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OrSVP Leadership
Executive Board of Directors
Matt Cardigan-Smith
(Managing/Creative Director)
Matt is an award winning performer, director and designer who has worked on over 250 productions. He teaches workshops and classes, serves as a judge at competitions and awards panels and regularly works at theatres throughout
Northern California. Matt joined OrSVP in 2024 as Jeremy in The Spider's Web and quickly became part of the administrative team. In 2025 he directed and designed our hit production of Murder on the Orient Express and starred as twins Hugo and Frederic in Ring Round the Moon. In 2026, he became the Managing Director of OrSVP and directed and designed The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and starred in Noel Coward's Present Laughter.
Matt looks forward to more growth for OrSVP as it moves into the future - stay tuned!
Jill Gelster
(Executive Director)
Jill has been an integral part of OrSVP since 1991 participating in all aspects of the theater company. She has a bachelors degree in theater from Santa Clara University.
David Dierks
(Financial Director)
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David Dierks is the technical Director for OrSVP. He has studied OrSVP’s special way of building sets under Geotty Chapple and has been doing so since 1993.
As our resident fight choreographer, David has studied under Tom Badillo since 2009. He has been part of Tom’s fight team at many venues, including events in Portland, Las Vegas and several Bay Area appearances. He has studied stage combat with Christopher Villa and Richard Lane.
OrSVP Board of Trustees
The OrSVP Board of Trustees serve as an advisory board to the Executive Board
Patrick Atkinson (Trustee)
Patrick trained at the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts before becoming an anthropologist and a Speech Language Pathologist. He has appeared in plays with Central Coast Shakespeare Festival, PCPA, Bay Area Stage, Onstage Actors Ensemble, Clayton Theater Company, Orinda Starlight Village Players, and Ghostlight Theater Ensemble. He has directed two plays with Orinda. His favorite roles include two turns at Hercule Poirot. He dabbles in playwriting and his short play Domesticated has appeared as a staged reading. Patrick specializes as a dialect coach.
Maya Rath (Trustee)
Maya has been involved in Bay Area community theater for the last 10 years including performing at ORSVP. She worked most of her 40-year career in the non profit sector serving longest as General Manager for the Oakland Symphony for 24 years. She also worked for the San Francisco Opera Guild, the California Symphony and as the Assistant Director of the San Francisco Arts Commission. Maya has served on various boards including as Treasurer of the Association of California Symphony Orchestras and Vice President of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland.
Monica Bonnington (Trustee)
Monica has been a member of OrSVP since 2015, contributing to more than a decade of productions as both a versatile performer and an essential part of the backstage creative team. Her onstage work includes standout roles such as Glinda in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Julia in Kindly Keep It Covered, Lottie in Good Morning, Bill, Jane Tate in It Runs in the Family, Bernice Roth in The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, and Mrs. Nora Strange in Toward Zero.
Behind the scenes, Monica has served as a Stage Manager and Assistant Director, supporting productions including Spider’s Web, Much Ado About Nothing, Murder on the Orient Express, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Present Laughter, and Dracula. Her reliable guidance backstage, paired with her ability to collaborate with the exceptional backstage crews, has made her an essential part of the company’s creative
engine.
Monica’s passion for theatre is rooted in a personal journey inspired by her late husband, Shawn M. Bonnington Sr., whose encouragement led her beyond the audience into the world of performance and backstage craft. Every role she embraces carries that shared love of the dramatic arts, making her presence at OrSVP both meaningful and unforgettable.
Alice Lee (Trustee)
Alice first joined Orinda Starlight Village Players on stage in their 2025 production of Murder on the Orient Express and then returned for the 2026 production of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.. She has participated behind the scenes as a lightboard/sound technician and dance choreographer(Ring Round the Moon 2025), and as assistant director and front of house manager (Present Laughter 2026). She has also enjoyed helping build sets on workshop days and representing the theater with advertising and sponsorship opportunities.
Mimi Hamilton (Trustee)
Mimi has been active in the vibrant Bay Area theater scene from an early age. Her first role was as Woodstock in You’re a good man, Charlie Brown at the tender age of five. Many Christmas Carols later, she trained with Diablo Valley College Drama, UC Santa Barbara Dramatic Arts, and the Pacific Conservatory of the performing arts. She has traveled the parks of Seattle with the city’s original Shakespeare Company and toured nationally with children’s theater. She is an Elementary Librarian with over 20 years working in education. Thank you for supporting local theater.
OrSVP Legacy Board
Geotty Chapple
Susan Chapple
Malcolm S. Cowler
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