Brendan Pelsue (Playwright, he/him) is making his Shattered Globe debut. Past Chicago area credits include productions of Wellesley Girl at Compass Theatre and North Central College. Other credits include Hagoromo at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, A Tale of Two Cities at The Alliance, Don Juan at Westport Country Playhouse, and Read to Me at Portland Stage. He has been a MacDowell Fellow, a Château de la Napoule artist in residence, and the John C. Grace Memorial Playwright in Residence at Green College, University of British Columbia. Originally from Newburyport, MA, he received his BA from Brown University and his MFA from Yale School of Drama. He teaches at Rutgers University. brendanpelsue.com

Mikael Burke (Director, he/him/anything respectful) is a Black, queer director, deviser, and educator based in Chicago. A Princess Grace Award-winner in Theatre (2017) and Jeff Award-winning director (2024), his recent credits include Milo Imagines the World by Christian Magby, Christian Albright and Terry Guest (rolling world premiere: Chicago Children’s Theatre and Children’s Theatre Company, Minneapolis), King James by Rajiv Joseph (Forward Theatre, Madison), Oak by Terry Guest (Urbanite Theatre, World Premiere), Othello by William Shakespeare (Theatreworks Colorado Springs), Short Shakes! Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Notes from the Field by Anna Deveare Smith (TimeLine Theatre, Chicago Premiere), The Salvagers by Harrison David Rivers (Yale Repertory Theatre, World Premiere), Tambo & Bones by Dave Harris (Refracted Theatre Company, Chicago Premiere, winner of eight Jeff Awards), Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Clyde’s by Lynn Nottage (Theaterworks Hartford), and The Magnolia Ballet by Terry Guest (About Face Theatre, Chicago Premiere, winner of two Jeff Awards). Burke has also been recognized with a Black Theatre Alliance Award for Directing (2022), and as one of Newcity Magazine’s 50 Players of Chicago in 2023 and 2025. Burke is an artistic associate at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, as well as at About Face Theatre, where he previously served as associate artistic director. He’s also an adjunct faculty member at DePaul University and Roosevelt University, and a member of SDC. Burke earned his MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University. mklburke.com

Eleanor Kahn (Co-Scenic Designer, she/her) A native of Bayamón, Puerto Rico; José holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of The Sacred Heart, credits in Drama from the University of PR and an MFA in Scenic Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). José has been designing for drama, musical theater, and film for twenty years. Recent projects include: Time Is On Our Side, The Explorer’s Club, The Madres, American Jornalero, Polaroid Stories, Red and The Gangster Play. Musical Theater and Opera:  Burnham’s Dream, Don Giovanni, Evita, Godspell, Les Misérables, Fun Home, Sister Act, Fiddler On The Roof, and Oklahoma. José is part of the faculty of the Department of Theatre at UIUC as a Scenic Design professor.

Milo Bue (Co-Scenic Designer, he/him) A native of Bayamón, Puerto Rico; José holds a BA in Fine Arts from the University of The Sacred Heart, credits in Drama from the University of PR and an MFA in Scenic Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). José has been designing for drama, musical theater, and film for twenty years. Recent projects include: Time Is On Our Side, The Explorer’s Club, The Madres, American Jornalero, Polaroid Stories, Red and The Gangster Play. Musical Theater and Opera:  Burnham’s Dream, Don Giovanni, Evita, Godspell, Les Misérables, Fun Home, Sister Act, Fiddler On The Roof, and Oklahoma. José is part of the faculty of the Department of Theatre at UIUC as a Scenic Design professor.  www.josemanueldiaz.carbonmade.com

Uriel Gomez (Costume Designer, he/him)

Ellie Fey (Lighting Designer, she/her) is a 23 year old Chicago based lighting designer and electrician. She graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 2023 with a BFA in lighting design. Ellie’s design credits include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (The Artistic Home) The Cottage (Citadel Theatre), Hindsight (KOR Productions), Fizz and Ginger (Chicago Fringe Opera), Prelude to a Kiss (Theater Above the Law), Sentinels (CPA Theatricals), and Witch (The Artistic Home), for which she received a Non-Equity Jeff Award nomination. In the coming months, she will be designing Tell Me on a Sunday at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theater, and The Lifespan of a Fact at Oil Lamp Theater. You can check out her portfolio at www.elliemfeydesigns.com.

Mariah Bennett (Props Designer, she/her) is a Texas native with a BFA from University of North Texas and a Masters of Design from Rhode Island School of Design. She gave up her life as an architect to pursue her current career in the realm of film and theater. As a properties designer, she's had the pleasure of working with Chicago Opera, Definition Theater,  Haven Chicago, Congo Square, Filament Theater, Third Rail, APTP,  Refracted Theater, The Gift, Gilbert & Sullivan, and Northlight Theater. 

Christopher Kriz** (Original Music and Sound Design, he/him) is an award-winning composer and sound designer based in Chicago. Previous SGT designs include: London Road, Jump, Rasheeda Speaking, This Wide Night, Sheepdog, and many others. A winner of 5 Joseph Jefferson Awards, Kriz has designed for companies in Chicago including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Northlight, Court, Chicago Shakespeare, Paramount, Timeline, Victory Gardens, Writers, Remy Bumppo, Raven, and many others. Regional credits: Seattle Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory, Indiana Repertory, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Nebraska Repertory, Peninsula Players, TheatreSquared, American Stage, Montana Shakespeare, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, and others. Kriz is a proud member of United Scenic Artists 829. To hear more of his work, visit www.christopherkriz.com

Sammi Grant (Dialect Coach, she/her) returns to SGT where she previously coached A View from the Bridge and London Road. Other Chicago theatres she has worked with include: Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Timeline Theatre, Lyric Opera, Writers Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Rivendell Theatre, and many more. Film/TV credits include: Rescued by Ruby (Netflix), Patriot (Amazon Prime), The Exorcist (Fox). Sammi is an Instructor and Co-Head of Voice and Speech at The Theatre School at DePaul University. She holds an MFA with Distinction in Voice Studies from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Greg Poljacik (Fight Director) graduated from Christopher Newport University with a BA in Performance, Greg now works on film and television productions as a stunt performer. He is a member of LBP Stunts Chicago, a local stunt team specializing in martial arts, stunt performance, and fight coordination. His company, Gravity, and Momentum LLC, sells the blood to theater, film, and television productions worldwide. Greg also holds a Masters Degree from The University of Chicago in Psychology. His focus is the neuropsychology and neurophysiology behind high physical risk and high-performance physical performance. From 2014 -2 2018 Greg was the consulting neuroscientist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts in D.C., hosting STEAM-related programs for all ages.

Tina M. Jach*+ (Production Stage Manager, she/her) is as an ensemble member of Shattered Globe Theatre. Her SGT credits include: Becky Nurse Of Salem, Flood, A View From the Bridge, London Road, Stew, Rasheeda Speaking, This Wide Night, Sheepdog; Be Here Now; Crime And Punishment; How to Use a Knife and Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday; Other Chicago credits include Four Places (Den Theatre); The Father (Remy Bumppo Theatre); Fade (Teatro Vista & Victory Gardens Theater), Hand To God, Eurydice, The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity and Anna in the Tropics (Victory Gardens Theater), Confessions of a P. I. M. P. (Grippo Stage Company, Inc.), Race (Goodman Theatre).  Ms. Jach holds an MFA in Stage Management from Rutgers University, and is a proud member of AEA.

Lucy Whipp (Production Manager she/her) is a Chicago-based production manager, stage manager, and a generally useful set of hands to have around. Lobby Hero is her first production with Shattered Globe. Recent production credits that made her smile: Production Manager at Raven Theatre on The Comedians, Ironbound, and others. Assistant Stage Manager on Short Shakes! Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakes), Assistant Production Manager on the immersive production Port of Entry (APTP/TRP); Production Stage Manager of world premieres Gender Play: or What You Will and The Magnolia Ballet (About Face); Anna in the Tropics and Routes (Remy Bumppo); ASM for Kitty & Georgiana: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight); Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play, Who's Holiday (Theater Wit); Plano (First Floor Theater). She is proud to be a Governing Ensemble member at The Story Theatre. She has worked with The Story since Season I, production managing The Love Object and Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes, stage managing Leave Me Alone! and At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen, and producing several emerging playwright workshops and festivals including The (W)rites of Summer in 2023 and 2024. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. 

Isabelle Valet (Asst. Stage Manager, they/them) is a Chicago-based stage manager and technician. They are so excited to be working with Shattered Globe again! Recent credits include Ironbound (Raven Theater), Jump (Shattered Globe), Brother Sister Cyborg Space, Night Watch (Raven Theater), and Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oak Park Festival Theatre).

Ronald Hale (Technical Director, he/him)

Ellie Fey (Lead Electrician, she/her) is a 23 year old Chicago based lighting designer and electrician. She graduated from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 2023 with a BFA in lighting design. Ellie’s design credits include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (The Artistic Home) The Cottage (Citadel Theatre), Hindsight (KOR Productions), Fizz and Ginger (Chicago Fringe Opera), Prelude to a Kiss (Theater Above the Law), Sentinels (CPA Theatricals), and Witch (The Artistic Home), for which she received a Non-Equity Jeff Award nomination. In the coming months, she will be designing Tell Me on a Sunday at Theo Ubique Cabaret Theater, and The Lifespan of a Fact at Oil Lamp Theater. You can check out her portfolio at www.elliemfeydesigns.com.

Sandy Shinner+ (Producing Artistic Director, she/her) joined Shattered Globe Theatre in October 2013 as the theatre’s first Producing Artistic Director. Her SGT directing credits include Deborah Zoe Laufer’s Be Here Now, Will Snider’s How to Use a Knife, Scott McPherson’s Marvin’s Room, and Sally Nemeth’s Mill Fire. The former Associate Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theater, she created the nationally known IGNITION! Festival, served as co-director of the Access Project, and, with former Artistic Director Dennis Zacek and former Managing Director Marcelle McVay, accepted the 2001 Regional Theater Tony Award on behalf of Victory Gardens. She has directed over 85 plays at theaters including Victory Gardens, Remy Bumppo, American Blues, the University of Virginia, Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival, Steppenwolf’s First Look Repertory of New Work, New York’s 78th Street Theater Lab, and the Sacramento Theater Company, among others. Her production of Trying by Joanna McClelland Glass transferred to New York, and her direction was nominated for the Joe A. Callaway Award. Shinner received the 2013 Kathryn V. Lamkey Spirit Award from the Equal Employment Opportunity Committee of Actors’ Equity Association for her commitment to diversity and non-traditional casting. She has been recognized as one of “50 Top Players” by Newcity and a “Chicagoan of the Year” by the Chicago Tribune. She is an adjunct professor at DePaul’s Theatre School, and an Ambassador for the National New Play Network.

AmBer D. Montgomery+ (Associate Artistic Director, she/her) is an emerging director, educator and multi-disciplinary artist from Detroit, Michigan. She has created a career centered around amplifying the voices of Chicago youth and creating work that stands on the legacy of black theater makers before her. Originally trained as an actor, her transition to directing in Chicago has including her associate and assistant directing credits for many major productions including School Girls or the African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre), Sheepdog (Shattered Globe Theatre), LINDIWE (Steppenwolf Theatre), Too Heavy for Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Writers Theatre), Measure for Measure (American Players Theater) and First Love is the Revolution (Steep Theatre). Her other director’s credits include: *upcoming: Snow Queen (The House Theater), Countess Dracula (Otherworld Theater) and hippolytos (Story Theater New Play Festival). She was awarded 2020 FAIR Assistantship at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 2018 Fellowship at Steppenwolf Theater in their Department of Education/SYA and an internship at Penumbra Theater’s Summer Institute: Pedagogies for Social Change. She has attended training programs at the Globe Theater in London and LISPA (Now Arthaus Berlin). Amber holds a BFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program.

Nate Santana*+^ (Artistic Producer, he/him)  joined the company as an Ensemble Member in 2018. For three years, he taught and directed the Protege Program at SGT as well as produced and oversaw the inaugural Global Playwriting Series (GPS), which received over 150 submissions in its first year. Theatre credits include Marvin’s Room (Shattered Globe); Ironbound (Raven Theatre); The Thanksgiving Play (Steppenwolf); Legend of Georgia McBride, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight); Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility (Indiana Repertory Theatre); SS! Romeo and Juliet, SS! Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy (Griffin Theatre); The Abuelas, White Tie Ball, Momma’s Boyz (Teatro Vista); The Rainmaker (BoHo Theatre); References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis) and What Happened When, Slipping (the side project). Television credits include Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Suits and The Exorcist. Santana is also an Ensemble Member with Teatro Vista. He studied at the School at Steppenwolf, The Moscow Art Theatre, and received his BA from Valparaiso University.

Lesley Swanson (General Manager, she/her) brings over 12 years of experience in Arts Management and Arts Education. Swanson has planned and executed productions in the non-profit sector for television, theater, and orchestra. She has also directed schools of dance, drama, and music. Swanson earned a MM in flute performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and a BM from Grand Valley State University. She owns a private studio in the City of Chicago where she teaches flute students of all ages. Active in Chicago’s new music scene, her dynamic flute playing can be heard with the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Swanson has proven herself to be a powerful advocate for women’s rights. As an arts leader, she is committed to continuing education. She recently completed Enrich Chicago’s training Building a Culture of Anti-Racism.

Julia Farrell Diefenbach (Director of Marketing and Community Engagement, she/her) is the Managing and Marketing Director for Artemisia Theatre, Chicago's Feminist Theatre. She previously served as the Director of Marketing and Social Media for Haven Chicago and as the Associate Artistic Director of The Halogen Company, an award-winning immersive theatre company in Los Angeles. A graduate of Columbia College of Chicago with a degree in directing and a minor in stage combat, Julia has collaborated with numerous Chicago theatres, including Victory Gardens, Collaboraction, Broken Nose Theatre, Citadel Theatre, and Firebrand Theatre. Certified as an Intimacy Captain by the ICC, she also freelances as a director and dramaturg, bringing her expertise to a variety of theatrical projects. juliafarrell.net