Company Bios

RYAN ARTZBERGER | MITCH Ryan’s IRT credits include Murder on the Orient Express, A Christmas Carol, The Diary of Anne Frank, Holmes and Watson, Noises Off, Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Crucible, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, God of Carnage, Julius Caesar, Fire in the Garden, Rabbit Hole, Iron Kisses, Death of a Salesman, and Macbeth. Ryan is a member of Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, where he has directed Hamlet and As You Like It and appeared in Coriolanus, The Winter’s Tale, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, The Taming of the Shrew, and Othello. At the Phoenix Theatre he performed in Reasons to Be Pretty. Regional credits include the Seattle Children’s Theatre, the Shakespeare Theatre and the Studio Theatre in Washington DC, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, the Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Kansas City Rep, Lookingglass, and Great Lakes Theater Festival. Ryan is a graduate of Ohio University and the Juilliard School.

HENRY WORONICZ | MORRIE At the IRT, Henry has acted in Morning After Grace; Twelve Angry Men; A Doll’s House, Part 2; Holmes and Watson; The Originalist; The Mousetrap; Red; An Iliad; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Young Lady from Rwanda; and King Lear; he has also directed The Three Musketeers and Romeo and Juliet. Regional acting and directing credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Boston Shakespeare Company, Center Stage, Delaware Theatre Company, Hong Kong Repertory Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Meadow Brook Theatre, Syracuse Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre, and the Alabama, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Utah Shakespeare festivals. He was seen on Broadway in Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington. Television credits include Seinfeld, Cheers, Third Rock from the Sun, Star Trek, and Law & Order. At the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, he was a resident actor/director from 1984 to 1991 and artistic director from 1991 to 1995. Henry also served as executive producer at Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival from 2008 to 2009, the head of M.F.A. Acting at Illinois State University from 2009 to 2012, and a visiting professor in the Department of Theatre at IU Bloomington from 2014 to 2017.

BENJAMIN HANNA | DIRECTOR Ben is in his fourth year as associate artistic director at Indiana Repertory Theatre. He is a director, new play developer, educator, and community engagement specialist whose passion for multigenerational theatre has influenced his work across the country with companies such as Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Penumbra Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Steppingstone Theatre, and the Bay Area Children’s Theatre. In all of his myriad roles, Ben is guided by the belief that access to high-quality theatre helps build creative, empathetic people and healthy communities. At the IRT, Ben has directed This Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, The Little Choo-Choo That Thinks She Can, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!,” and The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. (see full bio on page 9)

ROB KOHARCHIK | SCENIC DESIGNER Rob has designed 60 productions for the IRT, including all four Going Solo Festivals and such shows as This Wonderful Life, Murder on the Orient Express, Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2018 & 2008), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Mousetrap, On Golden Pond, The Mountaintop, The Miracle Worker,Crime and Punishment, To Kill a Mockingbird (2009), Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet (2004), and The Turn of the Screw. Rob’s regional credits include the Walnut Street Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Weston Playhouse, Geva Theatre, and American Players Theatre. A 2000 and 2011 Arts Council–Lilly Endowment Creative Renewal Fellow, Rob holds an M.F.A. in set design from Boston University and a B.S. in theatre from Ball State. He teaches theatre design at Butler University.

GUY CLARK | COSTUME DESIGNER A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Guy manages the Indiana Repertory Theatre costume shop. His design work for IRT includes costumes for Morning After Grace, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!,” The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, The Originalist, Stuart Little, The Mystery of Irma Vep, The Giver, The Velveteen Rabbit, Red,And Then They Came for Me, The House That Jack Built, God of Carnage, I Love to Eat,and Mary’s Wedding. In 2007, Aretha Franklin commissioned him to design and build a dress for her performance at that year’s Grammy Awards ceremony, and the following year, he created the two gowns she wore to President Obama’s inaugural balls. Guy is a member of Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, where he has designed costumes for several productions. He has also designed costumes for several Dance Kaleidoscope concerts.

XAVIER PIERCE | LIGHTING DESIGNER Xavier has designed This Wonderful Life, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, and Pipeline at the IRT. Other designs include White Noise at the Public; How to Catch Creation, Othello, and Shakespeare in Love at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Native Gardens, Harvey, and Blithe Spirit at the Guthrie; Smart People and Native Gardens at Arena Stage; The Roommate at Steppenwolf; Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2, and Pride and Prejudice at St. Louis Rep; Nina Simone: Four Women at Seattle Rep; Fun Home at Baltimore Center Stage; Misery at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Noises Off at Syracuse Stage; Fences at Long Wharf Theatre and McCarter Theatre; Peter and the Starcatcher, 4000 Miles, The Mountaintop, and Detroit ’67 at PlayMakers Rep; Everybody, The Glass Menagerie, black odyssey, and Fences at Cal Shakes; Hamlet and Pippin at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Othello at America Repertory Theatre; and many more.

MELANIE CHEN COLE | SOUND DESIGNER & COMPOSER Melanie is delighted to make her IRT debut with this production. She is a San Diego–based freelance sound designer. Her recent regional credits include A Christmas Carol,Alabama Story,Buzz,and Romeo and Juliet(Alabama Shakespeare Festival); Where the Mountain Meets the Moon(South Coast Rep); White Pearl(Studio Theatre in Washington DC); Noura,Tiny Beautiful Things,and The Imaginary Invalid(the Old Globe); the 2019 POP Tour Light Years Away,At the Old Place, and the 2017 POP Tour #SuperShinySara(La Jolla Playhouse); Silent Sky(Tantrum Theatre/Ohio University); Steel Magnolias(Dallas Theater Center); and Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood(PlayMakers Repertory Company). Melanie holds an M.F.A. in sound design for theatre and dance from UC–San Diego. melaniesound.com

RICHARD J ROBERTS | DRAMATURG This is Richard’s 31st season with the IRT, and his 23rd as resident dramaturg. He has also been a dramaturg for the New Harmony Project, Write Now, and the Hotchner Playwriting Festival. He has directed IRT productions of A Christmas Carol (four times), Bridge & Tunnel, The Night Watcher, Neat, Pretty Fire, The Cay, The Giver, The Power of One, and Twelfth Night. Other directing credits include Actors Theatre of Indiana, the Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Edyvean Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Butler University, University of Indianapolis, and Anderson University. Richard studied music at DePauw University and theatre at Indiana University and has been awarded a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

NATHAN GARRISON | PRODUCTION COORDINATOR This is Nathan’s 25th season at the IRT. He has also worked with Center Stage in Baltimore, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Brown County Playhouse; and he is a company member with the Indianapolis Shakespeare Company.

ARTIST SPONSORS

Thank you to the following IRT Donors who use their generous gift to recognize and celebrate the artists that bring our stories to life.

JACKIE NYTES & PATRICK O’BRIEN

SPONSORS OF HENRY WORONICZ

DAVID & LESLIE MORGAN

SPONSORS OF RYAN ARTZBERGER

DAVID I. & BETTY KLAPPER

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS SPONSOR, TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

MICHAEL DINIUS & JEANNIE REGAN-DINIUS

SEASON SPONSORS OF NATHAN GARRISON

WAYNE & SUSAN SCHMIDT

SPONSORS OF BENJAMIN HANNA

PRODUCTION SPONSORS:

SUSIE & JOEL BLUM GARY DENNEY & LOUISE BAKKER DR. BRIAN DILLMAN & ERIN HEDGES DRS. CHERRYL & SHELLY FRIEDMAN JOHN & LAURA LUDWIG MR. STEPHEN OWEN SR. & DR. CHERYL TOROK OWEN NOEL & MARY PHILLIPS DRS. ERIC SCHULTZE & MARCIA KOLVITZ CHERYL & RAY WALDMAN

CELEBRATE THE NEW YEAR WITH A SEASON PACKAGE!

Our 3-Play Virtual Package lets you select any 3 productions from our season for only $75!

NO. 6 by T.J. Young

family, racial tensions, & healing

MARCH 11 – 28

As city-wide riots approach their neighborhood, a Black family shelters in their apartment above the small dry-cleaning business they own. When they find themselves protecting an intoxicated White man from the street, tensions inside the apartment amplify and secrets are revealed. Inspired by the killing of a young Black man by Cincinnati police in 2001, the play bears witness to the ongoing violence against Black citizens while reaching for the possibility of hope.

CYRANO based on the book by Edmond Rostand adapted for the stage by Jo Roets

epic, intimate romance

APRIL 15 – MAY 2

The most dashing of heroes, the wittiest humor, passionate romance, heartbreak, tragedy, and a really big nose. It’s everything you could want in a night of theatre! This thrillingly theatrical gem sparkles with all the enchantment, intrigue, and sacrifice of love—and love lost.

Already purchased a ticket? Continue your virtual adventure and apply your purchase of This Wonderful Life or Tuesdays with Morrie to a 3-Play Virtual Package. To redeem this offer, contact 317.635.5252. *3-Play Packages must be purchased by March 31, 2021.