Staff

JEN KAYS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Jen Kays (she/her/hers) is a painter and theatre-maker living in Los Angeles. She is focused on providing artists and playwrights with a creative home and championing the development of new work. She joined Circle X staff in 2003, served as the literary director from 2006, the associate artistic director overseeing literary and production from 2014 and stepped into the artistic director position in 2019. Jen has worked on over 40 productions on the west coast in various positions including as an actor, producer, director, dramaturg and scenic painter. She has collaborated with Ghost Road, Boston Court, Teatr ZAR, Temporary Space LA, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Printer’s Devil, Shakespeare Festival LA and Center Theatre Group; The Assistant Director to John Langs for Circle X during Battle Hymn, The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder and The Sequence at The Theater @ Boston Court. Associate Producer for Circle X Theatre Co. on Hole in The Sky, Trevor, Stupid Fucking Bird, The Chinese Massacre Annotated and Producer on Punkplay and Do You Feel Anger?. Jen has performed in over 20 productions on the west coast and has performed at The Broadwater, The Getty Villa, South Coast Repertory, and Printer’s Devil, Seattle. With Circle X Theatre Co., in Marley’s Ghost, Sperm, Bigger Man, Love/Sex or Sex/Love and Naked Before God.  An ensemble member of Ghost Road since 2013, she helped develop, produce and/or perform in The Unraveling, Super Duper, The Dry Years, Jocasta: A Motherf**king Tragedy, The Bargain and The Butterfly and Asterion, touring from Los Angeles to Warsaw in 2013, 2016, 2017 and was featured in the 2014 Studio SCR Series at South Coast Repertory Theatre.  She Produced and Directed two audio books, audio for an art exhibition and the play Thoughts and Such by Richard Shelton for Temporary Space LA in 2015 and has performed voiceover work ranging from Pharmaceutical to Red Hook Beer. Her art can be seen at:

Jenkays.com

KAT HAAN, LITERARY DIRECTOR

Kat Haan (She/her) is an actor and theatre-maker based in Los Angeles. She first worked with Circle X in 2010 as the stage manager for The Good Book of Pedantry and Wonder, a co-production with the Theatre @ Boston Court. She joined the staff in the fall of 2010 and has worn many hats (both literal and figurative) working on productions of The Chinese Massacre (Annotated), Bad Apples, Naked Before God, Stupid Fucking Bird, and Trevor, in addition to many readings and workshops. She stepped into the role of Literary Director in 2021 and now spends most of her time reading all of the plays (seriously, so many plays). Kat has also had the opportunity to work with Amios NYC, Antaeus Theatre Company, Boston Court, East West Players, The Falcon Theatre, The Getty Villa, Troubadour Theatre Company, Shakespeare’s Globe, and the Edinburgh, Ithaca, and Toronto Fringe Festivals. She holds an MA in Theatre from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

NICOLE LE, LITERARY ASSOCIATE

Nicole is a writer and researcher living in San Diego, California. She joined Circle X as a reader in 2017 and has been involved in literary discovery and development ever since. She has worked with the lit departments at South Coast Repertory, The Playwrights’ Center, and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and previously served on Literary Council for The Bay Area Playwrights Festival.

LEE HANNAH CONRADS, THE EVOLVING PLAYWRIGHTS GROUP CO-PRODUCER

Lee Hannah Conrads is a LA-based theater director, raised and trained in the Midwest, whose productions ask big questions, wrestle with paradox, and stage impossible things. Previous directing credits include Roots, an evening of one-acts (Theater of Note), Vinegar Tom, Three Sisters, and The Burial at Thebes (Northwestern University), If We Were Birds and The Naked I: Insides Out (20% Theatre Company Twin Cities), Trestle at Pope Lick Creek (Carleton College), No Exit, Medea and Winter House (The Amber Bastards), as well as assistant directing credits in Chicago at Steppenwolf and Northlight, in Minneapolis at Ten Thousand Things, Mixed Blood, and the Playwright’s Center, and in New York at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Lee holds a BA from Carleton College and an MFA from Northwestern University. leehannahconrads.com

SIMRAN “SIMI” FULTON, THE EVOLVING PLAYWRIGHTS GROUP CO-PRODUCER

Simran “Simi“ Fulton She/her is a multi-faceted theater and film artist in Los Angeles. She was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where she started her theater journey before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a degree in Psychology and Theater. As a recent graduate from Occidental College, she has performed in many of their productions including, Roe, Seize the King, Romeo and Juliet, and Men on Boats. She had the privilege of becoming Circle X’s 2022 summer intern, and has loved every second she has gotten to work with the company since. In addition she has gotten the opportunity to work both on and off stage at different theaters including  Cornerstone Theater Co., and Greenway Arts Alliance. She is excited to make her directorial debut at the Hollywood Fringe this summer.

ELIZABETH RAINEY, DIRECTOR OF INCLUSION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

As Director of Inclusion and Community Engagement Elizabeth works to build community and creativity through the workshop series and oversees intern artists new to Circle X. Elizabeth is a Los Angeles based theatre artist, teaching artist and foley artist who loves LA and its many, varied stories. A graduate of CalArts, Elizabeth has performed with Milwaukee Rep., Shakespeare Center/LA and About Productions among others. She has worked as a director, teaching artist, and community dialogue facilitator with various youth arts programs throughout LA including as the program director of the nationally recognized, Will Power to Youth (SCLA).

Elizabeth also works as a foley artist designing and performing sound effects for the Film and TV industry.

elizabeth-rainey.com

CASEY SMITH, ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING FOR PROJECTS RELATED TO HIMSELF

He/Him Originally from Seattle, WA, Casey has been living in Los Angeles for the last 40,000 centuries. As a member of Circle X Theater Co., he has appeared in Paul Mullin’s Grendel, Jillian Armenante and Alice Dodd’s Laura Comstock’s Bag Punching Dog, and Tom Jacobson’s Sperm. His critically acclaimed show At Play In The Valley Of The Shadow Of Chet received an LA Weekly Award nomination for Solo Performance. His solo show Violators Will Be Violated, directed by Jennifer Skinner, won the 2009 LA Weekly Award for Solo Performance. Violators… appeared in the 2010 Hollywood and New York Fringe Festivals and by special invitation at the 2012 XFest Festival of Experimental Theater in Edwardsville, Illinois. His latest solo show, also directed by Jennifer Skinner, At Some Point In The Process Of The End Of The World, opened in early 2015. Other work in Los Angeles includes Arlecchino in Marivaux’s The Triumph of Love (A Small Company and Chautauqua Theatre Alliance), Ike in David Davalos’ Darkfall (Sacred Fools), and the Cow in Padraic Duffy’s Feet (Sacred Fools). Before leaving Seattle, Casey created a show called Frog1 with Chuck Harper and Jesse Aasheim, which premiered at Sin’n’Spin and was part of Edge Festival of Experimentation in the Arts. Other work with Aasheim and Harper includes Christopher Durang’s Titanic and Joe Orton’s the Erpingham Camp. Casey is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle.

KAT XUE, DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Originally from New Jersey, Kat (she/they) moved to Los Angeles in 2018 to pursue a theatre degree at USC. They started out at Circle X Theatre as an intern back in 2019, and she has since developed an interest in theatre administration and development. They are excited to join Circle X as its development associate. Their love for movement and arts extend to everything they do, and they are currently completing their prerequisites to join a Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program.

Board

JEN KAYS

See bio above.

JENNIFER A. SKINNER

A member since 2003, and Producing Director, Jennifer performed in Leo Geter’s “Naked Before God” and Sam Marks, “Bigger Man” along with her one person short “The Green Room”. Jennifer has co-produced many plays with Tim Wright including Bad Apples, The Brothers Karamazov, and Battle Hymn. Additionally, she produced, co-created and directed Casey Smith in “Violators will Be Violated” and “At Some Point in the Process of the end of the World”.

Jennifer is also the Director of Theater Rentals/Sales at Kinetic Lighting, Inc.

GWYN FAWCETT MCCOLL

Gwyn graduated with honors with her BFA from UC Santa Barbara all the way back in 1991. After spending a year as an intern at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater she spent three years earning her MFA at Penn State University. From there she moved to Los Angeles where she has been (more or less) ever since. She has taught theater at the high school, university and graduate levels and, while teaching, has served on numerous committees. She has worked in theaters throughout the country and brings what she learned from larger arts organizations to the Circle X board. She met her husband Michael doing a Circle X show and together they have two beautiful little girls and two very silly dogs.

RICHARD AUGUSTINE

Richard is one of the founding members of Circle X and has participated in many shows for the company. He has diversified his talents, moving into set and production design for both film and stage.

BOB CLENDENIN

Bob is very proud to have been a founding member of Circle X. He has appeared in City, The Eight, Great Men of Science and Marley's Ghost. He lives in Burbank with his wife and two sons and enjoys playing with tools and coaching Little League. He's on TV sometimes.

JIM LEONARD

Jim writes plays, movies, and television. Published plays include The Diviners, And They Dance Real Slow In Jackson, V&V Only, Crow and Weasel, and Anatomy of Gray. His newest play Battle Hymn opened at Circle X Theatre in 2009 in Los Angeles to outstanding reviews. Jim was a member of New York's Circle Repertory Company for twenty years. Theatrical honors include three NEA Fellowships, a New York Villager Award, the Midland Writers Award, the Samuel French Best New Play Award, and the Dramatists Guild Award. He co-wrote the screenplay for Mira Nair's award-winning film My Own Country. He created the television series Close to Home (CBS), Skin (Fox), and Thieves (ABC); he wrote and produced The Marshal (ABC), Internal Affairs (NBC), Night Visions (Fox), Kilroy (HBO), and the American version of Cracker (ABC).

REBECCA AVERY

Rebecca Avery graduated from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. She has studied with the Atlantic Theater Company under William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, David Mamet, and Scott Zigler. Rebecca is the co-owner of a pet care service. She has volunteered at various pet shelters across Los Angeles and San Bernardino County as well as doing training for dogs. She is also a teacher of Practical Aesthetics, an acting technique.

CAMILLE SCHENKKAN

Camille is the Interim Director for the Education & Community Partnerships Department at Center Theatre Group, where she has led workforce development and emerging artist programming since 2012. She teaches Arts Education in the Master of Arts Administration Program at Goucher College, and serves on the Advisory Board for Emerging Arts Leaders/Los Angeles and the Program Committee for the California State Summer School for the Arts. In past years, she was an Issue Expert for the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network, and Co-Chaired the National Emerging Leader Council for Americans for the Arts. She spent 14 years in artistic leadership for Circle X Theatre Co. in Los Angeles, and continues to serve as a board member. Her professional practice is rooted in equity, diversity & inclusion and anti-racist learning and action, and she tries to model visible parenting for artists and arts managers.

SILAS WEIR MITCHELL

Silas Weir Mitchell has been working steadily since the mid-nineties, appearing in many films and hundreds of episodes of TV. He is probably best known for his 6 seasons as the Blutbaden horologist, Monroe, on NBC’s GRIMM, and 2 seasons as Haywire on FOX’s PRISON BREAK, among many others - including MY NAME IS EARL, DEXTER, SIX FEET UNDER, THE MENTALIST, COLD CASE, BURN NOTICE, THE CLOSER, THE SHIELD, 24, LAW & ORDER, CSI, NYPD BLUE, ER, etc... He recently completed work on the latest iteration of CRIMINAL MINDS for the Paramount + network.

On stage, Silas has appeared in New York Off-Broadway (Playwrights’ Horizons, The Harold Clurman Theatre, HERE Theatre, Ludlow St. Theatre); in Los Angeles (Circle X, The Actors’ Gang, Atwater Village Theatre, Stella Adler Theatre, The MET Theatre, Zoo District); and regionally in California (La Jolla Playhouse), Ohio (The Porthouse Theatre) and most recently in Oregon at the Portland Center Stage in “Constellations” and a revival of “Three Days of Rain”, both under the direction of Chris Coleman.

He has produced and directed numerous revivals both in New York and Los Angeles, and has helped generate and shape numerous new works.

TIM WRIGHT

Tim served as Artistic Director since 2004. In 2018, he stepped down and transitioned to Executive Director. Graduate of Montclair State University with a BFA in Theatre. Recently produced Battle Hymn, Naked Before God and Lascivious Something for Circle X at [Inside] The Ford, Co- Produced The Good Book of Pedantry & Wonder and Stupid Fucking Bird with The Theatre @ Boston Court, and produced The Chinese Massacre (Annotated), Bad Apples, Trevor and Do You Feel Anger? for Circle X at Atwater Village Theatre where the company has been in residence since 2009. He has been actively involved in the development and creation of new works for the stage with Circle X. Tim co-founded and manages Atwater Village Theatre.