CREATIVE
Tierra Allen / Napoleon
Tierra is blessed to be back on the T1 stage after appearing as Tilly in last year’s VS. She has performed with the Black Choreographers Festival, Dance Brigade’s Dance Mission D.I.R.T. (Dance in Revolt(ing) Times) Festival, the Life is Living Festival, CounterPULSE, New Conservatory Theatre Centre, Broadway by the Bay, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, the One Minute Play Festival at Z Space, Stagebridge, and more. Favorite credits include Babygirl in An OPEN LOVE LETTER to Black Fathers: A Choreopoem (Isadora Duncan “Izzie” Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Company Performance), Suzannah in Jon Tracy’s HAIR with Bay Area Musicals, and original works devised with her political theater collective, The Bonfire Makers: WE GO BOOM!, which explored the impact of the tech industry on Oakland, and PLACE to LAND (an oakland love story), which examined Oakland’s histories of displacement and how to make its ideal future. Tierra brings a passion for strengthening community through evocative, socially and politically responsive storytelling emerging from her background as a theatermaker, activist, teaching artist, and youth worker. She is the manager for Artistic Engagement at Cal Shakes, has taught theater in school, afterschool, and juvenile detention settings, and worked as a Directing Apprentice with PlayGround. She holds a B.A. in Theater & Dance from Amherst College. Thanks to Spirit and the ancestors.
Anthony Frederick Aranda / Old Major
Anthony is proud to be making his Theater First debut with the roll of Old Major in The Farm. Previous works include- Into The Woods at San Francisco Playhouse; Complete Female Stage Beauty; Dead Man Walking; Queen of America; The Rocky Horror Show LIVE! for San Jose City Lights; Master Class at Theatreworks; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Broadway West– Twelfth Night; Comedy of Errors at Bus Barn Theatre; and The Asshole Monologues (San Francisco and New York City).
Dameion Brown / Boxer
Dameion played Macduff in 2015 under the direction of Lesley Currier as part of Marin Shakespeare’s Arts in – Corrections programs. He played “Othello” in 2016 with the same company, a performance that earned him the best principal actor award from Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle, as well as a nomination for best principal actor for the Falstaff awards. He has also worked with Utopia Theatre Project. Dameion also works in the community as a Case Manager for the Transitional Age Youth ((TAY) population. He also holds Restorative Justice circles in the community with (TAY) youth. He is honored to be working Theatre First and is equally “thrilled to be on a team with such amazingly talented artists”.
Laura Espino / Mollie
Laura has performed in various Bay Area theaters such as the The Magic Theatre; Custom Made Theatre; Contra Costa Civic Theatre; City Lights Theatre Co.; New Conservatory Theatre Center, Novato Theatre Co.; Actor’s Ensemble of Berkeley. And the Mesa Arts Center in Arizona. Favorite past credits include:Nogales; The Clean House; In Love & Warcraft; A Streetcar Named Desire; andSpring Awakening. Laura was previously the Casting Associate at Marin Theatre Co. and is now a teaching artist with the SF Opera Guild. She is a TBA Award nominee and a SF Bay Area Critics Circle recipient. A San Francisco native living in the city with her partner in crime: 6 yr. old daughter, Eva.
Anna Joham / Clover
Anna L. Joham is thrilled to make her Theatre first debut as the Clover in The Farm. A native of Portland Oregon, Anna’s first performance was with Portland Opera when she was five and has been performing in a variety of genres ever since. She predominately appears in musical theater and opera in the Bay Area and is excited to be in a play with music production. Some favorite roles include: Kate, Kiss Me Kate; Contessa, Le nozze di Figaro; Polly,Crazy for You and 1st Lady, Magic Flute and Queen Anne, Three Musketeers. Anna has a B.A. in voice from Oregon, a M.M. in Music Theater from Oklahoma City University, and a G.P.D. in Opera from Longy School of Music
Dean Koya / Benjamin
While Dean is a Bay Area native, he is a relative newcomer to Bay Area theater scene. He received his B.A. in Psychology from University of California, Santa Cruz and after an almost nine-year stint in the tech industry, he decided to change gears and jump into the world of acting. He has appeared on stage at SF Playground and Stagebridge and is proud to be making his Theater First debut in The Farm.
Celeste Martore / Sheep
Celeste is an actress, singer and set designer represented by NYLO Model and Talent Agency. A Bay Area native, Celeste grew up acting and singing in her neighborhood theater and choir. In May, she graduated with a BA in Environmental Design from UC Berkeley, with a focus in Sustainable Design. Celeste is also a Cal Women’s Soccer Alumnus and was a talented soccer player for many years.Celeste just wrapped her first union gig, a national commercial for Nissan. Upcoming, she is excited to have been cast in the world premiere of “For O”: a musical written to confront gentrification, with the Fusion Theatre Project this November. Her artistic interests include narratives around racial identity, and the lifelong challenge to pursue characters who defy the status quo.
Molly O'Brien / Snowball
Molly is thrilled to be making her TheatreFIRST debut in The Farm. Born in Massachusetts, Molly has bounced around from Boston to New York City, and now to the Bay Area studying and performing theatre. Bay Area theatre credits: Much Ado About Nothing, The Three Musketeers and Love’s Labour’s Lost with Marin Shakespeare Company. Selected NY theatre credits: The Iliad with The Continuum Company; To Pieces with Dixon Place; Romeo Romeo & Juliet Juliet with The Useful Party; Henry V with the Classical Studio. BFA: NYU Tisch. Love to her friends and family for keeping her grounded.www.mollyobrienonline.com
Stephanie Prentice* / Bluebell
Stephanie Prentice is excited to be making her TheatreFIRST debut, and returning once again to The Farm. She previously originated the role of Clover in The Farm for Shotgun Players in 2009. Past Bay Area productions include The Christians, Company, Our Lady of 121st Street (San Francisco Playhouse), Baker Street, The Boy Friend, (42nd Street Moon), Value Over Replacement, Best of PlayGround 20, Best of PlayGround 19 (PlayGround), and Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare at Stinson.) She is a graduate of the Santa Clara University Theatre and Dance program, and was a member of the SCU voice faculty from 2005 – 2017. Stephanie is a Bay Area native, a PlayGround company member, serves on the Creative Development Board for TheatreFIRST, and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity. Love to Aiden and Devan.
Marlon Richardson / Squealer
C. Marlon Richardson is a New York City born and raised Rapper, Poet, Actor, Producer, Filmmaker and Writer. He studied theatre and writing at Public School Repertory Company, an alternative performing arts high school, located in Time Square, the heart of the theatre world and attended SUNY Purchase College where he majored in Literature and Drama Studies. During his formative years, Marlon was a part of several Off-Broadway theatre productions and made frequent appearances on the PBS Teen show In The Mix during the late 90’s, early 2000’s before taking a hiatus from acting to work in the music industry. More recently, Marlon teaches Hip Hop music production for an Oakland based non-profit and is one of the premier Hip Hop performers in the Bay Area under the Artist name UnLearn The World.
Dezi Solèy / Moses
Dezi Solèy is a prizmatic artist co-creating embodiments of the Divine through explorations in images, spoken word & movement. Since earning her BA (Cultural & Regional Studies, Minor in Dance) from Prescott College, Solèy has trained and performed with Bay Area traditional Haitian & South African dance theater companies El Wah Movement & Jikelele Dance Theatre. Her most recent work includes starring in the independent feature film LIKE, REPLY, SHARE (written & directed by Josh Peterson), her lead role in Alter Theater’s BONDAGE (written by Star Finch & directed by Elizabeth Carter) and her performance in Campo Santo’s ETHOS DE MASQUERADE (directed by Sean San Jose) at ACT’s The Strand. Solèy is currently represented by Stars The Agency and is thrilled to be working on her first T1 production in THE FARM.www.dezisoley.com
Danie Citlali Valdivieso / Sheep
Danie Citlali Valdivieso, a Chilean-American actor, singer/songwriter, and political activist has participated in planning and performing in a number of non-profit events such as the 1st, 2nd and 3rd annual Rafael Manriquez Festival and the Chilean Fest hosted by the Solano Stroll. She’s appeared in The Fusion Theatre Project’s production of The 510’s: Five 10 Minute Long Tales Inspired by Oakland and their production of The Late Wedding by Christopher Chen. Danie played Flor in Fusions’ production of Más written by Milta Ortiz, and later on participated as a dancer in the same production with The Ubuntu Theater Project. Her creative duo with her partner, Jesse Vaughn, debuted at the North Shoreline Festival with a multi-cultural song, spoken word, and storytelling performance. For the kickoff of their 2017 season, she appeared in Ubuntu’s production of Death of a Salesmen. She is excited for her debut performance with TheatreFIRST and to be working with such talented souls.
Jesse Vaughn / Dog
Jesse Vaughn is an African American actor and guitarist in the Bay Area. He is very excited to be making his TheatreFirst debut. He recently appeared in Flim-Flam with Theatre Rhinoceros. He has also played with Ubuntu Theater Project. Jesse plans to obtain his Associates degree from Laney and transfer to a University.* appears courtesy of AEA
Carlos Aguirre / Arrangements
Carlos Aguirre (actor, musician, vocal percussionist, educator) has been performing both as an actor and hip-hop artist in the Bay Area for over 19 years. He has shared the stage with The Roots, Eryka Badu, Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Jam Master Jay, L.L. Cool J, Macy Gray and George Clinton among others. He his currently producing his original rap and beatbox adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell Tale Heart as well as sharing his experience by teaching at various schools and at-risk environments throughout the Bay Area.Stephanie Prentice* / Arrangements
Stephanie Prentice is excited to be making her TheatreFIRST debut, and returning once again to The Farm. She previously originated the role of Clover in The Farm for Shotgun Players in 2009. Past Bay Area productions include The Christians, Company, Our Lady of 121st Street (San Francisco Playhouse), Baker Street, The Boy Friend, (42nd Street Moon), Value Over Replacement, Best of PlayGround 20, Best of PlayGround 19 (PlayGround), and Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare at Stinson.) She is a graduate of the Santa Clara University Theatre and Dance program, and was a member of the SCU voice faculty from 2005 – 2017. Stephanie is a Bay Area native, a PlayGround company member, serves on the Creative Development Board for TheatreFIRST, and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity. Love to Aiden and Devan.
Liz Tenuto / Choreography
Liz Tenuto is an American choreographer who specializes in dance for theater and film. Her choreography has been seen on national TV commercials (Pepsi, SalesForce, NARAL), in music videos (Lucius, Magana) as well as in productions at The American Conservatory Theater, West Edge Opera, The Cutting Ball Theater, Shotgun Players, and The Aurora Theater. Liz was a resident choreographer for sketch comedy group, Killing My Lobster, and has also been presented in The Comedy In Dance Festival (New York).Liz’s work has won and been nominated for awards including “Best Choreography” by Theater Bay Area and “Best Laugh” by The Stuart Excellence Award in Bay Area Theater. She is the first recipient of FACT/SF’s choreographic commission and was an Artist-In-Residence at CounterPulse. Next, she’ll be choreographing “Shakespeare In Love” at Marin Theater Company. More information: www.danceandahalf.com
Michael Torres / Director
Michael Torres is a founding member of Campo Santo where he has acted for eighteen years, originating roles for the country’s greatest writers including Richard Montoya, Christopher Chen, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Dave Eggers, Jessica Hagedorn, Denis Johnson, Jose Rivera, Greg Sarris, and Octavio Solis. Michael received Back Stage West and San Francisco Bay Guardian’s Outstanding Performance awards, and eleven Best Ensemble awards in his twenty seven year old career. Michael has played at Shotgun Theater, The San Francisco Playhouse, Word for Word, Thick Description, Encore, Berkeley Repertory, B St Theater, Teatro Campesino, California Shakespeare Festival, The Eureka, The Magic, Teatro De La Esperanza, and in France, Spain, and Germany and throughout the United States via a couple of tour gigs. Michael directed Donald Lacy’s hit show Colorstruck, whose national tour included the Congressional Black Caucus and National Black Theater Festival. He is on the board of directors for The Shotgun Players and the up and coming Ubuntu Theatre Project. Recently, Michael recreated the role of Crow for the movie The Other Barrio co-written and starring Richard Montoya (in post production). Presently, you can see him as Po in the film About Cherry written and directed by Stephen Elliot and starring James Franco. Michael was also the deputy coroner on the T.V series Trauma. Torres is Chair and Director of Laney College’s Theater Department where he founded The Fusion Theatre Project. He holds a BA from SF State University and MFA from UC San Diego.
Jon Tracy / Playwright
Jon works internationally as a director, playwright, designer, educator and facilitator. He is the recipient of the Kennedy Center Meritorious Achievement Award, fifteen North Bay Arty Awards, a Sacramento Elly Award, two Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, a Theatre Bay Area Award, Solano College Theatre Alumni Award and is a grant recipient from Theatre Bay Area, Shotgun Players’ Bridging the Gap and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is the Artistic Facilitator for TheatreFirst, Co-Artistic Director of Groundswell: The International Theatre Intensive a proud member of SDC, the union for stage directors and choreographers. www.jontracyplays.com
Elena Wright / Director
Elena Wright is a bay area actor, teacher, and director. She has taught and/or directed for All Terrain Theatre, San Francisco Shakespeare, University of Washington, Napa Valley College, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Laney College, Oakland Technical High School and Redwood High School among others. Some of the companies she has performed with are California Shakespeare Theatre, Shotgun Players, Sonoma County Rep, B Street Theatre, Marin Shakespeare, Capital Stage, Symmetry Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare, Foothill Theatre, and Commonwealth Shakespeare. She is a company member of Playground, BA Northeastern University, MFA University of Washington.
Kristoffer Barrera / Sound
Kristoffer Barrera set foot on his theatrical journey at Laney College in Oakland as a generation one Fusion Theater member. He has collaborated on and off stage with many East Bay and SF theater companies and is honored to throw down as TheatreFIRST’s production manager and resident sound designer for another exciting season. He says this cast and crew is cooking up the goodness! For. That. Day.
Miyuki Bierlein / Costume
Miyuki Bierlein has been designing in the Bay Area since 2008. Past collaborations include productions with Crowded Fire Theater, SF Playhouse, Impact Theatre, Golden Thread Productions, and most recently, Shotgun Players’ Blasted. She is honored and excited to be a resident designer for T1’s current season.Liz Johnson / Rehearsal Stage Manager
Elizabeth Johnson is a stage manager and actor native to the Bay Area. She is excited to work on her first show with TheatreFIRST on their production of The Farm by Jon Tracy. She recently worked as a assistant stage manager on Berkeley Playhouse’s production of Tarzan, and is slated to work at Berkeley Playhouse again as assistant stage manager for Annie this holiday season, and as head stage manager for James and the Giant Peach in the Spring of 2018. Recently receiving her degree in Drama from San Francisco State University, she is eager to immerse herself in all that the Bay Area theatre community has to offer.
Stephanie Anne Johnson / Light
I am a second-generation theater practitioner who has been a lighting designer working locally, nationally, and internationally for over forty years. Locally, I have worked with Cultural Odyssey, Afro Solo, Ubuntu Theatre, and many other groups. My mixed media art work was exhibited in two one-person shows in San Francisco. I have written and performed a one-person show entitled Every Twenty-One Days: Cancer, Yoga, and Me.In the realm of education, I am a professor and founding faculty member of the Visual and Public Art Department at Cal State University, Monterey Bay. I serve on TheatreFirst’s Board of Directors and The Farm is my third production here. Recently I was nominated for a Theatre Bay Area (TBA) award for the lighting design for HeLa which was produced at TheatreFirst.
My work can be seen online at www.lightessencedesign.com.
Ting Na Wang / Props
Ting Na is a Taiwanese-native scenic designer, painter and props designer who has worked in the Bay Area since 2013. She is delighted to work on her debut show at Theatre First! Her recent credits on props design include The Bitter Earth, Sordid Lives, Leaving the Blues and Casa Valentina with New Conservator