American Son
Cast
Terah Jene
Terah Jené [she/her] (US Kendra Ellis-Connor) is very excited to be working with Ghostlight Ensemble. She is a multidisciplinary artist and educator based in Chicago.
Some of her work has been seen at the Foundry Art Center and Hyde Park Art Center. She is also a magician’s assistant and has had the opportunity to work with some of the top record-breaking magicians in the world.
Ryan Ken
Ryan Ken [they/them] (US Lieutenant John Stokes) is excited to make their Chicago theater debut with Ghostlight. Ken is an actor and Emmy-winning television writer who became known through their popular online satirical parodies that have amassed millions of views across social media. In 2022, Ryan Ken joined the writing team of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, for which they have won multiple Emmy Awards, Writers Guild Awards and a Peabody. Ken holds a bachelor's degree in music from Furman University and a master's degree in arts administration and policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Courtney Marie
Courtney Marie [she/her] (Kendra Ellis-Connor) is an actor, director and dreamer from right here in the greatest city on earth. She is a proud ensemble member of GET and humbly serves on the boards of the Impostors Theatre Company and Black Cat Theatre.
When not on or behind the stage, Courtney works as a corporate contracts manager in the city and is a dedicated volunteer coach to the nationally ranked mock trial team at the University of Illinois Chicago. Courtney still can’t quite believe this dream role of Kendra is coming to fruition and wholeheartedly thanks her Ghostlight family for making that happen. Finally, she sends her heart to her muse of a husband, her light of a best friend (and hell of a director) and her ever supportive fan club of family and friends, without whom she would be nothing. Keep up with her adventures on Instagram @courtneymarie.jpg!
Khenmu Menu-Ra
Khnemu Menu-Ra (Lieutenant John Stokes) is excited to be back onstage for Ghostlight Season 10! Originally from Oklahoma City, this local karaoke emcee they call “Dr.K” appeared in last season’s cabaret “trilogy” Origins of Love, as well as Ghostlight productions of Alabama Story, Drink the Past Dry and Holiday Spirits at the Driehaus Museum. Khnemu has performed on stages in St. Louis (The Muny, The Black Rep), Michigan (The Barn Theatre), Kansas (Music Theatre of Wichita), Exeter UK, the late Davenport’s Piano Bar in Chicago and the St. Louis Fringe Festival. Other credits include: Sir Walter Blunt in Henry IV, Part I (Sandbox Theatre Collective), Richie in A Chorus Line (MadKap Productions), Chicago Med on NBC and Knee-Grow (comedy short).
Derek Preston Ray
Derek Preston Ray [he/him] (Officer Paul Larkin) is delighted to be returning to perform with Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble! Recent performance credits include Anatomy of a Suicide (Metal Shop Performance Lab/Junkheart); Red Light Winter and Treefall (Ego Death Theatre Collective); Three Musketeers and Blood Countess (Idle Muse Theatre Company); Benny V (A Short Leap Theatre); Line (Gwydion Theatre); Alabama Story and Holiday Spirits (Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre); Right Now (Facility Theatre) and Light Falls (Steep Theatre). Derek is an ensemble member and casting director with Ego Death Theatre Collective, an emerging ensemble committed to telling brave stories and playing boldly. You can catch him next in Ego Death Theatre Collective’s upcoming world premiere production of Year One this November. Thank you to Mom, Dad, Aviva and Zelda.
Shane Novoa Rhoades
Shane Novoa Rhoades (Scott Connor) is thrilled to be working with Ghostlight for the first time. Previous credits include: Big time toppers (theatre lacadie), Cymbeline (Midsommar Flight), Campaigns Inc (Timeline), Southern Gothic (Windy City Playhouse), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Drury Lane), Stop Kiss (Arc Theatre). Shane has also worked with Strawdog Theatre, Stage Left, Bramble, American Theatre Company, Redtwist, The New Coordinates and many more. Shane received his Master of Fine Arts from the Theatre School at DePaul University and is represented by Grossman and Jack.
Eric K. Roberts
Eric K. Roberts (he/him) (US Scott Connor) is grateful to be working with Ghostlight Ensemble for the first time. He was last seen in Theatre Y’s spring production Charges (The Supplicants). He is a Theatre Y ensemble member since 2016. Check him out @ekrtachrome and eric-k-roberts.com.
Kyle Roth
Kyle Roth - [he/him] (US Officer Paul Larkin) is super excited to make his Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre debut! He was in the inaugural production of the Village Theatre’s Artemis Books & The Well Meaning Man (JJ) in Chicago. He’s originally from New Orleans, studying musical theatre at the prestigious arts high school - New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. He furthered his studies at Ball State University receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting. He would like to thank his partner, friends, family, teachers and mentors for always believing and supporting him. @kylerothhh
Production Crew
Christopher Demos-Brown
Christopher Demos-Brown (Playwright) has written over a dozen full-length plays and screenplays. His honors include the Laurents/Hatcher Award, a Steinberg Citation from The American Theatre Critics Association, and multiple regional theatre awards (including two Carbonell Awards, multiple Silver Palms and the inaugural Berkshire Theatre Award for Outstanding New Work). His plays include American Hero, Captiva, Stripped, and When The Sun Shone Brighter. Chris is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds graduate degrees from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and The University of Geneva. He is also a practicing trial lawyer and former prosecutor. Chris and his wife, Stephanie, are co-founders of Zoetic Stage, an award-winning theatre in residence at The Adrienne Arsht Center for the performing Arts in Miami. They also practice law together in Miami. Chris’s play, American Son, had a successful run at the Booth Theatre on Broadway, and was adapted as a feature film on Netflix.
Adri Andreolas
Adri Andreolas [she/her] (Scenic & Props Designer) is a scenic designer, painter and stage manager. She recently graduated from The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with a Bachelor of Arts in theater design, production, and technology with a minor in education. She has scenic designed for Footholds V7 (Impostor's Theatre Company), summertime (an interlude) (UIC) and Macbeth (UIC); and been a studio assistant for Collette Pollard for Eureka Day (Timeline Theatre at Chicago Broadway Playhouse). Adri has painted for two theater seasons with Impostor’s Theater Company (‘25-’26), Confederates (Redtwist), and ChiARTS’ summer season. She stage managed Odessa (Subtext Studio TC), Exit Strategy (UIC); and assisted stage managed for Andy Warhol Presents: The Cocaine Play (Jackalope Theatre), Not About Nightingales, Urinetown, and Blues for an Alabama Sky (UIC), Helena and Hermia, and Footholds V6, (Impostor’s Theater Company) and Big Time Toppers (Theater L’Acadie).
Jaden Leverett
Jaden Leverett [he/him] (Sound Designer) is thrilled to be joining Ghostlight for his first production here in Chicago. Jaden holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre design and technology from Oakland University (OU) of Rochester, Michigan. Former OU credits include: Jesus Christ Superstar, The Agony of Ecstasy, The Virtuous Burglar, She Kills Monsters, Sense and Sensibility and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Former technician credits include: Stage Crew (Princess Cruises), Sound Staff (Maine State Music Theatre) and Sound, Lights, & Video Technician (Interlochen Arts Academy).
Ebby Offord
Ebby Offord [she/they] (Director) is a theater artist from the South Side of Chicago. Ebby received her Bachelor of Arts in drama from Washington University in St. Louis. Since returning to Chicago, Ebby has been fortunate to have directed and acted across the city. She is a proud Midsommer Flight ensemble member and has performed in As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other previous (selected) credits: ROOTED (Assistant Director - Bramble Theatre Company), Love's Labour's Lost (Assistant Director - Midsommer Flight), Evil Perfect (Bramble), Throwback Island, ABORT: The Mission, and Millennial Church (Director - Bramble), Ruined (Director - Reginald Vaughn Theater), Hamlet (Reginald Vaughn Theater), Course Society (Chicago Dramatist's) and Now More Than Ever (St. Louis Actor's Studio). Ebby would like to thank her family and friends for their endless support and for always reminding her to be the light.
Andrés Mota
Andrés Mota [he, him] (Costume Designer) is delighted to make his Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre Company debut with American Son. Mexico credits include: El Casamiento, Opción Múltiple and Aura (National Institute of Fine Arts, opera version); the short films Verónica and Adiós Hamburgo (Argos Productions); and the dance work En el Ombligo de la Luna (Contempo-Danza). Chicago credits include: Buried Child (AstonRep Theatre Company), A Christmas Carol (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre) and Latin History for Morons, Touching the Void and Jane Austen in 89 Minutes! (StageWorks Theatre). Andrés holds a bachelor's degree in theatre from The National School of Theater Arts, Mexico City.
Hailey Piorek
Hailey Piorek [she/her] (Stage Manager) is excited to join Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre! Her stage management credits include As You Like It (Midsommer Flight), The Memorandum (Nonsense Productions), A Wrinkle in Time (Trinity Alumni Theatre), Midsummer Madness 48-Hour Play Festival (Nonsense Productions), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Midsommer Flight) and Director’s Haven 7 (Haven Chicago). Assistant stage management credits include Romeo & Juliet (Midsommer Flight) and the 37th and 38th Young Playwrights Festival (Pegasus Theatre Chicago). She holds a Bachelor of Arts in communication arts and theatre from Trinity Christian College.