RICHARD II

Cameron Filepas (Lighting Designer) is a NJ/ NYC based lighting designer for theatre and dance. Recent design credits: The Last Match (White Eagle Hall), Crimes of the Heart (FDU), Fastened To The Moon/ Love Sex & Real Estate (Chain Theatre), Camp Rock The Musical (Theatre Row), The Marvelous Wonderettes (NEXTstage REP), Grease (Axelrod PAC), The Giant Void in My Soul (Luna Stage), Meteor Shower (Centenary Stage Company), First Date (FDU), A Bronx Tale (Axelrod PAC), The House Where Nobody Lives (Chain Theatre), Pass Over (Luna Stage). Recent assistant credits: Nutcracker (American Repertory Ballet), Queens Girl In The World (Abingdon Theatre Company), A Midsummer Night's Dream (American Repertory Ballet), Into The Woods (New York Film Academy), NEXTsteps (The Washington Ballet), Fandango Gala (Hole In the Wall Gang Camp). Cameron is a graduate from Montclair State University where he received a BFA in Lighting Design. cameronfilepasdesign.com

Alyssa Korol (Costume Designer) is a theatre and film costume designer, wardrobe manager, and crafts artisan, who enjoys creating thought provoking works that challenge societal expectations and invite audiences to consider topics from different perspectives. She grew up in northern Vermont and is now based in the New York City area. Past works include Unearthly Visitants (Kevin Ray Works, a new play devised from ghost stories written by Edith Wharton), Pippin (Friends Seminary School, Stephen Schwartz), and The Passion According to GH (Fractured Atlas, an operatic adaptation of Clarice Lispector’s 1964 novella of the same name). Boston University MFA in Costume Design, 2018. alyssakorol.com

Ari Laura Kreith (Artistic Director). Ari's Luna Stage directing credits include the World Premiere of Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library, Heartland, Pirira, and the pandemic play-via-text-message #RIFT. She conceived and co-created Luna’s interdisciplinary Voting Writes Project and developed the theatre's site-specific Secret Cities program. Ari is also the founder of Theatre 167, where she conceived and directed The Jackson Heights Trilogy — three full-length plays collaboratively written by 18 playwrights featuring 37 actors in 93 roles in 14 languages, inspired by the world's most diverse neighborhood. Other directing highlights include Mourning Sun, which premiered at Theatre 167 and toured to Uganda; the world premiere of Tina Howe's Singing Beach; and commissions for Queens Museum and the NY Transit Museum. A recipient of the LPTW Lucille Lortel Visionary Award and the NYIT Caffe Cino Fellowship, Ari received her BA from Yale and her MFA from UC Davis. Ari grew up in 27 countries.

Liz Cesario (Managing Director) has been with Luna Stage for 14 years. She began her career at Luna as an AEA  stage manager, became Production Manager and at the end of the 2021-2022 season was promoted to Managing Director.  Before coming to Luna Liz worked in many areas of theatre, including opera, straight plays, comedies and children’s shows. She received her BFA from The University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. Liz is married, has 3 sons and 6 grandsons, with a 7th due in December.

Dawn Pasquin (Managing Associate). Dawn Pasquin joined Luna Stage in 2019.  Having recently received her MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College, Dawn is combining her extensive previous business experience with her interest in arts education to work toward making theatre more accessible to new and diverse audiences. 

Sarah Gorden (Company Administrator). Sarah Gorden is a new addition to Luna Stage, joining the team as Company Administrator in May 2022. Before then, she was assistant stage manager for Luna's The Giant Void in My Soul.  Sarah is a producer, director, and actor. Performance credits include Stella in Streetcar Named Desire and Fear in Sit with Fear (LAShorts International Film Festival). Sarah will be directing her first full length play, Tin Cat Shoes by Trish Harnetiaux, this spring in Nutley, NJ.She directed several other one acts with Drawing Cats Productions, RogueTheatre Fest, and Short Plays NYC. She is pursuing a graduate certification in Theater for Diversity and Social Change from Montclair State. sarahgorden.com

Ann Coughlin(Office Administrator). Ann Coughlin has fifty plus years of experience in arts administration, as the Executive Secretary to the Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as the Executive Assistant to the owner of the Herbert Barrett Management,and as the Company Administrator at the Metropolitan Opera.  She is delighted to have found another professional home at Luna Stage.

Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin (Literary Manager). Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin is a writer, producer, and marketing specialist. Kaela’s a founding member of Undiscovered Countries, a Brooklyn-based incubator of new and developing interdisciplinary art. Kaela is a 2020 Bay Area Playwrights Festival finalist, a 2021 Alliance Theater/Kendeda Playwriting Award finalist, and the recipient of six Kennedy Center playwriting awards, including the Mark Twain Comic Playwriting Award and two Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Awards.  Kaela’s plays have been developed with Montana Repertory Theater and Indiana University. They've been produced in New York at venues like Dixon Place, the New Ohio, and Ars Nova. Marketing includes work with Performance Space New York (previously PS122), Undiscovered Countries, and China's largest travel company, Ctrip. MFA, Indiana University; BFA, NYU. kaelameishinggarvin.com

Ariel Estrada (Resident Graphic Designer) is an actor, producer, and advocate in support of Asian American Pacific Islander inclusion in the performing arts. As an actor, he has performed on television, film, commercials, digital media, and Off-, and Off-Off-Broadway. As a producer, Ariel is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director for Leviathan Lab. As an administrator, he is Associate Director of the Theatre Program at Fordham University and Marketing & Membership Director for the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists. He is also the immediate past National Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator for Actors’ Equity Association. His arts leadership has been recognized by artEquity, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Theatre Communications Group. As a grant writing consultant, he has won over $310K in grant funding for small NYC nonprofits for people of color, the disabled, and other marginalized communities. He is also a Fortune 500-level graphic designer. arielestrada.com

Alyssa Sileo (Artistic Resident and ADA Coordinator). Alyssa graduated from Drew University with Specialized Honors in Theatre Arts. She's the founder and now an advisor of the Drew Performing Arts Access Coordinators, one of the nation's first college student groups that trains in and carries out audio description and captioning for university productions. In addition to being an emerging arts access professional, Alyssa is a playwright, dramaturg, and arts administrator. She trained with the Tectonic Theater Project's Moment Work™ Institute, and is the New Jersey Play Lab's Storyteller Studio's Coordinator. In April 2022 her play Un Canto Di Natale was featured with Dramatist Guild's Philadelphia Chapter's Footlight Series. When not at Luna, Alyssa is the Community Engagement Coordinator at Drew's Center for Civic Engagement, and is the proud mentor of many Drew students. She's thankful to have the chance to support new work at Luna Stage. thealyssaproject.com

Jane Mandel (Founder & Artistic Director Emeritus) founded Luna Stage and served as Artistic Director for over twenty years.  With her guidance Luna Stage has earned a reputation for producing excellent, intelligent, and provocative theatre.  Scores of new and classic plays are brought to audiences through readings and full productions.  One of her passions is for creating devised theatre.  She developed and directed In The Name of the Woman, an original exploration of women’s history beginning with the ancient time of the Goddess “we don’t have enough sugar for the public”, an exploration of racism; and The American Project, an exploration of what it means to be an American.  She co-created and directed Mi Casa Tu Casa, a bilingual Latino-based play with music. Jane holds an MFA from NYU School of the Arts where she taught theatre games/improvisation/acting and was a full-time faculty member.  She taught at The New School, The Whole Theatre, Montclair State University, Purchase College, The Teaching Artist’s Collective, Luna Stage, and in schools, prisons, and different venues around the country.  She was a member of The Shaliko Company and acted in The Measures Taken, Ghosts, and Woyzeck while in residence at The Public Theater and on international tour.  Jane currently directs, acts, and coaches acting, and is a member of A STAGE OF THEIR OWN, which is dedicated to developing new plays by women playwrights.  She may be reached at jmandel9@gmail.com

Special Thanks from the Director

Susannah Perkins, Rajesh Bose, Samanthia Nixon, Annabel Capper, Rebecca Wilson, Ali Sousa, Joana Tsuhlares, Celia Frey, Nina Goodheart, Eric Tucker, David Scott Kastan, Rachel Vail and Mitchell Elkind, Eileen and Jeff Vail.

Luna Stage gratefully acknowledges the support of The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, HANDS (Housing and Neighborhood Development Services), The Hyde and Watson Foundation, M&T Bank, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Council for the Humanities, New Jersey Historical Commission, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, Orange Orphan Society, Valley National Bank, The Whitehill Foundation. Luna Stage is a 501 (c)3 not-for-profit corporation, a Senior Member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, and a Dramatist Guild Affiliate Theatre.

The Board of Trustees would like to thank all of the individuals, corporations, and foundations who have kept faith in the practice of supporting the theatre and the work of the playwright, who enrich our lives by illuminating our humanity.

STAFF

Artistic Director: Ari Laura Kreith
Managing Director: Liz Cesario    
Managing Associate: Dawn Pasquin
Company Administrator:   Sarah Gorden
Office Administrator: Ann Coughlin 
Literary Manager: Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
Resident Graphic Designer: Ariel Estrada
Artistic Resident & ADA Coordinator: Alyssa Sileo
Bookkeeper: Jeff Rogers

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Laura Amin, President
Christopher Forno, Treasurer
Danah Alexander
Debra Caplan
Rachael Grochowski
Dawn Stewart Harris
Gary Taylor
Raj Amin, Special Advisor

ADVISORY BOARD

Andre Braugher
Ruthi Byrne
Rose Cali
R. Jonathan Cobb
Reg E Gaines
Cady Huffman
Rosemary Iversen
Palisa Kelley
Jane Mandel, Founder
Joe Morton
Cal Trevenen
Gila Zalon
Jules Zalon
Kim Zimmer