ABOUT THE ARTISTS

S. ASHER GELMAN (Playwright) is a director, choreographer, playwright, and producer. He is the Artistic Director of Midnight Theatricals, through which he produced and directed his first play, Afterglow. The show premiered Off-Broadway in the summer of 2017, ran for 14 months, and continues to see productions around the world. In 2022, he directed a critically acclaimed production of Afterglow in Los Angeles, which was extended multiple times due to popular demand and in 2024, he directed and choreographed a sold-out production in London that received widespread acclaim.

Also in 2024, Asher wrote and directed his third play, the Lortel-nominated Scarlett Dreams, which enjoyed a successful and widely praised Off-Broadway run. That same year, he executive produced two critically acclaimed documentaries: The American Question and Sabbath Queen.

His earlier producing credits include the 2019 Off-Broadway productions of the cult musical We Are the Tigers and his second play, safeword, which he also directed. He directed and choreographed two dance films: The Greatest City in the World and in memoriam, the latter a 30-minute, site-specific solo captured in a single, continuous take.

Asher’s next play, The Zionists: A Family Storm, is set to premiere at Miami New Drama in Spring 2026.

Originally from Chevy Chase, Maryland, Asher holds a B.A. in Dance and Theater from Bard College and an M.F.A. in Dance from The George Washington University. He is the cofounder and founding Artistic Director (2013–2016) of The Stage, Tel Aviv’s premier English-language performing arts organization. From 2016 to 2022, he served on the Advisory Board of the Fisher Center at Bard. He lives in New York City with his husband, Mati, his partner, Stefano, and their two cats, Grogu and Rambi.

CHLOE TREAT (Director) is a New York-based director and choreographer. Born and raised in the great, if not wildly problematic state of Texas, she directs and choreographs big-ass-musicals, operas, and plays. Recent projects include Director and Choreographer of Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (Shanghai Grand Theater), The American Opera Initiative (Washington National Opera), Taking up Serpents and Holy Ground (The Glimmerglass Festival), Dave Malloy’s Don’t Stop Me (Manhattan School of Music and The Polyphone Festival), and Fiddler on the Roof (The Alliance Theatre.) Chloe is an associate artist for Heartbeat Opera where she choreographed Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoor, Daphnis and Chloe and Don Giovanni as well as co-directed a New York Times Critics’ Pick production of Der Freischütz. Chloe is an SDC Member and a Drama League Directing Fellow. Chloe was listed as one of the Broadway Women’s Fund “Women to Watch” in 2020 and received a grant from Opera America for Women Stage Directors and Conductors in 2022. Chloe is the mother of two and has presented her writing about the intersection of motherhood and directing in industry publications like the SDC journal.  Her ultimate goal as a director is to create spaces that value equally both artistic excellence and treating people well.