ABOUT THE TEAM

Natalia Yandyganova is a founder and creative director of an NYC experimental theatre group “Angry Fish Theatre”. Her work focuses on engaging the audience in difficult yet socially important topics through participatory theatre. Being a member of the immersive interactive theater company Live in Theater for 7 years, and co-creating over a dozen of shows in the genre, she uses the niche knowledge and technique to create breakthrough narrative structures and viscerally moving work in theatre.

As a common immigrant New Yorker, she has a diverse background and eclectic influences. Coming from an Indigenous Mari people, often referred to as "the last pagans of Europe," she is drawn to seeing hidden magical worlds in the mundane urban reality and transforming this view into new types of stories about her generation.

The recurring aims of her work are dissecting the flawed systems present in our society, exposing the absurd in the mundane routines we live by and evoking empathy towards those invisible or “othered” in society.

Natalia was a member of one of NYC’s pioneers in the interactive theatre field "Live in Theater" for 7 years and implements advanced interactive techniques into her work, unexpectedly mixing elements of immersive, game design and LARP genres. Her original works in theatre include the avant-garde piece “How Was Your Day?”, and an interactive site-specific series in storefront displays “Front. End. Center”. Pre-pandemic she participated in several Chelsea Rep. Lab festivals directing works of new playwrights and staging experimental interpretations of American classics.

Joyce Laoagan (stage - Joyce Lao) is a New York-based creative who is passionate about social justice and arts education. She is also a proud Indigenous of the Igorot tribe of the Philippines. She identifies as an Indigenous Filipino-American who is committed to promoting the work of multi-talented people of color.

Joyce earned her degrees in Psychology, Special Education, Music, and Arts Administration. She also attended The Juilliard School,  Stella Adler School of Acting and HB Studios.

Joyce has produced, acted, and written several films that have been screened in film festivals around the world. Her stage directorial debut, "Hecuba," won Runner-up for Best Ensemble and Best Director at the Ancient Drama Festival. She has also written, choreographed, performed, and produced theater experiences for New York stages as well as the NYC fringe festival and Midtown International theatre festival.

Her latest short film, "Eva's Gabriel," received nominations and awards in different categories such as Best Acting Ensemble, and Best Short Film among others. She has appeared in and booked several shows on TV and in online streaming platforms.

Joyce is also the founder of The Ally Artists Group, an organization that supports and promotes the work of multi-talented people of color. She is passionate about social justice, arts education, human rights, and exploring the social emotional aspect of the human psyche. She now serves as the Program Manager for Dance Education and Family Programs at The Joyce Theater. www.joycelao.com

Anna Bredikhina is a New York City based singer/actress/dancer/producer/translator/educator. Having graduated from LaGuardia "Fame" school's Vocal department, she obtained a conservatory BM degree in Classical Voice with a minor in French, in addition to which she has a double major BA in English Literature and Italian with a minor in Theatre from Hunter College. Anna also holds a Master's Degree in Russian Translation from Columbia University and an AAS Culinary Arts degree from KBCC. Her performance experience includes concerts at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Off-Broadway shows, and many short and feature films that have been screened at various film festivals worldwide and have received numerous awards. One of her short films is currently up on Amazon Prime Video. Anna is presently co-producing a West Coast tour of an Off-Broadway show that sold out two runs in NYC earlier this year and she is also set to produce two holiday shows this winter. When not performing or producing, Anna enjoys working as a translator and an educator (with over 13 years of experience) across various performing arts platforms and age groups, both privately and through group lessons. More information about Anna can be found at AnnaBredikhina.com.

Sabrina Morabito is a native New Yorker, with years of experience in theater, film/video production, stage management and production manager. She is presently the Production Liaison, Coordinator and Manager at the Pan Asian Repertory in New York City. She has a degree in Theatre and Creative Writing from the prestigious arts institution, The New School. The skills she developed as a stage manager has been invaluable. Learning how to deal with people in a diplomatic, non-confrontational manner; broadening her organizational skills; and learning how to adapt to any situation -- has become essential parts of the 'toolbox' that she brings to all projects that she is a part of.  She has been a part of Immersive Theater in NYC for many years. She works and help create non-traditional, audience driven theater because it allows everyone in the room to create art and be part of something that is solely created by audiences.

Tomoko Hojo is an artist working within the fluidity between sound, music and performance. Recently Hojo has worked on the theme that makes (women’s) silenced voices audible in the history, with a special focus on Japanese women who have relations to western countries, such as Yoko Ono, Sadayakko Kawakami. Recent solo exhibitions and concerts are Japanese Woman Experimental Sound Artists (Emily Harvey Foundation, NYC, 2022), Unearthed Tremor (Contemporary Art Center Aomori, 2021) , fall asleep (SA))_gallery, Moscow, 2021), Music From Japan Festival 2021 (Scandinavia House, NYC, 2021),  Sotto Voce (TOKAS Hongo, Tokyo, 2019). She is a grantee of Overseas Study by Young Artists (The Pola Art Foundation, 2017), New York Fellowship (Asian Cultural Council, 2019).

https://tomokohojo.net/

August Henney is a scenic design M.F.A. candidate at the University of Maryland. August has received a B.S. in Human Physiology and Theatre Arts at University of Oregon. August is currently working as the scenic designer for a production of “Florencia En ElAmazons” at University of Maryland. Some previous production roles include scenic designer for “Once”at University of Oregon, assistant to scenic designer TimothyMackabee for multiple productions including “Natasha, Pierre & TheGreat Comet of 1812” at Pittsburgh CLO, assistant to scenicdesigner Amy Dunn for “Art” at Oregon Contemporary Theatre, andassistant to lighting designer Courtney Johnson for “Vanya, Masha,Sonia and Spike” at Contra Costa Civic Theatre. August has been awarded the KCACTF Region 7 2021 Honorable Mention for FuturePromise in Scenic Design for The Rocky Horror Show and KCACTFRegion 7 2022 NPP One-Act Play Semi-finalist for “The Feelings WeForget”.

Emperatriz Ung is a Chinese-Colombian game designer, writer,& educator from the AmericanSouthwest. She works as a narrative designer for games & is a contributing organizer for the Game Devs of Color Expo. Emperatriz has been awarded fellowships, scholarships, and residences from the Asian American Writers' Workshop, Millay Arts, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Foundation, Kundiman, as well as the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. You can find more of her work at www.emperatrizung.com.