CREW Bios

KATIE KUAN-YU CHEN (Associate Sound Designer)is a Boston-based sound designer and mixer. Her recent credits include You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!  (Company One); Our Friend Lyssa/Kayfabe (Fresh Ink); Little Women (ASP); The Ceremony (Chuang Stage); Learning How to Read by Moonlight (Chuang Stage/Company One); Did You Eat? (Chuang Stage/Seoulful Productions); Crowns (Arrow Street Arts); Driving in Circles (Boston Playwright’s Theatre); The Understudy (Hub Theatre Company); Pinocchio: The Musical (Emerson Colonial Theatre); Yerma, Orlando (Boston University). She is originally from Taiwan and is an alum of Boston University (BFA). @katiekychen (she/her)

MARGARET CLARK (Fight Director) is thrilled to return to SpeakEasy, having previously worked on The Prom and Heroes of the Fourth Turning. Local fight and intimacy credits include Seven Guitars and As You Like It (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Black Superhero Magic Mama (Company One/ART); John Deserves to Die (Fresh Ink); La Tragédie de Carmen (Boston Opera Collective); Sweeney Todd (Moonbox); Our Dear Dead Drug Lord (Off The Grid, World Premiere). Education: Emerson College. When not choreographing, Margaret can be found acting throughout the Greater Boston Area or recording her rpg podcast, Undiscovered Countries. Special thanks to Tyler. (she/her)

ANNA DRUMMOND (Sound Designer) is an award-winning, Boston-based, freelance sound designer working with theatre companies, educational institutions, and artistic collectives. Anna’s work has been seen and heard at Chuang Stage, Company One, Front Porch, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Fresh Ink, Akeem’s Alchemy, and Central Square Theater; and in collaboration with collegiate institutions at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Northeastern, UMass Boston, and Brandeis. Anna has won two Elliot Norton Awards for Best Design and Outstanding Sound Design for their work on SpeakEasy’s BLKS and Huntington’s K-I-S-S-I-N-G, respectively. They hold a degree from Emerson in Sound Design & Audio Post-Production. (they/them)

AMANDA FALLON (Lighting Designer) returns to SpeakEasy having previously designed Cost of Living, English, and Laughs in Spanish. They’re an educator, director, and visual artist with love for new work and devising. Following the completion of an MFA in Lighting Design at Boston University, they’ve continued to design throughout New England for professional and educational institutions including Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Central Square Theater, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, and Wheelock Family Theatre, among others. (they/she)

SHIRA HELENA GITLIN (Intimacy Choreographer) is a trans nonbinary director, gender consultant, intimacy director/choreographer, dramaturg, and musical theatre enthusiast. They are a frequent SpeakEasy collaborator and served as SpeakEasy’s 2019-2020 Artistic Fellow. Select intimacy credits include: The Great Reveal (Lyric Stage); The Cake (Walpole Footlighters); Pippin, Argonautika, Noises Off! (Brandeis University); The Interrobangers (Company One); Legally Blonde (Moonbox Productions); The Rocky Horror Show (Central Square Theater); and Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare & Company). Shira has trained with both Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE) and Intimacy Directors & Coordinators (IDC). shirahelenagitlin.com (they/them) 

ROSS GRAY* (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to return to SpeakEasy having previously worked on Pru Payne, Cost of Living, The Band’s Visit, The Prom, and English. Ross is a graduate of Suffolk University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. Ross’s recent credits include Two Strangers and The Odyssey (American Repertory Theatre); Don’t Eat the Mangoes, Toni Stone, A Prayer for the French Republic, and Stand Up if You’re Here Tonight (The Huntington). Ross gives many thanks to his friends and family for all of their support and love, especially Danny. (he/him)

NATHAN HOPKINS (Assistant Director/Dramaturg) is a director and actor thrilled to be a part of Boston’s theatre community. He has previously worked with The Empty Space Theatre at Babson College on Ada, Everybody, and The Adaptations. He currently attends Mass Bay Community College, and was an Arts Administration intern with SpeakEasy Stage Company in Spring 2025. (he/him)

ELIZABETH YVETTE RAMIREZ* (Production Stage Manager) is so happy to return to SpeakEasy after working on Lizard Boy, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, A Strange Loop, Songs for a New World, and subbing in on Fairview! Elizabeth is very active throughout New England and has worked as a stage manager with the American Repertory Theater, The Huntington, North Shore Music Theatre, City Ballet of Boston, Merrimack Rep, Boston Early Music Festival, Hanover Theater Rep, Lyric Stage, Front Porch Arts Collective, Central Square Theater, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Greater Boston Stage Company, Reagle Music Theater, and more. When not backstage, they advise student stage managers at Wellesley College and serve as a National Councilor for Actors’ Equity. (they/them) 

REBECCA SCHNEEBAUM (Dialect Coach) is an actor and Designated Linklater Voice Teacher. She has worked across the Northeast with young artists at institutions including Emerson College, Boston University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston College, Tufts University, and Merrimack College. Her credits also include Front Porch Arts Collective, The Huntington, Central Square Theater, Bedlam, Wheelock Family Theatre, Hartford Stage, and Actors’ Shakespeare Project. Rebecca holds an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College and a BFA from Emerson College. She was designated as a Linklater Voice Teacher by Kristin Linklater in 2017. (she/her)

CHRISTOPHER& JUSTIN SWADER** (Scenic Designers)SpeakEasy: Pru Payne, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Significant Other. Regional credits include designs at The Old Globe, Hartford Stage, Children’s Theatre Company, Goodspeed Musicals, Signature Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Two River Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Everyman Theatre, People’s Light, Miami New Drama, Resident Ensemble Players at UD, Dorset Theatre Festival, Weston Theater Company. NYC: Primary Stages, Red Bull Theater, Fiasco Theater, Tectonic Theater Project, Mint Theater, The New Victory Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem, York Theatre Company, Trusty Sidekick, Mason Holdings. www.cjswaderdesign.com (he/him)

LILA WEST (Costume Designer) is delighted to make her SpeakEasy debut with this incredible team of artists! She’s been working in theatre professionally and recreationally for the majority of her life and wouldn’t trade the pin pricks and thread-covered clothes for anything. She’s spent the past decade as a costume technician and designer for many theatre companies in the Greater Boston area and is currently the Assistant Costume Shop Manager for Tufts University and Costume Shop Supervisor/Designer for Belmont High School’s Performing Arts program. Thank you always to her village of supportive family, friends, and loving husband. (she/her) 

JULIA WONKKA (Props Designer)is a props and scenic designer based in the Boston area. Previous credits include – SpeakEasy Stage: Primary Trust (Assoc. Scenic Designer). Lyric Stage: A Sherlock Carol (Props Artisan). Umbrella Stage: The Counter (Scenic/Props Designer), Tick, Tick…Boom!, The Spitfire Grill, The Minutes (Props/Set Dressing). Central Square Theater: The Hound of the Baskervilles, Your Town (Scenic/Props Designer), The Moderate, Silent Sky, Her Portmanteau, Beyond Words, Machine Learning, Perestroika (Props Artisan). Spindrift Theater: My Mama and the Full Scale Invasion (Scenic Designer). Moonbox: Guts, Legally Blonde (Props Designer). Hub Theatre: Tartuffe (Props Master). (she/her)