PLAYWRIGHT & DIRECTOR

Manuel Ortiz is a queer Latin director, playwright, and producer. He has directed more than 20 plays, ten of which were original works, including Pichanga (published in Spain, 2019). His shows have been presented in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, México and the US. Ortiz’s path in production started when he worked for the International Animation Festival CHILEMONOS, as a producer in charge of international attendees. In 2014, Ortiz founded the Corredor Latinoamericano de Teatro, an international collaborative platform that works to bring Latin American theater to new audiences across the world.  In 2019, Manuel moved to New York, where he has directed two shows for American theater companies and staged a full production of his play American Dream. Ortiz is currently based in Brooklyn, and is an Associate Producer at Mercury Store where he teaches theater directing for the Lab and Technique program.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR & CREATIVE PRODUCER

Rachel Shuey is a Brooklyn-based producer who is originally from New Orleans. Rachel has brought innovative projects to life across a broad range of artistic disciplines – from the Ukrainian Cultural Festival with Razom for Ukraine to a festival honoring composer Gustav Mahler at the New York Philharmonic and much more. In New York, she has produced work at Ars Nova’s ANT Fest, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, LAByrinth Theater, and Circle in the Square. She has also worked in film – In France Michelle is a Man’s Name (Grand Jury Prize at Outfest, 2020, Slamdance, 2021.) Rachel received her MFA in Theater Management from Yale School of Drama. @rshuey

EXECUTIVE/ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, TEATRO LATEA

Miguel Trelles is a Puerto Rican visual artist with an extensive exhibition record across the Americas, Europe and China.  Trelles works in the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the Clemente Soto Velez Cultural and Educational Center, where he serves as the Executive/Artistic Director of Teatro LATEA.  While at LATEA Trelles has reactivated the storied LATEA theater company founded by Tamayo, Landrieu, Garcia and Gomez by empowering 5 programming platforms:  stage, screen, music, word, and art.

Miguel Trelles is the co-founder, co-producer and head visual arts curator of the Borimix Puerto Rico Fest (originated with Teatro SEA @ The Clemente) as well as Teatro LATEA’S eMeLe-K, “An Afro-Latin thing for Martin Luther King”.  An adjunct professor at Baruch College, Trelles has taught Studio Art at Hunter College and Brown University as well as Art History at Fairley Dickinson University and in several cities throughout China.  The work of Miguel Trelles has been exhibited in Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Lima, San Juan, Santo Domingo, Havana, Tegucigalpa, Buenos Aires, Paris, and Chengdu.

HAMLET

Francisco Arcila is a NY-based artist born to Colombian immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego where he double majored in Theater and Economics. Francisco has a love for performing in new plays as well as classics. Recent credits include: The Duchess of Malfi (Stag and Lion Theatre Co.) and Stories Will Not Mend This Broken World (Brick Aux). He is a member of The Mercury Store acting company, a founding member of Oakland Theater Project (formerly Ubuntu Theater Project), and a proud member of WrenchWorks. Francisco also plays guitar and once worked at a bicycle store in Bogotá. @cisco_kyd

OPHELIA

Nefesh Cordero Pino, a native of Puerto Rico, is an accomplished artist. She attended the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras, where she double majored in Theater and Public Relations. She further pursued her passion for acting by obtaining an M.F.A from Yale School of Drama. Nefesh is deeply immersed in art, dance, collaborative projects, and poetry. Notably, she made a guest appearance in the final season of NBC’s New Amsterdam. Her diverse repertoire includes outstanding performances in productions such as Manning by Benjamin Benn, You Will Get Sick by Noah Diaz, Blood Wedding, Bakkhai, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, The Maids, and Hand to God.

CLAUDIUS

Jesse B Koehler is a New York City based actor, playwright, and ensemble collaborator from Santa Fe, NM. He has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Sarah Lawrence College, and has trained abroad at The Moscow Art Theatre School, and The British American Drama Academy. NYC performing credits include La MaMa ETC, Dixon Place, New Ohio Theatre, The Collapsable Hole, Target Margin,Theater in Asylum, and Hook & Eye Theater Company. He has been a member of the Mercury Store Acting Company since its genesis in Fall 2021. His original plays have been produced at SoHo Playhouse and the Minnesota Fringe Festival. Some of Jesse’s particular theatrical joys are stories that play within magical realism, and an ensemble driven devising process. Jessebkoehler.com @jb_koehler

HORATIO

John is so grateful to be a part of this company of artists. Off-Broadway:  A Taste of Honey (Pearl Theatre Company, directed by Austin Pendleton); Way to Heaven (Repertorio Español, NYTimes Critics’ Pick). Regional: The Inspector (Yale Rep); Lord of the Flies (Barrington Stage Company); An Inspector Calls (Pioneer Theatre Company); This is Our Youth (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre); The History Boys (Palm Beach Dramaworks); Shakespeare’s R&J (Cygnet Theatre); The Way of the World (Franklin Stage). Select YSD credits: Cock (Yale Cabaret); In His Hands; The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Shoot Her, Shooter; shakespeare’s as u like it. John voices all characters in the new cartoon Nepo Babies which can be seen playing before Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme at both locations of NiteHawk Cinemas. His film Parallel won the 48hr London Sci-Fi Film Festival and was recently screened at the East Village Film Festival. He is the recipient of the Oliver Thorndike Acting Prize and a Jerome L. Greene Fellow at Yale. John is a proud member of the Actors Center Company. Training: YSD, UNCSA. @johnevansreese

SET, SOUND & PROJECTIONS DESIGNER

Attilio Rigotti is a Chilean theatremaker, technology artist and videogame designer. He was an Associate Artist with Theater Mitu, performing on the international tour of Juárez, and their sold-out run of Death of a Salesman at BAM. Along with Orsolya Szanthó, Attilio co-founded the company GLITCH, focused on new forms of storytelling that seamlessly combine digital and physical mediums. The company’s designs have been featured in productions such as Macbeth (Broadway, 2022) and White Girl in Danger (Off-Broadway), earning nominations for Outstanding Projection Design at the Drama Desk and Helen Hayes Awards for the latter. Attilio has designed for Kaki King, Martha Redbone, City Lyric Opera, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, theatreC, LGPAC, NYU Tisch, Long Island University, Toronto Fringe, and Gamiotics Studios, and has been recognized by the New York Times, Vulture, American Theatre Magazine and the BroadwayWorld Awards. Internationally, he directed and designed the acclaimed production of Matilda: The Musical in the Dominican Republic, which was hailed "as the greatest theatrical feat of 2024 and recent years". He was a NYTW 2050 Artist Fellow for 2022-2023 and has been awarded the NY City Artists Corps Grant, the Wasserman Scholar Award, and the CYSTEM Award.

LIGHTING DESIGNER & TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Miguel Valderrama is a full time lecturer of the Entertainment Technology department at CITY TECH, where he coordinates the Lighting track. His professional work experience ranges from the design of the lights for several theatre productions to lighting for live music concerts. His work also focuses on a constant exploration of lighting as a medium in different and changing environments and unconventional spaces where a standard infrastructure for lighting production is not available. He has been an active Theatrical lighting designer in New York City for the last fifteen years. He has also worked as the director of lighting for the Brick Celebrate Brooklyn Festival 2012- 2018, Photoville 2015- 2023 and Teatro Stage Fest 2009-12. His lighting design work also includes lighting for Video, film, fashion and a wide variety of corporate events.

ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNER & ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Hesler Garcia is a lighting designer, programmer, and electrician specializing in live entertainment. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Entertainment Technology with a concentration in light from New York City College of Technology, where he developed a strong foundation in the technical tools and creative strategies used in live events.

Known for his ability to create deep, intense moods through lighting design, Hesler brings a cinematic quality to theatrical environments while delivering bright, dynamic, and high-energy looks for concerts and large-scale shows. His work is rooted in storytelling through light, using color, movement, and timing to shape the audience’s emotional experience. Hesler has also worked at Teatro Latea as their in house lighting technician and designer for shows and live music. Some of his notable work includes New York Fashion week Spring 2025, where his bold and innovative lighting contributed to a standout visual atmosphere.

COSTUME DESIGNER & VISUAL ART/BRANDING

Paco May is an artist and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. His work is inspired by pop culture, fashion, R&B singers, and all manner of gay shit.

He works with many leaders and performers in the New York drag community, who are both his muses and most vital supporters.

He has illustrated for The Cut for NYMag, TODAY, Estee Lauder, and BET Hip Hop Awards

He has exhibited in New York City, Los Angeles, and Palm Springs, and had his first solo show, NIGHT LIGHTS, in Brooklyn in 2023.

Represented by Club 10

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER

Viktorija Mickute is a New York-based producer, director, and documentary filmmaker originally from Lithuania. Her work spans continents and includes Virtual Reality films, interactive installations, and cross-platform media projects focused on human rights, climate justice, and digital equity. As a senior producer at AJ Contrast, Al Jazeera’s media innovation studio, she led award-winning teams and helped pioneer immersive storytelling formats, earning three Emmy nominations. Her work has screened at Sundance, Sheffield Doc Fest, and numerous other film festivals. Mickute is currently directing a feature documentary film on the impact of Latin American telenovela narratives on women in Eastern Europe. Her theater directing credits include The Real Real (2023, The Wooster Group), exploring autonomy and agency in a content-obsessed world. Mickute is also a former Fulbright scholar, a Mercury Store theater directing fellow, and once performed with the Vilnius-based theater group Dramateurs. @VikVicariously

ASSOCIATE SET, SOUND & PROJECTIONS DESIGNER

Orsolya Szantho is a Hungarian multidisciplinary artist based in New York City, working across filmmaking, projections for live performance, and interactive design. Recent shows as associate designer include Left on Tenth (Broadway), The Connector (MCC), Emigre (NY Phil), White Girl in Danger (Second Stage). Her work has also appeared at institutions like The Kennedy Center, The Longacre Theatre, the Prague Quadrennial, Bayreuther Festspiele, Juilliard, the Hungarian National Gallery, MIT, Harvard TDM, and Gamiotics Studios. Her VFX and editing work has been featured internationally at festivals including SXSW, Sundance, Cannes, New Hampshire Film Festival, and Imagine Science Film Festival. She holds a BA in Theater and Film & New Media from NYU and an MSc in Creative Computing from the University of the Arts London. She co-founded GLITCH, an arts company creating new forms of storytelling at the intersection of live performance and interactive digital experiences.

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Adriana Lea Plaza is a Bolivian-born theatre artist, actor, and director based in New York City. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing in Spanish from New York University, where she was a full-time faculty member. Her work blends ritual, poetry, and performance to explore identity, memory, and the body on stage. Adriana’s training includes the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, the Centro de Investigación Cinematográfica in Buenos Aires, and the British American Drama Academy at Oxford University. Acting credits include A Streetcar Named Desire (Blanche), As You Like It (Rosalind), Rabbit Hole (Becca), Richard III (Margaret), and Love and Information (Randy). Her original one-woman show A Barbie’s House was developed at NYU Tisch under the direction of Anna Deavere Smith. As a director, she led multiple award-winning productions in Bolivia—including Rumors, Almost, Maine, and The Crucible—garnering over 16 national theatre awards.

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER & PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Antonino Giordano is a senior at New York City College of Technology, majoring in Entertainment Technology. He specializes in stage management, video programming, and backstage operations. With hands-on experience in student productions, including stage managing Bindlestiff Circus at his school and designing video elements/clips on Avid… he brings both creativity and technical skill to every project.

He holds an OSHA 30 certification and is committed to maintaining safety and professionalism in live event environments. Passionate about how technology enhances performance, Antonino aims to continue growing in the industry through collaborative, real-world experiences.