PROGRAM 1

Program #1 (3rd Floor)

By the Look of Her by David Rabe

Brothers* by Lyle Kessler

The Robot, the Spy and the Love of A.I. by John Arthur Long

*Shows in this block include Equity Members appearing with permission of Actor’s Equity Association without benefit of an Equity contract in this off-off Broadway production.

David Rabe (PLAYWRIGHT) has been hailed as one of America’s greatest living playwrights. He is the author of many widely performed plays, including The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Sticks and Bones, Streamers, The Orphan. In the Boom Boom Room,  Hurlyburly, Goose and Tomtom., The Dog Problem, and Good for Otto. Four of his plays have been nominated for the Tony Award, including one win for Best Play. He is the recipient of an Obie Award, the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, Drama Desk Award, and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, among others. His numerous screenwriting credits include The Firm, I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can, Casualties of War, and Hurlyburly,. 
Rabe is the critically acclaimed author of the novels Dinosaurs on the Roof , Girl by the Road at Night, Recital of the Dog, and two collections of short stories, A Primitive Heart, and Listening For Ghosts. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, Rabe lives in Northwest Connecticut.

Kirk Gostkowski (DIRECTOR) – Artistic Director Chain Theatre ; Select acting credits: Simpatico as Carter, World Premiere of Garbageman as Dan Bandana, Nick Moroni (NYC Premiere Keith Huff’s Six Corners), The Pillowman as Katurian (2016 Queens Kudos Winner Best Actor), Talk Radio as Barry Champlain (2015 NYIT Award Nominee for Outstanding Revival), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as R. P. McMurphy, Hurlyburly as Eddie, After the Fall as Quentin, Fool for Love as Eddie, In The Boom Boom Room as Al, True West as Austin, Wait Until Dark as Roat (Nominated as Best Director 2016 NYIT). He is the founder and Festival Director of the Chain NYC Film Festival. Kirk made his film directorial debut with the film Leave Me Behind, which was featured in ten film festivals across the world, won awards, and is distributed through Screen Media Ventures. Recent film: My Sister’s Wedding, Robotonomy. Kirk is a graduate of Hofstra University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree focused in performance.

Rafaella Rossi (STAGE MANAGER) is a Manhattan based stage manager and is thrilled to be a part of The Chain’s One Act Festival and this production. Proud Hofstra graduate; credits include:Keith Huff’s Six Corners and Garbageman, David Rabe’s In the Boom Boom Room, Joe Landry’s It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play, Comedy Troupe The Usual Rejects, Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark, and Dale Wasserman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Erin Layton’s Magdalen at United Solo Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Jonathan Larson’s RENT Edinburgh Fringe Festival with On the Quays, Much Ado About Nothing (The Brick), Else C. Went’s Old Names for Wildflowers with The Renovationists. 

Christina Elise Perry (LORNA) is a film/theatre actor and producer. She has produced and performed in dozens of critically acclaimed productions Off-Broadway. Highlighted theatrical roles include: SIX CORNERS by Emmy Nominated Keith Huff (Amanda). Sam Shepards SIMPATICO (Rosie) and FOOL FOR LOVE (May) Critically acclaimed CHASING THE RIVER, and WAIT UNTIL DARK as Susan (NYIT Nominee for Best Actress in a Leading Role). Film: HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION with In the Garage Productions, Award Winning short, IN THE DARK ROOM. Training: New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts; School for Film and Television. Perry thanks her family and the 'Sisu' her grandparents instilled within her. @christinaperryperry 

Adrienne Acevedo (SISTER VERONICA) is an award-winning actor, director, producer and filmmaker. She has played opposite Colin Farrell, Naomi Watts, Queen Latifah, Aziz Ansari, Joaquin Phoenix, Sam Rockwell, and Michelle Williams, to name a few. Adrienne’s favorite TV credits include The Penguin (MAX), The Equalizer (CBS), Better Call Saul (AMC), Ray Donovan (Showtime), Fosse/Verdon (FX), The Deuce (HBO), and Master Of None (NETFLIX). She is also known for her roles in Sunlight Jr. (Tribeca Film Festival) playing opposite Naomi Watts, and the lead role in the award-winning suspense feature drama I'm Okay, We're Okay (PRIME/TUBI). Her favorite regional theatre credits include West Side Story, Top Girls, Oedipus, Nickel & Dimed, The Seagull, and Grease. For more information and to follow her journey, visit her at https://linktr.ee/AdrienneAcevedoLovette

Brandon Hughes (HANK) is a prolific actor and director of both stage and film. Film and TV: A Crime To Remember, Six Degrees of Murder, Good Man, and The Righteous. Off Broadway: Simpatico and Hurlyburly (Chain Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing and Ghosts of Provincetown at New World Stages. He is known for his humanistic television portrayal of Charles Whitman on A Crime to Remember. He also co-stars in a web series, ADULT-ish. His directorial episode of ADULT-ish was an official selection of Seoul South Korea Web Fest.

Sachi Parker (CLARA MCCAFFERY), the daughter of internationally acclaimed film star Shirley MacLaine and the late producer Steve Parker, is an accomplished actress in her own right, appearing in theater and films throughout the world. Born in Los Angeles, she moved to Japan at age 2 to live with her father, and spent much of her childhood there before moving on to boarding schools in England and Switzerland. She spent her early adult years in Hawaii, Australia and France, before returning to Los Angeles at the age of 25 to live with her celebrated mother.

Parker made her film debut in 1985 in “Stick,” directed by Burt Reynolds, and appeared in “Back to the Future,” “About Last Night,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Riders to the Sea,” “Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael,” “Bad Influence,” and “Scrooged.” She recently completed “All Me, All the Time,” with Keir Dullea. When television beckoned, Parker soon found herself guest-starring in numerous popular series and TV movies, including “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Equal Justice,” “Eerie, Indiana,” “Alien Nation,” “Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre,” “Santa Barbara,” “Capitol” and “Scarecrow and Mrs. King” . Her theater work included “The Lulu Plays,” “Ladies in Waiting,” and “Pastorale.” She was invited to perform at Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival in “My Cup Runneth Over,” “West Side Story,” “Moon Children” and “Independence.” She has appeared in regional theatre companies in the Chekhov classics “The Cherry Orchard,” “The Seagull” and “The Three Sisters.”

Staying true to her Japanese roots, Parker has served as the daytime anchor for a Japanese language news program out of New York City, and starred in daytime Japanese television. She was recognized for her work as an actress bridging cultural differences between Japan and the US in l990 with the prestigious Kurosawa Award. In 2008, Parker appeared in the acclaimed Japanese film “The Witch of the West is Dead”, playing the leading role of a 75-year-old grandmother and winning the Best Actress Award. She is currently starring in a web series The So So You Don’t Know, having won 3 Best Actress Awards.

She lives in New York City.

C.K. Allen (FATHER THEISEN) –  Chain Theatre: Keith Huff’s Six Corners (dir. Ella Jane New); Carnival Girls Productions: Christie Perfetti Williams’ The Magazine (Dir: Matilda Szydagis); WorkShop Theater: Scott C. Sickles’ Composure (dir. Fritz Brekeller); Rich Orloff’s Couples (dir. David Gautschy - “Notable performance” -NY Times), Levy Lee Simon’s The Bow Wow Club (dir. Keith Greer); SAG-AFTRA. Film: The Brotherhood (dir. Reneé Flemings), RUOK (dir. Jay Russel). TV commercials, soaps and industrials; Video game: Red Dead Redemption 2.

Justin Andrew Davis (JIM) is an award-winning actor, writer, and filmmaker based in NYC. As a filmmaker, he wrote, directed, and starred in three short films: You Look Great, Powerful Stuff, and Definitely Something, which is now on the 2024-2025 festival circuit. Notable acting credits include Peter in You Look Great, a story based on Justin's personal experiences with eating disorders, and Alex in writer-director Brian DiLorenzo's Myth, a dark, cautionary comedy about a young screenwriter meeting his manipulative film director idol. Currently, Justin is auditioning, writing a family drama feature film, and playing too much guitar as a general life distraction.  justinandrewdavis.com

Kyle C. Mumford  (DR. BENKE) - Kyle is a writer and award-winning filmmaker based in Brooklyn, NY. He attended the School Of Visual Arts where his then thesis film, His Naked Mind was an award-winning feature at SVA's Dusty Film Fest. Since graduation, Kyle has worked in the editorial and locations departments for film and TV, as well as an assistant for writer/director Tom Gormican. Since then, his written works have made it to 2nd round twice at Sundance Labs, and seven times at the Austin Film Festival. In 2021, his play The Victims was accepted into the Actor’s Studio Playwright and Directors Unit, where he is still a proud member today. More recently, his plays Shrimp Pudding and Hangmen premiered at the Chain Theatre’s One-Act Festival in 2023 and 2024. IG: @kylecmumford www.kylemumford.com

Connor Chase Stewart is a NYC based actor. He made his Off Broadway debut in Bettingers Luggage other off-Broadway credits include; A White Man’s Guide to Rikers Island, Soup in the Second Act. He appeared in the short film "Man's Fate" at the 48 Hour Film Project. He founded Bloomingdale Theater Company in 2020. He trained at The London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts, Stella Adler, The Neighborhood Playhouse and HB Studio. Lyle Kessler’s Master Class and Bobby Moresco's Actors Gym. Special thanks to Lyle Kessler and everyone who's worked so hard at this festival. 

Christopher Cortez Adams is a New York based actor, writer and producer. Film Credits include 'The Dutchman' and 'Chilltown' as well as the short 'In Between' which he also wrote and produced and will be having its world premiere at Venezia Shorts Festival in May 2025. Theater Credits include the world premiere of 'River Time' produced through the Actors Studio and 'Goldberg's Kaddish' at the New York Theater Festival. He is the co-founder of Good Evening Rep, the downtown New York theater company introducing theater to new audiences of young creatives in all fields. Christopher is very excited to be working alongside a playwright hero of his in Lyle Kessler.

Lyle Kessler (DIRECTOR) Lyle Kessler’s Orphans began its life at L.A.’s Matrix Theater followed by the acclaimed Steppenwolf production directed by Gary Sinese. It received two Tony nominations for its Broadway revival starring Alec Baldwin and Ben Foster. Albert Finney won the Olivier award in London’s West End production. Al Pacino and Jesse Eisenberg are among the actors who have appeared in the play. Orphans continues to be produced in almost every country in the world. Other plays include The Watering Place, Unlisted, Robbers, House on Fire, Collision and Perp.  Films include Orphans; The Saint of Fort Washington; Gladiator and Touched, written and co-starring Mr. Kessler.  He is the Director of the Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors Unit and is a member of the Labyrinth Theater Company. Mr Kessler served as Artistic Director of the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and participated in the Sundance Screenwriters Conference in Hungary working with writers from all over Eastern Europe. He currently runs a Master Class for actors, writers and directors every Monday night in the West Village. He and his wife, actress Margaret Ladd, developed an original artistic modality which is used in Psychiatric Hospitals called the Imagination Workshop, the longest running Arts and Mental Health Program in the world. Mr. Kessler’s plays have been published by Random House, Grove Press, Samuel French and Dramatists Play Service.

John Arthur Long (PLAYWRIGHT), Literary Director of the Chain Theatre, has also been active as an educator, a writer and a director in theater for his entire professional career. Along with Kirk Gostkowski, the Chain Theatre’s Artistic Director, Long received a Best Director nomination for the Chain Theatre’s Off-Broadway revival production of Wait Until Dark. It was also at the Chain Theatre that Long developed the original musical, DRAGULA: A Transgender Tale, written in partnership with Theodore Kastrinos, through a series of critically acclaimed Chain Theatre workshop  productions that Long then transposed into a best-selling audiobook in which both his narration and singing performance won 1st prize for the SOVAS Best Voiceover Fiction Narration award out of some 35,000 audiobooks produced in 2020. Along with several fiction novels, Long is also the co-author of a children’s book, The Tooth Fairy Legend, a perennial top-seller and favorite of children which was based on his original family theatrical musical, the audiobook winning nominations for Best Author/Narrator and Best Sound Design. Long is excited to have the opportunity to explore the ever-evolving and often controversial world of robots and A1 through his latest fiction creation at the Chain Theatre’s Winter One Act Festival.

Kirk Gostkowski (DIRECTOR) – Artistic Director Chain Theatre ; Select acting credits: Simpatico as Carter, World Premiere of Garbageman as Dan Bandana, Nick Moroni (NYC Premiere Keith Huff’s Six Corners), The Pillowman as Katurian (2016 Queens Kudos Winner Best Actor), Talk Radio as Barry Champlain (2015 NYIT Award Nominee for Outstanding Revival), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as R. P. McMurphy, Hurlyburly as Eddie, After the Fall as Quentin, Fool for Love as Eddie, In The Boom Boom Room as Al, True West as Austin, Wait Until Dark as Roat (Nominated as Best Director 2016 NYIT). He is the founder and Festival Director of the Chain NYC Film Festival. Kirk made his film directorial debut with the film Leave Me Behind, which was featured in ten film festivals across the world, won awards, and is distributed through Screen Media Ventures. Recent film: My Sister’s Wedding, Robotonomy. Kirk is a graduate of Hofstra University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree focused in performance.

Rafaella Rossi (STAGE MANAGER) is a Manhattan based stage manager and is thrilled to be a part of The Chain’s One Act Festival and this production. Proud Hofstra graduate; credits include:Keith Huff’s Six Corners and Garbageman, David Rabe’s In the Boom Boom Room, Joe Landry’s It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play, Comedy Troupe The Usual Rejects, Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark, and Dale Wasserman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Erin Layton’s Magdalen at United Solo Festival and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Jonathan Larson’s RENT Edinburgh Fringe Festival with On the Quays, Much Ado About Nothing (The Brick), Else C. Went’s Old Names for Wildflowers with The Renovationists. 

Monica Park (Melanie) is a second-generation Korean-American actress and producer. Native to NYC, she is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the William Esper Studio, and has since been appearing predominantly in international commercials and short films that have premiered at the IFFSA Toronto, International NY Shorts, and Austin Lift-Off Film Festival. On stage, she has been seen in CPR (NY Theatre Festival), All The Time in the World (Theatre for the New City) and Simpatico (Chain Theatre).

Gabriel Rysdahl (Trevor) is an actor based in New York City. Gabriel graduated from Terry Knickerbocker Studio in June of 2021. Gabriel is known for the feature films On The End (opposite Tim Blake Nelson and Anna Chlumsky), The Devil's Teardrop (premiered at the 2024 Morbido Film Festival), and the Amazon tv show The Better Sister (opposite Elizabeth Banks). He has been seen on stage for the productions This G*d Damn House (Chain Theater) and The Sweet Spot (59E59th Theater).

David Rey (VOICE AS ROBIE) 

Dariel Garcia (ROBIE OPERATOR)