The Pulp Stage - Staff, Board, & Writers

Our Staff and Board

John Marks
Artistic Director (Board Secretary)

John Marks (he/him) has loved strange stories and weird characters his whole entire life. He has Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Theater Production, and since joining the Pulp Stage in 2016, he has begun to seriously pursue script writing. He currently moderates and writes for the Pulp Stage Writer’s Room, and also writes and acts in That Damned Hotel. He and his wife Julie live in Portland with a cheeky terrier. They enjoy eating, walking, belching, and other normal human activities.

Colleen Socha
Managing Director (Board President)

Colleen Socha (she/her) first started engaging with Pulp Stage in 2019 through their Tuesday Reads programs. Once 2020 hit she became more involved with Pulp by leading and coordinating the Tuesday Reads virtually, joining the Board, and contributing to DEIB meetings and training. Now she is the President of the Board and organizes various meetings for Pulp Stage. When she can she performs as well. Her biggest role with the company was PASSENGER in The Beaten Path by William Thomas Berk. When she is not engaged in Pulp activity she is working in childcare, journaling, or snuggling her cat Nala.

Anne Berk
Board Member (Treasurer)

Anne Berk (she/her) was a theater kid. Although she eventually became many other things (Mom, eye doctor, business owner, knitting designer/teacher/writer), performing and supporting performers has always been part of her life. Now she uses her business experience to maintain and manage the money for Pulp Stage so that performers will be supported financially.

Nikki Lu
Board Member

Nikki Lu is a Scriptwriter/Narrative Designer who loves escaping into the fiction world. She dedicates her time to writing innovative stories that challenge norms, share philosophies, and unlock new perspectives. Nikki believes that games can change the world by resonating with players emotionally.

She is on her way to completing an HBA in Creative Writing while sharing her talents with independent studios, game jams, and a theatre company. With her experience as a game writer, playwright, DEIB consultant, and storyteller, Nikki seeks new opportunities to create life-changing stories!

Bennett Battaile Board Member

Bennet Battaile is a mathematician, tuba player, juggler, and author of Mad Scientist Questions. A former glass sculptor, he works as a computer graphics programmer.

The Pulp Stage has fostered the writing of many writers, either in the Writer's Workshop or The Pulp Factor. Here are the writers who have participate in The Pulp Stage's development process.

The Pulp Writer's Workshop

Starting in the pandemic, the Pulp Writer's Workshop met regularly to face the dastardly prompts of The Writer's Nightmare, a writing challenge in which writers are presented mismatched prompts which they must incorporate into new short plays in the Pulp style. Here are the writers who have been a part of The Writers' Workshop (so far).