Raised in Captivity
By Nicky Silver
Directed by Dominic D’Andrea

Featuring Josh Lefkowitz*, Bryant Mason*, Emilie Elizabeth Miller, José Joaquín Pérez, Jennifer Dorr White*
*Actors Appear Courtesy of Actors Equity Association.  Equity Approved Showcase.

A dark comedy about twin siblings who deal with guilt, redemption, self punishment, and revealed secrets following their mother’s untimely death.

Raised in Captivity was performed January 29 – February 15, 2009, at the Shell Theater located in the Times Square Arts Building at 300 West 43rd Street @ Eighth Avenue.

Critical praise for Raised in Captivity:

This was a rare example of all the designers being completely in sync and telling a unified story. Dominic D’Andrea’s direction was clear, and his detailed direction…was spot on.
          ~ Ashley Griffin, Theater Online

The Red Fern Theatre Company is raising issues, eyebrows, spirits and the level of Black Box Theater with their colorful dark comedy presentation of Raised in Captivity. Written by Drama Desk Award nominee Nicky Silver for outstanding play and directed by a well seasoned Dominic D’ Andrea, this theatre company scored a rare trifecta of theatrical professionalism by casting one of the most competent group of actors we’ve had the pleasure of experiencing so far this season.
          ~ Retrovision Media

Red Fern makes a strong showing with it.
          ~ David Hilder, NYTheatre.com

Red Fern is a young company. With a few more shows like Raised in Captivity it may soon establish itself as one of the most promising up-and-coming additions to the New York theater scene.
          ~ Paulanne Simmons, Theaterwire

Raised in Captivity was registered with the New York Innovative Theatre Awards, new awards specifically for Off-Off-Broadway theatre, and your vote will make a difference.  Vote for us at www.nyitawards.org!

We participate in the TDF voucher program.

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow

For this production, the RFTC has chosen to partner with Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow.

The mission of Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow is to help disadvantaged youth and adults recognize their own self-worth, and advance towards self-sufficiency and financial security through job training, academic reinforcement, improved life skills, job placement, and support services. OBT approaches all of its programmatic endeavors with the three principles in mind: Confidence, Discipline, Professionalism.

The majority of our participants are economically disadvantaged minorities with barriers to self-sufficiency including lack of a high school diploma, deficiency in basic skills, no marketable job skills, chronic unemployment, single parenthood, past drug abuse and/or criminal records, and limited English proficiency. Today OBT serves approximately 1,100 youth and adults annually. Since the organization’s inception in 1983, they have helped approximately 5,000 young people and over 3,000 adults improve their lives and the lives of their families.

Please visit http://www.obtjobs.org for more information.

Cast Bios:

Josh Lefkowitz*, Sebastian

Off-Broadway: What To Do When You Hate All Your Friends.  Regional: The As If Body Loop (Humana Festival); The Mineola Twins (Woolly Mammoth); Sweeney Todd (Baltimore Centerstage); Saint Joan (Olney Theater); One Red Flower (Signature Theatre).  Writer/performer of two full-length monologues, Help Wanted and Now What? (Woolly Mammoth, Baltimore Centerstage, Yale Cabaret, Access Theater, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, Single File Festival).  Associate Artist, Atlantic Center for the Arts with Eric Bogosian.  BFA, University of Michigan. 

Bryant Mason*, Kip

NY Theatre: Night Over Taos, directed by Estelle Parsons, Eduardo Machado’s Kissing Fidel (Intar); Acts of Mercy (Rattlestick); the title role in Macbeth, Mary Stuart (NY Classical Theatre); Looking Up (Theatre for the New City); Devil Land (SPF/Lion Theatre); Fizz (Ohio Theatre); also NYTW, EST, the Lark, Youngbloods, the Culture Project, MultiStages, No Passport, NAATCO, Mile Square, Primary Stages & taxdeductibletheatre. BA, University of Dallas; MFA, FSU/Asolo Conservatory.

Emilie Elizabeth Miller, Bernadette

Emilie, along with being one of its co-founders, is also the Director of Philanthropic Development for the Red Fern Theatre Company.  She is formally trained as an actor and Red Fern is her first producing endeavor.  Emilie has appeared in seven Red Fern Theatre Company productions.  She is a member of TVI Actor's Studio in New York.  Emilie is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the British American Dramatic Academy.

José Joaquín Pérez, Roger/Dylan

José Joaquín Pérez is a graduate of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University.  He has been seen in workshops and readings at Second Stage, Rattlestick, Transport Group, INTAR, The Lark, Repetorio Espanol, and Fluid Motion Theatre and Film.  He has been seen regionally at Hartford Stage, Hartford TheatreWorks, and the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.  He currently has supporting roles in two independent feature films in post-production scheduled for release in Spring 2009, Shadowland and Cruzando.  He is also a proud member of the Actor's Collective at INTAR.

Jennifer Dorr White*, Hillary/Miranda

Jennifer Dorr White was seen last fall in Blue Before Morning at the DR2 Theatre with terraNOVA Collective.  She has appeared Off-Broadway in Sealed for Freshness, The Flashing Stream, The “A” Word, Women of Manhattan and Pera Palas.  She has worked in many Off-Off-Broadway venues, such as the NYC Fringe Festival, E.S.T., the 14th Street Y, Hudson Guild, Vital Theatre Company and the Lark Play Development Center, where she is an Artistic Associate.  She has performed regionally at Stamford Theatre Works, Dorset Theatre Festival and the Denver Center, among others.  Jennifer co-starred in the movie A.B.C.D. and recently completed filming on Aaron Bacon and What They Want.  She has been seen on “Law & Order: SVU” and “Guiding Light” and is currently appearing as Julianna McKannis on the Onion News Network.  She received her M.F.A. from the National Theatre Conservatory and her B.A. from Williams College.

Production Bios:

Dominic D'Andrea, Director

Dominic D'Andrea has directed plays by Ashlin Halfnight, Anton Dudley, Bathsheba Doran, Carla Ching, Clay McLeod Chapman, Emily Conbere, Michael John Garces, A. Rey Pamatmat, , and has devised several works. In NYC: E.S.T. (dir in residence 05/06), Youngblood, The Public's 365 Plays/365 Days, NYU's First Look (member), Primary Stages Prime Time Series, MCC Youth Theatre Co., The Ontological Incubator, 1st National Asian American Theatre Festival, Soho Think Tank, Here, NYTW, and a repeat offender at the Brick, Vampire Cowboys, and the Lark Play Development Center where he co-directs the Meeting of the Minds writers' group.  Regional: Syracuse Stage/University, Woolly Mammoth, Kennedy Center, Source Theatre, Luna Stage. Assisting: Edward Albee, John Rando, Leonard Foglia, Adam Rapp, Pam MacKinnon, Beth Greenberg (NYC Opera), & Bob Moss. Other: MTC Directing Fellow (2008), Edward F. Albee Foundation Fellow, Kennedy Center/ACTF fellowship, 2 SDCF Observerships, LCT Directors Lab, Chicago Directors Lab. Dominic is the creator/producer of the NY One-Minute Play Festival.

Eliza Brown, Scenic Designer

Eliza's New York credits include: Perfect Harmony (Theatre Row, Fringe NYC 2006 and Studio Tisch), Penelope (Labowitz Theatre, NYU), Dreams of Home (Monarch Theatre Company), PN1923.45 LS01 Volume 2 [The Book Play] (Fringe NYC), As I Lay Dying (Ohio), Liberty & Cruise Ship: A Study in Revolution (Dangership!) (Chashama), Colorado (Summer Play Festival), Speaking in Tongues (PS 122), Couldn't Say (Midtown International Theatre Festival), The Rats Are Getting Bigger (Fringe NYC), Below the Belt (City Theatre Company), Festival of New Works (NYU/Tisch Dept of Dramatic Writing). Regional: Shining City and Red Light Winter (WHAT, MA), Window to the Street (Trinity College), Little Shop of Horrors (Northern Stage, VT), The Afghan Women (Passage Theater, NJ), Diabolique (Philadelphia Fringe), Machinal (Bard College). MFA in design from NYU/Tisch. www.elizabrown.com

TJ Clark, Assistant Director

TJ is a recent Syracuse graduate who is thrilled to be a part of this production. Primarily an actor, TJ was last seen in Nightforce International's Tales of the Black Veil and as the zombie clown in Red Rover as part of Vampire Cowboys Saturday Saloon. He would like to thank the cast for their creativity and, as always, his parents.

Emily DeAngelis, Costume Designer

Design credits include:  The Angel Eaters Trilogy (Flux Theatre Ensemble), The Physicists (UCSD, La Jolla Playhouse), The Labyrinth of Desire (World Premier, UCSD, La Jolla Playhouse), Election Day (World Premier, UCSD, La Jolla Playhouse). Assistant Costume Design work includes:  Dear Edwina (DR2 Theatre), Beasley’s Christmas Party (Keen Company), Blasted (SoHo Rep). Emily holds an MFA in Design from the University of California, San Diego.

Chris Flecker, Illustrator

Chris (NYC) has spent time at Freeze CMI, Wine and Spirits Magazine, IN New York Magazine, and Kenneth Cole Productions.  He graduated top of his class at Pratt Institute with a degree in Communications Design.  Flecker’s style is both implausible and knowledgeable, harsh yet delicate, yin but yang, detailed yet simple.  A student of social satire, his approach to human interaction is driven by Carravagio, Bill Watterson, Ben Sargent, and Gary Larson.  www.chrisflecker.com

Ashton Giaume, Properties

Ashton is a recent transplant from Minneapolis, MN, where she began her directorial and theatrical careers.  After relocating to New York to further pursue Acting endeavors, she began full time study at the Stella Adler Studio, where she currently remains. Outside her studies, she continues to be creatively involved in the theater.  Ashton has worked alongside directors like Dominic D’Andrea and Jacob Krueger, as well as costume designers such as Kat Fischer, helping their visions come to life.

Jessica Greenberg, Lighting Designer

New York credits include: The Long Christmas Ride Home, Found A Peanut, The Exonerated, Who Will Carry the Word?, A Piece of My Heart, An Ideal Husband, Stars in a Dark Sky (Red Fern), The Scariest (The Exchange/Orchard Project), The Art of the Double Cross (JB Heaps Productions), Richard III (Epic Theatre Ensemble), and Henry VI (Midlantic Theatre). Jessica received her BA from Hampshire College. www.jessicagreenberg.com

Daniel Kluger, Sound Design

James and the Giant Peach (Arden Theater Company), Heartbreak House, A Murder, A Mystery and A Marriage (Two River Theatre Company), The Persians (People's Light & Theatre), Metamorphoses (Weston Playhouse), The Dining Room and Keen Teens (Keen Company), The Ones That Flutter (SPF/The Public Theatre), Talley's Folley (Dorset Theatre Festival), Cecilia's Last Tea Party (Todd Mountain Theatre Project), Platonov and Uncle Vanya (Lake Lucille, dir. Brian Mertes), Running (Milkcan), The Framer (Broken Watch), The Woodpecker, The Young Left, Jailbait (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), Couldn't Say (MITF), New York Innovative Theatre Awards (dir. Jose Zayas).  

Qui Nguyen, Fight Direction

Qui is a Brooklyn-based fight choreographer, writer, and Co-Artistic Director of the award winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company (www.vampirecowboys.com).  He teaches stage combat at Columbia University, LAByrinth Theater’s Master Class, City Lights Youth Theatre, and The Rabid Vamps Fight Studio.  His upcoming production, “Soul Samurai”, premieres at HERE Arts Center in February 2009.

Erienne Wredt, Stage Manager

Erienne is originally from Omaha Nebraska and has a B.F.A in theatre arts from Nebraska Wesleyan University. She has had the pleasure of working on An Ideal Husband (Red Fern Theatre Company), The Seagull (Columbia University) Steel Net and A High Wire Sing Alone (Doorknob Company), The Fanasticks, Working, and The Robber Bridegroom (Nebraska Wesleyan University)  and as Production Assistant for Love Child at Primary Stages.