Our Ensemble
Lee Peters
Lee is a Creative Arts Professional who specializes in education and storytelling in all its forms. Lee is grateful to have had many opportunities to work with and impact the lives of young people as teacher and director for over 20 years. He is currently the Education and Community Programs Manager at Northlight Theatre and a company member with PlayMakers Laboratory. He has also been a teaching artist and the Director of Arts Education Programs at Storycatchers Theatre, a teacher and director with Ovation Academy, and a teaching artist with Chicago Dantztheatre and Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education.
Managing Director and Ensemble
Allison Sokolowski
Allison is an actor, a teaching artist and Board member of PlayMakers Laboratory, and a standardized patient at Northwestern Medicine and The Chicago School of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a proud Chicagoland native with a B.S. in Acting and English from Illinois State University. She was a founding member of the Illinois State Playback Theatre Ensemble where, for over two years, she performed in shows and helped lead outreach workshops with the local Boys and Girls Club. She has studied at the Centre for Playback Theatre in New York and with several leading Playback Theatre teachers worldwide, including the founders of Playback Theatre.
Founder, Artistic Director, and Ensemble
Co-Artistic Director and EnsembleRian Sondag
Rian is a Chicago-based comedian and storyteller with a passion for laughter and independent theater. She received her BA in Theater from Miami University and is a graduate of The Second City’s Conservatory Program. She has produced, directed, and performed in multiple productions throughout the city and is grateful to continue to be able to create art and make new works shine. She is looking forward to directing Fowl Play’s production of Cosmic Thrill Seekers in the fall.
Financial Director and EnsembleJamie Redwood
Jamie is a Chicago based actor and musician. In addition to Chicago Playback, she is a company member with Idle Muse Theatre Company. When she’s not performing, Jamie spends her time working with Piano Power, offering private piano/voice/guitar lessons to people of all ages.
Teri Talo
Teri is a Non-Binary, Boriquen/Mexican actor, singer, teaching artist, and visual artist based in Chicago. They are excited to be returning to CPTE as an Ensemble Member and the Social Media Manager. They are also a teaching artist with Chicago Children’s Theatre. Their performance work includes, Floating Girls(#WeWomenFest25 with Artemisia Theatre at Bramble Arts Loft), Whore of Babylon (Pocket Theatrics at The Understudy), Pericles (The Forest Theatre), Virtue and Grace (1700 Lookout Series at Steppenwolf and Under St. Marks Theater in New York), and A Town Called Progress (Promethean Theatre at The Den Theatre). Their directing work includes, it’s been ten years since everyone died. a play about final girls and assistant directing Cock by Mike Bartlett, both with Open Space Arts. insta: @teri_talo and @gallery_talo
Social Media Coordinator and Ensemble
Evelyn Jane Wohlbier
Evelyn is a devised theatre artist fresh to the Chicago theatre scene, a proud ensemble member of the Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble, and an emerging Intimacy Director currently earning her graduate certificate in Intimacy at The Theatre School at DePaul University. Recent shows include: “Calypso” (2025) with The Village Theatre, “Infinity Burns” (2025) at A Red Orchid Theatre, and “I Think of You: Illuminating Mass Incarceration from Inside Out” (2023) at Portland Center Stage.
Training Coordinator and Ensemble
EnsembleKosarachi “Kosi” Achife
Kosi is an Igbo-American multi-disciplinary artist and educator. Originally from Houston, Texas, Kosi has been living in and cultivating her creativity in Chicago for almost 10 years.
EnsembleMaria Angelica Cuellar
Maria Angelica is a comedy and drama actress and an independent business development professional whose work bridges performance, leadership, and purpose. She trained in improvisation at The Second City and classical drama at Escuela de Teatro Estudio XXI. Her stage experience spans classical and contemporary theatre, including works by Shakespeare, Lorca, Chekhov, Ionesco, and Frayn, as well as musicals and commercial performances in Colombia and the United States. A trained dancer in tap, Irish dance, and jazz, She integrates physicality and rhythm into her performances. Parallel to her artistic career, she is the Founder of Incontact Group, where she leads projects across nonprofit and corporate sectors. A bilingual keynote speaker, strategist, and mentor, she is passionate about people, education, service, and innovation.
Eric Cho
Eric is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) in IL and owner of IMPROVing Life Counseling Inc. He has been working in the mental health field for 25+ years. He is a graduate of the CIIS Drama Therapy Program and was bitten by the Playback bug while there. He has performed with various Playback ensembles in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Milwaukee, and Chicago, and can currently be seen performing with The Therapy Players, a Chicago based improv group comprised entirely of mental health professionals. Eric is thrilled and grateful to be returning to the world of Playback Theater with CPTE.
Ensemble
Kennedy Frazier
Kennedy is a Chicago-based actor, writer, and musician. She studied playwriting and Arabic literature at Kenyon College and she’s a proud graduate of the Academy at Black Box Acting Studio. Alongside their artistic practice, they also serve as a behavioral health instructor and they’re passionate about using storytelling to promote hope and healing.
Guest Artist
EnsembleHattie Jule Hodes
Hattie is a Chicago based actor and theatre maker. She received her BFA in acting from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Training Program where she minored in cultural studies. She loves making work that honors both the absurd and the poetic alike. When not on stage you can find her teaching yoga, throwing kitchen dance parties, or hiking somewhere green.
EnsembleDan Marie McMillan
Dan Marie is a multidisciplinary artist living and creating in Chicago since 2021. With a BFA in Musical Theatre and a passion for storytelling, Dan teaches music, theatre arts, and storytelling classes with different companies in the city. They believe in the power of storytelling as humanity’s most influential tool. Through visual art, oration, music, movement, and dance, Dan works to share messages championing radical vulnerability and acceptance on stage and in the classroom.
Zoia Mendoza
Zoia is a Chicago actor and clown. She has a BFA in acting and 3 years of clown training. She has performed as a clown at Second City, the Physical Theatre Festival, Annoyance Theatre, Clash on Clark, Newport Theater, Cornservatory Theatre, Theatre Evolve, and Aloft Circus Arts.
Ensemble
Chase Nuerge
Chase is a Chicago-based actor whose passion is making relevant and political theater, especially normalizing gender non-conformity. Previous roles include Zhey in [Trans]formation (The Living Canvas and Nothing Without a Company), Zelazny in Down the Rocky Road and All the Way to Bedlam (Otherworld Theater), and Sad Boy in Wasteland Hero (Reutan Collective). When they are not performing, they work as the Standardized Patient Coordinator at The Chicago School of Osteopathic Medicine.
Ensemble
Guest ArtistSarah Schmitt
Sarah is a Chicago based actor and musician. She received her undergraduate degree in elementary education and Spanish at Monmouth College while also participating in theatre, improv, and gospel groups. After college, she spent a few years living abroad in Granada, Spain and Queretaro, Mexico where she performed in bands and taught theatre. Sarah has always appreciated the act of listening and storytelling and feels lucky to share this passion with the Playback team and its audiences.
EnsembleJamía Amíra Taylor
Jamía is an actress, musician and comedienne from Washington D.C.. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Instrumental Performance from Columbia College Chicago. Jamía has played lead roles in several critically-acclaimed Chicago stage productions, including: “Panther in the Sky,” “American Revolution,” “Love and Information,” “The Surgeon and Her Daughters,” “We’re All Born Naked, The Rest is Drag” and many more. Born with a God-given gift for instrumental musicianship, Jamía has mastered nearly a dozen instruments, most of which were self-taught. In addition to improvisational stage performance, she is a music educator and church musician.
Luke Wallens
Luke is a registered drama therapist, actor, improviser, singer, dancer and playwright and is an Ensemble Member for the Chicago Playback Theatre Ensemble. He currently sings and dances with Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus as well as dances for Kiki Queens. Outside of performing, Luke loves to garden, bake and go on hiking adventures with his dog.
Ensemble