Founders:
Sean Roach – Founder, Artistic Director, Host, Original Company Member
Sean Roach earned a degree in fine arts at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and studied theater at Temple University. His days are filled with painting Martha’s Vineyard landscapes, which can be seen at the Louisa Gould Gallery in Vineyard Haven. Sean has performed as an actor in theater and on television. He was the host and co-producer of two TV shows called The Sunny Side Up Show and Noodle and Doodle which have aired on Sprout, NBC and networks all over the world. His love of improv began in 2006 when Sean became a member of Comedy Sportz Philadelphia, an award-winning improvisational comedy troupe. He moved to Martha’s Vineyard in August of 2017 with his actor-wife and two actor-children. www.SeanRoachArts.com
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Heather Dyas-Fried – Founder, Company Manager, Original Company Member
Growing up around one of the oldest ensemble theaters in the country, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, Heather always loved the stage. She went on to study theatre arts in college. For over 20 years Heather worked with Equalogy, inc., a touring theatre-for-social-change company, as an actor, activist, artistic director, casting director, and a founding member. Based out of NYC, Equalogy toured to colleges in 15 states performing awareness plays about intimate partner violence and sexual assault. When not touring, Heather played many parts in Philadelphia and NYC. Her favorite role was Brooke in Noises Off where she met her husband Sean Roach. She’s loving working with him again as well as with the rest of the fabulous TBD Improv cast. Heather spends the rest of her time as mother to her two children, and working as a real estate agent at Tea Lane Associates.
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Company Members:
Heather Beeman – Company Member
Heather Beeman is an actress hailing from Waukegan, IL. The home to solid hits like Jack Benny and Ray Bradbury! She studied drama at ActOne Studios in Chicago, and is a graduate of both conservatory programs at The Second City Chicago and The Annoyance Theatre. She had the honor of appearing in “Splatter Theater” (a beloved Annoyance tradition) and co-starred in the critically acclaimed short film “Corn Cob Hands” (dir. Max Lollar). Heather has been seen on the stages of The Greenhouse Theater, De Maat Studio Theatre, Donny’s Skybox, and The Playground Theater along with playing roles in indie films and true crime documentaries. She moved onto NYC to take classes at HB Studios and did a plethora of background acting. While in New York, she was a writer and performer with the sketch comedy groups “Clip Show” and “Late Revue” at the Creek and the Cave and The PIT.
And now, Beeman has fallen in love with Martha’s Vineyard.
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Elle Lash – Original Company Member
By day Elle works as a Broker at Tea Lane Associates selling and renting beautiful Vineyard properties as well as using her improvisation skills in her other favorite and equally challenging role as mom to two teenage superstars (who are only occasionally embarrassed when she performs). Luckily she’s married to TBD castmate Chris Roberts, a high school teacher who knows how to juggle, do stage combat, coach basketball, and wrangle their flock of chickens. They’re recovering New Yorkers, who met doing serious theatre like Chekhov and Shakespeare. In her previous life Elle founded and was Executive Director of Double Helix Theatre and worked at A&E Television Network. When she’s not showing houses or onstage, Elle is writing. You can find her work in The Rumpus, Craft Literary, Atticus Review, and at https://www.elissalash.com. She’s also a real estate advocate for affordable housing through the Coalition to Create the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank so we can house a thriving diverse community (that includes artists) on the Island!
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Katherine Reid – Original Company Member
Katherine is so happy to share the stage with the brilliant members of TBD Improv! A native islander and University of Vermont Theater, Art, and Anthropology graduate, she has had the pleasure of working with these and many wonderful performers on and off the various island stages. You can always find her out and about at many of the island’s artistic endeavors, or at the VH dog park with her husky Juneau. She spent almost a decade working with MV Playhouse where she served as the Director of Education, and has had the pleasure of working with Circuit Arts on multiple occasions in different capacities. She also loves to work with other island artists to create work that celebrates the beauty of our home and champions the act and process of art-making.
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Chris Roberts – Original Company Member
Chris is director of the Martha’s Vineyard Children’s Theater Camp, offered by Circuit Arts in the summer, and is an original member of TBD Improv! He has a BFA in theater from Southern Methodist University, and an MFA in acting from Columbia University where he was a member of the first graduate acting class. Chris has performed globally at several international theater festivals, in NYC, regional theaters, and is also currently a special education teacher at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School. His favorite roles are husband to his partner Elle, and dad to a junior at Emerson College, a 9th grader at Williston Northampton School, a scruffy dog, a maniacal kitten, and five chickens.
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2025 Additions:
Abby Bender – Company Member
Abby Bender has been making and performing all kinds of original work on MV and in NYC over the last 30 years ranging from intimate, immersive one-woman shows to site-specific large group pieces. She is a co-founder and the director of Built on Stilts and projects often focus on community and collaboration. Her work explores an array of subjects and/or obsessions both personal and historical and is an unusual hybrid of dance, comedy, and storytelling. It draws on the beauty and power of language, the mysteries of the ego and id, and the relentless influences of current events while embracing the awkwardness of the body, specifically her own. Bender was a co-founder and longtime director of Triskelion Arts, a dance center and theater in Brooklyn, NY. She moved to the island year round in 2016 where she slings coffee at Motts, teaches super fun cardio and cycling classes, serves on the MV Cultural Council, co-creates “Membership Down!,” a live, variety fundraising game show series, and makes performance nonstop. Visit abbybenderworks.com for more info.
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Leif Moore – Company Member
Leif is an improviser, playwright, and theatre artist originally from California. They recently moved to the Vineyard full time after graduating from Emerson College with a BFA in Theatre Education. Their formal improv training began at ComedySportz Boston in 2021 and continued at Emerson, where they briefly minored in comedy (but then dropped the minor because they wouldn’t have graduated in time and also realized that if they became any funnier their ego would get too big and their head would grow like in those Air Head commercials). They have also performed in multiple Shakespeare productions at the Tisbury Amphitheater, where they ate enough vegetables onstage to last a lifetime. Leif has had two short plays produced by Emerson Stage as part of their NewFest Short Works festival, and hopes to bring their writing to stages on the Vineyard soon. They will gladly talk the ear off of anyone who will listen about the history and importance of improvisation, and are immensely grateful for the opportunity to perform with the talented artists who are part of TBD.
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Past Members:
Shelagh Hackett
Shelagh Hackett is returning to the improv stage after a 20-something year hiatus. Shelagh was a member of the well known nineties and aughties improv troupe WIMP. She has since lived a life of great adventure and debauchery, marrying and divorcing twice and producing two perfect children.
She has performed around the island singing and acting her heart out, mostly at Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse and doing Shakespeare in the amphitheater. Shelagh is very excited to be here with TBD Improv doing improv once again!
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Travis Tack
Travis Tack is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago and the conservatory program at The Second City. He was a house team member at The Peoples Improv Theater in New York and appeared in shows at i.O. (formerly ImprovOlympic), Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and ComedySportz Chicago. As a writer, he’s contributed to “Breaking The News” (BBC Scotland), “NewsJack” (BBC Radio 4), Funny Or Die, The Hard Times / Hard Drive, McSweeney’s, and NationalLampoon.com. Travis grew up working at Larsen’s Fish Market and he’s a proud member of the Chilmark Fire Department.
TBD Improv 