About
Screaming Butterflies
Imaginative, Tenacious, Unapologetic Creativity
Our mission is to Re-vision myth, community and justice, through imaginative, tenacious, unapologetic creativity.
We are interested in dynamic reinterpretations and visions and revisions of old stories, bringing them forward to today and how they reflect on and inspire our communities. We are interested in stories the bring light to issues of social justice, and can inspire a vision for what justice might look like.
We are also interested in highlighting stories that reflect the richness of our diverse community, welcoming many genders, cultures, ethnicities, language speakers, and bodies if the art is to be relevant and dynamic. We seek to bring representation onstage and behind it, with writers, directors, designers, and actors who can fully reflect Tacoma, the Pacific Northwest, and North America.
Screaming Butterflies Productions collaborates and produces independent theater in Tacoma, Washington.
At present, Screaming Butterflies does not produce a full season, nor does it have a permanent organizational structure. Theatrical productions occur as the opportunity arises, and as collaborations become possible. Within the short-term, we would love to commit to one production per year, and increase slowly.
Collaborators listed may fluctuate and vary depending on the current project.
Our Team
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Co-Artistic Director, Board Member
Kathryn Philbrook
Kathryn studied theater at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, and works as an actor, director, and stage manager throughout the Puget Sound region. As an actor, Kathryn has performed with Studio 21 Theatre, Tacoma Little Theater, Lakewood Playhouse, Olympia Little Theater, Harlequin Productions, New Muses, Tacoma Actors Repertory Theater, and Dukesbay Theater. Some favorite roles include Agnes in She Kills Monsters (TART), Martha in A Piece of My Heart (Dukesbay Theater), and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (OLT). Kathryn has Stage Managed for The Broadway Center of the Performing Arts, Studio 21, and Tacoma Little Theater. Her last directorial project was Agamemnon, a co-production with US Presents performed at Dukesbay Theater.
Co-Artistic Director, Board Member
Jeanette Sanchez-Izenman
Jeanette is a teaching artist, a dramaturg, an intimacy choreographer, a director and stage manager. She has her BFA in acting from the University of New Mexico where she returned to earn her MA in Directing and Educational Theatre under the mentorship of Susan Pearson in 2003.
She moved to Pacific Northwest to attend the University of Washington School of Drama and achieved her PhD candidacy in Theatre History and Criticism in 2006.
Jeanette highly values public scholarship and earned a fellowship at UW’s Simpson Center for the Public Humanities in 2005. She was in the inaugural cohort of the Project for Interdisciplinary Pedagogy at UW Bothell where she taught theatre and performance studies for nearly a decade. Her classes focused on social change (Latino Theatre for Social Change and Theatre for Young Audiences) and outreach where she partnered with local schools to bring theatre education into their classrooms.
Board of Directors
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Board Member
Jen Tidwell
Born into a theatrical family, Jen was a professional actor from childhood, performing on stages in New York, LA, and Miami while beginning their voiceover career at age seven. From performing with The Second City and winning Best Supporting Actress at SETC to directing critically-acclaimed productions like Three Viewings [GTG], [title of show] [TART] and She Kills Monsters [TART], their expertise is vast. In addition to directing they have stage managed for the RSC, designed a number of immersive theatre experiences for events around the world and lent their voice to multiple audiobooks. They founded their own production company in Las Vegas, where they produced numerous shows from small venues to full Broadway-scale productions. They bring this wealth of experience to their current work as a freelance director, designer, and professional voice actor based in the Pacific Northwest.
When not doing stage works, Jen can be found in their home studio writing, voicing and engineering the scripted podcast 'The Purgatory Report on CPRG'; playing DnD with their wife and kid; and being a general nuisance to the less whimsically-inclined.
Explore their work at www.jentidwell.com.
Board Member
Em Piro
Em Piro is a community organizer, theater maker, and social practitioner who weaves urbanism, sustainability, and culture into advocacy for just, regenerative communities. Over the past decade, she has received more than a dozen recognitions for her cultural work, including “Best Impresario” from the Riverfront Times and a 52nd City Kickass Award.
Raised amid the greens and blues of the Puget Sound, Em spent her early adulthood in St. Louis where she was a social worker and a full-time theater professional. Inspired by a Seattle mentor, she co-founded the internationally acclaimed St Lou Fringe. Her performance and research practice has taken her around the world—including London, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Stockholm, Scotland, Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina. She holds a BA in Sociology from Saint Louis University, and an MA in Performance Studies from York University. Her work has appeared everywhere from parking lot pop-ups to an invited performance at NYU.
In 2021, Em and her family returned to Tacoma, on the ancestral land of the Puyallup Peoples, where she’s thrilled to be part of the region’s vibrant cultural life through the fiercely fluttering Screaming Butterflies. When not making art, she can be found at her day job working on Energy Equity, and otherwise biking, dancing, playing the ukulele or oboe, and laughing daily with her toddler.
Board Member
Russell Campbell
Russell Campbell is a descendant of enslaved Africans, part of the queer community and is honored to
be a part of Screaming Butterflies. He is the Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS Network Coordination
(HANC) at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Russell is inspired by his children and is committed to
addressing disparities and injustices that disproportionately impact individuals and communities that
have been harmed and are often marginalized. Russell believes that real change comes about only when
others step up, speak out and act against dismantling the status quo. As a member of the local musical
theater community, Russell is excited to bring his passion and lived experience to Screaming Butterflies
in the hopes to inspire change in the local theater community.
