Director

SINJIN JONES

Sinjin Jones (he/him) is a storytelling artist originally from Denver, Colorado, now living in Santa Clara. He was co-founder of Perplexity Pictures, a story-driven film production company, Artistic Director and Board Vice President of A Theatre Group in Silverton, Colorado, and Founder of Otherworld Collective, a multimedia artists collective.  In California, he served as Executive Artistic Director of The Pear Theatre in Mountain View for five years and now serves as Director of Programs for SVCREATES, the arts council for Santa Clara County. He is an immersive and devised theatre creator and practitioner as well as a poet, filmmaker, and visual artist that creates stories at the intersection point of media forms. Favorite  shows directed include: The Mountaintop, Sunset Baby, and Frankenstein.

Dramaturg

AUSTIN RIFFELMACHER

Austin Riffelmacher (he/him)’s credits include Production Dramaturg on Eden at Yale Repertory Theatre; The Royale directed by Lauren F. Walker and his solo performance “A Phantastic Christmas” at Yale Cabaret; and Stray Dogs by comfort ifeoma katchy, HELLYOUTALMBOUT by ML Roberts, and The Misanthrope directed by Mary Lou Rosato at the David Geffen School of Drama. Austin is originally from Worcester, Massachusetts, and is currently Literary Manager and Casting Associate at American Conservatory Theater.

Stage Manager

ANTHONY LOPEZ

Anthony Lopez* (he/him) is so excited to work with BAPF! Anthony’s recent credits include All My Sons, Mother of Exiles, and The Reservoir at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Other Bay Area credits include Ride the Cyclone (NCTC, 2024), Carrie: The Musical, Hadestown: Teen Edition, Twelfth Night (Young Conservatory at A.C.T.), and many shows with the Education & Community Programs department at A.C.T.

Rezan Asfaw (she/her, STAGE DIRECTIONS) is an actress born and raised in Oakland, California. Rooted in a deep love for theater and film, her work is driven by a fascination with the richness of human experience. Rezan is drawn to stories that reveal the vulnerabilities of our tragic flaws, our resilience, the power of hope and love, our rise and fall, and our fierce determination, both righteous and unjust—the ties that bind us to our own humanity and to each other. She accepts the invitation that storytelling through acting offers as an artistic practice and as a way of life, bringing curiosity, empathy, and emotional depth to the characters and worlds she inhabits. Her recent theater credits include Shotgun Players, Oakland Theater Project, Altarena Playhouse, Crowded Fire Theater, and Central Works.

st bios TBA.

Sarah Hadassah Negrón* (she/they, RORY) harnesses the transformative power of storytelling to challenge perspectives, spark meaningful dialogue, and unite audiences through unforgettable performance. Grounded in a lifelong pursuit of the arts, she is a Bay Area-based actor, singer, dancer, and aerialist whose work evokes deep resonance, shifts minds, and bridges diverse communities. Acting credits include the world premiere of Who’s Got Me? (Lindsay Walden) at Jewel Theatre; La Cage aux Folles (Jacqueline) at Altarena Playhouse; It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (George Bailey/Jackie Laurent) at Town Hall Theatre; and Nowhere Man (Marianne) at Providence Fringe Festival. Sarah is thrilled to join the Bay Area Playwrights Festival for By the Banks and honored to help tell Black and queer stories of resilience, belonging, and reconnection.

Desiree M. Rogers* (she/her, NANA CYM) is delighted to be working with Playwrights Foundation. She loves to do work that educates & entertains, she got that opportunity creating in Pericles & Midsummer with Santa Cruz Shakespeare; Lloyd Malcolm’s Emilia with Western Stage; Adam Bock’s A Small Fire with Shotgun Players; Karani Johnson’s The Trial with African-American Shakespeare; Laurinda D Brown’s Walk Like A Man with Theater Rhino; Jordan Tannahill’s Late Company, Tim Pinckney’s Still At Risk, Jewelle Gomez’s trilogy Unpacking in P-Town/Leaving The Blues/Waiting For Giovanni & Ed Decker & Robert Leone’s Rights Of Passage, all with New Conservatory Theater Center; Lauren Gunderson & Geetha Reddy’s HELA with TheaterFirst; Patricia Milton’s Enemies Foreign and Domestic with Central Works, and as an Understudy in Naomi Wallace’s The Liquid Plain with Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

Courtney Gabrielle Williams* (she/her, NORAH) is an actress, voice artist, and arts educator from Oakland, CA. A graduate of Fordham University with a B.A. in Theater, Courtney further honed her craft as an alumna of the Steppenwolf Conservatory Program and also trained at the London Dramatic Academy. Courtney’s on screen work includes Empire (FOX) as well as a variety of TV and film projects including Blindspotting (STARZ), Soundtrack (Netflix), Chicago Med (NBC), and the acclaimed short film Civic, noted in the New York Times, and available to stream on the Criterion Channel. Her extensive theater credits include work with prominent companies such as SF Playhouse, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Shotgun Players, Aurora Theatre, PS 122, Clubbed Thumb, The Flea, Dixon Place, The Kitchen, and The Lark. She’s delighted to be a part of this year’s festival!