Founder of Bitter Maiden Productions, Lily is a NYC based theater and filmmaker working across the country to develop groundbreaking new works and arts initiatives uplifting communities commonly misrepresented or excluded from creative narratives.
Her work specializes in community building and recovery advocacy through the arts, using storytelling as a means to disrupt audiences emotional stasis on nationally critical issues.
Lily first began developing these projects under the guidance and mentorship of Director, Actor, and Producer Bryce Dallas Howard, as a part of the Nine Muses Entertainment Lab. Further honing the practice, she has since directed and produced projects with the Board of Alcoholics Anonymous, PBS Charlotte, Blumenthal Arts (associated w/the Broadway League), the National Association of Recovery High Schools, 92NY (or “The 92nd Street Y’) and Nine Muses Entertainment Lab.
Lily holds a B.F.A in Theater and Film Production, from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she first met and studied under the tutelage of Professor Nate Flower – a now trusted collaborative partner.
Creator & Producer
Nate’s current body of work centers on Theatrical Direction, Acting Instruction & Coaching as well as New Play Development. Nate is the Founder of the Hudson Valley Moving Company – a physical performance & movement collective (HVMCo). He is an Associate Arts Professor and the Program Director of the MSNR (Meisner) Studio @ Tisch Drama at NYU. Additionally, he is the Head of Movement Training at the Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Recent credits include: Director – The Old Man on the Ice by Tara Meddaugh (Axial Theatre Co.’s SAFEHOUSE program), Director – What the Constitution Means to Me (Axial Theatre Co. starring Cady McClain), Featured Dancer – The Woman Clothed by the Sun (starring Amanda Seyfried & dir. Mona Fastvold), Physical Acting Coach for Rachel Brosnahan for Season 5 of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime), Director- Ode to Joy by Craig Lucas (Axial Theatre Co.), Director- Where Are We Going by Kate Benson (Tisch Drama Loewe Theater), Director- the Victory Garden Plays by Tara Meddaugh at Westchester Collaborative Theater. Other credits include: BAM Fisher, Judson Church/Movement Research, Classic Stage Co., Lucille Lortel, 99 Scott, Lincoln Center Theater – Clark, The Center for Performance Research, The Acting Company, the Aquila Theatre Co., El Barrio’s Artspace PS 109, Duanjun Theater Academy (Shanghai), Shakespeare Festival Neuss (Germany), Festival at Syros (Greece), Crossroads Theater, Hangar Theater, Vermont Stage Co., Shakespeare in Delaware Park (Buffalo), Axial Theatre Co., Westchester Collaborative Theater, Aery 20/20 Festival & Ariane Festival (Depot Theater Garrison).
Upcoming: As Creative Director for Bitter Maiden Theatrical, Nate is in development for: The World Only Spins Forward – a theatrical reckoning with America’s Opioid Crisis. Development readings in August 2024.
Director
Bitter Maiden Writers Collective
Lizzy Fruehling is a writer, performer, and director. She studied the Meisner technique at NYU Tisch and at The William Esper Studio. Some of her favorite projects include Watch Me Cool Down at NYU Meisner (writer, dir.) Mere Exposure at The Brick Theater (writer, dir.), Constellations at Playwrights Downtown (dir.), and the short film Fish Out of Water (writer, actor, dir.).
Written Content Lead
Sonja Hansen is interested in learning how to live as a human being. In her endeavors to understand how to take care of herself and each other, Sonja enjoys digging into natural stewardship, humor, behavior, justice and lived experience. She reflects upon and processes her findings through comedy, writing and the performing arts.
Originally from Sacramento, Sonja now finds herself in Jersey City, NJ. By day, Sonja is a preschool teacher at It Takes A Village and Wonderforest Nature Preschool and a marketing consultant for the environmental theater troupe Superhero Clubhouse. By night, Sonja performs improvised comedy. And by dawn, Sonja surfs when she can.
While majoring in Earth Systems at Stanford University, Sonja pursued the Land Track with a Notation in Science Communication and a Notation in Cardinal Service. She studied abroad in Santiago, Chile; Amman, Jordan; and Istanbul, Turkey. During her summers she worked as a communications intern for environmental non-profits and advocacy groups, such as The Climate Reality Project, Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, and BlueGreen Alliance.
More from Sonja can be found at https://sonjahansen.com/
Tess Walsh (they/them) is a theatre maker from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, currently based in NYC and Westchester. They recently graduated from SUNY Purchase with degrees in Anthropology and Theatre + Performance, and were awarded as Outstanding Senior in both disciplines. As a dramaturg, they’ve worked with writers and directors such as Leah Plante-Wiener, Rachel Dickstein, Ash Marinaccio, and James Dean Palmer. As a performer, they’ve acted in productions at Purchase, The Tank, and The Brick’s ?!: New Works. As a writer, their one throughline is Nate Flower, who first directed work of theirs for the GEN Z OUTLOUD fest with Westchester Collaborative Theater in 2021. They also had a work in progress reading of their first full length at The Makers’ Space in Fall 2023. They have spent the past year working at En Garde Arts, and are currently Assistant Marketing Director.
Production & Development Partners
Special thanks to:
Robert Mellor and IYG Media, Shelley Raub, & Mathile Saad
