Absentia Creative Team

Director

Tanisha Lynn Pyron

Tanisha Lynn Pyron is a multidisciplinary, Chicago based actress, artist and educator. Who in addition to being a theatrical director is also a published author, BLACK POOL OF GENIUS (Volume I), a regional feature poet, filmmaker, creative photographer and a classically trained actress. Ms. Pyron’s theatrical background includes training at Western Michigan University for undergrad and the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign for graduate studies in Theatre Performance & Africana Studies. Tanisha is a visual artist and content contributor for platforms like Afropunk, Infamous Mothers and 50 Shades of Black. Her recent credits and professional accomplishments include directing FOR COLORED GIRLS at Eastern Illinois University, an extended run playing Shawnta Iyun with Curious Theatre Company's production of Marcus or the Secret of Sweet, a successful ten week run as Titania in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream via Theatre Works Colorado and a groundbreaking production of Katori Hall's The Mountaintop at Kalamazoo College. A media entrepreneur working on her first educational art exhibit entitled "Black Americana: A Black Woman Speaks", Pyron has curated a combined social media following of about 50,000 people, and had viral successes with her visual art, brand, and intellectual properties, influencing over 750,000 people, with notable artist features on platforms like Afro-Punk and For Harriet. The artist puts God first in her artistry and considers herself to be a modern-day griot in the African tradition, focusing on telling stories that redefine and re-appropriate "BLACK AMERICANA" to locate the beauty in the contradictions, the pain and pride within "our stories" as she discovers and re-claims the beauty within her own. The art and the artist are one. As she seeks to unlock and express what is contained in her own heart the art will speak to whom it finds. Thank you, Jesus, and thank you to the amazing creative community of Vibrancy Theater artists and the Ohio University Theatre Department and to each and every technician and person involved with the production. Thank you for your contributions in bringing this dynamic play to the stage and thank you to the playwright Olivia Matthews for this amazing piece of art.

Scenic Designer/Projections

Brigitte Bechtel

Brigitte Bechtel is a professional scenic artist. She and her paintbrushes have collaborated with Cobalt Studios, The Cape Playhouse, Emerson College, Mystic Scenic Studios, Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals, and Arizona Theatre Company, to name a few. She earned a MFA in Production Design at Michigan State University. http://www.brigittebechtel.com/

Costume Designer

Chantel Booker

Chantel Booker - MFA, Costume Design, Second Year. Absentia (Costume Designer) Vibrancy Theater. Be Head (Costume Designer), The Women of Lockerbie (Costume Designer) Ohio University Theatre. Other: Bonnets: How Ladies of Good Breeding are Induced to Murder (Costume Designer) Michigan State University – Studio 60 Theatre. Costume Designer: Our Town, Dames at Sea, Summer Circle Theatre. chantelbooker.com

Lighting Designer

Kharla Landrau

Kharla Landrau - MFA, Lighting design, first year. Ohio University: Masquerade(Lighting Designer), Absentia (Lighting Designer), Men On Boats (Assistant Master Electrician), She Kills Monsters (Lighting Designer), El Hilo (Lighting Designer), Hamilton: an American Musical: And Peggy Tour (Lighting Intern).

Sound Designer

Daniela Chaparro

Daniela Chaparro - MFA, Sound Design, Ohio University People, Places & Things (Sound Designer), This is Not What I Expected When I Imagined a Republic (Assistant Sound Designer). Other: Vinegar Tom (Sound Designer) Shotgun Players, Kill Move Paradise (Assistant Sound Designer) Shotgun Players. Spring 2022: Everybody (Sound Designer) They have a double BA from UC San Diego.

Producer/Projections

Roberto Di Donato

Roberto Di Donato - MFA, Directing, Third Year. Roberto is a Venezuelan-American artist from the colonized territories originally known as home for the Tawakoni and Wichita nations of Texas. His translation of the Nobel Prize Laureate, Luigi Pirandello, has been seen in NYC and are projected for an Off-Broadway Revival in 2022. At Ohio University, Roberto’s work includes Everybody, The Women of Lockerbie, Effective Magic, and AD on Tantrum Theater’s Rhinoceros. He is working on his debut novel that reflects the complexities of Latin identity in the world of capitalist art making. Roberto is also co-Executive Producer for Vibrancy Theater, producing the premiere of Absentia, as well as Associate Artistic Director of Frank Wo/Men Collective, the award-winning Austin-Based performance collective. Frank Wo/Men was named “The Best of Austin” for their work and listed as “Top Arts Related Thing to Do” by the Austin Chronicle. www.robertodidonato.net

Stage Manager

Erin Galvin

Erin Galvin (she/her) is a 4th year undergraduate student at Ohio University pursuing a BFA in Stage Management. Her credits include: Ohio University (Stage Manager): Be Head, Fusion and Fallout of the Nuclear Family, Dry Land. Ohio University (Assistant Stage Manager): Pluto, Romeo and Juliet. Erin’s professional and regional theatre experiences include: The Workshop Theater (Stage Manager): The Postmodernist, Tantrum Theater (Assistant Stage Manager): This is Not What I Expected When I Imagined A Republic, Premiere Stages at Kean University 2020 (Assistant Stage Manager Intern)*, and Vibrancy Theater Company (Stage Manager): Absentia.

Production Manager

Ri Moodie

Ri Moodie (she/her/hers) graduated from Ohio University with a Masters in Arts Administration in 2021 along with her BFA in Stage Management in 2020. She is currently working for the DC based organization, Theatre Washington, as an Administrative Associate. Ri is a co-founder of Vibrancy Theater Company and was a Co-Executive Producer from 2020-2021. Selected credits include: PM Blood at the Root, PM Playwright's Festival 2021, SM Cabaret: The Musical, and ASM Rhinoceros.

Co-Technical Director

Nicole Hankins

Nicole Hankins - MFA, Technical Direction, First Year. Ohio University: Moon Over Buffalo, Summer & Smoke (Carpenter) Other: Earlham College, The Book of Will (Scenic Designer and Shop Foreman), Dance Alloy 2019 (Lighting Designer), The Poe Project (Scenic Designer), Company (Asst. Scenic Designer), The Misadventures of Martin Hathaway (Lighting Designer and Properties Master), Moon Over Buffalo (Asst. Scenic Designer), Macbeth (Asst. Lighting Designer), Women Playing Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Last Stop, She Kills Monsters (Shop Supervisor)

Co-Technical Diretor

Luis Silva

Luis Silva - MFA, Technical Direction, Third Year. Ohio University: This is Luis’s first production with Ohio University. Other: Healthy Humor Inc, Florida International University, Milam’s Circus, Miami Dade College, PPPPTK Seni dan Budaya, Akeké Circo Teatro, Asociación Cultural Skena.

Props Master

Nicolas Bartleson

Nicolas Bartleson is a 4th year undergraduate student pursuing a BFA in Production Design and Technology (Props Artistry), and a BFA in Stage Management. Nick’s selected Ohio University credits include: Be Head* (Props Master), Women of Lockerbie (Stage Manager), Angels in America (Prop Master), Effective Magic (Stage Manager), Silent Sky (Ass. Props Master). Nick’s selected regional and professional theater experiences include: Tantrum Theater’s Men on Boats (ASM), Tantrum Theater’s Objects in the Mirror (Ass. Props Master), Texas Shakespeare Festival 2020 & 2021, Tantrum Summer Theater Festival 2019, The Short North Stage, and New Vision Dance Company, among others. His film credits include: Medicaid Ohio 360 Films 2021-2022 (Assistant Artistic Director), Macbeth (2nd AD, CCO), and Truck Fishing in America (Co-Artistic Director). Nick would like to thank the members of the prop shop for their work on this show. You can see the complete collection of Nick’s work on his website: https://nickbartleson.wixsite.com/nickbartleson

Charge Scenic Artist

Carly Huff

Carly Huff - BFA, Production Design and Technology, Third Year. Assistant Scenic Charge Artist: Spring Awakening, Tantrum Theater; Be Head, Ohio University. Scenic Painter: Summer and Smoke, Ohio University; Men On Boats, Tantrum Theater. Paint Crew: Macbeth, Ohio University; She Kills Monsters, Ohio University.

Playwright

Olivia Matthews

Olivia Matthews is a playwright from Central Florida. Her ten-minute play "Home Going" was produced by Playwrights’ Round Table in Orlando and is published in "The Best 10 Minute Plays of 2015" by Smith and Kraus. Her other short plays have been seen in Atlanta, Houston, Miami, and New York City. Olivia’s work often explores family dynamics, the complexities of young women and teens, and the oddities and magic of The South. Her full-length play "Absentia" is the 2020 winner of the Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award. Olivia received her M.F.A. in Playwriting from Ohio University. In 2020, she participated in the Sesame Workshop Writers’ Room Fellowship. Her plays can be found on New Play Exchange.

Production Staff

Costume Shop Manager: Ashley Rutkowski

Master Electrician: Gabiel Hrin

Assistant Director: Kaleb Jackson

Projections/Assistant Scenic Designer: Alex Pio

Assistant Costume Designer: Grace Auble

Assistant Lighting Designer: Alejandro Ridolfi

Assistant Sound Designer: Myranda Levins

Assistant Stage Managers: Aisha Mahon, Connor Sells

Assistant Props Master: Will Bierley

Assistant Costume Shop Manager: Sam Heilhecker

Assistant Master Electrician: Madeleine Hebert

Lighting Draftsperson: Kharla Landrau

Light Board Programmer: Quentin Kurtz

Projections Programmer: Tommy Page

Assistant Light Board Programmer: Freddie Masselli

SCENE SHOP

Shop Supervisor: Baz Wenger

Carpenters: Lydia Ball, Sarah Bodi, Campbell Hogue, Ruth Kennedy, Alexandra Mackeown, Avery McDonald, Charley Peck, Jude Shreffler, Bob Walters, Vivian Waye, Lillie Wright

Run Crew: Abbie Hancock, Jackson Ebel, Jack Murphy, Cam Smith

PAINT SHOP

Lead Scenic Artist: Alex Pio

Scenic Artists: Hannah Carey, Georgia Fried, Chris Rees

Paint Crew: Morgan Beck, Chris Burns, Logan Clark, Kami Conway, Emilie Dexheimer, Wil Hoffman, Kekoa Huihui-Andrew, Ayana Johnson, Isabella Scanlan, Victoria Skok, Brooklynn Stanley, Lexie Tillery, Lily Welsh, Elliott Wortley

PROP SHOP

Prop Artisans: Duck Bracey, Grace Easterday, Connor Gothard, Lauren Harvey, Keely Heyl, Grace Larger, Cal Lippincott, Julia Lisowski, Fiona Martin, Eleanor Rauschenberg, Kaycee Scott, Logan Thompson, Lexie Tillery

COSTUME SHOP

Draper: Liz Haas

First Hands: Amy Ballew, Aspen Curry

Stitchers: Grace Auble, Elizabeth Amstutz, Aurora Azbill, Grace Breslow, Mandy Casterline, Ben Griffithe, Maddie Hammons, J.C. Loncar, Melissa Levine, Katie Maccabee, Alexandra Marusich, Shelby Merchant, Joey Negrete, Kaya Roll, Alina Rosado

CRAFT SHOP

Assistant Crafts Head: Jackson Berhow

Craft Artisans: Emma Adkins, Jada Ashmeade, Nikki Bentz, Sarah Biernacki, Chantel Booker, Hannah Boyers, Baylor Hawks, Adam Isenhart, Ivy Posey Zoe Zoller

WARDROBE

Wardrobe Supervisor: Micah Patton

Wardrobe Crew: Emily Ewen, Emmie Ferguson, Baylor Hawks, Emily Moores, Anna Richcreek, Alina Rosado

ELECTRICS SHOP

Electrics Shop Manager: Alejandro Ridolfi

Light Board Operator: Kay Collins

Lighting Crew: Hope Barton, Daniel Dygas, Chuck Gidden, Lee Gilbert, Destery Gunther, Forrest Haasl, Madeleine Hebert, Gabriel Hrin, Quentin Kurtz, Kharla Landrau, Brandon Lipsky, Freddie Masselli, Timothy Oh, Alejandro Ridolfi, Olivia Roman, Robby Yoho, Andre Young

SOUND SHOP

Sound/Projections Board Operator: Sebastian Yobé-Bowen

Sound Crew: Angela-Joy Baldasare, Morreah Beranek, Lily Boulard, Daniela Chaparro, Abigail Coppock, Lauren Janoschka, Harper Justus, Julia Kuzmich, Katie Leeds, Steven Leffue, Myranda Levins, Simon Marland, Sidney McCarty, Tommy Page, Oliver Runyon, Derek Smith, Maya Smith

PUBLICITY/FRONT OF HOUSE

Publicity/Front of House Crew: Erin Abney, Rowan Behrens, Nina Blair, Kay Collins, Cassie cope, Chriz Duclos, Gia Frankito, Nathan Napoli, Austin Vega, Lindsay Wielonski

ARTWORK

Graphic Designer: Evan Figueroa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Director, School of Theater: Merri Biechler

Associate Director, School of Theater: Steven Leffue

School of Theater Faculty & Staff

Vibrancy Theater Executive Leadership & Founders

Arts for Ohio

The SHAPe Clinic

Special costume assistance by Andrewnnetta Johnson