The Board of Directors

Benita de Wit (they/them) is an Australian director based in New York. Recently, they were a Mercury Store lead artist and directed Life Sucks by Aaron Posner at Oklahoma City Rep. Benita is an SDC Member, a Barbara Whitman Award 2024 Finalist, and a New Georges-affiliated artist. They have developed new work at Clubbed Thumb, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Mercury Store, Powerhouse Theatre, Gingold Theatrical Group, Exquisite Corpse Company, Dartmouth College, and Playwrights Horizons Theater Scho...

Saheem is a proud immigrant from Kenya, currently serving as the Associate Artistic Director/ Resident Director of New York’s Public Theater. He is a Tony Award nominee for Buena Vista Social Club and Fat Ham, the latter of which also earned the Joe A. Callaway Award, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations. His Shakespeare in the Park productions of Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night and Merry Wives were recorded for PBS Great Performances, and were the subject of the HBO documentary Reopen...

Nambi E. Kelley is an award-winning actor, playwright, and television writer-producer whose work bridges history, politics, and intimate human storytelling. As an actor, she has performed regionally, internationally, and on television, including productions playing opposite greats such as Phylicia Rashad and Alfre Woodard, multiple productions at Goodman Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with select television appearances on Chicago Med, Elementary, Person of Interest, Madam Secretary,...

Copeland Woodruff is currently the Mary and Michael Jaharis Director of Opera Studies at Lawrence University, Conservatory of Music. He has been on the directing and production staffs of the New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Yale Opera, Atlantic Coast Opera Festival (NJ), and Opera North (Philadelphia and New Hampshire). He has been on the faculties of the Juilliard School, Oberlin Conservatory, Academy of Vocal Arts, Temple University, University ...

Natalie Hennedige is the founder and artistic director of CAKE, a Singapore-based performance company creating interdisciplinary works across diverse spaces. At the core of CAKE’s methodology is a commitment to interdisciplinarity and collaboration. The company works across theatre, dance, music, visual arts, film, and multimedia to generate hybrid forms that resist categorisation. This is embodied in long-running platforms such as Jamming Space and Running with Strippers, which function as e...