2025 LEAD ARTISTS
lacy k campbell
she/her/hers
Lacy K Campbell is an award-winning theater artist and creative director whose work focuses on experiences that bring people together across cultural boundaries. She has created site-specific work with theater companies across the US, including on public transportation, inside national landmarks, and on small watercraft. As a creative director, her current work focuses on guest journeys through various cultural attractions and entertainment projects in the US and overseas. She has received support from several organizations including Artist Trust, The Awesome Foundation, The Chicago Humanities Festival, and spoken at IAAPA, SATE, and at several universities as a guest lecturer in puppetry, devised work, and site-specific theater.
parmida ziaei
she/her/hers
Parmida Ziaei is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist, designer, and co-founder of Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble. Her work is deeply influenced by her dual identity as an Iranian immigrant and draws inspiration from her background in architecture and theatre. As a designer, Parmida has contributed to a diverse range of projects, including interior, architectural, immersive, and entertainment spaces. She has worked as a scenic and production designer for numerous Seattle theatres, such as ACT, Village Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Public Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, and more. As a performer, Parmida integrates the intricacy and elegance of Classical Persian dance with the fluidity of modern and contemporary movement, creating a distinctive style that reflects her merging identities. Her performances explore visual forms, resilience, culture, and socio-political issues. www.parmidaziaei.com
JORDAN MOELLER
he/him/his
Jordan Moeller (he/him) is a comedian and large bird based out of Los Angeles. His irreverent, satirical, and rollicking solo comedic work has been seen on Characters Welcome, San Francisco Sketchfest, SketchFest Seattle, and countless other screens and stages across the continent. Previously, he’s been a member of sketch house teams at BoogieManja Sketch Collective and The PIT in NYC, and he is currently the lead producer of Nebula Comedy in Los Angeles and a writing and performing member of Speakeasy Sketch, a Pack Theater house team. He is the proud recipient “Best of Fest - Solo Performer” for his character set at Denver Sketch Fest in 2024. Follow him at @meat_prank on instagram, and keep an ear out for his forthcoming historical comedy podcast, "Whispers on the Adriatic" originally developed at Art Party!
STEFAN RICHMOND
he/him/his/they/them/theirs
Stefan is a Colorado-born, Seattle transplant actor/movement/performance artist & educator. After graduating from the University of Northern Colorado with a B.A. in Theatre Arts and Dance, They made their way to the PNW through the Intiman Emerging Artist Program in 2016 and have been a full-time artist in Seattle. As a creative collaborator and storyteller, they believe in the power of storytelling and its ability to heal. The projects they seek to create and collaborate on examine and explore the intersections of stories and emotions related to physical space, natural movement within the body, and language/text. Some Seattle credits include 3-2-1! (Saltshake Productions) , Henry IV (Seattle Shakespeare), Salvage Rituals (Emmy Smith Stewart/Jeffery Azevedo), #1(CO—_), ordinary grief or people yet to come (zoe|juniper), multiple educational touring shows with Book-It Theatre, Romeo y Julieta (Franco/Seattle Shakespeare), Black Bois (Dani Tirrel+Congregation), Pylon III (Tectonic Marrow Society), The Earth Shakes (Heron Ensemble), Carry We Openly (Amador/Stokes) and The House of Dinah (Andrew Russell/Dani Tirrell/Jerome Parker.)
BECKY POOLE
she/her/hers
Becky Poole is an actor, performing artist, writer, feminist murder balladeer, and musical saw player. She began writing murder ballads with her take on Omie Wise called “Omie Homage” - giving Naomi the upper hand. Her writing has progressed from script-flipping exercises to thoughtful musings on cultural systems and how they fail us. In August Poole released an album of murder ballads based on Andrea Yates and Dena Schlosser, two women who killed their children in the early 2000s called “The Ballad of Dena & Andrea.” The album has an accompanying podcast exploring misogyny, toxic religion, motherhood, incarceration, and mental health. Becky believes that by amplifying contemporary stories of female/femme violence (perpetrated by and thrust upon them) using oral traditions through an intersectional feminist lens, we can create new myths and allegories in which a woman (inclusive) is not merely the dead object, but the whole subject.
TEAGUE M PARKER
he/him/his
Teague M. Parker (He/Him) is an Actor, Playwright, Improviser, Producer, and Teaching Artist. After graduating from Western Washington University, he founded Come Up Productions, which highlights up-and-coming artist while bringing Free Theatre & Live Events to the Washington community. Through Come Ups, Teague shares his original theatre pedagogy,Improv for Wellness: a technique combining established improvisation, theater, and wellness practices to help students learn tools for self-care & self-empowerment across mind, body, and spirit. Teague has performed on stages ranging from Seattle, Mexico city, and Chicago, won a national award for his full-length play, served as assistant professor for Cornish College of the Arts’ playwriting program, and facilitates professional development workshops on equitable, trauma-informed practices for educators across Washington. Teague’s Improv for Wellness pedagogy has been brought to Seattle regional theaters, had masterclasses with graduate and PhD programs, and partnerships with the Museum of Pop Culture and Seattle Office of Arts & Culture. He currently hosts the Improv for Wellness Adult Drop-In Sessions – a weekly self-care centered workshop free to the public. Taking the performance out of traditional arts practices, Teague removes the barriers that hold us from believing in our creativity and identity.
sam turner
he/him/his
Sam is a Seattle-based teacher and actor who attended Western Washington University, earning degrees in Theatre and Elementary Education. He is currently in his 9th year at Genesee Hill Elementary teacher as the Dance specialist, after earning his Masters in Science in curriculum and instruction. He is thrilled to be in the orbit of these amazing art party artists.
debbie baer
she/her/hers
Debbie feels lucky that she gets to write for a living. She has no intention of living anywhere she can't see mountains ever again.
francesca betancourt
she/her/hers
Francesca Betancourt aka Cessa (she.her.hers) Cessa is an actor, intimacy director, facilitator, and co-artistic producer of ART PARTY. She holds two BAs from Western Washington University in Theatre (acting, directing) and Sociology (social injustice, intimate relationships) and has trained in applied theatre at City University of New York. She has worked in theatre, dance, and arts education in Ireland, India, the Philippines, New York, Florida, Wisconsin, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Washington. She is the artistic director for the storytelling event and podcast she is FIERCE, and a founding member of HERON ensemble (a multidisciplinary theatre collective) and Pacific Northwest Theatrical Intimacy. Cessa currently directs a program in anti-racist and culturally sustaining arts education in the Seattle public school system and teaches globally for Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. As a multidisciplinary, bisexual, mixed race (Cuban/Irish) woman, she seeks to make art that builds bridges between worlds. Her work is based in trauma conscious social/emotional arts practice, agency, whimsy, and physical storytelling. francescabetancourt.com
will darling
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Will Darling is a Seattle based multi-disciplinary artist who works with language. He grew up in the Seattle queer arts and punk scene, a community that has influenced his art and political activism from a young age. He studied Sociology and Theater Design at Seattle University and graduated with Honors in 2016. Darling has written locally and nationally for publications such as the Seattle Times, The Stranger, and The Believer. He has sold over 400 copies of his zine, Gay Cabin and is the founder and lead designer of Good Boy Designs: a queer jewelry company. He has completed residencies at Velocity, Town Hall, and Washington State University. Darling has been awarded artist grants from 4Culture and Artist Trust.
MEYSHA HARVILLE
they/them/theirs
Meysha is a Black, non-binary, trans artist from Youngstown, Ohio, currently in the PNW. Their multidisciplinary work—spanning music (with TxM and Transonic), theater, and poetry- explores themes of Black trans joy, identity, spirituality, and righteous anger. Currently, Meysha is developing their first full-length play, a testament to their commitment to storytelling and taking your time with your things.
MARE HIRSCH
she/her/hers
Mare Hirsch is an artist whose practice is mediated by digital technologies, data, and code. Her work investigates the ways technology and art can expand opportunities for creative expression, connect data to creative practice, and foster opportunities for inclusive discourse on the social, political, scientific, and philosophical issues of our time.
jess K smith
she/her/hers
Jess K Smith (she/her) is a freelance Director, Intimacy Director (Pacific Northwest Theatrical Intimacy), Co-Founder and Creative Producer of ART PARTY residencies and festival, and Chair and Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Puget Sound. She loves creating imaginative interplay between heightened physicality and naturalistic scene work whether through adaptations, interdisciplinary collaborations, new plays, or classic texts. Her work has been featured on stages in New York, Seattle, Portland, Anchorage, Prague, and Cape Town. She earned an M.F.A. in Directing at Columbia University under Anne Bogart. jessksmith.com