THE COMPANY
Jennifer Chang
Artistic Producing Director
Jennifer Chang is a founding member of Chalk Repertory Theatre and a multi-hyphenate storyteller. Recent directing credits: DOLL’s HOUSE, PART 2 by Lucas Hnath at Pasadena Playhouse; WHAT BECAME OF US by Shayan Lotfi at The Atlantic Theater Company, NYC; THE FAR COUNTRY by LLoyd Suh at Berkeley Rep; THE HEART SELLERS by Lloyd Suh at South Coast Rep, Theatreworks Silicon Valley, Aurora Theatre, Capstage Sacramento, Milwaukee Rep (World Premiere); PRIMARY TRUST by Eboni Booth at Barrington Stage and TheatreWorks Hartford, KING OF THE YEES by Lauren Yee at Signature Theatre. YANKEE DAWG YOU DIE revival at East West Players. Writing/ Directing: 66th Annual LA County Holiday Celebration. 2019 LADCC Award in Direction, 2020 APAFT Award Outstanding Direction. Writing: THE DEVIL IS A LIE at Quantum Theatre, BEER! at Geffen Writers Room 2023, O’Neill Semi-Finalist. MATTER - Drama League Beatrice Terry Residency. Acting: Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Mixed Blood, La MAMA, etc., National Asian American Theatre Company, East West Players, Member of SDC, AGMA, SAG-AFTRA, AEA. Drama League Fellow 2018. More info at www.changinator.com.
Hilary Ward
Artistic Producing Director
Hilary Ward is a Los Angeles–based actress, voice over artist, producer and coach whose magnetic presence spans television, film, and the stage. Her on-screen credits include Sharp Objects, All the Way, NCIS, Grey’s Anatomy, The Fosters, Criminal Minds, and many others. On stage, she has tackled roles from classic to contemporary, including Primary Trust, Amadeus, Sense and Sensibility, Detroit ’67, Uncle Vanya, Macbeth, Mother Courage and Pasadena Playhouse’s new hit production of Amadeus. Hilary holds an MFA in Acting from UCSD, where she teaches acting. In 2007, she helped to found Chalk Rep. With the understanding that representation matters, she continues to produce theatre in non-traditional and site-specific spaces in the intention of telling stories that reflect Los Angeles’ diverse culture and population. Hilary has continued to develop new work, offering staged readings and dramaturgical support to LA-based writers. She is a proud member of both AEA and SAG-AFTRA. She serves on the SAG-AFTRA National Organizing Committee and the LA Local Conservatory Committee.
Amy Ellenberger
Founding Member
Amy Ellenberger is a founding member of Chalk Rep and has performed with various theatre companies on the east and west coast including South Coast Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Chautauqua Theatre Company, Contemporary American Theatre Co. in Columbus, OH, and Six Figures Theatre Company in NYC. In Los Angeles she has performed with the improv comedy group the Mutiny, starred in the web series Lost Angeles, and served as a co-host for the internet radio show, The Worst Show on the Web. She was recently featured in the Sega video game Rise of Nightmares and the short film The Callback Machine. Amy also works with underserved youth as a teaching artist through The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company and Art in the Park. She has a B.F.A from Otterbein College and an M.F.A. from UC San Diego.
Rebecca Bonebrake
Company Member
Rebecca is a Los Angeles based Lighting Designer for theatre, dance, events, and architectural projects. She has lit a number of Chalk Rep productions, as well as productions at the Geffen Playhouse, East West Players, The Pasadena Playhouse, The Fountain Theatre, The Malibu Playhouse, and others. Rebecca also designs lighting for theme parks, aquariums, zoos, museums, and other architectural projects. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Lighting Design from the University of California, San Diego. For more information, visit www.rebeccabonebrake.com.
Teri Reeves
Founding Member
Teri Reeves appeared as Natasha in Chalk's inaugural production of Three Sisters, produced and starred as May in Fool for Love, played Olivia Twelfth Night, the Duchess of Berwick in Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan and Evie in Slither,. She studied acting in the MFA program at UC San Diego and the BFA program at UC Santa Barbara. Some of her favorite roles were as Bride in Blood Wedding and Indra's Daughter in Dream Play. On television she was series regular Dr. Hallie Thomas in the first season of NBC's Chicago Fire as well as series regular KJ Jameson on Hulu's first originally scripted series Battleground. Other TV credits include guest and recurring roles on Scandal, Castle, NCIS, NCIS: LA, and General Hospital, and a recurring role on Once Upon a Time.
Ruth McKee
Founding Member
Ruth is a Founding Member of Chalk Rep. Her plays for the company include Stray, Full Disclosure, Hell Money, In Case of Emergency, "Skins and Bones" in Gallery Secrets and "Evolution" in FLASH Fest 2012. Her plays have also been produced and developed by Abingdon Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alliance Theatre, Black Dahlia Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Cherry Lane Theatre (Mentor Project), Ensemble Studio Theatre, HB Playwrights Foundation, The Road Theatre, Six Figures Theatre Company, SPFNYC and Working Class Theatre, among others. As an educator she has taught playwriting at UCSD, Cypress College, Idyllwild Arts Academy, the California State Summer School of the Arts, and most recently spent a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Playwriting at Indiana University. BFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts, MFA: UCSD.
Larissa Kokernot
Founding Member
Larissa is a Founding Member of Chalk Rep. For the company she has directed Three Sisters, Family Planning (Ovation Awards for Best Play in an Intimate Theatre and for Director), Stray and Full Disclosure. Regional directing credits include work with Eye of the Storm Theatre in Minneapolis where she served as Artistic Associate for six years, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, The Children’s Theatre, Guthrie Theater, The Playwright’s Center, California Repertory Theatre, Watts Village Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse and Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she was the 2007 Phil Killian Directing Fellow. Larissa received her B.A. in Theater from Brown University and an M.F.A. in Directing from the University of California, San Diego. Larissa lives in Minneapolis with her husband, Karl Gajdusek, and their sons Kade and Nicholas.