Piedmont Park: June 7-8, 2025
Codornices Park: June 14-15, 2025
Meet cast, crew, and community!
Director’s Note
Get ready to go on a journey—a jaunt, an epic quest!
This show grew out of a desire to give kids more opportunities to be outside and moving, harnessing their innate sense of exploration and imagination to make meaningful connections with their surroundings.
It grew out of a desire to make the kind of theater my own daughter would treasure. It grew out of decades of collaboration with some of the wonderful artists you'll see today. It grew out of the deep goodwill of everyone involved.
It also grew out of the ground itself—out of the magical possibilities of this beautiful park.
Some of my most vivid childhood memories are those spent outdoors. Now, my deepest joy as a mother is witnessing my own daughter, imagination ignited by the world around her, so fully engaged that I can see her memories being made in real time.
I hope this adventure creates treasured memories for your family too—and that every time you return to this park, you'll feel the joy humming all around, welcoming you back as a collaborator.
In wonder,
Juliana Frick
Pinecones and Portals Founder and Director
Molly Armstrong - Pip the Narrator
Molly (they/them) is a Midwesterner with the heart of a California poppy. Their professional titles have included: Theatre Performer, nanny, punk musician, elementary school teacher, bartender, janitor, grocer, postpartum doula, mother, beer brewer and medical clown – to name only a few. After graduating with a BFA in Original Work from Cornish College of the Arts, interning for a season at The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, attending Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre and The National Shakespeare Conservatory, Molly is now based out of Oakland. They have worked theatrically in Denmark, Haiti, Italy, Columbia, and all around the U.S. They are a medical clown with the Medical Clown Project, bringing joy and laughter to hospitals around San Francisco. Molly is an Artistic Board Member of Pinecones and Portals.
Jonathan Kipp - Kipp the Composer
Jonathan (he/him) is a percussionist, accordionist, and accordion repairman based in Oakland. He has played for everything from classical to improvised, folk to electronic, popular to avant-garde. He can currently be found with Saul Goodman's Klezmer band, and the Turkish duo Nakarat. Jonathan particularly enjoys accompanying dance and theater.
Juliana Frick - Alice
Juliana (she/her) is a Deaf performing artist, director, producer, and mother based in Berkeley, CA. She is the Founder and Director of Pinecones and Portals Hiking Theater Company. She has a BA in Music and Storytelling from Hampshire College, MA, completed the professional training program at Dell’Arte International, and trained at the Flying Actor Studio. She is a founding core member of the dramatic acrobatic troupe UpLift Physical Theatre. Her work has been supported by Theatre Bay Area’s CA$H Creates program, the NET/TEN virtual exploration program, and has toured nationally and internationally. In 2022 she received an award for “Original Application of a Physical Language” at the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theater in Egypt, for UpLift Physical Theatre’s original acrobatic show Through The Waves. You can learn more at www.julianafrickperformance.com
Kendra Ferguson - White Rabbit & Queen of Hearts
Kendra (any) is a roller skating clown and a steward of delight! She is a Bay Area native living in San Francisco – you may see her roller skating and juggling in Golden Gate Park, biking through the city, or performing mime acts across the Bay. She debuted her solo show “Just Be Happy” (directed by Dan Griffiths) last September as a part of the Church of Clown’s inaugural Flop Fest. She is forever striving to maintain balance, move in meaningful ways, and practice self-love, and is passionate about supporting others in doing the same. She works for Dream Top Entertainment bringing joy to families across the Bay Area. Book her for your next event and enjoy her strange balloon hats!
Amalia Luma Kessinger-Frick - Little Alice & Dormouse
Amalia (she/her) is excited AND thrilled to be performing the role of Dormouse this year, as well as reprising her role as Little Alice. She is a rising 3rd grader at John Muir Elementary and she is the founder and director of Happy Animals Hiking Theater Company. Amalia enjoys that this performance gives her the opportunity to eat cookies and play with her fellow cast mates, and ALSO that it allows for prime squirrel watching while she is waiting for the show to start.
Nick Dickson - Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat & Mad Hatter
Nick (he/him) is an actor and clown performing in the Bay Area. He graduated from UCSC with degrees in Literature and Theatre Arts and studied at the Clown Conservatory at the SF Circus Center. Most recently, Nick has performed as the White Knight in We Players' production of Adventures With Alice in Golden Gate Park, Philip Marlowe in 13th Floor's immersive show, The Lost Inn at SF Mint Building, and Leland Mahoney in Boxcar Theatre's immersive show The Speakeasy. Nick is shamelessly pleased that nepotism allows him to continue working on projects with his incredible cousin, Juliana. Nick is delighted to be performing for the first time with his cous-niece Amalia, this time around!
Carolina “CoiCoi” Duncan - Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat & March Hare
Carolina (she/her) (Colombia/USA) is a social circus coach, and performer with over 15 years of experience leading circus, physical theater, and clown workshops worldwide. She designs social projects using circus arts as a tool for social transformation. The first Colombian female clown to perform with Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey, Carolina is also a former national and Ibero-American tennis and racquetball athlete. She founded CIRCO nu3 in Barranquilla and currently serves as the Lead Teaching Artist and the Manager of the performing company for Prescott Circus Theater in Oakland. You can learn more at www.duncanplayfulcircus.com.
Ava Maag - Card Knight & Understudy
Ava (she/they)’s favorite theatrical credits include Martha in The Secret Garden with Circus Center, Pippin with Berkeley Playhouse, Time in She Persisted with Bay Area Children’s Theatre, Karel Capek in Universal Robots with Quantum Dragon, and the devised work Not Not But Also. As a voiceover artist, Ava worked on a regional radio commercial for Cumberland Farms and on the serialized audiobook podcast Elixir. Ava also writes songs, practices Contact Improvisation, and experiments with sound.
Anna Kritikos - Stage Manager & Card Knight
Anna has been a theater enthusiast since she was about 8 years of age. Since then, she’s been acting, writing, and stage managing with modest regularity. She also loves working with children in the arena of education. She’s inspired by the work Pinecones and Portals does to make theater come alive for audiences old and young.
Krystal Harfert - Scenic, Props, Costume & Puppet Design
Krystal (she/they) is a highly skilled multidisciplinary artist based in Berkeley, CA. With over a decade of experience in nonprofit arts and movement education, Krystal has established themselves as an ever-evolving individual in various creative fields. Their expertise spans costume design/fabrication, fiber arts, large-scale art, movement education, dance, photography, arts production, and massage therapy. More works and details can be found at www.krystaling.com
Ruah Barkan - Production Intern (Piedmont Park)
Ruah brings her spritely and vivacious energy to whatever stage presents itself, naturally engaging with the material and bringing it to lively life! Born and raised in Los Angeles and Southern California, she has been performing from a very young age, playing a seagull at age 4, the leading role in Matilda at 7, and starring in an (unaired) pilot for NBC's Peacock Channel not long after. After moving to the Bay Area, she has continued to pursue a career in the performing arts, and is currently enrolled as a theatre major at Oakland School of the Arts.
Special Thanks:
Kate and Peter Sheridan - $5 EBT Ticket Sponsors
Eva Phalen and the City Of Piedmont Recreation Department
Kat Lopez-White - Puppet Design, Cheshire Cat
The Mariposa Grove Community
Our Production Partners:
Athletic Playground, Emeryville
Providing ASL interpretation coordination!
