People

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 (she/her/hers) is the Associate Director for Community Engagement 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.

[BROADWAY] Linda Vista (u/s), Grand Horizons (u/s). [NY THEATER] PlayCo: Is It Supposed To Last? ; Adjusted Realists: The Refugees; Yangtze Rep: Stacey In The States, 410[Gone] [REGIONAL] Everyman Theatre: Dinner and Cake (world premiere) [PLAYWRITING] 2022-2023 Soho Rep Writer-Director Lab, 2022 Orchard Project Greenhouse Lab Resident Artist; JACK 2021 Residency; buried ruins: 2022 Princess Grace Semi-Finalist, 2022 Bushwick Starr Finalist.

Durra Leung 柯杜華 (he/him/his) is a Guangzhou-born, NYC-based multilingual theatre maker. Before joining PlayCo, Durra has worked in producing for Williamstown Theatre Festival, PROTOTYPE Festival, and many independent projects. As a composer and writer, he has written musicals, operas, scores for film and dance, as well as plays and essays. His artistic practice bridges cultural, linguistic, and stylistic boundaries, often centering Chinese identity, immigrant experience, and queerness. www.durraleung.com

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. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Columbia University School of the Arts, and has also taught The New School, Fordham College and NYU. She is a fellow at The Witness Institute.

Olivia Sargent (she/her/hers) is the Development Manager at PlayCo. She holds a Master of Science in Family, Youth & Community Sciences; Concentration in Nonprofit Leadership 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; some favorites include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Gentleman's Guide, and I and You.

Shuowen Echo Shen (she/her) is an MFA candidate in Dramaturgy at Columbia University, and holds BAs from Wesleyan University. Her practice spans dramaturgy, directing, and curatorial work, with a particular focus on East Asian diasporic narratives, memory, and the intersections of space and language. She is especially interested in performance in its expanded forms—including documentary theatre, experimental work, and movement-based practices. Recent credits include A Fable for Now, Wolfcrush, and I’m Gonna Stop Pretending (That I Didn’t Break Your Heart).

Sher Jamal Stone (he/him/his) is the Communications & Community Manager at PlayCo. He is a Pakistani-American writer and communications strategist, with a focus in social justice advocacy and storytelling. As Communications Co-lead for the YouthNPower campaign, Sher Jamal trained and equipped young people who had lived through the NYC foster care system to retell their stories while avoiding tokenizing or retraumatizing language. Sher Jamal’s work has been featured in publications such as Milk, Red Pepper Magazine, USA Today, and Genius. When he isn’t in office, Sher Jamal enjoys sharing in writing workshops, developing memes, and curating hyper-specific music playlists. Sher Jamal studied English and Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

Carmine D. Boccuzzi is a partner based in Cleary Gottlieb’s New York office. His litigation and arbitration practice covers a broad range of complex civil litigation matters.

He focuses on international disputes, including those involving foreign states and state-owned entities, as well as disputes involving the capital markets and antitrust issues.

Carmine joined the firm in 1994 and became partner in 2003.

He earned his J.D. from Yale University and his B.A. from Yale University.

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. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Columbia University School of the Arts, and has also taught The New School, Fordham College and NYU. She is a fellow at The Witness Institute.

Trip Cullman's most recent credits include: The Rose Tattoo (Broadway, 2019), Choir Boy (Broadway, 2019) and Lobby Hero (Broadway, 2018). He previously directed Adam Bock's The Drunken City and Sarah Schulman's Manic Flight Reaction at Playwrights Horizons. Other New York credits include Adam Bock's Swimming in the Shallows, Leslye Headland's Bachelorette and Terrence McNally's Some Men (Second Stage); Lloyd Suh's American Hwangap, Robert Farquhar's Bad Jazz, Roland Schimmelpfennig's Arabian Night and Brooke Berman's Smashing (The Play Company); Gina Gionfriddo's US Drag (stageFARM); Bert V. Royal's Dog Sees God (The Century Center); Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's Dark Matters (Rattlestick Theater); Jonathan Tolin's The Last Sunday in June (Century Center and Rattlestick Theater); Glen Berger's The Wooden Breeks (MCC Theater); Paul Weitz's Roulette (EST); Rinne Groff's Of a White Christmas (Clubbed Thumb); Gary Sunshine's Sweetness and Brooke Berman's Sam and Lucy (both at Summer Play Festival '04) and The Wau Wau Sisters (Ars Nova). Regional credits include the World Premiere of Lloyd Suh's American Hwangap (Magic Theatre), Six Degrees of Separation (Old Globe) the World Premiere of Richard Greenberg's The Injured Party at South Coast Rep, Keith Huff's A Steady Rain and The Petersons Project (both at New York Stage and Film), Lauren Weedman's Rash (The Empty Space, Seattle), John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation (The Old Globe, San Diego). Training: Yale School of Drama.

Victoria Detres is a Puerto Rican and Albanian producer born and raised in New York City. She is passionate about building a platform for contemporary theatre’s innovative voices, particularly those of the global majority. Victoria, while highlighting these voices, also aims to dismantle the structures that do not allow for access, and restructure for equity and accessibility. Victoria is a graduate from the New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Producing Fellowship for the 2018-2019 season. Formerly, Victoria has worked as the Producing Assistant at Octopus Theatricals and Associate Producer at Broadway & Beyond Theatricals. Currently, Victoria is the Project Coordinator for RISE Theatre, a program of Maestra Music. This program proudly launched the RISE Theatre Directory in partnership with the Miranda Family Fund. Victoria was an inaugural member of the Shubert Organization’s Artistic Circle Initiative and a recipient of the “The Stacey Mindich ‘Go Work in Theater' Award”, Lilly Awards 2021. She is currently a member of SOCIETY Theatre Collective and a founding member of the re-launch of Theatrical Happy Hour. Additional credits include THE KITE RUNNER (The Hayes Theatre, Associate Producer), SOCIETY Theatre Collective’s productions of Mona Mansour’s BEGINNING DAYS OF TRUE JUBILATION and Emily Zemba’s THE STRANGERS CAME TODAY (The New Ohio, Line Producer), BRICKS (Weeksville Heritage Center, Lead Producer) and Broken Box Mime Theatre’s BKBX Kids!ASKS WHY and TAKE SHAPE (Producer for Audience Design). Learn more at www.victoriadetres.com.

Aya Ogawa is a Tokyo-born, Brooklyn-based theater-maker and translator whose work centers women/non-binary perspectives and utilizes the stage to explore cultural identity and the immigrant experience. Most recently, they wrote, directed, and performed in The Nosebleed (Japan Society with The Chocolate Factory Theater, 2021; Lincoln Center Theater, 2022; Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 2023) for which they were awarded an Obie Award. They have translated numerous plays by contemporary Japanese playwrights including Toshiki Okada, Satoko Ichihara and Yudai Kamisato. Resident playwright, New Dramatists; Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants for Artists; President’s Award in Performing Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. ayaogawa.com

Ayo Renée Schwartz (they/she) is an Afro-Indigenous Two-Spirit with over 10 years of experience in theatre operations, general management, and human resources. They are a theatre practitioner who has worked with artists and activists with contemporary practices encompassing visual art, performance art, dance and theatre. Ayo serves as a guest speaker and consults theatre companies in the UK and the US on institutional and collective responsibility regarding Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppressive work within the creative sector. Ayo is the Head of People at the National Theatre of Scotland. In addition to working at NTS, Ayo serves as a Board member of two Scottish theatre charities Company of Wolves and Independent Arts Projects.

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) was the Artistic and Literary Intern at PlayCo for the summer of 2021. He 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 a capella group, student government, and has been certified to teach yoga.

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 (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. In 2012 Graham was appointed Mexico’s Art, Culture and Tourism Ambassador by former President Felipe Calderón. Aiming to expand the activities of her theatre company and to open international opportunities for Mexican theatre artists, she moved to New York in 2009. 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). In 2018 she was a resident artist at Berkeley Repertory Ground Floor program. In Mexico she recently directed Samuel Beckett’s El Final (The End), Maria Milisavljevic’s Abismo (Abyss) and co-directed with Antonio Vega El Ensayo (10 Out of 12) by Anne Washburn and Winter Solstice by Roland Schimmelpfennig. As an actor she has performed in more than twenty plays, including Woody Allen’s Interiors and Terror by Ferdinand Von Schirach. In 2005 she received an Ariel nomination as Best Actress for her role in the movie Mezcal directed by Ignacio Ortiz. She is currently collaborating with New York playwright Andy Bragen on the development of a new play called Summit and rehearsing William Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra where she has been cast as Anthony on an all-women Mexican production.

Sophie Sagan-Gutherz (they/them) is an artist who schleps around NYC occasionally donning a butterflied-covered cane. They are dedicated to new work development and have been a script reader and evaluator for Faultline Theatre, The Orchard Project, The Williamstown Theatre Festival and Parity Productions. They scored a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch where they graduated with an Honors Thesis in Theatre Studies.

Anuka Sethi is an India-born, Dubai-raised, and New York City-based actor, writer, producer & model. A recent grad from NYU Tisch, Anuka uses her art as a way to connect with her roots since she grew up a third-culture kid and is passionate about creating work and space for South Asian artists. Recent acting credits include GIRLHOOD (Columbia MFA Playwriting), immersive musical Love Around The Block (by Dave Malloy for Hermès) and award-winning short film Hide & Seek (premiered at the London Indian Film Festival). She is also a proud Nine Muses Lab alumni where she worked directly under founder Bryce Dallas Howard. As a producer, she has worked with Live & In Color, Boomerang Theatre, Dixon Place & The Brick.

Antonio Vega (Author, Director, Actor, Set Designer) is a theatre artist born in Guadalajara where he graduated from ETX Jalisco School of Theater. He continued his training in Mexico, London and NYC. In 2013 Vega and collaborator Ana Graham partnered with PlayCo to present Ettore Scola’s Working On a Special Day. In 2015 he created, co-directed and starred in The Duchamp Syndrome. His most recent collaboration with PlayCo was Django in Pain which he wrote and directed.

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.

Carolina Đỗ (she/her/hers) is the Associate Director for Community Engagement 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.

[BROADWAY] Linda Vista (u/s), Grand Horizons (u/s). [NY THEATER] PlayCo: Is It Supposed To Last? ; Adjusted Realists: The Refugees; Yangtze Rep: Stacey In The States, 410[Gone] [REGIONAL] Everyman Theatre: Dinner and Cake (world premiere) [PLAYWRITING] 2022-2023 Soho Rep Writer-Director Lab, 2022 Orchard Project Greenhouse Lab Resident Artist; JACK 2021 Residency; buried ruins: 2022 Princess Grace Semi-Finalist, 2022 Bushwick Starr Finalist.

Ugo Chukwu (Actor) Most recently seen as Cord Elam in the Broadway National Tour of Oklahoma! Other credits include What To Send Up When It Goes Down (Playwrights Horizons), Do Your Feel Anger? (Vineyard Theater), [Porto] (WP Theater/Bushwick Starr), Today is my Birthday (P73) and Lunch Bunch (Clubbed Thumb). Regional: Ripcord (Huntington Theater) and Adventure Quest (Edinburgh Fringe). TV/Film: Seasoned, Inventing Anna, The Path, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Late Late Night with James Corden. He has also appeared in commercials for Spectrum Mobile. Ugo is also a teaching artist with the New Victory theater. @ugolessinsta.

Victoria Detres is a producer dedicated to building a platform for contemporary theatre’s innovative voices, particularly those of the global majority. While supporting these artists, Victoria aims to dismantle the structures that do not allow for access, and restructure for equity and accessibility.

Ayo Renée Schwartz (they/she) is an Afro-Indigenous Two-Spirit with over 10 years of experience in theatre operations, general management, and human resources. They are a theatre practitioner who has worked with artists and activists with contemporary practices encompassing visual art, performance art, dance and theatre. Ayo serves as a guest speaker and consults theatre companies in the UK and the US on institutional and collective responsibility regarding Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppressive work within the creative sector. Ayo is the Head of People at the National Theatre of Scotland. In addition to working at NTS, Ayo serves as a Board member of two Scottish theatre charities Company of Wolves and Independent Arts Projects.

Stitch Bukowski is an almost 5-year-old German Shepherd/Great Pyrenees mix, originally from Dallas, TX. At 7 months old, Stitch was rescued by Hearts and Bones Rescue and transported to New York City to live his best life. When not patrolling the neighborhood for pets and buttrubs, Stitch loves to nap on his West Elm couch, beg for treats, and woof at friends from the window. He is a former park ranger at Saratoga Park in Bed-Stuy and is now the King of Bay Ridge. 

Miko Akturk-Stone is a black-and-white tabby cat (canonically from Japan) who works full time as a heated, weighted pillow and miscalibrated alarm clock. Some of her favorite activities include laying on the TV remote and scampering toward the sound of a tin can being opened. Miko has dedicated her life toward advocating for her owners to work from home always, and demands to be fed now.

Phoebe is a 5-year-old kitty girl who was found (in a box, in a mattress, in a dumpster in Orlando, Florida) in 2019, and rescued at 5 days old by Central FL Fosters / Southon Rescue. Since then she has lived a lavish life, has lived in three states, gone on many plane and U-haul trips, and even gone to college (BS in Applied Physics, Minor in Women's Studies.) When not in gargoyle mode, Phoebe enjoys soliciting treats, playing with springs, trash, and her fish taco toy, and watching TV. (@centralflfosters)