hidden/current – COMPANY BIO
Fatima Dike (Playwright)
Fatima Royline Dike is called “Mother of South Africa’s Drama.” Fatima has been a widely recognised playwright, poet, director, teacher and political activist and was the first African woman to publish a play, The Sacrifice of Kreli, in South Africa. Her other play credits include The First South Africa, The Crafty Tortoise, The Glass House, So what’s new?, Street Walking, Company Valet Service, and The Return which ran at Artscape and the Grahamstown Theatre Festival. Fatima works at the Guga S’thebe Arts & Culture Centre in Langa, she has lectured at John Carroll University’s English Department, has travelled and worked internationally for a number years, and has directed two plays (Woza Albert by Mbongeni Ngema & Percy Mtwa and Nothing but the Truth by John Kani) as well as directing for Artscape’s new writing program and the Siyasanga Cape Town Theatre Company’s grade 12 English drama set.
Elizabeth Heffron (Playwright)
Elizabeth is a Seattle-based playwright. Her plays include Bo-Nita, which received its world premiere at Seattle Repertory Theatre, won the ‘Best Storytelling’ award at the United Solo Festival in NYC, and has also been produced in New York, Florida and Washington D.C.. Other full-length works include Portugal, a play about nuclear energy workers, and Mitzi’s Abortion (A Saint’s Guide to Late-Term Politics and Medicine in America) which premiered at ACT Theatre in Seattle and continues to be produced across the country.
Naghmeh Samini (Playwright)
Naghmeh, an Iranian-American playwright and researcher, holds a PhD in Drama & Mythology. Over 20 of her plays—experimental in form—have been staged in Iran, India, the US, Canada, France, and elsewhere. Her works explore mythology, women issues and socio-political themes.
Robin Lynn Smith (Director)
Robin has worked for the past thirty-five years acting, directing and teaching in Chicago, Boston, Seattle, and New York and is presently directing Freehold’s Engaged Theatre Program. She was an Artist in Residence at the Seattle Repertory Theatre with Dan Sullivan, and directed several productions. She has also directed in Seattle at ACT, On The Boards, The Empty Space, New City Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Intiman where she was an Affiliate Artist. She was a finalist for SDC Fichandler Award.
Gino Srdjan Yevdevich (Composer/Musician)
Artist (music/theatre/film) Advocate/Activist.
Born in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina where in the 1980s he was a recording artist, theater and TV composer. In 1992 during the war, he created HAIR Sarajevo. After the war he moved to Seattle. In 1996 he founded Kultur Shock, now with 12 albums and over a 1000 shows around the World. He is currently signed on Alternative Tentacles Records. Theater: Freehold; music director, Cornish College; instructor, Sound IDD; advocate/director. Film; 2023: “Kiss The Future”; 2024: “Grandpa Guru”
Jessica Jobaris (Movement Director)
Jessica, a Seattle-based choreographer and educator, founded Jessica Jobaris & General Magic in 2010 to foster artistic risk and community connection. A Cornish College BFA and The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology MA graduate, her sponsored works have been presented nationally and internationally across theaters, schools, festivals, and Washington state prisons.
Parmida Ziaei (Scenic Designer)
Parmida is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist, designer, and co-founder of Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble. Parmida has contributed to a diverse range of projects, including theatre and production design, interiors, architectural, immersive, and entertainment spaces. Parmida also performs as a movement artist and serves as a consultant and curator.
Chih-Hung, Shao (Lighting Designer)
Hometown: Taichung, Taiwan
Chih-Hung is a lighting designer for theater, dance, musicals, and live events. Recently, he has expanded his practice into light art, exhibitions, and fashion shows. He enjoys exploring how light interacts with different textures, telling stories through light, and discovering what lighting can offer.
Rachael Benson (Projections Designer)
Rachael is a Seattle video artist and experimental filmmaker who applies existential views to her performance of living. Benson is a 2019 Bachelors of Fine Arts graduate at Cornish College of the Arts and a 2023 Masters of Film and Video graduate from the California Institute of the Arts.
Hannah Larson (Costume Designer)
Hannah, born and raised in Seattle, earned her BFA in Costume Design from Cornish College of the Arts. For three years, she served as Costume Shop Assistant at Pacific Northwest Ballet and supported many world premiere performances. Now a multidisciplinary freelance designer/maker, she specializes in collaborative, detail-driven projects.
Sbuja Dywili (Performer)
Sbuja is a published playwright and an award-winning actor. His original writings have been staged at the Baxter Theatre, Theatre Arts, and National Arts Festival (NAF) — earning him a 2025 Standard Bank Ovation Award at NAF for his harrowing IsiXhosa two-hander, Ganga Nyoko! Inzima Nyoko! He is also known for his electrifying award-nominated performances of Dr. Siphiwo Mahala’s one-man play, House of Truth — a biographical play on the life of the iconic South African journalist, teacher and writer, Can Themba.
Stefan Enriquez (Performer)
Stefan had a long career on stage and screen playing waiters, gang members, construction laborers, and the occasional friendless minority office worker. Who needs it? He got out of the acting racket years ago to focus on his other interests: Art, photography, travel, food and family. Mistake? We’ll see…
Newsha Farahani (Performer)
Newsha is an Iranian-American actor whose stage work includes performances with ArtsWest, Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble, Seattle Public Theatre, and The Why Collective in New York, with credits such as English, The Forgotten History of Mastaneh, and The WomXn Have Something to Say. Fluent in Farsi and with a background in dance and design, she gravitates toward projects that amplify underrepresented voices, bring global perspectives to the stage, and explore themes of identity, belonging, and transformation.
Chris Gxalaba (Performer)
Chris is a PDS&D at University of Cape Town. Theater: The island, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, The Blood Knot, Cry the Beloved Country, Woza Albert, We Shall Sing For The The Fatherland, Nothing But The Truth, My Children My Africa, Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, The Suitcase, Green Man Flashing, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife.
Zikhona Jacobs (Performer)
Zikhona is an award winning South African actor born and raised in Cape Town. Her love for Performing Arts started from the age of years and never looked back. Zikhona has done shows such as Egoli The Musical (Dir. Bongani Titana) Amaza (Dir. Thoko Ntshinga) Buzani Kubawo (Dir. Thoko Ntshinga) But the Land (Dir Jason Jacobs) Once Upon a Nation (Dir. Lee Ann Van Rooi) No Further Questions (Dir. Fatima Dike) The First South African (Dir Fatima Dike). Zikhona has also traveled locally and internationally doing shows such as Rock to the Core and DE-Apart-Hate. She is a V/O Artist who has done several cartoon series and she is still learning every day.
Shayan Khoshmagham (Performer)
Shayan is finding his way in the world of theater, remaining a student of the stage, because apparently working with engineers at Toyota hasn’t been dramatic enough. He recently appeared in Professor Bahram Beyzaie’s play Dash Akol According to Marjan, produced by the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University and performed at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Shayan now lives for the constant healing that theater offers, especially the art of learning to laugh at his own mistakes.
Jennifer Moore (Performer)
Composer, poet, dancer (Seattle, Washington; USA).
“I’m eternally curious about the space where seen and unseen meet, and what we learn here. My love of music and movement carries me globally, collecting instruments, songs and dances.” Jennifer released her second solo album in June 2025- The Let Go.
Sizwe Msutu (Performer)
Sizwe is a prominent South African veteran actor from Nyanga, Cape Town with close to four decades of experience on stage (Shakespeare, Afrikaans, IsiXhosa and English plays), television and film under his belt. Besides his string of Stage Productions, he is best known for his television role as Inspector Hlomla Mavuso in the SABC 1 drama series Interrogation Room. Featured on the big screen with the likes of Samuel L. Jackson (In My Country), with Halle Berry (Dark Tide) and in the role of Cyril Ramaphosa with Dennis Haysbert in (Goodbye Bafana)
Emily Pike (Performer)
Emily is a Seattle-based actor and director. Their passion for the development of new work has led them to put down roots with Annex Theatre, Parley Productions, and Freehold—local arts institutions with programming that highlights new plays and local playwrights. Recent credits include Jettison to Europa (Annex) and 301 Repair (Parley).
Soha Sanajou (Performer)
Based in Vancouver, BC, Soha is a dedicated actor who explores diverse and emotionally resonant stories on stage. Her performances reflect a deep commitment to authenticity, connection, and social impact. Soha uses acting as a powerful tool to foster empathy, challenge perspectives, and bring underrepresented voices to the forefront.
Anne Mathews (Musician)
Anne has performed with folk duo the Lonely Coast, tiny-instrument quartet Toy Boats, Balkan-pop-inspired groups Eurodanceparty USA and Orkestar Zirkonium, Nu Klezmer Army, and street band Infernal Noise Brigade. King County 4Culture, Allied Arts Foundation, Seattle Parks, King County Library System, Seattle Center, and Duwamish Revealed have supported her work.
Liza Comtois (Producer)
Liza has produced for the 5th Avenue, Freehold, Seattle Public Theater, The Sandbox One Act Play Festival, and the Seattle International Film Festival and as Artistic Associate at Intiman under Bartlett Sher. She is currently the General Manager for Ethereal Mutt / West of Lenin, and an Associate Partner at Freehold Theatre Lab/Studio.
Heather Mayhew (Stage Manager)
Heather has been Stage Managing Dance and Theatre in Seattle for 30 years, working with such luminaries as Pat Graney, Donald Byrd, Dayna Hanson, Jessica Jobaris, Amy O’Neal, Crispin Spathe, and calls On the Boards “Home.” When not Stage Managing, she is an IATSE Member and works for the Seattle Center, Seattle Theatre Group, and Climate Pledge Arena. Heather is well beyond excited to be working with Robin again, and over the moon happy to be part of this amazing project!
Congrats to the entire cast and crew of this incredible project! You can learn more about hidden/current and its run from November 27-29 at Artscape in Cape Town here. If you’d like to support Freehold’s ability to continue to create daring and urgent work, consider making a gift!
