RMI Team 2008
Vinny Ng (Project Director) is a graduate from Dartmouth College. He has assisted Professor Garrod in directing both the inaugural Marshall Islands production and the most recent production in the Balkans. He currently serves as the English Language Resource Director at the Montessori School of Beijing. For the last three years he has lived in China. Alongside founding the popular Beijing Improv Theater, he has lead sessions at the Beijing Actors Workshop and actively volunteers with a Chinese NGO that uses participatory theater to empower migrant workers.
Kristin Romberg (Producer) is an international educator who has been living and teaching in the Marshall Islands for the past 4 years. She currently is the field director of the Dartmouth Volunteer Teaching Program, which places recent Dartmouth graduates as teachers at public schools around the country. Also an experienced teacher at Marshall Islands High School (grades 9-12), prior to moving to the Marshall Islands, Kristin taught elementary school in Vermont and California (K-6) and has lead leadership training workshops with teens from rural and urban schools in the US and teens from Bosnia-Herzegovina. Kristin graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in music as well as education; she is a music specialist consultant with the RMI Ministry of Education and has done extensive work with music in country including teaching, performing, recording, and curriculum development.
Jess Swale (Artisitic Director) has worked on a range of community projects from teaching English and social/ health education through drama and dance at orphanages to devising and directing internationally produced plays in London. As a director and choreographer, she established a theatre company, Red Handed Theatre, and has directed three productions in addition to assisting in directing The Overwhelming at the National Theatre, a play about the Rwandan genocide. She has worked as a freelance workshop leader, mentor and director for the Shakespeare Schools Festival, and as G Beaudin's choreographer in London, she was invited to New York to work with his company, The Drama Loft. She is also a certified LAMDA Examiner.
Dr. Andrew Garrod
Advisor / Chair of the Education Department at Dartmouth College
Prof. Garrod is the founder of the Dartmouth Volunteer Teaching Program and Youth Bridge Global. He has had a distinguished career as an International Youth Theater Director. The professor's artistic experience includes the direction of over 40 high school and community theater productions in Canada; he has been the recipient of provincial and national awards for his work, including Best Director at the Theater Canada/Dominion Drama Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland, 1974. In the last four years, Professor Garrod has directed four bilingual productions of Shakespearean comedies and tragedies with Marshallese high school students in Majuro, Marshall Islands, as well as Romeo and Juliet in Mostar in 2006 and Midsummer Night's Dream in 2007.
Media Team Coordinators
Dan Caccavano and Loren are both certified English Teachers at the Marshall Islands High School. Dan holds a Masters degree from the University of Portland, grew up in Oregon, and joined the World Teach program last year. Loren received his Masters degree from Concordia and grew up in Kwajelin in the Marshall Islands. Both have strong interests and experience in filming and editing and are eager to get the kids involved in the process.
UK Media Liaison
Phil Groman is a journalist and educator currently working for a London based think-tank helping grass-roots organizations find their voice within the policy community. Prior to this, Phil lived in Beijing, working as a journalist and editor for a number of Chinese and foreign media outlets, alongside teaching English and theatre.
Production Interns (Youth Leadership Program)
All with at least three years of acting experience in previous YBG productions, we have identified college students who demonstrate promise in leadership to join our team. Each intern is participating in an experiential learning program which will involves a combination of job shadowing through attending daily rehearsals, ongoing reflection & personal development, and hands-on practical involvement in implementing project tasks throughout the production.
Jason Joran, Martha Horiuchi, Cutty Wase, Mack Mojilong, Ramson Kios, Dustin Landarik
Dance Team Choreographers
Asena Ketedromo (Vice-Principal of MIHS) joins us for a fifth year in a row bringing her elements of Fijian traditional dancing into the play.
Alisha Owensby (World Teach Volunteer Teacher) has extensive dance experience and training and is assisting in choreographing one of the dances.