Bios
| Hakan/Kadir |
............ |
|
| Sevgi |
............ |
|
| Josh |
............ |
|
| Tariq/Emir/Mumtaz |
............ |
|
| Ayla |
............ |
|
| Philip |
............ |
|
| Nabil |
............ |
|
| |
|
|
| Playwright |
............ |
|
| Director |
............ |
|
| Scenic Designer |
............ |
|
| Costume Designer |
............ |
|
| Lighting Designer |
............ |
|
| Sound Designer |
............ |
|
| Fight Director |
............ |
|
| Production Stage Manager |
............ |
|
| Stage Manager |
............ |
|
Amir Arison (Hakan/Kadir) previously appeared in the 2007
reading of The Cry of the Reed in the
Breaking Ground Festival. Mr. Arison has appeared Off Broadway in Queens
Boulevard (the musical) (Signature Theatre
Company), Armed & Naked in America (Naked Angels Theater Company), A Very Common Procedure (MCC Theater), Beast on the Moon, Modern Orthodox, Omnium Gatherum, Candy & Dorothy, and Shishir Kurup's Merchant On Venice. Regionally, he has performed in Oklahoma! (Lyric Theatre, Oklahoma), Michael Kahn's Love's
Labours Lost (The Royal Shakespeare
Company, UK; and Shakespeare Theatre Company, D.C.), The Arab-Israeli
Cookbook (workshop, Long Wharf Theatre), A
First Class Man (Tribeca Film Festival,
AlterEgo Productions, Lark Play Development Center, McCarter Theatre), Black
Snow (Yale Repertory Theatre), The
Tempest (Shakespeare Festival of St.
Louis), and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (Paper Mill Playhouse). His film credits include The
Visitor, Anamorph, and Day Zero. Mr. Arison's television credits include "Hope & Faith,"
"Traveler," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Law &
Order: SVU," "The Jury," and "As the World Turns." He is a graduate of Columbia
University and The Public Theater Shakespeare Lab.
back to top
Lisa Birnbaum (Sevgi) has regional credits that include The
Taming of the Shrew (The Shakespeare
Theatre Company, D.C.), All's Well That Ends Well (Yale Repertory Theatre), and Romeo and
Juliet and Anything Goes (Williamstown Theatre Festival). She has also
appeared on the television series "The Guiding Light." Ms. Birnbaum received
her M.F.A. in acting from The Yale School of drama in 2007, and her B.A. in
Drama from Tufts University in 2004.
back to top
Sean Dugan (Josh) has Off Broadway credits that include BFF, Nerds,
Valhalla, Corpus
Christi, Flesh & Blood, and Shakespeare's R & J. Regionally he has appeared in The English
Channel (The Vineyard Playhouse); The
Four of Us (The Old Globe); Three
Sisters, Enrico Four, Antigone,
The Doctor's Dilemma, Loot, Richard II, The Idiots Karamazov,
and The Cripple of Inishmaan
(American Repertory Theatre); The Seagull, and Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (California Shakespeare Festival); and Spring Forward, Fall
Back (Theater J and Vineyard Plahouse). Mr.
Dugan also appeared in the national tour of Swiss Family Robinson. His film and television credits include Gigantic, Trust the Man, Company Man, Overnight
Sensation, "Law & Order: Criminal
Intent," "Law & Order: SVU," "The Beat," and "Oz." Mr. Dugan received his
B.A. in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University.
back to top
Laith Nakli (Tariq/Emir/Mumtaz) appeared in the Lark Play
Development Center's reading of The Cry of the Reed this past fall. He has appeared Off Broadway in Lars
Noren's War at the Rattlestick
Playwrights Theater. His film credits include Arranged, The Visitor, Sadiq, and A
Piece of America. Mr. Nakli's television
credits include "Third Watch," "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," "The
Sopranos," "Rescue Me," and "Traveler." He participated last year at the
Sundance Directors Lab, working with director Braden King. He studied acting at
the William Esper Studio under the tutilage of William Esper and Joel
Rooks. He is also a member of the Nibras Theatre Collective and The New York
Arab American Comedy Festival.
back to top
Cigdem Onat (Ayla) previously appeared in the readings of The
Cry of the Reed in the 2007 Breaking Ground
Festival and at The Lark Play Development Center this past fall. She most
recently performed the role of Gertrude in the North Carolina Symphony's
production of Hamlet, set to
Dmitri Shostakovich's film score. Ms. Onat acts, directs, and teaches in both
the United States and in her native Turkey. Presently, she teaches and directs
at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. One of her recent
international performances was Beckett's Happy Days in Istanbul in May 2006, a Turkish-American
production for the International Istanbul Theatre Festival and World Theatre
Olympics.
back to top
Darren Pettie (Philip) was last seen at the Huntington in The
Cry of the Reed in the 2007 Breaking Ground
Festival. Mr. Pettie appeared in the Broadway production of Butley directed by Nicholas Martin. His other New York
credits include Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams (Primary Stages), Ahraihsak (Theater Mitu), Spatter Pattern (Playwrights Horizons), Hobson's Choice (Atlantic Theater Company), Unwrap Your
Candy (Vineyard Theatre), and Measure
for Measure (The Public Theater/NYSF). He
has also appeared in The Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare Festival), Dedication
or the Stuff of Dreams (Williamstown
Theatre Festival), and Lipstick Traces (The Foundry Theatre Touring Company). He has appeared in the films The
International and Ghost Town. Mr. Pettie's television credits include "Cashmere
Mafia," "Gossip Girl," "Without a Trace," "Mad Men," "CSI," "Crossing Jordan,"
"Line of Fire," "Charmed," "Law & Order: SVU," and "One Life to Live." He
is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
back to top
Rafi Silver (Nabil) has appeared Off Broadway in Masked at DR2 Theatre. His regional credits include Amadeus and Visiting Mr. Green, both at Syracuse Stage. Mr. Silver has also
appeared in the short film Rehearsing and the television series "All My Children." He graduated in 2006 with
a B.F.A. from Syracuse University.
back to top
Sinan Ünel (Playwright) is a 2003-2005 Huntington
Playwriting Fellow, whose plays Pathétique
and The Cry of the Reed have been
featured in the 2004 and 2007 Breaking Ground Festivals. His plays have been
produced at The Lark Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre, Arcola Theatre,
Boston Playwrights' Theatre, The Gate Theatre, Theater @ Boston Court, Open
Stage Theatre, Landestheater, Theater Kosmos, The Provincetown Theater Company,
and Provincetown Theatreworks. He is the winner of the John Gassner Memorial
Award, the Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award, and his screenplay Race
Point was the first place winner of the
2001 New Century Screenwriting Contest. His other works include Pera
Palas, Tolstoy's Den, Thalassa My Heart, and Three of Cups. Mr. Ünel teaches at Emerson College, Boston.
back to top
Daniel Goldstein (Director) has Huntington credits that
include Falsettos (IRNE Award), Les
Liaisons Dangereuses, and Unknown
Soldier, a musical commissioned by the
Huntington that he co-wrote with Michael Friedman, which read as part of the
2008 Breaking Ground Festival. His recent credits include the world premiere of
Beau Willimon's Lower Ninth at
the Flea Theater and the Off Broadway musical, Walmartopia. Mr. Goldstein's other credits include Godspell
(Paper Mill Playhouse), Kenny Finkle's Indoor/Outdoor (DR2 Theatre), But I'm a Cheerleader (New York Musical Theatre Festival), Bathsheba
Doran's Living Room in Africa
(Gloucester Stage Company), associate director for the Broadway production of All
Shook Up!, and resident director for the
first national tour of Mamma Mia!
His co-created one person show, =celebration, has played Off Broadway, New Haven, San Francisco,
and the HBO Aspen Comedy Arts Festival. He is a graduate of Northwestern
University with a degree in Performance Studies. Upcoming projects include the
world premiere of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk's The
Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown
at the La Jolla Playhouse, and the first Broadway revival of Godspell.
back to top
Eugene Lee (Scenic Designer) designed the set for Mauritius at the Huntington in 2006. He is currently
represented on Broadway by The Homecoming, and by Wicked, for
which he won his most recent Tony Award. Mr. Lee's current projects include The
Seagull in the Hamptons (McCarter Theatre
Center), Something You Did
(Primary Stages), and Drunk Enough To Say I Love You (The Public Theater). He has been the production
designer for NBC's "Saturday Night Live" since 1974. He was also recently
inducted into The Theatre Hall of Fame in New York.
back to top
Laurie Churba (Costume Designer) previously designed the
costumes for the Huntington's production of Rabbit Hole. Her Broadway credits include The Price, and her Off Broadway credits include The
Tricky Part; Private Jokes,
Public Places; Something Old,
Something New; Golden Boy; and Waiting for Lefty. Ms. Churba's most recently designed the current
productions of Death of a Salesman
and A View From the Bridge at
Arena Stage. Her additional regional credits include The Threepenny
Opera, Loot, The Price, Johnny on a Spot, Buffalo
Gal, and Horse Heavens (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Comedy of
Errors (The Old Globe); the upcoming
production of The Pavilion, as
well as Relatively Speaking, The
Drawer Boy, Member of the Wedding, and "Master Harold" …and the Boys (Westport Country Playhouse); Love!
Valour! Compassion! and Coastal
Disturbances (Berkshire Theatre Festival);
and Amour (Goodspeed Opera
House). Ms. Churba is currently the assistant costume designer for "Saturday
Night Live."
back to top
Michael Chybowski's (Lighting Designer) recent work includes
Frank Galati's Oedipus Complex (Goodman
Theatre), the premiere of the new musical Tracy's Tiger (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Oedipus at
Colonus (Theatre de Carouge Geneva), Looky (Mark Morris Dance Group), and A Midsummer
Night's Dream (The Public Theater/NYSF).
His New York credits include The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Lyceum Theatre, the recent Hair 40th Anniversary Concert in Central Park, as well as
work at most of the major Off Broadway theatres. Mr. Chybowski's regional
theatre credits include work at Guthrie Theater, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf
Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center, Seattle Repertory Theatre, La Jolla
Playhouse, and American Repertory Theatre, among others. He also holds lengthy
associations with Mark Morris and his Mark Morris Dance Group and with the
performance artist Laurie Anderson. Mr. Chybowski is the head of lighting at
Brandeis University, and is the recipient of an OBIE award for Sustained
Excellence in 1999.
back to top
Eric Shim's (Sound Designer) recent projects include Almost
An Evening, Human Error, and Anon
(Atlantic Theater Company); FuerzaBruta (Daryl Roth Theatre); Ghosts and Joe Turner's Come and Gone (The Juilliard School); War, Rag and Bone and American Sligo (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); Los
Angeles (The Flea Theater); and Essential
Self Defense (Playwrights Horizons; 2007
Lucille Lortel Award nominee for Outstanding Sound Design). Mr. Shim has
composed music for the film Winter Passing, and has scored numerous award-winning documentaries for the National
Audubon Society and the Houston Zoo. He was assistant director for Stravinsky's
L'histoire du Soldat with the
Philadelphia and Boston Symphony Orchestras, and is a resident composer with
the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's New Music Series.
back to top
Thomas Schall (Fight Director) has worked on Broadway with The
Seafarer, Rock 'n' Roll, Pygmalion, Coram Boy, Journey's
End, Legally Blonde, Woman in White, Sixteen Wounded, Wicked, Noises Off, The Women, Art, The Iceman Cometh, The Retreat from Moscow, The Little Foxes, and Life (x) 3. His Off Broadway credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, In Darfur, Durango, and Mother
Courage and her Children (The Public
Theater/NYSF); Homebody/Kabul (Brooklyn
Academy of Music); Dessa Rose, Belle
Epoque, Chaucer in Rome, God's Heart, The Time of the Cuckoo,
and A Man of No Importance
(Lincoln Center Theater); A Lesson Before Dying (Signature Theatre); and What the Butler
Saw and Good Thing (The New Group). Regionally, Mr. Schall has worked
at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theatre, Arena Stage, Folger
Shakespeare Theatre, and Dallas Theater Center. His has also worked on the film
Internet Stories.
back to top
Gail P. Luna (Production Stage Manager) has Broadway
credits that include Mary Poppins, The
Lion King, Thoroughly Modern
Millie, Smokey Joe's Café, The Lena Horne Awards, The Save Venice Fund, The
Best of Broadway, The Actor's Fund of America, and The Inner Circle Event for
Mayor Bloomberg. Regionally, Mr. Luna has worked on the productions of Madama
Butterfly, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Pagliacci (The New Jersey State Opera); I Love You, You're Perfect,
Now Change and I Love a Piano (The Denver Center for the Performing Arts); and BJ
Ward and Stand Up Opera. He was the production stage manager for Fallsview
Casino in Niagara Falls, Canada. Mr. Luna has also served as artistic associate
for Boulder Theater in Colorado. He has won various awards for his positions as
scenic designer, props designer, performer, and choreographer.
back to top
Katie Ailinger (Stage Manager) has Off Broadway credits
that include Nixon's Nixon and FreshPlay
Festival (MCC Theater), Trial by Water (Ma-Yi Theater Company), and Fan Tan King (Pan Asian Repertory Theatre). Her regional work
includes A Delicate Balance (Trinity
Repertory Company); A Winter's Tale
(Milwaukee Shakespeare); A Distant Shore (Kirk Douglas Theatre); Cold/Tender, Summertime, Light, and Medea (The Theatre @ Boston Court); Durango, White Bicycles, and Pro Bono Publico
(Ojai Playwrights Conference); Embedded (The Actors' Gang and U.S. Tour); and Always… Patsy Cline (Coronet Theatre). Ms. Ailinger is an alumna of the
University of Southern California.