Artistic Director Jessica Wallenfels (she/her) is a director/choreographer and educator.

She creates new work that is music and movement-driven, and also works as a freelance director/choreographer and educator. She teaches movement, devising and acting and is currently an adjunct professor at Portland State University and Mt. Hood Community College.

Original works with Many Hats Collaboration include The Snowstorm, Find Me Beside You, Truth and Beauty, Rest Room, Mutt, Stages, and Break, Then Open. 'Snowstorm' was included in Coho Productions’ 2014-2015 season and won the Drammy Award for Outstanding Production. In early 2019, she started the 5 in 5 project with Many Hats, and since then has embarked on seven new works spanning mainstage, video, workshop, and classroom projects, centering BIPOC voices in the majority of projects.

Directorial work includes direction/choreography of The Wolves at Portland Playhouse and Into the Woods for Broadway Rose. She co-directed/choreographed Everybody at Artists Repertory Theatre and Scarlet, a new musical, at Portland Playhouse. She has also directed Dragons Love Tacos, Ella Enchanted and Pete the Cat for Oregon Children’s Theatre. Wallenfels was a choreographer for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for four seasons and six shows. Her choreographic work has also been seen at Seattle Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, and Portland Playhouse. In New York, she collaborated with The Civilians and showed work at La Ma Ma e.t.c., HERE Arts Center, ps 122, WAX, University Settlement, and Culture Project. Los Angeles credits include the Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Old Globe Theater, and The Mark Taper Forum. Other places: Ainadamar at Tanglewood Music Center. Wallenfels provided choreography for three shows in Cornerstone Theatre's BH Cycle including A Beautiful Country by Chay Yew, Magic Trix, adapted by Rickerby Kinds and Broken Hearts: A BH Mystery by Lisa Loomer.

Wallenfels holds an MFA from University of Portland, a BFA in Acting from California Institute of the Arts and attended Dell’Arte International. She is a four-time Drammy Award winner for Outstanding Choreography and a PAMTA Award winner for Outstanding Choreography. More at jessicawallenfels.com.

Delighted to call Portland home, Managing Director Beth Thompson (she/they) has collaborated with many local companies as an actor, deviser, teacher and producer. As a producer they have focused on productions that embrace movement storytelling as a primary narrative tool. Productions they have invested their management tools in include Tender Napalm under their personal production moniker Dancing Brain Productions, This Girl Laughs, The Girl Cries, This Girl Does Nothing, a co-production with CoHo Theatre and four years developing devised theatre pieces with their beloved collaborators at The Forgery Theatre Collective. When not working to produce theatre, Beth devotes their management skills to The People's Yoga, a local yoga studio dedicated to making sure that the healing benefits of yoga are available to everyone in our community.

As a performer favorite roles include Woman in Tender Napalm with Dancing Brain Productions, Orlando in Orlando at Profile Theatre, Miss Julie in Miss Julie and Catherine in Suddenly Last Summer at Shaking the Tree and Bear in The Snowstorm and Daughter in The Undertaking with Many Hats Collaboration.

Beth is so thankful for the work at Many Hats that allows them to be engaged in the process of creation from inception to performance. Beth offers enthusiastic gratitude to Jessica for the friendship, inspiration and colleagueship Jessica has offered since Beth's first Many Hats audition in 2009.