Artistic Director; Board President

Shane is the founding Artistic Director of TBA Theatre. He holds a Bachelors Degree from UAA and a Masters from Wichita State University. As a playwright his award-winning works have been performed in all fifty states and around the world. As a performer he has toured nationally and internationally including performing at the Olympics Arts Festival in Sydney Australia and at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. He is the recipient or two Patricia Neil acting awards, the Harper Service Award, and a UAA Alumnus of Distinction Award. He lives with his charming wife Erin and their mail order dog Cookie.

Associate Artistic Director

A founding member of TBA Theatre, and award-winning actress and director, Erin earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from UAA and a Masters in Theatre/Communications (Magna cum Laude) from Wichita State University. She has directed over 200 productions at the community, college, and regional level and is especially proud to have directed Arlitia Jones's Grand Central and 42nd and Shane Mitchell's The Resurrection of Humpty Dumpty at the Samuel French Short Play Festival in New York City. Erin directed Alaska’s entry to the 2000 Sydney Olympic Arts Festival and several productions that toured to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, including TBA’s award-winning production of The Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Anchorage credits include critically acclaimed productions of Sweeney Todd (Anchorage Concert Chorus), Bat Boy: The Musical (Eccentric Theatre Co.) The Boy Friend and Bark! (Cyrano's Theatre Company), Into The Woods (UAA), A Shayna Maidel and Little Women (ACT) and Hamlet, Fiddler on the Roof, and West Side Story (TBA). Favorite onstage roles include Glinda in The Wizard of Oz (TBA) and Rhetta Cupp in Pump Boys and Dinettes (ACT). Erin lives in Anchorage with her husband, actor/playwright P. Shane Mitchell, the Artistic Director of TBA Theatre and her frequent collaborator in life and art. 

Education & Technical Director

Wayne is a founding member of TBA Theatre. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of Alaska, Anchorage. He later went on to earn a Master of Arts in Theatre Communication from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas. In addition to his duties for TBA Theatre Company he is a frequent guest lecturer at Universities and Theater conferences on the subject of the New Vaudeville movement and physical comedy as well as serving as adjunct faculty for Alaska Pacific University's graduate level theater education program. He has won a number of awards and honors including two Last Frontier Theatre Conference Patricia Neal Acting Awards and the UAA Alumni Association’s Community Service Award. He is the author of several plays including Soapy Smith’s Alaskana Extravaganza which received international attention in 2000 at the Olympic Arts Festival in Sydney Australia and again in 2017 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Marketing Director

A life-long Alaskan, Megan is a founding member of TBA and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Willamette University in Salem, OR. She has worked in higher education at the University of Alaska Anchorage for 20 years, and is involved with many Anchorage Non-Profit Organizations, including the Three Baron's Renaissance Fair and Lutheran Social Services of Alaska. She is candidate for a Graduate Certificate in Executive Leadership at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Megan is a director, actor, choreographer, and scenic & costume designer. Favorite onstage credits include Marcellus in Hamlet, Nurse in Romeo & Juliet, Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing, Mrs. Mueller in The Little Magic Snowman, and Marlene in the 2020 world premiere of An Examination of the Psychosis of Vampirism. Favorite directing credits include Hello, Dolly!, The Courtship of Zac & Ada, The Wizard of Oz, and The Music Man. Megan has received multiple awards, including the American College Theatre Festival's Certificate of Merit for her scenic design of Scotty Iseri's Selling It, Broadway World Regional Awards for Best Director (Hello, Dolly!), and Best Costume Design for TBA's 2023 production of David Edgar's Written on the Heart. Her artistic work has also traveled to the Edinburgh Festival FRINGE and the American High School Theatre Festival and soon to the Edmonton Fringe Festival in Alberta Canada. She lives in Anchorage with her husband Josh and dog Pebbles.

Development Director; Company Photographer

Dana is a registered nurse and works as the Director of Quality for Providence Extended Care and Providence Transitional Care Centers.  She grew up in Denver, CO and graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in Spanish, having also studied at the University of Sevilla in Spain.  Dana moved to Anchorage in 1994 to spend the summer with her brother and has been here ever since.  Shortly after moving to Alaska, she studied nursing and graduated from UAA in 1998.  She fell in love with theatre at a young age when she was cast as Bambi in second grade and has been performing ever since.  She and fellow artist, Wayne Mitchell, started dating after performing together in LUV and married 5 years later.  They have 2 wonderful kids, both of whom have grown up to love the arts. Having children rekindled Dana's love of photography and she has since become a talented photographer. She still finds time for performing, often in TBA's Shakespeare performances (The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, A Comedy of Errors) or one of the Halloween shows.  She and her family had a transformative experience with the cast and crew of TBA's tour of The Death of Edgar Allan Poe to the Edinburgh Festival FRINGE. She has occasionally directed for TBA and may consider that the next talent to truly hone.

Associate Director Music

Seth became the Associate Director of Music for TBA Theatre in 2019 where he works to coordinate music for productions during the season as well as teaches Voice For The Actor classes during our annual Summer Academy. Seth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Psychology from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He is a stage manager, music director, sound designer, and performer, and is very excited to carry on unique artistic experiences in his hometown. He recently served as Music Director for productions such as Forever Plaid, The Pied Piper of Hamlin, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and TBA's award-winning production of Written on the Heart. Seth's work in technical theatre spans a period of 10 years, with over 20 productions in stage management (TBA, CTC, Anchorage Opera) and sound design (TBA, Perseverance Theatre, CTC). When not at the theatre, Seth is usually found at his piano, hiking around Alaska, or spending time with his family or his friend's many dogs. 

Associate Education Director

Ryan Buen is an Anchorage-based actor, director, playwright, and producer. He holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Alaska Anchorage and a Master’s in Acting from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in England. He has worked with numerous theatre companies in Alaska, including TBA Theatre, Blue Chair Productions (of which he is the co-founder), Three Wise Moose, Cyrano’s, UAA Theatre, Anchorage Opera, ACT, TossPot Productions, Out North, and PWSC. Most recent directing credits include Ugly Lies the Bone (Blue Chair Productions ) and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (TBA Theatre). Recently he performed the role of Ned in Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds (Blue Chair) and Uncle Billy in Its a Wonderful Life (TBA Theatre). Ryan serves as the Play Lab Coordinator for The Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference, directs and coordinates the annual Valdez Actor's Academy, and co-taught TBA's playwriting workshop with Shane Mitchell. He is married to fellow arts educator Stephanie Leigh Buen.

Office Manager

Kristin is a founding member of TBA and works as a competitive gymnastics coach at Arctic Gymnastics. She has originated roles in several world premieres including The Death of Edgar Allen Poe, The Head That Wouldn’t Die, and Rockin’ Red Riding Hood. Kristin is a critically acclaimed choreographer, and some of her past choreography credits include Moby Dick: The Musical, Pump Boys and Dinettes, and Hairspray. She also can be found at Crossfit Alaska where she coaches and trains. She lives in Anchorage with her husband and daughter.