PROGRAM 2

What the Psychic Said by Matthew McLachlan

The Right Person by Merridith Allen

Sin Blanca by Zoe Ray Prawda

Matthew McLachlan (Playwright)

Matthew McLachlan was born in Scotland, raised in Florida, and currently survives in New York City. He is a Dramatist Guild Member, current Artist in Residence with Abingdon Theatre Company and a two-time ScreenCraft Stage Play Finalist. His plays have been presented by Abingdon Theatre Company, Nylon Fusion, The Chain Theatre, The NOW Collective, The Farm Theater, The PIT, Thespis Theater Festival, The Midnight Factory, and performed regionally in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, New Jersey, & Florida. His published works A Collection of One-Acts & Other Things You May or May Not Enjoy and full-length play Orion are available now at The Drama Bookshop and on Amazon. @19MartyMcFly85

David Zayas Jr. (Director)

David Zayas Jr. is  a Director, Actor, Photographer. Originally  from the Bronx, NY. Growing up around theater and film, he started becoming more involved, starting with photography. He later joined a theater company and with them produced and directed 14 short films. He was nominated for best director for “ The Head Hunter” by Mark Borkowski and has directed several one-acts by Matthew McLachlan in The Chain’s One-Act Festival. His film work includes the award winning “Santa Force” by Peter Collier and  “ Uptown Dave” which he wrote and starred. He is a member of the director’s program at the Actors Studio. @dzcs4u

Marc Reign (Young Man)

Marc Reign is a Puerto Rican full time Artist from Spanish Harlem, NYC. Former Mechanical Engineer (AAS in Mechanical Engineering Technology) turned Actor in 2012 after gaining a BA in Theatre from CCNY. At the same time he found and fell in love with the Art of Photography & Filmmaking. After 10 years of doing it all, from Acting, Directing, Editing, Producing, Marc has become a force in the Art of Storytelling.  Follow for more on IG: @marc_reign and visit www.marcreign.com @marc_reign

Kaylee Costello (Young Woman)

Kaylee Costello is a native Masshole who aspired for a much grander life than the small liberal white town she was raised in, igniting her fire and passion to move to the big Apple in 2014 to attend William Esper Studio. She now works in mental health tech, maintaining her side hustle of acting with friends that she does solely as favors. Jay kay. Dog mom of ridiculous Golden Retriever who slightly resembles Kaylee before she took her first step to sobriety. @kayleeahnna

Merridith Allen (Playwright) is a multi-hyphenate, multi-cultural artist, who moved from New York City to L.A. to pursue a full-time career in the entertainment industry. With her background as a martial artist, actress, playwright, theater director and theater producer, Merridith has a passion for telling stories about women wrestling with their demons (and quite frankly, kicking them in the teeth), with a special focus on female-driven martial arts, drama, action, and dramedy.

Merridith's plays have been produced nationally and abroad, and excerpts can be found in over a dozen anthologies through Smith&Kraus Publishers. Merridith has been the recipient of several prestigious writing fellowships from such organizations as The Sewanee Writer's Conference, VCCA, and the San Miguel Writer's Conference.  Merridith is also an award-winning screenwriter whose day jobs have included story consultant, audio description writer, creative writing teacher, and yoga and martial arts instructor. Merridith can be found on facebook, instagram and Twitter, at @merridithallen, or through her website, merridithallen.com.

Joshua Warr (Co-Director): Down the Fox Hole (Chain); Stupid F**king Bird (13th Street Theatre); Pizza Man (13th Street Theatre); Brilliant Traces (WorkShop Theatre), Orion (Theatre Row/Studio Theatre), Lady Gay: All of Me (Feinstein's/54 Below), The Blue Djinn (The Wild Project), An Infinite Ache (Access Theatre), Tape (Abingdon Theatre/Dorothy Strelsin). Film: Haywire. Joshua is the founder of Art of Warr Productions.

Valentine Aprile (Co-Director) is a multidisciplinary artist working in fine art, theater, performance, and filmmaking. Her eclectic arts education includes IDC Professionals, The University of the Arts, The Art Students League of NY, Nimble Arts, The Maggie Flanigan Acting Conservatory, and various dance studios. Her paintings have been published in American Art Collector, Create! Magazine, and LINEA, and have also been selected for the Lunar Codex project. Traditional theater directing credits include Down The Fox Hole (Co-Director) (Chain Theatre); Stupid F**king Bird (Movement Director) (13th Street Theatre); Brilliant Traces (Movement Director) (Chain Theatre). https://www.valentineaprile-artist.com Member - NAEA, NAWA, PoetsArtists, Portrait Society of America Rizzle.tv sponsored content - https://rizzle.tv/u/valentineaprile Instagrams - @valaprile @valtheseries IMDB - http://www.imdb.me/valentineaprile

Larissa Adamczyk (Carrie) completed the Two Year Acting Program at William Esper Studio, and continues her study at The Ken Studio. Larissa often gets to read new works with groups such as The Playground Experiment and NYC Playwrights. Her credits include:  Bianca in Desdemona; A Play About a Handkerchief, Sue in Wingman (Player’s Theatre 2019 Best of Fest) Not Jayne in Muscle Beach; Not Jayne Mansfield’s Story, and Rose – a feisty suffragette- in Speranza Theatre Company’s Unveiling Liberty. She is in the short film Unvoiced (a recipient of several nominations/ awards in local & international film festivals). Larissa can also be found in several web series: Tiny Boxes (Lead), A Period Drama (recurring), and as a recurring role in In The Time Of… A Short Story Anthology (youtube/Instagram). www.larissaadamczyk.com

Kirk Koczanowski (Sean) is so pleased to be back performing on the brand new Chain Theatre mainstage after appearing Winter 2022 & Summer 2021 in Matthew McLachlan's "3 Characters Figure It Out" and "Toxic Norse-Culinity," Both crowd favorites from each respective festival runs. Some of Kirk's recent career highlights have been filming the lead role in the exciting new tv sitcom pilot “The Big Time”/Leaving Normal Productions, opposite Maitland Ward (Boy Meets World) and Brett Azar (Young Rock, Terminator); "No Witnesses"  a fast paced dark comedy from Vanguard Studios and "Nice Guy" a harsh exploration of consent culture in our current social climate from writer/director Lily Yasuda. You can see Kirk on YouTube or your favorite podcast app every week on his self-help/comedy podcast "Men of Doozy" and providing movement performance with band Pair of Sloths at various music venues in the city. He would like to thank Art of Warr Productions for their continued support, collaboration, and trust in him to bring characters to life on-stage. imdb.me/kirkkoczanowski IG: @kirk_koz

(PENELOPE) Cynthia Franchesca Lizardo is an Afro-Dominican American woman born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Cynthia is currently based in New York. She has an immense passion for the arts such as dance, theatre, and music. This is where she finds purpose, healing, and connection with others. She strives to make a difference by spreading love and peace through her artistry. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Arts with a Concentration in Theatre Performance from Marymount Manhattan College. 

(MAMA) Singer and actress Francesca Martinez was born and raised in New York City. She is a life-long performer,writer and painter who, in addition to pursuing creative endeavors, is a NYC elementary school teacher. She is a mother of two children and she credits her determination to achieve every goal to them. She has also dedicated this performance to them in hopes that she can inspire them and future generations of  Arawak Taino, African, and Spanish European descendants to make a lasting mark in this country. 15% of the proceeds from this or any of her other performances will be donated to the World Food Program an organization that helps deliver relief hunger spots worldwide.

(DIRECTOR) Thalia Ranjbar is a Canadian book writer, lyricist, director, and choreographer. She is a graduate from the University of Western Ontario where she acquired a Bachelor of Arts Honors Specialization in Kinesiology and a Minor in General English. In 2019, Thalia wrote and directed her own original musical entitled, Where Do We Begin? in London where it performed a sold-out run. In the past year she has worked on developing two new musicals: Then She Ran at the New Studio on Broadway and Notes From Now with Prospect Theatre Company, both in New York City. She has recently acquired her MFA from the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at “NYU/Tisch School of the Arts” and is thrilled to have collaborated with Zoe Ray Prawda on this beautiful piece of theatre! 

(STAGE MANAGER) Rebecca Batson is junior theatre design and production major, on the stage management track at Fordham University. Favourite credits include: Fordham Mainstage: Fucking A (SM), Fordham Studio: Space Show (SM), TBTB: Playmaker’s Redux (PSM) Other: Bobbing For… Apples? (PSM), Shrek the Musical (Makeup Design).

(WRITER/PRODUCER) Zoe Ray Prawda was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and is a writer, composer, and performer.  She has a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Composition from Nyack College and an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. In her free time she enjoys juggling and other various creative outlets as well as hiking and reading.