The Dacha Team

Kate Drummond - Artistic Director, Founder
She/Her
Kate Drummond is a director, producer, intimacy director, teaching artist, and actor. She is a graduate of the Seattle Children's Theatre Teaching Apprenticeship, and has a BA in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis. In Seattle, Kate works with the Pacific Northwest Theatrical Intimacy collective, and teaches with the 5th Avenue Rising Star Project, Book-It's StoryMakers, and Seattle Rep's Public Works, among others. She is passionate about good jokes, consent-based rehearsal rooms, and brave leaps – her work is born of all three. Kate is currently pursuing her MFA in Directing at the University of Washington.
Past Dacha credits include: Creator/Director of Star Play; Director of Secret Admirer, Yarn: Unraveled, The Light Princess, Quick Bright Things, Dice: Twelfth Night; Ensemble Director of Dice: Hamlet, Dice: As You Like It, Pride & PrejuDICE, Dice: Romeo & Juliet; Intimacy Director for The Moors, Metamorphoses, the Dice series; Juliet in Dream Things True; Nina in The Seagull.

Mike Lion - Artistic Director, Founder
He/Him
Mike is a director, actor, and Russian translator. He concentrated in Theatre at Hampshire College and created an immersive adaptation of Hamlet as his thesis. He frequently directs in non-traditional spaces, working to blur the line between audiences and performers. Mike is drawn to physical theatre and has trained in Commedia dell’Arte, American Melodrama, Suzuki Movement, Slapstick, and Clown. He works as an Admin Assistant and Improv Coach at Youth Theatre Northwest.
Past Dacha credits include: Creator/Director of Dears in Headlights; Streaming Director for :robot_face:, Secret Admirer; Director of The Moors, Metamorphoses, Who Killed Otter's Babies?; Ensemble in Dice: Twelfth Night, Dice: As You Like It, Pride & PrejuDICE; Ensemble Director of Dice: Hamlet; Puck in Quick Bright Things; Assistant Director of Ghost Party; Director/Translator of The Snow Queen; Director/Writer of An Awfully Big Adventure;

Casey Bowen — Director of Production, he/him
Casey is an actor and collaborative storyteller with his BFA from California State University, Fullerton. He has studied in physical theatre, Shakespeare, Chekhov, improvisation, and script analysis. In addition to performing, Casey has also assisted in digital events as a streaming coordinator. He is excited about introducing the theatrical devising frameworks to existing entertainment structures parallel to the stage. In his spare time, Casey enjoys looking after animals, automating spreadsheets, and community gaming.
Past Dacha credits include: Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing; Ensemble in Dice: Romeo & Juliet; Charlemagne Garlander and Production Manager for (F)unfair, Clowning Ensemble/Fisherman in Dears in Headlights, Pewter in :robot face:, Mastiff in The Moors, and Gus in Ghost Party: Remastered, Production Manager for An Incomplete List

Emily Huntingford - Director of Development, she/her
Emily received a BA in Theatre from Whitman College and has been in Seattle for three years performing throughout the city. A lover of classical theatre, she has memorized the entirety of Hamlet, As You Like It, and Pride and Prejudice and has acted with Fern Shakespeare Company, GreenStage, and Key City Public Theatre. She has also performed with the UMO Ensemble in Falling Awake at ACT Lab and Burien Actors Theatre. Most recently she performed Polka Dots with Parachute Players at Seattle Children’s Theatre.
Past Dacha credits include: Kayla in (F)unfair, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing; Assistant Director/Swing in Star Play; B.F.F.2000 in Secret Admirer; Host in :robot_face:; Moor-Hen in The Moors, Ensemble in Dice: Romeo & Juliet, Dice: Hamlet, Dice: As You Like It, and Pride & PrejuDICE, Lifting Ensemble in The Light Princess, Peaseblossom in Quick Bright Things

Haley Thomas — Director of Production & Company, she/her
Haley Thomas is a Stage Manager and House Manager from Charleston, SC. During her time in Seattle Haley has House Managed for Seattle Rep and the University of Washington. She has Stage Managed Dacha’s Zoom production of Secret Admirer as well as Dacha’s summer tour of Star Play. Prior to her move to Seattle Haley was an Assistant Stage Manager for the Savannah Voice Festival (The Barber of Seville) as well as Production Intern for The Goodman Theatre’s Santaland Diaries. Haley is excited to join Dacha’s board as an Associate Artistic Producer for this upcoming Winter season!
Past Dacha credits include: Assistant Director for (F)unfair; Stage Manager for Secret Admirer, Star Play, Dice: Romeo & Juliet; Production Manager for Girls School Memory Play

Olivia Kridle — Director of PR & Marketing, she/they
Olivia is a stage and film actor, director, writer, and producer with vocal and dance training, whose joy for theatre is in tandem with her passion for diversity, equity, and new voices. A transfer from California, they hold a BFA in Acting from CSU Fullerton, where she studied Stanislavski, Chekhov, Shakespeare, physical theatre, and more. She’s also acted with Burien Actors Theatre, on two short films, and PAed for several film projects in LA and for Seattle Rep. You can now watch her in Ocean's Arrival on Prime Video.
Past Dacha credits include: Quil in (F)unfair, Understudy/Asst Intimacy Director in Dice: Romeo & Juliet, Clowning Ensemble/Artist in Dears in Headlights, Costume Designer for An Incomplete List, Assistant Director for Secret Admirer

Orianna O'Neill - Director of Audience Services, she/her
Ori has been producing with Dacha since 2019. From Portland, OR and an alumna of Beloit College, Ori has previously been a company member with Dacha, and has stage managed or acted in 8 productions over the last three years. Ori is frequently heard as a vocal performer with Viva Vocalists, Saint Marks Cathedral Choir, and The Esoterics, where she is a Board Member. In her daytime life, Ori is the elementary music and performing arts specialist at Giddens School, and is frequently heard bothering her coworkers by playing the recorder.
Past Dacha credits include: Voyager/Andromeda in Star Play; Stage Manager for Dice: As You Like It, Pride & PrejuDICE, Ghost Party, The Light Princess, Quick Bright Things; Flopsy (Lost Boy) in An Awfully Big Adventure, Production Manager for Orpheus & Euridice

Nate Olson — Director of Finance & Administration, he/him
Nate is a Stage Manager, happy to be back in his hometown of Seattle after several years in New York. He has previously stage managed for NYU's Law Revue and several productions while a student at Whitman College. He loves singing and watching the magic of theater come together during the production process. During his daytime hours, Nate is an attorney and spends his free time reading or playing tabletop games.
Past Dacha credits include: Stage Manager for Much Ado About Nothing, (F)unfair, An Incomplete List