Biography

Natalie Greene (Director of Education & Community Programs) is an artist and educator working at the intersection of dance, theater, and community engagement. Natalie worked with the award-winning devised performance ensemble Mugwumpin for more than a decade, and was Artistic Director from 2016-2022. As a choreographer and intimacy director, Natalie has worked with 42nd St. Moon, AlterTheater, Aurora Theater, Cal Shakes, Center Rep, Custom Made, Cutting Ball, Portland Center Stage, and Shotgun Players. Her dance-theater work has been presented by California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Airport, ODC Theater, Dance Mission Theater, San Francisco City Hall, Danspace (NYC), DiMenna Center/Baryshnikov Arts (NYC), Club Principe (Spain), and Montescudaio Amphitheater (Italy). Natalie has performed with numerous Bay Area dance companies and choreographers including Deborah Slater, Emily Keeler, Erin Mei-Ling Stuart, Kim Epifano, and Mary Armentrout.

As Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Performing Arts & Social Justice at the University of San Francisco from 2006-2021, Natalie directed USF's intergenerational performance company Dance Generators and led the international exchange program Minds in Motion in Tacna and Lima, Peru. She has served on faculty at San Francisco State University, ODC School, and San Francisco Arts Education Project, and has led workshops and trainings in the United States, Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia and Ecuador.  Natalie is a passionate advocate for socially-conscious arts education. Her research focuses on ethical means and specific tactics for bringing people together for embodied creative experiences that build a culture of consent.

Biography

Viera Whye is Co-Founder and has been the Producing Artistic Director for Tabia African American Theatre Ensemble and San Jose Multicultural Artists Guild since its inception in 1985, she is excited to celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2025! She earned her BA in Theatre and Sociology from Towson University in Baltimore, and her MA in Theatre from San Jose State. Viera is a Director, Actor, Poet, Educator, Administrator, and HR Professional. She has numerous stage, film, and commercial credits. Viera proudly invested in the Broadway productions of Piano Lessons and Thoughts of A Colored Man helping to include BIPOC as Broadway Producers.

Viera successfully combines art and technology in her role as a Diversity and Inclusion Specialist. Prior to Intel she was employed as a Telecommunications professional for many years at Siemens Communications. Viera is very active in the San Jose community and a member of several organizations that advocate for equity of health, education, and economic empowerment for women and BIPOC.

Viera has received extensive recognition and awards, most recently a Santa Clara County Lifetime Achievement Award, and DEI Community Leader Award from the SC Women’s Network in 2024, she was one of the inaugural Silicon Valley Black Legends Award recipients in 2015 (and the Whye-Piper Arts award is presented each year in her and David Piper’s name). She was selected as one of Silicon Valley Biz Journals’ 2020 100 Women of Influence.

She is proud mom to two handsome and witty adult sons Copeland Bryan and Courtney Bryan.

Biography

Rebecca J. Ennals (she/her) is a Community Connections Liaison in the Education and Community Programs department at A.C.T., in addition to having stage managed several workshops and productions for the company. Last year, she directed Measure for Measure for the inaugural season of the A.C.T. OUT Tour. 

Rebecca spent 21 seasons on the staff of San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, including 10 seasons as Artistic Director, where she oversaw all aspects of production, education, and artistic programming. Her projects at SF Shakes included directing 8 school tours and 6 productions of Free Shakespeare in the Park, and devising and producing the pop-up Shakespeare events 30 Days of Free Shakespeare in the Parklet and 35 Famous Speeches in 35 Famous Places, which activated public spaces and further expanded access to the arts through civic-based theater. She also founded SF Shakes’ internship program and actively mentored dozens of early-career theater artists.

Ennals is currently a lecturer in stage management and theater appreciation at U.C. Berkeley. She is passionate about co-creating collaborative and supportive cultures in which diverse theater-makers can thrive. Her interests include free civic theater, increasing access to the arts, and environmentally responsible theater-making in the time of climate crisis.

Ennals holds an M.F.A. from UC Davis and a B.A. from Scripps College and is a graduate of Directors’ Lab West. Her favorite creative collaborations are Henry (10) and Eddie (7).

Biography

Anelisa Armijo Montoya (she/they) is an actor, playwright, and musician from Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2020, she graduated from the University of New Mexico with her BFA in Theatre with a concentration in performance. She takes special interest in new work and scrappy theatre. Since moving to San Francisco in the fall of 2021, Anelisa has worked with American Conservatory Theater as a Production Assistant, Assistant Stage Manager, Prop Designer, and Stage Management PA for mainstage shows and the MFA Program. Anelisa has also worked as a Wardrobe Supervisor and Assistant Costume Designer for San Francisco Shakespeare Company’s 2022 summer production, Much Ado About Nothing, and co-produced Downtown High School’s Fall Exhibition, “Caught in the Achievement Gap” in December of 2023 in A.C.T.’s Strand Theater. In October 2024, she will perform in Awesome Theater's production "Terror-Rama V: The Last Final Chapter", making her San Francisco acting debut.

Biography

Sierra Gonzalez’s philosophy is that creative self-expression, the performing arts and holistic health education are catalysts for healing the mind, body and spirit. Gonzalez incorporates, storytelling, hip-hop, filmmaking, theatre, rhythm and poetry (rap), expressive movement, sound frequencies and tools for personal development in her creative educational works. Sierra’s greatest strengths are her capacity to create safe inclusive environments where participants of all demographics are excited to tap into their most creative selves and share those gifts with the world. Sierra expands her creative influence by collaborating with indie artists and community organizations to curate performing arts and personal development projects that celebrate the transformative expression of youth, teens and marginalized adults.

Biography

Adam Mendez Jr. (he/him) is an actor, musician, and teaching artist originally from the Bay Area. Adam received his BA in Theater (Acting Concentration) from Arizona State University in 2016, along with training from The Groundlings. He also has extensive training in Modern Movement, Physical Theater, Musical Theater , Improv, Sketch Writing,  and Ensemble Building Techniques. With focus on collaborative ensemble building practices within the TYA community, Adam takes his work and teachings across Arizona, Montana, Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

Adam has taught with Grandstreet Theater (Helena, MT), Childsplay (Tempe, AZ), Mesa Arts Center (Mesa, AZ), Phoenix Center for the Arts, Greybox Collective, Berkeley Playhouse and Kaiser Permanente Educational Theater (LA & SF). Adam has also written an autobiographical one person show “Chicano in the Sun”, directed by Ricky Araiza. Adam’s Theater Acting credits also include Leaf Coneybear in 25^th Annual Putnam… (Idaho State University), Segismund from Life is a Dream, Clopin in Hunchback of Notre Dame (South Bay Encore Theater), Henry Reyna in Zoot Suit (OC Shakespeare Company), Tomas in Tomas & the Library Lady (Childsplay), along with working on readings such as Banned Play with Richard Montoya (ASU-Performance in the Borderlands), Daniel in That Day In Tuscon & The Boy in Hit Music with Guillermo Reyes, Asterion with Bill Partlan and Selena Maria Sings with Miriam Gonzales (Childsplay). Adam also has commercial & film credits with Omeleto, Fox, Carter Ink Films, Universal Studios and KP Educational Theater’s The Password, winning Telly Awards and servicing the TYA community from 2020-2022. Along with VO credits, Adam voices Lucho Luchon in Beyond The Ring with Daisy King, working with Ramona Young (currently on Audible).

Adam made his Bay Area acting debut as Wickersham Bro in Seussical (Berkeley Playhouse) last Winter, with his next acting opportunity in portraying Alex in Jesse Sanchez’s first full production of his newest musical Suenos at LPC (Livermore, CA), directed by Karina Guiterrez.

Biography

ANDY ALABRAN (he/him) received his B.A. in Theater from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. He has 20 years of experience as a teacher, director, and performer in the Bay Area. He has taught at the American Conservatory Theater Young Conservatory and Studio, California Shakespeare Theater, Oakland School for the Arts, 826 Valencia (Tenderloin), Voice One, Stagebridge, Mission High, Burton High School, and Hayward High School. He directed A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory productions of "Electra", "The Glass Menagerie", "Discovering Beckett", and "The Importance of Being Earnest". He served as voice and speech coach for the Y.C. productions: "Begets", "The Wolves", and "Hookman". He has performed with Theatre First, the Shotgun Players, and Killing My Lobster. A current company member of the Shotgun Players since 2000, his acting credits include Woyzeck, The Death of Meyerhold, A Seagull in the Hamptons, Truffaldino Says No (world premiere), and Mother Courage. He served as Creative Director with San Francisco’s premiere sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster. With KML, he also performed, wrote, directed, taught, and produced where credits included The Shakespeare Bug (world premiere), The Whole Megillah, KML Plays with Beckett (at A.C.T.), and Patronizes the Arts.

Biography

Olivia Gregor Brown (she/her) is an actor and teaching artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a B.A. graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and an M.F.A. graduate of the Bristol Old Vic School of Theatre in the United Kingdom. As a stage and screen performer, she specializes in genres spanning from Shakespeare and other classical works to newer, more experimental projects with a queer slant. She has been a collaborator and performer with San Francisco’s Awesome Theatre Company, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Infinovation Films, the Novato Theater Company, the Mission Center Cultural Arts Theater, Into The Dark Productions, and many other companies based in both New York City and the United Kingdom. A San Francisco native, she is thrilled to now be working and teaching in the Bay Area. As as a teaching artist, she specializes in work with both neurodivergent and neurotypical children and young adults, and is committed to inclusivity, community impact, and the telling of stories less often told. oliviagregorbrown.com

Biography

Yari Cervas (all pronouns) is an awarded theatre director/dramaturg, teaching artist, and somatic worker inspired by stories of restorative justice, queerness, and trauma recovery. They are proud to have collaborated with numerous organizations including South Coast REP, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, and San Diego REP. As the founding Artistic Director of MaArte Theatre Collective in San Diego, they produced, developed, and directed two dozen plays by emerging Pilipinx playwrights including world premieres Your Best American Girl (Best of the ‘19 SDFringe Fest, Critics’ Pick, & Cultural Exchange awards); The Fire in Me (Award of Recognition from the State Legislature of California) co-produced by Asian Story Theatre; and You’re Safe Here in partnership with Allain Francisco M.D. and the UCSD School of Medicine to foster empathy for patients navigating relationships with mental healthcare providers. Yari has developed works that have gone on to the National Playwright’s Conference at the Eugene O’neill (2022) and National Alliance for Musical Theatre Festival (2022). Previously, Yari was honored by the first ever Santa Barbara Double Indy Award for performance as Dido in Dido, Queen of Carthage and for directing the world premiere of Tar and Feather (Westmont College). Most recently they directed the world premiere of Desert Rock Garden at New Village Arts (Award of Recognition from California State Assembly). In response to the COVID pandemic, an inaugural participant of The Catapult Project, and later commissioned by Bay Area Playwrights Festival and Z-Space to present workshops for artists, Yari is the creator of Practical Somatics offering body-based meditations to empower individuals to overcome trauma in their daily lives. Yari believes that by practicing breathing, intuitive movement, and compassionate self awareness we are better positioned to heal our relationships with ourselves and our wider communities. yaricervas.com

Biography

Biography

DeAnna Driscoll has worked as a professional actor and theater educator for the past 20 years. She was most recently seen at San Diego’s Cygnet Theatre in the role of Sharon in the world premiere of the play Sharon by Keiko Green. Previous to that some of DeAnna’s favorite roles include: Paige in HIR, Beatrice in the play The Effect
of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds (for which she won her second S.D. Critics Circle Award for Best Female Lead), Margarie in Hand To God, and Janette in
The Quality of Life. Other theaters include: The Old Globe Theatre, NSC Black Box (NY), Cockpit Theater (NY), San Diego Rep., and more. Television and film credits include: Lincoln Heights, Point Pleasant, Veronica Mars, Decaf, and Unverified. She is a proud member of both Actor’s Equity and SAG/AFTRA. DeAnna created the drama program at the world renowned High Tech High school in San Diego, CA which she ran for 19 years. As well as teaching theater she also specializes in Arts Integration and creating original co-projects with fellow educators from around the world.

Biography

Callie Floor, since coming to the Bay Area in 1987, she has designed for many theaters, including  ACT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, San Francisco Mime Troupe, California Shakespeare Theatre, West Bay Opera, Zaccho Dance Theatre, Word for Word, and San Francisco Opera Merola Program. 

Biography

Maica Folch has been an energetic presence in the San Francisco arts education community for over thirty years. She has been an integral member of the education teams at San Francisco Youth Theater and the Marsh Youth Theater, teaching children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. Maica’s physical theater and storytelling classes draw from the many subjects she has taught throughout her career, including dance, Spanish language, trapeze, circus arts, clowning, music, drama, improvisation and child development. She continues to expand her repertoire, integrating elements of Orff music  pedagogy and ASL into her dynamic classes. 

Biography

Sierra Gonzalez’s philosophy is that creative self-expression, the performing arts and holistic health education are catalysts for healing the mind, body and spirit. Gonzalez incorporates, storytelling, hip-hop, filmmaking, theatre, rhythm and poetry (rap), expressive movement, sound frequencies and tools for personal development in her creative educational works. Sierra’s greatest strengths are her capacity to create safe inclusive environments where participants of all demographics are excited to tap into their most creative selves and share those gifts with the world. Sierra expands her creative influence by collaborating with indie artists and community organizations to curate performing arts and personal development projects that celebrate the transformative expression of youth, teens and marginalized adults.

Biography

Josh Matthews (They/He) is a teacher, actor, and clown/circus performer. He has traveled around the world with his theater company, Under the Table, performing original plays. Josh Has performed at The Lincoln Center (NYC), The Big Apple Circus (NYC) and Third Rail Projects (NYC) to name a few companies. Josh has been a teaching artist and guest lecturer for the past 25 years, some of the organizations Josh has worked with have been the New Victory Theater, Word For Word theater company, American Conservatory Theater, Occidental College, Sarah Lawrence College, and New York University. Currently Josh serves as their artistic program director the Medical Clown Project.

Biography

Dani O’Dea (she/her) completed her BFA at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts at the Experimental Theatre Wing, with a focus on physical/devised theatre and stage combat. While still a student, she started her apprenticeship under J David Brimmer, an award winning Fight Master and the former President of the Society of American Fight Directors. As his associate, Dani worked on countless Broadway and Off-Broadway productions including AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (Atlantic Theatre Company), GRACE (Cort Theatre w/ Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon),  BETHANY (New York City Center w/ America Ferrera), MEDIEVAL PLAY (Signature Theater w/ Tate Donovan, Halley Feiffer, directed by Kenneth Lonergan) GABRIEL (ATC) and THAT FACE (Manhattan Theatre Club w/ Laila Robins, Betty Gilpin, Cristin Milioti).

Dani relocated to San Francisco to work as a Fight and Intimacy Director at Berkeley Rep, ACT, TheatreWorks, San Francisco Opera, NCTC and more. She also expanded her work as a teaching artist, joining Shakespearience as their Director of Programming, and working in theaters (Marin Theatre Company, ACT’s Young Conservatory) and schools (Stanford University, Piedmont HS, Lowell HS) across the Bay Area. As a Teaching Artist, Dani leverages her diverse physical training in theatre and sports to connect students with the expressive potential of the human body. With a focus on play and the joy of movement, she emphasizes the unique physicality of every individual and the precision and generosity required for ensemble work.        

In addition to her creative endeavors, Dani is a highly accomplished live-action producer, working in theatre, independent film, commercial, and motion capture. While working at 2K Games, she was the Sr. Producer of one of the largest permanent mocap facilities in the world. During her time there she worked with such actors as Idris Elba, Rosario Dawson, Michael B Jordan, and athletes such as Scottie Pippin, Luka Doncic, and the Bay Area’s own Steph Curry.

Biography

Biography

Brennan Pickman-Thoon is an actor, teaching artist, and proud Bay Area native. He grew up training with A.C.T., Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theater Company, and more. He graduated with honors from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a BFA in Drama and trained at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. In addition to working as an actor in New York, he also wrote, produced, and directed a one-act comedy that won Best Short Play in the 2015 Unchained Theater Festival. Since returning to the Bay Area, Brennan has performed with A.C.T., Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, California Shakespeare Theater, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Cutting Ball Theater, Marin Shakespeare Company, Word For Word, and New Conservatory Theatre Center, among others. Brennan also spent several years working as a Production Coordinator for film, tv, and commercial shoots, and brings this behind-the-lens knowledge to his on-camera classes. Brennan enjoys developing and teaching diverse acting and theater curriculums, from On-Camera Acting to Shakespeare to Improvisation to Devised Theater. SFBATCC Winner: Actor In A Leading Role. Member, AEA.