Amazons and Their Men
Cast & Crew Bios
Cast & Crew Bios
CAST
Daniel Eichner (The Man) is excited to be back at Forum Theatre, where he recently played Joe in Parts I and II of Angels In America. Other credits in the DC area include Fever/Dream at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Intimate Apparel at African Continuum Theatre, The True History of Coca-Cola in Mexico at GALA Theatre, Romeo and Juliet and Pericles (Free For All at Carter Barron) at Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Christmas Carol 1941 at Arena Stage. He has appeared in multiple productions at Washington Shakespeare Company, including Hedda Gabler, Macbeth, Edward III, and Titus Andronicus, and has been seen onstage at Journeymen Theater, Synetic Theater/Theater J, Potomac Theatre Project, Actors’ Theatre of Washington, and Firebelly Productions. Daniel has also performed in the past two Source Festivals and three Capital Fringe Festivals. Thanks to the cast and crew of Amazons for all they’ve put into this project.
Laura C. Harris (The Extra) is so pleased to have the opportunity to work with Forum for the first time! Past credits include 26 Miles at Round House Theatre and Two River Theater Company, The Winter’s Tale and The School for Scandal at Folger Theatre, 1984 with Catalyst Theater Company, Rough Guide to the Underworld with Riverrun Theatre Company, What Remains with the Source Festival, Long Beach '44 with Washington Women in Theater, An Experiment with an Air Pump with Potomac Theatre Project, and Cigarettes and Chocolate at Atlantic Stage 2. Laura is a graduate of Middlebury College with a BA in Theatre and Film. Infinite thanks to family, friends, and Forum.
Jay Saunders (The Boy) is proud to share the stage with such a talented cast in his Forum Theatre debut. He is a recent graduate of the George Mason Theater Program. Jay has previously performed with Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, Washington Shakespeare Company, Theater of the First Amendment, the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, and Meat & Potato Theatre. Jay thanks his brother, sisters, and mother for their unending love and support.
Jjana Valentiner (The Frau) is thrilled to return to Forum Theatre after appearing as The Narrator in Kid Simple: A Radio Play in the Flesh. Recent credits include Audrey in As You Like It at Folger Theatre, Sandra in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Round House Theatre, the First Lady in F***ing A at The Studio Theatre 2ndStage, Dorine in Tartuffe with Journeyman Ensemble and Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth with Rorschach Theatre. Last February Jjana originated the role of Leopard in Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip Hop Creation Myth (Helen Hayes nominee for Outstanding Production, TYA) at Imagination Stage and premiered her one-woman show, Funeral Potatoes (nominated for 2009 DC Theatre Scene Audience Choice Award). She would like to thank Michael and Elissa for giving her this opportunity to unleash her inner diva. Jjana dedicates this performance to her great aunt, Gerda Valentiner – who was a warrior in her own right.
DIRECTORS
Michael Dove (Director) is the Artistic Director of Forum Theatre where he has produced 19 productions in 6 years, garnering 9 Helen Hayes Award nominations. For Forum, Michael has directed Angels in America (Perestroika), dark play or stories for boys, Marat/Sade, Antigone, Valparaiso, Rockaby and Rough for Radio (for the DC Beckett Centenary Festival), The Memorandum, Hamletmachine, and BECKETT: The Shorter Plays. His other local credits include La Corbière at Solas Nua (co-directed with Linda Murray), Dated and The Relationship of Archibald and Amity for the Source Festival, Metamorphoses at Montgomery College, Snow Angel for the Imagination Stage Conservatory, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead at Anthem Connection, The Tempest at Folger Theatre (assistant director to Aaron Posner) and will be assisting Joseph Haj on Hamlet at Folger, this Spring. Michael is also a theatre educator, was a panelist at the University of Maryland on Samuel Beckett, and co-wrote an adaptation of The Fatal Marksman, which was produced at James Madison University.Elissa Goetschius (Director) is a Company Member at Forum Theatre where she has directed A Brief Narrative of an Extraordinary Birth of Rabbits (reading) and dramaturged Angels in America Parts 1 and 2. Other directing credits include Measure for Measure at Palpable Hit, The Skriker and Snow Falling on Zalmon at Columbia University, and The Velvet Sky (assistant director to Rebecca Taichman) at Woolly Mammoth. Dramaturgy credits include boom, The K of D, Current Nobody, The Unmentionables, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and Vigils at Woolly, workshops of Fever/Dream, The Curious Walk of the Salamander, and Origin Story at Woolly, Mermaids, Monsters and a World Painted Purple and All Hail Hurricane Gordo at the Kennedy Center, Dirty Business at Florida Stage, and Pony at Portland Center Stage. Prior to serving as the Literary Manager at Woolly Mammoth, Elissa worked for the Manhattan Theatre Club and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She is a graduate of Columbia University. She thanks her family for their unending love and support.
PRODUCTION TEAM
Melanie Clark (Costume Designer) has designed for Stone in His Pockets, Mrs. Farnsworth, Thom Pain, Trumbo: Red White and Blacklisted, Intelligence, and The Glass Menagerie (Rep Stage), Seascape (The American Century Theatre), Bad Dates (Olney Theatre Company), Tobias and The Angel and Don Giovanni (Opera Vivente), The Tragedy of Carmen and Trouble in Tahiti (Alba Music Festival), Seussical the Musical and The Araboolies of Liberty Street (Imagination Stage), After Ashley, The Faculty Room, and She Stoops to Comedy (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), Sleeping Arrangements (Theatre J), The Night Of the Iguana, Titus Andronicus, The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore, Medea, Hapgood, The Children’s Hour and All’s Well That Ends Well (Washington Shakespeare Company), Caucasian Chalk Circle and Low Level Panic (Open Circle Theatre), No Exit, Thersites, and The Lonesome West (Scena Theatre).Andrew F. Griffin (Lighting Designer) returns to Forum Theatre where he has designed Marisol and Marat / Sade. A freelance lighting designer based in the DC area, Andrew’s recent credits include The Last Cargo Cult at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Ferdinand the Bull for Imagination Stage, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Synetic Theatre (2009 Helen Hayes Nomination, Outstanding Lighting Design). He has also created designs for the Olney Theatre Center, Toledo Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre Children’s Chorus, Studio Theatre, The Delaware Shakespeare Festival, and Adventure Theatre, where he is a resident artist. Andrew is also the Resident Assistant Lighting Designer for Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit, where he has assisted lighting designers on 14 operas and remounted productions in Lansing, MI and Chicago, IL.
Julia Harman Cain (Producer) is the new Managing Director of Forum Theatre. She has previously worked with the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Shakespeare Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Adventure Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, Solas Nua, the Source Festival, and the Capitol Fringe. Julia graduated phi beta kappa from Princeton University in 2007 with a BA in Comparative Literature. She is a 2008 alumna of the Woolly Mammoth internship program and a Boston-area native.
Tobias Harding (Scenic Design/Scenic Artist) is a freelance scenic/lighting designer and properties artisan who works both in the DC metro area and the southwestern United States. Originally from Germany, Tobias holds an MFA in Scenic and Lighting Design from Ohio University in Athens. He and his wife Eileen have been living and working in the Washington region since 2004. Amazons and their Men marks his second show with Forum Theatre. Some of his set designs include Marisol for Forum Theatre, The Miser and Peace for Washington Shakespeare Company, Life is a Dream and After Darwin for the Journeymen Theatre Company, Fires in the Mirror at Cincinnati Playhouse, South Pacific at Cape Cod’s Monomoy Theatre, and A View from the Bridge (lighting designer) at OU’s Kantner Hall.
Emily Levin’s (Assistant Director) previous DC-area credits include Assistant Director for Dead City at Rorschach Theatre. Emily has worked administratively for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and The Studio Theatre. She is currently the Marketing and PR coordinator for Forum Theatre.
Brent Stansell (Dramaturg) is a dramaturg, theatre educator, actor, and solo performance artist. He last served as dramaturg for Forum Theatre’s Drunk Enough to Say I Love You? Brent has also worked as a dramaturg with Moisés Kaufman of Tectonic Theater Project and solo performer Josh Lefkowitz. Brent has had the pleasure of working with Inkwell Theatre, Rorschach Theatre, and Olney Theatre Center. He currently teaches at The George Washington University and is an affiliated teaching artist with Round House Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Imagination Stage. Brent has taught at American University, Montgomery College and Brooklyn College, CUNY, where he received an MFA in Dramaturgy. Check out his theatre company at www.dctheatrecollective.com.
Wade Tandy (Sound Designer) is thrilled to join Forum Theatre for the first time! A recent graduate of Georgetown University, Wade has spent the last few months working for the man so he can pay the bills while pursuing his sound design ambitions. Wade's previous credits include Six Characters in Search of an Author at Georgetown University, 1001 with Rorschach Theatre, Pentacost at Georgetown University, and Wisconsin Death Trip at Georgetown University.
STAGE MANAGEMENT TEAM
Kat Ignatova (Production Assistant) is a senior at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. She would like to thank family and friends for acting as her personal shrinks. Past credits include Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Angels in America: Perestroika with Forum Theatre.Stephanie Junkin’s (Stage Manager) past credits include assistant stage manager for Angels in America with Forum, stage manager for The Cherry Orchard at Washington Shakespeare Company and P.S. Your Cat is Dead at Black Box Theatre, and production assistant for Crowns at Arena Stage and The Lieutenant of Inishmore at Signature Theatre. Stephanie also spent a year sailing around the Caribbean and the West Coast as a Backstage Manager for Carnival Cruise Lines and she spent a summer in London as the Stage Management intern for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
Mandy Yu (Assistant Stage Manager) is a freelance technician in the DC Metro area. Her past credits include stage manager of Domestic Snakes for the Capital Fringe Festival, assistant stage manager for University of Maryland School of Music's L'elisir d'amore, production assistant for the Source Festival 10-Minute Plays and Lieutenant of Inishmore at Signature Theatre, and props designer for Cabaret and Parade at Wildwood Summer Theatre.