Alexander Perry

Alexander's journey has led him through the valleys of theatre (including a BFA in Playwriting from the Theatre School at DePaul University), into the dense and dark woods of academia (earning graduate degrees in Religion & Literature from the University of Chicago), up the treacherous mountain peaks of dramaturgy and theatre criticism (for various outlets), and down the plains of freelance assistant costume and set design. Along the way, he's worked in freelance writing and editing, and somehow a full time day job as the associate director of a number of research centers at DePaul. Guiding him through these winding pathways is his immense curiosity in humanity and the quest to learn about everything. He's excited to collaborate with a company who shares this quest to create works that engage the audience's imagination and curiosity in unexpected ways.

*Edgar Miguel Sanchez

(Director)

Edgar is returning to Chicago Shakespeare Theatre this summer where his past credits include: Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night; Mr Sanchez will also be appearing in Chicago Shakespeare’s 2018 production of Macbeth; Other Chicago credits include: Hobo King (Congo Square), Dutchman/Transit (American Blues); Stop.Reset (Goodman); Water by the Spoonful and Native Son (Court Theatre); The Wheel (Steppenwolf); Regional acting credits: Fences (Arizona Theatre Company, IRT, Milwaukee Rep); Water by the Spoonful (Theatresquared); title role in Hamlet (The Gablestage); Twelfth Night, Richard III, Troilus and Cressida, and The Admirable Crichton (American Players Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, and The Comedy of Errors (The Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Major television credits: Sense 8, Chicago PD. Mr. Sanchez was born in Dominican Republic, raised in Miami, Florida, and received his B.F.A. in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University with a minor in Sociology.

Taylor Raye

(Patty) 

Taylor is excited to be working with Nothing Without a Company again! The Colorado native was most recently seen in Nothing Without a Company's The Kid Thing, and on NBC's Chicago PD. Previous credits include Pride Films and Plays, Prologue Theatre Company, Profiles Theatre Company and The Public House Theatre. She is forever grateful to her family and friends for their constant encouragement and support! Taylor is represented by Big Mouth Talent.

Shalyn Welch

(Writer) 

Shalyn is super grateful to be working with Nothing Without A Company again. She recently made her Chicago debut in Nothing Without a Company's The Kid Thing, and was Jeff Nominated for Best Actress for her portrayl as Darcy. Aside from professional plays, Shalyn enjoys writing, doodling, sketch comedy, and hanging with her pets. Shalyn supports all people regardless of race, gender, religious affiliations, sexual orientation, etc. She holds a BFA in Acting from Millikin University. Thanks much and enjoy the show. (shalynwelch.com)

Brandon Boler

(Matty)

Brandon has been working in Chicago and various parts of the country since 2006 collaborating and making amazing friends along the way. You might have seen him working with Nothing Without a Company in their first 2 versions of Alice as either the Caterpillar, Knave of Hearts or Mock Turtle. He was also a part of the Zombies Attack Chicago crew as the Stage Manager. Other Chicago credits include Ira Aldridge in Raven Theatre’s production of Red Velvet (understudy) and as Donald Trump in The Camshaft Spellings of Donald J. Trump, Presumption. Thanks Anna Rose for inviting me to play with Nothing Without a Company again and this new work. Thank you to my wife Danielle, family and friends for always supporting and putting up with me. He is represented by BMG Talent. (brandonboler.com)

*Tate A. Geborkoff

Tate is a queer poet and playwright working and living in Chicago. Most recently, their play It Rained All Night was selected as a semifinalist for the National Playwrights Conference, and their immersive show Down the Moonlit Path was nominated for a Broadwayworld Chicago Award for Best New Work/New Adaptation. Other productions includes Rebecca and Robbie Do Nothing at a Bar (The Last Abbiefest), A Heart of Tweed (Chicago Fringe Festival), And the Snow Came Down (Step Up Productions). Their play All Around the Mulberry Bush was selected as a semifinalist in the Great Gay Play and Musical Contest. As a poet, you can find Tate’s recent work in Thank You For Swallowing, Birch Gang Review, Words + Pictures, The Doctor T.J. Eckleburg Review, Curbside Splendor, Burningword Literary Journal, Virtual Artist Collective and Juked. They are currently working on a queer/femme epic rooted in Greek mythology called Psychopompos, that will have its first presentation in October

*Derek Rienzi Van Tassel

(Director) 

Derek has worn numerous hats with Nothing Without a Company over the years, including; stage manger, assistant director, director, audience wrangler--but his favorite Nothing Without a Company experience was playing The Mad Hatter in the 2014 remount of Alice. Whether it's acting in a 24 Hour Fest or wheeling a cello in a shopping cart through Lincoln Park, Derek loves working with this crazy group of theatre artists! Outside of Nothing Without a Company, Derek directed both workshops of the new musical Toulouse with NY Theatre Barn and the Athenaeum (www.toulousethemusical.com). In October Derek will be singing and dancing in just a towel in Zombie Bathhous with Campsong Productions at the Center on Halsted (www.zombiebathhouse.net).

Sydney Genco 

(Rebcecca) 

Sydney is excited to be back with Nothing Without a Company, bringing Rebecca to life again. She graduated from Roosevelt University's CCPA Theater Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theater Performance. She an ensemble member, actress, and makeup designer for Hell in a Handbag. Past HIAH shows include Sexy Baby (Grandma Crystal), Scarrie (Debbie), Christmas Dearest (Virgin Mary) Caged Dames (Big Lorraine), Miracle! (Beth), Lady X: The Musical (Ruby). Sydney has also done makeup design for almost every Hell in a Handbag show in the last 5 years, as well as assistant directing The Birds (2014). Outside of Handbag, she's worked with theaters across the city and world, including The Foundlings (To the New Girl, Hoist, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues), Circle Theatre, Nothing Without a Company, and an international tour in Greece of The Bacchae. And of course, all the readings, play festivals, benefits, and cabarets she can handle!  Big thanks, as always, to her amazing parents for their constant love and support!

Dominick Alesia

(Robbie) 

Dominick is very pumped for his first performance with Nothing Without A Company! He attended the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and is very excited to do this wonderful show here at Mary's Attic. He was most recently seen in a Staged-reading directed by Jake Fruend. Aside from being an Actor, Dominick is a playwright and composer/Lyricist, who directed an original musical last year, which performed three nights at Theatre Wit, as well as he will be directing a staged-reading of another original piece later this summer. He would like to give kudos and congratulations to the playwright - Tate A. Geborkoff, as well as the director - Derrick Rienzi Van Tessel, and the wonderful cast and friends he gets to work with. He would also like to give many thanks to Anna Rose for telling him about the project, and everyone here at Nothing Without a Company. Enjoy the show! 

*Whitney Masters 

(Bartender) 

Whitney is a model and actress based in Chicago. She enjoys working in collaborative environments and testing her limits through performance. In Chicago, Whitney has appeared as Bad Penny in Handled (Stage Left Theatre), Martha in A Piece of My Heart (Chicago Danztheatre), Madame Louise in Iron Mask (Theatre Hikes) and Pirate in Charred (Muse 10). Television credits include Performance Artist in Easy (Netflix) and on film she can be seen as Madeline Reed in Valley Inn (Kickstarter Films). Whitney holds a BA from the University of Arkansas in Theatre. 

Kevin Sparrow

(Literary Manager) 

Kevin is a writer, performer, and curiosity who utilizes text to create performances, performance to create text, and both to create responses that provoke inquiry and participation. With Nothing Without a Company, they co-devised and performed in [Trans]formation (2016) and acted as Dramaturg for Down the Moonlit Path (2015) as well as performed and have written for Nothing Without a Company's 24-Hour Play Festivals. Kevin has been involved in solo and group performance work in local venues including Dank Haus, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Northwestern University, the Art Institute of Chicago; nationally in New York, Denver, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh; and internationally in Wellington, New Zealand. They also are a current co-coordinator of the monthly artists’ salon series, HI typ/O, and served as Production Manager for the IN>TIME Performance Festival in Winter 2016 and Assistant Director of the Out of Site Performance Series in Summer 2015.

*Rachel Staelens 

(Director) 

Rachel is a Company Ensemble Member with Nothing Without a Company, as well as a freelance director around town. Her most recent work includes creating/directing Down the Moonlit Path, presented by Nothing Without a Company, as well as script workshops with a number of Chicago playwrights, including a 12-hour epic of Greek mythology with one of her favorite collaborators.  This summer she will be directing Shotgun Preemie, with Nothing Without a Company, and producing and directing a new script, Evil Women, in the Chicago Fringe Festival.  She loves collaborative and site-specific theatre and has so enjoyed watching and participating in the growth of this script.

Jimmy  Jagos

(Heck)

Jimmy Jagos graduated in 2012 from Illinois State University where he received his BS in Theatre. Originally focusing on Biochemistry, he could not help following his heart back to the theatre. Jimmy enjoys all aspects of theater however, he concentrates on scenic design and properties. He has worked with Nothing Without a Company in the past as Properties and Puppet Master for Alice. He has also designed for Mary Arrchie, Kid Brooklyn, American Theater Company, Chicago Tap Theater, Underscore Theater, Third Eye Ensemble Opera, and is a current company member at Circle Theater. He is honored to be a part of Nothing Without a Company and is ready to create and inspire!

Monet Felton 

(Kelly) 

Monet is a 4th year at UIC in the BFA for preformance program. She fell in love with theatre in high school and had the privilage to study at Chiarts. She's excited to be back working with Nothing Without a Company.
 

*Josh Sumner

(Icky) 

Josh is living the life he thought he would never have. After being sidled with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt going to acting school, Josh has found his way to leading a somewhat normal life. His wife and new child along with their abode are signaling to Josh that no matter how much banks and corporations try to keep people beholden to them, sometimes, with a little luck, you can find your way out of it. Josh is unsure how many more can make it out with the current administration, but he is striving every day to ensure as many can as possible. That being said. Support the Arts. Support each other (all of us). Support those that need and those that dont. Hold your head highest in your moments of weakness. And never, ever, let them break you.

Leah Bognanni 

Leah was born in South Korea, adopted, and raised by Italians in Malden, MA. She graduated with a BA in English and a minor in Media and Screen Studies from Northeastern in Boston, where she produced a ten-minute play festival and wrote a short film about two men who pose as Catholic priests to acquire free housing in a rectory. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage at Northwestern University where she is writing an interactive play about alcoholism, an animated comedy about bowerbirds, and a television dramedy about an underground prostitution ring that takes place after hours in a fine dining restaurant. In addition to writing for the screen and stage, Leah loves slam poetry and painting.

Anna Rose Ii-Epstein 

(Director) 

Anna Rose is a co-founder of Nothing Without a Company.  Although a native of Texas, she has considered Chicago and the theatre community her home for over 14 years. She fell in love with Chicago while attending the National High School Institute Cherub program at Northwestern. Soon after, she attended DePaul Theater School, where she feel in love with yoga, and Columbia College Chicago, where she received her BFA in Acting with a minor in Directing. She has performed, directed, assistant directed, assistant taught, and produced over 25 new plays with Nothing Without a Company and various other companies including Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Mary Archie Theatre, The Inconvenience, Redmoon Theater, Nothing Special Productions, About Face Theater, Pride Films and Plays, Silent Theatre Company, Windy City Performing Arts, and The Center on Halsted. Anna Rose is a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), focusing on energy work and body awareness through breath control. She is proud to be the originator of the Red & Gray Playwright Festival, where students write, direct, and produce their own works at The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in her hometown, Houston, TX.  She featured in Windy City Times 2014's 30 Under 30 award with her wife Hannah Ii-Epstein as the first power couple to be honored together in this category. In the past few years, Anna Rose has begin dabbling in film. Anna Rose produced and was featured in Nothing Without a Company's short film Sweet, submitted to 2015's 48 Hour Film Fest Chicago, which won Best Film Runner Up, Best Directing, and Audience Award Group B Runner Up. Check her out as a featured extra in Signature Move, a queer movie coming out soon! Feel free to contact her, she is super nice! Or see what else Anna Rose is up to at ii-epstein.com.

Wanda Jin 

(Olivia)

Wanda has a BA in English Literature from Duke University, with minors in Theater Studies and Dance. She has also trained with The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), Black Box Acting Studio, and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. After her debut performance in Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them at Manbites Dog Theater, she appeared in several plays and dance performances in Durham, NC.  She recently moved to Chicago, where she has appeared in theatrical productions with Nothing without a Company, Silent Theatre, and Gallery Theatre, .

Joe Giovannetti

(Mike)

Joe is a Chicago-based playwright, actor and director. He is a founding member of InGen Productions and a company member with MPAACT. He is also an Associate Company Member with Akvavit Theater. Directing credits include The Lockout produced by Six Hours Short, a musical about the 2011 NBA lockout and InGen Production’s Welcome to Earth, his musical adaptation of the 1996 film Independence Day. Joe holds a BA from North Park University in Theatre and Performance Studies and is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing for the Stage and Screen at Northwestern University.

Joette Waters

(Phyllis) 

Joette grew up in New York and Los Angeles where she developed her love for both Theater and Film. After graduating from Hollywood High School she landed a role with a small touring company and hit the road in the production of St. Joan by Shaw and has been working in the entertainment industry ever since. Joette moved to Chicago in 1979 and performed in two award winning shows that year: Statements After an Arrest at the Body Politic Theater and The Sea Wolf with Chicago radio Theater. She also did quite a bit of work in Childrens Theater and Puppetry during that time as well. In 1982 she formed the show band Stardust Vocal Trio specializing in the music of the 1920's to the 1950's Swing era, performing shows nationwide and in Canada with some of the top artists in the field. She performed with Stardust through 2006. Having always had a fascination for philosophy, religion and psychology, the study of those subjects lead her to become an ordained New Thought minister. In 1995 she founded The Center for Creative Living where she taught self empowerment through spirituality for 12 years by teaching classes, workshops, and weekly talks. Today's Chicago Woman Magazine once voted her one of the top 100 women making a difference. After retiring from active ministry she re-entered the acting profession and has been busy performing in Film, Theater, TV and Voice Over. She has been a motivational speaker and a performance coach for many years has worked with actors, singers, and public speakers to help them express more effectively. She is very proud to be a part of the Chicago Film and Theater community. (joettewaters.com)

Paul Sunao hovey

(Stage Manager)

New Play Festival: 4PLAYs marks Paul Sunao Hovey's debut with Nothing Without a Company.  Hovey received a B.A. in Dramatic Art from UNC-Chapel Hill with an emphasis in stage management and lighting design.  You may have seen him previously with (re)discover theatre's Fifty Shades of Shakespeare, or John Michael Colgin's Meatball Seance. Paul would like to thank Hannah and Anna for their dedication and for the opportunity to collaborate.  Paul would also like to thank the god Dionysus, Angela Sibille, Janet Howe, and Matt Willis.

Sarah Collonge

(Lighting Designer)

Sarah Collonge is a graduate of the University of Chicago with a degree in Theatre and Performance Studies. She is a lighting designer and stage manager, and has previously worked with The New Colony, First Floor Theatre, and Third Eye Theatre Ensemble. She is also an artistic associate with First Floor Theatre and a company member with Third Eye Theatre Ensemble.

*Marissa Rutledge

(Props Manager)

Marissa has been working with nonprofit Chicago theatre for a little over a decade since graduating from the University of Rhode Island with her BFA in Scenic Design in 2005. She specializes in props design, scenic dressing and gory special effects for live theatre. She is thrilled to be included as a company ensemble member of Nothing Without a Company. You’ve seen her work in past Nothing Without a Company productions such as Zombies Attack Chicago!, Futurepast, The Big Bad Spooktacular, Punk-Punk, and The Kid Thing.

*Will Bennett

(Fight Choreographer) 

Will is an actor, fighter, and stunt performer on stage and film. He has been acting, fighting and falling around Chicago since 2012 and has been a Nothing Without a Company Company Ensemble Member since 2014. He appeared in Nothing Without a Company's 2013 production of Alice, and both of the company's 2014 24 hour Play Fests. Outside of the company, he has appeared in The Hypocrites' All Our Tragic. Screen credits include multiple Columbia College Chicago Graduate Thesis films; Stygian, For Pete's Sake, Daisy. He has also fight choreographed Nothing Without a Company's 2013 and 2014 productions of Alice, and stunt coordinated Stygian, For Pete's Sake, and Daisy. He is so stoked to work with Nothing Without a Company, and is so grateful for everyone he has meet along the way.