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EVENING ONE (May 20 & 22) RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 2.5 HOURS, INCLUDING A 10-MINUTE INTERMISSION

CREATIVE TEAM AND CREW for Evening One

Production Manager & Technical Director Chris Mikolavich Stage Manager Amanda Vander Hyde Assistant Stage Managers Wyatt Hodgson, Bitty Garrett Streaming Coordinator & General Manager, PCS Liam Kass-Lentz Costume Designer Beth Harper Period Costume Coordinator Bobby Brewer-Wallin Costume Assistant/Dresser BreeAna Miyuki Eisel Properties Master Erica Hatfield Assistant Properties Calista Rodríguez Lighting Designer Trent Eccles Sound Designer Rodolfo Ortega Assistant to Sound Designer Dustin Fuentes Intimacy Consultant Amanda K Cole Running Crew Wyatt Hodgson, Bitty Garrett

Act One

BRIGHT HALF LIFE by Tanya Barfield Directed by Lava Alapai Presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York CAST Vicky BreeAna Miyuki Eisel Erica Magnolia Brown

2 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 Act Two

ANTOINE AT THE BORDER by Maggie Lou Rader Directed by Michael Mendelson CAST Antoine Erica Hatfield Charlotte Calista Rodríguez

THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING by Monica Cross Directed by Samson Syharath CAST Cindi Bitty Garrett Dell BreeAna Miyuki Eisel

GOT A LIGHT? by Jean Koppen Directed by Michael Mendelson CAST Joan Erica Hatfield Guy Dustin Fuentes Voice Magnolia Brown

THE ONES WHO ADAPT by Greg Lam Directed by Samson Syharath CAST Jogger Wyatt Hodgson Alien Calista Rodríguez Female Erica Hatfield

OREGON ONE-ACT FESTIVAL 3 EVENING TWO (May 21 & 23) RUN TIME: APPROXIMATELY 2.5 HOURS WITH A 10-MINUTE INTERMISSION

CREATIVE TEAM AND CREW for Evening Two

Production Manager & Technical Director Chris Mikolavich Stage Manager Magnolia Brown Assistant Stage Managers Wyatt Hodgson, Bitty Garrett Streaming Coordinator & General Manager, PCS Liam Kass-Lentz Costume Designer Beth Harper Costume Assistant/Dresser BreeAna Miyuki Eisel Properties Master Calista Rodríguez Assistant Properties Erica Hatfield Lighting Designer Trent Eccles Sound Designer Rodolfo Ortega Assistant to Sound Designer Dustin Fuentes Intimacy Consultant Amanda K Cole Running Crew Wyatt Hodgson, Bitty Garrett, Calista Rodríguez, Erica Hatfield, BreeAna Miyuki Eisel, Dustin Fuentes

Act One

LORE DROP by Calista Rodríguez, in collaboration with Diana Burbano & Dámaso Rodríquez Directed by Dámaso Rodríquez CAST Alex/DM Calista Rodríguez

4 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 FISHTOWN by Michael Quinn Directed by Beth Harper CAST Bobby Dustin Fuentes Lena Erica Hatfield

Act Two

BROTHERS ON A HOTEL BED by Elisabeth Giffin Speckman Directed by Beth Harper CAST Sam Dustin Fuentes James Wyatt Hodgson

POMEGRANATE JUICE by Melissa Boles Directed by Beth Harper CAST Katherine Bitty Garrett Hannah BreeAna Miyuki Eisel Peter Dustin Fuentes

WHEN JESUS DROPS BY FOR TEA by Greg Lam Directed by Samson Syharath CAST Matthew Wyatt Hodgson Josh Dustin Fuentes

BEAU by Melissa Boles Directed by Beth Harper CAST Grace Bitty Garrett Beau Jeff Gorham (guest artist) A WORD FROM OUR LEADERSHIP

to the second offering of our 2020/21Welcome season of plays, or perhaps I should say, “season” of “plays.” This has been a year of redefining so many terms. We might swap “season” for “How to Make Theatre and Train Actors During a World-Wide Pandemic.” “Plays” we might translate into opportunities to create, compromise, and collaborate. And we have done all of that, with energy and dedication, since in-person classes were suspended on March 13th, 2020.

We moved the TAC curriculum – Acting, Movement, Voice, Shakespeare, Text Analysis, Meisner, Improvisation – to the world of Zoom. Additionally, we created new courses and opportunities: BIPOC scene study, for example, and Friday afternoon “Slams,” where students, in both years, along with faculty, attend a workshop or lecture in a variety of subjects, from preparing for a musical theatre auditions, to a workshop in comedy led by a writer from HBO. Faculty, staff, and students all stepped into this brave new world, learning together, helping each other, and all of us bent on continuing the process of providing the vital performance curriculum that is key to TAC’s second year of full-time training. This is our Theory (the foundation we lay down in Year One at TAC) into Practice (opportunities to collaborate and perform with the intent of enriching and enlivening our audience) reimagined.

With ART, and a wonderful collaboration with playwright Diana Burbano and Executive Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez, it was such a pleasure for TAC to present The Vertical City, an original audio drama written for and with the class of 2021.

6 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 And now for these two evenings of plays! Having been away from the rehearsal room for an entire year, it is hard for me to describe what a joy it is to be with these second-year students, fellow directors, playwrights, designers, and theatre professionals creating these two evenings of one-acts and short plays in the invigorating and truly beautiful space of Portland Center Stage. I am full of gratitude for the effortless generosity of PCS Artistic Director, Marissa Wolf, Managing Director, Cynthia Fuhrman, and General Manager, Liam Kass-Lentz.

I am delighted to present the work of our second-year students, who demonstrate immense courage, artistic range, and an amazing variety of skill sets in these two evenings of one-act and short plays. I am always moved and inspired by the work of our graduating second-year students, but perhaps, never more than this particular year, which has been so full of both compromise and possibility. I am reminded that the word “crisis” in the Chinese language is composed of two characters, one representing danger and the other opportunity. May we all navigate both and thrive in the process.

- Beth Harper, Managing Artistic Director

photo by: Owen Carey; OREGONactors: Erica ONE-ACT Hatfield FESTIVAL & Wyatt Hodgson7 CAST PROFILES

Magnolia Brown (ACTOR) Magnolia Brown is ecstatic to be in her second year at The Actors Conservatory. Born in central Washington and having lived in 6 states growing up Magnolia learned early that she would always have a home in theater. This season she will have the pleasure of playing Erica in Bright Half Life, and Voice in Got a Light? Magnolia has played in many projects in the past including, The Vertical City, Pink Noir, and A Diner on the Way. Magnolia would like to thank her peers and mentors for helping her grow these past two years, and her family who inspires her to create.

BreeAna Miyuki Eisel (ACTOR) BreeAna is proud and honored to be a part of the Actors Conservatory’s One Act Festival. During the performance, BreeAna will be showcasing a wide range of characters, from a grieving daughter to an ever-aging space explorer. These roles are the culmination of two years of study with the Conservatory and serve to mark the end of a great chapter in her life. As a student at the Conservatory, she spent the last year preparing and learning over Zoom and is thrilled to finally have the opportunity to perform live in a real theater. When BreeAna is not acting, she enjoys reading horror novels, knitting sweaters, and playing with her two beautiful dogs. Though her future plans are unclear, she is excited to take the next steps for her career and looks forward to whatever it may hold. In closing, BreeAna would like to thank Portland Center Stage for the generosity in allowing her the opportunity to perform on their stage and experience professional theatre first-hand. She would also like to thank her mentors at the Actors Conservatory at Artist Rep for all of the wisdom and guidance they have given her over the past two years.

Dustin Fuentes (ACTOR) Dustin is an artist born and raised in Portland. He’s very excited to be part of the Oregon One Act Festival! His most recent credits include Dylan in The Vertical City (TAC, Artists Rep), Svec in Once (Broadway Rose), Chris in Beau Jest (New Century Players), Wilfred Owen in Not About Heroes (New Century Players). CAST PROFILES

Bitty Garrett (ACTOR) is passionate about telling stories that give us permission to explore the challenging parts of humanity through love, humor, & compassion. Growing up in Portland gave Bitty the chance to experience its vast and vibrant theatre scene from a young age, sparking a deep love for storytelling and creative performance. The Conservatory training has emphasized & reaffirmed the importance of cultivating connection by embracing each individual’s authentic truth while playing to their creative strengths & nurturing areas in need of growth. Bitty feels incredibly fortunate to have found a program with mentors that pushes her to be the best artist they can in order to fully serve the stories she shares. Outside the theatre arts, you can find her writing jokes, chatting about mental health, or at her job making delicious, locally-sourced ice cream.

Erica Hatfield (ACTOR) Erica is over the moon to be tackling four different characters in one festival! From the historical gravitas of Joan of Arc and a young Marie Antoinette, to the contemporary American sister of a recovering heroin addict, all the way to an actual extra terrestrial! Exploring these roles with her ensemble has been a challenging, rewarding and exhilarating process but there’s no other bunch of weirdos she would rather share this experience with. She would like to thank her teachers and ensemble for their discipline, compassion and dedication to this work and to each other. During the run of this show, Erica will become an Aunt for the very first time and can think of no better way to celebrate the arrival of her new baby niece. Her family is in every move that she makes―for their continued support and encouragement she is eternally grateful. She would also like to thank her real life brother for his aversion to heroin. Lastly, Erica would like to thank Portland Center Stage for allowing this group of young actors into their space for the educational opportunity of a lifetime! Erica is not sure what the future holds for her but she is sure that she is an artist and that alone is an incredible feeling. Thanks to her team, she is prepared for nothing in particular, ready for anything.

OREGON ONE-ACT FESTIVAL 9 CAST PROFILES

Wyatt Hodgson (ACTOR) is completing his second year at The Actor’s Conservatory at Artist Rep. He is proud to perform in the Oregon One Act Festival alongside his classmates, and is excited to work with more amazing artists on future projects. After graduating from TAC, Wyatt is going on to complete his bachelor’s in English at PSU, as well as obtaining his Private Pilot’s Certificate.

Calista Rodríguez (ACTOR) is a recent indoctrinate into the acting and theater world, starting her career with The Actors Conservatory in 2019. While not having much experience under her belt she has participated in a couple of audio and school related projects. She is very excited to continue her journey in the acting world and is incredibly grateful for all the opportunities and education they’ve received at TAC.

Jeff Gorham (GUEST ARTIST) Jeff is grateful for working as an actor in Portland for over 30 years, and he could not be prouder of the work done in our city. He is honored to be a guest artist at TAC. Some favorite stage roles include Charlie in The Foreigner, Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet, Cladius in Hamlet, Williamson in Glengary Glenn Ross, Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Charles Marlow in She Stoops to Conquer, Faust in Faust Us, Lenny in Rumors, Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Vagabond in The Tavern. Film and television credits include All My Children ABC, Terror in the Towers, NBC The Last Innocent Man HBO and Nowhere Man. Jeff sends much love to TAC and his fellow actor in Beau, his stage manager, and his wonderful director, Beth Harper. Jeff thanks his family and friends for their support, which allows him to do what he loves to do.

10 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 CREATIVE TEAM

Beth Harper (MANAGING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) Ms. Harper began her professional acting and directing career over 35 years ago at Artists Rep. Her directing credits with Artists Rep include FM, Nice People Dancing to Good Country Music, How I Learned to Drive, and Drawer Boy (featuring Allen Nause.) Ms Harper is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of the The Actors Conservatory, a nationally accredited independent school for actor training located at Artists Rep. Beth has directed over 35 productions for the conservatory. Her favorites include: A Piece of my Heart, Holy Ghosts, This Random World, Good Kids, and Fudddy Meers. Beth loves to travel and has worked both nationally and internationally as a performing artist. Beth is a commissioner for the National Association of Schools of Theatre, is the recipient of the Leslie O. Fulton Fellowship for Artistic Excellence and received the Drammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 for her outstanding leadership and accomplishment in education and professional theatre.

Lava Alapai (DIRECTOR) Lava has been creating theatre in Portland for over a decade and some of her recent directing credits include School Girls, Or; The African Mean Girls Play for Portland Center Stage at the Armory, Is God Is for Washington Ensemble Theatre, The Revolutionists and An Octoroon (co-direction) for Artists Repertory Theatre, Columbinus, Charlotte’s Web and Locomotion for Oregon Children’s Theatre. She is a proud member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC). She would like to thank her wonderful stage manager and cast for giving her the opportunity to spend this time with them, and her wife Alex for supporting her always.

Michael Mendelson (DIRECTOR) Michael is Artistic Director of Portland Shakespeare Project, a Resident Artist at Artists Repertory Theatre and the resident Shakespeare teacher with The Actors Conservatory. Well known in Portland as an actor, director and teacher, Michael received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wayne State University and a Master of Fine Arts from University of Washington’s Professional Actors Training Program. While in New York City, he studied with Tanya Berezin. Michael’s directing credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, The Understudy, Intimate Apparel and both directed and starred in Mistakes Were Made for Artists Rep. For Portland Shakespeare Project: An Educational First Reading of The Winter’s Tale translated by Tracy Young, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It and Lear’s Follies and from the Play on! Shakespeare, staged readings of Ranjit Bolt’s Much Ado About Nothing and Jeff Whitty’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. An Act of God (Nebraska Repertory Theatre), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Northwest Classical Theatre Company), Stones In His Pockets (Public House Theatre), As Is (Key Productions), The Meaning of Prayer (Verbatim Productions) and staged readings of Botticelli (Profile Theatre) and Dinner With Friends (Mt. Hood Repertory Theatre). His acting credits at Artists Rep include Indecent, 1984, Small Mouth Sounds, Magellanica, An Octoroon, Marjorie Prime, Trevor, The Price, also Tribes, The Skin of our Teeth, Blithe Spirit, The Quality of Life, Ten Chimneys, Red Herring and Sherlock

OREGON ONE-ACT FESTIVAL 11 CREATIVE TEAM in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol, God of Carnage, The Cherry Orchard, Superior Donuts, Othello, Design for Living, Holidazed, Becky’s New Car, Three Sisters, Eurydice, House, Garden, Orson’s Shadow, Mr. Marmalade, Theater District and Love!Valour!Compassion! Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night with Portland Shakes. Other local credits include Scrooge in A Christmas Carol with Portland Playhouse and work with Oregon Shakespeare Festival/ Portland, Profile Theatre, Miracle Theatre, Northwest Classical Theatre Company, triangle productions!, Tygres Heart Shakespeare, Portland Center Stage, Reader’s Theatre Repertory and New Rose Theatre. New York credits include Revolving Shakespeare Company, Theatre 1010, The Normal Heart (Lincoln Center/Clark Studio Theatre), Genesius Guild and The Barrow Group. Regional credits include work at PCPA Theatrefest, Paper Mill Playhouse, A Contemporary Theatre, Saint Michael’s Playhouse, Penobscot Theatre Company, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, First Stage Milwaukee, Idaho Rep, Attic Theater and Wisconsin, Utah and Berkeley Shakespeare Festivals. Michael is a proud member of SDC, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA.

Samson Syharath (DIRECTOR) is a Laotian-American actor, director, writer, and educator based in Portland, Oregon. After receiving a B.A. from the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, Samson trained at the Portland Actors Conservatory (now the Actors Conservatory at Artists Rep). He was part of the Theatre Communications Group’s Rising Leaders of Color Cohort in 2017 featured by American Theatre Magazine and was the recipient of the Portland Civic Theatre Guild’s Leslie O. Fulton Fellowship that same year. He is the Chair of the EDI Committee of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance (PATA) Board, Associate Producer of MediaRites, Managing Artistic Director of Theatre Diaspora and part of the PDX Accountability Collective. www.gettinglaod.com

Dámaso Rodríquez (DIRECTOR) is in his eighth season as Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre, Portland’s longest-running professional theatre company, which became a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) under his leadership. Plays developed during his tenure have been produced in New York, Chicago, London, and throughout the U.S. Acclaim for Artists Rep developed projects includes the Dramatists Guild Foundation Award, the Edgerton New Play Award, NEA Funding, American Theatre Magazine’s Most Produced Plays list, and coverage in the New Yorker and the New York Times. He is a Co-Founder of L.A.’s Furious Theatre, where he served as Co- Artistic Director from 2001-2012 (named to LA Weekly’s “Best Theatres of the Decade” list). From 2007-2010 he served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse, where he directed main stage productions and oversaw programming for the Playhouse’s second stage, including its Hothouse New Play Development Program. He has directed a broad range of new and classic plays including over 20 Artists Rep productions, along with work at South Coast Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Rep, Intiman Theatre, A Noise Within,

12 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 CREATIVE TEAM

The Playwrights’ Center, New Dramatists, The New Harmony Project, The Theatre@ Boston Court, Pasadena Playhouse, and Furious Theatre. 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. His productions have won or been nominated for dozens of awards including Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards, LA Weekly Theatre Awards, and Stage Scene LA Awards, among others. He was honored as a Finalist for the Zelda Fichandler Award by the Stage Directors & Choreographers Foundation and was named a Knowledge Universe Rising Star by Portland Monthly. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Chris Mikolavich (PRODUCTION MANAGER, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR) has been with the Conservatory since 1985. He has acted, directed, and stage-managed both locally and nationally. He is a scenic designer, a lighting designer and an award-winning sound designer. Chris is the Conservatory’s Technical Director and Instructor for Theatre Management, Practicum and Technical Theatre. In addition to working for many Portland theatre companies, he has been the Technical Director, Shop Foreman, Instructor and Facilities Manager for Lewis & Clark College Theatre Department. He has been a casting director for feature films, TV movies and national commercials, and has toured internationally as Lighting Director for major recording artists.

Amanda Vander Hyde (STAGE MANAGER) A graduate of Western Oregon University with a BFA in Technical Production, Amanda Vander Hyde is a current freelance Stage Manager in the Portland Theater scene. She works as a Production and Stage Manager for the likes of CoHo, Triangle, Chapel Theatre, Many Hats Collaboration, and Oregon Children’s Theatre. She also works as the Volunteer Coordinator and resident Stage Manager at the Majestic Theatre. She wants to thank her husband for putting up with her late hours and constant busyness.

Liam Kass-Lentz (STREAMING COORDINATOR & GENERAL MANAGER, PCS) Liam is a native of Bellingham, WA. He is an ensemble member of Sojourn Theatre, having served as their stage and production manager for the past decade and a half. Recent directing credits include How to End Poverty in 90 Minutes with Sojourn Theatre and Portland Playhouse, and The Hotel Play and Marie and Bruce with The New House Theatre. In any number of theatrical capacities, Liam has worked with Hand2Mouth Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Artists Repertory Theatre, Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts, Geva Theatre Center, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Pixie Dust Productions, The Kitchen, River to River Festival, Teatro Milagro and many others. He received his B.F.A. in stage management from Southern Oregon University, and his M.Ed. in curriculum and instruction from Portland State University. Liam has taught stage and production

OREGON ONE-ACT FESTIVAL 13 CREATIVE TEAM management with a focus on ensemble, devised and site-specific contexts and methodologies at universities across the country. He would like to dedicate this show to Sy. Beyond Rocketships.

Bobby Brewer-Wallin (PERIOD COSTUME COORDINATOR) Professor of Theatre at Willamette University, designs costumes for theatre and dance. With an MFA in Costume Design from CalArts, he joined the faculty at Willamette in 2000. In addition to designing costumes for all main stage productions, he teaches courses in Costume Design, Global Fashion History, the capstone course for theatre majors with an emphasis in solo performance, and first-year seminars titled Clothing + Memory as Embodied Thought and Stitch X Stitch: Protest Clothing as Threads of Change. Recent productions include The Revolutionists, A Doll’s House Part 2, Everybody, Magellanica, The Importance of Being Earnest, and A Civil War Christmas at Artists Rep, Cop Out at The August Wilson Red Door Project, A Bright New Boise, The Memorandum, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again., and Men on Boats at Willamette University Theatre, My Case Is Altered: Tales of a Roaring Girl with Twenty-First Century Chorus, The Snowstorm at CoHo Productions, The Events at Third Rail Repertory Theatre, and Richard III and King Lear at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre. www. bobbybrewerwallin.com

Trent Eccles (LIGHTING DESIGNER) is delighted to be working with The Actors Conservatory. This is their first collaboration with TAC. Trent spends most of the year as the Mainstage Master Electrician and Programmer for Portland Center Stage. On occasion they venture out to design for local theatre companies such as Northwest Children’s Theatre and Vertigo Theatre Company. Some of those productions include, Complex, Drunken City, The Witches, Frankenstein, and more. When not working on shows, Trent enjoys wandering around Portland with their dog and crushing tabletop games with friends.

Rodolfo Ortega (COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER) Rodolfo has designed sound and composed music for some of the most prestigious theatre companies in the United States including The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (The Tenth Muse, Romeo and Juliet), Denver Center Theatre Company (The Three Musketeers, Romeo & Juliet), and South Coast Repertory Theatre (The Monster Builder). Rodolfo has also written the compositions for Native Gardens at Cleveland Playhouse and recently worked on Actors Theater of Louisville’s production of Flex and Nicole Clarke is Having a Baby for the Humana Festival. In addition to being a Resident Artist at Artists Rep, Rodolfo is also an Associate Artist with Santa Cruz Shakespeare (Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar, The Man in the Iron Mask, Henry IV (I & II), Henry V). For Artists Rep, Rodolfo has designed and composed music for 1984, La Ruta, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Caught, Skin of Our Teeth, The Liar, Blithe Spirit, Exiles, Miracle Worker and

14 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 CREATIVE TEAM

Intimate Apparel, just to name a few of the over one hundred shows he has done for Artist Rep since 2000. Rodolfo recently was awarded the Prague Quadrennial Competition in Music for his composition for Artist Repertory Theater’s Magellanica were he was a featured Artist in Prague in June 2019. He also works extensively at Northwest Children’s Theatre where he has been commissioned to write numerous musicals (Hansel and Gretel, Snow White, Pinocchio, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid and El Zorrito). Rodolfo spent 13 years working with Profile Theatre where his credits include sound design and music for The Blue Door, A Lesson Before Dying, Lips Together Teeth Apart and Master Harold and the Boys. He has also worked with Portland Playhouse, Oregon Children’s Theatre, CoHo Productions, Corrib Theatre and Milagro Theatre. www.rodyortega.com

Amanda K Cole (INTIMACY CONSULTANT) is an intimacy and movement director, choreographer, and advocate. They are a resident artist and intimacy choreographer at ART. Through their intimacy work, Amanda advocates for safe, respectful and trauma- informed practice around the staging of intimacy and other heightened or sensitive content. Amanda continues their study of intimacy direction, working towards certification. When not advocating in creative spaces, Amanda works as a victim services advocate for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Amanda holds an MFA in Acting from California Institute of the Arts. www.amandakcole.com

Carol Ann Wohlmut (STAFF) Carol Ann has called Artists Rep her theatrical home for over 20 years. She’s proud to be both a Resident Artists and a Resident Stage Manager for the company. In addition to stage management, Carol Ann has been a properties artisan, production manager, board operator, company manager, and even an accountant for a variety of theaters in the Portland area over the past 30 years. These theaters include Portland Center Stage, Portland Rep, Stark Raving Theater, New Rose Theatre, Triangle Productions!, Musical Theater Co, Metro Performing Arts, Northwest Children’s Theatre, and Carousel Co. Carol Ann is on staff at The Actors’ Conservatory at ART. In addition, she has a College and High School level curriculum series of workshops on Theater Management, Stage Management, and Making a Living in the Arts.

OREGON ONE-ACT FESTIVAL 15 ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS

Tanya Barfield (Bright Half Life) Tanya Barfield was raised in Portland, attended the Metropolitan Learning Center here, and graduated from New York University and then attended the Juilliard School Playwrights program, receiving an Artist Diploma. She taught playwriting at Primary Stages School of Theater and Barnard College, New York University and she served as the literary manager of the Juilliard Drama Division from 2009–2014. Bright Half Life ran Off-Broadway at the Women’s Project Theater in February 2015 to March 2015 Other plays by Tanya Barfield include: Of Equal Measure (Center Theatre Group), Blue Door (Playwrights Horizons, South Coast Repertory; Seattle Repertory, Berkeley Repertory and additional theaters), Dent, The Quick, The Houdini Act and 121 Degrees WEST. She wrote the book for the Theatreworks/USA children’s musical: Civil War: The First Black Regiment. Ms. Barfield was a recipient of the 2003 Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, 2005 Honorable Mention for the Kesselring Prize for Drama, a 2006 Lark Play Development/ NYSCA grant and she has twice been a Finalist for the Princess Grace Award. She has been commissioned by Playwrights Horizons, Center Theatre Group, South Coast Repertory, Primary Stages and Geva Theatre Center. She is a member of New Dramatists and serves on the membership committee at The Dramatist Guild.

Maggie Lou Rader (Antoine At the Border) Maggie Lou Rader is a produced playwright, member of the Dramatist’s Guild, and AEA Actor, She tells epic stories of epic women. She obtained degrees from William Jewell College in Kansas City and the Birmingham School of Acting in the UK and has called Cincinnati home for nearly 10 years. She has been the winner of the Notre Dame College New Play festival, a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Full Circle Theatre’s New Works Play Festival, Dayton Playhouse’s Future Fest, and UP Theater’s Renewal Reading Series, a finalist for Central Florida Community Arts TYA New Play and Musical Festival, and was selected for Miami University’s inaugural Digital Play Reading Series. She has had the privilege of having her work developed at DePaul University, the Theatre School, and the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Her plays have been produced at Know Theatre of Cincinnati, InBocca Performance, and The Marsh, MarshStream International Solo Fest, as well as staged readings with Theatre Pro Rata and Green Buffalo Productions. She’s also been published with Smith and Kraus as well as Madwomen in the Attic. Keep an eye out for her work at Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, Skeleton Rep, and Dean Productions in 2021.

Monica Cross (The Beginning of Everything) Monica Cross is an actor, director, and playwright located in Gainesville, FL. She earned her Masters of Fine Arts in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin College (now Mary Baldwin University) in 2013, where she took her first playwriting class with Professor Todd Ristau. She has had several short plays produced at festivals across the United States, and self produced her one-act play, Cyrano on the Moon at the Tampa International Fringe Festival in 2017. The Red Dice Collective then produced Cyrano on the Moon at the Minnesota Fringe Festival in 2018.

16 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS

Wonder of Our Stage, Monica’s first full length play, was winner of the 2018 Players New Play Festival in Sarasota, FL, and went on to be included in their Summer Sizzler’s Series in 2019. She is also the recipient of the 2019 John Ringling Towers Individual Artist Award for Performing Arts, and a fellow at the Hermitage Artist Retreat. Member of the Dramatists Guild.

Jean Koppen (Got a Light?) Jean Koppen’s plays have been produced at Keegan Theatre (D.C.), the Capital Fringe Festival (D.C.), SkyPilot Theatre (LA), Kuma Kahua Theatre (Honolulu), Strangeloop Theater (Chicago) and The Alumnae Theatre (Toronto). Jean’s short play Capsmittment was Active Culture’s 2012 playwriting competition winner and Got a Light? was a finalist in City Theatre’s 2019 National Award for Short Playwriting. Jean’s full- length Unprotected was a Trustus Playrights’ Festival Finalist and Someplace Better was a Finalist in The Garden script development program. Jean is an alumnae of the Kennedy Center Playwrights Intensive, a founding member of Pipeline Playwrights and a Dramatist Guild member. www.jeankoppen.com

Greg Lam (The Ones Who Adapt, When Jesus Drops By for Tea) Greg Lam is a playwright, screenwriter, and board game designer who lives in the Bay Area. He is the co-creator of the Boston Podcast Players podcast (bostonpodcastplayers.com) Boston’s virtual podcast stage for new works by local playwrights. He is the co-founder of the Asian- American Playwright Collective and a member of The Pulp Stage Writer’s Room.

Diana Burbano (Lore Drop with Calista Rodríguez and Dámaso Rodríguez) Diana Burbano is a Colombian immigrant, a playwright, an Equity actor, and a teaching artist at South Coast Repertory and Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble. Diana’s play Ghosts of Bogota, won the Nu Voices festival at Actors Theatre of Charlotte in 2019 where it will be produced in 2022. Ghosts was commissioned and debuted at Alter Theater in the Bay Area in Feb 2020. Sapience, a Playground-SF 2020, Winner was featured at Latinx Theatre Festival, San Diego Rep 2020. Fabulous Monsters, a Kilroys selection was to premiere at Playwrights Arena in 2020 (postponed). She was in Center Theatre Group’s 2018-19 Writers Workshop cohort and is in the Geffen’s Writers Lab in 20-21. She has worked on projects with South Coast Repertory, Artists Repertory Theatre, Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble and Center Theatre Group and Livermore Shakespeare Festival.Diana recently played Leona in Brian Quijada’s Somewhere Over The Border online at Arizona Theatre Company. You can also see her as Viv the Punk in the cult musical Isle of Lesbos. She is the current Dramatists Guild Rep for Southern California. www.dianaburbano.com

OREGON ONE-ACT FESTIVAL 17 ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS

Michael Quinn (Fishtown) Michael Quinn is a poet, playwright and director born in Philadelphia, living in New York. He writes realistic comedy-dramas about contemporary American life under the crushing weight of late capitalism, Catholic education and East Coast neurosis. He graduated from Boston College where his first play, GET IT TOGETHER, was directed by Scott T. Cummings, PhD. He is the university’s 2019 Dever Fellow and the recipient of the McCarthy Award, First Place.

Elisabeth Giffin Speckman (Bothers On a Hotel Bed) Elisabeth Giffin Speckman’s plays have been workshopped and/or produced throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Full-length plays include CATCH/ RELEASE (Henley Rose Finalist) and CLYT; OR, THE BATHTUB PLAY. Brothers on a Hotel Bed, was also featured in Stage It! 2: Thirty 10-Minute Plays. Other work appear in Midwestern Gothic, Pidgeonholes, Three Line Poetry, CHEAP POP, and Flash Fiction Magazine. In addition to writing, Elisabeth is an actor and director, and is located in Indianapolis, Indiana. She received her B.A. in Theatre and English-Creative Writing from Denison University, where she studied with writers David Baker and Margot Singer, and with playwrights Peter Pauze, Mark Evans Bryan, Gretchen Cryer, and Peter Grandbois. She received her M.F.A. in Fiction from Butler University, focusing on young adult fiction and dramatic writing.

Melissa Boles (Pomegranate Juice and Beau) Melissa Boles (she/her) is a writer and impatient optimist who took her Pacific Northwest roots to East Tennessee and believes that storytelling is humanity’s most incredible miracle. Her short plays, Pomegranate Juice and Beau, are debuting at the Oregon One Act Festival this year. You can find her other work at melissaboles.com, and you can always find her online, talking about art and Law & Order: SVU, at twitter.com/melloftheball.

Anti-Racism Statement It is our responsibility to look deeply at our curriculum, staffing, faculty and board to make sure that the values stated in our equity initiative are not just ideas in theory but rooted in action that moves us forward into a more just and equitable world. We will be instituting changes to our curriculum that will incorporate anti-racist pedagogy and foster discussions in our classrooms. In all that we do, professionally and personally, we commit to abide by love and not by hate. We are dedicated to arts education for all and to the advancement of social justice themes in our entire body of work. In the words of Paul Robeson, “As an artist, I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this.” And as Shirley Chisholm said, “America has the laws and the material resources it takes to ensure justice for all its people. What it lacks is the heart.” We have the heart and must have the will to make change happen.

18 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 Calista Rodríguez & Wyatt Hodgson

Bitty Garrett & BreeAna Miyuki Eisel Magnolia Brown & BreeAna Miyuki Eisel

photos by: Owen Carey Erica Hatfield & Dustin Fuentes 20 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY 2021 THE ACTORS CONSERVATORY SPONSORS & STAFF