Ritual Art Troupe

Jacob Breedlove (President/Executive Director, founding member, he/his/him)
Jacob is a musician, puppeteer, artist and teacher, who is devoted to sharing his love of history and human culture, especially through performance and teaching. He is the founder and director of Rag on a Stick Theatre and the founder and co-director, with Laura Kuhlman, of Orchestra of the Moon, based in Portland, Oregon. Special areas of focus are: Medieval and Renaissance music, early dance and drama, puppetry, the construction, repair and playing of ancient musical instruments, particularly harpsichord, clavichord, hurdy-gurdy, vielle, viola da gamba, and capped reeds.

Stardust Doherty (Secretary and Treasurer, founding member, ze/per/herm)
Stardust is a playwright, composer, and musician (oboe and English horn). Stardust is a co-writer (with Iryna Lymar) and director of the Theatre Makers plays “Animal Factory Farm” (2018) and “Ecopocalypse” (2018) and co-writer (with Iryna Lymar) of “You Too” (2019) and a co-writer (with Kari Barclay) and director of “20/20” (San Francisco Fringe Festival 2019 and San Francisco Free Library Tour 2020). Stardust began directing plays with per Shakespeare adaptation “A Midwinter Afternoon’s Nightmare” and the original “Bush Faeries: The Musical” (2018) staged at Breitenbush Community Hot Springs radical faerie gatherings. Along the way, there was an agit prop production of “Occupy San Francisco Employee Retirement System” (2013) in response to the bankster housing crisis. Stardust is a co-organizer of the Theatre Makers Meetup, as well as other playwrighting and composing projects. Stardust also serves on the Board of Directors of other non-profit organizations: Online Policy Group, San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, and FaeNet. Stardust formerly worked at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Verified Voting Foundation, as well as at various high-tech companies during a prior career.

Matt (joined March 28, 2018, he/his/him)
Matt is a multimedia artist and virtual reality developer. He co-founded Virtual Bytes, an art, education and research collective creating virtual reality experiences and research that utilize neuroscience concepts to explore the mind/body connection. He is passionate about using his background in creative media and technology to develop virtual reality experiences that challenge our preconceptions about the world around us, and help us connect to each other in new ways. Matt acted and served on the crew for the Theatre Maker plays “Animal Factory Farm” (2018) and “Ecopocalypse” (2018), and “20/20” (San Francisco Fringe Festival 2019).

Jean-Paul Jones (aka JP) (joined October 5, 2018, he/his/him)
JP has worked as a music director, actor, and countertenor at a variety of theaters and schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and greater Los Angeles. With a B.M. in Vocal Performance from California State University at Northridge, JP performed in the Al McNeal Jubilee Singers, the L.A. Opera Chorus, and the Pacific Mozart Ensemble during the first decade of the 20th century. During this decade, JP performed in Pacific Collegium, the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, the Cathedral of Christ the Light Chorus, and still performs in the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra Chorus. Theater credits include the role of Jamie in “The Last Five Years” at the Moonlet Theater, Irving in “Babes at Arms”, an ensemble role in “No No Nanette”, and musical director roles for “Sweet Charity” at 42nd Street Moon, “Cabaret” at Abraham Lincoln High School, and “Seussical the Musical” at Mercy High School. JP has worked as music director of Young Performers Thatre and St. James School and recently starred in the West Edge Opera premiere of “Mata Hari”.

Iryna Lymar (joined October 5, 2018, resigned September 15, 2021, she/her/her)
Iryna was born in Ukraine, lived in China for 8 years, and eventually moved to California. She studied linguistics and speaks 4 languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Ukrainian, and Russian. While doing management and translation jobs in China, Iryna started exploring writing and the theater world. She wrote a compilation of stories about strangers called “Just some strangers on the way” (the book is registered in Ukraine) and a short script called “Robot Buddha”. She co-directed the “Robot Buddha” play in Shenzhen, China, in 2016. Besides that, she was an active member of improv group called “Planet Factory” and acted at monthly shows for a year. Now Iryna lives in San Francisco, teaches yoga and participates in local theater life. Iryna is a co-writer of the Theatre Makers plays “Animal Factory Farm” (2018), “Ecopocalypse” (2018) and co-writer and director of “You Too” (2019).