Continuing Our 20th Anniversary Season Of Love

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN

By E. M. Lewis

A New Jersey Regional Premiere!

On Stage May 2, 2025 – May 18, 2025

Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 PM | Sundays at 2:00 PM

A travel writer who never travels. A Japanese architect who can’t figure out how to build a simple tea house. A gifted tattoo artist who resists the power of his talents. And a homeless girl who lives under a weeping willow tree in the Japanese Garden. Four lonely people, their stories written on paper, earth, and skin, find each other when one falls apart. Together, they realize that their hearts are as strong as they are fragile and that the safety of their homes might be found in the most fearsome explorations. It is a beautiful, haunting, and richly human play.

A 2020 Harold and Mimi Steinberg / American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award

E. M. Lewis stated in an interview for DC Theatre Arts, What do I hope the audience will feel as they leave the theater? Well, during the last few years, particularly, there have been a lot of losses in our communities, a lot of fractures and breaks, a lot of isolation. It’s been a lonely and bewildering time. I once heard Edward Albee say that plays should “afflict the comfortable or comfort the afflicted.” I hope that folks walk out of the theater after seeing this play feeling more brave in themselves, more connected to each other, and full of joy. This is a love story, after all! Whatever challenges the characters face along the way, it ought to end in joy.” Read the full article here.

WHO’S WHO IN THE CAST

Neena Boyle (Grace Wheeler)

She/Her


Neena is profoundly grateful for the opportunity to tell this beautiful story. Previously at SCTC: The Toxic Avenger (Mayor/Ma), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Judy). Select regional credits: Fellowship! (SideQuest Theater); Beirut (Casabuena Cultural Productions); Moon Over Buffalo, Hello, Dolly!, Into the Woods, The Sound of Music (Candlelight Theatre); Billy Elliot (BToP); Rocky (Walnut Street Theatre). BFA from UArts. Endless gratitude to Damien and to the entire team, and endless love, as always, to Billy and Rita. More at www.neenaboyle.com!

David Woo (Haruki Sakamoto)

He/Him


Born in Hong Kong, raised in New York and educated through Public Schools culminating in graduation from Brooklyn Technical HS with over 1,000 fellow classmates. Attended the University of Vermont and upon graduation served in the United States Army for three years. Always an advocate for cooperative enterprise, sought a seat and served on the board of Weavers Way Cooperative Association which prepared him well for current service on the Board of the Philadelphia Local SAG-AFTRA as an at-large Director. As a background actor over many years he has served on TV jury duty more than real jury duty, a few bona fide credits; in television on the, Grandma and Chill episode of Nora From Queens as a flashback Wedding Officiant; as Keith the Stage Manager in a Hershey’s commercial; an On-Camera-Principal boxing groupie, in a Facebook commercial starring Sylvester Stallone and Chris Rock. Voice trained locally under Joann Joella and received instruction from Pat McDade for on-camera acting. David worked in marketing at WHYY and occasionally pitched on-air for the pledge drives. Most interestingly as part of the job, he prepared audio for licensing to a Japanese/English language training company.

Craig McClaren (Tommy Z)

He/Him

Craig is a professional comedian and a native of Philadelphia. He has been doing comedy throughout the country for over 15 years. For ten years, Craig hosted his own comedy show every second Sunday in an upstairs room at Club Risqué in Philly, turning a reputable gentleman’s club into “The Hottest” Comedy Room in Philadelphia. Craig travels the country spreading laughter. Craig has hosted several major comedy shows in Philadelphia, including Bob Summer’s LAFF MOBB LIVE at the City Winery. Craig has opened for Acts such as Tommy Davidson, Eddie Griffin, MoNique, Gary Owen, and Guy Torry just to name a few. In addition to comedy, Craig is establishing himself as an actor starring in several stage plays and films, including a few on Tubi TV. Craig has been seen on the SCTC stage in The Brothers Size, The Legend of Georgia McBride, and Kill Move Paradise. In 2019, Craig was nominated by the Philadelphia Independent Film Awards for being the best actor in a feature film.

Shannon Sullivan (Kat Lane)

She/Her

Shannon is thrilled to be back at SCTC after performing the role of Sarah in their debut musical, The Toxic Avenger. Regional Theater: A Christmas Carol (Walnut Street Theatre), Beautiful (Walnut Street Theatre), an additional four TYA shows with WST, and Slay and the City (Without a Cue Productions). She has done vocal performances at 54 Below, Don’t Tell Mama’s, The Green Room 42, and Paper Mill Playhouse. Proud UArts alum. Shannon would like to thank her supportive family & friends; her wonderful partner, Ryan;  the cast & creative team; the amazing people who work at SCTC; and the ShanFans. www.ishannonsullivan.com @ishannonsullivan on Instagram and TikTok.

Melody G. Moore  – Stage Manager

She/Her

Melody recently relocated to Philadelphia after spending over 20 years in Key West, Florida, where she was directly involved in most aspects of the local thriving theater community, including Stage Manager, Box Office Manager, Actor, Set Dresser, Costumer, and Prop Mistress. Locally, she has stage-managed for Fever Dream Repertory and TheatreXP. She is excited to return to it again and looking forward to working here at South Camden Theatre Company with the incredible group of creative individuals again this season.

Meghan Malloy -Production Manager)

She/Her

Meghan is a multi-hyphenate artist. She is thrilled to work with South Camden Theatre Company in this capacity! Meghan holds a BFA in Acting from Point Park Conservatory. A Barrymore-nominated actress, Meghan has worked with many regional theaters (locally: Walnut, Wilma, Arden, InterAct, Montgomery) and on national tours. Meghan currently coaches dialects for actors and productions.  Additionally, Meghan teaches actors both film and theater techniques through The Actors Lab in Wayne, PA, and Lights, Camera, Acting! in Bucks County, PA. Meghan recently re-entered the working world on the tails of working as a stay-at-home parent for ten years.  For more information about Meghan’s work, visit: linktr.ee/meghan.malloy.creates.

Meet the Director and the Playwright

Damien J. Wallace – Director

He/Him

Damien is the Artistic Director of the Lawrence Theatre Company. LTC credits include The Funeral, Do you trust your best friend, Custody, Life isn’t fair, and The Three OG’s. Some other notable directorial endeavors include Verbalized Ink (Rise up and Walk Theatre Company) and Fences (GoKash Productions).  Damien is very pleased and honored to make his return to SCTC as the director of How The Light Gets In. Some other SCTC directorial credits include Kill Move Paradise, The Brothers Size, and The Legend of Georgia McBride. Damien has also directed 3 productions for EgoPo Classic Theatre Company; Les Blancs, Rockabye, and Wine in the Wilderness. Damien was formerly trained under the tutelage of Lee Strasburg disciple Ty Collins and Stella Adler protégé Vernon Blackman. Damien holds a BFA with a Distinguished Honors in Theatre from Arcadia University.

E. M. Lewis – Playwright

She/Her

E. M. Lewis is an award-winning playwright, teacher, and opera librettist. Her work has been produced around the world, and published by Samuel French.

Lewis received the Steinberg Award for both How the Light Gets In and Song of Extinction and the Primus Prize for Heads from the American Theater Critics Association, the Ted Schmitt Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle for outstanding writing of a world premiere play, a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University, a playwriting fellowship from the New Jersey State Arts Commission, the 2016 Oregon Literary Fellowship in Drama, and an Edgerton Award for her epic Antarctic play Magellanica.

Plays by Lewis include How the Light Gets In (Steinberg Award-winning play that premiered at Boston Court Pasadena in 2019), Apple Season (which received a rolling world premiere from the National New Play Network in 2019), The Gun Show (which has had more than forty productions across the country and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland), Song of ExtinctionHeadsInfinite Black SuitcaseReading to VegetablesTrue StoryDorothy’s Dictionary, and You Can See All the Stars (a play for college students commissioned by the Kennedy Center).

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Fallen Giant, a new opera commissioned by American Lyric Theater that Lewis is working on with composer Evan Meier, had an orchestral workshop in New York City in February 2020. Town Hall, her opera about health care in America, created with composer Theo Popov, was produced at the University of Maryland and Willamette University.

Lewis is currently working on a major new play called The Great Divide, which the Oregon Shakespeare Festival commissioned as part of its American Revolutions program. Artists Repertory Theater co-commissioned the play, and Lewis has received a three-year National Playwright Residency from the Mellon Foundation to support her work there.

Lewis is a proud member of LineStorm Playwrights and the Dramatists Guild. She lives on her family’s farm in Oregon.

Meet the Creative Team for this production

Hunter Mountz – Lighting Designer

He/Him

Hunter is a Philadelphia-based theatre and dance lighting designer whose previous design credits include The Lightning Thief (Triple Threat Theatre Company), Who’s Holiday, The Toxic Avenger – The Musical, and God of Carnage (South Camden Theatre Company) Into the Woods, The Laramie Project, Bedroom Farce (Salem State University) Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia! , The SpongeBob Musical (Panthers-on-Parade) Dare to Dream, and When Worlds Collide (SSU Repertory Dance Theatre). Hunter also received the Excellence in Lightning Design award from the 2021 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. 

Drew Mangione – Sound Designer

He/Him

Drew is a live-sound engineer and designer, while also working as an electrical engineer. He is a graduate of Drexel University, where he was a member of the Drexel Theatre Company. He is happy to be a part of this production of How the Light Gets In and can’t wait to show it. Returning to South Camden Theatre Company, he was previously the A1 for The Toxic Avenger. Some other recent Philadelphia-area shows include Mantua Theater Project (Drexel University), As You Like It (Shakespeare in Clark Park), Barrymore-winner Ramayana (EgoPo Classic Theatre), and Girlfails (The Lemonade Stand).

Louise Gareau – Costume Designer

She/Her

Louise recently joined SCTC’s creative team after working as a costumer for her music teacher’s daughter’s productions. She’s delighted to be spreading her wings with our work on stage. Starting out with the recent production of The Toxic Avenger was quite an effort. She’s looking forward to costuming How The Light Gets In for the theatre’s 20th Anniversary Season of Love.

Pam Staley – Props

She/Her

Pam is delighted to work in theatre with her friend Dawn Varava at SCTC. Her past experiences included managing props and all things backstage for Dawn during many of her school productions. She has been jumping in to help SCTC be the best we can be for all of our shows.

Robert Bingaman – Scenic Design

He/Him

Robert is so thankful for all the support he receives from the creative staff and the South Camden Theatre Company board. He is SCTC’s board president and resident scenic designer, and he also wears many other hats. His favorite sets include The Brothers Size, By The Water, The Toxic Avenger, Exorcism (A Play In One Act), The Legend of Georgia McBride, and many more. He knows that he couldn’t do any of this work without the incredible support of so many volunteers. Thanks to each of them for bringing theatre magic to our stage.

SPONSORS

Funding has been made possible in part by the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission at Camden County College through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.