In anticipation of the 50th Anniversary season in 2024-25, People’s Light has had 10 new members join the newly-named Company of Artists (formerly known as the Resident Artist Company). The Company’s expansion maintains the theatre’s commitment to long-term creative relationships and reciprocal care between individuals and the institution while growing and diversifying the core group’s composition. The primary principle of the Company’s next iteration revolves around the recognition of an artist’s lasting impact on the creative life and identity of People’s Light and the distinctive relationship between the artists and the organization.

The 10 new Company of Artists members represent a diverse group of actors, directors, designers, and theatremakers from across the United States. The new class of members include: Sound Designer Curtis Craig, F. Otto Haas Award-winning actor Akeem Davis, actor, director, and playwright Sanjit De Silva, award-winning director Bill Fennelly, Barrymore award-winning actor and composer Liz Filios, actor, singer, musician, and writer David M. Lutken, actor and creator Patrese D. McClain, Barrymore and F. Otto Haas Award-winning actor Ian Merrill Peakes, actor and author Eric Robinson Jr., and longtime People’s Light Stage Manager Deborah Teller. 

The 10 new members join a Company of 43 other nationally-recognized theatre artists, highlighted by director Abigail Adams, playwright and director Steve H. Broadnax III, Barrymore Award-winning actor Melanye Finister, actor Mary Elizabeth Scallen, actor Marcia Saunders, actor, playwright, and director Peter DeLaurier, and Weston Award-winning actor Aubie Merrylees.

Over the past two decades, People’s Light has maintained our commitment to develop and deepen long-term, multifaceted relationships with our company of resident artists – both in and beyond the greater Philadelphia region.

“At People’s Light, we treasure long-lasting relationships with artists, audiences, community partners, donors, and staff,” said Producing Artistic Director Zak Berkman. “We are thrilled to deepen our connection with these inspiring theatre-makers and to include them among our Company of Artists. This diverse community of creative collaborators are a core part of our identity, and they continue to elevate what we put on our stages, bring to our classrooms, and share in communal spaces throughout our region.”

People’s Light began in 1973 as a cooperative venture by a small, dedicated group of multi-talented artists whose primary interest was creating good theatre. The Company of Artists has been a featured and integral component of this effort since our founding. Many existing Company members are responsible for the growth and identity of the organization, including the work on People’s Light stages, in classrooms, and in its community.

Birthed with a belief in the artistic and communal benefits of ongoing, multidimensional collaboration, the Company of Artists forged practices around shared values and vocabulary, mutual mentorship, and a commitment to working with young people who continue to be part of the DNA of People’s Light.

Learn more at People’s Light.