Spotlight On...Keira Keeley

Name: Keira Keeley

Hometown: Born in Williamsport, PA but moved around America a lot growing up (Monroe, CT; Buffalo, NY; Phoenix, AZ; Mechanicsburg, PA; Clifton, VA; Elmira, NY; and then lots more moving around as an adult)

Education: BA in Theater & in English from Rollins College (magna cum laude); Actors Theater of Louisville Acting Apprentice.

Favorite Credits: Angels in America, Part 1: Millennium Approaches & Part 2: Perestroika (Harper, Signature Theatre); The Glass Menagerie (Laura, Long Wharf, Roundabout, and the Mark Taper, Theater World Award Winner); F2M (Parker, NYSF); Proof (Catherine, MRT)

Why theater?: I wanted to live as many lives as I could, so being in theater allows me to be many people with different jobs, perspectives, and passions.

Tell us about How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them: This is a twisted comedy that follows two sisters (played by me & Katya Campbell) and their friend (played by Jen Ponton) free-falling from childhood through adulthood without any guidance while trying to grow and mature into independent healthy well-adjusted adults, which is basically impossible.  They only have each other, and it’s like the blind leading the blind full of codependency, bullying, manipulation, betrayal, and fatal loyalty.  It’s a really stylized production that clips along at only 90 minutes with lots of laughter and lots of gasps.  I think it’s kind of like riding a wooden rollercoaster.

What is it like being a part of How to Make Friends and Then Kill Them?: Intense!  I feel like an athlete considering how much running and jumping and stage combat I do every night!  Or maybe a warrior!  I love the collaboration and I have a lot of fun performing this role.  This show challenges me, and I like it.  Everyone involved in this production is so smart, creative, and courageous.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?:  Shows that take risks, that are raw, vulnerable, and fierce.  Shows that upon seeing, change the individuals of the audience and how they perceive and interact with the world. People.  Watching people—strangers—go through moments of their day and wondering what their story is.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: I think I’d have a lot of fun playing Puck.  I’d also like a crack at Lady Gertrude or even Hamlet.  And you can sign me up for anything by Beckett.  I also really love New Works—giving a character on a page breath, life, movement for the first time.

What’s your favorite showtune?: Aw jeeze, I see musicals and enjoy them, but I don’t have a lot of showtunes on my iPod—certainly not enough to declare a favorite.  Sorry!

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Quentin Tarantino & Woody Allen.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I bet Juliette Lewis or Parker Posey would do a bang-up job.  I’m the 4th of 5 children, and all our names start with “K,” so maybe “K4” would be a good title.  Sounds like an adventure!

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I put recommendations of shows I’ve seen on my public Facebook page; Signature Theater in NYC often delivers.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Marathon watching a TV series—easiest guiltiest way to lose a day.

What’s up next?: I have been cast in a theater production here in NYC immediately following How To Make Friends and Then Kill Them, but it’ll have to stay hush-hush until the official press release.  ☺  Stay tuned on my website www.keirakeeley.com and on my Facebook and Twitter!

Spotlight On...Colleen O'Connor

Name: Colleen O'Connor

Hometown: Frisco, TX

Education: Circle in the Square Theatre School

Favorite Credits: Two Noble Kinsmen (Circle in the Square); Free Delivery (Strange Men and Co.); FRESH PRODUCE'D NYC

Why theater?: I think theatre is one of the most powerful ways to tell a story and inspire conversation. It's a living, breathing art form and being on stage and telling stories is where I breath most clearly.

Tell us about Sexless in the Boroughs?: When I first moved to NYC I started a blog under the same title. The blog served as a kind of coming out for me as an old virgin and an outlet for me to sit down and make sense of my life and experiences. Back in February the idea struck me to turn it into a piece of theatre because I had finally figured out why I was an old virgin and I thought I had a relatable and important story to tell. So I contacted Kyle Metzger and asked him if he would be interested in helping me make it happen. Luckily he was and with his infinite gift of story telling he helped me craft my blog into a show that we are both very proud of.

What inspired you to create Sexless in the Boroughs?: A friend told me that he "doesn't fly Virgin Airlines because there is too much baggage." So I laughed because I mean that's funny and then I started to be overcome by fear of being an old spinster so I decided to just dive head first into the fear and try to figure out my struggles...in front of an audience, naturally.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: This is a tough question for me because I love all types of theatre. In this day and age it's hard for our brains to really engage in a show and not be distracted by our own thoughts but when I experience a piece of theatre that transports me into the world they've created and they allow me to live with them for the night, that's magic. As far as inspiration, well I should just tell you that the word 'inspire' in my absolute favorite word. I think inspiration comes from everyday things and I think the more open we are to being inspired by family, friends, lovers AND strangers, then it will be easier to love each other and understand each other. Does that make sense? Humans inspire me is what I am saying basically. All humans fascinate me.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I am open and always excited to work with anyone with passion but I gotta be honest...if I could work with Mark Rylance...I would probably combust with utter joy.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Absolutely Twelfth Night and Richard III because I think everyone should have experience and privilege of seeing Mark Rylance on stage. He will change your life. Truly.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Well I wrote a play about my life and I am playing myself...so since I am already on the 'ME ME ME' train...can I do it? If not let's give Dame Judy Dench a call. She could be my grandma but I think she would give a good showing...and I think it would be pretty funny to tell people that Dame Judy Dench is playing me. And let's call the movie "Having Sex in the Boroughs."

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Ice cream. No question.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Wishing I was.

What’s up next?: Having sex. Ha. I'm just kidding...or am I?

For more on Sexless in the Boroughs, visit http://www.terranovacollective.org/sexless-in-the-boroughs.html For more on The Glass Eye, visit http://glasseyenyc.wordpress.com

Spotlight On...Michael Rau

Name: Michael Rau

Hometown: Chicago

Education: Wesleyan University, Columbia University MFA Directing Program

Favorite Credits: "Song of a Convalescent Ayn Rand Giving Thanks to the Godhead in the Lydian Mode" at Joe's Pub

Why theater?: Theater is the only art form that uses all the other arts (art, music, literature,) to create events in space and time.

Tell us about David’s RedHaired Death: David's RedHaired Death is an exploration of how a single event can change your life completely.

What inspired you to direct David’s RedHaired Death?: I read the script and I was excited by how open the script would be to a really visual poetic treatment. I'm interested in creating theater that isn't just a replication of reality, but allows a window into another person's experience of the world. We're using 180 degrees of projections and aerialists to find poetic ways to express the language of the text.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I'm interested in creating experiences, and I'm fascinated by the tension between the utterly fake (theatrical) aspects of theater, and the completely true and (un-fake) aspect of theater. I've been inspired by Anne Bogart, Robert Woodruff, and Dimitris Papaioannou.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Mozart.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: "On the Floor, next to the Trash"--starring The Black Keys

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: the HarmonTown Podcast.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: There is no alternative.

Spotlight On...John Kurzynowski

Name: John Kurzynowski

Hometown: Point Pleasant, NJ

Education: BFA, NYU Tisch, Experimental Theater Wing

Favorite credits: As a director, Jaclyn Backhaus' The Three Seagulls, or MASHAMASHAMASHA! for Theater Reconstruction Ensemble. As an actor, The Really Big Once for Target Margin Theater.

Why theater?: I was bit by the theater bug at an early age. I'm from Jersey, so growing up my parents would bring me to every Broadway play or musical, and I always knew that I wanted to be a part of that world. It wasn't until college that I discovered the experimental and downtown theater scene, and the rest is history. I finally felt like I had found a community where my particular and strange artistic voice would be heard and supported, which ultimately led to the formation of Theater Reconstruction Ensemble.

Tell us about Salesmen?: Salesmen is the exploration of American realism as seen through the lens of memory and masculinity. TRE has spent this past season trying to better understand realism and that era in American drama (specifically the 1930s - 50s) and how it relates to us as a contemporary ensemble of artists. Our first production, Jaclyn Backhaus' Set in the Living Room of a Small Town American Play, charted that exploration through the use of a script written in the style of that era and our relationship to the process of telling a particular story. Salesmen is a devised piece that strays away from a narrative structure and instead charts our exploration of realism as though through memory and time itself, which are both more abstract and unreliable than plot and story. Being created and presented by a group of eight men, it also taps into the inherent masculinity of that era and our contemporary notions of masculinity in theater.

What inspired you to create Salesmen?: I have always loved the plays of the 40s and 50s, and have been fascinated by that era in theater. But the style of that period, particularly the Method, has always been a mystery to me. I studied it in college and it seems to come up over and over again, but I've always felt like it and I are just cut from two separate cloths. So naturally I wanted to better understand why I had never related to it and how it could be confronted in a new way. Essentially, I wanted to learn more about why I simultaneously love and reject that style and share that process with our audience.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love any kind of theater that somehow reinvents or reinterprets our established notions of right and wrong, and is essentially wholly true to itself. I'm a huge fan of established companies and artists like Target Margin Theater, Elevator Repair Service, The Talking Band, David Greenspan, and Ivo van Hove, but I'm also constantly falling in love with new companies and artists like Tugboat Collective, Fresh Ground Pepper, and Kristine Haruna Lee.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Taylor Mac! Hands down!

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812! If you haven't seen it yet, you must this fall/winter! It's one of the most beautiful shows I've ever seen!

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I had to ask around a bit, but the general consensus is Jay Baruchel, which I personally find flattering. As far as the title goes, maybe something like "We Could Talk About Theater, or Not Talk About Theater: The John Kurzynowski Story (Brought To You By Lifetime)".

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Netflix. By far. It's starting to control my life a bit...

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: I think I'd be working in the design field - graphic design or interior design.

What’s up next?: I'll be acting in The Talking Band's episodic puppet piece The Golden Toad, and directing TRE's latest work-in-development You On The Moors Now, by Jaclyn Backhaus and the company.

Spotlight On...Hunter Canning

Name: Hunter Canning

Hometown: Los Angeles, California

Education: BFA from the SUNY Purchase Acting Conservatory

Select Credits: War Horse (Joey as a foal, Lincoln Center); The Late Christopher Bean (Warren Creamer, TACT); Doctor Faustus (Robin, The Brick, directed by John Kurzynowski)

Why theater?: It's collaborative, demanding, energizing, thrilling, down-right terrifying at times, painful, full of hope and there's nothing else like it in my life.

Tell us about Salesmen: Salesmen is a dreamlike exploration into questions about masculinity and the genre of American Realism. As an audience member you may not always know exactly what's going on but it'll feel oddly familiar. It's like a splatter painting, shapes take form and stories present themselves. As creators, we know what's going on under each moment but it'll be up to the audience to decide what the piece is about.

What is it like being a part of Salesmen?: It's pretty trippy. A lot of the process was about trying to remember a faded, distant memory and then recreate the memory of remembering... the memory. As heady as it sounds, it often materialized in movement sequences which later became meticulous blocking we filled with story and subtext. The process of Salesmen reminds me of what I'm told about Williams S. Burroughs when he was writing Naked Lunch. He would cut up his pages into stripes and rearrange the text to create a lucid, liquid experience. The effect feels a bit like déjà vu.
Working on Salesmen is also just a ton of fun. The cast is a blast, each of the guys bring a completely different perspective to the room.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: At the risk of sounding cheesy, artists that put their heart on the line. People want to look cool all the time and you know what? Cool is boring. I also draw a lot of inspiration from photography, Robert Frank being one of my favorites.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf.  When I was in high school that play changed my entire outlook on theater. I have a while though before I'll get a stab at it.

What’s your favorite showtune?: "Unworthy Of Your Love" from Assassins

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: William H. Macy, it's on my bucket list to play his son.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Kurzynowski and I have joked that my movie would be called "From The Brick to Broadway and back to The Brick". My friends have said that Shawn Ashmore is my Hollywood doppelganger.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: I just saw Natural Affection starring the wonderful Kathryn Erbe. John Pankow as the troubled neighbor is doing heartbreakingly beautiful work.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: I love the TV show "Castle" starring Nathan Fillion & Stana Katic. Apparently the main demographic for that show is middle aged women but I think it's fantastic. The entire cast is stellar, it's sweet, funny and gives you everything you'd want in under an hour.

What’s up next?: I'm filming a web series called Whatever this is. from the creative team who made The Outs.  Our next public screening will be hosted by The Paley Center as apart of PaleyFest: Made in New York on October 5th. There will be a cast/crew panel moderated by the wonderful John Cameron Mitchell. Episode 4 premiers October 28th at Sanos down on White Street.

Spotlight On...Eddie Prunoske

Name: Eddie Prunoske

Hometown: Rochester, NY

Education: SUNY Purchase

Favorite Credits: A party/production of Three Sisters in my loft apartment a few years back.

Why theater?: I love the idea of a bunch of strangers in a room sharing the same experience together.  Making and seeing theater, you’re allowed (and it is a necessity) to be vulnerable and messy and scared and excited with a group of people you might not know.  I don’t think that is so acceptable many other places.

Tell us about feeling.?: feeling. Is about a young college professor whose boyfriend of 9 years abruptly leaves the relationship.  She begins to hallucinate a friendship with deceased serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to help her navigate through her grief and loneliness.

What inspired you to direct feeling.?: I love the play, I love Paul’s point of view, and I was lucky enough to have him let me direct it.  It straddles the line between beauty and ugliness, and takes big risks.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theater that straddles the line between beauty and ugliness, and takes big risks.  I like theater that strives to commune with its audience.  My inspiration comes mostly from the people I’m working with on any particular production.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I’d love to AD for Ivo Van Hove and David Cromer.  There’s about a million actors I’d give an organ to get to collaborate with.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: It’s been running for a couple of years, but I’m still reeling from Sleep No More.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I’d like to be played by Patricia Clarkson, and would trust her to choose the title.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Nachos and The Real Housewives franchise.

If you weren’t working in theater, you would be _____?: Well-rested, less neurotic, wandering aimlessly.

What’s up next?: Lots of sleep, replenishing my bank account, and figuring out what’s next.

Spotlight On...Diana Beshara

Name: Diana Beshara

Hometown: West Palm Beach, FL

Education: BA in Theater from Northwestern University

Select Credits: Cowboy Mouth (One Old Crow), Love Letter You've Been Meaning To Write New York (3LD), The Bacchae (NU)

Why theater?: You know that electricity that finds a way to magically jump from heartbeat to heartbeat, suddenly and undeniably uniting an entire room of people that may have nothing more in common than being a human being currently breathing? For that. In no other space have I so viscerally felt magic happen. And had hope for the future. It's such an old and important ritual, to us as a species, watching and sharing as someone tells a story. There's power in that.

Tell us about David’s RedHaired Death: David's RedHaired Death is the beautiful, complicated story of two redheads who find they have everything in common until the death of a brother drives them apart. The redhaired mythology that empowers and glorifies these women leads them into a big love they can't safely get back out of. It's a story about the heaviness of the things we carry. Our version incorporates aerial silks, 3 walls of immersive projections and video that encompasses the audience, and a food and drink menu in collaboration with the restaurant Cantina Royal. Plus, the ticket includes a beer!

What made you want to produce Davi'd RedHaired Death: A friend, who is now co-producing the show, Elizabeth Simmons, was the one who brought the show to me. At first, it seemed like a logical next step from my company's first production, a site specific version of Sam Shepard's Cowboy Mouth in an apartment in the Lower East Side. That was a two person show, this is a two person show plus some silent presences. That was a one act, this is a full length. Neither seem so concerned with things like plot, on the surface, and leave a lot of open space for interpretation, which I love in a piece. Slowly but surely getting a little bigger, you know? When you are a small new company that has no idea where the money will come from next, these are viable concerns. Plus the language is so beautiful and poetic, I just wanted to chew on it. We started talking logistics, and it just was rolling right along. But then. Then, my father died. And her aunt died. Within four days of each other. This is a show about grief and loss. It seemed too hot to even think about, so  the project went on hold, and I went into mourning. But the more and more I held, the more and more I told myself I couldn't possibly do this show, the more and more obsessed I became with it. I really believe that things come into your life for a reason. "There are no coincidences," as Jean says in the play, and this show needed me to deal with it right at this time.  So, it actually has a beautiful and tragic symmetry to it. My father is the person who inspired me to believe that I could even do something as crazy as make my own work. I never would have started a company if he hadn't given me the idea and pushed me to make it a reality. The last thing he would have wanted is for me to stop doing what I love because of him. So in the end, I'm doing this show for him, in his honor. And I just hope I can do a little bit of justice to all the faith he had in me.
 
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I like theater that surprises you. I like not knowing what to expect, but then when you see it, it feels inevitable, like it couldn't have been any other way. But really, anything true speaks to me and touches me. I'm laughably sensitive, and could go "American Beauty" crazy over a plastic bag, if it feels true. I can't tell you how many beautiful moments that bring me to tears in commute. I love being in New York. This city inspires me!

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Queen Margaret in the first Tetralogy (the entire cycle, all in a row, if possible), and Vanda in Venus in Furs

What’s your favorite showtune?: I don't listen to them so often, but the other day I randomly came across Sondheim's "Being Alive on an old iPod that I thought was broken but came back to life. It gave me chills.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I have the biggest crush on Julie Taymor. I think she would be at the top of my list. But really so many people. I just want to work with everyone. Working on something is my favorite part, I always want to be working on something.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I feel like Lizzie Kaplan would get me. I have no idea what it would be called, and I hate these questions. I thought briefly of asking my friends, but I'm a little afraid of what they might come up with!

What show have you recommended to your friends?: It's not playing anymore, but I told everyone I know to go see Young Jean Lee's We're Gonna Die at LCT3 this summer. It was so honest and vulnerable, and I felt honored to have seen and shared with her that experience.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Philly Cheesesteaks. Everyone is always so grossed out, but whenever I pass a Papaya Dog, or Gray's Papaya, I have an (almost) uncontrollable urge to eat one.

What’s up next?: Well, we've got David's RedHaired Death running until Nov 10th at LA SALA @ Cantina Royal in Williamsburg. And after that, I have this idea for a solo performance based on this memoir I found about this 19 year old Midwestern girl that self published her journal and basically manifested her own fabulous (and then sad) destiny that I really want to focus on developing. That will be a really new direction for me, and I'm excited!