STAFF

MARYA SEA KAMINSKI (Artistic Director) is honored to co-lead Pittsburgh Public Theater. She came to Pittsburgh after four years as the Associate Artistic Director at Seattle Repertory Theatre. One of the highlights of her tenure there was spearheading a collaboration with New York’s Public Theater and Dallas Theatre Center to create Public Works Seattle. This initiative was based on long-term, authentic partnerships between regional theaters and local non-profits and designed to make theater of, by, and for the people. Earlier in her career, Marya co-founded the Washington Ensemble Theatre and served as Co-Artistic Director there for five years, leading season planning and new play development. She has worked as a director, writer, producer and actor and is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Actors’ Equity Association, and the Society of Authors and Dramatic Composers. Marya has taught and lectured on Theater at Hollins University, the University of Washington, and at Cornish College of the Arts, where she was awarded the Drama Department’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She has also been honored with the Genius Award in Theater from the Seattle newsweekly, The Stranger, and has been recognized as an Artist of the Year by Seattle Magazine. Marya holds a BA in English and Theatre Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Washington’s School of Drama.

SHAUNDA McDILL (Managing Director) is honored to co-lead Pittsburgh Public Theater. Shaunda has nearly two decades of arts management and nonprofit leadership experience. She previously worked with The Heinz Endowments since 2017 as program officer for arts and culture, where she worked to promote the strength and vitality of a suite of Pittsburgh-based artists and arts. She also co-managed the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh initiative, which received a $2 million dollar grant from novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in 2021. Additionally, Shaunda contributed to and helped found Just Arts, the foundation’s first cross-programmatic social justice initiative, and the Arts|Equity|Reimagined fund, aimed at providing an informed, equitable, and actionable response to the needs of the local arts community during and beyond the coronavirus pandemic. McDill has worked for theater companies across the country including The Goodman Theatre of Chicago, Second Stage Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, and Cornerstone Theater Company. With experience spanning dramaturgy, directing, producing, and playwriting, she also has worked as a publicist for Blake Zidell and Associates, a Brooklyn-based public relations firm representing artists, arts institutions, and festivals. In 2006, she founded DEMASKUS (www.demaskus.com), a national theater collective currently participating in the inaugural B.U.I.L.D. residency at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center supported by the Richard King Mellon Foundation. As an individual artist, McDill worked in residence with Quantum Theatre as part of the company’s inaugural InQubator class. Shaunda has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, where she studied under Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson, was directed by Ntozake Shange, and instructed by Augusto Boal. She also holds an MFA in theater management from Yale University’s School of Drama (David Geffen School of Drama). 

Brian Pope, Casting & Literary Director
Justin Emeka, Resident Director
Demeatria Boccella, Artist-in-Residence
José Pérez IV, Resident Fight & Intimacy Director
Mora V. Harris, Resident Playwright
Brian Pope, Resident Playwright
Kelly Trumbull, Resident Playwright
Alec Silberblatt, Resident Playwright
TJ Young, Resident Playwright

Administration & Finance

Stewart Urist, Director of Finance & Administration
Lisha Logan, Director of Human Resources
Jim Overton, Finance Manager
Anna Skeels, AP and AR Associate
Fred Noel, Systems Coordinator
Meleana Felton, Talent & Equity Manager
Lindsay Barr, Executive Assistance & Board Liaison
Morgan Overton, Worforce Director

Development

Devan Mercurio, Senior Manager of Development
Milton Melendez, Development Associate

Education & Engagement

Parag S. Gohel, Director of Education & Engagement
Jalina McClarin, Community Engagement Manager
Jenny Malarkey, Education Manager
Dominique Briggs, Summer Camp Education Consultant

House Management

Jamie Dawson, House Manager
Shawn Israel, Assistant House Manager
Jay Chapman, Accessibility Concierge
Alana Moye, Accessibility Concierge

Marketing

Aja Jones, Director of Marketing & Communications
Christie Jay Snyder, Marketing & Communication Content Coordinator
Lucy Chen, Graphic Designer
Ben Geibel, Digital Content Manager

Patron Services

Fred Frances, Associate Director of Patron Services
Ali Mohammed Srour, Patron Services Data Associate

Production

Monica Bowin, Director of Production & Operations
Trent Wolfred, Associate Director of Operations
Savannah Merrill, Company Manager/Covid Safety Manager
Rob McLeod, Technical Director
Lisa Harshbarger, Scene Shop Manager
Drew Palajsa, Head Shop Carpenter
Sean DeKonty, Shop Carpenter
Joe Paski, Shop Carpenter
Shannon Seibel, Shop Carpenter
Celeste Parrendo, Charge Scenic Artist
Adalgisa Bosonetto-Schwerin, Assistant Charge Artist
Gay Kahkonen, Properties Head
Kelly Yann, Properties Coordinator
Venise St. Pierre, Costume Shop Head
Christyann Trbovich, Costume Shop Coordinator
Kyle Huber, Costume Shop Associate
Joshua Beumer, Head Electrician
Zach Moore, Head Sound Engineer
Mikey Abate, Head Stage Carpenter