
Lear
deBessonet (Creator and Director), the founder and Artistic
Director of Stillpoint Productions, has assisted Martha Clarke,
Anne Bogart, and Marianne Weems and was recently featured in Time
Out New York's "25 People to Watch 2006." New York
devising/directing credits include Bone Portraits (Walkerspace),
Death Might Be Your Santa Claus (a site-specific work performed
at an abandoned bank next to the NY Stock Exchange), Flying on
the Wing (NY Fringe, Outstanding Solo Show), The Eliots (Center
Stage), transFigures (Calvary Church), The Female Terrorist Project
(HERE Arts Center, American Living Room), L'Histoire du Canard
(NYU Graduate Acting Freeplay), Bite Your Tongue (NYU Graduate
Acting Freeplay), Equus (Hangar Theatre), Whiskey Girl (Hangar
Theatre), and A Short Time After (by Caridad Svich, Six Nights). Internationally,
Lear directed a new tri-lingual musical for the National Opera
Theatre of Kazakhstan (In the Dark Ages), and a workshop of Revisions
in Dublin. She has trained with DAH Theater of Yugoslavia
and the SITI Company and was co-director of the Collaborative Theatre
Intensive with The International WOW Company. She is a member of
the Women's
Project Directors Lab and an alumnus of the Soho Rep Writer/Director
Lab, a Drama League Directing Fellow, and a Jefferson Scholar. Most
recently, she created the TICKETS FOR THE PEOPLE program at the
Culture Project, and her next project will be Brecht's Saint Joan
of the Stockyards at PS122 in June 2007.
Bathsheba Doran’s (Writer)
plays include Living Room in Africa (off-Broadway) 2
Soldiers (various, published), The Parents’ Evening (Cherry
Lane) Until Morning (BBC Radio 4) and adaptations of Maeterlinck’s The
Blind (CSC), Peer Gynt (dir. Andre Serban) and Great
Expectations (off-broadway with Kathleen Chalfant at the Lucille
Lortel) Her new play Nest opens at at Signature Theater
in in DC this spring. Doran was born in the UK, but moved permanently
to the States on a Fulbright scholarship in 2000. She is the recipient
of three Lecomte du Nouy Lincoln Center playwriting awards, and her
work has been developed by the O’Neill Playwrights Center,
the McCarter Theatre, and Sundance among others. She is a former
playwriting fellow at Juilliard. She has worked as a comedy writer
for VH1, BBC TV and radio and The Cambridge Footlights. She
is currently under commission from Atlantic Theater.
Russell Shorto (Writer) is a contributing writer at the New
York Times Magazine, and the author of two previous books: Gospel
Truth, about the search for the historical Jesus, and Saints
and Madmen, about psychiatry and religion. The hub of his
research forThe Island at the Center
of the Worldwas the New Netherland Project at the
New York State Library, where the archives of the Dutch colony
centered on Manhattan are being translated. He lives in New York’s
Hudson Valley with his wife and their two daughters.
Erin Sax Seymour (Writer)
is an award winning writer/director/producer who has spent the better
part of her adult life documenting the far reaches of society, both
emotionally and culturally. From the Middle East, to Europe to the
United States, subjects in her films range from an examination of
American attitudes towards death and dying (by looking at American
rituals of embalming, dressing and casketing the dead)...to the inner
workings of the Texas Prison System. She is the recipient of numerous
grants including most recently the National Endowment for the Arts
Grant, a Texas National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, an Israeli
Cultural Arts Grant and the Belgium Production Foundation. Her films
have been screened at film festivals around the world, as well as
broadcast both in Europe and the Middle East. She has lectured on
her work both as a panelist for conferences, as well as a visiting
artist for institutions such as The Chicago Art Institute and the
University of Colorado at Boulder. In 2000 her film Jerusalem
Syndrome received the Grand Prize at the World Religion Festival
in Italy and has been the subject of numerous articles, school courses
and most recently and a play. See Jerusalem Syndrome and
meet Erin Sax Seymour on Saturday, May 5th at 5:00 p.m.--click
here for details!
Andrea Haenggi (Choreographer)
New York-based Swiss-born choreographer, visual artist, and dancer
Andrea Haenggi is the Founder/Artistic Director of the dance company
AMDaT. Haenggi creates thought-provoking works that cross boundaries
between art disciplines to find new possibilities of presentation
in theaters and nontraditional sites. Her work has been presented
and commissioned in many diverse venues, from Dance Theater Workshop
to MASS MoCA to an abandoned Cigar Store in Lower Manhattan to the
lobbies and public spaces of the World Financial Center in Downtown
Manhattan. AMDaT has toured internationally and Haenggi has given
master classes/workshops in Switzerland, Canada and Russia. Find
out more about her & her projects at http://www.amdat.org.
THE CAST
David Adkins (Bill):
New York: National Actor’s Theater: St.Joan; Manhattan
Theater Club: Boy Gets Girl; Primary Stages: Sabina, Aquila: Agamemnon.
Regional: Center Stage: Three Sisters, Blythe Spirit,
King Lear, Ideal Husband, Goodman: Boy Gets Girl, Old
Globe: Time Flies; Long Warf: Going Native; ACT
(San Francisco): Colossus of Rhodes, Misanthrope; George
St. Playhouse: Walk in the Woods; Kennedy Center: Darker
Face of the Earth; Berkshire Theater Festival (eleven seasons);
Law & Order; SVU; The Soaps; Pilot: BlaqJaq (dir. Forest Whitaker);
Ben Franklin (PBS).
Dylan
Dawson (Joshua) has performed in Minneapolis with The
Illusion Theatre, The Children's Theatre, Great American History
Theatre, among others. Recent New York credits include SIXTEEN
WOUNDED (off-Broadway premiere) at the Cherry Lane Alternative,
Steven Drukman's FOXHOLLOW at NYU, and OFFStage: The West Village
Fragments with Peculiar Works. As a writer, his play MOVIE GEEK
(in which he also performs) has been seen at FringeNYC (award winner:
Outstanding Multimedia Production), the Culture Project, and Ars
Nova. He has a BFA in Drama at NYU.
Juliana
Francis (Margaret 1/Joan) Off-B'way/Intl.: SONGS OF THE
DRAGONS FLYING TO HEAVEN (dir. Young Jean Lee); FRAGMENT (CSC,
dir. Pavol Liska); SVEJK (TFANA, dir. Dalia Ibelhauptaite); four
plays for Richard Foreman (OBIE Award for MARIA DEL BOSCO.) Founding
member of the late Reza Abdoh's DAR A LUZ. Her own plays
have been produced and published internationally, and she writes
for Killer Films. FILM & TV: THE GIRL FROM MONDAY; SEX
AND THE CITY; Marie Losier & Guy Maddin's upcoming MANUELLE
LABOR.
Nate
Schenkkan (Victor/Margaret 2) collaborates for the stage
as an actor and dancer. Recent work: Betrothed (Ripe Time/Ohio
Theater), Death in Vacant Lot! (The South Wing/LMCC), Without
(Moving Theater/Dance New Amsterdam), HOWL (The TEAM), The Eliots
(Stillpoint Productions), 131 (Kathryn Profeta/PS122) The Blind
Watchmaker (Bug Theater, Denver), transFigures (Stillpoint Productions),
The Failure of Things: Nietzsche/Orestes (Yale School of Drama
Cabaret). He holds a BA in Political Science from Yale
University.
T.
Ryder Smith (Gene/John Salvi) Some NY credits: MARAT/SADE
(Classical Theatre of Harlem), Will Eno's THOM PAIN (DR2),
Anne Washburn's APPARITION (Soho Rep, Chashama, Connolly), and
I HAVE LOVED STRANGERS (Clubbed Thumb), Richard Foreman's THE GODS
ARE POUNDING MY HEAD, and KING COWBOY RUFUS RULES THE UNIVERSE,
(Ontological), David Greenspan's SHE STOOPS TO COMEDY (Playwright's
Horizons), Mae West's SEX (Hourglass Group), and Glen Berger's
THE WOODEN BREEKS (MCC), and UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL (Soho Playhouse),
for which T. received a Drama Desk nomination as Outstanding Solo
Performer. Regional: the premiere productions of John Strand's
LINCOLNESQUE (Old Globe), (Winner, Outstanding Lead Performance,
San Diego Critic's Circle), Charles Mee's BIG LOVE (Humana Festival),
and Jeffrey Hatcher's STAGE BEAUTY (CATF), among others. Film and
TV: THE VENTURE BROTHERS, CONVICTION, LAW & ORDER, the cult
film BRAINSCAN, and the upcoming experimental feature HORRIBLE
CHILD.
Marguerite
Stimpson (Susan) Broadway: Butley, directed
by NicholasMartin. Regionally: Pericles at
the Shakespeare Theatre and the Goodman Theatre, (director- Mary
Zimmerman), Butley (Huntington Theatre), Antigone and Idiots
Karamazov (u.s.) (American Repertory Theatre), Romeo and
Juliet, The Play About the Baby, Proof, The Diary of Anne Frank
, and Closer (Hippodrome State Theatre), Apple
Cove (Todd Mountain Theatre Project). New York: Apple
Cove (Lark Theatre), premiere of Neal Bell’s Time/
Unstuck (E.S.T.), One Hit Wonder (NY Fringe
Festival) Film/TV: Ed and Going Under. M.F.A.:
A.R.T.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Jenny Sawyers (Scenic
Designer) is very excited to be working with the Women’s Project
in the capacity of scenic designer for the first time. Jenny
has been working as a scenic designer and associate scenic designer
in New York City for the past 4 years. She is the associate
scenic designer to Santo Loquasto on 3 Broadway shows opening this
spring Inherit the Wind, Prelude to a Kiss and 110
in the Shade.
Clint Ramos (Costume Designer) designs scenery and costumes
for opera, theater, dance and film. Recent credits include Taming
of the Shrew (Dallas Theater Center).Ah Wilderness!!
(Baltimore Centerstage), Madras House (Mint Theater), Romania.Kiss
Me! (The Play Company), The Onion Cellar (American
Repertory Theater), Aunt Dan and Lemon (Merrimack Repertory
Theater), Resist/Surrender (Risa Jaroslow and Dancers,) Angels
in America ( sets & costumes/Opera Boston), Susan and
God (Mint Theater), Trial By Water (sets & costumes/Ma-Yi
Theater), Little Willy (sets and costumes/Rude Mechanicals).
Other credits : And God Created Great Whales (Foundry Theater
/ Culture Project), References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Public
Theater). Regional : American Repertory Theater, Dallas Theater
Center, Baltimore Center Stage, Commonwealth Shakespeare Co., Georgetown
Davis Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Boston, Opera Theater
of St. Louis, East West Players, Merrimack Repertory, Speakeasy Stage & others.
International: DeNederlandse Opera(Amsterdam), Noorland
Oper(Stockholm), Stuttgarter Ballet, Kannon Dance (St.
Petersburg) Barbican (London) Teatro Pilipino (Manila) and others.
Upcoming : transFigures (Women’s Project), The House of Bernarda
Alba (NAATCO), The Return of the Prodigal (Mint Theater). Awards:
NYTW Design Fellowship, 2 IRNE Nominations, 1 Audelco Nomination,
Gary Kalkin Memorial Award and Live Design Magazine’s 2007
List of Designer’s to Watch.
Ryan Mueller (Lighting
Designer) Designs: Off-Broadway: Ahraihsak, Top Gun! The Musical,
Black Codes from the Underground & The Hologram Theory.
Regional: Raven Odyssey, Dhammashok, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Odyssey, Two
Sisters & a Piano, Delicate Balance, Victor/Victoria, Footloose,
Evita & Sound of Music. National/International Tours: Swan
Lake, Nutcracker, Grand Night for Singing, Les Cenci & the
educational program "Bangkok Artist Intensive" in Thailand.
Producers: Alaska’s Perseverance Theatre, Lincoln Center, Mark
Taper, Alliance, NYMF, Russian National Ballet, Edinburgh Festival,
Theatre La Lune (France). In addition to producing & designing;
Ryan’s Photography can also be seen around the country including
his 14 years of Theater Production Shots and his current project
entitled PISTIL a study of Flowers from around the World.
Mark Huang (Sound
Designer) has designed for such companies as 2nd Stage Theatre, Stillpoint
Productions, The Manhattan Theatre Club, The Thursday Problem, Impact
Theatre, Theatre B, The Lincoln Center Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre,
The Depot Theatre, Classic Stage Company, The Pearl Theatre Company,
The New York Theatre Workshop, Alternate Plan Productions, The Civil
Company, IMUA! Theatre, VoiceChair Productions, Wash & Fold Productions,
Shakespeare & Company, The Wooster Group, Diamondpoint Theatre,
Clubbed Thumb Inc., The Roundabout Theatre, The Actors Theatre of
Louisville, and Monster(less) Actors Inc. He won an Outstanding
Sound Design award at the 2005 FringeNYC Festival for Go-Go Kitty,
GO!, and was a Drama Desk nominee in 2002 for Cressida Among
the Greeks. He is an Associate Member of the SITI Co.,
a graduate of Grinnell College, and the founder of Doggtown Productions.
Alaine Alldaffer (Casting
Director) Casting Director for Playwrights Horizons and for “The
Knights of Prosperity” (ABC). Credits include “ED” (
NBC) ,”Monk” (USA), “A Raisin in the Sun” (
Broadway) and “Heights” a feature film for Merchant Ivory. She
has cast projects for Soho Rep in NYC, The Caldwell Theater in Florida
and The Long Wharf Theater in Connecticut. She works along
side Associate Lisa Donadio.
Allison Prouty (Line
Producer) Most recently, Allison was the Guest Director for the 7th
Annual Martha's Vineyard Independent Film Festival. Producing
Credits: Mando Alvarado's THROAT at the 45th Street Theater in NYC,
Meade Theater Lab in D.C., Cine el Rey in McAllen, Texas and The
Southern Theater in Minneapolis (Executive Producer), Eve Ensler's
THE GOOD BODY for the National Tour/Broadway (Associate Producer),
VALIANT at the NY Fringe Festival (Co-Producer) and BONE PORTRAITS
directed by Lear DeBessonet. Allison was privileged to be the
Associate Artistic Director for V-Day: A Global Movement to End Violence
Against Women and Girls founded by Eve Ensler. Allison is a
proud member of the Producers
Lab at Women's Project and a graduate of Skidmore College.
Sari Karmin (Assistant
Director) was born in Toronto, CA, grew up in Shaker Heights, OH,
and currently resides in the East Village. She is a performer,
director, and all around theater lover. Sari is a graduate of Skidmore
College and the National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill
Center in Waterford, CT. She has trained with Anne Bogart and
the SITI Company during their summer intensive training program and
also attended the Williamstown Theater Festival in the summer of
2002. As an actor, Sari has performed in numerous productions at
Skidmore College and in New York City. She was a member of the Bat
Theater Company at the Flea Theater and has also appeared at the
American place Theater and the New Perspectives Theater, among others.
As a director, Sari has directed several shows at Skidmore College,
including the US and collegiate premier of The Other Shoe by
Gao Xingjian. Additionally, she directed pieces by Maria Irene Fornes
and produced, conceived and performed in her original work, Suspended
Animation. In 2005, Sari was the resident assistant director
for the Chautauqua Theater Company in Chautauqua, NY where she had
the pleasure of working with Ethan McSweeney, Vivienne Benesch, and
Mark Nelson, among others. Recently she assisted Michael Ray Escamilla
on the New York premiere of Throat at the 45th St Theater. In
New York, she has also worked at PS 122, The Ohio Theater, and New
York Theater Workshop. Sari believes in the multi-faceted theater
artist and that performance and production should be a collaborative
experience.
Alex Finch (Stage
Manager) - Recent credits include the Broadway production of Souvenir and
Timothy Busfield’s staged reading of Vigil by Morris
Panych. He continues to tour nationally with the New York based Silver
Brown Dance Company. In New York he has worked for the Symphony
Space (A Tribute to Anne Jackson and Eli Wallach), the York
theatre (Souvenir), the Pantheon Theatre (’01-02),
Bowery Poetry Club (Door Wide Open/Rip Torn), Alvin Ailey
(Silver Brown), and the University Settlement (House PSM ’03-’04)
among others. A native Californian who came to New York by way of
the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Mr. Finch is pleased to be back
at The Women’s Project and would like to thank his family,
Tim B. and Jack Gianino.