MEET THE DIRECTOR
MITCHELL HÉBERT (Director): Mitchell was most recently seen at Forum as George in The Language Archive. He is the recipient of the 2012 The Helen Hayes/Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor, Resident Play, for his performance of Quentin in After the Fall at Theatre J. He is a long-time Company Member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre where he was last seen in the revival of Clybourne Park. His many credits at Woolly include The Gigli Concert, Heaven, Patience, Kvetch, and The Clean House. He has performed at many of the DC area’s leading theatres including Round House Theatre, where he is a member of its Artist’s Round Table, and Olney Theatre Center, where he directed Rabbit Hole. He has also performed at Shakespeare Theatre C, The Studio Theatre, Theater of the First Amendment, Rep Stage, and Everyman Theatre. Upcoming projects: Mitchell will direct a co-production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing, China, in fall 2012 and Glengarry Glen Ross at Round House in January 2013. He has been nominated for two Helen Hayes Awards (Clybourne Park and The Drawer Boy) and received the Greater Baltimore Theatre Award for Outstanding Actor in Uncle Vanya. He is on the faculty of the University of Maryland’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, where he is a Professor of Acting and Directing. As always, for C & E.
MEET THE CAST
AARON BLIDEN (The Amanuensis/Geronte): Aaron is thrilled to join Forum for the first time. He is equally thrilled to reprise the role of the Amanuensis, having played the role at the University of Maryland in 2009. Credits include the Second City/Woolly Mammoth Theatre collaboration Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies, Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher with Pointless Theatre, The Hunchback Variations with First Stage, Become What You Are with Flying V, Rabbit Hole at Olney Theatre Center, Winter Under The Table with Infinite Stage, and Please Listen: A Musical Chaos with Open Drawer Theatre Company. In addition, Aaron is a composer, playwright, and founding company member of Pointless Theatre.
JOE BRACK (Pleribo/Adraste/Prince Florilame): Joe is very grateful to return to Forum Theatre, having recently played Gabriel in Mad Forest, Bob the Pizza Boy in bobrauschenburgamerica, and the twitchy Basil/Voltaire in Marat/Sade. Most recently, Joe appeared in Astro Boy and the God of Comics at Studio Theatre, and After the Fall at Theatre J. A former company member of Constellation Theatre Company, Joe has performed in On the Razzle, The Ramayana, Three Sisters, A Flea in Her Ear, Crazyface, The Marriage of Figaro, and The Oresteia. He has also been seen in Mary Stuart and Peace with WSC – Avant Bard, Cat’s Cradle with Longacre Lea, As You Like It (Touchstone) in Virginia Shakespeare Festival, and Playing from the Heart and Lyle the Crocodile at Imagination Stage. Joe is a proud member of audio book voice over actors at Graphic Audio. Next up, Joe can be heard as Benedick, Don John, and Dogberry, in Lean & Hungry Theatre's Live Broadcast of Much Ado About Nothing on WAMU Radio, June 24th, then seen in his one-man version of S. Morganstern's, The Princess Bride, this summer at the Warehouse Elevator Room as part of the 2012 Capital Fringe Festival.
GWEN GRASTORF (Elicia/Lyse/Clarina): Gwen is delighted to be working on her first Forum show. She is also glad to be working again with Mitchell Hébert, since studying with him years ago at the University of Maryland, College Park. Gwen was seen recently in The Nightmare Dreamer with Tattooed Potato and A Commedia Romeo & Juliet with Faction of Fools. Other credits include shows with Constellation Theatre (where she is an Associate Artist), as well as Happenstance Theater, Bright Alchemy Theatre, Doorway Arts Ensemble, Solas Nua, Rorschach Theatre, WSC – Avant Bard, the Source Festival, the Capital Fringe Festival, and the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage. Gwen would like to thank her family and friends for their continued love and support.
MARK HALPERN (Calisto/Clindor/Theogenes): Mark is thrilled to be returning to Forum Theatre where he appeared in Mad Forest this past fall. Other DC theatre credits include Blood Wedding with Constellation Theatre Company, House of Gold and Fever/Dream with Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Cab Calloway’s Minnie the Moocher with Pointless Theatre Company, and Please Listen: A Musical Chaos (which he co-wrote with Aaron Bliden) with Open Drawer Theatre. This fall, Mark will be appearing in Conference of the Birds at Folger Theatre directed by Aaron Posner. Mark is also working on a couple of musicals with Aaron Bliden: Overwhelming Stimulus and Go To Hell, Eugene!, which was recently work shopped at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with No Rules Theatre Company in association with the Kennedy Center.
NANNA INGVARSSON (Alcandre): Nanna is pleased to be back at Forum where she has appeared in The Language Archive, One Flea Spare, Angels in America, and The Skriker. Other area credits include: Greek, Sink the Belgrano, Dark, and After the Orgy with SCENA, Green Bird, Three Sisters, Marriage of Figaro, and The Oresteia with Constellation, Woman and Scarecrow and Scenes from the Big Picture with Solas Nua, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom with Ganymede, Lady Chatterly’s Lover, Fool for Love, A Streetcar Named Desire, Dirty Linen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Uncle Vanya, No Exit, Macbeth, Bloody Poetry, and Hamlet with WSC – Avant Bard, Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Hostage with Keegan, and The Rocky Horror Show (Helen Hayes Award) at Woolly Mammoth. Nanna also received a 2011 Boomerang Fund for Artists grant. Find her at www.nannaingvarsson.com.
BRIAN HEMMINGSEN (Pridamont): Brian’s previous Forum appearance was in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. He was mostly recently seen as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest at SCENA Theater. Other credits include Three Sisters and The Orestia with Constellation, Krapp’s Last Tape with New Island/Keegan Theater, Death of a Salesman and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Keegan Theatre, Woman and Scarecrow, Scenes from the Big Picture, and Bedbound with Solas Nua, Waiting for Godot, Hamlet, Bloody Poetry, Julius Caesar, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Uncle Vanya with WSC – Avant Bard; Endgame, Stakeout at Godot’s, Tropical Madness, Salome, Little Criminals, The Importance of Being Oscar, and Jungle of the Cities with SCENA, Bug, and Our Lady of 121st Street at Woolly Mammoth, Hello and Goodbye, True West, and Fool for Love at Source Theatre, and Last Days at the Dixie Girl Café with Horizons. Brian was a founding ensemble member of WSC – Avant Bard (then Washington Shakespeare Co.) and was Artistic Director from 1993-1996.
SCOTT MCCORMICK (Matamore): Scott feels honored and pleased to be returning to Forum for the third time and to The Illusion for the second time. Previously he has appeared with Forum in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (two times) and most recently in Scorched here in Silver Spring. Scott has also appeared in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Amadeus at Round House Theatre, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Helen Hayes winner Best Ensemble) with Catalyst Theatre, Russian National Postal Service at Studio Theatre, As You Like It at Folger Theatre, Big Death/Little Death at Woolly Mammoth, Gross Indecencies: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and Haroun and the Sea of Stories with Theatre Alliance, Splinters in Source Theatre Festival, and ‘Tis Pity She's a Whore in the Capital Fringe Festival. Scott is a company member of Rorschach Theatre where he has appeared in over a dozen productions, most recently The Gallerist, Living Dead in Denmark, and The Skin of Our Teeth. This is his second chance to play Matamore and this time he gets to share it with the woman of his dreams: Jillian.
BRYNN TUCKER (Malebea/Isabelle/Hippolyta): Brynn is very excited to make her debut at Forum Theatre! She has most recently appeared as Eve in Genesis Reboot at Synetic Theater. Other Synetic Theatre credits include: King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, King Arthur, Othello, and Antony and Cleopatra. Other local credits include Arms and the Man at Constellation Theatre Company. Brynn has also performed regionally in A Midsummer Night's Dream in the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, As You Like It and The Merchant of Venice at the Georgia Shakespeare Theater Company, and A Song For Coretta at 7Stages Theater. Brynn studied Theatre at Spelman College and the British American Drama Academy. Big thanks to her awesome Mom and family for their continued love and support!
MEET THE PRODUCTION TEAM
ARIEL J. BENJAMIN (Lighting Designer): The Illusion is Ariel’s Forum Theatre debut. Her recent credits include The Butterfly with Making Books Sing in NYC, Talking With at the St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy in Russia, A Christmas Carol at Oklahoma Lyric Theatre, Stop Kiss with No Rules Theatre Company, A Year with Frog and Toad at Adventure Theatre, and multiple pieces with PEARSONWIDRIG Dance Theatre at Dance Place. Associate lighting design credits include Chinglish (Broadway and Chicago) and assistant to the lighting designer credits include for The Book of Mormon on Broadway and Armida at the Metropolitan Opera. Ariel received her MFA from University of Maryland and is a co-founder of Chaos Theory Designs.
MARIA BENSON (Master Electrician): Maria is very excited to be back for her fourth show at Forum. She was master electrician for Mad Forest and co-lighting designer for Forum (Re)Acts in the fall, and assistant director to Jessica Burgess on The Language Archive this winter. Other electrician credits include The Gallerist and After the Quake at Rorschach Theatre and the Move Me dance show at Bowen McCauley Dance. Light design credits include Klecksography at Rorschach Theatre and Dead Man's Cell Phone, Start/Restart, Playground, Would, and Selkie at Northwestern University where she graduated with a BA in theatre in 2011. Don't miss the Fringe show she's directing this summer: Stone Age Recreation: An Operetta! (mariabenson.com) Enjoy the show!
KRISTY LEIGH HALL (Costume Designer): The Illusion is Kristy’s Forum Theatre debut. Her previous design credits include Next to Normal and Proof, at Theatre Three, Minnie the Moocher with Pointless Theatre, Genesis Reboot with Synetic Theatre, American Voices with Infinite Stage, and That Face at Studio Theatre. Her assistant credits include Rock of Ages and Arcadia on Broadway and King Lear at Shakespeare Theatre. Her upcoming projects include Treasure Island at Theatre Three and A Bullet for Adolf, Off-Broadway (directed by Woody Harrelson). Many thanks to Chelsey Schuller, Sunny Joy Langton, Jen Hebner, Becca DeLapp, Theatre Three, and the University of Maryland costume shop.
STEPHANIE JUNKIN (Production Stage Manager): Stephanie is back at Forum Theatre for her eighth production. Previous stage management credits with the company include The Language Archive, bobrauschenbergamerica, One Flea Spare, Scorched, Amazons and Their Men, and Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika (assistant stage manager) Other regional credits include, as production assistant: The Hollow at Signature Theatre and Crowns at Arena Stage; as stage manager: The Clockmaker at The Hub Theatre, This is Not a Time Bomb at Source Theatre; and crew for Hairspray,The Boy Detective Fails and The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Signature Theatre. Stephanie also spent a year sailing the West Coast and Caribbean as a Backstage Manager for Carnival Cruise Lines, interned at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and holds a degree in theatre from Radford University.
PATTI KALIL (Props Designer): Patti is a Brazilian native and graduate of the Juilliard School Professional Internship Program in stage properties. Patti is a designer, director, puppeteer, and Co-Artistic director of Pointless Theatre Company. Her Forum credits include Mad Forest. Pointless credits include Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher (set/puppets design), Hugo Ball: A Super Spectacular Dada Adventure (designer) in the Capital Fringe, and Sleeping Beauty- a Puppet Ballet (co-director/designer). Off-Broadway credits include The Invested (props designer); other credits include Please Listen- A Musical Chaos (assistant set/props designer), winner of "Pick of the Fringe: Best Musical 2009,” and Source Festival’s 2012 Full-Length Plays (props designer). She holds a BA in Theatre Set Design/Stage Management from the University of Maryland, College Park and will be a first-year MFA candidate in Studio Art at Maryland Institute College of Art this summer.
ROB MUELLER (Assistant Director) Rob is very excited to be working on his first show with Forum! Rob's previous directing credits include The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Bash, The Pillowman, Enchanted April (assistant to KJ Sanchez), and The Bluest Eye (assistant to Walter Dallas) at the University of Maryland and Side Man at 1st Stage (assistant to Michael Dove). Rob can be seen this summer in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson at the Studio Theatre 2nd Stage.
MATTHEW M. NIELSON (Composer/Sound Designer): Matt is returning to Forum for his third production following Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika. Other regional credits include Round House Theatre (Helen Hayes Award for A Prayer for Owen Meany), Catalyst Theatre (Helen Hayes Award for 1984), Woolly Mammoth, Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Rorschach, Delaware Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Barrington Stage Company, CATF, the Smithsonian, Ford's Theatre, Arena Stage and Adventure Theatre. Off-Broadway sound design credits include the Joseph Papp Public Theatre/New York Shakespeare Festival. Film & TV credits include Epic Drive-In, From Hell to Here, The Good Ways of Things and The Long Road. He is a founding member of audio theatre company The Audible Group and creator of the series Troublesome Gap. He is currently opening Sound Lab Studios, a recording and production house in Asheville. Samples can be heard online at matthewnielson.com.
DANIEL PINHA (Scenic Designer): Daniel has a BA in Set Design from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and his MFA from the University of Maryland. In Brazil, he worked intensively in theater, movies, and television. Scenic design credits include Genesis Reboot with Synetic Theater, Peter Pan: the boy who hated mothers with No Rules Theater Company, The Real Inspector Hound and Glimpses of the Moon at Metro Stage, Divorcees, Evangelist and Vegetarians at Gala Theater, Winnie the Pooh at Adventure Theater, and American Rice at Discovery Theater – Smithsonian Institution. He also has worked as a scenic design assistant at Signature Theater, Studio Theater, Theater J, Woolly Mammoth Theater and Folger Theater.
JAMESON SHROYER (Technical Director): Jameson's past Forum credits include The Language Archive, Mad Forest, and bobrauschenbergamerica. Jameson is Assistant Technical Director at Olney Theatre Center, where he has worked for the past four years. He is also Technical Director for The Hub Theatre in Fairfax, VA. Local credits include: John & Beatrice, Wonderful Life, and Birds of a Feather at the Hub, Richard III & Mary Stuart and Every Young Woman's Desire with WSC – Avant Bard, The Tenth Man, Stalag 17, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? at American Century Theater, and Cat's Cradle with Longacre Lea. In addition to working in theatre, Jameson brings his extremely dry wit to the Interwebs with his daily webcomic AlmostMakesSense.com.
ROB C. THOMPSON (Dramaturg/Assistant Director) serves as the artistic director for the touring ensemble Odd Act Theatre Group. His directing credits include A Wild Play in the London Fringe Festival, Adelaide's Sex Dreams in the Montreal Fringe Festival, Peter Pan at the Paul Robeson Center, and All the Rabbits at Carslake Center. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland where he is currently the dramaturg and assistant director of a co-production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts.
MANDY YU (Assistant Stage Manager): Mandy is back for her seventh production with Forum. Other credits include last season's bobrauschenburgamerica, One Flea Spare, and Scorched (as deck manager), The New Electric Ballroom (as ASM/Floor Manager) at Studio Theatre, several iterations of Romeo & Juliet: Choose Your Own Ending (set/props designer) with The Impressionable Players, and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (production assistant) at Signature Theatre. Mandy is a freelance theatre technician in the DC Metro area.
