Kwik Jones

Kwik Jones (Playwright) has been writing, directing and producing plays for 30 years. A theater major at Goddard College. Kwik has developed plays such as: A Strange Seed, Forgotten Soul, Voices, Black Like Me, Jupiter is Stormy, Spotlight, The Code, Puzzle Dream, Conversations, Organ, L.U.S.T, Both Sides of the Fence, Sweet Mother Jones, Memphis Bound, Water Boyz, A Cup of Life and many more.

Awards and honors include: The Portland Civic Theatre Guilds New Play Award for his play Cat Napper ; a finalist for the Downtown Urban Arts Festival in New York City for his plays Memphis Bound and Water Boyz, which was also selected as a finalist for the PNMC New Play Readers Series Festival; and he was named a semifinalist for the Lanford Wilson Festival for the play The Closet Pigeon. Recently his play A Strange Seed was chosen as one of the six finalists in The Portland Civic Theatre Guilds New Play Award and was named a semifinalist at the 2022 National Playwrighting Conference. He was named 2022 Semifinalist for the Jewish Plays Project in New York City. He also was semifinalist for the National Black Theatre’s I am Soul Playwright’s Residency Program. Winner of the 2022 Texas State University Black and Latino Play Conference for his play his A Cup of Life. Also, in 2022 Kwik was accepted into the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center’s Artist Grant and Residency Program in Portland, Oregon. He recently became a three-time finalist at Downtown Urban Arts Festival in New York for hisplay, A Cup of Life.

Recently his play, Two White Stripes was co-produced by Coho Theatre Productions in Portland. He was also commissioned by The Robey Theatre in Los Angeles for a new work: Man’s Favor Devil’s Plan, that premiered at the Robey Theatre, October 2022. Currently he is working on a new play, We Act, which he has been commissioned to write for the upcoming book (ed. Jose Casas and Tiffany Trent) Every Great Dream: Visioning African American Theater for Young Audiences, which will be published by Dramatic Publishing. He’s also 1 out of 20 playwrights commissioned to write a BIPOC Superhero play that will be published on Dramatic Publishing.

Kate Sullivan Coombs

Kate Sullivan Coombs [she/they] (Director) is a Chicago-based playwright, director, songwriter and performer. Kate spent the last four years as the Resident Director of the Chicago production of Drunk Shakespeare, crafting jokes and curating debauchery for a rotating cast. Previous directing projects include Avenue Q (Redhouse Arts Center), LezSing (PrideArts), Spring Awakening (glory|struck productions) and the immersive cabaret send-up A Day at The Beaches in Los Angeles. Playwriting commissions include Snow White (Orphan Girl Children’s Theatre), Family Reunion (Chicago Children’s Theatre), and co-writing 8, the Play with screenwriter Dustin Lance Black. Kate is the creator of The Album Project, under which she created stagings of Rumours, Jagged Little Pill, and Ed Sheeran's +. 

Alexis Aranda

Alexis Aranda (Doubt) is honored to return to stage and work with the Ghostlight Ensemble. She is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago. She is proudly represented by Lilys Talent. Other credits include: Sofia Santiago in A Future to Remember presented by Teatro Tariakuri, Alice Garcia in Secret of the Biological Clock, Petra in An Enemy of the People at the James Lumber Center for Performing Arts and a dance/performer swing at Six Flags Great America. She can also be seen as a Sunrise Caroler in Jimmy Deans latest holiday campaign. She is grateful to her friends and family for their love and support.

Josh Bomba

Josh Bomba [he/him] (Dad/Belief) is thrilled to be making his Ghostlight Ensemble and Make/Believe debut. Favorite credits include: Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, and Almost, Maine. Josh is a proud middle school teacher and is working on completing a Master of Education from the American College of Education. He is proudly represented by 10 MGMT. Thanks to Tish, Mox, Salem, Eddie, Binx and Scar.

Nick Conrad

Nick Conrad (Dunlop) is elated to return for another Make/Believe Festival with Ghostlight Ensemble. Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Nick moved to Chicago to study improv at The IO Theater, The Annoyance and The Second City. Nick has also performed, stand-up and sketch comedy at various Chicago locations. In addition to comedy, Nick has been in numerous live readings with Ghostlight Ensemble including: The Dude Abides: A Live Reading of The Big Lebowski, Really, Really, Ridiculously Good Looking: A Live Reading of Zoolander, Make A Move & The Bunny Gets It: A Con Air Live Reading and Must Eat TV. Nick would like to thank his family for their never ending support and inspiration. Believe in yourself and anything is possible.

Rissa Montañez

Rissa Montañez [she, her] (Ivy) is a local to the city with the roots of her upbringing centering around the Wicker Park/Humboldt Park area. She is new to the Chicago theatre scene, as well as with the Ghostlight Ensemble. She has nearly a decade of voiceover experience, bringing characters to life for various fiction podcasts such as SCP Archives, and Creepy Podcast, as well as many other characters in shows on the BloodyFM Podcast Network, and many others. When she isn't warming up for more voiceover work, she can be found at home baking banana bread, working her full-time job as a customer service clerk, or promoting awareness for aiding survivors of domestic abuse/intimate partner violence.