THE RADIANT
By Shirley Lauro
Directed by Melanie Moyer Williams

Featuring Rachel Berger, AJ Cedeno*, Timothy Doyle*, and Diana LaMar*

Set one hundred years ago in France, THE RADIANT centers on the true, tempestuous life of the brilliant Madame Marie Curie. Widowed with two young children, she becomes involved with her young married assistant, rocking Paris, and nearly ruining her extraordinary career and her very life. All the while, she isolates her discovery of radium and earns her second Nobel Prize -- revolutionizing science forever, as she ushers in both “The Atomic Age” and the first cure for cancer.

THE RADIANT was performed February 21 – March 10, 2013, at The Theater at the 14th Street Y located at 344 East 14th Street between First and Second Avenues.

Press Representation by THE BRUCE COHEN GROUP, LTD.

THE RADIANT was 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.

THE RADIANT 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.

THE RADIANT is made possible by generous grants from the following foundations:

The Dramatists Guild Fund

The Josephine Foundation

The Nancy Quinn Foundation

The Puffin Foundation

THE RADIANT is made possible in part by the EST/Sloan Project Commission.

Association for Women in Science:

For this production, the RFTC has chosen to partner with the Association for Women in Science.

In 1971, at the annual Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology meeting, flyers were posted inviting women scientists to a champagne mixer and meeting to encourage the exchange of ideas and solutions to overcoming job discrimination, lower pay, and professional isolation. Those 27 women who took the initiative to make science a better place for women founded the Association for Women in Science (AWIS), today's premiere leadership organization advocating the interests of women in science and technology. For nearly 40 years, the Association for Women in Science has fought for equity and career advancement for women – from the bench to the board room.

The mission of the New York Metropolitan chapter of AWIS is to empower women to enter, remain, and advance in science careers both inside and outside academia. We provide professional development training and a supportive community with opportunities for networking and mentoring.

For more information visit, http://www.awis.org/

Cast Bios:

Rachel Berger, Katarina

Rachel Berger is thrilled to be making her Red Fern debut in The Radiant.  A Kentucky native, some of her credits include: Hamlet (TrueFalse), Edna in The Mistakes Madeline Made (Cincinnati Fringe Festival), Architecture (Punch Theatre): She was an acting apprentice at the Ensemble theatre of Cincinnati where she understudied the roles of: Natalie in Next to Normal, Snow White in Snow White and Mandy in Time Stands Still.  B.A. from Muhlenberg College with a major in Theatre and French. She sends endless thanks to friends and family for the loving support!

AJ Cedeno, Paul Langevin

AJ is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (and former walk-on football player), and also holds an MFA from Case-Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House.  Recent credits include SMASH (NBC) and One Life to Live (ABC), March Madness (Abingdon Theatre), as well as commercials for BMW, Radio Shack, Comcast, and Tiffany & Co. among others.  He would like to thank his beautiful wife Kate for her constant support, and Red Fern Theatre for this opportunity.

Timothy Doyle, Paymaster, Wilbois, Lord Kelvin

Timothy has been acting in the theater for over 25 years, both on the Broadway and Off-Broadway stage as well as a host of regional theaters around the country. He appeared most recently on Broadway in Turgenev’s FORTUNE’S FOOL (an award winning production directed by Arthur Penn) and in Oscar Wilde’s SALOME (with Al Pacino, Marisa Tomei and directed by Estelle Parsons); memorable Off-Broadway appearances include THE BEARD OF AVON at the New York Theater Workshop, OEDIPUS THE KING at the Daryl Roth Theater and the Actor’s Studio, the original creating company of Martha Clarke’s VIENNA: LUSTHAUS, and LOVE’S LABOURS LOST.  He is a frequent guest lead on most New York based episodic television series (LAW & ORDER; L. & O. CRIMINAL INTENT; L. & O. SVU; THIRD WATCH; ALL MY CHILDREN) and has appeared in feature films such as Charlie Kaufman’s SYNECDOCHE, N.Y. (2008  Gotham Award, Best Ensemble Cast), Nicole Holofcener’s PLEASE GIVE, and John Turturo’s ILLUMINATA to name a few.  With film documentarian Maro Chermayeff he assisted in the founding of the MFA Social Documentary Film program at the School of Visual Arts, where he still holds an administrative position.  He has been a member of the Actors Studio since 1986. 

Diana LaMar, Marie Curie

Diana having focused on community work in the area of sustainability and social justice for the past few years, was hoping to discover a way to re-enter the theatrical arena while maintaining a commitment to environmental and social issues, collaboration with The Red Fern Theatre allows for this opportunity. Ms. LaMar was last seen performing at The Whitney Museum in BODY DRAMA, an exhibition by artist Xavier Cha. Additional New York credits include Leonard Foglia’s Broadway production of Wait Until Dark, The Skin Game at Mint Theater Company, and Her Majesty The Queen at HERE.  She is a member of New York’s Ensemble Studio Theatre and is an alumnus of The Acting Company. Her regional credits include: Richard III (The Shakespeare Theatre) directed by Gale Edwards; As You Like It, Othello, and King Lear (Center Stage) directed by Irene Lewis; The Real Thing (ACT) directed by Carey Perloff; The Beaux Stratagem (Berkeley Repertory Theatre) directed by Mark Wing-Davey; Meshugah (Trinity Repertory Theatre) directed by Oskar Eustis; Private Lives (California Shakespeare Theater) directed by Mark Rucker; Escape from Happiness and Problem Child (Milwaukee RepertoryTheatre) directed by Joseph Hanreddy; A Streetcar Named Desire (The Alliance) directed by Kenny Leon; and The Seagull (Dallas Theatre Center) directed by Richard Hamburger. In addition to theatrical productions, Ms. LaMar has performed in film, commercials, daytime and episode television. Ms. LaMar wrote and co-produced 43 Days, a short film developed to help prevent child sexual exploitation. The film has been endorsed by The Salvation Army. She is the founder of EnviHarlem, a community of volunteers dedicated to spreading environmental awareness and sustainable solutions in West Harlem.

Artistic Team :

Shirley Lauro, Playwright

SHIRLEY LAURO’S “THE RADIANT” evolved from Readings and Staged Readings from 2008 onward at Ensemble Studio Theater, funded by a 2008 Sloan/EST Commission. It was presented in a 2010 Workshop both at EST at The Actors Studio, and enjoyed a 2011 World Premiere at New Theatre, Coral Gables, Fla., garnering both a “2010 Sloan/EST  Production Enhancement” and a Dramatists Guild Play grant.  Subsequently the drama won a TCG/“Edgerton Award”, naming THE RADIANT: “One of Forty Best New American Plays of 2011”. 

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT, premiered in New York at Red Fern Theatre in 2010, with a revival production at Infinity Theatre in 2011.  Subsequently it was produced in Saskatoon, Phoenix AZ, Macon, Ga., and ArtsWest Seattle.  It received a “Joseph Jefferson” nomination as “Best New Chicago Play” in its World Premiere there. 

A PIECE OF MY HEART’S NY premiere was at Manhattan Theater Club with a World Premiere at Actors Theatre of Louisville.  Since, it has enjoyed over 2,500 productions around the world, receiving “The Barbara Deming Award for Women Playwrights”, ”The Kittriedge Foundation Award”, “The Susan Blackburn Prize(finalist)”, It is listed 43rd among Goodreads’ “Best 150 Plays by American Authors”,followed by O’Neil’s EMPEROR JONES, Albee’s A DELICATE BALANCE, and Williams’ SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH among others.  The play has been named by Vietnam Vets, Inc., “Most enduring play in America on Vietnam”.

OPEN ADMISSIONS, on Broadway, won 1 Tony nomination, 2 Drama Desk nominations, a Theater World Award, and was a NY Times pick as one of “10 Best Plays of the Year”. Ms. Lauro’s TV adaptation starred Estelle Parsons and Jane Alexander. The short version won the Dramatists Guild’s Hull-Warriner Award”, The Samuel French “Short Play Festival”, and joined the works of Eudora Welty, Walt Whitman,and Langston Hughes in: WRITING THROUGH LITERATURE.  CLARENCE DARROW’S LAST TRIAL received a Carbonell nomination as “Best New Play of the Year in Florida”, and an NEA “Access to Excellence Award”. Among her short plays, THE COAL DIAMOND received Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Heidemann Prize.

Ms. Lauro was co-editor of the 2009 anthology, FRONTLINE: POLITICAL PLAYS BY AMERICAN WOMEN, and was honoree for “2009 New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts and Media”. Her novel, THE EDGE, was a Literary Guild Choice.

Major grants: The Guggenheim, 3 NEA’S, NY Foundation for the Arts.  Major affiliations: Board, The Dramatists Guild Fund; Ensemble Studio Theater; League of Professional Theater Women; Playwright’s Unit, The Actors Studio; PEN; Writers Guild East, The Author’s Guild.

For more information on Ms. Lauro, please visit www.shirleylauro.com.

Melanie Moyer Williams, Director and Executive Artistic Director

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.

R. S. Buck, Rehearsal Stage Manager

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: MOLLY SWEENEY, THE CHERRY ORCHARD (Delta Boys); GOODNIGHT MOON, IS VERY GOOD STORY..., THE DISPUTE, ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Hangar Theatre); ¡ANARCHIST! (Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern); LIMBO (Burning Coal Theatre Company). www.rsbuckdesigns.com

Taylor Derwin, Properties

Marie had the perseverance to survive through adversary by paving her own road to success. She's helped me understand my own past, present, and future and how the elements have defined my own path. Her life inspired me as a young artist in nyc to further my own education, imagination, and ultimately invent which is why I'm proud to articulate her story through props. I'm happy to be a returning artistic contributor to Red Fern.

Rowan Doyle, Scenic Design

A co-founder of The Duplicates theater company. Recently nominated for an Austin Critic's Award for Best Set Design as well as winning the prestigious USITT award for Outstanding Design. NYC credits include Set Design at Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Props at The Flea Theater and The Drama League as well as numerous assistant designs.  Find out more at: www.rowandoyle.com.

Sam Gordon, Lighting Designer

Sam is pleased to be lighting The Radiant for The RFTC. Recent projects include Barefoot in the Park (Surflight), King&I (Harbor Lights), and Persusasion (Going to Tahiti Prod.)  Sam is a guest artist at The Ramaz Upper School since 2011, and Montclair High School since 2012.  When not in the theater Sam can be found figure skating in his non-existent free time. Education: BFA in Theatre: Production/Design, Montclair State University.

T. Michael Hall, Costume Designer

New York credits include multiple productions for White Plains Performing Arts Center, Irondale Ensemble Theatre, Hypothetical Theatre Company as well as designs for The Juilliard School, The New School , Manhattan Marymount  and The Mint Theatre Company.
Design highlights include Premiers of The Color of Flesh , Broadway Rhythm for the Macao International Music Festival, the national tour of Seussentennial, three seasons as Resident Designer at Chautauqua Theatre and The Long Season at Perseverance Theatre in Alaska. Assistant Design work includes the national productions of White Christmas, as well as the Broadway productions of The Light in the Piazza, Little Women, Doubt, and Dracula.  He received his MFA from New York University's Department of Design for Stage and Film.

Lauren Koch, Production Assistant

Lauren Koch moved to New York City in September.  She is originally from South Carolina and graduated from the University of South Carolina in May.  The Radiant is her first New York City production and she is happy to have the opportunity to work on it.  Previously, she worked as an assistant stage manager, fight choreographer, and actress.  Favorite productions include Romeo and Juliet, The Clean House, and an original adapted piece The Yellow Wallpaper.  She has choreographed for The University of South Carolina, The Monomoy Theatre, and is currently working on a production of I Hate Hamlet at the Hartt School.

Lori Singleton, Assistant Director

Originally from Wichita, Kansas she studied theater at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Since relocating to NY three years ago, she has spearheaded the revival of the Off Broadway venue, Theatre 80, as Company Manager and is currently the Finance Manager at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.  She is a recurring Associate Producer with Red Fern Theater Company, and is very grateful for this experience

Sammee Wortham, Production Stage Manager

Sammee Wortham studied theatre at Idaho State University and recently moved to New York. She has stage managed shows such as Dr. Faustus (ISU), The Laramie Project (OTAS) as well as original work like Alone (Rabbithole Enesemble). She is excited to be a part of this unique production.

THE BRUCE COHEN GROUP, LTD, Press Representative

THE BRUCE COHEN GROUP, LTD is celebrating its 37th year of publicizing the good causes that make New York City the capital of the world: the performing and visual arts, community development, historic preservation, business improvement districts, public spaces, tourism and organized labor. In the theatre world, the Group represents Women’s Project Theater, Theatre for a New Audience, Ensemble Studio Theatre and Playwrights Realm. Bruce Cohen is a proud honorary member of I.A.T.S.E. Local One and former president of I.A.T.S.E. Local 18032. He owes his first job to Merle Debuskey.