Our Board
(Click any photo to enlarge)
ALEX
ZAVISTOVICH
President
Founder/Artistic Director
Alex is founder of the 501c3 non-profit National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre, formerly known as Molotov Theatre Group. He is a professional union actor and voiceover professional, and the creator of the popular Poe Theatre on the Air audio drama series, which is aired on NPR, Amazon Music, and other platforms. (Tiger Poe is a Chihuahua/Pug mix. He has no official role in the organization.)
LAURA
JONES
Vice President
Laura brings practical skills and a strong interest in education and literacy to the Board of Directors. In addition to her executive board position, Laura leads a global legal team supporting development and commercialization of complex communications solutions.
STEPHEN
DEMCZUK
Secretary
Raised in Baltimore, Stephen holds master's and Ph.D. degrees in biochemistry and molecular biology. He founded Europe’s first beer-of-the-month club (Beer Around the World) in Luxembourg and Baltimore’s RavenBeer, makers of the award-winning beer and packaging marketed after the stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Stephen is a board member of the Poe House and Museum in Baltimore. His goal today is to hike the 46 High Peaks in the Adirondack Mountains.
JULIA
BILEK
Executive Director
Julia is an educator, poet, and occasional playwright with a long love of the stage, Gothic literature, and Maryland history. She is an MFA candidate in creative writing and environment, and also holds an MA in anthropology and a BA in world religions, so she has spent most of her career in arts management developing skills she is delighted to offer the National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre.
RICK
SOLOMON
Rick Solomon has had a career in Business and Technology. His life has been enriched through volunteer service in various areas, among which were mapping shipwrecks, mounted park ranger, and mounted search & rescue. He believes that life should be lived collecting stories. Rick is an avid reader who shares that love with others.
DWIGHT R.B.
COOK
Dwight R.B. Cook serves as the production manager of Morgan State University’s Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center and Adjunct Professor in Theatre. He is an AEA thespian and technician member who has been on Broadway with a number of productions and a playwright of legitimate and musical works. He is also an alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and the Baltimore Playwrights Group.
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EMILY LEVINE
Emily Levine grew up in the midwest and attended the University of Iowa for English and Violin performance before moving out east to pursue a Masters in Library Science at Simmons College. She currently serves as the Manager of Adult Services for Programs and Outreach at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. She is an avid knitter, loves to read, and has two black cats.
JADE
GREENE
Since graduating with a Speech, Theatrem and Media degree from Kean University of NJ, Jade has been working continuously in one capacity or the other of theatre or film (or both). She has worn multiple hats (writer, producer, director, actor, instructor) while managing both touring and brick-and-mortar dinner/dessert theatres in NJ, her home state. Having moved to Baltimore during the Pandemic, as soon as theatre companies started performing, Jade treated her family to a performance of The National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre's production of "Blood, Sweat and Fears." The rest is, as they say, history!
