New Works Showcase: Mar 11 at Parkview Event Room, Johnson-Springview Park

As a professional in ballet, Anne began her traditional theatrical training with a summer program at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and in Second City classes helmed by Jim Belushi. Later, she would train under Alan Rickman at the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, UK and when time permitted between ballet commitments, she was able to enjoy performance opportunities with The Groundlings and The Actors Gang in Los Angeles. A noted choreographer, Anne directed her own signature ballet company in Los Angeles for three decades and has been artistic director of the Arlington Youth Ballet and Placer Theatre Ballet. She specializes in original narrative ballets, creating a completely unique theatrical experience with a dynamic fusion of spoken dialogue and movement. As a writer, Ms. Merino has published serious theatre criticism for Salem Press and has had three plays produced in Los Angeles including award winning The Moon Goddess about a young Welsh officer on the front in WW1. Her screenplays A Season for Wolves and Spider Hall have won a number of awards on the film festival circuit including a second place in the prestigious Paris Film Festival. Her debut novel, Hawkesmoor, released in May of 2020 by Rivercliff Books to critical acclaim. “Paradoxically, this entertaining vampire chronicle cast a light on what it really means to be human”.

With a BA Theater Arts from UC Santa Cruz, she performed with Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Shakespeare To Go, including the role of Hortensio in Taming of the Shrew. Her local credits include leading roles with Davis Musical Theater (Sally Bowles in Cabaret and Rapunzel in Into the Woods), and several years with Suspects! Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. Her first performance with Placer Rep was the Storytellers Theater ensemble performance of Gingerbread Boy. She currently is the lead actor / onsite liaison for Placer Rep School Tours and Family Theater. She is also cast as the villainous Mrs. Madge Larrabee in Placer Rep's Spring 2026 show: Sherlock Holmes: The Strange Case of Miss Faulkner.

With an MFA in Dramatic Arts and an MS in Business Management & Leadership, this former Silicon Valley high-tech VP and critically acclaimed professional director/playwright also plays the role of Producing Artistic Director for Placer Repertory Theater. Previously, the artistic director for two San Francisco theater companies, and founder/board president of an economic & workforce development nonprofit organization for Santa Cruz County, her performing arts background includes international tours as an actor/singer/dancer and produced and published director/playwright for national and international touring productions with renowned performing artists, such as Brenda Wong Aoki, and companies like the Dell’Arte Players. She has instructed and directed at numerous educational institutions, such as UC Davis, University of San Francisco and University of Minnesota. Projects on which Forsyth worked performed at renown venues, like the Kennedy Center, Smithsonian, Dallas Theatre Center and famous venues in Europe, Asia and South America, and received Dramalogue Awards, Critics Circle Awards, and an award for Best Spoken Word Album. While with Placer Rep, her shows have won many Broadway World and Gold Country Media Awards and the Gloria Burt Fellowship. Prior projects have won numerous grants from the NEA, CAC and corporations. She is a member of professional organizations: The Dramatists Guild (DGA), Stage Directors & Choreographers union (SDC), and The Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).