Notes from the Field Bios
Creative Team
Anna Deavere Smith
Creator & Playwright
Jackie Davis
She/Her
Director
Kristen Mun*
She/Her
Stage Manager
Kristen Mun-Van Noy is a Stage Manager who has been working in Portland, OR for the past 10 years. She started her stage management journey at Southern Oregon University where she received a BFA in Theatre Arts and at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she was the stage management intern on Don Quixote (2009) and Throne of Blood (2010). In Portland Kristen has stage managed for Portland Center Stage, Profile Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, and Oregon Children’s Theatre. Outside of Portland Kristen has worked at Idaho Repertory Theatre, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Denver Center of Performing Arts. When Kristen is not stage managing she is a Fight and Intimacy choreographer.
Instagram: @krsmun
Sarah Kindler Crone
She/Her
Scenic Designer
Sarah Kindler Crone is excited to be designing her first set for Portland Playhouse. She has been painting sets in the Portland area for 10 years, most recently on Laika Studios upcoming stop-motion animation feature, Wildwood. Sarah’s previous scenic designs include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (dir. Beth Harper) with Portland’s Actors Conservatory, Pericles Wet (dir. Michael Mendelson) with Portland Shakespeare Project, and Dear Galileo (dir. Stephanie Mulligan) with Playwrights West. Sarah is an east-coast transplant from Massachusetts, and moved to Portland after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in illustration. She sometimes shares art on instagram @sarahcrone.art.
Wanda Walden
She/Her
Costume Designer
Wanda is an award winning Costume Designer for over 35 years. In 1981 Wanda created a new concept “Retro-Spect Productions ” A Theatrical Modeling Company. Stepping back into the past and reminiscing yesteryear through A Potpourri of Fashion, music and Dance. In 1985 Wanda launched an exciting career in Acting and Costuming. The rest is “LA History” Portland Playhouse: Pipeline, Crowns, How I Learned What I Learned; Profile Theatre: The Oldest Profession, Mother Courage, Ruined, Fires in the Mirror, The Secretaries; ART: Skeleton Crew, We Are Proud to Present, It’s a Wonderful Life, An Octaroon; OCT: The Journal of Ben Uchida; In This Corner, Cassius Clay. Media Rites/Coho: Brothers Paranormal. Vanport Mosaic: Soul’d, Martha Bakes, Left Hook, Cottonwood in the Flood; Passin Art Theatre: Black Nativity, Two Trains Running, The Gospel of Loving Kindness.
Erica Lauren Maholmes
She/Her
Lighting Designer
ERICA LAUREN MAHOLMES is a Kansas City-based USA829 lighting designer.
Design Credits include: Revolution (A Red Orchid Theatre), The Inferior Sex (Trinity Repertory Co.), Sense and Sensibility (Idaho Shakespeare Festival & Great Lakes Theater), Jelly’s Last Jam (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Three Little Birds (First Stage Children’s Theatre), Matt & Ben (Penobscot Theatre Company), Amerikin (Alley Theatre)
She made her Broadway debut as the Assistant Lighting Designer of The Notebook: The Musical and Associate Lighting Designer of Mary Jane (Manhattan Theatre Club).
Erica has designed at theaters across the country including: Cleveland Play House, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, A Red Orchid Theatre, Trinity Rep, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, etc.
Erica is an alumna of Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas (2016 & 2021), West Chester University (BA), and Illinois State University (MFA). She is a proud member of Black Theatre Network, Design Action, and is an Artistic Board member of Cat’s Cradle Theatre.
Sumi Wu
She/Her
Projections Designer
Sumi is delighted to be back with Portland Playhouse. She created videos on demand for Portland Playhouse productions including Thurgood, Joy Comes in the Mourning, and What I Learned in Paris. She designed projections for In Mulieribus’ choral presentation Horae, featuring Mt Angel Abbey’s collection of the Book of the Hours. She created costume design and set co-design for OrpheusPDX’s production of the contemporary opera The Rose Elf. She is resident videographer and properties artist for Oregon Ballet Theatre, and is a set painter for a wide range of opera, theatre, and ballet productions. Sumi is a sculptor with public art commissions throughout Washington and Oregon. Her large-scale cast glass and stainless steel sculpture Watershed will be installed in Central Point, Oregon in June 2025. www.sumiwu.com
Instagram: @wu.sumi
Saibi Khalsa
She/Her
Sound Designer, Sound & Video Engineer
Thyra Hartshorn
She/Her
Director of Production
Thyra is a production manager, stage manager and technical director. Her training includes an MFA in production and design with a concentration in stage management from the University of California, Irvine, as well as almost two decades in ballet production. Thyra has toured and worked with companies around the world including San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi Ballet. Locally she’s also worked with Oregon Ballet Theatre, Profile Theatre, White Bird, Portland Taiko and Northwest Dance Project. Thyra has taught high school stagecraft as well as college-level stage management locally.
Ryann St Julien
He/They
Properties Manager & Assistant Carpenter
Danny Bryck
He/Him
Dialect Coach
Danny Bryck is an actor, playwright, and dialect and accent coach based in New York. He has coached theatre and film productions in New York and throughout New England, and works privately with actors, musicians, and other performers and professionals around the world. Danny is honored to contribute to this production as a dialect coach, as Anna Deveare Smith’s work has been such an inspiration to his own as a documentary playwright. Danny’s interview-based plays include No Room for Wishing, a solo show written from interviews during the Occupy movement, The River and the Sea, based on interviews in Palestine/Israel, and cement love nothing else, about a police shooting in Boston, also starring Ramona Lisa Alexander. He holds a BFA from the Boston University School of Theatre and is a member of Actors Equity Association. www.dannybryckcoaching.com
Keela Johnson She/Her
Cultural Competency Consultant
Keela Johnson (she/her) is a cultural consultant who has dedicated over eight years to working with Portland Playhouse and impacting the community. Her work on numerous productions has created spaces of confidence, accountability, cultural understanding, and connectivity. Inspired by her work with PPH, Keela established a Capstone Course at Portland State University, where she is an instructor. The course is titled Community Healing and Theater. Keela also develops activities to foster connection and resolve conflict, facilitating TalkBacks with the audience and artists. She aims to provide spaces of connectivity and community, encouraging everyone to strive for loving-kindness and empathy. She believes that the arts are a platform for illuminating the human experience and fostering connections of the human spirit. According to Keela, we own our stories, which enable us to connect, and we have the right to share them without apology.
Meagan Dilworth
She/Her
Dramaturg
Meagan Dilworth is a Theatre Educator, Actor, and Choreographer. She is thrilled to work with Portland Playhouse as dramaturg for this production of Notes from the Field. She has worked at multiple theater companies as an educator and actor: Actors Express, OutFront Theatre Company, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company and Out of Hand Theater (Atlanta), ArtsEmerson and Lyric Stage (Boston), Trinity Repertory (Providence), Chicago Children’s Theater, Congo Square Theater, Court Theater, and Pegasus Theatre (Chicago). She holds a B.A. in Theatre & Performance Studies from Kennesaw State University and M.A. in Theatre Education from Emerson College. Special thanks to Ramona and Jackie for believing in me!
Voni Kengla
She/Her
Education Coordinator
Joshua Yoon
Head Electrician
Brent Hall
He/Him
Head Carpenter
Ceil Pope+
She/Her
Production Apprentice
Ciel is a theater artist with a passion for performance and movement. After graduating from Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, Ciel moved back to the West Coast to earn her BA in theater from Willamette University. Very much a language and Shakespeare lover, some of her favorite recent roles include Malvolia in Twelfth Night (Willamette University) and Rosalind in As You Like It (Saltfire Theatre).
Ciel would like to thank her family and loved ones for their support, encouragement, and inspiration to be more musical!
Aariyana Gould+
She/They
Assistant to the Director & Production Apprentic
Aari Gould is from Salem, New Jersey, and is an alumni of Wilkes University. She is so happy to be a part of the Portland Playhouse family as an acting apprentice for the next 10 months! Some of their favorite roles include Ralph in Lord of the Flies, Amy in Little Women, and Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky. You can find out more about Aari at https://aariyanagould00.wixsite.com/aariyanagould
Instagram: @aariyana.g
Cast
Ramona Lisa Alexander*
She/Her
All Roles
Ramona Lisa Alexander (she/her/hers, performer of all roles in Notes from the Field) is a recipient of the Elliot Norton Award for Best Actress for her work in Black Superhero Magic Mama (CompanyOne, Boston, Ma.) Noteworthy credits: Pipeline, The Brother/Sister Plays, King Hedley II (Portland Playhouse, Drammy Award), black odyssey boston (Central Square Theatre, Eliot Norton, Best Ensemble) Intimate Apparel (W.H.A.T), 103 Within the Veil (Company One, IRNE Award), In the Continuum, Joe Turner’s … (Up You Might Race Theatre Company, IRNE Award), Barbecue, Saturday Night Sunday Morning (The Lyric Stage), Romeo and Juliet (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company) and The Boys From Syracuse (with Boston Landmarks Orchestra), Peter and the Wolf (BYSO). Other regional performance credits include: Postcards From Earth (Guthrie, X11), Seven Guitars (Artists Repertory, Portland Or.), The Royale (Merrimack Rep/Capital Rep, Albany, NY), To Kill a Mockingbird (Montana Repertory, National Tour), A Christmas Carol (Berkshire Theatre Group), In the Blood (Zeitgeist Stage Company, Boston, Ma.), Milk Like Sugar, Breathe Boom (Huntington Theatre Company), Arabian Nights, Harriet Jacobs, Ti-Jean & His Brothers, A Moon for the Misbegotten (Central Square Theater, Cambridge, Ma.). International: Reggae Sun Splash Music Festival in Jamaica. Film: “Knock Around Kids” (adekoje-filmwerks). Ramona Lisa currently serves as Portland Playhouse’s Community Programs & Associate Artistic Director.
Lauren Modica Solloway
She/Her
U/S All Roles
Lauren is thrilled to be working with Jackie, Ramona, and the entire Portland Playhouse team on this production. A Portland native, Lauren was last seen in Coriolanus at Portland Center Stage, as well as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Remnants (US Premiere) with The Oregon Symphony. Other credits include four seasons with The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, Widow in All’s Well that Ends Well, Judge Silence in Henry IV part II, Glendower in Henry IV part I‘ and others), Cook in Fingersmith (American Repertory Theatre) five seasons with The Second City’s Twist Your Dickens, Mrs. Jennings in Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility, Mary Bennett in Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley, Rose Riordan’s Our Town, JAW and others at Portland Center Stage. Other local work includes Artists Repertory Theatre, Profile Theatre, and others. Gratitude to all involved, and love to Pete and her family.
Kennedy Verrett
He/Him
Musician
Kennedy is a composer and musician whose music conveys beauty through emotional melodies and captivating rhythms. His diverse skills allow him to work effortlessly in concert halls, outdoor environments, motion pictures, and TV soundtracks. Many consider his music hauntingly beautiful, appealing to those seeking unique yet familiar sounds. Verrett’s concert repertoire features engaging pieces that often address social and political topics. Some works explore new ways to interact with sound and nature. SoundCheckEarth, in Joshua Tree National Park, and Soundcheck: Gardens of Golden Gate Park showcase Kennedy’s love for science and nature, fostering conversations that help us reconnect with sound in our world. Change for a Dollar, and Black Lives Are Magic, encourage discussions about social change and progress.
Kennedy’s musicianship is expressed using solo piano, saxophone, didgeridoo, flutes, percussion, and and assortment of custom instruments. He regularly performs a solo show along the West Coast, with Be Present Art Group, and The Cosmic Tones Research Trio. Kennedy has also served as Music director for Passing Strange at Portland Playhouse and Co-Music Director, for Portland Playhouse’s version of Amelie.
Kennedy organizes workshops that show how we can use our natural musical abilities to understand the world better. Sound Sense was created in Portland, OR, and is offered in summer camps and workshops in Portland, Joshua Tree, CA, and Southern Oregon.
Since 2006, Kennedy has collaborated with top composers and musicians in Hollywood, offering services
like conducting, MIDI transcription, orchestration, arrangements, and logistics. His work appears in films
such as When In Rome (Disney), Love Happens (Universal Pictures), Untraceable (Lakeshore), and Drag
Me to Hell (Universal).
He has received multiple awards for his composing and community work, including Best Score for “No
Joke” (2023), “The Grover Complex” (2012), a Joshua Award (2023), the BMI Scholar Award for Film
Composition, the William H. Taylor Memorial Award, and the Cal State Fullerton Composition Award.
Additionally, he has achieved high ratings in various music and conducting competitions. Kennedy was
Artist-in-Residence at the Headwater’s Waterline Theater in Portland, Oregon, and
Composer-in-Residence at Lou Harrison House Music, Arts, and Ecology in Joshua Tree, CA
(2020-2022), and Joshua Tree National Park (2022).
Brian Weaver
He/Him
Onstage Helper
David Levine
He/Him
Onstage Helper
