CAST
Maya Knell (KEL) (she/her) is a Los Angeles–based queer actor, comedian, and creator from New York. She works across film, television, and stage, including award-winning short films and I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (Netflix). Selected stage credits include Mikvah Girls, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Seagull, Top Girls, Sick, and The 24 Hour Plays (Signature Theatre). She holds a BA from Bennington College and was named Best Young Actress by LA Theater Bites (2024). Biggest love to her community, her partner Emma, and her cat Finn. @mayaknell | mayaknell.com
Jill Young (LAUREN) (they/she) is an actor and comedian with training from The Second City and The Idiot Workshop. They co-wrote and starred in the feature Dear Leo (2020) which premiered at the Inside Out: Toronto LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Jill recently toured her award-winning solo show THE KIDS MIGHT DIE (a tale told by an idiot) to the 2025 New Zealand Fringe and 2024 Edinburgh Fringe. Selected stage credits include The Wolves, Mr. Burns..., and ENRON. Jill earned a BFA in Acting from UT Austin. She regularly performs comedy both live and online, and is currently developing a new solo show titled PURPOSE MACHINE. Sending much love and thanks to her girlfriend (Maeve) and her cat (Pianoman).
@jillisyoung | www.jillkyoung.com
Santi MacLean (JOSH) (he/him) is an LA-based actor & filmmaker. This fall he played Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Red Ink Ensemble, as well as playing Hanry in the new play MOMMY at the REDCAT Roy & Edna Disney/CalArts Theater. His films Doomscrolling and rip can be found streaming on NoBudge. Santi is LA's only Action Theater certified teacher. AT is a physical theater practice developed by Ruth Zaporah, which he currently teaches once a month in NoHo. He has taught playwriting at Middlebury College's Bread Loaf School of English. He has a BFA in Theatre & Performance from Emerson College. He is Peruvian and loves to collage <3 @santithellama
Mikel Farber (MAX) is an actor and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Recent stage credits include Sick, and How I Learned to Drive. He has a juicy role in the short film Fool, which will premiere later this year. For over 10 years he's worked behind the bar, and on the production team at Largo at The Coronet. He's thankful for his girlfriend, his community of friends and artists, and his little home in the middle of the city.
CREATIVE TEAM
Jay Stalder (Playwright) is a playwright living in Los Angeles, CA. His short play A DEFINITIVE RANKING OF MY CLOSEST FRIENDS was published as part of Samuel French's 49th annual Off Off Broadway Festival Plays Series. His first full-length play KEEP YOURSELF SAFE, or U-HAUL PLAY was showcased last year as a sold-out staged reading at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles. ...MY CLOSEST FRIENDS had a successful run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2023 (winner of the Hollywood Encore Producers’ Award), and was also adapted into a short film of the same name (Independent Shorts Award; Dumbo Film Festival in Brooklyn, NY). Jay studied at Webster Conservatory in St. Louis. Currently he has a boyfriend and a fulfilling social life.
Brian Eckert (Director) (he/him) is a director invested in understanding systems, the how and why we relate to each other. He is also a creative leader and the Founding Producing Artistic Director of This Is A Front. Most recently in Los Angeles, he directed and produced the world premiere of Mikvah Girls by Emmy Weissman (Best Drama, Hollywood Fringe; Finalist, International Fringe Encore Series at SoHo Playhouse); Jackie by Elfriede Jelinek; Lucas Hnath’s play A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt Disney; as well as countless developmental processes. He also directed The Last Supper and Three Years Later by Calamity West at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in New York. He was a frequent associate to director Sarna Lapine and others, including Jessica Stone, Young Jean Lee, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and the legendary Graciela Daniele. He has worked Off-Broadway and regionally at Ars Nova, Atlantic Theater Company, Classic Stage Company, New York City Center, Pasadena Playhouse, and Two River Theater. BFA: NYU. brianeckertdirector.com
Calliope Weisman (Assistant Director) (she/her) is a theatre director, producer, and teaching artist in Los Angeles. She has a BA in Theatre from SDSU and currently works with the Santa Clarita Shakespeare Festival, Learn Beyond the Book, and 24th Street Theatre. Most recently, she produced GIRL BLOOD (a period piece) presented by Zanni Theatrics that premiered at the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival. She also directed and produced Jill Young’s award-winning immersive solo show THE KIDS MIGHT DIE (a tale told by an idiot) that toured the west coast, Edinburgh, and New Zealand. She will be pursuing an MFA in Directing at UIowa in the fall. She is so grateful for the opportunity to work with This Is A Front this season!
Anthony Savitt (Stage Manager) (he/him) is a musician, product manager, and advocate of alternative transportation and community building, turned stage manager. Anthony has previously stage managed for Zanni Theatrics' Girl Blood (A Period Piece); Cookie Cutter Theatre Co's Constellations; The Tavern Brawlers' productions of Steve Martin's The Underpants, and A Couple of Blaguards; and on the crew of THE KIDS MIGHT DIE both as a producer and tech operator. Anthony is thrilled to be working with This Is A Front for this exciting, funny, heart-aching season!
Joshua Moreno (Technical Director) (he/him) is a visual and event designer and carpenter. Past theatrical credits include Saturdays at 10am (Scenic Builder), Mikvah Girls (Technical Director), Jackie (Production Designer), A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney (Scenic Designer), and The Last Supper and Three Years Later (Scenic Designer). Josh has his own business taking custom furniture commissions from clients all over the country. You can find some of his work on Instagram @reclaimedbyjoshua.
This Is A Front (Producer) is a company in Los Angeles that aims to stage connection through theatre and social moments. We envision a vibrant creative community that reshapes how we understand our role in each other’s lives.
Our most recent production, Mikvah Girls by Emmy Weissman, premiered at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2024. It received two extensions and numerous awards including the Fringe Award for Best Drama and was a finalist for the International Fringe Encore Series hosted by SoHo Playhouse in New York.
As a company, we are also invested in building creative community, and we design programming with that explicit purpose. Highlighted recent events include Home for the Holidays (holiday cabaret), Artists in Response (a post-2024 election event), and Tales of the Night (a short horror play reading series).
This year, we are producing BREAK-UP SEASON, including two world-premiere plays and a collection of community events examining why we stay in relationships and narratives that no longer serve us.
PRODUCTION STAFF
produced by This Is A Front, Producing Artistic Director Brian Eckert
co-produced with Maya Knell, Jay Stalder, and Jill Young
associate produced by Calliope Weisman
production managed by Anthony Savitt
executive produced by Diana Buckhantz, Chris Frost, and Eric Steen
Content Advisory
This play includes humorous discussion about many sensitive topics, including:
suicide
homophobia
racism
bullying
Up Next
Keep Yourself Safe, or U-Haul Play is part of This Is A Front’s BREAK-UP SEASON.
Our next production is Playback by Jessica Marie Fisher, starring Everleigh Brenner, to be produced in the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Read more about the season here. And keep your eyes peeled on our Instagram @thisisafront.theatre for announcements of our next events, including a salon with the artists from both productions to talk about the overlapping themes of the work.