I’m thrilled to join a talented ensemble of four for Seasons of Light at the Smithsonian’s Discovery Theater. Back for its 20th season, this signature Discovery show celebrates the history and customs of seasonal holiday celebrations the world over in an interactive event that bridges communities and cultures. The specific track I’ll be taking over features Chanukah, Las Posadas, Ramadan, and the First Nations’ tradition of the Winter Solstice. This TYA production is catered to audiences ages 5 through 10 (kindergarten to fifth grade). The production runs weekdays from December 3 through December 21 with shows at 10:15am and 11:30am. There are additional 1pm performances on December 13, 18, and 19. Discovery Theater is located in the lower level of the Ripley Center, adjacent to the Smithsonian Castle. Click here to secure your tickets.
Svanda Theatre @ Georgetown University
The prestigious Czech theatre company Svanda Theatre will perform a series of plays from their repertoire at Georgetown University’s Davis Performing Arts Center from September 20-23, 2018. I will serve as assistant production manager and as an American liaison to the traveling troupe throughout and in preparation for the residency. Featured plays include The Good and the True, Pankrác ‘45, Protest, and The Debt. For tickets click here. For more information on Svanda Theatre, click here.
A remarkable piece of verbatim theatre, The Good and the True weaves together testimonies of two Auschwitz survivors who led similarly extraordinary lives, but never actually met: athletes Miloš Dobry and actress Hana Pravda.
What happens when two writers meet — one who is not allowed to write and the other who writes whatever he wants? What if the first one has a surprising proposal for the second one? And what if the two of them meet years later when they can write freely but it is not working? Václav Havel’s dialogue is confronted with the dramatic attempt of a debuting author in Protest / The Debt.
Based on the real-life incarceration of five women in the Pankrác Prison during a time of post-WWII national cleansing in Czechoslovakia, Pankrác ‘45 explores the relativity of guilt, responsibility for one’s actions, and the struggle to survive within the machinery of history.
Overhire Electrician @ Olney Theatre Center
After training with the Olney Theatre Center electrics team in preparation for National Players Tour 69, I will be returning to Olney Theatre Center as an overhire electrician for their 2018-2019 season. Shows I’ll be hanging and focusing under supervision of Master Electrician Tyler Bristow include On the Town, South Pacific, A Christmas Carol, Elf, Once, and A Comedy of Tenors. Click on image below for tickets.
Around the World in 80 Days with National Players Tour 70
I will be serving as a tech stage manager for National Players Tour 70’s production of Around the World in 80 Days, directed by Jared Mezzocchi, before embarking on tour October 1, 2018. Hired specifically to facilitate the tech process of the production, I will be organizing communication between designers and developing the calling script to pass off to the road stage manager. This is the first year National Players is implementing the tech stage manager position, which allows the road stage manager (also a cast member) to focus on their acting responsibilities during tech week. To purchase tickets for their residency at Olney Theatre Center post-tour in May 2019, click here.
Teaching Artist @ Baltimore Center Stage
I am thrilled to join the education department at Baltimore Center Stage as a teaching artist this fall 2018. Through the Young Playwrights Festival (YPF) residency program, I will lead classes of 25 students each through the playwriting process over the course of 8 weeks, producing short plays to be submitted to the annual YPF competition. My first two residencies will be with 7th graders at Holabird Middle School in Dundalk, MD, and the Drama Club at Deep Creek Middle School in Essex, MD. In addition to these residencies, I will also be leading pre-show and post-show workshops for our student matinees focused on production-specific dramaturgy, as well as voice and improvisation workshops at our Single Day Camps. To learn more about booking YPF at your school, click here.
FUNdamentals of Acting @ Imagination Stage
This fall 2018 I will be joining the staff at Imagination Stage as a teaching artist. The first class I will be teaching there will be FUNdamentals of Acting, a 10-week class for 4th & 5th graders on Sundays from 11:30am-1pm, September 23 through December 2. To sign up for my class, register here.
In FUNdamentals of Acting, students focus on creating sustainable and believable characters and truthful actions for the stage. Students participate in a variety of fun exercises that work on physical control, human behavior observations, and realistic actions and reactions. Through games and activities, students build a strong and caring ensemble and create an environment of trust where they can effectively explore, make big choices, and take risks! Students rehearse and perform short scenes, utilizing the skills they have been learning throughout the semester and perform them in an informal sharing for families on the final day of class.
The Interstellar Ghost Hour @ Longacre Lea
I am thrilled to have accepted the role of Chef in Longacre Lea's next production, the world premiere of The Interstellar Ghost Hour written and directed by Kathleen Akerley. This will mark my first (stationary) production in the DC/Maryland area, and I couldn't be more excited for it to be this piece. The Helen Hayes-recommended Longacre Lea has been producing professional, absurdist theatre in DC since 1999 while in annual summer residence at the Catholic University of America. The show will run August 16 through September 9, 2018, in CUA's Callan Theatre. Get tickets here. Learn more about Longacre Lea here.
Reading of Bronx Express @ Theater J
I will be playing the Conductor, the First Smith Brother, and puppeteering for a staged reading of Bronx Express by Ossip Dymov, translated by Nahma Sandrow. The reading, taking place at Theater J as the final presentation in their Yiddish Theater Lab series this season, will be directed by Natsu Onoda Power in her signature puppeteering/multimedia crossover style. A discussion with the translator and visiting Yiddish scholar Miriam Isaacs will follow the reading. The event will be on June 18, 2018, at 7:30pm on the Theater J stage at 1529 16th St. NW, in Washington, DC. Find more event information here. To further explore Theater J, click here. (Theater J is currently presenting Trayf by Lindsay Joelle, a piece which I had the pleasure of working on developmentally in March 2017 back in New York!)
Bronx Express tells the story of one working class Yid who dreams of something more. When he falls asleep on a New York subway, he's shocked to meet the characters from the train car's advertisements coming to life. With cameos from Aunt Jemima, the Nestle Baby, and the Arrow Collar Man, this story explores the true costs of the American dream.
National Players Tour 69
I am thrilled to share that I'll be acting, teaching, and traveling with National Players Tour 69 across the country through May 2018. Now in its 69th year, National Players, produced by Olney Theatre Center, tours three shows in repertory with a company of ten artists throughout the U.S. My roles on tour include:
- Cassio in Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Jason King Jones;
- Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, adapted by Simon Levy, from the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, directed by Amber McGinnis;
- Caterpillar and Others in a new, ensemble-driven, multimedia-based version of Alice in Wonderland, directed and adapted by Natsu Onoda Power, from the novel by Lewis Carroll;
- Stage Manager for Alice in Wonderland;
- Assistant Master Electrician throughout the tour;
- Company Manager throughout the tour;
- Facilitating post-show talkbacks and leading workshops in Text in Context, Stage Combat, Improv, Shakespeare, Voice & Speech, and Movement.
Learn more about National Players here. Meet the company here. Find out information about tour dates and locations here.
The Beacons @ INTAR
I'll be assistant directing Penny Pinball Presents The Beacons by Georgina Escobar, running at INTAR Theatre from June 27th through June 30th, under the direction of J. Julian Christopher. INTAR is located at 500 W. 52nd St., 4th floor. Learn more here. Purchase tickets here.
Penny Pinball Presents The Beacons is an action-packed, heavy-punchin', uber-stylized story following a pinball narrative that re-imagines Manhattan as a Debtors' Prison. Siblings blur the boundaries of game and reality as a mysterious woman calls for a multi-spective approach to storytelling. Loosely inspired by pinball and the 1970s cult classic The Warriors, this femme fiction includes original music by Red Light Cameras and Zechs Marquise.
