Dave Ebersole Playwriting, Drama, Storytelling | Dave has been a theater director in the greater Philadelphia area for over fifteen years. Having served as associate artistic director for HATG Theater Company, resident director for Theatre For Transformation, and artistic director for Diversion Productions. His plays have been produced by Casabuena Cultural Productions, The Independent Voices Festival, GAYFest!, The Ithaca Fringe Festival, Stagecrafters Theater, The Las Vegas Fringe Festival, Spotlight Theatre, and PCS. Dave made his debut as a comic book writer with DASH published by Northwest Press. Other companies he’s written for include A Wave New World, Grey Haven Comics, and One Shot Horror. He holds a BA in Theater Arts from Temple University and an MFA in Writing for the Stage and Screen from Point Park University. He lives outside Philadelphia with his Yorkie Ernie.
Michaela Henry (She/Her) Acting, Improv, Auditioning, Musical Theatre | Michaela is from Springfield PA, and is a soon to be graduate of Baldwin Wallace University in Arts Management & Stage Management. In her college years, she has had many wonderful experiences in theatre and arts education including serving as a stage manager for the Baldwin Wallace Music Theatre program and stage manager for Upper Darby Summer Stage's Children's Theatre program. She is so excited to be working at Darlington this summer, and cannot wait to meet lots of new teaching artists and students!
Kate McGrath (she/her) Improv, Playwriting, Drama | Kate McGrath has worked for Philadelphia Young Playwrights as a teaching artist for over 30 years, leading theatre and writing workshops in dozens of schools at all age levels, and is a three-time recipient of PYP’s Adele Magner Memorial Award. She has taught for the past six years as a drama teaching artist, lead teaching artist and curriculum consultant with ASAP Drama. Additional teaching/directing credits: Theatre Horizon’s Autism Drama Program, Wolf Performing Arts Center, Walnut Street Theatre School, Walking Fish Theatre, The Shipley School, Holy Child Academy, Pennsylvania Performing Arts Academy, and nine years at the Montgomery County Cultural Center’s Heart of the Arts camp. Kate has taught adult courses in playwriting and improv at the University City Arts League and Artspace Lansdowne. Other educational theatre credits include dramaturgy with American Music Theatre Festival’s Rainbow Connection and Women’s Ensemble Action Via Education. Kate works as a professional dramaturg (Philadelphia Theatre Workshop, Philadelphia Dramatists Center), and has toured as an actor with Interact Theatre Company’s InterAction, Philadelphia Theatre Caravan, New Legends, and performed locally with ComedySportz, Playback Theatre, Rose Tree Shakespeare, Philadelphia Area Regional Theatre, Comedy for Kids, and innumerable Fringe productions. Playwriting credits: As Playwright in Residence with Iron Age Theatre she wrote and developed her play Up from the Ashes. Her award-winning plays November Women, Getting Sasha, Seafood (Best Play of NC) and This is My Place have been produced in multiple venues in the US and abroad. She holds a BA in Theatre from UNC-Chapel Hill, a MA in Theatre from Villanova, and has additional certificates from the Folger Theatre Conservatory, the London Theatre School, and the National Theatre Institute.
Sophia DiLeo Drama, Musical Theatre | Sophia is a native of Princeton, New Jersey, and holds a B.M. in Music Education and M.M. in Voice Performance from the University of Delaware. Her professional endeavors and aspirations specialize in arts advocacy, trauma-informed voice instruction, empowering young women in the performing arts, and creating space for all genres/ styles in the voice studio. She has served as a private voice instructor, production assistant for the University of Delaware Opera Theatre, an administrative assistant for the National Opera Association, and has performed in a wide range of styles and venues throughout her performance career. She has performed both domestically and internationally in genres spanning choral music, jazz, opera, and musical theatre. Her most notable roles include, Diana in Next to Normal, Paige in the world premiere of From Our Roots, Marmee in Little Women, and will soon begin her journey as a professional actress for Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre, for the 2022-2023 Mainstage Season. She particularly enjoys exploring new literature, attending baseball games, cooking, dog-walking, learning ridiculous new vocalises, and film editing in her spare time.