Kelly Mengelkoch has been seen at Ensemble Theatre in The Guys, Fortune, Red Velvet, This Random World, The Other Place, and Tribes. She has been a Resident Member of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company for 18 years, as well as appearing at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Know Theatre of Cincinnati, The Human Race Theatre Company, Xavier University Theatre, and New Stage Collective. Her film credits include Dark Waters, The Old Man and the Gun, A Kind of Murder, Perceptions, Over-the-Rhine, and CSA: The Confederate States of America.

Derek J. Snow (he/him) is grateful for this opportunity, having been active in the Cincinnati theater community as an actor, writer, director, and producer for almost four decades. A graduate of Cincinnati’s SCPA, Derek continued his education in NYC before returning after graduation to teach. As a playwright, his work has been produced in Atlanta, New Jersey, London, India, and Sydney, Australia. His short play Wind Kill Factor was read for a sold-out audience at Ensemble Theatre in 2019 as part of their Studio Series. Derek founded his nonprofit, Missing Front Plate Productions, in 2020 to address the lack of BIPOC work in theaters nationwide. He was the inaugural recipient of The Breath Project’s New Play Commission for 2021. Next year his work Silas, The Uninvited will be performed in NYC, Charlottesville, and Detroit, and he will also become one of the first-ever Resident Artists at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

D. Lynn Meyers has been with Ensemble Theatre for over twenty-five years, having directed more than a hundred world and regional premieres, including Hands on a Hardbody, Fun Home, Morning Sun, The Wolves, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I Am My Own Wife, Next to Normal, Tiny Beautiful Things, and the world premiere of The Dancing Princesses. She began her career as the associate artistic director at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, has directed off-Broadway at the York Theatre, and has directed extensively throughout the US and Canada. As a member of the Casting Society of America, Lynn’s recent feature credits include The Bikeriders, Shirley, and Dark Waters, in addition to serving as the location casting director for The Shawshank Redemption. Lynn recently directed the world premiere of Fierce for the Cincinnati Opera. She was named a finalist for the Zelda Fichandler National Award in 2011, is a past recipient of the YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award, and received the 2018 Rosa F. and Samuel B. Sachs Fund Prize for regional arts impact and leadership.

Shannon Rae Lutz  (she/her) earned her Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in 1996 and became Properties Master at Ensemble Theatre. Trained as a performer, she first appeared on ETC’s stage during the 1988-1989 New Works Festival. In 1991, she was granted an ETC internship. Now the Director of Apprentice Programming, she is honored to guide ETC’s essential ensemble: The Professional Acting Apprentice Company. Shannon would like to thank D. Lynn Meyers, Ruth Sawyer, and the Cincinnati theatre community and patrons for their generous, supportive, and tenacious spirit.

Brian c. Mehring (he/him) has designed more than 100 productions at Ensemble Theatre. His favorite productions include Thom Pain (based on nothing), Next to Normal, 33 Variations, Freud’s Last Session, and I Am My Own Wife. Mr. Mehring’s regional favorites for set design include The Last 5 Years and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Henry IV, Part 1, The Georgia Shakespeare Festival; and I Am My Own Wife, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Peterborough Players, and Florida Studio Theatre.