Annaka Guerrero

Annaka Guerrero is an actress and singer based out of Chicago and originally from Riverside, California. She recently graduated from Ohio University with her BFA in Musical Theatre and a minor in English. Past credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream (Helena, Ohio University), John Proctor is the Villain (Ivy, Ohio University), Hair (Tribe, Tantrum Theater), and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Wife, People's Bank Theatre).

Isabella Herrera

Isabella (She/Her) - is a recent graduate of The University of Toledo with a degree in Theatre (Stage and Screen Performance). She moved to Chicago in September, and is incredibly excited to be working with Open Space Arts. Recent credits include Ophelia in Hamlet, Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky, Helena in a Midsummer Night's Dream, and Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank. She has also recently wrapped production on a indie horror film earlier this summer directed by Cora Van Der Broek. She is so happy to have the opportunity to bring life into this screenplay, and work with so many talented people!

Ashley Lo

Ashley Lo is a Chicago-based actress and dancer. She is a recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago and is excited to dive into the professional artistic scene in the city. Some of her theatre credits include: Iphigenia and Other Daughters, We Make Monsters (devised piece), Fabulation or the Re-Education of Undine, among others. You can catch her in Frantic Theatre Co.'s next production of The Eye of the Beholder in November. She is thrilled to be working with Open Space Arts on this staged reading!

Lizzie M

Lizzie M is an actor, storyteller, and writer.

"The theatre has always been the place where people go to see what it means to be human. There is no one more qualified to show that than a woman who has had to fight to be recognized as one."

Philip J. Macaluso

Philip J. Macaluso is thrilled to be joining his first production at Open Space Arts! Philip has spent most of his life in New York’s Hudson Valley, but Chicago has been his home since 2021. He’s appeared at the Chicago Children’s Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Shakespeare Project of Chicago, Oil Lamp Theater, Black Ensemble Theater, The Impostors Theatre, Parker Players Theater, and The Athenaeum Center for Thought & Culture.

Rachel Sanderson

Rachel Sanderson (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist and actor. Recent productions include Hamlet (Avant Bard Theatre Company, VA), The Rice Eaters (KaniniFest, AR), My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, DC), Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night (STC Academy, DC), King Lear (STC, DC), and Carmen (Opera Colorado). MFA: STC Academy for Classical Acting. www.rachelsanderson.com.

Mila Sweeny

Mila Sweeny is so excited to be making her debut with Open Space Arts, with this stage reading of Signs of Life. Recent credits include Who Killed the Peanut Butter with DePaul film school, The Neighbor, The Asshole, and the Celebration at UIC, and People, Places, and Things at UIC. She has her BFA in Acting from UIC and does improv at iO. Much love to everyone who came out and supported this event. Please Enjoy! 

Ryan Vu

Ryan Vu is so ecstatic to be apart of Nancy Beverly’s Signs of Life, directed by Greta Zandstra! This is his second time being under the direction of Greta too! He is a Chicago based actor who graduated from Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts with his Bachelors of Fine Arts in Acting. Recent credits: Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Oak Park Festival Theatre), Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (Viroqua Shakespeare Festival), Captain Super Grin in The Grin Prix (National Theatre for Children), and Justin in The Invisible Boy (Children’s Theatre of Charlotte)

Ryan gives his thanks to his biggest cheerleaders: Steph, Steve and Kimmy!
 

Nancy Beverly

Nancy Beverly is a Los Angeles-based playwright and screenwriter whose work has been developed and produced around the country. She began her career at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she worked as an assistant literary manager and had several short plays produced.

Her play Attack of the Moral Fuzzies was published by Samuel French, and her work has received recognition from organizations including the Athena Project, the American Association of Community Theatre, the Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival, and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights.

Beverly has also worked in television on series including Roseanne, Blossom, Desperate Housewives, and Ghost Whisperer. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America and the Dramatists Guild.

Greta Marie Zandstra

Greta Marie Zandstra is a Chicago-based director, actor, writer, and intimacy professional whose work has taken her to theaters in Chicago and around the country. At Open Space Arts, she previously directed MERCY KILLING and has also worked as an intimacy professional on OSA productions including SMILEY and MR. PARKER. Her directing credits also include Henry V for the Viroqua Shakespeare Festival.As an act or, Zandstra has appeared in productions including The 39 Steps, Ripcord, Boeing Boeing, and Barefoot in the Park.

Abby Papenfus

Abby Papenfus (she/her) is a Chicago-based stage manager. This is her first role in Chicago theatre since moving from Ohio. She is a recent graduate of The University of Toledo with a B.A. in theatre. Regionally, she has worked two summer stocks with Tibbits Opera House in Coldwater, Michigan, as a mainstage stage manager/ assistant stage manager. These credits include: Stage Manager (Dear Evan Hansen), Stage Manager (The 39 Steps), Stage Manager (Dragons Love Tacos), Assistant Stage Manager (The Marvellous Wonderettes), and Assistant Stage Manager (Rock of Ages). Other credits include: Stage Manager (The Lightning Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical), Stage Manager (Silent Sky), and Stage Manager (A Midsummer Night's Dream).