Theatre Guest Artists

Below are some of the talented guest artists we've been fortunate to have work with the department and our students.

Matthew B. Zrebski

Matthew B. Zrebski is a multi-award winning director, playwright, composer, script consultant, teaching artist, and producer whose career has been defined by new play development and innovative productions.  Recent directing credits include Hide, Orlando, I Want to Destroy You, Up the Fall, and Bob: A Life in Five Acts. His recently produced writing includes Arm, One Move, Shiver: a musical ghost story, Red in the Cloud, In a Single Breath, Offended!, Carnivora, Chrysalis, and Ablaze: an a cappella musical thriller, which recently received its New York City premiere. The cast albums of both Ablaze and Shiver along with his electronic albums We Persist and Chamber have all been distributed by Woodsway Entertainment. And the recently released short film, Swipe Left, features his original score. A passionate advocate for arts education, he’s the former Resident Teaching Artist at Portland Center Stage and is on staff with the Acting Academy at Oregon Children’s Theatre. He is the current Director of Education for Playwrights West, overseeing both the Teen West Ink Playwriting Residency Program as well as the Teen West Project New Work Development Production Program. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild of America and is an alumnus of The Recording Academy. He holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University where he graduated summa cum laude.

Cassie Greer

Cassie trained in the MFA Acting program at Florida Atlantic University; the BA Theatre, History, and Music programs at Goshen College; and in the 9th Certification group of Fitzmaurice Voicework® teachers. She served as Artistic Director at Bag&Baggage Productions in Hillsboro, Oregon from 2019-2022, and has worked (in a variety of capacities) on more than 30 productions with that company since 2011. In addition to working on a variety of stage, film, commercial, and voiceover projects, Cassie also performs as a core member of No Filter Improv, coaches private acting and voice students, teaches workshops, and can occasionally be found as an adjunct professor at Pacific University. 

Summer Olsson

Summer is a performer, creator, director, and designer. From touring devised work through Europe, to serving as artistic director of an international theatre festival, to playing library shows with a trash puppet rock band, her career has embraced theater arts from all angles. In Portland she works regularly with Corrib Theater, Salt and Sage Productions, Echo Theatre Co, and Red Yarn, among others. She is half of the clowns in Duo Doppio. Summer believes that theatre develops imagination and body, inspires and heals people, and helps them tell their stories. Summer is a graduate of the University of New Mexico and the Dell’ Arte International School of Physical Theatre.

Tom Coash

Playwright Tom Coash's Veils was produced by Pacific University, directed by Debbie Lamedman. Tom is a New Haven, Ct. USA playwright, director, and dramaturge. Prior to New Haven, he spent three years in Bermuda and four years teaching playwriting at The American University in Cairo, Egypt. Coash was a Co-founder of the Offstage Theatre in Charlottesville, VA and has worked for such theatres as the Manhattan Theatre Club, Stageworks/Hudson,  and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Coash has won numerous playwriting awards including Ensemble Studio Theatre’s Hammerstein Award, The Kennedy Center’s Lorraine Hansberry Award, and a Jerome Playwriting Fellowship. His plays have been produced at such theatres as: Portland Stage, the InterAct Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Bailiwick Theatre, West Coast Ensemble, and many more. Coash was the recipient of a CT. State Artist Fellowship. His play Cry Havoc was recently produced in the South African National Arts Festival where he was an artist-in-residence. His new play Veils was recently named the winner of the American Theatre Critics Association's "M. Elizabeth Osborn Award" as well as being named a Finalist for the Steinberg/ATCA Award. Veils was also the Clauder Competition for New England Playwrights Winner and a recipient of the Edgerton Foundation National New Play Award. Coash has an MFA in Playwriting from the University of California at Davis.

Austin Tichenor

Austin Tichenor adapted and directed Pacific University's recent production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Austin is the co-Artistic Director of the Reduced Shakespeare Company; the producer and host of the Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast, the world’s oldest and longest-running weekly theatre podcast; the co-author of Pop-Up Shakespeare (2017; illustrated by Jennie Maizels), Reduced Shakespeare: The Complete Guide for the Attention-Impaired (abridged) (2005), and ten stage comedies that include William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) and Hamlet’s Big Adventure! (a prequel)—all co-written with Reed Martin.