ROŪGE
ROŪGE’s mission is to revolutionize live performance art, making it universally accessible and, in doing so, build a world in which the magic of theater can reach, enrich, and connect all people.
We are a 501 (c)( 3) non-profit organization
(Virginia Public Arts DBA ROŪGE Theatre)
Launch Video
Who we are, and what we believe.
ROŪGE’s 2025
A look back at all we accomplished, all we supported, and the excitement we carry for another exciting year of bringing theatre to new places in Hampton Roads!
OUR BOARD
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Board President
Martha grew up in Norfolk, Va, and while she lives in Pennsylvania now, she is back often to spend time with family and work on projects in Hampton Roads. Martha is a recovering sound designer and prolific producer with projects across the nation primarily by way of Goode Productions. She believes that fostering emerging artists is integral to the future of the arts in our country, and for over 20 years, she has worked with scores of playwrights, directors, actors, and designers to create meaningful productions of new works in New York City and beyond. Now she is thrilled to put that same passion into Rouge and the artists and community she still thinks of as home. Martha also serves on the boards of the Va Arts Festival and Va MOCA and is Vice President of the Goode Family Foundation.
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Vice President
Co Founder and Chief Relationship Officer at Charette Agency.
Brand positioning and strategic marketing, from conceptualization to execution is what drives me. I build teams, plans and budgets which work together to answer the why, then the who and the how.
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Board Secretary
Nikki Bass is a Nansemond Indian scientist focused on cultural revitalization through environmental stewardship. She was born and raised on the Chesapeake Bay and has 15 years of experience in environmental protection and public health. Nikki weaves traditional and modern indigenous perspectives into interdisciplinary projects that immerse communities in living tribal landscapes and waterways. Over the past decade, she has dedicated her efforts to the Great Dismal Swamp as a site of intertribal significance and the Nansemond River as the original lifeforce of the Nansemond people. She currently works to empower her tribe through data collection, storytelling with geographic information systems, and capacity building through conservation partnerships.
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Akin Ritchie is currently the Technical Director at Zeiders American Dream Theater in Virginia Beach. He moved to Norfolk, VA in 2011 to work in theater and has previously worked at Virginia Stage Company, Virginia Arts Festival, The Attucks Theater, Chrysler Hall, and Scope Arena.
He is also a lighting designer (and occasional projection designer) whose work has been seen in productions at The Z, Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia Stage Company, The Attucks Theater, Generic Theater, and Kansas City Rep.
Akin is a nerd for the creative process and believes that everyone has a story to tell and the capacity to create.
Meet the Team
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Executive Producer
Patrick K. Mullins builds wild, meaningful experiences that blur boundaries, shake up the usual, and leave a trail of glitter and purpose in their wake.
He’s a director, immersive experience designer, arts consultant, and the Executive Director of ROŪGE—a nimble little company dedicated to bold storytelling, community connection, and the occasional theatrical curveball.
His work has been recognized with the Bettie Minette Cooper Arts Educator Award from the Hampton Roads Cultural Alliance and supported by grants from Virginia Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Center for Performance and Civic Practice. If you’re sensing a theme, it’s this: Patrick believes art should matter—and be a little bit magic.
Armed with an MFA from the University of South Carolina, he’s spent the last two decades creating experiences that live at the intersection of storytelling, spectacle, and civic engagement. Whether it’s reimagining Jane Austen with d20s, haunting an airplane hangar with ghosts of the past, or helping nonprofits craft better narratives, Patrick’s work is driven by curiosity, collaboration, and a healthy disrespect for the fourth wall.
He’s a longtime theatre professor of over 15 years, having taught at Old Dominion University, Christopher Newport University, and Virginia Wesleyan University. Formerly the Associate Artistic Director at Virginia Stage Company, he’s also led workshops, residencies, and devised projects across the country that blur the line between performance and participation.
He likes his theatre immersive, his ensembles brave, and his spreadsheets color-coded.
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Communications Coordinator
Janae is a theatrical performer and filmmaker from Hampton Roads, Virginia. Recent performance credits include As You Like It (The Z), Fat Ham (VSC/Firehouse Theater), Imagine (REACH at Kennedy Center), Rathskeller (The Z), The Little Mermaid (VMT), Refraction of Light (The Z) and the Inheritance Theatre Project’s Emmy Award-winning Exodus: Homecoming. In the theatrical community, she serves as Communications Coordinator for ROŪGE: Theater Reinvented, collaborator of UPAC, and Repertory Member for the Canady Foundation for theArts. In 2022 Janae was selected as a New Orleans Film Society Producers Lab Fellow (LOVE WEST DOC) and currently serves on the Advisory Council for Gen MOCA (Virginia Museum of Contemporary Arts) and WHRO’s Emerging Leaders Board. Janae is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and Full Sail for Film and Video. JanaeThompson.com
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Operations & Resident Stage Manager
Connor is a lifelong member of the Hampton Roads community, born and raised in Virginia Beach, where he credits his professional growth in the arts to the people and organizations around him.
A graduate of The Governor’s School for the Arts, he holds dual BAs in Theatre Administration and Women & Gender Studies. He has spent the past decade working at the intersection of activism, community, and theatre.
With 10 years of experience in arts administration, operations, marketing, and stage management—including work with Virginia Stage Company and Theatre Communications Group (TCG)—Connor brings a collaborative spirit to every project. His mission is to empower artists and administrators alike, reshaping how we create and sustain theatre.