Company
Our Team
Michael Henry Harris & Angela Razzano (Co-Artistic Directors)
Company Members:
Andrew Blair
Jennifer Bowen
Mark Cirnigliaro
John Concado
Bernardo Cubria
Michelle David
Dan Domingues
Bixby Elliot
Richard Etchison
Mariana Fernandez
Tallie Gabriel
Peter Graham
Megan Hart
Rob Hille
Erin Mallon
Joseph Mancuso
Benjamin Manno
Melanie Maras
Nurit Monacelli
Timothy Mullins
JJ Pyle
Karina Richardson
Gerardo Rodriguez
Lia Romeo
Jacob Schott
Shetal Shah
Marguerite Stimpson
Juan Francisco Villa
Tara Westwood
Michael Henry Harris
Founding Co-Artistic Director / Co-Producer. Michael has co-produced all of InViolet’s productions, readings, workshops, and retreats. Michael’s play 40 Weeks completed successful runs in New York and Atlanta, and his play, Crimes Against Humanity premiered at the first annual Atlanta Fringe Festival. He also regularly acts, directs, and writes. michaelhenryharris.com
Angela Razzano
Angela received her B.A. at Rutgers University before training in New York at William Esper Studio (Meisner), with Deb Jackel, Suzanne Esper and Bill Esper. She co-founded InViolet nine years ago with Michael Henry Harris, and has since been co-Artistic Director. Angela has produced InViolet’s world premieres of Bixby Elliot’s Sommerfugl, Erin Mallon’s Branched, Megan Hart’s This is Fiction, Richard Etchison’s Force Majeure, Melanie Maras’ Kiss Me On The Mouth, Michael Henry Harris’ 40 Weeks, 14 workshopped readings of InViolet’s plays in development, and 4 One Night Stands. She has performed in 4 One Night Stands, InViolet’s InProgress’ This is Fiction, The Haven, The Little Prince$$, Gated, and The Judgment of Fools, produced InViolet’s reception to the 2009 Drama Desk Awards, and co-chaired all sixth of InViolet’s benefits. Angela is grateful for her artistic family and community.
Otoja Abit
Otoja Abit (pronounced O-toe-jay Abbitt) completed his education at St. John’s University where he played division one basketball and earned degrees in Communications, Theatre Studies and a Business minor. He has studied under master teacher Maggie Flanigan. Committed to a pursuit of his true passions: acting, writing and directing, his first project was working as the assistant director on Broadway’s revival of That Championship Season, directed by Gregory Mosher. NY/Regional credits include: Lombardi (Kentucky Repertory Theater), Fulfillment (Flea Theater) The Mission, Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo & Juliet… Film and screen credits include: The Humbling, directed by Barry Levinson, playing opposite Al Pacino, HBO’s critically acclaimed The Night Of, directed by Steven Zaillan. NBC’s The Slap & The Blacklist, And co-starring, as Marsha P Johnson, in Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall.
Andrew Blair
Andrew Blair is North Carolina native where he began acting at an early age. He’s a proud graduate of East Carolina University where he received a BFA in Performing Arts before moving to New York City. Andrew found an artistic home with InViolet Theater Company in 2011. Since joining he has workshopped 2 original works, The Oddyasee by Sara Van Beckum, Treasure Island, FL by Bixby Elliot; he has also has acted and directed in InViolet’s ONE NIGHT STAND events, and served as a Social Media Chairperson for the company. Other selected NYC theatre credits include, The Suitcase (Best Actor Nominee), Fear & Misery of the Third Reich (Columbia Stages), and Breaking Up?. TV/Film credits include, Easy Street (2 Best Actor Awards), Giving You The Business (Food Network), Phowned! (SpikeTV) and several commercials. Andrew is an avid urban cyclist and when he’s not dodging cabs, he likes to spoil his 3 nieces: Karis, Addy, and Lydia, in Madrid, Spain. AndrewBlairActor.com
Jennifer Bowen
Jennifer Bowen’s plays include the solo show Burning Down to Heaven about the poet Anne Sexton (The Marsh Theater and Venue 9 in San Francisco; Women’s Center Stage/Culture Project in NYC), full length plays Happiest Place on Earth (The Lark, Workshop/Reading InViolet Theater Company, 2012 Trustus Playwrights Festival Finalist) and in development The Little Prince$$ and Ruin. Her films include the independently produced full length Sad Sack Sally and the short films The Silent Treatment (48 Hour Philadelphia Film Festival 2012 winner), I (Eggs) You (Designer Vision/48 Hour Film Project Invitational), T.531 (Nominated for Best Writing at Project Twenty 1 2013), and the upcoming Lost and Found (2014). She is also the author of the paranormal mystery Young Adult trilogy The June Awakening Series. Jennifer is a proud member of the InViolet Theater Company and has been involved in two One Night Stands, readings of The Oddysey and Nature Abhors a Vacuum and has even been Props Lady for two InViolet productions- “40 Weeks” and “This is Fiction.” She has also served on the Volunteer Committees for InViolet’s 2012 and 2013 Benefits, and served on the Decorating Committee for our 2013 Speakeasy Benefit. Jennifer is also the CEO of BookHive, a research/marketing for novelists. www.book-hive.com
Mark Cirnigliaro
Mark Cirnigliaro has been working as a professional actor, director and coach for the last 14 years in New York City and the surrounding area. As an actor he studied with the famed William Esper at William Epser Studios. Mark has appeared in One Life to Live, As the World Turns, Guiding Light, All My Children and 30 Rock as well as the independent features The Project, Absolute Trust, Loveless and Wildlike. Mark has won the Samuel French Competition twice with The King and The Condemned (Actor) and Mountain Song (Director). He was nominated for Best Director at the Wonderland One-Act Festival and was the only male director with an official selection at Eve Enslers V-Day UTVS Film Festival. In addition Mark has mounted the first scholastic productions of Annie Baker’s The Aliens and Rajiv Jospeh’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo.Mark continues to have relationships with the McCarter Theatre Center and Mile Square Theatre. He is currently an adjunct professor of basic acting at NCC and Artistic Director of Wee Man Productions. He graduated Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts with his MFA in Directing, earning the Dean John I Bettenbender Award for Artistic Excellence.
John Concado
John J. Concado is the son of Argentine immigrants, a proud life-long New Yorker and a tortured Mets fan. John studied acting with Susan Aston at The Actors Studio Drama School as well as with LAByrinth Theater Company under the direction of Philip Seymour Hoffman. He has worked extensively on stage throughout New York and calls INTAR Theatre Co. his artistic home. John has acted in many national commercials for companies such as Dunkin’ Donuts and Verizon and is also an established bilingual voice over artist. He is the voice behind many spots, including Gatorade’s recent global hit “No te caigas” (Don’t Go Down), starring soccer superstar Lionel Messi. John played the role of Dr. Serrano in EA’s hit video game Dead Space 3 and has narrated audiobooks, including The Washington Square Ensemble for Audible.com. John is very excited about the feature 42 Seconds of Happiness directed by Christina Kallas, which is currently touring domestic and international film festivals. John plays the lead of Marc, a man torn between the life he has and the one he once envisioned. The film was the result of nearly two years of improvisational exercises and was shot adhering to the rules of the Dogme 95 film movement. The Fall of 2016 will also see the release of the feature film Orgami. John plays opposite Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead); he is a detective in a small town with dark secrets. The film is an NYU thesis feature of young visionary director, Woonjae Park. John is thankful for all the support and love of his family and friends, especially his mamá, María Teresa.
Bernardo Cubria
Favorite credits include Ed in This is Fiction (InViolet), Cesar in Basilica (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), Philip in Philip Goes Forth (The Mint), Husband in So Go the Ghosts of Mexico (La Mama), Luis in American Jornalero (INTAR), The Man (understudy) in A Summer’s Day (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre), Florizel in The Winter’s Tale (People’s Light and Theatre), Hamlet in Hamlet (New Perspectives Theatre), Manuelo in Boleros for the Disenchanted (Richmond, VA), and Marido in Sangre (Central Park SummerStage) Within InViolet he has produced, written and directed for our One Night Stands, as well as wrote and helped to produce our video series promoting our 2013 Speakeasy Benefit. Film: Late Phases, The Truth About Lies, Death of an Ally. TV: The Good Wife, We Are New York. Chiquita tquc. www.bernardocubria.com
Michelle David
After earning her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Michigan, Michelle moved to NYC to study under master teachers Maggie Flanigan, Shane Ann Younts, and Lenard Petit. A founding member of InViolet, she directed the inaugural production of Richard Etchison’s Force Majeure and performed in 40 Weeks, This is Fiction, Branched, and Sommerfugl with the company. Favorite film and screen credits include Yuta Silverman’s Forbidden Fruit and Yale University’s Craving to Quit, an app for smart-devices designed to help people use mindfulness to overcome addiction. Off stage, Michelle works as a Meditation Instructor, Desire Map Facilitator, and Life Coach at MattersMost.NYC. For more information on acting/performance, please visit MichelleDavidOfficial.com. For information on coaching and workshops, write to mattersmostnyc.com.
Dan Domingues
Dan’s off-Broadway credits include Fidelis and The Great Immensity (Public); The Jammer, The Cherry Orchard (Atlantic); To The Bone, His Greatness (Cherry Lane); Night Sky (Baruch PAC); King Lear (LaMaMa); How to Break (HERE). Regionally, he’s worked at Hangar Theatre, Passage Theatre, Studio Theatre, Cape Playhouse, Weston Playhouse, Kansas City Rep, Long Wharf, Florida Stage, McCarter Theatre, Portland Stage, George Street Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Pioneer Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Playwrights Theatre of NJ and ART among others. He’s an artistic associate with The Civilians and a company member at NJ Rep and Only Make Believe (a non-profit that brings live theatre to sick and disadvantaged children in NY hospitals). Film work includes the features Run All Night with Liam Neeson, In Stereo with Micah Hauptman and Future 38 with Betty Gilpin. On TV, Dan has a recurring role on the NBC series The Blacklist and has appeared on Royal Pains, Law and Order, and As The World Turns. He also plays Mr. Hanning in the award winning short based on the Stephen King story, Suffer the Little Children,. He has an MFA from the ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard and co-hosts the movie podcast Hot Date, available on iTunes.
Bixby Elliot
Bixby is a New York based writer and proud member of InViolet since 2011. His play Blueprint was produced by Tony Award winning producer Arielle Tepper Madover as part of her new works Summer Play Festival (SPF). This production was directed by Drama Desk Nominee Jonathan Silverstein and starred Emmy winner Peter Strauss. Bixby’s next play Abraham Lincoln was a Faggot was a finalist for the O’Neill Theater Conference in 2010, as well as New Dramatists and Seven Devils Development Conference. The play was workshopped in Louisville, KY and will next be developed at Chicago’s About Face Theater in Spring 2014. Bixby’s play Girl You Know It’s True (inspired by the rise and fall of the pop/rock duo Milli Vanilli) was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill Conference in 2011, finalist for New Harmony and Kitchen Dog and received its world premiere production at Chicago’s Pavement Group in April 2012 (director – David Perez). The play will next be seen in Seattle at Theater Off Jackson in Winter 2014. Other plays include Treasure Island, FL (semi-finalist for the O’Neill Conference 2012, InViolet Workshop, SouthernRep New Play Festival Winner, New Orleans), PN1923.45 LS01 volume 2: The Book Play (New York Premiere: NYC International Fringe Festival – director Stephen Brackett), Hotel Oracle (New York premiere: Walkerspace/SoHo Rep – director Stephen Brackett) and I Am Not Peter Pan (New York premiere: Cherry Lane Theater; Edinburgh Fringe Festival – Best of Fest Winner – director Cary McClelland). Bixby is a graduate of the MFA playwriting program at Columbia University. Current projects include work on an original television project, a webseries and a new screenplay Happy, Now. Within InViolet, Bixby has also served on our Marketing Committee, and as a Benefit Chairperson for InViolet’s 2013 Speakeasy Benefit at The Back Room.
Richard Etchison
A proud member of InViolet since 2007, Richard’s Force Majeure was Inviolet’s inaugural world premiere in 2008. Richard’s stage plays have been produced or workshopped by community and professional theatre companies in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Greenville, SC, Dayton, OH and Muncie, IN. His full-length works have been finalists at the 2011 Dayton Futurefest and the 2002 Centre Stage South Carolina New Works Festival. A writer of over 25 feature-length spec screenplays, he has seen his work achieve the semifinalist level or better in five competitions, including a finalist placement in the 2012 Creative World Awards for The Haven and the Nicholl Fellowship (top 5%) quarterfinalist Beauty and Sadness. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by his half-sister in Florida. He is grateful every day to be married to the documentary filmmaker Debbie Etchison.
Tallie Gabriel
Tallie Gabriel is a Las Vegas native and graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied at the Meisner Studio, International Theatre Workshop in Amsterdam, and Stonestreet Studios. She also works with BEDLAM Theatre, primarily as assistant to the artistic director. Credits include InViolet’s One Night Stand, First Witch in Macbeth at Oxford Shakespeare Company, and Juliet in the Future of Storytelling Festival. Tallie is also an aspiring YA novelist, avid traveler, and dessert lover. Tallie currently lives in Astoria and at The Strand bookstore, and dreams of one day owning a long-haired German shepherd. www.talliegabriel.com
Jacqueline Guillen
Jacqueline is a New York based actor/performer/musician from Mexico. She was born and raised in the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, a border town to Brownsville, TX. Jacqui received her BFA in Acting from Texas State University in San Marcos, TX and studied in Stratford upon Avon with the Royal Shakespeare Company where she performed in The World Shakespeare Festival back in 2012. NYC Credits include Play/Date (3LD), Lilia (Rising Circle), Satyricono (INTAR), The Judgment of Fools (InViolet Theater), Trees in their Youth (Signature Theater), Poseur (Q Passion). Jacqueline is also a proud member of UNIT 52 with INTAR Theatre and Saudade Theatre. She’s a brand ambassador for FLAVNT Streetwear, a flautist, a ukulele enthusiast , and crafts genius. jacqueline-guillen.com
Peter Graham
Peter Graham received a BFA from NYU Tisch where he trained with the Meisner and Classical Studios. Recent Film/TV Credits: HBO’s The Wizard of Lies (Dir. Barry Levinson), Detours (Upcoming, w/ Richard Kind & Paul Sorvino) and MTV’s One Bad Choice. He’s also a producer and actor on OTP: One True Pairing, a web series w/ Jonathan Groff & Hunter Foster (www.otptheshow.com). Stage credits include NBC’s 2015 Diversity Showcase, Our Kiki (New York Fringe Festival), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Lake George Theater Lab), The Birthday Party (MultiPurposeRoom), and LEAR (Dir. Rachel Chavkin). He’s been a proud member of InViolet since 2014! More info at www.peter-graham.com
Megan Hart
Megan is an actor, writer, and Licensed Social Worker. She is a founding member of InViolet, with whom she originated the roles of Amy in Kiss Me on the Mouth and Angie in 40 weeks, and has also performed in the staged readings of 40 Weeks and Nature Abhors a Vacuum. Megan’s first full-length play, This is Fiction, was produced by InViolet Rep at the Cherry Lane Studio Theater in 2012 directed by Shelley Butler with an InViolet cast joined by stage and film veteran, Richard Masur. Her one act play, See Jane Talk, was workshopped by InViolet in 2009 and went on to a production at OnStage Atlanta. Monologues from This is Fiction were published by Applause and Smith and Kraus in 2013. In the winter of 2015 InViolet workshopped Megan’s new play Gated, which would be an O’Neill National Playwrights Conference finalist. As an actor, Megan’s selected theater credits include Wolves (59E59), Hello Failure (PS122), Millicent Scowlworthy (SPF atTheater Row), Degeneracy (3-Legged Dog), Hell House (Les Freres Corbusiers), The Wikipedia Plays (Ars Nova), and Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, Beauty and Truth (Fringe NYC). Recent film includes Booster, (8 Feet Tall Prod’s), which premiered at SXSW.
Rob Hille
Rob grew up in Columbus, OH where he was taught how to drive stick, what side of a tree moss grows on, crop rotation, manners, the Konami code and may other oddities. Rob was one of the founding members of the Amios Theater Company back in 2009 and has worn several hats there: actor, director, Assistant Artistic Director, co-Artistic Director, producer, elf, dragon riding caveman, Walt Disney, Dr. Seuss, zombie elephant…the list goes on and on. Rob’s been seen professionally at the Denver Center, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Actor’s Theatre of Columbus, The Sam French Off-Off-Broadway Festival (where he WON), HERE Arts Center, and a bunch of industrials you’ve probably never heard of. Rob holds a BFA from Otterbein College, an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory, and a Food Handlers Certificate from the New York State Department of Health. Rob’s favorite color is green.
Troy LoCoco
Troy LoCoco is from New Orleans, La and moved to New York City eleven years ago to pursue acting and writing. After finishing Maggie Flanigan’s 2 year Meisner Studio, he was given the opportunity by Michael and Angela to help start up InViolet Repertory Theater Company. They gave him a creative home with amazing, talented people, for which he is very grateful. He performed as “Andre” in the InViolet world premiere production of “Kiss Me On The Mouth” directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis. He has also acted in InViolet’s workshop readings of “The Haven”, “Treasure Island, FL”, “Crimes of Humanity” and “Nature Abhor’s a Vacuum”. He was on the production team for InViolet’s most recent production “This is Fiction” at the Cherry Lane Theater. He also has helped produced two of InViolet’s One Night Stands, and has served as a Beverage Chairperson for all 5 of InViolet’s Benefits. He would like to thank his family for letting him pursue his dreams and thank everyone for supporting InViolet.
Erin Mallon
Erin Mallon is a writer, actor and voice artist in NYC. Erin’s plays have been presented with Urban Stages, InViolet Theater, The American National Theatre, Fieldston School, New Georges, Dutch Kills Theater, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, The Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, Amios Theatre Company, Cherry Picking, The Collective, The Flea and more. Erin’s play Branched directed by Robert Ross Parker and produced by InViolet Theater premiered at HERE Arts Center and is included in Indie Theater Now’s 2015 Plays and Playwrights. Erin is also a devoted volunteer at The 52nd Street Project, the voice of many audiobooks and commercials, a member of Project Y’s Playwrights Group and the founder/co-curator of The Brooklyn Generator. www.erinmallon.net www.thebrooklyngenerator.com
Joseph Mancuso
Western Mass boy. Born to entertain was what his second grade teacher said as she told his mother that she was going to “break his spirit”. How’d that work out for you Mrs. Maloney??? Loves the process more than the product. The books of Roald Dahl molded his childhood and the books of Jack Kerouac mold his adulthood. Proud member of InViolet since 2012 and has acted in five InProgress Productions including: Sara Van Beckum’s “The Oddyasee”, Bixby Elliot’s “Treasure Island, FL”, and Darren Lougee’s “Hostias,” Jennifer Bowen’s “The Little Prince$$,” and most recently Megan Hart’s “Gated.” Joseph’s performed in two of InViolet’s One Night Stands and served as a Beverage Committee Chair for our 2013 Speakeasey Benefit. Has also worked on USA’s The 4400, HBO’s Flight of the Concords, and CBS’s Blue Bloods.
Benjamin Manno
Ben is a Brooklyn-based actor, guitarist, and member of InViolet Theater Company, INTAR Theatre Company’s Unit 52, and also serves as an associate of Saudade Theatre Company. When he is not tending to his avocado tree he is working Off and Off-off Broadway, in new a translation of Miguel Cervantes with INTAR, The Judgment of Fools with InViolet Theater, The Immortals by Charles Mee with The Brave New World Rep. and staged readings for The Lark, the InViolet Theater Company, Rising Circle Theatre Collective, Barefoot Theatre Company, the Negro Ensemble Company, and Articulate Theatre Company. Ben has a BFA in Acting from Texas State University and Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Melanie Maras
Melanie is a writer and storyteller. Raised in Indonesia, educated in England, and an NYC theatre artist for several years, Melanie brings an international and unique perspective to her work. Her first play, KISS ME ON THE MOUTH, was directed by Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Adly Guirgis and produced by InViolet at Center Stage New York. KISS ME ON THE MOUTH received rave reviews and had a sold out run. Variety called it a “contained, smart script” that “exhibits plenty of wit, craft and, most of all, heart.” KISS ME ON THE MOUTH was a Princess Grace Award Semi-Finalist. Her solo show RED FLAG, which she both wrote and performed, was workshopped in Los Angeles to immense audience response. Melanie has performed stand-up comedy around LA (The Comedy Store, Stand-Up Finalist at the LA Improv Comedy Festival 2015) and in London. She has had the privilege of telling stories at the LA Comedy Festival and the Women in Comedy Festival. She has also told stories for Kevin Allison’s RISK! (podcast and live show), HELLO GIGGLES, Jessie Rosen’s SUNDAY NIGHT SEX STORIES, David Crabb’s ASK ME STORIES, and TOLD. She was honored to be a guest artist at the Singapore American School where she taught storytelling to high schoolers. Melanie is a founding member of InViolet and a graduate of the Maggie Flanigan Studio, both in New York City. Currently living in Los Angeles, she is developing new works for film, television, and theatre. She is proud to be a mentor at the Young Storytellers Foundation where she works with young writers.
Nurit Monacelli
Nurit is an award winning actress who has appeared in independent films that have circulated nationally in over 20 festivals. Film and TV credits also include Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, Blacklist, Person of Interest, All My Children, As the World Turns, and Law and Order, Criminal Intent. In NY she has appeared at the Drama League, New Georges, The Culture Project, HERE and the Flea. She has also performed regionally and internationally at such places as ART, the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ and the Andrews Lane in Dublin. She has a BA from Brown University and and an MFA from ART. She is thrilled to be a member of Inviolet Theater! In addition to being an actor, Nurit is a proud mama, movement/acting teacher, certified yoga instructor, classically trained violinist and native New Yorker.
Timothy Mullins
Timothy Mullins was born in Hollywood, California, served in the Navy as a nuclear propulsion operator, obtained an engineering degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and spent a short time working for the Defense Department. Then, one day, he woke up. Feeling the draw of the stage, Timothy moved to New York and trained at the William Esper Studio and is a proud founding member of InViolet Repertory and his recent credits include the The Morons, Twelfth Night, the musical Bellevue Sketches, Hamlet, Murder on the Nile, Much Ado About Nothing, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and InViolet Rep’s inaugural production, Force Majeure. Tim has also acted in the staged readings of InViolet’s Hostias, Maslow’s Hiccup, The Haven, and Crimes Against Humanity. Within InViolet, Tim has played an integral role with the set construction of 40 Weeks and This is Fiction, and served on the Catering Committee for InViolet’s 2013 Speakeasy Benefit.
Aubyn Philabaum
Tucson, AZ native. With InViolet: Bixby Elliot’s Sommerfugl, directed by Stephen Brackett, Megan Hart’s This Is Fiction co-starring Richard Masur as her father and directed by Shelley Butler, and Melanie Maras’ Kiss Me on the Mouth, directed by Stephen Adly Guirgis, for which she won the Freshest Face in NY Theatre award for her performance. Other theater credits with Yale Rep, ACT, Cry Havoc, Singularity, Naked Angels, Hudson Stage, and the Lark Theatre. TV/Film: “Mom”, “Parks and Recreation”, “Criminal Minds” “The Young and the Restless”, “In The Dark”, “Cataclysm”, “The Tempest”, “Thursday’s Speaker”, among many others. Aubyn currently resides in Los Angeles. She is a company Member of InViolet Theater Co in New York. BFA in acting, Boston University and LAMDA; MFA in acting, Yale School of Drama.
JJ Pyle
Karina Richardson
Karina Richardson was born in Houston to a Puerto Rican mother and an Oklahoman father. Her play Round She Goes was recently workshopped and received an Off-Broadway reading through the ESPA Drills program at Primary Stages. She is also the proud recipient of a 2014/2015 Mary Louise Rockwell Scholarship at Primary Stages. Karina is the co-artistic director of Proximity Theater Company and has written, performed, and danced in several Proximity productions. Favorite roles include Mercutio, Scrooge & Unicorn. Several of her short pieces have been published on Indie Theater Now, she participated in the 2014 Write Out Front Program, and read and performed her work at Dixon Place as part of the 2015 Am I Write, Ladies? Festival. She received a BFA in Theatre from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. www.karinarichardson.com
Gerardo Rodriguez
His New York credits include La Ruta (Working Th.); Lucy Loves Me (INTAR); Bodega Bay (Abingdon); Dramatis Personae (Playwrights Realm); The Empty Ocean (Stella Adler–HCLAB); American Jornalero (Working Th.); Kingdom (NYMF, Public Th./QTIP); The Cherry Orchard (Atlantic Theater Company); The Leak (INTAR); Lobster Face (Calpulli/Immediate Th. Co.) and With Love Gabe (INTAR). Regionally, Mr. Rodriguez has been seen in Seven Spots on the Sun (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World (CATF); Elemeno Pea (Humana Festival – ATL); The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Mixed Blood); Kingdom (Old Globe); Instructions for Breathing (Passage Th.); Milk-N-Honey (Lightbox Th.); Three Farces and a Funeral (A.R.T.) and Rope (Stoneham Th.). On television, he has appeared in “Person of Interest”; “Gossip Girl”; “OLTL”; “Conviction”; “Law & Order”, “CI” & “SVU”; “Jonny Zero”, and in the films Cruzando; Winter of Frozen Dreams; Don’t Let Me Drown; Last Night at Angelo’s and Brothers, Dogs and God. Mr. Rodriguez received his M.F.A. from the A.R.T.@ Harvard University/Moscow Art Theatre and is an Artist in Residence at INTAR Theatre.
Lia Romeo
Lia Romeo’s plays have been produced at 59E59, Project Y Theatre Company, Unicorn Theatre, HotCity Theatre, Stillwater Theatre, Renegade Theatre Experiment, Forward Flux Productions, New Origins Theatre Company, Jersey City Theater Center, and Xpressions Performing Arts Network, and have been developed at the Lark Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Abingdon Theatre, Writers Theatre of New Jersey, Orlando Shakes, New Jersey Repertory Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theatre, and elsewhere. She has been nominated for the American Theatre Critics’ Association’s Steinberg Award for best new play, the New York Innovative Theatre Award for outstanding full-length play, the L. Arnold Weissberger Award, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She has been recognized by the O’Neill (finalist), the Heideman Award (finalist), and the Kilroys List (honorable mention). She was the National New Play Network Emerging Playwright-in-Residence at Writers Theatre of New Jersey, and she is currently a member of the Project Y Playwrights Group, the Athena Theatre Playwrights Group, and the BMI Librettists Workshop. She earned her B.A. from Princeton University and her M.F.A. in playwriting from Rutgers. She is also the literary manager at Project Y Theatre Company, and the author of a novel, Dating the Devil (BelleBooks), and a humor book, 11,002 Things to Be Miserable About (Abrams Image), which has sold over 35,000 copies worldwide. Her work is published by Playscripts and Smith and Kraus. Email: liaromeo@yahoo.com. Website: www.liaromeo.com.
Jacob Schott
After graduating with his Bachelor of Arts from Concordia University Irvine in Theater Arts, Jacob moved to NYC from California to find creative freedom. Jacob is a co founder of his Improv group The Downtowners and has directed Refrain and Reprise by Trenton Semple and assistant directed Arthur Kopit’s Chamber Music. Jacob is an Operations Manager at Culture Project, aiding in creating work that gives voice to the marginalized. www.jacobpeterschott.com
Shetal Shah
A Maggie Flanigan Studios graduate, Shetal Shah is an award-winning actress. She has also hosted and co-produced her own TV show, In Scene, for the international network, ARY. Other favorite acting credits include: Theatre: Truth Be Told (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Caitlin and the Swan (The Management), The Living Room Series (HERE Theater), The Comedy of Errors (Capital Classics Theatre). Films: Loins of Punjab Presents, Arya (2005 SAMA, Best Actress). TV: The Daily Show, VH1 Denmark. Shetal also performs poetry, most notably at Lincoln Center and with Poetic People Power. Within InViolet she has also served on the Auction Committee of our 2012 Benefit, and on the Food Committee of our 2013 Speakeasy Benefit. As a socio-realist filmmaker, she worked on climate change issues with the Bolivian Embassy and Nord Sud XXI. The best way to win her over is with Mexican food.
Marguerite Stimpson
Marguerite has appeared on Broadway in the The Elephant Man starring Bradley Cooper, and the 2006 production of Butley starring Nathan Lane. She has appeared off-Broadway :in Transfigures at the Women’s Project and Desperate Writers. Regional credits include The Elephant Man at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Tragedy: a Tragedy at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Pericles directed by Mary Zimmerman at both the Shakespeare Theatre D.C., and the Goodman Theatre, as well is plays at the Huntington Theatre, A.R.T, and the Hippodrome State Theatre. With InViolet Theater, Marguerite played the role of Belinda in Erin Mallon’s Branched. Film and television credits include Detours, Last Night at Angelo’s, Blood Night, Going Under, Blue Bloods, Law and Order: SVU, 30 Rock, The Onion, Delocated, Lipstick Jungle, and Ed. MFA- A.R.T./ MXAT at Harvard.
Juan Francisco Villa
Juan F. Villa returns to the Goodman for the sexual farce Upstairs Concierge by Kris Diaz. Juan previously appeared at the Goodman in El Grito Del Bronx by Migdalia Cruz, Massacre (Sing to Your Children) by Jose Rivera along with readings of Our Dad in Atlantis by Jorge Ignacio Cortinas and Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegria Hudes as part of the Latino Theater Festival. Mr. Villa is also a playwright having workshopped el dragon del village, gen-tried, don chipotle and he will rise with InViolet in New York City. Recent credits include the World Premiere of the Jeff Award winning Mojada by Luis Alfaro(directed by Chay Yew) at Victory Gardens Theater and Your Name Will Follow You Home by Carlos Murrillo (directed by Dexter Bullard) in Steppenwolf Theater Company’s First Look Repertory of New Work. His Jeff nominated nationally produced solo play Empanada for a Dream directed by Alex Levy will go international with a production in Toronto in Spring 2014. He will be appearing in Gun Show by E.M. Lewis Summer 2014, and was invited to write an original holiday play for December 2014, both for 16th St Theater. NYC Credits include The Duke, Rattlestick, Mabou Mines, INTAR, terraNOVA Collective, Rising Circle, Monarch, HERO, Lark, Collaboration Town, BAX, 59E59, and La Mama. Los Angeles credits include Los Angeles Theater Center and Celebration Theater. He is an ensemble member of Teatro Vista and 16th St. Theater, in Chicago, and InViolet in NYC. St. Theater in Chicago, and InViolet in NYC. Film and TV credits include Betrayal for ABC, Lac de Flambeau by Mark Rosengren, Q by Felipe Vara DeRey, and the webseries Gemini Rising and East Willy B. He is a graduate of The Maggie Flanigan Meisner Conservatory in NYC. Within InViolet Juan also served on the Host Committee for InViolet’s 2012 Benefit at Macao Trading Co. @Juanempanada and juanfanciscovilla.com
Tara Westwood
Tara Westwood studied with Maggie Flanigan at The William Esper Studio. She is best known for her television roles in Unforgettable, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, Cashmere Mafia, CSI Miami and Ugly Betty. Her film credits include; Captain Of The Land Of Make Believe, Douglas Brown, Surviving Family, A Haunting At Silver Falls and My Best Friend’s Wife. She recently produced her first feature called Detours, which she is also the lead actress in. In the theater she has acted in multiple Off-Broadway productions in New York City and was in InViolet’s Branched, at Here Arts Center. She is a proud member of InViolet Theater Company.