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Home , Barbara Ann Teer, Emily Mann (director), Halley Feiffer, Lisa Portes, Margo Jones

2015 TCG Delegation to Cuba Roster of Participants

Name: Kate Alexander Theatre: Florida Studio Theatre Title/Discipline: Associate Director FST; founder FST Education Program Bio: Associate Director FST/ directing over 50 plays Founder Education program- 50,000 yearly Developer Community Engagement Project- discussion on Race city wide. Developed International programs in Scotland, , Israel and Russia. Currently developing programs with World Ort. ; Hospice (youth with Greif) and Easter Seals Playwriting iniatives in underserved populations. Developed Art of Gesture program for Ringling College of Animation- Book and 2nd Edition on the subject.

Name: Stephanie Ansin Theatre: Miami Theater Center Title/Discipline: Founder & Artistic Director Bio: A native of Miami, Stephanie Ansin spent 14 years studying, acting, and directing in New York and New England before moving back to South Florida so her family could participate in raising the first member of their next generation. Upon her return in 2004, she co-founded The PlayGround Theatre and focused on writing, directing, and producing shows for young audiences. In 2011 the company was rebranded Miami Theater Center to reflect its inclusion of adult programming and its widening family of audiences and artists. Ansin was selected for The Miami Herald’s “20 Under 40” feature story in 2010, and she was one of nine finalists for the Miami New Times 2014 MasterMind Awards. In April 2014, she was featured as a cultural leader by the Miami Design District Ambassador program. Ansin holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Brown University and an MFA in Theatre Directing from Columbia University.

Name: Kevin Bitterman Organization: Theatre Communications Group Title/Discipline: Associate Director of International and Artistic Programs Bio: Kevin Bitterman serves as the associate director of Artistic and International programs with Theatre Communications Group. In this capacity, he manages various grant and professional development programs for U.S. theatre artists and theatres. Recent international projects include co-producing TCG’s 2014 Pre-Conference in Tijuana, Mexico and leading TCG delegations to Armenia, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Spain, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates to promote cultural and aesthetic exchange. Prior to TCG, Bitterman served as

the assistant director of the Bush Foundation’s Artist Fellowship Program and as the producing artistic associate with Theatre de la Jeune Lune. Bitterman received his Bachelor of Arts degrees in Theater and Communications from St. John’s University, and is a graduate of the Ecole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq and its Laboratoire d’Etude de Mouvement in , France. In 2014, he was appointed by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to serve on Community Board 10 in Central .

Name: Kersti Bryan Title/Discipline: Actor, Producer, Writer, Teacher Bio: Kersti Bryan is an actress, writer, producer and teacher based in NYC. Ms. Bryan has performed internationally in Russia and regionally in the : Shakespeare Theatre of DC, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Commonwealth Shakespeare , Shakespeare Theatre of New NJ, Palm Beach Dramaworks and others. NYC: Ensemble Studio Theatre, TheatreLab, Rep, New York Classical Theatre, Dixon Place and others. Television: "The Knick", "Elementary"; “Golden Boy”; “Drop Dead Diva”; “Law & Order”; others. Film: "Hell's Heart" (IFF Hollywood 2015), "Actor Seeks Role" (IFF Grand Jury Prize 2015) others. In 2010, Ms. Bryan received a TCG ITI Travel Grant to collaborate with Russian artists in Moscow. Her production company Violet’s Umbrella recently partnered with TheatreLAB for a production of Asa Merritt’s True Believer, a show about youth and radicalism. She has been a teaching artist at Oregon Shakespeare and a guest artist at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan.

Name: Fernando Calzadilla Theatre: Miami Theater Center Title/Discipline: Theater designer, dramaturg, director, performance scholar, teacher, and artist Bio: Fernando Calzadilla is a theater designer, dramaturg, director, performance scholar, teacher, and artist. He is currently Resident Artist for Miami Theater Center (MTC). He directed his own adaptation of Sophocles’ Electra for Teatro Prometeo/Miami-Dade College in Spanish language. As a performance artist recently presented Julie in collaboration with dancer Katie Wiegman at MTC. Teaching credits include: Performance Art (Florida International University); Performance Art (Design and Architecture Senior High – DASH); East Coast Artists Rasaboxes/Performance Workshop (New York University); lead professor of the first Taller Telemundo: Escritores de Telenovela (MDC); and rasaboxes workshops (US and abroad). He has won 14 regional and national design awards in Venezuela, including: Best Costume Design,

Salieri and Best Set Design, Happy Days. He earned a BFA in Scenic Design and MA/PhD in Performance Studies at New York University.

Name: Marissa Chibas Theatre: CalArts Center for New Performance Title/Discipline: Head of Duende CalArts Bio: Marissa Chibas is a recipient of the TCG Fox Foundation Actor Fellowship in Distinguished Achievement. She heads the bi-lingual initiative Duende Calarts that collaborates with innovative Latino(a) artists to make adventurous theater. Her solo show Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary produced by the CalArts Center for New Performance premiered at REDCAT in LA and went on to NYC, Miami, Guadalajara, Edinburgh, Encuentro 2015 at LATC, and Spring of 2016 at Arts Emerson. For Duende her next project is Shelter premiering in LA in Fall 2015, which received NEA Art Works and TCG Global Connections grants. Her silent film/performance piece, Clara’s Los Angeles was presented at REDCAT’s NOW festival in 2011 and the San Diego Latino Film Festival in 2013. For her Fox fellowship Marissa is working on a performance piece titled The Second Woman that will include a short film called Hitchcock’s Purses and premieres at Bootleg in Fall 2016.

Name: David Diamond Theatre: La MaMa ETC Title/Discipline: Theatre director/producer/consultant Bio: David is a theatre director, career coach for theatre artists and a professor. He is a Founder of The Barrow Group Theatre, now in its 30th year. He is a roster Fulbright Specialist in Theatre. He leads the La MaMa Umbria International Symposia in Spoleto, Italy and workshops at Yale, Carnegie Mellon, DePaul, National Theatre Institute, University of Wisconsin, Institute for the Arts, Fordham and Columbia Universities. David serves on the Steering Committee for Theatre WithoutBordersandco-­‐organized the Conference: Theatre and Peacebuilding in Conflict Zones. He has been part of the US delegations to ITI in Madrid and Yerevan. He was honored for his community service by Theatre of the Oppressed . Manhattan Borough President/NY City Council declared September 13th, David J Diamond Appreciation Day to recognize his service to the theatre community and the City of New York.

Name: Teresa Eyring Organization: Theatre Communications Group Title/Discipline: Executive Director

Bio: Teresa Eyring joined Theatre Communications Group (TCG) as executive director in March 2007. Previously, she spent 20 years as an executive in theatres around the U.S. Positions included managing director of the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, managing director of the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, assistant executive director of the in Minneapolis, and director of development for the Woolly Mammoth Theater Company in Washington, D.C. Eyring holds a BA in international relations from Stanford University and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. She is a member of the boards of the Performing Arts Alliance, The Actors Fund and the Cultural Data Project. Under her leadership, TCG adopted a new strategic plan with a major focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, as well as audience and community engagement. With this plan, TCG has articulated a new, unifying vision statement. In summary it is: A better world for theatre. A better world because of theatre. Teresa is a committed advocate for cultural exchange, and has led or participated in numerous international theatre delegations. This will be her third trip to Cuba.

Name: Sharon Fogarty Theatre: Mabou Mines Title/Discipline: Co-Artistic Director Bio: Sharon Fogarty is a Co-Artistic Director of Mabou Mines, one of the oldest and most respected experimental theater collectives in the US. With Mabou Mines, Sharon wrote and directed Cara Lucia, Lucia’s Chapters of Coming Forth by Day and directed Finn, a digital animation/live action performance. She is currently adapting/directing Faust Part II by Goethe. Over the past 20 years she also produced many of the Company’s productions and major international tours. Currently, she is on the faculty of Barnard College/Columbia University and taught at New York University, Bard College, and the New School for Social Research, as well as internationally at The Abbey Theater in Ireland and ACT NOW in Austria. She received grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, The New York State Council on the Arts and Culture Ireland.

Name: Juli Hendren Theatre: Tricklock Company Title/Discipline: Artistic Director Bio: Juli Hendren is the Artistic Director and a founding member of Tricklock Company, a 22 year old devised theatre ensemble based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is the Curator of The Revolutions International Theatre Festival which brings companies from around the world to New Mexico for performances, workshops, and cultural exchange. Juli is an actor, writer,

director, and teacher with a focus on devised work and physical theatre. She is a graduate of The University of New Mexico and has trained with Dell‘Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Double Edge Theatre, and The Gardzienice Centre for Theatre Practices of Poland. Juli has toured extensively with Tricklock's devised work and her solo work. She has performed, taught, and produced theatre across the US, Canada, Europe, as well as China, and Uganda. Juli is an adjunct teacher in the theatre and dance department at UNM and The National Hispanic Cultural Center.

Name: Gülgün Kayim Theatre: Skewed Visions Title/Discipline: Director Bio: Gülgün Kayim is an interdisciplinary theatre artist and co-founder of Skewed Visions, an award winning, Minneapolis based site-specific performance collective. Her sited performances investigate the cultural resonances of conflict through location, biography and memory. Her work has been presented in a wide variety of settings in Cyprus, Russia, UK and US. Kayim’s work has been recognized through a number of awards and fellowships including: a Home for Cooperation creation grant, TCG Global Connections Award, Creative Capital Grant, an Archibald Bush Foundation Artist Fellowship, Jerome Foundation Grants, three Minnesota State Arts Board Theatre Fellowships and Trust for Mutual Understanding funding among others. She was a 2006 Walker Art Center resident artist and a City Pages Artist of the Year in 2004. Kayim trained in the US and London and holds a masters degree from the Center for Asian, Experimental Performance and an MFA in Directing. She is an affiliate faculty member at the ’s Dept. of the Theatre Arts and Dance and the Director of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy for the City of Minneapolis.

Name: Kate Loewald Theatre: The Play Company Title/Discipline: Founding Producer Bio: Kate is the Founding Producer of The Play Company, the -winning theatre currently celebrating its 15th season as an international theatre for new writing in New York City. PlayCo develops and produces adventurous new plays, from the U.S. and abroad, to advance a dynamic global experience of contemporary theatre and expand the American repertoire. PlayCo has produced 28 world, American and New York premieres of plays from Mexico, Sweden, Poland, Japan, Romania, India, Germany, Russia, France, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England and the United States. From 1990-99 Kate was head of the literary

department at the Manhattan Theatre Club, overseeing programming and creative development, and also served as Director of MTC’s literary series Writers in Performance in 1998 and '99. She’s an adjunct faculty member of the New School for Drama MFA directing program, and has also taught at Fordham College and New York University’s MFA Dramatic Writing Program. www.playco.org

Name: Jason Loewith Theatre: Olney Theatre Center Title/Discipline: Artistic Director Bio: Jason Loewith is Artistic Director of Olney Theatre Center, a $6M/year regional theater just outside Washington, DC. As a , Jason won Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Adding Machine: A Musical, which he co-wrote with composer Joshua Schmidt (off- Broadway, 2008). Recent work as a director includes Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, Baltimore’s CENTERSTAGE, and DC’s Studio Theatre. Jason served as artistic director at ’s Next Theatre from 2002-08, as well as a stint at off-Broadway’s CSC from 1995-2000. He is a three- time NEA grantee, a recipient of support from the Rockefeller MAP Fund and MacArthur’s International Connections Fund, and a TCG New Generations Future Leaders grant. His book The Director’s Voice, Volume 2 was published by TCG in 2012. Jason is also dramaturging the world premiere of Moises Kaufman's CARMEN: AN AFRO-CUBAN JAZZ MUSICAL, which opens at Olney Theatre Center in February 2016.

Name: Theatre: McCarter Theatre Center Title/Discipline: Artistic Director and Resident Playwright Bio: Emily Mann has overseen 150+ productions in her 26 seasons as McCarter’s multi-award winning Artistic Director and Resident Playwright. Recent productions directed: Five Mile Lake; Antony & Cleopatra; ; A Delicate Balance. Recently directed world premieres: The Convert; The How and the Why; Miss Witherspoon; Me, Myself & I. Broadway productions: ; ; Execution of Justice; Having Our Say. Her plays: Having Our Say, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth; Execution of Justice; Still Life; Annulla, An Autobiography; Greensboro (A Requiem); Meshugah; Mrs. Packard. Adaptations: Scenes from a Marriage; ; ; A Seagull in the Hamptons; The House of Bernarda Alba; Antigone. Awarded a Honorary Doctorate of Arts; 2015 Helen Merrill Distinguished ' Award;

and 2015 Award given to a "citizen-of-the-theatre who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theatre everywhere”.

Name: Denise Maroney Theatre: The (B)IM Project Title/Discipline: Founder/Producer of the (B)IM Project/ Theatre Bio: Denise Maroney is the founder and producer of The (B)IM Project. Based in Beirut, Lebanon, (B)IM is a non-profit theatre collective that brings together Lebanese and international theatre artists to create plays that are rooted in the history, culture and literature of Lebanon. (B)IM uses free productions and collaborations with artists from around the globe to cross divisions between local groups within Lebanon and boundaries between Lebanon and the international community. In tanget to her production work, Maroney designs costume, textiles and embroideries for theatre, art, commercial sale and private events. Recipient of grants from Theatre Communications Group, CEC Artslink, Ideaz Prize, Rhode Island School of Design. BFA, Theatre, NYU Tisch School of the Arts ; MFA, Textiles, Rhode Island School of Design.

Name: Sonja Parks Title/Discipline: Actor/Activist Bio: An accomplished actor, Sonja has worked with/at: The Public Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company-London, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights’ Horizon, & The Guthrie Theatre. She trained at UT-Austin, The Dance Theater of Harlem & The National Black Theater with the late Dr. Barbara Ann Teer. An original member of poet/playwright Sharon Bridgforth’s "root wy’mn theatre company", she originated two one-woman shows & garnered an Osborn Award nomination from The American Theater Critics Association. She is an NEA Fellow; a McKnight Artist Fellow; a 2-time Minnesota State Arts Board Fellow; a 2-time Ivey award winner; a TCG-Fox Distinguished Achievement Fellow; been a featured artist in Time Magazine and one of “Seven Artists You Must See” by American Theatre Magazine. She taught acting and theatre at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and is currently developing a new performance methodology for the "Theatrical Jazz" aesthetic.

Name: Neil Pepe Theatre: Title/Discipline: Artistic Director Bio: I have been a director and Artistic Director of the Atlantic Theater Company since 1992. Select directing credits include on Broadway David Mamet's SPEED THE PLOW and A LIFE IN THE

THEATRE and the musical HANDS ON A HARDBODY. Off Broadway credits includes major works by Jez Butterworth, John Guare, Ethan Coen, Adam Rapp, Moira Buffini, Howard Korder, Jessica Goldberg, Eric Bogosian and Tom Donaghy. As Artistic Director of Atlantic Neil produced and championed new work including the world premiere of SPRING AWAKENING, and the American premiere of Martin McDonagh with THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE as well as the Off Broadway premieres of Annie Baker, Simon Stephens, Joe Penhall, Fernanda Koppel and new work from Stephen Adly Guirgis, Lucy Thurber, Rajiv Joseph, Conor McPherson, Halley Feiffer and others. Neil has taught at NYU and Columbia ands holds an honorary doctorate from Kenyon College.

Name: Lisa Portes Theatre: The Theatre School at DePaul University / Chicago Playworks for Young Audiences / Freelance Title/Discipline: Head of MFA Directing / Artistic Director /Theatre Director Bio: Lisa Portes is a Cuban-American director, producer and educator who currently heads the MFA Directing Program at The Theatre School at DePaul University and serves as Artistic Director of Chicago Playworks for Young Audiences. She is a founding member of the Latina/o Theatre Commons and recently produced the nationally acclaimed LTC Carnaval of New Latina/o Plays in Chicago. Lisa has directed and developed work at numerous regional and Chicago theatres including Steppenwolf Theatre, , Guthrie Theatre, , the Public Theatre, Sundance Theatre Lab, the Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, McCarter Theatre and Theatre’s Hispanic Playwrights Project. Awards include the TCG SPARK Leadership Fellowship, TCG/NEA Career Development Grant for Directors, Drama League Directors’ Fellowship, Illinois Council of the Arts Award and a Fulbright Fellowship. She lives in Chicago with her husband, playwright, and their two children, Eva Rose and Carlos Alejandro.

Name: Damaso Rodriguez Theatre: Artists Repertory Theatre Title/Discipline: Artistic Director Bio: Dámaso Rodriguez is a Cuban-American director born in Miami, Florida. He is in his third season as Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland, Oregon. He served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse from 2007-2010 and as Co-Artistic Director of the Los Angeles-based Furious Theatre from 2001-2012. His directing credits include a steady mix of new plays and classics. Dámaso is a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics

Circle Award, the Back Stage Garland Award, the NAACP Theatre Award and the Pasadena Arts Council’s Gold Crown Award. In 2012, he was honored as a finalist for the Zelda Fichandler Award. Upcoming productions: the world premiere musical Cuba Libre, The Miracle Worker and The Skin of Our Teeth at Artists Rep and Romeo & Juliet at A Noise Within in Pasadena. He is a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC).

Name: Peter Rothstein Theatre: Theater Latté Da Title/Discipline: Founding Artistic Director Bio: Peter Rothstein works as a director of theater, musical theater, opera and new work development. He is the Founding Artistic Director of Theater Latté Da, a Twin Cities-based company dedicated to adventurous music-theater. Other directing credits include the Guthrie, Children’s Theatre Company, Minnesota Opera, Ten Thousand Things, The Playwrights' Center and Seattle’s 5th Avenue. He is the creator of ALL IS CALM: THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914. He has been awarded six Ivey Awards for overall excellence, named Best Director in the Twin Cities by the Star Tribune, City Pages and Lavender. Peter has received grants and fellowships from TCG, the Minnesota State Arts Board and the McKnight Foundation. He serves on the board of directors for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and Alive and Kickin. He holds a B.A. in Music and Theater from St. John’s University and a MFA in Directing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Peter-Rothstein.com

Name: Jojo Ruf Theatre: Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics Title/Discipline: Managing Director Bio: Jojo Ruf has been managing director of Georgetown University’s Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics since January 2015, having worked there since its 2012 founding. Prior to that, she served as the associate executive director of the National New Play Network, an alliance of US nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays. She is also currently the executive and creative director of the Welders, a DC- based playwrights’ collective, and a coordinating producer for the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. She has worked with , the Kennedy Center, Theater J, and the Provincetown Theater Festival as a freelance producer and director. In 2010 she assistant directed and co-adapted In Search of Duende: The Ballad of Federico Garcia Lorca as part of the UNESCO/ITI World Festival of Theater Schools in Peru. Ruf graduated from Georgetown University with a dual degree in English and Theater and Performance Studies.

Name: Jerry Tischleder Theatre: Artists Repertory Theatre Title/Discipline: Visiting Artistic Associate Bio: Jerry Tischleder is a curator, producer, performer and arts administrator working in Portland, Oregon. Jerry is the founder of Risk/Reward - a multi-disciplinary arts organization that presents independent artists who push the boundaries of live performance in new directions. Under his leadership, Risk/Reward has featured work by over 70 artist groups since 2008. He has been a company member with Hand2Mouth Theatre since 2006 and leads many of the company's international touring programs. He has served on curatorial and grant panels for a number of organizations including On the Boards, the National Performance Network, the Regional Arts and Culture Council and the Network of Ensemble Theatres. He is a graduate of the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at and is a participant in the Leadership U: One-on-One program, funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group.

Name: Adam Versenyi Theatre: PlayMakers Repertory Company Title/Discipline: Senior Dramaturg Bio: I am the Senior Dramaturg for PlayMakers Repertory Company and Chair of the Department of Dramatic Art at The University of North Carolina. My field of expertise is Latin American and U.S. Latino/a Theatre and Performance. I've had two Fulbrights to teach and direct in Colombia, and have worked in Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Panama, and Cuba. I have a number of contacts in the Cuban theatre and academic communities and have written extensively about Latin American Theatre. In addition, I am a theatrical translator of Latin American Theatre and founder and Editor of The Mercurian: A Theatrical Translation Review, an online journal. My BA major was a Combined Major in Literature in English and Spanish andI have my DFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Yale School of Drama and prior to that worked as a dancer, actor, mime, and artist in the schools.

Name: Tamilla Woodard Theatre: PopUp Theatrics Title/Discipline: Director Bio: Tamilla Woodard is a theatre director who works both nationally and internationally. She is co-founder of PopUp Theatrics, a partnership creating site impacting theatrical events around

the world and in collaboration with international theatre artists. Currently, she is serving as the Artistic Director of The Five Boroughs/One City Project, a multi year initiative of The Working Theater. The project will support the commissioning and development of 5 Playwright/Director teams working in collaborations and creating theatrical works in response to working class communities in all 5 boroughs. She is a current Time Warner Directing Fellow at the Women’s Project Theater Lab, a Usual Suspect at New York Theatre Workshop, alumnus of The Lincoln Center Directors Lab and artistic affiliate with New Georges. She graduated from The Yale School of Drama’s Acting program and is the recipient of The Charles Bowden Award from New Dramatists and The Josephine Abady Award from The League of Professional Theatre Women.

Name: Isabel Yrigoyen Theatre: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Title/Discipline: Associate Director of Performing Arts Bio: Isabel T. Yrigoyen is the Associate Director of Performing Arts at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), in San Francisco, California. Ms. Yrigoyen produces the annual Performing Arts Presents Season at YBCA, which showcases 10-12 theater, dance, music and interdisciplinary performances by local, national and international artists. Ms. Yrigoyen also serves on the YBCA curatorial team as a contributing music curator for the Performing Arts department, curating creative music and innovative groundbreaking artists in all genres. Her curatorial practice is driven by an interest in bridging musical traditions with contemporary performance practice, with an emphasis on women composers, experimentalists, and artists in social practice. In addition, Isabel oversees and directs the Community Rental program, serving as the YBCA representative, booking and managing over 160 contracted performances for a wide array of outside local Bay Area nonprofit Arts organizations who present dance, theater, and music at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.