Team of Directors
*scroll down for team bios and resident production staff
COLIN ANDERSON
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION
Colin Anderson (he/him) has spent his life in Cleveland, which he now calls his artistic home as a director, producer and intimacy choreographer. He is proud to be openly gay and a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ equity and access in the theatre industry and beyond. Directing credits include The Thin Place, MBKPF - Your Final Night Alive, The Soliloquy Project - Significant Other, She Washed His Hands, DEAP - Spring Awakening: A Children's Tragedy (Dobama); Goodnight Tyler (reading), I’m Alive You Bastards and I Always Will Be (Nightbloom Theatre Co); The Inside Story (Playwrights Local); Beyond Therapy (Access Theatre Project); The Baltimore Waltz, Ordinary Days, For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls, and Next to Normal (Oberlin College). Colin has also worked with Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, Cleveland Public Theatre, Harlequins Theatre, Olde Town Hall Theatre, Elyria Catholic High School, and BorderLight International Theatre + Fringe Festival, where he acted as Assistant Producer during its founding. He is a proud member of The Greenhouse, an ensemble of artists who work, play, and nurture creativity together. BA: Oberlin College. colintyleranderson.com
Email: canderson@dobama.org
MARIAH BURKS
DIRECTOR OF ENGAGEMENT
Mariah Burks (she/ her) is a Cleveland, OH native. Her work has mainly been seen at Cleveland Play House, where she most recently played the titular role in Antigone. Other CPH credits include; Clue: A New Comedy (The Cook); The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Logainne). Onstage at Dobama: Airness (Nina), Little Women (Meg/ Bhaer). An alumni of the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program and a graduate of Bowling Green State University’s Musical Theatre Program, Marian was the recipient of the National Irene Ryan Acting Award at the Kennedy Center(ACTF) in Washington, DC. Other regional and local theatre work includes: Caroline, or Change (Tantrum Theatre) and RAGTIME (Cain Park). Instagram: @magical_mariahb
Email: MariahB@dobama.org
LENA CHAPIN
DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT
Lena Chapin (she/her) is a lifetime theatre-goer and has been a Dobama Member since 2021. She comes to the role of Director of Advancement with over ten years of fundraising, networking, and development communications experience. Previously, Lena worked as the Director of Development at EDWINS Leadership Restaurant Institute, the Ignatian Solidarity Network, and Rose-Mary Center. Lena enjoys trail running, a good karaoke session, building relationships, and writing “thank you” notes. Please give at dobama.org/donate and allow her to write some more!
email: lchapin@dobama.org
ERIN E. DOLAN
DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS
Erin E. Dolan (she/her) is an Actor, Director, Educator, Playwright, and Poet based in Northeast Ohio. Originally from western Massachusetts, Erin spent her later childhood in Lorain County. She studied theatre at Kent State University and Lorain County Community College, where she first discovered her great love of including children in the creative process. Her path led her to Houston, Texas, and later to Columbus and Akron, Ohio, where she focused solely on her work in Early Childhood Education for several years. In 2017, Erin returned to Cleveland to rejoin the exciting and dynamic arts community here. Erin has over twenty years of experience as a classroom educator, the last eight of which included administration. She is the co-founder of Awesome Possum Theatre Company as well as Stratosphere, a performing arts collective. Erin was most recently heard onstage as the voice of Val Fuego in Web of Deceit (Stratosphere/BorderLight Festival), an illustrated radio play. Recent directing credits include James and the Giant Peach (LCCC/Spark Theatre 4 Youth collaboration), Cupid & Psyche (Stratosphere), Burst of Thought (Cleveland Public Theatre’s Pandemonium). Also a playwright, Erin has been commissioned to adapt children’s classics for The Illusion Factory in Akron, Talespinner Children’s Theatre in Cleveland, and most recently Spark Theatre 4 Youth in Elyria, Ohio. Erin is a proud and vocal advocate for artists and educators. She strives to nurture in all children, artists, and audiences an enthusiasm for learning and an appreciation for their own imagination.
Email: edolan@dobama.org
Elise Kuklinca
CONNECTIVITY DIRECTOR
Elise Kuklinca (she/her) began working at Dobama in 2015 in the box office before transitioning to the Patron Services Manager in 2018. In 2021, Elise became Connectivity Director, a role that encompasses fostering internal communication, connecting with artists, working with volunteers, and building deeper relationships with the greater community. Previously, Elise could be found in myriad places including La Jolla Playhouse, Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, The Carnegie and Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis.
Email: elisek@dobama.org
Nathan Motta
Artistic Director
Nathan Motta (he/him) is the 5th Artistic Director at Dobama Theatre where he spurred Dobama's move to become an Equity Theatre. Select directing credits at Dobama include: AN OCTOROON (Best Director- Cleveland Critics Circle 2016), THE FLICK (Best Director- Cleveland Critics Circle 2017), STUPID F**KING BIRD (Best Director- Cleveland Critics Circle 2019), APPROPRIATE, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, SUPERIOR DONUTS, A BRIGHT NEW BOISE, THE ALIENS, A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS, MARIE ANTOINETTE, JOHN, and the World Premieres of HOW TO BE A RESPECTABLE JUNKIE and THE LAND OF OZ. A professional director, conductor, and composer/lyricist, he has worked with Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Baldwin Wallace University, Oberlin College, Cleveland State University, John Carroll University, Opera Cleveland, Ohio Light Opera, Cain Park, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mercury Opera Rochester, and Civic Light Opera (Pittsburgh). Original musicals, include THE LAND OF OZ (composer; book and lyrics by George Brant), MIDSUMMER (composer/ book/ lyrics), and LITTLE WHITE GLOVES (composer/ book/ lyrics). Motta is a leader in equity, diversity, and inclusion work, and a fierce advocate for safety and wellness practices for the theatre. He holds a B.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.M. from the Eastman School of Music. Member Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), the national theatrical union that unites, empowers and protects professional stage Directors and Choreographers throughout the United States.
Email: nmotta@dobama.org
AMY WEAVER
Business DIRECTOR
Amy Weaver (she/her) came to Cleveland from the Washington, D.C. metro area, fell in love with the the arts community here, and never left. Amy began her professional career as the inaugural house Stage Manager at the Maltz Performing Arts Center at Case Western Reserve University before spending several years with progressive administrative responsibilities at Cleveland Public Theatre, concluding as their Finance Manager. Her theatre production credits include sound design and stage management roles with Cleveland Public Theatre, the CWRU Footlighters, Players' Theatre Group, Wildwood Summer Theatre, and Damascus Theatre Company. Outside of her theatre operations, finance, and development work, Amy enjoys restoring old houses, skiing, and baking.
email: aweaver@dobama.org
CARRIE WILLIAMS
EDUCATION Director
Carrie Williams (she/ her) is a performer, director, scenic artist, and a fierce arts education advocate. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Bowling Green State University, she moved to Cleveland to join Great Lakes Theatre’s acclaimed School Residency Program as an Actor-Teacher. She has taught and created programming for a multitude of organizations, including Playhouse Square, Ensemble Theatre, French Creek Theatre, Brecksville Theatre on the Square, Fairmount Center for the Arts, Hawken School, and Talespinner Children’s Theatre. Her artistic pedagogy focuses on exploring collaborative processes, fostering creativity, and empowering youth to step outside their comfort zone. Here she coordinates the Marilyn Bianchi Kids’ Playwriting Festival, the longest-running celebration of young playwrights in the United States.
Email: carrie@dobama.org
Justine schneider
Resident Scenic artist
Justine Schneider is a freelance artist from the Cleveland area. She is happy to make her return to Dobama Theatre as their Resident Scenic Artist this season! Justine has previously painted many of Dobama's productions including, but not limited to; HAND TO GOD, THE FLICK, THE NIGHT ALIVE, AN OCTOROON, MARIE ANTOINETTE, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER and THE REALISTIC JONESES. Justine has also painted for Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland Play House, Chagrin Falls Performing Arts Academy, Near West Theatre and Cedar Point’s Halloweekends. She is always up for a challenge and enjoys how each production is a brand new experience! For more information and pictures from her various theatrical endeavors, visit www.facebook.com/artistjustineschneider/.
JENNIFER RYAN (LADY JEN)
RESIDENT WARDROBE MANAGER
Lady Jen is an artist and an originator. Lady Jen has performed and worked from
behind the curtain for over three decades. Lady Jen majored in vocal performance and
minored in musical theatre at Bowling Green State University. Lady Jen is an
operatically trained vocalist, a fully licensed cosmetologist, an experienced makeup
artist, a proficient stylist, a skilled dresser, and a distinguished costume designer. Select
design credits include AADAMS FAMILY, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, CHESS,
FRANKENSTEIN 1930, HAIR, ROCKY HORROR SHOW, the Cleveland Premiere of
the SNOW QUEEN, SPRING AWAKENING, THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD,
XANADU. Select performances include APPLAUSE, CABERET, HUNCHBACK OF
NOTRE DAME, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, NINE,
ROCKY HORROR SHOW, SCROOGE! VICTOR VICTORIA, YOU’RE A GOOD MAN
CHARLIE BROWN. Lady Jen would like to acknowledge her support system and
theatre muses. LG, KJK, RB, RGS – TPOG - Special Thanks to Ms. Walker, My Beast,
My Boo, My Jellyfish, My King – only you.
Marcus Dana
Resident LIGHTING DESIGNER
Marcus has worked at Dobama Theatre since 2003 in various capacities including Technical Director and Lighting Designer. Recent shows are: HANSEL & GRETEL (Technical Director) with Nightingale Opera, LD Dance Concert: Design Dancing On The Edge, Cleveland School of Ballet THE NUTCRACKER. Previously Lighting includes: Tri-C East/Metro from 2000-2016 as Lighting Designer, Laurel School 2009-12, Resident Lighting Designer at Near West Theatre from 2001-06, Guest LD at The Canton Players Guild 2005-11, Verlezza Dance 2004-10, Beck Center 1995-2000, including THE SECRET GARDEN, where he won the 1995-96 Peggy Ezekiel "Award of Outstanding Achievement”, CSU Factory Theatre, Cassidy Theatre, Karamu House, Lake Erie College 1997-06, Willoughby Fine Arts Association, The Bang and The Clatter Theatre, Kalliope Stage, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Bonfils Theatre and The Changing Scene.
TESIA DUGAN BENSON
Resident COSTUME DESIGNER
Tesia is a Cleveland based Costume Designer. Recent designs include AN OCTOROON, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, MARIE ANTOINETTE, SUPERIOR DONUTS, A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION, THE ALIENS and TIME STANDS STILL for Dobama, TOXIC AVENGER, THE FROGS and SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE for Cain Park, DONTRELL, WHO KISSED THE SEA and ANCESTRA at Cleveland Public Theatre, and 'NIGHT MOTHER at The Beck Center. Tesia worked with Opera Cleveland as Costume Coordinator and designed the costumes for LA VOIX HUMAINE. Other credits include designs for Apollo’s Fire, Lakeland Civic Theater, Near West Theater, Keystone Repertory Theater, Baldwin Wallace University, BIOLA University in La Mirada California, Cleveland State University, Cleveland City School District All City Musical, and Laurel School. She also serves as draper for the Baldwin-Wallace University Costume Shop and Adjunct Faculty teaching Stage Makeup. Tesia holds her M.F.A. in Costume Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
ANGIE HAYES
Resident sound DESIGNER
Angie Hayes (she/her) has designed and mixed sound for productions at many area theaters, colleges, and high schools. She has also recorded and sound designed for several podcasts, including Sidewalk, Munchen, MN, and a radio play series for The Endangered Species Theatre Project of Frederick, MD during the pandemic. She has a Bachelor Degree in Music from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, with an emphasis in Recording Technology and Music Business.
T. Paul Lowry
Resident Video Projection DESIGNER
T. Paul Lowry has served in artistic, production and design capacities with such companies as Long Wharf Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Karamu House, and Cleveland Public Theatre. T. Paul is the Technical Theatre Director at Hathaway Brown School. T. Paul is honored to be a Resident Designer for Dobama Theatre. Noted design work includes: Egress (Cleveland Play House), Airness, Kill Move Paradise, brownsville song (b-side for tray), Sherlock Holmes: The Baker Street Irregulars, Ella Enchanted, The Nether (Dobama Theatre), American Dreams, Rastus & Hattie (Cleveland Public Theatre), Black Nativity, and Greenwood (Karamu House). tpaullowry.com
Casey Venema
Resident Intimacy Choreographer
Casey is a freelance intimacy choreographer, actor, director, and devising artist focused on bringing unheard narratives to the stage. She is an alumna of Bucknell University, where she graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Theatre and Film and Media Studies. Her career as an intimacy choreographer started in college with her own directing projects, and since then, she has choreographed for several theatres in Northeast Ohio including Dobama Theatre, Karamu House, Seat of the Pants, Playwright's Local, and her own company, Nightbloom Theatre Co. She is absolutely ecstatic to be Dobama's first Resident Intimacy Choreographer. For more information about her artistic adventures, you can follow Casey on Instagram @caseyvenem8 and on her website: www.caseyvenema.com
Vanessa Cook
Resident PROPS DESIGNER
Ms. Cook is new to Dobama Theatre as Resident Props Designer for the 2019-20 season. She is a graduate of the Baldwin- Wallace Conservatory (BM) and Regent University (MA). She is the owner of Cook Theatre Designs, LLC, a freelance design firm that serves community, professional and educational theatre programs. Ms. Cook has expert experience in the area of theatre production specifically costume, set and prop design and production. She is the former set/costume designer, Technical Director and adjunct professor with the Heidelberg University’s School of Music and Theatre. In addition, she long served as Costume/Set designer for Heidelberg’s Community Music School Children’s Musical theatre program. Ms. Cook works with several Cleveland/Akron based theatre companies. She served as wardrobe head for Madame Butterfly, costume designer, production pros and wardrobe head for Barber of Seville (Cleveland Opera Theatre), production props for Jane Eyre (Cleveland Musical Theatre) and set design/ construction for Silentious Scream (Progressive Perspective Theatrical) and New Kid (Spark 4 Youth Theatre). She was a teaching artist for Terra State’s Kids College 2018 and currently is a teaching artist (K-12) with Spark Theatre 4 Youth (Elyria). Ms. Cook is also the co-founder of the Norwalk Arts Center, LLC a non-profit theater education and production company. Ms. Cook resides in Norwalk, Ohio with her husband Jeff and their
four-active theater loving boys.
Joel Rathbone*
Resident Stage Manager
Joel has been a freelance Stage Manager for over twenty years in Cleveland. He has managed productions for Playhouse Square, Dobama Theatre Company, Cleveland Public Theatre, Ensemble Theatre Company, Cleveland Shakespeare Company, and Lakeland College. He was grateful for the opportunity to manage Dobama’s HAND TO GOD, THE NETHER, MARIE ANTOIETTE, ELLA ENCHANTED, GROUNDED, SUNSET BABY, SKELETON CREW, WAKEY WAKEY, THE NIGHT ALIVE, THE REALISTIC JONESES, THE CALL, THE NORWEGIANS, SUPERIOR DONUTS, and COCK. His other favorite productions around town have been NEXT TO NORMAL for Lakeland College and Ensemble’s production of THE NORMAL HEART. As always, he couldn’t do it without the support of his friends and family, especially his wife Hester, and his sons, Joel and Felix.
ELIZABETH CAMMETT
Resident ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Elizabeth is a Cleveland native and 2014 graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies, with a focus in Stage Management. She has worked with several Northeast Ohio theaters, including Dobama Theatre, Seat of the Pants Productions, Playhouse Square, Chagrin Arts, Talespinner Children’s Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, Players Guild Theatre, Lakeland Community College, Porthouse Theatre, and Stagecrafters Youth Theatre. Elizabeth has worked in film and TV, both on-camera and as an agent behind the scenes, and participated in various area live events. Select credits include Macbeth, Dance Nation, The Old Man and the Old Moon, Wakey, Wakey, Smokefall, Vicky Velocity and the Star Strikers, The Nether, John, The Slipstream Drive, The Santaland Diaries, The Family Claxon, Intermission, Labio de Liebre: The Lip of the Hare, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Les Miserables, Pride and Prejudice, Legally Blonde, Fiddler on the Roof, The Rocky Horror Show, Reefer Madness, Ragtime, Agamemnon, 4.48 Psychosis, Mr. Marmalade, Hamlet, and Cloud 9. For Dad, always.
Jasmine A. Golphin
23/24 FOCUS Apprentice: Projection Design
Jasmine A. Golphin is a filmmaker, artist, and producer who is just really, really into making art. Professionally, she’s spent over 12 years managing film education and community outreach programs for nonprofit organizations such as MyCom, Neighborhood Leadership Institute, Cleveland International Film Festival, SPACES and Maelstrom Collaborative Arts. In 2020 she launched the community organization Black Spring CLE to create and support existing alternatives to the policing and justicial system. Today she is the Associate Artistic Director at Maelstrom Collaborative Arts, an interdisciplinary arts organization dedicated to improving the creative lifespan of Cleveland area artists.
Creatively, her work has been featured in the MCA exhibits Bricolage (2019), Saturnalia (2019 & 2020), Shortform (2020), The Wandering (2020), and Four Futures (2021), the last of which she also conceptualized and produced. Her first solo art exhibition FACEBOOKLAND, a surrealist VR gallery experience opened January 2022 and was funded by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Regional Regranting Program. Jasmine has also directed and produced the web shows To New Beginnings (2016), The Adventures of Fab Jenkins (2016), Playing with a Purpose (2020) and Nerdy Jobs (est fall 2022) along with numerous artsy selfies that all exist somewhere on the internet.
Cam Henderson
23/24 FOCUS Apprentice: STAGE MANAGEMENT
Camille is “Just Another Kid” from Akron, OH making headway into the Northeast Ohio theater scene. Her most recent work was as the Stage Manager of the Akron Civic Theater’s production of the “Pride and Prejudice”, though her talents do not stop there. A former host of the 88.1 WRFL Lexington’s radio show “King’s Corner”, she also has directed a number of marketing campaigns for various organizations and companies throughout Northeast Ohio and Northern Kentucky. The University of Kentucky alumni has also worked on other mediums such as music videos and short films. An example of her work can be found on YouTube for the “Nelciaa- Options” music video and many more.
Instagram: @cashamillie
E.J. Buckner, Jr.
23/24 FOCUS Apprentice: SOUND Design
Eric Buckner Jr. Is an emerging self taught sound designer based in Cleveland, Ohio. Eric’s passion for sound design has developed through experiencing the broadway atmosphere, which inspired him to become more involved with sound in a theatric setting. Eric’s aim is to bring about a dynamic blend of his personal experiences with the material world of sound and his world within. He is currently a student at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio where he plans on obtaining a bachelors degree.
*denotes member Actors' Equity Association, the labor union representing American actors and stage managers in the theatre.
DOBAMA THEATRE MISSION:
Dobama Theatre is dedicated to premiering important new plays by established and emerging playwrights in professional productions of the highest quality. Through theatrical production, community engagement, and education programming, Dobama nurtures the development of theatre artists and builds new audiences for the arts while provoking an examination of our contemporary world.