TE'A DC

Ariel Warmflash

Ariel is originally from Elkins Park, PA and is currently a BA candidate in Theatre and Dramatic Literature at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. She has been acting since she can remember but began more seriously in high school productions with roles in Barefoot in the Park (Corrie Bratter), Our Town (Mrs. Gibbs) and others. She participated in the University of Pennsylvania's "Summer Theatre Workshop" in the Summer of 2006 earning a certificate of the arts. In college she has continued to pursue her theatrical career by participating in both MainStage and Student Theatre productions in shows that include Much Ado About Nothing (Verges), Mr. Marmalade (Lucy), and The Laramie Project (Amanda Gronich & Others) among others. Ariel is thrilled to be a part of the TE'A DC company and is loving every minute of creating, learning and performing with the other wonderful women involved.

Brianna Spahn

Though she doesn't have the tan to prove it, Brianna was born and raised on the Jersey Shore and is not afraid to admit it. She is currently a senior at GWU, a recipient of the Presidential Arts Scholarship for Acting, and is about to graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Philosophy and a minor in Theater. She has been actively involved in theater since high school, but has been "acting" her whole life. She has performed in a grand total of twenty plays since high school. The characters she most enjoyed portraying include Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, The Angel  in Angels in America by Tony Kushner, and Becca in The Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire. Brianna is also a classically trained pianist, political junkie, hopeful playwright, and an optimist on the good days.

Brittany Perrotte

Brittany Perrotte (GWU '10) is a Spanish major minoring in Theatre and International Affairs with a concentration in Latin America. As a Presidential Scholar in the Arts for acting, she has participated in many of George Washington's theatrical productions on and off stage. Her mainstage roles include: The Love of the Nightengale (Iris), The New Plays Festival '09 (Kate in Saying Goodbye), and Much Ado About Nothing (Margaret). After graduating, Brittany hopes to use theatre as a means of bilingual education. 

Elyse Steingold

Elyse Steingold is a sophomore Theatre major and Presidential Scholar in the Arts for Acting at the George Washington University. Some of her favorite roles include Much Ado about Nothing (Dogberry), Little Shop of Horrors (Crystal), Les Miserables (Eponine), Baby with the Bathwater (Helen), Fiddler on the Roof (Hodel), and Chicago (Velma). The production of Chicago was taken to Scotland's Edinburgh International Fringe Festival. She has won several acting awards for her participation in various theatre competitions. This fall she will be studying theatre in London. 

Jessie Merron

Jessie is a native Californian, born in Los Angeles where she was first introduced to the wonderful world of film. Starting at age three with dance lessons and a year later with vocal coaching, she landed a handful of jobs in Hollywood. Soon thereafter she was uprooted to the East Coast where she continued her love for the arts in the world of theatre. After attending various theatre camps and intensives, including the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts, she realized she needed to broaden her horizons and thus began adventuring into different areas of interest. A life changing experience, however, brought her back to the arts as she now strives to use theatre to create change. After five years of chaos, she finds herself a transfer student at The George Washington University where she is finishing up her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. Some of her more recent roles include: Chicago (Mona), Evita (Mistress), and Play (Woman 1). Jessie, while currently active in her department, is very much looking forward to the wonderful opportunities that lie ahead of her. There is no doubt in her mind that TE’A is one of those opportunities.

Joy Wiskin

Joy is finishing up her Master's degree studies at George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution where she has been focusing on identity-based conflicts. She is working on a thesis looking at the intersection of white identity and antiracism activism. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2004, taught for a year in France, and has been working at the Congressional Hunger Center for the past four years. Having lived more than half her life overseas, she considers herself a citizen of the world. Working with TE'A is her first experience with peacebuilding and she hopes to dedicate her career to women's empowerment in post-conflict societies. 

Laurel Gwizdak

Laurel is a graduate student in the International Development Studies program at the Elliott School for International Affairs. She is most passionate about international youth development issues – specifically, how young people around the world can best utilize media and performing arts to advocate for themselves and their communities.

Before entering grad school, she spent almost three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in a rural village in Ukraine where she often used film and theater to explore issues such as HIV/AIDs, human trafficking and women's rights with her students. She graduated from San Francisco State University in 2005 with a BA in Cinema Production and continues to pursue a career in documentary filmmaking.

Melissa Ventre

Melissa Ventre is currently in her final semester of undergraduate studies at The George Washington University, where she is majoring in International Affairs with a minor in Theater.  Upon entering college, Melissa put her life-long passion for the performing arts on hold in order to pursue studies for a career in conflict resolution and mediation.   She has held several jobs in both state and federal governments, and plans to continue working in the national security field upon graduation.  However, Melissa’s love for the magic of theater is still a prevalent part of her life, and in the fall of 2009 she appeared on GW’s MainStage as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors.  Through the TE’A project, Melissa has found a way to combine her International Affairs studies and her passion for theater into one magnificent experience.  Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it, too?

Nawal Rajeh

Nawal Rajeh is a graduate student at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University.  She is passionate about inter-cultural communication and understanding, peace education, and putting an end to violent structures that keep people from their potential and keep societies from becoming communities.  She has been a part of leading Peace Camps in both Pittsburgh and Baltimore City for a culmination of 5 years now and believes strongly that the arts help both children and adults believe in new possibilities and is grateful to be a part of TE'A.

Leslie Jacobson

Leslie Jacobson is the founding Artistic Director of Horizons Theatre, dedicated to producing theatre from a woman’s perspective since 1977. As a playwright, director, and teacher, Jacobson has committed her 35 years in the professional theatre to creating and producing work that addresses many of the issues which plague our contemporary society – issues of sexism, racism, homophobia, and other de-humanizing methods of categorizing the individual. Since 2003, she has been working in the community of Winterfeldt, South Africa each summer, creating theatre with at-risk youth at the Bokamoso Youth Centre. She has been nominated three times for Helen Hayes Awards in the category of Outstanding Direction, and her production of A… My Name is Alice received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical Production. Jacobson enjoys creating theatre in non-traditional spaces, and has done so at the Smithsonian’s Portrait Gallery and Air & Space Museums, the U.S. Memorial Holocaust Museum, and the United States Senate’s Old Senate Chamber. She served for 13 years as the Chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance at The George Washington University, where she has been on the faculty since 1977. Jacobson is excited to be joining Radha Kramer in working with students and colleague Jodi Kanter, to create a TE’A Project DC at GW, which she views as an opportunity to continue the theatre work that is most meaningful to her.

Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter is a director, dramaturg, and writer. She has facilitated the development of numerous original works for the stage, including Americans Who Tell the Truth, a companion to the nationally touring art exhibit of the same name; Not Quite Through, a play about hospice care; and In the Garden of the Selfish Giant, the award-winning drama by Sandra Asher. She has also adapted several contemporary novels for performance, and has used theater to foster social change in a variety of institutional and community settings. She is an associate professor at George Washington University and author of Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theater and Writing (Southern Illinois University Press).