Inherit The Wind Creative Team

Director

Robby Lutfy, Guest Artist

[he/him] has directed world premieres by Keiko Green, Kate Hamill, Nathan Alan Davis, and Paul David Young. His directing credits include The John F. Kennedy Center, Marin Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Anacostia Playhouse, and Burning Coal Theatre. He has developed new work with Woolly Mammoth Theatre, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Playwrights’ Center, The New Harmony Project, and Boston Court Pasadena. His productions have earned 11 Craig Noel Awards, including “Director of the Year.” Robby has served as Associate Artistic Director at both Marin Theatre Company and Cygnet Theatre, where he directed more than 20 productions. Recent projects include A Streetcar Named Desire with Backyard Renaissance, Constellations and Sense and Sensibility in repertory with RhinoLeap, The Pillowman at UNCSA, and a workshop of Keiko Green’s You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! at the Ashland New Plays Festival. He also produced the 25th National Showcase of New Plays in New York City with NNPN and led the Thomas S. Kenan Institute’s New Play Development Roundtable, convening leaders from new play organizations nationwide. Over the past year, Robby has been awarded fellowships with Trabajo Práctico (Valencia, Spain), Moulin/Belle (France), La MaMa Umbria (Spoleto, Italy), and SPACE on Ryder Farm. He currently serves on the faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where he will direct the world premiere of TartuffeNation.

Music Director

Melissa Brobeck

[she/her] Tantrum Theater: Hotel Berry. Ohio University Theater: A Little Night Music, The Spitfire Grill, Stupid F*cking Bird. Melissa holds a BM from Eastman School of Music and an MM from UNCG School of Music, Theatre and Dance. She currently serves as an artist coach of musical theater at Ohio University. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Scenic Designer

Charlie Calvert*, Guest Artist

is thrilled to make his Tantrum debut with the scenic design for Inherit the Wind. Other recent credits include: Dracula and Camelot at Human Race Theatre Company; Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company; A Christmas Carol, A Man for All Seasons, Blithe Spirit, Henry VIII, Much Ado about Nothing, and Love’s Labour’s Lost at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; A Comedy of Tenors, Dial M for Murderand Fickle: A Fancy French Farce at Olney Theatre Center; Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill and Last Five Years at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; Spring Awakening and Let the Right One In at CCM. Charlie received his MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and serves on the faculty at University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. *Member of the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) union.

Costume Designer

Shirley Pierson*, Guest Artist

MFA. Selected Productions: The Old Globe: Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Hurricane Diane, Tiny Beautiful Things, Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville, Pasadena Playhouse: The Fantasticks, Cygnet Theatre: Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812, The Little Fellow (or The Queen of Tarts Tells All), Life Sucks, The Great Leap, Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice, Angels in America Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, Hir, Shockheaded Peter, Wind and the Breeze, Pageant, The Importance of Being Earnest, Travesties, Assassins, WCYG A Christmas Carol, Parade, Spring Awakening, Mistakes Were Made, Glass Menagerie, Little Shop of Horrors, Our Town, Cabaret, Sweeney Todd, Private Lives, It’s a Wonderful, History Boys, A Christmas Carol. Diversionary Theatre: The Moors, Marry Me A Little, The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabbler, Pippin, Harmony Kansas, and Next Fall. *Member of the IATSE (International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees) union. View her work at: shirleypiersondesigns.com

Lighting Designer

Michael Lincoln*, Guest Artist

Michael’s professional design career spans 40+ years in theatre, opera and dance, on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regionally and internationally. Highlights: the Broadway productions of Copenhagen and David Hare’s Skylight, the Tantrum Theater productions of Next to Normal and Caroline or Change. His multiple Broadway Associate Designer credits include hit revivals of Guys and Dolls and Anything Goes and original productions of City of Angels, Six Degrees of Separation and Lend Me a Tenor. Michael was a School of Theater faculty member from 2003 to 2020 and served as Director of the school from 2012 to 2020, when he became Professor Emeritus. He was a driving force in the creation of Tantrum Theater and served as Artistic Director from 2018 through 2023. *Member of United Scenic Artists (USA) Union Local 829. www.michaellincoln.net

Sound Designer

Steven Leffue, Guest Artist

Steven Leffue is a sound designer, composer, and computer musician. He is a co-founder of the OBIE award winning performance venue JACK (jackny.org), and a resident member of experimental Hoi Polloi Theatre Company (hoipolloiworld.com). He has designed and/or composed music for original work by an extensive list of critical contemporary voices including Zora Howard, Celine Song, Emily Feldman, Lily Padilla, Anna Moench, Ella Rose Chary, Keiko Green, Kate Hamill, Nathan Davis, and Charles Smith. Steven is a member of the International Computer Music Association and serves as its Director for the Americas Region (computermusic.org). Notable festival appearances include the NYC Under the Radar Festival, Vienna Festwoche, Washington DC Fringe Fest, Brooklyn International Performance Arts Festival. More info at www.stevenleffue.com.

Production Stage Manager

Shay Trusty*, Guest Artist

[they/them] is excited to be back with Tantrum Theater having last stage-managed The Prom and Pride and Prejudice last year. Shay is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association. Select stage management credits include The Play That Goes Wrong, Little Women, and In the Heights (Seattle Rep); Sense and Sensibility, Little Shop of Horrors, Mamma Mia!, (Village Theatre); Golden, The Dina Martina Christmas Show, and BenDeLaCreme Presents: Beware The Terror of Gaylord Manor (ACT Theatre). *Member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Dramaturg

Tyler Adams

PhD in Interdisciplinary Arts, 4th Year: Performance Studies/Directing. Tantrum Theater: The Prom (Intimacy Coordinator), Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Assistant Director), Spring Awakening (Dramaturg), Spring Awakening (Dramaturg), this is not What I Expected When I Imagines a Republic (Assistant Director). Ohio University: BootyCandy (Dramaturg), Trojan Women (Intimacy Coordinator), Shining Girls (Dramaturg), Vibrancy Theater’s Men Are Trash and I’m a Raccoon (Director), Doctor Voynich and Her Children (Director), The Book of Ruth (Director). The Brutal fucking Death…(Dramaturg). OU Staged Readings: The Model Congressman (Director). Other: Gi60 International Play Festival (Director), Studio 316; Night Vision (Director), Montgomery College. As an educator, Tyler has taught classes in dramaturgy, script analysis, and LGBTQ+ theater at the graduate and undergraduate levels. He is also a Barbara Allushuski Fellow with OU’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. His scholarship has recently been published in Liminalities, as well as presented at multiple national conferences. Tyler has also acted in New York City as well as various regional theaters and received is BFA in Acting from CUNY-Brooklyn College.

Technical Director

Jaxon Meadows

Jaxon is a Production Design Technologist from Southeastern Ohio. He began his career at Ohio University as Assistant Technical Director in 2021. He aims to bring diversity and engagement to Southeastern Ohio Theater companies by promoting community arts in the Appalachian Region. MAA, Theater Management. BFA, Production Design & Technology. Recent works with Tantrum Theater: The Prom (Technical Director), Pride & Prejudice (Technical Director), 9 to 5 (Assistant Technical Director), Twelfth Night (Technical Director, Men On Boats (Assistant Technical Director), Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (Assistant Technical Director. Stuart’s Opera House (Technical Director): Sweeny Todd, Wizard of Oz, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Ohio University (Technical Director): We are Proud to Present, Julius Caesar, Shrek the Musical, Rent, Young Frankenstein. Yerma (Assistant Technical Director). He has collaborated with River City Players, Ohio Valley Summer Theater and Stuart’s Opera House.

Co-Properties Manager

Grace Easterday, Guest Artist

Ohio University Alumni, MFA, Props Technology. Ohio University (Props Manager): Inherit The Wind, The Prom, Pride and Prejudice, 12th Night, Yerma, what the Gods gave me, Hotel Berry (Assistant Props Manager). Props Artisan: Dr. Voynich and her Children, Julius Caesar, Everybody, Summer and Smoke, Men on Boats. Other: Utah Shakespeare Festival, Vibrancy Theater, Stuart’s Opera House. She has a BS in Theater from Frostburg State University.

Co-Properties Manager

Katherine (Kay) Telkamp, Guest Artist

[She/He/They] - MFA, Prop Technology, Second Year. Ohio University: Inherit the Wind (Co-Properties Manager), The Prom (Asst. Propmaster), Tipping the Velvet (Props Master), 9-5 (Artisan), Twelfth Night (Artisan). Other: Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Utah Festival of Opera and Musical Theatre, Prairie Repertory Theatre

Deck Stage Manager

Beatrice Feldbush, Guest Artist

Ohio University Alum, 2024 MAA Theater and Production Management; 2023 BFA Stage Management. Tantrum Theater: The Prom, Pride & Prejudice, 9 to 5, Twelfth Night, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, This is Not What I Expected When I Imagined a Republic, Spring Awakening, Rhinoceros. Ohio University: Imaginary Audiences, Julius Caesar, Summer and Smoke, Blood at the Root, Perfect Arrangement. Shakespeare in the Woods: Love's Labour's Lost. Opera Steamboat: Welcome to the Madness. The Actors’ Theatre of Columbus: Sense & Sensibility, Queen Margaret, The Secret Garden.

Artistic Director, Tantrum Theater

Ellie Clark

Ellie is an actress, producer, and teaching artist and has performed on stages throughout the United States and across the pond at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Notable theater credits include Antony & Cleopatra (Cleopatra), Pride & Prejudice (Elizabeth Bennet), A Streetcar Named Desire (Stella), Marie Antoinette (Marie), Dancing at Lughnasa (Agnes), Crimes of the Heart (Meg), and A Chorus Line (Sheila). Her most recent Film/TV credits include The Wonder Years (ABC), First Wives Club (BET), a recurring role on Seasons 5, 6 & 7 of Tyler Perry’s Sistas (BET), Johnson (Bounce), as well as several Independent Feature Films. Ellie has been an educator for 20+ years and is currently the Artistic Director for Arvold Warner Studio, a training ground for Atlanta/Southeast artists pursuing film and TV, founded by Emmy-nominated casting director Erica Arvold. She is the Movement Specialist and Chair of the Drama program at Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts and Co-Founded Voices Amplified, which generates brave and equitable spaces for voices historically underrepresented in theater. Other notable endeavors include co-founding Project SEE Theatre, a fellowship of artists dedicated to exploring the human condition through visceral and provocative storytelling. Ellie obtained her MFA from Ohio University and has trained extensively with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company. www.ellieclark.org

Interim Producing Director, Tantrum Theater

Rachel Cornish

Rachel is an arts administrator, educator, and executive coach with over two decades of leadership in theater and higher education. She serves as Associate Director for the School of Theater where she also teaches in the Master of Arts Administration program. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon and Yale, Cornish previously held management roles at Yale Repertory Theatre, Yale School of Drama, and co-founded Epiphany Theater Company in New York. In addition to her producing and academic work, she consults nationally, specializing in leadership development and organizational strategy for arts professionals and institutions.

Director of Education, Tantrum Theater

Rebecca VerNooy

Rebecca VerNooy is a movement theater artist, actor, and writer. Her original work has been performed at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Dance Theatre workshop, Joyce Soho, Dixon Place and PS 122. Both Sides of Crazy, her short memoir was published in 2022. She is the Head of Acting at Ohio University’s School of Theater and the Director of Education for Tantrum Theater. https://www.rebeccavernooy.com/

Company Manager, Tantrum Theater

Evan Bergman

A recent transplant from Atlanta, Evan is excited to join Tantrum as Company Manager. His background in theatre encompasses acting, teaching, and directing. Acting credits range from new work development in New York, performing in regional theatres, spots in blockbuster and indie films, and principal roles in a variety of commercials, including Epson Printers, opposite Shaquille O’Neal. As an educator he’s taught acting on the collegiate level, most recently serving as Visiting Professor of Theatre at Wofford College in South Carolina. He is currently co-Artistic Director of Arvold Warner Studio, founded by Emmy nominated casting director, Erica Arvold. Evan is a proud graduate of the two-year Meisner conservatory at the Maggie Flanigan Studio in NYC and he holds an MFA in Acting from University of Virginia. www.evanbergman.org

Production Manager, Tantrum Theater

Crystal Dahm

Is a theater technician specializing in technical direction and production management. While she has dabbled in most areas of technical theater, her true passion lies in helping other artists coordinate and produce a cohesive theatrical experience. Recent professional experience includes work as a carpenter and scene shop office administrator for the Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, NM (including The Flying Dutchman, Tosca, Pelléas et Mélisande, Rusalka, and Orfeo) and as technical director at Millbrook Playhouse in Lock Haven, PA (including Newsies, Sexy Laundry, Fox on the Fairway, and Every Brilliant Thing). In addition, Crystal interned at Chai du Terral, a performing arts center in Montpellier, France, and lead several educational drama programs at the Lyccée Claude Gellée high school in Épinal, France.

Administrative Associate

Drew Surovjak

Production Staff

Charge Scenic Artist: Sara Ebrahimi

Dialect Coach: Daniel C. Dennis

Costume Shop Manager: Sofia Perez

Scene Shop Manager: Jaxon Meadows

Sound Shop Manager: Jaime S. Lupercio

Lead Carpenters: Jimi Lawson, Katie Rotondi

Production Electrician: Charlie Herrmann

Assistant Director: Castor Kent

Assistant Scenic Designer: Elisabeth O'Neill

Associate Lighting Designer: Teigue Hardesty

Assistant Sound Designer: Karlie King

Assistant Stage Managers: Yuki Laffin, Maggy Louderback

Assistant Technical Director: Rosemary Burmester

Assistant Charge Scenic Artist: Sofia Maggard

Production Assistant: Emily Cox

Assistant Production Electrician: Patrick Reardon

Light Board Programmer: Simon McFawn

SCENE SHOP

Scene Shop Supervisor: Jaxon Meadows

Carpenters: Naiyah Anderson, Rosemary Burmester, Kenneth Dominguez, Lilly Gerend, Teigue Hardesty, Riley Husain, Sofia Laviolette, Harsh Lnu, Emma Lyons, Bryce Meyer, Walter Oestreich, Elisabeth O'Neill, Mark Schobert, Ally Sims, Susie Spanjers, Robby Steiner

PAINT SHOP

Scenic Artists : Hannah Hartman, Virginia Dickens, Samuel Addai, Adrien Legarth

Paint Crew: Kamryn Afflolter, Oakley Aughtman, Ahleea Durham, Bridget Faulhaber, Maggie Gavin, Paige Ivan, Sidney Kramer, Seth Langenkamp, Paige Marshall, Molly McHugh, Natalie Newbill, Katy Price, Mellohi Reibar, Elena Schwartz, Noella Senra, Morgan Sprouse, Ava Torok, Alaina Wahl, Semaj Wilson

PROP SHOP

Prop Artisans: Alliance Aikins, Kiera Anderson, Ryan Ball, Audrey Ballard, Vance Cook, Connor Dael, Grace Deliberato, Grace Easterday, Andrew Falkosky, Kayla Folden, Ellie Lee, Dori McCoy, Elizabeth Nease, Georgia Nelson, Lucia Puerto, Elliebelle Rohweder, Eliza Russo, Mason Schaffer, Erin Stone, Lauren Switzer, Katherine Telkamp, Aiden Travis, Maisie Whitaker

COSTUME SHOP

Draper: Abby Alvarez

Junior Drapers: Jackie Sokel

First Hands: Jaimon Lovins, Esther Yali-Williams

Stitchers: Erica Ahmed, Kasey Dingee, Zoli Eadle, Lilli Hoel, Mae Miller, Maddie Niederkohr, Auggie Nieves Bucey, Shae Trauthwein, Zoe Woods

CRAFT SHOP

Crafts Head: Sarah Beth

Crafts Supervisor: Baylor Hawks

Hair & Makeup Supervisor: Lauren Damico

Hair & Makeup Artist: Vincent Worley

WARDROBE

Wardrobe Supervisor: Audrey Phipps

Wardrobe Crew: Angelina Milanov, Mae Miller, Lexi Spears, Jax Wess

ELECTRICS SHOP

Light Board Operator: Mia Ogden

Deck Electrician: Samuel Coffman

Core Lighting MFA Student: Katie Rotondi

Core Lighting BFA Students: Dylan Dahlberg, Teigue Hardesty, Charlie Herrmann, Amanda Johnson, Everett Lamantia, Katie Mangan, Simon McFawn, Adan Rivas-Casarrubias, Patrick Reardon

Lighting Crew: Emma Archer, Abby Cox, Dylan Dahlberg, Carmen Foster, Nick Frownfelter, Malachi Hampsch, Teigue Hardesty, Charlie Herrmann, Chadwick Holmes, Amanda Johnson, Everett Lamantia, Katie Mangan, Max Marmash, Emma Mayes, Simon McFawn, Jack Miller, Ryan Perry, Patrick Reardon, Lucy Reinke, Adan Rivas-Casarrubias, Lily Sellars, Mimi Sheard, Nora Spudich, Gabriel Stark, Joniya Wiggins, Sylvia Witt, Andrew Zambito

SOUND SHOP

Sound Board Operator: Malia Saar

Sound Crew: Britney Cox, Mia Geise, Ella Langiotti, Alex Olsen, Madeline Powell, Cole Reynolds, James Walkowski, Paige Weir, Christopher Williams

PUBLICITY/FRONT OF HOUSE

Crew: Taylor Arnstein, Laila Christian, Jackson Coleman, Addie Collard, Abby Covalin, Alex Day, Vanessa Foreman, Sloan Fullen, Katie Hall, Eliza Harbaugh, Sarah Johnson, Stella Peters, Breanna Rowan, Alyssa Sherman, Katherine Soltis, Violet Weida, Isabella Gallo

BACKSTAGE RUN CREW

Deck Crew/Fly Operators: Madeline Powell, Sydney Ciencin

Swing Crew: Katie Spence, Theo Hawk

ARTWORK

Season Graphic Designer: Jonathan Olivares

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Ohio University President: Dr. Lori Gonzalez

Provost: Dr. Don Leo

Dean of Chaddock + Morrow College of Fine Arts: Roxanne Schroeder-Arce

Director, School of Theater: Merri Biechler

Assistant Director, School of Theater: Rachel Cornish

School of Theater Faculty and Staff

The SHAPe Clinic

The Athens City Police Department

Heritage Interpreting

Dr. Myrna Perez, Ph.D.