LIBERTY CITY
Company Biograhpies

April Yvette Thompson
Co-playwright, Actor
NYTW: Kia Corthron’s LIGHT RAISE THE ROOF (world premiere, dir. Michael John Garces); 365 PLAYS, 365 DAYS (dir. Liz Diamond). Off-Broadway: 365 PLAYS, 365 DAYS (Public); THE EXONERATED (dir. Bob Balaban, Culture Project & Edinburgh Fringe); MEDEA (AUDELCO nom.), MACBETH (AUDELCO nom.), KING LEAR, THE BLACKS (dirs. Alfred Preisser & Christopher McElroen, Classical Theatre of Harlem); Zakiyyah Alexander’s SICK (world premiere, dir. Daniella Topol, SPF); Tanya Barfield & Lynn Nottage’s ANTIGONE PROJECT (world premiere, dirs. Liesl Tommy & Annie Dorsen, Women's Project). Regional: A RAISIN IN THE SUN (dir. Seret Scott, Hartford Stage); WINE IN THE WILDERNESS (Seattle Footlights Award, Best Performance, Seattle ACT); Seret Scott’s SECOND LINE (world premiere, Passage Theatre Co.); Kia Corthron’s VENUS DIMILO IS ARMED (world premiere, Alabama Shakespeare Festival); MACBETH, MERRY WIVES, RIVALS (dirs. Nicky Martin & Matt August, The Acting Co). Film & TV: Phoebe in Wonderland (dir. Daniel Barnz), Accidental Husband (dir. Griffin Dunne), The Exonerated (dir. Bob Balaban), Doris & Bernard (dir. Bob Balaban), “Third Watch,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Chapelle Show.” Training: Vassar College (BA), Rutgers University (MFA). aprilyvettethompson.com, libertycityplay.com

Jessica Blank
Co-playwright, Director
As playwright: THE EXONERATED (with Erik Jensen; Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Ovation, Fringe First, Herald Angel Awards; awards from the American Bar Association, Amnesty Int'l, Court TV, National Council of Criminal Defense Lawyers; John Gassner Award nom., Hull Warriner Award nom.). As director: THE EXONERATED (with Erik Jensen, The Actors' Gang and national university tour). As actor: Off-Broadway: SPEAKEASY (Joe's Pub), AT WAR (45 Bleecker), THE EXONERATED (45 Bleecker, Dublin Int'l Theater Festival). Film & TV: The Namesake (dir. Mira Nair), On the Road With Judas (Sundance 2007), The Exonerated, You're Nobody Til Somebody Kills You (exec. producer Spike Lee), Undermind, Police Force, Delicious Love, “Rescue Me,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Bronx Is Burning,” “Guiding Light,” “One Life to Live.” As author: Living Justice: Love, Freedom, and the Making of "The Exonerated" (with Erik Jensen; Simon and Schuster, 2005), Almost Home, (Hyperion, 2007). As screenwriter: The Exonerated (Court TV with Erik Jensen); Almost Home (exec. producer Jon Bon Jovi, 2009, with Erik Jensen). Co-Artistic Director, THE?FIRE?DEPT Theater Company.

Antje Ellermann
Set Designer
Off-Broadway: NINE PARTS OF DESIRE (Manhattan Ensemble Theatre, Lucille Lortel nom.); SAKHARAM BINDER, TRUST (The Play Company); THE COOK (INTAR). Regional: LYDIA?(Denver Center Theatre Company), THE PILLOWMAN (Berkeley Rep), THE?TENDERLAND (Fisher Center, Summerscape),?Mass MoCa, Geffen Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Arena Stage. TV: “The Supreme Court,” “Becoming American.”

Mattie Ullrich
Costume Consultant
Off-Broadway: FROM?UP HERE (MTC); BEARERS OF KAYROL ISLAND (Vineyard); THINGS WE WANT (The New Group); ELECTION DAY (Second Stage); JACQUES BREL (The Zipper); 9 PARTS OF DESIRE (MET); BAD DATES (Playwrights Horizons); THE MYSTERIES, THE WINTER’S TALE (CSC). Regional: Cincinnati Playhouse, Goodspeed, Huntington, Dallas Theater Center. Opera: Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Opera Ireland, Opera Colorado. Film: Year of the Fish (Sundance 2007), Shoplifting Chanel.

Jane Shaw
Sound Designer
Off-Broadway: MERCHANT OF VENICE (Theater for a New Audience, RSC Stratford), ROMOLA AND NIJINSKY (Primary Stages), RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL (Mint), MANDRAKE (Pearl), BLIND MOUTH SINGING (NAATCO), WAPATO (Women’s Project). Regional: SYNCOPATION (Capital Rep, Merrimack Repertory). Dance: Big Dance Theater, Susan Marshall, Terry Creach.

David Lander
Lighting Designer
NYTW: ALL THAT I WILL EVER BE, BACH AT LEIPZIG, DIRTY BLONDE (Broadway, Kennedy Center, Tour, West End). Broadway: I AM MY OWN WIFE, GOLDEN CHILD. Off-Broadway: ADDRESS UNKNOWN, AFTER ASHLEY, BEAUTIFUL CHILD, BEAST ON THE MOON, FRAN’S BED, GOING TO ST. IVES, KING LEAR (with Kevin Kline), MACBETH (Delacorte 2006), MIMI LE DUCK, MODERN ORTHODOX, THE GOD OF HELL. Regional: ACT, Berkeley Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Coconut Grove Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Co, St. Louis MUNY, The Old Globe. International: Tokyo, UK, South America, Australia and Singapore.

Tal Yarden
Video Designer
NYTW: THE MISANTHROPE, KAOS. With Ivo van Hove: ANGELS IN AMERICA, MOURNING?BECOMES ELECTRA, ROMAN?TRAGEDIES (Toneelgroep Amsterdam); DAS RHEINGOLD, DIE WALKURE, SIEGFREID (Vlaamse Opera); RENT (Joop van den Ende Theater Productions). Off-Broadway: LE PETIT MORTE (P.S. 122); THREE WILLIES, WIND (The Kitchen); CORPUS EXQUISITUS, EGG (DTW); DOG & PONY SHOW (chashama); TIGHT RIGHT WHITE, QUOTATIONS FROM A RUINED CITY (Dar a Luz); THE KING IS DEAD, NOT GARDEN (Joyce).

Keith Skretch
Associate Video Designer
NYTW: THE MISANTHROPE (assistant video designer). Off-Broadway: HANGERS AND KNIVES (video designer), SPADE (video designer, co-director and adaptation; Bee Sting Theater Co). Tours: FLUKE (video technician, Radiohole); LE?PETIT?MORT (video technician, Palissimo). Production staff, P.S. 122. Upcoming: GAME ON (Chocolate Factory).

Larry K. Ash
Production Stage Manager
NYTW: THE MISANTHROPE, ALL THAT I WILL EVER BE; (as Production Manager) HEDDA GABLER, STREETCAR, NOCTURNE, FAR AWAY, THE BEARD OF AVON, DIRTY BLONDE, BOB, FLESH AND BLOOD, SHOPPING AND FUCKING, THE MOST FABULOUS STORY EVER TOLD, VALHALLA, HOMEBODY/KABUL. Regional: Clarence Brown Theatre: TERRA NOVA, CRIMES OF THE HEART; (as Production Manager) ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN, THE BRONTE CYCLE, GRAPES OF WRATH.

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