Jennifer Nostrala (Director)

Jennifer Ross Nostrala has been directing and teaching theatre for over twenty-five years. Last fall she directed "A Doll's House" with Iowa Stage Theatre and "The Magic Flute" with Simpson Productions. Other recent directing credits include: "Kiss Me Kate," "Tartuffe," "The Comedy of Errors," "Carousel," and "Knowing Joan," a play she wrote and directed at Simpson College. "Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike," "Venus in Fur," and "The Shape of Things" at StageWest.

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At Simpson she teaches courses in acting, directing, and playwriting. A favorite class she teaches is "Agents of Change: Creating Change in the Community Through Performance." This course is designed to help students investigate a contemporary issue and then develop a performance around that issue as a way to create change in the community. 

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Jennifer currently serves as the Chair of the Theatre Arts Department and also teaches in the Women's and Gender Studies program. She lives in Indianola with her husband, Justin, and they have two sons, Seth and Caleb.

Sarah Couer (Stage Manager)

Sarah Coeur (Stage Manager) Sarah is excited for her Des Moines debut with "Bright Half Life" and Iowa Stage Theatre Company. She has a degree in Theatre and Cinema from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She has been working as a stage manager for 7 years and been directing for 3 years. Some shows include: "Noises Off" (AD), "The Mousetrap" (SM/AD), "Boeing Boeing" (SM), "Peter and the Starcatcher" (SM), "The Fantasticks" (SM). Sarah was also an Assistant Production Manager with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in the Chicago suburbs for 3 years. Sarah would like to thank her family and her husband for their support, patience and understanding with every process. Remember to play!

Jay Jagim (Scenic & Lighting Designer)

Josh Jepson has worked with Epic Stage Productions (2016), StageWest Theater Company (every musical the company has done since 2011), Iowa State Theater Since 2011 and numerous productions with Repertory Theater of Iowa. He’s also worked with Barrington Stage Company on "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (2004) and "The Burnt Part Boys" (2006). Josh currently works as the Technical Director at Hoyt Sherman Place and does freelance sound design and audio engineering. Josh enjoys spending time with his wife, his son, and their two pets: Fluffy the domestic long hair and Pixie the pappion.

Susanna Douthit (Costume Design)

Susanna Douthit has designed costumes for ISTC’s “The Lion in Winter,” (Cloris Award winner), for Pyramid Theater’s “Intimate Apparel,” “The Amen Corner,” for DMYAT’s “I Never Saw Another Butterfly,” for DM Playhouse’s “Around the World in 80 Days” and “Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.” Susanna has also designed costumes for the world premiere of “Our Town,” “The Opera,” for Festival Opera in California, the 2007 season for The National Ballet of Peru, and for several years for Olympian Figure Skater Brian Boitano. She was the Director of San Francisco Dance Center and the Executive Director of Dance Through Time. She has built giant puppets for parades in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, and Wilmington, NC. She has performed in New York City, St. Petersburg and Moscow, and even here in Iowa. She has come to love this beautiful state where she lives five minutes away from her awesome grandsons and their very cool parents.

Josh Jepson (Sound Design)

Josh Jepson is a Cloris Award -winning sound designer and a proud member of the Resident Artist Company at Iowa Stage Theatre. Josh has worked on every show since the founding of the company, has worked freelance, and works in sound a lights design at Hoyt Sherman Place.

Dakota Sommer (Master Electrician)

Dakota Sommer has worked with theatrical lighting in Des Moines for 10 years starting during his time at Roosevelt High School. Most recently he has designed lights for "Private Passage" by Kingman Row and "Legally Blonde" by Des Moines Young Artists Theatre. When not doing theater, Dakota is a stagehand for many local venues.