Meet The Team
Artistic Director
MELODY BROOKS was an actor for more than 35 years, and has been producing and directing in New York City since 1983. In 1991, Brooks formed the New Perspectives Theatre Company and serves as the company's Artistic Director and CEO. Its mission and goals are a result of her long experience working in the Off- and Off-Off Broadway arenas and various educational institutions.
Brooks and NPTC were honored in 2018 with a "Trailblazing Women and Arts Institutions" award by RhythmColor Associates. In 2015 she received the "Spirit of Hope" Award from Speranza Theatre Company for her career-long track record of supporting women theatre artists, and was named a "Person of the Year" in 2009 by NYTheatre.com as a co-founder of 50/50 in 2020, a grassroots initiative focused on wage and production parity for women theatre artists and reclaiming the 1,000 year heritage of women in theatre. Most recently, Brooks was honored with the "Lee Reynolds Award" given to a theatre woman "active in any aspect of theatre whose work for, in, about, or through the medium of theatre has helped to illuminate the possibilities for social, cultural, or political change." She joins a list of notable women who have received the award, including Kia Corthron, Ruby Dee, Lynn Nottage, Estelle Parsons and Joanne Woodward.
For NPTC, Brooks oversees the artistic output of the company, and creates and directs new projects that address its mission. She created and oversees the Women’s Work LAB, responsible for the development of short and full-length plays by 12 -15 members per year; she is also executive producer of and a regular director/dramaturg for ON HER SHOULDERS, which recovers women from the past who wrote plays and presents their work in staged readings with scholarly playbills.
As part of these programs she has developed and directed a number of original scripts notably MOTHER OF GOD! by Michele Miller; Exhibit #9 by Tracey Scott Wilson, (co-directed with Celia Braxton); Jihad, The Play by Ann Chamberlin, and Anatomy of a Love Affair by Deirdre Hollman
Brooks has also directed many of NPTC's innovative classic productions, including a multi-media HAMLET based on research proposing that the script parallels the Book of Revelation, a “Murder, Inc.” inspired JULIUS CAESAR, a minimally edited “two hour’s traffic” ROMEO & JULIET, and multiple productions of MACBETH, some of which included an authentic medieval banquet.
She served as dramaturg and co-director for NPTC's OOBR award-winning production of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, and dramaturg for She Calls Me Firefly by Teresa Lotz, co-produced with Parity Productions and winner of OUTSTANDING SHORT PLAY in 2018 from the NY Innovative Theatre Awards. Brooks is Dramaturg for How to Melt ICE by Women's Work Lab member Amalia Oliva Rojas, which was co-produced in February 2023 with Boundless Theatre Company and won 4 LATA Awards, including Best Play and and was nominated for 3 HOLA Awards, including Best Production.
Brooks was a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the League of Professional Theatre Women, and was producer of their triennial Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award from 2014 to 2023. She works periodically as a non-profit management consultant and teaches/coaches upon request.
Catharine Guiher, General Manager
CATHARINE GUIHER is currently a member of the Timeless Torches, the senior dance team performing at New York Liberty games at the Barclays Center. She most recently worked as the Associate General Manager at Aruba Productions and Company Manager for the Broadway production of TORCH SONG, after spending 12 years at Second Stage Theater and 17 years at Roundabout Theatre Company working in various capacities. Guiher previously worked for four years at RKO Pictures and RKO Videogroup, primarily in Business Affairs and did two years of summer stock with The Dorset Theatre Festival. She spent a year sailing around the world in 2005-2006, and has played competitive volleyball for over 50 years. She is a graduate of the Nightingale-Bamford School and Vassar College and has served on the boards of Confluence Theatre Company and the Gallery Players. Guiher has been the General Manager of NPTC since 2007 and also serves on its Board. She has been a member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers (ATPAM) since 2000.
Lynn marie macy, Associate producer, on her shoulders
LYNN MARIE MACY is the Associate Producer and a resident director for the ON HER SHOULDERS Program. Recent directing projects for OHS include Count Partinuples by ana Caro, Gabriel by George Sand (also script translation/adaptation) and The Necessity of Divorce by Olympe de Gouges; a staged reading of her new script Doubt & Deliberation at Theatre For The New City and Zoom readings of Shaw’s Overruled for Theater 2020 in NYC; and Uncle John and The Men's Room by Maxine Kern for Cosmic Orchid. She also directed her own script: Northanger Abbey, A Romantic Gothic Comedy for Theater 2020. Ms. Macy previously directed staged readings of Sappho by Estelle Anna Lewis, Dulcitus by Hrosvita and Ordo Virtutum by Hildegard von Bingen for On Her Shoulders. Other directing credits include Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends All for Theater Ten Ten, As You Like It for Minnesota Shakespeare Company, and her own scripts The Thrice Three Muses and Innocent Diversions, A Christmas Entertainment with Jane Austen & Friends for Distilled Spirits Theatre and Theater Ten Ten. She is a member of NPTC's Women's Work LAB.
Arminda thomas, resident dramaturg, on her shoulders
ARMINDA THOMAS has been a Resident Dramaturg for ON HER SHOULDERS since 2016, specializing in researching and selecting African American female playwrights from the past. She has previously served as director for OHS' Peculiar Sam by Pauline Hopkins, dramaturg for A Harlem Triptych: The Plays of Eulalie Spence, Director and Dramaturg for Wine In the Wilderness by Alice Childress and dramaturg for Soul Struggle: The Works of Georgia Douglass Johnson. Other Production Dramaturg credits include The Black History Museum at HERE, Baton (Premiere Stage); Jazz (Baltimore Center Stage); Zora Neale Hurston (New Federal Theatre); and The First Noel (Classical Theatre of Harlem). She has served as associate artistic director and resident dramaturg for the Going to the River Festival and Writer’s Unit and as archivist and literary manager for Dee-Davis Enterprises, where she was an executive producer for the Grammy-awarded audiobook, “With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together,” and consultant for the film "Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee". Writing/adaptation credits include Shakespeare’s Women (Hattiloo Theatre, Memphis). She holds an MFA in dramaturgy and script development from Columbia University. Thomas managed the Ozzie Davis/Ruby Dee archives from 1997 to 2018, when it was moved to the NYPL's Schomburg Center.
Penny deen, Program Manager - Producing, GCIF Forum
Penelope Rose Nazra Deen is a multidisciplinary theatre artist based in New York City whose work spans producing, acting, and choreography/movement direction across international stages. A Special Recognition graduate of Hunter College, she holds a B.A. with a double major in Women & Gender Studies and Theatre, and a minor in Dance, and has also trained with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and with master teachers Melody Brooks & Patrick Page.
Penelope made her Off-Broadway debut in the feminist musical Oceanborn and has since developed an internationally engaged career. She is a founding member of Torch Ensemble, where she produced and performed in productions that toured to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in New York, including work recognized with Best Play at the NYC Fringe 2024.
An NPTC staff member since 2021, she currently serves as Program Manager - Producing. She has performed in many shows with the company, including Bogotá’s Festival de Teatro Alternativo. Most recently, she helped choreograph and devise Meanwhile Elsewhere at the Darpana Academy under the leadership of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Mallika Sarabhai and then toured throughout India performing in the show. She currently also serves as Program Manager for NPTC's Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Forum and International Performance Coordinator for Darpana Academy, continuing to build cross-cultural performance collaborations worldwide.
In addition to her producing and performance work, Penelope is a reviewer for Theatre Beyond Broadway and collaborates across movement, performance, and arts leadership initiatives that expand international dialogue through theatre.
She remains dedicated to her goal of creating social change through performance art.
Ashley Hajimirsadeghi, Program Manager - Marketing & Websites
Ashley Hajimirsadeghi is an Iranian American multimedia artist, journalist, and writer from Baltimore, Maryland. She is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, U.S. State Department, Fulbright Program, University of Arizona, and Brooklyn Poets. She received her M.A. in Global Humanities from Towson University, and a B.S. in International Trade & Marketing from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Her creative poems, essays, and fiction have appeared in Passages North, Salt Hill, Salamander, and The Journal, among others. Previously, she was a film & television critic at MovieWeb. She is the author of the chapbooks cartography of trauma (dancing girl press) and cinephile (Ghost City Press). She has been a associate program manager with NPTC since the fall of 2020, responsible for social media and the website, as well managing as the creation and launch of 1,000 Years of Women Writing Plays: the ON HER SHOULDERS database.
Image Credit: André Chung
Jennie contuzzi, program manager - full length lab
Jennie Contuzzi is the Managing Director of Speranza Theatre Company and a long-time member of NPTC's Women’s Work Full Length Lab. Recent shows for Speranza include A Chain Around the World, Votes for Women, Unveiling Liberty (co-written by Charlotte Rahn-Lee), History Alive: The Revolution Comes to Jersey City, and Women Rising: Stories of Hope. Jennie holds an MFA in Playwriting from The New School for Drama.
Kristen kelso, program manager - Short play lab
Kristen Kelso is a director, performer, and writer based in Brooklyn. She joined the Women's Work Project this year as a Resident Director/Dramaturg and helmed two plays in the August 2025 Meganne George Short Play Festival. As a director, her work has been seen at The Mercury Store, The Chain Theatre, The Gene Frankel Theatre, Cry Havoc Theatre Company, Cara Mía Theatre Co., and Shakespeare Dallas, among others. Most recently, she directed a production of The Story Of My Life at Asbury Memorial Theatre as a fundraiser for Hospice Savannah and the Michael J. Fox Foundation. This fall she is associate directing a bilingual production of Taming of the Shrew with Shakespeare Dallas, in collaboration with Play On! Shakespeare. She holds an MA from NYU in Performance Studies and an MA from UTD in Literary Translation.
Liadin stewart, Program manager - on her shoulders
Liadin Stewart (she/they) is a multidisciplinary theater director, devisor, and intimacy coordinator based in NYC. She gravitates toward feminist work with absurdist themes. Liadin is interested in a collaborative workspace, inspired by her training in devised theater at Pace University, where she received her Bachelor's degree in Directing. Liadin’s creative process is based in the destruction of hierarchy as well as patriarchy. Liadin, who originally started as an intern at New Perspectives in 2023, is excited to take on a leadership role as the program manager of the “On Her Shoulders” project and cannot wait to start building on the incredible work done by this team. Stay tuned for more updates from us coming soon!
Christian Lamantia - Digital content strategist
Christian Lamantia (he/him) is a NYC-based actor and social media manager, thrilled to be collaborating once again with NPTC’s PR and digital marketing team. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami in Theatre, Media Management, and Spanish in December 2024, and is an alum of NPTC’s Fall 2023 intern class. He currently works in music programming at SiriusXM.
With roots in musical theatre, Christian is especially inspired by works that challenge our perceptions of reality and invite the kind of fantastical exploration only possible onstage. He’s excited to support the incredible artists at NPTC as they bring their work to new audiences.
C. Amanda Maud, Artistic AssociatE
C. AMANDA MAUD (Artistic Associate) has more than 40 years’ experience performing, teaching and developing workshops for all ages in both the U.S.and the U.K., dividing her time between New York City and England. She has been a core NPTC Company member and teaching artist since 1995 and has served as associate artistic director from 2002 to 2020. For NPTC, Ms. Maud has assistant-directed a number of Shakespeare productions (Othello, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet), and was a regular performer in NPTC’s Shakespeare Made Simple and World Voices programs. Her professional performing credits with NPTC are numerous, including appearances as The Woman (Jihad: The Play), Gertrude (Hamlet), Friar Laurence (Romeo & Juliet), Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Emilia (Othello) and various roles in On Her Shoulders readings, most recently the virtual productions of Gabriel by George Sand, Slaves in Algiers by Susannah Rowson, and The Necessity of Divorce by Olympe de Gouges. . Roles in England include Shih Yang, a 19th century female Chinese pirate in Asian Pirate Musical which was part of the Vaults festival. She has also done considerable work with New Earth Theatre (Formerly Yellow Earth Theatre) in projects such as Tamburlaine and creating the central role of Eileen Cunningham in The Last Days of Limehouse, a site-specific piece exploring the history of London’s first Chinatown. She has worked throughout England in professional productions and arts-in education pieces with companies that include New Perspectives Theatre Company/UK; Forest Forge, The Contact Theatre in Manchester, the Chester Gateway, Shakespeare’s Globe Education Centre, The Natural Theatre Company at the Millenium Dome, the Soho Theatre Studio, the Albany Theatre, the Apothecary Theatre Company, Mu-Lan Arts, and Theatre Adad. Maud recently caused an international sensation when her role in Zach Snyder's Justice League was restored and comments on the scene went viral.
Jenny Greeman, artistic associate
JENNY GREEMAN is an artist and educator currently a Resident Director with the Women’s Work LAB. She joined NPTC in January 2007 after participating in the company's Shakespeare Bootcamp for Directors and Educators, and was formerly the Administrator of Youth & Community Development at NPTC. In Summer 2010 Jenny helmed the World Premiere production of Screenplay by Scott Brooks, which was awarded “Outstanding Production of a Play” at the 2010 Midtown International Theatre Festival and subsequently moved to an Off-Broadway run at 59E59. For the 2008 MITF, Ms. Greeman and her writing partner, Elliot Lanes, were awarded “Best Staged Reading” for their original children’s musical, The Raggedy Ann and Andy Musical. Jenny is the Resident Director for Dark Lady Players, where her credits include Shakespeare’s Three Marys, Hamlet’s Apocalypse, and Shakespeare’s Gospel Parodies: A Medieval Mystery Tour. Ms. Greeman is the Director of Programming at P2 L: Pathways to Leadership. She holds a BA, Phi Beta Kappa, in Urban Studies from Connecticut College and was a Fellow at Barnard College’s Institute for Urban Education. She is currently earning a Masters of Public Administration at Baruch/CUNY.
Ray A. Rodriguez, Artistic Associate
RAY A. RODRIGUEZ (Fight Director): a core Companie Member and Artistic Associate with NPTC since 1999. A Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors, currently on faculty at Adelphi University. He has also taught at Harlem School of the Arts, NYU and Muhlenberg College, and conducted guest workshops throughout the Tri-State Area. He is the resident fight director for NPTC and formerly for the Inwood Shakespeare Festival, performing in and choreographing numerous productions of Shakespeare and other classics. Credits: How to Melt ICE (NPTC, Boundless Theater), MacBeth (Shakespeare on the Sound), Athena (Olmsted), FUKT (Tank Theater), El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom! (Julia de Burgos), Film: RENFIELD (stunts), Wu-Tang An American Saga (stunts). Some acting credits for NPTC include: Petrucchio in NPTC's OOBR-winning Taming of the Shrew; Rodrigo (Othello), Banquo (Macbeth), Mercutio (R&J) and several short plays and readings in the Women's Work Project. Ray also has performed extensively with NPTC's World Voices and Shakespeare Made Simple programs for schools, supported many arts in education residencies, and most recently directed productions of the World Voices shows Steal Away: The Living History of Harriet Tubman and The Bad Birthday: A Mexican Folktale.
Summer 2026 Interns
Nora butler
Nora Butler is a Brooklyn-based director with experience in contemporary, classical, and experimental theater (and opera!). As a psychology graduate, they strive to create character-driven work, investigative of the inner psyche, and the socio-emotional complexities of human life. Their passion for ambitious and emotional storytelling extends beyond directing, into sillier performance settings. Since their early days at Wesleyan University, they have been a lover of improvisational comedy, wrapped up in ridiculous worldbuilding and absurd characters. When not directing, you can find them hanging with their cat, going for long walks, and eating trail mix. @norabutlerdirects
Emma dobson
Emma Dobson is a rising senior at Columbia University, majoring in Drama and Theatre Arts with a focus in Playwriting. She is passionate about the political power of art and interested in redefining how theatre contributes to the communities that attend and produce it. Emma is thrilled to be interning with New Perspectives this summer, sharing their deep commitment to uplifting and amplifying female voices.
Glenda-avril galloway
Glenda-avril Galloway (she/her) is an undergraduate student at Ithaca College studying Stage Management with double minors in African Diaspora Studies and Live Events Design and Management. She is passionate about creating theatre about the African Diaspora and in the future plans to create spaces for stories of people of color to be heard. She is also very passionate about advocating for the current social injustices and has also started her very own grassroots non profit project called the Neighborhood Care Project where they raise funds and create care packages for people who are unhoused. She is thrilled to be joining the New Perspectives theatre team this summer to support their mission of using theatre as an agent for positive social change!
Alexie safiya ilaga
alexie safiya ilaga was born in the Philippines and raised in New York City. She has trained and worked around nonprofit organizations in New York, including Girl Be Heard, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Summer Arts Institute and Waterwell at Professional Performing Arts High School. Most recently, she worked at 54 Below as a Marketing Media Intern, which deepened her experience on the business side of theatre. She is currently expanding her horizons in LA, pursuing a BFA in Acting for Stage and Screen at University of Southern California. Her passion lies in honoring her Filipino identity, uplifting underrepresented voices, and using the arts as a space for activism and community. She is excited to be working with New Perspectives and to gain a more holistic experience by exploring different areas of theatre production, administration, and new works!
Tammy Lam
Tammy Lam is an undergraduate student at New York University studying Dramatic Literature with minors in Producing and Journalism. They are passionate about all things theatrical production, particularly work in arts administration and technical theatre. They believe in the power of theatre as an expansive and uplifting medium that challenges the status quo through art, and hopes to contribute to projects that resonate with audiences in this way. They are incredibly excited to work with New Perspectives and continue to expand their theatrical experience and knowledge!
Simon lee
Simon Lee is a rising senior studying Ancient History and Music Composition at Stanford, and an aspiring musical theater composer. He is really interested in the intersection of theatermaking and identity from the playwriting side, and feels very connected to the mission of New Perspectives as someone who immigrated to the U.S. The work that their drawn to writing and adapting explores political and historical themes, and they’re super excited to deep-dive into the history of theater at New Perspectives this summer. In their free time, the love doing crossword puzzles, playing board games, cooking Korean food, and playing the piano.
Emma Luyties
Emma Luyties (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based theatre artist by way of Houston, Texas. Right now, you can find them working on their BFA in Theatre Design & Production, with an emphasis in Technical Direction, at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. Their experience spans scenic carpentry, painting, props, stage management, costume work, and technical production across university and community theatre productions. Favorite credits include On The Town, Catch Me If You Can, The Miser, and “getting bloody” working props on Carrie the Musical. They have a passion for hands-on storytelling and theatrical craftsmanship, using creativity, precision, and a strong team-oriented approach to every project I join. They are excited about the opportunity to work with New Perspectives Theatre this summer as an intern on new and innovative works!
Fionn mcardle
Fionn McArdle is a visual artist and graphic designer from Ireland who enjoys creating unique and impactful visual experiences. His practice spans across mediums, including image-making, print design, photography, videography and spatial design. Physical media, analogue processes and spatial interventions are staples in his work, and he uses these to inject a sense of personality, curiosity and experimentation into every project.
Annika Raj
Annika Raj is a current undergraduate student at Northwestern University double-majoring in theatre and cognitive science, and minoring in business. They are passionate about arts administration and are a board member of Arts Alliance and Seeasaw Theatre at NU. She is also the co-chair of the Waa-Mu show, Northwestern’s oldest theatrical tradition. She is passionate about music and a vocalist through Bienen choirs and a member of Sigo A Capella at Northwestern. They love Gilmore Girls, guacamole, and will stop you to pet your dog. As a woman of color in theatre, they are super excited to spend their summer uplifting other women and people of color in the industry, as well as supporting new work!
osmiri spowal
Osimiri Sprowal (they/them) is an Afro- Indigenous, Trans, Queer/crip playwright, poet, and homeless rights activist. Getting their start in youth slam, they are an internationally award winning poet (CUPSI 2018). Their book “Gemini: Duality of Self” won the 2019 Shockwire Micro Chapbook contest. They have received fellowships with Till A rts and CoLab Arts. They were a2022 Marshall Scholar, where they earned two degrees in the UK. Their work has been featured in 2026 TAKETEN MFA Festival. Presently, they are a Playwriting MFA candidate at Columbia University.
Colson struss
Colson Struss is an undergraduate student at Columbia University majoring in English and History. They have stage managed and produced several productions at Columbia, most of which have been original, student-written works. They are passionate about New Perspectives' mission, and are very excited to work here this summer.
In Memorium
Meganne George, Resident Production Designer
(March 18, 1967 – July 30, 2019)
MEGANNE GEORGE’s credits include Broadway: A Wonderful Life (Actors Fund). Kennedy Center: mabou mines' Dollhouse. Off-Broadway: The Brightness of Heaven, Cherry Lane, dir. L Villar-Hauser. For mabou mines: Medea, Glass Guignol, Finn (NYSCA grant), Dollhouse (Elliot Norton Award Design nom), Red Beads; Cara Lucia (ATW Hewes nom. Best Design First Irish Festival), Children of Ararat, Two Little Indians, Superpowers, Orpheus and Eurydice; Hurray for Iceboy, John Goldfarb Please Come Home (FringeNY Best Costume Design). Regional/Intn'l: For Heaven's Sake (Buffalo dir L. Villar-Hauser); Grey Gardens, The Graduate, As Bees in Honey Drown, No Way to Treat a Lady, UnNecessary Farce, Radio Gals, Jihad, Melody Brooks; dir. Women Onstage for Peace Fest- Bogotá), Choreophorae (European Capital of Culture Fest), Kilkenney Arts Festival: Lucia's Chapter's, A Prelude to a Death in Venice. 13 seasons w/ Bronx Opera; 18 w/NPTC. Film/TV/Themed Entertainment: mabou mines' Dollhouse (producer, Arte, France); Don't Nobody Love the Game (PBS); Sesame Street 10th Anniversary Celebration Parade, Beaches Resorts (Jamaica, Turks & Caicos. megannegeorge.com