Monday, November 17, 2025
9:30 AM - 6:15 PM
Z Space, Theatre of Yugen NOH Space,
& Joe Goode Annex in San Francisco
Session Descriptions
Land Acknowledgement
Morning Plenary, Z Space, Steindler Stage
Linda Amayo-Hassan
Linda Amayo-Hassan is an enrolled member of the Spirit Lake Tribe. She’s a Native/Chicana actor, playwright, and director. Linda is the Founder & Artistic Director of Theatre Cultura, and a board member with PlayGround. Linda has performed at the Aurora Theatre, Shotgun Players, Oakland Theater Project and Town Hall. She had the honor of a summer residency at Berkeley Rep Ground Floor in 2024. Linda has an MFA from UMKC and teaches at Chabot College.
The A.C.T. OUT Tour presents an excerpt from Timon of Athens
Morning Plenary, Z Space, Steindler Stage
We will kick off the conference with an excerpt from A.C.T. OUT Tour's Timon of Athens, adapted by Kenneth Cavander.
The popular Timon of Athens is known to give gifts to his friends and hold great feasts, flaunting his wealth. But when he runs out of money and the creditors come calling, his friends turn him away. Director Peter J. Kuo uses Shakespeare's fable to explore income disparity and how wealth bestows status on members of communities of color, specifically Asian-Americans—and how quickly that status is revoked once the value of the of the “model minority” is exhausted.
Plenary Panel
Create Change: Grassroots Arts Advocacy in Action
Morning Plenary, Z Space, Steindler Stage
How do ordinary voices become extraordinary catalysts for justice, equity, and creative renewal? Step into the heart of transformation with the CA for the Arts Grassroots Artists Advocacy Program (GAAP) fellows as they illuminate the power of grassroots advocacy in the arts. This session invites you to witness stories of artists and arts organizers currently igniting movements from the ground up and explore the alchemy of community, culture, and activism. Come ready to learn practical strategies to turn passion into policy—and vision into victory. Join us for an inspiring morning that will leave you ready to champion change, amplify the unheard, and reimagine what’s possible when art and advocacy collide.
AeJay Antonis Marquis
AeJay Antonis Marquis is a multi-hyphenate performance artist, scholar, educator, and activist whose work centers the decolonization of the theatrical canon, the black avant-garde, and queer political performance practice. Their current research seeks to explore Queer, Transgender and Non-Binary remixing, reclamation and reconciliation of varied Christian dogmas and mad liberation praxis through performative explorations in theatre and dance. Alongside their practice as a theatre and dance educator for a little over a decade, their work has been seen across the Bay Area performance landscape as a director, choreographer, actor, producer, and dramaturg and will continue to marry scholarship with practice in their doctoral journey and advocacy work. They are currently pursuing their PhD in Performance Studies at UC Berkeley. They are currently working on an original devised dance poetry piece based on Romare Beardon's collage Sunday After Sermon (1969) based on interviews with folks who identify as black, queer and on the baptimethocostal spectrum. This work will be presented with BACCE in February 2026.
Hope Mohr
Multidisciplinary artist and licensed California attorney Hope Mohr (she/her) works at the intersection of art and social change as a Fellow with the Sustainable Economies Law Center. After a professional dance career, she founded the nonprofit Hope Mohr Dance and its activist presenting program, The Bridge Project, which supported over 100 artists. In 2020, Mohr co-stewarded the organization’s transition to an equity-driven, BIPOC-led model of distributed leadership and a new name: Bridge Live Arts. Her book, Shifting Cultural Power: Case Studies and Questions in Performance, was published in 2020 by the National Center for Choreography. As an artist working across dance, theater, visual art, and writing, Mohr explores feminism, gender, and sexuality. For over thirty years, she has made multidisciplinary performance that “conveys emotional and socio-political contents that ride just underneath the surface of a rigorous vocabulary.” (Dance View Times). Her work has been presented throughout the U.S. in both theatrical contexts and also extensively in museums and galleries, from SFMOMA, to the Moody Center for the Arts in Houston, and 18th Street Arts Center in LA. She has been named to the YBCA 100 and also named as one of the "women leaders” in dance by Dance Magazine editor-in-chief Wendy Perron. She is currently a Lucas Artist in Residence at Montalvo Arts Center. Click here to learn more about her law practice.
J.K. Fowler
J. K. Fowler is the current Executive Director of the Bay Area Book Festival, Policy Analyst and Special Programs/Community Outreach with BAMBD, CDC, and Operations Support for APEN and APEN Action. Previously, he founded and ran Nomadic Press, a community-rooted publishing house headquartered in Oakland and sat on Oakland's Cultural Affairs Commission, during which time he helped launch the Oakland Poet Laureate Program. He is currently most interested in the intersections of civic bodies, private development, arts organizations, and community benefits agreements that can help to ensure artist and arts organization retention in the cities that they love and support.
Natalia Neira
Natalia Neira (she/her/ella) is a cultural worker and strategist whose work bridges cultural revitalization, healing, and systemic change. She is the founder of Caracol Collective, a framework based on practical tools and resources to support community leaders in organizing from the inside out, centering ancestral knowledge, somatic embodiment, and self-sovereignty as pathways for collective liberation. She is the former Executive Director of La Peña Cultural Center and is currently a Fellow with Californians for the Arts’ Grassroots Artists Advocacy Program (GAAP) and with the Greater Bay Area Arts Coalition (GBAC) where she advances cultural equity through advocacy, strategy, and community-centered design. Natalia is based in Huchiun (pronounced "HOO-CHOON") —Oakland, CA; and is originally from Chile—YES, like Pedro Pascal! You can learn more and connect with Natalia here: campsite.bio/natalianeira
Artistic Labor: The Role of Unions in the Theatre Industry and Why You Should Join One
Breakout A, Z Space, Steindler Stage
Unions are a critical part of ensuring workers’ rights. There are many unions for theatre workers, as well as sister unions in related industries. But which unions are right for you? How can union membership benefit your career? What is life like as a Bay Area union member? Brian Herndon (AEA), Patrick Dowd (IATSE), Dee Dee Escobedo (SAG/AFTRA) and Caitlin McConnell (United Scenic Artists) will answer all these questions and more in this informative panel discussion.
Caitlin McConnell
Caitlin McConnell (she/her) currently serves as Western Region Business Representative for United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829, IATSE based out of Los Angeles, CA. Prior to moving to the west coast, Caitlin worked in USA 829’s national office in New York City for eleven years where she administered a wide variety of collective bargaining agreements, including USA 829’s agreements with the Broadway League, Off-Broadway League, League of Resident Theatres, Metropolitan Opera, and American Ballet Theatre.
Dee Dee Escobedo
Dee Dee Escobedo, Assistant Executive Director, SAG-AFTRA San Francisco-Northern California Local, has been involved in the local industry for a quarter decade, supporting performers in their pursuit of a sustainable, long-term career, while also assisting filmmakers, producers, and industry professionals in creating a successful collaboration throughout each production life cycle. Her current role allows her to be well versed in the various SAG-AFTRA agreements, covering film, television, series, video games, commercials, and corporate/ educational & non-broadcast videos, in order to help guide individuals through the rates and terms for each contract area. Prior to her current tenure with SAG-AFTRA, Dee Dee was the Agencies Director for San Francisco-based JE Agencies for 16 years. Dee Dee is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a major in English and a minor in Theatre Arts. She enjoys connecting with creatives about best practices for projects based in Northern California. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dee-dee-escobedo
Patrick Dowd
Patrick Dowd is an audio engineer and stagehand with IATSE 16. He’s been a union member since 2016 and an employee of the San Francisco Ballet since 2021 and Chase Center since 2019. Outside of these two venues, Patrick has also worked at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, for the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus Holiday Show, and the San Francisco Performing Arts Commission.
How Do We Know This Is Red? Collaborating in Color
Breakout A, Theatre of Yugen NOH Space
Become a better collaborative theatremaker and improve your design skills through experimenting with light and color! In this session, led by lighting designer Ray Oppenheimer, you’ll learn why and how lighting can change the color of a prop, a costume, or even an actor’s hair through a mix of lecture and hands-on activities. Whether you collaborate with lighting designers or are an aspiring lighting designer yourself, this breakout will give you a deeper understanding of lighting color and its impact on other design elements.
Ray Oppenheimer
Ray Oppenheimer is a San Francisco Bay Area based lighting designer, digital artist, educator, and creator who has been bringing his boundless curiosity, chimerical aesthetic, and sisyphean perseverance to live design and education since 2005. His design work has also been featured locally at Berkeley Rep, The ACT Strand Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Shotgun Players, Word for Word, The Magic Threatre, Crowded Fire and many more.
Producing Justice: Activist Theatre Now
Breakout A, Z Below
Our art has the power to create change! California’s activist theatre has had a long, successful, and deeply impactful history. From performances that organize, to political commentary, to the current work of our panelists, the power of theatre to change minds, move hearts, and grow movements is undeniable. Join our panel as they discuss what it takes to create successful activist theatre. Come away with tools to make your voice heard!
Levana Saxon
Levana Saxon brings 25 years of experience as a Theatre of the Oppressed Joker and Popular Educator. She coaches groups in applying principles and methods of arts-Based Participatory Action Research to ensure those who are most impacted by an issue are leading change around it. She co-founded Ruckus’s old Art Core, BASAT, PFCC, and White Noise Collective. For the past 6 years she has been a caregiver for her partner with ALS and their child.
Michael Gene Sullivan
Michael Gene Sullivan is an actor, writer, director, blogger, and teacher committed to developing theatre of social and economic justice, of political self-determination, and, of course, musical comedy. Michael is also an alum of the nationally-acclaimed Playwright's Foundation, a Djerassi Center Artist Fellow, and in 2022 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.
An accomplished veteran of Bay Area theater, with credits from American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Theatreworks, The Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Denver Center Theater Company, The California, San Francisco and Marin Shakespeare companies as well as many others, Michael is also a Collective Member and Resident Director of the Tony and OBIE award-winning, always revolutionary, and never, ever silent San Francisco Mime Troupe, where he has written, acted in, and/or directed over thirty plays.
As a playwright Michael's work has appeared across the United States, as well as in Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, The Netherlands, Argentina, Australia, the United Kingdom, Columbia, Hong Kong, Canada, China, and Ukraine.
Michael's directing credits include work with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, and The African-American Shakespeare Festival.
Polina Mirzad
As founder of Crescent Moon Theater Productions, award‑winning theater artist Polina Mirzad creates socially engaged performances that invite wonder and transformation. She has spent years devising documentary theatre with young adult refugees and was recently awarded a National Theater Touring Grant to develop a new project with veterans and refugees from the same conflicts, touring in summer 2026. www.crescentmoontheaterproductions.com
Tatiana Chaterji
Tatiana Chaterji is a practitioner of restorative justice and participatory theatre (Theatre of the Oppressed, Playback Theater, public performance interventions for community healing using Drama Therapy and Psychodrama). She learned theatre in the movements for social change, alongside members of the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association and collectives in Kolkata practicing Jerzy Grotowski’s Poor Theatre and Badal Sircar’s Third Theatre. She trains in martial arts and uses fight choreography to flip scripts of social dominance.
Facilitated by Shafer Mazow
Stephen Shafer Mazow, Executive Director at Z Space, is a writer, theater artist, fundraiser, and activist living in San Francisco and working in program development and strategic initiatives at the intersection of art, science, and social justice.
Prior to joining Z Space as Managing Director in 2018, Shafer was Senior Grants Manager at the Exploratorium and Director of Institutional Giving and Strategy at American Conservatory Theater. He serves on the Boards of the National Queer Theater and Theatre Bay Area. He leads the trans and gender-non-conforming advocacy and empathy project I.P.Freely; and has helped to establish space-sharing initiatives, community-based theater programs, and research and action initiatives to address gender equity in the non-profit theater field. He was a founding member of the gender-bending sketch comedy troupe This Side of Butch. Most recently, he has partnered with exhibit designers and educators to develop and lead a series of temporal experiences in public restrooms that uses participatory practice, immersive theater, and inquiry-based learning to extend awareness and understanding of issues people face when they don’t “look” like they belong to a space or a group.
Shafer holds a B.A. in English from Wellesley College and a M.F.A. in English and Creative Writing from Mills College and has focused professional and creative efforts on deepening understanding of gender, its complex intersections with other aspects of identity, and the implications of oversimplified binary categories.
Yes, and...Teaching: Expanding Your Artistry to include the Classroom
Breakout A, Joe Goode Annex
Curious about how teaching fits into your artistic practice? Would you like to expand your capacity for consistent, creative employment? Excited to nurture the next generation of theatremakers? Join a hands-on crash course in what you need to know to start your teaching artist journey, led by people who are shaping arts education in the Bay Area. Current teaching artists and theatre education professionals will reveal how the skills you already have will make you a great teaching artist and share some skills you might want to build up to enter the field. Let us tempt you to the dark side, expand your multi-hyphenate skills to include teaching!
Presentation of Arts Leadership Residents and RHE Charitable Foundation Artistic Fellowship
Afternoon Plenary, Z Space, Steindler Stage
The RHE Charitable Foundation Artistic Fellowship makes a significant investment in an individual female or nonbinary artist of color that will allow her to take the next step in their career. Nominees are selected by a diverse panel of established Bay Area theatre professionals.
This program is made possible through a generous grant from the RHE Charitable Foundation.
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 with be mentored by the artistic and/or managing director and lead a significant project during the season.
The Arts Leadership Residency 2025-26 is funded by the California Arts Council and the City of San Leandro.
Keynote
Don’t Dream It, Be It: A Glitter Sermon with Peaches Christ
Afternoon Plenary, Z Space, Steindler Stage
This year’s keynote speaker, drag luminary Peaches Christ, embodies what is possible in Bay Area performance. Drag artist, producer, filmmaker — she is a true multi-hyphenate talent.
Both on stage and in the audience, Bay Area theatre has been a haven for outsiders and cutting-edge artists for generations. This home for experimentation is the only place Peaches could have been born.
Today as queer art and queer artists are under attack nationwide, we stand together, unwavering: art has never been more important. It is undeniable that theatre's ability to change minds, move hearts, and spread a little glitter is needed now more than ever before.
Together, with Peaches Christ as our guide, let’s explore the question: In these turbulent times, what does it mean to be an artist?
Peaches’ vibrant and unapologetically queer keynote will inspire us to embrace the artistic work that challenges ourselves and our audiences, remind us of the connective power of performance, and ignite the possibilities of what we can create.
Peaches Christ
Peaches Christ is a San Francisco–based filmmaker, event producer, and theatre creator known for blending drag, horror, and cult cinema into unforgettable experiences. She produces and hosts theatrical events in partnership with PolyArts Management, collaborating with symphony orchestras around the world.
Peaches is the alter ego of Joshua Grannell, writer and director of the cult feature film All About Evil. Joshua is also the co-owner of Into The Dark, a production company specializing in immersive theatre, including the acclaimed Terror Vault series at San Francisco’s historic Mint building.
Peaches' drag parody spectaculars have toured internationally, selling out iconic venues and earning a global fanbase. She has appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career, and currently co-hosts the cult movie podcast Midnight Mass.
Jeremy and Camillo
Centered and Unshakable: Somatic and Breathwork Tools for Creative Resilience and Stress Reduction
Breakout B, Z Below
Life as a working artist can take its toll, it is important to take time for yourself. This one-hour experiential workshop offers practical tools to reduce stress, balance your energy, and connect with your creative center. Through simple breath and body-based practices, you’ll be invited to turn inward—to quiet the noise around you and connect with your inner guidance to create a resilient, compassionate space within yourself—beyond labels, expectations, and external validation. Led by Amal Bisharat, 500-hour RYT yoga teacher rooted in chakras, breathwork, meditation, and somatic practices, you’ll be guided in listening to your intuition and deeper authentic self, and offered space to ground and nourish both your inner being and your creative practice. All levels welcome; modifications offered. Please bring a yoga mat if desired.
Amal Bisharat
Amal Bisharat (she/her) is a Palestinian-American multidisciplinary artist (music/theater/photography) and 500-hr RYT (Register Yoga Teacher). Based in San Francisco and LA, she is Artistic Director & Co-founder of Meem Collective and creator of Morning in Jenin Musical, a new musical adapted from susan abulhawa’s best-selling novel Mornings in Jenin. She serves on the board of MENATMA (MENA Theater Makers Alliance) and was 2023 Artist-in-Residence at Golden Thread Productions. Bisharat believes in the transformative power of art and storytelling, whether on a stage, in a photograph, or in the stories we tell ourselves.
Breakout B, Z Space, Steindler Stage
When making theatre feels more unstable than ever, collaboration is integral to our shared survival as an industry. Over the past year, Theatre Bay Area has undertaken research on various shared service models with the goal of finding solutions that create a collaborative network that strengthens our community's creative capacity. At this session, TBA's Membership & Community Engagement Officer, Meghan Crosby-Jolliffe, will share what we learned during that research and what possible solutions we identified. Come hear our findings and discuss what we can do today, tomorrow, and ten years from now to make our community more collaborative and sustainable for the future.
Meghan Crosby-Jolliffe
Meghan Crosby-Jolliffe is a mezzo-soprano, educator, and administrator who is passionate about fostering a vibrant and inclusive environment for all performing artists. They recently graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a Master of Music in Voice and hold a B.M. in Voice from the New England Conservatory. As a performer, Meghan crosses over genres and has been seen in the Bay Area in Opera, Musical Theatre, Early Music, and Choral settings. Most recently, Meghan performed Die Schöne Müllerin by Schubert and participated in the SFCM Musical Theater Ensemble’s virtual production of Sondheim on Sondheim. Meghan also serves on the board of a Boston area theatre troupe, The Lilac Players, and loves producing, directing, and theatre-making with that community from across the country.
Bekah Lynn Photography
TRANSformation: Makeup as Manifestation
Breakout B, Z Space, Dressing Room
Description coming soon
Chris Steele
Chris Steele (they/she) is a queer trans nonbinary performance artist, writer, designer, and activist. Their work centers on highlighting queer narratives throughout history and combating narratives of implicit bigotry and white supremacy. Her award-winning drag persona Polly Amber Ross can be found on Instagram @pollyamberross. As a producer, Chris specializes in Marketing and Communications, and is the founder of Poltergeist Theatre Project.
Writing Musical Theatre: Min Kahng and Bryan Pangilinan in Conversation
Breakout B, Joe Goode Annex
Looking to expand your writing practice? Wondering if your dreams of writing musical theatre can become a reality? Learn the tips and tricks to creating a successful musical theatre script and score from Bay Area luminaries Min Kahng (Happy Pleasant Valley, The Four Immigrants) and Bryan Pangilinan (Larry the Musical, Bombahouse the Musical). Join these writers as they discuss the joys and the pitfalls of writing musical theatre and get advice to help you hone your craft.
Bryan Pangilinan
Bryan Pangilinan is the composer and co-executive producer of Larry the Musical and is currently writing Bombahouse, inspired by his experience living with gay Filipinos in late ’90s San Francisco. As a performer, he portrayed Tatsuo Kimura in the West Coast premiere of Allegiance. Trained in Filipino folk dance, he led tours with the LIKHA Pilipino Folk Ensemble. Bryan holds degrees in Ethnic Studies from UC San Diego and Music from SF State. A professional fundraiser for 25 years, he is the Director of Individual Giving at A.C.T.
Min Kahng
Min Kahng is an award-winning writer of musicals and plays whose previous works include Happy Pleasant Valley (NAMT Production Grant), The Four Immigrants (Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award, Edgerton New Play Award, Theatre Bay Area Award), Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The Adventures of Honey & Leon and GOLD: The Midas Musical (TBA Award). Kahng is a MacDowell Fellow, a Travis Bogard Fellow, and an alumnus of the Playwrights Foundation Resident Initiative, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, and Djerassi. He is also a Richard Rodgers Award Finalist, a Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist, and a Dramatists Guild committee member. www.minkahng.com
Becoming a Bay Area Stage Manager
Breakout C, Z Below
How is the practice of Stage Management in the Bay Area different from other places? How does one get started as a Stage Manager and build a career in the Bay Area theatre community? In this panel, we will examine the variety of theatre styles and the experiences of professionals running shows in San Francisco and beyond. The panel will discuss ways to seek opportunities to work in various theatre spaces and share the unexpected skills needed to navigate the challenges that arise in a production.
Jenjen Wong
Jenjen Wong literally ran off with the circus! She was a founding member and Operations Director at Kinetic Arts Center (Oakland), Assistant Director/Stage Manager/Artist Manager at Vau de Vire Society (Bay Area, beyond), and currently serves as Artist and Performance Manager at Club Fugazi (San Francisco) with the current 7 Fingers show Dear San Francisco. With over 15 years in the circus-theatre world, Jenjen has worked to support new and emerging works, edge pushing productions, and numerous radical displays of whimsy.
Leah Marie
Lori Fowler
Lori Fowler has spent 20+ years wrangling actors, calling cues, and locating gaff tape in absurd places. A Ray of Light veteran, they thrive in glitter explosions and tech week chaos. By day, they’re the Facilities Manager for Stanford's Theatre Arts and Performance Studies Department (somehow). Fueled by Diet Dr. Pepper and backstage adrenaline, Lori reminds you: if you can see them, something has probably gone terribly wrong.
Reg Clay
Reg Clay has stage managed off and on since 1988, when he stage managed A Barbershop in Pittsburgh for the Italian American Repertory Theatre in New York. A graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Reg has stage managed for many companies in the Bay Area: Central Works, Plethos Productions, Ray of Light Theatre, Lower Bottom Playaz and many more. Reg also has a theatre podcast called The Yay - you can find it on all podcast apps.
Tanya Telson
Tanya Telson is currently part of the Stage Management team at Club Fugazi for the circus show Dear San Francisco and is an active member of the Board at 3Girls Theater Company. Past collaborations include Gravity (SFBATCO), The Pajama Game, Snoopy!!!, and Sugar (42nd Street Moon), Jerry Springer the Opera, Baby (Ray of Light Theatre). She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and has a BFA in Technical Theater from Emerson College in Boston.
Embracing the Hyphen—Live with Art Time Job Podcast
Breakout C, Theatre of Yugen NOH Space
Description coming soon!
Davied Morales
Davied Morales is an actor and rapper from San Jose, California. Mr. Morales received most of his training through Foothill College where he earned his AA in Theatre Arts and was featured in many of their productions. He has worked for many theatre companies throughout the Bay Area and since the pandemic he has started branching out into voiceover, commercials, TV, and film. Davied teaches improv in prison throughout the week with Red Ladder Theatre company. He releases music under the name "Activepoet" and you can follow him @daviedmorales to keep up with all his acting endeavors.
Tasi Alabastro
Tasi Alabastro (he/him) is a multi-hyphenated artist, SVCreates Emerging Artist Laureate, and recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award. Selected acting credits include Sisters Matsumoto (Center REPertory Company), The Play That Goes Wrong (San Francisco Playhouse), A Christmas Carol (A.C.T), Manahatta (Aurora Theatre Company), Every Brilliant Thing, and Vietgone (City Lights Theater Company). Directing credits include Japantown Returning, the inaugural AAPI Playwright Festival (Contemporary Asian Theater Scene), and assistant director of Clyde’s (CLTC). Recent illustrations and designs include SF Mime Troupe's 2025 poster and projections on Happy Pleasant Valley (TheatreWorks/CenterRep). He is a senior company member of the Red Ladder Theatre Company, a nationally acclaimed, award-winning social justice theatre company. tasialabastro.com | @tasialabastro @artimejobpodcast
Art Time Job is a real-talk podcast hosted by two Bay Area artists, Tasi Alabastro and Davied Morales, navigating the ups, downs, and sideways hustle of making a living through creativity. From professional gigs to side hustles, passion projects to burnout, they dive deep into the unfiltered realities of surviving-and thriving—as working artists. Join them each week on YouTube for a visual ad to all those episodes. Or listening to the whole season for honest conversations and behind-the-scenes stories that shine a light on what it really takes to turn art into a job. You can follow them everywhere @arttimejobpodcast
Financial Literacy: Telling Your Story Through Numbers
Breakout C, Theatre of Yugen NOH Space
Come explore financial literacy through the lens of storytelling. Learn how understanding the story our financials tell about our relationships, community participation and engagement, along with our values and priorities helps us to communicate our impact, ground our vision, and invite others to support us. This workshop is an introduction to financial storytelling through the “Big Four” financial reports - Profit and Loss / Income Statement, Budget, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow.
Yesenia Sanchez
Yesenia Sanchez is the Executive Director of Intersection for the Arts, an art service organization fiscally sponsoring and providing support services to over 140 Bay Area arts projects. There she runs the Arts Finance Empowerment Camp working with artists on financial literacy and financial strategy. She has over 20 years of experience working with artists and arts organizations in many capacities. She has been an interim director, finance director, administrative and program director, and executive coach and consultant. She is a finance trainer and coach for the Center for Cultural Innovation. She received her coaching training in 2009 through the Coaching & Philanthropy Project’s Coach Training Pilot Program, where she had the opportunity to be a part of a year-long cohort exploring the value of the coaching model in non-profit environments and in under-served communities. Yesenia specializes in business and finance coaching for individual artists, in addition to financial management, fundraising and development, facilitation, executive coaching and team building for arts organizations.
Intersection for the Arts is a bedrock Bay Area arts nonprofit that’s dedicated to helping artists grow. Through vital resources, including fiscal sponsorship, low-cost coworking and event space, and professional development programs, we empower people to continue creating, thinking big, and taking weird and wonderful risks.
Your Time to Shine: Audition Workshop
Breakout C, Z Space, Steindler Stage
Warm-up for your next big audition! Whether you are preparing for the General Auditions or simply brushing up your material, this is the place to be. Casting Directors Salim Razawi and Leigh Rondon-Davis will watch your 1-2 minute audition piece and give you useful feedback you can use to sharpen your audition package for the coming year. Space is limited, so be sure to sign up in the morning when you get to the conference!
Leigh Rondon-Davis
Leigh (they them) is a performer, dramaturg, director, producer, and administrator. They are part of Crowded Fire Theater’s Shared Leadership Team, serving as the Leader of Artistic Curation & Marketing. While Leigh wears many hats as a theatermaker, much of their work and personal passion has been to shift the industry and its culture to be more equitable, inclusive, accessible, and sustainable as an anti-racist educator and facilitator in order to cultivate safe and supportive creative spaces.
Robbie Sweeny
Salim Razawi
Salim Razawi is an Afghan-American theatre maker and, in addition to being the casting director at Shotgun Players, he serves as the Artistic Producer and Casting Director at Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East. He has supported casting and consulting across the Bay Area including Marin Shakespeare Festival, the Casting Collective, Aurora Theatre, Hillbarn Theatre, Ray of Light, Town Hall Theatre, Las Positas College, and others. Select directing credits include Once on This Island (Contra Costa Civic Theatre & Plethos Productions), The Shape of Things and Mean Girls (City of Milpitas), amongst others. Previous acting credits include The Play That Goes Wrong at SF Playhouse, Disgraced at San Jose Stage Company, and Twelfth Night at Marin Shakespeare Company.-- www.salimrazawi.com
Queer Worldbuilding: Writing Immersive Performances
Breakout C, Joe Goode Annex
Queer theatremakers are at the forefront of the most successful Bay Area immersive shows. Dani Lancaster-Spinks (Terror Vault, The Twilight Zone Parody Series) and Ezra Reaves (Compton’s Cafeteria Riot) will share how they create immersive queer worlds that are authentic, that are safe for the performers, and that connect to contemporary issues and concerns. Learn what it takes to create fully immersive environments with engaging stories that keep houses full and audiences coming back time after time.
Dani Lancaster-Spinks
Dani Lancaster-Spinks is a self-taught Special Effects Makeup Artist for film, theatre, and live events. She has been creating Nightmare Fuel for the Bay Area for over a decade. From zombies to killer clowns to monsters under your bed, Dani loves to make audiences horrified and panicked, but also curiously wanting more. When Dani is not terrorizing the masses, she operates the queer theater company, Dreams on the Rocks, and the nonprofit theater venue, Eclectic Box.
Ezra Reaves
Ezra Reaves (they/them) is an actor, writer, director, comedian, drag king, teaching artist, and trans rights activist. They recently appeared in Velour: A Drag Spectacular at La Jolla Playhouse (Sasha Velour, dir. Moisés Kaufman) and The Wizard of Oz at A.C.T. (dir. Sam Pinkleton). TV: 4400 (CW, GLAAD-nominated) REGIONAL THEATRE: Happy Pleasant Valley (TheatreWorks SF / Center Rep), The Daughters, As You Like It (SF Playhouse), The Red Shades (Z Space), Plot Points... (NCTC). NYC: ...World Economics, Danced (La Mama ETC/PS122), Complete and Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill (NY Neo-Futurists, NYT Critic’s Pick, Drama Desk nominee, Int'l tour). Ezra is a former Co-Artistic Director of the NY Neo-Futurists (Too Much Light... Int'l tour). As a comedian, Ezra has opened for Janeane Garofalo, Bob Odenkirk, Paul F. Tompkins, and shared the stage with Michael Ian Black (SF Sketchfest). Ezra also directed and co-produced Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, playing now! BFA: UNC Greensboro. Training: Atlantic Acting Conservatory. AEA/SAG-AFTRA. Insta @ezrareaves
Add-on Sessions
30-minute small group Q&A with Jonathan Spector
(Limit 5 slots per session)
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM, Z Space, Conference Room
First come first served! 30-minute Q&A with Jonathan Spector, Tony Award winning playwright of Eureka Day.
Jonathan Spector
Jonathan Spector is a playwright and screenwriter based in Oakland, whose work has been produced on and off Broadway, regionally and internationally. His plays include Eureka Day (Awards: Tony. Drama Desk, Drama League, Dorian, Glickman, TBA, BATCC, Rella Lossy); This Much I Know (Awards: Edgerton, Glickman, BATCC); Birthright; Best Available; Siesta Key; and Good. Better. Best. Bested. Jonathan’s work has been produced locally at Aurora, Shotgun Players, Marin Theater, Custom Made, and Just Theater. He is a former Associate Artistic Director of Playwrights Foundation, and holds an MFA from San Francisco State.
30-minute indivudual coaching sessions with Jeffrey Lo
(SOLD OUT)
3:30 - 5:30 PM, Z Space, Conference Room
30 minute individual session with playwright and casting director, Jeffrey Lo.
Jonathan Spector
Jonathan Spector is a playwright and screenwriter based in Oakland, whose work has been produced on and off Broadway, regionally and internationally. His plays include Eureka Day (Awards: Tony. Drama Desk, Drama League, Dorian, Glickman, TBA, BATCC, Rella Lossy); This Much I Know (Awards: Edgerton, Glickman, BATCC); Birthright; Best Available; Siesta Key; and Good. Better. Best. Bested. Jonathan’s work has been produced locally at Aurora, Shotgun Players, Marin Theater, Custom Made, and Just Theater. He is a former Associate Artistic Director of Playwrights Foundation, and holds an MFA from San Francisco State.
30-minute individual coaching sessions with Melissa Hillman
(Limit 4 sessions)
3:30 - 5:30 PM, Z Space, Lobby
First come first served! 30-minute individual coaching session with experienced theatre producer and TBA Programs Officer, Dr. Melissa Hillman.
Melissa Hillman
Melissa Hillman holds a PhD in Dramatic Art from UC Berkeley and has taught there, CSU East Bay, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, and more. She was a founding member and artistic director of Impact Theatre, which produced dozens of world premiere plays by writers such as Lauren Gunderson, Lauren Yee, Steve Yockey, Prince Gomolvilas, and many more. She is currently Programs Officer at Theatre Bay Area, works as a consultant for nonprofits, including the upcoming Saga Museum of Star Wars Memorabilia, and works as a dramaturg for playwrights, screenwriters, and theatres across the Bay Area and beyond.
Nurture Bay Area Theatre
Organizational partners and in-kind donations make our events possible! We have sponsorship opportunities at multiple levels for TBAConnect. Reach out to Meghan@TheatreBayArea.org to learn more about the sponsorship opportunities available or select your preferred sponsorship online!