Out of Hand Staff
Out of Hand is co-directed. Our 2-person Executive Director team works collaboratively and shares equal decision-making power and pay.
ARIEL FRISTOE, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Ariel founded Out of Hand in 2001 with her best friend. She is a creator, producer, director, and sometime actor. Ariel teaches arts administration at Emory.
ADRIA KITCHENS, INTERIM MANAGING DIRECTOR & ACTIVISM DIRECTOR
Adria is a mother, a coach, a business leader, and a singer who loves the performing arts and is passionate about transforming racism. Adria is known for her calm demeanor and joyful laughter.
Merian Callaway, finance Manager
Merian has over 30 years of experience as a CPA and supports organizations that boldly promote cultural understanding, inclusivity, and equity. For work-life balance, she embraces the solace of park walks and the vigor of cardio dance classes.
Shaina Kahn, Development Manager
Shaina is a storyteller and multimedia artist who’s passionate about sharing underrepresented stories and using art to build empathy and understanding. She’s excited to tell the stories of Out of Hand’s programs and raise funds to support our mission.
christy little, communications manager
Christy is a career non-profit employee who has done everything from herding cats to marketing strategy. A lover of storytelling and the written word, she can often be found reading and daydreaming.
Jaris Owens, Operations Manager
Jaris is an actor, storyteller, and facilitator with four years of experience in non-profit program management, relationship-building, and administrative support. When he's not onstage or helping run programs, Jaris enjoys being a cat dad, reading books on world history and Black theater, and walking on local park trails.
Melissa Simmons, Production manager
Melissa is an Atlanta based director, playwright, producer and lifelong theatre artist. She loves theatre so much she founded her own production company, MerryCat Productions, in 2022. MerryCat strives to adapt classic works of literature for the stage, through a queer, postmodern, movement based approach.
Nikki Young, associate artistic director
Nikki is a writer/director/actor and creative producer (Nikkiyo Films). She's a passionate dog mom, auntie, and Steeler fan. She finds peace on the yoga mat and the beach.
Jemmie Watford, Thriving Together Atlanta Project manager
A song writer, music producer, visual strategist, and communications specialist, Jemmie loves people and finding creative ways to bring them together.
Naya West, Shows in Homes Project Manager
Naya is an Atlanta-based performer, dance teacher, and content creator who is passionate about all things visual arts. She loves being able to create daily for the communities she is a part of. Naya exercises her creativity by teaching dance to young children, cosplaying, acting for film/theatre projects, and using photography and videography for passion projects.
Lola Dominguez, Social Media Manager
Lola is an experienced growth marketing director, specializing in supporting the missions of entrepreneurs, startups and businesses across all kinds of industries with her marketing expertise. Her work led her to founding her own personal fashion brand with a mission that promotes self-expression. She is committed to participating in projects that support equity in minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
Niya Randall, Equitable Dinners Lead Facilitator
Niya has been a dedicated member of Out of Hand Theater since 2020, bringing her passion for art, social justice, and civic engagement to various roles. She first joined as a volunteer during the pandemic, later becoming a facilitator for Equitable Dinners and the Creative Kids program, which offers free theater training to students in high-poverty schools.
Now the Lead Facilitator for Thriving Together Atlanta, an award-winning initiative funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Niya helps drive conversations on race and health equity through arts-based community events. She has also co-hosted Shows in Homes, a program that brings performances and discussions into intimate community spaces.
Through her work, Niya embodies Out of Hand Theater’s mission to use theater as a tool for connection, education, and activism, creating meaningful dialogue and empowering communities through the arts.
Out of Hand’s Associate Artists
Dionna hails from Savannah, GA with a Bachelor's in French Language from Georgia Southern University. She has worked a decade in Atlanta theatre sharing heartfelt stories as with Synchronicity Theatre, Marietta's New Theatre in the Square, Theater Emory, Horizon Theatre, Théâtre du Rêve and others in the role of actor, stage manager, and propsmaster. She was last seen in Synchronicity's "In The Continuum," and will next be seen at Theater Emory's "Blood Wedding." Follow her career on www.DottedDee.com
Dionna Davis, Associate Artist
Marcie R. Rendon is an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, author, playwright, poet, and freelance writer. Rendon is an award-winning author of the Cash Blackbear murder mystery series.
2024 will see the release of Rendon's first poetry book, Anishinaabe Songs for the New Millennium from UofM Press; a new stand-alone crime novel, Where They Last Saw Her from Penquin/Random, and Stitches of Tradition, a children's picture book from Heartdrum.
As the creative mind behind Raving Native Theater, Rendon's script, Sweet Revenge, had a sold out staged reading at the Jungle Theater, March 2024. She has also curated community created performances such as Art Is… Creative Native Resilience, TPT (Twin Cities Public Television), June 2019.
Rendon was the 2020 McKnight Artist of the Year, and was recognized as a 50 over 50 Change-maker by MN AARP and POLLEN in 2018.
Marcie Rendon, Associate Artist
Amina S. McIntyre is an Atlanta based playwright whose productions and readings include: Actor’s Express, Atlanta History Museum, Working Title Playwrights, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Out of Hand Theatre, The Blue Series (2019 Taurean Award Nominee for Excellence in Theatre), Vanderbilt University and Vanguard Repertory Theatre (Suzi Bass Award Winner). She has studied at Colby College, African American and African Diaspora Studies from Indiana University, Playwriting from Spalding University, and Theological Studies from Emory University. She was a Playwriting Apprentice at Horizon Theatre Company, Managing Director of Karibu Performing Arts, 2014-2016 Atlanta Region Young Ambassador for the Dramatist’s Guild, Co-Producer of WeReckon: A Southern Chronicle and the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs 2014-2015 Emerging Theatre Artist. Most recently, she has created plays with Horizon Theatre’s Black Women Speak Emerging Cohort and a Tennessee Playwrights Studio 2022 Playwriting Fellow. McIntyre currently serves as Co-Founder of the Hush Harbor Lab, is an Emory University Center for Ethics Arts and Social Justice Fellow and is a Ph.D candidate in Religion at Vanderbilt University.
Amina MacIntyre, Associate Artist
Dana L. Stringer is a playwright, poet, screenwriter, and writing instructor with a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. She is also an adjunct creative writing instructor in the Inspiration2Publication program at Antioch University Online. Dana has served as a guest playwright and judge for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Region 8. She currently serves as the Artist-in-Residence at Out of Hand Theater. Her most recent play, We the Village, was selected for Theatrical Outfit’s Made in Atlanta new play development program and the Unexpected Play Festival (2020) as well as Working Title Playwright’s First Light Series (2018). Some of her latest short works have been virtually presented by Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Billie Holiday Theatre, Out of Hand Theater, and Black Theatre Network. A combination of her produced plays, staged readings, and interdisciplinary art have been presented by Theatrical Outfit, Vanguard Repertory Company, Ain’t I a Woman Playfest, Blue Pearl Theatrics, National Black Theatre Festival, Fade to Black Play Festival, MoJo Fest, Coleman & Smith Artistic Company, and NAACP 10-Minute Play Festival. Her poetry has appeared in the African American Review, Rogue Agent, and Blackberry: a magazine. She is a member of the Dramatist Guild and Working Title Playwrights. Dana is a native of Louisville, Kentucky currently residing in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dana Stringer, Associate Artist
Sofia Palmero (she/they) is a writer, actor, moderator, and dramaturg in Atlanta, GA. Their full-length play Harina Pan was recently workshopped through the Working Title Playwrights Table Series and was selected for the Ethel Woolson Lab. Her other full length play, Walls, was workshopped through The Cultivators in 2020, was a finalist for the 2021 Ethel Woolson Lab, and will be featured in this year’s Virtual Threshold Festival at Actor’s Express. In 2019, they were featured in the AJC as a “Playwright to Watch in 2020.” Some of Sofia's short plays have been produced as part of the Latinas in Media Showcase, as well as by Aurora Theatre as part of the Festival de Microteatro. Sofia is also a member of the WTP Actor Ensemble and has been seen on stage with Out Front Theatre, Vernal and Sere Theatre Co., and Essence to Crux. Sofia is available as a dramaturg for hire through Working Title and you may catch her moderating if you pop into one of WTP’s Monday Night Development Workshops!
Sofia Palmero, Associate Artist
Markell W. Williams is an award-winning actor, writer and teaching artist based in Atlanta. He has performed for the Alliance Theater, 7 stages, Theatrical Outfit, True Colors, Out of Hand, Horizon Theatre, Birmingham Children’s Theatre, Weird Sisters, NC Black Repertory Co., The Object Group, Center for Puppetry Arts, Impulse Rep, and Theatre in the Square. Most notable TV/Film credits include a guest star role on ABC’s hit series Will Trent as well as the Disney Plus series She-Hulk and a guest start role the FX TV series Atlanta. Follow him on Instagram @Markell.Williams to see what he's up to next Agency | Houghton Talent 📍 Atlanta, GA
Markell Williams, Associate Artist
