Francis Kofi Akotuah is drummer and teacher from Ghana. Born and raised in the capital city of Accra, Francis grew up in a melting-pot neighborhood immersed in the sounds of many of Ghana’s diverse musical cultures. After an 18-year career at the University of Ghana, Francis relocated to the US and has been based in the Bay Area since 2017. He is a lecturer and ensemble director at UC Santa Cruz, Sacramento State University, and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. He also teaches children of all ages through the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond, CA....
Miyuki Bierlein earned a degree in Theater and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and was awarded the prestigious Rosalyn Schneider Eisner Award for excellence in Theatrical Design. They began their professional career during their junior year, when they became a company member at Impact Theatre, serving as both an actor and designer. Since then, Miyuki has designed costumes for productions at Shotgun Players, TheatreFIRST, Crowded Fire Theater, and San Francisco Playhouse, among others.
Jane Boggess graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Theater Arts from Nebraska Wesleyan University. From there, she became a costume shop intern at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis MN. She began her professional career at the Guthrie doing wardrobe in house and was Wardrobe Supervisor on the national tour of “Great Expectations.” From there, she went to the Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington DC (now the Shakespeare Theater Company) as Head Craftsperson/Dyer. She moved on to Broadway and worked as a color expert at 20/20 Colorists, working on such shows as The Phantom of the Opera...
Jamila Cobham (she/her) is a production manager and event producer with over 12 years of experience working in the United States and the Caribbean. For the last 4+ years she was the Production Manager for Cal Shakes (California Shakespeare Theater). In her capacity as Production Manager, she managed numerous classics as well as new works that presented a diverse range of perspectives. She also worked with artistic leadership to proactively diversify the company's creative and production teams. Additionally, Jamila was a member of the organization's leadership team and contributed to the...
Peet Cocke is a director, playwright, and designer. His recent directing credits include Adam Esquenazi Douglas’s Pinned Butterfly, Susan Sobeloff’s Jubilee, and Naomi Wallace’s No Such Cold Thing. His original plays include Crush and Hum, Extraordinary Mysteries, Even at A Funeral, a movement piece, Already Done to You, and original adaptation of the novel Voices, by Ursula Le Guin, entitled Through the Glass Darkly. His scenic and lighting design work includes Peter and the Starcatcher, Silent Sky, The Three Musketeers, Fete de la Nuit, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Nights Dream, and...
Ian Erickson is a composer and performer currently living in Berkeley, California. He is a graduate of Missouri State University with two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music Composition and Jazz Studies with an emphasis in Drum Set Performance. He also attended the Port Townsend School of Woodworking, where he completed their 12-week intensive Foundations of Woodworking course.
Many of his works aim to explore polyphonic textures through the use of complex rhythms and dense harmonies. As a composer he has worked with PARMA Recordings and the Sirius Quartet on a compilation project of...
Prior to joining TDPS, Josh served for eight years as the Festival Technical Director for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. At CATF he had the privilege of overseeing scenery for 46 productions, including 28 world premieres. He has also served as Technical Director for Idaho Shakespeare Festival and the Great Lakes Theater Festival. He has had the pleasure of designing and building scenery for Idaho Theater for Youth, Shakespeariance tours, and the Great Lakes Festival's outreach tours. Other theater credits include: Technical Director for Glyn Maxwell's premiere of Wolfpit...
Zoë started her theatrical career at a young age, performing and creating for family plays. Her first design work was helping her mother to make props and costumes for her family performance in the Commedia Dell'arte show at the Renaissance Faire. She continued her theater studies at Concordia University’s design and production program in Montreal, where she did her first scenic painting. Creating the sets for her shows in university inspired her to go to grad school at California Institute of the Arts, where she specialized in scenic art. She then worked as a scenic artist in television,...
Ryan Huber is a multimedia artist with over a decade of experience providing musical and visual services for Bay Area dance and theater groups. He is a member of the San Francisco-based band, Battlehooch. In addition to music and video editing, he is passionate about yoga and biology. Visit Ryan's YouTube channel.