The Waverly Gallery at Tenth Avenue Arts Center

Deborah last appeared at Backyard Renaissance in her Critic’s Circle Award Winning role of Mag Folan in The Beauty Queen of Leenane and before that, in her Critic’s Circle Award-Nominated role of Violet in August: Osage County. Associate Artistic Director at Lamb’s Players, Deborah has been a member of the Lamb’s resident ensemble since 1979. Originally from the East Coast, she has lived all over the United States and studied music and theatre at San Francisco State University. With over 200 productions to her credit, she is a seven-time recipient of the San Diego Theatre Critics’ Circle’s Craig Noel Award and has been honored with Backstage West and numerous Patte awards for performance, original music, sound design. She has performed in over 170 productions, directed over 70 productions, sound designed, written original music, or musically directed over 80 productions. Deborah and her husband, Producing Artistic Director Robert Smyth, make their home in Coronado.

Tom’s credits include Significant Other, A New Brain, Harmony Kansas, [title of show], Twist!, Yank!, Torch Song Trilogy, and Bunbury at Diversionary Theatre; Tarrytown and Gutenberg! The Musical! at Backyard Renaissance; Bad Jews, Sweeney Todd, The History Boys and The Little Foxes at Cygnet; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at La Mirada; Picasso at the Lapin Agile, This is Our Youth and Three Sisters at New Village Arts; The Light in the Piazza at Lamb’s Players; Old Wicked Songs, Romeo and Juliet, Amy's View and The Chosen at North Coast Rep; You Never Can Tell and Room Service at Moonlight.

Katie MacNichol has appeared on Broadway in The Green Bird and Two Shakespearean Actors and off Broadway in The Cider House Rules, King John and The Food Chain. In London she played the title role in A Chaste Maid in Cheapside at Shakespeare’s Globe. San Diego audiences have seen her in multiple roles at North Coast Rep and at The Old Globe in As You like It, Comedy of Errors, Macbeth, A Winter’s Tale (Craig Noel Award), The Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night, among others. Regional work includes leading roles at Pasadena Playhouse, Laguna Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, La Mirada, Yale Repertory, Baltimore Center Stage, McCarter, Denver Center, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Dallas Theater Company, Shakespeare Theatre of N.J., Westport Country Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival and many more. She is a graduate of N.Y.U’s Experimental Theatre Wing and co-hosts the podcast ACT LIKE A MOTHER featuring interviews with fellow actors about career, creativity and parenting

William Huffaker is a recent addition to the San Diego theater scene. This is his fourth appearance with Backyard Renaissance, where he has starred in: A Streetcar Named Desire, How I Learned to Drive and Proof (Hal). He recently performed with La Jolla Playhouse in the Veterans Reading Series: War Wound (Fisher) and has also starred in productions by Loud Fridge Theatre Group: Starspeare (Luke Skywalker) and Bocón Theater: BRAT. William made his international debut with the Prague Shakespeare Company in King Lear (Edmund). Other theater credits include - UC Santa Barbara: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind and La vida es sueño (Segismundo). College of the Sequoias: Stupid F***ing Bird (Conrad).

Alexander Ameen is a playwright and actor from San Diego, CA. He will graduate this spring with an MA in Theatre Arts (emphasis in playwriting) from San Diego State University. Additionally, he studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Recent acting roles include Claudius/Ghost in Hamlet and Richard in A New Brain. His play Affected Place was developed through the Veterans Playwriting Workshop at La Jolla Playhouse, and was selected for the Playwrights’ Center New Plays on Campus Script Club. His latest play The Stormy Present will have its premiere at SDSU in May. He served as a journalist in the U.S. Navy, and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Francis has been an actor, director and producer in San Diego for the past 24 years. He is currently the artistic director of Backyard Renaissance (BYR) which he co-founded with his wife Jessica John in 2015. He is a graduate of the Actors Studio Drama School. He most recently directed BYR’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane, as well as BYR’s award-winning August: Osage County (SD Critics Circle – Outstanding Dramatic Production). Recent roles include: A Streetcar Named Desire, Misery, How I Learned to Drive, Proof, God of Carnage, Abigail’s Party, The Dazzle, American Buffalo, An Experiment with an Air Pump, Smokefall, The Zoo Story, Abundance, The Elephant Man, Parlour Song (Backyard Renaissance); Noises Off, Camping with Henry and Tom, The Explorers Club, Equivocation, Freud’s Last Session (Lambs Players); Stupid F***ing Bird, True West, Fool for Love (Cygnet Theatre); The Behavior of Broadus (Capital Stage Company); In the Next Room, Honky (San Diego Rep); Accomplice, Suzette Who Set to Sea (La Jolla Playhouse WOW and POP Tour); A Life in the Theatre, Time Stands Still (NCRT); The Pride (Diversionary Theatre). He is a resident artist with Cygnet Theatre College and Lambs Theatre and recipient of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award for acting and directing. He teaches at Palomar and privately through ActorsApproach. He is a graduate of the Actors Studio Drama School. His first play, The October Night of Johnny Zero, was produced in 2022. His second play, The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens, was produced this season.

As the Producing Artistic Director, she is so proud to call BYR an artistic home! Her previous work at BYR includes serving as intimacy coach/costume designer and choreographer on A Streetcar Named Desire, director to The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens, the associate director for The Beauty Queen of Leenane, How I Learned to Drive, August: Osage County and God of Carnage. In 2024, Hannah directed the Award-Winning Constellations with Chalk Circle Collective and made her professional director debut in Houston, Texas at Stages with Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson - Apt 2B and in Florida at The Civic with Stage Kiss. Hannah recently was on the directing teams for the world premieres of The Age of Innocence (The Old Globe) and The Little Fellow (Cygnet). She is a three-time member of the directing cohort at the John F. Kennedy Center and received a BFA in theatre from Sam Houston State University.

Duane is delighted to be joining Backyard Renaissance Theater for the first time. Arriving atscenic and set production from a background in architecture and exhibit design, her work focuses on the interaction between audience and environment. Credits include: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, A People’s Cuban Christmas, Blue Period, Masa, a Craig Noel nomination for The Other Place (OnStage Playhouse). Fully Committed, Stew, Unnecessary Farce, Mary’s Wedding (Scripps Ranch Theater). Hay Fever, Sweeney Todd (Coronado Playhouse).

Waverly Gallery marks Chad’s sixth collaboration with Backyard Renaissance! Past productions: The October Night of Johnny Zero, God of Carnage, Proof, How I Learned to Drive, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Other TD credits in San Diego include Diversionary Theatre, Chalk Circle Collective and National Lampoons Yellow Door Comedy. Chad is also a singer, active local scuba diver, amateur practitioner of prestidigitation and a commercial pilot.

Previous designs for Backyard Renaissance include: A Streetcar Named Desire, The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens, Misery, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, How I Learned to Drive, Proof, Smokefall, Tarrytown and Gutenberg! The Musical. In the past, Curtis has also designed for other local venues including Diversionary Theatre, New Village Arts, CoSA, The Roustabouts, Mira Costa College, Litvak Dance, and Moonlight Stage Productions just to name a few.

Evan is a composer, dance artist, and educator currently based in San Diego. His exploration in music evolved alongside his career in dance where he has collaborated with choreographers, filmmakers, and performance artists creating original scores and songs. He studied composition and film scoring at the New England Conservatory of Music and participates in ongoing education in mixing and sound design. Evan's creations have been featured in live performances, films, media, podcasts, and more. For him music is a way of sonic storytelling. His soundscapes experiment with elements of electronic, global, jazz, and new age. His work aims to evoke worlds and environments that transcend our current experience. To learn more visit evanhartmarsh.com

Logan Kirkendall is a San Diego–based Sound Designer and Audio Engineer who blends art and technology to craft immersive soundscapes for theatre and live performance. A UCSD graduate in Music and Computer Science, he works with Sound Image / Clair Global and IATSE Local 122. His design for BYR's Misery earned a Craig Noel Award nomination for Outstanding Sound Design.

Jeff is always excited to help Backyard Renaissance bring their wild imaginations to life! He has previously worked with them as a "Fright Coordinator" for Wichland, in 2021; then "Special Effects Coordinator" for last season’s Misery and this season’s The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens. Recently, Jeff worked on props for The Old Globe’s Huzzah!. Jeff is the Director of Prop Fabrication for Stu Segall Productions/Strategic Operations, and the Make-up Artist Coordinator for the Haunted Hotel LLC yearly productions in San Diego, but his heart has always been in live theater.

Jessica’s costume designs include Backyard Renaissance: A Streetcar Named Desire, The Dark Heart of Dooley Stevens, Misery, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, How I Learned to Drive, Proof, August: Osage County, God of Carnage, Abigail’s Party, Witchland, American Buffalo; Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, The Zoo Story, Bachelorette, Tarrytown, Gutenberg! The Musical!, Parlour Song; Cygnet Theatre: True West, Fool for Love, A Behanding in Spokane, Man from Nebraska, Mauritius, Love Song; Ion Theatre: Shining City, Angels in America Millennium Approaches and Perestroika; Scripps Ranch Theatre: Almost Maine, How the Other Half Lives, Crimes of the Heart, Deathtrap; New Village Arts: Humble Boy, True West, Sailor’s Song (SD Critics Circle Award – Best Costume Design), Three Sisters, and Crimes of the Heart.

Noah is thrilled to be working with Backyard Renaissance again! He previously worked as the Assistant Stage Manager for BYR’S A Streetcar Named Desire. He couldn’t be more happy to be apart of the family and give back to the arts.