About
Worlds Elsewhere Theatre Company was founded in April 2020, in response to the shutting down of theatres and other businesses due to COVID-19, its founders and early members intending to use available videoconferencing technology to create theatrical performance art through those difficult years ahead. However, after the murder of George Floyd and the rise in protests against police brutality and violence against the Black community at large, the company pivoted to a project that could be used as a fundraising event for protester bail and affected community aid funds. These beginnings have become the three foundational concepts guiding our mission ever since: Accessibility, Creativity, and Social Justice through Theatre.
To that end, Worlds Elsewhere has produced full play productions as well as cabaret performances, charity concerts, live tabletop play events, dramatic readings, and other projects, while promoting human rights, social justice and equity causes within the USA and around the world. These events were made available to viewers through live streaming, and almost all of which have remained available to viewers as video-on-demand.
Worlds Elsewhere has, from its beginning, been a very queer-inclusive company, and is working diligently to increase our racial and ethnic diversity; one of the company’s goals is to be a place for underserved voices to be heard, both on and off the stage. WETC productions challenge preconceived notions of gender, sexuality, and race, from mixed-gender productions of plays with firm gender roles like Lysistrata and Love’s Labour’s Lost, to crafting explicitly trans lead roles in The Roaring Girl and Coriolanus. Many members of the Repertory live with disabilities, and WETC gives them opportunities to perform from their own homes that might otherwise be closed to them. WETC believes in the power of theatre to bring strength and comfort in times of distress, and to act as a force for social progress. The company supports the values of social justice, diversity, inclusion, and charity. While the founders and majority of the Repertory are U.S.-based, WETC has worked with actors from around the world, and our support for universal human rights and dignity knows no borders.
Worlds Elsewhere’s initial startup costs and the bulk of its second year operations were funded by the generosity of our Founding Backers.
Work With Us
If you’re interested in joining our talented staff, crew, or performer repertory, please take a look at our open postings.
Meet Our Board
Ilana Greenberg-Sud - Co-Founder, Board President, and Director of Theatre
Ilana Greenberg-Sud is a 20-year veteran of theatre,
with experience in front-of-house operations, backstage coordination, and everywhere in between. An early milestone was serving as both director and
producer of The Vagina Monologues at University of Maryland, College Park, for three years. This also served as a formative experience of the
potential for the intersection of theatre and charitable work. Additionally, she/they has over a decade of leadership and online community management
experience for many fan-driven organizations and events, including DragonCon, Fandom Grammar, and J/D Ficathon.
As Director of Theatre, Ilana is the primary architect and defender of the company’s artistic vision. She/they is responsible for ensuring consistency and quality of the theatrical productions themselves, and that all the shows and charities chosen by Worlds Elsewhere support our values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.
Outside of theatre, Ilana has a strong passion for social justice, including anti-war protests while in school and campaigning for workers’ rights in her beloved Seattle. What little free time she has left is generally spent writing, which has led to a 300+ story count on Archive of Our Own and publication in both original fiction and fanfiction zines. Ilana is currently on social media hiatus, but can be found on Twitter at @melaynebakes, where she/they can be seen yelling about politics, queer and Jewish issues, and representation in media, as well as being a Giant Nerd.
Kyle Kallgren - Co-Founder, Board Treasurer
Kyle Kallgren has been producing video essays regularly on
YouTube, both independently and as part of larger creative collaborative groups, for over 10 years. While his primary focus has been film criticism, no
media whether printed, audio, video or interactive can escape his bailiwick. If you can analyze it, he probably has.
His main channel, Brows Held High, has over 75,000
subscribers, and his work has been featured in yearly lists of best video essays from 2016 thru 2021 compiled by Sight and Sound, the magazine of the
British Film Institute.
Kyle obtained a B.A. in Theatre from University of Maryland in 2010, and an M.A. Film and Video Production from American University in 2013. He was once quoted as saying, “If someone were to make a film called The Life of Kyle Kallgren, I would play Annoyed Dutch Man in Movie Theater #3.”
Adrianne Greenberg-Sud - Board Secretary and Director of Technology
Addie Greenberg-Sud is a software developer and digital
streamer in Seattle, WA. She has been supporting Worlds Elsewhere’s technological needs since the company’s founding in 2020. After a brief hiatus in
2022, Addie was appointed to the board to assist in providing the leadership necessary to support WETC’s mission going forward with her characteristic
enthusiasm and attention to detail.
Addie comes to us with over a decade of computer industry experience, as well as a lifelong passion for performance art. Beyond this, she is a great lover of tabletop roleplaying, and puts this to use in streaming with other members and friends of our Repertory as the group “Fantasy Worlds Elsewhere” on twitch.
Emeritus
David Kowarsky - Co-Founder and President Emeritus of the Board
For our first two years, David Kowarsky worked hard to help
build the Worlds Elsewhere Theatre Company in its earliest stages of development. His contributions were numerous, and we thank him for his service to
the board and leadership. David formally stepped down from the board at the end of 2022, but remains a valued part of the Worlds Elsewhere community.