PAST SHOW ARCHIVAL
2022-2023
A Season of Legacy
(Click on an image to read the Stagebill)
We All Fall Down
by Lila Rose Kaplan
A seder might be all about order, but you wouldn’t know it when the Stein family gets together for Passover. Maybe the chaos stems from no one knowing why they’ve suddenly been summoned home for the holiday. Or maybe it’s because no one in the house has done anything even remotely religious for decades. In between group yoga, phone calls with the Ellen show, and plague finger puppets, the Stein family will have to decide if they can come together as a family – or if this age-old tradition will finally tear them apart.
WE ALL FALL DOWN
by Lila Rose Kaplan
Directed by Jesse Bernstein
Presented in partnership with
Har Zion Temple, Seth M. Haaz, Senior Rabbi
and
The Kaiserman JCC, Alan Scher, Executive Director
Assistant Director/Stage Manager: Nora Gair
CAST
Linda - Janis Dardaris
Saul - David Ingram
Nan - Marcia Saunders
Bev - Susan Riley Stevens
Sammi - Melanie Bernier
Ariel - Kaitlyn Zion
Ester - Sonseray Reed
Lila Rose Kaplan (PLAYWRIGHT): Lila Rose Kaplan’s plays shine light on the stories we don’t tell about women. Her heroines live in heartfelt zany comedies, bittersweet comic dramas, and imaginative musicals for young audiences. Her full length plays include: The Villains’ Supper Club , We All Fall Down, The Magician’s Daughter, Home of the Brave, 1 2 3 - a play about abandonment and ballroom dancing, 100 Planes, Wildflower, Entangled, Bureau of Missing Persons, and Biography of a Constellation. Her musicals for young audiences include: The Light Princess, The Pirate Princess, and The Magic Fish. Productions include: American Repertory Theatre, Second Stage Theatre, South Coast Repertory Theatre, New Victory Theatre, The Old Vic, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Playhouse, Neighborhood Productions, Know Theatre, Perishable Theatre, Manhattan Repertory Theatre, Theatre Prometheus, and Wayward Sisters Theatre Ensemble. Development includes: Huntington Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Kennedy Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Center Theatre Group, Theatreworks, Local Theatre Company, PlayPenn, and The Lark New Play Development Center. Awards include: National Science Award in Playwriting, The International Women's Playwriting Award, and the I.J. Kapstein Award in Playwriting. Fellowships include: Huntington Playwriting Fellowship, Playwrights’ Realm Writing Fellow, Old Vic/New Voices Exchange, and the Shank Fellowship. Residencies include: The Orchard Project, Space on Ryder Farm, New Repertory Theatre Next Voices, Labworks at the New Victory Theatre, Writers Retreat at Theatreworks, Harvard Business School Playwright –In-Residence, and the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics Playwriting-In-Residence. BA with Honors in Playwriting: Brown University. MFA in Playwriting: UC San Diego. Lila Rose lives in Somerville, MA with her marine biologist and her curious daughter. www.lilarose.org
Jesse Bernstein (DIRECTOR): Jesse Bernstein is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Speech and has over 30 years’ experience working in film, TV and theatre. He has performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival (alongside actors such as Mandy Patinkin and Denzel Washington), the Berkshire Theatre Festival, the Arden Theatre Company, Ventura Theatre Company and the Walnut Street Theatre Company. In 1999, he originated the role of Reuven in Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok’s stage adaptation of The Chosen. His TV credits include appearances on Law & Order, Veronica Mars and Days of Our Lives. Directing credits include Shipwrecked!, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Gifts of the Magi, and several children’s musicals for the Walnut Street Theatre; The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged) (Cardinal Stage); Heathers: The Musical (Penn Players), Member of the Wedding (Rutgers-Camden) and more. Writing credits include several outreach plays and the solo shows Ethics of the Fathers (aka The Gangster and Grandpa) and The Scribe. Jesse wrote and directed the short film Allergy (official selection, Audience Awards and LA Comedy Shorts Fest) and wrote, produced, and starred in the short alongside Alison Brie and Liza Weil in the short film Us One Night (official selection: Williamstown Film Festival, NewFilmmakers LA). He has taught for theatres and organizations in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia as well as at Northwestern University College, the Cherub program, and University of the Arts. Jesse is a member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA and serves on the board of the Alliance for Jewish Theatres.
Nora Gair (ASSSISTANT DIRECTOR / STAGE MANAGER): Nora Gair (she/her) is a theatre director committed to threading classic themes with radically new and inclusive life for audiences today. Her theatrical voice is rooted in the woods and mountains of New England, but her work has been seen all over including Actors Theatre of Louisville, City Theatre, Project Y Theatre, and the Philadelphia Dramatists Center.
Recent credits include Mr. Digger's Spooky (Christmas) Radio Special, and virtual productions of Trojan Woman and The Darkness Between Dreams. Upcoming projects include directing Constellations for Philly Fringe, and intimacy choreography for both the pigeon. with The Strides Collective and Carrie with Penn Singers Light Opera Company.
Nora is an alumna of the John Wells Directing Program @ Carnegie Mellon University, the NYC Tepper Semester in Directing @ Syracuse University, and the Apprentice Class of 2022 @ the Walnut Street Theatre.
Janis Dardaris (LINDA): InterAct: The How and The Why, Whores. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Theatre Company; Sideman, Nickel and Dimed, As Is. People’s Light; Walnut Street Theatre; PlayPenn; Mother Courage, Mourning Becomes Electra, The Seagull, The Importance of Being Earnest (Quintessence Theatre); Leaving, Road, Quartet, Escape from Happiness, Orpheus Descending, Spin, The Magic Fire, Scorched, Becky Shaw (Wilma Theater); Rabbit Hole (Arden Theatre). Regional: McCarter Theatre, Pittsburgh Public, Long Wharf, Cleveland Playhouse, Woolly Mammoth, Kennedy Center, Arizona Theatre, Three Rivers Shakespeare, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival (originated the role of Susan Slater in Becky Shaw). New York: Playwrights Horizons, New York Classical Theatre, Westbeth, Summer Play Festival on Theatre Row, Breaking Legs with Philip Bosco (also national tour with Danny Aiello). Awards: nominated for 10 Barrymore Awards; 1998 winner of the Charlotte Cushman Barrymore for best actress for her performance as Josie Hogan in A Moon for the Misbegotten; 2009 winner of Best Supporting Actress in Scorched. TV and Film: The Sixth Sense, Party Monster, Third Watch, Trial by Jury, Law and Order, The Sopranos, Bliss, 1967, the lead in Sounding directed by Joel Coen, featured role as Grace in Cruzando, Featured in The Chosen as Zohara, Most recently: People’s Light: Project Dawn, Morning’s at Seven, The Children. Recent film and TV: Power, Bull and Grow an unconventional horror film due for release later this year.
David Ingram (SAUL): David Ingram has mostly recently appeared in The Vinegar Tree at People's Light and Theatre, where he is a long-time company member and has appeared in End Days, Noises Off, Bach at Leipzig, The Skin of Our Teeth, and many more. Other credits include Indecent at the Arden, Hope and Gravity at 1812 Productions, Red Herring at Act II Playhouse The Brownings at Orbiter 3/FringeArts and Cherokee at the Wilma. David is a faculty member in the Theater program at Temple University.
Marcia Saunders (NAN): Marcia Saunders has been part of the Acting Ensemble at The People's Light & Theatre since 1976 appearing in over 100 plays. Most recently playing Nancy in GRAND HORIZONS.
Her performances there include over 85 productions including Cora in Morning’s at Seven, Ethel in Moon Over Buffalo, Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility, Stella in Stella and Lou, Mrs. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice, Dotty in Noises Off, Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Skin of our Teeth, My Mother Said I Never Should, A Room Of One’s Own, Heartbreak House, Abelard & Heloise, Toys in the Attic, Memory of Water, The Stonehouse, Hamlet, The Misanthrope, The Taming of the Shrew.
Theatre Includes: Recently Paige in HIR at Simpatico Theatre, made her directorial debut at Candlelight Theater in Delaware directing Steel Magnolias. Off Broadway: The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Atlantic Theatre Co.) Regional: The Wilma, Arden Theatre, Two River Theater, Quintessence Theater. Playing Claire in A Delicate Balance garnered Marcia a Best Supporting Actress award and she has received numerous Barrymore nominations including Best Actress for Stella and Lou and A Man from Nebraska. Training: Graduate Programs, LAMDA.
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Susan Riley Stevens (BEV): Susan Riley Stevens has been seen on the mainstage at the Walnut Street Theatre in HARVEY, GOD OF CARNAGE, FALLEN ANGELS, and A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, and in the Independence Studio Theatre productions of THE GIFT, SPEAKING IN TONGUES and THE PRESCOTT METHOD. Next up is NOISES OFF! Performances with Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival include Macbeth, Lend Me A Tenor, King Lear, Othello and Hamlet, as well as a number of Extreme Shakespeare productions: All’s Well That Ends Well, King John, Henry VIII, Troilus & Cressida, and Pericles.
Susan’s regional credits include 1812 Productions, InterAct Theatre Company, Theatre Horizon, People’s Light and Theatre, Bristol Riverside, Arden Theatre Company, Portland Stage Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Yale Repertory Theatre, Peterborough Players, Dallas Theatre Center, and 9 seasons with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. She is the recipient of the 2007 Barrymore Award for Best Actress in a Play for BAD DATES at Act 2 Playhouse and holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Susan lives in Merchantville, NJ with her husband, actor/director Greg Wood, and their daughter, Laura.
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Melanie Bernier (SAMMI): Melanie Bernier is an actor, visual artist, and musician based in Philadelphia. Recent projects include the independent web series No Joke and Punk Rock Aerobics!, a hybrid performance piece and workout staged in music venues across the Northeast. Bernier was a finalist for the 2021 Frankenthaler Climate Art Awards for The Popcorn Game, an independent short which she wrote, directed, and starred in. Bernier has toured the US with several bands. Her current project, Boston Cream, is a punk approach to disco. Her artwork, music, and videos have been shown at the Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), Dirt Palace (Providence), the Stone Gallery (Boston), and Evening Hours (NYC), among many others. This is her first production with Theatre Ariel.
Kaitlyn Zion (ARIEL): Kaitlyn Zion (they/them) is so extremely honored to be playing Ariel in We all Fall Down. They recently graduated with a BFA in musical theater from the University of the Arts. Some past credits include Ronnie in Ronnie the Musical as a part of Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Cinderella’s Stepmother (u/s) in Into the Woods at the Arden Theater, and Wilson in A Little Death as part of the Equinox New Play Festival. Much love always to friends and family, a huge thank you to the Theatre Ariel and always a very special thank you to Alex <3 enjoy!
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Sonseray Reed (ESTHER): Sonseray Reed is a performer, writer and producer born and raised in New York City and is a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Theatre Arts & Communications and a graduate of the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory. Her credits include performing with the Kule Mele Dance Ensemble of Philadelphia, Forces of Nature, National Theatre for Children, Les Frères Corbusier, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, as well as the Edinburgh & New York Fringe Festivals. Currently, Sonseray is co-directing ‘Plant the Seed’ at the DeSotelle Theatre in New York City and producing her own written work.
Ancient History
by David Ives
From David Ives, the master comic mind behind the hit play All In The Timing, comes this witty, romantic story of a couple looking to take the next step. At least, Ruth is looking. Jack is happy dancing in place. Ruth wants to get married and raise a Jewish family. Jack rejects the concept of marriage and is a devout lapsed-Catholic/atheist. Can they reconcile their differences? Can love mature? And why won’t that phone stop ringing…?
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ANCIENT HISTORY
by David Ives
Directed by Jesse Bernstein
Assistant Director/Stage Manager: Danielle Fredane Quinn
ANCIENT HISTORY is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC,
servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)
CAST
Ruth - Chelsea Cylinder
Jack - Carl Smith
David Ives (PLAYWRIGHT): is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is perhaps best known for his comic one-act plays; The New York Times in 1997 referred to him as the "maestro of the short form". Ives has also written dramatic plays, narrative stories, and screenplays, has adapted French 17th and 18th-century classical comedies, and adapted 33 musicals for New York City's Encores! series.
A native of South Chicago, Ives attended Northwestern University, majoring in English. After graduation he wrote plays and worked at a bookstore in Hollywood. He then worked for three years as a junior editor at Foreign Affairs magazine in New York City. He attended the Yale School of Drama in 1981, where he received an MFA in playwriting.
In the mid-1990s, after having been a contributor to Spy Magazine, Ives wrote occasional humor pieces for the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and other publications. In that same period, New York magazine named him one of the "100 Smartest New Yorkers".
Ives' first play in New York was Canvas, staged at the Circle Repertory Company in 1972, followed at the same theatre by Saint Freud in 1975. In 1987 his short play Words, Words, Words was presented at the Manhattan Punch Line Theatre, followed by Sure Thing, Variations on the Death of Trotsky, Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread (1990), and The Universal Language. A two-act play, Ancient History was produced Off-Broadway in 1989 by Primary Stages.
Ives' All in the Timing originated as a presentation of six of his one-act plays that premiered at Primary Stages in 1993, moved to the larger John Houseman Theatre, and ran for 606 performances. He won the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Award for Playwriting. A New York Times writer described Ives' work: "In the world of the playwright David Ives, situations float at the far edge of the social map and quickly drift off into uncharted territory." Primary Stages presented a revival of All in the Timing in January 2013 to April 2013, writing "When this evening of six one-act comedies premiered in 1993, Vincent Canby of The New York Times said 'Ives is wizardly...magical and funny...a master of language.' Canby also told audiences 'Drop-everything-and-go!'--and audiences did, for more than 600 performances. This new production, directed by John Rando, includes plays like Sure Thing and The Universal Language which have become contemporary classics.
Jesse Bernstein (DIRECTOR): Jesse Bernstein is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Speech and has over 30 years’ experience working in film, TV and theatre. He has performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival (alongside actors such as Mandy Patinkin and Denzel Washington), the Berkshire Theatre Festival, the Arden Theatre Company, Ventura Theatre Company and the Walnut Street Theatre Company. In 1999, he originated the role of Reuven in Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok’s stage adaptation of The Chosen. His TV credits include appearances on Law & Order, Veronica Mars and Days of Our Lives. Directing credits include Shipwrecked!, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Gifts of the Magi, and several children’s musicals for the Walnut Street Theatre; The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged) (Cardinal Stage); Heathers: The Musical (Penn Players), Member of the Wedding (Rutgers-Camden) and more. Writing credits include several outreach plays and the solo shows Ethics of the Fathers (aka The Gangster and Grandpa) and The Scribe. Jesse wrote and directed the short film Allergy (official selection, Audience Awards and LA Comedy Shorts Fest) and wrote, produced, and starred in the short alongside Alison Brie and Liza Weil in the short film Us One Night (official selection: Williamstown Film Festival, NewFilmmakers LA). He has taught for theatres and organizations in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia as well as at Northwestern University College, the Cherub program, and University of the Arts. Jesse is a member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA and serves on the board of the Alliance for Jewish Theatres.
Danielle Fredane Quinn - (ASSSISTANT DIRECTOR / STAGE MANAGER): Nora Danielle is thrilled to join Theatre Ariel for her first salon! She is the Director of Chuptzpah! Theater Club through Tribe 12, where she recently directed and performed in virtual performances of Murder Mesiba: A Clue Parody (Mrs. Lahvan), Scroogenstein: A Hanukkah Story (Rabbi Future) and Schmaltz Lightning! (Hannah Mizrahi) for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Tribe 12 is a non-profit that connects 20s/30s to Jewish life and community, where she also assists with community events. She holds a BA in Theater Arts & Communications from Hofstra University.
Chelsea Cylinder (RUTH): is so excited to be working with Theatre Ariel! Chelsea is a Philadelphia-based actress, singer, teaching artist, and producer. She is a graduate of the University Of Pennsylvania. Chelsea has appeared in shows with 11th Hour Theatre Company, The Broadway Theatre Of Pitman, Ocean City Theatre Company, OperaDelaware, New Light Theatre, Green Light Group Productions, East Broadway Theatre Project, Beacon Theatre Productions, and more. Some favorite acting credits include Chess (Florence), How To Succeed In Business…Trying (Rosemary), Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead (Rosencrantz), Peter Pan (Tinker Bell), Crossover: A New Pop Musical (KC Parker), and The 25th Annual…Spelling Bee (Logainne). She is a Teaching Artist with the Walnut Street Theatre and Theatre Horizon, and was also a producer on nine different shows. Chelsea would like to thank her parents, family, Jesse, and the entire cast/crew. www.chelseacylinder.com / @cecylinder
Carl Smith (JACK): Carl is thrilled to be joining the team at Theatre Ariel. A Texas native, he has been in the Philly area for nearly 15 years working with such companies as the Arden, People's Light, Montgomery, Storybook, Bristol Riverside, Hedgerow, Media, Nightcap Cabaret, and Family Stages. Recent credits include Scarecrow in Wizard Of Oz and Frankie in Plaid Tidings and Forever Plaid.
Amsterdam
by Maya Arad Yasur
Translated by Eran Erdy
Presented by Susan and Len Lodish
An Israeli violinist living along a picturesque canal in Amsterdam receives an unpaid bill from 1944. An unpaid gas bill. Racing through issues of identity and alienness, legacy and peoplehood, this thrilling and imaginatively-told mystery reconstructs the possible, devastating origins of the bill – and explores how the past always comes due. Maya Arad Yasur is one of Israel’s hottest playwrights – come see why in this Philadelphia premiere!
AMSTERDAM
by Maya Arad Yasur
Translated by Eran Erdy
Directed by Jesse Bernstein
Presented by Susan and Len Lodish.
CAST
(as themselves)
Dana Liu
Jordan Hunter-Fidalgo
Adam Pelta-Pauls
Bobbi Block
ADAM PELADAM PELTA-PAULS TA-PAULS
Maya Arad Yasur (Playwright): She holds an M.A. in Dramaturgy from the University of Amsterdam. She has been the dramaturge of several award-winning theatre performances which tour in festivals around Europe. Maya returned to Israel in 2012 and has been working since as a freelance dramaturge and playwright. Her plays have been presented in Israel, Germany, Austria, Norway and the U.S. Winner of Theatertreffen Stuckemarkt 2018.
Jesse Bernstein (DIRECTOR): Jesse Bernstein is a graduate of Northwestern University’s School of Speech and has over 30 years’ experience working in film, TV and theatre. He has performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival (alongside actors such as Mandy Patinkin and Denzel Washington), the Berkshire Theatre Festival, the Arden Theatre Company, Ventura Theatre Company and the Walnut Street Theatre Company. In 1999, he originated the role of Reuven in Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok’s stage adaptation of The Chosen. His TV credits include appearances on Law & Order, Veronica Mars and Days of Our Lives. Directing credits include Shipwrecked!, It’s a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play, Gifts of the Magi, and several children’s musicals for the Walnut Street Theatre; The Complete History of Comedy (Abridged) (Cardinal Stage); Heathers: The Musical (Penn Players), Member of the Wedding (Rutgers-Camden) and more. Writing credits include several outreach plays and the solo shows Ethics of the Fathers (aka The Gangster and Grandpa) and The Scribe. Jesse wrote and directed the short film Allergy (official selection, Audience Awards and LA Comedy Shorts Fest) and wrote, produced, and starred in the short alongside Alison Brie and Liza Weil in the short film Us One Night (official selection: Williamstown Film Festival, NewFilmmakers LA). He has taught for theatres and organizations in Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia as well as at Northwestern University College, the Cherub program, and University of the Arts. Jesse is a member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA and serves on the board of the Alliance for Jewish Theatres.
Dana Liu: Dana is a multi-faceted actor from South Jersey and is thrilled to be working with Theatre Ariel! Some of her recent credits include: Whispers of My Sister (PlayPenn Conference 2022), Backing Track (Arden Theater Company), Deep Space, and IGNITE (The Strides Collective). In 2020, she got her B.A in Theatre with a Concentration in Acting from Temple University. Dana is also certified with the Society of American Fight Directors in 5 weapon disciplines and is an Intermediate Actor Combatant with Fight Directors Canada. Love to her partner Luc, and orange cats Mai Tai and Bobo. IG: danaddliu
Jordan Hunter-Fidalgo: (She/They) Jordan graduated last may from the University Of The Arts. Jordan currently lives in Philadelphia and loves the theatre scene and can’t wait to share the stage with these other Philadelphia actors. Last seen in the Fringe Festival and previously understudied at the Arden in School Girls, and got to perform. "Philly always some sort of theatre and I am so grateful to be in this city doing the thang!!"
Adam Pelta-Pauls: Adam graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, Wales, before spending several years on international touring shows, performing Shakespeare and other works on stages in Israel, China, Costa Rica, and across Europe. After appearing in Marvel Studios’ DOCTOR STRANGE, he returned to the United States, and moved to Philadelphia from New York City a year ago. He’d like to thank his fiancée, Melissa, and their three cats, Lil Boy, Maisie, and Bootsy, for all their support.
Bobbi Block: Bobbi performs, directs, teaches and produces unscripted theater. She founded and was the Producing Artistic Director of critically acclaimed Tongue & Groove Spontaneous Theater for 15 years. She Co-Founded and continues to perform with Barrymore Award Recipient ComedySportz Philadelphia. She teaches Improvisational Theater at Temple and Drexel, and has taught her signature ‘Actors’ Improv’ method around the world. Recently Bobbi ventured back into scripted theater as Agatha in Michael Hollinger’s Incorruptible. Bobbi has an MA in Theater from Villanova, and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania. Bobbi’s other career is a Communication Skills Facilitator and Applied Improv practitioner (bobbiblock.com) Gratitude to Jesse for this opportunity!"
To Reach Across a River
by Marshall Botvinick
Presented by Sandy & Mickey Bernstein
In a world where family is everything, Yehudis and her husband struggle to have a baby. That struggle will send Yehudis down a remarkable journey full of courage and transformation as she reaches beyond her Hasidic community to find a child in need of a mother. To Reach Across a River tells a story as timeless as Sarah’s, as potent as the rescue of Moses from the Nile.
TO REACH ACROSS A RIVER
by Marshall Botvinick
A WORLD PREMIERE Co-developed by Theatre Ariel
Directed by Esther M. Cohen
Presented by Sandy and Mickey Bernstein
CAST
LEAH WALTON as Yehudis
SETH REICHGOTT
BEN BEHRAND
BRITTANY ONUKWUGHA
Marshall Botvinick (Playwright): is a playwright, director, and dramaturg based in Durham, North Carolina. His plays have been developed by Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Jewish Plays Project, Palm Beach Dramaworks, South Carolina Repertory Company, ATHE New Play Development Workshop, and Mid-America Theater Conference. He has also been a finalist for the ATHE Judith Royer Excellence in Playwriting Award, Todd McNerney Playwriting Award, and the Georgia College Arts & Letters Prize for Drama. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Esther M. Cohen (DIRECTOR) is a Philadelphia-based director, dramaturg, and educator. Most recently, Esther directed SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS by Bess Wohl at the University of Pennsylvania. Upcoming projects include teaching new play development at Drexel University and directing Theatre Ariel's spring 2023 Salon. Esther has assisted at The O’Neill Center, The Drama League, and Yale Rep and has worked off-Broadway at Signature and Second Stage. She is an inaugural member of the 19/20 Roundabout Directors Group, a member of the 2019 Williamstown Theatre Festival Directing Corps, and an alumna of the National Theater Institute and the University of Pennsylvania.
Esther loves drinking iced coffee all year long, directing in the round, and binging feminist non-fiction at an alarming rate.
When she's not making theatre, she works at Clove, an award-winning sneaker brand built for people on the frontlines of healthcare.
She lives in Old City, Philadelphia with her dog, Babka.
LEAH WALTON (Yehudis): Leah is a Barrymore Award winning actor who has worked at numerous Philadelphia-based theatres for over 15 years, including InterAct, the Arden, the Walnut Street Theatre, and in NYC at Ars Nova. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting at the University of the Arts.
Off-Broadway: Ars Nova with Berserker Residents. Regional: InterAct, Walnut Street Theatre, Arden Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Theatre Horizon, Lantern Theatre, Pig Iron,
Montgomery Theatre, 11th Hour, Orbiter 3, among others. Philadelphia Barrymore Award Recipient 2015—Best Supporting Actress in a Musical; Nominations 2019, 2018—Best Leading
Performer in a Play. Visiting Assistant Professor of Acting at University of the Arts, Philadelphia. Training: National Theatre Institute, Moscow Art Theatre, Michael Chekhov Association, MFA Temple University. Member AEA. www.leah-walton.com
SETH REICHGOTT is pleased to once again be working with Theatre Ariel. A Philadelphia-based actor, director, and writer, he has directed or appeared on stage at the Walnut Street Theatre, the Wilma, the Arden, Baltimore Shakes, Rep Stage, Interact, the Lantern, Tongue & Groove, and Cape May Stage, among many others. He has twice been a co-recipient of the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Play and was nominated for a 2010 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Actor. Seth is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre.
BEN BEHRANDS is a Philadelphia-based writer, actor, and comedian. He has worked with the region’s leading theater companies: Arden Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, Theatre Exile, Act II Playhouse, and Theatre Ariel. He co-wrote and co-starred in a critically acclaimed play, Two-Man, One-Man that was performed at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, ComedySportz Philadelphia, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Benjamin is a company member of ComedySportz Philadelphia, and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania. Previous readings with Theatre Ariel: Morning Star (Harry Engel), The Sabbath Girl (Seth). www.benjaminbehrend.com
Brittany Onukwugha (she/her) is a Philly/NJ based actor and dancer. Her favorite acting credits include Hamlet (Hamlet), The Complete Works of Jane Austen Abridged (Self), and Avenue Q (Gary Coleman). She’s also worked on productions in roles such as Associate Choreographer, Dance Captain, and Fight Captain. Recently, Brittany has participated in staged readings and is expanding into film production. Previously she’s worked with Arden Theatre, Opera Philadelphia, Philadelphia Artists' Collective, Shakespeare in Clark Park, and more. She is very excited to make her Theatre Ariel debut!
Social media: @brittanyonu
2021-2022 Season
