Shira Helena Gitlin is a Boston-based director, dramaturg, gender consultant, and musical theatre enthusiast. Select directing credits include: Indecent (The Concord Players), For the Fish (Moonbox Productions), Echo & Narcissus, Clemenza (Off-Brand Opera), Organic (National Women’s Theatre Festival), 7 Rooms: The Masque of the Red Death (Flat Earth Theatre), Tales from Camp Strangewood: Mr. Champagne (Sparkhaven Theatre), Precious Stuff, Where the Fireworks Come From, Deep Blue (Boston Theatre Marathon), Shrek: The Musical (Mohawk Trail Regional School), and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Hampshire College). Associate/Assistant Directing: The Prom (SpeakEasy Stage Company), Eat Your Young (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), The Pink Unicorn (SpeakEasy Stage Company), Fanny & Stella (NAMT). As a gender consultant, Shira has held Transgender Inclusion workshops for individual theatre makers and various theatres and organizations across the US and Canada. They are also a member of the Gender Explosion Initiative. Shira is a graduate of the Arden Professional Apprentice Class 26, was an Artistic Fellow at SpeakEasy Stage Company, and is an alum of Directors Lab North in Toronto, Canada. They have a BA from Hampshire College in directing with an emphasis on musical theatre studies.

For more information, please visit shirahelenagitlin.com. (they/them/theirs)

Dylan C. Wack (he/him/his), is thrilled to be returning to New Rep after performing in Fiddler on the Roof and Baltimore. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, the Front Porch Arts Collective, Theater in the Open, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Fresh Ink Theatre, Sparkhaven Theatre, and AATAB, among others. He holds a BFA from Boston University and a Certificate in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Originally from Newburyport, Massachusetts, Dylan now resides in Brooklyn. dylancwack.com | @dylanwack

Chingwe Padraig Sullivan (he/they/she/nákum) is a New England based two-spirit Indigenous actor (Shinnecock and Montaukett nations), interested in exploring how to bring indigenous storytelling into western theatrical spaces. She studied for three years at the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Acting Program, where he played Tommy Gnosis in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Angel in Angels in America, Henry VI in Andrew Watring’s The Henriad, and the Skriker in The Skriker. Professionally, her credits include Levi in the world premiere of Cashed Out at San Francisco Playhouse, Adam/Leo in The Inheritance at Trinity Rep, Venessa, Joe Tiger, and Rex Starr in Tara Moses’ Oklahoma Cycle plays, Iago in Othello at the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival, Demetrius in Southwest Shakespeare Company’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Edgar Allen Poe in Anthem Theatre Company’s My Fascination with Creepy Ladies, and Joe in Also Known as Theatre’s Extremities. Táputni i skitôpák wôk cipayak ta manitok wuci yo ahki.

Brian Demar Jones (he/him) is grateful for the opportunity to work with New Rep Theatre on this provocative and poignant play.  He was last seen as “Mister” in The Color Purple” the Umbrella Stage Company in May. Brian is also a teacher at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts, as well as a freelance director, and will be directing Into the Woods for the Actor’s Company of Natick. Some favorite regional credits include: “Tom Collins” in Rent (Umbrella); “Elegba/Marcus” in The Brother/Sister Plays (Portland Playhouse); “Darcy” in Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice (Kansas City Rep); “Parolles” in All’s Well That Ends Well (Hip To Hip Theater). A special thanks to his Walnut Hill community for their ever-growing support. Bdemarjones.com

Luis Negrón (he, him, his) has been a Boston area actor for almost 20 years, having performed in theatre, film, commercials, voiceovers, and industrials. Luis has performed at such venues as The Huntington Stage Co., The Lyric Stage Co., SpeakEasy Stage, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, Wellesley Summer Theatre, Brandeis Theatre Co. and Zeitgeist Stage. Most recently, he was seen on the Mosesian mainstage in Moonbox Productions’ The House of Ramon Iglesia.

Cailin Doran (she/her) New Rep Debut. Doran is an IRNE-nominated actor who has performed with major regional houses such as The Huntington Theatre Company, The Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and The Arvada Center. Additionally, she has performed locally with Bridge Repertory Theater, Moonbox Productions, and Exiled Theatre and has directed with MIT, Voices Boston, and Watertown Children’s Theatre. Favorite past roles include: Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing), Gabriella (Boeing-Boeing), Laurey Williams (Oklahoma!), and Squeaky Fromme (Assassins). Doran holds an MFA from The Boston Conservatory and a BFA/BA from The University of Colorado, Boulder. @cailindoran | cailindoran.com

Zach Kelley (he/they) is excited to be making his New Rep debut with The Normal Heart. He’s an actor, director and writer who grew up in Massachusetts. Recent credits: Gloria (Gloucester Stage) and Mr. Hit Man (Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center/YPF). Education: Boston University, BFA Acting & The National Theatre Institute, Acting & Directing programs. zachwkelley.com

Ken Yotsukura (he/him) is a Japanese-American actor and professional photographer. Originally from the DC area, Ken moved to Boston to attend drama school where he started his own business at 18 years old. Since then, he has balanced two careers in the Boston area as an actor and photographer full-time, often running back and forth between auditions and shoots. You can check out his work at the websites listed below. Recent credits include Central Square Theatre: The Chinese Lady (Atung, u/s), The Theatre Offensive: SWAN (Brad), Wheelock Family Theatre: Make Way for Ducklings (Lack/ens) – 2020 workshop. Nominated for BroadwayWorld’s Best Performer in a Streaming Musical (2022 Regional Awards). Education: Boston University: BFA in Theatre Arts, ActorsStudio at Pinewood Studios London: Screen Acting Diploma. www.kenyotsukura.com / www.kbyphotos.com

Renee E. Yancey is a stage manager, production manager, and theatre educator. Previous New Rep credits include: Ripe Frenzy, Heartland, and Still Standing. Originally from Texas, Renee spent 10 years based in the Washington, D.C., area collaborating on projects with Olney Theatre Center, Studio Theatre, theatre Washington/Helen Hayes Awards, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Velocity DC, and AFI Silver Spring. Currently based in Boston, New England-area work includes collaborations with New Repertory Theatre, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Central Square Theater, Wheelock Family Theatre, Opera House Arts, and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. Most recently Renee was the ASM for the 2022 National Playwrights Conference at The O’Neill. Renee is Head of Management for the School of Theatre at Boston University. MFA Boston University; BFA Texas State University. renee-e-yancey.com

Athéna-Gwendolyn Baptiste (They|Them|Theirs) is a Trinidadian-American musician, actor and stage manager in the Greater Boston area. Some of their stage management team credits include Breath and Imagination, The Cake (Lyric Stage Company of Boston), A Christmas Carol, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches (Central Square Theater). They have also acted in capacities such as: anti-racism consultant, Ain’t Misbehavin’, (Central Square Theater, Greater Boston Stage Company, the Front Porch Arts Collective) and Covid Safety Manager, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (American Repertory Theater). Performance credits include: Madame White Snake (Opera Boston), Youth Underground, Various (Central Square Theater), Boston Playwrights Festival.

Melody (Yu-Hsuan) Hsu (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Taiwan. She graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Design/Technology and a MA in Media Design. Her recent works include scenic design for Hold These Truths by Hope Repertory Theatre; Dracula by the Umbrella Stage Company. Beyond her work in theater, Melody is a socially engaged civic designer. Most recently, she was a fellow with the Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, leading creative collaborations with governmental and community stakeholders. Melody dedicates 2023 to delivering multimedia experiences for equity as she curates work that strives to express, educate, and entertain.

Michael Clark Wonson (Lighting Design) has worked in the United States and abroad for the past 25 years. Highlights include designs for The Bar Girl of Jamaica in Jamaica, Boston Lyric Opera, Cumberland County Playhouse in Tennessee, Southern Methodist University School of Theatre, Dance and Opera, New Bedford Festival Theater, The Lyric Stage Company, Eastern Slope Playhouse, Deertrees Theater, The Five Colleges MFA and faculty dance department of western Massachusetts, Boston Conservatory, Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth NH, Providence College dept of dance and theater, and the Courthouse Center for the Arts in Kingston, Rhode Island. His designs have received Elliot Norten, IRNE, EMACT, MOSS HART, Massachusetts assets for Artist Grant, Kennedy Center, and ELLIOT Norton awards. He also designs full theatrical lighting systems and overseas their installation.  Michael is thrilled to make his New Rep debut tonight and to tell this queer story with all his collaborators.

Mackenzie Adamick (she/they) is happy to be working with New Repertory Theatre again! Her previous Sound Design credits include Coriolanus, Let the Right One In (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Aurora, Organic, By Any Other Name (New Repertory Theatre, New Voices Festival). Mackenzie is an aural storyteller and composer for the stage and screen and bases her theatrical
soundscapes on a musical foundation. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Sound Design at Boston University.
www.mackenzieadamick.com

Sandra Zhihan Jia (She/her) is an Elliot Award Nominated Theatre Costume Designer and artistic concept designer based in Boston, Massachusetts, and Orange County, California. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine, Claire Trevor School of Arts, with a Drama Major in 2020. She is an MFA Candidate at Boston University, specializing in Theatre Costume Design (2023). Sandra is thrilled to collaborate with the New Repertory Theatre, and her recent works include “Alcina” (Boston Opera Institution with BU) and “The Chinese Lady” (Central Square Theatre). She is willing to engage, speak proudly, be curious, be seen and heard, eager to learn, and always respectful.

For more about her, please visit Sandrazh.com.