MURPH

Marina Benedetti is an impassioned artist who dabbles in acting, illustration, writing, and music composition along with the slew of other activities that interest him. Above all though, he loves theater, and has ever since appearing as Liesl in The Sound of Music in fifth grade. Other notable roles include Emily in Elf Jr., Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, and Roxie Hart in Chicago. As a queer actor, Marina is so excited to be able to be a part of Salt and Sage’s Tears and Glitter which centers trans characters in its story. This is Marina’s first show in Portland, where he began attending college as a theater major this year, and he has been enjoying every second of all of it.ription goes here

QUINN

Jody Read is a recent graduate from the Reed College theatre program where they acted in and directed many plays. Most recently Jody directed The Amazing Cunt and Lil’Bitch Take Portland! by Katy Koop as her thesis which focused on ethical management of tough topics in the theatre and had a lot of similar themes to that of No More Candy! They are excited to continue working on pieces dealing with the tough parts of life and the beauty and strength that comes from recovering. Aside from acting, Jody is fully immersed in the art scene performing drag as Sik Phreak, illustrating as Uncomfortable Nonsense, and practicing opera and jazz singing. They would like to give a special thanks to Salt and Sage for the opportunity, and to their dog Fae for being an extremely good girl. 

DITA

Juliet Mylan (She/Her) is a writer, actor, director, and comedian. She has co-starred in Fuse Theatres' The Queers and Blonde on a Bum Trip. She was Assistant Director for the award winning American Girl by local playwright Mikki Gillette. You can find her every month at Fuse Theatre where she produces her shows, Magic Tea Party, a live D&D actual play  comedy show, and Closet Cases: A Queer Storytelling Showcase.

TARA

Billie Jane Dawson (she/they) is a Portland-based transgender performing artist. While Tears & Glitter marks her return to theatre post-transition, their previous credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, Picnic, and Dancing at Lughnasa. Billie Jane writes, records, and performs music around Portland, and regularly hosts Workers Tap’s bi-monthly open mic night. They are thrilled to be working with Salt & Sage—especially in a production so poignant as this—and dedicates her performance to her community, to Peter, to transexuals everywhere, and to Magnus (cat).

RHETT

Christian Gutierrez switched coasts back in 2020, and has only recently gotten back into what he resonates with: performance. A New Jersey transplant that graduated from Muhlenberg College with a BA in Theatre, and spent his post-grad apprenticing with the rebellious Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. This past summer he worked with Salt and Sage on their production of the Henriad, and previously was a mentee with Third Rail Repertory. He’s excited and curious to explore new forms of storytelling and communication that break past the boundaries of language.

COLLIER

PLAYWRIGHT

Mikki Gillette is an award-winning trans woman playwright, who's thrilled to be working again with Salt and Sage. Mikki was named one of Portland, OR’s 25 Most Influential Artists by Willamette Week magazine. Her show American Girl was featured in American Theatre and voted Best Play in the Broadway World Portland Awards following its 2023 production. Other productions include The Queers (Fuse Theatre ’22), My Perfectly Valid Objections (Salt and Sage ’23) and They Them Their (Fuse Theatre ’23), and Blonde on a Bum Trip (Fuse Theatre ’24). Learn more at: mikkigillette.com.

DIRECTOR

Asae Dean has built her directing career around Shakespeare and new work. On the Shakespeare front, she has staged nearly half the canon and just completed Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V. Her love of early modern drama is not limited to Shakespeare and she has also directed Beaumont and Fletcher and Thomas Kyd. In terms of new work, she has directed world premieres of work by Leonard Madrid, Michael Eichler, Bruce Hostetler, Heath Hyun, and - of course - Mikki Gillette. No More Candy is her third full length collaboration with Mikki and it will not be her last! 

Asae is from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Wandering around a museum is her favorite type of creative rest. You can read more about her and her work at: asaedirects.com

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

R David Wyllie grew up in New York City, where he and his cruel and manipulative step-sister Kathryn attended an elite prep school. Being both rich and bored, they decided to make a wicked bet around the affections of their classmate, Annette.

However, R David became genuinely interested in Annette and began to struggle with his feelings for her, complicating their little game. Meanwhile, Kathryn sought to maintain her power and control by manipulating basically everyone at their school.
Despite his bestintentions, R David’s growing affection for Annette eventually led to betrayal, heartbreak, and tragic consequences. But hey, at least the soundtrack was full of late 90’s bops!

INTIMACY DIRECTOR

An actor, writer and director. Heath holds a MFA in Creative Writing with a focus in playwriting from Goddard College and a BA in Theatre with a focus in performance from Humboldt State University.

Intimacy Director credits with Portland Center Stage, Profile Theatre, Oregon Opera Theatre, Shaking the Tree, Fuse Ensemble, Salt and Sage and more, in addition to consulting work with Reed College, Lakewood Theatre Company and Chapel Theatre Company.

SCENIC & PROPS DESIGN

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Sophina Flores (She/Her) is the founder of local QTPOC dance theatre company Roots and All Theatre Ensemble, centering marginalized identities and breaking the boundaries of realism, who you may know from Liminal, The Between Spaces, and Ritual Treatment . Recently she has worked as an Assistant Lighting Designer to Marika Kent at Portland Center Stage, and designed lights at Bag and Baggage, Passinart, Salt and Sage, The Actor's Conservatory, FUSE, Oregon Children's Theater, From the Ground Up, Crave, Lewis and Clark, Hand2Mouth, Profile, and Artists Repertory Theater. As a theatre maker, playwright, director, deviser, and choreographer, her work centers the intersectionality of identities as a neurodivergent, bisexual Puerto Rican woman, and prominently features themes of mental illness and trauma, with surrealist or magical realist motifs.

FIGHT DIRECTOR

This is Adam's first Fight Design credit with Salt and Sage. Past credits include, Fight Choreography for Grant High School's "She Kills Monsters", Assistant Choreographer on Salt and Sage's "MacBeth" and "Henriad", as well as Anonymous Theatre's "Romeo and Juliet".

He has been choreographing and training with his wife (multi award-winning Kristen Mun-Van Noy) for over eight years, and assisted at many local high schools, colleges, theatres and also 2 films in the Portland area.