Bios
Aynne Ames
Aynne Ames is a Maine
native who attended the University of Maine and followed that
with a year in Athens, Greece working toward her Masters in Ancient
Theater through the prestegious American Classical School. Although
that was only a year long program, she loved Greece so much that
she stayed there another five years teaching Theater at the TASIS
Internation School.
Having founded and directed ColdComfort Summer Theater in Castine,
Maine a non equity professional stock company which she ran for
over 20 years she has acquired a wide experience in educational
and professional theater. She is now retired from teaching and
lives in Belfast, Maine where she is the Artistic and Managing
Directorof Belfast Maskers and conducts private classes in theater
history and performance.
Matt Andrews
Matt
Andrews is an English/Theatre Professor at Marist College
in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he teaches acting, directing, and modern
American & European dramatic lit. Professionally, he directed
at The Theatre Barn in New Lebanon, NY last June, and at The Vineyard
Playhouse on Martha's Vineyard the summer before. Training: MFA/Directing/University
of Oklahoma, Acting Certificate/ National Shakespeare Conservatory,
member/AEA. He has been responding for Region I for three years
and regularly leads a workshop at Festival.
Matt Andrews
Marist College
(845) 575-3000 x7507
James T. Beauregard
James Beauregard is
Assistant Professor of Theatre and Dance, and Technical Director
of The Center for the Performing Arts at Dean College, Franklin,
MA. Jim’s Dean College directing resume includes: Footloose, The
Marriage of Bette and Boo, Pirates of Penzance, The Crucible,
The Three Musketeers, Much Ado About Nothing, Victims of Paradise,
Scapino!, My Father Never Prepared Me For This, The Country Wife,
and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Jim is also Founder and Director
of Dean College Summer Theatre – Moliere productions include:
Scapin the Schemer, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, The Jealous
Husband and The Flying Doctor. Stage Combat is Jim’s specialty.
During the 80s he toured and taught extensively with an elite
performing troupe and he continues to teach and choreograph when
his busy schedule allows. For ten years Jim was Artistic Director
and a principle performer at The Medieval Manor in Boston.
Jerry Bliss
I'm Jerry
Bliss (I am not responding for now. I am the only one here
at Colby-Sawyer College and I want to enter my shows as participating.
So that removes me from responding). However I like to stay on
your e-mailings just for the info and because I may be willing
to respond in a pinch for associate productions. Colby-Sawyer
is in New London NH. Middle of the state. I like responding to
anything, preferably with a partner. Prior to my stint on the
National Selection Team I did a lot of responding, and I hope
to do so in the future.
Laura Chakravarty Box
Laura
Chakravarty Box is an Assistant Professor of Theater at Colby
College in Waterville, Maine, where she teaches directing and
world theater history. She is an actor, director and dramturg.
Ellen Faith Brodie
Ellen
Faith Brodie is the Director of Theatre at Eastern Connecticut
State University where she oversees and facilitates a program
which includes professional guest artists as teachers, directors,
designers and performers on a regular basis. She began studying
visual arts, voice, and theatre as a child in NYC (i.e. key student
at HB Studios); toured in Children's Theatre throughout high school
and college (directors Bernard Barrow and Wilson Lehr); studied
voice with Mezzo Soprano Gertrude Arnold; was an assistant casting
director of commercials, soap operas and print ads at J. Walter
Thompson and Young and Rubicam; was the Artistic Director of the
Eastern Connecticut Performing Arts Center; was a founding member
of various arts councils and festivals throughout eastern Connecticut;
established and directs the ECSU International Summer School in
London program; holds a BA, MA and MFA in Theatre and has been
teaching and directing on the university level since 1974.
Scott
T. Cummings
I teach in the Theatre Department of Boston
College, courses in playwriting, dramatic literature, theory,
and criticism. I also direct once a year, usually. I also work
as an arts journalist and theater critic, writing regularly for
the Boston Phoenix and American Theatre magazine. I moved to Boston
seven years ago from Pittsburgh and a teaching position in the
Drama Department at Carnegie Mellon. My chief interest in ACTF
to date has been in terms of promoting student writing and new
play development. Given a tight schedule at Boston College, I
like to limit my responding to new student-written works.
Scott T. Cummings
Theater Department/Boston College
eE-ail: cumminsc@bc.edu
phone/voicemail: 617.552.4614
William Cunningham
William Cunningham
is the KCACTF Region I Playwrighting Chair. He is a tenured
Professor of Theatre Arts at Salem State College who holds an
MFA in Playwrighting from UCLA. As a playwright, his plays (Intimate
Apparel, Right Next Door, The Do-It-Yourselfers,
and Managed Care) have been produced at the Boston Playwright's
Theatre, with some being published by Baker's Plays. His play
Course Work was selected as a finalist in the 2004 Kennedy
Center American College Theatre Festival and was chosen as the
regional finalist for the David Mark Cohen Playwrighting Award.
Recently for Salem State Theatre he has directed Bat Boy:
The Musical, Bedroom Farce and Oedipus the King,
as well as Prelude to a Kiss (a staged reading), and
The First Year Lab (an ensemble production of incoming
students).
Alexis Dascoulias
I'm Alexis
Dascoulias and I am a new respondent for KCACTF!!! So, yes
I'm very interested. I live in Dover, NH which is on the seacoast.
I am the co- Artistic/Producing Director for Hackmatack Playhouse
in Berwick, Maine and I am the head of the drama department at
Dover High School. I'm interested in responding to anything, but
my specialty is musicals (all and any). My training is in musical
theatre and drama education. I graduated from UNH and Peggy Rae
Johnson has been my life-time mentor!!!
Thom Delventhal
'm Thom
Delventhal. I teach at Central Connecticut State University.
I'm an Asst. Prof. and my classes include Theatre Games and Improvisation,
Speaking Voice Development, Advanced Voice Development, Acting
I & II, and I direct 1-2 shows a year. Before joining the faculty
here I was in Pittsburgh PA, teaching at Carnegie Mellon, acting
professionally, and choreographing fights. I'm a member of Equity,
was named performer of the year for my portrayal of Marc Antony
before leaving Pgh. The same year I choreographed the fights for
Romeo and Juliet at the Boston Ballet. Since then I've been focusing
on my new career as an ACTF respondent.
J.
Kevin Doolen
Chair & Associate Professor of Theatre, University at Albany
Formerly Director of Theatre & Associate Head,
Department of Performance Studies; Associate Professor of Theatre
Arts (MFA-Directing, University of Illinois), and member of the
Graduate faculty at Texas A&M University. Professor Doolen's background
in education includes twenty-five years teaching experience at
Virginia Intermont College, where he designed and implemented
a BA degree program; Castleton State College in Vermont; Salve
Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island; and Columbia Basin
College in Washington State. In addition to his teaching duties,
Mr. Doolen's professional involvements include past President
of the Northwest Drama Conference, former Chair of Region One
(New England) of the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival
(KC/ACTF-1), and founding Board member of the Vermont Association
of Theatres & Theatre Artists.
Mr. Doolen has commercial experience in both New York City and
Los Angeles. While in NYC, he secured a foundation grant for his
study, the effectiveness of college/university teaching in preparation
for a commercial career in Theatre.
Mr. Doolen's directing and teaching awards include the Commitment
to Education Award presented by Alpha Psi Omega, the national
honors dramatic fraternity, in which he is a lifetime member,
and three Kennedy Center directing awards (Lonely Planet, The
Boys Next Door, Mr. Bundy). His productions of Lonely Planet,
Interview/Applicant and A False Sense of Superiority (student-written)
were all invited to region 7 of KC/ACTF; Fool for Love, and Act
III of Quartermaine's Terms were invited to region 1 of KC/ACTF.
He was awarded the Kennedy Center Medallion in 1996 and is listed
in Who's Who Among America's Teachers.
James J. Fallon
James
J. Fallon teaches and designs scenery and lighting at Salem State College and has been since 1983. He earned his MFA in Design and Technical Theatre at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. He chaired the SSC Theatre and Speech Communication Department from 1998 to 2006. He worked on over 70 productions at SSC and was the KCACTF Region I Design Coordinator from 1993 to 1996. In addition to the BA and BFA design courses, he teaches Introduction to Theatre Arts and Theatre History.
Scott Gagnon
Scott
Gagnon is Assistant Professor of Performing Arts at Emmanuel
College in Boston, MA. Scott received his undergraduate degrees
in English and Theater from Bridgewater State College and received
his Master of Arts in Theatrical Directing from Emerson College
in 1994. Scott has directed for the Savoyard Light Opera Company,
Turtle Lane PLayhouse, The Footlight Club Theater and Curtain
Call Theater, as well as having directed several productions for
the Boston Center for the Arts, Longy School of Music, and MIT.
He is the lyricist and book author of Black Sox, an original musical
about the 1919 World Series presented at the Atlantic Theater
Company in New York in 1995. Scott is the Artistic Director of
the Turtle Lane Children's Theater Workshop and of the Boston
Theater Bridge. He is also coordinator of a weekend program with
the Alternative Leisure Recreation Program in Natick, MA, doing
theater work with mentally handicapped adults. His recent work
includes productions of Anything Goes, Master Class, Grease, 1984,
Merrily We Roll Along, Museum, Jesus Christ Superstar, Nunsense,
Nunsense 2, Into the Woods, Dial M For Murder, The Mystery of
Edwin Drood, The Secret Garden, Once Upon a Mattress and The Wiz.
PeggyRae Johnson
PeggyRae
Johnson is a freelance actor and director with more than 200
theatre and television productions, voice-overs, commercials,
and industrials to her credit. She received her undergraduate
degree from Eastern Illinois University where she triple majored
in Theatre, Speech, and English, and her master's in Theatre at
University of Illinois, where she graduated with highest honors.
PeggyRae studied acting with David Knight, of the BBC, and voice
with Cicely Berry, of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Additional
training includes Acting for the Camera, Michael Chekhov Master
Classes, Alexander Technique, Lessac, and Linklater Workshops,
and a Director's Colloquium with Arvin Brown. For the past 10
years, PeggyRae has had the privilege of serving the Kennedy Center/Irene
Ryan Acting Scholarships in Region 1. For the past two years,
she has also served as Associate Chair of the region. She was
awarded the Kennedy Medallion in 1999, and was similarly honored
by the New Hampshire Educational Theatre Guild with a Lifetime
Member Award for service and leadership to NH Theatre. The former
Director of Theatre Education at University of New Hampshire,
PeggyRae currently teaches Voice and Diction and Oral Interpretation
at Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, NH.
David Kaye
David Kaye
teaches Acting, Directing and Play Writing at the University of
New Hampshire where he has been on the faculty since 1996. He
has worked professionally for companies throughout the US, including,
the National Theatre of the Performing Arts in NYC, the Texas
Shakespeare Festival, The State Shakespeare Theater at Monmouth,
Stages Repertory Theatre in Houston and most recently at Seacoast
Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH. He has served as Artistic
Director of Maine's Sanford Maine Stage and Hackmatack Playhouse,
as well as New York City's Julian Acting Company. David held the
post of Director of Theatre at Hampden-Sydney College and is a
produced and published playwright. His screenplay "Can't Get There"
was broadcast by PBS, his play "Rump!" won the 1998 Zornio Prize
and his experimental comedy "And God Said (!@#&!)" was a top ten
pick at the 2001 Montreal Fringe Festival. David's most recent
work includes the film short "Grace" which he wrote and directed,
and was screened at Tammany Hall in New York City. He has worked
extensively with solo performers and others creating original
work, including Susan Poulin's "Franco Fry" and Michael Parent's
"One more Thing." David earned his MFA from Brandeis University.
Wil Kilroy
Wil
Kilroy is a theatre professor at the University of Southern
Maine where he directs and teaches a variety of performance classes.
Regional festival productions for KC/ACTF have included Midsummer
Night's Dream, Everything Sprite, and Purple Breasts. Wil has
worked as a KC/ACTF committee member for the past six years, most
recently as regional chair. Wil is a member of the Michael Chekhov
Drama Group and teaches these techniques around the country and
in an intensive format at USM every summer with instructors from
the Los Angeles Chekhov group. Wil performs and directs outside
the university, and has a local company in Maine called Renegade
Productions. Training includes the American Academy of Dramatic
Art, National Shakespeare Conservatory, Michael Chekhov Studio,
Uta Hagen, URI and U of I.
Robert Lawson
Robert
Lawson is a writer, director, composer, screenwriter & visual artist. Recent work includes: co-author (with director Jonathan Glatzer) & 2nd Unit Director for Safety Glass – an Indie feature with Steve Coogan, Hilary Duff, Molly Shannon, Josh Peck and Olivia Thirlby slated for 2009 release… co-author (with Glatzer) of Tyler’s Gap, a television project in development with Touchstone/ABC & Fox Television - David Duchovney, Executive Producer… a commission by NGN Productions (Vancouver) for screenplay Dancing in the Dark slated for production in 2008… author of Hamlet: 7 rooms to be produced by the Emergence Theater Co. in LA (fall 2008). Recent premieres of plays in New York --- Hiroshima: crucible of light produced by Untitled Theater Co. at the Walkerspace Theater; Tabula Rasa, a music/theater piece about autism; The Architecture of Sight; Pandora’s Box: a vaudeville at the Clurman on Theater Row. He directed the premiere of Elodie Lauten’s minimalist opera The Death of Don Juan at Franklin Pierce University, where he is on faculty; the video rendition of this production was recently screened in New York at the ‘Op on Screen Festival’. He is the recipient of a Meet the Composer grant for Leonardo’s Tank (NH premiere, 2006). His plays are published by Playscripts, Inc. In 2003, his music/theater work ...but the rain is full of ghosts was part of the National ACTF Festival.
Tom Mikotowicz
Inactive as a respondent for now.
Tom Mikotowicz,
Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Theatre
miko@maine.edu
207-581-196
Jim Murphy
Jim Murphy
teaches at Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, MA.
Haverhill is located in the Merrimack Valley region of Massachusetts
and is 30 miles from Portsmouth, NH and 40 miles from downtown
Boston. Working with my wife, Susan Sanders, our pattern has been
for me to direct our college productions and for Susan to handle
the technical demands. I have been an adjunct faculty member at
NECC for the past 10 years and teach courses in acting and scene
study. I have been teaching theatre since the mid 70's and have
taught at the elementary, secondary, and college level. I work
professionally as a freelance actor and director in the greater
Boston area.
Jim is always open to guest artist possibilities
and to full time offers!
Linda Murphy Sutherland
Linda Murphy Sutherland
is the Associate Director of Academic Programs at Emerson College,
a free-lance Director/Teaching Artist and a member of Trinity
Repertory Company’s Artistic Department as a Talkback Leader.
She has been on faculty at Boston University’s Metropolitan
College of Arts Administration since 2000 teaching the course,
Education in Cultural Institutions. Linda’s professional
career began 30 years ago as a dancer and choreographer in regional,
cabaret and dinner theatre. She worked as Associate Director of
Education at the Huntington Theatre Company, Boston, MA, for 8
years where she served as a Master Teacher, Director and Theatre/Education
specialist. She has taught and directed in the Theatre Departments
at Emerson College, Bridgewater State College, the University
of Rhode Island, the Community College of Rhode Island and the
University of Connecticut. She is Past President of the Board
of Directors of the New England Theatre Conference (NETC) and
is a member of NETC's College of Fellows. Linda is also as a member
of the Advisory Board of Theatre Espresso.
Wendy Overly
Wendy
Overly, MFA, Acting/Directing, Virginia Commonwealth University,
BA Theatre/Dance. She is assistant professor of Theatre Arts and
Acting/Directing Coordinator at UMASS Boston and has taught at
Rhode Island College, Rowan University, Stockton College, Monmouth
University (in NJ), Clemson University (SC), and Virginia Commonwealth
University (VA). She has studied Modern Dance at North Carolina
School of the Arts and University of Oregon and Musical Theatre
at Syracuse University. She has been a member of Actors' Equity
Association since 1990. She has acted/directed/choreographed over
75 productions regionally at theatres such Syracuse Stage, Boston
Playwrights' Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre, Weathervane Theatre,
Warehouse Theatre, Porthouse Theatre, Highlands Playhouse, Foundation
Theatre, NewGate Theatre, Perishable Theatre, where she also teaches
acting. She is currently an artistic associate at The Gamm Theatre
in RI and has been a resident company member and choreographer
for The Mettawee River Theatre Company and resident director/actor
for The Waterfront Ensemble (in NYC). She has written, produced
and toured plays for young audiences, for which she was awarded
the Community Service Teaching Award from the Kellogg Foundation.
Some of her plays include: The Unlikely Friends, based on a collection
of Sanskrit folktales from The Panchatantra, Sadko, based on Rimsky-Korsakov's
opera, The White Crane, an introduction to Kabuki theatre, and
Telling Our Own Stories: Voices from the Past, taken from transcripts
of interviews with aging African American residents of the Upper
Piedmont, S.C. She is on the region I selection team for The Kennedy
Center/American College Theatre Festival. Ms. Overly is also co-founder
of The Integrated Arts Tornado, a cross-disiplinary company that
offers master classes, residencies and workshops to artists and
educators nationwide. She has just completed a feature film, the
title role in Anomaly Picture's Elizabeth Gunness.
Dan Patterson
Daniel
L. Patterson (co-chair, Region I, 2001-2002) Prof. Patterson
has directed over twenty-five productions at Keene State College
in the last twenty-three years including the Premiere Series;
a new play competition that he founded in 1989. His productions
of "Terra Nova", "The Servant of Two Masters" and "Next Time by
Fire" (a Premiere Series production), have been invited to perform
at the American College Theatre Region I Festival. Professor Patterson
received his BFA and MFA degrees from the University of Texas
at Austin where he studied directing under the tutelage of Dr.
Francis Hodge. In 1975 he was one of the co-founders of the THEATREWORKS
company at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs which
has received numerous awards (including the Colorado Governor's
Award for Artistic Endeavor) for it's "Playwright's Forum" new
play series and the THEATREWORKS Shakespeare Festival. Professor
Patterson has acted in numerous Shakespeare companies around the
country and currently performs in the summers with the Actors
Theatre of West Chesterfield, NH. Dan is also proud of the Kennedy
Center Medallion that was awarded to Keene State College for hosting
the Festival four times in the mid 80's.
Céline Perron
Céline
Perron is currently an Associate Professor at Keene State
College. Over the past fifteen years, Céline has gained national
and international recognition for her work in scenic and lighting
design. Her designs have been featured in more than forty theatrical
productions staged throughout the US and Canada, including the
Provincetown Theatre Company, Theatre d'la Vielle 17, the Milton
Academy, the Cultural Center in Maui, and the University of Las
Vegas. Her most recent design works include The Bacchae, A Doll
House, Angels in America, Part I, and Waiting For Godot. Céline
recently directed The Vagina Monologues, and is currently directing
Marcel Pursued by the Hounds by Michel Tremblay at Keene State
College.
Cathy Plourde
Cathy Plourde teaches and designs scenery and lighting at Salem State College and has been since 1983. He earned his MFA in Design and Technical Theatre at Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. He chaired the SSC Theatre and Speech Communication Department from 1998 to 2006. He worked on over 70 productions at SSC and was the KCACTF Region I Design Coordinator from 1993 to 1996. In addition to the BA and BFA design courses, he teaches Introduction to Theatre Arts and Theatre History.
Suzanne Ramczyk
Suzanne
Ramczyk is a Professor of Theatre Arts at Bridgewater State
College, where she teachers predominantly performance courses,
as well as Play Analysis and Directing. She recently completed
a sabbatical during which she worked for Trinity Repertory Theatre
and wrote a book on performing 17th century comedies of manners.
With an undergraduate degree in classical voice, she spent several
years performing musical theatre and completed her Ph.D. in Acting
Pedagogy, writing her dissertation on the performance demands
of musical theatre. She has a love for and spends much of her
directorial time staging the classics in new ways. She also enjoys
working with new adaptations, having just completed one of Antigone.
She has established herself as a period style expert in the region,
conducting numerous workshops and consulting in the comedies of
the 17th and 18th centuries and Shakespeare. Finally, as a movement
teacher and choreographer, she also enjoys movement-based pieces.
Patricia Riggin
Patricia
Riggin works in the theatre as a director, actor and teacher.
After receiving her undergraduate degree at Cornell University
and her MFA from Brandeis, she continued her training in New York
City where she had the good fortune to work with many wonderful
teachers, including William Esper, Kristin Linklater, Michael
Howard, Ed Stern, and Caymichael Patton. Patricia’s training
in voice led to her designation as a Linklater teacher and her
many years with Bill Esper gave her a rich background in the Meisner
technique. She has coached actors and led workshops in these approaches
throughout the country.
Patricia began her teaching career in New York, working at Circle
in the Square and Hunter College before moving to New England.
After teaching at the University of Maine and Emerson College
as a guest artist, she joined the faculty at Boston College. For
the college’s 2004-2005 season, Patricia directed the New
England premiere of Credible Witness by Timberlake Wertenbaker
and Necessary Targets by Eve Ensler. These productions were part
of a major conference “Lessons Learned from the Balkan Conflicts”
that drew diplomats and peace workers from around the globe. At
B.C. she has also directed Hope by Terence McNally and new short
works for the Boston College Arts Festival. While teaching at
Emerson College, she directed the New England premiere of Lion
In the Streets by Judith Thompson and To Kill a Mockingbird in
their downtown Boston Majestic Theatre.
Patricia Riggin has directed professionally for such companies
at Boston Playwrights Theatre (Boston Theatre Marathon), Bar Harbor
Theatre, Maine Shakespeare Festival, Penobscot Theatre, Contemporary
Theatre of Syracuse, and Portland Stage Company. In New York,
she has staged numerous new plays and worked with both the Women
In Theatre Festival and the Spotlight on Women series, producing
new works by women playwrights. She has been a guest artist at
numerous colleges, directing over forty productions in her career
In 1995, Patricia began her involvement with KCACTF, first as
a respondent and then as a member of the Region I selection team.
She then became vice chair for playwriting, working with Kate
Snodgrass, artistic director of Boston Playwrights Theatre. In
2001, she was elected NPP Chair for Region I and served in that
position for four years. During this time, she began the region’s
new “1x2” One Act Event.
Patricia is a member of Actors’ Equity, AFTRA, and ATHE.
Her most recent project is the establishment of the AHANA Collective
Theatre (ACT@BC) that is dedicated to bringing new works by Asian,
Latino, Native American, and African-American playwrights to the
Boston College community. She lives outside of Boston with her
husband, daughter, and two insane cats.
Elisabeth Roos
Elisabeth
Roos (Design Chair, Region I) has taught design for the past
thirteen years at Keene State College where she is Associate Professor
of Theatre, Dance and Film. In addition to being Costume Designer,
she oversees the costume shop. She holds degrees from Smith College
and Northwestern University. KC/ACTF Region I audiences will remember
her costume designs for The Servant of Two Masters and Next Time
By Fire.
Susan
Sanders
I am the Coordinator of Theater, Chairperson
of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, Religion, and Philosophy
(the last two are one guy) and the advisor to the Top Notch Players.
I usually serve as the set designer, costume designer, lighting
designer, technical director and producer. This semester I will
be directing and I have a student doing the costume design. My
specialty is set design. I also act, but not often anymore. My
undergraduate degree is from Ithaca College. I have a Masters
in Education/English from Elmira College and a Masters of Science
in Speech (I took only theater courses:) - long story) from Emerson
College.
Myron L. Schmidt
Myron L. Schmidt is Professor
of Theatre and Department Chair of the Communication, Visual and
Performing Arts Department at Dean College, Franklin, MA. He received
his BA in Speech and Drama from Valparaiso University, an MA in
Theatre Education from Emerson College and an Ed.D. in Higher
Education Administration from Vanderbilt University. Presently
completing his 30th year at Dean College, he has been involved
in over 90 productions as director, producer or designer. He most
recently directed The Laramie Project, A Chorus Line, Don't Drink
the Water, Hair, 42nd Street, Pippin, The Boys From Syracuse and
Gypsy. In addition to serving as a faculty member, he has also
served as the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Vice President
for Academic Affairs. Recently, he performed the role of Louis
Morris in 1776 at the Orpheum Theatre, Foxboro, MA. This spring
he will return to the stage to perform the role of Martin Vanderhoff
in You Can't Take It With You, a role he also performed his senior
year in high school.
Ann Marie Shea
Ann Marie Shea, (professor emerita, Worcester State College) earned her Ph.D. at New York University and a master’s degree at The Catholic University. Her short plays have been produced at Redfeather Theatre Company (The M-Pill), and Boston Theatre Marathon and Shakespeare & Company (With Improvements by the Actors), and have been read at Last Frontier Theatre Festival in Valdez, AK (Members Only, Land’s End Café). Most recent acting gigs include Maria (Twelfth Night, Redfeather Theatre) Cass (The Loves of Cass McGuire, Pilgrim Soul Productions) and various old ladies at Stoneham Theatre. Directing credits at WSC include Constance Congdon’s Tales of the Lost Formicans, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, Lisa Loomer’s The Waiting Room and David Ives’ Time Flies. Her productions of Brundibar, an opera for children, and Aurand Harris’ The Arkansaw Bear each won the NETC Moss Hart Memorial Award. She is the Dean of the College of Fellows of New England Theatre Conference.
Kate Snodgrass
Kate Snodgrass
is the Producing Director of Boston Playwrights' Theatre at Boston
University and the Artistic Director of the Elliot Norton Award-winning
Boston Theater Marathon. Her playwriting credits include the Heideman
Award-winning one-act "Haiku", the short plays "L'Air Des Alpes,"
"Que Sera, Sera," "Critics' Circle," and the full-length "Observatory,"
winner of the 1999 Independent Reviewers of New England Award
for "Best New Play." She is the former Playwriting Chair of Region
I in the KC/ACTF and a 2001 recipient of a Kennedy Center Medallion.
She was awarded Boston's "Theater Hero" Award in 2001 by StageSource,
Inc.
Ron Spangler
Ron Spangler
(Region I Co-Chair) is heading into his fourteenth year at Keene
State College, where he is currently chair of the Department of
Theatre, Dance and Film. He has also taught at Kent State University
in Ohio, and at California State University at Northridge. Ron
teaches Acting, Directing and Voice and Diction at Keene, along
with the occasional seminar. In a place long ago and far away
Ron started out wanting to be an actor, and he still does act
when he gets the chance - most recently for PeggyRae Johnson in
Sylvia, but also for Bob Lawson at Franklin Pierce. And although
Ron is still a hoofer at heart and loves musical theatre (he can
do a time step when his ankle isn't broken), his directing efforts
as of late (Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and The Bacchae)
have moved him into territories he would never have imagined when
he was an undergrad (lo, those many, many years ago!).
Keene State College
Department of Theatre, Dance and Film
229 Main Street
Keene, NH 03435-2405
603-358-2190
Steve Stettler
Steve
Stettler is Resident Producing Director of the Weston Playhouse,
Vermont's oldest professional theatre, where his directing credits
include PROOF, FLOYD COLLINS (Moss Hart Award for Best Production
in New England) and New England Tours of DANCING AT LUGHNASA,
MASTER CLASS and DAVID COPPERFIELD. He has directed in New York,
regionally on both coasts and internationally. A former Artistic
Director of the Obie Award winning TNT/The New Theatre of Brooklyn
and a longtime instructor of acting for the O'Neill Theater Center's
National Theater Institute, he serves as a site reporter for the
National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on
the Arts.
Nancy R. Stone
I'm Nancy
R. Stone, Prof. of Theatre Arts, at Franklin Pierce College.
I have been at FPC, since the fall of 1985(is that really 16 years
ago?). Before that I taught at Hollins College in VA. It was there
that I had my introduction to ACTF. Before that I taught at Boston
University, which also where I received my MFA in 1974. Before
I went back to school, I was a high school theatre teacher in
Wichita, Kans. and also did theatre at Wichita State University.
My undergrad degree is from Kansas State University. I like directing
a wide range of material, but seem to be most successful with
American realism and theatre of the absurd. I have also directed
musicals, but never without a musical director and choreographer(I
tend to confuse actors beats with musical beats). Like Dan, I
enjoy new work. I have directed new plays at Playwrights Platform,
Boston Playwrights Theatre, the annual ATHE conference, and at
the Region I 5x10's. I am a past chair of KC/ACTF Region I and
enjoy responding to productions when my own directing and teaching
schedule allows.
Robin Stone
Robin Stone is Assistant Professor of Theatre at Roger Williams University. Robin earned his B.T. (acting and directing) from Willamette University, his M.F.A. (directing) from Minnesota State University-Mankato, and his Ph.D. in Theatre (scholarship, history, theory/criticism) from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Robin is an active member of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and works professionally as an actor, director, and lighting designer in his spare time. Robin began his involvement with KC/ACTF as a student and has participated in several regional festivals around the country before moving to New England.
Luke Sutherland
Luke Sutherland is
the Technical Director and Scenic Designer at the Community College
of Rhode Island for the past 20 years. He has worked professionally
in Film, Opera, Television, and Theatre throughout the country.
As a Set Dresser for IATSE Local 52 in NYC, his work can be seen
in The Siege, The Corrupter, Shaft Returns, Music From the Heart,
Mickey Blue Eyes, and in episodes of Law and Order SVU. Luke's
Opera and Theatre credits range from working at the Spoleto Festival
USA in Charleston SC, Virginia Opera, La Jolla Playhouse, Paper
Mill Playhouse, and Trinity Rep, to name only a few. He continues
to work in NYC in film and TV, as well as working periodically
in theatres in the New England region. Luke is a member of New
England Theatre Conference Board of Directors (NETC), College
and University Theatre Division, and co-chaired the NETC 2003
Convention held in Providence, RI. He is a guest Scenic Designer
at the University of Rhode Island and teaches Stagecraft at Rhode
Island College. Luke is a member of USITT and also an active respondent
for the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival Region
1.
Dr. James Taylor
Dr. James “Jamie”
Taylor, Jr., a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, received
a B.A. from the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill
(1992) in Radio, Television, & Motion Picture (Dramatic Performance
concentration); a M.A. from California State University—Los
Angeles (1995) in Theatre Arts; and a PhD from Florida State University
(200) in Dramaturgy and Theatre. Dr. Taylor’s main courses
are Theatre History, Dramatic Literature, Directing, and Introduction
to Theatre. His areas of specialization are: 20th century acting
theories, August Wilson, African-American theatre, Greek theatre,
and Shakespearean tragedies.
Jamie has appeared in several collegiate plays as an actor, director,
or dramaturg. His original plays (Blood Line, Bodies
That Blow in the Wind, When A Black Woman Speaks and White Man’s
A Comin’) have all been produced by the Black
Actors Guild in Tallahassee, Florida. He also worked as a dramaturg
at Florida State University for Hello, Dolly!, The
Threepenny Opera, Fences, and for colored girls who have considered
suicide when the rainbow is enuf. He has directed
several stage plays and readings: Flyin’ West,
Day of Absence, Dutchman, From Africa to America,
to name a few.
Dr. Taylor is a member of the following organizations: American
Society for Theatre Research (ASTR), Association for Theatre in
Higher Education (ATHE), Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the
Americas (LMDA), New England Theatre Conference, Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity, Incorporated, and Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society (life-time
member). He currently serves as Faculty Advisor of the Theatre
Organization here at Rhode Island College. While at Rhode Island
College, Jamie has directed the following the plays: The
Little Foxes, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, The Boys Next
Door, I Hate Hamlet, To Kill A Mockingbird, and
Steel Magnolias.
Dr. Taylor is the recipient of the following awards and honors:
McKnight Doctoral Fellowship (FSU), WEB DuBois Academic Excellence
Award (FSU), Thurgood Marshall Honor Society Award (McKnight),
2-time Minority Academic Excellence Award (UNC), Coors Academic
Excellence Scholarship (CSLA), National Dean’s List Academic
Honoree (CSLA), the Honors Convocation Award (CSLA), and the Urbanisk
Minority Award for Outstanding Community Service (FSU).
Terry Wunder
My name is Terry
Wunder, and I am one of those people who reside at the Northern
tip of Maine. I am an associate professor of theatre at the University
of Maine at Fort Kent, and I do everything here-acting, directing,
designing, technical direction, theatre history, dramatic literature,
etc. I have been here in Maine for the last 7 years. I am originally
from Kansas, and I received my Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University.
My specialty is, well, whatever seems to come to mind at the time.
I am still interested in responding; however, the distance between
the nearest university and myself is quite far. Yet, do not let
that stop you from informing me about plays. I don't get out enough,
and would like to participate as much as possible. Take care.
