Gallathea

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By John Lyly
Directed by Emma Rosa Went
A Benefit Reading Presented In Collaboration with Red Bull Theater

First performed in 1588, John Lyly's Gallathea is a queer love story set inside the landscape of classical myth. In order to avoid becoming dinner for a sea monster, Gallathea and Phillida are sent into the forest dressed as boys. Meanwhile, three shipwrecked brothers set out to seek their fortunes, Cupid stirs up his usual trouble, nymphs fall for mortals, and Neptune–God of the Sea–waits to make his move. This playful pastoral of love, desire, and finding yourself is an affirmation of identity–joyfully reclaimed for 2021.

EMMA ROSA WENT (Director) is a Brooklyn-based theatre director. New York work includes: Initiative (Playwright's Realm, Ink'd Fest;) Old Names for Wildflowers, Courage! To the Field! (The Tank;) Much Ado About Nothing (The Brick;) as well as Dixon Place, Trans Lab at WP, The Access Theatre, LPAC Lab, and other venues. Regional/other: As You Like It, Richard III (Scranton Shakespeare Festival;) Campfire Festival at Boise Contemporary Theatre, Barn Arts. Assisting includes: Measure for Measure (TFANA;) Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival;) Othello (Colorado Shakespeare Festival;) The Jammer (Atlantic). Previously: SDCF Observership, OSF FAIR Program, Sokoloff Creative Arts Fellow. Currently: Resident Artist at Town Stages. Co-founder of The Renovationists and Easy Leap Theatre Company. SDC Associate Member. BA Sarah Lawrence College. www.emmawent.com  

By Sharon Bridgforth
Directed by Signe V. Harriday

Starring Ameerah Briggs

Stage Managed by Chris De Camillis

Using traditional storytelling and nontraditional verse to chronicle the course of love returning in the lifetimes of one woman-loving-woman named bull-dog-jean, the bull-jean stories. give cultural documentation and social commentary on African-American herstory and survival. Set in the rural South of the 1920s, the bull-jean stories. herald the spirit of African-American people. 

SIGNE V. HARRIDAY (Director) (she/her) is a fierce visionary and powerful storyteller who crafts theatre that awakens our individual and collective humanity. As a director, multidisciplinary artist, activist, and facilitator, she uses theatre as a catalyst to ask questions about who we are and who we are in relation to others. Co-founder of MaMa mOsAiC, a women of color theater company whose mission is to evoke positive social change through female centered work. Co-founder of Million Artist Movement, a collective of artists committed to Black liberation. Co-founder of the award-winning synchronized swimming team, The Subversive Sirens. Associate Company Member of Pillsbury House Theatre. Founder of Rootsprings Coop, a retreat center for BIPOC artists/activists/healers. She earned her MFA in Acting at the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at the American Repertory Theatre at Harvard and Moscow Art Theatre. Recent credits: Hidden Heroes, and assisting on Floyd's. Current projects: Director of Dining with the Ancestors, Associate Director of Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower, Director of Supadupa Kid, Choreography for Love of Silver Water, Playwright for Dysmorphia. www.SigneHarriday.com

SHARON BRIDGFORTH (Playwright) (she/her) A Doris Duke Performing Artist, Sharon Bridgforth is a writer that creates ritual/jazz theatre. Sharon has received support from Creative Capital, MAP Fund, the National Performance Network and is a New Dramatists alumnae. Sharon has served as a dramaturg for the Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Initiative’s Choreographic Fellowship program and has been in residence with: Brown University’s MFA Playwriting Program; University of Iowa’s MFA Playwrights Program; The Theatre School at DePaul University; allgo, A Texas Statewide QPOC Organization; and The Department of Performance Studies at Northwestern University. Widely published, Sharon is Executive Producer and Host of the “Who Yo People Is” podcast series. The Lambda Award-winning the bull-jean stories was published by RedBone Press in 1998. With support from her 2020-2023 Playwrights’ Center Core Membership Sharon is developing, bull-jean & dem/dey back. More at www.SharonBridgforth.com

AMEERAH BRIGGS (Bull-Jean/Griot) (she/her) is from Sumter, SC. Her credits include M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split,” “Equal Standard” opposite Marc John Jefferies and Ice T, and Leaving The Blues at The Flea Theatre. Ameerah has won awards for Best Supporting Actress in the films “Never Once An Ocean” and “The Underhanded Free Throw.” Coming from a military and artistic family, she spent time in Madrid, Spain until the age of three. Then moved to Thetford, England and back to SC where she studied studio art and received a BFA in theatre. Outside of acting, Ameerah enjoys working on her series of batik fabric portraits. www.AmeerahBriggs.com

CHRIS DE CAMILLIS (Stage Manager) (he/him) Broadway:  Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Misery, It’s Only a Play, The Glass Menagerie. Off-Broadway:  Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven; The Hard Problem, Pride’s Crossing (Lincoln Center Theater) Much Ado About Nothing (NYSF/Delacorte); The Total Bent (Public); Parable of the Sower (Public/UTR); Oliver Twist (TFNA). A.R.T: 30 productions in 15 years at American Repertory Theatre as Artistic Coordinator/Resident Stage Manager. Chris is the Producing Stage Manager for Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon.

By Laura Schellhardt
Directed by Cait Robinson

Starring Arielle L. Goldman

Stage Managed by Melanie Ryan

After a reckless car accident kills her twin brother, young Charlotte McGraw becomes a fascination to others when it appears she has received an eerie power from his dying kiss.  Over the course of a hot summer, a continuing chain of odd events leaves the residents of a small Ohio town stopped in its tracks – as they learn to fear the literal kiss of death beneath their everyday facades.  

CAIT ROBINSON (Director)  (she/they) is a New York-based theater director. Recent productions include The Clean House at Portland Stage Company, Pinocchio at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Proclamation: World Sick and Proclamation: Unite at American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.), and Gidion’s Knot and False Flag (world premiere) at Dramatic Repertory Company. Cait has directed workshops at Cincinnati Playhouse, A.R.T., Portland Stage, The Lark, and New Repertory Theater, among others, and heads the college Summer Intensive Program at Cape Cod Theatre Project. Cait spent two years as the Senior Directing Fellow at Cincinnati Playhouse, and is an alum of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, SDCF Observership program, Directors Lab West, American Conservatory Theater fellowship program, Portland Stage Company internship, Celebration Barn Theater, and Bowdoin College. Associate member, SDC. www.Cait-Robinson.com

LAURA SCHELLHARDT (Playwright) (she/her)’s original works include Air Guitar High, Auctioning the Ainsleys, The Apothecary's Daughter, The K of D, Courting Vampires, Shapeshifter, Inheritance and Je Ne Sais Quoi. Adaptations include The Phantom Tollbooth, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, The Outfit and Creole Folktales. She is also the author of Screenwriting for Dummies. Schellhardt is a recipient of the TCG National Playwriting Residency, the Jerome Fellowship, the New Play Award from ACT in Seattle, and a Dramatist Guild Fellowship. She has participated in the SoHo Rep Writer/Director Lab, The Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices Festival, the Bonderman Symposium, the Women Playwrights Festival at SRC, and the O'Neill National Playwright's Festival. Schellhardt received an M.F.A. in playwriting from Brown University where she studied under Paula Vogel. She currently heads the playwriting program at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. 

ARIELLE L. GOLDMAN (Girl) (she/her) is an actor, writer and filmmaker. Her short film “DAY ONE” was featured in the Nitehawk Shorts Festival, New York Lift Off Festival, The Future of Film is Female and RePRO Film Festival among others. Acting work includes: “The Knick” directed by Steven Soderbergh, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Fishkill” directed by Bob Balaban, and the upcoming short film “Polly” directed by Elizabeth Rakhilkina. Arielle co-founded her production company, Neurotica Productions, which serves as a performance breeding ground for works by womxn and non-binary artists. For the theatre: The Seagull dir. Richard Feldman, world premiere of Lewiston by Samuel Hunter, Honors Students (Wild Project), Let's Get Ready Together (The Tank), and more. She holds her MFA from NYU’s Tisch Graduate Acting Program and is a proud volunteer at The 52nd Street Project. 

MELANIE RYAN (Stage Manager) (she/her) is a Production Stage Manager and, as of 2020, a Screen Manager for virtual theater as well! Based in NYC for the last decade, she has worked with many different companies in that time, including Barefoot Shakespeare Company, Occupy Verona, What Dreams May Co./Queens Shakespeare, and Turn To Flesh Productions. Pre-pandemic, Melanie was sailing the high seas as a Production Stage Manager and Entertainment Production Manager with Norwegian Cruise Lines. Melanie is so excited and grateful to be working on live theater again!  

 By Eliana Pipes
Directed by Cristina Angeles 

Starring Aleca Piper

Stage Managed by Kacey Gritters

In a society where a chasm has opened up between rich and poor — one Black girl has fallen into the abyss. As a result, GIRL embarks on a cross-country roadtrip in a converted Van: by day she’s lifestyle blogging as a #VanLife influencer, and by night she’s shooting down Amazon delivery drones to loot the contents — desperate to claw her way into American prosperity. But when she shoots down something she shouldn’t have, she’s forced to reckon with the cost of her ambition. She may be able to run from society, but she can’t escape the systems that are ingrained within her.

CRISTINA ANGELES (Director) (she/her) is an Afrolatina director, writer, and theater maker, whose mission is to create empathy and conversation by directing new plays and musicals, as well as socially conscious adaptations of classics that place women of color at the forefront. Her work challenges the preconceived notions of what the American Theater can be, while confronting the intersections between our public, private, and political selves. Cristina holds a BA in Theatre from Barnard College at Columbia University and was the 2019-20 Roundabout Directing Fellow. She has worked in the Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Corps, the SDCF Observership Program, and as an assistant director at The New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, and on Broadway. Today, Cristina is an Associate Artist at Roundabout Theatre Company, a 2020-21 Drama League Directing Fellow, and the Founding Artistic Director of Checkmark Productions, an NYC based company dedicated to BIPOC artists and the telling of their stories in theater and film. Checkmark most recently produced Eliana Pipes’s DREAM HOU$E (2019 Leah Ryan Prize, 2019 O’Neill Finalist) at Ars Nova’s ANT Fest directed by Cristina, and is currently developing “TONI,” a new series inspired by the life of Marie Antoinette written and directed by Cristina. 

ELIANA PIPES (Playwright) (she/her) Eliana recently completed her MFA in Playwriting from Boston University and holds a BA in English from Columbia University. She is currently writing a romantic comedy feature for Foton Pictures and Naim Media Group. Previously, Eliana received the Academy Gold Fellowship and was a finalist for the 2019 Humanitas Angell Comedy Prize for her feature “FAUXRICUA.” Her play DREAM HOU$E, which won the National Latinx Playwriting Awards at Arizona Theatre Company, was produced at Ars Nova ANT Fest and won the Leah Ryan Fund Prize. Eliana is two-time O'Neill Conference finalist and a member of the 2020-2021 Class of Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellows. 

ALECA PIPER (Girl) (she/her) is passionate about creating new works and paying homage to the classics, and is thrilled to be working on Unfuckwithable! She is a part of The Story Pirates and the Boogie Manja Collective, and has a BFA in Acting from SUNY Purchase. Previous work: Veranka in Anna Karenina: a riff, Maria in Twelfth Night, Calianax in Maid’s Tragedy, Official Lady of Missing You in Made To Dance In Burning Buildings, Nurse in Romeo & Juliet, Speed in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Antipholus of Syracuse in Comedy of Errors, Bertha Holly in Joe Turner's Come & Gone.

KACEY GRITTERS (Stage Manager) (she/her) Off Broadway: Paris (Atlantic Theater Company), NASSIM (Barrow Street Theatricals), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shake & Bake), Sweeney Todd (Barrow Street Theatricals), Lonely Planet (Keen Company), Dot (Vineyard Theatre), The Pavilion (The Barrow Group). Regional: Working: A Musical (Berkshire Theatre Group), Other Desert Cities, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Bucks County Playhouse & The Kimmel Center). International Tours: NASSIM (Nassim Soleimanpour Productions). National Tours: Henry & Mudge, Seussical, Skippyjon Jones; Snow What?! (TheaterworksUSA). Educational: Songs for a New World (Long Island University), Watson the Musical (King’s Players). Special thanks to Karie and Hank. 

By Enda Walsh
Directed by Taylor Haven Holt 

Starring Tara Halpern

Stage Managed by Kaleigh Bernier

At the age of 6, a girl leaves her bedroom and family home and walks. She never stops. Until now. Enda Walsh's short play A Girl's Bedroom was first performed at the 2015 Galway International Arts Festival, and was revived at the 2016 Galway International Arts Festival alongside two other short plays by the same author – Kitchen and Room 303 – under the collective title Rooms.  

TAYLOR HAVEN HOLT (Director) (she/her) is a New York-based director, choreographer, and recently the Resident Director on the First National Tour of Hamilton. Select directing: Urinetown (Steinhardt), All of My Blood by Robert Norman (Corkscrew Theatre Festival), My Only Friend is Jesse... by Cary Gitter (EST), Balloon Boy by Billy Recce (Green Room 42 / NYMF), The Battle of Coney Island by David Jacobi (Theater Masters, Aspen & NYC), (un)real by Elizabeth Lee (Gene Frankel). Select associate/assistant directing: Cirque du Soleil's Paramour (Lyric Theater), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (First National Tour), Hand to God (Booth Theater & MCC), Murder Ballad (Union Square Theater & MTC), Boy George's Taboo (Brixton Club House, London). Adjunct Professor: Vocal Performance Program at NYU’s Steinhardt. SDC Associate and two-time SDC Observership Recipient. BA/MA: NYU. http://www.taylorhavenholt.com/

ENDA WALSH (Playwright) (he/him) is a playwright and screenwriter who shot to fame when he won both the George Devine Award and the Stewart Parker Award in 1997 with his play Disco Pigs. In 2011 Once, Enda's adaptation of the film by John Carney, opened off-broadway. Critically acclaimed, it moved to Broadway in 2012, where it picked up eight Tony Awards, including Best Book for Enda. He worked on the new musical, Lazarus, with David Bowie, which opened at New York Theatre Workshop. His most recent play, The Same, was commissioned by Corcadorca to mark the company's 25th anniversary and was performed in the old Cork prison in February 2017. The Galway International Arts Festival, along with Anne Clarke’s Landmark Productions, have recently produced his plays, Misterman and Ballyturk. His play, Arlington, had its world premiere at the Galway International Arts Festival in July 2016 and his latest opera, The Second Violinist, premiered at the festival in July 2017. In 2013 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Galway University. Most recently Enda wrote the book for a musical adaptation of the 2016 film, “Sing Street” by John Carney which was due to open on Broadway in spring 2020. In TV, Enda is currently working on “Troubles with Blueprint Pictures” and “This House” with Nexus Studios. 

TARA HALPERN (Young Woman) (she/her) is a Chicago born, NYC-based actress, singer, and voiceover artist. A self-described “Indie Rock Fanny Brice,” she frequently lends her talents to developing new plays and musicals. Tara’s work has been featured on stages all across NYC. Highlights include: Joe’s Pub, Madison Square Garden, The Duplex, La Mama, Cherry Lane, and The Flea. Favorite credits include: Spring Awakening (Wendla), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia), and her solo show The Boys I Loved in Catholic School. Tara is a proud member of the Story Pirates acting company and holds a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch New Studio on Broadway. Follow along @tarahalpern and www.TaraHalpern.com 

KALEIGH BERNIER (Stage Manager) (she/her) Broadway: Mrs. Doubtfire, Be More Chill. Off-Broadway: Be More Chill (LDK Productions), Blue Ridge, The Great Leap (Atlantic Theater Company), Pipeline (Lincoln Center Theater), The Parlour (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Squeamish (All for One Theater). Regional credits include: Soft Power (Center Theatre Group), The Chinese Room (Williamstown Theatre Festival), A Model American (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Title of Show (Warren Miller Performing Arts Center). Graduate of Fordham University. Love to Mom, Dad and Granny.