Mark Olsen (Director): Mr. Olsen is a project director and teacher of movement in the Juilliard Drama Division where he recently directed The Dining Room. In 2012, Mark taught scene studies at Columbia University and recently directed the industry showcase for the Columbia University Graduate Acting Program. Currently Chair of the Musical Theatre Conservatory for the New York Film Academy, Mark is former Head of Graduate Acting at the Penn State School of Theatre. He has been a guest performer and teacher at Sarah Lawrence College, Bucknell University, New York Public Theatreʼs Shakespeare Lab and is an Emeritus teacher and former secretary of the Society of American Fight Directors.
Mark has directed numerous university and professional productions representing a wide range of genres from classical to contemporary. He is particularly fond of working with emerging playwrights. He recently directed the world premier of the play PUSH by Rob Caisley and did movement coaching for Anthony Clarvoe’s new play, Gizmo. In 2010 he was part of the artistic team that won a special Drama Desk award for Orphan’s Home Cycle at Signature Theatre. His work this past season was represented through his movement consulting on the Roundabout productions of Tally’s Folly and Trip to Bountiful.
As an educator and trainer of actors, Mark remains dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. The author of The Golden Buddha Changing Masks, The Actor with a Thousand Faces, and Acting - Scene One, Mark trained as an actor and studied Mime with the great teachers of the late 20th century. As a much younger man, he performed on Broadway and internationally in the mime/mask show, Mummenshanz, and toured the United States with his solo shows, Laughscapes and Thunder and Freres Jacques.
Mark has directed numerous university and professional productions representing a wide range of genres from classical to contemporary. He is particularly fond of working with emerging playwrights. He recently directed the world premier of the play PUSH by Rob Caisley and did movement coaching for Anthony Clarvoe’s new play, Gizmo. In 2010 he was part of the artistic team that won a special Drama Desk award for Orphan’s Home Cycle at Signature Theatre. His work this past season was represented through his movement consulting on the Roundabout productions of Tally’s Folly and Trip to Bountiful.
As an educator and trainer of actors, Mark remains dedicated to the pursuit of excellence. The author of The Golden Buddha Changing Masks, The Actor with a Thousand Faces, and Acting - Scene One, Mark trained as an actor and studied Mime with the great teachers of the late 20th century. As a much younger man, he performed on Broadway and internationally in the mime/mask show, Mummenshanz, and toured the United States with his solo shows, Laughscapes and Thunder and Freres Jacques.
CHARLES CASANO (Stage Manager): Manhattan International Theatre Festival (2013): A Serious Person And Then Some, Motel Rasdell. Storm Theatre: Our God's Brother (actor), Tidings Brought To Mary, The Satin Slipper, Noon Divide, As You Like It (actor, SM), The London Merchant, The President (actor, SM), Marius, Le Cid. Other credits: Theatre For the New City Summer Street Theatre Musical Tour, Edge (Angelica Page, DR2), Salome (Al Pacino, The Actors Studio), Hitler's Addendum (Ruby Dee, Estelle Parsons, Actors Studio), HIM, Verse Chorus Verse, Teeth Of The Sons, Secrets of a Holy Father (all Cherry Lane Theatre), A Time To Dance (2009 FringeNYC Festival), Much Ado About Nothing (Snapped Productions), Pure Country (Broadway workshop reading, New World Stages; with Carlin Glynn, Will Chase, Steve Dorff, John Bettis, Peter Masterson: Director).
John Doble (Playwright): A Serious Person and Then Some, Midtown International Theatre Festival, 2013; A Serious Person (finalist, Best Play, Eclectic Company Theatre, LA, and Manhattan Rep, 2013); Coffee House, Greenwich Village (finalist, Best Play, Nantucket Short Play festival, 2013, and Midwinter Madness New Play Festival, NYC, 2012); To Protect the Poets (showcase, NYC; semi-finalist, Best New Play, National Arts Club and Reverie Productions); The Mayor Who Would Be Sondheim (NYC International Fringe Festival; finalist, Best Play, Playwrights Center New Play Competition, Minneapolis, and Stage3 Theatre Company Festival of New Plays, Sonora, CA). Blind Date (Samuel French, NYC); The Mortgage (Pulse Ensemble Theatre, NYC). His fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines and a collection, Lefty and Other Stories, was published by Clemson University. Special thanks to my cousins, especially BB and the R's for their inspiration, and to just two of my many extraordinary teachers, Rhoda K. and Rick B. for their wisdom, and to Rita W., an American hero. This one is for the teachers and for the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces, past, present and future, especially my father, Charles K. Doble, Jr. This play is a work of fiction.
Michael Palmer (Producer): An award-winning writer who just completed a new screenplay, Cleo Parker, Michael was the Associate Producer of three of John Doble’s plays: To Protect the Poets, Coffee House, Greenwich Village, and A Serious Person. Prior to taking up screenwriting and producing, he worked for years in the garment industry as a fashion designer and clothing manufacturer.
KT Thomas (Assistant Stage Manager)
Mary-Anne Wright (Assistant Stage Manager)
Peter Zielinski (Design and Photography) www.pjzstudios.com
Mary-Anne Wright (Assistant Stage Manager)
Peter Zielinski (Design and Photography) www.pjzstudios.com
