The Roustabouts
Mission Statement
The Roustabouts, a non-profit San Diego theater company, brings together notable actors, directors, and playwrights to entertain, educate, and inspire audiences by producing fresh and daring visions of the classics and well-known contemporary plays.
We celebrate the artist. Our mission is to honor the creative spirit by tapping into the wealth of diverse talents in our vibrant community and region. It’s a dynamic fusion where the finest plays find their perfect match by creating a collective synergy between audience, artist, and storytelling.
We believe the works and ideas we develop, support, and produce from emerging talent will have an impact and deserve a prominent place on the American stage while offering inspiration and connection during unsettling times.
The Roustabouts are committed to bringing passion, excitement, and dedication to making great theater and exceptional education. Our company aims to make it accessible to Southern California audiences of all ages and beyond. Together, we can keep the magic of theater thriving and alive with captivating, unparalleled performances on the stage for all to experience.
"We celebrate the artists and draw from the excellent talents of actors, playwrights, directors, and designers who live in our region. The best plays for you, matched up with the best local creative people. Every artist should have means to express themselves."
Phil Johnson, Artistic Director & Founding Partner
"Theatre lives in the moment. It embodies the risk and suspense of real human drama. When I watch a play I take it personally. I feel a relationship with every character. Theatre more than imitates life; each performance of a play needs hearts to beat, lungs to breathe, and muscles to move. It brings to life on stage a world of the imagination, but it also recreates in us, as we enter into it, new worlds of possibility, new ways of knowing and being."
Will Cooper, Founding Partner
Meet The Roustabouts
Phil Johnson
Artistic Director & Founding Partner
Phil Johnson is the Artistic Director and proud co-founder of The Roustabouts Theatre Co. As an actor/writer, his solo show,
A Jewish Joke
(co-written with Marni Freedman) ran locally, regionally, as well as Off-Broadway in March 2019. His other shows include
Roosevelt: Charge the Bear, Withering Heights, She-Rantulas from Outer Space in 3D!, and
The Hound of the Baskervilles. Phil played in
Les Misérables on Broadway and on tour, in the Canadian production of
Sunset Boulevard, and in the 1st National Co. of
Miss Saigon. He is a two-time winner of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for acting. He regularly performs at local theatres including North Coast Rep, The Old Globe, Diversionary Theatre, Lambs, and Cygnet Theatre. Local directing credits include SD Playwrights Project and Scripps Ranch Theatre. He teaches and produces a Solo Show Workshop and Celebration of New Writers readings for writers/performers that are part of The Roustabouts season.
philjohnson.net
Will Cooper
Dramaturg & Founding Partner
Will Cooper is a playwright based in San Diego and Chicago and co-founder of The Roustabouts Theatre Co. His plays Book of Leaves, Jade Heart and Margin of Error received widespread acclaim from critics and audiences alike. Jade Heart was last produced at San Diego’s award-winning MOXIE Theatre in 2014. His drama Margin of Error kicked off The Roustabouts' premiere season at the Lyceum Theatre in downtown San Diego and was selected as "Critic's Choice" by The San Diego Union-Tribune. It was also chosen as a Best Play finalist in the 2017 Craig Noel Critics Circle Awards. Following its run, the play was honored to be read at UCSD as a teaching tool of the Departments of Philosophy, Theatre, and Ethics & Sciences. Will is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. willcooperplaywright.com
Rebecca Crigler
General Manager
Rebecca Crigler has been helping others tell their stories for over 15 years. She has held general management and company management titles on productions all over North America, working on commercial ventures and with nonprofits such as the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation, The New Group, New Light Theater Project, and The Roustabouts Theatre Co. In New York, Rebecca also dabbles as a playwright, an actor, and a producer of new works. She garnered New York Innovative Theatre Award and Lortel Award nominations for co-producing Whirlwind at The Wild Project and Mike Birbiglia’s The New One at Cherry Lane Theatre, respectively.
Cristyn Chandler
Associate Producer
Cristyn is an award-winning actor, audition coordinator, and patron services coordinator. In 2001 Cristyn Chandler started taking acting classes at the Old Globe Theater which moved her into a long love of theater. San Diego has a wonderful theater community and she has graced many San Diego stages. She also works as an audition and marketing coordinator for Scripps Ranch Theater. She began her film career by participating in the national organization,
48 Hour Film Project. One of her films,
The Heiress Lethal, went on to win city, state, and national recognition, sending the film ultimately to the Cannes Film Festival. In 2010, Cristyn was cast in a recurring role on the short-lived television show, “Terriers-FX”. Cristyn continued to star in short films and in 2018 won a “Best Supporting Actress” San Diego Film Award for the film
Isabel. She continues to act in short films, TV, commercials and theater as much as possible!
Lynnia Shanley
Marketing Director
Lynnia Shanley is an actor, writer, movement teacher, and digital marketing specialist. Along with her stage-ready, bubbly personality, Lynnia is a branding and marketing superstar — but at heart, she is a true storyteller. She loves combining the art of storytelling into the digital era to emphasize a strategy that captures an audience in many forms! She is a graduate of The University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a BFA in Theatre Arts. She continued studies specializing in movement theatre, improvisation, mask, and period-style work through Master Teacher's Loyd Williamson's and Janice Orlandi's of the Actors Movement Studio in NYC, and developed a devising, composition, and ensemble edge studying at the Headlong Performance Institute. Learn more about her work, creative movement teachings, and writing muses at
movingspirit.co &
lynniashanley.com
Nancy Richards
Public Relations
Nancy Richards is the founder of Richards Marketing Group and had been successfully promoting theatre for over 15 years in San Diego & New York. Beyond working for TRTC handing advertising and press, she is currently the Director of Marketing and Press Relations at North Coast Rep.
Julie Ustin
Volunteer Coordinator
Deborah Pantoni
Volunteer Coordinator
Additional TRTC Support Staff
Mance Creatives Major Production Artwork
Daren Scott Photography
Sal Cicalese House Manager
Ali Terrill Accountant
Michael McCarron Partner
Devon Neubauer Technology & Website
TRTC Advisory Board
Vishal Bansal, MD Chief of Trauma Surgery Scripps Mercy San Diego
Tom Haine Lawyer
Jill G. Hall Author
Dea Hurston Philanthropist and Retired San Diego County Arts Commissioner
Marjory Kaplan
Consultant and Retired Foundation President
Sheryl Rowling MBA, CPA/PFS Rowling & Associates Wealth Management
Jeff Silberman Real Estate Developer
Karen Silberman Philanthropist
Dr. Lynne Thrope
Reading Therapist & Education Consultant and Founder of The Reading Room
Awards & Accolades
Winner - Best Drama
United Solo Theatre Festival 2016
A Jewish Joke
Critic’s Choice
San Diego Union-Tribune
Margin of Error
Best New Theatre Company 2017
San Diego Magazine
Best In Show 2017
San Diego CityBeat
Margin of Error
Nomination - Outstanding New Play
San Diego Theatre Critics Circle
Margin of Error
"End of Year Wrap"
Pat Launer, CenterStage