We’re excited to introduce the 2025 Convergence Residency Artists—a diverse and thoughtful group of creatives from across the country coming together to explore, experiment, and connect. They bring a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines—from puppeteers and stand-up comedians to filmmakers and composers—sharing a commitment to deep process and meaningful collaboration. This cohort reflects the spirit of Convergence: a place where curiosity lights the way and the work unfolds through an open, evolving process rather than a fixed destination. On this page, you’ll find their photos and bios—small windows into the talented people who shape this residency experience.
Technical Staff
Shane Rogers | Technical Director
We’re thrilled and honored to have Shane Rogers on board as our technical associate this year. He’ll be working side by side with Indy Convergence staff to make sure our “convergers” have everything they need.
Shane has worked in professional theatre as an actor and/or stage technician for over 27 years at places including: the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR; the Classical Theatre Company in Houston, TX; Pioneer Theatre Company, Salt Lake Acting Company, and Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City, UT; Shadowland Stages and Bard College in the Hudson Valley, NY. Shane has also done a number of independent short films and audio book recordings. He is currently the Technical Director at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre in Evanston, IL.
Artistic Cohort
Ty Boice | Producer, Actor, Director, Stand-Up Comedian
Ty is thrilled to return to the stage after nearly a decade-long hiatus. Ty has portrayed some of theatre’s most iconic roles, including Hamlet (Hamlet), Macbeth (Macbeth), Gatsby (Great Gatsby), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), the title role The Elephant Man, Tom Joad (Grapes of Wrath), Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing), Titus (Titus Andronicus), and Malvolio (Twelfth Night).
Regional theatre highlights: Joe Pitt in Angels in America Part 1&2 (Intiman), 7 Ways to Get There (ACT), Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet) and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Portland Center Stage). At Lakewood Theatre: the title roles in Golden Boy, Sam Spade in Maltese Falcon and Billy in Deadly Murder.
Stand-Up – Ty has worked at some of the Pacific Northwest’s biggest comedy clubs, including: Harvey’s, Helium-PDX, The Mad House, Candy’s, Ha ha Comedy Club, Laughs comedy club, Infinity Room, Chadwick’s and Comedy Chateau. He has headlined in rooms throughout the Northwest and featured at Tacoma Comedy club and Spokane comedy club. He recently opened for Caroline Rhea, Alonzo Bodden, Kyle Kinane, and Pablo Francisco as well headlining for Joke Masters comedy, Comedy/Bar, Jokers, Beer town comedy, Bangers comedy, infinity room, talent club, Compass, Comedy Bros and Mad Swede. Ty just wrapped shooting a X-box commercial and is the new face of the Portland Timbers 2025 promo.
Sofia Casanova | Visual & Installation Artist
Sofia is an environmental installation artist. Inspirations for their artwork come primarily from the natural world and the desire to create a sense of calm and hopefulness for viewers. Sofia’s work is about the human connection to nature and transforming discarded materials. They makes plastic paintings by melting plastic bags and packages together, fusing layers and creating new surfaces. Other works are paper and mixed media collages, plastic tapestries, paintings on discarded canvases, wood, and plastic, and works made with found paint and frames. By using everyday and widely available materials, they strive to highlight overabundance and imagine a future where these materials are repurposed to create immersive works and installation spaces for others to enjoy.
Morigan Eileen | Emerging Director
Morigan Eileen (they/them) is an up and coming queer director, deviser, and theatre maker. Their passion for queer history and human rights advocacy leads them to create works that challenge audience’s expectations and biases. Morigan’s most recent project ‘Life. Love. Struggle.’ highlights this. L.L.S was devised from the historical data and resources surrounding the gay rights movement’s initial push during the 1970’s and 80’s, and addressed portions of the movement that often get forgotten or buried. As an artist, Morigan hopes their work can help comfort, challenge, educate, and embolden those around them to take action within their own communities to build stronger connections and stand up for what they believe in.
Mary Katherine “Kat” Fitzpatrick | Podcast Host and Editor, Digital Painter, Content Creator
Kat is a digital and fine artist, combining both to create works that are modern and primal. She studied painting and drawing at Herron School of Art & Design and graduated with a B.S. in Media Arts from Indiana University. The purpose of her work is to remind us that the movement and arrangement of subjects is the first language of every human on the planet. Each piece is made to inspire a message of hope and healing.
Leila Ghaznavi | Puppeteer, Producer, Playwright, Arts Administrator
2025 Umbrella Project Director
Leila Ghaznavi is a playwright of American-Iranian descent and a masters graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, currently residing in New York City. Her background is unusually multicultural and greatly influences her work: her father immigrated to the US from Iran at 19, his only possessions fifty dollars and a prayer rug; her mother is a Daughter of the American Revolution and a proud relative of Stonewall Jackson. Her parents’ improbable marriage facsimiled an ideal American family; however, the differences in their cultural perspectives tore their marriage apart and isolated her from both sides of her family. Over time this dual alienation has transformed into a dual belonging that she has claimed as her own – an ability to understand and represent both Iranian and American culture.
As an actress, Ms. Ghaznavi has a wide range, with experience in diverse methods of acting: classical acting, clown, film acting, mask work, puppetry, and aerial acrobatics; As a playwright, Ms. Ghaznavi weaves together the disparate range of her theatrical studies and her unique heritage in order to further her artistic goals. Ms. Ghaznavi believes that art cannot be limited to one acting or storytelling method, and that the process of synthesizing artistic traditions is important in the creation of new methods of artistic expression. Moreover, she is committed to the belief that artists must challenge social conventions of what is sacred and taboo. Art must dare to say what is forbidden, love the undesirable, speak for those who have no voice, mourn those who have been forgotten, challenge what is sacred and dance in the clouds to reveal undiscovered planes of imagination.
Leila will direct our 2025 Umbrella Project—the unifying work that all cohort members support in bringing to life—revisiting her piece Beyond the Light with this year’s cohort. A longtime collaborative partner and residency alumnus of Indy Convergence, we’re thrilled to share space and creativity with her once again.
Victoria Goring | Director
Victoria Goring is the creative force behind Urban Spine, established in 1999. Her original plays have been produced in both the USA and Canada, and include Sooz, (Highest grossing Fringe play in Toronto in 2001), Lie With Me, (Sold out). Happy, and Run. (INDIE hold over). IF was developed at Factory Theatre, where Victoria was a member of the handpicked Paper Door. Victoria has won many competitions, including the Toronto International playwriting competition twice. Her fiction has been shortlisted for the Anvil Press 3 day Playwriting Contest, and her film is won “Best Female Filmmaker” for her short satire, Porn for Women. The full spectrum of Victoria’s work can be seen at www.urbanspine.com
Emily K. Harrison | Theatremaker, Educator
The founder and producing artistic director of Boulder, Colo-based, award-winning square product theatre, Emily K. Harrison’s work focuses primarily on the creation and development of new and innovative works of American theatre and an exploration of American mythology, violence, and disaster in performance. In addition to her work with square product, Harrison has collaborated on projects with Buntport Theater, Hoarded Stuff Performance, Screw Tooth, Joanna & the Agitators, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the Texas Shakespeare Festival, and the Boulder International Fringe Festival.
Emily holds an M.F.A. in Performance from the Savannah College of Art & Design and a Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY.
A. Paul Johnson | Composer, Producer, Music Director
Composer, conductor, and writer A. Paul Johnson is a prolific creator whose work spans multiple genres. Equally at home in a concert hall, a theater pit, or an intimate club, his works range from contemporary concert music to light-hearted songs.
Paul’s works have graced the stages of the Indiana Repertory Theater, Syracuse Stage, Asolo Theatre Festival, Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Rosario (Argentina), Gainesville Chamber Orchestra, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis, Warsaw National Philharmonic, Prague Symphony Orchestra, and Sofia Philharmonic. Learn more about Paul here: https://apauljohnson.com
Brodrick Jones | Writer, Puppeteer
A writer and puppeteer now based in Baltimore, Brodrick Jones has recently rekindled his love of live performance after years away from the stage, appearing in multiple puppet slams up and down the East Coast as well as premiering MADAME EDGEWISE TELLS YOUR FORTUNE as part of the 2024 Charm City Fringe. His previous show, UBU FAUST, appeared at multiple festivals around the country as well as a “sold a few” run at the Edinburgh Fringe. The Philadelphia Weekly called the show “pure comedic genius”, thus setting too high a standard for Jonesy to ever live up to again. He got his start in puppetry doing Jigsaw, a YouTube show about a robot and a mad scientist. New episodes show up occasionally at youtube.com/jigsawfanclub. You can find out slightly more about the artist at brodrickjones.com
Kamilah Long | Chief Development Officer, Director, Actor, Producer, Writer
Kamilah L. Long is a visionary leader and transformative force in the arts, with a distinguished career that spans acting, directing, producing, education, activism, and storytelling. She is renowned for her ability to merge artistry with strategic innovation, leaving a profound impact on organizations and communities alike.
Kamilah earned her membership in Actors’ Equity Association and performing professionally while completing her undergraduate degree in theater at Alabama State University. She later earned her Master of Fine Arts in Performance and a Certificate in African American Theatre from the University of Louisville.
Her leadership roles have included serving as Executive Director of Play On Shakespeare, as the inaugural Director of Development at the National Black Theatre in Harlem, and as Chief Development Officer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). She is currently the Director of Advancement and Philanthropic Engagement at the Theatre Communications Group.
Kamilah is also the founder and CEO of The Black Whole, a pioneering multimedia company dedicated to centering the Black global community through art and storytelling. Under her leadership, The Black Whole has co-produced acclaimed short films, including You Go Girl! an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, and Ashland, a project she wrote and starred in.
Janna Meiring | Movement-Based Artist, Writer, Mentor, Nonprofit Administrator
Janna Meiring (she/her) is a queer movement-based performing artist based in Indianapolis, IN. With an MFA in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University, Janna anchors her work in contemplative practices and somatic approaches to creative process. As both a solo and collaborative artist, Janna utilizes states of embodied awareness as sites for inquiry, shaping impulse and response through layers of movement, sound, text, theatrical elements, and crafting them for staged or improvisational works.
Outside of performance work, Janna offers movement-based workshops and artist-mentorship both independently and through Get What You Need Residency. Janna was a writer and editor at thINKingDANCE.net for 3 years. For more, visit https://www.jannameiring.com
Eric Salazar | Musician
Eric Salazar (The Clarinet Guy) is a performer, composer, and entrepreneur. He performs recitals and concertos of classical music that he feels connected to. Sometimes what he plays isn’t all-classical, but a merging of different genres, like jazz and ambient. As an entrepreneur, he focuses on teaching people who don’t consider themselves to be “business people” how to be effective managers or leaders in the business world, while still staying true to themselves.
When performing, he embraces being vulnerable on stage as he shares stories in a way that makes the listener feel like they can be vulnerable too. Sharing this experience together produces a magical effect where all come away with a better understanding of themselves. Salazar always jokingly says “I owe you an explanation for what you’re about to hear” when he presents music that he writes, but at the heart of it all, Salazar simply writes music that will tell you a story, so you can feel seen and feel connected to those around you. His music isn’t necessarily in the classical style, though it is cinematic and merges inventive electronic sounds with familiar instruments.
Tic Treitler | Actor, Teaching Artist
Tic Treitler [they/them] is an actor, teacher, and circus performer originally from Stockholm, Sweden. THEATER: Guthrie Theater (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Mixed Blood Theatre (The Ally), Guthrie Theater (A Christmas Carol), Children’s Theatre Company (Annie, Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical, An American Tail the Musical), Theater Latté Da (Falsettos), Playwright’s Center (Birthright), Theatre in the Round (Men on Boats, A Wrinkle in Time), Illusion Theater (The Myth of the Mountain), Lyric Arts (Peter and the Starcatcher). CIRCUS: Circus Juventas (Excalibur): Silks, Spanish Web, and Mexican Cloud Swing. FILM: “Bigfoot Woods”, Vinn (supporting), “Elsewhere”, Jamie (lead). OPERA: Minnesota Opera Youth Studio 2022-2023. AWARDS: 2022 Triple Threat Finalist (Hennepin Theatre Trust).TRAINING: UMN/Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program; NYU Summer Music Theatre Workshop 2022. WEBSITE: tictreitler.squarespace.com INSTA: Tic Treitler