About Us
Our mission is to ignite wonder and curiosity in young audiences in order to inspire deep thinking beyond the theater space. We strive to meaningfully engage young people in complex topics. Our shows utilize puppetry, mask and music as powerful and engaging storytelling tools. We are often inspired by the complicated, rich history of our home city, New York.
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Read below to learn more about our company members
Company Founders
Founders Rachel Sullivan and Liz Parker both hold an MA in Applied Theater from CUNY/School of Professional Studies. Combined, they have over thirty years of experience as teaching artists in school, library and museum settings. They are each experienced at directing devised work with a wide variety of community groups.
The duo first begin creating for family audiences with Urban Stages’ outreach department, performing regularly at over 80 NYC public libraries. In 2011, their show Blown Away by Poetry was performed at the New York International Fringe Festival after which it toured to the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), The Bushwick Starr, Poet's House and other NYC venues. In the 2015-2016 season, Rachel and Liz were selected for The New Victory Theater's prestigious LabWorks program where they began development of Layer the Walls. The Jim Henson Foundation selected Layer the Walls for a family grant in 2017. Layer the Walls was co-presented in 2018 Off-Broadway as a part of The 14th Street Y Young Audience Series, reaching 1,200 young people. Layer the Walls received funding from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation for support with 2019-2020 touring to reach over 7,000 young people.
RACHEL SULLIVAN: EXECUTIVE & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Rachel previously co-founded Honest Accomplice Theatre which brings original pieces of theater and media to college campuses and local theaters to begin conversations about gender. Her work with Honest Accomplice has been supported by The Ford Foundation and is utilized The New York City Commission on Human Rights.
LIZ PARKER: CO-CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Liz has previously performed throughout the country with several shows for young audiences including Literature to Life’s one-person stage adaptation of Lois Lowry’s ‘The Giver’, adapted by Elise Thoron.
Board of Directors
LAURA NEWMARK: BOARD PRESIDENT
Laura Beatrix Newmark was born in Cincinnati and has called New York City her home for three decades. Laura works in the intersection of the arts, media, activism, and comedy. She quoted a young stand-up named Jay Leno at her bat mitzvah, was quoted in Playbill about her commitment to attending the Philharmonic in the Park every summer, managed a roster of comedy performers, directed the LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture fellowship, and produced the #NastyWomen - A Night of Female Resistance Comedy series.
Laura holds a BA from Barnard College and lives in Brooklyn with her sons Elias and Milo and husband Matt, a lapsed professional juggler.
Her favorite green food: artichokes
GEORGE KONARIS: BOARD TREASURER
George has been involved, in various capacities, in nonprofit work including children education, children welfare and equal opportunities, issues he cares deeply about.
Following a childhood in Greece, George moved to England where he spent the next ten years, studying at Cambridge and Oxford along the way. He moved to New York in 2005, working in finance through 2016, when George and his wife, Vivian, took a two-year sabbatical from the city and traveled the world. On his return, George founded Spark Projects, a London-based charity providing digital literacy to under-privileged children in Greece. Spark Projects worked with foster care, community centers and asylum hostels, to engage children and educators, looking to build fundamental digital skills and awareness organically, through art and stem projects.
George lives in Brooklyn with Vivian and their two little boys.
RAGHAV THAPAR: BOARD MEMBER
Raghav Thapar works in content acquisition and business development for Amazon Prime Video. Prior to Amazon, he worked for seven years in strategy at Disney. He graduated from Stanford University and holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School. His interests are his goldendoodle Ellie, San Francisco sports teams and tennis.