SEASON 0
CREATIVES
Joshua N Hsu (he/him) earned his Master of Fine Arts in drama from the University of California, Irvine, and his Bachelor in Theatre from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Joshua believes in creating and facilitating theatrical experiences that are unapologetically relevant, unabashedly visceral, and joyfully dynamic. As a director, he’s worked in small and regional theaters across the United States, such as The Road Theatre Company, New Paltz Summer Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory, and Utah Shakespearean Festival. More recently, he’s worked at Bates College, the University of Southern Maine, and Mad Horse Theatre Company in Maine.
Notable theatrical directing credits include the Maine premiere of James Ijames’ White, the world premiere of Lysistrata: A Reimagining by Alicia Tycer, the West Coast premieres of J. Holtham’s How to Survive an Atomic Bomb and J. Holtham’s Snakeskin Suit, and the U.S. premiere of Mark Ravenhill’s Some Explicit Polaroids.
As a producer, he was the founding artistic director of Framework Theatre Collective, a company devoted to reinterpreting, reimagining, and adapting classical works for theatre, radio, new media, television, and film. He was also a co-founder of Brown-Hsu Films, a new company featuring upcoming diverse performers and creators. He currently serves as festival co-director for PortFringe, Maine’s Fringe Festival.
Learn more at joshuanhsu.com
Joshua N. Hsu (He/Him)
Samuel Rapaport (He/Him)
Sam has designed sound in Portland for over a decade. Post-covid collaborations span from Portland Theatre Festival's third season to several pieces with Maddy's Theater. As a performer, he's worked with Madhorse Theater in the role of Mayor Evans in Tumacho and a guitar-slinging Antonio in Fenix theatre co.'s Twelfth Night. Ever the filmmaking fan, Sam also took on the mantle of cinematographer in Damnationland XIV's Come Home. Until his next project, he hopes you like what you hear!
Alicia Tycer is a playwright, actress, and theatre scholar who teaches at California State University, Los Angeles. She received her Ph.D in Drama and Theatre from U.C. Irvine and her M.F.A. in Television, Film, and Theatre (Dramatic Writing and Performance options) from Cal State LA. Her playwriting credits include: Lysistrata: A Re-Imagining (Unknown Artists at Grove Theatre Center), The Civil War: A Tragi-Comedy (John Lion New Plays Festival), H.U.A.C. (Los Angeles Theatre Center), This is How it Ends (Boston Court) and Dreaming of Women (Celebration Theatre). She has collaborated on writing Space: The Final Frontier (Opera Del Espacio, at South Coast Rep and Son of Semele) and Embers, Ashes, and This Land (Circle Squared Collective). She was also the librettist and dramaturg for The Wall: A Musical Misdeed (CSULA). Her acting credits include Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (Stella Adler Theatre), TransMe (Los Angeles Theatre Center), The Laramie Project (CAP Studio Theatre), and The Vagina Monologues (Ensemble Studio Theatre). She has worked as a dramaturg for numerous productions, most recently for Moving Arts. Publications include Continuum Modern Theatre Guide: Caryl Churchill's Top Girls and an article on Sarah Kane’s work for Theatre Journal.
Alicia Tycer (She/Her)
Samantha Manogue (She/Her)
Samantha is a dancer, performer, and videographer. She is currently a junior at Bates College, majoring in Rhetoric, Film, Screen Studies, and Dance. At Bates, Samantha is a social media coordinator creating promotional materials for departmental and student-produced shows including Julius Caesar (2024), Nomeacuerdo (or, how did i lose the cradle) (2024), Seussical (2024), Incendiary (2025), The Seagull (2025), Body Awareness (2025) and The Marcy Plavin Spring Dance Concert (2025). Samantha also worked as the marketing intern of The New Group Off-Broadway theater, working to promote FreeFest, a free play-reading festival, and their 2024/25 season: Babe (dir. Scott Elliott), Curse of The Starving Class (dir. Scott Elliott), Bowl EP (dir. Nazareth Hassan), and The Last Bimbo of The Apocalypse (dir. Rory Pelsue).
Maya Williams (ey/they/she) is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who was selected as Portland, ME's seventh poet laureate for a July 2021 to July 2024 term. Eir debut poetry collection Judas & Suicide (Game Over Books, 2023) was selected as a finalist for the New England Book Award. Their second poetry collection, Refused a Second Date (Harbor Editions, 2023), was selected as a finalist for the Maine Literary Award. Her third poetry collection, the chapbook What's So Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?, was selected as one of four winners of Garden Party Collective's Chapbook Prize in 2024. Maya's spoken word was selected for two Patrons' Choice Awards by PortFringe in 2019 and 2022. They have performed in person and online with companies and organizations such as Maddy's Theatre, Bare Portland, Speak About It, Mad Horse Theatre Company, Chimera Theatre Collective, Acorn Productions, and Portland Stage. They co-directed for the first time with Joshua N Hsu for Mad Horse Theatre Company's production of White for their 38th season in 2023. Maya was selected as one of Maine Humanities Council's recipients of the Constance Carlson Public Humanities Prize in 2024.
Follow Maya's work at mayawilliamspoet.com
Maya Williams (ey/they/she)
Rachel Price Cooper (She/her)
Rachel Price Cooper is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Southern Maine where she teaches courses in Theatre History, Dramatic Analysis, Directing, and Devising. She received her PhD in Theatre from the University of Illinois and her master's degree in Directing from Ireland's, University College Dublin. She hails from Chicago, where she worked as an actor with various Storefront Theatre Companies before pursuing graduate school. She also spent two years in Nagoya, Japan where she taught for the JET program and worked as an actor and assistant director for local theatre companies. Her scholarly work focuses on how Motherhood is represented on stage. She also looks at gender roles in contemporary adaptations of ancient Greek tragedy. She is currently directing for the Maine Playwrights Festival. In recent years, she has done dramaturgical work for the Public Theatre in Lewiston and directed Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, Eurydice Rising, Urinetown, and The Love of the Nightingale at the University of Southern Maine.
Andrew J. Henkes is a theatre artist and scholar living in Santa Fe, NM. As the co-founder and producer of APT 3F, he produced over 40 shows including The Complete History of Drag in a Few Mo-mo (2017-2019), Yes Sir! Stories in Leather (2016) and Drag Diaries (2015). For West Hollywood’s One City One Pride, APT 3F created Art Out! (2016), This is Your Life! (2015), A Midsummer Afternoon’s Queer Wedding Reception (2014) with Planet Queer, and the mainstage at INSTALL:WeHo (2012 & 2013). Selected directing credits include FIRST ELDERS at the Hollywood Fringe Festival (2014), CHEAP THEATRICKS: A CELEBRATION OF ROBERT PATRICK (2014), THE SPICKNER SPIN (FringeNYC, 2004, Theatremania Audience Choice Award winner), KADDISH IN EAST JERUSALEM (Theatre for the New City, 2003), MEANINGLESS SEX (FringeNYC, 2003, Theatremania Audience Choice Award winner), and LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST for the Glasgow West End Festival (1999) with Steve Bottom. Andrew is excited to return to writing for the stage with Forge Theater Lab.
Andrew J. Henkes (He/Him)
CAST
Jared Mongeau (he/Him)
Jared Mongeau (he/him) is an actor, physical comedian, theatermaker, and musician. His career began in the circus, touring as a clown with the historic Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He is a graduate of Dell'Arte International School of Physical Theatre's MFA program, which took him to Bali, Indonesia, to study traditional mask carving and performance. His graduating thesis, In the Trenches, a clown tragedy, toured internationally, including on the main stage of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival, the largest theatre festival in North America. He originated the role of the Mad Hatter in Jane Doe in Wonderland, which educated about the dangers of sex trafficking and was featured on CNN. He has performed in 16 European countries as a musician and headlined on London's West End. Locally, he has appeared and collaborated with Portland Stage, Good Theater, Portland Theater Festival, Mad Horse Theatre Co., Camden Shakespeare Festival, The Theater Project, Portland Shakespeare Co., Ziggurat Theatre Ensemble, and the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. He is co-creator of Aardvark Boat Tours, a 5-time award-winning physical comedy that performed for the United States Association of Fringe Festivals.
Mark Rubin (he/Him)
Mark Rubin (He/Him) is a Portland-based actor and Mad Horse Theatre Company Member. Recent Mad Horse credits include A Delicate Balance, Tumacho and Quills. He has worked with various theater companies around Portland, including Good Theater (One Man, Two Guvnors; Lifespan of a Fact; Lucky Stiff), Fenix Theater (Much Ado About Nothing), and Bare Portland (Taming of the Shrew). He previously worked in the Washington, DC area at Arena Stage, Round House Theater, Project Y, Cherry Red h, and Olney Stage. Special thanks and affection to Jan for always being there.
KEndall Cooper (she/Her)
Kendall Cooper (she/her) is Portland based actor. Previous Acting Credits include: Isabella; Measure for Measure (Portland Shakespeare Co), Desdemona; staged reading of Othello (Stonington Opera House), Maugrim; The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Syracuse Stage), Ella Hammer; The Cradle Will Rock (SU Drama). Kendall received a BFA in Acting from Syracuse University, where she played the role of Lampito in the SU Drama production of Lysistrata! Kendall also works as a professional casting director for Commercial/Film/TV projects in New England and the mid Atlantic region. She is deeply grateful to be working in the local film and theater industry in her home state. www.kendallcoopercasting.com
Guest Artists
Parker Hough (he/Him)
Parker Hough is an actor currently based in Portland. He is a recent graduate from Drew University where he received a BA in Theatre Arts. Parker is a founding company member of the Portland Theatre Festival where he has worked as an actor, assistant stage manager, and production assistant. His most recent credits include The Minotaur (Theseus) and The Lightning Thief (Percy) which he performed in at Drew University. He would like to thank his friends and family for their unyielding support.
Amanda is an actor, improviser, director, singer, writer, choreographer and teaching artist based in Portland. She holds a B.A. in Theatre and Minor in Dance from UMaine and is a grad of The Second City, Chicago. Amanda has had the pleasure of working with Mad Horse, Portland Stage, Acorn, Fenix, CMTM and Penobscot Theatre to name just a few of the amazing companies in Maine. Amanda is a co-producer/founder of You Should Smile More Comedy and an ensemble member with Capital City Improv and Empire Comedy Improv. When she is not working in the arts, she can be found riding her bike and exploring the woods and waters of Maine. Amanda is proudly represented by Dirigo Talent Agency.
Amanda Eaton (She/her)
Megan Tripaldi (She/They) is an actor, internationally produced playwright, educator, poet, and mom living and working in Portland, ME. They graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a BA in Theatre in 2012 and received a Masters Degree in Playwriting from Goddard College in 2023.
MEgan Tripaldi (She/They)
Sam is a songwriter, musician and actor who has been writing songs on and off since he was a teenager. He takes influence from folk, blues, and the dad rock he grew up with. He strives to always write lyrics with honesty and vulnerability, most recently writing about his experience of getting sober.
Sam Finn Cutler (He/Him)
Tara has been teaching, performing, and otherwise thinking about improv for over 25 years -- which sometimes feels like a very long time ... and sometimes feels like no time at all. She is a founding member of long-form improv company Yes&Co (Portland ME) and producer of the women's comedy collective You Should Smile More (Northern New England) and was a 10-year cast member and former Artistic Director of Stranger Than Fiction (Portsmouth NH). She is also the Storytelling Coach for the Health Care Story Slam at the University of New England. She co-founded the Improvised Puppet Project (Portland ME) and the Un-Scripted Theater Company (San Francisco CA), and has trained with Keith Johnstone, David Razowsky, and teachers at BATS Improv, UCB, Magnet Theater, and ImprovBoston. She has performed at theaters and festivals from Ireland to California, and has taught improv to clowns, shy people, public defenders, and everyone in between.
Tara McDonough (She/her)
Ashanti Williams was born in Seattle, Washington in 1976 and lived a majority of his life in Englewood, New Jersey. He graduated from Dwight Morrow High School and picked up the acting bug while performing as Horace Vandergelder, in the senior production of Hello Dolly. After graduating, he went to the University of Hartford from 1994-1998 with a major in Drama and Mass Communication. Upon graduating, he received a fellowship at Hartford Stage and soon became a House Manager at TheatreWorks in Connecticut. Not long after that, Ashanti began performing for Shakesperience Productions.
When he moved back to New Jersey, he enrolled at Circle in the Square Theater School in New York and graduated in 2010. While he was there, he performed at the Metropolitan Opera House as a supernumerary in such opera’s as, La Fancullia Del West and Otello. He also performed Off Off Broadway in Treasure Island and Driving While Black at the Lincoln Center.
While living in Maine, Ashanti worked as a corrections officer at York County Jail, became the first black city councilman for Biddeford and has since become a well know actor in the Portland community. Performing in productions of PassOver, Lion In Winter and Angels in America Part 1 & 2. His next endeavors are performing at the Portland Theatre Festival in Primary Trust and Lend Me a Soprano at Good Theater in 2026.