Nathan Motta is the 5th Artistic Director at Dobama Theatre, Cleveland’s Off-Broadway Theatre, where he spurred Dobama's move to become the region's newest Equity Theatre and where he’s directed critically acclaimed productions of AN OCTOROON (Best Director- Cleveland Critics Circle 2016), THE FLICK (Best Director- Cleveland Critics Circle 2017), STUPID F**KING BIRD (Best Director- Cleveland Critics Circle 2019), APPROPRIATE, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, SUPERIOR DONUTS, A BRIGHT NEW BOISE, THE LYONS, TIME STANDS STILL, THE ALIENS, A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL CELEBRATION, MARIE ANTOINETTE, JOHN, THIS, ELLA ENCHANTED, and the World Premiere of HOW TO BE A RESPECTABLE JUNKIE. A professional director, conductor, and composer/lyricist, Motta has worked with Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Baldwin Wallace University, Oberlin College, Cleveland State University, John Carroll University, Opera Cleveland, Ohio Light Opera, Cain Park, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Mercury Opera Rochester, and Civic Light Opera (Pittsburgh). He is the Founding Artistic Director of the Dobama Emerging Actors Program (DEAP), Dobama's elite summer acting program. He has composed music for three original musicals, LITTLE WHITE GLOVES (an adaptation of the movie All I Wanna Do), MIDSUMMER (based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and the upcoming World Premiere of THE LAND OF OZ (book & lyrics by George Brant and adapted from the L. Frank Baum novel). A leader in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the theatre industry, he was award the Lamkey Award by Actors’ Equity Association for representation on and off stage; was co-founder of Theatre Artists for Social Change (TASC), a forum for convening and education; helped create the CLEAN HOUSE STANDARDS, a document based on Chicago’s “Not In Our House” standards of protections for theatre artists and staff; and helped write the LOVE & RESPECT DOCUMENT, a model living document for anti-racism and authentic inclusivity at Dobama Theatre. He holds a B.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.M. from the Eastman School of Music. Member Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), the national theatrical union that unites, empowers and protects professional stage Directors and Choreographers throughout the United States.