Meet our teaching artists….

Ann Joseph-Douglas (Program Director) has worked in Chicago for over fifteen years as a professional actor, administrator and educator. As strong advocate for arts education Ann has spent several years working to support teaching artists, designing arts education programs and being a voice for arts in public schools. As a founding ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre Company Ann was responsible for designing and leading its arts education program Ensemble in Action which served nearly 200 Chicago area high school students annually. In 2007 Ann founded her own company providing theatre education programs for public and charter schools and designing professional development for classroom teachers seeking to incorporate theatre arts into their classrooms. Since 2013 Ann has been an instructor in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Loyola University Chicago. While at Loyola Ann also served as the program coordinator for the Arts Infusion program, which was a six year initiative between the Chicago Community Trust, Loyola University and fifteen art service organizations who serve youth with-in the juvenile justice system and in under served communities. Ann’s role was to design and implement a comprehensive professional development sequence for the teaching artists with-in the collaboration.

Krystel McNeil (Lead Teaching Artists) is an ensemble member at Rivendell where she has performed in the productions The Cake and WOMEN AT WAR. Most recent credits include In The Next Room or The Vibrator Play (Timeline Theater Company), Bootycandy (Windy City Playhouse), The Compass (Steppenwolf SYA), and understudying and performing in Objects in the Mirror and Carlyle at Goodman Theater Company. Krystel also does voiceover work and appeared in an episode of Chicago P.D. She is represented by Big Mouth Talent.