ABOUT OUR REPERTORY
NEW IS WHAT WE DO!
CASEY ROSS
FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Casey is the artistic director and founder of Catalyst Repertory Theatre in Indianapolis, and hold a BFA, with a focus in playwriting from Hanover College. At Hanover, Ross was consistently recognized as an emerging voice in the American theatre, and awarded The Presidential Honors for the Arts award for playwriting, by Susan Dewine, in 2008. She was also granted the Tom Evans Emerging Artist grant in 2007, to produce her first IndyFringe festival original play, Gallery, while in attendance at Hanover.
Since, 2007, Ross has written and produced 15 original plays, all of which have been performed, locally, through the IndyFringe Festival or her company, Catalyst Repertory. Many of these play have won festival awards, gone on to be produced as full-scale and/or full-length productions, and won critical acclaim outside of Indiana. In 2017, Ross (alongside long-time artistic collaborator, Dave Pelsue) won the Pauline Moffat IndyFringe Best Veteran Producers award for Catalyst’s contributions of original plays, since first producing in 2007.
While Ross works primarily as a playwright, she is also a dedicated theatrical producer and director, under her Catalyst Repertory theatre brand, wherein she has produced over 30 plays in the Indianapolis area. Some of these productions have included, the 2026 critically acclaimed blackbox production of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, 2023’s IF Spotlight production of Tennessee Williams masterpiece, A Streetcar Named Desire, Sam Shepard musical oddity The Tooth of Crime, Nuvo’s 2016 ‘Best Play of Indy’ winning, Equus, and a fully re-written revival of 80s musical cult-classic Starmites! – which brought it’s 6-time Tony nominated creator, Barry Keating to Indianapolis, for the run.
In 2022, Ross was named one of the Top Ten Performing Arts Luminaries in central Indiana by On the Asile with Tom Alvarez. Her company, Catalyst Repertory, focuses on creating opportunities through new play development, and also, bringing the big modern classics to small stages, in new and approachable ways – all in an effort to build theatre audiences with exciting approachable and important theatre. Ross commands a variety of other skills such as, scenic painting, graphic design, conceptual design, costume design, cartooning, digital art, sound design, video editing, projections design, social media and marketing design, and production management.
OUR CREATIVE DIRECTORS
TRISTAN ROSS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
ZACHARIAH STONEROCK
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
You’ve seen Zach’s work with Catalyst many times. First, with his debut in 2016’s The Diviners (Ferris). Zach is a notable acting force in Indianapolis, working for not only Catalyst Repertory, but also, The Pheonix Theatre, Wisdom Tooth Productions, Claude McNeil Productions, Bard Fest, Eclectic Pond Theatre Company, and many more. At Catalyst, you not only see Zach on stage, but he’s also in the director’s chair. Since joining forces with Catalyst, Zach has directed many of the new works and adaptations presented by Catalyst, such as: Feral Boy (2016, Bennett Ayres), Popular Monsters (2018, Lou Harry), Romeo + Juliet (2018, Bard Fest), Lanista (2022, Bennett Ayres). Zach also acts as the director of the Act Out Ensemble, which provides educational issue-based theatre for school assembly settings. Zach’s other memorable roles, on stage, with Catalyst have been in our 2017 critically acclaimed production of Sam Shepard oddity, Tooth of Crime, wherein he played Chaser, and also bass in our band. Zach also originated the role of Eyepatch in Casey Ross’s Copyright/Safe, which premiered at the 2021 IndyFringe festival.
DAVE PELSUE
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Dave has been with Catalyst since before we were even Catalyst! Joining forces with what would to become our creative team, in 2013, with his first Fringe show appearance in, The Solidarity, written by Casey Ross and directed by Dane Rogers. Dave has been a leader on the Catalyst team, ever since. An acclaimed actor and celebrated musician, who has been seen on many stages, both theatrical and musical, throughout the country. Dave has had a hand in most of Catalyst’s shows – if he’s not in them, he’s usually somewhere behind the scenes; be it building, writing, designing, musicial directing, or composing. On top of his work with Catalyst, he also works for the renowned Phoenix Theatre, Defiance Comedy, Betty Rage Productions…and more. If he looks familar, Google him, because he probablly was in that one band you’re thinking of. Some of Dave’s most memorable Catalyst Repertory performances include: The Pillowman (Tupolski), Tooth of Crime (Hoss), The Tortillo! Trilogy (Patrick ‘Sombrero’ Plummer), Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio), The Diviners (C.C. Showers), Canvas / The Gallery Trilogy (Jackson), Copyright/Safe (Badger), and most recently, Bat in the Wind (Randy)
ACTORS IN RESIDENCE
Catalyst Repertory’s Actors in Residence are actors who’ve worked in 2 or more Catalyst Repertory productions and are actors who recieve special consideration from Catalyst when selecting projects to feature our repertory members. These are the actors who will be pre-cast in announced shows and exhibit the values Catalyst maintains in creating thought provoking and ethically created theatre.