Advisory Board
Jess Clark
Jess Clark is currently the editor and project director of Reimagine, a national journal of social and justice. He was the editor and art director of RP&E Journal at Urban Habitat (2005-13). He has been creating community-based media since the 1980s when he conducted workshops for the homeless, low-income immigrants, seniors, and youth at San Francisco's Tenderloin Recreation and Education Center (TREC). Clarke was a California Arts Council artist-in-residence at Media Alliance (1999-2001) and editor of their award-winning publication MediaFile (1998-2004). In 2006, he led the SOEX Youth Advisory Board’s Street Works project, which created posters featured at 16 kiosk locations around San Francisco. Clarke is also the founding editor of Freedom Voices and the principal worker-owner of Red Star Black Rose design and production.
Jess Clark is currently the editor and project director of Reimagine, a national journal of social and justice. He was the editor and art director of RP&E Journal at Urban Habitat (2005-13). He has been creating community-based media since the 1980s when he conducted workshops for the homeless, low-income immigrants, seniors, and youth at San Francisco's Tenderloin Recreation and Education Center (TREC). Clarke was a California Arts Council artist-in-residence at Media Alliance (1999-2001) and editor of their award-winning publication MediaFile (1998-2004). In 2006, he led the SOEX Youth Advisory Board’s Street Works project, which created posters featured at 16 kiosk locations around San Francisco. Clarke is also the founding editor of Freedom Voices and the principal worker-owner of Red Star Black Rose design and production.
Catherine Diamond
Catherine Diamond, the playwright/director of the Kinnari Ecological Theatre Project (KETEP) has been directing theatre productions and writing about Asian theatre for over twenty years. She is a professor of theatre and ecological literature at Soochow University in Taipei and was a fellow at the International Research Center for Interweaving Theatre Cultures in Berlin (2013-2014). She is the author of Communities of Imagination: Contemporary Southeast Asian Theatres (2012), and Sringara Tales (1996), a collection of short stories about Asian dancers. She has participated in Bread and Puppet Theatre projects dealing with environmental problems and was formerly the director of the English-language Phoenix Theatre in Taipei. She initiated KETEP to contribute to the rich folkloric traditions of Southeast Asia and to promote environmental protection awareness as a source for new dramatic writing.
Catherine Diamond, the playwright/director of the Kinnari Ecological Theatre Project (KETEP) has been directing theatre productions and writing about Asian theatre for over twenty years. She is a professor of theatre and ecological literature at Soochow University in Taipei and was a fellow at the International Research Center for Interweaving Theatre Cultures in Berlin (2013-2014). She is the author of Communities of Imagination: Contemporary Southeast Asian Theatres (2012), and Sringara Tales (1996), a collection of short stories about Asian dancers. She has participated in Bread and Puppet Theatre projects dealing with environmental problems and was formerly the director of the English-language Phoenix Theatre in Taipei. She initiated KETEP to contribute to the rich folkloric traditions of Southeast Asia and to promote environmental protection awareness as a source for new dramatic writing.
Scott Munson
Scott lives in San Jose, California with his wife, Béatrice, and 22 Koi fish. He was born and raised in Los Angeles in a family of actors and torch singers. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English at UCLA and has also studied law at Harvard University and attended the W.B. Yeats School for Anglo-Irish culture. His plays have been performed in California, Washington, Texas and New York. In the Bay Area, Scott’s work has been seen at City LightsTheater, Playwrights’ FoundationFestival, Custom Made Theater and Ross Valley Players, to mention just a few. His work has received several awards, including Academy of American Poets Young Poets Prize, the Center Theater Ensemble of Chicago International Playwriting Competition and the Southwest Theatre Association New Play Contest and recognition as a finalist in Ashland New Plays Festival, Lark Theater, Long Beach Playhouse, National Repertory Theater Foundation, among others. Based on his background in law, theater, journalism, and instructional design, he sees his primary function as helping people live the richest fullest lives possible and helping them be denied their rightful role in defining their own lives. He is extremely excited to participate in this project!
Scott lives in San Jose, California with his wife, Béatrice, and 22 Koi fish. He was born and raised in Los Angeles in a family of actors and torch singers. He received his Bachelor of Arts in English at UCLA and has also studied law at Harvard University and attended the W.B. Yeats School for Anglo-Irish culture. His plays have been performed in California, Washington, Texas and New York. In the Bay Area, Scott’s work has been seen at City LightsTheater, Playwrights’ FoundationFestival, Custom Made Theater and Ross Valley Players, to mention just a few. His work has received several awards, including Academy of American Poets Young Poets Prize, the Center Theater Ensemble of Chicago International Playwriting Competition and the Southwest Theatre Association New Play Contest and recognition as a finalist in Ashland New Plays Festival, Lark Theater, Long Beach Playhouse, National Repertory Theater Foundation, among others. Based on his background in law, theater, journalism, and instructional design, he sees his primary function as helping people live the richest fullest lives possible and helping them be denied their rightful role in defining their own lives. He is extremely excited to participate in this project!
Bridgette Portman
Bridgette is a writer based in Fremont, CA. Dozens of her plays have been read or produced in the Bay Area, across the country, and overseas. She is past president of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco and a member of the Pear Writers’ Guild and the Dramatists’ Guild. She has been a finalist for the TITAN award, the Bay Area Playwrights' Festival, the PlayPenn Conference, the New Dramatists' playwriting residency, and more. She holds a PhD in political science (UC Irvine, 2011), as well as an MFA from Spalding University (2018) and has long had an interest in politics, including policy related to both the environment and social justice. Her undergraduate honors thesis was on Australian environmental policy. As part of her graduate work, she traveled to and helped research the 2009 US Social Forum, which included movements for environmental protection, workers’ rights, racial and gender equality, and other progressive causes. She is excited about participating in a project that unites her passions for playwriting, social justice and sustainability. www.bridgetteduttaportman.com.
Bridgette is a writer based in Fremont, CA. Dozens of her plays have been read or produced in the Bay Area, across the country, and overseas. She is past president of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco and a member of the Pear Writers’ Guild and the Dramatists’ Guild. She has been a finalist for the TITAN award, the Bay Area Playwrights' Festival, the PlayPenn Conference, the New Dramatists' playwriting residency, and more. She holds a PhD in political science (UC Irvine, 2011), as well as an MFA from Spalding University (2018) and has long had an interest in politics, including policy related to both the environment and social justice. Her undergraduate honors thesis was on Australian environmental policy. As part of her graduate work, she traveled to and helped research the 2009 US Social Forum, which included movements for environmental protection, workers’ rights, racial and gender equality, and other progressive causes. She is excited about participating in a project that unites her passions for playwriting, social justice and sustainability. www.bridgetteduttaportman.com.
Radhika Rao
Radhika Rao is an actor, improviser, storyteller, director, writer, and arts educator/consultant. She has performed theatre in the United States and abroad. She has an Ed.D from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and specializes in creating curriculum that integrates theatre into diverse learning situations for various populations and organizations. Her work is steeped deeply in respect for life and social justice. Her collaborations include work with American Conservatory Theatre, Cutting Ball Theatre, Young Audiences of Northern California, Leela Improv, Enacte, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Eth-Noh-Tec Storytelling, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Larkin St Youth Services, Life Theatre Services, Green Art Workshop, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, Samuel Merritt University, Stanford University, Adyen, and HCL America. More at radhikarao.org.
Radhika Rao is an actor, improviser, storyteller, director, writer, and arts educator/consultant. She has performed theatre in the United States and abroad. She has an Ed.D from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and specializes in creating curriculum that integrates theatre into diverse learning situations for various populations and organizations. Her work is steeped deeply in respect for life and social justice. Her collaborations include work with American Conservatory Theatre, Cutting Ball Theatre, Young Audiences of Northern California, Leela Improv, Enacte, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Eth-Noh-Tec Storytelling, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Larkin St Youth Services, Life Theatre Services, Green Art Workshop, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, Samuel Merritt University, Stanford University, Adyen, and HCL America. More at radhikarao.org.
Sydney Schwindt
Sydney is an actor, fight director, educator, and illustrator in the Bay Area as well as a Resident Artist and the Climate Justice Advocate with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. She believes the arts serve as a leader in cultural change. We have the unique opportunity to envision the future both for better or for worse and to make that world a reality on the stage. Sydney is the stage combat instructor at American Conservatory Theatre’s Graduate School and has provided fight director for ACT, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Awesome Theatre, and many others. Favorite acting credits include Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Perspective Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, Berkeley Rep, and The Hampton Theatre Company. Sydney received her BFA in acting from the Hartt School of Music, Dance, and Theatre. She has a graduate certificate in Applied Shakespeare from Colorado University Boulder and is working on another grad certificate in Outdoor Recreation Economy. She also has trained with Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo Italy, SF Clown Conservatory, and the New York Roving Classical Commedia Company. www.sydney-schwindt.com www.trueedgeart.com
Sydney is an actor, fight director, educator, and illustrator in the Bay Area as well as a Resident Artist and the Climate Justice Advocate with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. She believes the arts serve as a leader in cultural change. We have the unique opportunity to envision the future both for better or for worse and to make that world a reality on the stage. Sydney is the stage combat instructor at American Conservatory Theatre’s Graduate School and has provided fight director for ACT, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Awesome Theatre, and many others. Favorite acting credits include Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Perspective Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, Berkeley Rep, and The Hampton Theatre Company. Sydney received her BFA in acting from the Hartt School of Music, Dance, and Theatre. She has a graduate certificate in Applied Shakespeare from Colorado University Boulder and is working on another grad certificate in Outdoor Recreation Economy. She also has trained with Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo Italy, SF Clown Conservatory, and the New York Roving Classical Commedia Company. www.sydney-schwindt.com www.trueedgeart.com