Cynthia Bargar, director of development is delighted to be at Central Square Theater, working with patrons and donors who support the growth of great theater that illuminates our shared sense of humanity. Prior to joining the staff in 2012, she had been a consultant to the theater for nine years, including during the capital campaign that helped make the dream of Central Square Theater a reality. Cynthia is a development professional who has worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations in greater Boston. For many years, Cynthia served on the Board of Directors of RESIST, a foundation funding activist organizing within movements for social change throughout the United States. She is a graduate of Brown University and has a master’s degree from the Boston University College of Communication.

Maggie Moore Abdow, Development Manager, began her tenure with Central Square Theater as resident company Underground Railway Theater’s  Education Director in 2004. Bringing 25 years of theater performance, direction, and teaching to CST,  Maggie has created, directed, and taught a wide range of URT’s award-winning programs, including Page to Stage, A Young Playwright’s Program, Youth Underground, Underground Players and residencies at MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics, Harvard’s Project Zero, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Institute of Contemporary Art. In 2014, Maggie transitioned from Education to Development. In her new role, Maggie works closely with CST leadership to nurture and cultivate donor relationships and coordinate all fundraising efforts. Maggie holds a BFA  and MA in theater education from Emerson College and is a Massachusetts certified teacher in K-12 theater.

Lee Mikeska Gardner*, she/her (Diana, Artistic Director, Central Square Theater) is happy to be back on the boards after a two season hiatus. Her CST/Nora credits include Williamina in Silent Sky, Marie Curie in The Half Life of Marie Curie, The Revolutionists, her Eliot Norton winning turn as Emilie in Emilie du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight (all by Lauren Gunderson), Marjorie Prime and Precious Little. Other performances include Mary in A House in the Country with Charter Theatre (Helen Hayes Award), where she also performed the roles of Carla in A Taste of Fire (Helen Hayes nomination), Fran in Short Order Stories, and Susanna in Of A Sunday Morning, all of which were world premieres. Lee originated the role of Hettie in Julie Jensen’s Two Headed, which she performed at Washington Shakespeare Company and Mill Mountain Theatre. Other favorite roles include Terry in Sideman (Helen Hayes nomination) and Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir at 1st Stage, Patricia Preece in Stanley at Potomac Theatre Project (Helen Hayes nomination), Sandy Apple in Birth and After Birth at Woolly Mammoth, Kimberly Bergalis in Patient A at Freedom Stage (Helen Hayes nomination), Clare in Tennessee Williams’s The Two-Character Play at Spooky Action Theatre, Gertrude in Hamlet, Luisa in A Shayna Maidel (Best Actress, Baltimore City Paper) at Rep Stage, Grete in Sight Unseen, Nina in Brooklyn Boy directed by Jim Petosa at The Olney Theatre Center, Tovah in Dreams in a Golden Country at The Kennedy Center, where she also directed Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie by Julie Jensen. Speaking of which, as a director, at CST Lee helmed The Hound of the Baskerville, The Rocky Horror Show (with Jo Michael Rezes), Cloud Nine (Eliot Norton for Direction and Production, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Midvale High School 50th Reunion (with Gordon Clapp), Journey to the West, Homebody, Arcadia, Saving Kitty (with Jennifer Coolidge), The Edge of Peace (co-directed with with Maggie Moore Abdow), Grounded  and Her Aching Heart. During the Covid years, Lee became adept at Zoom theater and directed The Masque of the Red Death by M.J. Halberstadt with Flat Earth Theater, Shoe Leather Epidemiology by Amy Merril as part of CST’s Women & Science Festival and the web series Inherit the Windbag, by Alexandra Petri with Mosaic Theatre. Prior to moving to greater-Boston Lee was an Artistic Associate for ten years at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, directing every season, and earned 3 Helen Hayes nominations for Outstanding Direction. She was an Associate Artist with 1st Stage; the Managing Director for Washington Shakespeare Company and Rep Stage, Associate Artistic Director with the Shenandoah Playwrights’ Retreat, Artistic Associate with Charter Theatre and Keegan Theatre with a robust freelance career. Lee is co-chair of the Professional Theater Network at AATA and as an educator, Lee has taught or served as a guest artist at schools and universities across the nation and founded the Acting Classes at Woolly Mammoth and Washington Shakespeare Company. Lee has a B.F.A. in the Performing Arts from George Mason University and an M.F.A. in Acting from The Catholic University of America. 

Hatem Adell is thrilled to be back at Central Square Theater, having previously assisted Daniel Gidron on The Nora Theatre Company’s productions of Hysteria and Silver Spoon. He is a writer, translator, and director. Previous directing credits include Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story and Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy.