PROGRAM 22

PROGRAM #22 (3RD FLOOR)

Company? by Ojan Asadollahi

Little Lina by Taina Carrion-Perez

Sawdust by Grace O'Rourke

Tough Love by Megan Kemple

Two Sisters by Erin Germaine Mahoney

Lily Rosenberg (VICTORIA) is thrilled to make her debut at The Chain Theatre. Recent credits include FBI: MOST WANTED (Co-Star), and Eleanore in the short film, Eleanore’s Christmas Abortion Spectacular. Lily graduated in 2023 from the University of Michigan (BFA Musical Theatre). Huge thank you to Ojan and Liza for being the best collaborators in the land. All the love to friends and family, and a special shout out to The Oomses for your love and support. Hold onto your hats and enjoy the show!

Ojan Assadollahi (Playwright/Actor - ROBIN) Originally from California, and originally a Chef. Ojan Asadollahi is, hate to say it but, an original. He’s a New York-based actor who’s trained at the William Esper Studio (Meisner) and also over at Chekhov Studio NYC (Michael) 

As a playwright, Company? is Ojan’s second play. His first one also ended with a question mark.  

Liza Gross (Director) is a NYC-born director and writer. After 8 years performing comedy, she shifted her focus to writing and directing. In 2021, she won Best Student Female Director at the Independent Short Awards for her comedy special Crickets. Company? is her theatrical directorial debut.

Katie Parkinson is a recent graduate of the BFA Acting program at SUNY Purchase. Recent credits include: Isabella in Measure for Measure with the MFA Directing program at Columbia University and Adam in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)(revised)(again) with Methexis Productions. Katie also hosts the Small World Jam at the People’s Improv Theatre. She hopes you enjoy the show! 

Lucia Rogerson is an actor born and raised in New York City who recently received her BFA from SUNY Purchase’s Acting Conservatory. Her work at Purchase Repertory Theatre included Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Emily), and Titus Andronicus (Little Lucia). She would like to thank her family and dedicate this performance to them. 

Taina Carrion-Perez is a Nuyorican playwright and video editor from East Harlem. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Playwriting & Screenwriting from SUNY Purchase College. Her plays have been produced at The Chain Theatre, Westchester Collaborative Theater, New Day Art Collective, and SUNY Purchase College. Her film credits include: Satisfied (Tribeca Film Festival), I’m Your Venus (Tribeca Film Festival), Hip Hop World (Amazon Prime Video), and Born In Synanon (Paramount+). Taina would like to thank her support system of friends, family, and teachers who she would be nowhere without.

Gaia Cooper is a writer from New Jersey. They have worked as an art director and assistant director for Forty Three Seconds (Jean Ings), and have film credits in Checkmate (Jean Ings), Misophonia (Janelle Misitich), Twilight Zone Hangover (Lydia Mardas), Overall Suspicious Persons (Jamie Simiele), and Goose Hunt (Jean Ings). They are thrilled to make their directorial debut with Little Lina, and are so thankful to be trusted by such talented creative people. They would like to thank their friends, their family, and Alan Alda. 

 Grace “Juice” O’Rourke (Playwright/Director) (they/them) is a playwright often, and a director/screenwriter/actor occasionally. Their plays have been performed with the Tank, the Chain Theatre, the Makers’ Ensemble, the Lighthouse Ladies Collective, and Fresh Binder Productions. They are the recipient of the 2023 Denis Johnston Playwriting Award, a Semifinalist for the 2024 SheNYC Festival, and a current member of First Kiss Theatre’s FebLab cohort. Their work tends to be containers for: tragicomedy, small oddities, large magic, bickering, poetic violence, precious and specific objects, and the unexplained. For more of their work, see their one-act Thy Neighbor at The Secret Theatre February 13th, 19th, and 23rd, and find them on instagram @graceoddity.

Tanner Pieper is a classically trained actor originating from Texas. He is a recent graduate of the BFA Acting program at SMU, where credits include The Cake (Tim), The Winter’s Tale (Dion), and The Effect (Toby). While attending SMU, Tanner also performed in a variety of student productions, including A Doll’s House, Part 2 (Torvald) and Mud (Lloyd). Most recently, Tanner performed in a production of Julius Caesar (Cicero/Lucius/Cobbler) at Shakespeare Dallas over the summer. @tannerpieper

Gabriel Ethridge (they/them) is originally from Dallas, TX, and uses that Southwest magic to brew up welcoming heartfelt art that is accessible, truthful, and aims to heal and grow our humanity, curiosity, and community. Recent productions: Pillow Talk (The Tank), Echoes; Improv for All (The Rev), The Woodlands (NYTF), Antony & Cleo; All’s Well (Hamlet Isn’t Dead). Grad of Circle in the Square, RAC Member of Hamlet Isn’t Dead. See them as the Boatswain in the devised one act When My Cue Comes at New York Fringe April 3-14. Film and new music: @gabrielcethridge.

Megan Kemple (Haley/Playwright): Megan Kemple is a multidisciplinary performance and teaching artist. Her plays The Algorithm & The Rules were selected for The Player’s Theatre’s SPF(2023).  She has a BFA in Theatre from Niagara University and an MA in Drama Therapy from NYU Steinhardt. Her full-length, Accidental Intimacies won the 2022 Fresh Fruit Spirit Award for “Fostering Pride, Survival, History, and Progress”.

William Burns (Jack): William Burns performs, sings, and goofs around New York and beyond. He is super excited to help bring "life" to these characters, as well as return to The Chain. He will be performing an original musical with his Comedia troupe, Soft Brain Theatre Company, in March! (@softbraintheatrecompany) socials: ig @william_john_burns, tiktok @wjburns, youtube @willaspiringactor

Chelsi Kern (Director): Chelsi Kern (they/she) is a queer, non-binary, neurodivergent, and  fearlessly silly creative artist with a Master’s degree in Drama Therapy and a passion for developmental theatre. As a director, casting director, producer, and VO artist, they have worked on Off-Broadway and regional productions, short & feature films found on various streaming platforms (Hulu, AppleTV+) and in the festival circuit, top charting Apple podcasts, and countless industry readings and workshops. Connect with them on Instagram! @chelsikerrn

Minelli Manoukian (Rehearsal/Stage Manager): Minelli Manoukian (she/her) is an attorney, aerialist and overall collector of creative hobbies. Previous stage management experience includes projects with the Lee Strasberg Film & Theatre Institute, Omnipresent Magic, and the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre, among others. She is excited to be working with Chelsi and Megan again, and to be a part of this project as a whole. 

Katina Medina Mora (Director) is an award-winning Mexican/American TV, film and theater director based in New York City. In Mexico City, she directed two runs of Blackbird by David Harrower in 2019 and 2022 (winning “Best Play” Metro Awards, “Best Actress” Press Theatre Prizes and “Best Play” Cartelera de Teatro). In New York, Katina directed Poison by Lot Vekemans, and the off-broadway staged reading of The Second Coming by Erin Germaine Mahoney at Theatre 555. Later this year, she is set to direct Appropriate by J. Jenkins at Teatro Insurgentes in Mexico City. As a film director her three feature films have screened at festivals and streamed on Netflix and Amazon; in television she’s directed episodes of Emily in Paris, Firefly Lane, The Summer I Turned Pretty, XO Kitty and is set to direct her first TV pilot for NBC.

Yvonna Pearson (Maddie) was born and raised in Washington DC where she first honed her acting skills in elementary school plays. After graduating from NYU with a BS in Environmental Studies, she came back to her senses and her greatest passion: acting. Yvonna can most recently be seen in the FX limited series CLIPPED, with Ed O’Neill, Laurence Fishburne, and Cleopatra Coleman. Some of her previous credits include Peacock’s hit limited series THE BEST MAN: THE FINAL, DYNASTY, PAUSE WITH SAM JAY, THE FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS, and BULL. In 2021, Yvonna earned a highly coveted spot in the prestigious ABC / Disney Discovers Showcase. She is also a proud member of The Actors Gym with Bobby Moresco. 

Erin Germaine Mahoney (Playwright / Cassandra) is an actress, screenwriter and internationally produced playwright. Her most recent play The Second Coming had an off-broadway staged reading at Theater555 in November 2023. Her full-length plays have been produced in Canada and the US; her one-act play Rich & Laci was produced as part of the Daisy Chain Collective at Cherry Lane Theater. In New York, she has developed work with LAByrinth Theater, LaMaMa, and Bobby Moresco’s Actors Gym, where she is an acting and writing member. Erin is developing a pilot for a TV series about the sex lives of Evangelical Christians. You can catch her as Detective Carol Mackey in season 6 of the CBS series FBI Most Wanted.

Tyler Isaiah Bey (Stage Manager / Kyle) Tyler Bey is an actor from Atlanta and recent graduate of Fordham University Lincoln Center and recipient of the Denzel Washington Theatre Scholarship. He recently starred in the feature indie film Outed which debuted this year at the Chelsea International Film Festival. Stage credits include: New York: The Survival with National Queer Theatre performed at Lincoln Center; Camp Mannupia (reading) with NQT. Regional: Alliance Theatre's Collision Project. Fordham Theatre: Everybody, The Drag, Fucking A, White Rabbit Red Rabbit, Tartuffe, Is God Is, and A Midsummer Night's Dream directed by Ryan Quinn. 

Dylan Blue (Kyle), a Southampton native, is an accomplished actor, filmmaker, and performer with nearly 20 years in the entertainment industry. A SAG-AFTRA member since age 10, he has excelled in film, TV, music, and theater. Trained with The Barrow Group and a member of The Actor’s Gym, Dylan’s career began in 2006 with Deck the Halls, starring alongside Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick. He also starred in Comedy Central’s Big Lake. The show was produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Dylan played a pivotal role in Showtime’s Happyish, directed by John Cameron Mitchell, where he worked with legends like Philip Seymour Hoffman, showcasing his range from heartfelt drama to sharp comedy.