Sharmarke Yusuf (he/him/his) is an actor and writer currently based and born & raised in Boston, Massachusetts. Sharmarke graduated from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a BFA in Contemporary Theater. He has appeared in several Boston-area theater productions including as Aaron in Titus Andronicus (Earthstone Theater Company), Buckingham/Ensemble in The Three Musketeers (Front Porch Arts Collective), Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Boston Conservatory at Berklee), and on television, most recently as Axmed in season two of Castle Rock on Hulu. He can be found on instagram @sharmarke_y

Olivia Paluzzi (she/her/hers) is a stage manager and actor local to the Boston area. Though still new to the professional world, her work has spanned all the way from Providence, RI to Gloucester, MA. Her favorite show credits include Miss You Like Hell (Stage Manager, Wilbury Theatre Group), Native Gardens (Actor, Gloucester Stage Company), as well as Barefoot in the Park (Assistant Stage Manager, Gloucester Stage Company). She holds a BFA in both Acting and Theatre Management from the University of Rhode Island and appreciates how her school helped her to be the well-rounded theatre professional she is today. She is extremely excited to be managing #RomeoJuliet and getting back into the theatre world since the pandemic began last March.

Aja Jackson (she/her/hers) is a Boston-based lighting designer working in theater, opera, dance, and interdisciplinary immersive performances. As an alumnus from the Johnny Carson School of Theater and Film (UNL) she graduated with a BFA in Theatrical Design and BA in Dance Performance, later receiving her MFA in Lighting Design from Boston University. Aja has designed for companies such as the American Repertory Theatre, The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival, Boston Center for the Arts, New Rep Theatre, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Actors Shakespeare Project, Brandeis University, and the Boston Conservatory. Aja is the Resident Lighting Designer and core collaborator for interdisciplinary, site-specific movement company, HOLDTIGHT (www.thisisnourishment.com) She has also worked in production management with companies such as The Santa Fe Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Aja is currently on the faculty at the National Theater Institute teaching Lighting Design with Directors and Practical Lighting Design.  IG: @ajamjackson

Baron E. Pugh (he/him/his) Is a Boston-based scenic designer, and is pleased to be working with New Rep. Select credits include: School Girls (TheatreSquared); Puffs (The Know Theater of Cincinnati); Radio Golf (Trinity Rep); Passover, Choir Boy, School Girls, (SpeakeEasy Stage Company); The Three Musketeers (Greater Boston Stage Company); Breath & Imagination, The Wiz (Lyric Stage Company of Boston); tick, tick… BOOM! (Brown/Trinity); Marie Antoinette (York College of Pennsylvania); We Are Proud to Present… (Connecticut College); The Clean House (Threshold Stage Company); We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Producers, Driving Miss Daisy (Barnstormers Theatre); God’s Ear, Faithless, Ghosts, The Hothouse, The Merchant of Venice, La Tragédie de Carmen (Boston University). Baron recently received his MFA in Scenic Design from Boston University. BaronPughDesign.com

Jacob Montgomery (he/him/his) is a composer, sound designer, and audio engineer from the Chicago area who is currently living in Boston and is planning on graduating this spring from Boston University with a degree in Sound Design. Recent credits include sound design for Constellations, Marisol, The Frank Show, Horse Girls, and Clearing at Boston University, Bare Stage at the Boston Center for the Arts, and IRIS, an audio-drama podcast. For the last two summers, he has been working with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center as the Assistant Audio Supervisor and a mentor for the Summer 2020 Observer program. When not making noise, he enjoys riding his bike around Boston, reading, and cooking. He’s very excited to be working with the New Repertory Theater for the first time and is grateful for the opportunity to work with such a talented team!

Angelene Kim (she/her/hers) is a junior in Boston University’s College of Communication majoring in Film & Television and minoring in Computer Science. As someone who loves both her major and theatre, she is delighted to join New Rep for the very first time on the #RomeoJuliet video team. Most recently, she was a video editor for Wheelock Family Theatre’s Make Way For Ducklings Virtual Workshop. She has also been on tech crews and producing teams for various plays and musicals by BU student organizations.

Jonas Bishop Hayes (he/him/his) is finishing his BFA in Lighting Design from Boston University this May. Although he spent his four years at BU doing theatre, he has always had a passion for film. He has made multiple short films over the past couple of years, and those skills work nicely in this new virtual theatre realm. He has worked at multiple theaters across Boston, and most recently edited Wheelock Family Theatre’s production of Make Way For Ducklings. This summer he is directing a feature film in the desert of West Texas. When Jonas isn’t in school, working on a show, or watching movies then he is probably outside hiking and taking photos with his new old Canon AE-1.

Abby Lass (she/her/hers) is a Boston-based theatremaker and arts educator. She specializes in dramaturgy, directing, and sound design, and has a special interest in female-centered works and classical adaptations. Previous dramaturgy credits include: Buried Child, Safe Hands: A Musical Workshop, O, Hysteria!, A Fan’s Sermon (Vassar College), Helen (Newton Theatre Company), and #RomeoJuliet (New Rep). Abby has also produced several theatre-adjacent research projects, including “Playing the Man I Am: An Exploration of Gender and Genre in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus” and “Performance and Pedagogy: An Exploration of the Psychological Benefits of Theatre Education for Adolescents.” She recently gave a TEDx talk about the intersection of psychological research and the arts. Abby has just finished her senior year at Vassar College, where she received a double major in Drama and Psychology with a minor in Greek and Roman Studies. She serves as the Director of Education and Outreach at Newton Theatre Company and has taught with Newton Theatre Kids.

Ruth Celia Kahn (she/her/hers) is passionate about the convergence of the arts and accessibility. In conjunction with The Caption Coalition, Ruth makes theater accessible by captioning productions for patrons who are hard-of-hearing. As an audio describer, she describes the on-stage action live for blind and visually impaired patrons. In the performance realm, Ruth has joyfully sung with The Victorian Carolers, performed in voice recitals with the Sue Ellen Kuzma Voice Studio, served as a church soloist, and participated in many choral concerts. As an actor, Ruth had the honor of performing in a training video for RIDE drivers prepared by the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, the Boston Center for Independent Living, and the MBTA. At Boston Medical Center, she serves as Co-chair of the Patient Family Advisory Council and as the consumer representative on the Accessibility Committee. Ruth is thrilled to be making her captioning debut at New Rep!