homeward

HOME:  five plays about how where we live impacts who we are

Five dynamic writers and one composer explore the various meanings of HOME, as it pertains to individual groups in our society. With a rise in foreclosures and homelessness due to the failing economy as well as strong opinions on both sides of the immigration issue, the meaning of a home and what it means to have, and perhaps lose, one has been on the minds of every American. It promises to be an exciting, insightful, poignant evening of new work.

Featuring a cast including Satomi Blair, Molly Carden*, Molly Anne Coogan*, Cicily Daniels*, Joby Earle*, Christopher Ryan Grant*, Stephanie Nicole Kelley*, Daniel Piper Kublick, Malcolm Madera*, Kunal Prasad,Sergi Robles*, Will Shaw*, Matt Shingledecker*,Eliza Simpson, DeSean Stokes*,Chudney Sykes*, Brad Thomason*, and Ryan Zachary Ward*

Playwrights include: Michael John Garcés, Ashlin Halfnight, J. Holtham, Kristen Lee Rosenfeld, Luanne Aronen Rosenfeld, and Jen Silverman

Directors include: Elizabeth Flax, Julie Foh, Erik Pearson, Colette Robert, and Melanie Moyer Williams

HOME was performed April 11 – 28, 2013, at The Theater at the 14th Street Y located at 344 East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues.

HOME is registered with the New York Innovative Theatre Awards, new awards specifically for Off-Off-Broadway theatre, and your vote will make a difference.  Vote for us at www.nyitawards.org!

We participate in the TDF voucher program.

Habitat for Humanity - New York City
Chosen for HOME

Habitat for Humanity - New York City transforms lives and our city by building quality homes for families in need and by uniting all New Yorkers around the cause of affordable housing. With the help of thousands of volunteers every year, Habitat-NYC has built more than 260 affordable homes in the five boroughs of New York City.

For more information, please visit http://habitatnyc.org.

HOME is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

New York State Council on the Arts

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

HOME is made possible by generous grants from the following foundations:

The Dramatists Guild Fund

The Josephine Foundation

The Nancy Quinn Foundation

The Puffin Foundation

Bios:

Cast:

Satomi Blair, Rachel (A Ribbon of Highway)

Satomi Blair is a graduate of Fordham University at Lincoln Center.  She is excited to work with this talented group of inspiring actors, writers and directors and hopes to have other opportunities with this company.  Previous Original Productions include, She Kills Monsters with the Vampire Cowboys at The Flea Theater, These Seven Sicknesses, directed by Ed Iskandar, additional work with Leviathan Lab, Ma-Yi, EST Young Bloods, The Bats at the Flea Theater.  For a full resume go to satomiblair.com.    

Molly Carden*, Amy (A Ribbon of Highway)

New York credits: World Premiere of Eve Ensler’s Emotional Creature at the Signature Theatre, Gentrifusion with Red Fern Theatre Company in addition to many readings and workshops at Ensemble Studio Theatre where she is a member.  Regional: Emotional Creature at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Great Immensity, a co-production with The Civilians at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; I Capture the Castle at Creede Repertory Theatre; and Proof at Temple Theatre in North Carolina.  Molly trained at University of North Carolina School of the Arts. 

Molly Anne Coogan *, Corey (Tanner's Last Stand)

Molly is an actor, writer, and musician.  With a deep passion for the development of new works, she has appeared in readings, workshops, and world premieres on both coasts.  Recent credits include: Makeover (Demos/Bizar Workshop), A Premonition (terraNOVA Collective), Stairway to Stardom (Ars Nova), An Incident (O’Neill Playwrights Conference), Auctioning the Ainsleys (TheatreWorks, World Premiere), Variations on A Theme (TheatreWorks New Works Festival),Touch(ed) (TheatreWorks New Works Festival), and Killing John Grisham (NYC Fringe, World Premiere).  Molly is a contributing writer and cast member of the webseries, Hot Mess, appears in the webseries Chaos Theory, and in the music video for her song It Could Be.  She is a proud volunteer and teaching artist at the 52nd Street Project, helping inner city kids create original theatre.

Cicily Daniels*, Ruby Diamond (Cardboard Castles)

Cicily Daniels hails from Potomac, Maryland.   Her Broadway credits include Disney’s The Little Mermaid (Ursula u/s, Alana, Original Cast), All Shook Up (Sylvia u/s), Rent (Joanne u/s) & the National Tour of Caroline or Change (Washing Machine);  TV & Film: Boardwalk Empire (Jazz Dancer), Ugly Betty (Zelda), Across the Universe; American Gangster; Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra:  A Cole Porter Celebration (Star Soloist).  Her solo concert “How High,” premiered at the University of Southern Indiana, celebrating the history of the African-American soprano in musical theater.  Cicily serves as a celebrity spokesperson for Nielsen TV, and a voiceover artist for Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Most recently, she performed the role of Martha Ledoux in the first developmental reading of Gumbo the Musical.  Cicily is a graduate of Yale University (B.A. Theater Studies, Performance Concentration).  She would like to thank her mother, sister, agent & her fiancé for their amazing support.

Joby Earle*, Aaron (Tanner’s Last Stand)

Broadway: War Horse (Lincoln Center). Off Broadway: Romeo and Juliet (Smith Street Stage), A Midsummer Night's Dream (New Theater House). Regional: The Puppetmaster of Lodz (The Berkshire Theater Festival), The Pitmen Painters) Palm Beach Drama Works, Richard II, Trouble in Mind, Compulsion (Yale Repertory Theater). Founding member of Smith Street Stage. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Christopher Ryan Grant*, Tanner (Tanner’s Last Stand)

Million Dollar Quartet (Broadway/ Off-Broadway/ 1st National Tour) New York: Rattlestick, Ars Nova, NYC Fringe Regional: Yale Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company (DC), Two River Theatre, the O'Neill, the Orchard Project, New Harmony,Yale Cabaret.  Film/TV: Rolling on the Floor Laughing (official Sundance selection), Wiseguys. Training: University of Evansville ('05) BFA,  British American Drama Academy at Oxford, Yale School of Drama ('08) MFA

Stephanie Nicole Kelley*, Daria (Doing Something Good)

Stephanie (AEA, SAG/AFTRA) is pleased to be working with Red Fern on this production.  She has been acting on stage since childhood & started working on film/tv in high school. Stephanie also runs a nonprofit, Yellow House NYC, that raises money for arts education grants and professional stipends ( learn more at www.yellowhousenyc.org).  Theatre credits:  Rex (Jen, Producer’s Club), Muse (Jenny, Polaris North), A Christmas Carol (Belle, Cumberland Theatre, MD), and Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Trisha, Triangle Players, VA).  Film/TV:  John Adams (Adam’s Nanny, HBO),Cry Wolf (Girl, Rogue Pictures), and Iron Jawed Angels (Prison Singer, HBO).  Stephanie has appeared as principal in 6 national commercials and dozens of regionals.  www.StephanieNKelley.com

Daniel Piper Kublick, Alex (A Ribbon of Highway)

Daniel Piper Kublick has appeared in new works by Ashlin Halfnight, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Tracy Bersley, Eric Bland, Jeremy Pickard, Matt Wilson, Mikhael Tara Garver, and art.party.theater.company.  This summer, through a generous residency at NACL, he and fellow collaborators of the creative posse, DDT, will be continuing work on a new devised installation piece about wormholes in the fabric of a moment borrowed from George Eliot's Middlemarch-- very tentatively titled, 'a hypothetical topological feature of [19th century] space/time'.  He is a graduate of The Studio/New York and Princeton University, and currently lives in beautiful Brooklyn.  

Malcolm Madera*, Madden (Tanner’s Last Stand)

Theatre- The Mnemonist of Duchess County(The Attic), Derby Day (Camisade Theatre Company),The Tenant (Woodshed Collective), Al’s Business Cards (At Play),The Pied Pipers of the Lower East Side (The Amoralists), Dance Lessons* Samuel French Festival Winner, The Deep Throat Sex Scandal( 45 Bleeker),Somewhere In The Pacific (Potomac Theatre Project), I.E. In Other Words (The Flea), Buried Child (Fusion). Film and TV-  "Boardwalk Empire' (HBO), Dead Men, LVJ, My Brother Jack, Circledrawers etc. Company member of The Amoralists and a founding member of The Camisade Theatre Company.  Studied film and theatre at the University of New Mexico and received a post graduate acting degree from The Drama Studio London.

Kunal Prasad, yayo (homeward)

Kunal Prasad is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area where he studied Drama at San Francisco State University. He received his MFA from American Repertory Theater at Harvard University and studied Improv at Upright Citizens Brigade. Besides acting Kunal is a storyteller and has written a series of stories about his child and young-adulthood titled “I Miss my Mom and Dad for This?” Favorite theater credits include: “Your Boyfriend May Be Imaginary” by Larry Kunofsky, “Empire of the Trees” by Adam Kraar, Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” directed by Arthur Nauzyciel, and Pinter’s “Room” and “Celebration” directed by the late Roman Kozak. Kunal loves emcee-ing "Phaedra's Cabaret" produced by Flux Industries and investigating the origins of human existence with his long-form improv team, "Dr. Jones."

Sergi Robles*, Robert (Cardboard Castles)

Having worked in regional and stock theaters, this marks his New York City debut! He is honored to be working alongside Kristen Rosenfeld again, whose compassion along the years has provided much insight and inspiration.  Favorite roles include Floyd (Floyd Collins), Magaldi (Evita), and Jinx (Forever Plaid).  He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where he majored in Acting & Music Theatre. 

Will Shaw*, Kaya (A Ribbon of Highway)

Will is an NYC based actor who is delighted to work with Red Fern Theatre for the first time. Some of his favorite roles include Ariel in Pillowman, Ketch Freeman in Our Country's Good, Caliban in The Tempest, Claudio in Measure for Measure, Woyzeck in Woyzeck, andBetty/Gerry in Cloud Nine.  He is a proud graduate of Tufts University and Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Acting Program.  My gratitude to Colette for inviting me into this process. And my eternal devotion to the people that sit at home in my heart. Peace & Love

Matt Shingledecker*, Joe (Cardboard Castles)

Matt Shingledecker is honored to be working with Kristen again after touring the country with her on the 1st National Tour of Spring Awakening. A few of his credits include...Broadway: West Side Story (Tony), Spring Awakening. Off-Broadway: Rent (Roger - Original Revival Cast). TV: Blue Bloods. Special thanks to The Gage Group, Paul, Mom, Krystina, and all of my family and friends, and proud member of Actor's Equity.

Eliza Simpson, umed (homeward)

Eliza Simpson - Theater: Its a Wonderful Life (Mile Square Theater), Go, Dog, Go! (MST), Pure Accident (Apartment 292 theatre co.) Film: The Manchurian Candidate (Paramount Pictures), Rachel Getting Married (Sony Pictures Classic). Eliza is a native of Nyack, New York. Training at Rutgers University, BFA. SAG. 

DeSean Stokes*, Kevin (Doing Something Good)

DeSean Stokes, Kevin,.  DeSean is thankful to the Red Fern Theatre Company, Elizabeth Flax and J. Holtham for this opportunity.  He was most recently seen in the August Strindberg Repertory Theatre's Easter (Gene Frankel Theatre).  National Tour: Freedom Train (TheatreworksUSA).  New York and Regional credits include The Time of Your Life (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ), Freedom Train (Town Hall NYC), Mercy Street: A Hip-Hop Concert (Ars Nova), NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation (New World Stages), Rope of Sands (Robert Moss Theatre), Within Untainted Wombs (Kraine Theater) and Footloose (Cape Fear Regional Theatre).  TV/Radio credits include the Voice of America, MTV, ABC and TV-One.  Training: UNC-Chapel Hill (Charles Kuralt Fellow in International Broadcasting).  Proud Member of AEA. www.desean.tv

Chudney Sykes*, leti (homeward)

Chudney Sykes is thrilled to be working with the Red Fern Theatre for the first time. Chudney received her MFA in Acting at Harvard University/ART/MXATT, BA at Brown University and is a proud member of Actors Equity and SAG/AFTRA. Theatre credits include:  Easter (Christine, August Strindberg Repertory Theatre) Ajax In Iraq (Spc. Connie Mangus, Flux Theatre) Raft of the Medusa (Nairobi, Secret Theatre) A Photograph: Lover’s In Motion (Claire, Paul Robeson Theatre) Ain’t Supposed to Die a Natural Death (Tomboy, Classical Theatre of Harlem). Current Company Member of the Stepping Stone Theatre. American Repertory Theatre Institute: Ajax In Iraq (Spc. Connie Mangus) Aloha Say the Pretty Girls (Joy) American Repertory Theatre: Endgame (Nell u/s), Communist Dracula Pageant (Ensemble u/s) Chudney is very grateful to have the support of her family in all that she does and thanks God every day for their love.  www.chudneysykes.com

Brad Thomason*, Actor (Doing Something Good)

Brad is excited to return to Red Fern for his third production, having appeared in An Ideal Husband and The Exonerated. Other favorite NYC (selected credits): Dodsworth (Metropolitan Playhouse); Torch Song Trilogy (with Seth Rudetsky), Violet, Bus Stop(Gallery Players); and Jane Austen’s Persuasion (GTTP). On film, he is especially proud of the recently released feature Wind Jammers (windjammersthemovie.com).  Brad recently wrapped the lead in a TV pilot, playing opposite Richard Kline (Three’s Company) and Colleen Zenk (As the World Turns).  In March, he shot an episode of the Bio Channel’s I Killed My BFF, as either the murderer or the victim-stay tuned!  Additional TV: The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Guiding Light, Law and Order and L&O: SVU as well as several national commercials.  Visit www.bradthomason.com.

Ryan Zachary Ward*, aruni (homeward)

Born and raised in New Jersey, Ryan was lucky to have parents who were crazy enough to let him pursue a professional acting career from a young age. Growing up he appeared in a number of Off Broadway productions such as The Polish Play (Katharsis Theatre Company). He also played David Whitaker in the film Far From Heaven. He received a BFA in Theater from Rutgers University in 2012. This is his post graduate NYC theater debut, and he’s ecstatic to be sharing it with his once upon a time classmate Eliza Simpson.  Great thanks to the cast, the crew, Julie Foh, Nicolosi & Co, Red Fern Theatre Company, and his tirelessly supportive family (most of all those crazy parents).

Playwrights:

Michael John Garcés, Playwright, homeward

Michael has previously written two other short plays for Red Fern: inhabited (for "Gentrifusion") and in the Zone (for "+ 30 NYC").  He is the artistic director of Cornerstone Theater Company in Los Angeles, a community-engaged theater that recently presented his play Consequence.  Recent directing credits include red, black and GREEN: a blues by Marc Bamuthi Joseph at BAM and The Convert by Danai Gurira at Woolly Mammoth in Washington DC.   Michael is an alumnus of New Dramatists. 

Ashlin Halfnight, Playwright, A Ribbon of Highway

Ashlin Halfnight’s plays include A Hard Wall at High Speed, God’s Waiting Room, Diving Normal, and Artifacts of Consequence.  He is a Fulbright Award winner, an O’Neill finalist, and is the recipient of a TCG Grant, The Ludwig Volgelstein Artist Grant, and the Howard Stein Playwriting Fellowship. In 2011, he was named one of nytheatre.com’s People of the Year for exceptional contributions to New York theater.  He was an artist in residence at the National Theater of Hungary in 2005, a guest artist at the Kennedy Center for the Arts in 2012, and received a New York residency with The Royal Court in 2006; he is also a proud member of MCC’s Playwrights’ Coalition, and a Resident Playwright at the Railroad Playhouse. His films include Diving Normal (with Sandra Bernhard, Susie Abromeit, Tonye Patano), and upcoming in 2013, Astraea and Northbound.

J. Holtham, Playwright, Doing Something Good

His work has been seen at the Ensemble Studio Theatre (School Night, Marathon of One-Act Plays, 2011; Posterity, Thicker Than Water, 2002), [the claque] (Togetherness, January 2nd), Red Fern Theatre Company (Occupied), Resonance Theatre Ensemble (Lovers to Bed), Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Vital Theatre, New Dramatists, Broken Watch, Luna Stage, Magic Theater and others. He has been commissioned by Second Stage/Time Warner and the EST/Sloan Project. Webseries: In The ‘Wood. Several of his plays are published by Playscripts, Inc. He is a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and Fell Swoop Playwrights. He is a two-time finalist for the National Ten-Minute Play contest (Favored Nations, Onions). He is a co-founder of The New Black Fest. He blogs as 99 Seats about theatre, TV, film and culture at Parabasis and other places. He is a proud product of the NY/NJ public education systems.

Kristen Lee Rosenfeld, Composer, Cardboard Castles

Kristen Lee Rosenfeld has previously worked with Red Fern on The Long Christmas Ride Home, Miss Evers’ Boys and All Through the Night.  Music direction credits include the First National Tour of Spring Awakening, NYMF, Prospect Theatre Co, Making Books Sing, Village Theatre, the Barn Theatre, and many others.  Kristen’s compositions have been performed in cabaret venues around the country, and her work has been commissioned by Atlantic Acting School, Wooden O Theatre and American University, among others.  Kristen collaborates with her mother, Luanne, and last year, their one-act Equal Time was featured in Red Fern’s Created Equal.  It was hailed by critics as a “mini-jewel” and praised for its “great music.”  Kristen is thrilled to be collaborating again with her mother, Luanne, and is also very grateful for this opportunity to work again with Red Fern and Melanie Moyer Williams.

Luanne Aronen Rosenfeld, Book and Lyrics, Cardboard Castles

Luanne Aronen Rosenfeld is a Seattle playwright and lyricist who has worked in both the professional and educational theatre as a playwright, producer, and educator.  She has collaborated with her daughter Kristen on Holly and Ivy (book and lyrics); Queen of Valleluna (book and lyrics); To Find Happy (contributed lyrics); Equal Time (book and lyrics) produced by Red Fern in 2012; and Cardboard Castles.    She has an M.A. in Drama from Tufts University and is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

Jen Silverman, Playwright, Tanner’s Last Stand

Jen is based out of New York. Her work has been produced off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre (CRANE STORY), at Cleveland Public Theatre (AKARUI), by the Gallatin School/ NYU (BONES AT THE GATE) and PHOEBE IN WINTER will premiere with Clubbed Thumb Summerworks this June. She is a member of Youngblood at EST, Uncharted at Ars Nova, Groundbreakers at terraNova, and is an affiliated artist with New Georges, The Playwrights Realm, and The Lark. She is a two-time MacDowell Fellow and has developed work at Superlab (Clubbed Thumb/ Playwrights Horizons), InterAct Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, NY Stage & Film/ Powerhouse, and Seven Devils.
In 2011 she was a US Delegate for a China/America Writers Exchange in Beijing. Her play STILL won the 2012 Jane Chambers Award, and she is a three-time finalist for the O’Neill. BA: Brown. MFA: Iowa Playwrights Workshop.

Directors:

Elizabeth Flax, Director, Doing Something Good

Elizabeth is a veteran actor/director who recently assisted as Acting Coach for August Strindberg Rep’s Off-Broadway hit, “Easter”. She also directed Yvette Heyliger’s one-woman show, Bridge to Baraka for Manhattan Rep Theatre Co. and Planet Connections Theatre Festivity.  She received an AUDELCO Best Direction nomination for The American Jesus Christ, archived at Lincoln Center Library’s Theatre on Film Collection.  Other directing credits include Lorraine Hansberry’s To Be Young, Gifted and Black, Leslie Lee’s Colored Peoples’ Time, an original musical Po’ for the prestigious Black Theater Festival in Philadelphia; Voices: Shades of Past, Present, Future (developed with and performed by Holmesburg Prison inmates); as well as Rap Master Ronnie by Garry Trudeau and Elizabeth Swados, Elizabeth Swados’ Runaways and David Compton’s After Midnight-Before Dawn. As an actor, Ms Flax last appeared in the AUDELCO-nominated, Playing With Fire Off-Broadway and TV viewers can catch her in her 9- year recurring ER Nurse role on Law & Order: SVU.

Julie Foh, Director, homeward

Julie is a voice coach, director, and dramaturg.  She holds an MFA in Voice and Speech from the American Repertory Theater.  Directing credits include short plays by J. Holtham, Gregory S. Moss, and Crystal Skillman for Studio 42’s Unproducible Smackdown; Occupied by (Red Fern’s Created Equal Festival); Fit for Feet (Webster University).  Coaching credits include Modern Terrorism (Second Stage Theatre); Nightlands (New Georges); We in Silence Hear a Whisper (Red Fern).  She’s worked in new play development at Playwrights Horizons, the Wilma Theater, the Summer Play Festival, and InterAct Theatre Company, and she is the Literary Manager of Studio 42.

Erik Pearson, Director, Tanner’s Last Stand

Erik is a Brooklyn based director and projection designer.  Recent projects include Spike Lee’s production of Mike Tyson Undisputed Truth on Broadway, Streb’s Kiss The Air at the Park Avenue Armory directed by Robert Woodruff, Greg Moss’s Billy Witch for Studio 42/APAC, John Glover’s new opera Our Basic Nature for American Opera Projects, and Anna Ziegler’s The Minotaur.  Other New York credits include The Playwrights Realm, SOHO Playhouse, Intar, HERE, TerraNOVA, New Dramatists, Lark and Studio NYC.  International and regional credits include Holland International Dance Festival, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Two River Theater, Carolina Ballet, El Paso Opera, The Magic, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, BRAVA!, and Marin Theater Company.  Erik has served on faculty at the University of California at Santa Cruz and holds an M.F.A. in directing from Yale School of Drama.   www.elpearson.com

Colette Robert, Director, A Ribbon of Highway

Colette is thrilled to return to Red Fern Theatre after having directed (2)11 and Crawl as a part of Gentrifusion in 2011.  Recent directing credits include: when last we flew (Diversionary Theatre and FringeNYC, GLAAD Media Award), Barriers (Desipina/HERE), Pluck & Tenacity (Samuel French Festival Winner) and Stockton (EST/Youngblood). Assistant directing credits include: Urge for Going (Public LAB), Father Comes Home from the Wars Parts 1, 8, & 9 (Public LAB), Angela’s Mixtape (New Georges/Hip Hop Theater Festival), and The Good Negro (The Public). Colette is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Old Vic/New Voices Network, Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, and was the Public Theater’s 2009 Van Lier Directing Fellow. She has developed new work with Naked Angels, New Georges, The Old Vic, Ma-Yi, 2g, Vineyard Arts Project, New York Theatre Workshop, and Sundance Theatre Lab. M.A., RADA and King’s College, London. B.A., Yale University.

Melanie Moyer Williams, Executive Artistic Director for Red Fern; Director, Cardboard Castles

Melanie is also Founder and Executive Artistic Director of the Red Fern Theatre Company.  She worked with Shirley Lauro on a reading of THE RADIANT at the Actors' Studio and Ensemble Studio Theatre.  Her credits for RFTC include the New York Premiere of Shirley Lauro's ALL THROUGH NIGHT, the world premieres of WE IN SILENCE HEAR A WHISPER by Jon Kern and A SHOT AWAY: Personal Accounts of Military Trauma by Donna Fiumano-Farley; CREATED EQUAL, +30NYC, MISS EVERS' BOYS (production received NYIT and AUDELCO Nominations), AN IDEAL HUSBAND, A PIECE OF MY HEART, WHO WILL CARRY THE WORD?, THE EXONERATED, THE LONG CHRISTMAS RIDE HOME, FOUND A PEANUT, TWO ROOMS, AND PATIENT A. Melanie has also directed a staged version of Handel's MESSIAH for Pocket Opera NY. Other NY Credits include MEMORIAL DAYS and the World Premiere of HENRY KISSINGER (FringeNYC) by John Attanas; MEDEA excerpts for CYPRECO and the New York Public Library; FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS, WHEN THE WORLD WAS GREEN and ICARUS'S MOTHER. She directed THAT IS THE QUESTION in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival (named one of the Best in the Festival). Internationally, she has directed A TRIBUTE TO ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER with the Youth Symphony Orchestra of El Salvador in El Salvador with Wanderlust Theatre Company. Prior to moving to New York, Melanie was also a founder and Managing Director of the Camden Shakespeare Company in Camden, Maine.  AB Duke University, cum laude.

Designers:

R. S. Buck, Lighting Design

R. S. Buck is a free lance lighting designer, electrician, and stage manager who has recently moved to NYC. Since moving to the city, she has designed for the Estrogenius Festival, Puppet Divas, and Foxy Films. Favorite design credits include: NOCTURNE (Mortalle Coile) MOLLY SWEENEY, THE CHERRY ORCHARD (Delta Boys); GOODNIGHT MOON, IS VERY GOOD STORY..., THE DISPUTE, ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Hangar Theatre); DERKLOWNSCHPANKENEFFECT, ¡ANARCHIST! (Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern); LIMBO (Josh Benjamin Productions). www.rsbuckdesigns.com

Jessa-Raye Court, Costume Design

Jessa-Raye Court (Costume Designer) has designed for MultiStages, The NYC Fringe Festival, Infinity Theatre Company, The New School for Drama, Speranza Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Gallery Players, among others. Favorite projects include A Christmas Carol (Personal Space Theatrics), The Dentist (Merry Month of May), Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All (Gallery Players), Alcestis (Handcart Ensemble), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Big Rodent), Rags (Marymount Manhattan College) and Dames at Sea (Infinity Theatre Company).

Ms Court has also assisted many fantastic designers, including Carrie Robbins, Jonathan Knipscher, Rebecca Frey, Mike Floyd and Ilona Somgyi.

In addition to design, she is also an accomplished milliner and costume creator having build pieces for Seek NYC, LREI, Cincinnati Ballet, Spaeth Design and Smash (NBC), among others.

Ms. Court received her MFA in Costume design from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. She resides in Harlem, NYC.

Chien-Yu Peng, Scenic Design

Chien-Yu Peng (Scenic Designer): Originally from Taiwan. his recent credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Studio M, Taiwan); Lungs (Brown University); The City of Love (Eight Space Theater, China), Rum & Coca Cola (Scarlett Productions); Say You Heard My Echo (Moving Earth Productions); Formosa (Moving Earth Productions); Flipzoids (Generator Theater); Den of Thieves (John Jay College); K24 (Tainaner Ensemble, Taiwan); Say You Heard My Echo (Flushing Town Hall); A Delicate Balance (Yale Repertory Theater); La Ronde; Much Ado About Nothing; Midsummer Night’s Dream; Nijinsky’s Last Dance (Yale School of Drama). MFA: Yale School of Drama. www.chienyupeng.com

Colin J. Whitely, Sound Design