Company Members

Featured

Mark H. Andrews (he/him) is a co-founder of Azuka Theatre. Originally from Michigan, Mark moved to Philadelphia in 1997 to take part in the Arden Theatre Company's Professional Apprentice program (class 5). From 1999 to 2006 Mark worked for Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) as their Prop Master and Lightboard Operator having worked on over 25 productions including the Philadelphia premiere of The Last Five Years and the world premieres of Jeffrey Hatcher's A Picasso and Christopher Durang and Peter Melnick's Adrift in Macao. From 2006 to 2017 Mark was the Technical Director for the Mandell Theater at Drexel University. As a freelancer, Mark has worked with Avista Custom Theatrical, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company, Pig Iron Theater Company, Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater, Enchantment Theater, Lantern Theater Company and Plays & Players Theater.

Artistic Director

Allison Heishman

Allison Heishman (she/her) is a director, administrator, and educator who has been a part of the Philadelphia artistic community since 2003. Producing credits with Simpatico: Red Bike (NNPN Rolling World Premiere), Simpatico 4-Solo, Click, Cry It Out, Natural Shocks, A Shadow That Broke The Light (Philadelphia Award for Social Insight), An Army of Lovers (co-production with Azuka), January 6: A Celebration. A Bodega Princess Remembers Tradition, Not Insurrection. Directing credits with Azuka: Ready, Steady, Yeti, Go (NNPN Rolling World Premiere), The Arsonists (NNPN Rolling World Premiere), Local Girls (WP), The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence, Skin & Bone (WP), Failure: A Love Story, Hazard County, the terrible girls (WP), Azuka One Acts. Other credits: Tartuffe (Commonwealth Classic), Macbeth (Revolution Shakespeare), A Respectable Widow Takes to Vulgarity, Spacewang (Tiny Dynamite, A Play A Pie A Pint, Barnes Foundation). Heishman has written and directed for Theatre Programs at the National Constitution Center, where she served as the director of Living News, a fast-paced show discussing current events and the Constitution. Proud alumna of Washington College in Chestertown, MD. Currently pursuing an M.A. in Arts and Nonprofit Leadership at SMU. Learn more at allisonheishman.org.

New Play Development Director

Autumn Storm Blalock

Autumn Storm Blalock, MA (she/her), is an arts administrator and Theater for Health researcher originally from PG County, MD. An acclaimed scholar with a focus on Afro-American phenomenology, Blalock focuses her artistry around embracing the wholeness of humanity – its good and its bad. She is a published researcher, poet, and essayist. This experience, coupled with her background in the field of health psychology, creates a unique dramaturgical process that enhances the work of a playwright and production team. Some of her credits include working in administrative roles with Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, Tiny Dynamite, and the Philly Education in Arts Partnership. She has also served in artistic capacities as a dramaturg or stage manager with PlayPenn, Philadelphia Artists Collective, and Eagle Theatre.