Come to the Table

Adam Odsess-Rubin (He/Him) is the Founding Artistic Director of National Queer Theater (NQT) and Co-Founder of the acclaimed Criminal Queerness Festival, showcasing censored and criminalized LGBTQ+ artists from around the world. At NQT, Odsess-Rubin has presented work with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Workshop, NYC Pride, MCC Theater, and PAC NYC.

Alex is a NYC-based artist and Syracuse MT alum. Currently, her focus lies in writing, puppetry, new work that is accessible! She loves to paint and watch Gordon Ramsey cooking shows on her days off.

Andrea Ambam is a politically-engaged storyteller and truthteller / performance artist and writer whose roots sprout from Cameroon. Currently, Andrea is a New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Artistic Fellow and the Programming Manager at Level Forward, where she hosts the Anthem Award-winning podcast and third space, More To Talk About. Andrea is a futurist in process.

Originally hailing from Richmond, VA, Annie is an arts administrator with backgrounds in general management, company management, stage management, and ticketing.
Annie currently focuses on touring international productions around the US with Pemberley Productions. She is passionate about supporting perspective-shifting art via a values-forward management style. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Colt Coeur.

Caitlin Ryan O'Connell is a director and educator based in Brooklyn. Caitlin runs a Senior Center Theater Program in Brooklyn supported by The Bushwick Starr. She has taught at various universities throughout New England as an adjunct professor or visiting lecturer. Upcoming directing projects include Open Throat by Henry Hoke at Little Island this summer, and a workshop of Steph Del Rosso's ADJUNCTS with New Georges. Recent Directing: King Philip's Head…(Clubbed Thumb), Twin Size Beds (Joe's Pub, Under the Radar), and War of the Worlds (Montana Repertory Theatre). Recent Associate Directing: Uncle Vanya (Lincoln Center), Infinite Life (Atlantic), Wakey, Wakey (Signature Theatre), and Underground Railroad Game (Ars Nova) . BA Wellesley College, MFA Brown University.

Dani Barlow is the Foundation Director of Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation. She previously served as the Interim Associate Producer at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Dani has also held positions at Studio Theatre and Round House Theatre. Dani holds an MFA in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama. Dani currently serves on the Tony Awards Nominating Committee.

Julianna (she/her) is an artist and arts administrator from Rio de Janeiro, based in Brooklyn. She currently works as the Audience and Community Engagement Manager at WP Theater and the Development and Communications Associate at The Diller-Quaile School of Music. Most recently, she co-founded The Barn at Lee, a theater development organization in the Berkshires that creates residency programs for emerging artists.

Mildred writes and directs for stage, screens and ears while making a living teaching. Current playwriting commissions are from Finish Line Theatre (Chicago), Lucille Lortel and ReproEco (both NYC).
In 2024, We, Four, premiered at the Road Theatre's Under Construction Festival.
Mildred is partnering with Maury Zeff on a new musical The Great American Road Trip, which celebrates the African American Green Book.

Annie G. Levy is a theatre maker and producing artist specializing in works concerning mythology, historical turning points, and scientific breakthroughs. She is an educator and facilitator focused on connecting the next generation of theatre practitioners to current professional trailblazers and the dynamic conversations that make up our evolving field, profession, and art form.

Cha Ramos (she/ella) is a fight & intimacy director, playwright, dramaturg, performer, and instructor, with an MFA in Theatre from Columbia University. Some notable credits include: fight direction for Water for Elephants (Broadway); intimacy and fight direction for Two Sisters and a Piano written and directed by Nilo Cruz (Two River Theater); dramaturgy for new works by José Rivera and Leslie Ayvazian; performing with the Vixens En Garde all-female sword-fighting Shakespeare comedy troupe; and ongoing development of her three original plays. More at www.CallMeCha.com.

Dani Snyder-Young is Associate Professor of Theatre at Northeastern University. She studies the ways socially engaged performance projects impact their audiences and their participants. Dani is the author of Privileged Spectatorship: Theatrical Interventions in White Supremacy (2020, Northwestern University Press) and Theatre of Good Intentions: Challenges and Hopes for Theatre and Social (2013, Palgrave Macmillan).

James Anthony Tyler, recipient of the 3rd Annual Horton Foote Playwriting Award, and a recent Playwrights Center McKnight Commission. His plays include Into the Side of a Hill (Flint Repertory Theatre), Artney Jackson (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Some Old Black Man (Berkshire Playwrights Lab), and Dolphins and Sharks (LAByrinth Theater Company). MFA’s Howard University and NYU. Juilliard School’s Playwriting Program graduate.

Mac Ingram is a theater administrator and fundraiser with fifteen years' experience gathering resources for some of New York City's cultural gems. Mac is currently the Director of Development at Signature Theatre Company. Previously he was the Associate Executive Director at Ars Nova, and has worked at Symphony Space and Second Stage Theatre. Mac serves on the Board of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre.

Nicole Ricciardi is a director, actor, and educator. She has been lucky enough to tell stories all over the world. She has been teaching since 1998 and is currently on the faculty at The Theater School at DePaul.
Nicole received BA degrees in Theatre Arts and Psychology from Drew University and an MFA in Acting from Carnegie Mellon University.

Ava Geyer is a playwright and screenwriter based in Brooklyn. She's an Audible Emerging Writer, member of EST/Youngblood and under commission by La Jolla Playhouse. Her work's been developed by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and Theater Masters' Visionary Award. Plays include Monster (finalist, Alliance/Kendeda Award) and B-Storm (pub. by Concord Theatricals; winner, National MFA Playwrights Festival).

George Strus (they/them) is an Obie Award-winning trans non-binary Latiné producer and dramaturg based in New York City. They founded Breaking the Binary Theatre and served as a co-producer on the world premiere of Stephen Sondheim's final musical, HERE WE ARE, as well as the Broadway premiere of Sufjan Stevens' ILLINOISE. Additionally, they currently hold positions at Signature Theatre, The Tank, Phenomenal Theatre Fund, and Curate Management. www.georgestrus.com

Jayne Deely (they/them) is a playwright and performer hailing from Queens, NY, the collaboration between a Puerto Rican mom from East Harlem and a former Catholic priest father from Pittsburgh, leading to a lot of work about privilege, gender, and lingering Catholicism. Their work has been developed with American Stage, the New Harmony Project, and KCACTF, among others. MFA Indiana University. Proud women’s basketball fan and member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, Dramatists’ Guild.