Mkawasi Mcharo Hall
Director / Instructor
mkawasi@baloziproductions.com

Mkawasi was born and raised in Kenya.

She debuted her directing career with Moliere's Tartuffe at the University of Nairobi, and wrote her first play, The Scroungers, in 1992. Since then, she has written over a dozen plays and directed in Kenya, Ethiopia, New York City and in Washington, DC.

Her directorial credits include Pambazuka (1996: Kenya National Theatre, Ethiopian National Theatre, Van Ness Auditorium at University of the District of Columbia); Subira (1997: Kenya National Theatre); The Bride (1999: Frederick Loews Theatre, NY) Secrets (2000: The Riant, NY); Hush (2007: Delaski Theatre - Sitar Center, Peoples Media Center, St. Stephen's Auditorium - Washington, DC); Home 1, 2 and 3 (2008: Peoples Media Center), among others.

As an Instructor, Mkawasi has taught film and TV arts at the John Robert Powers School in Rockville, MD; Theatre Arts at Southeastern University in Washington, DC; and stage arts with Balozi Productions's Actors Craft course. She also writes short stories, poetry, essays, literary monuments and thotlines. See tall tales and all.

Mkawasi earned her Masters in Theatre Arts from Hunter College in New York City, graduated from La Guardia Performing Arts Center in New York City, where she studied Arts Administration, and completed a Directing Fellowship at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.

She is married to Preston Hall. They live in Washington, DC.

Preston Hall
Technical Director
preston@baloziproductions.com

Preston was born and raised in Chicago.

He studied Aeronautical Engineering at Aero-Space Institute in Chicago and took a correspondence course in Electronic Technology at the Cleveland Institute of Electronics. He later joined the US Air Force where he became a Satellite Communications expert. His expertise took him to remote areas in Alaska, the Philippines, and soon, Africa.

After an honorable discharge from the military, Preston joined Dow Jones and Co., where he worked as a Satellite Communications Technician. He rose to managerial ranks and was noted for his design of the EIRP (Effective Isotropic Radiated Power) Remote Control System used for the satellite TDMA network of 17 earth stations.

He is a designer, dealer and installer of satellite Internet systems for SkyWay-USA, Skycasters, DIRECTV and WildBlue. His clients include private homes, government and military facilities in remote locations in east coast USA. He has initiated and designed the SpotBeam Internet project aimed at bringing satellite communications to remote schools in Africa.

He holds a General Radiotelephone Federal Communications Commission license and is certified in computer hardware, operating systems and networks. He recently earned certification for the dealership and installation of Ka-band VSATs using frequency-reuse spot beam technology, through WildBlue University.

Preston also handles the Technical Director duties of Balozi Productions, which include sound engineering, lighting and set design.