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

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. 

As the Producing Artistic Director, and founder, of Penguin Productions, Shana facilitates creative adventures in community arts to fuel the future with a focus on youth development and leadership, gender equity, and environmental justice. She is also ACT Theatre’s Artistic Associate, Education. 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

Kyle Gerstel

Kyle is a passionate writer, director, performer, and producer. He is a sophomore at Mercer Island High School, where he performs with the drama program and serves on the editorial board of the school newspaper, The Islander. He firmly believes in the importance of innovative, equitable storytelling in theatre, journalism, film, and literary arts. In the past, he served on the Penguin Advisory Council, co-founded Penguin’s Youth Playwright Cohort, wrote for Finding Trails, assistant directed Metamorphoses, and co-directed The Sasquatch Society. As Penguin’s Producing Artistic Associate, he strives to increase access to arts education and produce more new work by teen playwrights. Outside of his work with Penguin, Kyle spends his time directing, editing articles for the TeenTix Blog, and getting made fun of for his love of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs.

Production History

Penguins Who Took Flight

Anna Klein, Sarah Albertson, Kyna Shilling, Kayla Brooks, Bella Zhou, Noelle McCabe, Linda Yan

Sara Albertson

Kayla Brooks

Anna Klein

Eileen MacDonald

Noelle McCabe

Kyna Shilling

Linda Yan

Bella Zhou

The magic happens in the community, that it’s about the people, not the theater or the program… it comes from YOU and your commitment to 'wasting time learning things' and your belief that kids can accomplish more than they think they can, which every production bears out.
Thank YOU for the show. I have to say it was the most thoroughly entertaining political satire we’ve seen in a long time. You did a great job with those kids, integrating the whole spectrum of talent into a delightful show that hopped.
...a community based on a strong vision of supporting kids and emerging adults through meaningful theater events.

Penguin Leaders
and Mentors

Meet the Penguin
Advisory Council

Our Partners:

Northwest Folklife, Office of Arts and Culture, Foundry10, 4Culture, UHeights, The Creative Advantage, TeenTix, Shunpike

Penguin Productions programs are free to all in need. Fuel the future of healthy, equitable community theater with your support today!


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