The Wordshop Creatives
Playwright, Elephant
Leah Roth BarsantiLeah Roth Barsanti (she, her) is a Chicago-based playwright with an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage from Northwestern University. Her work focuses on strong women and girls trying to make space for themselves in a world that doesn't ever make that easy. Her protagonists struggle against all sorts of things, but mostly against expectations: both their own and those of others. While the ultimate goal of Leah's work and life is to make the patriarchy squirm, her specific areas of interest are mental health, sports, forgotten moments from history, and spooky shit. She also randomly gets the urge to write really fucking heartwarming shit from the perspective of various animals every so often. She is also currently an active roller derby player with Chicago's Windy City Rollers.
Playwright, Children's Hour adaptation
Jillian LeffJillian Leff (she, her) is a Chicago based playwright and actor. Her plays have been produced in Chicago, Los Angeles, Florida, and Indiana. Her play THE S PARADOX is the winner of of Babes With Blades 2021 Joining Sword and Pen Competition, and will receive its world premiere in Spring 2024. SMALL WORLD (co-written with Joe Lino) was a 2020 Jeff Award Nominee for New Work in Chicago. She has a BFA in Acting from Ball State University, and is an Ensemble Member and Co-Literary Manager of Babes With Blades Theatre Company.
Playwright, Work in Progress
Alexander UtzAlexander Utz (he, him) is a Chicago-based playwright and actor, as well as the Artistic Director of Avalanche Theatre. His plays have been performed with The Plagiarists, Platform Productions, Bower Theatre Ensemble, Three Brothers Theatre, Otherworld Theatre, Benchmark Theatre, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, and the International Museum of Surgical Science. He was a member of the Spring 2023 cohort of the Jackalope Playwrights Lab, and was selected for the Mackinac State Parks Artist-in-Residence program during the summer of 2022 to complete his play Gut. His play Where the Air Meets the Water was voted Runner-Up for the Chicago Reader’s Best New Play of 2021, the same year that he was named a Semifinalist for UCross and the Blank Theatre’s Future of Playwriting Prize. He was a resident playwright with Three Brothers Theatre from 2018-2020.
Playwright, Akiko and The Unknown
Devon HayakawaDevon Hayakawa (any pronouns) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist based in Chicago, IL. Previous new work credits include: 9066 (Chicago Dramatists, Playwright), Lily & Tessa's Super Star Show, Ep. 37 (Alleyway Theatre, Playwright), Emily/Emily (Women's Theatre Festival, Playwright), Akiko and The Unknown (Niles West, Commissioned Playwright), The Bushwick Girls (Wayward Sisters, Director), Plaid As Hell (Babes With Blades, AD), My Big Brother Fights Monsters (Rogue Theatre Fest, Director), and Blood of My Mother's (Bramble Theatre, SM). devonhayakawa.com.
Stage Manager
Emily SzymanskiEmily Szymanski (she/her) is delighted to be a part of The Plagiarists’ final season. Emily recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire with a BA in Comprehensive Theatre Arts. Credits include roles in Silent Sky (Henrietta), Head Over Heels (Philoclea), Hand to God (Jessica) and The House of Blue Leaves (Little Nun). Other credits include Murder by Midnight (Director), Alice in Wonderland (Co-Director/SM), Medea (ASM), Failure: A Love Story (Producer) and more. Since graduating, Emily has worked with the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Sunstone Studios and First Stage Children’s Theatre, as well as Co-Directed Legally Blonde at her old High School. She is currently the Administrative and Communications Assistant at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company.
Director, Elephant
Claire BaumanClaire Bauman (she/her) is a Chicago-based director and choreographer who creates theatre, dance theatre, and performance art through devising practices and ensemble-based collaboration. Most recently, she movement directed The Writer at Steep Theatre and co-produced and directed Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis. She has worked with Red Tape Theatre, Interrobang Theatre Project, Wender Collective (formerly Walkabout Theater), Metal Shop Performance Lab, Prop Thtr/Rhinofest, and Broken Nose Collective. She is an Institutional Giving Consultant with Artistic Fundraising Group. Claire has participated in DirectorsLabChicago, Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation Observership Program, and Hangar Theatre's Directing Apprenticeship. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Directing at Northwestern University. She received her BA from Vassar College and further trained at the Moscow Art Theater School.
Director, Shadows of Truth
Lexi SaundersLexi Saunders (she, they) is a director, storyteller, and teaching artist originally from Los Angeles. Her Chicago directing credits include LACED and POWER IN PRIDE (About Face Theatre), ROAN @ THE GATES (American Blues), THE DEPARTURE (Haven), EURYDICE (Jedlicka), GROUNDED (Theater of Thought), FIFTY SHADES OF SHAKESPEARE ((re)discover), the upcoming regional premiere of NATURAL SHOCKS; and various storytelling events with 2nd Story. Lexi has assistant directed at Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Steep, Jackalope, and La Jolla Playhouse; and was honored to be selected for Victory Gardens’ Directors Inclusion Initiative and The Directors Haven. They are a member of the 2nd Story Collective and an Artistic Associate of About Face Theatre. BA/BS in Theatre & Psychology from UC San Diego.
Director, Work in Progress
Christina CasanoChristina Casano (she/her) is a theatre artist based in Chicago. Her training includes a BA in Theatre from Miami University, Victory Gardens Theater’s Director’s Inclusion Initiative, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Summer Professional Training Program. Selected directing credits: I Build Giants and Poison (The Plagiarists), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stone Soup Shakespeare), How To Murder… (workshop, Bramble Theatre), Blood of My Mother’s (workshop reading, Wayward Sisters), Plaid As Hell (Babes With Blades), Deep Shadows (audio drama, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre), Fame Heaux (staged reading, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival), The Living Newspaper Festival (Jackalope Theatre), Fighting Words Festival (Babes With Blades). Other favorite projects: Some Like It Red and The Epic of Gilgamesh, etc. (The Plagiarists), How To Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens), Bury Me (Dandelion Theatre), The Light Fantastic (Jackalope Theatre). She is the Artistic Director of The Plagiarists and the Creative Producer at Remy Bumppo. www.cmrcasano.com
Director, Akiko and The Unknown
Grace Dolezal-NgGrace Dolezal-Ng (she/her). CHICAGO: Baked! (Theo Ubique) Radial Gradient (Shattered Globe Theatre), It Came From Outer Space (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Assistant Director), Athena (Writers Theatre, Assistant Director), Roe (Goodman Theatre, Assistant Director). REGIONAL: The Great Leap (Asolo Repertory Theatre, Assistant Director. ). OTHER: Despierta! (Lime Arts) , Death for Sydney Black (Independent Production). Grace was a 2022 Directing Fellow with Victory Gardens Theatre, and a 2022 Directing Fellow at Asolo Repertory Theatre. She is a proud recipient of the Herb Alpert Emerging Young Artist Award. By day, Grace is the Casting Assistant at Goodman Theatre. www.gracedn.com
Cast and Creatives
WEEK ONE
Elephant by Leah Roth Barsanti
directed by Claire Bauman
In 1927, an open air train station, in Spain, Phillip gives Jig a choice: have an abortion and continue to travel the world with him as his wife and muse, or keep the baby at the expense of the relationship.
This feminist adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants," explores the two futures associated with Jig's two options. One leads to a future as a wife in America, the other as a mother in Italy. However, both options leave her unfulfilled. Ultimately, this play is about the choices women have, the way we are represented in literature, and our ultimate search for happiness and autonomy.
Friday, November 3 - 8 pm
Saturday, November 4 - 8 pm
Sunday, November 5 - 2 pm
Featuring:
Christy Cutts
Shane Rhoades
Madison Hill
Kelsey McGrath