Hollace Starr (Director) is an associate professor of theatre at Pepperdine University, where she teaches, coaches voice and dialects, and directs. Recently, Hollace most recent credits include Finegan Kruckemeyer’s This Girl Laughs, This Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, and Sonheim’s Into the Woods at the Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University. In early 2020, she directed the West Coast Premiere of Mike Bartlett’s Earthquakes In London at Rogue Machine Theatre, and she wrote and voiced the original prologue for the video version of Pepperdine’s COVID-canceled The Cherry Orchard, which was published in the “Emergency” issue of the online theatre journal Imagined Theatres. During the height of the pandemic, Hollace adapted Shakespeare’s As You Like It for the zoom stage which included 13 music videos with original music by Jeremy Zerbe which were intercut into the live production. Other directing credits include Falling, Circle Mirror Transformation, and Eurydice at Pepperdine, and Three Views Of The Same Object at Rogue Machine Theatre. Hollace has provided voice and dialect coaching for numerous productions including Joe Egg (Odyssey), Miss Lilly Gets Boned (Rogue Machine), and Tracers (USVAA) and many Pepperdine theatre productions, including Christmas at Pemberley, Curtains, South Pacific, Heritage, Medea, and The Interference. Hollace’s acting credits include Yard Sale Signs and Milkmilklemonade at Rogue Machine, A Chicago Christmas Carol at Crown City Theatre, Small Tragedy at the Odyssey for which Hollace received an Ovation Award nomination, Vieux Carre at the Ivy Substation, Window Of Opportunity at the Met, and productions at The Fountain Theatre, The Actors’ Gang, and more. Hollace performed her one-woman show My Dad Came Dressed As Marilyn Monroe at Highways Performance Space and at the Hysteria Festival in Toronto, Canada. She is a founding member of Rogue Machine Theatre Company and on the board of Trade City Productions, which operates the Popwagon, Los Angeles’ very first mobile theatre truck. In 2021, while the Popwagon was in residency at 18th Street Arts Center under Santa Monica’s Recovery Justice program, Hollace presented a COVID-safe presentation of Rooms: Tiny Openings, an original installation that explored performance art as a means of examining the global pandemic. Hollace received her MFA in acting from UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television. She is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio and a designated Linklater Voice teacher. Hollace is honored to be joining the Pepperdine Scotland team for this production.

Lynda Radley (Playwright)Lynda’s writing has been produced in The UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, India, The USA, and Canada. Plays include: Futureproof (Dundee Rep/Traverse Theatre), Cinderella (Dundee Rep) Christmas Tales, The Mother Load (Royal Lyceum Theatre), Fourteen Voices From The Bloodied Field (The Abbey Theatre), The Maid’s Room, There Is Someone Who Hates Us (National Theatre of Scotland), Ligach And The Salmon (Pitlochry), Happier Or Better? (RCS), The Interference (Pepperdine Scotland), Berlin Love Tour, The Heights, The Art Of Swimming, Soap! (Playgroup), Birds And Other Things I Am Afraid Of (Poorboy). Radio play Our Sentence, and short story An Irish Airman Forsees His Death (part of Yeats: The Man and The Echo), were produced by Kirsty Williams, for broadcast on the BBC. Lynda received Scotsman Fringe Firsts for Futureproof and The Interference. The Interference was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award and won a Broadway Baby Bobby Award. Lynda is a member of the board of Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland.

Stephanie Katie Hunter (Producer)

Stephanie Katie Hunter is a Glasgow-based producer and theatre maker working across art forms since 2013. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Scissor Kick. She spent six years as Associate Producer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, delivering projects for their Musical Theatre courses, including 30 musicals, cabarets, residencies, and the institution’s annual New York Industry Week. Her independent work includes touring productions like Drone and LipSync, and collaborations with major theatres. Stephanie supports artists and organisations to develop new work and strategic frameworks, and has led festivals and contributed to productions nationwide, championing creative collaboration and sector development.

www.scissorkick.co.uk

Paul J. Dufresne (Production Manager/Design Supervisor) is a scene designer for theatre and opera based in Los Angeles. Paul has designed both nationally and internationally working with companies such as The English National Opera, The Minnesota Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, The Rubicon Theatre Company, The Road Theater Company, The Gary Marshall Theatre, The Guthrie, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Rep, and LA Opera, among others.

Paul is the head of the theatre design program at Pepperdine University. He was awarded the USITT designers’ national award for outstanding achievement in scenic design.

Melanie Watnick (Costume Designer) has been working as a professional costume designer for theatre and dance for over 25 years. In addition to her work at Pepperdine, she has designed and lectured at the University of California San Diego, University of California Irvine and Hartnell College.   Her costume designs for dance have been seen in both national and international tours with companies such as : ABT II, Ballet X, Company C, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Singapore Dance Theatre,  Malashock Dance, Backhausdance, Ballet West and Norwegian Cruise Line.  Her theatre  designs have included work with companies such as : Julliard, Seattle Repertory, San Diego Repertory Theatre, the Barter, Great Lakes Theater Festival, South Coast Repertory Theatre,  Open Fist, Boston Court, The Flea and Rouge Machine and most recently Children’s Theatre Cincinnati.  Ms. Watnick received her MFA from the University of California San Diego and a BA with a distinction within her major from University of California Santa Barbara.  Her love of cheese is only surpassed by her love of dogs. 

Mak Burke (Scenic and Properties Designer)is a sophomore theatre arts production/design major, from Lubbock, Texas. Their credits at Pepperdine include assistant scenic design for Light in the Piazza and Eleemosanary, property design for Bright Star, Passage, The Magic Flute, and Eleemosanary, Stage manager for no one is coming to save us, set/props crew for Iphigenia Among the Taurians, projections board operator for 9-5, and assistant stage manager for Lost Girl. Burke has also been the recipient of the George Pepperdine Achievement scholarship and Theater Arts scholarship in both the 2024/25 school year and the 2025/26 school year.

Aaron Quevedo (Lighting Designer)is excited to be a part of the 2026 Edinburgh Company. Aaron is heading into his third year as a Design and Production Emphasis at Pepperdine University, and looks forward to continuing his career in the area of Lighting Design. His recent Pepperdine Theatre credits include The Half Life of Marie Curie, no one is coming to save us, and Assistant Designing The Good War. Outside of Pepperdine, Aaron freelances as a lighting technician and programmer for corporate events and houses of worship.

Ade Zepeda (Associate Costume Designer/ Wardrobe Supervisor)

is a Sophomore Theatre Arts major with an emphasis in Production/Design from
Los Angeles, California. Her previous Pepperdine credits include This Girl Laughs, This GirlCries, This Girl Does Nothing (Set/Props Crew), The Music Man (Props Supervisor), Villette(Hair/Wardrobe Crew), The Merry Widow (Set/Props Crew), and The Tempest (Lighting BoardOperator). As a Lighting Design emphasis, she is excited that this is her first experience on a Stage Management team in her tech career! Ade is a Theatre Arts Scholarship recipient as well as a Theatre Representative for the 2024-2025 school year.

Tamryn Liddle (Production Stage Manager)is a rising junior theatre arts production and design and international studies double major. She is a TCK from the United States. Her Pepperdine theatre credits include deck manager of The Light in the Piazza, stage manager of Dance in Flight 2026, The Half-Life of Marie Curie, “The Good War”, and the ‘25 Directing One Acts, props designer for no one is coming to save us, lightboard operator for The Magic Flute, set/props designer of Spring ‘25 First Year Showcase, and assistant stage manager of 9 to 5. Liddle has been a recipient of the Pepperdine Theatre Arts Scholarship and Regents Scholarship since fall 2024-25.

Ava Walters (Assistant Stage Manager/Dramaturg)Ava Walters is a senior Theatre and Screen Arts major from Abilene, Texas. Her recent credits include Jess in No One Is Coming to Save Us, director of “The Western” short film, membership in the 2024 Pepperdine Improv Troupe, and upcoming work as co-producer of Pepperdine’s Go Off Show Off sketch and variety shows.

Emma McAngus (Assistant Director)is a Junior theater arts major with an emphasis in directing. She is from Dallas, Texas. Emma is a Theatre and George Pepperdine Achievement Scholarship recipient. Emma is honored to take the role of assistant director for this production. She is thrilled to be a part of such an incredible team of people and tell inspiring human stories through the art that she loves.