Alumni
Meet the Neos who have always been keeping it real
Adam Smith
(baptised 16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790 [OS: 5 June 1723 – 17 July 1790]) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The latter, usually abbreviated as The Wealth of Nations, is considered his magnum opus and the first modern work of economics. Adam Smith is widely cited as the father of modern economics.[1][2]
Smith studied moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow and Oxford University. After graduating he delivered a successful series of public lectures at Edinburgh, leading him to collaborate with David Hume during the Scottish Enlightenment. Smith obtained a professorship at Glasgow teaching moral philosophy, and during this time wrote and published The Theory of Moral Sentiments. In his later life he took a tutoring position which allowed him to travel throughout Europe where he met other intellectual leaders of his day. Smith returned home and spent the next ten years writing The Wealth of Nations (mainly from his lecture notes) which was published in 1776. He died in 1790.
also, i like jumping high fives.
Adam was the SF Neo-Futurists’ Founding Artistic Director
Ashley Brockington
Ashley is proud to say that she is susceptible to cults and that she learned to read watching Sesame Street because her parents were busy. She knows where the Fountain of Youth is and bathes nude in its waters every full moon. She will never tell you where it is. It’s in New Jersey. Not sure where she was born, Ash remembers crisscrossing the country with her older sibling and thinking that airline stewardesses (in the 70’s, that’s what they were) were the most beautiful people on earth. She knows now that the most beautiful people on earth are the Neo-Futurists.
Alicia Chaisson
Alicia spent most of her life in Lincoln County, Missouri where her giant extended families don’t really understand her, but love her anyway. They really do. Her favorite animal is the chinchilla. She wanted one ever since she was 3 and saw them on Sesame Street’s Creature Feature. She got one for her 17th birthday and named it Grendel after the monster in Beowulf. Which was sort of ironic since she always pictured Grendel as a giant Gremlin.
Aya Aziz
Aya is a palindrome.
Aya is everywhere.
“Ayyyyya!” is surprise!
“AY!” “AHHHHH!” is frustration.
“AY! Ay! Ay! Ay-Ah!” is stubbed toes.
“Ayyyyyyyyyyyyaaaa lele lemmbrrrp brrrrrrrrrrrpff” who knows. It came from a small child.
Aya is a sacred name. (Technically.) Aya doesn’t fast for Ramadan so…so much for that.
Aya should fast for Ramadan. It’s like the one virtuous holiday. Come on, Aya.
You can follow her music and musings on soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/aya-aziz-music-nyc,
Cara Francis
Things I am afraid of: cancer, having to poop really bad in public, the bus, raisins, monocles, old barns, jolly ranchers getting permanently stuck to my teeth, remembering the mean rich kids from school, remembering the mean rich kids from church, gristly bits in hamburgers, flies, flies, flies, flies, FLIES, THERE IS A FLY IN HERE, rage, the deep ocean, guns, my cat, the pope, facebook, indifference, fear. I am afraid there is too much fear.
Things I am not afraid of: Everything else. Beauty. Experiments. Karma. Pointy Breasts. Algebra. Quart Containers. Pie. Stained Glass. Otters. Sherpas. Terrorists. The Cloud. The Government. Plantains. Lions. Snakes. A Vengeful God. You. I am not afraid of you.
Cecil Baldwin
can cure his pathological speech impediment through confidence alone. Cecil wears a large oven-mitt suit to work and is risky, risky, risky. Cecil doesn’t even care about the money but he does take part in joyous dance numbers. Cecil will destroy your brain with a silver fire extinguisher before you even know what he’s up to. Cecil’s Boston accent could be described as “shaky at best.” Cecil probably wouldn’t ride a public bus in L.A. either. BLAM—Cecil’s gonna knock you out. Cecil (son of Cecil, son of Cecil, heir to the Baldwin throne) finally returned that ring he carried around, like, forever. Cecil looks killer in a bob haircut and bugle beads. Cecil is almost positive he did not imagine winning that Nobel Prize for Economics. Cecil wonders, “ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?” Cecil prizes his collection of Nazi tableware and video-recorded garbage caught in the wind. Cecil, doff thy name, and for that name, which is no part of thee, take all myself. Cecil’s heart will go on, and on, and on…. Cecil has been known to convalesce overlooking the rolling hills of Tuscany. Cecil’s rallying cry makes you forget the fact he’s wearing a plaid skirt. Cecil wishes he could turn into a bird and fly far, far away. Cecil’s little, red raincoat still couldn’t save him in the end. Cecil thought he was dead, but later found out he was just in Nebraska. Cecil puts the lotion in the basket, or else he gets the hose again. Cecil keeps putting his fingers on his head like horns and showing you his butt. For goodness’ sake, Cecil just wants to go to the Piggly Wiggly! Cecil illegally counts cards (but it’s totally fine, ‘cause he doesn’t really know what he’s doing anyway). Cecil just wants to know what’s happening on the other side of that damned wall! Cecil humps three clicks to find Charlie—but finds himself instead. Cecil is not from Mother Africa, but he will one day return to her. Too many notes, Cecil, too many notes. Cecil will always be laughing through the tears, not the other way around. Cecil will walk all the way to the sea if he has to. Cecil will only run in slow motion. Cecil is everyday people. Cecil calmly makes french toast…. Yummm, french toast.
Claudia Alick
Claudia Alick is a black bisexual Buddhist from Missoula Montana. She likes to write stuff like plays and poetry. She doesn’t like talking about herself in the third person but bio’s are usually written that way and Claudia doesn’t want to “make waves”. Please be impressed with her many awards and credits which include a “frutie” from The Fresh Fruits Festival, calling Condoleezza Rice a “house nigger” on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, rocking a righteous Mohawk in the indie horror film “TerrorMarketers”, and helping Kanye West on his last album. She recently completed her Masters Degree at NYU where she got a special award for smarty-pants book-learning or “academic achievement” as they call it. Her hobbies include string theory, comic books, watching TV, and indulging in her imagination. Claudia supports her lavish lifestyle by freelance writing, guest lecturing at Universities, teaching, and performing for spare change.
Chisa Hutchinson
Chisa Hutchinson has decided to abandon herself to the inevitability of people making assumptions about her based on what she looks like. So go ahead. Take a good look at the photo. She is what you think she is.
Christopher Borg
Actor, director, dialect coach, and back-up vocalist, Christopher Borg acts busy but he’s been seen wasting time doing stand-up at the legendary Comic Strip Live as well as Jimmy’s No. 43. A fan of the Neo-Futurists for many years, Borg was accepted into the group recently by promising sexual favors (which no one has even requested yet!)
The founding member of improv groups: Group X in Washington, DC and Show Your Teeth in Salt Lake City, Borg mostly exercises comedic muscles in the theatre; New York Credits include Modern Living for LaMaMa, Etc. Penny Pennyworth, Mr. Company; The Gay Naked Play; Lean Love City; Job Strikes Back, and Night of the Beansnake for Emerging Artists Theatre; A Perfect Relationship (2003 OOBR Award) and What The F**K? (2003 OOBR Award) for TOSOS II; The Sabbath Queen for Storahtelling, Bury The Dead for the Stage Door Acting Ensemble, Nothing for Ontological Theatre, The Crackwalker at Soho Rep., and My Alice for Esperance Theatre Co. Regional Credits include the critically acclaimed solo The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me at Church Street Theatre in Washington, DC, Shakespeare’s R&J at The Folger Shakespearean Theatre, DC., Bent for Washington Shakespeare Co., Pterodactyls and Ruthless for The Source Theatre Co., Gross Indecency for the Studio Theatre, Raised in Captivity for the Woolly Mammoth Theatre, during 2 Seasons at The Shakespeare Theatre at the Lansburgh Borg appeared in School for Scandal, Taming of the Shrew (playing Kate in Act I!) and Henry IV Parts I & II among many others. At Pioneer Theatre Company he appeared in The Grapes of Wrath , Henry V , and The 1940’s Radio Hour.
Borg was seen at Cannes as “Paul” in film festival favorite What are the Odds , sings & plays the shaker with the band “Utah Mafia” and received training at the University of Utah ‘s Actor Training Program and the Acting Fellowship at The Shakespeare Theatre at the Lansburgh.
A big proponent of Independent theatre he proudly donates time to the New York Innovative Theatre Awards – celebrating Off-Off-Broadway and building this rich and diverse community. Borg couldn’t do it all without the help of his trusted right-hand man for the past 11 years, Desmond.
Chris Dippel
Chris is an actor, director, writer, professor, and in his spare time he is a homemaker and full-time father. In the past he has done some stuff, and he is currently planning more stuff for the future. In the meantime, he is here for you if you need him.
Christopher Loar
Christopher has been writing, performing, directing and designing theater with The New York Neo-Futurists since 2009. He adapted, directed and sometimes performs in “The Complete & Condensed Stage Directions of Eugene O’Neill, Volumes 1 & 2” which received two Drama Desk Award Nominations as well as national and international tours. Also with NYNF: “Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind [30 Plays in 60 Minutes]”, “On The Future”, “Soft Hydraulics” and “MUTE”. He has performed and / or presented work at PS 122/Coil Festival, The Public Theater’s Under The Radar Festival, Richard Foreman’s Ontological-Hysteric Theater, New York Theater Workshop’s Suspect Studios, The Tank, Fringe NYC, Abrons Arts Center and The Brick. Christopher also works with interdisciplinary dance company LEIMAY and created sound and music for “Becoming Corpus” which premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He also does improv at various places around the city with his team, APOSTROPHE. Sometimes, he has been on the TV and he also makes short films. He is a member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Training: San Francisco State University, RADA, Circle in the Square Theater School, UCB.
Colin Summers
HAS A MUSTACHE.
Connor Sampson
A Comprehensive List of Things Connor Would Do for a Klondike Bar:
1.) Pay market price.
If you are interested in speaking to Connor, take a moment now to fall asleep. He’s waiting in the forest next to the friendly clown that either fell asleep eating that bag of potato chips, or is fully in a coma. Let me know what Connor says, though. I’m especially interested in what he thinks his bio might be. Hurry. Hurry before it all burns down.
Dan McCoy
1975: Breathe.
1976: Walk.
1977: Words. Star Wars. Brother.
1978: Affinity for cats.
1979: Rocks can be toys. Toys can be food.
1980: Volcanic ash. Goats abound.
1981: Reading, more words. Adventures in film.
1982: Ms. McBroom’s trailer, or at least the forest behind it, is haunted. Ghost hunter.
1983: On stage at last: shepherd. Divorce.
1984: Move. Claw-foot tub.
1985: Challenger. Re-marry. First wedding I’m in is my parents’.
1986: Back to Portland. “Don’t do drugs.”
1987: First published story. First girlfriend. Yikes.
1988: Metallica. Dance instead of P.E.
1989: High school. Barely cracking 100lb. Already cracking a beer.
1990: Experiments in hetro-sexuality. And in theatre.
1991: Experiments in Mary Jane. And in songwriting.
1992: Breathe.
1993: Graduate. Bass monster in local indie band. No, for real.
1994: Community college. Experiments in higher ed.
1995: R&M. Tygre’s Heart. First homo encounter.
1996: Coffee-boy by day, theatre rat by night.
1997: Rinse and repeat.
1998: LA. First stall on the 101.
1999: Cheapo sci-fi movies in Burbank pay the bills.
2000: Y2K: WTF? Adventures in rave.
2001: Elephant Theatre. Habits starting to form. Explosions heard from another coast.
2002: First play produced. Five minutes of hilarious. Chasing that bitch ever since.
2003: Breathe.
2004: More plays. More acting. More everything. More! More!
2005: I am a fundraising professional. Is that not grand? Last cigarette.
2006: NYC. After one visit.
2007: Crosstown Playwrights. 2ST. Much to do, much to see.
2008: Buy me a drink.
2009: NYNF and…?
Daniel Isaak Mirsky
Daniel Isaak Mirsky is an Artist & Scientist. Born in San Antonio, Texas to a loving and close family of political and religious refugees from then-soviet Latvia, Daniel's family exposed him to several disciplines including art, music, and physics. Having heavily studied the performing arts and Theatre, Daniel continued his education at Texas A&M University where he graduated with a degree in acting & directing. Before moving to NYC, Daniel performed as a guest artist at the Kennedy Center as an Irene Ryan national finalist. Daniel also collaborated with the NY Neos for several years as a technical associate, stage manager, designer and tech director.
Desiree Burch
I am not some other girl. I am Desiree Burch. I have spent my life laughing like a bicycle horn. I am built like a small tree. My hair grows up toward the sun. People like to agree with me, because I am most often saying yes. I believe in yes. No is terribly drab. I grew up in Southern California, in a sorry, suburban-ass place, that remains with me in artistic action and reaction. I lived through a series of best friends and prime-time television shows until (and I guess maybe through) my sophomore year. Then I joined the caravan of drama geeks, and discovered I was a social genius. Finally, rose-tinted glasses in the right prescription. I decided that I didn’t want to know the same people I grew up with, and went off to Yale. Majored in theater, and minored is what David Sedaris would refer to as “Bong Studies.” But then again, I am definitely not running for office anytime soon. It was here that I picked up a penchant for foie gras, surrealism, wearing daring coats and surrounding myself with throngs of gay men. I say, you only get one shot: live decadently! By the time I graduated, I was too broke to move home, so I lived off lots of lovely floors and futons around New York City. Now I live in Queens. So we’re movin’ on up. If I made a million dollars tomorrow, I wouldn’t move. Thanks to some deep-seated Bob Vila-like skill, my room has become my rose—I have tamed it. So now you know: I am both funny ha-ha and funny strange. Which makes me inclined toward things like writing, acting, solo performance and stand-up comedy. Which is what I do, when I’m not all over NYC, stickin’ the truth all up in your face. One day I’ll be deified. Already, I am a woman, and an Aquarius, which is close. I only hope the world can covet me for all that I am worth. I want sobbing at my wedding and laughing at my funeral. Okay, maybe it all doesn’t have to be that absurd. A Dixieland-style procession through Central Park is fine.
Dylan Marron
These are all the Best Actress Oscar nominees & winners I can think of in 10 minutes: 2012: Michelle Williams Rooney Mara Viola Davis Meryl Streep* Glenn Close 2011: Natalie Portman* Annette Bening 2010: Sandra Bullock* Meryl Streep 2009: Kate Winslet* 2008: Marion Cotillard* 2007: Hellen Mirren* Meryl Streep 2006: Felicity Huffman (should have won) Reese Witherspoon* 2005: Hillary Swank* Annette Bening 2004: ??? Charlize Theron* 2003: Nicole Kidman* Renee Zelwegger (should have won) 2002: Halle Berry* Sissy Spacek 2001: Julia Roberts* Ellen Burstyn 2000: Hillary Swank* Annette Bening 1999: Gwyneth Paltrow* 1998: Kate Winslet Judi Dench Helen Hunt* 1997: Frances McDormand* 1996: Susan Sarandon? 1995: ??? Others in non-specified years: Cher* Debra Winger Jane Fonda* Jodie Foster** ??
Supporting actress (2 minutes left): Whoopi Goldberg* Diane Wiest** Kim Basinger* Catherine Zeta-Jones* Jennifer Hudson* Melissa Leo
Eevin Hartsough
Eevin has been acting professionally since the age of four with a couple of long stretches off to go to Vassar and, later, pursue some other interests. Other interests did not hold Eevin’s interest and she is thrilled to add Too Much Light to her resume which also includes credits such as Hellen Keller in The Miracle Worker (Roundabout Theater), Agnes in A Bright Room Called Day (Vassar College Experimental Theater), the title role in Presumed Retarded (Manhattan Theater Source), a white-trash ghost in Cockfighters (Oberon Theater Co.) and the perky girlfriend of a government assassin in Many ‘Cides (Prospect Theater Co.). Eevin lives in Manhattan where she also enjoys producing radio and bollywood dancing.
Ezra Reaves
Ezra is from the south. They’ve got some pretty impressive credentials but only if you are a very particular kind of person. Ezra enjoys cuddlefishing, midorini making, magic tricks, and jogging off bridges.
Ezra is now an SF Neo-Futurist
Erica Livingston
Erica Livingston is a really nice little bird from the south who enjoys telling you way more than you wanted to know about her life. Here’s a few things: she’s adopted, has ovarian cysts and doesn’t like birthday cake. Her first paid acting gigs were directed by her grandmother who would pay her a dollar to cough around her father when he smoked in the hopes that he would one day quit. And he did! She’s good at poker, banana pudding, and making things with felt. She’s inspired by Martha Stewart, Dolly Parton and Ingrid Bergman. She thinks it’s very polite of you to have read this whole thing. Thank you.
Flor De Liz Perez
Originally from the Dominican Republic and raised in NY/PA, Flor De Liz is an actress now based in NYC. She recently wrapped Showtime’s latest pilot, Gurland on Gurland, playing a fierce role opposite show creator Andrew Gurland. NY Theatre: premiere of In the Time of the Butterflies (Repertorio Espanol), Jackson Heights 3AM (Theatre 167), Another Part of the House (Hero Theatre). Regional includes: world premiere of Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Two River Theater); In the Continuum, Nicholas Nickleby (PlayMakers Repertory). TV: The Good Wife, The 2-2. MFA-Acting: UNC Chapel Hill. Volunteer with the 52nd Street Project. Proudly AEA/AFTRA/SAG.
Heather Kelley
Heather agrees with the frequent observations that she is “tall,” walks “kind of fast,” and is “sort of snobby about books and movies.” She would add to this that her proclivity for pizza and Law & Order re-runs is great, she does not call her mother as often as she should (Sorry, Mom), she still wonders if tollbooth workers are robots (don’t they ever have to go to the bathroom?), and the sight of dollhouses or anything miniature dissolves her in joy. As an actor, Heather has worked with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Prospect Theater Company, the Looking Glass Forum, and the Kraine, among others. She has taught mask and physical theatre to elementary and middle-school students in North Philadelphia, as well as led high schoolers throughout the tri-state area in workshops focusing on Shakespeare’s text and language. She holds a BFA in Acting, with Honors, from The University of the Arts, and has trained with the British American Drama Academy, National Theatre Institute, and Pig Iron Theatre Company. Her first play, Fissure, premiered at the 2005 Strawberry Festival in New York, where she currently serves as a contributing editor for the print version of Opium Magazine.
Hilary Asare
Hilary is a Ghanaian-American actress and writer. Her friends wrote the following about her for their wedding website. It’s fairly accurate.
“Hilary is an enigma. She frequently discusses the intricacies of modern theater, just as frequently as she weeps over the most recent Grey’s Anatomy episode. She’ll champion the superiority of Tempranillo wine, but she’s also a fan of my signature swill, “Tequila Mockingbird.” She once walked into a party and arbitrarily declared herself The Mayor, and not a single person questioned it. Hilary is the ideal bridesmaid because she can be relied upon to simultaneously make sure everything is perfect and in order, while also getting down harder than anyone else around.”
A few clarifications:
I’m more likely to weep over This Is Us now, but I will watch Grey’s Anatomy until they take it off the air. If I die first, I will be haunting somebody’s TV Thursday nights at 8pm.
I’ve never had a Tequila Mockingbird but I like tequila. Want to be my friend? Buy me tequila.
The jurisdiction, duration, and requirements of my mayoral term remain unknown.
Jacquelyn Landgraf
Jacquelyn was once a Neo, always a Neo in spirit. She grew up on the South Side of Chicago where she was first taken to the Neo-Futurarium as a freshman in high school and given a name tag that christened her “Bubbles.” She had just graduated from college in NYC and was slinging suds at the Belgian Beer Bar in Greenwich Village when a stranger named Rob Neill sat for a beer and announced they were auditioning poets and scamps for the newly-formed New York Neo-Futurists. In her audition piece, she ate an onion, the first of many onions she would consume in her tenure in the company from 2005-2012. She now lives in Los Angeles and is the Artistic Director of The Elysian Theater.
Jeffrey Cranor
In the first paragraph, Jeffrey tells you a bit about himself: where he grew up, why he’s here, what living in New York is like. It’s not dissimilar to the traditional journalistic lede (5 Ws and an H).
Next, he delves into some of his previous stage experience and then follows that up with a witty quip befitting a tongue-in-cheek bio.
This part of the bio the longest and most detailed.
Finally, Jeffrey wraps it all up with a neat button that covertly encourages you to see Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind.
Jenny Williams
I left the UK for America in 2006, armed only with a jar of marmite, 4 mini-cans of Baked Beans and my dreams. Forced to leave my spacious Notting Hill flat, after finding my lover Hugh Grant in our queen-size – mid-shag with his lover Keira Knightley, I hopped a double-decker to the airport with my mother’s (Kristen Scott-Thomas’) words ringing in my ears: “He’s a wanker, a total bloody wanker and you’re best shot of him love”. Alone in my grimy studio apartment in Bed-sty, I stood weeping in my big pants, necking Earl Grey straight from the pot, with only my monocle and the framed picture of Dame Judi Dench for comfort. I thought of the Queen. I felt bad. Then I thought of Prince William. I felt worse. Then I thought of Prince Harry, and continued to think of him for a good 3 and a half minutes, until I felt better. Good enough to stomach a big meat pie, get lashed up on pints of warm lager and look to the future with the stoicism inherent in my nature. Look to your own lives. When you’re down I’m there, cracking one of my brilliant ironic jokes.
Jill Beckman
Jill Beckman hails from the Land of Lincoln, where she trained with ImprovOlympic and Second City. She has lived and worked in NYC for the last 10 years. In that time, she earned a BFA from NYU, trained with SITI Company and Upright Citizens Brigade, and collaborated in many various capacities with many various theater companies and here are some of her favorite: The Foundry, Saga, Big Dance, The Combustibles, Young Jean Lee, WestBeth Entertainment, Rev. Billy, Hoi Polloi, New York Stage and Film, and The Bureau.
Joe Basile
Adventure seeker, chocolate connoisseur, Sagittarian dreamer, organizing madman. At the age of 17, Joe saw TML for the first time and misunderstood the rules. He called out numbers during a play! Learn from his mistake. He loved the performance and hoped one day to do the same. After playing such roles as the Stinky Cheese Man, Warrior #3, an elm tree, Lambchop, lesbian dancer #2, cracked-out drag queen chasing cab, and making his television debut as an inconsiderate sales clerk at Baby World, Joe finally played himself with the Neo-Futurists.
Joey Rizzolo
Joey is a director of film and theater. His work is didactic and episodic. Like much of the art he produced, Joey Rizzolo the artist developed in New York, directing plays and musicals ranging from new work to Shakespeare, with a particular penchant for politics and the stories of young people. As one of the early members of the New York Neo-Futurists, he created and developed new work for 12 years. As a political director with a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, Joey often adopts an Epic approach to storytelling, identified by critic Christine Howey as a director of "restless imagination." He teaches theater to children and adults.
Justin Tolley
Things about Justin: 1) Raised in the mountains of Virginia. 2) Has two sisters. 3) Does pick his nose when no one is looking. 4) Sometimes wears underwear twice when he has run out of clean ones or I doesn't wear any at all. 5) Loves Peter Sellars, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. 6) Is in love with the most beautiful woman in the world.
Kate Jones
Who is Kate Jones? It’s an intriguing question and one that cannot be easily answered with a few quips about her life or her demeanor. Because, you see, who are any of us really? Are we the sum of our experiences? Our likes and dislikes? Are we our passport stamps and Darth Tater dolls? Are we our video game consoles and Merchant Mariner Documents? Are we our Karlstad sofas and coaster collections? Are we all of these things, and none of these things at the same time? It is likely that we are carbon-based (unless you’re a phosphorus based being, in which case, drop Kate a note and say hello or whatever it is that your culture uses for a salutation) life-forms (Kate would like to note that she is not a carbon chauvinist and does not mean to offend), but that’s certainly an absurd place to begin a bio. Unless you are a total nerd. Then it might be a good place to end.
Kate Jones is a carbon based life-form.
Katrina Goldsaito
(Katrina Toshiko)
So much of what happened in the nearly 2 decades since being a founding member of the NY NeoFuturists is lost to history. But a few highlights: Katrina made an audience interactive Augmented Reality transmission from the future (ReachYou, Tribeca Festival, Museum of Fine Arts Boston), tea ceremonies (Luggage Store, SF), and is now working on a Feminist Utopia performance project.
Her children's book The Sound of Silence has been translated into Chinese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, French, and Czech, and was read by the heartstopper Simu Liu (Marvel's Shang-Chi! see YouTube, Storyline Online). She has another children's book forthcoming where she also wrestles with a little-known Japanese aesthetic concept. For kids.
Katrina makes regular pilgrimage to difficult moments of profound loss and grief, and works with people to find a container for grief in their own writing. She also teaches Creativity as Sanctuary, and You Belong to The Future.
With her two small humans, their grandparents and her love, Katrina's intergenerational caravan lived for a few years as nomads in Morocco, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, New Zealand (in vans!), and Colombia. Katrina continues to make artwork with her family agency the You Have Agency, and holds a weekly Super Low Key Come As You Are, Fam potluck in Western Massachusetts.
Katy-May Hudson
Katy-May Hudson was birthed around the same time as the Moonwalk, on the sunny shores of Sydney Australia; The land of Jacaranda trees, exemplary gun laws and where the word fanny references a vagina rather than a backside.
Katy-May’s performance career began at 2.5 years of age, when she would wait for her grandmother, Bertha-May, to head to the latrine. It was then that KM would nefariously acquire the somewhat immobile BM’s walking apparatus, and assume it as a microphone for her story retellings and recitals of little known song/dance routines. The greatly immovable BM would sit and gaily applaud as a singular audience member, much to the delight of junior KM, sometimes for hours. Or at least until a family member returned home to relieve her of this duty.
It was during this time that KM was appointed with the nickname ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, (Sarah Bernhardt, the great one-legged stage actress of the 19th century, not to be confused for Sandra Bernhard, sassy stand-up current day comedian) and also developed a fondness for misappropriated props. This kind of blatant exhibitionism continues today, which is why KM avidly practices self-doubt, neurosis and awkward interchanges to maintain balance and stay grounded in the precarious yet glorious world of the performing arts.
For more on KM: www.katy-mayhudson.com
Kevin R. Free
I have always wanted to belong to something, so I jumped at the opportunity to join the New York Neo-Futurists. For a long time (a little over 38 years), I’ve been a member of the African-American community, but my affinity to country music constantly puts my membership in jeopardy. I am spared the chopping block because of my lack of knowledge of the music of The Beatles.
When I was a child, I wanted to belong to Menudo or the Drummond Family on “Diff’rent Strokes.” Unfortunately, national talent searches never reached me in not-so-rural North Carolina. To help ease the pain of an ordinary life, in high school I joined the show choir, Key Club, French Club, the Rifle Team, my church youth group, the Drama Club, Perfect Attendance Club, Honor Society, Junior Marshals, and S.A.D.D. I became President of Student Council and a minimum-wage earner at around the same time.
In college, I embraced my blackness by reviving the black theatre organization on campus. It was in the theatre where I embraced my gayness (which has never been in jeopardy).
It was as an adult in New York City when I realized that all of my memberships were either short-term (relationships), risky (Off-Broadway gigs), or sketchy (AEA, SAG, AFTRA). I recalled that I had always belonged to an artistic community, so I decided to commit myself fully to my career, for better or worse. Since then, I’ve committed to my relationship, several teaching artist organizations, the business theatre community, the voiceover world, and FringeNYC. I am also a member of Loretta!,a long-form improv group. I now know the importance of commitment, so as a Neo-Futurist I look forward to playing the race card (because that’s the only way I can keep it).
For more info about my commitments, visit me at http://www.kevinrfree.com.
Krys Seli
Last night, I dreamt very deeply about allot of dark space. The dark space was so real and so vivid, that it made me drool. Earlier when I was awake, I swam alone in an indoor hotel pool. I lifted my legs and floated, belly up. It was allot of a wet nothing feeling. And it was scary. But I kept my legs weightless, closed my eyes, and let my ears fill up with water. Mouth open.
Krys is now an SF Neo-Futurist
Lauren Sharpe
Lauren Sharpe is an actor, improviser, dancer and clown who recently made the move from Chicago to NYC. While in Chicago, Lauren performed site-specific spectacles with Redmoon, also appearing in “The Golden Truffle” and “The Princess Club.” Lauren has also worked with The Chicago Neos and has written for/performed in “Roustabout: The Great Circus Train Wreck!,” “Picked Up” and “Fake Lake,” a play performed in and around a Chicago Park District pool. She is a member of Barrel of Monkeys, a company that teaches writing workshops in public schools. By day, Lauren can be found clowning in children’s hospitals with Big Apple Circus Clown Care.
Lindsay Brandon Hunter
Lindsay joined The Neo-Futurists at roughly the same time another Lindsay Hunter was acquired by the Boston Celtics. This second Lindsay Hunter was described in an article in the Babson Free Press of Babson College, MA as “a player on his last legs.” Lindsay was named after the Bionic Woman, Lindsay Wagner. The year Lindsay Hunter (the Neo-Futurist, not the NBA hoopster) graduated from high school, Lindsay Wagner made the movies “Men Who Hate Women & the Women Who Love Them,” and “Bionic Ever After?” Lindsay looks forward to her golden years with a mounting sense of dread.
Marta Rainer
Marta Rainer has performed her acclaimed one-woman show Unaccustomed to My Name across America and internationally since 2001. She is on the acting faculty at Wellesley College, New Actors Workshop/Antioch University McGregor (her almae matres!) and New York Film Academy. Favorite non-Neo and decidedly illusory roles on stage/in film include: Woman (Laughing Wild), Eva (& screenwriter, Radio Cape Cod), Carol (Oleanna), Sylvia (Sylvia), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Twelfth Night), Trinculo (The Tempest). Marta has been Assistant Director to Second City founder Paul Sills (Yeats: The Stories of Red Hanrahan), and more recently—satisfying the part of her that holds a B.A. in Russian—on Classic Stage Company’s production of Chekhov’s The Seagull. Published works include profiles of stonemasons in The Stone Primer (Storey Publishing), and numerous magazine features, including a cover story (Small Room Decorating) on the skinniest house in America! Marta, a proud founding ensemble member of the New York Neo-Futurists, was active in the company until 2006 – the year the company was honored with the Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Performance Art.
Meg Bashwiner
30 Megs in 60 seconds:
Meg is a second daughter of a second daughter.
Meg is a sister.
Meg is vaccinated.
Meg is a three letter word.
Meg is an intricate and temporary whiskey glass.
Meg is allergic to most things.
Meg is an exceptional driver.
Meg is a smoker quitter.
Meg is a lover of fine cheeses.
Meg is a swimmer.
Meg is a maker of delicious meatballs .
Meg is an aries.
Meg is a writer.
Meg is a person who talks on podcasts.
Meg is an avid fan of sleep.
Meg is a word that rhymes with egg.
Meg is from New Jersey.
Meg is in love.
Meg is shacking up with her boo in Brooklyn.
Meg is taking the moment.
Meg is making the most of it.
Meg is 90% water.
Meg is a person who fears change.
Meg is short for Megan.
Meg is a person who falls down… a lot
Meg is a registered democrat.
Meg is gem spelled backwards.
Meg is terrified by snakes.
Meg is going to do a show for you.
Meg is a Neo Futurist.
Michael Cyril Creighton
After leaving the Neo-Futurists, MCC did some plays, gained some weight, lost some weight, gained a little more, grew a beard, did a few more plays, some short films and “webisodes”, learned to enjoy Salmon, battled acid reflux, hosted video podcasts for VH1’s Best Week Ever blog and read one (maybe 2) books. Michael is currently doing some plays, gaining & losing weight, growing his beard and then trimming it and growing it back again, enjoying Salmon (every now and then), battling acid reflux and hosting video podcasts. But he’s not reading. That’s boring! Get out there and find MCC online…
Mike Puckett
Mikhail Puckettovich “Mike Puckett” was mistakenly unfrozen by the KGB in 1978 as part of a short-lived program exploring the weaponization of woolly mammoths. Luckily, being over 5,000 years old had been decriminalized 3 years prior as an April Fool’s Day prank (they elebrate April Fool’s in Russia, right?), and Mike was made a member of the intelligence agency. During this time he participated in numerous experiments and operations, and can be unofficially credited with pioneering over half a dozen new sandwich recipes, revolutionizing the art of kicking open doors, and inventing the tooth camera. He is most famous for his formation and 3-year leadership of the world’s first houseplant assassination squad. Ironically, this would lead to his downfall. In 1985, a botched attempt on the life of Ronald Reagan’s favorite ficus caused Mike to be disavowed from the KGB.
Now that Mike was stuck in America with no friends or family, a 23-year-long* montage ensued. Some excerpts include (in no particular order):
-Mike goes to his first nightclub! (“The Bad Touch” by Bloodhound Gang)
-Mike rides a bike on the West Side Highway! (“Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen)
-Mike wrestles a wolf, inspires Liam Neeson to do the same! (“Ace of Spades” by Motörhead)
-Mike goes to his first American grocery store! (hilarity ensues) (“Lost in the Supermarket” by The Clash)
-Mike hitchhikes his way out of DC, gets stranded in Pennsylvania. (“Dueling Banjos” by Arthur Smith)
-Mike gets ready for a first date! (“Paint it Black” by Rolling Stones)
Finally, in 2009, Mike got tired of hijinks and shenanigans and decided to do something serious with his life: acting school. So he went to New York University, where he trained with the Atlantic Theater Company for 3 years. There he was taught by the wonderful Jacquelyn Landgraf, who inspired him to see Too Much Light for the first time. Mike left the theater absolutely astonished; he had found his artistic calling! This was the reason he had traveled through time! He spent the next 2 years hanging around the Kraine Theater until the New York Neos let him join the ensemble. And that brings us to the present. **
*Fortunately for Mike, some science stuff happened to him when he was frozen, causing his body to stop aging. Some scientists believe this is why he still appears to be in his 20s.
**That last paragraph is true. Mostly.
Molly Flynn
Molly is a performance artist, ukulelist, and Russianist. She had the immense privilege of joining the original New York Neo-Futurist company in 2004 and remained an active Neo Futurist until spring of 2006 (though she could still return, so watch out). When not writing, directing, and performing two minutes plays, Molly enjoys exploring the realm of intersections between academia and performance, theory and practice. Well…she may not always enjoy it, but she’s trying. She is a very proud Aunt and lover of Wallace Shawn plays. Other artist that inspire her are Miranda July and Leslie Hall Keeper of the Gem Sweaters. In addition to her work with the New York Neo-Futurists Molly spent three years as a performer/collaborator in the Massachusetts based theatre company Sirius Theatre under the artistic directorship of Stephen Haley, former member of the Polish Laboratory’s International Company. In 2001 Molly travelled to Southern France with the company to work with Enriquè Pardo at his Choreographic Theatre Symposium. Molly has also studied at the St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia. She holds a B.A. in theatre and Russian literature from New York University and an M.A. in theatre and performance studies from Brown University.
Nessa Norich
Nessa is a Brooklyn-based theater artist devoted to the creation of innovative and challenging new works and forms of performance. Her work spans styles and mediums, including site-specific Shakespeare, political satire, documentary theater, immersive events and live concerts. Whichever form she chooses to explore, her primary interest is in the transcendental and ritualistic function of the theatre.
Nessa has collaborated on over a ten original works of theater internationally, at such notable venues as, the British Film Institute, the Battersea Arts Center & the Southbank Center in London, The Louvre in Paris and Joe’s Pub, Ars Nova, 59E59 and Dixon Place in New York City. She has been teaching and coaching acting and movement since graduating Lecoq 5 years ago.
She is also co-founder of Pantheon Presents – an event production company that designs inclusive and healing spaces to dance. Their latest project, Shine On in Schools, brings these spaces to public elementary schools in the Bronx. She is thrilled to be a New York Neo-Futurist!!
Nicole Hill
Nicole is in a current state of gestation, she’ll have to get back to you on who she is… In the interim please enjoy a biographical song from the cocoon while you wait…
Such a sober intoxicant, me…
I once walked a straight line down a crooked path while touching my nose to the glass half empty I’d just drunk fully after narrowly breast feeding the entire village it took to raise me, the child who’s got her own…
I’m a gal with great gams, leglessly spiral dancing this straight line down juxtaposition’s pole. Stuffing “dollar-dollar bills yo” down my own damn g-string, making change ere I go…
Yeah, I’m a 150 ft. baby doll and as such, yeah you can see up my dress. I’m bodacious and shy and anatomically correct (although it has to be said I’m in possession of parts with dust on ‘em.) . I once made a daisy chain for my hair out of prepubescent school girls but it didn’t look nearly as cool as I thought. The meaning of life discovered me but I wouldn’t consent to the 25% commission… I still freelance.
Oh I’m a competition stilt runner, it kind of runs in the family I adopted… I test mustards for their inherent twang, a gig I picked up while at the Grand ‘Ol Opry. I’m the super hero, Epiphany Girl, I swoop down when indecision and stilted thinking takes hold and with the fervent fluttering of my lashes the clouds part and the subjects of my ministrations have a delightful “ah-ha” moment that I beautifully underscore utilizing this small synth that I keep hidden beneath my cape. And when people are on tenterhooks I assist them using this clever little extraction device kept wedged in my cleavage.
Omar Telan
You’re in good hands with Omar. Have Omar your way. Omar, take me away. Please don’t squeeze the Omar. The Omar never sleeps. Omar’s what your right arm’s for. When Omar absolutely, positively has to be there overnight. Say Omar with flowers. Beanz meanz Omarz. Snap! Crackle! Omar! Omar lickin’ good. You can break a brolly, but you can’t o-nacker an Omar. Got Omar? It’s Omar time! Just do Omar. Lipsmackin’ thirstquenchin’ acetastin’ motivatin’ goodbuzzin’ cooltalkin’ highwalkin’ fastlivin’ evergivin’ coolfizzin’ Omar. It takes a tough man to make a tender Omar. I liked Omar so much I bought the company. It’s a lot less bovver than an Omar. The UnOmar. Omar’s everywhere you want to be. Breakfast of Omars. You give us 22 minutes, we’ll give you Omar. Let your Omar do the walking.
Rayne Harris
I think Bios are weird. So attached you will find the only diary entry I have written as an adult that is just a way for me to find a cool format for facts and stuff – and to avoid the task.
Dear Diary,
Today was normal. I woke up later than planned, typical. I brushed my teeth as I tend to do at least twice a day. I walked to the coffee shop I frequent to see the cute boy that works there. He decided not to come to work today and I don’t even drink coffee so here I sit typing this bio and freezing outside of the comfort of my own room for no reason. I called my mom and she talked to me for 30 minutes and I know that will be the first of at least five calls between us today. She is back home in Mississippi but we talk an extremely unhealthy number of times to feel close. My whole family and I are like that… whatevs… there are worse things (like that fact that I used whatevs in a sentence).
I like talking more than I like writing. I like singing more than I like talking. I like sleeping more than all of the above. I like lists – especially when I check things off of them. Like writing this bio, it was on my to do list, so was therapy. After this I can check them both off.
That seems like enough for now
Regie Cabico
Regie Cabico is a third generation samurai who hails from the state of Maine! Regie is a distant relative of the infamous killer, Elizabeth Bathory, who bathed in her young servant girl victim’s blood in order to stay youthful and beautiful. She would often rip out their eyes with her own two hands, much like the Papin Sisters did to their employers at Le Mans. Incidentally, the Papin Sisters inspired such plays as The Maids and My Sister in This House. Regie has not appeared in either of these, however this may explain Regie’s thirst…but not for blood. For WORDS! And ART! He has been a performer since the age of 1, debuting in the Bus& Truck tour of HurlyBurly. Regie can be seen in the background of several reality television shows, and if you look closely you can read his lips. Often he is muttering about male genitalia and how it should secrete alcohol. He gets a kick out of sneaking his musings past the censorship board.
Ricardo Gamboa
A Biography via Internet Scrapping
“scrapping” according to urbandictionary.com
1. scrapping (69 up, 5 down)
fighting, physical fight, punching, hand to hand fight
2. scrapping (14 up, 6 down)
the act of taking any item not nailed down, preferably items that can be sold at the scrap yard. i.e. steel, aluminum, copper to make a living
“scrapping” according to Ricardo Gamboa
1. scrapping
that sh*t that white ladies from the Midwest and South do (when they’re not bedazzling jean jackets) to make tricked out photo albums that still have a hand crafted nostalgic feel
Roberta Colindrez
Roberta is but a wee lass. In fact, she feels like just yesterday she was packing up the u-haul and moving her life to New York City. You see, Roberta was born a mutt in 1986 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to a hard-ass Argentinean mother and the cutest Honduran father ever. It was there Roberta established her lifelong dedication to silent observation- fully participating in parades for schools which she didn’t attend, hanging around groups of people she’d never really talk to, and doing her best to not laugh audibly all the while. But then her family moved to AMERICA. Houston, Texas where she refused to go to school as much as possible until the police had to come a-lookin’ for her at her house. So she went. Every single day from 2nd to 10th grade, when she started skipping alot. In the 4th grade she had sex-ed class in which she pretended to know what all the other girls had already been gossiping and bragging about doing for the past year. The boys were given a condom and she a maxi pad, which she actually used in an act of desperation years down the awkward road to womanhood. In late elementary school, her family again moved. This time to Austin, Texas where Roberta discovered performing. An immediate and irreplaceable relationship began. And so she went on to college and there experienced everything a young girl should. Drugs, sex, music, theatre. Also she received a BFA in Acting. It was awesome. Once graduated, she left behind the easiest and most pleasant lifestyle in Austin and moved to the big apple thing. It wasn’t awesome at first, and then for a while more. But then! Then she discovered the Neo-Futurists and reconfirmed her mission in life. She auditioned, and was accepted. And is now here writing this bio and is f&^%ing thrilled to be doing so! This has all happened in less than one month. How time flies…
Ryan Good
Ryan Good is the tallest of the New York Neo-Futurists.
Ryan has lofty goals for himself and the Neo-Futurists. He envisions them becoming giants in the downtown theatre scene, selling out big houses. When he closes his eyes, Ryan sees the entire troupe soaring, elevated hundreds of feet above Manhattan on the wings of a large bird of an unspecified species. In college, Ryan did inhale and he got very high.
Ryan has now (semi)successfully used every word listed in his thesaurus for tall in the above paragraph. He’s a little upset by the rather dated Bill Clinton reference he closed with, especially in times when there are current politicians so much more worthy of textual spitballs. However, he is rather happy with the image of the large bird.
In other, more applicable news, Ryan Good grew in stature, went to school occasionally, and consumed cheese in the state of Wisconsin from near birth until 2005. He then moved to New York to pursue a career in the theatre as a writer and actor. But some mornings he wakes up and just wants to make a project album of folk songs about the demise of his last relationship using aliens as the overarching metaphor. Other mornings he wakes up to NPR. Ryan requests that you don’t ask him about William Shakespeare, Shostakovich, early British shock theatre, one of the two Neutral Milk Hotel albums, or the short-lived TV series Undeclared unless you are prepared to hear how ingenious they are.
Sarah Levy
I know why the caged bird sings. I hear America singing. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. I think, therefore I am. I think I can. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. I like the nightlife. I like to boogie. I like Ike. I like New York in June. I like to eat apples and bananas. I would like to buy a vowel. I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam I Am. I can’t believe it’s not butter. I can’t believe I ate the whole thing. I can’t get no satisfaction. I cannot tell a lie. I did not chop down that cherry tree. I did not have sexual relations with that woman. I don’t know why I love you, but I do. I want you so bad, it’s driving me mad. I want my MTV. I want an Oompa Loompa. I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I have a dream. I forgot my mantra. I got jungle fever. I will survive. I did it my way. I got you, babe. I tawt I taw a puddy cat. I see dead people. I say potahto. I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. I shot the sheriff. I wandered lonely as a cloud. I left my heart in San Francisco. I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. I do. I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I am not a crook. I am the decider. I am woman; hear me roar. I am an invisible man. I am a rock. I am an island. I am the eggman. I am the walrus. I am a material girl. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I am Spartacus.
T Thompson
T smokes cigarettes mornings with their coffee on a Brooklyn stoop.
T prefers the stoop to the coffee shop up the street because you can’t smoke in the coffee shop.
T prefers a pool table in a dive bar over a billiard hall. T sharked in Portland a few times, like a black version of Paul Newman, but different.
T appreciates a good side street to wander down and get lost, but has never gotten lost, it’s all about the landmarks.
T can only remember major life events in relation to Beyonce song debuts.
T has seen Beyonce two times and is getting closer to Bey flinging her sweat on them each time.
T’s favorite thing lately, is not knowing what’s coming next.
If T could shoot their bow and arrow anywhere, it would be on a horse, shooting hidden targets in the woods.
T has shot a bow and arrow in the woods, but definitely not from a horse, safety first.
T has a male cat named Flip, if you ask T about him, it would be a long story that you probably would lose interest in after a while because you probably don’t care about cats as much as T (i.e. refer to cat shirt or hoodie T is more than likely wearing).
T loves animals. T also loves a good steak, and would prefer that it were farm raised. Although T realizes that the chicken cutlet from the bodega was not from a free range farm.
T believes every creature should have a good life, but understands that life is shitty and at any moment you could be called to an untimely end.
T has resting don’t fuck with me face, and a brisk walk. T would prefer a resting smile and a saunter but Manhattan is not conducive to either.
T sometimes misses the heat of a whiskey neat down their throat, but accepts that a fresh fruit smoothie is better for longevity.
Yolanda Wilkinson
Yolanda has finally come to her Neo-Futuristic home, from the wilderness of being a failed dog walker, window dresser and foot messenger. Being Ron Jeremy’s oldest daughter isn’t an easy life to lead, but she does it with heart. She is a former born again Christian that worked for Pat Robertson until he fired her for being brazen.
The dichotomy in her life, having a father with a famous large penis and being a clasp in the Bible belt, has created an artist. By day, once you go through the metal detectors, you will find her teaching teenagers and inmates leadership skills and alternatives to violence. At night you find her on stage somewhere. She transforms at dusk and dawn.