THE GIVER
Team Bios
Director’s Note
In a world engineered for sameness, The Giver asks what we lose when we trade feeling for ease, and safety for surrender. For me, it keeps returning to one truth: to truly live is to fully feel. Not because every feeling is comfortable, but because every feeling is proof. It means we were here. It means our lives are real, textured, and meaningful. A life without sadness is a life without love, without risk, without depth, without the full, honest cost of caring.
This production is a call to action, not the kind that ends when the lights come up, but the kind that begins there. Tonight, I hope you feel the tension between comfort and consciousness, between order and aliveness. I hope you recognize how easily we can confuse “peace” with numbness, and how quickly the desire to avoid conflict can turn into the habit of avoiding truth.
We build community when we refuse to go numb. When we stay present with each other. When we practice the courage of naming what we see, what we fear, what we love, and what we are responsible for. I live to make community a verb. It is built through attention, through listening, through showing up for one another when it would be easier to retreat into our own self.
We build it by choosing beauty, intentionally. Beauty is resistance. It is evidence that a better future is possible. A shared song. A story told out loud. The way light changes a room. The decision to feel what you are feeling instead of shutting it down. These are not small things. They are reminders that we are alive, and that being alive comes with obligations to one another.
If you leave tonight with anything, I hope it is this, there is always a better future to be had, but it does not arrive on its own. It is made, together, through empathy that becomes action.
So look closely. Feel deeply. Protect what makes us human. Then go build the world you want to live in.
Thank you for being here.
Zach Christensen
Zach Christensen, Director
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Guthrie Theater: Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Guthrie Actors Lab Showcase. Theater Latté Da: Passion, Scotland PA, Falsettos. The Moving Company/Jungle Theater: The Cherry Orchard. Frank Theatre: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. Six Points Theater: Survivors. Playwrights’ Center: The Lion Tamer. Children’s Theatre Company: Where the Clouds Turn Red (TAT), Concrete Between (TAT). Flying Foot Forum: Shuffle Off to Split Rock. Jackdonkey Productions: (Artistic Director) Henry V, 503, The Dumb Waiter, A Drug Play, Far Away, Assassination of Ferdinand, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare abridged, The Zoo Story, Dock Work, Working Act.
UPCOMING: Jackdonkey Productions: Midwest Touring Trifecta
TRAINING: BFA Theatre Performance, North Dakota State University; Guthrie Actors Lab, Dell’Arte International.
LEARN MORE: zachchristensen.com
Jeremy Beveridge, Assistant Director
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Jackdonkey Productions: Henry V. Great Smoky Mountain Murder Mystery Dinner Show. Bridges Theatre Company: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Pinnacle Productions: And Then There Were None, Constellations. Vigilance Theater Group: Blood Moon, The Crucible. Pittsburgh Playhouse: It’s a Wonderful Life, Much Ado About Nothing.
TRAINING: BFA in acting from Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts
Elle Row, Stage Manager
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Expressions community theater: Hunting Shack Christmas, Calendar Girls, A Murder Ss Announced. Big Blue Theater: Holiday Lockdown. UofM-BFA Program: Book of Days. The Forge series: Myth of the Mountain. Black Dirt theater: The Music Man. University of Northwestern, St.Paul: Night Witches, You’re a Good man Charlie Brown, Anastasia, Romeo and Juliet, Emma: The Jane Austin Musical, Bright Star.
Joshua Row, Assistant Stage Manager
Open Window Theatre: Our Town (performer)
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Children’s Theater Company: Milo Imagines The World. History Theater: Rollicking! A Winter Carnival Musical, Love on A Stick: The State Fair Musical (Workshop). Theater Latte Da: Scotland, PA; Fun Home. Guthrie Theater: A Christmas Carol, Into The Woods. Plymouth Playhouse: Chazmo: The Musical. Nautilus Theater: Rough Cuts (2024)
UPCOMING: Children’s Theater Company: The Wizard of Oz
TRAINING: University of Northwestern, St. Paul; Guthrie Actor’s Lab (2024)
LEARN MORE: Joshuarow.com
Special thanks to my wife, Elle, for her constant and supportive grace and love; and to my mother for introducing me to the giver.
Keith Prusak, Old Man / Giver
Open Window Theatre: Tolkien
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Walking Shadow Theatre Company: Lives of the Most Notorious Highwaymen, Drakul, William Shakespeare’s Land of the Dead. Theatre Pro Rata: Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Spanish Tragedy, Metamorphoses. Actors Theater of MN: Fezziwig’s Feast. Paul Bunyan Playhouse: The Wizard of Oz, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Starting Gate: Death of a Salesman. Michigan Shakespeare Festival: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Richard III, Comedy of Errors, Macbeth. Self-produced: A Christmas Carol for Four Voices.
Samuel Osborne-Huerta, Jonas
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Third Space Theater: Plano, Walking Shadow Theatre Company: Witch, Mae West and the Trial of Sex, Exposed Brick Theatre: Quinceañera, Teatro Del Pueblo: Love In a Time of Hate, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Penumbra Theatre: Marisol(Understudy), Dark & Stormy Productions: The Physicists, Full Circle Theater: The Adventures of a Traveling Meskwaki
Deanne McDonald, Mother / Announcer Voice
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: KJ Productions: Finding J Mitchell (premiere). Theatre in the Round: King Lear. Inver Grove Heights Community Theater: The Music Man (Director), Mary Poppins. Minnesota Fringe Festival: Director’s Cut, A Little Water. Magnificent Bastards (Austin, TX): Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet. Unrehearsed Shakespeare (Chicago): Hamlet, Richard III, Twelfth Night, Double Falsehood, Macbeth. Traveling Players: As You Like It. 20% Theatre (Chicago): The Rover. Additional roles with Actors Theater of MN, SteppingStone Theater, Cretin Derham Hall Summer Theater, Northern Lights Playhouse, Pig’s Eye Theater, St. Croix Festival Theater, Nimbus Theater, Joking Apart Theater, Shakespeare & Company MN, Lakeshore Players, Guthrie Theater.
TRAINING: MSU Mankato (Musical Theatre, MFA), Augsburg College (Theatre Arts, BA)
Sam Sweere, Father
Open Window Theatre: Dante’s Inferno
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Lyric Arts: A Nice Family Christmas Theatre in the Round: The Unexpected Guest Minnesota Fringe: A Good Cancer to Have, A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies Thin Air Theatre: Julius Caesar Brick by Brick Players: King Lear
TRAINING: Bachelors in Theatre Performance from the University of Northern Iowa
LEARN MORE: Watch my shows “A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies” and “A Good Cancer to Have” by looking me up on YouTube!
Kira Walk, Lily
Open Window Theatre: Debut
TRAINING: Acting, Voice, Dance (University of Wyoming)
Ahmad Mohamad, Asher
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Phipps Center of The Arts: Little Shop of Horrors; Burnsville Summer Theater: Hairspray!; Emporia State University Summer Stock: Spring Awakening
EDUCATIONAL THEATER: Normandale Community College: Big Fish, SpongeBob: The Musical, The Lightning Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical, Human Error, The Legend of Sleepy Hallow, Love/Sick, Amélie
TRAINING: Normandale Community College AFA Program.
Caiti Fallon, Fiona / Rosemary
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Guthrie Theatre: A Tale of Two Cities (reading). Walking Shadow Theatre Company: Witch. The Gray Mallard Theater: Romeo and Juliet. Jackdonkey Productions: Dock Work, The Assassination of the Archduke of Austria-Hungary Franz Ferdinand, Misfits Cabaret (2023, 2024). University of Minnesota: Pocatello (Asst. Director), 35MM: A Musical Exhibition (Producer/Director), James I, James III, Medea, Pericles, Dance Nation, Romeo and Juliet.
TRAINING: University of Minnesota/Guthrie BFA Actors in Training Program
Sophia Nelson, Larissa / Chief Elder
Open Window Theatre: Debut
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: The Zephyr Theatre: A Stillwater Christmas Carol. Youth Performance Company: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Minnesota Fringe Festival: Rat Mass. Loud Mouth Productions: Carrie
EDUCATIONAL THEATRE: University of Minnesota Duluth: The Spitfire Grill; Romeo and Juliet: Lottery Style; The Search for the Yeti (A Horror Comedy Puppet Play); Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; A Different Perspective. Stage 2 Theatre Company: The Wolves; Still Life with Iris; Change (World Premiere)
TRAINING: Musical Theatre BFA, Acting BFA, and Applied Dance Minor from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Open Jar Institute Summer 2024 Broadway Musical Theatre Intensive.
LEARN MORE: @snazzy_sophia, @sophiakmnelson
Alex Clark, Lighting & Projections Designer
Open Window Theatre: Tolkien, Macbeth, Foshay: The Musical
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: Phipps Center For The Arts: It’s A Wonderful Life, Silent Sky, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeeves In Bloom, Tuck Everlasting, 9 To 5. Yellow Tree Theatre: Steel Magnolias, Dial M For Murder, Toil and Trouble. Lakeshore Players: Anything Goes, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, She Loves Me, The Three Musketeers.
UPCOMING: Open Eye: Strange Heart, Stages: The Girl Who Drank The Moon, Yellow Tree Theatre: Marie And Rosetta, Phipps Center: Deathtrap.
TRAINING: MFA: Lighting Design and Technology – University of Minnesota. BA: Theatre, History, International Relations – University of Minnesota Morris.
LEARN MORE: www.clarklighting.net
Nathan Farley, Costume & Props Designer, House Manager
Nate has been with OWT since our second season (2012-2013) and has been a cornerstone of our operations since then. Nate is a Librarian by day at the University of Northwestern–St. Paul, and a freelance designer/actor by night. Nate’s broad spectrum of creative talents are showcased in a variety of ways as our Resident Designer at Open Window Theatre, having worked on just about every production in one way or another since Season 3. His love for people and his heart for service is on display at almost every performance as our lead House Manager.
Jeremy Stanbary, Producing Artistic Director & Sound Designer
Jeremy holds a BA in Fine & Performing Arts with over 20-years of experience producing and performing theater professionally while advancing his uniquely redemptive vision for the arts. In 2003, Jeremy began touring full-time with his original one-man and small-cast dramas. For the next 8-years, he performed for tens of thousands of people both nationally and internationally, reaching countless others via cable television. In 2011, Jeremy & Sarah founded Open Window Theatre. Since then, Jeremy has written five original full-length plays for the OWT stage and is working on his sixth one, Joan of Arc, which is scheduled to premiere this spring.
Robin McIntyre, Scenic Designer
Open Window Theatre: Dante’s Inferno, A Christmas Carol (2024 & 2025), The Lilies of the Field, Macbeth, Tolkien, Crime and Punishment, The Giver
REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE: