About the Playwright

Tim Cummings (Arnold) recently portrayed Lars in the world premiere of Weston Gaylord’s Octopus’s Garden at Boston Court.  Before that, he was on a seven-year sabbatical from acting, but is happy to be back on stage again, happy to work with John Flynn again, with whom he collaborated at Rogue Machine, playing Patsy in The New Electric Ballroom. For his work on the stages of SoCal, he has won three LA Drama Critics Circle Awards, for The House in Scarsdale at Boston Court, The Normal Heart at The Fountain, and The New Electric Ballroom. Other selected LA: Daniel’s Husband, Cal In Camo, Need To Know, The Woodsman, Reunion, The Firebird at (LA Phil), The Phantom Tollbooth, Eurydice, The Walworth Farce, WAR, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, Tartuffe, The Last Schwartz, The Outsiders Presents IV (at REDCAT), Closer.  BFA in Acting from NYU, MFA in Writing from Antioch. Tim authored the acclaimed coming-of-age novels, Alice the Cat (Fitzroy Books), and The Lighting People Play (Black Rose Writing). He teaches Creative Writing for UCLA’s Writers’ Program. Endless love and thanks to Paul Sparks and Paul Keeley, Corsini Stark, and the Ponies. 

Jeff LeBeau (Jerry) is honored to be a part The New Ruskin Theatre Group’s inaugural season, following his extended run in the award winning Years To The Day by Allen Barton (Beverly Hills Playhouse and Sargent Theatre NY) —a two-person play for which he received a 2026 STAGE RAW BEST ACTOR AWARD.  Other recent work includes Samuel Hunter’s The Few , American LaRonde and Middletown directed by Ann Bronston (Pacific Resident Theatre). As well as -Dance of Death directed by Ron Sossi (Odyssey Theatre), Gary in Murray Mednick’s The Gary Plays (Skylight /Open Fist), The Seafarer, (SchoolHouse NY),- Burning in China- a one-person show directed by Caleb Deschanel (Poway Arts, John Drew NY), and Hurlyburly written and directed by David Rabe (Geffen Playhouse). Film and VO credits include Treason (Amazon Prime), many TV Guests, Spirit (DreamWorks) and narration for Discovery and UM’s The Great Storm- for which he received a regional Emmy Award. Jeff is an Alumnus of CalArts and a member of PRT, Rogue Machine, and The Road Theatre. His daughter Matéa is a Pointillism Tattoo artist living in Brooklyn, New York.  A special thanks to John Flynn and all at The Beautiful Ruskin Group.  

Samuel D. Hunter (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright best known for The Whale, which received Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and GLAAD Media Awards, and was later adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. His plays, including A Bright New Boise, Pocatello, and Greater Clements, are widely produced across the country and are known for their deep empathy, emotional complexity, and exploration of isolation and human connection.

John Perrin Flynn (Director) was Los Angeles’ much awarded Rogue Machine’s founding Artistic Director. For RMT, he has directed the World Premieres of John Pollono’s Lost Girls, Henry Murray’s Treefall and Three Views of the Same Object; and David Rambo’s A Good Guy. He directed regional premieres of Enda Walsh’s The New Electric Ballroom and Penelope; Samuel D. Hunter’s Pocatello, A Permanent Image and A Bright New Boise; Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited, and our inaugural production, Compleat Female Stage Beauty. John was the Executive Producer and Director of Lifetime’s long-running series Strong Medicine and has produced two other series and 14 television movies or miniseries, including the Emmy-nominated Burden of Proof. In 2012, he received the Career Achievement Award for Theatre from the LA Weekly. In 2025 he received The Los Angeles Drama Critics Gordon Davidson Award and the Playwrights Arena Lee Melville Award for distinguished contribution to the Los Angeles theater community. He wishes to express his gratitude to John and Mike for inviting him to keep on keeping on in this extraordinary new space they have created.  John is a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation. 

John Ruskin (Artistic Director / Producer) After graduating from the University of Colorado in Boulder, John continued his studies at the Yale School of Drama and the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. John then attended the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and studied with Sanford Meisner and Richard Pinter. John then joined the acting faculty of the Neighbourhood Playhouse at the request of Sanford Meisner and became his apprentice. Years later, John moved to Los Angeles, where he founded his school of acting to continue to teach Meisner’s work.   John founded the Ruskin Group Theatre Company with the goal of developing and producing great original works, powerful revivals, and to support and encourage a creative artistic community. RGT is proud to provide outreach programs to children in need with the “Healing Through the Arts" program. We have taken our actors into Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA to work with and entertain the children. Past programs involved working with at risk youth , foster children, people in prison, and the elderly. John wants to thank everyone who volunteers, comes to support this theatre, and keeps the dream of small theatre alive. John is honored to work each day with every one of the amazing artists at the school and theatre. He is most grateful to his wife Amy and their sons Bodhi & Cooper for their constant love and support. 

Michael R. Myers (Managing Director/ Producer) has produced more than 80 projects since 2002. He directed and developed the World Premiere of “Sneaky Ole Time the music of Paul Overstreet”; other World Premieres include “Rainbow Bridge”, “Digging up Dad” and more. Mike produced and developed the world premiere production of Rex Pickett's "Sideways the Play". Since its world premiere at the Ruskin, “Sideways” has been produced at the La Jolla Playhouse under the direction of Des McAnuff and recently had its West End Premiere at the St. James Theatre. In 2008, the Santa Monica City Council appointed Mike to the Santa Monica Arts Commission, and he has served as chair since 2010.

Nicole Millar (Production Stage Manager) graduated from The Meisner Technique Two-Year Program at The Ruskin School of Acting in 2005 and continues to hone her craft in acting through the Master Graduate Class. Her other training includes James Kemp's teachings with Yat Malmgren (LAMDA, 2019), UCB LA's improv (2015), Paul Sand's Second City improv (2014), and Commedia dell'arte with Danny Passer (2004). She graduated with a Merit Diploma in "Performing Arts & Media” in 1991 from Hammersmith & West London College, England. She moved to the United States to pursue her acting career, which now includes work in stage production and over fifteen years with The Ruskin Group Theatre. Nicole is also a co-carer for her 90-year-young Cypriot Mum and feels blessed everyday. Enjoy the show :)

Deirdre O’Connor (Assistant Stage Manager) is honored to be serving as the Assistant Stage Manager for this production. Although relatively new to the stage, she has harnessed her passion for theater arts with relentless enthusiasm. In 2025, she was cast in three plays at the Santa Monica Playhouse: Stripped, Trapped & Stereotyped; Keeper of the Flame; and Thanks for Sharing. In 2026, she was cast in LA Cafe Plays and starred in a short film titled “Turner’s Diary.” She is currently finishing up her first year at the Ruskin School of Acting as well participating in Ruskin's Scene Study with the Masters classes. She served as the Assistant Stage Manager for “Guilty Pleasures,” and is currently working as the Assistant Director for “Crossing Delancey." She is beyond thrilled to be working on this project at Ruskin!

Stephanie Kerley Schwartz (Scenery and Costume Design) is delighted to be back with the Ruskin team after opening the new stage with her design for Honour. Previous shows include Paradise, A Bluegrass Musical, A View From the Bridge and Death of A Salesman. As Resident Designer for Rogue Machine she has collaborated with director John Flynn on many projects including the recent anthropology, Treefall, Pocatello, and more.  For Center Theatre Group/ The Mark Taper Forum she designed costumes for The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and Randy Newman’s Harps and Angels, and the set for Good Grief at The Kirk Douglas.  Other theatres include; A Noise Within, Laguna Playhouse, Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC, Artist’s Repertory Theatre in Portland Oregon, Pasadena Playhouse, The Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, East West Players, Boston Court Pasadena,The Odyssey, The Fountain, The Skylight, the Matrix Theatre and many others.  Recipient of multiple awards and nominations, including the 2017 LADCC/Kinetic Award for Distinguished Achievement in Theatrical Design.  www.kerleydesign.com

Dan Weingarten (Lighting Designer) is excited to be back at The Ruskin Group. Credits include: Rogue Machine's antropology, Corktown ’39, Evanston Salt Costs Climbing, Heroes of the fourth Turning, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Monkey Adored, The Word Begins, I Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath, The Sunset Limited and Compleat Female Stage Beauty. Smile, UBP and Found for IAMA. 24th St. Theater’s Rapunzel Alone, ICE, Hansel and Gretel Bluegrass, Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Man Covets Bird, Walking the Tightrope, East West Player’s Chess, A Little Night Music, Krunk Fu Battle Battle, Pippin and Wrinkles. Bootleg's Stranger, The Santa Barbara Theater’s Doubt, The Ebony Repertory Companies' Five Guys Named Moe, Paul Robeson, Two Trains Running and the Echo Theater Companies Wirehead. Actors Gang’s Heart of Darkness.  Recipient of the LA Drama Critic’s Circle Angstrom Award, the LA Weekly Award, the Garland Award and the Dramalogue Award.  Faculty at California State University at Northridge, received his MFA from California Institute of the Arts.

Keith Stevenson (Sound Designer)  is an actor, writer and sometimes sound designer. He is a longtime member of Pacific Resident Theatre and Rogue Machine Theatre. He recently designed sound for HONOUR at the Ruskin and OUT WITH A BANG at PRT.

Justin Brown (Stage Hand /Crew) is new to the Ruskin Theatre and is excited to be here. Enjoy the show.