ACROSS

Olzhas Zhanaydarov (Playwright) was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan and moved to Russia when he was five years old.  He is a playwright, screenwriter and teacher.  Based in Moscow, Olzhas is a member of the Lubimovka Young Playwrights Festival Collective and Founder and Artistic Director of Drama.Kz Festival for young Kazakh playwrights.  His plays explore such topics as immigrants in Russia, teenage life, and the history of Kazakhstan.  Olzhas was awarded the Grand -Prix of the International Modern Drama Contest Free Theatre.  He won First Prize at both the international playwrights’ competition Eurasia and the modern drama for children and teenagers contest Little Premiere.  Olzhas received a National Theatre Golden Mask Award nomination for Best Play.  His plays have been staged in cities across Russia and Kazakhstan, including Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Astana, and Almaty.  His work has been translated into English, German, French, Polish, Czech, Turkish and other languages.

Jaime Castañeda (Director) recently held the position of Associate Artistic Director at La Jolla Playhouse, where he directed the world premiere productions of The Luckiest by Melissa Ross, Seize the King by Will Power, and At The Old Place by Rachel Bonds. Select directing credits include: The Canadians by Adam Bock (South Coast Repertory), Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (American Conservatory Theater), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity by Kristoffer Diaz (Dallas Theater Center), The Royale by Marco Ramirez (American Theater Company, Jeff Award directing nomination), Chimichangas and Zoloft by Fernanda Coppel (Atlantic Theater Company), The Motherfucker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis (Kitchen Dog Theater), Tiger Style! by Mike Lew (O’Neill), How We Got On by Idris Goodwin (Cleveland Playhouse), Welcome to Arroyo’s by Kristoffer Diaz (The Old Globe), Red Light Winter by Adam Rapp (Perseverance Theatre), and The Royal Society of Antarctica by Mat Smart (Portland Center Stage, Jaw festival). Jaime has received a Princess Grace Award, a Drama League fellowship, and holds an MFA in Directing from the University of Texas at Austin.

Zlatko Mitev (Young Man) is a Bulgarian Graphic Artist and a Properties Artisan currently working from San Diego, California.

Carman Lacivita (Man) Broadway: Marvin’s Room, Cyrano de Bergerac with Kevin Kline. Off-Broadway: Henry 6th in Rose Rage: Henry the 6th Pts. 1, 2, 3 (Bayfield and Jeff Awards, Drama League Nomination), Kate Hamill’s Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam), Red Bull, The Public, Pearl, and others. Regional: Pride and Prejudice (Syracuse Stage), Emma (The Guthrie), Dorset Theater Festival, Arizona Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, Chicago Shakespeare, Long Wharf, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, and others. Selected TV/Film: Blue Bloods, Golden Boy, Royal Pains, Cyrano de Bergerac (Great Performances-PBS). MFA–MGSA-Rutgers, BFA-TCU.  Founding member of The Coop and Amphibian Stage Productions. www.carmanlacivita.com Instagram @lacivitacarman

Zabryna Guevara (A Woman’s Voice) is a native New Yorker working in film, television, and theater. She most recently starred on ABC’s Emergence. Other Film/TV credits include: ‘Dora’ on New Amsterdam, Tell Me a Story, Twilight Zone, Gotham, The Get Down, The Handmaid’s Tale, Burn Notice, Elementary, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Irreplaceable You, The Incredible Jessica James, and the recent Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Swallow. Theater credits include: Water by the Spoonful, Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, The Cook, Chimichangas and Zoloft, Sonia Flew, El Paso Blue, Santa Concepción, Tight Embrace, Now and Then and Bulrusher.

Kim Blanck (A Woman’s Voice) was recently seen in the World Premiere Off-Broadway production of Dave Malloy’s Octet, for which the cast was the recipient of the 2020 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble. Other theater credits include: the World Premiere of Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater’s Alice by Heart, the World Premiere of Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin’s adaptation of Moby-Dick, and the Public Works/Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night. She earned her MFA in Acting from UC San Diego and is an Associate Artist with music theater ensemble The Lobbyists. More at www.kimblanck.com.

Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design) is a designer, composer, musician, and DJ based in New York and Chicago. Recent theatrical work includes projects with Audible, Third Rail Projects, The Vineyard, Signature Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, La Jolla Playhouse, and Albany Park Theatre Project. Other work includes scores for Glitch, The Wise Kids, and In Memoriam, and producing original audio plays for Make Believe Association and WBEZ. He was recently awarded a 2020 Obie Award for Sound Design and he is a recipient of three Lucille Lortel Awards, multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards, and The Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award. www.mikhailfiksel.com