Current Board of Directors and Officers
Darryl Woodson
President; Director of Readings
2017 Star Award honoree, SD Performing Arts League. “The Martian Chronicles” Colony Theater, LA. Various Films, LA. “The Three Penny Opera” and Brecht one-acts plays, The Eureka Theater, San Francisco. Actor and Stage Manager for National Tours, The New Shakespeare Company, San Francisco. “Glory Hallelujah”, American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco. Training: American Conservatory Theater (scholarship). Margret Roma NSC. Charles Conrad Film Acting School, Burbank. LA City College Acting program. Diablo Valley College Theater Program, Concord CA. He has a BS in Business Administration from CSULA. Darryl is a Vietnam War Veteran and served as an FMF (Fleet Marine Force) Hospital Corpsman with the 5th Marine Regiment, the most highly decorated regiment in the Marine Corps
Gordon L. Gidlund
Vice-President; Director of Membership; Playwright of Mock Trials
A practicing attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel since 1984 and an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego School of Law since 1999, Mr. Gidlund is concerned with the intersection of Shakespeare and the law. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching English in the Republic of Korea. As a yeoman, he has had long associations with the Boy Scouts, the Red Cross, St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, and the local Civil War Round Table. He has a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota.
Claire E. White
Chief Financial Officer
Claire spent much of her career as a Travel Agent. She served as Treasurer for the San Diego chapter of American Society of Travel Agents and San Diego Women in Travel. Other offices include President and IFWTO Director for San Diego Women in Travel. The highlights of her travels include celebrating her birthday in Wuhan, China and studying Shakespeare at Magdalen College, Cambridge, England. She was also commissioned as a Notary Public for 12 years.
John Tessmer
Artistic Director
John is a professional actor and director, who holds a B.A. from Yale and an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He spent six seasons with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival between graduate school and moving back to his home town of San Diego in 2001. John co-founded the La Jolla Theatre Ensemble in 2010 and is the company’s Producing Artistic Director. Regionally and locally, he has performed on many stages. John is an Associate Artist of New Fortune Theatre Company. He has taught for the University of Colorado and the Old Globe Theatre and acted in two-thirds of the Shakespearean canon.
Patricia Elmore Costa
Director of Programming
Patricia is the founder and Artistic Director of the San Diego Actors Theatre now celebrating 34 years of presenting professional, provocative and innovative theatre. Patricia is a professional actor, director, producer, writer and educator of theatre and communication arts. She has directed and acted in projects in San Diego: the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, San Diego Museum of Art, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Playwrights Project, 6 th @ Penn Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, Eveoke Theatre, and San Diego Actors Theatre. She created, directed, and performed in five different popular Shakespeare programs for SD City and County Gate programs. Patricia created the Sunday Salon of staged readings and other theatre projects at the La Jolla Riford Library. Recently, she directed a critically acclaimed site-specific production of The Zoo Story.
Nathan Agin
Director of Online Marketing
Nathan Agin is an audiobook narrator, online marketer/web designer, text coach, and podcast host of The Working Actor’s Journey. Nathan attended USC’s School of Dramatic Arts and trained in classical theatre with The Antaeus Company. He recently relocated to San Diego after 4 years in Chicago and was fairly nomadic before that. Learn more about him and all his projects here.