PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR

Ali Namayandeh is an eco-scientist/artist and a postdoctoral fellow at the Doerr School of Sustainability. He holds a PhD in environmental geochemistry from Virginia Tech and an MFA in theater from the University of Tehran, Iran. He is a playwright, director, and theater educator. His body of work spans various genres, primarily focusing on absurdist theater and eco-theater, and has been showcased in Iran and the USA. His plays often explore themes of social extremism and environmental impacts, blending narrative with social commentary.

Notable theatrical productions include Perhaps Life (2007), Man Does Not Live by Bread Alone (2008, 2014), Crossing the Circle in a Complicated Situation (2010), A Drink for Eugène Ionesco (2014), Analyse (2015), and Rhino 2020 (2022). He was nominated for and received multiple awards from local and national theater festivals in Iran, including nominations for the best playwright and director from the 17th Iran International University Theater Festival in 2014 for A Drink for Eugène Ionesco. The staged reading of his latest play, Rhino 2020, was performed in Hey Market Theater at Virginia Tech.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Shagayeg Navabpour is an actor, dancer, and theater producer. She started acting in high school, where she won the best actor award for the role of Antigone in the High School Theater Festival of Tehran, Iran. Later, during her college, she joined Goft-o-Gu theater ensemble at University of Tehran, Iran and acted in two plays including Man Does Not Live by Bread Alone (2014) and A Drink for Eugène Ionesco (2014). She joined the Turkish Delight dance group at Virginia Tech in 2019 and performed in The Nutcracker musical play in 2021 at the Moss Arts Center, Blacksburg, Virginia. She also acted in the staged reading of Rhino 2020 by Ali Namayandeh performed in Hey Market Theater at Virginia Tech in 2022.

Shagayeg also has a PhD in neuroscience and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Medical School at Stanford University.

ACTOR

Luna Lau is a Mexican American actor and soprano. She is a San Jose native with a background in Music Education and Vocal Performance from WVC and SJSU. Her recent roles include SBMS's The Spitfire Grill (Shelby), RWS's Follies (Young Heidi), LTSJ's Into the Woods (The Witch), LTSJ's HMS Pinafore (Hebe), and SCP's West Side Story (ensemble, Maria US). She has sung operas with Opera Cultura and Opera San Jose, as well as cumbia and salsa music with Conjunto Trujillo and Orquesta BaCa.

Luna plays the role of Valentina in Hidden Strawberries.

ACTOR

Miguel Wacher is a Bay Area based actor, musician, and improvisor. Over the last few years he has performed in play festivals, short films, and theatres around the bay area including his most recent roles as Macbeth and Othello in the Ashbury Players production of I Hate Shakespeare, and as Edgar Allan Poe in the Anything Can Happen In 10 Minutes play festival. Miguel studied film at Vancouver Film School. and Theater acting at Laney College. He has since continued his study of acting and performing with actors and coaches including David Alger, David Razowski, and Jaime Moyer. Miguel can often be found doing improv at the Pan Theatre, where he is a troupe member, and playing live music with his band Northern Waste.

Miguel plays the role of Sin Cara in Hidden Strawberries.

ACTOR | COSTUME DESIGNER

Stephanie Barajas (she/ella) is a San José-based Mexican immigrant, theatre artist, self-taught photographer, and arts administrator. From 9-5, she is a Program Officer at the Center for Cultural Innovation, where she oversees the organization's California grantmaking portfolio. Alongside her admin role, Stephanie is deeply involved in the South Bay arts community as a multidisciplinary artist. She has collaborated with local and regional theatre companies such as City Lights, Teatro Visión, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, and San Francisco Youth Theatre. Her photography has been exhibited at MACLA, the Oakland Photo Workshop Gallery, Bass & Reiner, the School of Arts & Culture, and Art Share L.A.

Originally from Guadalajara, México, Stephanie and her family immigrated to the Bay Area in 2006. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Southern California. She is a proud alum of the NALAC Leadership Institute and the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute (MALI.)

Stephanie plays the role of Maria in Hidden Strawberries.

ACTOR

Karen Law is a performing artist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Regional credits include Chinglish with San Francisco Playhouse and West Side Story with Opera San Jose. As an actor, choreographer, and violinist, some favorite local productions include Once (Hillbarn Theatre), Grease (Sunnyvale Players), and Flower Drum Song (Palo Alto Players). She appeared in The Fiddler (Mill Valley Film Festival) and A Vibe Thing. Her worlds are converging unexpectedly in this new work as she returns to Stanford University, where she studied climate change and received her degrees in mechanical engineering.

Karen plays the role of Voices in Hidden Strawberries.

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Christian V. Mejia believes that light has the ability to hold us in a moment and transport us to places both real and imagined. Light affects our perception, informs our emotional landscapes, and enhances the experiences that make up our lives. Thoughtful lighting can build expansive containers that help stories to move beyond words.

Christian’s approach to design seeks to create environments that invite us to lean into and learn something about our shared humanity. His design practice includes live performance, architectural lighting, and immersive entertainment. His work has been seen on stages and in built environments around the world. He received his BFA from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and his MFA from California Institute of the Arts. He teaches lighting design at Stanford University. Learn more about Christian's work at www.christianvmejia.com.

SOUND EDITOR

Born in California, former Stanford Story Telling Project staffer Alicia Crawford has spent time as a college writing professor, in nonprofit leadership, and volunteering in wild animal sanctuaries. She edits produces, sound engineers for a variety of projects using storytelling to affect social change. Alicia also hosts her own podcast Thick Skin, about women and gender expansive people working in the skilled trades.

SCENIC DESIGNER

Alix is currently a junior at Stanford University studying Symbolic Systems and Philosophy. Previous work includes set design for Twelfth Night and lighting design for Titus Andronicus…and Zombies, both with the Stanford Shakespeare Company. They are thankful for the opportunity to work on this beautiful show.

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR

Jonathon is currently a senior at Stanford University studying Earth Systems and Theatre and Performance Studies. He has been involved with community and educational theatre for many years and has most recently been the Executive Producer and Technical Director for the Stanford Shakespeare Company. His other involvements in theatre include acting, lighting design, scenic design, and props design. He is excited to be involved with Hidden Strawberries and appreciates how the work is able to connect environmental justice and climate change themes with theatre and dance.

STAGE MANAGER

Christy Hartman, MA is the Program Manager for the Medical Humanities and the Arts at the Stanford School of Medicine. She received a masters degree in Ecopsychology and Environmental Humanities from Viridis Graduate Institute and studied at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Her essays, fiction, and opinion pieces have been published in About Place Journal, Souvenir Lit Journal, the Stanford Daily, and in the book Aftermath: Explorations of Loss & Grief.

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER

Hanh Chu is currently a senior at UC Berkeley studying Political Economy and Data Science. She was the producer for the 45th VSA Culture Show. Hanh is passionate about media production and has a keen interest in how storytelling can highlight social and political issues. Hanh is excited to be part of Hidden Strawberries and values the project's unique blend of theatre, dance, and important environmental and social themes.

PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Raphael is currently a junior at Stanford University studying Bioengineering. She pursues her interests in sustainability and environmental justice as a Scope 3 Emissions intern for Sustainable Stanford and the Environmental Justice committee lead for Students for a Sustainable Stanford. In her role as a production assistant for Hidden Strawberries, she analyzed the interviews conducted with migrant farmworkers and helped with outreach to local actors and organizations.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

Charlie is currently a senior at Stanford University studying Earth Systems. After working on Ali's laboratory research project investigating the factors that drive toxic metal transport in soils during wildfires, Charlie joined the research team for Hidden Strawberries. He investigated the environmental injustices associated with California wildfires and supported Shagayeg and Ali's efforts to reach out to and speak with farmworker families in the Bay Area. Charlie is grateful to have been a part of such an important project and is very excited about the production of Hidden Strawberries.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Lana is a recent graduate from Stanford University with a B.A. in English. She is a writer and theater designer.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT LEADER

Jose is pursuing a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from San Jose State University. He supported the team in the interview portion of the project. His role included recruiting Spanish-speaking students from San Jose State University, conducting interviews, transcribing them to English, and helping in the auditions as well.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Katie Huy is a PhD student in the Earth System Science program at Stanford University studying the impacts of fire on microbially-mediated biogeochemical cycling in soils. Driven by her background as a Viet-Chicana and community college alumnus, she is involved in various teaching and outreach efforts to promote environmental justice and equitable access to science education.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Rebecca is currently a senior at Stanford University studying Earth Systems. She enjoys researching soil health across California and Latin America, and she is very passionate about conducting their environmental research through a lens of social justice and community empowerment. Rebecca conducted interviews in Spanish with Oaxacan farm workers in Watsonville to gather information that served as the background for this project. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Ava Acevedo (she/her) is currently a junior at Stanford studying Public Policy with a focus on health care and environmental justice. She is from Lodi and Stockton, CA and has engaged in climate activism since high school. Much of her current research focuses on climate health challenges that burden undocumented residents and farmworkers and policy solutions to overcome them. Ava helped with interviewing farmworkers in Watsonville and coordinating outreach to student groups to garner input for Hidden Strawberries.

TRANSLATOR

Javier is currently a junior at San Jose State University studying mechanical engineering. He works as a product development Engineering intern at NVIDIA. His role in the project was translating and interpreting stories from farm workers.

ACADEMIC ADVISOR

Scott Fendorf is the Huffington Professor of Earth System Science and Senior Associate Dean in Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University. One of the main focuses of his research group is to study the formation and dispersion of toxic metals during and after wildfires and how they impact human health. Dr. Fendorf is working to help identify solutions for mitigating the respiratory health risk related to wildfires to firefighters, restoration and fire-safety workers, farm workers, and local communities.

ACADEMIC ADVISOR

Rodolfo Dirzo is the Bing Professor in Environmental Science and Associate Dean for Integrative Initiatives on Environmental Justice in Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University. His scientific work examines the study of species interactions in tropical ecosystems from California, Latin America, and other tropical areas of the world. Dr. Dirzo has launched several educational programs concerning science communication and environmental justice, including STEAM for Latina Girls, which was an educational program for girls from underserved populations of the Bay Area, CA, and he used theater as one of the tools in some editions of these outreaches.