Lauren Gunderson

Lauren Gunderson (Playwright) is one of the most produced playwrights in America, topping the list multiple times since 2015. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, she studied at Emory University and earned her MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU's Tisch School.
Her work, which includes plays, screenplays, and musical books, often explores themes related to science, history, and feminism, frequently spotlighting the untold stories of extraordinary women.

Notable plays include Silent Sky (about astronomer Henrietta Leavitt), The Revolutionists, and the two-time Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award winners, I and You and The Book of Will.
Gunderson is celebrated for her witty, hopeful, and intelligent scripts that resonate with audiences across the country. She currently lives in San Francisco.

Margot Melcon

Margot Melcon (Playwright) is a theater artist, administrator, and writer, known for her contributions to new play development and her collaborative work as a playwright.

For seven years, she served as the Director of New Play Development at Marin Theatre Company, where she dramaturged over 30 productions and administered the company's annual play prizes. She also spent 20 years working with nonprofit arts organizations as a dramaturg and producer.

Melcon is a celebrated playwright, best known for co-writing the popular Christmas at Pemberley trilogy with Lauren Gunderson, which are sequels to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. These plays include Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley and The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley.
She is a graduate of California State University, Chico, and currently serves as the Program Executive for Promoting Culture at the Zellerbach Family Foundation in San Francisco, managing the arts and culture grantmaking portfolio.

Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775–1817) was a celebrated English novelist known for her witty social commentary and enduring romances set among the British gentry. Born in Steventon, Hampshire, she was the seventh of eight children in a relatively poor but well-educated family, headed by a parish rector. She was closest to her sister, Cassandra, and neither sister ever married.
Austen lived a quiet life, largely educated at home, benefiting immensely from her father's library. She began writing in her teens, developing a signature style characterized by realism, sharp irony, and a focus on the domestic lives of women—specifically, their dependence on marriage for social standing and economic security.
Her major novels, including Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Emma (1815), were published anonymously during her lifetime, credited simply to "A Lady." She completed six novels in total, with Northanger Abbey and Persuasion published posthumously after her death at age 41. Austen’s keen observations of human nature and societal manners have secured her status as one of English literature's most beloved and influential authors.

Sharon Graci

Sharon Graci (Director) is a stage director and the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of PURE Theatre in Charleston, South Carolina. Known for her emotionally truthful, ensemble-driven productions, she has directed more than 70 plays, championing new work and contemporary voices. Under her leadership, PURE has become one of the Southeast’s most respected professional theatres, recognized for its commitment to regional and world-premiere work and for cultivating a fiercely loyal audience that believes in theatre’s power to inspire thought, spark conversation, and heighten consciousness.

Allison DePriest 

Allison DePriest (Lydia Wickham) is a senior Theatre major with a concentration in Performance and a minor in Music for Voice. Previous credits include Swine Palace’s People, Places, and Things; LSU Theatre's Roleplay; LSU’s Turner-Fischer Opera’s Carousel, and LSU Lab Season’s Dead City.

Jack Fellows

Jack Fellows* (Mr. Darcy)  is a first-year MFA in Acting graduate student. NYC : Abingdon Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Wild Project, Columbia University. Selected Regional: One Man Two Guvnors (St. Louis Rep), Bus Stop (Baltimore CenterStage), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (White Heron), Dracula, Romeo, John Proctor, Caliban, and Laertes (Wolfbane Virginia), Lombardi (Riverside Theatre Florida), Biloxi Blues (Kansas City’s ‘New Theatre’), Connecticut Repertory Theatre. Playwright credits: The Last Poet on Mars at Wild Project (Manhattan) Wraith (readings in Amsterdam and Serbia).

Zoe Godfrey-Grinage 

Zoe Godfrey-Grinage (Jane Bingley) is a first-year MFA in Acting graduate student. She is excited to make her Swine Palace debut! Her most recent performance credits include: Fancy Nancy (Chance Theater), Little Shop of Horrors (Sierra Repertory Theater), and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Woodminster Theater). Zoe would like to thank her family, friends, and the Swine Palace Team. She is thrilled for the run of the show.

Michael C. Hyatt 

Michael C. Hyatt (Arthur de Bourgh) is a first-year MFA in Acting graduate student. Previous credits include The Drunk Shakespeare Society with Brass Jar Productions, Ideal House at Prop Theatre, and Terra Nova with The Three Crows Theatre Company. His film credits include Chicago Fire (NBC), American Parent directed by Elizabeth Railsbeck, and Saturday Night Inside Out directed by Connor McBride. He is thrilled to make his Swine Palace debut.

Nicole Lovince

Nicole Lovince (Lizzy Darcy) is a first-year MFA in Acting graduate student. She has a BA in Theatre and Film from Bowling Green State University. Previous credits include Pitch Perfect (shot on LSU’s campus), Dear White People, and NCIS: New Orleans. She recently presented a voice and speech workshop at this year's annual VASTA (Voice & Speech Trainers Association) Conference. This is Nicole's debut performance at Swine Palace. 

Sarah Nansubuga

Sarah Nansubuga (Anne de Bourgh) is a fourth year PhD Theatre candidate with minors in Communication Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Previous Credits include Swine Palace's People, Places, and Things and Airline Highway, LSU Mainstage’s The Book of Will and Arcadia, and LSU Lab Season’s Wolf Play. Directing credits include an original, self-authored show with LSU’s 23/24 Lab season, titled Let Me Be: Grandma, Mama, and Me, and Assistant Directing PP&T. Sarah is incredibly excited and grateful for this opportunity!

T. M. Pride

T. M. Pride* (Charles Bingley and choreographer) is a first-year MFA in Acting student. He is an award-winning multidisciplinary performance artist and educator. A graduate of Florida A&M University (Theatre/Dance) and Florida International University (M.S. Urban Education), he is the Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director of Brévo Theatre. His works include Emancipation Blues and Zawadi: The Nativity Story. A member of AEA and SDC, Pride’s credits span For Colored Boyz, American Son, and Lovecraft Country. Featured in Playbill, CBS, PBS, and Miami New Times. @tmprideofficial

Christine Marie Sáenz

Christine Marie Sáenz* (Mary Bennet) is a first-year MFA Acting student. Selected regional credits include the world premiere of The Heart Sellers at Milwaukee Rep (U/S Luna), The Tempest and The Three Musketeers with Door Shakespeare, Boeing Boeing with Third Avenue Playworks, and Freaky Friday with Children’s Theatre of Madison. This is her Swine Palace debut! She is also a singer-songwriter and musical theatre composer. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State University. @christinemariesaenz/ christinemariesaenz.com      

Austin Bomkamp

Austin Bomkamp (Lighting Designer) is a Visiting Instructor of Entertainment Lighting and Media at Louisiana State University. He blends theatrical design, engineering, and storytelling to create dynamic lighting and media experiences.

He holds a BFA from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point and an MFA from the University of Arkansas. His professional background includes work as a lighting designer, master electrician, and educator, with credits spanning theater, dance, and immersive installations. His designs often incorporate emerging technologies such as programmable lighting systems, projection mapping, and interactive LED elements.  austinbomkamp.com.

Susanna Brucker

Susana Brucker (Costume Designer) is a first-year MFA student studying Costume Technology and Design. She is excited to be working on her first show with Swine Palace. 

John Michael Eddy

John Eddy (Props Designer) is the Props Designer/Mentor for the LSU School of Theatre; he completed his undergraduate work at the University of Arizona and holds an MFA in Theater Production and Design from Temple University in Philadelphia. In addition to his prop work and scenic designs, he serves on the Board of Directors for Playmakers of Baton Rouge; Playmakers is a children’s educational theatre group who is proud to call the LSU Reilly Theater their home. www.johhmeddy.com

Christina Griffey

Christina Griffey (Set Designer) is a third-year MFA student who is studying Scenic Technology and Design, and she is excited to be designing her second show at LSU. Her past set design credits include LSU’s production of Roleplay, Romeo and Juliet and Legally Blonde at the University of Arizona, Proof at Pima Community College, and Urinetown at Florida Atlantic University, where she earned her bachelor's degree. She’s excited to spread a little holiday cheer this season!

Ethan Hood

Ethan Hood (Assistant Director) is a senior, double majoring in Film & Television and Theatre with a concentration in Design and Technology. He has recently directed the LSU Lab Show Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom and produced the LSU Geaux Film When A Doveweed Blooms. Other recent Assistant Director credits include LSU Mainstage’s Marburg and LSU SciArts’ Alice Wareham and the Fabulation of Time. He will return to directing with the LSU Lab Show Hand to God. He is excited to come back to Swine Palace and has thoroughly enjoyed working with Sharon!

Morgan Hunter

Morgan Hunter (Assistant Stage Manager) is a senior Theatre major with a concentration in Performance. Previous credits include LSU School of Theatre’s At the Wedding and Swine Palace’s Red Velvet. She also performed in the Hopkins Black Box Theater Fall 2023 Undergraduate Showcase and the Fall 2024 Dance + Physical Theatre Showcase.

Tyler Kieffer

Tyler Kieffer (Sound Designer) is the Assistant Professor of Sound Design and Technology for LSU Theatre. Tyler is a sound designer for new plays, opera, and immersive theatre. He’s been twice nominated for the New York Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Sound Design in 2019 for Will Arbery’s Plano and in 2021 for Tectonic Theater Project’s Seven Deadly Sins. Other recent credits include Swine Palace’s Operating Systems, Craters, ROE; Tribes, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans, and Found at the Cork Midsummer Festival Ireland. Tylerkieffer.com

James L. Murphy

James L. Murphy (Production Manager) is an Associate Professor and Head of the M.F.A. Technology and Design programs as well as Production Manager and Technical Director for Swine Palace and the LSU School of Theatre. He teaches primarily in scenery engineering and construction as well as stage management. Design credits include Lighting Design for Swine Palace’s world premiere of Leigh Fondakowski’s Spill; Production Manager and Lighting Designer for the LSU Theatre production of Origin, performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2014; Set Designer for Swine Palace’s world premiere of Ping Chong’s and Vince Licata’s Cocktail, honored by inclusion at the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space; Set and Lighting Designer for the LSU Theatre production of Antigone presented at the 2010 Young Theatre Festival in Seoul, South Korea; and Lighting Designer for Swine Palace’s, The Heidi Chronicles, which toured to Shanghai and Beijing, China in 2007. 

Jazmyn Presley

Jazmyn Presley (Assistant Stage Manager) is a freshman Theatre major with a concentration in Design and Technology. This is her first LSU production.

Rocky Sansom

Rockford Sansom (Voice Coach) is an Associate Professor of Voice & Speech and the Swine Palace voice coach. As a coach, he has worked with actors Off-Broadway, Off West End, and in regional theatre, Fortune 500 executives, UN delegates, and members of congress. As an actor, he performed Off-Broadway, regionally, and in international and national Broadway tours. His textbook Voice Work is used worldwide. AEA. SAG-AFTRA. VASTA Lifetime Distinguished Member.

Lio Smith

Lio Smith (Stage Manager) is a sophomore Theatre major with a concentration in Design and Technology. Previous credits include LSU Theatre Mainstage’s Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B. She also stage managed for LSU Theatre Mainstage’s production of ROLEPLAY. She is delighted to make her Swine Palace debut.

Taisiya Smith 

Taisiya Smith (They/Them) (Asst. Props Designer) is a an MFA in Props Technology and Design student. This is their first show with LSU and Swine Palace. They have previously designed for Southeastern Oklahoma State University as an undergrad. They served as Props Designer for The Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival in the 2024 Summer Season.