The Incubator at A Red Orchid Theatre was created to get to know emerging talent, encourage dreaming, and foster exploration in Chicago’s theatre community. Leading with curiosity, it provides artists with the space, stage, and time to incubate new work, new artistic relationships, and new artistic forms. A Red Orchid’s ensemble maintains the conviction that live theatre is the greatest sustenance for the human spirit, and that passionately committed artists will draw passionately committed audiences. The Incubator is an active manifestation of that conviction and of A Red Orchid’s mission to cultivate new audiences for the modern stage.

The 2025-26 Incubator Program is made possible by the generous support of

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.

Anelga Hajjar (she/her) is a Chicago-based actor and award-winning playwright. Recent credits: The Singularity Play (Jackalope Theatre), Selling Kabul (Northlight Theatre), Tragedy Averted (iO). Her original play, Janitor’s Baby was the recipient of the Agnes Nixon Playwriting Award and her new play Sex Talk I Never Had is currently in development at Avalanche Theatre. She is also an Armenian content creator! Follow her @hayerenhayeren123.

Alondra Rios (she/her) is a Puerto Rican director, actor, and playwright. She studied at Northwestern University with a B.A. in Theatre and a certificate in Music Theatre and Playwriting. She was a proud cast member of The Mee-ow Comedy Group at Northwestern, performing improv and sketch comedy. She won the Agnes Nixon Playwriting Award at Northwestern for her play El Hilo del Pastel. Recent acting credits include: American Music Theatre Project: Desaparecidas(Northwestern University), Side by Side by Sondheim (Oil Lamp Theatre), and Las Borinqueñas (Vision Latino Theatre); She is also a devoted corgi mom!

Mantra (she/any) is a playwright, director, and comedian originally from Bangalore, India. Her work was recently seen at 24HourPlays (Off-Broadway), Writers Theatre, Token Theatre, The Second City, The Road Theatre, Theo Ubique, Shattered Globe and Avalanche Theatre. Her plays have received recognition from the 2024 Agnes Nixon Playwriting award (winner), Fulbright Creative Writing scholarship (alternate finalist), Ojai Playwrights Conference (semifinalist), Inkslinger Playwriting Competition (semifinalist), SheNYC festival (finalist) and Boise Contemporary Theatre’s Playwriting festival (finalist). She was a Victor Wong Fellow at the Second City, Under Construction Playwright at The Road Theatre, and currently performs sketch every Wednesday at The Comedy Clubhouse!

Katherine Gwynn (they/them) writes about the bloody heartbeats between the divine and abject. Gwynn is the winner of the 2022 UCROSS + The Blank Theatre – Future of Playwriting Prize and a 2023 Venturous Fellowship Nominee. Gwynn also won the 2015 Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award and 2nd place for the EMOS Ecodrama Playwrights festival 2022. Their work has been developed/produced by Prometheus Theatre, Refracted Theatre, Red Theatre, Flint Rep, Jackalope Theatre, and The Great Plains Theatre Conference. Other selected honors: 2024 Playwrights Center Core Writer Finalist, 2021 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Finalist and 2x Semi Finalist, 2x Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist and 4x Semi-Finalist, and 2x Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship Semi-Finalist. 

Dinah Berkeley (they/them) has a taste for the odd. Their work is steeped in experimental, physical and devised theatre-practices and made up of only the freshest and most organic ingredients: mime, clown, puppetry and other similar flavors. Their work has been consumed globally from San Francisco to Edinburgh, New York City to El Bolsón, on stages such as St. Ann’s Warehouse, HERE Arts Center, Ars Nova, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theatre, Improv Olympic, the streets of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in many a living room and even on Zoom! Don’t let their lack of awards fool you.  

Gloria Imseih Petrelli (she/they) is a Chicagoland born and based theatre artist working as an actor, playwright, and intimacy choreographer.  Find out more at www.thegloriaimseihpetrelli.com. Gloria’s art is informed and strengthened by the tenacity of her community–Free Palestine. 

Kidany Camilo [pronounced /’kidani’kamilɔ/] (pronouns any and all) is a multi-hyphenate theatre artist (Performer, Director, Teacher, Deviser, and Playwright) in Chicago, IL. Originally from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, this chameleon-like artist is a graduate from the University of South Florida with a BA in Theatre Arts, and Purdue University with an MFA in Acting. Their work is often haunted: by history, by family, by us. Their stories fight structure, make space for mess, and for a future that hasn’t been written yet. Their inspiration comes from Lorca, queerness, ancestors, and the ghosts that follow us, and the ones we chase back.