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play. Kimberly is the Artistic Associate at Altarena Playhouse, a Brady Fellow Recipient for her play Soulmates (3Girls Theatre), the recipient of the 2024 Theatre Bay Area (TBA) Arts Leadership Residency (Central Works), and the 2024 winner of the June Anne Baker Prize. Her most recent commissioned work, Snowbound: A Holiday Tale, with co-writer Richard Perez, received its World Premiere in December 2025.