Biographies for Citizen by Greg Sarris
Author, Director and Creative Directors
Greg Sarris (Author) holds a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University and worked as a full professor of English at UCLA, teaching American and Native American Literature and Creative Writing from 1989 until 2001. The author of many books, including Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts (University of California Press: 1993), Grand Avenue (Hyperion: 1994—highly acclaimed and awarded collection of short stories adapted for an HBO Miniseries of the same name, co-executive produced by Robert Redford), and Watermelon Nights (Hyperion: 1999), Greg’s most recent books include the award-winning How a Mountain was Made (Heyday: 2017) and Becoming Story, a Journey among Seasons, Places Trees, and Ancestors (Heyday: 2022). He is serving his 16th consecutive term as Chairman of his tribe, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, formerly known as the Federated Coast Miwok. On December 27, 2000, President Clinton signed a bill restoring the Federated Coast Miwok as a recognized American Indian tribe, making the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria the last tribe in the United States to be restored by an Act of Congress. In July 2013, he raised money to build a resort and casino for his tribe; and today, the casino resort is among the five most successful Indian casinos in the nation. Greg is also the executive producer of I Am A Noise, a documentary film about Joan Baez. He has been appointed Chair to the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, served as Co-Chair of Smithsonian Campaign, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2023 Greg was appointed to the UC Board of Regents by Governor Gavin Newsome. Greg now lives and works in his beloved Sonoma County.
Gendell Hing-Hernández (Director) was born in Havana, Cuba, and has actively worked as a bilingual actor, director, and producer in the Bay Area since 1997. He is currently a Word for Word Core Company member and has worked as an actor for Word for Word, Campo Santo, Magic Theatre, Berkeley Rep, TheatreWorks, San Jose Rep, Center Rep, New Pickle Circus, and many others. Productions include Lucia Berlin, Sorry Fugu, Oil!, Around The World in 80 Days, The Cook, Blood Wedding, Oedipus El Rey, and References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot. He has been a company member of Theater of Yugen, Red Ladder Theater Company, Alphabet Rockers, and The Felonious Collective. His directing includes works with Word for Word, Felonious, Quixotic Players, Teatro del Juglar, The NY Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Oakland Public Theatre, Berkeley Rep’s School of Theatre, and the Pacific Alliance Stage Company. He has also been an Event Manager and Producer for Word for Word, Felonious: One Love Hip Hop, Theater Of Yugen, and The Cuban-American Cultural Institute. His work on Gerg Sarris’ How A Mountain Was Made led him to Citizen. Hing-Hernández is stage-combat-certified, first-aid-certified, and a movement specialist. He won the Best Fight Choreography Award for R&J and Best Ensemble Award for his work in Magic’s Theatre’s production of Oedipus: El Rey.
JoAnne Winter (Artistic Director, Word for Word; Co-Voice and Text Coach) is thrilled and astonished to be celebrating 30 years of Word for Word! In 1993, Winter co-founded Word for Word Performing Arts Company with Susan Harloe and the amazing Charter Group—her sisters. With them, she has had the pleasure of helping to produce many, many productions, readings, and student projects. In 2019/2020 she and Word for Word welcomed the new Core Company members, who are continuing the Word for Word way, while informing and expanding it. The thrill continues! Thank you to all who have made the work of this company possible over the years. And special love and gratitude to Ben, Jack and Adrian.
Vanessa Flores Chacko (Associate Artistic Director, Word for Word) is a writer, director, and producer with a passion for combining storytelling, play, and collaboration. Holding an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts, she values the profound relationships she has cultivated with fellow artists and continuously seeks to inspire her community and foster connections through art-making and theater. She is a Word for Word Core Company member and the Founder/Creative Director of Other Hand Media. Vanessa has extensive experience in production and administration, having worked with several Bay Area organizations like Playwrights Foundation, American Conservatory Theater, and Z Space.
Cast
L. Duarte (Eldine) (they/them) is an actor, director, and playwright whose recent projects include August: Osage County (San Jose Stage Company); Julius Caesar (PacRep); The Review (Theatre Rhinoceros); Helen! (Theatre of Yugen); Into the Beautiful North and The King of Cuba (Central Works). They have also worked with Willows Theatre Co, Berkeley Rep., Crowded Fire, Playwrights Foundation, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, and various others. Duarte is a graduate of UCLA and UCSC and has trained with A.C.T. and Shakespeare & Co. Duarte is a founding member of Latinx Mafia, a Bay Area collective of Latinx Teatristas, who work to ensure Latinx stories are valued and accurately represented. latinxmafia.com
Lisa Hori-Garcia (Candy, Ensemble) is thrilled to be back performing in Chairman Sarris’s powerful piece, Citizen. Over the years, Lisa has performed in multiple Word for Word productions including Chairman Sarris’s beautiful Stories from Sonoma Mountain and was most recently seen in Home by George Saunders, which toured France in May 2023. Lisa is an actress, director, and teaching artist who regularly works between Denver, Colorado, and San Francisco. Most recently, she was in the world premiere, immersive theatrical production of David Byrne’s Theater of the Mind at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Lisa received her BA from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and her MFA in Acting from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. She is a member of AEA and SAG/AFTRA and is proud to be a Word for Word Core Company member. lisahorigarcia.com
Rudy Guerrero (Al, Ensemble) is an actor whose previous Word for Word credits include Stories by Emma Donoghue and Colm Toíbín, Food Stories by T.C.Boyle, and Stories by Tobias Wolff. Other theater credits include performances at 42nd St. Moon, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Central Works, Connecticut Repertory Theater, Foothill Music Theater, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Magic Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, Playground, Playwrights Foundation, SF Playhouse, Theatre Rhinoceros, and TheatreWorks. Rudy has a BFA in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. rudyguerrero.com
Ixtlán (Ernesto, Marco) is an actor and artist from Northern California. He studied in Los Angeles, New York, New Mexico, and in the school of life. Él va con Dios. @Flowersfromouterspace
Christian Jimenez (Salvador) is an actor, playwright, and graduate of the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts Theatre Department. He is a San Francisco native excited to make his debut with Word for Word. He was most recently seen in Sausalito Shakes’ A Midsummer Nights Dream, SFBATCO’s Sign My Name To Freedom, and Young People’s Teen Musical Theatre Company’s Legally Blonde. Represented by JE Talent.
Carolina Morones (Ofelia, Ensemble) is a multidisciplinary performer, educator, and community organizer focused on telling stories that empower through poetry and movement. Recently, she played the role of Marina in Pericles, Prince of Tyre (SF Shakes). In 2020 she was the Movement Director and Cultural Consultant for Octavio Solis’ Retablos: Life on the Border (Word for Word). Carolina currently teaches for American Conservatory Theatre, Word for Word’s Youth Arts program and is the Education & Engagement Consultant for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is a recipient of the 2023 Creative Work Fund Award, as playwright of Querida Sor Juana: The Death of the Phoenix of Mexico in collaboration with SF Shakespeare Festival.
Ryan Tasker (Mike, Ensemble) is a Word for Word Core Company member and has appeared in their productions of Retablos, You Know When the Men Are Gone, and Three on a Party. He has also acted and directed for Word for Word’s Off the Page series, with some favorites being Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem and Chekhov’s The Lady With the Dog. He has also worked with Marin Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater, the SF Shakespeare Festival, Aurora Theatre Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Shotgun Players, and the Livermore Shakespeare Festival, among others.
Production
Mikiko Uesugi (Scenic Designer) has designed several productions for Word for Word, including Home by George Saunders, Stories By Tobias Wolff, Immortal Heart by Amy Tan, and Four Adverbs by Daniel Handler. Recent theater credits include The Nightingale & Erwartung for West Edge Opera; Colonialism is Terrible, but Pho is Delicious and Wives for Aurora Theater Company; and Monument, or Four Sisters (A Sloth Play) for Magic Theatre. She has also designed for Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire, Theater Works, A.C.T. MFA Program, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, among others. She is a resident artist at Golden Thread Productions, a recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Designers, and The Isadora Duncan Dance Award.
Brittany Mellerson (Lighting Designer) is a graduate of Point Park University’s Conservatory Program, with a BFA in Theatrical Lighting & Sound Design. Brittany is the Resident Lighting Designer for Lamplighters Music Theatre & SF PlayGround. She serves as the Production & Technical Director of BAMBD CDC and Lower Bottom Playaz. Recent credits include lighting design for LMT’s commisioned new work, By, George!, PlayGround’s Best of PlayGround Festival, Awesome Theatre’s feature film THEM, and lighting and sound design for The Pear’s Mountaintop and Sunset Baby. Throughout the pandemic, she has committed to further source and produce equitable employment avenues within the Bay Area for Black designers and technicians.
David R. Molina (Composer and Sound Designer) is a San Francisco-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, sound artist/engineer, and instrument inventor. He creates music for interdisciplinary and performing arts productions that focus on social justice or working with marginalized communities. He has worked on national Quixote Nuevo productions since its creation in 2018. Recent shows include The XIXTH at The Old Globe, Hotter Than Egypt at DCPA, and 12th Night at St Louis Shakespeare Festival and touring with La Mezcla dance company. His multimedia concert The Long Walk Home: A Mayan Family’s Journey In Search of Refuge will premiere at Brava Theater on December 8 & 9, 2023. Awards include: LA Ovation, Creative Capital, St. Louis Theater Circle, Colorado Henry Award, Zellerbach Grant, MAP Fund, and the SF Arts Commission. His multimedia collaborations have been shown at SFMOMA, The Broad, Oakland Museum of California, de Young Museum, and McLoughlin Gallery. His bands are Impuritan, Ghosts and Strings, and Transient.
Matt Stines (Assistant Sound Designer) (whatever pronouns you wish) is grateful to return to Z Space/Word for Word. He makes sounds and musics in a variety of contexts and has taught theater sound design at SF State, St Mary’s College, and Sonoma State. He plays: drums in Quilted Spleen, all sorts of things in Fullgrownmin, all and nothing in S T A I N S. mikestains.com
Nolan Miranda (Costume Designer) (he/him) is thrilled to be back at Z Space! He is a graduate of The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising with a degree in Fashion & Costume Design. He has been costuming San Francisco productions since 2009. Recent notable design work include: The Red Shades: A Trans Super Hero Rock Opera (Z Space), Shoshana in December (Custom Made Theatre Co.), and Baskerville (Hillbarn Theatre & Conservatory). Nolan was born and raised in the Philippines and has lived in the Bay Area since 2000. In addition, he is a co-founder and owner of Bab Boi, a catering company specializing in playful Filipino eats. Instagram: @nolanmiranda
Armando Breiz (Assistant Costume Designer) (he/him) is a born and raised San Franciscan who has been assisting in costume design for the past six years for the Riordan High School Drama program and most recently Hillbarn Theatre in Foster City. In addition to his love for creativity through costuming, he is the co-owner and chef of Bab Boi, a catering company specializing in playful Filipino eats.
Leah Hammond (Prop Designer) has worn many theatrical hats over the past 20-odd years but gets especially excited about props. They have worked at theaters around the Bay Area, including Aurora Theatre, SF Playhouse, Magic Theatre, Bay Area Musicals, CCSF’s Diego Rivera Theatre, Center REP, and more. Favorite projects include set design & scenic painting for- Cradle Will Rock (Diego Rivera Theatre) and Be More Chill (Tomorrow Youth Rep); props for Road to Mecca (Rooke Theatre) and Paradise Blue (Aurora Theatre); and production tech for Don’t Eat the Mangos and Nassim (Magic Theatre). Leah has also dabbled in acting, including playing Universanaut in Disinsemination, Lenny in Rumors, multiple 24-hour play festivals, and a very cute five-year-old tortoise in Tortoise and the Hare.
W. Fran Astorga (Dramaturg and EDI Consultant) (they/them) is an artist residing on land stewarded by the Yelamu, Ramaytush Ohlone (San Francisco, CA). Their artistic works center the well-being of the community and artistic excellence by working to decolonize approaches, practices, and procedures that negatively impact folx from marginalized communities. Their art leans into the experimental and immersive to inspire curiosity, engagement, action, and joy. Fran’s writing has recently (2021 –2023) been featured by B Street Theater, the National New PlayNetwork, Latinx Theater Commons, Cutting Ball Theater, Native Writers Lab, Theatre Magazine, and Howlround Theater Commons. Fran serves as a resident playwright and producer for the Desert Playwrights’ Retreat (2022/2023) and is a founder of In The Margin, an arts and advocacy organization.
Stephanie Hunt (Co-Voice and Text Coach) is a Word for Word Core Company member. She has acted in and directed numerous stories with Word for Word, including works by authors Upton Sinclair, Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, Rudyard Kipling, Andrew Sean Greer, Zona Gale, Tobias Wolff, Colm Tóibín, and Edward P. Jones. As a voice and text coach, she has worked on Word for Word’s Olive Kitteridge, Anniversary, and the Word for Word/California Shakespeare Theatre co-production of John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven, adapted for the stage by Octavio Solis. She teaches acting and voice at University of San Francisco and at Stanford University.
Tiffany Cartagena (Assistant Vocal and Text Coach) is an actor and recent graduate of Stanford University’s Theater and Performance Studies department. Her training background includes voice/speech work and costume design. Previously, she worked as an assistant costume designer on The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin at SF Playhouse, and she interned at the costume design office for Broadway’s Hamilton in New York City. She is very excited to be working on Citizen as her first production with Word for Word!
Jim Cave (Production Manager) has worked with Word for Word for over 20 years as a lighting designer, director, and production manager. Most recently, he co-directed Rime of the Ancient Mariner with Delia MacDougall and Retablos with Sheila Balter. Jim is a Core Company member of Word for Word.
Karen Runk (Stage Manager) moved to SF with the intention of only staying for a few months...Well over two decades later she’s still here! This is largely due to the talented folks at the SF Mime Troupe and thanks to Golden Thread Productions where she has been a Resident Artist since 2018 (aka the before times) - but mostly it’s due to rent control! Runk has also stage managed with Golden Thread Productions, Magic Theatre, SF Shakespeare Festival, Intersection for the Arts, African American Shakespeare Company and SF Mime Troupe.
Theodore Cordano (Assistant Stage Manager) is a recent graduate from Loyola University New Orleans with a BA in Theater Arts. He is excited to work on his third show with Z Space and Word for Word as the Assistant Stage Manager. He also works as a stagehand with IATSE Local 16 and as a video editor in his spare time. He would love to thank his family for the all the love and support and would also love to thank Z Space and Word for Word for the opportunity.
