PARTICIPANTS
2015 STUDENT PARTICIPANTS
1) Aashna Aggarwal ’16 – Theatre
2) Alexander Burnett ’16 – Theatre
3) KJ Davidson-Turner ’17.5 – Theatre and Neuroscience
4) Jake Dombroski ’17 – Theatre and Biochemistry
5) Caitlin Duffy ’15.5 – Theatre
6) Ashley Fink ’18
7) Kathleen Gudas ’16.5 – Theatre/English joint
8) Kean Haunt ’17 – Theatre/American Studies joint
9) Michelle Kim ‘17
10) Caitlyn Meagher ’17 – Theatre/English joint
11) Nadine Nasr ’17.5 – Theatre
12) Gabrielle Owens ’17 – Theatre
13) Jackson Prince ’17 – Theatre/American Studies joint
14) Leah Sarbib ’15.5 – Theatre/English joint
15) Quincy Simmons ’18 – Theatre
16) Greg Swartz ’17.5 – Theatre
17) Sally Seitz ‘17 – Theatre
18) Zac Lounsbury ’17 – Theatre
19) Shannon Gibbs ’18
20) Eliza Renner ’18
21) Miguel Castillo ‘17.5
APPRENTICE ROLES
Artistic Assistant – Caitlin DuffyAssists Artistic Director with all aspects of planning and production, including on-site coordination with student company.Marketing Assistants – Nadine Nasr, Quincy Simmons, Gabrielle Owens, Alexander BurnettPrint and distribute publicity for 2 public sharings, both on campus and in town.
Publicity & Social Media Team – Ashley Fink, Leah Sarbib, KJ Davidson-Turner, Kathleen GudasHelp to document the Play Lab experience from a student’s perspective. Take photographs of rehearsals, classes, and social events. Manage online publicity for public sharings, and engage the public through social media platforms.Business Assistants/Assistants to the Playwrights – Jake Dombroski, Leah SarbibAssist playwrights with print-outs of new pages, prepping scripts in binders for readings, and any needs that may arise.
Production Assistants – AllAssist with all aspects of public sharings and group events, including setup and break-down of space. 4 members of student company will take the lead on this, and 2 will serve as House Managers.Student Drivers – Jackson Prince and Greg SwartzResponsibilities may include airport or train station pickup/drop-off for Equity artists, and driving student company to and from Welcome Dinner. May also be asked to be on call for help with transportation around Middlebury for visiting artists. Will be reimbursed for gas.
2015 ALUMNI ARTIST VOLUNTEERS
Kristen Connolly ‘02, New York, NY (Actor, Teaching Artist) is a film, television, and stage actress based in New York. She currently appears as Jamie Campbell in the CBS drama Zoo and as Lena in the ABC drama The Whispers. Recent credits include Christina Gallagher on the Netflix series House of Cards, starring Kevin Spacey, Bess Houdini opposite Adrien Brody in the TV Mini-Series, Houdini, and the main protagonist, Dana, in the Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard film The Cabin in the Woods. Other film and television credits include: A Good Marriage, The Bay, Revolutionary Road, Mona Lisa Smile, The Happening, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Ex-Girlfriends, The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, Mercy, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, New Amsterdam, and recurring roles on Guiding Light and As the World Turns. Onstage, Ms. Connolly has appeared in New York’s Shakespeare in the Park, and she played Cordelia opposite Sam Waterston’s King Lear at the Public Theatre. She has worked on new play developments at Williamstown Theatre Festival, HERE Arts Center, Naked Angels, and The Ohio, including original workshops of future Broadway productions like Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Kristen is a graduate of Middlebury College and the Yale School of Drama.
Alex Draper ‘88, Middlebury, VT (Actor) is a founding member and the Associate Artistic Director of PTP/NYC (formerly the Potomac Theatre Project), appearing in the company’s critically acclaimed productions of Pentecost, Gertrude: the Cry, Serious Money, Scenes from an Execution, No End of Blame,Pleva: Meditations on Hatrted, One for the Road, and Love Song of the Electric Bear. As a professional stage, film and television actor, his twenty-five-year career includes performing with the Mabou Mines in Paris, France, filming the Bollywood extravaganza Kalapani in the Andeman Islands, and appearing in the New York premieres of Dare Clubb’s Obie Award-winning Oedipus, starring Billy Crudup and Frances McDormand, Erin Courtnry’s A Map of Virtue, the Presnyakov Brothers’ Terrorism, Neil Simon’s Rose’s Dilemma and Phillip Ridley’sThe Pitchfork Disney. Regional work includes productions at Arena Stage, Yale Rep, the McCarter, Williamstown, the Westport Playhouse, the Huntington, and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Film and television credits include: No Pay, Nudity (upcoming),Yellowbrickroad (Best Feature, New York Horror Film Festival), Joshua, Hysterical Blindness, Simply Irresistible, The Photographer,Hard Shell, John Adams, The Good Wife, Sex and the City, Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order: CI, Suddenly Susan, Ed, and Dellaventura. He received his BA from Middlebury, and his MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where he was the recipient of the Oliver Thorndike Acting Award.
Jay Dunn ‘00.5, New York, NY (Actor, Teaching Artist) is an actor/creator and director based in Brooklyn, NY. He has performed in Paris, London, Haiti, Philadelphia, Washington DC and New York since 1999 with theaters and companies such as The Barbican, Folger Theater, Woolly Mammoth, Arena Stage, PTP/NYC, The Tank, Dixon Place and Clowns Without Borders. Jay Dunn has performed original devised work with rainpan 43 (Elephant Room), Pig Iron Theater Company (Hell Meets Henry Halfway) and Geoff Sobelle/Charlotte Ford (Flesh and Blood and Fish and Fowl: 2010 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2011 London Mime Festival, Paris & St Etienne, France). Jay’s most recent devised and off-broadway work includes L’Arbre Enchante (Fire Island Opera Festival), Serious Money (PTP/NYC), adapting and directing Moliere’s Imaginary Invalid at Middlebury College, The Pinks (Collapsible Hole/Gold No Trade, and Chicken with Charlotte Ford (Philadelphia LiveArts 2010). Dunn has taught at the high school level (Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Friends School with Pig Iron Theatre), college (American University and American Academy of Dramatic Arts), and professional level (Woolly Mammoth Theater – DC, Whistler in the Dark Company – Boston, The Center for Movement Theater w/Dody DiSanto- DC & NYC). Jay Dunn received his B.A. in Theater from Middlebury College and completed his graduate training at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq.
Benjamin Fainstein ‘04, Portland, OR (Dramaturg, Teaching Artist) is the Literary Manager at Portland Center Stage. His previous positions include Artistic Coordinator at Yale Repertory Theatre and Associate Artistic Director at Yale Cabaret. Benjamin is a former Managing Editor of Theatre magazine and Founding Artistic Director of Boston’s Whistler in the Dark Theatre. He received his MFA in Dramaturgy & Dramatic Criticism from Yale School of Drama and is a proud graduate of Middlebury College.
Tara Giordano ‘02, New York, NY (Artistic Director, Teaching Artist) is a Helen Hayes Award Nominee, a recipient of the Washington DC Arts Commission Fellowship, and a 10-season company member of PTP/NYC. Her acting credits include roles at some of the Nation’s top regional venues and Off-Broadway stages: Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Primary Stages. Experienced in voiceovers, she has recorded over 40 narrations with Audible, Graphic Audio, and HowCast and voiced characters for the Marvel Comics series Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, and X-Men. On camera work includes the feature films YellowBrickRoad and Ex-Girlfriends, and commercials for AT&T. Ms. Giordano has worked with students at Middlebury College, Boston University, and Juniata College as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Theatre and Guest Director. She is a graduate of Middlebury College and an MFA recipient from The Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University.
Jake Jeppson ‘06, Washington, DC (Playwright, Teaching Artist) writes plays that explore the gap between American idealism and American reality. He was a recipient of the 2013-2014 Jerome Fellowship in playwright from the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. Jake’s work has been developed and produced both in the United States and abroad, with recent productions in New York and Riga, Latvia. In 2015, his play Turtle will receive its world premiere at Next Theatre in Chicago. Jake is a frequent teacher of playwriting at the Eugene O’Neill Center’s National Theater Institute. Additionally, he has taught writing courses at Wesleyan University, the Playwrights’ Center, and The Orchard Project, where he co-founded their nationally-sourced apprentice program. Jake earned his MFA in playwriting at the Yale School of Drama, where he studied with Paula Vogel, Sarah Ruhl, and Ken Prestininzi. While at Yale, Jake served on the leadership team of the Yale Cabaret and won the Cole Porter Prize in playwriting. He grew up in DC, spent time around New York City, and now lives in London with his fiancé and their dog, Barney.
Lucas Kavner ‘06.5, Los Angeles, CA (Playwright) is the author of the plays Fish Eye (Time Out Critic’s Pick, included in New York Magazine‘s Best Theatre of 2011) and Carnival Kids (New York Times Critics Pick, Barrow Group 2014) Previously he wrote Barnes & Noble: Frisco, Texas, which debuted at Ars Nova, and co-wrote the rock musical, Love Money, which premiered at Ars Nova and ran in the New York Fringe. He recently received a commission from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Ensemble Studio Theatre to write a play about the invention of gum. He also performs as an actor and improv comedian all over the country and on various screens. Most recently he’s starred in multiple incarnations of John Mellencamp and Stephen King’s original show, Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.
Rebecca Martin ‘04, San Francisco, CA (Actor, Teaching Artist) is a Professional Actress, Commercial and Voice-over Artist, Director, Educator, and Public Speaking Coach in San Francisco, CA. She received her M.F.A. from The National Theater Conservatory at the Denver Center and her B.A. from Middlebury College. Her teaching draws from a base of mentors including Master Acting Teacher, Larry Hecht (The National Theatre Conservatory), Paula Shaw (Film and Television Actress, creator of international self-expression workshop, The MAX), Dorothy Charles (Gestalt teacher at Esalen Institute and Tribal Ground Circle) and 20+ years performing on stage, to create a unique approach to acting, ensemble performance creation and self expression.
Joe Varca ‘02, New York, NY (Actor, Teaching Artist) Joseph Varca is an actor and filmmaker based in New York. He is a co-creator of The Village of Vale and a recipient of a Kevin Spacey Foundation: Artist of Choice Award and a New Victory Theater LabWorks Development Residency. Recent work in theater includes; Off-Broadway: Pentecost and Monster (PTP/NYC); LoveSick or Things That Don’t Happen (Project Y, 59E59th); Macrune’s Guevara (@ St. Clements). Other: The Village of Vale (Invisible Dog Art Center) Poor Jesse (Sam French OOB Festival); Undressing Cinderella (Project Y) Cut; Song For A Future Generation (The Management); A Man of Wealth and Taste (Harkness Dance Festival); As Far As We Know (New Works, New Directors Fellowship @ NY Theatre Workshop); Lucky Girl (McCarter Theater Center). Film/TV: American Genius (National Geographic Channel), Bastards of Young, Listen My Children (Chiller TV), Bristel Goodman (Palm Springs International Film Festival). He co-founded Redux Productions whose work in theater and film has been seen at the NYC Fringe Festival (Amerika – Best Ensemble Award and I Was Tom Cruise – Outstanding Play Award) the TriBeCa Film Festival and the Austin Film Festival. He is a graduate of Middlebury College.
Dana Yeaton ‘79, Middlebury, VT (Playwriting Mentor) teaches playwriting and performance at Middlebury College. He is the recipient of the “New Voice in American Theatre” award from the William Inge Theatre Festival, the Heideman Award from the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, and the Moss Hart Award from the New England Theatre Conference. Working with composer Andy Mitton ’01, he wrote book and lyrics for the original musical “Swing State,” which was featured at the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival. His plays in print include Alice In Love, The Big Random, Helen At Risk, Mad River Rising, Men In Heat, and Midwives. He has taught at the University of Tennessee, University of Vermont and at the Vermont Governor’s Institute on the Arts. He is Founding Director of the Vermont Young Playwrights Project.
