The Center at West Park & HAMLET ISN’T DEAD
present
THE CAST
Mike Meth* as Lear
Afton Paige Welch as Goneril
Cato Crumbley as Regan
Lauren Hi'ilani Wilmore as Cordelia/Fool
Joe Bowen* as Gloucester
Gregory Kowlessar as Edgar
Milo Longenecker as Edmund
Mike Marcou as Kent
Susannah Wilson* as Albany
Kevin Herrera as Cornwall
Charlie Lavaroni as Oswald
Bradwin Amos as France/Ensemble/Band
Mike Luca as Burgundy/Ensemble/Band
Olivia Ridpath as Doctor/Ensemble/Band Leader
PRODUCTION TEAM
Director: Zachary Tomlinson
Stage Manager, Assistant Director, & Production Coordinator: Sophia Carlin
Company Manager: Valerie Peter Chong
Costume Designer: Xindi Xu
Lighting Designer: Jeremy Stein
Fight Director: Dan Dobro
Intimacy Director: Daniella Caggiano
*Proud members of Actors’ Equity Association
ARTIST BIOS
MICHAEL METH (Lear) is thrilled and honored to be playing Lear with this terrific cast and the Hamlet Isn’t Dead team. He found the theatre at age 12 and has been an actor, lighting designer, director, and playwright. Other Shakespeare roles include Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Brabantio in Othello, and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other NYC theatre: Arthur Miller’s The Archbishop’s Ceiling, MacArthur Award Winner Annie Dorsen’s The Slow Room, Michael Eichler’s The House Where Nobody Lives, and the Festival winners Vulcanalia and Chasing Jack. Film/TV: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Billions, Mr. Robot, Heartless (LA/NY Festivals Award Winner), Deal of a Lifetime (with David Cross), and as the voice of the monster in the Award Winning animated film The Last Monster. Mike is also the creator and writer of the new musical in development Last Night at the Rue Bayou. (ruebayoumusical.com) Representation: Resolute Artists Agency
AFTON PAIGE WELCH (Goneril) is an actor, yoga teacher, and photographer hailing from Dallas, Texas. She has been a Resident Acting Company Member of Hamlet Isn't Dead since 2018 and is thrilled to be part of the King Lear journey. Her most recent work with the company was Intimacy Director for Measure for Measure. You can follow along Afton's journey on Instagram (@aftonpwelch) and TikTok (@aftonwelch). Enjoy the show!
CATO CRUMBLEY (Regan) is an actor and teaching artist and a member of Hamlet Isn’t Dead’s Resident Acting Company. She trained at the University of Vermont (BA), The Stella Adler Studio of Acting (3-Year Conservatory), and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (MFA). Currently, she teaches Voice and Speech at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, the New York Film Academy, and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (A very special shoutout to any students in the audience!). After two years in London, she’s thrilled to be back in New York and on stage with HID, previously playing Diomedes in Troilus and Cressida and Rosencrantz in Hamlet. Other favorite past roles have been Medea in Medea, The Gravedigger in Hamlet, and Jenny in the shape of things. She is incredibly grateful for this immensely talented cast and hopes you enjoy the show! For more of her antics you can follow her in ig: @catocrumbley
LAUREN HI’ILANI WILMORE (Cordelia/Fool) is an actor, singer, and dancer from Pasadena, California. She has worked Off-Off Broadway as a performer and choreographer with Isle of Shoals Productions, Queens Shakespeare, and What Dreams May Co. Previous roles include: Somerset (Henry VI Parts 1, 2 & 3), Leading Player (Pippin), “Bless the Lord” (Godspell), Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet), Nina Rosario (In the Heights), Little Inez (Hairspray), and Lois/Bianca (Kiss Me Kate). After graduating from Barnard College during the pandemic, Lauren returned home to Pasadena where she performed with and taught dance classes at The Lineage Performing Arts Center and Pasadena Civic Ballet. She recently obtained a master’s in Teaching Foreign Language (French & Chinese) from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and she currently teaches Mandarin with Manhattan Mandarin. Lauren is thrilled to be back in NYC and to perform with this amazing cast! @laurenhiilani
JOE BOWEN (Gloucester) is thrilled to return to Hamlet Isn’t Dead, after appearing in Measure for Measure last season. Off-Broadway: Twelfth Night (Flea Theater), Harold and Rodney Play Chess (Cherry Lane), Sewing the Dream (Prism Stage Company), The Devil's Disciple (Project Shaw). Other New York theater includes Merrily We Roll Along (APAC), As You Like It (The Mechanicals), and The Eight: Reindeer Monologues. Regional Theatre includes Richard II and Cyrano de Bergerac (Playmakers Rep.), Sunday in the Park with George (Ravinia Festival), The Crucible, She Stoops to Conquer and Amadeus, and Great Expectations (Mill Mountain Theater). He is a proud member of Hamlet Isn't Dead's Resident Acting Company and Actors' Equity Association. Website: josephbowen.biz
GREGORY KOWLESSAR (Edgar) is a New York-based actor. He is a BFA graduate from Five Towns College and has attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. His recent roles include Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Angelo in Measure For Measure, and Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors. He is a resident company member of Hamlet Isn't Dead.
MILO LONGENECKER (Edmund) is an actor, musician, movement artist, and writer based in Brooklyn, NY. He earned a BFA from NYU Tisch and has been creating and producing indie theater in NYC since 2015. Acting credits include Pain in Show Me Eternity (54 Below, Teatro LATEA), Adam in Paradise Lost in Space (The Players), Mars in WET (Town Stages, WOW Café Theatre), Haimon in Anne Carson’s Antigonick (Torn Out Theater/The Center at West Park), Wickham in the Dillon & Caps musical adaptation of Pride + Prejudice (SheNYC/The Connelly), and Brother in Quiltbag (The Public Theater). He would like to thank Hot Shakespeare Girlfriend Ella for all her contributions to the craft. @milo_longenecker on all social media platforms.
MIKE MARCOU (Kent), originally from Wisconsin, can now be found in Astoria. When he isn't onstage, he can be found in his wood shop or garden. Love to Emir.
SUSANNAH WILSON (Albany) is a NY-based actor and voice-over artist. Credits include: Aida (Metropolitan Opera); The Tragical Historie of Maximillien Robespierre (The Fled); This is Not SITI Company (SITI Company); Richard III, Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Co); Twelfth Night (Verdi Square Arts Festival); Both/And: A Quantum Physics Play (Catalyst Collaborative with MIT); A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet (Boston Theatre Co); Once a Blue Moon, Shahrazad (Double Edge Theatre); and the titular role in Richard III (Emerson Stage). Susannah spent a year training with New York’s SITI Company as a Conservatory Artist and holds a BA in acting from Emerson College.
KEVIN HERRERA (Cornwall) is a Colombian-American actor graduated from Brooklyn College’s MFA in acting program. Favorite roles at BC include El-Fayoumy in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Mr. Candle in The Lesser Magoo directed by Meghan Finn. More recently, he has participated in an original zoom musical, and done zoom productions of The Motherfucker with the Hat (Cousin Julio), and The Laramie Project. He also had the pleasure of working with The Public Theater on their bilingual radio adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, Romeo y Julieta starring Juan Castano and Lupita Nyong'o. This is his first time working with Hamlet Isn't Dead and The Center at West Park. He's immensely grateful for the opportunity to bring this iconic play to life with such a wonderful, talented, and dedicated cast and crew.
CHARLIE LAVARONI (Oswald) is a bi-coastal actor and teaching artist. Charlie is SO excited to be returning to the world of King Lear after having Christopher Lloyd breathe in his face last summer! (Ask them for the story about that one :) They have proudly worked with: SF Shakespeare Festival, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare & Co, Big Idea Theatre, Catalyst Theatre, Davis Shakespeare Festival, and SFBATCO. Some of his favorite recent credits include: Clown - over 14 different characters! (The 39 Steps); Nell Gwyn (Charlie and Nell); Hades (Shining); Burgundy/others (King Lear); and Touchstone (As You Like It). They have trained at Shakes and Co's prestigious month-long intensive and are a Resident Artist at Hamlet Isn’t Dead in NYC. www.charlielavaroni.com
BRADWIN AMOS (France/Ensemble/Band), born and raised in South Carolina, is a country boy with big-city aspirations! As an actor, singer, and musician, Bradwin has always been a lover of music and they have always aspired to bring harmony and joy to the stage. Bradwin is a graduate of New York University where they earned their M.M in Vocal Performance. They are also a graduate of Furman University, where they graduated with a B.M in Music Education. Bradwin was recently seen in Emit Theatre's Twelfth Night (U/S). Bradwin would like to thank Hamlet Isn't Dead for this wonderful opportunity and also his friends and family for their continued & wonderful support!
MIKE LUCA (Burgundy/Ensemble/Band) has been with Hamlet Isn't Dead for 6 whole years. In that span, he has had the honor of bringing to life timeless characters like the incredibly strong Wall in Midsummer, Sebastian in Twelfth Night, and most recently, The Porter in Macbeth. He is known for sneaking his Robert De Niro impression into each of his roles...but it's certainly not in this performance, so don't try to find it...Some of his training includes The Suzuki Method and The Patrick Page Studio. He's a proud graduate of LIU Post and Suffolk County Community College--where he began his formal Shakespeare learnings. He's performed in the Long Island Shakespeare Festival for 5 seasons. Favorite quote: "Let your own discretion be your tutor." YouTube: Michael Luca; Instagram: mike_lucaa; MichaelLuca.com.
OLIVIA RIDPATH (Doctor/Ensemble/Band Leader) is thrilled to be doing her first show with Hamlet Isn’t Dead, as well as her first show in New York! Previous work includes Beauty in Beauty and The Beast (University Players), Katherine/Westmorland/Constable/Boy in Henry V: Ontario Tour (The Edge Productions), and Miss Sheila Ray in Morning Sacrifice (University Players). She is very grateful to get the chance to be on stage with such a wonderful group of people. Endless love to her family, Nick, and Trish xx.
ZACHARY TOMLINSON (Director) is a New York-based theater director and producer. He has served as the Artistic Director of The Center at West Park since 2017. From 2014 to 2017, he was the Co-Artistic Director of Strange Harbor, a theater company that created contemporary adaptations of classic texts. Zachary’s recent projects include Anne Carson’s translation of Antigone at Brooklyn College, The Glass Menagerie at the Glove Theatre in Gloversville, NY, and Chinatown: a simulation play by Susan Moon as part of the 2022 Bring a Weasel and a Pint of Your Own Blood festival at The Tank. With Strange Harbor, he directed original adaptations of Moby-Dick, The Brothers Karamazov, The Book of Judith, and Shakespeare’s eight-play cycle of English histories. Zachary has an MFA in Directing from Brooklyn College and BA in Theater and Literature from Sarah Lawrence College. Originally from San Francisco, he lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Sarah, and son, Noah.
SOPHIA CARLIN (Assistant Director & Production Coordinator) is a NYC Theatre Artist dedicated to highlighting unheard voices through new works and adaptations. She graduated from Pace University with a BA in Acting and Art History as a member of their Pforzheimer Honors College. Past performance credits include: Off-Broadway: Voyeur: Windows of T. Lautrec (Bated Breath Theatre Co), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Hamlet Isn’t Dead), Machinal (dir. Dara Malina), Regional: King Lear (Edge Theatre, Chicago), The Bacchae (Salt Box Theatre), International: Animal Farm (Stara Zagora Puppet Theatre, Bulgaria). Currently, you can catch her in the role of Shari in the Netflix movie, The Noel Diary, starring Justin Hartley. She is represented by Affinity Artists Agency. Keep up with her journey at sophiacarlin.com!
VALERIE PETER CHONG (Company Manager) is the Co-Artistic Director of Hamlet Isn't Dead and the Company Manager for King Lear. Val is passionate about collective, musical, immersive, and out-of-the-box theatre. Previous HID credits include Macbeth and Measure for Measure (Director and Assistant Director, respectively). Val is also the Technical Coordinator for WildHunt's Fantasy Tavern Night and the NYC Resident Stage Manager for the Indie Collaborative. When they aren't backstage, Val is an urban farmer, forager, and community organizer.
XINDI XU (Costume Designer) is a Costume and Fashion designer. She received her BFA in Fashion Design with a minor in Art History from Parsons School of Design in 2017 and an MFA in Design and Technical Production at Brooklyn College in 2021. Her costume designs have been seen at The Tank, regional theaters, and other educational institutions. Originally from Beijing, China, Xindi began her work of painting and fashion illustration in high school. Xindi believes thorough research of the story and characters is the key to making good design and has continued showing great passion across different genres of performing arts
JEREMY STEIN (Lighting Designer) is a third-year MFA candidate in the Theater Design & Technical Production program at Brooklyn College. Brooklyn College Theater: F*cking A, Antigone, Water by the Spoonful, Gunplay: A Play About America. Off-off Broadway: Mi Abuela-Queen of Nightmares (Quail Bell Productions). St. John’s Chappell Players: Catch Me If You Can. York College Theater: Blithe Spirit, Motherf*cker with the Hat, Guys & Dolls, O.G. Scrooge. NYU Tisch: Stage Door, Two Gentleman of Verona. Film/TV: Generations in Time – Gary Schall (Artist for Artist). Before moving to NYC Jeremy worked for Royal Caribbean Cruises where he worked as a Head Light Technician. He holds a BFA in Theater Design/Technology from Emerson College in Boston, MA. IG: @jsteinlightingdesign. www.jeremysteindesigns.com
DAN DOBRO (Fight Director) is a member of Hamlet Isn't Dead's Resident Acting Company and their latest consultant for theatrical violence. A sometimes-host for MeetMax Games, the resident haiku poet of the FRIGID.nyc theatre community, and an avid player of Dungeons & Dragons, he loves to fill his life with art and play. Hit him up at danzdobro@gmail.com for his thoughts about the right way to jay-walk and feelings about how Quiplash answers should be more than simple references to bodily fluids.
DANIELLA CAGGIANO (Intimacy Director) is a queer disabled Director and Intimacy Director committed to radically centering queer voices and women’s voices on stage. She trained with IDC and TIE and is an alum of the Roundabout Directors Group, MTC Directing Fellowship, Drama League, and LCT Directors Lab. Recent intimacy work includes The Gett (Rattlestick), Spring Awakening (TCNJ), That Pretty Pretty (Brooklyn College), Indecent (Waterwell), and Zoetrope (Exquisite Corpse, NYTimes Critics Pick). Favorite directing projects include a site-appropriate Fun Home in a funeral home (starring Tony nom. Jenn Colella), Next To Normal, Glass Town, Show Me Eternity, American Idiot, Vinegar Tom (performed with an original Riot Grrrl score), and Macbeth. Daniella has also assisted or associate directed for rockstars such as Leigh Silverman and Rebecca Taichman. MFA: The New School, BA: Sarah Lawrence College. www.daniellacaggiano.com @dfcaggiano
PRODUCTION AND MAJOR SUPPORT Credits
Hamlet Isn’t Dead’s King Lear is presented through a residency at The Center at West Park and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Center at West Park is a not-for-profit community performing arts center based in the historic West Park Presbyterian Church, a New York City landmark on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
We recognize that this land where we are privileged to be is the unceded territory and ancestral home of the Munsee Lenape. Today, members of the Lenape and many other indigenous sovereign nations continue to live, work, and create in New York City.
For over 30 years in the mid-19th century, this land was home to Seneca Village, the first free Black community in New York City. In 1857, the city used eminent domain to forcibly remove the residents and demolish their homes, schools, and churches to make room for the construction of Central Park.
Since its construction in 1889, this building has been home to countless artists and activists:
In 1978, West Park led the way in openly welcoming LGBTQ+ members as part of the More Light Movement.
From 1980 to 1985, West Park was home to The Shakespeare Center and the renowned Riverside Shakespeare Company.
From 1987 to 1991, God’s Love We Deliver worked out of West Park’s kitchen to serve up to 250 meals per day to people living with AIDS during the height of the crisis.
The West Park Presbyterian Church building was named a New York City Landmark in 2010. In 2016, The Center at West Park was founded by a coalition of community members to preserve and revitalize West Park as a community resource and home for arts and culture.
We are deeply inspired by the legacy of those who have called this land and this building home before us. We hope to honor them in all our work today and in the future.
ABOUT THE CENTER AT WEST PARK
The Center at West Park is a community performing arts center based in the historic West Park Presbyterian Church, a New York City landmark. We present engaging and boundary-pushing early-career and established artists through our artist residency programs, provide affordable rental space for artists to develop their work, and steward the restoration of our historic home’s landmark exterior. The Center is a secular, 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.
This program is made possible by the generous support of audience members like you. To make a donation to support future residencies, go to centeratwestpark.org/donate.
Staff
Natasha Katerinopoulos, Managing Director
Zachary Tomlinson, Artistic Director
Dane Jerabek, Marketing & Box Office Manager
Richard Pimentel, Fascilities Manager
David Shocket, Consulting Technical Director
Gary Eisenkraft, CPA, Accountant
Mercedes Marrero-Alvarado, Porter
Dion Thompson, Porter
OBJECT MOVEMENT CURATORS
Maiko Kikuchi
Rowan Magee
Marcella Murray
Justin Perkins
FALL 2022 GUEST CURATORS
Christina Franklin
Melanie Greene
Trevor Weston
Board of directors
Marian M. Warden, President
Marsha Flowers, Vice President
Theodore S. Berger, Treasurer
Beryl Abrams, Secretary
Jennifer Rogers Carlock
Don Frantz
Derrick McQueen
Mitchell Schamroth
Susan E. Sullivan