BOARD OF DIRECTORS

WILLIAM R. DUELL

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

William R. Duell’s first produced play, The Journey, was produced in 2009 at American Theatre of Actors in NYC by James Jennings, President and Artistic Director of ATA. The Journey was named a finalist for the Arts and Letters Prize in Drama.

Duell's plays have been produced and workshopped across the U.S. Full-length unproduced plays include Trees in the Woods, a finalist of the 2016 Warner International Playwrights Festival; Bondage, first stage readings at Houston’s Stages Repertory in 2019, directed by Stages founder Ted Swindley; and Shadow Play, a finalist or semi-finalist in seven competitions. His comedy-drama, Planet First, will have its U.S. premiere in the Spring of 2026, directed by acclaimed director, Jennifer Decker, at Mildred's Umbrella Theater in Houston.

His full-length drama honor had its first stage readings in December 2019, directed by Gerald vanHeerden and presented by vMHF Theatricals and A.R.T./NY at the Bruce Mitchell Room in NYC. It was workshopped in October 2022 at MATCH in Houston, directed by Ted Swindley as part of a creative collaboration with Dirt Dogs Theater. honor premiered October 1-29 2023 and had a successful run at the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre in NYC, directed by vanHeerden.

Duell is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and its former Houston Regional Representative, a professional member of PEN America, and a board member of Wordsmyth Theater Co., which promotes new works by playwrights from around the world. He is an advisory board member of Fade to Black, Houston's first and only national play festival to showcase new works by Black playwrights.

A native who grew up in Buena Vista, Va., he resides in Rockbridge County, Va.

MICHAEL S. MCDOWELL

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Michael McDowell has held progressively responsible senior leadership positions in communications, marketing, and public, community, and government relations for nationally and globally recognized not-for-profit organizations.

McDowell has provided high-yield communications services to Bank of America, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), The Japan Society of Boston, The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Foundation, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, Northeastern University, UCLA, the University of Southern California, Virginia Tech, and faculty members at Harvard University and MIT, among many others.

He was the first Vice President for Cultural Tourism at the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, a position he held for more than 15 years. Prior to that, he was Director of Government Relations and the Center for Institutionally Related Foundations at the Washington D.C.-based Council for the Advancement & Support of Education. Before that, served as the Chief Communications Officer for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for nearly a decade. In that role, among other things, he created the Virginia’s first and only statewide public radio program, With Good Reason, which airs to this day on every public radio station in  Virginia and an additional 110 public radio stations nationwide.

His articles and opinion pieces have appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, The Chronicle of Higher Education, every major daily newspaper in Virginia, and many other newspapers and magazines around the country.

As a volunteer, McDowell is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Citizen-Diplomacy Council of Los Angeles, Immediate Past President of the Travel & Tourism Marketing Association of Southern California and a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Alliance. He is past Chairman of the Board of Governors of the L.A. Stage Alliance, a position he held for nearly two decades. He also is a former member of the Board of Directors of L.A.’s 24th Street Theater and a founding member of the Board of Directors of the nonprofit advocacy group, Arts for L.A.

A native of Princeton, N.J., McDowell graduated with honors from the University of Virginia and pursued additional studies at UCLA. He now resides in Richmond, Va.

SAMUEL LAWRENCE CAMP

ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Samuel Lawrence Camp is a multimedia theatre artist and educator with over a decade of experience in performance, education, and community engagement. With expertise in developing theatrical productions and implementing arts programs, his work connects audiences, fosters creativity, and enriches communities. Samuel’s practice emphasizes collaboration across disciplines, engaging diverse groups through dynamic projects that inspire embodied learning and social transformation.

As a professor of theatre at Mountain Gateway Community College, Samuel has led and participated in multidisciplinary productions and workshops at local institutions such as Washington & Lee University and Boxerwood Nature Center. Recent highlights include co-creating The Afterparty (2024) for the Lenfest Center and Paula & Felix in Bug City Swamp Snacks (2024), a projected object spectacle for Boxerwood’s Pumpkin Walk.

Samuel holds an MFA in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts, where he trained in voice, speech, movement, and object performance, and a BA in Theatre from Calvin University. He continues to innovate in theatre arts, combining his passion for education and performance to create meaningful connections through storytelling. He resides in Lexington, Va.

JAMES D. FAUBION

James D. Faubion is Radoslav Tsanoff Chair in Anthropology and Professor Emeritus at Rice University.

His scholarship engages ancient and modern Greece; anthropology and philosophy; the anthropology of ethics; the anthropology of the temporal imagination; contemporary modalities of governance; kinship; research design; social and cultural theory; and socioaesthetics.

He is the editor (with Dominic Boyer and George Marcus) of Theory Is More Than It Used to Be (Cornell 2015); of Foucault Now: Current Perspectives in Foucault Studies (Polity 2014); (with George Marcus) of Fieldwork Is Not What It Used to Be (Cornell 2008); of The Ethics of Kinship (Roman and Littlefield 2001); of the second and third volumes of Essential Works of Michel Foucault (The New Press 1998, 2000); and of Rethinking the Subject: An Anthology of European Social Thought (Westview 1995).

He is the author of An Anthropology of Ethics (Cambridge 2011); The Shadows and Lights of Waco: Millennialism Today (Princeton 2001); and Modern Greek Lessons: A Primer in Historical Constructivism (Princeton 1995).

Faubion earned an M.A. and a Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. at Reed College.

A native of Redmond, Ore., he resides in Rockbridge County, Va.

DENNIS SLON

Dennis Slon has enjoyed an impressive career of more than 40 years of progressively responsible experience in higher-education fundraising, having spent the bulk of that time as Senior Vice President of University Relations at Loyola Marymount University (LMU) in Los Angeles.

While there, he successfully completed both the $411 million “Right Place, Right Time” capital campaign and a $103 million scholarship initiative, both of which exceeded initial institutional goals.

Prior to his time at LMU, Slon was the Associate Vice Chancellor for University Relations at UCLA and the Vice President for Development at the College of William & Mary, where he also led highly successful campaigns. Before that, he held pivotal fundraising positions at the University of Virginia, where he graduated with honors, as well as Yale University and Harvard University, where he earned his advanced degree in higher education administration.

He is the Chairman of the Board for the landmark and unprecedented Wende Museum of the Cold War and a former longtime board member of the Pacific Resident Theatre, both located in Los Angeles. He is also a former board member of the Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, Va.

Persuaded to forego a well-earned retirement for a good cause, today Slon is the Vice President for Advancement at Marymount University in Northern Virginia. 

He is a native of Richmond, Va., and he now maintains residences in Arlington, Va., and Richmond.

PAMELA TURNER

Pamela Turner is an award-winning, Pacific Northwest-bred, writer and director presently based in Atlanta, and with original playwriting credits in the U.S, Germany, Guam, and Ireland. Current projects include a commission writing the book for a musical adaptation of Louise Shiver's award-winning novel Here to Get My Baby Out of Jail with composer Mark Swanson. Productions of her original work in the U.S. have appeared at 7 Stages Theatre; Found Stages; Circle Ensemble Theatre; Alliance Theatre; Center for Puppetry Arts; University of Georgia University Theatre: Piccolo Spoleto Festival; American Theatre Co-op; Live-Wire Theatre; Theatre Gael; Pulse Theatre; Atelier Stage; Firehouse Theatre; and the Academy Theatre, among others.

Produced plays include Ravenwood; Free-dum; Burning Man; Hidden Man; Voices Deux; Cosmeticos; Funny Valentine; The Lady and the Poet; Valentines Day; The Further Adventures of Louise Heavingbodice; and The Judas Gospel. Other commissions include FACES (7-Stages); Mother/Monster (Cine-magic Design and AngelWorks.sma); Majik! (Theatre Emory for the opening of the Schwartz Performing Arts Center); Voices USA Cultural Olypmpics); and Frijoles on the Side (Fly-By Theatre). The Lady and the Poet was commissioned by Theatre Gael; Free-dum  was an Alliance Theatre commission as part pf their Civil War project. Among special acknowledgements, Male Man was a finalist for the Humana Festival Heideman award; Keester a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Playwrights Conference; and Faces was runner-up for the Red Theatre Chicago First Annual Playwriting Competition.

Pamela serves on the Council for the Dramatists Guild of America and is a Tony Awards voter. She is co-founding Artistic Director of multiShades.atlanta and Director of Theatre and Film at Ben Franklin Academy-Emory. A long-time and passionate Formula One Racing fan, Pamela believes in keeping your foot on the pedal and eye on the road just ahead. Art in Motion is a beautiful thing.

BOARD OF ADVISORS

STEPHANIE SANDBERG

Dr. Stephanie Sandberg is Associate Professor of Theatre and Film Studies at Washington and Lee University, where she specializes in contemporary theatre, dramaturgy, and the intersection of performance with social justice issues.

With a Ph.D. in Theatre Studies and a rich background in directing and playwriting, Sandberg's research and creative work are deeply informed by her commitment to exploring the dynamics of race, gender, and sexuality through the lens of performance.

Her scholarly work has been published in numerous academic journals, and she is a recognized figure in theatre for social change, having directed and developed several plays that address critical social issues. Sandberg's teaching philosophy emphasizes the power of theatre as a tool for societal reflection and transformation, encouraging her students to engage critically with the world around them through the medium of performance.

TANYA BESMEHN

Tanya Besmehn is a writer/editor, optioned screenwriter, and published author.

Tanya honed her screenwriting and storytelling skills under the teachings of Yale Professor Marc Lapadula and has since been commissioned to adapt several novels to screenplays, ghostwrite books and screenplays, and assist new screenwriters in getting their story to the page.

With several features under her belt of creativity, Tanya is recognized as a prolific writer, always ready to explore the next avenue in storytelling. She embarked on her professional career in writing with the 1997 release of “Moneymaking Moms: How Work at Home Can Work for You”, a book inspired by her three daughters and her quest to share her personal journey in navigating a successful work/life balance.

She developed “Silver Scenes”, a theater program designed for retirement communities in search of ways to provide fun, engaging, and productive programming to keep residents active and creative in their later years.

Having abandoned the hills of Hollywood for the breathtaking mountains of Lexington, VA, Tanya resides on a picturesque property with her husband, writer and Creative Director for Pangea Corp., John Besmehn.