ABOUT US
STAFF
ADMIN TEAM
Jerome Allen-Smith - Community Engagement Coordinator
Jerome Allen-Smith (He/Him) is an actor and marketing professional in NYC. Jerome received his MFA in Acting from The New School. After his masters program, he worked as the Marketing Fellow in the 2050 Administrative Fellowship for New York Theatre Workshop. With those skills in set, Jerome now worked at Media Art Xploration as the Director of Marketing and as the Marketing Associate at Baruch Performing Arts Center. He is excited to join the team on NQT to continue to broaden his skillset and to give back to him community. When not talking about theatre, Jerome can be found on a run, at a concert, or on a plane to new destination, somewhere around the world.
Khadija Bangoura - Teaching Artist
Khadija Bangoura (they/them) is a Black & Queer theater and teaching artist based in Brooklyn. Khadija received their BFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University. They are passionate about shepherding new work in front of New York Audiences and inspiring communities through collaborative-based theatre education, They started their theatrical journey as an African Dancer, participating in their parent’s performance company, “Jeh Kulu Dance & Drum Theatre”. Khadija works toward freedom and cultural specificity. Produced and directed: Peach Phoenix vs. The American Nightmare by Cole
Merrell and Jacob Morton at South Oxford Stage, Salamander and the Impediment by Charlotte Weinman at Pink Frog Cafe, and Mad Little Reefers by Michael Valladares at Fresh Fruit
Festival. Playwriting Credits: Jamal The Black Boy Werewolf at BU Theatre, Sunjata at BU’s New Work Fest. They made their off-Broadway debut at the Cherry Lane Theatre with the Negro Ensemble Company.
Jaden Bridges - Education Assistant
Jaden Bridges is a multi-hyphenate performance artist whose life-work embodies the resilience of a rose blooming through concrete. Growing up in Orlando, Florida, Jaden was inspired to channel his artistic inclinations into uplifting and inspiring his community. This journey led him through a series of performing arts primary schools and eventually to Boston, Massachusetts, where he honed his craft at Boston University. There, he dedicated himself to making the arts more inclusive and ensuring his people have a seat at the table. While at Boston University, Jaden wore many hats and developed skills in all avenues of the theatre. From studying for a BFA in Acting, to interning at Boston theatre companies (SpeakEasy Stage), to traveling to South Africa to create and widen his worldview. In 2022, Jaden was a member of the Link Program (Class 4) where he focused on TV/Film. Most recently he has begun his professional career as a playwright, coming straight out the gate with this Kennedy Center Award Winning Play, My Brother's Keeper. His first play scored two awards at the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival in 2025. The play was then workshopped at the Kennedy Center Undergraduate Workshop series. Now relocated to New York City, he is continuing to use his writing, performance, and other modes of expression to uplift the artists that have previously been overlooked. Please follow his website to stay updated on what he’s up to next!: jadenhatim.com
Adam Odsess Rubin - Founding Artistic Director
Adam Odsess-Rubin (He/Him) is the Founding Artistic Director of National Queer Theater (NQT) and the acclaimed Criminal Queerness Festival, showcasing censored and criminalized LGBTQ+ artists from around the world. Odsess-Rubin has directed community-based theater programs such as Write it Out! for playwrights living with HIV, New Visions Fellowship for Black trans artists, DREAMing Out Loud for LGBTQ undocumented writers, and Youth Write Now for young queer playwrights. Since 2021, he has been a lead Teaching Artist for Rainbow Connection, an intergenerational theater program for queer teens and elders in Fire Island. In 2023, he launched Staging Pride: Queer Youth Theater, a free afterschool theater program for marginalized LGBTQ+ youth in New York City at The Center. At NQT, Odsess-Rubin has presented work with Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York Theatre Workshop, NYC Pride, MCC Theater, and PAC NYC. Through NQT, he has raised over $800,000 for queer and trans artists since 2018, and has received praise for his work in The Advocate, The New York Times, American Theater Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, and Time Out New York. Odsess-Rubin is a Teaching Artist and former Education Associate at New York Theatre Workshop, and served as the first Education and Community Programs Fellow at American Conservatory Theatre. Odsess-Rubin has published work in Howlround, Yale's Theater Magazine and The Teaching Artist Journal, and is a 2020 Mayor's Grant for Cultural Impact awardee and AM NY LGBTQ+ Power Player. BA: UC Santa Cruz MA: New York University.
Achiro Patricia Olwoch - Teaching Artist, Criminal Queerness Studio
Achiro P. Olwoch (she/her) teaches the Criminal Queerness Studio and was National Queer Theater's Interim Artistic Director from Jan-March 2025. Achiro is a writer who hails from Gulu, Northern Uganda. She was born in and grew up in exile as a result of the Idi Amin murderous era that displaced her parents. She has written four books so far and is presently in the process of completing her late father’s manuscripts that he left behind after his death in 1994. Several of short stories have been published in a couple of anthologies around the world. One of her short stories got a special mention by the Common Wealth short story prize. Achiro has also worked as a radio script writer and film and television script writer. She has worked as staff writer and sub-editor for the Ugandan lifestyle magazine ‘African Woman’ magazine. She was also the editorial director for a lifestyle magazine that she started in Malawi in 2012 called ‘The African Dzuwa’ meaning The African Sun. She has mentored emerging writers on writing in the performing arts during annual residential workshops by the Kampala International Theatre Festival for the past two years. More about Achiro and her works can be found on her website: www.achiropolwoch.com
Rose Oser - Producing Director
Rose Oser (she/they) is a Brooklyn-based theatremaker and Producing Director of National Queer Theater (NQT), where they help lead programming and strategy for the organization's work at the intersection of art and activism. Before joining NQT in 2023, Rose worked at Z Space in San Francisco from 2017–2022, serving as Associate Artistic Director and later as Interim Producing Director. There, they developed and produced boundary-pushing new works, such as the Problematic Play Festival (LMDA Bly Grant Award). Rose is also the creator and host of live experiences, including poly poly oxen free, a polyamorous dating show currently running in Brooklyn, San Francisco, Portland, and Philly. Rose is the Resident Dramaturg for the JMF Writers Grove at Goodspeed and a member of Beehive Dramaturgy Studio. They hold a BA in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley.
Saiya Palmer - Artistic Engagement Intern
Saiya Palmer is excited to join National Queer Theatre as the Artistic Engagement Intern. She is pursuing a double major in Theatre Arts and History at Columbia College, where she focuses on costume design and acting. Whether she is on stage, behind the scenes, or in the costume shop, Saiya is driven by a deep love for storytelling and the collaborative nature of theatre. She is especially drawn to the way performance can open up new worlds, challenge dominant narratives, and create spaces for and shared understanding. Her academic work in history informs her artistic practice, encouraging her to think critically about how identity, memory, and power are represented onstage and through design. Through her work with NQT, Saiya is excited to continue learning how artistic engagement can strengthen relationships between artists and audiences while amplifying underrepresented voices. In her free time, she enjoys sewing, dancing, and taking time to explore new creative interests.
Press
Stuart Richardson - press@nationalqueertheater.org
Legal Support
Lawyers Alliance, Liz Wytock, Amber Degn
Accounting
Renisha Lane, Key Figures