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Meet Our Team
AUSTIN SHAY, M.A.
Artistic Director
Austin Shay is an IT professional. He has previously directed two Pharmacy Theatre Productions in cooperation with Penn State Harrisburg’s Capital Players, Hamletmachine and Falling in Love With Your GBF. He received his B.Hum. in English from Penn State Harrisburg in 2017 and received his MA in Interdisciplinary Humanities with a focus on Creative Writing and Theatre. He is currently the Executive Director of The Paragon Press.
Theatrical Specialties: Light Design, Intimacy Choreography, & Directing
ALEX SAUER, M.A.
Resident Playwright
Alex Sauer loves writing poems, stories, and plays and hopes one day she will be a New York Time Bestseller (Don’t worry it’s in the works!) Alex has obtained a BA in History and Spanish from Franklin and Marshall College in 2015 and in 2022 finished her MA in Create Writing from Southern New Hampshire University.
Theatrical Specialties: Playwriting
JOSH GERST, M.A.
Operations Director
Joshua Gerst, M.A. is a professional Polymath that earned a degree with a trans-disciplinary focus in Phenomenology, Dramaturgy, and Sci-fi Screenwriting. Josh currently serves as a Substitute Teacher (K-12, all subjects) for Central PA School Districts. In 2018 he lectured 2 sections of English and 1 section of Technical Writing at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology while completing his theses, after his Philosophy teaching and research internship at Penn State Harrisburg. Josh never forgets to remind us of his time as a laborer and line-cook. He is an experienced Actor, Singer, and Musician. Favorite Past roles: Director (CINDERELLA’S GLASS SLIPPER Musical), Medical Patient/Background (Schimberg’s 2018 film CHAINED FOR LIFE), Uncle Ben (DEATH OF A SALESMAN), Brian (AVENUE Q), Robert (PROOF), Franz (PRODUCERS Musical), Roy Cohn (ANGELS IN AMERICA).
Theatrical Specialties: Directing, Dramaturgy, & Stage Management
SARA VOLK, M.A.
Resident Dramaturg
Sara Stevenson drinks copious amounts of coffee in order to keep up with her six children. She received her B.Hum in English and and her B.Hum in Interdisciplinary
Humanities from Penn State Harrisburg in 2017, and she received her Master of Arts in Humanities from Penn State Harrisburg in 2018. While she plans to attend graduate school to get her PhD in the future, she is looking forward to time off where she can spend time with her children and work on writing her next book.
Theatrical Specialties: Dramaturgy
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NICHOLAS NEIDER
Social Media/Marketing Manager
Nicholas Neider has been involved in community theatre since his role as Fender in Antietam High School's production of Hairspray in 2013. Most recently he stage managed A Doublewide, Texas Christmas with the Hershey Area Playhouse. He is a current student in Southern New Hampshire University's Social Media Marketing Bachelor's Program and works as a Treatment Coordinator at Grove Dental Group.
Theatrical Specialties: Stage Management & Costume Design