Carol has a family history of theatre involvement. Her grandmother taught drama at the University of Wyoming for 24 years, her sister was a writer and actress and her nephew is an actor. Carol was involved in high school drama, but did not appear on stage again until she substituted for another actress in Murder at Rutherford House. Carol immerses herself in all the logistics of bringing a play to life – script reading, set construction, backstage, onstage (and occasionally under the stage), working with different directors and with the many people who contribute their many talents to making the Thespians as professional as possible.

John’s background was in mechanical and electrical engineering which he used in years of contracting, manufacturing and small business ownership. John provided our barn/theatre with equipment equal to or better than many professional theatres – computer-controlled lighting, sound and projection. He provided tools and supplies for set building as well as electrical upgrades to the barn systems. Ten years of working with the very dedicated barn crew on the rehab of the barn gave John an intimate knowledge of the structure, including the electrical and mechanical systems.

Lynne co-founded Art Center Theater in 2003, where she acted and directed until stepping down as co-chair of the theatrical program in 2014. She directed over 25 productions for Gualala Arts including such shows as Music Man, Honk, Oliver, Annie, Beauty and the Beast, Wizard of Oz, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, and Diary of Anne Frank. Her last directorial effort for GAC was Enchanted April. For the Thespians, Lynne has directed: I Hate Hamlet, Rose and Walsh, Dry Powder, The Miracle Worker, For the Pleasure of Seeing Her Again, Tuesdays with Morrie and Anastasia.

Lynne enjoys acting – her favorite roles on the Mendonoma Coast have been in Other Desert Cities; Steel Magnolias; Little Foxes; Love, Loss and What I Wore; Lettice and Lovage; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and 2 Across. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Theater/Communications and has taught acting, directing, reader’s theater and oral interpretation on the High School and the University Levels. Additionally, she has worked in film and television. Lynne enjoys “live” theater the most – for the thrill of creating for and with a live audience.

Kathye was a co-founder of the Gualala Arts Center Theatre and worked with them as producer, director, or set designer on over 25 productions from 2003 to 2014. Before moving to the coast, she earned a Master’s degree in theatre from the University of North Texas and did extensive work in the Dallas area in theatre and film. Local directing credits include Deathtrap; The Ladies Foursome; A Fish Story; Belles: The Reunion; Quartet; The Dixie Swim Club; 2 Across; Love, Loss, and What I Wore; Seascape; and Guilty Conscience for the Thespians and The Cemetery Club and Steel Magnolias for Gualala Arts. Favorite local roles include Rose and Walsh; The Miracle Worker; Same Time, Next Year; Rehearsal for Murder; The Supporting Cast and The Foreigner at the Sea Ranch and Enchanted April; The Little Foxes; The Ladies of the Camellias; and Park Your Car in Harvard Yard at Gualala Arts. Kathye also taught acting for Santa Rosa Junior College.

Although Katie Atherton’s professional life was spent as a psychotherapist, her involvement in theater originated in her childhood. Her mother was a speech and drama teacher, her brother an actor and director and her sister a professional story teller. Besides training and performance as a young woman, Katie eventually took professional theater training with South Coast Repertory and performed onstage in Orange County. As the regional director of a Children’s Values program while raising her family, she directed children of all ages in various productions. However, she did not return to the stage herself until moving to Sea Ranch in 2004, where she performed in several plays, including The Dining Room, Lemonade, Love Letters, Spoon River Anthology, Sylvia, Seascape, The Rainmaker, Copenhagen, Love, Loss and What I Wore, Wittenberg and Belles: The Reunion. She made her first North Coast foray into directing with the radio show, It’s a Wonderful Life, performed at Gualala Arts, and directed the plays Other Desert Cities and Winter, for Sea Ranch Thespians.

Diane graduated from the University of Utah with a theatre major. Following graduation, she taught speech and drama for several years and appeared as co-host on a weekly TV talent show in the early days of live commercial television. Then followed a move to Los Angeles where she appeared in experimental television productions for the U.S. Air Force. She later resided in Hawaii for 16 years, appearing in many community theatre productions, several movies, and live TV appearances on game shows and in commercials. Diane returned to Southern California where she continued her involvement in acting, directing, and producing community theatre productions before establishing residence at The Sea Ranch. Diane directed the first sixteen Thespian plays and appeared in Dear Master and Beyond Reasonable Doubt. She then directed four additional plays for a total of twenty for the Thespians.

A PAHS 2000 alumna, Bryn studied performing arts at SRJC, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts and at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she received a BFA cum laude in Directing in 2010. Her professional career as a performer and/or as choreographer/director has taken her from the Bay Area, to the Central Coast, to New York City, Portland and Ashland, Oregon and on tour in the Southern U.S. Upon her return to the Mendonoma Coast, she has performed, choreographed, directed and produced as a Co-Founder for Broken Anchor Collective, with Arts Center Theater, The Arena Theater and Sea Ranch Thespians. Bryn was seen onstage in the Thespian’s Other Desert Cities and Three Viewings, co-directing the last with Jeri Taylor. She was also co-director, set and lighting designer and performed the memorable Schmendiman for the Successful Steve Martin comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile, at the Arena Theater. Bryn directed Death by Design for the Thespians in April 2014. She also was the fight choreographer for the Thespian productions of I Hate Hamlet and Deathtrap.

Brian was a transplant from Paradise CA. He has been involved in community theater for the past 40 years both on stage and behind the scenes and has performed in numerous productions from musicals to ballets. His favorite role to date is Edna from Hairspray. In 2003 he founded and opened Chico Theater Company where he was the Artistic Director. After stepping down, to raise his sons, he continued to direct both adult and children’s theater productions through different venues. As a school principal, he exposed his students to many facets of theater through musicals which included Oliver, Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka, Peter Pan and an original work, The Doll Collection. He directed the Thespian production of Looking.

Karen spent her life working in theater arts. After discovering the joys of storytelling, singing and dancing as a child, she taught theater arts, directed community theater, managed a children’s theatre and never stopped performing. When she and her husband retired to Sea Ranch she found The Sea Ranch Thespians and Gualala Arts where she has directed and performed regularly. Audiences may remember The Dining Room, Spoon River Anthology, and Same Time, Next Year under her direction at the White Barn.

Jeri had extensive experience in theatre as an actress, director, and teacher of acting. She had a career in television as a writer, director, and producer, with credits on such shows as the “Star Trek” franchise, “Magnum, P.I.”, “In the Heat of the Night”, and “Quincy, M.E.”. As part of the Thespians, she has been seen in Other Desert Cities; Belles: The Reunion; Winter; The Pleasure of Seeing Her Again; Dixie Swim Club; Three Viewings; Anastasia; Honour; Spoon River Anthology; The Dining Room; My Old Lady; Beyond Reasonable Doubt; Lettice and Loveage; Sight Unseen; The Supporting Cast; and The Foreigner. Jeri directed two one-act plays: Lemonade and The Autograph Hound, and five full-length dramas: Love Letters, The Rainmaker, Copenhagen, A Question of Words, and Wittenberg and was co-director of Three Viewings.