About the School

Berkeley Rep creates ambitious theatre that entertains and challenges its audiences, provokes civic engagement, and inspires people to experience the world in new and surprising ways. The School of Theatre supports this mission through meaningful connections between audiences and our mainstage work, creative entry points for new audiences, tools for artists and students to harness their imaginative power, and immersive training for future theatre makers.

Having first opened its doors in 2001, the School of Theatre offers programming as eclectic as the productions onstage at Berkeley Rep, reaching some 20,000 people in the Bay Area each year. Driven by an expanding community of inspired, curious, and creative theatre lovers, the School’s programming provides opportunities for engagement on a variety of levels.

Since its inception, the School has

• Served over 321,340 people;
• Collaborated with 565 professional teaching artists;
• Streamed Berkeley Rep productions virtually to over 8,000 students;
• Led workshops in 3,630 classrooms in nine counties in the Bay Area;
• Produced 142 original plays created by youth and teen students;
• Mentored 389 young professionals through our Fellowship program (since 1985).

Staff

Anthony Jackson | DIRECTOR

Anthony is a director, deviser, educator, and arts administrator. He currently serves as the Director of the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre where he oversees a team of talented artists, educators and administrators; serving adults and students in grades K-12 in all nine Bay Area Counties and beyond. Anthony is a board member for the Arts Education Alliance of the Bay Area and serves as a member of the Berkeley Arts Education Steering Committee. Previously, Anthony was at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, where he held multiple roles including Training Programs Manager and Partnership Manager while also teaching in all of the Community Engagement department’s programming. Anthony has traveled to India and Croatia as a guest artist with the U.S. Department of State devising original plays with Arena Stage’s Voices of Now program. Anthony has also presented workshops at the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, Theatre Communications Group Conference, and the Southeastern Theatre Conference. In 2019, he was selected to be a member of the artEquity cohort. As an actor, he has toured the U.S. and has performed with the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Olney Theatre, Arena Stage, and other regional theatres.

Dylan Russell | ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

Dylan is a director, teaching artist, new play developer and community engagement specialist. Dylan has directed productions at American Conservatory Theatre Conservatory, TheatreFirst, New Conservatory Theatre, and Actors Lab Arizona. Most recently, Dylan was the Director of Education and Community Engagement at Laguna Playhouse. Dylan envisioned and created the OUR STORIES program at Laguna Playhouse, which utilizes generative theatre practices to create awareness about mental health and amplify the voices of youth and young adults ages 16-25. Dylan created the Drama Department at Jewish Community High School of the Bay, which was recognized as one of the top high school theatre programs in America by Stage Directions Magazine and twice performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland. She has taught at Laguna Playhouse, California Shakespeare Theatre, Northwestern University's National High School Institute, Marin Theatre Company and New Conservatory Theatre Center.

MaryBeth Cavanaugh | DIRECTOR OF CLASSES AND SUMMER PROGRAMMING

MaryBeth recently received her continuing appointment in the Department of Theatre and Dance at UC Davis, where she has taught for 15 years in the MFA and BFA programs. She also teaches at Academy of Art University. She is a member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and a few of her choreography credits include resident choreographer at California Shakespeare Theater for 20 seasons, where she also served as associate artist. She also choreographed for Oregon Shakespeare Festival for five seasons, Shakespeare Santa Cruz for nine seasons, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The New Victory Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Brisbane Arts Festival—Powerhouse, Black Swan Theatre Company in Western Australia, Cincinnati Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Mills College Repertory, and Summerfest Dance. Directing credits: Following the Wrong God Home, Theatre 212; Possession, United Solo Theatre Festival, New York City; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, TheatreFIRST; Twelfth Night, North Bay Shakespeare Company; and Measure for Measure, Shakespeare at Stinson. Ms. Cavanaugh was invited (all expenses paid) by the Norwegian Consulate in San Francisco to attend the Ibsen Festival in Oslo, Norway and to finish a new English translation of A Doll’s House from Ibsen’s original manuscript with an Ibsen scholar and a documentary film maker.

Ashley Lim | MARKETING AND REGISTRATIONS MANAGER

Ashley is the marketing and registrations manager at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, where she oversees all marketing and communications, as well as provides administrative support for classes and other educational programming. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she fell in love with the vibrant and diverse world of theatre at a young age. She has since gone on to combine her passions for theatre and communications at Willamette University in Salem, OR, where she earned a degree in Civic Communications and Media Rhetoric along with a minor in Theatre. Previously, she has worked with organizations such as the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Pleasanton Civic Arts Stage Company, and most recently, the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.

Elizabeth Woolford | CURRICULUM AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS MANAGER

Elizabeth (Liz) Woolford is a director, teaching artist, and devisor originally from the D.C. area. As the School of Theatre's Curriculum and Education Programs Manager, she is responsible for coordinating our in-school outreach programs, student matinees, and helping to facilitate our Teen Council cohort. Liz has previously taught and directed with Bay Area Children's Theatre (BACT), Ghostlight Theatre Camp (ME), Educational Theatre Company (VA), and Wesleyan University (CT). She was a co-founder of Tin Can Learners, a virtual and community-based after-school program created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Liz specializes in creating immersive and site-responsive performance pieces with youth and professionals. She is a graduate of Wesleyan University in CT.

AeJay Antonis Marquis Mitchell | EDUCATION PROGRAMS ASSOCIATE

AeJay Antonis Marquis Mitchell (they/them) is a multi-hyphenate performance artist, scholar, educator, and activist whose work centers the decolonization of the theatrical canon, the black avant-garde, and queer political performance practice. They were a founding member of Contra Costa School of Performing Arts where they served as director of their award-winning Theatre Department, facilitating its programmatic growth by tripling enrollment, extending the programmatic offerings, and presenting world premieres. Their work as an actor, director, and choreographer has been applauded by Bay Area critics, with their most recent works for The Magic Theatre and Golden Thread Productions being honored by KQED as The Best Bay Area Theatre of 2023, alongside Berkeley Rep’s production of English. They also served as the co-director, choreographer, and vocal arranger for the world premiere of Ryan M. Luevano’s Dance Plague. Some of their favorite creative projects include Antigonick and Marisol with The Black Box @ SPA, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Sister Act with Theatre Rhinoceros, as well as Robert O’Hara’s Booty Candy and American Ma(ul) at the Brava Theatre with BACCE. They are currently an Associate Artist at Marin Shakespeare Company, member of the Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience (BACCE) collective, Associate Producer for Playwright’s Foundation’s Bay Area Playwright’s Festival and Resident Reading Series, member of the Literary Manager and Dramaturgs of the Americas as well as of Actor’s Equity.

Teaching Artists