Paper Moon Repertory: Theatre for Austin
 
 
 
 
         


Paper Moon Repertory is a non-profit theatre company in Austin, Texas dedicated to the fine art of theatrical production and education.  Our mission is to provide high quality productions that capture the imaginations of theatregoers through inventive scenery and props, one-of-a-kind costumes, innovative music and fantastical storytelling.








Rachel McGinnis Meissner holds a Bachelor’s in Speech from Northwestern University, where she double-majored in Theatre and Writing. During her time in the Theatre program, she studied acting, costume design, writing, and she began her studies in fine art, taking courses in fundamentals of design, painting, and sculpting. She served as the assistant costume designer and head designer on several productions during her time at Northwestern. Rachel also holds a Master’s in Art Education from Indiana University, where she focused her attention on interdisciplinary arts in non-traditional settings. Graduate courses in ceramics, textile design, drawing, and sculpting inspired her to learn graphic design. She is the owner of Green-Eyed Phoebe Studio, an illustration company that has produced marketing materials f
or The Saxon Pub, The City Theatre, TexHomes Realty, The Wimberley Players, and Paper Moon. As an educator, Rachel has taught in schools and in community settings through Pollyanna Theatre Company, the Lee Coleé Summer Musical Boot Camp, and the French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts. She has taught writing, art-making, and acting.


In professional theatre, Rachel has worked as both a performer and a manager. As House Manager, Rachel has been host to dignitaries and performers such as Carol Burnette, Hal Prince, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Oliver Stone. She has managed both The Goodman Theatre in Chicago and Pick-Staiger Concert Hall on the Northwestern campus. In regards to performing, Rachel has been an actor for over 20 years and has performed in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Austin. Locally, she’s been the honored recipient of a B. Iden Payne Award for her performance in The Laramie Project, and a nominee for lead performances in The Heidi Chronicles, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Just Bee. She was co-lead in Rabbit Hole (with David Meissner) and The Nina Variations, productions nominated for Best Drama by the Austin Critic’s Table. She was also nominated for Best Actress in 2009 and 2010 by the Austin Theater Examiner, Actress of the Year, and received an Austin Critic’s Table nom for her role as Maggie in
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Recently, along with the rest of The Dudleys cast, she was an honored recipient of the 2011 B. Iden Payne for Best Cast Performance. She is a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild, the Greater Austin Creative Alliance, and is represented by The Atherton Group.

The Nina Variations, Gobotrick




















David Meissner graduated from Concordia University at Austin with a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts. While in school, he became involved in the theater program and performed in 16 shows on the Concordia stage. During this time, David also helped with set construction, and he studied drawing and painting. He has been employed with Pollyanna Theater
Company, having performed in their mainstage and touring productions for three years. He also tours Austin-area schools as Captain Can, a production that is a joint venture between Pollyanna and the City of Austin, teaching children about recycling. As Captain Can, David has done well over 200 performances.


Some of David’s favorite roles as an actor include Hal in Austin Playhouse’s Proof, Conrad in Ordinary People, Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband, Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew, and the title roles in Hamlet and Richard III. David was a co-lead in Rabbit Hole, at The City Theatre, which was
nominated for Best Drama in the 2010 Austin Critic’s Table Awards, and he was nominated for a 2009 B. Iden Payne Award for his role as Blue in Pollyanna’s Pattern Nation. David recently won the 2011 B. Iden Payne award for his many roles in Paper Moon’s very own The Adventures of Iris & Momo, and along with his wife, he was honored with the 2011 B. Iden Payne award for Best Cast Performance in The Dudleys. David is represented by T. Coet Talent and is a company member of Pollyanna Theatre Company and The City Theatre.  

Just Bee, Pollyanna










David Meissner

Rachel McGinnis Meissner

Judy Matetzschk-Campbell   Judy received her Ph.D. in Theatre – Text Criticism from the University of Texas at Austin in May of 1996. An award-winning director, Judy has directed 22 productions for young audiences in the Austin area. With over fifteen years of work in theatre education, Judy has taught in a wide variety of settings including, after school programs in elementary schools, college training programs and summer professional development programs for educators grades K–12. Her advocacy work includes service as an officer for the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, a professional organization for theatre educators and professional theatre artists. Her work as a facilitator in a wide variety of workshops has focused on integrating the arts into the daily school curriculum, utilizing drama activities to motivate creative writing, the use of theatre to help increase student desire to read. She taught for nine summers in the Southeast Institute for Education in the Arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where she has worked with teachers for all over the southeastern part of the U.S. as they learn about the power that the arts can have in the classrooms. Her current work focuses around the development of new dramatic literature for young audiences, the creation of teacher/student enrichment materials to accompany theatre productions. Dr. Matetzschk specializes in helping educators design and implement programming which merges the energy and creativity of theatre with a wide variety of curriculum concerns. Professional New Play Dramaturgy credits include work for professional theatres such as St. Louis’ Metro Theatre Company, Tempe, Arizona’s Childsplay Theatre, and Indianapolis’ Bonderman Youth Playwrighting Symposium. Judy is the Artistic Director of the award-winning Pollyanna Theatre Company, which stages youth productions in Austin and Central Texas schools.