What is Penguin Productions?
Penguin Productions unites youth leadership and adult mentorship to co-create theater and cultivate a healthy, equitable, thriving future through:
-Empowering confident, thoughtful youth leaders
-Making invigorating, inspiring, joyful theater
-Creating diverse, inclusive spaces where everyone belongs
-Nurturing artistic discovery and growth
-Providing cost-free programming
Meet the Penguins
Kyle Gerstel
Kyle is a passionate director, performer, writer, and producer. He is a senior at Mercer Island High School, where he performs with the drama program. In the past, he served on the Penguin Advisory Council, co-founded Penguin’s Youth Playwright Cohort, wrote for Finding Trails, assistant directed Metamorphoses, co-directed The Sasquatch Society, and directed Hand to God, Everybody, and The Effect. As Penguin’s Producing Artistic Director, he strives to increase access to arts education and create more opportunities for teens to develop as artistic leaders.
Tera Winter
Tera is a passionate theater techie who dabbles in most areas, but she’s especially interested in building and designing sets and props. She is a senior at West Seattle High School, where she has done everything from stage management to set to (occasionally) acting. She joined Penguin in spring of 2023 on the design team of Hand to God, and has since directed The Good Doctor, scenic designed Animal Farm, stage managed The Effect, and produced Dance Nation. She also directed two Bonfire shows in summer of 2023 and produced Finding Trails: On Wheels, and also served on the Penguin Ambassador Cohort. As Producing Associate, she’s especially interested in increasing access to skills in every department of theater!
Shana Bestock
Shana is a writer, educator, theater artist, and non-profit leader based in Seattle, WA. She has directed over 200 productions with youth ensembles and overseen over 120 professional productions. Shana works with both classic and contemporary texts, and has commissioned, produced, and directed many world premieres. Shana is currently ACT Theatre’s Artistic Associate, Education and Engagement. She is also a Fulbright Specialist, working internationally at the intersections of theater, social justice, and community building. She was a member of the ArtEquity cohort of 2016-17 and of the Leadership Tomorrow Class of ’21, engaging with cross-sector leaders around regional issues through an equity lens. From 2001-2016, Shana served as Seattle Public Theater’s Artistic and Education Director. Through her creative and community work, she strives to increase our capacity to connect, reflect, and create in order to make a more curious, compassionate and creative world.
To learn more about Shana, visit www.shanabestock.com
Aaron is a Production Manager and Stage Manager based in Seattle. He is currently the Artistic Programs Manager at Seattle Repertory Theatre and has worked at various theatres across the country, including at: Village Theatre, The 5th Avenue Theatre, Showtunes Theatre Company, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, The Kennedy Center, and his alma mater of Western Washington University, where he holds a BA in theatre arts with an emphasis in stage management and technical theatre. Select favorite productions: Fat Ham, Quixote Nuevo, Islander, Lydia and the Troll, Between Two Knees, and I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Seattle Rep); Disney’s Newsies, A Christmas Story, In the Heights, School of Rock, Les Misérables, The Lion King Jr., and Hairspray (Village Theatre KIDSTAGE); A Christmas Story (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Tiger Style, Ugly Lies the Bone, Power Play, and Bright Half Life (2014 National Playwrights Conference, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center). Aaron thanks his family, friends, and mentors as he valiantly attempts to put his theatre degree to use. His motto: “MacGyver it!”
Production History
Penguins Who Took Flight
Anna Klein, Sarah Albertson, Kyna Shilling, Kayla Brooks, Bella Zhou, Noelle McCabe, Linda Yan
Kayla Brooks
Sarah Albertson
Anna Klein
Eileen MacDonald
Noelle McCabe
Kyna Shilling
Valentine
Wulf
Linda Yan
Bella Zhou
