Land Acknowledgement

The Play Company is based in New York City. Our office in Manhattan, as well as the rehearsal, performance and other spaces where we work in NYC, are located on the Lenapehoking homeland of the Lenape People.

Lenapehoking is the Lenape name for Lenape land, which spans Western Connecticut to Eastern Pennsylvania, and the Hudson Valley to Delaware, with Manhattan at the center. We recognize that this land was forcibly taken and sovereignty was never ceded. We acknowledge the genocide and displacement of indigenous peoples.

The Lenape Diaspora is dispersed throughout the U.S. and Canada, and includes five recognized nations in Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Ontario. We honour the past, present, and future generations of the Lenape, and all indigenous people, who have stewarded the land, water, and air we occupy. We call upon the people who inhabit the Lenapehoking today to join us in learning this history, celebrating the present Lenape community, and becoming better stewards of Earth.

We also acknowledge the African people who were enslaved, and whose labor built Manhattan during the colonial era and beyond. We acknowledge the harm inflicted upon the indigenous communities and people of color across the country. We recognize that this public acknowledgement is only one step in the ongoing process of honoring and supporting these communities.

Robert G. Bradshaw

Executive Producer
rbradshaw@playco.org

Rob (he/him/his) is an arts administrator, educator, and director originally from New Jersey. He originally joined PlayCo in 2013 as General Manager and stepped into the Managing Director role in 2016. His early career was spent developing and directing new plays in various festivals across the northeast during which he was recognized for excellence in directing by the Kennedy Center-American College Theatre Festival. This work led to producing plays including his time as Associate Artistic Director of the inaugural season of the Paramount Theatre’s grand re-opening in Asbury Park, NJ in 2007. Rob expanded his work into arts education including his tenure as Company Manager & Associate Director of The American Place Theatre’s Literature to Life, a national arts literacy program for underserved communities. He is also an adjunct professor and guest lecturer at several local universities. Rob holds a masters degree in arts management from Montclair State University.

Carolina Đỗ

Community Engagement Manager
cdo@playco.org

Carolina Đỗ (she/her/hers) is the Community Engagement Manager at PlayCo. She is an actor, producer, writer and proud descendant of Vietnamese freedom fighters . She’s a community organizer and advocate for art that facilitates healing in marginalized communities. Co-founder and co-Producing Artistic Leader of The Sống Collective.

Steven Gillenwater

Business Manager
sgillenwater@playco.org

Steven Gillenwater (he/him/his) is an actor, director and theatre educator who also works as an accountant, Controller and Business Manager. Originally from California, he has a B.A. and Graduate Certificate in Theatre from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a M.S in Educational Theatre from the City College of New York. Steven previously worked for The Subjective Theatre Company, University of Oxford, and Facilities USA/Guard Services USA. Previously, his accounting /administrative work was always in industries outside the arts, and he is excited to be bringing the two worlds together now with PlayCo!

Kate Loewald

Founding Producer
kloewald@playco.org

Kate Loewald (she/her/hers) co-created The Play Company with her late partners, Mike Ockrent and Jack Temchin. Prior to launching PlayCo, from 1990-99 she was Director of Play Development at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and also directed their Writers in Performance series for two seasons. Before MTC, Kate worked for producer Margo Lion, developing and producing shows on and off Broadway including George C. Wolfe’s Jelly’s Last Jam and Martha Clarke’s The Garden of Earthly Delights. She was a dramaturg at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference 2000-2003. In addition to her work with PlayCo, she was the Guest Artistic Director for the Signature Theatre Company in the 2004/2005 season. Kate is an adjunct faculty member of the Columbia University School of the Arts, and has also taught at The New School, Fordham College and NYU.

Mateo Rodriguez-Hurtado

Producing Associate
mhurtado@playco.org

Mateo Rodriguez-Hurtado (they/elle) (@_laserpipe) is an NYC-based comedian, variety show host, writer, co-founder of the Brown Theatre Collective, and Performance Studies chameleon from Chicago. Recently, Mateo appeared in LOVE AROUND THE BLOCK, at Hermés, directed by Jason Eagan with music by Dave Molloy, book by Isaac Oliver. Film: a to be announced feature written & directed by Ophir Ariel. They’ve been seen (perf)orming throughout the big apple at rambunctious spaces including Ars Nova, The Kitchen, HERE Arts Center, Chateau de 420 Marcy, Mayday Space, Triple Crown, Queens Brewery, Littlefield, The PIT, ART/NY, Edge Theater @ The Point, and The Footlight, among other spaces. MA: NYU Performance Studies. BFA Theatre Studies & BA Latina/o/x Studies: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Olivia Sargent

Interim Development Associate
osargent@playco.org

Olivia Sargent (she/her/hers) is the Interim Development Associate at PlayCo. She is currently working toward a Master of Science degree in Nonprofit Management from the University of Florida. Originally from Florida, Olivia is an actor, performer, and administrator who has worked with the Tampa Repertory Theatre as an artistic associate and as a development manager. As a performer, she can be seen in various regional productions in Florida and New York.

Annie Jin Wang

Associate Director for Programming & Communications
awang@playco.org

Annie Jin Wang (she/her/hers) is the Associate Director for Programming & Communications at PlayCo. She is a first-generation Chinese-American dramaturg, writer, and designer whose body of work investigates constructs of race, gender, and citizenship; she also serves as the Artistic Associate at Theater Mu. Annie holds an MFA from Columbia University, and BAs from Wellesley College.

Kayla Zanakis

Marketing Assistant
kzanakis@playco.org

Kayla Zanakis (she/her) is a Domini-Greek actor, activist, producer, and theatre-maker. BFA: NYU Tisch. Recently, Kayla was an Emerging Leader in Theatre Fellow at Ars Nova, working in their Marketing department. Kayla has acted around the city and halfway around the world. Some of her favorite moments include singing at Radio City Music Hall, and performing 6 different characters in “Richard III” at the Shanghai Theatre Institute Winter Festival. Kayla always aims to tell stories that empower multi-racial experiences. Kayla is an activist. During the fall of 2017, Kayla coordinated with the Mayor of New York City to send hundreds of first-aid supplies to Puerto Rico to aid those affected by Hurricane Maria. This inspired her to create a three-tier activism organization called Artists in Action, dedicated to giving back to the community and supporting domestic and international needs. Since then, she has coordinated drives with The Bowery Mission and Helping Women Period.

Blake Zidell & Associates

Press
blake@blakezidell.com

Trip Cullman

Associate Artist

Charlene Adhiambo (she/her/hers) is a Kenyan American writer currently based in her hometown of Atlanta. Her one-act play Guardian was read at Saudade Theatre’s Re-Descobrimentos Festival in July 2020. Her creative work spans many mediums including (but not limited to), screenplay, stage play, fiction, essay, poetry, and song. While the containers and even genres of her work change, constant themes are mother- and daughterhood, black girl- and womanhood, friendship, romance, and grief. She writes in a space somewhere between Ray Bradbury and Toni Morrison, two of her favorite authors. When not writing, she is listening to R&B music, teaching herself guitar, or doing yoga. She received her B.A. in Creative Writing and English Literature from Columbia University.

Wesley Ahn (he/him/his) is a writer, actor, and a student at Drew University, where he is pursuing dramaturgy. He is also a member of an improv troupe, an acapella group, student government, and has been certified to teach yoga. He was the Artistic and Literary intern at PlayCo in the summer of 2021.

Taylor Gaines (she/her/hers) is a translator and arts worker who has been affiliated with PlayCo since her time as a Literary Fellow in 2017. With a bachelors in Theatre and French (University of Virginia) and a masters in Cultural Translation (American University of Paris), she has worked as a theatre translator, general manager of a bilingual theatrical production, English instructor, and literary consultant. She is the recipient of grants from the FACE Foundation and ARTCENA, and her translations have received public readings at the Martin Segal Theatre Center at CUNY, the International Play Reading Festival at Columbia University, and productions at Cherry Arts Space and Carnegie Mellon University. Taylor is currently a Cultural Attachée with the Québec Government Office in New York.

Ana Graham (she/her/hers) is a director, actor, translator and costume designer born in Mexico City, where she studied drama at the Núcleo de Estudios Teatrales. She is Artistic Producer and Founder of the Mexico-based Por Piedad Teatro where she has developed most of her work. She is also a member of the adviser committee for the US/MEXICO exchange program at The Lark and has been a recipient of Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts performers grant. She splits her time producing work in Mexico City and New York City. Ana and collaborator Antonio Vega partnered with The Play Company to present Ettore Scola’s Working On a Special Day in New York at 59E59 (2013) and The Duchamp Syndrome at The Flea (2015). 

Antonio Vega (he/him/his) is a director, actor, playwright and translator born in Guadalajara, Jalisco where he graduated from ETX Jalisco School of Theater. He has also trained with Teatro Estudio (TEES) in Guadalajara; the Mexican Improvisation League in Mexico City; Odin Teatret in Holstebro, Denmark; American Institute of Comedy, HB Studio in NYC, and the Actors Center in London. Vega became the Por Piedad Teatro’s artistic director in 2012. In 2013 Vega and collaborator Ana Graham partnered with The Play Company to present Ettore Scola’s Working On a Special Day. In 2015 he created, co-directed and starred in The Duchamp Syndrome. In Mexico he directed Terror by Ferdinand Von Schirach, and co-directed Anne Washburn’s El Ensayo (10 Out of 12) with Ana Graham, as well as Winter Solstice by Roland Schimmelpfennig.