About Us
The Justice Theater Project is an advocacy, activist theater group. The mission of The Justice Theater Project is to use the performing arts as a way to call to the fore of public attention the needs of the poor, the marginalized, and the oppressed.
Our Partners
The Franciscan School
UNC Chapel Hill Department of Communication StudiesUNC Chapel Hill Apples Service Learning Project
Zaytoun and Associates
Our Grantors
The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation
Our projects received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.
Our projects are funded in part by the City of Raleigh based on recommendations of the Raleigh Arts Commission, and by The United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.
Our Board Members
Deb Royals-Mizerk - Artistic Director
Melissa Zeph - Managing Director
Julio De La Rosa - Financial Director
Barbara “bj” Avent-Farmer- Chairperson
Richard Derrenbacher- Vice Chairperson
Tom Wolf, Secretary
Mark Baumgartner
Regina Brooks
Lisa Gianturco
Kathy Goff
Michael Keough
Marguerite LeBlanc
Mike Tadych
Advisory Board Members:
David McBriar, O.F.M
Jeanne Tedrow
Tim Throndson
Julie Jones
Freddie Lee Heath
Chris Graebe
Shalon Maxile
Staff Biographies:
Deb Royals Artistic Director Artistic Director since 2004, Deb received a BFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and finished her graduate work in Theatre and Performance Studies at Northwestern University. She has worked extensively with the gang and homeless population here in the triangle area. Simultaneous to this she has worked within the prison system, from the development of performance work at Central Prison to facilitating and teaching liturgical dance at the Raleigh Correctional Center for Women. Deb is currently a doctoral candidate in the department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Performance Studies; where she also teaches courses in performance studies, ethnography and oral traditions. Deb also teaches Performance for Social Change classes at Duke University. In addition to her work with and around the Death Penalty and its legacy here in the state of North Carolina, she worked with the Latina/Latino youth in Durham for over a year to develop performance that perpetuates discourse around identity, agency and democratic citizenship as it manifests itself within their community. In early April 2007 she began working with Project Levante, a component of Student Action for Farm Workers (SAF). The performance work addresses concerns about health, housing, environmental conditions and the need for just immigration reform. She has written extensively about this work and presented portions of this for the 2008 International Cultural Studies Conference in Kingston, Jamaica and at the 2008 National Communication Association conference in San Diego, California. In addition to the Justice Theater Project, Deb also worked to found the town of Cary’s “Applause” Cary Youth Theatre and served as Managing/Marketing Director for Raleigh Ensemble Players. Deb produces the annual Shakespeare production for the Koka Booth Amphitheatre at Regency Park.
Julio De La Rosa - Financial DirectorJulio has been the Financial Director since 2005, and is a retired IBM executive. Julio worked as Director of Finance and Administration on the staff of The Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi for eleven years. He served as Treasurer of Passage Home Community Development Corporation for 5 years. Julio is a member of the Diocese Finance Council of the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh and a member of the School Advisory Council of The Franciscan School. Julio is a graduate of Purdue University with a Bachelor’s Degree Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Industrial Administration.
Melissa Zeph - Managing DirectorMelissa has been with JTP since January of 2006. She holds a BA in Business from the University of South Florida and has a history of marketing in the non-profit sector including The American Red Cross, The National Drowning Prevention Coalition, and the Town of Cary Cultural Resources Department.
Terra Hodge- Summer Camp ManagerTerra is currently the Theatre Arts teacher at Culbreth Middle School in Chapel Hill, NC. She received her BA in Theatre Education from North Carolina Central University and her MA in Film and TV Production, concentrating on Acting and Directing from Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus. She started her own video production company, PAC Productions, and has written, directed, and produced the short films "Lost Memories" and "Torn". Terra is also a performer and has been a part of several JTP productions.
