ORO ARTS LAB
for Theater, Film & Performance

Lynea Diaz-Hagan (she/her), Artistic Director of the ORO Arts Lab, is an interdisciplinary writer, composer, and vocalist whose work bridges storytelling, music, and social justice. As a playwright-director, Lynea has received a Literary Artist Commission from the San Francisco Arts Commission, as well as development and production grants from Theatre Bay Area and the Zellerbach Family Foundation. Her play, THE EDUCATION OF ADDY JIMÉNEZ, was a Finalist in ScreenCraft’s Stage Play Competition, and she is currently adapting it for the screen. Her screenplay THINK PRETTY earned UCLA’s Carl David Memorial Award.

As a jazz and new music vocalist, Lynea has performed at venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She is currently developing OCEAN, a one-act jazz opera debuted at SAFEhouse Arts, into an animated feature, reflecting her passion for interdisciplinary work across genres. Lynea holds a BA from Yale University, an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA, and an MA in Music with a concentration in Jazz Studies from San Jose State University. Based in Los Angeles, she continues to explore innovative projects in theater, film, and opera, bringing a fresh perspective to the intersection of performance, narrative, and social change.

Alice Highman, Founding Artist of the ORO Arts Lab, is a writer, director, actor, and attorney based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She also dabbles in photography. Alice is passionate about storytelling across mediums and is a firm believer in the power of art to move the needle and challenge the status quo. Alice’s recent onstage credits include The Misanthrope with Troupe Theatre, Pear Slices—an annual production of eight original one-act plays at the Pear Theatre—and Orange Julius with the San Francisco Olympians Festival. She also recently assistant directed A.C.T.’s Class of 2019 MFA Showcase (directed by M. Graham Smith). Alice is a graduate of the University of Southern California where she studied film production and international relations. She received her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Emilee Banks, Participating Artist, is a writer, director, producer, and actor who works in both theater, film, and radio. She is also a creative director and has helmed campaigns for a wide variety of clients, from start-ups to fortune-500 companies. She believes that creating art is life’s greatest honor — it is an opportunity to reflect the essence of humanity with empathy, sensitivity, and respect. She received her B.A. from Xavier University, where she majored in International Studies.

Devon DeGroot (she/her), Participating Artist, is a Bay Area actor who trained at San Francisco State. Past roles include Sheri (American Hero), Catherine (Proof), Mrs. Givings (In the Next Room: The Vibrator Play), Natasha (The Three Sisters), and The Gravedigger (Gravedigger: the Musical). 

Joyce Domanico-Huh, Participating Artist, is a Korean theatre artist, born and raised in the Bay Area. She’s performed with companies such as Theatre Rhinoceros, Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, Killing My Lobster, Shotgun Players, and Magic Theatre, among others. She is a 2019 recipient of Killing My Lobster’s Diversity in Comedy Fellowship for Acting. She is currently preparing for a solo performance show at Stage Werx this fall.

Johnny Gilligan, Participating Artist, is an Irish born Silicon Valley coder turned actor/TV dirty cop. He's also a 2020 Page Semifinalist, 2019 LA International Screenplay Awards Winner, 2020 Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Competition Winner and a 2020 Table Read My Screenplay Winner. Armed with a tech background, his Irish heritage and criminal acting tendencies, he wants to create a scifi crime show with leprechauns. Wait. Strike that. No leprechauns.

Aaron Royce Jones, Participating Artist, is a former professional soccer player turned actor and filmmaker. He hails from Berkeley, CA and graduated from Berkeley High School, class of 2006. He attended UC Santa Cruz, played on the NCAA men’s soccer team, and graduated with a B.A. in Creative Writing in 2012. In 2014 he moved to Finland and play professionally for two years until an untimely injury (and a lack of sunshine) brought him home to California. While working on the set of a feature film he decided his true passion existed in front of the camera and jumped into the craft feet first. He currently studies voice and movement with the YAT/Bentley Center for Performance in Oakland and Meisner Technique with Rachel Adler in Berkeley.

Aubrey Wynn, Participating Artist, is an actor, director and documentary filmmaker. Trained in the Barrow Group Approach and a member of The Garage Ensemble troupe, her work focuses on stories weaved by human creativity and resilience, place and space. As an ORO artist she participates in both the writers and performers lab, where she is exploring and translating the deep personal through monologue and new medium. She loves story crafting and character building, especially within the genres, and has technical expertise in documentary film editing. She gets paid to direct and edit commercial and brand films, and in 2021 hopes to expand that list to include independent features. Most recently, she is obsessed with Misha Green's Lovecraft Country and is learning to windsurf.