CALLING ALL THEATER MAKERS TO OUR FIRST RETREAT!

COLLABORATORS

Erwin Maas is a New York based theatermaker, curator, educator and international arts advocate from the Netherlands with extensive international experience across a variety of creative and community contexts. As a curious traveler, he prioritizes a collaborative spirit and embraces contemporary and interdisciplinary approaches driven by a vision that centers culture and the arts at the core of society. In New York, his directions received multiple NYTimes Critic’s Picks. His directing work ranges from plays by contemporary playwrights to devised, interdisciplinary immersive projects, opera, music theater & dance with performances for all ages. He is the Co-Executive Director of the Pan-African Creative Exchange (PACE) & teaches at CUNY Brooklyn College's MFA Performance & Interactive Media Arts Program (PIMA). As former Artistic Director of the International Society for Performing Arts, Director of the Fellowship Program for the International Performing Arts for Youth and Director of Performing Arts for the Cultural Department of the Royal Netherlands Embassy & Consulates in the USA, Maas offers an extensive knowledge and network in the international cultural field with a focus on international cultural relations and policy. Erwin is excited to continue his artistic journey with Sea Dog Theater after directing their productions of ’Not From Here’, ‘Meaning: The Frankl Project’, and ’Tuesdays with Morrie’ – https://erwinmaas.com

Jenn Miller Cribbs is a nationally recognized expert in leading and training diverse teams, equipping them with tools and processes to tackle community and organizational challenges through integrated solutions. She collaborates with federal, city, and regional agencies, nonprofits, international corporations, schools, and steering committees on transformational initiatives.

A Patsy Rodenburg Associate, Jenn has focused on Presence and Team-Building for 25 years. As a consultant with Goss-Reid Associates for nearly a decade, she co-leads the Executive Re-Invention Program, specializing in Conversation Manager within the Re-Invention Methodology. Her work is influenced by Resmaa Menakem, Iain McGilchrist, and Brene Brown, and grounded in her Masters in Social Enterprise Administration from Columbia University.

Jenn holds a BA in Biology, Neuropsychology, and Communications from Wheaton College, an MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and a Masters in Social Enterprise Administration from Columbia University. She was a Presidential Management Fellow and has received the Rising Leader and Innovator of the Year Awards from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Jenn lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and two daughters.

Mark Lewis' background is acting—he made his living as an actor for fifteen years in New York prior to coming to Wheaton—but for the last twenty years, his primary focus has been directing (over 40 productions at Wheaton) and leading Workout, Wheaton’s theater ensemble. While an extraordinary number of students continue in theater professionally after leaving Wheaton, the Program’s focus is on connecting theater training and practice to the Liberal Arts education that Wheaton offers, and the College believes in theater’s broad usefulness for graduates regardless of whether they continue to make theater professionally or not. Mark loves Shakespeare, and he has been proud in recent years to direct and help produce Wheaton’s Shakespeare in the Park productions in August, utilizing professional actors who graduated from Wheaton working alongside current students. Mark earned Best Director for Sea Dog Theater's inaugural award for "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea."