Atlas, the agentic AI system accused of killing its creators, is back on trial. After performances in Tirana, Athens and New York, and its premiere at SNF Nostos 2026, Alan Stoga’s interactive courtroom drama travels to Baltimore and Washington this November. As always, the audience is the jury, and the verdict is theirs. Read more about the play.
Baltimore – Monday, November 9, 2026
SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
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Washington, DC – Wednesday, November 11, 2026
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center
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The performances are presented by the SNF Agora Institute, the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Sesquicentennial Office at Johns Hopkins University, and are made possible by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).
THE CAST (in order of appearance)
ERIKA ROSE — The Bailiff
NAOMI JACOBSON — Alexa Feng; Presiding Justice
ZACH GRENIER — Silvano Rossi; Prosecuting Judge
PETER MARKS — Mark Karras; Defending Judge
SUSAN LYNSKEY — Atlas; The Defendant
EMRULLAH ÇAKIR — Sentinel; AI Witness
FORREST MCCLENDON — Javier Garrett; Human Witness
MARK GONZALES — Dr. Fuad Aburdene; Human Witness
NIVRITI PURI — Tianming-9; AI Witness
THE AUDIENCE — The juries
WHO’S WHO
ERIKA ROSE
The Bailiff
Erika Rose is an award-winning actress whose work spans Off-Broadway and regional theater. Her credits include Here There Are Blueberries at New York Theatre Workshop and Shakespeare Theatre Company, Tiny Beautiful Things at Baltimore Center Stage, and Confederates at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is a two- time recipient of the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress as well as of a Lucille Lortel Award.
NAOMI JACOBSON
Alexa Feng; Presiding Justice
Naomi Jacobson’s worked Off-Broadway and in regional theaters throughout the country. A Woolly Mammoth Company Member and Shakespeare Theatre Company Affiliated Artist, she’s performed at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Ford’s, Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre, the Guthrie, and Goodman Theatres, among others. Voice Over narration includes programs for PBS, NPR, Discovery Channel, and the Smithsonian. She’s received three Helen Hayes Awards, the inaugural Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, and the Anderson-Hopkins Award for Excellence in Theatre.
ZACH GRENIER
Silvano Rossi; Prosecuting Judge
Zach Grenier’s extensive stage work includes A Man for All Seasons and Man and Boy at the Roundabout Theatre, Gabriel and Describe the Night at the Atlantic Theater Company, and regionally, Death of a Salesman at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. He received a Tony nomination for Moisés Kaufman’s 33 Variations for his performance as Ludwig van Beethoven. Films include She Said, Fight Club, Zodiac, Ride with the Devil, and Twister. On television, he’s known for portraying David Lee on The Good Wife and its spin-off The Good Fight, Mayor Feratti on Ray Donovan, Andy Cramed on Deadwood, and Kenton on Alex Garland’s Devs. He can currently be seen playing Attorney Ed Zanini on Law & Order.
PETER MARKS
Mark Karras; Defending Judge
Peter Marks spent 21 years as chief theater critic for the Washington Post. Prior to that, he was a theater critic, national correspondent and cultural reporter for the New York Times. Since leaving the Post in 2023, he has returned to his first love, acting. He trained in the Shakespeare acting program at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has participated in readings and workshops with New York companies like Theater of War and Clubbed Thumb. He made his film debut in Lauren Brocchini’s World Without End and recently played Firs in The Cherry Orchard at Columbia University. Upcoming: Chebutykin in Three Sisters.
SUSAN LYNSKEY
Atlas; The Defendant
Susan Lynskey is an acclaimed stage, screen, and voice actor, dedicated arts educator, and nationally recognized new play development specialist. Her career features world and area premieres at regional institutions including Off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, and the Kennedy Center. A multiple Helen Hayes Award nominee and D.C. Commission for the Arts Individual Artist honoree, Susan has built a celebrated body of work across theater, television, and film.
EMRULLAH ÇAKIR
Sentinel; AI Witness
Emrullah Dorukhan Çakır is a junior at Johns Hopkins from Turkey, studying physics, applied mathematics and statistics, with a minor in theatre arts and studies. Emrullah’s stage credits at Hopkins include Witness Theatre’s I-Show, Barnstormers’ Heathers, JHU Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Macbeth, and JHU Theatre’s Passage. Outside the theater, he applies machine learning to physics research and uses large language models in software development.
FORREST MCCLENDON
Javier Garrett; Human Witness
Forrest McClendon- Broadway/London: The Scottsboro Boys (Tony® nomination), Thoughts of a Colored Man. Off-Broadway: City Center, Vineyard, La MaMa (others). Most recently, Dreamgirls (Walnut Street Theatre). Upcoming: Wild With Happy (Lantern Theater Company). Awards include Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, two Barrymore Awards. Recent readings: inhaleEXHALE at the Laurie Beechman Café, Asilomar (Cape Cod Theatre Project), 1781: Mumbet (The Tent). Professor of the Practice at JHU and faculty at the National Theater Institute.
MARK GONZALES
Dr. Fuad Aburdene; Human Witness
Mark Gonzales is a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins, where he studies multi-robot optimal control. Previous roles include Sir Wilfrid Robarts in Witness for the Prosecution, the Cardinal Inquisitor in Galileo, Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, and Antiochus and Lysimachus in Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
NIVRITI PURI
Tianming-9; AI Witness
Nivriti Puri is a sophomore at Johns Hopkins University, majoring in Neuroscience, and minoring in Theatre Arts and Studies and Philosophy. She appeared in the JHU Fall 2025 Main Stage production of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. This semester, she co-directed The Freshman One-Acts, produced by the Barnstormers (a JHU student theatre group).
ALAN STOGA
Author and Producer
Alan Stoga is a strategist and entrepreneur experienced in geopolitics, communications, consulting, economics, and banking. He has served as chairman and executive director of the Tällberg Foundation since 2014 and is president of Zemi Communications. The Trials of Atlas was written for Nostos 2026, SNF’s celebration of thirty years of grant making. His previous play, Prometheus Unbound, was staged in New York, Nairobi, Pavia, and Manchester (VT). He serves on the board of the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and is a long-time member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
MARK MITTON
Producer
Magician Mark Mitton thrives on the extraordinary and the unexpected. His productions range from a freakshow circus for Aerosmith and a magic show featuring members of John Mayer’s band, to creative weddings, art gallery happenings, fashion shows, and conversations with thinkers such as John Cleese and Garry Kasparov. He has also produced a faculty seminar on deception and decision-making at Princeton University. Mark is the Entertainment Director for the Gathering for Gardner, a conference celebrating mathematicians, magicians, and puzzle creators.
SUSANNA MITTON
Producer
Susanna produces just about anything. For Japanese television she has had an escape artist jump out of a plane wearing a straitjacket, filmed a liver transplant, and worked on game shows and biographical documentaries. Together with her husband Mark Mitton, she has produced a wire-walk over Athens, circus, music and comedy shows, and nerdy events celebrating inventor Ernő Rubik. They also create bespoke entertainment at the homes of discerning private clients around the world.
