Theatre Program Faculty
Full-Time Faculty
Proshot Kalami
Associate Professor
Expertise: direction, dramaturgy
Education:
PhD with Double Emphasis on Performance Studies and Film Studies from University of California, Davis
Courses taught:
THR 109 – Play Production Workshop
THR 115 – Playwrighting
LIT 225 – Introduction to Dramatic Literature
HON 200 – Honors Seminar: Hashtag to Street Performance – Digital Activism
Proshot Kalami received her PhD with Double Emphasis on Performance Studies and Film Studies from University of California, Davis, and currently teaches in English, Communication, and Performing Arts at Bunker Hill Community College.
Before joining Bunker Hill Community College she served as a Lecturer, Assistant Professor, and later Associate Professor at UC Berkeley Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies, UC Santa Cruz Department of Film and Digital Media, Loughborough University Department of English and Drama. She was a fellow at JNU Institute for Advance Studies at the Department of Performance Studies, and later she served as a fellow at Interweaving Performance Culture at Theaterwissenschaft Freie Universität Berlin.
She has worked as a director, dramaturge, playwright, radio drama director, voice actor, and street performance director. Her works have been stages off-off Broadway, and toured across the United States, Italy, France, Germany, England, Morocco, and India. As a live performance videographer and video installation artist she has worked with the Asia Society of North America, Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York), Cal Performances (UC Berkeley), Mondavi Center (UC Davis), Chorus Repertory Theatre (Manipur, India) and the Barbican (London).

Jorge Alberto Rubio
Assistant Professor Expertise: Acting, Voice and Movement, Directing
Education:
American Repertory Theatre at Harvard University/Moscow Art Theatre School, Master of Fine Arts, Acting
San Francisco State University, Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Studies
Courses Taught:
THR 107 – Acting I
THR 108 – Acting II
THR 109 – Play Production Workshop
THR 113 – Voice and Movement
Jorge is an actor and theatre professor from Los Angeles and Mexico who has worked mostly in New York and Regional Theaters in the U.S., Peru and Russia. He collaborates with artists from many backgrounds and disciplines in the exploration of social equity, diversity and culture through the performing arts.
As an actor, he has had the privilege of working with some of the world´s most celebrated theatre practitioners such as Karin Coonrod, Jay Scheib, Octavio Solis and Aya Ogawa from the U.S., Peter Brook, Niel Bartlett, Mark Wing-Davie from England, Dominique Serrand from France, Rodrigo Benza from Peru, Janos Saez from Hungary and Adolf Shapiro from Russia.
He forms part of the international theatre group, Compagnia de Colombari based in New York dedicated to social and artistic diversity and the decolonization of classical texts. Recent projects include: More or Less I Am Remote with Compagnia de Colombari, El Colaborador at Micro Teatro Lima, a play that reveals political corruption in Peru. Jorge has also created performances for El Día de los Muertos at Museo del Barrio New York and performed at The Public Theatre, La Mama, INTAR, Target Margin Theater, Here Arts Center, P.S 122, The Lark, American Repertory Theatre, BFA Boston, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Teatro de la Esperanza, San Jose Stage Company and Mixed Blood Theatre, Minn.
Before coming to Bunker Hill, Jorge worked as a professor at City University of New York, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, La Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, UPC, Universidad Científica del Sur and La Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola. He also is a teacher and co-founder of the theatre school in Peru, Talleres de Teatro con Jorge y Monilú--acting workshops for children, youth and adults. He is of Mexican heritage and loves spending time with his brilliant actor and producer wife, Monica and his two daughters. He enjoys cooking in the evenings and surfing very early in the mornings.
Adjunct Faculty

Jen Shambaugh Lewis
Adjunct Professor
Expertise: acting, directing, theatre education
Education:
Emerson College, Master of Fine Arts, Theatre Education and Applied Theatre
Emerson College, Master of Arts, Theatre Education (2018)
New York University, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Acting, with Honors (1997)
Courses taught:
THR 107 – Acting I
Jen works to connect and challenge our world with honest, playful theatre. A freelance actor, director, teacher, coach, playwright, and mom, she currently teaches Acting at Bunker Hill Community College and acts and directs in Greater Boston on stage, screen and microphone. She serves on StageSource's Gender Parity and Line Drawn Initiatives, combating gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the theatre community.
Recently, she has performed historic plays about social justice issues as a company member of Theatre Espresso; directed at Merrimack College's On Stagers, Beaver Country Day Upper School, the Winsor School, and both Newton North and South High Schools; and taught theatre at Wheelock Family Theatre and in several public schools. Favorite theatre roles include Rosalind in As You Like It which she produced as Merely Players; Hermia in Midsummer Night's Dream, Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing (It's a Fiasco); Legally Dead (Boston Playwrights' Theatre); Kate in Taming of the Shrew; Living Out (Lyric Stage); and The Friends of Eddie Coyle (Stickball). She has attended Shakespeare and Company's Month-long Intensive twice, as both a participant and teacher-trainee.
Her voice-over work includes thirteen years of online corporate trainings for SAI Global (formerly Integrity Interactive) as well as many other commercial and corporate clients. A member of SAG-AFTRA, she has been active in on-camera and voice-over work in Boston for over a decade with many principal roles in commercials and countless corporate video jobs.
Personally, Jen lives in Medford, MA with her husband and two children. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, and StageSource.
Ashleigh Reade
Adjunct Professor
Expertise: acting, voice
Education:
Moscow Art Theatre/Harvard University, Master of Fine Arts, Voice Pedagogy
Boston Conservatory, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Musical Theatre
Courses taught:
THR 107 – Acting I
THR 113 – Voice and Movement
Ashleigh Reade holds a BFA in Musical Theater from the Boston Conservatory and an MFA in Voice Pedagogy from the Moscow Art Theater/Harvard University. She is an Assistant Professor of Theater at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Visiting Faculty at Salem State University, Lecturer with Harvard Extension School and Summer School, and Adjunct Faculty at Bunker Hill Community College. She has previously taught with Berklee College of Music, Lyric First Stage, The Moscow Art Theater School, and Harvard College. As a vocal coach, her credits include Intimate Apparel at Brandeis University, Witness Uganda at the ART directed by Diane Paulus, and The Light Princess at the ART. Ashleigh is a certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework.

Robert St. Laurence
Adjunct Professor
Expertise: acting, improvisation, fight choreography
Education:
Harvard University, A.R.T./M.X.A.T. Institute, Master of Fine Arts, Acting
Brandeis University, Bachelor of Arts, Theatre Arts and Psychology
Courses taught:
THR 107 – Acting I
THR 108 – Acting II
THR 111 – Improvisation
Robert St. Laurence has been an active professional stage actor in New England for more than 15 years. A perennial company member with the Barnstormers Theatre in New Hampshire, his local credits include Huntington Theatre, American Repertory Theater, New Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage, Greater Boston Stage, Company One, Reagle Music Theatre, Wheelock Family Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Gloucester Stage, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, and Oldcastle Theatre. Robert joined Bunker Hill Community College after a period of working in Eastern Europe, with stops at the AST National Academy of Theatre Arts in Poland and the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia. In addition to scripted stagecraft, Robert is a seasoned improvisational performer, working with The Second City in Chicago. Robert maintains active membership in the Actor’s Equity Association.
An experienced fight director, Robert has choreographed fights for numerous shows in the Boston area, including Three Musketeers, True West, As You Like It, and Troilus and Cressida. Robert has trained in rapier & dagger, quarterstaff, broadsword, knife, and unarmed stage combat, and obtained the rank of Actor-Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.
His current projects in development include Her Notebook: a historical exploration of the J.S. Bach household, in collaboration with the American Guild of Organists. In addition to acting course instruction, Robert is the faculty advisor for the BHCC Theatre Club. Robert received his M.F.A. in Acting from Harvard University’s A.R.T./MXAT Institute, and B.A. from Brandeis University.

Donna Sorbello
Adjunct Professor
Expertise: acting, playwriting
Education:
Boston University, Master of Arts, Playwriting
Emerson College, Bachelor of Science, Theatre and English, Speech
Courses taught:
THR 107 – Acting I
THR 108 – Acting II
THR 115 - Playwriting
Donna Sorbello is a professional Actress, Director and Playwright/writer whose film and television credits include roles working with Ricky Gervais, Richard Gere, Jennifer Garner, the Disney Chanel, et al. Her long list of theatre credits include NYC pre, off, and off-off broadway work, as well as regional, stock, and touring companies, playing such roles as Evie in the musical Stop the World I want to Get Off, and Emma in Betrayal. A long stint in Shear Madness marked a return to Boston, and work with many New England professional companies including Huntington Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare, Lyric Stage, Merrimack Repertory, New Rep, the Charles Playhouse, Northeast Shakespeare, Ocean State Theatre, Reagle Theatre and others. Her range of roles cover the extremes of the sophisticated Amanda in Private Lives, to the struggling Amanda in Glass Menagerie; from Shakespeare’s Goneril in the classic King Lear to Golda in the musical Fiddler On the Roof. Original and contemporary work is represented by Ana inClean House or Jane in Indian Blood, with a range that also includes a lady of the night in Three Penny Opera, to the rigid nun in Doubt. She won the IRNE Best Actress award for her performance of Lady in Orpheus Descending. Ms Sorbello’s own plays have been presented at Lincoln Center Library Theatre, Priscilla Beach Theatre, selected several years for the Boston Theatre Marathon, various Festivals including the Women’s Peace and Justice Project and the Tampa Bay Fest et al. She has had poetry and her historical novel, Daughter of Liberty published. She is the recipient of the Robert J Pickering playwriting award and has been a finalist for the Eugene O’Neill Center. Her many articles have appeared in New England Film and AEA Newsletter. She studied both Acting and Directing with Nikos Psacharopoulos,(who she became assistant to), as well as becoming an Assistant to Director Arthur Storch, long time Broadway and Off Broadway director. Along with her university studies, these hands-on experiences led to directing several new works in the Boston area at groups such as Playwright’s Platform and the Provincetown Playhouse. As board member and then Director of the grantfunded Emerging Playwrights Program at Wheelock Theatre, she worked with budding inner-city High School playwrights. She has been a mentor to several high school Playwriting classes in New England schools and coaches acting privately. Her teaching stints, in English Literature, Theatre History, Acting and Writing, have brought her from Boston University, to Quincy College, and finally to BHCC, for the appeal of its diverse student population and concentration on Theatre courses. She is a proud member of Dramatists Guild, Actor’s Equity Association, and Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

Ayshia Stephenson
Adjunct Professor
Expertise: communication, acting, direction, performance media
Education:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Doctor of Philosophy, Communication (2019)
California Institute of the Arts, Master of Fine Arts, Writing for Performance (2009)
Courses taught:
THR 107 – Acting I
Ayshia E. Stephenson is a director, playwright and award-winning poet from Brooklyn, NY. With an MFA from the California Institute of Arts and a PhD in Communication from the University of Massachusetts Amherst; Ayshia uses media and performance to investigate human rights, culture and sexuality.
Ayshia has taught in South Korea and Poland, she believes in the global classroom. She has held full-time visiting professorships at Salem State University in Massachusetts, Eastern Nazarene College, and Seoul National University in Seoul, South Korea. She won the "Imaginary Friend Press Full-Length Book Award" for her book of ethnographic poems about life in South Korea, black hands of a morning calm. Her play, Venus Hottentot, premiered at Jewel Box Theatre's "Midtown International Theatre Festival" in NYC. She is the Executive Director of Performing Fusion Theatre, a Boston-based theatre company that promotes multiculturalism. Her critical and creative work have appeared in Black Camera, Qualitative Inquiry, Boston University Press, Open to Interpretation, Imaginary Friends Press, A Gathering of the Tribes, International Review of Qualitative Research, and is forthcoming in Research and Drama Education.
Ayshia has directed productions at the UMass Amherst Fine Arts Center, The Arts Block (Greenfield, MA), Jewel Box Theatre in NYC, Arts at the Armory (Boston), Davis Square Theatre (Somerville, MA), The Rockwell Theatre, Eggtooth Productions, and the DC Black Theatre Festival. She is Associate Professor and Chair of the Communication Department at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, MA.