07/08 main season
Mary Zimmerman, Adapter and Director
Daniel Ostling, Scenic Design
Ana Kuzmanic, Costume Design
John Culbert, Lighting Design
Andre Pluess & Ben Sussman, Sound Design & Original Composition
Michael Montenegro, Puppetry Design
Cynthia Cahill *, Stage Manager
Amy Potozkin, Casting
cast
Christa Scott-Reed, Hera
Jake Suffian, Jason
Sofia Jean Gomez, Athena
Allen Gilmore, Pelias and others
Jesse J. Perez, Idmon and others
Andy Murray, Meleager
Chris Kipiniak, Castor and others
Casey Jackson, Pollux and others
Søren Oliver, Hercules / Aietees
Justin Blanchard, Hylas / Dymas
Ronete Levenson, Andromeda and others
Paul Oakley Stovall, Amycus and others
Tessa Klein, Aphrodite and others
Atley Loughridge, Medea
mary zimmerman
(Adapter / Director) is the recipient of a 1998 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2002 Tony Award for Best Director and 10 Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Production and Best Direction. She is a member of the Lookingglass Theatre Company of Chicago, an artistic associate of the Goodman and Seattle Rep and a professor of performance studies at Northwestern University. She returns to Berkeley Rep having previously adapted and directed Journey to the West, Metamorphoses, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci and The Secret in the Wings. These plays—and others that she’s adapted and directed such as The Arabian Nights, Eleven Rooms of Proust, The Odyssey, S/M and Silk—have enjoyed celebrated runs at About Face Theatre, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Goodman Theatre, the Huntington Theatre Company, Lookingglass, the Mark Taper Forum, McCarter Theatre Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre and Second Stage Theatre. Mary has also directed All’s Well That Ends Well and Pericles for the Goodman, Henry VIII and Measure for Measure for New York Shakespeare Festival and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Huntington. In 2002, she created a new opera with Philip Glass called Galileo Galilei which played at The Goodman Theatre, the Barbican in London and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This fall, she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera with Lucia di Lammermoor.
daniel ostling
(Scenic Design) is a Chicago- and New York-based scenic designer who created settings for the Berkeley Rep productions of Closer, Metamorphoses and The Secret in the Wings. An ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, he has worked closely with Mary Zimmerman on several projects, and received a Tony nomination when they took Metamorphoses to Broadway. Recent designs include Argonautika and Hillbilly Antigone for Lookingglass, Durango at Long Wharf Theatre and The Public, A Flea in her Ear for Chicago Shakespeare, The Glorious Ones at Lincoln Center, Lookingglass Alice at McCarter and the New Victory Theater in New York, Lucia Di Lammermoor at the Metropolitan Opera, Mirror of the Invisible World at the Goodman, The Pain and the Itch at Playwrights Horizons and UP at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His other regional theatre credits include BAM, La Jolla Playhouse, the Taper, NYSF, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Rep, Steppenwolf, and as well as theatres in London and Melbourne. Daniel is an associate professor at Northwestern University in Chicago.
ana kuzmanic
(Costume Design) is thrilled to add Berkeley Rep to her regional theatre credits, which include Arden Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, the Cleveland Playhouse, the Goodman, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf and Trinity Repertory Theatre. Her film credits include Drunkboat with John Malkovich and Kubuku Rides, directed by Terry Kinney. Ana graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts and Design in Belgrade in 1997 and earned her Master’s in stage design from Northwestern University in 2004. Her work—including a clothing line she designed and produced from 1993 to 2003—has been exhibited in Canada, Europe and the United States. She was part of the 2007 Prague Quadrennial, and the World Stage Design conference in Toronto. Currently, Ana teaches costume design at Northwestern, and is working on the Broadway production of August Osage County and The Comedy of Errors at Chicago Shakespeare.
john culbert
(Lighting Design) John’s recent designs include lighting for Argonautika at Lookingglass, Trojan Women and Mirror of the Invisible World at the Goodman, Uncle Vanya at Court Theatre and A Year in the Life of Frog and Toad at Chicago Children’s Theatre; as well as scenery for Long Wharf’s Man of La Mancha and Lyric Opera’s Regina. He received a Joseph Jefferson Award for his scenic design for Court Theatre’s Man of La Mancha. John has also designed for About Face, Boston Lyric Opera, McCarter, L’Opera National du Rhin, Northlight Theatre and Singapore Repertory Theatre. His other projects include the lighting design for the Chicago Park District’s Buckingham Fountain. John currently serves as the dean of The Theatre School at DePaul University.
andre pluess & ben sussman
(Sound Design and Original Composition) The Chicago-based design team of Andre Pluess and Ben Sussman previously designed sound for Berkeley Rep’s productions of after the quake, Blue Door, Honour, Metamorphoses and The Secret in the Wings. In addition to their work at numerous regional theatres, they have been associate artists for About Face, resident artists for Court Theatre, artistic associates for Lookingglass and resident designers for Victory Gardens Theater. Their Broadway credits include I Am My Own Wife and Metamorphoses. Recent projects include 33 Variations and The Passion Play Trilogy at Arena Stage, BFE at Long Wharf and Playwrights Horizons, The Clean House at Yale Rep, Lady Windermere’s Fan at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Pericles at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C. and Silk for the Goodman. Andre and Ben have won 11 Joseph Jefferson Awards and Citations, an L.A. Ovation Award, a Drama Critics Circle Award and a Lucille Lortel nomination for composition and sound design.
michael montenegro
(Puppetry Design) Michael’s work was last seen in The Puppetmaster of Lodz at Writers’ Theatre. Other recent credits include the world premiere of Argonautika at Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chekov Stories: The Emerging Woman at the Piven Theatre Workshop, The Duchess of Malfi at Writers’ Theatre, The Long Christmas Ride Home at Next Theatre Company and The Portrait of Don Cristobal at Shakespeare in Santa Fe. His original projects include Dreams From an Upside-down Man at the Chicago Cultural Center, Iktu Blas at Puppetropolus International Puppet Festival, Sublime Beauty of Hands at Links Hall and With a Trapezoid Heart at the Actor’s Gymnasium.
cast
justin blanchard *
(Hylas / Dymas) made his Broadway debut in Journey’s End, which received a 2007 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. His regional credits include As You Like It for the Hangar Theatre and A Christmas Carol, Hamlet and Two Gentlemen of Verona for Trinity Repertory Company. He recently appeared as a guest star on Law and Order: SVU. Justin received his B.F.A. at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and his M.F.A. from Brown University.
allen gilmore *
(Pelias / Ensemble) is pleased to make his Berkeley Rep debut in Argonautika. He recently portrayed Brutus in Julius Caesar and Colin Powell in Stuff Happens at PICT (Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater). Previously, he appeared as Bynum in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone with Chicago’s Congo Square Theater Company. Allen has also played Cyrano in a joint production of Cyrano de Bergerac by the Court and Redmoon Theatres; Hamm in Endgame at Court Theatre; Iago in Othello with The Acting Company; and Othello himself at the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Nova Scotia, the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. He’s been a frequent visitor to Intiman Theatre, portraying Mr. Webb in Our Town; George, Duke of Clarence in Richard III; and Aaron the Moor in Titus Andronicus, among others. Allen recently received nominations from Chicago’s Black Theater Alliance and Joseph Jefferson Awards for his work in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
sofia jean gomez *
(Athena) Sofia Jean’s recent credits include Goodman Theatre’s Mirror of the Invisible World, directed by Mary Zimmerman, where she played Old Hag, the Russian Princess and Sad King; Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of Regrets Only as an understudy; Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s production of The Time of Your Life as Kitty Duval, directed by Paul Mullins; Stages Repertory Theatre’s Syncopation, directed by Mark Ramont, where she played Anna; and the Yale Rep production of Safe in Hell, directed by Mark Wing-Davey, where she played Abigail. A 2006 M.F.A. graduate from the Yale School of Drama, Sofia’s school credits include Kitty Duval in The Time of Your Life, Mercutio in The Shakespeare Project, Nathaniel in Love’s Labour’s Lost, the title role in Elfriede Jelinek’s Sleeping Beauty, Olga in The Summer Folk and Viola in Twelfth Night. Sofia’s undergraduate degree is from Sam Houston State University.
casey jackson
(Pollux / Ensemble) is pleased to make his Berkeley Rep debut with Argonautika. His regional credits include As You Like It with Marin Shakespeare Company, Gretel and Hansel with Shakespeare Santa Cruz, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Othello with Impact Theatre and Three Seconds in the Key with San Francisco Playhouse. His favorite roles include Bottom in Midsummer, Iago in Othello, the title role in Macbeth, Marc in Art and Paul in Six Degrees of Separation. Casey received his B.A. in dramatic art from UC Santa Cruz.
chris kipiniak *
(Castor / Ensemble) appeared at Berkeley Rep in Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, which he also performed at Hartford Stage, Lookingglass Theatre Company, the Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Rep, Second Stage Theatre and on Broadway. Chris’ other New York credits include Kit Marlowe at the Public Theatre, Silence with the Roundtable Ensemble and his own play, Stalled, at the Kraine Theatre. His regional credits include The Importance of Being Earnest at the New Harmony Theatre, The Odyssey and Wit at the Goodman and Private Fittings at La Jolla Playhouse. He also appeared in Singularity’s How To Act Around Cops at the New York and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, and at the Soho Theatre in London. Chris’ television and film credits include The Black Donnellys, Law and Order and The Poker Club. He is also a freelance writer for Marvel Comics, contributing to Amazing Fantasy, Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man and Nightcrawler. His new play, Save the World, premieres this January in New York.
tessa klein *
(Aphrodite / Ensemble) With this role, Tessa makes her Berkeley Rep debut. Off Broadway, she has appeared in Philadelphia, Here I Come! with the Irish Repertory Theatre. Her regional credits include The Aristocrats, Hamlet, Major Barbara and She Stoops to Conquer for PICT; The Trojan Women for Alabama Shakespeare Festival; and the world premiere of Sleeping Arrangements with Theatre J. Tessa’s television and film credits include The Whitest Kids U’ Know and Disappearances. A proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, Tessa received her B.F.A. from Carnegie Mellon University.
ronete levenson
(Andromeda / Ensemble) a Manhattanite born and bred, is excited to appear at Berkeley Rep for the first time. A performer since she was nine, she made her professional debut as Anne in New York Youth Theater’s The Diary of Anne Frank when she was 16; other credits include several productions at Lookingglass, and Claudia in a recent New York Theater Workshop staged reading of David Adjmi’s Stunning. Ronete has appeared on Law and Order and Law and Order: SVU, as well as the daytime drama Guiding Light. She was a participant in the theatre arts division of Northwestern University’s cherub program, and matriculated at Bard College with a degree in environmental science. When she is not acting, you can find her playing electric guitar, doing yoga, longboarding on city streets or surfing in the Rockaways.
atley loughridge *
(Medea) made her professional debut as Medea in Argonautika at Lookingglass in the fall of 2006. She continued working with Mary Zimmerman as an undergrad in the performance studies program at Northwestern University, playing Imogen in Zimmerman’s production of Cymbeline and performing as the Yellow Princess/Hermit/Good in Mirror of the Invisible World at the Goodman. While in school, Atley also wrote and/or directed The Forgotten Warrior, performed at the Theatre La Chapelle in the 2006 Montreal Fringe Festival; Our Hell House; and A Room Embodied, an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own.
andy murray *
(Meleager) appeared at Berkeley Rep in Fall, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing and The Pillowman. Locally, he’s also appeared at A.C.T. in Edward II, The Gamester, The Rivals, The Time of Your Life and The Voysey Inheritance; San Jose Rep in Humpty Dumpty, Iphigenia, The Matchmaker, Rabbit Hole, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Twelfth Night; more than 20 productions at Cal Shakes, most recently King Lear and Man and Superman. Other local credits include productions at Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. His regional credits include CenterStage, Kansas City Repertory Theatre and Seattle Rep. Andy teaches acting at the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and at Cal Shakes.
søren oliver *
(Hercules / Aietees) A Berkeley native, Søren made his Berkeley Rep debut as Andrea in the Thrust Stage’s inaugural production—Brecht’s Galileo. He returned to Berkeley Rep in 1996 as Chu Pa Chie In Journey to the West, which was also conceived and directed by Mary Zimmerman. Søren has also appeared at Cal Shakes, the Denver Center Theatre Company, San Jose Rep, Marin Theatre Company, the Magic Theatre and Utah Shakespeare Festival. Next door, at the Aurora Theatre, he has worked as both a director and actor. On television, Søren portrayed the reoccurring character of Baliel the Demon on the WB’s Charmed. Søren received his B.F.A. from the North Carolina School for the Arts.
jesse j. perez *
(Idmon / Ensemble) Jesse’s off-Broadway credits include In the Penal Colony with Classic Stage Company, Recent Tragic Events at Playwrights Horizons, The Triple Happiness at Second Stage and Up Against the Wind with the New York Theatre Workshop. Regionally, he’s appeared at American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, at Court Theatre in Mary Stewart, at both the Goodman and The Shakespeare Theatre Company in Pericles, at the Great Lakes Theater Festival in Romeo and Juliet, at McCarter Theatre Center in Hamlet, Portland Center Stage in Celebrity Row and at Yale Rep in The Cherry Orchard and Taming of the Shrew. His television and film credits include American Splendor, The Job, Kazaam, Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, Playing God and Third Watch.
christa scott-reed *
(Hera) is delighted to return to Berkeley Rep, where she was last seen with Kathleen Chalfant in Tony Taccone’s production of Honour. Her off-Broadway credits include Ionesco’s The Bald Soprano and The Lesson and Pinter’s Celebration and The Room at Atlantic Theater Company; Burn This for Signature Theatre Company; Marion Bridge at Urban Stages; Museum and Pullman Car Hiawatha for the Keen Company; Some Girls at MCC Theater; and The Voysey Inheritance at the Mint Theater Company. She recently performed in Amy Freed’s Restoration Comedy, directed by John Rando, at the Old Globe. Christa has also performed at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Barrington Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Playhouse, Denver Center Theatre Company, Geva Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pioneer Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Syracuse Stage. Her television credits include As the World Turns, Guiding Light, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and New Amsterdam.
paul oakley stovall *
(Amycus / Ensemble) previously appeared at Berkeley Rep in Mary Zimmerman’s Journey to the West and The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. His off-Broadway credits include Dessa Rose at Lincoln Center and Zimmerman’s Notebooks at Lincoln Center and Second Stage. Regionally, Paul’s appeared in American Duet and Red Eye of Love at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center; Metamorphoses at Hartford Stage, where he received a Connecticut Critics’ Circle nomination, and at Kansas City Rep; Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns at Prince Music Theater; Play On! at the Goodman, for which he received a Jeff Nomination; Three Seconds in the Key at San Francisco Playhouse; and Words on Fire at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Paul’s national tours include Once on This Island and Rent. He also appeared in John Cameron Mitchell’s Shortbus and Robert Altman’s The Company. Paul’s plays, As Much As You Can and Ape, received their world premieres with Dog and Pony Theater in Chicago.
jake suffian *
(Jason) played Division I baseball at Northwestern University, has an M.F.A. in acting from Brandeis University and a Helen Hayes nomination for his portrayal of Shane Mungitt in Richard Greenburg’s Take Me Out. Other past work includes Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing, Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest and Sebastian in The Tempest. On TV, Jake has appeared on ABC Primetime, One Life to Live and Rescue Me. His film credits include leading roles in the short Far Out and the soon-to-be distributed independent film Header.
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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