Aram Aghazarian (Performer/Creator) is a performer, theater creator, and teacher. He was a founding member of Strange Attractor Theatre Company 2009-2019 (Sans Everything, Enlightenment On E Floor North, A Terrific Fire). Theater work includes Pig Iron Theatre Company (Swamp Is ON, 99 Breakups, PAY UP), Team Sunshine Performance Corporation (The Sincerity Project, Punchkapow), Swim Pony Performing Arts (War of the Worlds), Lightning Rod Special (Let the Dog See the Rabbit), Perseverance Theatre (Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps, Eurydice), Nick Gillette Improv (Yurodivy). Recent film work includes ABC Project by Christopher Givens. Aram can currently be seen on wallpaper created by Nick Cassway in the exhibition What Times are These? at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Aram is on the faculty of the Pig Iron School Devised Performance Program and the theater program at Community College of Philadelphia. He is a graduate of Temple University and the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA).

Nia Benjamin (Co-Scenic Designer, Directorial Consultant) is a Black agender, queer, multidisciplinary artist, performer, filmmaker, projection and installation designer, video artist and director of experimental theatre . Their work uses the synthesis of dance, poetry, live music, theatre and video arts to create live performances about the sovereignty, liberation and interiority of Black and Brown, queer and trans* people. Nia is the Co-Artistic Director of Ninth Planet, a Philadelphia based experimental theatre company that makes original works of performance that centers people of color, women, queer and trans* people. Recent credits include: On Buried Ground (2024, Director/Co-Creator), Esto No Tiene Nombre by Denice Frohman (2023, Projection and Production Designer), high noon (2024, Director, Co-Creator).

Lian Kiem Laventhol Brody they/xe/xem/xyrs (Stage Manager) is excited to be working on xyr first Sincerty Project and xyr first project with Team Sunshine. Xe has done stage management work for Theatre Exile, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Tiny Dynamite, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Temple University Theaters, and Philadelphia Theatre Company’s now-disbanded ActOut Summer Camp program where xe got xyr start in theatre working on devised projects with Philadelphia teens in 2013. Lian is interested in new plays, devised work, queer theatre, theatre of protest, and drag artistry. Thanks to AJ, Mekhi, Fisher, Mayu, Puffin, and Mom for their endless love and support!

Benjamin Camp (Performer/Creator) is, among many things, a theater creator working in Philadelphia and a Co-Founder of Team Sunshine. He was lead artist for Team Sunshine’s YOUR OPTIMISM IS NOT REQUIRED, PUNCHKAPOW, TERRARIUM, and ZOMBIE DEFENSE CONSULTATIONS, as well as a core collaborator on all of Team Sunshine’s projects to date. Benjamin was awarded the 2014 Independence Foundation Fellowship, and in addition to Team Sunshine has had the pleasure of working with Pig Iron Theatre Company, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Theater Horizon, and the Rosenbach Museum and Library, among others. Benjamin graduated from Swarthmore College and completed the full program of Lecoq style training in Ensemble Created Physical Theater at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA). He is a managing partner of the CCSJ real estate team at Elfant Wissahickon, serving artists and the greater Philadelphia community. (His next First time Buyer Seminar is next week!)

Rachel Camp she/they (Performer/Creator, Associate Director) is a polymunicipal performing artist currently living in Denver, CO but with heartstrings tied to Philadelphia. Rachel is a Barrymore-award-winning performer and 2017 Finalist for the F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Philadelphia Theatre Artist; she most recently served as Team Sunshine’s Associate Director for Your Optimism is Not Required. Rachel also loves their work as a training coordinator for communication skills programs at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. You can catch RC again in Theatre Horizon & Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival’s spring 2025 production of Alex Bechtel’s new musical Penelope. Her kiddo Lazuli (LAZZ-oo-lee) turns 2 in March.

Sydney Camp (Performer/Creator) Sydney is excited to have her first professional theater role. She attends Friends Select School in Center City, where she is in the fourth grade. She’s a social extrovert who loves making friends. Although loving the stage, she would like to be a writer when she gets older. 

Danielle Currica (Performer/Creator) Attending Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, VA), Danielle Currica was named Outstanding Performer at the 2008 Mid-Atlantic American College Dance Festival before receiving her BFA in Dance/Choreography, cum laude, 2009. She is a Philadelphia based movement artist beginning her career with Philadelphia dance companies DanceTheatreX, then idiosynCrazy productions, she has been blessed to work with choreographers Antoinette Coward-Gilmore, Lela Aisha Jones, Meredith Rainey, Tania Isaac, Kate Watson-Wallace, Megan Mazarick, Shannon Murphy, Gunnar Montana, and Mel Cotton. 2009-2021 she performed as Sophie Sucre with Philadelphia Burlesque Troupe, The Peek-a-Boo Revue. Danielle/Sophie helped establish the Philadelphia Burlesque Academy in 2012, and currently serves as teaching artist to the local Burlesque performance and ecdysiast enthusiast community. In 2022, Danielle presented her first solo full length work Sophie Sucre: A Study in Sensual Performance via the Humanist Gaze in Cannonball’s 2022 Miniball festival. She looks forward to where her artistic adventures will take her next.

Makoto Hirano (Performer/Creator) is a Philadelphia-based choreographer. Over the past two decades, his award-winning performance projects have been presented and commissioned across the globe from Cairo to Off-Broadway. As a freelance collaborating performer, Hirano has originated over 35 roles including projects with Bill Irwin, Pig Iron Theatre Co., Nichole Canuso Dance Co., and Thaddeus Phillips/Lucidity Suitcase Intercontinental. Hirano is a founding member and current advisor to the arts collective PAPA (Philly Asian Performing Artists); co-founder of installation art duo Gatto+Hirano; co-founder of Team Sunshine Performance where he is a creator, producer, performer, and choreographer (2018 Barrymore-Award nomination for Outstanding Choreography for ¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS! OR WELCOME WHITE PEOPLE!). Upcoming projects include directing Hold These Truths (Montgomery Theater), choreographing The Mikado (The Savoy Company), and creating The Great American Gunshow (Team Sunshine). From 2007-2014 Hirano was a Facilitator with Philly/Baltimore/South Carolina-based professional development program Artists U, and is currently on faculty at the Pig Iron School (thank you Rowan University!). A former U.S. Marine, Hirano earned his BFA in dance at Temple University. Love and gratitude to the incredible wife.

Jillian Jetton she/her (Creative Producer, Production Manager) is a director, performance maker, and producer. Based in Brooklyn by way of Philadelphia and the Bay, her background spans scripted, devised and physical theater, video art, and experience design. Jillian is the Artistic Director of SalOn! at The Brick, and a member of the Mercury Store Directing Lab with advisor Aya Ogawa. Directing credits include original works FLESH FOG and HEATWAVE, which was performed at Philadelphia’s Bartram’s Garden in February 2020. She is currently developing a new musical co-written by Lila Blue and Ren Dara Santiago about radical painter and mystic Hilma af Klint. The piece has been developed at the Lake Lucille Project, including a retreat co-directed with Brian Mertes, and will continue development at San Francisco’s Z Space in 2025. Jillian has helped develop works by Pearl D’Amour, César Alvarez, Team Sunshine Performance, Stacey Rose, Mia Rovegno, Young Jean Lee, Headlong, and Pig Iron Theater Company, among others. MFA Sarah Lawrence College, BA Brown University, Headlong Performance Institute. jillianjetton.com

Penelope “Pippa” Keenan (Performer/Creator) is delighted to be acting with “The Sincerity Project” for the second time. Favorite credits include dancing with PHILADANCO, including taking classes such as pointe, modern, tap, jazz, ballet, and even joining their company, the D3 minis. She also does cheerleading for her middle school basketball team, and sang on the two most recent “Philly Special” Eagles Christmas albums with Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Connor Barwin, and even worked with their producer, the Grammy winning Charlie Hall. She is a student at Independence Charter School. She is in 6th grade and this is her seventh year in their Spanish immersion program. Some of her hobbies include drawing, writing, cooking/baking, and binge watching her favorite show, Demon Slayer. Demon Slayer inspired her to start a Japanese course on Duolingo.

Mel Krodman they/them (Performer/Creator) is an Ashkenazi Jewish, queer, trans non-binary person, performer, collaborative creating artist and community member living in West Philadelphia, aka Lenapehoking, the unceded lands of the Lenni Lenape people. In addition to Sincerity Project #5 and Team Sunshine, they currently commit their power to Practice Space (It’s Time We Pay Them A Visit, upcoming Feb ‘25 at CCNH), Next in Line Comedy, interrogating the highs and moral lows of Peter Pan through the lifelong memoir BOYZ WILL BE BOYZ 4 LIFE, embodied study in political somatics, community organizing efforts for gender justice and the movement for a Free Palestine – and most importantly – the project of lovingly raising future world-stewarding humans currently known as “parenting.” Hey for real tho – from our rivers to our seas, none of us will be free until Palestine is free. Let’s talk about it. 

Michael Lambui he/him (Technical Director) is a Philadelphia based set/lighting designer, production manager, and technical director for all forms of the performing arts. He has worked with companies such as: The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, Applied Mechanics, The Private Theater, Tiny Dynamite, UPenn Theatre Arts Program, Swarthmore Theater, Headlong Dance Theater, The Savoy Company, Villanova Theater, and Drexel Co-Op Theatre. Currently he’s the Production Coordinator at the Philadelphia Ballet. To see more of his work visit michaellambui.com

Marcie Mamura (Performer/Creator) is an artist, mover, maker, educator, collaborator, community member and researcher. She is from popcorn and passionfruit. Her Philadelphia-based teaching history includes Dream Camp, ArtWell, Asian Arts Initiative, Camp Sojourner Girls’ Leadership Camp, Drexel University, Muhlenberg College and Spiral Q. She is a current collaborator with The Naked Stark. Marcie’s arts and educational administrative work arcs across fields and practices. Creativity, curiosity and humanity are honored in the blueprint of her coordinating approach. She is intrigued by being new at something, building in community and embracing embodied knowledge. Her art shares roots in movement/dance and visual art/design. Marcie earned a BA in Theater & Dance from Kansas State University and an MFA in Dance from the University of Oregon. Marcie extends abundant gratitude to Team Sunshine and collaborating artists for the invitations to grow, reflect, dream and be in each others’ orbit.

Iris McCloughan they/them (Performer/Creator, Sound Consultant) is a director, writer, and performer living and working in New York. Their work has been seen in New York (Playwrights Horizons, Castelli Gallery, The Poetry Project, Danspace Project, The Chocolate Factory Theater, PAGEANT, The New Ohio), Philadelphia (The Barnes Foundation, FringeArts, Vox Populi), Chicago (Links Hall), and Detroit (Public Pool). Recent direction includes Alex Tatarsky’s Sad Boys in Harpy Land (Playwrights Horizons) and Joan Jonas & Eiko Otake’s collaborative performance Drawing in Circles WHY? (Castelli Gallery/Danspace Project). Iris’s writing has appeared in BOMB, American Poetry Review, Prelude, juked, jubilat, Denver Quarterly, and Queen Mob’s Teahouse, among many others. They were a previous winner of the Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize from American Poetry Review and their work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. They are the author of three chapbooks of poetry, including triptych (2022, greying ghost) and Bones to Peaches (2021, Seven Kitchens Press). Iris has collaborated with many other artists in many different capacities, including Eiko Otake, Joan Jonas, Alex Tatarsky, Alex Lin, Mike Lala, and Jaime Maseda (as No Face Performance Group). They are a member of the 2024-25 Soho Rep Writer-Director Lab and the recipient of a 2024-25 Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellowship.

Eden Nguntling (Team Sunshine Intern, Rehearsal Assistant) is a senior at CCA and is set to graduate in the upcoming spring. During the summer of 2024, joining the Bloomberg Arts Internship provided an opportunity to collaborate with Team Sunshine, which continued into the school year program with BAI. Art has always been a big part of life, starting from childhood. Drawing on paper, creating digital art, painting with acrylics, and sewing plush toys have all been favorite art forms. With high school coming to an end, the next step involves going to college with plans to minor in Visual Art.

Shavon Norris (Performer/Creator, Directorial Consultant) is an artist, educator, and facilitator. As an artist, she uses movement along with text, sound, and imagery to reveal and highlight the stories living in our bodies. Her work invites us to explore the body as a way to reclaim, reframe, and reimagine what we have learned about ourselves. Her work has been presented at venues in New York City and Philadelphia and has taken place in classrooms, shelters, stages, and virtually. As an educator, Shavon has taught bodies of all ages, and presently teaches at Temple and Thomas Jefferson. As a facilitator, she works with artistic, educational, and corporate spaces, offering explorations on Creativity, Movement, Inclusivity and Healing Centered/Trauma Informed Practices. Shavon’s artistic and educational philosophies are rooted in the desire to offer herself, learners, performers, and audiences, opportunities to deepen the understanding of self and the collective. She loves the living and working she gets to do in the world.

Vanessa Ogbuehi (Costume Designer) is a director for new and contemporary theatre. Through a maximalist aesthetic and cross-disciplinary collaboration, Vanessa pushes everyday stories to mythic proportions. Recent projects include directing an immersive take on Fefu and her Friends at Sweet Briar College, and assistant directing Heartbeat Opera’s Lady M, which the New York Times called “Flat-out brilliant.” While the Director of Digital, Film, & Interactive Media at Pig Iron Theatre Company, she collaborated with filmmaker Josephine Decker on The Path of Pins or The Path of Needles, an immersive performance about fairy tales and motherhood. Other past collaborators include Double Edge Theatre and The Bearded Ladies Cabaret. University direction includes Orlando (Boston University), Metamorphoses (Villanova), and Resilient: Black Bottom (Drexel), a student-written piece. Vanessa was awarded a 2023 Drama League Assistantship, paired with Dawn Monique Williams for the world premiere of Welcome to Matteson at New Jersey Repertory Theatre. She holds a Graduate Certificate in Devised Performance from Pig Iron/University of the Arts. For more: vanessaogbuehi.com.

Megan Quinn (Performer/Creator), daughter of Kevin and Sarah, auntie to Joey, Rowan, Addie and Eliot, devoted friend, and researcher of emotion. Megan has spent professional time as a movement artist, ritual facilitator, and pilates instructor. She has been dancing in Philadelphia since 2008; earning her BFA at Temple University and performing with wonderful local artists including Shannon Murphy and Archedream for Humankind.  She teaches meaningful movement experiences for power, strength and connection through her small business, Movement Connections. 

Miguel Angel Quiñones (Opening Musical Act) Born in Ponce Puerto Rico and raised in New York City in the 70s. It was there that I began to develop my musical and fine art skills at the age of 10. Inspired by my father and uncles I became a musical entertainer. I play various instruments and sing, all self taught. My family considers me a mockingbird. I hear and see something and I repeat it, which to me is a lot of fun. I played in some local New York bands through the 70s and 80s, Was part of the back up band for the group SPARQUE. When I moved to Miami Florida in the 90s, I had the good fortune of applying my skills in a long term musical entertainment group. That’s when I really expanded my knowledge of musical genres like Dance, Top 40, Rock, R&B, Latin music, Caribbean music and Oldies along with some beautiful Ballads. I have recorded and produced my original music in my home studio. Now I have the privilege of sharing my love for music and versatility with The Sincerity Project #5 (2024) and their audience. ARTS is Peace Joy and Love.

Phoebe Schaub (Audience Experience Coordinator, Team Sunshine Performance Director of Operations & Education) is a multimedia artist, with her feet in the worlds of both live performance and narrative film. In addition to her work with Team Sunshine, she is a Screener and Programmer for the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, a co-founder and former company member of Found Theater Company, and a former Teaching Artist and Mentor of the Resident Playwrights at Philadelphia Young Playwrights. Highlights of her work as a producer include screening at the Academy Award-Qualifying Palm Springs International ShortFest and New Hampshire Film Festivals, co-producing and curating the Secret Show Series (presented by the Knight Foundation at Painted Bride Art Center), serving as the Associate Producer of The Philadelphia Thing’s Trade School festival, and the thousands of hours spent creating and supporting collaborative, wild, shoestring-budget works of art in spaces not designed with art in mind.

Maria Shaplin (Lighting Designer) is a Philadelphia-based lighting designer who received her MFA from Temple University. She has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from Hampshire College.  Maria designs for many Philadelphia-based companies including:  Applied Mechanics, The Riot Group, Swim Pony Performing Arts, InterAct, The Arden, The Wilma, New Paradise Laboratories, 1812, Theater Horizon, Headlong Performance Institute, UArts, IRC and Quintessence. Maria is the co-founder of Applied Mechanics, a company who devises immersive, multi-narrative performance art.   www.mariashaplin.com

Alex Torra he/they (Director, Performer/Creator, Co-Scenic Designer) is a Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Team Sunshine Performance, where he has directed almost all of the company’s major works since its founding in 2010 including The Sincerity Project (#1, #2, #3, and now #5), Your Optimism Is Not Required, ¡BIENVENIDOS BLANCOS! OR WELCOME WHITE PEOPLE!, Henry IV: Your Prince and Mine,  JapanAmerica Wonderwave, Punchkapow, as well as upcoming productions of The Great American Gunshow and OIR MI LLANTO, OR HEAR MY CRY. Alex is also a former Company Member and Associate Artistic Director of two-time Obie Award-winning Pig Iron Theatre Company. As a freelance director, Alex served as Co-Creator and Director of Denice Frohman’s Esto No Tiene Nombre, and Associate Director of Shavon Norris’ Me and Jesus and Prince… In 2018, Torra received a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, and he is a past recipient of fellowships from the Independence Foundation, the Princess Grace Foundation (Grace Le Vine Theater Award), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Drama League, among others. Alex received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, his M.F.A. in Directing from the Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium, and he currently serves as Assistant Professor of Theater at Swarthmore College.

Tenia Weeks (Team Sunshine Intern, Rehearsal Assistant) 12th-grade student and intern/rehearsal assistant for Team Sunshine. Tenia has been an intern for Team Sunshine since the summer of 2024. Tenia is interested in many art forms such as music, painting, and acting. Her strongest art form is dance. She has the passion to be a future dancer and choreographer, creating and sharing stories through dance. Tenia is set to graduate in the summer of 2025 she wants to attend college and major in criminal justice. Tenia enjoys her time as a team sunshine member, sharing her creative thoughts and working with others. Team Sunshine helps her keep her creative dream of performing alive. Outside of performing arts, she is a representative for student government and the National Honors Society she volunteers and gives back to her community through these programs. Tenia plans to continue these acts of giving back and creating art. 

FringeArts Staff + Board

STAFF

Nell Bang-Jensen
CEO and Producing Director

Amy Kurzban
General Manager

Melissa E. Bridge
Director of Finance

Devi Bass
Patron Services and Operations Manager

Mikaela Boone
Interim Programming Director

Amanda Drayton
External Affairs Associate

Melissa Negro
Director of Marketing & Communications

Simon Rabinowitz
Independent Artist Program Manager

Carolyn Schlecker
Senior Adviser Operations

Meg Vennell
Finance & Administrative Associate

Kristen Ruthemeyer Hammer
Director of Production

Kelly Orenshaw
Associate Production Manager

Nick Rahn
Head of Audio

Ayla Taffel
Head Electrician

BOARD

Mark Dichter, Chair
Anthony P. Forte, Vice Chair/Secretary
Lisa P. Young, Treasurer
Donald Baines
David Hoffman
Eve Hyppolite
Virginia G Susini
David Lipson
Tom Lussenhop
Jake Reardonl
Darryl Ridgeway
Theresa Spencer
Karol Wasylyshyn
Paul Wright