The 6th Annual Young Playwrights Festival

THEO GILLESPIE (Playwright) is in 8th grade at Santa Barbara Junior High. He has always been involved and enjoyed writing. It has been a source of creative expression and enjoyment. Although this is his first time riding a play it is not his first time writing short fiction especially science fiction. The main thing Theo enjoys writing about is Science Fiction and Fantasy, he is fascinated with the idea of blurring the lines between reality and imagination. He has also been involved in acting for as long as he remembers. His most recent being in the woods and puck in midsummer. During his free time, he enjoys (more) writing, reading science fiction, writing his own, and is in his school’s jazz band as the trumpet player. Theo has always been a very creative person venturing into almost every form of Art you could lay his hands on. Some of Theo’s goals as a writer are to publish some of his work in magazines or even anthologies. He hopes to hone his skills and write a novel (so keep your eyes out). Besides writing though he hopes to continue in music and possibly become a professional musician. He is also very interested in science and forms of science like psychology.

MARA MCEWIN (Mentor) is the Artistic Director, Co-Founder and writer, and director. Mara has also produced, written, directed, and sometimes performed in all of Treehouse Shakers’ 19 original dance-plays including Hatched, which is recognized as being the first dance-play for babies to tour the U.S. by an American artist/company. Mara was named “Best Storyteller of New York” by NY Press and has performed throughout the nation’s schools, festivals, theaters, colleges, and community events. She is the featured teller for F.I.T’s Toy Design Department and Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, as well as Baby Gap, Miramax, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Turtle Pond Publications, Chocolate Sauce Publishing, The Tribeca Film Festival, to name a select few. She is a writer, voice-over artist and story consultant for Activity Works, an interactive educational video-web series for classrooms across the U.S. She was the subject for a qualitative dissertation on the inclusion of storytelling in the classroom by Dr. Barb O’Neill and a featured 2019 speaker for O’Neill’s Transform Challenging Behavior Conference, the AATE 2021 National Conference, and the Theatre and Dance for the Very Young Conference in 2022. Mara is a former long-term board member on the International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY), NYC Storytelling Center, and serving a second term on the School Leadership Team at Metropolitan Expeditionary School Leadership School in NYC. To read more about life with Treehouse Shakers, living the artists’ life, or raising a creative family, visit her on Insta @maramcewin or her blog at marastreehouse.blogspot.com 

BRIAN HARWELL (Director) is pleased to return to directing at Ensemble’s Young Playwright’s Festival. He has performed and directed locally with The Producing Unit, Lit Moon, SBCCTG, UCSB, Elements Theater Collective, Ensemble, Rubicon, Genesis West, Circle Bar B, and an assortment of independent projects. Notable performances include Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, What Martha Did, The Game’s Afoot, Julius Caesar, A Doll House, Stupid F***ing Bird, Porgy and Bess, The Cherry Orchard, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Unfinished Business, Looped, Endgame, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Through the Fire, Regrets Only, Seascape, Opus, True West (4 Star Theatre Award), Twelve Angry Men, and Bill W. and Dr. Bob. He has also won Santa Barbara Independent Awards for his performances in King Lear, The Death of Kings, The Designated Mourner, A Number, Henry VI part iii, Our Town, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and I Hate Hamlet.

LUKA DOBRILOVIC (Posell) is a sophomore at UCSB studying Economics and Accounting. He is currently a member of Improvability, UCSB’s improv team, and has been since fall his freshman year. In high school Luka performed in several plays and musicals, with some of his favorite roles being Colonel Mustard (Clue: On Stage) and Chad (Almost Maine). He’d also like to thank Brian McDonald and Michael Bernard for this opportunity, and he hopes that you enjoy the performances!

TOM HINSHAW (Old Man Greg) acted with Genesis West, receiving Independent Theater Awards for Endgame and Title and Deed and appearing in A Number, Curse of the Starving Class, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Pillowman, The Designated Mourner, La Terrasse, The God of Hell, The Goat or Who is Sylvia, and Blue Heart. Tom is a veteran SBCC Theater Group actor, appearing in Becky’s New Car, The Beard of Avon, Fortinbras, George and Emily Get Married, The Heiress, and Other Desert Cities.

HENRY CHALLEN (Sprite 1) is a sophomore at San Marcos High School and is honored to be invited back to the Young Playwright’s Festival. Henry has been acting and singing since he was 10 and some of his past favorite roles include Seussical (The Cat in the Hat), Into the Woods (Jack), Fun Home (John), and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie). Henry won 2nd place in the MTCA junior high solo competition and most recently won 2nd place in the MTCA high school monologue competition. He is a member of the San Marcos Varsity Tennis Team and the local competitive showchoir, Euphony. He is the president of the Table Top Game Club at SMHS. He enjoys acting, singing, tennis, roller coasters, card games and spending time with his friends.

GUY CHALLEN (Sprite 2) is grateful to be included in this year’s Young Playwright Festival. He is an 8th grader and is very active in La Colina Junior High’s showchoir, Outburst. He takes voice lessons and has been featured as a soloist and won 2nd place in the Musical Theater Competition of America’s youth solo division. Most recently he sang the National Anthem 9/11 Memorial Service at the Courthouse. His favorite roles have been in James and the Giant Peach (James), Mathilda (Nigel), Seussical (JoJo) and Bye Bye Birdie (Randolph). He enjoys singing, acting, tennis, hanging out with friends and exploring Santa Barbara on his e-bike.

BLAISE CHALLEN (Sprite 3) is excited to be participating in this year’s Young Playwrights Festival for the second time. Blaise is a 6th grader at The Riviera Ridge School and has been involved in theater through camps and local children’s theater groups. Most recently he played Flounder in Riviera Ridge’s production of The Little Mermaid. He enjoys acting, spending time with his friends and his cats, participating in Math competitions and going to Disneyland.

SELAH BLACKWELL (Playwright) is 13 years old and currently attends Trivium Charter School. She’s an avid reader and has won several competitions, including Battle of the Books 2022. She has acted in Seussical with Stage Left, performed at Soho several times, and had a main role in Young Sherlock, directed by Asa Olssonat the Alcazar Theater. She has also attended Arts at Laguna for two summers and won a writing competition after attending an Author-Go-Round, where students meet multiple authors and practice writing with them. Selah loves to write and has currently written over three hundred pages in a novel she’s been writing for fun. Her goal is to publish it before she graduates high school. She also has written multiple free verse poems, essays, and attended several writing camps. She is interested in going into writing or psychology. Selah also enjoys photography and making short movies with her friends and brothers. One of her videos was entered into a national competition and made it to the quarterfinals. Selah loves music and loves all different types of songs, from musicals to pop. Another thing Selah enjoys is learning Spanish, which she has spent over one hundred and forty hours studying. She has traveled to Guatemala four times to pursue her goal of becoming fluent, and she has studied with native teachers there. She has also traveled to over thirty states within the US, spent a month in Washington D.C., and attended both Mardi Gras and the Rose Parade in person. She also loves to cook and spent most of the COVID quarantine experimenting with cupcakes. Selah loves making elaborate lunches and snacks and will probably go way overboard. As of this year, she enjoys participating in cross country, after her dad successfully managed to get her to go on a run with him. Selah is excited to continue writing and start publishing her work.

VICTORIA CHARTERS (Mentor) is an Australian/American actress, comedienne and award-winning filmmaker. Film highlights include the Academy Award-winning “Argo” by Ben Affleck, “Pretty Outrageous” and “Angels Die Slowly.” Australian-born, Victoria’s Australian television credits include “Neighbours” and “Boys from the Bush.” Most recently, Victoria can be seen as Connie in Jane Clark’s web series “Crazy Bitches.” Equity theatre credits include Charlotte in The Real Thing by Tom Stoppard and Judy in an adaptation of Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives by Jonathan Fox, Artistic Director, Ensemble Theatre. Victoria also originated the role of Mona in the new musical by Clyde Derrick Angel’s Flight for Write Act Repertory Theatre, Los Angeles. Victoria played Baptista in Santa Barbara Shakespeare’s production of Taming of the Shrew and the title role in Hallie, about theater legend Hallie Flannigan, by Claudia Hoag McGarry. Victoria’s writing credits include the play Caesar or Nothing, (Universal Theatre, Melbourne). The screenplay “American Maya” Finalist – Stowe Story Labs (International Competition),  Finalist – NYX Horror Collective Fellowship (International Competition),  Top 11% of discoverable projects on Coverfly, and the television pilot “Fulfillment.” Victoria directed the feature-length documentary “Dr. Megavolt: from Geek to Superhero,” distributed by DUST.  Best Documentary, City of Angels Women’s Film Festival and Best of the Festival, Lady Filmmakers Festival. Victoria’s past narrative short films include “I Heard the Mermaids Singing.”  Best Narrative Short, Great Lakes Independent Film Festival; Silver Medal for Excellence, Park City Film Music Festival, Short Film Corner, Cannes. Victoria directed “Backstage” Short Film Corner, Cannes 2011. Victoria has participated in many group filmmaker projects. Including the cinema vérité “140” (Newport Beach Film Festival 2010), “Life in a Day” (Sundance Film Festival 2011), and “One Day on Earth,” which premiered at the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations in New York. Victoria has performed improv and sketch comedy in various groups in Australia and America, most recently with SB improv. She performs stand-up comedy regularly in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Victoria is a graduate of the University of Melbourne, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Film and received a writer’s grant from the Theatre Department. Victoria studied with Michael Shurtleff in Hollywood for two summers. She received the Julie Harris scholarship to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and graduated from A.A.D.A., West 1997.

JENNY SULLIVAN (Director) Jenny emerged from our pandemic blues to direct ETC’s Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical (with Linda Purl and David Engel) and Sleuth (with Daniel Gerroll and Matthew Floyd Miller); Rubicon’s Twilight: Los Angeles-1992 (with Chris Butler) and The Gin Game (with Joe Spano and JoBeth Williams). Some pre-pandemic favorites include Tom Dugan’s Wiesenthal (Acorn Theatre Off-Broadway & The Wallis Annenberg in Beverly Hills) and Jackie Unveiled (The Wallis Annenberg); The Dresser (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre with Len Cariou and Granville Van Dusen); Geffen Playhouse: Nora & Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Laguna Playhouse productions: The Year of Magical Thinking, Steel Magnolias and I Am My Own Wife; The world premiere of Jane Anderson’s The Baby Dance: Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theatre (CT Critics’ Directing Award) and Lucille Lortel Theatre Off-Broadway; Other ETC productions include: The Legend of Georgia McBride, I Am My Own Wife (Indy Award), Baby Doll, Good People, Tea at Five, The Year of Magical Thinking, The Lion in Winter (Indy Award), The Mystery of Irma Vep (Indy Award), The Clean House (Indy Award), The Memory of Water and Dublin Carol (Indy Award).  Rubicon Theatre: The Baby Dance: Mixed, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Darrow, Who’ s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Hamlet, Defying Gravity, The Rainmaker. Other Santa Barbara productions include Marat/Sade, The Way We Live Now: Theatre for Our Lives in This Crisis Called AIDS (Center Stage Theatre) and Listen for Wings (Access Theatre); Nancy Nufer’s Food Confessions, Mother Earth/Father Sky and The Shadow Box, all played at The Lobero Theatre. Jenny was a founding member of Santa Barbara’s “The Mime Caravan,” the creators of the annual Summer Solstice Celebration. Films: “Access All Areas” and “The Next Best Thing” (in which she had the good fortune to direct her father Barry). Jenny is most proud of the world premiere of her play J for J starring Jenny, Jeff Kober and the late great John Ritter.

EMILY BURKE (Lila) is a current student at UCSB studying communications. In her hometown, the Bay Area, Emily has partaken in many performances and companies. She is an active choreographer and performer at Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City, CA. Emily is also an active member of UCSB’s improv team Improvability and a retired member of her high school’s improv team, SMIT. Some of Emily’s favorite roles over the years have included Sheila (Hair), Anna (Spring Awakening), and Kitty (The Drowsy Chaperone). Emily would like to thank Micheal Bernard and Brian McDonald for this fabulous opportunity! Enjoy!”

RAAGHAV THATTE (Cameron) is currently a student at UC Santa Barbara pursuing a degree in Applied Mathematics. He regularly performs with both the campus’s premier improv troupe, Improvability, and their stand-up club, Laughology. Raaghav was very involved in the music scene in his hometown of San Diego, serving as a drum major in his high school marching band and playing saxophone for the Ambassadors of Soul. He’d like to thank Michael Bernard and Brian McDonald for this opportunity.

DEVIN SCOTT (Siri, Mechanical Voice, Guard) has directed and performed in over 25 productions locally at the Ensemble Theatre Company, SBCCTG, Center Stage Theatre, the Rubicon Theatre Company and Circle Bar B. Devin attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre in New York City and was the founding Co-Artistic Director of the Bridge Theatre Company at Shelter Studios in NYC.

JENNA SCANLON (Narrator) is a Santa Barbara actor.  Favorite roles include The Winter’s Tale (Paulina); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Jean); Arcadia (Hannah Jarvis); The Importance of Being Earnest (Bracknell); Othello (Emilia); The Woolgatherer (Rose); Noises Off (Poppy); Designated Mourner (Judy); and August: Osage County (Ivy). She was also seen in Unfinished Business; Regrets Only (Indy Award); Present Laughter (Indy Award); And Then There Were None (4 Star Award); Educating Rita; Bill W. & Dr. Bob; and the one-woman show Shirley Valentine (4 Star Award), among others.

CASSIDY BRODERICK (Playwright) has been performing in community and regional theater productions since she was about 8 or 9 years old. She has worked with professionally trained theater directors and actors. She’s currently in a pre-professional ballet program with her dance studio, State Street Ballet Academy. This is her first time with Young Playwrights, however in 2019 she performed with Ensemble Theatre Company in a production of Into The Woods, where she played Little Red. It was one of her favorite shows to perform. She is excited to debut her first play, Infantile Warfare.

MONIQUE ROSARIO (Mentor) is a Multi-hyphenate talent who made her writing and acting debut with The Knockout Game, starring alongside Motown legend Mary Wilson (The Supremes). She trained under Jeff Goldblum at Playhouse West, the west coast repertory theater division of Sandy Meisner’s Neighborhood Playhouse, and studied comedy improv at The Upright Citizen’s Brigade in Los Angeles. Monique frequently performs short-form, long-form, and musical improv, and has played several dramatic lead roles that have earned her multiple Best Actress awards. “Lives,” a film in which she wrote, directed, and played the lead, was officially selected for the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2018 and continues to be shown in CIFF’s FilmSlam program to thousands of students yearly.

SHANNON SALEH (Director) has been teaching Theater, Musical Theater, Choir and Voice for over 25 years.   A lifetime advocate for the Arts, Shannon loves being the Theater teacher at San Marcos High School.  Favorite personal performances include Enchanted April (Lottie), Rabbit Hole (Indy Award-Izzy) and Charlie Brown (Lucy). Other favorite shows include 35 mm, Dead Man’s Cell Phone and One Man Two Guvnors.  Her favorite thing to do is work with students who are always inspiring, motivating and bring great joy. Mrs. Saleh has directed many shows including The Addams Family Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, Clue, Mamma Mia, The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Abridged, Catch Me If You Can, Almost Maine, Aladdin, South Pacific, Bye Bye Birdie, High School Musical, Oliver, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Once Upon a Mattress, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Kiss Me Kate, Hello Dolly, and Guys and Dolls.

LEO KEARNEY (Timmy) is a first-year student currently studying theater and film at UC Berkeley! Past roles of his include Loud Stone (Eurydice, Berkeley Theater Department), Monsieur Thenardier (Les Miserables, Rubicon Theater Company), and Linus (You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Ensemble Theater Company). In the future, he would like to pursue acting on stage and screen, as well as writing and directing for film. Thank you for coming to the show!

DRAGON ADITYA (Conrad) started his debut in the theatre world in seventh grade as an assistant stage manager for the play The Rules of Comedy. Since then, he has taken an interest in theatre, and is expanding his expertise into acting. Dragon has so far taken two of Brian McDonald’s acting classes in The New Vic theater and is planning on continuing on a journey through the works of theatre. Don’t forget to enjoy the show!

CLAIRE WATERHOUSE (Ms. Tina) was born and raised in Santa Barbara and is a graduate of UCSB. She was an understudy for the SBCC Theatre Group’s Production of The Wolves in the spring of 2022 and in July of 2022, Claire played the co-lead role in Claudia Hoag McGarry’s play Air Love n’ Love at the Marjorie Luke Theatre. Claire has worked behind the scenes and in front of the camera on the films “Insurgent” and “Allegiant” in Atlanta, GA and spends her free time studying acting and taking classes and workshops in SB and LA. She is currently in rehearsals for SBCC Theatre Eclectic’s production of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.’s Who Am I This Time? which will play in Santa Barbara in June of 2023.

NICCOLO D’AGRUMA (Randolph) born on April 30, 2008, in New York, discovered his passion for theater at a young age. He was initially drawn to sports and mathematics, but luckily there was a chance encounter with a flyer for a children’s production of The Hobbit that ignited his theatrical journey. However, a move to California postponed his theater journey, and it wasn’t until the pandemic’s isolation sparking a creative desire for self-expression that Niccolo returned to acting through online classes and theatrical performances, such as A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which he performed this fall.

KARENNA SALEH (Sally) is a freshman at San Marcos. She is excited to be part of the The Young Playwrights Festival. She has done many shows in her childhood but her most recent roles are Ancestor in The Addams Family and Mouse in Alice in Wonderland at San Marcos High School. She also played the role of the Mouse earlier this year in San Marcos’s production of Alice in Wonderland. Karenna also enjoys being part of Mock Trial at SMHS as well as Enchante Women’s choir.

ZEV VITANZA (Playwright) has been acting in the theatre for many years, but this is his first time writing a play! He started acting professionally in commercials at age nine and has most recently appeared in a play at the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria. Zev has starred in numerous short films and even a TV pilot. He would like to thank Kenny and Amanda for helping him fall in love with the writing process. He definitely plans to write more plays in the future.

BRIAN HAMPTON (Mentor) is a playwright and actor originally from Virginia who now lives in NYC. His plays include: The Jungle Fun Room (Off-Broadway, FringeNYC, regional, high school), Checking In (MITF, Off-Off Broadway, regional), and his teen plays Gossip and USERNAME – which have been produced by over 450 theater companies and schools across the country and on 5 continents! Brian has lectured and/or taught playwriting at over 50 elementary, middle, high schools, universities, and theatre companies. He’s produced more than 150 play readings, stage productions, short films, a YouTube series (“Parent Break”), and even a feature film. He was the founder/producer of The Puzzle Play Festival in NYC for six seasons, loves to dabble in fiction writing, and continues to act. His love of acting goes hand-in-hand with his writing. He often performs in his own stage and film work, and he has also been seen on the TV shows: “American Housewife,” “Coop and Cami Ask the World,” “I Feel Bad,” among others. Brian received his B.A. in Theatre from Christopher Newport University and is a member of the Dramatist Guild, Actors Equity Association, and SAG-AFTRA. Brian loves working with young writers and is very excited to be returning to The Young Playwrights Festival as a mentor!

MATTHEW TAVIANINI (Director) is pleased to be working with the Ensemble Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights Festival once again this year.  He serves as an actor/producer/teaching artist and managing director with Boxtales Theatre Company and is also in his 13^th season with the Santa Barbara Revels, continuing as stage director for this coming season’s production. He is a graduate of UCSB and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory where he received his M.F.A. in acting. Some of Matthew’s favorite acting credits include Chris in The Play That Goes Wrong, Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express, Semyonov Pishchik in The Cherry Orchard, Trinculo/Gonzalo in The Tempest, Michal in The Pillowman, Karl in The Last Days of the Empire, Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, Telemachus in Boxtales’ production of The Odyssey; Joe in The Last Night of Ballyhoo, David in The Rivals, Thurio in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Matt in Wrench, and Bobby in American Buffalo. He studied physical theater with James Donlon at UCSB and Sigfrido Aquilar at the Estudio Busqueda de Pantomimo Teatro in Guanajuato, Mexico.

Matthew teaches acting and stage combat here in Santa Barbara. He is a co-founder of The Lit Moon Theatre Co and has also worked at the Westport Playhouse, The Odyssey Theatre (Koan ensemble), Ogunquit Playhouse, The Cape Playhouse, Asolo Theatre, Santa Barbara Theatre Group, The Ensemble Theatre, The Santa Barbara Revels, Genesis-West, Speaking of Stories, Santa Barbara Shakespeare Co., and City at Peace.

ALLISON GETTE (Veronica) didn’t begin her acting journey until she was 23. As a teenager, she classically trained in opera under several instructors. As an adult, she completed a two-year acting training at the Meisner Technique Studio in San Francisco. She returned to her hometown of Santa Barbara in 2021 and is now a part of a group of local actors who are creating their own projects along the central coast. She is excited to be a part of the Young Playwrights Festival and support our future storytellers.

BRANDON NNOLI (Jay) is a Santa Barbara native who has been doing theater since he was 12. He believes the art of theatre is incredibly crucial due to the meaning and purpose that is behind it, encompassing so many ways of life and being expansive through all types of people. Currently studying Acting at Boston University, he hopes to take the tools he’s learning and apply them in the future to the art he hopes to create. He would like to thank his family and friends for their continual support.

SIENNA SHALHOUB (Callers), is a 16-year-old junior at San Marcos High School. She has been involved with musical theater since kindergarten. Her most memorable roles include Bertha in Pippin, Chiffon in Little Shop of Horrors and The Witch, Jack’s Mother, and Lucinda in Into the Woods. She also played the lead role, Serena in the short student film, “Song for You.” She recently won first place as a soloist singing “Pulled” at the MTCA competition, earning a scholarship to AMDA. She enjoys singing along with acting, going to the gym, hanging with friends, and trying new things! She is looking forward to being a part of the Young Playwrights Festival and can’t wait for future shows and films!  Sienna would like to thank her mother for always being by her side and helping her through her acting and singing journey!

LUCAS HALBROOK (Playwright) has been writing since he was in kindergarten. He’s written stories, songs, and plays, and is currently working on a novel and a studio album, as well as a play. When he’s not writing, Lucas enjoys playing video games and musical instruments, hanging out with friends, and enjoying the sights of nature. He is currently 16 and a sophomore at Nordhoff High School.

DARWIN ROWLAND (Jasper) is currently a freshman at Newbury Park High School in Ventura County, CA. He has been performing since his first role as The Big Bad Wolf in kindergarten. His love of theater grew with each of his primary school’s productions, Shrek, Jr. (Gingy), Beauty & The Beast (Lefou), The Music Man (Marcellus Washburn) and Aladdin (Jafar). Over the past several years he has participated in The Rubicon Theatre’s Summer Intensive Program appearing in A Midsummer’s Night Dream (Bottom), As You Like it (Adam), Annie (Bert Healy, ensemble), and Les Miserables (Marius). At Newbury Park High School he has performed in Mama Mia (Sam), Much Ado About Nothing (Count Claudio) and Almost Maine (Daniel). In addition to theater, Darwin is an accomplished musician and enjoys playing regularly with his two bands, No Idea and The Blue Moon Boys, at local venues and festivals throughout Southern California.

JOE SPANO (Old Man) best known for his Emmy-nominated detective role on “Hill Street Blues” (1981), was born in San Francisco, the son of a doctor, and a Bishop Riordan High School and University of California-Berkeley graduate. His intention to be a pre-med major dissipated with the growing interest of acting. While in San Francisco worked with the improv group The Wing. While at college he made his debut as Paris in a production of Romeo and Juliet in 1967 and the very next year helped founded the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, appearing in its very first production of Woyzek. He stayed with the company for 10 years and appeared in many of its plays including Hamlet and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In the late 1970s he decided to give Hollywood a try and in between guest shots on TV and earned bit roles as hoodlums and other assorted urban troublemakers in the films “American Graffiti” (1973) and “The Enforcer” (1976). He also played a seductive vampire in the cult musical Dracula: A Musical Nightmare in a small LA theatre. After the success of his hit cop show in the 1980s, Spano appeared here, there and everywhere but to less notoriety. He’s had recurring roles in “Murder One” (1995) and “NYPD Blue” (1993), again as a detective. He has appeared regularly in mini-movies and other television shows as well. He made his Broadway bow in 1992 as Walter in a revival of The Price by Arthur Miller. In films Spano worked alongside Tom Hanks in “Apollo 13” (1995) and Richard Gere and Edward Norton in “Primal Fear” (1996), among others.

BRIAN McDONALD (ETC Director of Education and Outreach) is an award-winning actor, director, and educator. He appeared in the national tours of Miss Saigon and Forever Plaid. Regionally, he appeared on the stages of Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Theatre Virginia, The Lyric Stage, La Miranda Performing Arts Center, Ensemble Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center, Rubicon Theatre Company and the Ahmanson.  Brian has been honored with many awards, including the Ventura Mayors’ Award for Emerging Artist, LA Weekly’s Best Supporting Actor Award and an Independent Award for his most recent performance in the one-man show, Buyer and Cellar. Most recently, he directed It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at ETC. Other directing credits include the critically acclaimed world premiere of A Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Other Desert Cities, A Tuna Christmas, The Sunset Limited (with Joe Spano and Tucker Smallwood), Bus Stop (5 Ovation nominations including Best Play), MASTER HAROLD… and the boys (nominated for 3 Ovation awards Including Best Play) and the World Premiere musical, Hello! My Baby, written and conceived by Cheri Steinkellner. He also conceived and directed the critically acclaimed holiday musical review, A Rubicon Family Christmas. Brian’s work as a director has earned him an Independent Award and StageScene LA Award for Best Director. He is a graduate of Boston Conservatory and a member of Actors Equity Association, The Screen Actors Guild and The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

KENNY LUPER (YPF Instructor), an exciting new voice in film and theater, winner of Best Screenwriter at the Milan International Festival, whose critically acclaimed play, XOXO, God, has been a catalyst for addressing the homeless crisis in our backyard, nation and world.  His current feature works in development (for the stage) includes The Family Code, My Other Belly Button (And Other Surprising Discoveries), along with the screenplays: “#Moore Love,” “The Gateway Complex,” “The Johnson 5” and “Path To Glory,” co-written with Academy Award Winning writer Pamela Wallace. Kenneth is the founder of the Navi’ System (www.thenavisystem.com) and has served as a coach to writers for all ages: empowering storytellers through his workshops both at home and globally (China, Mexico, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine to name a few). His coaching is geared to help maximize a writer’s potential- in their own voice- by using proven systems to bridge the gap of where a script is to where it wants to be.  His transformational training programs/workshops are designed to produce sustained momentum for the writer, along with providing exceptional strategies, a clear vision and effective, tailored solutions for one’s story- especially scripts that are in need. The end result: a realized story (for stage/screen) that entertains, edifies and empowers. A member of the Cherokee nation, and raised in a cross-cultural family, he was inspired by his ethnically diverse home to embrace the universal “language” of storytelling to reach across cultural divides; and, he has seen firsthand how stories can also touch the hearts, minds (and funny bones) of humanity- regardless of their race, gender or age.  His mother is from El Salvador and his father is from Oklahoma.  According to his grandmother, he was raised on “burritos and Walmart.” As a catalyst for developing systems and strategies for accelerated and lasting transformation, Kenneth has helped thousands enjoy and reach new levels of satisfaction in their craft. 

Amanda Lennon is a senior at the University of California Santa Barbara where she will be receiving bachelor’s degrees in both Biological Sciences and Film and Media Studies this June. She has been screenwriting since the 8th grade and has written a variety of projects including screenplays, stage plays, musicals, poetry, and song lyrics. She took a playwrighting and screenwriting class while attending Dos Pueblos High School where she graduated in 2018. Amanda was also a student in the 2018 and 2019 Ensemble Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights Festivals where she completed a one-act as well as a 10-minute play before joining the staff. Last summer she was accepted into the Carsey Wolf Center’s Storytelling to Screen program where she completed a script for a tv pilot. She is also a member of the UCSB Writer’s Room and a participant in UCSB’s Word Farm in both 2022 and 2023. After graduation, she plans to attend grad school and receive her master’s degree while also continuing to work on her screenwriting and playwriting projects as well.