SEASON 1
CREATIVES
Joshua N Hsu (he/him) earned his Master of Fine Arts in drama from the University of California, Irvine, and his Bachelor in Theatre from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Joshua believes in creating and facilitating theatrical experiences that are unapologetically relevant, unabashedly visceral, and joyfully dynamic. As a director, he’s worked in small and regional theaters across the United States, such as The Road Theatre Company, New Paltz Summer Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory, and Utah Shakespearean Festival. More recently, he’s worked at Bates College, the University of Southern Maine, and Mad Horse Theatre Company in Maine.
Notable theatrical directing credits include the Maine premiere of James Ijames’ White, the world premiere of Lysistrata: A Reimagining by Alicia Tycer, the West Coast premieres of J. Holtham’s How to Survive an Atomic Bomb and J. Holtham’s Snakeskin Suit, and the U.S. premiere of Mark Ravenhill’s Some Explicit Polaroids.
As a producer, he was the founding artistic director of Framework Theatre Collective, a company devoted to reinterpreting, reimagining, and adapting classical works for theatre, radio, new media, television, and film. He was also a co-founder of Brown-Hsu Films, a new company featuring upcoming diverse performers and creators. He currently serves as festival co-director for PortFringe, Maine’s Fringe Festival and serves on the steering commitee for Maine’s First Asian American Community Center
Learn more at joshuanhsu.com
Joshua N Hsu (He/Him)
Samuel Rapaport (He/Him)
Sam has worked as a creative producer in Maine for well over a decade. Over the years he has held the roles of Sound Designer, Recordist, Musical Arranger, Actor, Film Producer and as of this season, Podcast Producer!
Through his work as a live event producer, he has filmed the likes of Patrick Dempsy, George Mitchell, Olympia Snowe and many other Mainers of note. Sam has also contributed to sound departments across 4 Damnationland films, during his fifth, titled Come Home, he moonlit as cinematographer. As a theatrical designer he has worked on dozens of projects spanning from radio dramas to live performance. Recent Affiliations include, Portland Theater Festival, Maddy’s Theatre, and Forge Theater Labs.
Alicia Tycer is a playwright, actress, and theatre scholar who teaches at California State University, Los Angeles. She received her Ph.D in Drama and Theatre from U.C. Irvine and her M.F.A. in Television, Film, and Theatre (Dramatic Writing and Performance options) from Cal State LA. Her playwriting credits include: Lysistrata: A Re-Imagining (Unknown Artists at Grove Theatre Center), The Civil War: A Tragi-Comedy (John Lion New Plays Festival), H.U.A.C. (Los Angeles Theatre Center), This is How it Ends (Boston Court) and Dreaming of Women (Celebration Theatre). She has collaborated on writing Space: The Final Frontier (Opera Del Espacio, at South Coast Rep and Son of Semele) and Embers, Ashes, and This Land (Circle Squared Collective). She was also the librettist and dramaturg for The Wall: A Musical Misdeed (CSULA). Her acting credits include Last Summer at Bluefish Cove (Stella Adler Theatre), TransMe (Los Angeles Theatre Center), The Laramie Project (CAP Studio Theatre), and The Vagina Monologues (Ensemble Studio Theatre). She has worked as a dramaturg for numerous productions, most recently for Moving Arts. Publications include Continuum Modern Theatre Guide: Caryl Churchill's Top Girls and an article on Sarah Kane’s work for Theatre Journal.
Alicia Tycer (She/Her)
Maya is a religious Black multiracial nonbinary suicide survivor who was selected as Portland, ME's seventh poet laureate for a July 2021 to July 2024 term. Eir debut poetry collection Judas & Suicide (Game Over Books, 2023) was selected as a finalist for the New England Book Award. Their second poetry collection, Refused a Second Date (Harbor Editions, 2023), was selected as a finalist for the Maine Literary Award. Her third poetry collection, the chapbook What's So Wrong with a Pity Party Anyway?, was selected as one of four winners of Garden Party Collective's Chapbook Prize in 2024. Eir fourth poetry collection, the chapbook Feminine Morbidity, was selected as the winner of The Headlight Review's Chapbook Prize in 2025. Maya's spoken word was selected for two Patrons' Choice Awards by PortFringe in 2019 and 2022. They have performed in person and online with companies and organizations such as Maddy's Theatre, Bare Portland, Speak About It, Mad Horse Theatre Company, Chimera Theatre Collective, Acorn Productions, Dramatic Repertory Company, and Portland Stage. They co-directed for the first time with Joshua N Hsu for Mad Horse Theatre Company's production of White for their 38th season in 2023.
Follow her at mayawilliamspoet.com
Maya Williams (ey/they/she)
MOLLY WAGNER (She/Her)
Molly is a transplant to Maine and can often be found holding curtains and pressing buttons at Lyric Music Theater, Mad Horse Theatre Company, and Portland Players. In the summer she serves as an Assistant Stage Manager with Portland Theatre Festival. By day, she also takes notes and makes lists as the Finance Senior Associate at the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. She earned a BS in Chemistry and in Geological Sciences from George Washington University and an MA in Earth and Environmental Science from Wesleyan University, where she further developed her note-taking and spreadsheeting skills. Her favorite rocks are phyllite and scoria.
Megan Tripaldi (She/They) is an actor, internationally produced playwright, educator, poet, and mom living and working in Portland, ME. They graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a BA in Theatre in 2012 and received a Masters Degree in Playwriting from Goddard College in 2023.
MEgan Tripaldi (She/They)
JOHN PATRICK BRAY (he/Him)
John Patrick Bray is a playwright, indie screenwriter, scholar, and former literary manager for NYC’s Rising Sun Performance Company. He has an MFA in Playwriting from the Actors Studio Drama School at The New School and PhD in Theatre from Louisiana State University. He is a Professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Georgia where he serves as Graduate Coordinator and Head of the PhD program. His interests include new play development and production; Off-Off Broadway History and Geek Theatre.
Liz Carlson (she/her) is a director and dramaturg with a focus on ensemble-based work and new play development. Her recent directing credits include Elephant & Piggie: We Are In a Play!, Go, Dog. Go! (Maddy’s Theatre), The Birds, War of the Worlds (University of Southern Maine), Texas, Come Dawn (Maine Playwrights Festival), As You Like It (Saratoga Shakespeare), and The Winter’s Tale (Curio Theatre). She is the Artistic Director of the Maine PLaywrights Festival and teaches at The University of Southern Maine. She holds an MFA in Directing from Temple University and is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA).
LIZ CARLSON (SHE/HER)
Dr. Janna Segal is an Associate Professor in the University of Louisville’s Department of Theatre Arts. At UofL, she has dramaturged productions of The Love of Three Oranges, Much Ado About Nothing, Blood at the Root, Twelfth Night, Love Among the Ruins, [Re]Fashion, Fires in the Mirror, Taming of the Shrew, Eurydice, and Baltimore. Recent dramaturgical work in Louisville includes Romeo and Juliet at the Commonwealth Theatre Center; and DragonSoul Offline and the Theatre for Everywhere project for StageOne Family Theatre. Dr. Segal is also a playwright specializing in adaptation. With Idris Goodwin, she co-adapted Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings for the New York City Children’s Theatre (2022). Her adaptation of Midsummer was produced at Ball State University (2023). Her research on Shakespeare and on dramaturgy has been published in Review: The Journal of Dramaturgy, SDC Journal, JEMCS, Shakespeare, and various anthologies, including Dramaturgy and History: Staging the Archive (2024) and Performances at Court in Shakespeare’s Era (2019). Dr. Segal is the Resident Dramaturg of the Comparative Drama Conference’s New Play Staged Reading Series, and a dramaturg for ATHE’s New Play Development Workshop. She is also a member of LMDA.
DR. JANNA SEGAL (SHE/HER)
CALEB EUGLEY (HE/HIM)
GRACE KELLAR-LONG (SHE/HER)
Grace Kellar-Long is a theater artist living and working in Portland, Maine. Her most recent project was an immersive adaptation of Sarah Pinsker’s sci-fi novella And Then There Were (N-One) that she produced, co-adapted, and directed with her theater company Fool’s Errand for the PortFringe LateNite series. Grace is also a freelance stage manager and has most recently worked with Bowdoin College, Fenix Theater Company, and Portland Stage. Grace loves trail running with her dog, singing with a local choir, and creating theater that invites the audience to play a role in the story.
SARAH KENNEDY (SHE/HER)
CORY MACGOWAN (HE/HIM)
Cory has been a sound designer and engineer for theater and live productions for over six years, following a lifetime of non-theater/audio-related occupations and adventures. He has designed sound for countless shows at such places as Maddy's Theatre, Lyric Music Theater, Portland Players, Schoolhouse Arts Center, The Polar Express Train Ride, and was on the audio team at Ogunquit Playhouse for the 2023 season. Cory is excited to work with Forge Theater Labs and hopes that you have an enjoyable listening experience!
SARAROSE WILLEY (She/Her)
Sararose Willey is a Maine raised theater artist, working both on and offstage in the Greater Portland area. She is grateful to Forge for bringing her onboard as a collaborator this season, and can’t wait to help bring Episode 1 to life! Recently, she has had the pleasure of working with Mad Horse Theatre Co., Maddy’s Theatre, The Portland Theatre Festival, Portland Shakespeare Co., Acorn Productions, The Theater Project and more. Some roles close to her heart include Viola (Twelfth Night: A Holiday Musical - Fenix Theatre Co.), Chordata (The Squirrels - Mad Horse Theatre Co.) and directing Totality Play by Julia Jennings as part of the 2025 Maine Playwrights Festival. She would like to thank Forge podcast listeners and audience members for their support. She looks forward to seeing Forge grow into its role as a valuable resource in our theatrical community!
CAST
CAROLINE CHUNG (THEY/THEm)
Caroline is excited to be participating in their first Forge production! Previous credits include Joan in Fun Home (The Portland Players), Tesla in What You Leave (SecondStory Theater), and Grace Farrell in Annie (The Portland Players). Caroline is a Korean-American artist based in the Kennebec Valley. Originally from Northern Virginia, they have appeared in shows at The Kennedy Center and Loudoun Lyric Opera. They possess a BA from BU (‘22) and work at the local food & drink nonprofit, The Maine Tasting Center. In their free time, they enjoy reading, playing D&D, trying new foods, exploring Maine and committing to the bit.