4Play People

Andrea Ferguson (Producer) Andrea has long been a supporter of new works as both actor and producer.  She started producing in 1994 with Shall We Gather At The River, the theatrical soundtrack for The Devil's Dream (a new musical based on the novel by Lee Smith) and has produced staged readings of new works in New York (including Fighting Words at the Dramatists Guild—now in pre-production as a feature film) and co-produced many readings and performance workshops in North Carolina. In 1998 Andrea founded Ride Again Productions with Paul Ferguson and co-produced Good Ol' Girls, a new musical based on the stories of Lee Smith and Jill McCorkle with songs by Matraca Berg and Marshall Chapman in North Carolina, with subsequent sold-out runs at Theatre in the Park, UNC Humanities Program, Hollins Theatre (VA), Duke University, and the Center for Child and Family Health. Good Ol' Girls recently enjoyed a successful workshop at the West Bank Cafe (NYC) and was optioned by Sonny Everett and Stan Moress for Off-Broadway development, with Andrea continuing as an Associate Producer. 
Bob Jude Ferrante (playwright, subCity; Managing Director, NY Play Development) Bob’s dark comedy Hemlock garnered critical raves from the Dallas Observer with an end-of-year salute from critic Jimmy Fowler. The musical Flowers Of War ran two months Off-Off-Broadway; the plays Hemlock, Twinges From The Fringe, and The Buffoon Piece received public readings at 78th Street Theatre Lab; subCity has been presented in staged readings at 78th Street Theatre Lab, The Dramatists Guild, Abingdon Theatre NYC, and FatChance GroundFloor reading series. Ferrante is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Inc. and serves as Managing Director for NY Play Development LLC. His previous producing credits include the Millennium Cabaret series and the series of 21 original play readings over the past 3 years with NY Play Development LLC. Bob’s work is frequently anthologized in Smith and Kraus’s play/monologue series (three years running), and his current “claim to fame” is having written a five-minute audition piece (Fun City) that’s snagged parts for at least 15 actresses to date.
Emanuel Bocchieri (director, Eat Me!; Idiotic Man, Talking Cure):  Manny’s recent credits include: Arago, written & performed by Anthony Ferraro (NY & Philadelphia Fringe Festival.) The Blank Line co-written/co-directed with Ross Peabody (HERE’s American Living Room Series sponsored by Lincoln Center Directors Lab.) Mr. Bocchieri directed readings at EST, including Folk Machine. He assisted Rod McLucas on King Lear (Theater 1010) and Jawbone (Bank Street Theater). Jawbone can be seen again at EST in early October. He is co-founder of Feed the Herd Theater Company & directed its inaugural production The King Stag & Much Ado.com, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, and Tequila Dreams (Flatiron Theater).
Daniela Farris (Assistant Director & Yamyam coach, Eat Me!) Daniela is a founding member of the NYPD Bullpen Screenwriters Workshop, and co-producer of Shock Troupe Emergency Cabaret and 30 Minute Warning. When not in rehearsal, she can often be found at Elio’s drawing up blueprints for a better world, or sleeping blissfully among her two overweight and uncivilized cats.
Kim Doi (director, subCity) Kim recently directed Mina Hartong’s solo show Mimi’s Wedding for the All Out Arts Festival 2000 and supervised its move to the UU House in Provincetown for a 4 week run. Before that, she directed the one act Welcome Home Diego Ruiz at the John Houseman Too and a 10-episode audio serial, The Adventures Of Johnny Palmetto produced by 3Com for their Internet website; directed Comedy 101 for the NETC Annual Convention in Hartford, CT; Shoes at TSI; and staged readings of Eat Me, The Buffoon Piece, Snowhead Junction, The Connie Saxon Show and Grace Notes at 78th St. Theatre Lab for the NY Play Development Reading Series. Kim also stage managed the Melting Pot production of Fables In Slang at Theatre 3, and ASM on When Pigs Fly at the Douglas Fairbanks. She is also an actress and a published author and you can find her collaboration with Beverly West, Cocktail Nation, in major bookstores.
Michael Ahearn (director, Unveiling) Michael’s recent NYC directing projects include A Change In The Weather and The Cover Of Life (both produced by his company Thanks Mom! Productions). As an actor, Michael has played myriad roles from Feste in Twelfth Night to Williamson in Glengarry Glenn Ross on the stage and roles on All My Children and The Guiding Light for TV.
Kristen Taylor-Burns (Assistant Director, Unveiling)
Paul Ferguson (director, Talking Cure) Paul has adapted and staged the works of many Southern writers, including Lee Smith, Jill McCorkle, Allan Gurganus, Clyde Edgerton, Doris Betts, Horton Foote, and Elizabeth Spencer. Recent professional directing credits include The Devil’s Dream (a narrative musical which he adapted from Lee Smith's novel), Alice...Through The Picture Tube, Into The Woods, Song Of Singapore, Raney and Fighting Words.  Paul is an active member of The Dramatists Guild, Inc. and Associate Professor of Performance Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he teaches directing, adaptation, and performance.  Recently Paul directed Good Ol’ Girls (which he also adapted) at the West Bank Cafe (NYC).
Ethan Kanfer (playwright, Eat Me!) “Nate” is a founding member of NY Play Development, artistic director of The Shock Troupe Theatre Company, and a member of The Coop Theatre Company in Los Angeles. His plays have been produced at various venues in New York, including The Pulse Ensemble, the John Houseman Studio, The Duplex, and the Producer’s Club.
Jennifer Sokolov (playwright, Unveiling) Jennifer's full-length drama Relative Unveiling received five readings with Stageplays Theatre Company in NYC and has been selected for continued development. Her one-act drama My Elizabeth appeared in the 1998 Montreal Fringe Festival, has received three New York productions, and received an award for Best Play in the Riant Women’s Theatre Festival. Jennifer's short screenplay Lizzy was commissioned by Jumpcut Productions (released July 1997). Also in 1997, Ms. Sokolov received grant funding to write and direct It Didn’t Just Happen Overnight based on the lives of five local teens from an economically disadvantaged community in Massachusetts. Her additional scripts include: Automatic Drip 100% Real, (one act comedy), A Kiss For The Latecomer (a one-woman drama), Go Not Gently, (a dance theater piece) and Couched In Desire, her second full-length drama. Jennifer is a writer and editor of books, plays and the Web site for Theatre Communications Group.
Jonathan Ashford (Kendall, Unveiling) Jonathan is thrilled to be making his NY stage debut with Unveiling. He is currently studying with Deena Levy at the Deena Levy Acting Studio. He wants to thank Mika for trusting him and giving him this opportunity. He also wants to thank his family and friends for their unconditional love and support. I love you, Mom!
Amy Bizjak (Ruby, Eat Me!) Amy is a graduate of St Edward's University (Austin, TX) and hails originally from Birmingham, AL. Stage credits include: Claudia in Passion Play, Bessie in Bessie (1918-Flatiron Theatre), Nurse in Eulogy: What I Could Have Said Given the Gift of Speech (Looking Glass Theatre), Corine in Triumph of Love (Mary Moody Theatre, Austin, TX), Eva in Evita (Mary Moody Theatre, Austin, TX), The Wife in Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, (Zilker Hillside Theatre, Austin, TX), Queen in Rumplestilkskin (Austin Theatre For Youth) Norma in The Diviners (Mary Moody Northern Theatre) Dabby in Our Country's Good (Mary Moody Northern Theatre).

Ruth Brandeis* (Grandma, Unveiling)

 Ruth’s credits include: (Off B’way) Mae the Stripper in We’d Rather Switch (Musical), Annie in Nighthawks, Mother in Life in Bed. At LaMaMa: Melinda in Int’l Wrestling Match (OBIE-winning play), A Cheap Trick (also at the Public). Other NY credits include: Jean Harlow in The Beard, Bubbles the Boobytrap in Smitty (2-character), Rachel in Rachel and Remy, and Backstage (Pulse Ensemble), Senalda in Loss of Innocence, Betty in Hollyweird, and Audience in Killing the Audience. Ruth is also a member of the 42nd St. Workshop.
Heather E. Cunningham (Jo, Unveiling) Heather was most recently seen as Hedda, Odette and the cool duck in Unwanted: the Very Ugly Duckling at the Vital Theatre on theatre row. She has also performed in several play readings, Cabaret evenings and one-acts, as well as lending her voice to Johnny Palmetto, Net Detective and Storywave. Prior to performing in New York she was seen in national tours of Folktales From Around the World, A Christmas Carol and Women Who Dare. During her year and a half long residency at the historic Hedgerow Theatre in Pennsylvania she appeared in over a dozen productions, including The Good Woman of Setzuan, Silence, Cole/Noel – “Let’s Fall in Love,” Camino Real, Cat Among the Pigeons, and Macbeth. Other favorite credits: Comedy 101, Evita, Four Dogs and a Bone. Heather holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Dennison University.
Colleen DeSalvo (Dorian, subCity; Mom, Unveiling) Colleen was born in Queens, NY and grew up in New Milford, NJ. After graduating from Rutgers University and training at William Esper Studio in NYC, she has worked extensively on the NY stage, in independent film and touring nationally. Her roles have included: Lady Macbeth with Independent Theatre Co., and the Strange Woman in Anne de Mare’s Lucky Man at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Last seen as Kate in Thanks Mom! Productions’ The Cover of Life, and as Queen Margaret in Expanded Arts’ Shakespeare in the Parking Lot production of Richard III. She can be heard as the voice as the voice of Candy Cain in 3Com Internet Production’s radio play The Adventures of Johnny Palmetto, Net Detective written by Beverly West.
Michael James Friel (Wall, subCity; Paranoid Man, Talking Cure)
Michele Fulves* (Angry Woman, Talking Cure)

Rob Grace (Trogg, Eat Me!; DJ, Talking Cure)

Rob recently graduated from Vassar College with a BA in Drama, where he appeared as Orestes in Orestes 2.0 and Coryphaeus in Antigona Furiosa. He is the winner of the Marilyn Swartz Seven Playwrighting Competition, and his play Paper Hearts was recently presented as a staged reading at the Theatre-Studio, Inc.
Adile Istarki (Kay, Eat Me!) Adile is happy to be working on her third performance in a play written by Ethan Kanfer. Adile was last seen in the NYC Fringe Festival 2000 production of Play a la Turka after her run in the same play in February at the Producer’s Club. Recent performances include Shock Troupe’s Emergency Cabaret at the Red Room and Ethan Kanfer’s Lump of Coal at the John Houseman Theater. Thanks Manny, Daniela, Bob, and Nate!
Peter Mensky (Klovis, Eat Me!)  Peter is a 1997 graduate of Dickinson College where he received his BA in Dramatic Arts. He also attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and The University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. Theatre Credits: Off-Broadway - Benny in That’s Life! (Theatre East), National Tour - Damis in Tartuffe (NTPA). Other credits for NY Play Development writers include: Mike in Lump of Coal (written and directed by Ethan Kanfer) and The Emergency Cabaret, both at the Houseman Studio Theatre, as well as numerous staged readings for the group. Peter has also acted in both feature and independent films.
Jackie Payne (Sharon, subCity) Jackie has studied with Suzanne Esper at The William Esper Studio, Loyd Williamson at the Actors Movement Studio & Uta Hagen. Recent credits include Overheard at the Kraine Theatre, the indie film The Young Professionals, Welcome Home Diego Ruiz at the Shock Troupe, and NY Play Development’s readings of The Feast of the Flying Cow... & Other Stories of War and Cube Rats.

Andrea Powell* (Vivian, Eat Me!; Aurora, subCity)

Andrea’s Theatre roles include: Alice and others in Good Ol' Girls (Laurie Beechman Theatre); Marni in Fighting Words (The Dramatists Guild); Ootesh in The Gamblers (Drama Committee Repertory Theatre); Marge in Mizz National TV Dinner (Raw Space); Guinevere in Camelot (Barter Theatre, VA); Young Katie Cocker in The Devil's Dream (Barter Theatre); Corrina in The House Of Blue Leaves (Raleigh Ensemble Players, NC); Linda in Boca (Charlotte Repertory Theatre, NC); Prudie in Pump Boys And Dinettes (5 productions, including Georgia Ensemble Theatre, GA). Principal and supporting film roles include: Mary Jones in The Legend Of Bagger Vance (w/Charlize Theron; dir. Robert Redford/Dreamworks SKG - to be released November 2000); Josie Moore in Songcatcher (w/Janet McTeer & Aidan Quinn; Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Performance, 2000 Sundance Film Festival; dir. Maggie Greenwald/TriMark Pictures - to be released October 2000); Brooklyn Babe in Super Mario Brothers (w/Bob Hoskins & Dennis Hopper; dir. Dean Semler/Hollywood Pictures); Mariah Carey Fan in Empire Records - (w/ Renee Zellweigger; dir. Alan Moyle/New Line Cinema). Also starred in Dark Side Of The Moon (interactive CD-ROM adventure game) as Kit Ferris, intergalactic blackjack dealer. TV roles include:  Dawson's Creek - Ann (guest starring w/Josh Jackson & Jonathan Lipnicki); Death In Small Doses (starring w/Richard Thomas & Tess Harper); Matlock (3 episodes, guest starring w/Andy Griffith); The Twilight Man (principal w/ Tim Matheson); Bandit (principal w/Brian Bloom & Larry Manetti); American Gothic (recurring).

Robert Pusilo* (Monsignor Conan, subCity) Robert began his performing career at 17 as a dancer in summer stock musicals. He later performed as principle dancer and in small featured roles in Silk Stockings, Can-Can and Goldilocks. Going on to principle roles, he was Prez in The Pajama Game, Tony in The Boy Friend, Jack in Where’s Charlie?, File in 110 In The Shade, Sir Harry in Once Upon A Mattress and at different times played both Gaston & General St. Pe in The Waltz Of The Toreadors. Recently he appeared in three productions directed by Terry Schreiber: Piet Wetjoin in The Iceman Cometh, Sheriff Talbot in Orpheus Descending and Shamrayev in The Seagull. This last year he appeared at Ensemble Studio Theatre in a staged reading of an original play, reading Ben Franklin in The Last To Sign” and this year, at the Gloria Maddox Theatre in another original play, as Leo Ginsburg in Last Chance For Happiness. He appeared in the never seen cult classic independent film The Gauguin Museum (Curator Fisher Fowl), periodically performs in his one man  show Bubbling To The Surface and sings in various cabarets around town.
Arin Quinn (Juno, Eat Me!; Feminist Woman, Talking Cure) Arin was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. For the past ten years she has been studying and performing both in the states and abroad.
Hank Sbrocco* (Dad, Unveiling) Hank has been involved in Regional Theater for over 25 years now and was last seen at Center Stage Community Playhouse as Juror # 3 in Twelve Angry Men. Recent roles include Hal in Lovers and Other Strangers, Les in Breakfast with Les and Bes, and Louie in Lost in Yonkers. His past credits include roles in Six Degrees of Separation, Nuts, The Shadow Box, Damn Yankees and Dracula. Hank is presently enrolled in the School for Film and Television in Manhattan. He lives in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn with his wife Rose.
Cara Stoner (The Assassin, Talking Cure)
Eric Thompson* (Alex, subCity) Eric hails from New Orleans, LA. He made his stage debut in Nairobi, Kenya in Peter Schaffer’s Black Comedy, and his TV debut in the British docu-drama The Dying of the Light. Domestic roles include: playing opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. in A Murder of Crows, Paul in Moon Over Buffalo, for which he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination, and Seth in Mammon, the Hip Hop drama by Mathew Collins. In NYC, Thompson received critical acclaim in Obedience to the Law is Freedom by NY Play Development playwright James O’Grady.
Chuck Worthington (Ryan/Translator 1, Eat Me!) Chuck is pumped to be performing in his second Ethan Kanfer play—last spring he played The Designer in Kanfer’s Lump of Coal. Other NYC credits include The Last Supper off Broadway, Alice in Wonderland, and All’s Well That Ends Well for the NYC Fringe Festival. Film credits include playing Sal in Film School Confidential. 
Jen Varbalow (Scenic Design) Jen is a NYC-based freelance designer. She received a BFA from Rutgers U. and MFA from Brandeis. After graduating, Jennifer taught at the University of Illinois for 2 years. New York credits include Mary Stuart and The Country Wife for Pulse Ensemble, Next Year In Jerusalem and Lady Of Copper for Theatre Asylum, Dinner at Eightish for Wings Theater, and Worm Day for Lumbrius Productions. Jennifer especially enjoys working on new plays and is very happy to be working on this festival. This Xmas Jennifer’s work can be seen in the windows at Saks & Lord and Taylor and other stores around the world.
Les Dickert (Festival Lighting Designer, principal design on Eat Me!)

Les’s designs of late include After Many a Summer Dies the Swan, Homemade, and Peccadillos for the White Oak Dance Project. In the theater world, recent designs include The Singing, Out to Sea, Crimes of the Heart, Peter and the Wolf, Saint Cockerspaniel, The Urn, and Forever Plaid. Other recent work includes assisting Jennifer Tipton on Jazz Trilogy (Trisha Brown Dance Company,) Wrong Mountain (ACT and Broadway) and Designated Mourner.  Upcoming projects include shows at Merrimack Repertory and the Great Lakes Theater Festival. Les has designed for choreographers such as David Gordon, Yvonne Rainer, Mark Morris, and Min Tanaka, and for the Beijing Dance Academy, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, The International Dance Festival, World Expo ’98 and Spoleto Festival. Les is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
Andrea Kung (Lighting Designer, co-designer on Eat Me!; principal on Talking Cure, subCity, Unveiling) Andrea is completely relieved to be back home after having been away in school at Oberlin and Yale and working in DC at Arena Stage as their in-house assistant lighting designer.  She designed three shows at the Yale Cabaret while up there, one of which was Cleveland Raining by Sung Rno, and three shows down in DC.

* Member of Actors Equity, Inc.