jeremy o'brian

jeremy o'brian (Director) is a playwright, songwriter, and theatre-maker from Lambert, Mississippi, whose work centers the experiences of black gay boys while drawing from the poetics of the black south, black popular culture, and the black vernacular tradition. He is an HBCU graduate of Tougaloo College and received his Master of Arts in African and African Diaspora Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He has received the New York Stage and Film Founders’ Award (2021), Liberation Theater Comapny’s Playwriting Residency(2019), Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ Voice in Playwriting Fellowship (2016), and more. His plays include: egg; or anythin’ dipped in egg gone soften, a curious thing; or superheroes k’ain’t fly, under one roof; or home to Mississippi, and boys don’t look at boys. jeremy is an adjunct professor and Associate Writer with Tectonic Theater Project.

Olivia Lunsford

Olivia Lunsford (Stage Manager) is a senior Theatre Major (Arts Administration) and Music Major (Experimental Music and Digital Media) with a Business Administration Minor. Her previous stage managing credits include LSU School of Theatre’s Craters, Airness, LSU’s 2022 Dance and Physical Theatre Showcase, LSU Lab Season’s Belleville, and LSU Theatre’s The Last Beginning, which LSU took to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this past summer. 

John Eddy

John Eddy (Set & Props Designer) is the Props Designer/Mentor for the LSU School of Theatre; he completed his undergraduate work at the University of Arizona and holds an MFA in Theater Production and Design from Temple University in Philadelphia. In addition to his prop work and scenic designs, he serves on the Board of Directors for Playmakers of Baton Rouge; Playmakers is a children’s educational theatre group who is proud to call the LSU Reilly Theater their home. www.johhmeddy.com

Bethany Sassen

Bethany Sassen (Costume Designer) is a current MFA in Costume Design and Technology Student. She has been working in theatre since 2016 when she graduated from Carthage College. Bethany grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, but has moved around multiple times. This will be her third production designing for LSU and 7th working on.

Tyler Kieffer

Tyler Kieffer (Sound Designer) is the Assistant Professor of Sound Design and Technology for LSU Theatre. Tyler is a sound designer for new plays, opera, and immersive theatre. He’s been twice nominated for the New York Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Sound Design in 2019 for Will Arbery’s Plano and in 2021 for Tectonic Theater Project’s Seven Deadly Sins. Other recent credits include Swine Palace’s Operating Systems, Craters, ROE; Tribes, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Le Petit theatre in New Orleans, and Found at the Cork Midsummer Festival Ireland. Tylerkieffer.com

Smaida Massatt

Smaida Massatt (Lighting Designer) worked as a lighting designer and electrician in the Chicago and Minneapolis areas. She earned her MFA in Lighting Design at the University of Minnesota. Some of the theatres she has worked for include Minnesota Children’s Theatre Co., Penumbra Theatre, Minnesota Opera, Theatre Latté Da, Interact Theater Company. She has also worked in several capacities in numerous theaters and dance companies including Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Chicago Opera Theater, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theatre, and Chicago Puppet Festival.

Dori Leeman

Dori Leeman (Intimacy Coordinator) is a 5th year PhD student in Theatre History at LSU where her research focus is mental health and the performing artist, as well as using drama techniques therapeutically. She has an MFA in Theatre Performance and worked as a professional actor and educator in the Dallas and Atlanta area for over 15 years at many of the professional theatres, including the Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre. Dori holds a Master of Science degree in Clinical Counseling Psychology and has trained with Theatrical Intimacy Education for the last year. In addition to her studies and creative work, Dori has an awesome husband and two amazing boys named Sam and Levi.

Nick Erickson

Nick Erickson (Fight Choreographer) received his MFA in Acting at Cal-Arts. He has performed at such places as Swine Palace, Intiman Theatre, Empty Space Theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has acted in several movies including College, A Perfect Day, The Staircase Murders and Mahjong. He also was a guest star on the Fox television series K-Ville. He was a founding member of Diavolo Dance Theatre and for seven years co-choreographed and performed in almost all of the company’s pieces on three national tours and abroad. Since 2008, he has produced and directed an LSU student production to tour to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe every other year as an Academic Program Abroad. He is the resident Fight Choreographer for all Swine Palace and LSU Theatre productions.

Maura McErlean

Maura McErlean (Voice and Dialect Coach) is a second-year MFA in Acting candidate, raised in Hershey, PA, and most recently based in Philly. This is her first production coaching voice and dialect, and she couldn't have asked for a lovelier cast to work with. Past LSU Theatre: The Book of Will (Alice Heminges) & ROE (Norma McCorvey). Upcoming at LSU: People, Places & Things. Thank you to jeremy, Olivia & McKenley for welcoming me onto the team, and a special thanks to Dr. Rockford Sansom for his continued mentorship and support. 

McKenley Hobson

McKenley Hobson (Assistant Stage Manager/Weapons Specialist) is a junior Theatre Major (Design and Technology). Her previous tech credits include The Nutcracker, Miss LSU-USA 2023, Miss LSU-USA 2024, Singeaux 2023, and Singeaux 2024 with the LSU Union Theatre. She has also stage managed many shows with the Lynn Meadows Discovery Center Theatre.

Hailey Wendelstedt

Hailey Wendelstedt (Sherlock Holmes) is a junior Theatre Major (Performance). Previous credits include the LSU Lab Season production Antigone, Presented by the girls of St Catherines. She is an active member of Pi Beta Phi and LSU's Physical Theatre Club. She also serves on the executive board of the women's non-profit Level Ump that works to get women involved in professional Umpiring.

Jalia Martin

Jalia Martin (Joan Watson) is a senior Theatre Major (Performance) and Spanish minor. Credits include LSU Lab Season show Antigone presented by the girls of St. Catherine, LSU Theatre Mainstage's Rachel, and the Geaux Films Moxie and Araignee.  

Mallory Luckett

Mallory Luckett (Irene Adler/Pizza Girl) is a junior Theatre Major (Performance) and Chemistry Major (Pre-Health). This is her debut show with LSU Theatre, but previous credits include Sullivan Theater’s Little Shop of Horrors; The Foundation of the Arts’ Bright Star, 42nd Street, and 9 to 5: The Musical. She is a member of LSU’s Musical Theatre Club.

Grace Laurent

Grace Laurent (Mrs. Hudson) is a senior Theatre Major (Performance) and Mass Communication Minor (Public Relations). Previous credits include Swine Palace’s Roe, LSU Mainstage’s At the Wedding, LSU Musical Theatre Club’s Heathers: The Musical and Singeaux, and Theatre Baton Rouge’s The Laramie Project. Over the summer, she traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland with the LSU School of Theatre to perform The Last Beginning at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Jules Hilillo Fernandez

Jules Hilillo Fernandez (Mrs. Drebber) is a junior Theatre Major (Performance) and Music Minor. Previous credits include LSU Musical Theatre Club’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and Heathers: The Musical. They also stage-managed Theatre Baton Rouge’s The Laramie Project.

Oreoluwa Onasanya

Oreoluwa Onasanya (Lestrade/Moriarty) is a senior Theatre Major (Performance). He was previously in the LSU Lab Season production of Dead City. He is also a member of the current improvLSU performance troupe.

Ricardo Mendoza

Ricardo Mendoza (Elliot Monk) is a native Puerto Rican pursuing a degree in Theatre here at Louisiana State University. Previous credits include the LSU Mainstage's Marburg, Lab Season's All I Really Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, MTC's Disney Cabaret, MTC's The Nightmare Before Christmas The Fan Musical. Other credits include Theatre Baton Rouge's The Laramie Project.