After playing Viola/Cesario in YSSP’s production of “Twelfth Night,” Ella Craig will be joining us as the director of Romeo and Juliet. In the past, she has directed and wrote a 48 Hour short film. This is their first time directing a play and they couldn’t be more thrilled to do it with YSSP. They’ve been apart of the arts since they were 8 years old, and it’s been a huge dream of theirs to get into the directing world. Ella’s Romeo and Juliet is inspired by classic fairy tales, where romance and danger circle our characters in equal measure. They believe the romantic foreground of the story contrasted with such a tragic undertone will bring our audience back to stories from their youth and transport them directly into the heart of the play.

Sarah is a junior at Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School where they study theater. They’ve been apart of Lincoln Parks One Act Festival in 2020 and 2022. Past tech credits include Mathilda the Musical and The Nutcracker. They’ve also been an asm for Disney’s Decedents. Recently they’ve been getting into film acting and has already done 3 short films. They enjoy writing, painting, and reading in their spare time.

Ella Mizera is a junior at the University of Pittsburgh, where she studies theater and nonprofit management. She is co-founder and executive director of YSSP. Mostly recently, she worked on City Theatre’s The Wanderers (sound engineer) and In Print (stage manager). Upcoming: Ophelia (Hamlet, Play on Words Podcast). When she’s not performing, Ella teaches Shakespeare with Steel City Shakespeare Center, and when she’s not teaching Shakespeare, she’s probably thinking about her dog.

Johnna Lou Lefebvre (she/her) is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with YSSP once again! Previously with YSSP, she has fight choreographed Hamlet along with playing Laertes/Marcellus, and played Lady Macbeth in our radio production. Outside of YSSP she has also worked with Stage 62 in their production of Disney’s Descendants and is currently in Little Lake’s run of Newsies as Specs/Spot. She is currently studying Cinema and Photography along with Theatre at Robert Morris University.

Theo is thrilled to be supporting this production as production manager and lighting designer. Previous lighting design credits with YSSP include Twelfth Night. He is currently studying Classics and Theatre with concentrations in Directing and Stage Management at the University of Rhode Island, and is so grateful to the support of his friends and family both at college and at home.

Kaitlin (she/her) holds degrees in English Literature, Nursing, and Nursing leadership (MSN, RN) and currently works as a nurse educator for disability awareness. She is also a published poet, model, and stage actor. Kaitlin also derives great joy from co-running Food for Groundlings, a Shakespearean theatre company, with her husband, Jonathan. Kaitlin also enjoys creating disability-accessible theatre and training in historical fencing. She serves on several committees and teams for organizations working toward more equitable healthcare and disability justice and volunteers for PAAR (Pittsburgh Action Against Rape) as a sexual assault counselor. Much of her artistic work grows out of the reality of living with a rare chronic pain disorder and finding meaning in art and in connection with others. Kaitlin's intimacy directing training (in a role grounded in boundaries and consent) includes both choreography/ design and direction course completion from Heartland Intimacy Design and Training with Kate Busselle; as well as training with ICD, TIE, and Intimacy for Stage & Screen.