Archives: Team Members
Hutch Pimentel
Hutch Pimentel (they/he) is a Chicago-based director. They are the Artistic Director of First Floor Theater where they directed Polaroid Stories, Edith Can Shoot Things & Hit Them, Animals Commit Suicide, peerless, Two Mile Hollow, Refrigerator, Mike Pence Sex Dream, and The Juniors and produced dozens of other shows. They were named one of Newcity Magazine’s “50 Players” in 2019. During their time in Chicago, they’ve had the pleasure of working at About Face Theatre, American Theater Company, Chicago Dramatists, Redmoon, The Gift Theatre, The Goodman, and Victory Gardens Theater. They’ve worked outside of Chicago on Broadway and at Center Theater Group, Ensemble Studio Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and The Vineyard Theatre. They are a graduate of Kalamazoo College. More at hutchpimentel.com.
Sydney Chatman
Sydney Chatman (she/her), (Gary, Indiana/Chicago, Illinois) uses theater as her medium to conjure hope, justice, freedom, and joy. Led by ancestral guidance and intergenerational wisdoms; she directs, educates, produces, and writes work that seeks to heal her community. Chatman is the inaugural winner of the Golden & Ruth Harris Commission, 2020 Joyce Foundation Award, an African-American Arts Alliance Award and 3Arts Make a Wave winner. Her theater credits include New York fellowships with Stage Directors and Choreographers Workshop Foundation (SDC), the Lincoln Center’s Director’s Lab, and the Goodman Theatre Maggio Directing Fellowship. Chicago theater credits include the Goodman Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Congo Square Theatre Company, and eta Creative Arts; Louisville: StageOne Family Theatre; Indiana: Indiana University Northwest. Chatman has created theatrical performances and collaborations with the MCA of Chicago, Adler Planetarium, Hyde Park Jazz Festival/Back Alley Jazz, The Reva and David Logan Center, Court Theatre, Prop Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, and WakandaCon. In 2008 she founded The Tofu Chitlin’ Circuit and created innovative programming called the A La Carte and the Tuxedo Junction. She is a featured artist in Black Theater is Black Life: An Oral History of Black Theater in Chicago 1997-2010. Her plays, Black Girls (Can) Fly!, And Words Were Her Weapon: A Tribute to Ida B. Wells-Barnett, The Duty of the Youth, and Violence Just Don’t Understand are a testament to her admiration and respect for young people. She has been a theater teacher for 19 years, where she shares space with young people by providing a foundation of agency and love.
Greg Geffrard
Greg is an educator, actor, director, and spoken word artist who remains dedicated to cultivating brave spaces for art creation. He has partnered with the Chicago Inclusion Project, Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Old Town School Of Folk Music, and Chicago Arts Partnership in Education to facilitate challenging conversations and develop curriculum. He previously held the title of Lead Facilitator of Professional Development for Steppenwolf for Young Adults, Sexual Assault Prevention Educator since 2016, continues to facilitate Antiracist workshops with the Chicago Poetry Center, Assistant Faculty with Theatrical Intimacy Education and is an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago. His work broadly speaking focuses on the empowerment of historically dehumanized populations and being self generators of radical joy.
Eboni Booth
Eboni Booth is a writer and actress from New York City. Her play Paris had its premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company. Her work has been developed with Ojai Playwrights Conference, Cape Cod Theater Project, WP Theater, Two River Theater, Clubbed Thumb, and Northern Stage. As an actress, Eboni has appeared in productions at Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, WP Theater, Page 73, Soho Rep., and more. Eboni is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a recipient of a Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting. She is a graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program and the University of Vermont.
David Mendizábal
DAVID MENDIZÁBAL is a director/designer, one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of the OBIE Award-winning The Movement Theatre Company, and Associate Artistic Director of The Sol Project. Select directing credits include: Don’t Eat the Mangos (Magic Theatre/Sundance/Sol Project) On The Grounds of Belonging (Long Wharf Theatre), the bandaged place (NYSAF), Then They Forgot About The Rest (INTAR), The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), And She Would Stand Like This (w/ choreo. by Kia LaBeija), Look Upon Our Lowliness, and Bintou (The Movement), and Tell Hector I Miss Him (Atlantic / Drama League Nomination). They were a member of the inaugural Ars Nova Vision Residency and Soho Rep Project Number One Residency, where they created and directed the short film, eat me!. Alumnus of The Drama League Directors Project, LAByrinth Intensive Ensemble, NALAC, artEquity, and Lincoln Center Directors Lab. David was a participant in the TCG Leadership U: One-on-One program, where they were the Artistic Associate at Atlantic Theater Company 2017-2018. BFA – NYU/Tisch | davidmendizabal.com
Kona Burks
Kona N. Burks is a professional actress and educator. She is delighted to continue her work with Victory Gardens Theatre as a teaching artist. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Master of Education Degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is also a graduate of School at Steppenwolf, 2012. Kona has been awarded a BTAA Award and Black Excellence Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Play. Kona is also a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. This will be her sixth year as a teaching artist in general, and her third year as a Victory Gardens teaching artist.