COLE LEWIS (DIRECTOR), a third-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, is a director, writer, and performer from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. She is a graduate of Brock University’s theatre program and attended the National Theatre School of Canada, where she studied playwriting. Cole is a founding member of St. Catharines’ award-winning Suitcase In Point Theatre Company (SIP), a group of like-minded artists who strive to engage and excite through collaborative play development. As an artistic associate of SIP for ten years, she worked on 23 original cabarets and directed six original productions, including BeWearing Wolf at Harbourfront Hatch Festival, Emily Chesley at SummerWorks Festival, and The Keith Richards One Woman Show at Fixt Point in Toronto. She also directed Ministry of Love, an original adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984 for Theatre Rien Pantoute in Edmonton, Alberta. In Calgary, she worked as an ensemble member at Theatre Junction, where she performed in Archaeology and assisted Artistic Director Mark Lawes throughout the season. Other credits include And All for Love (assistant director, National Arts Centre of Canada); the world premiere of Will Eno’s The Realistic Joneses (assistant director, Yale Repertory Theatre); Mexico Play (A Farmer's Almanac) by Kate Tarker, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (Yale School of Drama); and Marius von Mayenburg’s The Ugly One (Yale Cabaret). She has also launched a new company, Guilty By Association, and directed its first devised piece, Ain’t Gonna Make It.
CAITLIN SMITH RAPOPORT (LIGHTING DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama, and has designed lighting for theatre, dance, music, and circus. Recent professional collaborations include work with Strong Coffee Stage, Berkshire Fringe Festival, SUNY College at Oneonta, Nimble Arts Circus, Sandglass Puppet Theater, New World Theater, and The National Asian American Theater Festival. Upcoming: Hedda Gabler at Yale School of Drama.
CHIKA SHIMIZU (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a second-year MFA candidate at Yale School of Drama. Her scenic design credits include Romeo and Juliet, Tartuffe, Salon du Soiree (Califonia State, Fullerton); Ordinary Days (The Imagined Life); and Ching Chong Chinaman (Artists at Play). She has worked as the assistant set designer for Myung Hee Cho on The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company) and Emotional Creature (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); for Kata Takeshi on November (Mark Taper Forum); Storefront Church (Atlantic Theater Company); The Blue Deep (Williamstown Theatre Festival); and The Skin of Our Teeth (Resident Ensemble Players). Chika received her BA in set design from California State University, Fullerton. chikashimizu.com