the cell

James Clements (Playwright) (he/him) is a Scottish actor, theatermaker and educator based between New York and Scotland. Clements has performed at venues including La Mama, BRIC, HERE and MITU580, and has written and directed projects at the Public, Rattlestick, the 92nd Street Y, Culture Lab, Mercury Store, The Colony Theatre (Miami), Woolly Mammoth Theatre (Washington D.C), Centre Theatre (Los Angeles), Dundee Rep (Dundee) and the Stockwell Playhouse (London). His acting has been called "impressive...incredibly compelling...excellent" (BroadwayWorld), "deft" (TheatreMania) and "magnetic" (The Scotsman). His plays, including The Diana Tapes (2016), Four Sisters (2017), MEDEA/BRITNEY (2019), Ellis Island (2021), Brothers in Arms (2023), GUAC (2024) and The Burns Project (2025), have been described by critics as "searing" (New York Times), "magnifying" (TimeOut), "compelling" (The Guardian), "intricate" (BroadwayWorld), "affecting" (Playbill) and intellectual" (Theatre is Easy). His latest play, The Burns Project, will tour the U.S. in Spring 2026, while his documentary play GUAC was revived at The Centre Theatre in Los Angeles in October 2025 with an encore run scheduled for Spring 2026. He is a Professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts and Co-Artistic Director of What Will the Neighbors Say?

Danilo Gambini (Director) is a NYC-based director of Theater, Musicals and Opera. He is originally from São Paulo, Brazil, and a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. As a Producer, he served as Studio Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director for three seasons. Prior to Studio he was the Associate Artistic Director at Rattlestick, as well as part of the 20/21/22 Roundabout Directors’ Group. Recent credits include: A Case for the Existence of God by Samuel Hunter at Mosaic Theater; The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh and Wipeout by Aurora Real de Asua, both at Studio Theatre; the operas Iolanta by Tchaikovsky and The Rake’s Progress by Stravinsky at Yale Opera/Shubert Theatre New Haven; Ni Mi Madre at Rattlestick (Obie Award Winner; Drama Desk Nom., Drama League Nom., Outer Critics Nom., NYT Critic’s Pick, TheaterMania Editor’s Pick); Agreste by Newton Moreno at Spooky Action Theater; and the new musical Sabina, by Willy Holtzman, with music by Louise Beach and lyrics by Darrah Cloud, co-directed with Daniella Topol at Portland Stage in Maine.

What Will the Neighbors Say? (Co-Producer) is an investigative theatre company that provokes questions through untold stories. Led by a collaborative cohort of international artists, the Neighbors present overlooked social, cultural and historical narratives that challenge the audience to reflect on the current moment. Through a combination of original plays, arts education workshops and dynamic community gatherings, the troupe incites rowdy and rigorous debate at the theatre and throughout the Neighborhood. Since its inception in 2016, the company has premiered 11 original plays in 6 cities in 4 countries on 2 continents, and co-presented a further 27 new works. Over the course of these projects, the Neighbors have created jobs for over 375 artists - 75% of them non cis-male identifying and 50% of them members of the global majority or immigrants. What Will the Neighbors Say? is led by Founding Co-Artistic Directors Sam Hood Adrain and James Clements. What Will the Neighbors Say? has received funding from a number of grantors including the the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the Foundation of Contemporary Arts, Americans for the Arts, the Howard Gilman Foundation, A.R.T./NY, the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Dumbo Improvement District, Off-Broadway Angels, IndieSpace, Rhode Island Foundation, Actor’s Equity Association, the Bel Geddes Fund, the Leon Levy Foundation, the Puffin Foundation and the Network of Ensemble Theatres. The company has been selected for residencies with NYU’s Espacio de Culturas, the Goethe-Institut New York, the Brooklyn Arts Council’s Six Foot Platform, Catskill Mountain Shakespeare, IRT Theatre's 3B Development Residency, MITU580's Gowanus Affordable Arts Initiative and Artists-at-Home Program and BRIC's BRIClab Performance Residency. The Neighbors have collaborated with partners including the Brooklyn Public Library, the Queens Public Library, El Puente Presente, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, the Queens Memory Project, the Queens Historical Society, the Queerly Festival, Pregones/P.R.T.T. and THE CITY newspaper.

Alexandra Palocz (Creator) is a multidisciplinary storyteller, experience designer, and creative technologist. She recently finished a masters degree at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU Tisch, where she studied interactive narrative, collaborative creativity, and learning through play. She likes speculative fiction, tangible metaphors, and thinking about new storytelling forms.

Joe Rivera (Actor / Playwright) is a multi-disciplinary actor from the San Francisco Bay Area, and a graduate of the Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Theatre: DIRT (Sour Milk); The Trouble with Paradise (Columbia); TRAFFIC (Sour Milk); The Happy Garden of Life (New Ohio); A Modest Proposal (Cherry Lane); Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (SF Playhouse); In the Heights (NYU); The Room in Between (ETW). Film: Misha’s Victory, On the Fire’s Sacred Stream I Write Your Name, and Strictly Liminal.

Jesse Itskowitz (Director) is a multi-disciplinary theater artist based in NYC. Recent credits include: Carmen (Opera Theater Rutgers, video design); BIRTHDAY (Sour Milk, food design); Vile Isle (The Tank NYC, video design); DIRT (Sour Milk, video design). In his spare time he manages a concert hall.

Heather Holmes (Actor) is a performer and writer from east TX, currently based in Brooklyn. Projects include: Covenant, NYTW (workshop); Dreamscapes, LPAC Rough Draft Festival & NYTW (workshop); Flight, Dixon Place; A Modest Proposal, Cherry Lane Theater; The Cake, Shaker Bridge Theatre; The Magic Bullet, LubDub Theatre Co./Noor Theatre (workshop); The Promised Land, Amsterdam Over Het Ij Festival (Netherlands); Hemispheric Institute's EmergeNYC; Naked Angels Theater Company's Issues Project Lab. Heather has been co-developing a strange and beautiful performance project about dreams and the way home. Gentle encouragement for all us good people out there... keep dancing like it's bringing the rain, and it will. MFA, The New School for Drama.

Brian Joél Sanchez (Actor) is a New York native and graduate of Purchase College with a BFA in Acting. He was last seen in Apple TV+’s "The Changeling" and short film Tomás is Not a Clown. On stage he was previously seen in The Happy Garden of Life at New Ohio Theatre and The Skin of Our Teeth at Theatre For a New Audience. Next up for him is the short film No Glory Just Guts.

Samuel Golland (Video Designer) is a filmmaker and cinematographer based in NY. Cinematography credits include Runaway Train and SPNTD. Directing credits include The Frenchman and Misha’s Victory.

Joonas Lemetyinen (Composer) is a composer and trombonist based out of NYC. He has an eclectic style of writing that spans multiple genres, and stems from whatever is going on in his head that day. Originally from Finland, he has spent the last 12 years in NYC pursuing his passion of music and film. He is a part of several original bands including, Civilians, Flowmigos, and his solo projects YAWU and MAR$HMANGO. Check him out busking in Washington Square Park when the weather’s nice or performing with his various acts around the city.