Meet the Team

Peter Atkinson founded The Merry Beggars while in graduate school at Columbia University. Prior to Columbia, he studied Classics & Early Christian Literature at Ave Maria University. Peter founded a study abroad program in Rome and a Shakespearean acting program in Florida. After training in Massachusetts and London, Peter went on to Columbia University’s graduate school for an MFA in Acting. While in graduate school, he starred Off Broadway and in 2021, The Merry Beggars was acquired by Relevant Radio. Peter is married to an incredible actress, Naomi Atkinson, and they have one wonderfully impish daughter, Francesca Atkinson.

Kevin has been writing and directing for The Merry Beggars since 2023. His stage and opera directing credits include world premieres at the historic Kings Theatre in New York City and the Stamford Palace Theatre. As a producer he has worked in animation, live action and audio. His stage credits include lead and supporting roles in the West End, regional theatres in the US and UK, off-Broadway and at festivals in Europe and Israel. Screen credits include guest star and recurring roles on US network television and feature films working with Steven Spielberg, Adam McKay, Steve Martin, and Tina Fey. As a voice actor, Kevin has voiced hundreds of national network commercials for TV and radio, narrated audiobooks for Bloomsbury, Harper Collins and Penguin Audio, and appeared in AAA video games for Avalanche Studios and Rockstar Games. Audio drama credits include radio plays for Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) and BBC Radio 4. He is a graduate of St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Ecole de Mime Corporel Dramatique.

Kiley began work with The Merry Beggars in 2020 with The Quarantine Plays when she wrote “I Do Like the Rain.” Since then she has written On the Night Train and twenty one of our Saints. Kiley holds a BA in Theatre from Hillsdale College.

Ariel Gade is an award-nominated actress and acting coach based in Northern California. Her career began at the age of four when she booked her first commercial. She later went on to star in major feature films and television shows. Ariel has worked alongside stars such as Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Jennifer Connelly, and Christopher Lloyd. Some of her credits include ENVY (dir. Barry Levinson), DARK WATER, NCIS: LOS ANGELES, and CALL OF THE WILD 3D. She began working with the Merry Beggars in 2023 as a Casting Associate, and she has helped cast many of The Saints series. Ariel studied at the University of California, San Diego and received her MBA in Film Production at John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, CA.

Claire Di Maio began scriptwriting for The Merry Beggars in 2024 and continued on as a Casting Associate in 2025. Her creative experience ranges from assisting on SAG-AFTRA events to reviewing TV series across media outlets to freelance editorial work. She holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Westminster in London and a Bachelor of Arts in Media, Culture, and the Arts from The King's College in New York City.

Joseph Marsh is a producer, director, and actor from the Piedmont region of central Virginia, currently based in Chicago. He is a graduate of the Shakespeare in Performance program at Ave Maria University. He has also studied at the American Shakespeare Center and Fiasco Theater in New York. In 2023, he joined The Merry Beggars as Production Manager for The Saints and now serves as Associate Producer.

Kevin Conroy is an award-winning producer and writer. Producing commercials for nearly 600 national and local clients, he most notably wrote and produced the 2021 One Voice Award-winning commercial “Crispy.” Other nominees for this category included McDonald’s, Miller Lite, and Benjamin Moore. In 2021, he joined The Merry Beggars. As Audio Director, his work includes A Christmas Carol, On the Night Train, and The Saints: Adventures of Faith and Courage, which won 2 Gabriel Awards in 2024 for Best Podcast and Best Podcast Series.

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