OUR TEAM
LEAD Teaching artists
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Susan "Susie" Franklin Tanner
Founder/Director, Lead Teaching Artist: Physical Theatre & Producer
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Marlene McCurtis
Associate Director, Lead Teaching Artist: Writing & Documentarian
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Alexa Kershner
Lead Teaching Artist: Movement
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James Macdonald
Lead Teaching Artist: Writing & Performance Director
COLLABORATING Teaching artists
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Gloria De Leon
Collaborating Teaching Artist
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Kimiko Warner-Turner
Collaborating Teaching Artist
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Jessica Hemingway
Collaborating Teaching Artist
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Brandon Baker
Intern Teaching Artist: Writing
Project Re/Frame
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Deon Whitmore
Project Re/Frame Ensemble
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John Njoroge
Project Re/Frame Ensemble
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Ernst Fenelon Jr.
Project Re/Frame Ensemble
CREATIVE SUPPORT
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Gabe Sena
Film Editor
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Conrad Curtis
Media Consultant
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Whitney Wakimoto
Graphic Artist
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Lauren Campedelli
Administrative Support
Susan “Susie” Franklin Tanner - Susie is an innovator in the field of documentary theatre & arts education with over 38 years of experience as a producer, director, actor, teaching artist and PD provider.
As the Founder/Director of TheatreWorkers Project (TWP), she has led the creation of over thirty community-based participant-generated original performance pieces.
Susie was a core member of the Living Stage Company at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, performing and teaching in prisons, halfway houses and community facilities from 1973-1975.
Her work in the California corrections community includes residencies and workshops at CIM, CIW, and VSP.
She is the program director for TWP’s Theatre Inside program at California State Prison-LAC (2018-present); has led theatre reentry programs at Dads Back! Academy; and currently leads theatre programs at The Francisco Homes (2016-present) and Project Rebound at Cal State LA (2021-present).
She is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA and the SAG-AFTRA Radio Play Committee.
Grants and awards have included a 2011 Bravo Award, CTG Chase & National Artist Teacher Fellowships and the LA County Federation of Labor Union Label Award.
Marlene McCurtis - Marlene is a digital and literary storyteller with expertise spanning directing and writing nonfiction television and documentary films, community media engagement, and teaching creative writing in diverse communities.
Her artistry is rooted in identity, human connection, and engagement with our shared community.
She has produced and directed for award-winning series such as Dog Whisperer (NatGeo) and A Place of Our Own (PBS).
Currently, she is in post-production on Wednesdays In Mississippi, her first independent feature documentary, which has been selected for the Cucalorus Film Festival Work-in-Progress Lab and the Athena Film Festival Work-in-Progress Lab.
Her short film, Here I’ll Stay, co-produced by Firelight Media and Field of Vision, premiered at the New Orleans Film Festival.
Marlene directed The Circle and STAND!, for TheatreWorkers Project.
The Circle, a spoken word and movement collage, was written and performed by system-impacted artists. It has screened at the Social Justice Film Festival, the Global Peace Festival, the Monologue and Poetry International Film Festival, and the Justice on Trial Film Festival.
The most recent short STAND!, combines movement and poetry and premiered at the LGBTQ Center in Hollywood. It is currently on the film festival circuit.
Her writing has been featured in Aquifer, the Florida Review online literary journal, and The Altadena Poetry Review. She was a Langeloth Fellow at Mesa Refuge and completed a writing residency at Dorland Arts Colony.
Marlene is a Ken Burns Film Award Finalist, a Lavine/Better Angels Fellow, a Firelight Media Documentary Lab Fellow, a Sundance Sustainability Humanities Fellow and a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
Alexa Kershner - Alexa began her dance training at 14 in Pasadena, CA, studying with Cynthia Young and Philip and Charles Fuller. She graduated with honors from SUNY Purchase, where she trained in dance composition under Kazuko Hirabayashi and Tarin Chaplin.
While still a student, she became a founding member of Shen Wei Dance Arts, contributing to works that earned the company a MacArthur Award (2007).
Returning to Los Angeles, she became a founding member of BodyTraffic, a Los Angeles contemporary dance company (2008–2010).
She has been on faculty at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) since 2012, teaching dance composition and mentoring generations of dance artists. She has directed and produced numerous productions showcasing LACHSA’s dance talent. She proudly served as Interim Dance Chair from 2021–2023.
Since 2016, Alexa has worked with TheatreWorkers Project, collaborating with system-impacted individuals through dance and theatre. This work has deepened her commitment to art as a means of connection and transformation.
James Macdonald - James is a TheatreWorkers Project (TWP) collaborating Teaching Artist for reentry and in-prison programs. He worked with TWP 2016–2020, designing and leading writing components of workshops for Dads Back! Academy and from 2017–2019 for The Francisco Homes Lifer project. He directed three staged readings for the Lifer project, also serving as an acting coach and music advisor. Jim has designed and led writing exercises for TWP’s Life Stories from the Inside/Out and Theatre Inside programs at California State Prison-Los Angeles County since 2018 and is currently the performance director for TWP’s Project Rebound reentry program at Cal State LA.
His one-man show, Big Frame Shakin’, enjoyed a run off-Broadway before it was optioned by HBO. After appearing on and off Broadway, James relocated to Los Angeles, where his plays have been performed at ARCADE, EST/LA, IAMA, and The Mark Taper Auditorium. Heavy Lifting, the film he wrote and directed, garnered multiple awards at film festivals across the country.
Jim has appeared in dozens of TV series, pilots and feature films. He was a Big Brother for over a dozen years and has taught writing to beginners and professionals alike using the tools of meditation, visualization, role-playing and sensory exercises—techniques he employs in his own writing. Jim is a member of SAG-AFTRA, AEA and Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531762
Gloria De Leon - Gloria is an actor and writer from Santa Paula, California, where she is a founding member of SPTC Backstage Productions.
She graduated from UCLA with a degree in theater, and is trained in improv (Upright Citizens Brigade).
Her stage credits include various works with the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts and Teatro de Las Americas.
She is a founding member of FATCH, the Fat Sketch Comedy Show, where she wrote and performed fat-positive content to challenge body-bias and to address the lack of body diversity in the performance industry.
A lifelong theater kid, Gloria knows about the lasting positive impact that theater can have, and she enjoys sharing that love of theater with her students.
In addition to her work with TheatreWorkers Project, Gloria also works as a Teaching Artist with The Unusual Suspects Theater Company, where she has served in various capacities for the past eight years.
Gloria’s favorite thing to do is watch telenovelas! She is the co-creator of "Noveleando Podcast", a podcast for telenovela enthusiasts.
Additional voice over work includes horror podcast “The Horror at Martin’s Beach”, animated show “Mermaze Mermaids”, and Netflix series “El Chapo”, “Nailed it Mexico” and others.
Kimiko Warner-Turner - NEED BIO
Jessica Hemingway - Jessica is a collaborating Teaching Artist, supporting the physical theatre and movement components of TWP’s in-prison program.
She works in theater, dance, and film, creating both solo and collaborative performances with musicians, dancers, and filmmakers. She is the outreach coordinator for the California State Summer School for the Arts and is on faculty in its theater program during the summer as well.
Jessica holds a BFA from the California Institute of the Arts and currently works and resides in Los Angeles.
Brandon Baker - Brandon (TWP’s Project Re/Frame Ensemble) is a California Lawyers for the Arts Designing Creative Futures Intern with TWP. He is 43 years old and formerly incarcerated. Brandon began working with TWP in 2020 as a participant in the CSP-LAC Theatre Inside correspondence program. His writing is included in TPW’s chapbook the book Inside/Out. In 2024, Brandon performed in "Walls", a physical theatre piece written and performed by residents of CSP-LAC’s “A” Yard. He aspires to pursue a career in the arts and has dreams of being the first formerly incarcerated person to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony (EGOT). He is a published author, college graduate, but most of all he is proud that people believe in him, and that's why he's grateful to intern with TWP.
Deon Whitmore - Deon is a Credible Messenger and Justice-Impacted individual, who channels personal experiences into transformative action. He was an original member of TheatreWorkers Project's Life Stories from the Inside/Out program at California State Prison LA County (LAC) and one of the key creators of the LAC production of STAND! While performing at LAC, Deon found a sense of confidence, joy, and freedom from a past that had continued to follow him. As the creative writer and visionary behind H.O.P.E., a pioneering youth diversion program. Deon crafts narratives of hope and empowerment, steering youth away from the justice system's revolving door. With a devotion to the Arts, Deon employs storytelling as a tool for healing and advocacy and uses his public speaking skills to amplify the voices of the marginalized, advocating for systemic change. Beyond professional endeavors, Deon is a steadfast volunteer in community engagement, fostering connections and building bridges toward a more equitable society.
John Njoroge - John (actor) is a space-time traveler, born and raised in South Los Angeles of a Creole mother and Kenyan father. John served twenty-four consecutive years in correctional facilities, paroling in 2019. He has worked with TheatreWorkers Project since 2020, first as a participant in the LIFER: Stories from the Inside/Out program, then as a collaborating artist and program assistant, and now as a member of the Project Re/Frame ensemble. John gives back through his work as an Intake Coordinator for The Francisco Homes, a faith-inspired non-profit organization in South Los Angeles that offers holistic support to formerly incarcerated Lifers who aspire to re-integrate back into the community. In his free time, he expresses his artistry through cooking, creative writing, and music. He is always working on a recipe, poem, essay, or song! But his greatest love is his music. He is best known for bass guitar. He is “The Gatekeeper of The Funk”.
Ernst Fenelon Jr. - Ernst (actor) is an International Author, Inspirational Speaker, Moderator, Life Coach, Spoken Word Poet, and Performer. Ernst has channeled 33 years of lived experience (incarcerated 14 1/2 years; released almost 19 years ago) with California and global incarceration systems, into a book, courses and lectures which focus on personal development, reintegration, and self-empowerment. Ernst works with the TheatreWorkers Project (TWP), Dancing Though Prison Walls, Prison Education Project (PEP), and other organizations to serve communities impacted by mass incarceration and social inequalities. Ernst’s work individually, and collectively with these incredible organizations, helps to shift the narrative positively for both the marginalized and the marginalizing communities. Ernst has facilitated hundreds of classes, lectures, moderated discussions, or performed globally in prisons, universities, and organizations in London, Scotland, Uganda, Connecticut, Texas, and California.
For more information, visit: https://linktr.ee/ErnstFenelonjr
or www.ernstfenelonjr.com
Gabe Sena - Gabe is a Documentary Editor with nearly two decades of work focused on the nonprofit sector, arts and social justice. His projects include feature documentaries, doc shorts and docu-style promotional campaigns for TheatreWorkers Project, The National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Goodwill, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Children’s Defense Fund, and The Advocate, among others, with topics ranging from the criminal justice system to civil rights history, queer rights and visibility, the foster system, homelessness and food deserts. His work has been shown widely at festivals, online and on streaming platforms. Gabe received his MFA in Film Production from UCLA and lives and works in Los Angeles.
Conrad Curtis - Conrad is a filmmaker and technologist working at the intersection of storytelling and scalable communication. Graduating with honors in Theatre from the LA County High School for the Arts, and Film from Art Center College of Design, he has developed a unique approach to creativity that scales. Over the last decade he has provided production and creative support to Academy Award winning films, critically acclaimed technology projects and is passionate about using next gen tools to help improve the impact of storytellers.
Whitney Wakimoto - Whitney is a teaching artist, actor, director, collage artist, and open to trying her hand at any and all forms of art. When not in the arts she loves to be outside gardening, hiking, or in the pool or river. She hails for Missoula, MT, pounded the payment in NYC for a few years and then switched coasts to receive her MFA in Acting at the Old Globe Theatre/USD. Post grad school Whitney met her truest love: teaching behind the walls. She has had the honor of teaching theatre in prisons, jails and juvenile halls all over Los Angeles County over the last 5 years and is absolutely thrilled to join the team at Red Ladder! She believes in the power of theatre and has been witness to its magic when it comes together with connection starved populations.
Lauren Campedelli - Lauren, Administrative Program Support, is a Los Angeles-based director and dramaturge who specializes in new work for the stage, helping playwrights develop and hone their scripts.
Credits include the recent Shiva for Anne Frank, a solo show by comedian Rachel McKay Steele, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and Intercession by Maia Villa at Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA (EST/LA), where she also helmed Evie, Duty Calls by Karen Rizzo, Lizzie by Jose Rivera, and numerous staged and workshop readings for its development programs.
She has served as associate director for Theatre of Note’s recent Driving Wilde, and for Evidence Room’s Don Carlos and Hard Times.
As a writer/performer, Lauren has created both solo and collaborative performance pieces in Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as works based on the lives of nursing home residents for Life Stages company.
As a teacher, she led at-risk youth (ages 10–18) in an outreach program for Evidence Room Theater (LA) teaching acting and generating original performance material. She also taught professional adult actors movement, vocal work and acting using an eclectic palette of techniques for Sal Romeo Acting Studio.
Lauren’s acting career includes dozens of productions in Chicago and Southern California, including work with Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens Theater, Evidence Room, Sacred Fools, The Actors’ Gang, Center Theatre Group, The Old Globe, and EST/LA.
She has provided program support for TheatreWorkers Project’s Life Stories from the Inside/Out program for paroled Lifers in partnership with The Francisco Homes.