Who We Are

Staff

Marla Burkholder (Co-Artistic Director) gained classical training in the Master of Fine Arts program at Temple University, where she had the opportunity to dabble in everything from Juliet to Hamlet.  A member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional stage actors, she has acted locally with the Philadelphia Theater Company, the Wilma, InterAct Theatre Company, Peoples Light and Theatre, Inis Nua, Gretna Theatre, and Brat Productions, among others.  A favorite role was Hero in Much Ado About Nothing at the Lantern Theater.  Marla also has a particular interest in introducing youth and children to Shakespeare and teaches acting for various schools and theaters in the Philadelphia community.  This interest was formed while doing Shakespeare workshops for youth with Missoula Children's Theatre, Missoula, Montana. 

Maria Möller (Co-Artistic Director) is an actor, director and writer who received her M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University. In Philadelphia, she has performed with companies such as Interact Theatre Company, Azuka Theatre Collective, Workshop for Potential Movement, and the Leah Stein Dance Company. Directorial work includes A Midsummer Night's Dream and As You Like It (SCP), Mango Chutney on Mesa Street (Asian Arts Initiative/Swarthmore College), Schiller’s Mary Stuart (Clothmother Productions, Chicago), Vaclav Havel’s Protest (Tinfish Theatre, Chicago) and Sakuntala, an ensemble-developed adaptation of a story from The Mahabharata (Bailiwick Directors’ Festival and the Chicago Actors Ensemble). Her original solo work includes House to House, The Tourist Police, Puja at Nako and How Do I Disappear? and has been presented by the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe, the CEC, the University City Arts League, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, and Chicago's Rhinoceros Theatre Festival.

Jess Conda (Education Coordinator) has been working as a teaching artist since receiving her BFA in Acting from Arcadia University in 2003. She teaches locally with People's Light and Theatre Company, and has completed residency programs with People's Light at Collingdale Community School in Philadelphia and Delaware Valley Friends School in Paoli. Jess has also taught creative dramatics at Montgomery Theater and helped develop their Young Actors' Company, a year-long program where high school students create an original play with a Philadelphia playwright. From 2002-2005, Jess was on staff at Arcadia University's Camp Shakespeare, where she directed seven one-hour Shakespearean productions with elementary, junior high and high school students. Jess is also a Philadelphia-based actress, and has been seen with Shakespeare in Clark Park in, The Comedy of Errors and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Board of Directors

David Bradley, President
Marla Burkholder, Treasurer
Whitney Estrin
John Frisbee
Michael Froelich, Secretary
Maria Möller
Wendy Staton
Imanni Wilkes