Our Creative Team
Raechel Patrese,
Marketa Nicholson, and Dara Gold
Please learn more about our Creative Team below:
Raechel Patrese (She/her)
Playwright, Producer, Director
Raechel is a local playwright, director and producer. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, she moved to Washington, DC in 2017 to pursue her dreams of becoming a professionally trained stage actress. During her time studying theater at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts (NCDA, 2017-2019). Patrese found a stronger passion working behind the scenes in more technical roles. She began writing and producing short plays as a co-creator of Too Much Damn (“TMD”) Theater (2018-present) and has just completed her first, stage directorial debut at Anacostia Playhouse, as a part of the Districts Summer Youth Employment Program, to co-direct a production of “The Me Nobody Knows” (2023.) Patrese plans to continue growing her expertise in playwriting and stage directing while seeking opportunities in film directing as well. She would like to thank her grandmother for her unconditional love and support. She lives to make her grandmother proud.
Marketa Seliyah Nicholson (She/her)
Playwright, Producer, Director
Marketa is a D.C. native currently residing in Philadelphia. She has had a passion for the Arts since she was very young and it only grew more strongly as she got older. She has always had a zeal for acting, but her love for writing started in middle school and became fully realized when she won honorable mention for her short play "Easier to Run" in high school. Since then Marketa has written, produced, and directed short films and plays for TMD Theater. Marketa directed TMD Theater's 2019 Capital Fringe Festival Play "Would You Rather" and several plays in the Page to Stage Festival. She also directed a web series on available on YouTube. Marketa created and leads TMD Theater's Junior Producer Program. She is a proud graduate of The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts ("NCDA") and co-founder of Too Much Damn ("TMD") Theater.
Dara A. Gold (She/her)
Playwright, Producer
Dara is a Washington D.C. based playwright, theater director, and actor who works in new play development, musicals, short films, and tying theater to activism. She has presented her original pieces at the Kennedy Center, Capital Fringe Festival, the D.C. 48 Hour Film Project, and the D.C. Future is Female Festival. She is a co-founder of TMD Theater and currently serves on the board of the Actors’ Center. She graduated from UDC Law in 2016 and focused on Immigration Law, Education Law, and Legislation.
She currently represents parents and children advocating for their education rights. She has a B.A. in International Studies & Political Science and a Spanish Minor. Theater is one of her true passions and loves collaborating to bring the exhilarating fun of theater and the rewards of the work and dedication to everyone involved.
Collaborative Voices
These amazing humans have been apart of TMD’s growth and have add to our prospective. Whether it be through writing, dramaturgy or producing.
Meet Santi Tonauac Castro, Rebekah DeAnn Mason, and Johana Vargas Arias
Santi Tonauac Castro
Santi Tonauac Castro is an Indigenous Mexican-Cuban 2spirit maker. Santi writes doom jazz chaos bombs in shape of play, poem, and sculpture. His soul’s part bird, part warrior, destroyer+protector.
You can catch him working with youth teaching visual art at Mural Arts in Philly, PA. Most recently, his play Manflor won a BIPOC new work grant with Cannonball Fest and was produced in the Philadelphia Fringe fest. His play Black Lung And Also If was in the 24 Hour Plays Fest at Interact Theatre and his play Gente Del Sol was in PlayPenn’s 2022 annual new play festival. Santi is part of Playpenn’s Playwrights cohort. In 2023, Santi made the Kilroy’s list. He is a 2019 Youngarts Playwriting winner. Santi has worked with The Arden and Quintessence theatre, 1812 Productions, Taller Puertoriqueno, and the Philadelphia Art Museum. Santi has a BFA from UArts majoring in playwriting and minoring in sculpture!
IG: @Santixcastro
Rebekah DeAnn Mason
Rebekah DeAnn Mason is a Mexican American poverty advocate, a writer, actor and playwright. She believes in the power of creating art to support and build community. Joe's Movement Emporium showcased her first one woman play, "They Don't Leave Veterans Behind, Do They?" in a virtual staged reading in 2021. Rebekah is a member of the Dramatist Guild. In 2023 she was honored to be selected as a semi-finalist for the Dramatist Guild Foundation's inaugural National Virtual Playwriting Fellowship out of a pool of 600 highly competitive submissions. Rebekah studied acting and playwriting with Martin Blank. She has done creative things with Rabble Crew Productions, MTC Adventure Theatre Company, the DC Theatre Lab, The Coil Project, Dog and Pony DC, DC Arts Center, Peter’s Alley Theatre Productions, and the Montgomery Playhouse. Rebekah and her partner Hadlee split their time between Germantown and Baltimore, MD hanging out with their adorable kitties and puppies. Rebekah studied Sociology and Theatre at the University of Houston and law at Thomas M. Cooley School
of Law.
Johana Vargas Arias
Johana Vargas Arias (she/her) is the show's Editor and one of the Playwrights. Johana was born in Bolivia and has lived in the D.C. metro area since childhood. She is a business immigration lawyer who has passion for the arts. She has participated in plays since elementary school, and found her way back into theater after law school. She loves being part of the art community in D.C. and building friendships along the way. In her spare time, she loves to go hiking with friends, family and her puppy Luna.
“Be unapologetically you.”
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