June 2023-Present
Curate and produce year-round season of plays, festivals, and workshops uniting youth leadership with adult mentorship. Productions and programs are entirely free for artists and audience members. Oversee organization’s programs, community partnerships, annual budget, and 100+ artists, mentors, and leaders. First youth Producing Artistic Director.
Select productions:
- Falsettoland - 2025
- Dance Nation - 2024
- Lebensraum - 2024
- Love is in the Air* - 2024
- The Effect - 2024
- Animal Farm* - 2024
- The Good Doctor - Penguin's first touring production, performed at four senior living communities, 2023
Select programs:
- Directing Lab: The Thanksgiving Play - a directing program for teens and college students to grow as artists and leaders while staging scenes from a timely satire about cultural sensitivity, 2024
- Technical Theatre Workshops - a bimonthly opportunity for teens to connect with professional designers and technicians, 2024
- Finding Trails: On Wheels* - a new works program on environmental themes pairing young playwrights and directors with professional mentors, produced in partnership with The Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival and Artists at the Center, 2024
- Penguin Ambassador Cohort - an intergenerational collective of Penguin stakeholders meeting monthly to advance strategic and artistic goals, build community, and improve accessibility pathways, 2024
- Bonfire New Works Festival* - Penguin's third annual retreat for teen-written new works, produced in partnership with Seattle Rep, 2024
- Chekhov Workshop - produced in partnership with The Seagull Project, 2023
- Spooky Stories 'Round the Bonfire* - a new works program for young playwrights to develop and produce short horror plays, co-produced with 18th & Union, 2023
Jan. 2023-June 2023
Led community engagement efforts, launched sponsorship program, produced inaugural summer silent auction fundraiser, and managed all productions. First youth staff member.
Select productions:
- Everybody - 2023
- Macbeth!* - 2023
- Hand to God - 2023
Select programs:
- Plastic Roses Workshop* - a public reading of a new play by a teen playwright, 2023
- Bonfire* - a new works program, produced in partnership with The Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival, Mercer Island Summer Celebration, and Mostly Music in the Park, 2023
- Finding Trails: Intersections* - an international new works program on environmental themes, produced in partnership with ACT Theatre and NW Folklife, 2023
- Bonfire New Works Festival* - Penguin's second annual retreat for teen-written new works, produced in partnership with Seattle Rep, 2023
Dec. 2022-Aug. 2023
Designed accessible casting infrastructure, served on season planning committee, provided artistic support for all productions, and helped the organization navigate producing challenges.
Productions:
- Trevor - 2023
- The Shadow Box - 2023
- Indecent - 2023
Feb. 2022-June 2022
Produced student-written musicals* for the Rising Star Project during the COVID-19 pandemic at Seattle’s largest regional theater. Led efforts to partner with venues serving communities that lack access to arts participation.
*indicates new works by young playwrights
Copyright © 2025 Kyle Gerstel - All Rights Reserved.
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