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:
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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2025 Additions:
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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2026 Additions:
Emma Kilbride – Company Member
Emma Kilbride is a writer and recent graduate of Bowdoin College. At Bowdoin, she studied English and Government and spent four years performing long-form improv with her troupe, “Office Hours.” A post-grad washashore, Emma is so excited to have found new collaborators and friends at TBD!
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Zephy Thompson – Company Member
Zephy Thompson is an MV native and elementary teacher at Vineyard Montessori School. A longtime lover of the performing arts, she made her stage debut as “The Evil Witch” in a 4th grade production of Hansel and Gretel. Zephy dabbled in college theatre while obtaining her B.A. in International Affairs at GW, and spends her summers with the Playhouse’s Fabulists performing interactive theater for (and with!) children. She also spent 2 years as a Counselor with Circuit Arts’ MV Children’s Theater Camp. While Zephy enjoys practicing her comedic timing on unwitting first graders, she is excited to step into the world of improv with the talented members of TBD!
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Past Members:
Heather Beeman
Shelagh Hackett
Elle Lash
Chris Roberts
Travis Tack
Abby Bender
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TBD Improv 