A SERIES OF INELASTIC COLLISIONS
Creative Team
Cast
Sally Burtenshaw (Rain) is a Houston actor who's recent credits include THE CHILDREN Rec Room Arts dir. by Brandon Weinbrenner, Kheeper (a radio play) Rec Room Arts, dir by Lily Wolff – WELL – Mildreds Umbrella Theatre, dir. by Bree Bridger, You Can’t Take It With You A.D. Players Theatre dir. by Tom Prior, True West 4th Wall Theatre, dir. by Kim Tobin-Lehl, A Lie of The Mind Dirt Dogs Theatre, Hay Fever (Judith Bliss) Texas Repertory Theatre. New York City credits include: The FQ - American Globe Theatre, True West- 42nd St Theatre Row, Cause of Failure -Access Theatre-, The Dark Ages of Marilyn Grant Theater Lab, Six Characters in Search on an Author 42nd Street Theatre Row, Blind Date - Playwrights Theatre. London credits include: A Phoenix Too Frequent (Dynamene) Finborough Theatre, The Island (Jo) Etcetera Theatre, Laurence Olivier Story (Jill Esmond) BBC. She trained with Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof at HB Studio, NYC.
Carl Masterson (Sunny/Schuyler) Landing Theater Company Agathe; Main Street Theater: The Diary of Ann Frank, Enemies, Stargirl, Peace in Our Time, The Giver, Othello, My Three Angels, An American Daughter, Night Must Fall; Classical Theater Company: An Enemy of the People, Barber of Seville, A Doll’s House, Cherry Orchard, The Birds, Ubu Roi, Uncle Vanya; The Ensemble Theatre/ Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center (the J): City of Good Abode; Dirt Dogs Theatre Co.: Five by Tenn; Country Playhouse: Six Degrees of Separation, The Lion in Winter, A Christmas Story, Noises Off; Theater Southwest: Barefoot in the Park, Regrets Only, Anna Christie; Wordsmyth Theater Co.: Cat, Mouse, Bird and Body; Coneman Running: Trumbo: Red White and Blacklisted, Séance on a Hot Humid Afternoon; Company OnStage: Heartbreak House, Thunder Rock, The Fantasticks, Reckless. Education: B.S., Texas A&M, Zoology.
Callina Anderson (Jess) was named one Houston Press’ “Up and Coming Actors to Watch of 2019. She has previously been seen at The Landing Theater in Gambrels of the Sky. Other on stage credits include The Revolutionists, Grand Concourse, The Hard Problem (Main Street Theater), To Kill A Mockingbird (A.D. Players), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Classical Theater Company), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Freeda Peoples, Platanos y Collard Greens (The Ensemble Theater); Come and Go, Well, Dollface (Mildred’s Umbrella), The Judgment of Fools, The Sonic Life of a Giant Tortoise… (Horse Head Theater); The Effect (Houston Equity Festival). Ms. Anderson holds a B.A. in Theater from the University of Houston.
Francisco Zurcher (Baily) is an upcoming actor currently studying psychology at the Austin Community College. He has recently graduated from the Highschool for the Performing and Visual Arts and has performed in, Mary Poppins (Mr.Banks), Tartuffe (Tartuffe), The Crucible (Judge Danforth), The Bald Soprano (Mr.Martin), Peter Pan (Mr.Darling/Smee), Wrinkle in Time (reader 6). He was also in the now cancelled production of Appropriate by Branden Jacobs Jenkins (Rhys) at the RecRoom Theater, were he was also seen in Woyzeck (Ensemble). Not excluding his work and education at the Houston Ballet were he performed in The Core (Paper Boy), Marie (Court Child, Dead Child, Solder), The Nutcracker (Party Child 2012), The Nutcracker (Party Child 2011), The Nutcracker (Party Child 2010). In addition to his education at ACC he will be learning at the Stella Adler Academy.
Greg Dean (Frost) The Catastrophic Theatre: Herzstück (director, actor, screenwriter), Baby Screams Miracle, (Gabriel ), Tragedy: a Tragedy (Frank In The Studio), Jim Lehrer, the Theatre & Its Double, & Jim Lehrer’s Double (director, set, props), Tamarie’s Merry Evening of Mistakes and Regret (Mortando the Clown), Snow White (director, adaptation, Narrator), The Designated Mourner (Jack), Buried Child (Tilden), Tamarie for President (“Greg Dean”), The Hunchback Variations (director, scenic design, Quasimodo), The Pine (Morris the Hesitant), Waiting for Godot (Vladimir), The Tamarie Cooper Doomsday Revue (“Greg Dean”), Endgame (Hamm), Crave, (scenic design, A), Paradise Hotel, (co-director; scenic, props, sound design), Bluefinger (Ensemble), Hunter Gatherers (Richard), Our Late Night (scenic design, Lewis); Rec Room: Woyzeck (Doctor), Exit Strategy (Arnold); Mildred’s Umbrella: Footfalls, Not I (director) Cloud Tectonics (Hanibal de la Luna), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (co-director, Karl), Dracula (director, designer, Dracula), The Flu Season (scenic design); Unity Theatre: And then there were none (Blore); Horse Head Theatre: Evocation to Visible Appearance (Russell); Hune Company Living Room Series: Blackbird (Ray); 14 Pews at La Colombe d’Or: The Fever (director, performer); Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre: Dance Macabre: The Constant Companion (Sid); Stagger Lee Presents The Caretaker (Davies); Infernal Bridegroom Productions: Endgame (Hamm), Eddie Goes to Poetry City (director; scenic, sound design), Quartett (director; scenic, prop, sound design, Valmont), Samuel's Major Problems (director, designer, Samuel), Woyzeck (Woyzeck), Guys and Dolls (Sky Masterson), The Cherry Orchard (director, designer, Firs); Houston Shakespeare Festival; Classical Theatre Company; Alley Theatre; West-Mon Repertory Theater; Urban Theatre Project.
Briana J. Resa (Marisol) is excited to participate in this year’s New American Voices Playwriting Festival. She is the recipient of the 2020 Houston Press Theatre Award for Best Solo Show and finalist for Best Actress. Credits include: Alley Theatre: A Christmas Carol; 4th Wall Theatre Company: Between Riverside and Crazy, Main Street Theater: The Secretary, Native Gardens; Obsidian Theater: Empanada Loca; Stages Repertory Theatre: Alma En Venta; Mildred’s Umbrella: The Hunchback of Seville, The Moors; TUTS: A Wonderful Life, Dreamgirls; Music Box Musicals: Avenue Q, Company. BFA Sam Houston State University. Featured in Houston Press’ Up and Coming Actors 2019 Edition. IG:@brianaresa
Molly Oubre (Deborah) is a senior acting major in the theatre department at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, where she has recently been seen in Electra (Orestes). She has also been in fhs Rec Room’s production of Appropriate (Cassidy), and Theatre Under the Star’s productions of Spring Awakening (Ensemble) and Memphis (Ensemble).
Rachel Greene (Stage Directions) is currently a Literary Consultant for The Landing Theatre Company and Shabach Enterprise's Fade To Black Festival, both centered in Houston, Texas. She recently closed MonologueBank.com, a non-profit online experiment dedicated to injecting more new work into the audition room. As a National Advisory Board Member of 50 Playwrights Project and through her membership with both LMDA and The Playwrights' Center, she is actively working to support writers and new play development. Rachel has held numerous Arts Administration positions at The Playwrights Center in Minneapolis and the Dallas Theater Center and has enjoyed freelancing in casting and international cultural exchanges. She also gained extensive experience in teaching private English lessons during a seven-year stint in Japan. Her passions include new work development, the cultivation of the living artist, and the exploration of intercultural communication. When not doing her theatre thing, she is the Content Coordinator for First Colony Neighbors Magazine from Best Version Media.
Production Team
Emily Neves (Director) is a director, actor, and writer based in Texas, and she is thrilled to be returning to direct for the NAV festival for the second year in a row, having directed Amy Berryman’s The New Galileos last year. Other directing credits include assisting on A Christmas Carol at the Alley, assistant directing Cinched/Strapped: the armor plays at Theatre Three in Dallas, as well as helming many English dubs of Japanese anime. Houston audiences may remember Emily from her seven seasons as a member of the Alley Theatre’s Resident Acting Company. Memorable roles include: A Few Good Men (Jo), Boeing-Boeing (Gloria), A Behanding in Spokane (Marilyn), You Can’t Take it with You (Alice), Clybourne Park (Betsy/Lindsay), and many more. At Stages Repertory: Sensitive Guys (Katie/Jordan/Jones), Marie Antoinette (Marie), Stupid F*cking Bird (Nina), Who Am I This Time (Catherine/Helene/Paula), and Miss Teen (Margaret) Emily’s short play, Pretty Little White Girls, was featured in Mildred’s Umbrella’s Museum of Dysfunction short play festival. She also lends her voice to hundreds of anime characters for Funimation Studios and Sentai Filmworks and is a prolific adaptive writer of anime scripts. Emily holds a BFA in Acting from Texas State University (cum laude).
Jessica Casanova (Stage Manager) is a recent graduate from The University of Houston with a BFA in Stage Management. Select Professional credits include: American Shakespeare Center Summer 2019 (PA) and 2020 (SM), Stages Repertory Theatre: Sin Muros Latin Theatre Festival (SM) 2018, 2019 and 2021, Houston Shakespeare Festival 2017 (PA), and Theatre Under the Stars’ Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (ASM) and Elf The Musical (SM Intern). Select Educational Credits include: Romeo and Juliet (SM), Three Sisters (SM), As You Like It (SM), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (SM), and Winners (SM). In her free time Jessica enjoys reading, knitting, spending time outside, and good food and coffee.
Casey Kearns (Scenic Designer) resides as Production Manager and Head of Undergraduate Design and Production at University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance. His credits include well over 150 productions including Shakespeare, opera, ballet, modern drama, classical works and musical theatre. Casey is an active long-time member of United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and currently serves as the Commissioner for the Scene Design and Technology Commission. He earned his Master of Fine Arts in Scenography (Scenic, Lighting, and Costume Design) from the University of Kansas and holds a Bachelors of Arts from Chadron State College in Theatre. www.caseykearns.com
Krystal Uchem (Costume Designer) is a theatre artist born and raised in Houston, Texas. She is grateful to be able to perform in spaces that give power to truth and storytelling. Her passions exist not only on the stage, but behind the scenes as well. She earned her Bachelor's of Fine Arts degree in Theatre Design and Technology from the University of Houston while continuing her career in acting. Krystal is an Artistic Associate at The Landing Theatre, the BOLD Production Manager at The Ensemble Theatre, and a Board Member of The Costume Connection-Houston. Her costume credits include: The Landing Theatre: Wanda, Daisy and the Great Rapture, Caught, Oleanna, Between Two Caves, The Visit, and Uncharted, The Alley Theatre: Skeleton Crew, and A Christmas Carol, The Ensemble Theatre: Pipeline, Christmas is Coming Uptown, Autumn, and The Toys Take Over Christmas, Rouge Productions: Two Mile Hollow, Houston Shakespeare Festival: Twelfth Night , Richard III , Hamlet , Comedy of Errors, As You Like it, and Julius Caesar.
Adeline Pawlick (Lighting Designer) graduated with her MFA in lighting design from the University of Houston. Houston credits include: Landing Theatre- Wanda, Daisy and the Great Rapture (Laura Award for Exceptional Service in Lighting Design) and CAUGHT. Rec Room- Pass Over;,The Children and Woyzeck. A.D. Players- Unplugged and Stuart Little. Assistant Lighting Design Credits include: The Realistic Jonses (4th Wall Theatre); Elf (TUTS); The Hiding Place and Tuesdays With Morrie (A.D. Payers); Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Hamlet and Comedy of Errors (Houston Shakespeare Festival); On the Exhale, Hansel and Gretel and The Royale (Rec Room). University of Houston lighting design credits include: Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Dear Charlotte, The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, Three Sisters, and Topdog/ Underdog (Finalist for Best Lighting Design at the Houston Theatre Awards). Upcoming projects: Legally Blonde at Mill Mountain Theatre. Website: https://addiepawlick.com
Joseph Vranas (Sound Designer) is an award-winning composer of concert, film, ballet, and music for theatre, with works premiered across the United States and internationally. Along with his work in screenwriting, Vranas’ film music has been recognized by the 48 Hour Film Competition and has premiered in several debuts at the Cannes Film Festival. As a multi-faceted artist, Vranas has written music for theatre and has previously been awarded the KCACTF Meritorious Achievement for Original Music for a production of Yankee Tavern. When he is not writing, Vranas is also an accomplished conductor, trumpet player, and teacher who works with youth orchestras, bands, and after-school programs such as EduCare to further or introduce music education for all students. He has been acknowledged by the Texas Music Educators Association and the City of Bell, California for excellence in teaching.
