Our Resident Artist program deepens our relationship with key artists through two-year residencies that guarantee each artist work on four productions, while engaging them in teaching, season planning, and donor cultivation. These actors and designers become part of the Round House team, working year-round rather than on a per show basis – providing much needed job security.

Resident Artists

Ro Boddie

Actor

RO BODDIE returns to Round House, where he previously appeared in A Boy and His Soul, "Master Harold" ...and the Boys. Off-Broadway credits include Socrates at The Public Theater, Seize The King at Classical Theatre of Harlem, Appomattox at 59E59 Theater. Select regional credits include Windfall at Bay Street Theater, A Play is a Poem at the Mark Taper Forum, Blueprints to Freedom at La Jolla Playhouse, Skeleton Crew (tour) at The Old Globe, The Mountaintop at Cleveland Playhouse, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Baltimore CENTERSTAGE and Philadelphia Theater Company, The Whipping Man at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Pipeline, Three Sisters and No Sisters at Studio Theatre. Television credits include Godfather of Harlem, Run The World, The Good Wife, Elementary, Person of Interest and Unforgettable. Ro is an alum of University of the North Carolina School of the Arts and was the 2016 Actor of the Year Craig Noel Award recipient.

Harold F. Burgess II

Lighting Designer

HAROLD F. BURGESS II returns to Round House, where previous credits include Homebound, A Doll’s House, Part 2 and A Year with Frog and Toad. DC credits include Breath Boom and My Children! My Africa! at Studio Theatre: Aubergine, Thurgood, and Grounded at Olney Theatre Center; Trayf, Broken Glass, Another Way Home, and The Sisters Rosensweig at Theatre J; Big River at Adventure Theatre; and Unexplored Interior at Mosaic Theatre Company. Regional credits include Be Here Now, Murder on the Orient Express, Radio Golf, Dinner With Friends, The Importance of Being Earnest, Sweat, Aubergine, Dot, and Death of A Salesman at Everyman Theatre; and productions for Rep Stage, Imagination Stage, Northern Stage (VT), and several local universities. Harold holds an MFA from the University of Maryland and is the Director of the College Park Scholars Arts program. Harold is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829. www.haroldburgessdesign.com

Matthew M. Nielson

Sound Designer

MATTHEW M. NIELSON returns to Round House, where design and composition credits include Homebound, Spring Awakening, The Legend of Georgia McBride, The Book of Will, Two Trains Running, Around the World in 80 Days, and A Prayer for Owen Meany. DC-area credits include Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, the Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth, Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Studio Theatre, Theatre Alliance, CATF, and The Smithsonian. Off-Broadway credits include The Public Theatre, Lincoln Center, and 59e59. Regional credits include Denver Performing Arts Center, Cincinnati Playhouse, Milwaukee Rep, Portland Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Barrington Stage Company. Film/TV credits include Those Who Wait, The Hero Effect, Elbow Grease, From Hell to Here, Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and Delivery.com. Matthew has won five Helen Hayes Awards and several regional theatre and film festival awards. CuriousMusic.com.

Che Wernsman

Stage Manager

CHE WERNSMAN is elated for her seventh season as Resident Stage Manager at Round House Theatre! Some of her favorite RHT credits include: Nine Night; Nollywood Dreams; We declare you a terrorist…; A Boy and His Soul; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Handbagged (Off-Broadway - 59E59, Bethesda); Oslo; Gem of the Ocean; Small Mouth Sounds; The Legend of Georgia McBride; The Book of Will; and A Prayer for Owen Meany. Che has worked as an AEA Stage Manager in the DC/Baltimore region for over two decades, with shows at The Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Imagination Stage, The National, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Theatre J, Studio, Everyman, Rep Stage, Center Stage, and Olney Theatre Center. She earned a Bachelor of Science from Virginia Tech.