K2: Meet the Design Team

Janine Burgener (Director) is pleased to be directing her first show at Dragon. In the Bay Area, she has assistant directed Antigone (Broadway West) and Sherlock Holmes and…the Suicide Club (Silicon Valley Shakespeare). Other directing credits: Forever Plaid (Riverfront Theatre); The Whole Shebang and Les Précieuses Ridicules (Nevada Repertory Company). Janine is also a proud member of Actors Equity. In addition to a national tour with Maximum Entertainment, she has performed in the Bay Area with 42nd Street Moon, San Francisco Playhouse, Playwrights Foundation, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Bay Area Children’s Theatre, and the Willows Theatre Company.www.janineburgener.com

Larry Barrott (Assistant Director) K2 marks Larry’s first show with Dragon Theatre. A resident artist with Silicon Valley Shakespeare Company, he works as a director, fight choreographer, and actor throughout the South Bay. Larry is excited about this collaboration among such a talented team of artists and designers, bringing this powerful piece to Dragon’s stage. 

John Owens (Lighting Design) is a lighting designer for dance, theater, and live concerts. This is John’s first time working with Dragon Productions as a lighting designer. He has designed lights for the summer drama camp productions of Bring it On and School of Rock for the City of Pleasanton. John also designed lights for a concert for December People at Pleasanton’s Firehouse Arts Center. John has been working behind the scenes in theater professionally for over five years.  

Chrissie Schwanhausser (Stage Manager) is delighted to return to Dragon Productions! Last year she had the pleasure to stage manage multiple shows for Dragon, including The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Charitable Sisterhood of the Second Trinity Victory Church, and Dead Accounts. Other past credits include stage managing for The Hood of Sherwood and Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Suicide Club for Silicon Valley Shakespeare and La Cage Aux Folles with Sunnyvale Community Players. She has also spent time as production assistant for Bay Are Children Theatre's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Elephant and Piggie.

Tom Shamrell (Set Designer) Tom is thrilled to be a part of this exciting team and have the opportunity to work with Dragon Productions. Tom didn’t discover his passion for theatre until later in life but has been working hard on making up for lost time in theaters around the bay area as an actor, director, teacher, set designer, property builder and much more. Tom holds a BA in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University and is a graduate of the Foothill Theatre Conservatory. 

Ambera DeLash (Costume Designer) is thrilled to be designing costumes for K2. De Lash received her BA in Theatre Arts and enjoyed making and designing costumes outside of performing on stage. Her credits are: All In The Timing, A Murder is Announced, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and I Hate Hamlet, with Broadway West; De Lash worked closely under the direction of Betty Pointdextor developing her skill-set by researching different time periods, creating costume renderings, and building costume pieces at San Jose State University. She also worked as the Wardrobe Supervisor for American Musical Theater on productions; Smokey Joe's Cafe, and Christmas Dreamland. De Lash is an educator during the day, and will continue completing her teaching credential and earning her Masters this year. Enjoy the show!

Watson: Meet the Crew

Doll Piccotto (Director) Doll is thrilled to be making a return to the Dragon, this time on the other side of the table! Having acted on the Dragon Stage in On the Verge and OR, Doll is now flexing her directing muscles with The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence. She could not have asked for a more enriching experience! Doll's theatrical resume includes directing with The Silicon Valley Shakespeare Company (Pericles, Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night's Dream), playwrighting, and acting throughout the Bay Area, Santa Barbara and at the Shakespeare at Winedale festival in Texas. A dedicated Shakespeare fanatic, some of Doll's previous roles include Beatrice and Claudius with the Silicon Valley Shakespeare Company, Queen Elizabeth I and Caliban with The Pear, and Mary, the intrepid 'Lady Explorer' in On the Verge, here at Dragon. A huge thank you to my amazing cast and crew, who patiently dealt with my non-linear thinking process, to Lucy Littlewood for being my Weyrd Sister and partner in crime, to James for putting up with my absence yet again in pursuit of art, and to Meredith Hagedorn for sending me such an intriguing script and considering me for such a wonderful project. Keep connecting, friends!

Lucy Littlewood (Assistant Director) Lucy is excited to be a part of her first production with Dragon Theatre! Before this journey, she primarily worked as an actor throughout the Bay Area for over 15 years. Some of her favorite past credits include; Elizabeth Elliot in Persuasion (Livermore Shakespeare Festival), Alice Ayres in Closer, Rita in Educating Rita (Northside Theatre), Mr. Hyde and others in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (City Lights) for which she received a TBA Awards nomination, Charlotte in The Real Thing, Pearl in House and Garden (Pear Theatre), Sorel Bliss in Hay Fever, Margot Wendice in Dial M For Murder (Broadway West), Harper Pitt in Angels in America (Bus Barn Stage Company), Lucifer in Doctor Faustus (Foothill Theatre) and Lucy Steele in Sense and Sensibility (TheatreWorks). She is a graduate of the Foothill Theatre Conservatory. She sends buckets of love and gratitude to Doll for inviting her on this adventure and to our fantastic cast and crew. For Memow.

John Bernard (Lighting Designer)

Beth Covey-Snedegar (Properties Master) Beth has been involved in theatre from a young age on stage and off.  When she is not searching for life like fish, severed heads or a replica of the first telephone, she is busy running her floral design and event planning business, Sassy Diva Designs and Events.  And when she isn't knee deep in flowers she is chasing her two adventurous boys and keeping them out of danger.  

Kathleen Qiu (Costume Designer) is excited to be returning to Dragon Productions for The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence after Equivocation, Insignificance, and Cirque Exotique du Monde. Previously in the Bay Area, she has designed with Role Players Ensemble (All My Sons), Ferocious Lotus (Two Mile Hollow), Quantum Dragon Theatre (Universal Robots), Foothill College (A Midsummer’s Night Dream), Pear Theatre (Enemy of the People), Custom Made Theatre Co (The House of Yes, How I Learned to Drive), the SF Playhouse (You Mean to Do Me Harm), and Palo Alto Players (The Graduate), among others. Other credits include In the Heights, Jesus Christ Superstar, Pirates of Penzance, Steve Martin’s The Underpants, Dracula, War of the Worlds, and Picture Imperfectwith a variety of theaters in the Bay Area, Tallahassee, and Chicago. She graduated from the University of Chicago with degrees in Chemistry and Psychology and is working on an MFA in Costume Design from the Academy of Art. She would like to thank the production team for this opportunity and her family and friends for their continued support.

Chrissie Schwanhausser(Stage Manager) is delighted to return to Dragon Productions! Last year she had the pleasure to stage manage multiple shows for Dragon, including The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler, The Charitable Sisterhood of the Second Trinity Victory Church, and Dead Accounts. Other past credits include stage managing for The Hood of Sherwood and Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Suicide Club for Silicon Valley Shakespeare and La Cage Aux Folles with Sunnyvale Community Players. She has also spent time as production assistant for Bay Are Children Theatre's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Elephant and Piggie.

Ryan Lee Short (Sound Designer) is excited to be back designing at Dragon Productions (his noises having been most recently heard in last year's The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler), as he's been on a short hiatus from noise-making after 10 years of a nearly constant din. By day he's a scenic carpenter and schlepper for Bay Area Children's Theatre, whose scenic output is at once abstract, very colorful, and nearly constant. While not in dark and/or dusty rooms making theatre, he can be found snuggling cats at home or traveling the world with his amazing wife (and fellow theatre kid extraordinaire) Laura. Many thanks to Doll, Chrissie, and the rest of this timelessly brilliant cast and crew!

Emilia Wysocka(Scenic Designer) Emilia has a degree in Film Production and specializes in Production Design/ Art Direction. She has previously worked on short film productions and theatrical productions focusing on set and prop designs. Emilia’s passion are colors and applying them to mise-en-scene. She likes to create palettes that are both aesthetically pleasing and evoke a desired emotional response.

Three Days of Rain: Meet the Designers

Meredith Hagedorn (Director) Meredith has been acting and directing in the Bay Area and all around the US for over 30 years. As Executive Artistic Director and Founder of Dragon Productions Theatre Company, she has been committed to finding more amazing stories to tell that aren’t being seen at other theatres around the Bay. She recently directed Airswimmingin 2017, and The Voice of the Prairie in 2015. Three Days of Rain has been truly a joy to be a part of and she is honored to call it her final Directorial opportunity before handing over the Dragon reigns to her successors. Meredith would like to thank all of you for joining us at the theatre today, the amazing support team (designers and administrators), and James for being the most loving and supportive husband anyone could ask for.

Nathanael Card (Scenic Designer/Lighting Designer) Nathanael is a theatre-craftsperson and long time lover of architectural drafting and Mid-Century Mod style, and is particularly smitten with the opportunity to design this show. At Dragon, you've seen his work before in 2nd Stages' Cirque Exotique du Monde (lights, scenic), and the Late Night event "Nattergalen" (co-producer, curator). He currently teaches Stagecraft at The College Preparatory School in Oakland, and is leading the build-out of his interactive scenic design for "Neverland," with Epic Immersive, in SF. You can follow his poorly maintained social media presence on Instagram and Pinterest: @ncardcreative #danceeveryday

Jess McGovern (Costumer Designer) Jess is excited to be working on this production of Three Days of Rain at the Dragon Theatre. Past Bay Area credits include Best of Playground 22 as part of the Festival of New Works, Real Talk at The New Conservatory Theatre Center and Ageless with Quantum Dragon Theatre. Thanks and Congratulations to the cast and crew for a wonderful production it was a pleasure working with Dragon. Finally thank you for the love and support from her East coast family and her new West coast friends!

Jonathan Covey (Sound Designer) Jonathan is an aspiring sound designer and broke musician. A perfect fit for Dragon Theatre! This is the fifth play that Jonathan has made noise for with Dragon, the other four being Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Rich & Famous, Caeneus And Poesidon, and most recently Insignificance. Covey also did sound for Hillbarn Threatre’s production of The Elephant Man. He also worked in the stage crew for the Palo Alto Theatre Company’s productions of Zombie Prom and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, was the assistant director for Crystal Springs Player’s production of The Bible: Abridged, and even tried his hand at acting, playing Detective Sargent Trotter in Crystal Springs’ production of Agatha Christie’s The Mouse Trap. But in the end, he felt much more comfortable alone in a dark room with a microphone and a guitar then on a lit stage in front of a few too many people.


Jacqueline Moy (Properties Designer) Jackie studied Architecture at Central Saint Martins in London. She works as a Narrative Environment Designer in San Francisco, creating conceptual spaces that tell a story. Jackie has previously worked on the sets of Epic Immersive productions. She is currently working on Art Installations in Beijing, Disla, and Berlin.

Rachel Nin (Stage Manager) - Rachel is so pleased to return to Dragon, where she last served as the rehearsal stage manager for Anna Christie. She has worked as a stage manager and ASM for companies around the Bay, including Opera San Jose, Merola Opera Program, Sunnyvale Community Players, and Western Ballet, and toured children’s shows throughout California as a stage manager with California Theatre Center. She is an alumna of the Professional Training Company at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she was stage manager for the PTC show That High Lonesome Sound in the 39 th Humana Festival of New American Plays. She holds a B.A. in Theatre and Creative Writing from Denison University in Granville, OH.

Katelyn Gyugyi (Assistant Stage Manager) Katelyn is a senior at Wilcox High School, and will be attending Johnson and Wales University in Denver, CO next year, majoring in culinary arts. Katelyn’s hair is as colorful as her personality. This is her first show working with Dragon Theatre Productions. Katelyn has acted in Annie, Grease, The Wiz, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. She has also done various technical jobs, such as deck crew, build and paint, assistant stage manager, and running light board, during Guys and Dolls, The Great Gatsby, Frankenstein, and Beauty and the Beast.

Race: Meet the Design Team

Kimberly Ridgeway (Director) has been working professionally in film and theater for over 20 years. Kimberly wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the stage plays Heavy Burdens, No More Secrets, Prospect Place, and The Gigolo Chronicles, and the short film “The Confession." She has performed in over 60 stage and film projects including Robin’s Hood, #1, Single Husbands, The Kid Thing, N, Hopes Identity, Requiem for a Heavyweight, No Good Deed, The Vagina Monologues, Oleanna, Doubt, The Piano Lesson, Savannah Sipping Society and The Mountaintop for which she won the 2016 BroadwayWorld San Francisco Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play (Local).  Kim is honored to direct this thought provoking play with this wonderful and supportive cast and crew. 

Jon Gourdine (Lighting Designer) is a former Principal Soloist with Garth Fagan Dance (The Tony Award Winning Choreographer of Lion King). Jon turned to Lighting Design and Set Design/Construction after a career ending injury. Primarily a Lighting Designer, Jon has also designed and executed set designs for theaters in the Bay Area. He has designed lights for numerous theaters and dance companies across the country and has collaborated with many of the Bay Area’s finest artists garnering numerous awards for his lighting designs.

Mercedes McLean (Stage Manager) is excited to do her first show with Dragon Theatre. She has stage managed for five years working with multiple companies in the Bay Area such as Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Altarena Playhouse,Theatre Rhinoceros, California Shakespeare Theatre, Quantum Dragon Theatre and Starchild Enterprise. She received her BA in Theatre at San Jose State University and AA in Dance at Laney College. She is also a choreographer and dancer of many genres, though her favorites are Modern and Lindy Hop.  She would like to give a special thanks to my fiancé Omar Lewis, and two sons Quincy and Rashad for being her joy and comfort throughout this production.

Lana Palmer (Sound Designer) is a Canadian-born, San Francisco-based sound designer and composer. Recent credits include Dracula (Inferno Theatre) and The Laramie Project (SFSU).  Up next, she will directing and designing sound for Red (Bread & Butter Theatre).  As a composer, her music is heard on over 100 TV shows airing nationally and internationally. Lana completed a BFA and BA at the University of Regina, Canada, and is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and the Dramatists Guild.

Insignificance: Meet the Design Team

Laura Jane Bailey (Director) previously directed Marvin’s Room for Dragon Productions and is happy to be back directing Insignificance. Dragon audiences have seen Laura Jane's acting in For The Love Of A Pig, Cloud Nine, Chekov In Yalta, Smell Of The Kill, The Memory Of Water, Bad Dates Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and Fiction. She has worked at several Bay Area theaters including TheatreWorks, Aurora Theatre, Crowded Fire, SF Playhouse and City Lights. Back in Chicago, Laura Jane served as Artistic Director for cobalt ensemble theatre and taught the Meisner technique at The Actors’ Center of Chicago.

Christina Bauer (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working her first production with Dragon Productions. Previous credits include The Monster Builder, Dear Master and Temple with Aurora Theatre Company; Into the Beautiful North with Central Works; Love Sick with Jewish Circle Theatre; Antigonick and The Village Bike with Shotgun Players; Orlando and Escanaba in da Moonlight with TheatreFirst; Shrek: The Musical with Berkeley Playhouse; The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, and The Merry Wives of Windsor with Livermore Shakespeare Festival; Guys and Dolls, Les Misérables, Cats, The Wizard of Oz, HONK! and Beauty and the Beast with Star Struck Children's Theatre. She is proud to have worked as a teacher for Arts Academy and Pleasanton Drama Camps. She holds a degree in anthropology, theatre, and political science from James Madison University.

Jonathan Covey (Sound Designer) is an aspiring sound designer and broke musician. A perfect fit for Dragon Theatre! This is the fourth play that Jonathan has made noise for with Dragon, the other three being Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, Rich & Famous and Caeneus & Poseidon. Covey also worked in the stage crew for the Palo Alto Theatre Company’s productions of Zombie Prom and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, was the assistant director for Crystal Springs Player’s production of The Bible: Abridged, and even tried his hand at acting, playing Detective Sargent Trotter in Crystal Springs’ production of Agatha Christie’s The Mouse Trap. But in the end, he felt much more comfortable alone in a dark room with a microphone and a guitar then on a lit stage in front of a few too many people.

Beth Covey-Snedegar (Properties Designer) has been on the stage and off since she was a little girl. Her passion for theatre inspired her to become a theatre arts instructor, teaching musical theatre, dance and acting to kids of all ages. In her off time, she is a mom and owns her own floral design and special events company, Sassy Diva Designs and Events. Her past Dragon credits include When the Rain Stops Falling.

Steaphen Fick (Fight Choreographer) Insignificance marks the first production with Dragon Production Theatre Company. He has performed on the History Channel for the episode of ‘Built By Hand’, he worked with Mike Rowe on ‘Somebody’s Gotta Do It’ and choreographed fight sequences for Dawnrunner Productions of ‘Terra’, ‘FIGHTCRAFT’ and ‘DORKCORE’. He has also worked with Galatia Films on ‘Reclaiming the Blade’, and Disney music video for the band Allstar Weekend. Steaphen also has worked with students at Milpitas High School on some of their productions. Steaphen has also choreographed fight sequences for multiple Renaissance Faire productions, taught at conventions in Michigan, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Mexico, Canada, the UK, and Holland. Steaphen has trained with fight directors from New York, Australia the US and Canada and is excited to bring that experience to the Dragon Production Theatre Company. 

Katie Forrest (Rehearsal Stage Manager) is delighted to be working with Dragon Productions Theatre Company for the third time. The last Dragon production Katie stage managed was Cirque Exotique du Monde. She has worked behind the scenes and on stage for many previous shows. Most of her work was done at Woodside High School, taking on various roles in productions. She is also studying at Canada College to obtain a double major in Business and Theater.

Eric Johnson (Scenic Designer) is thrilled to be making his Dragon debut with scenic design for Insignificance. Eric is also the new resident stage manager and props designer for Broadway By The Bay (Smokey Joes Café, Next To Normal, Singin’ in the Rain), the resident Props Designer for SAN Francisco Opera’s Merola Arts Program (Transformations, La Cenerentola, La Finta Giardinier, The Marriage of Figaro, Postcards From Morocco, The Rape of Lucretia, The Medium, Don Pasquale, and five seasons of the Schwabacher Summer Concert Series). Eric is also a freelance designer and stage manager for many companies around the Bay Area. Look for Eric’s work in upcoming productions of Music Man, Million Dollar Quartet, Saturday Night Fever, and Aida with Broadway By The Bay. Special thanks to Kelly Tighe, his family, and the wonderful Marty Stauffer!

Edward Liptzin (Lighting Designer) is excited by the opportunity to bring Insignificance to life. He has previously worked as a Technician at The Dragon Theater for their Monday Night Play Space series and is looking forward to furthering his exploration of design. He has previous experience as Lead Electrician on California Shakespeare Theater’s Black Odyssey, Assistant Lighting Designer on TheatreFIRST’s HeLa, and Lighting Assistant on Ubuntu Theater Project’s To the Bone, in addition to doing various lighting design throughout college. From this production, Edward reflects upon these words of The Professor: "If I say I know, I stop thinking, but so long as I think, I come to understand, I might approach some truth."

Kathleen Qiu (Costume Designer) is excited to be returning to Dragon Productions for Insignificance after working on Cirque Exotique du Monde. Previously in the Bay Area, she has designed at Pear Theatre (Enemy of the People), Custom Made Theatre Co (The House of Yes, How I Learned to Drive), the SF Playhouse (You Mean to Do Me Harm), Palo Alto Players (The Graduate), and Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre (In the Heights, Jesus Christ Superstar). Her other credits include Pirates of Penzance, Steve Martin’s The Underpants, Dracula, War of the Worlds, and Picture Imperfect, among others, with a variety of theatres in Tallahassee and Chicago. She graduated from the University of Chicago with degrees in Chemistry and Psychology. She would like to thank the production team for this opportunity and her family and friends for their continued support.