OUR ORGANIZATION
THEATRE BUILT AROUND PEOPLE
Get in the Van Productions is a Seoul-based nonprofit theatre company bringing artists, audiences, languages, and cultures together through performance.
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WHO WE ARE
WHO WE ARE
CREATING SPACE FOR UNTOLD STORIES
CREATING SPACE FOR UNTOLD STORIES
Get in the Van Productions is a nonprofit theatre company based in Seoul that uses contemporary theatre to bring together artists and audiences from different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. Our primary mission is to create spaces to tell the stories of marginalized and underrepresented populations, and to create more opportunities for members of those communities to be part of the theatre community. This includes the LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, disabled people, neurodivergent people, and other groups that face discrimination or oppression.
Our work is rooted in the belief that theatre is at its best when more people can take part in it—whether they are performing, creating, learning, volunteering, or sitting in the audience.
We produce international work in English with Korean subtitles, creating a shared theatrical space where Korean and international audiences can experience the same stories together. Through translation, interpretation, and localization, we hope to reduce sociocultural and linguistic barriers and facilitate deeper cultural exchange.
OUR MISSION
OUR MISSION
WHY WE EXIST
WHY WE EXIST
Get in the Van Productions brings contemporary theatre to Seoul, with a focus on plays, artists, characters, and perspectives that audiences here may otherwise have fewer opportunities to encounter. We make an active effort to create work that inherently has social value and engages audience members in unexpected or novel ways. If someone walks away from a production learning, feeling, or thinking something new, we have achieved one of our goals.
Crucially, we actively seek out stories and create opportunities for artists from communities that have historically received less space on stage. This includes LGBTQIA+ people, people of color, disabled people, neurodivergent people, and other marginalized or underrepresented people whose experiences have often been overlooked in theatre. Get in the Van is dedicated to creating spaces where people from these communities can more readily and comfortably be part of the theatre, whether it is as an actor, director, crew member, administrator, or audience member.
Our commitment to bringing people together extends to connecting the Korean- and English-speaking communities as well. We produce our plays in English with Korean subtitles so that Korean and international audiences can experience the same performance together. Our event MCs also host bilingually so that anyone and everyone in the community can have fun and participate. Theatre should be a shared experience and we believe its our responsibility to help break down barriers that impede cultural exchange.
Our work doesn't stop at performances. We provide workshops and training for our casts throughout the rehearsal process and create opportunities for the public to develop skills as performers, directors, designers, technicians, translators, and other theatre-makers. Through public workshops, community events, and other programming, we work to make participating in theatre—and learning how to make it—available to more people.
OUR COMMITMENTS
OUR COMMITMENTS
PUTTING IT TO PRACTICE
PUTTING IT TO PRACTICE
ACCESS
ACCESS
Lessen the barriers that can keep people from experiencing or participating in theatre, such as cost, language, lack of experience, or discrimination.
EXCHANGE
EXCHANGE
Bring Korean and international artists and audiences together around stories and performances they can experience in the same space.
REPRESENTATION
REPRESENTATION
Create space on stage and behind the scenes for people, stories, and experiences that have historically received less representation in theatre.
PARTICIPATION
PARTICIPATION
Give people opportunities and encourage them to perform, create, volunteer, learn new skills, and take an active role in making theatre.
ACROSS LANGUAGES
ACROSS LANGUAGES
ONE PERFORMANCE.
SHARED EXPERIENCES.
ONE PERFORMANCE.
SHARED EXPERIENCES.
Every Get in the Van production is performed in English with Korean subtitles.
That means Korean and international audiences can sit together, react together, and experience the same performance in the same room.
For us, that shared experience is an important part of what cultural exchange can look like: not simply presenting one culture to another, but creating a space where different communities encounter the work—and each other—at the same time.
OUR STORY
OUR STORY
HOW WE GOT IN THE VAN
HOW WE GOT IN THE VAN
Get in the Van began in February 2025 with something much smaller than a theatre company. Lana Wright and Bazil Manietta wanted more opportunities to work closely on line analysis and scene study, and Jessica Batul soon joined them. The three began reading Things I Know to Be True by Andrew Bovell, eventually inviting actor Adam Strandt and two more performers to fill out the play’s six-person cast.
What started as a reading and practice group quickly became something more. The more time they spent with the play, the more the group felt they had found the kind of work they wanted to see more of in Seoul: contemporary English-language theatre willing to take on difficult, necessary subjects and give thoughtful space to characters and experiences that have not always been given enough room on stage.
Eventually, simply reading the play no longer felt like enough. The group decided to produce it. Lana took on directing, Jess coordinated the rehearsal schedule, and Bazil handled production planning and technical coordination. After months of rehearsal and preparation, Things I Know to Be True opened in November 2025 under a new name: Get in the Van Productions.
The original performance was intended as a one-night production. After seeing the show, Seoul Players—a well-established theatre company and an early supporter of Get in the Van—offered to sponsor a second weekend of performances because they believed more people should have the chance to see it. For Lana, Jess, and Bazil, that vote of confidence confirmed something the production process had already begun to make clear: there was room in the community for this kind of theatre, and there were more opportunities they wanted to create.
From there, things moved quickly. The company began work on their next production, Emma by Kate Hamill, while the founders developed Get in the Van’s bylaws and formally established the organization as a nonprofit in Seoul. They wanted the company’s future to be built around the same principle that had driven that first production: community comes first, and theatre should make more room—for more stories, more artists, and more people who have not always been given the opportunity to participate.
Since then, Get in the Van has begun expanding beyond productions into community events, education and training, and new international collaborations that can bring a wider range of theatre and artistic experiences to Seoul.
We’re still new. We’re still growing. And there is still plenty of room for more people to help build what comes next.
So get in the van and come along for the ride.
OUR PEOPLE
OUR PEOPLE
THE TEAM BEHIND THE VAN
THE TEAM BEHIND THE VAN
Get in the Van is led by artists and organizers who believe that making theatre and building community are part of the same work. This is the team that makes up our nonprofit's operating board of directors.
HOLLY LANA WRIGHT
HOLLY LANA WRIGHT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
lana@getinthevan.org
Holly Lana Wright has a long history working in theater, including a BA in Performing Arts, and most recently directed Get in the Van's inaugural production. She has a passion for textual analysis and loves bringing what's on the page to life so that more people can enjoy and engage with theater.
JESSICA BATUL
JESSICA BATUL
MANAGING DIRECTOR
jessica@getinthevan.org
Jessica has performed on the main stage with Get in the Van and is also a trained improvisor. She excels at managing all of the moving parts that need to be balanced behind the scenes in order to make a production successful, making her a valuable asset both on stage and off.
BAZIL MANIETTA
BAZIL MANIETTA
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT &
FINANCIAL DIRECTOR
bazil@getinthevan.org
Bazil's background is originally grounded in long-form improv, where they embrace the fluid and co-authored nature of scene building. Bazil has performed on stage in Get in the Van productions and often works behind the scenes doing various tasks related to production, tech, and community outreach.
OUR ORGANIZATION
OUR ORGANIZATION
COMMUNITY AND PEOPLE FIRST
COMMUNITY AND PEOPLE FIRST
Get in the Van Productions operates as a nonprofit organization in South Korea. Revenue, donations, and other organizational resources are used to support our artistic, educational, and community activities and to sustain future work. As stated in our bylaws, any and all profit earned from ticket sales or fundraising goes directly toward covering the cost of productions or workshops for community education.
We are committed to transparent financial management and publish information about the donations we receive and how those funds are used.
JOIN THE CAUSE
JOIN THE CAUSE
THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM IN THE VAN
THERE IS ALWAYS ROOM IN THE VAN
Whether you want to perform, create, volunteer, learn, collaborate, or simply see what we make next, there are plenty of ways to be part of the work.
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