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Ian Armstrong
Ian Armstrong is a nationally known educator and artist. As an independent producer, he has steered productions of Edward III at Washington Shakespeare Theatre and Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar (recipient of four Helen Hayes nominations), Low Level Panic, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Open Circle Theatre. A DC native, Ian has served on the faculty of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, McLean High School and The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young People. Ian was artistic director of Voices from the Street, a homeless advocate theatre company, founded by the Community for Creative Non-Violence. Outside DC, he has worked for the Governor's Committee for the Employment of Disabled Persons in Los Angeles, directing the 15th annual Media Access Awards; was literary associate for The Mark Taper Forum's New Works festival; artistic director of Laughing Dog Productions; and has directed for CollaborAction in Chicago, Illinois. In his spare time, he acts--Ian has appeared at Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theater, Studio Secondstage, The Washington Shakespeare Company, and was a member of the Source Theater's resident acting company. He currently serves on the boards of The Washington Shakespeare Company (http://www.washingtonshakespeare.org) and Open Circle Theatre (http://www.opencircletheatre.org). He is a graduate of the Corcoran School of Art and The Catholic University of America.
Jessica Burgess
Jessica Burgess (Director, co-writer) is delighted to be working with Active Cultures, which she co-founded with Mary Resing, and where she serves on the board of directors. Her 2007 directing credits include: James Hesla's A Fistful of Thalers (Rorschach, MYTHappropriations Project); Tom Murphy's The Drunkard (Solas Nua); Will Eno's The Flu Season (Catalyst Theater Company); Deb Margolin's Clarisse and Larmon and Julie Marie Myatt's Mr. and Mrs. at the 31st Annual Humana Festival of New American Plays (Actors Theatre of Louisville); and Jordan Harrison's Kid-Simple (Forum Theatre & Dance). She recently staged readings of Paul Mackie and Dan Sullivan's Wiener Sausage the Musical! for MacBert & Sullivan Ltd. and Anne McCaw's OK for the Inkwell. Upcoming projects include directing Portia Coughlin for Solas Nua, and the workshop production of OK for the Inkwell's inaugural Inkubator Festival in January. She is a proud alumna of Middlebury College and the 2005 Lincoln Center Directors Lab, a member of the Round House Kitchen, and a recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Young Emerging Artist grant. Jessi is the founding Artistic Director of the Inkwell, DC's only company dedicated to emerging playwrights.
photo: John McCabe
Michael John Garcés
Michael John Garcés is the Artistic Director of Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles, California. Michael wrote the first play of Cornerstone’s Justice Cycle, Los Illegals. Directing credits include, most recently, dark play, or stories for boys by Carlos Murillo at the Humana Festival (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and co-directing The Falls by Jeffrey Hatcher with Bill Rauch at the Guthrie Theater for Cornerstone. Other theatres at which he has directed include Hartford Stage Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Woolly Mammoth, Second Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, Florida Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre, The Cherry Lane, The Atlantic Theater Company, Repertorio Español and The Huntington Theatre. He has twice been in residence with a consensus-run collective, Sna Jtz'ibajom, in the highlands of Chiapas Mexico, collaborating in the creation of community-engaged work with the members of the Mayan community. Michael is on the executive board of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. His full-length plays include points of departure (INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center), Acts of Mercy (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), THE WEB, suits and customs. His solo performance piece, agua ardiente, ran Off-Broadway at The American Place Theatre, and he performed in and wrote for heartsong, a collaboration with Kevin Bitterman, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Aya Ogawa and KJ Sanchez which was presented at the Cultural Center of the Philippines as part of "The Borges Project" for the 31st World Congress of the International Theatre Institute (UNESCO). Michael is a recipient of the Princess Grace Statue, the Alan Schneider Director Award, and a TCG/New Generations Grant. He is a resident playwright at New Dramatists.
Garland Scott
Garland Scott is head of external relations for Folger Shakespeare Library, where she has been on staff since 2000. She is also editor-in-chief of the library’s award-winning newsletter, the Folger News, and led its redesign and transition to color magazine format. In addition, she developed and edits Folger E-news, an online series of institutional updates.
She has overseen public relations efforts for such theatrical organizations as the Helen Hayes Awards Society, Source Theatre Company, and the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. She has consulted on community outreach and marketing for The Washington Ballet, Washington National Opera, and TheatreVirginia. As a director, dramaturg, and producer, she has worked with Arena Stage, New Dramatists, the Women's Project & Productions, City Center's Encore Series, Washington Jewish Theater, Mill Mountain Theatre, and Theater J. She has overseen long-range planning for the League of Washington Theaters and is a frequent panelist on public relations. Scott lectures on theater production and management at Catholic University.
Scott holds a B.A. in English and economics from Vanderbilt University and an MFA in directing from Virginia Tech. She is a member of the Public Relations Society of America and the National Press Club.
Mary Resing, Artistic Director and Executive Producer
A resident of Prince Georges County for the past 9 years, Mary has worked in professional theatre since high school. In the D.C. area, she worked on Source’s Washington Theatre Festival for ten years, and in new play development at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for eight years. Her freelance work as a director and dramaturg includes productions and workshops at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Hartford Stage in Connecticut, Ann Arbor Rep in Michigan, Empty Space in Seattle, New Dramatists in New York City, Theatre of the First Amendment in Virginia and Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth, New Playwrights and Source Theatre Company in DC. Mary was a 2005-2006 US Fulbright Scholar to the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Film in Armenia. Locally, she has taught theatre at the University of Maryland, Georgetown University and Catholic University. She has served on panels for the Theatre Communications Group, Fulbright/CIES, The Rockefeller Foundation and the Prince Georges’ Arts Council. She has a B.A. from Spring Hill College in Alabama, an M.A. from New York University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dramaturg
In May of 2003, Jacqueline E. Lawton completed her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin. Since then, she has worked diligently to remain actively involved in theatre as an actress, dramaturg, playwright and teaching artist. Currently, she resides in WashingtonDC, where she has worked with CHAW, DC Dollies & the Rocket Bitch Revue, Extreme Exchange, Folger Shakespeare Library, Ford’s Theater Society, Journeymen Theater Ensemble, Shakespeare Theater Company, Stage Door, Woolly Mammoth, and Young Playwrights’ Theater.
Alice E. Green, Director of Development
A Washington, D.C. native, Alice has worked in the fields of science, education, public policy and finance. She began her career as an award-winning editor for several nonprofit groups in the D.C. area including the National Science Teachers Association and the International Newspaper Financial Executives. After moving to New York, she broadened her involvement in the international arena, taking a position with the respected political and economic consulting company, G7 Group,Inc. Here she had the opportunity to meet and work with numerous influential economists and political figures. Along with her development work with Active Cultures, Alice is a committed community and volunteer activist, working with local groups and government officials. Alice has a Bachelor of Science from Chestnut Hill College and a Masters of Art degree from George Washington University.
James Hesla, Producing Artist
James Helsa recently adapted a Grimm’s fairy tale as part of the Myth Appropriation project for Rorschach Theatre (Directed by Jessica Burgess). Other plays include Point of Origin, Conundrum, and Behold!, two solo plays, Indian Summer and Home/Abroad, a low-flying trapeze performance titled Relative Gravity and several one-acts. His full-length play Graves’ Rule was named a semi-final selection for the 2006 O’Neill Center Playwrights’ Conference. A native of Southern Arizona, James has received several grants for playwriting from the Arizona Arts Commission, and the Tucson-Pima Arts Council. He is a National Member of the Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis, and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.
Trish Green, Web Developer
Trish Green has been surfing the web since the "Gopher" protocol. For over ten years she has been an internet developer for a large corporation in Denver, Colorado. She enjoys exercising a modicum of creativity for sites such as activecultures.org.
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