R&D Groups
Current 2017-2018
The Civilians’ R&D Group meets biweekly for nine months, during which time each artist or team of artists develops a new piece of theater through a creative investigation of a topic chosen by each artist. The creative process may include interviewing, community engagement, research, or other experimental methods of inquiry. Led by R&D Program Director Megan McClain, the group shares and discusses their methodologies and the resulting work. The process will culminate in the FINDINGS Series, when the groups present their works-in-progress to the public.
The Space Between the Letters
A new multi-media project that investigates adult learning and considers the ways in which education can provide tools to become empowered as a citizen. According to the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 18 percent of U.S. adults performed at the lowest level of the PIAAC literacy scale. The experiences of this population (about 40 million adults) are often rendered invisible. Integrating recorded interviews with adult students and teachers, interactive video, live drawing, and choreography, the project centers the perspective of adult learners and highlights the ways in which education can serve as a tool for democracy.
Eva von Schweinitz
Eva von Schweinitz is an interdisciplinary theater- and filmmaker. Recent projects: GERMAN INTERMEDIATE I / HEIMAT (The Bushwick Starr), THE GREAT GOD BROWN (TMT Lab, The Brick), ALL ABOUT NOTHING (FFT Düsseldorf), A FILM IS A FILM IS A FILM (Tribeca Film Festival), HEADS OR TAILS (Palm Springs International ShortFest), REENVISIONING THE HOMELESS (Brooklyn Homeless Shelters). As projection designer, Eva has worked with Elevator Repair Service on MEASURE FOR MEASURE (The Public), ARGUENDO (Associate Designer, The Public, OBIE Award Outstanding Projection Design), and THE SOUND AND THE FURY (New York Theatre Workshop, The Public). Further video/sound design collaborations include:Sibyl Kempson, Piehole, Superhero Clubhouse, Eliza Bent, and Sarah Hughes. Eva is a founding member of pulk fiktion, a German theater collective, which was awarded the 2016 George Tabori Advancement Award. MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Arts from Brooklyn College. BA in Film from International Filmschool Cologne
Creator/Lead Artist
Untitled Harlem Housing Struggle Project
A collaboration between Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Matthew Paul Olmos, Lico Whitfield, and James Kautz. The group informed their piece with interviews of East Harlem residents (both long-time inhabitants and newcomers) who shared their stories about gentrification in the neighborhood. This investigative theater piece explores our country’s housing struggle by imagining the way home and every thing it represents (refuge, shelter, security, privilege, family) transcends space and time.
Monet-Hurst Mendoza
Monet Hurst-Mendoza is an NYC-based playwright from Los Angeles, CA. Her plays have been developed with Rising Circle Theater Collective, |the claque|, Looking Glass Theatre (NYC), Amios, The Oneness Project, The Other Mirror, Magic Time @ Judson, The Kupferberg Center for the Arts, #serials@The Flea, WP Theater, The Public Theater, Playwright’s Playground at Classical Theatre of Harlem, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston. She is a current member of the 2017 Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater and is a 2016-2018 Van Lier Fellow at New Dramatists. Monet was a 2014-2016 WP Theater Lab Time Warner Foundation Fellow and has held residencies with The Other Mirror, The MITTEN Lab, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Leah Ryan FEWW Prize (Honorable Mention, 2017) and Smith Prize for Political Theatre and Cherry Lane Mentor Project nominations. B.A.: Marymount Manhattan College.
Co-writer
Matthew Paul Olmos
Matthew Paul Olmos is a three-time Sundance Institute Fellowship/Residency recipient, New Dramatists Resident Playwright, Center Theater Group Writers Workshop Writer, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Black Swan Lab Playwright, Princess Grace Awardee in Playwriting, National Latino Playwright Awardee, and was selected by Sam Shepard as La MaMa e.t.c.'s Ellen Stewart Emerging Playwright Awardee. He is also a former New York Theatre Workshop Fellow, Baryshnikov Arts Center Artist in Residence, Dramatists Guild Fellow, Primary Stages' Dorothy Strelsin New American Writer, two-time INTAR H.P.R.L Playwright, Rising Circle Collective Playwright; as well an Ensemble Studio Theater lifetime member. He spent two years as a Mabou Mines/SUITE Resident Artist being mentored by Ruth Maleczech. His work has been seen nationally and internationally, as well taught in university; his work is also published by Samuel French and No Passport Press. He is a proud Kilroys nominator, and a regular essayist for The Brooklyn Rail. For more information: www.matthewpaulolmos.com
Co-writer
Lico Whitfield
Lico Whitfield is the producing director for the award-winning Amoralists Theatre Company in NYC. During his time he produced four world premiere productions including NIBBLER by Ken Urban and UTILITY by Emily Schwend which earned a New York Innovative Theater Award for Best Premiere of a Play and was selected as the recipient of the 2016 Yale Drama Series Award. In 2015 in collaboration with James Kautz and other key members of The Amoralists Lico founded ‘WRIGHT CLUB, a year-long playwright development program that seeks to deepen the playwrights’ understanding of their own process through production. Prior to The Amoralists, Lico earned his MFA in theater management at the Yale School of Drama and a BFA in acting from Rutgers. As assistant to Artistic Director Kenny Leon at True Colors Theater Company, he was instrumental in coordinating the annual National August Wilson Monologue Competition.
Co-director
James Kautz
James Kautz is the Founding Artistic Director of the award-winning Amoralists Theatre Company. Under Kautz's leadership, the company has produced 17 World and New York Premieres by some of America's most visceral and celebrated playwrights. Through the Amoralists he has championed the development of over 100 new plays from emerging writers. As an actor, James has been called "a fiercely talented performer" by TONY and "fearless" by The NY Times. Recent stage credits: Emily Schwend's THE OTHER THING (Second Stage) and UTILITY (Rattlestick), Derek Ahonen's THE BAD AND BETTER (Playwrights Horizons) and Ken Urban's NIBBLER (Rattlestick). His directing work includes the World Premiere of Lisa Lewis' SCHOOLED (Soho Playhouse). David Cote of TONY gave it "4 Stars," saying "Kautz is a fine actors' director." His direction of The Amoralists' The Qualification of Douglas Evans was called "excellent and deeply compelling" by The Village Voice. www.JamesKautz.com
Co-director
Wife of a Salesman
Eleanor Burgess’ “Wife of a Salesman” tells the tale of a 1950’s housewife from Brooklyn who travels to Boston to get her husband’s mistress to stop their affair. Taking inspiration from Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and interviews with her grandmothers, Eleanor excavates this explosive confrontation. By centering the experiences of these two very different women, Eleanor is redirecting where “attention must be paid.” The play poses tough questions about the nature of love, marriage, obligation, and freedom. Eleanor asks, “Where exactly do women fit in the American dream? Are they supposed to have dreams of their own, or to be a part of someone else’s?"
Eleanor Burgess
Eleanor Burgess's plays include THE NICETIES (Portland Stage Company, Contemporary American Theatre Festival), CHILL (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), START DOWN (Alliance Theatre, Centenary Stage Company) and THE CAVE. Her work has been developed with Manhattan Theatre Club, The New Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop, Keen Company, and Ryder Farm. She is a current 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop. Originally from Massachusetts, she studied history at Yale College and recently completed the M.F.A in Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch. www.eleanorburgess.com
Writer
Estefania Fadul
Estefanía Fadul is a Colombian-born, New Hampshire-raised, NYC-based director and producer. Recent projects include the world premiere Spanish-language musical ÓYE OYÁ (Milagro), FAR AWAY (Williamstown Theatre Festival), THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS (SUNY Purchase), CELL (Drama League DirectorFest), EL LAUREL DE APOLO and ASI VAN LOS FANTASMAS DE MÉXICO (Repertorio Español). She has also developed new plays and musicals at The Drama League, Hi-Arts, Everyday Inferno, Barton Booth, Columbia University, NYU, Fresh Ground Pepper, and Rising Circle Theater Collective, among others. Estefanía is a 2017 recipient of the O’Neill/NNPN National Directors Fellowship and the Bill Foeller Fellowship at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. She is an alumna of the Drama League Directors Project (Fall Fellowship and TV/Film Fellowship), and the Van Lier Fellowship at Repertorio Español. Estefanía is a member of the New Georges JAM, the Latinx Theatre Commons Steering Committee, and the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. BA: Vassar College. www.estefaniafadul.com
Director
I Love You Stranger
A choral pop fantasia which takes a personal look at bipolar disorder. Navigating a balance of research and memoir, it interrogates the labels placed on artists such as genius, tortured, manic, and hysterical. Both Deepali’s musical aesthetic and performance style are raw, deeply intimate, and pierce the listener with the precision of a scalpel.
Deepali Gupta
Deepali Gupta is a composer-lyricist, playwright, and performance artist based in Brooklyn, NY. She makes heretical choral works, morbid attempts at bubblegum pop, and actual plays and musicals. Her work has been performed at a range of venues including Ars Nova, Joe's Pub, The Public Theatre, The New Ohio Theatre, Dixon Place, The Invisible Dog, and Vital Joint. Recent projects as a composer include SEHNSUCHT (JACK, dir. Sarah Blush), SKI END (The New Ohio, devised by Piehole/dir. Tara Ahmedinejad), MINOR CHARACTER (Under the Radar, The Sharon Playhouse, created by New Saloon/dir. Morgan Green), and a song for FAR AWAY (Harvard University, dir. Annie Tippe. B.A. in Writing for Performance, Brown University (Weston Award recipient). M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing from Tisch School of the Arts. Find her on Soundcloud: deepali (k) gupta - or her Website: deepaligupta.net - or even Instagram: deepaligupta
Writer/Composer
Kate Moore Heaney
Kate Moore Heaney is a director, producer, playwright, and dramaturg committed to promoting empathy and investigating social, political, and human rights issues through theatre. Kate is a Resident Director at The Flea, Associate Artistic Producer at Noor Theatre, and a former Shakespeare Society Ambassador. Recent projects include: FATIMA AND HER PIGEON (The Flea) and LOU (Theatre 4the People). She has also directed and developed new work at Noor Theatre, Fundamental Theatre Project, The Director’s Gathering Jam, Loading Dock, The Secret Theatre, The 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, Jersey City Theatre Center, TinyRhino, Rising Sun Performance Company, and Yes Noise on the High Line, among others. She has worked, trained, and/or assistant directed at McCarter Theatre (2014-15 Directing/Producing Assistant), Second Stage, Clubbed Thumb, CRY HAVOC, Yale Institute for Music Theatre, and the Théâtre du Châtelet. BA: Yale University. katemooreheaney.com
Director
Untitled Credit Project
“Untitled Credit Project” examines America’s volatile love affair with both capitalism and live television. Set in the 1980’s after the credit card explosion, it follows a number of suburban women looking for the American dream on a home shopping channel. With a credit card, happiness is just four easy payments away (plus tax, shipping and handling). The principle of credit is predicated on trust. A belief that the promised payment will come. But these women are engaging in a different kind of conviction. Trust in the fact that maybe this time, with this purchase, they can fill the well of personal emptiness they feel. The music in the piece is often as light and sprightly as a commercial jingle, but hides an emotional right hook to the gut.
Annie Tippe
Directing includes Dave Malloy's GHOST QUARTET (The Bushwick Starr, etc); Bess Wohl’s CONTINUITY (The Goodman Theatre); Anne Washburn's WHEN THE TANKS BREAK (Drama League); WASHETERIA (Soho Rep); AARON/MARIE (w. Rachel Chavkin, Incoming! @ Under the Radar); FAR AWAY (Harvard University); COWBOY BOB (Yale Institute for Music Theatre Summer Lab; Ars Nova) and I HEARD SEX NOISES (Ars Nova). She is the Creator/Director of the web series BASIC WITCH. Annie served as the Associate Director for PRESENT LAUGHTER on Broadway (dir. Moritz von Stuelpnagel). She was the Associate Director for The TEAM'S touring productions of MISSION DRIFT and ROOSEVELVIS (dir. Rachel Chavkin) and Gabriel Kahane's THE AMBASSADOR (BAM; dir. John Tiffany). Ars Nova's 2016 Director-in-Residence, Drama League Fall Directing Fellow, WTF Directing Corps, New Georges Audrey Resident. www.annietippe.com.
Co-creator/Director
Molly Beach Murphy
Plays include: GALVESTON (2017 Drama League First Draft Residency), COWBOY BOB (Yale Institute for Music Theatre Summer Lab; Ars Nova) MOLLY MURPHY & NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON ON OUR LAST DAY ON EARTH (Ars Nova's AntFest, NYMF, Incubator Arts Project,), BIG BEND IN THE RED DIRT DESERT (Williamstown Theatre Festival, Fresh Ground Pepper Playground Playgroup) Molly is a New Georges Affiliated Artist, New York Theatre Workshop Adelphi Resident, Page 73 Interstate 73 writer’s group member, recipient of Drama League First Stage Residency and Semi-finalist for the 2017 Page 73 Playwrighting Fellowship. She has worked as an associate/assistant to Jo Bonney, Tina Landau, John Guare and Gordon Edelstein among others. Published works in The Hairpin & Santa Ana River Review. Next, Molly will be one of five directors helming a twenty four hour marathon reading of Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365DAYS/365PLAYS at Signature Theatre Company. www.mollybeachmurphy.com
Co-creator/Writer
Jeanna Phillips
Jeanna Phillips is a songstress, actress, and teaching artist. Music for theatre includes: COWBOY BOB (Ars Nova, Yale Institute for Music Theatre, NYTW's Adelphi Residency and Williams College Summer Theatre Lab. Created with Annie Tippe and Molly Beach Murphy); WHAT'S THIS CALLED, THIS SPIRIT (in collaboration with Alex Tkill and SCOUTS at Ars Nova, Dixon Place); COOKING TO ME IS POETRY (with New Saloon at Galapagos Art Space); POE (The Morgan Library); BACCHANALIA (directed by Whitney Mosery the Workshop at Williamstown Theatre Festival). Her psycho-sensual clown-cabaret alter ego ANDRÉA LLOYD WEBBER (Ars Nova, La MaMa ETC, Cmon Everybody, Littlefield, Dixon Place, & ACE Hotel's Liberty Hall with The Dance Cartel) wreaks havoc continuously through the five boroughs. BFA NYU Tisch Experimental Theatre Wing, where she has served as faculty adjunct, teaching voice. JeannaPhillips.com
Co-creator/Composer
Store Brand
This musical comedy traces the journey of Zack, a twenty-something who has big dreams, but never left his hometown on Long Island. Life is good (or at least good enough) until his mother decides to get remarried prompting big changes. A true story based on dozens of interviews, Zack presents a suburban coming of age story – a few years late. Expect to be charmed by your host, Zack Zadek. Expect infectious pop-rock tunes with toe-tapping melodies. Expect to fall in love with Long Island…maybe just a little.
Zack Zadek
Zack Zadek is an award winning composer/lyricist, songwriter, and playwright. He has been named by Playbill as “A Contemporary Musical Theatre Songwriter You Should Know”, a 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist, a 2017 MacDowell Fellow and a 2017 VCCA Fellow. Zack won the 2017 Weston New Musical Award for his book, music, and lyrics to DEATHLESS (dir. Tina Landau) which received its world premiere at Goodspeed Musicals this spring and was a SigWorks Finalist. Other pieces in development include, THE CRAZY ONES (dir. Sam Buntrock, The 5th Ave Theatre), THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME (dir. Jerry Mitchell), and 6 (dir. Sheryl Kaller, NYMF, London Theatre Workshop). He has been a writer-in-residence at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, The Mitten Lab, Legacy Theatre, and The Johnny Mercer Writer’s Colony and has presented concerts at The Kennedy Center by ASCAP and Lincoln Center. Zack holds a BA from NYU at The Gallatin School of Individualized Study; Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, and Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing. Follow him @zackzadek or www.zackzadek.com
Writer/Composer/Lyricist
Jaki Bradley
Jaki Bradley (Director) is a Brooklyn-based director of new plays and musicals. Recent projects: Good Men Wanted (NYSAF), Breeders (New Light Theater), Playing Hot (Pipeline Theater Company), #liberated (IRT, Ars Nova), I’ve Been to Sea Before (TONY Critic’s Pick). She has also developed and presented work with The Public, Williamstown, Soho Rep, Clubbed Thumb, Ars Nova, Arena Stage, EST and Goodspeed Musicals. As an assistant director, she has worked with Michael Greif, Leigh Silverman, Lisa Peterson, and Daniel Aukin, among others. She is a current Artist-in-Residence at Ars Nova and a former Drama League Artist-in-Residence, member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Williamstown Directing Corps, Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, and U.S. Fulbright Scholar. www.jakibradley.com
Director
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