LOLEK Bios

Team Bios

The Cast & Creative Team of LOLEK (2025)

Director’s Note

Human beings are storytellers.

Stories are what bind us to one another as a people. Through expressions of shared experiences and the celebratory passing down of a common history, we are able to build and preserve culture, which shapes our very identity. But certain stories (and people) have the ability to transcend particular cultural expressions by offering a universally inspiring example of what it means to be fully human and fully alive.

The person whose story is represented in this play is a good examples of just that. This story has been near and dear to my heart for well over 20 years and I’ve seen it inspire people of all walks of life, just as it continues to inspire me and my life’s work. I first learned of Karol Wojtyla’s passion for theater when I was pursuing the same passion as a theater major at the University of Nebraska in the late 90s. Pope John Paul II was a monumental spiritual and political figure of the 20th century, and one of the most influential popes ever, beloved by Catholics and non-Catholics alike. His 1999 Letter Artists was transformative for me as an artist and has guided my life’s work ever since.

Beyond his gifts as an actor, playwright, and philosopher, I was struck most by his remarkable courage and the ways in which he put his faith into action amid the horrors of WWII. He believed so firmly in the power of beauty to resist evil that he risked his life to form an underground theater, a little known part of his young adulthood that I felt compelled to share because of how it shaped him–and through him–shaped countless others the world over, reminding us what it means to be fully human.

Jeremy D. Stanbary
Playwright & Director

Jeremy Stanbary
Roles: Playwright, Director, Sound & Projections Designer, Actor (KAROL WOJTYLA “LOLEK”)

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 in Season 12.

Jeromy Darling
Roles: JULIUSZ, JUREK, SEMINARIAN, NAZIS

Jeromy is an actor, singer-songwriter and professional speaker. He’s appeared in commercial, print, film, television and various stage productions, including the role of Will Kellogg in the popular History Channel mini-series “The Food That Built America”. He has previously been seen on stage at Open Window Theatre in Lolek, Frassati, George Orwell’s 1984, Nicholas, Mercy Unrelenting, The Scrutinies, and The Living Water.

Sarah Stanbary
Role: HALINA

Sarah is the co-founder of Open Window Theatre and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a dual degree in Theatre Performance and Arts Management. Sarah toured both nationally & internationally with husband Jeremy between 2007-2011 and also served as a youth theater instructor for their E-Rhapsody Youth Theater program from 2007-2016. 

Aside from her acting talents, Sarah is also an accomplished ballroom dancer and dance instructor.

Stephen O’Toole
Role: Co-Director

Stephen has been a Twin Cities based theatre practitioner for over thirty years and has taught & directed at Century College, Lyric Arts, Elk River Community Theatre, Lakeshore Players and Festival Theatre. Stephen was a company member for five seasons with Door Shakespeare in Door County, Wisconsin. At Open Window Theatre, Stephen has ben privileged to direct The Potting Shed and The Originalist, while providing directorial assistance for LOLEK (2020 & 2025), The Scrutinies, NICHOLAS, Mercy Unrelenting, and FRASSATI (2021 & 2025). Stephen holds an MFA in Theatre Arts and M.Ed. both from the University of Minnesota.

Kendra Kispert
Role: Stage Manager & Board Operator

Open Window Theatre: A Christmas Carol (2024)

REPRESENTATIVE THEATRE:
(STAGE MANAGEMENT) UNW Theatre: Sherlock Holmes, Romeo and Juliet, These Shining Lives
(DIRECTOR) UNW Theatre Bathrobes Christmas Festival: A Hallmark Christmas; UNW Theatre One Act Festival: Hanging On

UPCOMING: Faith Community Theatre: You Can’t Take It With You
TRAINING: University of Northwestern, St. Paul (Theatre); Internship at Sight and Sound Theatre, Branson, MO
LEARN MORE: https://kendrakispert.weebly.com

Stephanie Mogren
Role: Assistant Stage Manager

Stephanie has been a valuable member of the OWT team since joining us as an Associate House Manager three years ago. LOLEK marks her second foray into the world of stage management, following the OWT production of The Living Water in 2024. In addition to her work at Open Window Theatre, she also currently works on staff at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church (Montgomery, MN). As a self-taught artist and musician, Stephanie can play piano, guitar, banjo, and penny whistle by ear! She also enjoys creating digital art and has started selling some of her prints. (Website coming soon!)

Nathan Farley
Roles: Set & 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.

Sue Berger
Role: Lighting Designer

Sue is thrilled to return to OWT after previously designing lights for Dante’s Inferno, The Living Water, The Lilies of the Field, Wizard of Oz, and most recently, A Christmas Carol (2024) and FRASSATI (2025). Sue is Production Coordinator and Resident Lighting Designer at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Her work has been seen with The Finnish National Opera, Arizona BroadwayTheatre, The Palace Theatre WI Dells, Yellow Tree, Historic Pantages Theatre, Ordway Center, North Star Opera, Valleyfair, MusicBox Theatre, Carousel Dinner Theatre, Circa21 and Park Square Theatre, among others. She enjoys spending her summers designing for Iowa’s Cedar Summerstock while also teaching at ChanDT’s Musical Theatre Camp. She’s been a guest artist with several universities and high schools, has taught theatre for all levels.

MaryBeth Schmid
Role: Costume Designer

Open Window Theatre: Multiple productions over the past 4 seasons, including: The Originalist, Leaving Iowa, Nicholas, Mercy Unrelenting, Our Town, Foshay: The Musical, Willy Wonka, The Wizard of Oz, and most recently TOLKIEN. MaryBeth is a retired homeschooling Mom that enjoys gardening, reading, thrifting and has just discovered the magic of sourdough! MaryBeth also teaches hand sewing classes to children.

Lauren Volkart
Role: Volunteer Coordinator

Lauren hails from the sunshine state of Florida and made her way to Minnesota by way of New Jersey. She graduated from Florida State University in 2016, worked in college campus ministry for a number of years after that, and now works for the Ordway in St. Paul. Lauren discovered her passion for theatre during college, and it flourished during her two years living in New Jersey with frequent trips to NYC. She is thrilled to have a space where her passions in administration, theatre, and community-building can work together within the mission of Open Window both as a volunteer coordinator for our performances as well as an occasional stage manager.