Ciera Gardner* (TIFFANY) (they/them) is a local actor, mover, and collaborator in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. They graduated from the University of the Arts ‘16 while also attending the Headlong Performance Institute ‘15. Credits include: Fun Home (New Light Theatre), Peer Gynt (Enchantment Theatre), Barrymore nominated for Outstanding Lead Performance in Wine in the Wilderness (Philadelphia Artist Collective) Richard III (Theatre in the X), Peter and the Starcatcher (Theatre Horizon), The Gap (Azuka Theatre), Coriolanus (Shakespeare in Clark Park).

Sam Rosentrater* (MARGE) (she/her) is a queer artist and has proudly worked as an actor and teaching artist for the last fifteen years. In Philadelphia, she has performed with the Arden Theatre Co (CHARLOTTE’S WEB) and Theatre Horizon, where she was Barrymore nominated for her work in GRAND CONCOURSE. Sam spent over a decade in NYC, developing new work, and has worked across the regions, where some favorite roles include; Della in THE CAKE (Portland Stage Co), Susan B Anthony in THE AGITATORS (Playhouse on Park) and Devon in ELEMENO PEA (Shadowland Stages). On tv, Sam has guest starred on FBI Most Wanted, and can be seen in The Other Two, Harlem, Almost Family, and more. Her most recent film, Breaking Fast with A Coca Cola, premiered at 2023’s South by Southwest. MFA; Wayne State University. Member Actor's Equity and SAG/AFTRA. IG: samrosentrater

Trevor Fayle* (IKE) is so grateful to be back at InterAct for THE CLIMB! He has appeared on stage in The Cherry Orchard (The Wilma Theater); Lifespan of a Fact, Othello, Hapgood, Photograph 51, Arcadia, and Emma (Lantern Theater Company); The Whale, Sing the Body Electric, Lost Girls (Theatre Exile); How to Use a Knife (InterAct Theatre Company). The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged! (Tiny Dynamite); He also is GM for the D&D actual play podcast CriticalFayleDM & the Goons: The Strahdcast! Stick to the trail! 

Claris Park (BELLA) is a Barrymore-nominated actor and theater maker based in Philadelphia. They are thrilled to be joining InterAct on stage again! Select credits include Man of God (InterAct Theatre Company), The Wolves (Boise Contemporary Theater), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Delaware Shakespeare), Among the Dead (Theatre Exile), and The Monster in the Hall (Inis Nua Theatre). She has also developed 100YearsForWhat and The DJZ, which were both produced by the Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists (PAPA) collective. They are a current member of the PAPA Playwrights Project and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown Law.

C.A. Johnson (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright originally from Metairie, Louisiana. Her plays include ALL THE NATALIE PORTMANS (MCC Theater), THIRST (2017 Kilroys List, CATF), THE CLIMB (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), AN AMERICAN FEAST (NYU Playwrights Horizons Theater School), I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW, and SOMEBODY’S BODY. Most recently she was the Tow Playwright in Residence at MCC Theater. She was previously the 2018 P73 Playwriting Fellow, The Lark's 2016-17 Van Lier Fellow, a Dramatists Guild Fellow, a member of The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, A Core Writer at The Playwrights Center, a member of The Civilians R&D Group, , a Sundance/Ucross Fellow and a 2018 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellow. C.A. also has an active career in film and television, with several projects in development, including at ABC Signature, Netflix and New Line. She has written for a number of television series, including projects helmed by Drew Goddard, Marielle Heller, and more.  BA: Smith College MFA: NYU

CA would love to thank everyone at InterAct and this dedicated company for their hard work!

Catharine K Slusar (Director) Is a director, actor, and associate professor of theater. As a director, she has worked at Bryn Mawr College (The Wolves, Mr Burns: A Post Electric Play, Romeo and Juliet: Revisted, among others). She is a member of Actor’s Equity Association and has been performing in Philadelphia since arriving in 1995. A native of Connecticut, she studied theater at Yale and has an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard.  In Philadelphia, InterAct has been a home and she has performed in Eureka Day!,  Black Pearl Sings!, Going to St Ives, Frozen, Missing Link, Drink Me, Bee-Luther Hatchee, Lebensraum, (Barrymore Best Ensemble, and Best Production, Nominee Best Supporting Actress)  Black Russian,  and others. At Theater Exile: Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, (Barrymore Best Actress) Emma in Annapurna, (Barrymore Nominee), Faye in Iron (Barrymore Nominee), Risa in Any Given Monday, and, Linda in Lost Girls; The Arden: all roles in The Syringa Tree, (Barrymore Nominee), Gi in Northeast Local, Hook in Peter Pan, among others.  She’s also performed at Delaware Theater Company, Fringe Arts, The Lantern, People’s Light, Act 2, Shakespeare in Clark Park, and Bristol Riverside.  Outside of Philadelphia, Catharine has acted in NYC, Minneapolis, CT, MI, Russia, and Norway. Catharine is the recipient of The F. Otto Haas Award for Emerging Artists, a Barrymore Award for Best Actress, multiple Barrymore nominations, and an Independence Fellowship. Best of all, she is the mom of remarkable twins Jane and Emory, and wife to Whit MacLaughlin.

Seth Rozin (Producing Artistic Director) co-founded InterAct in 1988 and has directed over 60 productions for InterAct, including Eureka Day, The Great Leap, How to Use a Knife, The Nether, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety, Permanent Collection, It’s All True, Lebensraum, and 6221. He has also directed at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles, Blue Heron & 45th Street Theaters in New York, and across the Philadelphia region. Seth is the recipient of two playwriting fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the National New Play Network’s 2007 Smith Prize, a commission from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, and two Barrymore Award nominations.

He co-founded Philadelphia Scenic Works (PhiladelphiaScenicWorks.org), a nonprofit scenic fabrication shop, and MusiCoLab (MusiCoLab.org), dedicated to the development of new musical theatre works. Seth has twice served as President of the Board of National New Play Network, as well as Philadelphia Artists Collective, Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia and New Paradise Laboratories.

Hunter Smith (Stage Manager) is a Philadelphia based Stage Manager, Production Manager, Props Master, and all around theater lover who is from Medford Lakes, New Jersey. Hunter graduated from Rutgers University in 2019 with concentrations in Stage Management and Light Design. Previous stage management credits are from InterAct Theatre, Azuka Theatre, Passage Theatre Company, Three Oaks Opera, Wolf Performing Arts Center, 24 Hour Plays, Philadelphia Artist Collective, South Camden Theater Company, and the Woodstock Playhouse (50th Anniversary of the Woodstock Concert).

Hunter works partly as an Assistant Stage Manager for Opera Philadelphia and as a Freelance Production Manager for Ensemble Arts. When not working in the arts, he works as the Activities Director of Four Seasons Campground in Pilesgrove, New Jersey!

Natalia De La Torre (Costume Designer) serves as the Costume Shop Manager for the Walnut Street Theater. They are also a freelance costume designer and draper in Philadelphia. Regional work: SETTLEMENTS (Interact Theater Company); CORIOLANUS (Shakespeare in Clark Park); SNOW WHITE (Arden Theater Company); THREE SISTERS TWO (Ego Po Theatre Company); SHITHEADS (Azuka Theater Company). Training: MFA in Production Design, Ohio University. She/Her/They/Theirs. www.nataliadelatorre.com

Michael Long (Projection Designer) does freelance film and theatre work in the Philadelphia area. He graduated from Drexel University with a B.S. in Film and Video production. Projection design credits include: Next Stop Broadway (China tour), Rock and Roll Man (New World Stages, associate designer), Torch Song (1812 Productions), This Is the Week That Is (1812 Productions), The 2019 Barrymore Awards, Tommy and Me (Theatre Exile), Lifespan of a Fact (Lantern), Eureka Day (InterAct). His media design for Lifespan of a Fact was nominated for a 2023 Barrymore Award. For more information, visit MichaelLongfilms.com

Shannon Zura (Sound Designer) is always excited to be back at InterAct where she most recently provided the lighting design for American Fast. Other recent designs for InterAct include the lighting design for This Bitter Earth and the sound designs for 72 Miles to Go… and Sensitive Guys. Shannon is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Design and Technology at Ursinus College as well as a professional lighting, sound, and scenic designer. Credits include designs for InterAct Theatre Co., Arden Theatre Co., Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium, Lantern Theater Co., Azuka Theatre, Portland Stage Co., Opera Maine, Delaware Theatre Co., and Stonington Opera House Arts, among others. She collaborated with Christensen Lighting on an award-winning lighting design for the Weiss Energy Hall at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Shannon holds an M.F.A. from Temple University.

Annie Zulick (Assistant Sound Designer) is a rising senior majoring in Theater and Media and Communication Studies at Ursinus College. At Ursinus, Annie assisted with the sound design for Small Mouth Sounds, designed the lights for two dance pieces for departmental dance concerts, and worked as the  projection design assistant for Victims of Duty. Also a longtime performer, Annie can next been seen on stage in Shakespeare in Clark Park’s production of As You Like It this summer. Annie is thrilled to be assisting with the sound design for The Climb and would like to thank all those that support the arts.

Maria Shaplin (Lighting Designer) is a Philadelphia-based lighting designer who received her MFA from Temple University. She has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology from Hampshire College.  Maria designs for many Philadelphia-based companies including:  Applied Mechanics, The Riot Group, Swim Pony Performing Arts, InterAct, The Arden, The Wilma, New Paradise Laboratories, The Berserker Residents, and 1812. Maria is the co-founder of Applied Mechanics, a company who devises immersive, multi-narrative performance art. Maria is the recipient of a 2019 Pew Fellowship in the Arts. www.mariashaplin.com

Tyler Rocio Ecoña (Production Assistant) is so excited to work with InterAct as a season apprentice! As a playwright, they have been a resident at the Kennedy Center's Playwright Discovery Competition, a Silver Medal recipient at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and a Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Fellow at the University of the Arts. Ecoña is a member of The Dramatists Guild, Latinx Playwrights' Circle, and Latinx in Animation. They have worked as a Dramaturg, Script Supervisor, and DEI consultant with a BFA in Directing, Playwriting, and Production from The University of the Arts. You can find them on NPX or their website.

YI-HSUAN (Ant) MA (Set Designer)

Ant is an international scenic and production designer, now based in New York and DC. Ant's approach to design is interdisciplinary and poetic. Her theatrical installation work, Samuel at The Tank, has been nominated for a Notable Effects Show at the Hewes Design Awards. Off-Broadway selected credits: Usus(Clubbed Thumb) at Wild Project; Push Party(The Hearth) at TheaterLab; Blood Work(National Black Theater) at Chelsea Factory; Smart at Ensemble Studio Theater; The Slow Dance at 59E59; The Great Divide at HERE ART; Robin and Me at Theater Row; Bloom Bloom Pow at ART/NY. Outside of NYC: The Climb at Interact Theater Company(PA); You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown at Weston Theater(VT), Much Ado About Nothing at Opera Arts House(ME), and As You Like It at Catskill Mountain(NY). Associate/Assistant credit: The Ally at Public Theatre; The Best We Could at MTC; Wolf Play at MCC Theater. Check her works: ant-setdesign.com

Noelle Diane Johnson (Intimacy Coordinator) (she/they) is an actor, director, and educator based in Philadelphia, PA. Noelle is the founder and owner of Artists Heal®, a company that helps institutions, organizations, and universities implement Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility strategies through artistic practice and process. Noelle holds a BA in Theatre from Temple University and an MA and Certificate in DEI Strategy from Villanova University. Intimacy Direction credits: Choir Boy, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Redwood, Ensemble Studio Theatre, A Raisin in the Sun, Bristol Riverside. IG: @noelledianejohnson/ @artistsheal. 

Learn more about Noelle and her work at both noelledianejohnson.com and artistsheal.org.

Jo Vito Ramirez (Prop Coordinator) is an actor, musician, producer, and a designer of props and furniture.  He is a literal and figurative clown creating original artwork in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  His continual mission is to decolonize the imagination and nurture a more just and creative world here in the shadow of empire.

Please check out my website here for more examples of hia work.

Philadelphia Scenic Works (Scenic Fabrication) are the nation's only independent, non-profit (501c3) scene shop. They work with arts organizations all over the Greater Philadelphia area to build projects that advance their missions. At the same time, they are invested in building a healthy, sustainable workforce, and innovative resource sharing.

Actors' Equity Association (“Equity"), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors' Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions.

Equity is governed by its own members through an elected Council, representing principal actors, chorus actors and stage managers living in three regions: Eastern, Central and Western. Members at large participate in Equity’s governance through a system of Regional Boards and committees. Equity has 28 designated Geographically Based Communities, metropolitan areas with a concentration of more than 100 members.