The Team

David is the long-time host of The Astoria Bookshop Storytelling Show, a free, monthly storytelling open mic in Astoria, Queens. Lawson has performed on Comedy Central’s Rage Restaurant, the semi-scripted audio drama Josie's Lonely Hearts Club and the storytelling podcast RISK! Which reached number 2 on Patreon Picks. David serves as Education Assistant at Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning in Queens while pursuing his MA in Arts Administration at Baruch College. www.dtlawson.com.

Malcolm is a familiar face to Bay Area theater audiences where his roles include Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Charles in Blithe Spirit, Mr. Pendleton in Choirboy, Clown Number 2 in The 39 Steps, Iago in Othello, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing, Grossman in These Shining Lives, Antiochus and Leonine in Pericles, and George in The Speakeasy. Also an acclaimed set designer, Malcolm is a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle award winner and a three-time Emmy Award winner. https://www.malcolmrodgers.com

Radhika is a bilingual theater and improv artist and teacher, and a communications coach based in San Francisco. Most recently she was seen as Titania in Midsummer Night's Dream with Shotgun Players and as Petruchia in Taming of the Shrew at the Prague Shakespeare Festival. She has performed twice at the SF Sketchfest with her improv troupes Gamesome Frolic and Kuch Kuch Bollywood, and is directing Mary Kathryn Nagle’s Sovereignty at School of the Arts (SOTA) in San Francisco. Find her on Instagram @radhikarao77 or www.radhikarao.org

Michael appeared in the Marin Theatre workshop of The Bridge, Fallen Angels at The Aurora (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nomination for featured performance), A Christmas Carol, Apertures of Love in Times of War, and Chinglish (SFBATCC nomination for principal performance). Other credits include The Kilbanes’ musical As You Like It, The Elephant Man, Finks and Red Hot Patriot with Kathleen Turner (Berkeley Rep). He has toured with The National Theatre for Children, and in Italy with Shakespeare at Stinson. www.michaelbarrettaustin.com

Joel is an award-winning actor and director. He appeared in the latest season of Poker Face, as well as in the recurring role of Scott O’Neill on Orange is the New Black. His film credits include: True Story, Limitless, The Bounty Hunter, Birdman, The Night Listener, Lady in the Water, Rocket Science and The Believer. Other television credits include: Billions, Public Morals, Louie, Boardwalk Empire, Bored to Death, Benders, Elementary, Chicago Fire, Justified, The West Wing, Law and Order: SVU, Law and Order, Kings, Blue Bloods, Life on Mars, The Big C, Kidnapped and Feed The Beast. He also appeared on Broadway in Of Mice and Men.

Lauren is a member of Campo Santo in San Francisco and has performed with companies across the country. As a director, Lauren brings new work to fruition from page to stage. She has worked with several playwrights including Christopher Chen, Christina Anderson, and Lauren Gunderson. She is a founding member of the Coalition of Black Women Professional Theatre Makers and is an "Imagining Political Power Fellow" with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Recently, she was a guest director at NYU and was selected as a writer in residence for Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Lab, working on her first full-length play. She is also a visiting professor of acting at Colorado College. https://laurenspencer.weebly.com/

Caden played the leading role in the award-winning drama short, And What if I Am, earning him the "Best Actor" award at The Reading Film Festival in 2024, as well as the Best Youth Ensemble performance at the MQ Film Festival in 2023. Caden's other credits include Armageddon Time (James Gray) and Stand Out (Danielle Fuller). Caden is currently an acting student at NYU.

Joseph is an actor and motion-capture performer whose work has appeared in Fortnite, NBA2K, Star Wars: Tales from Galaxy’s Edge and the recently released Mafia: The Old Country. On film in Guillaume Canet’s Blood Ties. On stage he has performed at Berkeley Rep, The Kennedy Center, La Jolla Playhouse and the California Shakespeare Theatre among others.

Heren portrayed the title character in Cinnabar Theater’s A Perfect Ganesh, the Prince and Peter in Silicon Valley Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. He also appeared in Indra’s Net Theater’s Partition as the mathematical genius Srinivasan Ramanujan. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University’s Theatre Arts Program and Anupam Kher’s Actor Prepares in Mumbai. Heren would love to thank his parents for always being supportive throughout his acting journey.

Rachel is an audio professional with two music degrees and over a decade of experience. She is known for recording various musical ensembles, her work in public radio, and production work on the audio-drama podcasts Codename: Blank!, Hearing the Haunted, and Fear Daily. Rachel is an active musician with a penchant for storytelling.

Terrance is thrilled to be a part of the BlueLife Universe! He's had the privilege of having his voice featured on some amazing projects, including the Daytime Emmy Award winning Netflix series "Go Go Cory Carson" and on the Leviathan Chronicles spinoff series, "The Rapscallion Agency." When not standing in front of a microphone, you might also see him performing on a stage somewhere in the Bay Area, or gaming somewhere online. https://www.terranceaustinsmith.com/

Melissa is a Playground and ShotzSF company member. Favorite roles: Yazmin in Water by the Spoonful, Anna in Anna Considers Mars, Masha in The Seagull. She received her MFA from the National Theater Conservatory. She is a Teaching Assistant and coach at John Rosenfeld Studios. She sends thanks to her family, friends and husband for their love and support.

Rusty is an artist and illustrator based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduating from the Academy of Art University back in 2012, he has had the opportunity to have his work featured for the San Francisco Olympians Festival, animation for the video game Skullgirls, several illustrations for adult and children's books, and more. You can find more of his work at https://www.instagram.com/nextstop.lastexit/

Emilie has appeared in 13 Reasons Why, Sonder, A Wake, Starting Over, and Little Mother Lies.  She recently worked with the Prague Shakespeare Company in the Czech Republic, and has appeared at numerous theatres across the United States. She received the Best Actress of the Year award by the New York Film Awards and LA Shorts; Best Performance of Festival by the Actors Awards; and a Platinum Award by the Independent Shorts. www.emilietalbot.com

Emilie has appeared in 13 Reasons Why, Sonder, A Wake, Starting Over, and Little Mother Lies. She recently worked with the Prague Shakespeare Company in the Czech Republic, and has appeared at numerous theatres across the United States. She received the Best Actress of the Year award by the New York Film Awards and LA Shorts; Best Performance of Festival by the Actors Awards; and a Platinum Award by the Independent Shorts. www.emilietalbot.com

Paige is a voice actor whose credits include Audible's Hot White Heist 2, commercials for Squarespace, 23andMe, and American Express, as well as hundreds of other projects across genres. She has a background in theater and is an alum of Ithaca College and the O'Neill's National Theater Institute. Find her online @paigelaross.

Jess is a Bay Area playwright, filmmaker, and actor. He was a founding owner of Awesome Theatre where he served as a producer and writer. Previous work with The Cutting Ball theatre, Pint Sized Plays, and others. He is also the founder of One Shoe Films, a local video production company specializing in marketing videos for non-profits arts organizations. Jess used to be an adventurer like you, until he took an arrow to the knee.

Sahra is a Bronx-born actor and storyteller best known for her breakout role in the Sundance film Pariah. Her screen credits include Law & Order: SVU, Cold Case, and the animated series Speed Racer: The Next Generation (a series regular voice). She has collaborated with acclaimed directors George C. Wolfe and Dee Rees, and worked behind the scenes with HBO and Queen Latifah’s production company Flavor Unit. Sahra will next appear in the upcoming feature film The Allegory.

Kenneth is an award-winning playwright and actor. His play The Ontological Detective was produced off-Broadway. Other plays include Mustard Seed (Southern Playwrights Competition Award), War and Civility (Greater Phoenix Critics Circle Award), and Safe Havens, which earned him a Fulbright to Croatia. As an actor, Heaton has appeared in the Academy Award-nominated short film, The Letter Room, and on Hulu’s Chance. He has appeared in numerous stage productions across the country.

Christian is an actor/director and the Producing AD of ShotzLA. Favorite roles: Drew in Straight White Men (Marin Theatre Company), Kermit Roosevelt in All the Shah’s Men (Arabian Shakespeare Festival), Mike Clawson in Value Over Replacement (Playground). He holds an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory. Love to family, friends and Melissa.

Mapuana is a Hawaiian-born actress and singer. She can currently be seen on Apple TV’s Invasion, Family Law on the CW, and an upcoming role in the film Remarkably Bright Creatures. With many audiobook narrations in her credits, the role of Persephone marks her first narrative podcast performance, and she is thrilled to be a part of BlueLife.

Monique has appeared on television in The Saints, Jamie Kennedy Experiment and Third Watch. Films include Cover and Bad Company. A longtime stage actor, Monique’s theater credits include Bernice in The Piano Lesson, Sadie in Back to the Old Landmark, Mrs. Robinson in She’s Got Harlem on Her Mind, Catherine in Goliath, and Girlfriend in Ceremonies of Dark Old Men. Monique is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. https://moniquepaige.com/

Donna studied acting at NYU and Columbia College in Chicago. She has enjoyed a storied career as a voice-actor, creating characters for the “Sonic The Hedgehog” franchise, HBO Max’s “Doom Patrol” and Emmy-Nominated “X-Men ’97”— among others. She was a cast member in David Cromer’s acclaimed Off-Broadway production of “Our Town.” Other career highlights include serving as Oprah Winfrey’s live announcer during her national tour and singing at The Grand Ole Opry with her husband, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Robbie Fulks.

Mark is an award-winning filmmaker and actor. He is most known for his Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winning short film, Thunder Road. He has also won Best Director at the Boise Film Festival for his cross-country bicycling documentary, Bike Against the Wind. After several years of producing feature films in Massachusetts, Louisiana and California he moved into the world of audio drama as the director for the Bay Area Radio Drama’s Sci-Fi series, Dark Matter: Last Transmissions from Echo Base. As an actor, he continues to perform in theater and other media projects.

Oriana is a Mexican actress, filmmaker, and writer based in NYC. On stage, she has recently appeared in Moscow Moscow Moscow by Halley Feiffer and Insertion by Sarah Groustra. Her film credits include Noise!, Ghosts, and Nothing Personal, as well as Babehoven’s music video Alt. Lena. She currently hosts the viral web series 15SecondFilms. Her niche style poem-films have premiered at Parasight Film Festival, and Cannes International Cellphone Cinema Showcase.

Sean is an occasional funny-voice-maker when not raising his little boy or spending time with the family.

Matthew (he/him) is a Boise-based actor, improviser, and podcaster. Recent favorite stage roles include Deep Blue (Chris) with Boise Little Theater, Avenue Q (Bad Idea Bear) at Stage Coach Theatre, and Antony and Cleopatra (Mark Antony) with the Boise Bard Players. You can see him this year around the Northwest with his improv troupe, The U.S. Average, and hear him elsewhere in your earbuds as a cast member of Play Around and Find Out, an actual-play RPG podcast.