Josh Turner, an Atlanta native, earned his BFA in Acting from the Gainesville Theatre Alliance. His passion for storytelling began early, inspired by his grandfather, Ural Smith Jr., which led him to believe that great stories can change lives and touch hearts. Josh has performed in award-winning productions, such as The New Black Fest’s Hands Up: 7 Playwrights/7 Testaments, which was staged at The Alliance Theatre and received a Suzi Bass Award for Outstanding Social Justice Production. As a director, his credits include new works like The Just Us League (Gainesville Theatre Alliance), Death Surrogates (University of Iowa), Spells For Going Forth by Daylight (UI New Play Festival), and Adaku (UI New Play Festival), as well as classics like Dutchman (Iowa Director’s Festival) and It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (AD Players Theatre). Josh is in his final year of pursuing his MFA in Directing at the University of Iowa. He would like to thank his wife, Zafyre, for her love and support!

Meenakshi Chinmai is an international theatre artist from India. She recently graduated from the University of Iowa with an MFA in Theatre Arts with a focus on stage management. Her previous stage management credits with the university include The Children’s Hour, Men on Boats, West Illinois Glass House, for colored girls…, Rita (opera), La Colombe (Opera), La Traviata (opera), and Fierce (opera). She also stagemanaged Riverside Theatre’s recent production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She is excited to be back and working with the university again. She is grateful to all her professors for trusting her with such a complex and spectacular show. Many thanks to Sam, Melissa, Maggie, Sav, JJ, and Shaanu for all their endless love, support, and guidance throughout this project.

Nazanin Vakili is a theatre artist and scenic designer originally from Iran and currently pursuing her MFA in Scenic Design at the University of Iowa. Her recent design credits include The Indoctrination of Bananas, Adaku (New Play Festival), and flashes, as well as assisting on the Mainstage production of Side Show. Nazanin’s work explores the layering of space, history, and emotions. She is thrilled to design Argonautika and deeply grateful to her professors and peers for their trust, collaboration, and inspiration throughout this creative journey.

Bella has had nothing but fun working to bring Argonautika to life this term. She appreciates both the ingenuity of Josh and the resilience of the cast that all came together to make this costume (and puppet) design possible. Some of her past credits include Side Show (University of Iowa), for colored girls (UI), Anti-Hero: Revenge of the Swifties (UI New Play Festival), and salt tongue (UI New Play Festival). She would like to thank Jackson for being her problem-solving sounding board throughout this process.

Edith Kang is a second-year Theatre Arts student with a focus in Technical Theatre. They have previously worked in Day Fades Into Night Into Day as a sound board operator and A Starry Night and Drill Drill Drill as the sound designer. They would like to thank Josh and Bryon for the opportunity to work on this show, and their fellow production team and the cast for an amazing show and hope that everyone will enjoy this production.

Aasrith it a second-year student at the University of Iowa, studying English and Theatre Arts. This is the fourth show he has worked on as a member of the SM team here at Iowa, with other credits found in St. Louis and Connecticut. SM credits include The Indoctrination of Bananas (2025, University of Iowa). Select ASM credits include GOWANUS/DEGENERATES (2024, UI), Adaku (2025, UI New Play Festival), and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2025, Stray Dog). He wants to thank Josh, Meenakshi, and Sam for the opportunity to work on this show. He also wants to thank the entire cast, crew, and creative team for a great show, and the folks back in CT for giving him his start.