Programming at Art Place

Laura Artesi (she/her, Associate Artistic Director) is an actor, director, and educator born and raised in NYC with an MFA from STC’s Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University. As an actor, local credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare Theatre Company - DC & Macau Arts Festival Tour productions), Julius Caesar (Chesapeake Shakespeare Company), Laughs in Spanish, Lobby Hero, Well, The Farnsworth Invention, How the Light Gets In (1st Stage), Timon of Athens, As You Like It (Folger Theatre), 10 Seconds (Imagination Stage), Hamlet, Women Beware Women (STC Academy), As You Like It, Three Musketeers, Sleeping Beauty (Synetic Theater). Laura directed The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the STC Summer Intensive, and assistant directed Our Town for Imagination Stage’s Conservatory. Locally she has taught with Imagination Stage, Round House Theatre, and has been an Affiliated Teaching Artist at Shakespeare Theatre Company since 2016. Laura single-handedly founded and runs the Theatre Program at German International School of Washington D.C. She is thrilled to be a founding member of this company and is dedicated to making the classics feel accessible and relevant in a modern world.

Rahima R. Rice, aka Rahima the Writer, is a fifth-generation native Washingtonian. Her articles and personal essays have been published in LEVEL Magazine, The Daring, Looper, and Living Corporate. Rahima holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media from the University of the District of Columbia, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for the Stage & Screen from Lesley University, and a Certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurship from Cornell University. Rahima is the curator of the dinner theater festival The 10-Minute Taste, and recently served as the performing arts teacher and department chair at Brookland Middle School.

Melissa Princess Best, “The HEALACIST” / HipHopMomma, is a transformational speaker, performing artist, Educational Emcee, author, and Healing Arts Catalyst who uses hip-hop theater, storytelling, lyric writing, and creative social-emotional learning to empower girls and women.

Rahima R. Rice, aka Rahima the Writer, is a fifth-generation native Washingtonian. Her articles and personal essays have been published in LEVEL Magazine, The Daring, Looper, and Living Corporate. Rahima holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media from the University of the District of Columbia, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for the Stage & Screen from Lesley University, and a Certificate in Women’s Entrepreneurship from Cornell University. Rahima is the curator of the dinner theater festival The 10-Minute Taste, and recently served as the performing arts teacher and department chair at Brookland Middle School.

John A. Johnson is a poet, playwright, and native Washingtonian. He is the founder and creator of Verbal Gymnastics Theater Company and has worked as a drama therapist in partnership with the District’s Youth Services Center. Mr. Johnson is a published author who has written and produced six plays that reflect and celebrate the culture of his native city, Washington, DC. He is a three-time Artist Fellow of the DC Arts Commission.

Gil Mitchell (he/him, Artistic Director) is a multi-hyphenate artist and educator currently based out of Washington, DC. He has a BA in Performing Arts and an MLitt in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University, an MFA from the George Washington University and the Academy at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and a certificate in Contemporary Circus Arts from the Musik og Teaterhøjskolen in Toftlund, Denmark. He is an award-winning director, actor, and choreographer, and has collaborated with institutions such as The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The American Shakespeare Center, and Harvard University. He works as a freelance educator, and is a faculty member at NewU University, where he teaches rhetoric. In his free time, he plays amateur chess, and excellent gin rummy. He takes his coffee black and frequently.