The Creative Ensemble
Ren Manley ~ Founding Artistic Director
(she/her)
Ren Manley began her career in the Philadelphia theatre community, where she lived for almost 10 years after graduating from Arcadia University with a BA in Theatre Arts and Video Communications. She has studied theater, art & media all over the world, including London, Italy, & India. As a director, Ren has spent over a decade learning about all aspects of theatre and has worked in most areas of theater: acting, directing, stage managing, and designing props, sound & projections. She was the Resident Sound & Projection Designer for New City Stage, where her design for RFK received rave reviews and was a featured selection at the Capitol Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C. In Denver, she has worked with Visionbox Studio & The Edge Theatre as an actor, sound & projections designer and currently works as a director with Stagedoor Theatre. She was the Associate Artistic Director for Visionbox Studio, and acted as the Assistant Producer and Sound Designer for The Wild Hunt, written and directed by Bill Pullman. In 2015, she received a Henry Award and a Marlowe Award for her sound design of Jerusalem at The Edge Theatre.
Shawna Urbanski ~ Company Manager & Ensemble Actor
she/her
Shawna began with Audacious in 2018 as Stage Manager for Van Helsing's Daughters. She has since taken on the role of Company Stage Manager, as well as held acting roles in Grimm's Scary Tales, Drunk Christmas and Lady Killers.
Shawna is thrilled to be involved in the theatre scene after an extended "adulting" hiatus. She is very excited for the work Audacious does and has a passion to make the Colorado theater scene a more inclusive, compassionate and thought evoking community.
Logan Custer ~ Production Manager & Ensemble Actor
(he/him)
Logan is our Production Manager and Lightning Designer. He also fills the role of a Performer or Director in many of our shows.
He’s lived in Colorado for 20 years and graduated with his B.A. in Theatre from Metropolitan State University of Denver. A, non exhaustive, list of the other theaters he has worked with in his 24 years of experience include, Arts in the Open, Littleton Town Hall Arts Center, Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Program, and a 5 season run as a company member with the Virginia City Players.
He believes that immersive experiences are a major part of the future of live performance, and he is overjoyed to be working with Audacious to constantly be pushing the boundaries of what theatre can be.
This is Logan’s 6th season working with Audacious and he looks forward to many more.
Macbeth ~ Associate Artistic Director & Ensemble Actor
(they/them)
Director of Audacious Theatre's annual fundraising production of A Drunk Christmas Carol and the resident costume designer for Audacious productions. A long time ensemble member of Audacious they have been seen on stage as Aradia in Van Helsing’s Daughters and The Devil in Grimms’ Scary Tales. When not acting they are found behind the scenes as production designer and a core member of the Audacious create board.
Liz Porter ~ Company Scribe/Education Development & Ensemble Actor
(she/her)
Liz Porter, an Illinois native, moved to Colorado with an already long-standing love of theatrecraft. Her theatrical journey started at age twelve and remains a driving passion in her life. She performed extensively at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with the troupe The What You Will Shakespeare Company, playing such classical roles as Miranda, Alithea, Cleante, and Jocasta. Liz first joined Audacious in 2017 as Lizzie Borden in Lady Killers. Since then, she has performed in many Audacious productions including Drunk Christmas, Van Helsing's Daughters, and Woodlands and Wyverns, and plans to continue performing for as long as possible. In addition to acting, Liz is on the creative team as lead prop master, special effects designer, and dramaturg, as well as a scriptwriter and editor. She has now written multiple original scripts for Audacious, including Woodlands and Wyverns and An Evening with Gatsby. When she's not devoting her time to Audacious, she enjoys playing TTRPGs and a wide assortment of video games