THE WORK Episode 1 - Jesus A. Reyes

Amelia Acosta Powell (she/her) is the Impact Producer & Co-Director of Artistic Programming at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Previously she has been honored to serve as Associate Artistic Director at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Line Producer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Artistic Associate & Casting Director at Arena Stage. Most recent directing work includes Every Brilliant Thing (Actors Theatre of Louisville), The Gradient world premiere (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis) and The Thanksgiving Play (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, nominated for Outstanding Director of a Comedy: St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards). She is a steering committee member of the Latinx Theatre Commons, a member of the Casting Society of America, an inaugural grantee of TCG’s Rising Leaders of Color, and a proud alumna of the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship. Her teaching credits include serving as adjunct faculty at Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts. She is originally from Denver and holds her bachelor’s and her master’s degrees from Georgetown University. Read about her passion for Latine comedy on Howlround here.

Jonathan Castanien is a stage manager, producer, and co-founder/co-Producing Artistic Leader of the Sống Collective. As a stage manager he's worked on Life of Pi and TINA, The Tina Turner Musical on Broadway, The Lion King Rafiki Tour, and at companies including The Atlantic Theater Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, BAM, Signature Theater Company, The Public, and Artists at Play. With the Sống Collective he produces work that aims to amplify the voices from the Vietnamese diaspora and provide creative space for Artists of Color. He's been featured on La MaMa's LiveTalks, the Playwrights Realm's Making Theatre: With Stage Managers panel, and Howlround's podcast Building Our Own Tables. He has been a guest speaker at California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley, Fordham University, and the Yale School of Drama. He is an alumnus of artEquity's national facilitator program and was included in American Theatre Magazine’s December 2018 “People to Watch” list.Instagram: @jonedwww.jonathancastanien.comwww.thesongcollectivenyc.org

Cat Rodríguez (she/ella) werqs in theater + media, serving collaboration, community, and lqqks. Cat wears many wigs: she acts, directs, and dramaturgs. A co-foundress of the queer collective Fake Friends, Cat recently performed in the company’s Off-Broadway production of Circle Jerk (2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Finalist). A "people person" with a politic and a love for the Ridiculous, she’s all about bringing discernment, critical rigor, playfulness, specificity, and laughter to process. Black / Latinx feminisms as well as collectivist organizing experiences fundamentally inform her art making and path taking. Cat lives and labors in english y español, talks with her hands, and also anda con ganas. Formally trained at Yale School of Drama and Carnegie Mellon (where she’s taught, too), Cat stays undomesticated and un-disciplined; she’s a feral force. A freelancing femme, Cat considers herself a nomad but always names New Orleans and Nicaragua home. Cat is a current Latine Fellow through Sundance. 2022 CultureHub Resident Artist (Fake Friends). 2022 Mercury Store Resident Artist (Fake Friends). 2021-22 Art of Practice Fellow + Community Leader, Sundance Interdisciplinary Program.www.catlikemeow.com

Lauren is a director/producer/performer and community facilitator. She is the founding Producing Artistic Director of No Dream Deferred NOLA, a community-anchored multi-media theatre production company that is dedicated to the development of new works originating in the south. Additionally, Lauren leads as the co-executive director of the Andre Cailloux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice. Driven by her interest in equitable, place-based, culturally relevant theatre, especially as it pertains to the global south, Lauren’s work lives where storytelling, community building, and politics intersect. Lauren received her Master of Fine Arts in Performance from The University of Southern Mississippi and her B.A. from North Carolina Central University. She lives joyfully in New Orleans with her husband Jason, and their 3 children, Austyn, Elijah, and Nia.https://www.laurenturnerhines.com

Jesus A. Reyes hails from the community of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles, CA. He studied theatre arts at San Jose State University and his theatre roots took hold in the Bay Area. He's currently the Community Partnerships Director at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles where he leads the design and implementation of free, bilingual, theatre-based community programs. IG @CTGCOMMUNITYhttps://www.centertheatregroup.org/programs/audiences/learn-about-theatre/community/