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5D is a collective of five directors who are committed to supporting innovative director-driven work. The group came together after meeting at the 2013 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and consists of Ilana Becker, Melody Erfani, Estefania Fadul, Tracy Cameron Francis, & Lana Russell. Learn more about each of the directors and their AROUND THE BLOCK collaborators below:

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

ILANA BECKER

"Beautiful Tomorrow"

Ilana has developed new work at the Lark Play Development Center, 54 Below, Theater for a New Audience, The Flea Theater, TinyRhino, O’Neill Theater Center, Disney/ASCAP Workshop, Wild Project, HERE Arts Center, Samuel French Festival, FringeNYC, Galapagos Art Space, Hunter College, and NYU. She has served as assistant director for Terry Kinney, Anne Kauffman, Pam MacKinnon, Sam Gold, Jonathan Silverstein, and Nick Corley on Broadway, Off Broadway, and in the NYMF. Ilana produced and directed an environmental staging of Waiting for Lefty at the Hartley House and produced Beer Plays, an evening of short plays paired with craft beers, at Amity Hall. She is developing Argument Sessions, an ongoing series of immersive events taken from SCOTUS transcripts, in The Lounge at Dixon Place, and recently served as Company Manager for a commercial Off Broadway production. Recent projects include Truth Dare Double Dare Kiss Love or Torture at the Pittsburgh Fringe Festival and the short film Times Square Tango, both with written by Tori Keenan-Zelt. SDC Associate Member, Bastard Playground, Playwrights Horizons Robert Moss Directing Resident, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.

MELODY ERFANI

"97 Orchard St"

Melody has her M.F.A in Directing from the Actors Studio Drama School and was a participant of the 2013 Lincoln Center Director's Lab. She graduated with a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts during which she procured an internship with Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Favorite credits include: All an Act (The Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Dying City, Raised in Captivity (ASDS Repertory), Othello (The Looking Glass Forum), Our Town, Pride and Prejudice, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Stagedoor Manor, NY). She has also worked at Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, NJ) and Skylight Opera Theatre (WI).

 

 

ESTEFANIA FADUL

"Underneath"

Estefania is a Colombia-born, New Hampshire-raised, NYC-based director. As founding Artistic Director of Pleiades Productions, she has directed and co-produced WELL by Lisa Kron (Producers' Club), PERSEPHONE by Matthew Minnicino (FringeNYC), and multiple readings and workshops. Estefania is currently a Van Lier Directing Fellow at Repertorio Español, where she will direct the Spanish translation of Matthew Paul Olmos’ Princess Grace Award-winning play, so go the ghosts of méxico, part 1, later this summer. Other credits include A Recipe to Remember (EstroGenius Festival), Garden of Ashes (Looking Glass Theater), and A Streetcar Named Desire (Experimental Theatre of Vassar College). Estefania has assisted Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (The Flea), Jo Bonney (MCC), Sheryl Kaller (Powerhouse/NYSAF), Tracy Young (Oregon Shakespeare Festival) and Michael Barakiva (Upstart Creatures). Estefania holds a B.A. in Drama and French from Vassar College, a certificate in Filmmaking from the Prague Film School, and is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. www.estefaniafadul.com

TRACY CAMERON FRANCIS

"Eviction Notice"

Tracy is a New York based director and interdisciplinary artist. She has directed and developed work with HERE, Red Bull Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Lark, LaMama Umbria (Italy), NY Arab American Comedy Festival, CultureHub (Lamama), Monarch Theatre Co., NY International Fringe, Falaki Theatre (Egypt), Alwan For the Arts, International Wow, -among others. Select credits include: “Comedy of Sorrows” (HERE), "Broken Heart Story" (Center for Performance Research), “The Screens” (Red Bull Theatre Revelation Reading Series), “The Maids” (Curious Frog Theatre), “Psalms of a Questionable Nature” (NY Int. Fringe Festival), “A Marriage Proposal” ( Falaki Theatre, Cairo, Egypt), , “800 HelpUwrite” (4th St. Theatre), “Now Means Yesterday” (W Hotel Union Sq.). She has assisted directors Sam Gold, Gia Forakis, and oscar nominated director Josh Fox. She has shadowed the director on HBO’s “True Blood” and interned for a season at Saturday Night Live. She has guest directed for Fordham University and Strasberg Theatre Institute as well as worked as a teaching artist for recent immigrants at the International Center in NY. Artistic Director of Hybrid Theatre Works, core member of Theatre Without Borders, member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab, performance art curator for Arts in Bushwick, and associate member of SDC. B.A. Fordham University Lincoln Center. www.tracyfrancis.com

LANA RUSSELL

"Beautiful Mess"

Lana is a New York based freelance director. Favorite directing credits include: The Coming World by Christopher Shinn (Under St. Mark’s, New York Premiere) Pizza Man (Red Room Theater), Gibraltar (Nixon Theater) and A Streetcar Named Desire (Terra Linda Theater). As an assistant director: The Model Apartment (Primary Stages, Evan Cabnet, director) Him (Primary Stages, Evan Yionoulis, director). Lana is also the literary assistant at Primary Stages where she works with the Dorthy Streslin New American Writer’s Group and produces the Fresh Ink Reading Series. Lana is the Artistic Director of her theater company Story People Theater Group and a member of The Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Lana is pursuing her MFA in directing at the New School for Drama with fellow Around the Block playwright Korde Tuttle, Class of 2017. This summer Lana is excited to work on two readings of Korde's full length play, The Chair, The Dance, and to assist Evan Cabnet on Theresa Rebeck’s Poor Behavior.

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The Directors

The Artistic Team

Christine Jean Chambers

Playwright, "Underneath"

Christine Jean Chambers received her M.F.A in Playwriting from Columbia University where she studied under Eduardo Machado, Kelly Stuart, Christopher Shinn, and Theresa Rebeck. She is a published author and photographer. In New York City she’s had plays produced at The Flea, Horse Trade as a part of the “The Fire This Time” festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre as a part of the “The River Crosses Rivers II” festival, Theatre Movement Company, Rising Circle Theatre Collective, and the National Black Theatre. In 2013 she was a playwriting fellow at The Field.

Tori Keenan-Zelt

Playwright, "Beautiful Tomorrow"

Tori Keenan-Zelt, a proud Pittsburgh native by way of Singapore, has had work commissioned and developed internationally and presented or developed at The Flea, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Lark, Pittsburgh Fringe Festival (Best Ensemble Award), SG Short & Sweet, Panglossian, Drama Book Shop, AVAdventure, Sanctuary Lab, and others. She is a Playwrights’ Center Core Apprentice, a Lark Dramaturgy Fellow, and a member of Bastard Playground & Part-Time Box. In the last year, she has written for Colonial Williamsburg Foundation‘s Emmy Award-winning series and has been a Jerome Fellowship Finalist, a Lark Playwrights Week finalist, an O’Neill semifinalist twice, and an Ingram New Works Lab finalist. She is also founding Co-Artistic Director of Panglossian Productions, a non-profit global/local company that develops new theatre in Williamsburg, VA, and Director of Community Development at Kanjy, a global online community for storytellers. Currently, she splits her time among New York, Virginia, and a cat who lives in Connecticut. BA, Harvard. MFA, NYU Tisch. www.tk-z.net

Korde Tuttle

Playwright, "Beautiful Mess"

Korde Arrington Tuttle is an award-winning playwright and poet from Charlotte, NC. He studied Dramatic Art and Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated with Highest Honors, in 2013. In school, his research focused on the narratives of youth from underserved communities in New York City, in addition to the cultural workings of predominantly black barbershops in the South. Both interests are heavily reflected in his creative work; namely, full-length works, Camp Mariah Monologues and [The Chair, The Dance]. He is thrilled to be working with 5D this summer and is grateful to have such talented artists breathe life into his words. Korde is a first-year playwriting student at the New School for Drama.   

J.P. Makowski

Composer, "97 Orchard St"

J.P. Makowski is an NYC based actor and solo performer.  Theatre: A Funny Thing... (Porthouse Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew, Twelve Angry Men (Festival 56), Kiss Me, Kate (Washington Savoyards), and Pericles (Hudson Shakespeare Festival).  Television: PanAm, Boardwalk Empire. His original solo theatre piece, The Bitchiest Wallflower at the Orgy: A Self Improvement Workshop premiered at Dixon Place in Feb. of 2014. J.P. is pursuing an MFA in Acting at the Actors Studio Drama School and holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Kent State University.

Simon Harding

Production Set & Lighting Designer

Simon is an award-winning set and video designer for live performance. He was a co-founder and the resident designer for SaBooge Theatre, designing all of their productions including the critically acclaimed shows Hatched, Fathom, and Every Day Above Ground. Upcoming/Recent: Measure Back (dir. Christopher McElroen), Tyson vs. Ali (Reid Farrington/3LD), BAM Poetry Project(BAM). www.simonhardingdesign.com

Mark Van Hare

Production Sound Designer

Mark Van Hare is a composer and sound designer working in New York City.  He designed the sound for Daniel Fish's Eternal at Incubator Arts Project, Marisol at the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre with NYCDA, All God's Chillun Got Wings at JACK, Look Upon Our Lowliness at Harlem School of the Arts Theatre, Tar Baby at DR2 Theatre, and Damascus at 4th St. Theatre. He also designed the sound for Elizabeth Rex and Much Ado About Nothing at the Stonington Opera House and composed the music for Las Meninas at Asolo Repertory Theatre. markvanhare.com

Alexis M. Qualls*

Production Stage Manager

Alexis is a graduate of the Columbia MFA program with a degree in Stage Management.   She is thrilled to be working with such an amazing cast and production team on this project.  Thanks to Ilana and her friends and family for their support.

Andy Scott

Assistant Director, "Beautiful Mess"

Andy is a 2012 graduate of Greensboro College with a B.A. in Theatre with an emphasis in Directing.  Favorite directing credits include The Brothers Savage (Manhattan Repertory Theater), You Looked Hot When You Stole that Dress from Walmart (Fresh Fruit Festival), Carve (Greensboro College Mainstage), Pieces of Fire and Miss Julie (Greensboro College Lab), among many other projects with the Powerhouse Apprentice Company and the National Theater Institute. For his work he has received two departmental awards (Best Direction) and a SDC Student Directing nomination from KCACTF. He has assistant directed and provided dramaturgy at Triad Stage and Powerhouse Theater. If you are watching these plays, you inspire him. andyscottdirector.webs.com

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The Cast

Mamoudou Athie*

Ishan, "Beautiful Tomorrow"

Mamoudou recently graduated from Yale School of Drama. Credits: Hamlet at Yale Rep, The Zoo Story, Tripolitania, and Becoming Sylvia at Williamstown, The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare Theatre Company, YSD: The Visit, Twelfth Night, Hedda Gabler. Co-Founder of DIY Shakespeare. Upcoming: The Fatal Eggs, produced by the Araca Group.

Jake Cullens

Disney Moses, "Beautiful Tomorrow"

Jake is an actor based in New York City. A graduate of the Actors Studio Drama School, Jake has performed on stage, television and film in New York, Los Angeles Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. He is a frequent audition/acting coach, teacher and director. Love to Anne. jakecullens.com

S. Lewis Feemster

Wyatt, "Beautiful Mess"

S. Lewis Feemster ([WYATT) is excited to be appearing in the inaugural 5D project! OFF-BROADWAY: Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds. NEW YORK: La Mama E.T.C: Soulographie: Our Genocides: SHAPE; Open Hydrant Theater Co: Last Exit Before New York. REGIONAL: Kennedy Center: Latino Inaugural 2013, The Wings of Ikarus Jackson; Deeply Rooted Productions: Nefertiti: A Concert of Music and Dance; Signature Theatre: DREAMGIRLS; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Measure for Measure; Theatre of the First Amendment: Live Wire; Virginia Shakespeare Festival: Othello, Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest; Studio Theatre: Passing Strange. OTHER: The Hub Theatre: BIG LOVE; WSC Avant Bard: Lulu; Synetic Theater; theHegira; Adventure Theatre MTC. EDUCATION: The College of William & Mary in Virginia. WEB: slewisfeemster.com, @sDOTlewis

Skyler Gallun

Callen, "Beautiful Mess"

Skyler Gallun is really excited to be taking part in the Around the Block Project! He studied at Tisch School of the Arts at NYU and most recently appeared in The Speakeasy Dollhouse: The Brothers Booth at the Players Club, Shakespeare in the Parking Lot's production of Cymbeline, and The Little Prince (title role) at the Drilling Company Theatre.

Tiffany Nichole Greene*

Lily Emmons, "Underneath"

Tiffany Nichole Greene, a Houston native, earned an MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep. Tiffany has been a Harlem resident for 2 years now and truly loves her home away from home. Favorite roles include: Africa Jade-Rush at Everlasting (Perseverance Theatre), Ponce- Kumrads Won’t (Fringe Festival NYC 2013), Gary Coleman- Avenue Q (Cameo Theatre), Moliseng etc.- Syringa Tree (Trinity Repertory Theatre), Mrs. Wire-Vieux Carré (Brown/Trinity), Lucy Brown- Threepeny Opera (Brown/Trinity), Hero- Much Ado About Nothing (Brown/Trinity), Leatta- HAIR (Hangar Theatre), and Titania- Midsummer (Rice Players Theatre).

Gabriella Grier

Cecily Emmons, "Underneath"

Gabriella is very excited to be making her New York City theater debut in AROUND THE BLOCK.  She is a recent graduate of Juilliard's Drama Division and got her BA in English Literature from Barnard College, Columbia University before that.  After spending almost 2 years in LA Gabriella is thrilled to be back in the city.  Some of her favorite credits at Juilliard and elsewhere include: Theresa in CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION, Elvira in BLITHE SPIRIT, Janetta in THE BOOMERANG EFFECT, Claire in PROOF, Helena in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and Myra in HAY FEVER. 

Clarissa Hoffman

"97 Orchard St"

Clarissa Hoffmann is an enthusiastic German theatre and film actress, currently training at the Stella Adler Studio in New York City. Previous roles include Sara in God of Vengeance, Anna Petrovna in Platonov, Mrs. Dudard in The Rhinoceros and Officer Pudney in Rumors, Rumors (Theater am Kurfürstendamm, Berlin). Clarissa is very excited to be part of this project about her favourite city in the world. www.clarissa-hoffmann.com

Cindy Kay

"97 Orchard St"

Cindy was born in the awesome Northern California where she eventually got her bachelor's in Musical Theatre. She then left the wonderfulness that is beautiful trees and delicious burritos for the giant buildings that make up the Big Apple (NYC). Now being a year out of school where she attained her MFA in acting, she gets to be in yet another lovely devising piece with awesome people. She is grateful for it all, and thanks the lot of you. Smiley face. <3

Wei-Yi Lin

Ensemble, "Eviction Notice"

Wei-Yi was born in Taiwan, and a proud artist resides in NYC.

Film and TV highlights: ABC’s Zero Hour(Recurring co-star); PBS short Jilm Half of Her(Lead); CU Thesis Film Holothrian(Lead), and USC the is Film When Mom Visits(Lead). Theatre- Amanda in 4000Miles (Gable Stage, FL), Nina in The Seagull with Mei Ann Teo, Wake in Connelly Theatre, Kurukulla in Signature Theatre, Holy Crab! (Reading)In NYTW; Bloody Lullabies for Brave Women (Lead) in Magic Future Box; La Round in Riverside Church Theatre; The Creditors, Broken Wings, The Chairs (CU productions)and My Artichoke Heart in Dream Up Festival. A Midsummer Night’s Dream (As Puck) in Essen Shakespeare Festival, Germany. Wei-Yi is thrilled to be part of the team, and she can’t think a better way to tell the story about the community. Life is good. Columbia University MFA Acting, BA in National Taiwan University. More info at: http://about.me/weiyilin

Marisol Miranda

Isabella, "Beautiful Mess"

Marisol is an actor, producer and founding member of the New York Independent Film Collective (www.nyifc.com). Marisol’s recent film and stage credits include: Somewhere in the Middle, in which she serves as co-producer and lead actor, Happy Baby, Jr. & the Saint, Sure Thing, Andy and Precipice to name a few. Producing credits include: Scenes of Love and Hate and A Collection of Scenes (Theatre Row). A graduate of the William Esper Studio, Marisol studied acting under the direction of Bill Esper, Terry Knickerbocker and David Newer. She earned her Bachelor’s in Communications from New York University and is also a classically trained pianist and ballet dancer. 

Genesis Oliver*

Charles Sloane, "Underneath"

NYC: Primal Play (New Georges), Everything Is Ours (Colt Coeur), 52nd Street Project. Regional: By The Way Meet Vera Stark (Alliance Theatre), Map of Heaven/Othello/39 Steps (Denver Center Theatre Company), Dracula/Game On/Two Or A Carload/The Greekest of Tragedies (Actors Theatre of Louisville), The Tempest (Tennessee Shakespeare Company), Othello (Seattle Shakespeare Company). Commercials for AT&T, Bank of America, Honda & others. Graduate of the National Theatre Conservatory (MFA).

Rachel Sachnoff

Lann, "Beautiful Tomorrow"

Rachel has appeared in original pieces such as Loveplay (Cloud City), Let's Be Frank (Hearth Gods), A Hero of Our Time (Calliope Theatre Company), Zarps (The Brick Theatre), Blood, Hemp, and Fears (Nylon Fusion Collective), Bleak and Thursdays at Nine (TinyRhino). You can find her in short videos on FunnyorDie.com and AdultSwim.com.     

Alyssa Simon*

Ruby, "Beautiful Tomorrow"

Alyssa thanks the playwright, director and cast for such a lovely opportunity. She is a Master Mason at the Caffe Cino award winning Brick Theatre as well as a Friend of Flux, the NYIT award winning Flux Ensemble. www.alyssasimon.com

Biniam Tekola

Ensemble, "Eviction Notice"

Biniam studied Theatre at the UNC-Chapel Hill where he became a bachelor. Still a bachelor but totally not bitter, Binjaiam continued his studies at the Rhodopi International Theatre Laboratory in Bulgaria. Ben-I-Am remains an active company member of North Carolina based theatre company and wizard enclave, Machine Theatre.

Penelope Thomas

Rosalind, "Beautiful Mess"

Penelope’s credits include a short original work, Certain Days, commissioned by Public Energy in Peterborough, ON, Cecilia Copeland’s March Madness at Ensemble Studio Theatre, Salma Allam Dance Theater’s Things My Mother Taught Me, and Sharon Talbot’s True Love in the Estrogenius festival. She toured US/UK with Mikel Rouse’s pop operas End of Cinematics and Dennis Cleveland, and has read for poet Anne Carson at the Whitney Museum, Dixon Place, and the Skirball Center. She studied at the Deena Levy Theatre Studio.

Sonia Villani

Ensemble, "Eviction Notice"

Sonia is an Italian actress and tango dancer from Rome, who happily relocated in NYC in 2012. Her main interest is to create mesmerizing art in collaboration with artists from different disciplines, backgrounds and countries.

In NYC she has trained extensively with SITI Company. As an actor some of her recent credits include: Eurydice’s Dream (for this show she’s been honored with an IT Award for Choreography) and 400 Parts Per Million with Blessed Unrest (at Interart Theater, NYC), The Event Of A Thread with Ann Hamilton and SITI Company (at Park Avenue Armory, NYC) and the upcoming film Yellow Fever. As a tango dancer her work with her company Tango di Pietra, where she is both dancer and co-director, includes: Alizé En Danse video performance-commercial for Teatro Eliseo (Rome), Bel Vedere, site specific performance for Santarcangelo dei Teatri Festival. She is very excited for the opportunity to collaborate to “Around The Block”. http://www.soniavillani.com/

Yokko

Ensemble, "97 Orchard St"

Yokko is an actor & a movement artist from Japan. She studied theatre arts in Oregon and Albany, there she received BA in Theatre. She received her MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace. Theatre credits include BALDY (Theatre Row: United Solo, Asylum Theatre: Hollywood Fringe 2013, Gene Frankel Theatre: FringeNYC 2012, Dorothy Strelsin Theatre), Butoh Electra (Irondale Center, FringeNYC 2011), The Lady in Red converseve with Diablo (Arts @ Renaissance) The Woolgatherer, The Producers (ASDS Repertory Season), Odyssey (The Wings Theatre) and Othello (Looking Glass Theatre), and many others. Dance credits includes: Facet (Hollywood Fringe, WAVE RISING SERIES), Autumn Leaves (Kraine Theatre) and KIZUNA-connection- (NICODA). She is the founder of Ren Gyo Soh, and a member of The Ume Group, and VOID Theatre Company in NYC. her new show, Butoh Medea will be at Theatre Row in this Fall. www.yokko-online.com

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