What most excites you about this production?
The opportunity to showcase a bunch of different styles of comedy and juxtaposing the hilarity with real human moments. 

This play is about ghosts - have you ever encountered the supernatural yourself? 
My mom has told me that when we first moved into her recently passed sister's house in Sacramento, she came into my room and I was talking to my Aunt Mara. I don't remember this happening, because I was about 3 years old, but I do believe that children especially can sense a presence of the supernatural, and that I did encounter my Aunt that night. 

What is the greatest challenge you face with this show?
The balance of comedy to drama to straight up high stakes fear is really challenging to pull off, I think. Aside from having to memorize 3/4 of the play, I find that discovering the truth in the dramatic moments and balancing that with the comedic arguments written in has been especially fun to figure out. 

What have been some of your favorite previous roles (or productions you have been involved with)?
I had a great opportunity to play Stevie in Albee's The Goat or Who is Sylvia at SFSU when I was in brown bag theater, which is a performance class meant to replicate theater in repertory. I also really enjoyed originating the role of Hebe in Juno en Victoria with Wily West a few summers ago. You can't really go wrong when you're playing a goddess. 

What do you hope audiences will take from this production?
I hope the audience will walk out of the theater with a smile, the play is really a comedy and I think we as a cast shine best when we are being ridiculous. 

KAT BUSHNELL (ANGELA) is excited to perform in another original play with Wily West Productions.  Since the tender age of seven, Kat has been performing with community and workshop theaters in her hometown of Sacramento.  Pursuing a Drama degree from SFSU brought her to San Francisco, where she worked with Tony Award nominee Barbara Dameshek performing leading roles in Chess and City of Angels, and got a taste of the repertory theater experience in Brown Bag Theater (You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Goat or Who is Silvia). Since earning her Cum Laude degree in 2009, she has performed with SF TheaterPub (Jesus Christ Superstar, RENT, Devil of a Time, Pint Sized Plays) SF Olympians Festival (Juno En Victoria, Heracles & the Things He Killed, Die,OH!Nice!Us vs. Hestia), Cutting Ball Theater (Epicoene), Altarena Playhouse (RENT), No Nude Men Productions (Giant Bones), Thunderbird Theater Co. (The Scotland Company), SF Sketchfest (EMO! The Musical) and was last seen on the Wily West Stage in Juno en Victoria (Hebe) and The Cocktail Plays.  

What most excites you about this production? 

Something that I’m really excited about is all the stage combat we’ll be doing. I have a little bit of stage combat training but I’ve never done it in a show before, and I think that will be a really interesting new experience for me.

What is the greatest challenge you face with this show? 

One challenge I face is balancing doing this show with all the homework I’m getting now that I’m in my first year of high school.

What kind of research are you doing to prepare? 

Since my character is from the 70’s, I’m looking up stuff that was going on in that time period. I already watch a lot of old TV shows, but I’m going to be looking more into what happened in history during that time so I can give my character a little bit more context.

What have been some of your favorite previous roles (or productions you have been involved with)? 

One of my favorite past roles was when I played a young Russian girl in a play at the theater camp I went to this summer. I got to learn how to do a Russian accent, which was incredibly challenging but one of the best challenges I’ve had as an actor. I had a really wonderful experience with the cast.

This play is about ghosts - have you ever encountered the supernatural yourself? 

I unfortunately have never had a supernatural experience (thus far) but I’ve always wanted to encounter some sort of spirit or supernatural being.

What is the scariest movie or play you have seen? Why? 

I think that the scariest movie I’ve ever seen would either be The Shining or The Exorcist. I was going through a scary movie phase a couple of years ago, and I watched them both around the same time. They were terrifying!

What are you going to take from this production? 

I hope to take with me the experience of working in a professional production and an experience I will always remember. This is my first professional production and it’s been a really great experience.

ELLA ZALON (HOPE)  is very excited to be in her first play with Wily West Productions.  She is a student at Oakland School for the Arts, where her scene work has included Rose from GYPSY, Babette from [Sic], and Nick Bottom from A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. She also appeared in OSA’s production of Fractured Fairytales.  At Young Actors Theater Camp, she is a Company member, after participating for five years as a camper.  She would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her.  

What most excites you about this production?

I'm incredibly excited to see how the special effects and intense physical action of the play come together -- there's so much visual theatricality in the play, and that can never fully be realized in a staged reading.  Also, it's exciting to be working with such a creative and talented cast -- right from the initial read-thru, I could see how much depth they were bringing to the characters.   

How did Hope's Last Chance start?  What was the inspiration?  And what was the process you went through to get this play finished?

I set out to write a scary 10-minute play for a Halloween showcase.  It began with a married couple hearing screams at a bed-and-breakfast in the night.   But 7 or 8 pages into it, I knew there was a lot more story opportunity than would fit in a short play, so I began to explore the history and the mystery of what happened in this haunted B&B.   Since fright and laughter are both cathartic, I wanted to have a play that was funny and scary at the same time.   The play had two staged readings during its one-year development, and the audiences responded well to the simultaneous sensations of fear and fun, sort of like on a roller coaster.   

What guidelines or principles of playwriting help you the most to finish a play?

Hope's Last Chance has two clear questions that propel the play forward:  "will Stan and Angela survive?" and "what the heck happened to cause the haunting"?   Because the answers to these questions are related, they almost act as one.  I felt my main job as playwright was keeping the characters focused on pursuit of the answer, and this helped me keep the plot tight throughout.  But I also wanted the characters to have some strong inner (sometimes secret) needs, so that they could make additional discoveries about themselves as they unravelled the larger supernatural  mystery.
 
What influenced you most as a writer?  Was it another playwright?  A teacher?  A work of art?  

For Hope's Last Chance, there was definitely some influence from Japanese horror movies, because they often have creepy little ghost children in them.  But also plays like Blithe Spirit, or  Arsenic and Old Lace, where a character like Mortimer can still make funny quips in the middle of a murderous situation.  I like that 1940's romantic comedy feel, but then layering on a more sinister element of danger, so the audience is always a little off-balance as they take it all in.
 

If you look at your body of work as a whole (so far) what do you think are themes or genres or stories you most try to write toward?  What subjects excite you the most to write about?

I guess I'm drawn strongly to the theme of personal risk and trust -- that is, characters overcoming the innate tendency to self-protect at the cost of experiencing life.  I don't consciously set out to explore this theme, but it shows up in alot of my plays.  The other theme I often explore is Secrets and Honesty  -- how characters hide and/or reveal themselves from others.   Sometimes this leads back to the other theme of trust, so maybe its all one.  In Hope's Last Chance, both these themes are key elements of the characters and the story. 

What do you hope audiences will take from this production?

I want audiences to leave feeling entertained and a little exhilarated.  Do I care if they're discussing any deep themes or truths that the play inspired?   There are a few philosophical messages in the play, so it's a bonus if the audience thinks they're worth discussing.  But it's essential that they leave thinking they had a great time.  

ROD MCFADDEN (PLAYWRIGHT) Rod has received awards in national playwriting competitions for his plays, Love Birds, Counting on Love, and Getting the Message, and was chosen as the People’s Choice award at the 2012 inspiraTO Festival in Toronto.  After receiving his BA in English literature and Playwrighting from UCLA in 1982, Rod McFadden embarked on a tragically successful career as a retail executive which lasted 26 years.   But in 2009, Rod McFadden returned to writing plays full-time.  In addition to successful productions at theatres around the country,  Rod’s plays have been well-received by Bay Area audiences of Broadway West, The Playwrights Center of SF, Wily West Productions, The Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Fringe of Marin, the Masquers, and PlayGround SF. Hope’s Last Chance is Rod’s second full-length play, and he is thrilled to be working with the talented people of Wily West Productions. 

What most excites you about this production? 

It is exciting to be creating a new character. It’s the reason I love working on new plays. There’s nothing better for an actor than having the creative opportunity to be the original actor in a role. 

What is the greatest challenge you face with this show? 

Treading the balance between the light humorous aspects of the character and the serious, scary threat and high stakes that underlie the action of the play. 

What kind of research are you doing to prepare? 

Our director suggested that for style – we watch the movie “HIGH SPIRITS.”  It’s an English film with a wonderful combination of humor and a real ghost story. Our story is very different but it is a good reference for how to combine humor with the ghostly. If it’s done right, an audience will go with crazy stuff like touching a ghost or even marrying one!

What have been some of your favorite previous roles (or productions you have been involved with)? 

I’ve been doing theatre a long time and have so many favorites. The best are always where the entire production just clicks: amazing material, a great cast and production team. Good theatre is a complete team effort. 

Recently I was in A BRIGHT ROOM CALLED DAY.  It was a fantastic production, wonderful cast – and I loved my role “Die Alte”. Other highlights have been Mom in SISTER CITIES, Mom in ZOMBIE VIXENS FROM HELL (another new character I got to originate in a great production & fantastic cast) Mammy O’Dougall in CRIPPLE OF INISHMAN, Desiree in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, any of the roles I’ve done in Shakespeare (especially Paulina) and getting a kiss from Terrence McNalley after a performance of MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE.  

This play is about ghosts - have you ever encountered the supernatural yourself? 

Not personally, although I grew up in PA – and many places in and around Lancaster County are reported to be haunted by ghosts from as far back as the revolutionary war. I was in Gettysburg a couple of years ago, right before the July 4th weekend when the battle originally took place. The town and battlefield are said to be one of the most haunted places on earth and I could absolutely feel it. 

What is the scariest movie or play you have seen? Why? 

THE SHINING. (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is right up there) I think it’s because the threats are so real but can’t be dealt with by “normal means.” The psychological pressure is unbelievable, but there is comparatively little actual blood & violence onscreen. 

What do you hope audiences will take from this production? 

I hope audiences love our show. It’s great fun, and has really scary moments. Who could ask for anything more - especially in October!

SHELLEY JOHNSON (MRS. CUTTER) Last seen with Wily West as a crazy lady in “Love in the Time of Zombies” – she is excited to be originating a new role. A busy singing actor, she has performed numerous leading musical and non- musical roles with many Bay Area companies.  This past Spring she was narrator for “The Play of Daniel”  – a liturgical play sung in Latin with the San Francisco Renaissance Voices.   Last year she was “Mom” in Zombie Vixens from Hell with Virago Theatre and the mysterious  “Die Alte” in A Bright Room Called Day with Custom Made Theatre.  Favorite productions include leading roles in Sister Cities, A Delicate Balance, Cripple of Inishmaan, Winter’s Tale  - & musical favorites A Little Night Music, Man of No Importance, Fiddler on the Roof, and A New Brain.  Other acting work includes standardized patient simulation in medical schools and recording poetry on Voetica.com. Shelley is also a stage director and acting coach specializing in coaching singers on stage presence and role & audition preparation.  Visit her website: www.actingforsingers.com

What most excites you about this production? 

I had the opportunity, honor and absolute pleasure of doing the staged reading of HOPE'S LAST CHANCE for the Spooky Cabaret and could not believe how funny, touching and overall fun the whole process was. We began the reading with the audience not entirely sure what to do: laugh, snicker, scream, squeal, ponder, etc. Then somewhere in the second act the audience and the cast as a whole discovered that it was a comedy, it was magical. 

What is the greatest challenge you face with this show? 

Not laughing at myself or at the comedic moments that occur during this show for one, second is allowing this character to really speak and to resist the urge to edit him. 

What kind of research are you doing to prepare? 

I'd like to say that I've been watching a lot of horror movies and rereading my copy of THE SHINING, but in all honesty I've been picking apart my character to better understand him. He has his quirks and foibles that make him say and do funny things, but I was more interested in the reasons why he has said quirks. Stan, approaches things from a skeptic's perspective. He also has a very 2 dimensional way of dealing with life which lends to a lot of comedic moments! I've had to change my mental gearshift to accommodate that point of view and step outside of myself to honor this character and allow him speak. 

What have been some of your favorite previous roles (or productions you have been involved with)? 

LAWFULLY WEDDED has to be one of my utmost favorite productions. That show challenged and stretched me in ways that I hadn't felt since my college theatre days. It's always the shows where you put in the most work and commitment that really touch you and transform you. LAWFULLY WEDDED was a show that truly moved me with it's trials and tribulations. Speaking of college theatre I have to say that playing Belize and Mr. Lies in ANGELS IN AMERICA has to be one of my favorite roles, little shout out to the Lewis and Clark Theatre Departement! 

This play is about ghosts - have you ever encountered the supernatural yourself?   

I honestly don't know. I've had a number of people pass away on me while I was working in EMS and haven't encountered or experienced anything of the sort. 
My immediate family believes in certain supernatural things but only when they've lost someone that they've had a deep and personal connection to. I will have to admit that I felt and heard some of the same things when a number of my close relatives had passed, but I haven't really experienced anything since then. 

What is the scariest movie or play you have seen?   Why? 

THE RING has to be one of the scarier movies that I've seen. I love good story telling and enjoy being taken on a good journey, gore and violence don't scare me, it's the twist in the road when you least expect it or the unexpected turn in the story that you couldn't possibly forsee that gets my heart rate up. I like it when mythology, science and reality coalesce and you don't know what is real and what is fictitious, that's when my mind starts to take the story further and I continue to scare myself. 

What do you hope audiences will take from this production? 

I hope that the audiences leave with big grins on their faces with their cheeks sore from the smiles and laughter. I hope they get off this little roller coaster and run back into line because of how much fun they had.

WESLEY CAYABYAB (STAN)  is a Paramedic, Golf Professional and Dance Instructor, but is first and foremost an actor. He began studying theatre at the French American International School learning various theatre forms and in different languages. He attended Lewis and Clark College where he earned the Leon Pike Scholarship for Technical Theatre in his first year. He was cast in numerous roles in shows such as: Mother Courage and Angels in America while working as the assistant technical director for the on campus theatre. He was also the director of performance services working with dignitaries, musical groups and personalities such as: Ralph Nader, The Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, and Michael Moore. Wes continued his technical theatre career in the San Francisco bay area working with many of the major companies in the area such as A.C.T., Berkeley Reparatory Theatre, NCTC, World Arts West, Attic Light Productions, Axis Dance Company, and ODC. Wes was recently cast in the PCSF annual production of Sheherezade and directed the San Francisco premiere of Lawfully Wedded in which he played one of the principal roles. Wes is the technical director for Wily West Productions and a full company member.

What most excites you about this production?

Back in October of last year, I had directed a staged reading of Hope’s Last Chance for Wily West’s Spooky Cabaret.  I had directed it as a drama because of a previous reading I had seen of the piece at PCSF.  Then, at intermission, after the audience had been in hysterics for most of the first act, I came back and informed the cast that “Well, it’s a comedy”.  At the end of the reading, we were all a buzz and we knew there was something really special about this piece and could all see the opportunity to really let it soar as a comedy.

What is the greatest challenge you face with this show?

Before rehearsals, I was really nervous about how I was going to explain this show to the actors.  When you read the play, it doesn’t come off immediately as being a comedy.  There were even some actors that came in to audition, had read the play and didn’t understand why it was a comedy.  So, my initial description was that it was a “serio-comic, farcical thriller”.  It had moments that were genuinely scary, funny and ridiculous all at the same time.  But, as in any comedy, the characters have no idea that they are in one.  So, it’s been a journey to really unearth their objectives, increase the stakes for each character and give my actors permission and encouragement to go above and beyond.  But that we, above all else, remain true to what is written and make sure that the opportunities that we find are routed in sincerity.  Because that is what I think makes a successful comedy: characters in life or death stakes, pursuing their objectives in a genuine way. 

What kind of research are you doing to prepare?

I love ghost stories and stories in general of the paranormal.  So, I’m always doing research on those, listening to podcasts like Mysterious Universe and The Realm of the Weird.  But this play in particular, took me back to one of my favorite movies, High Spirits.  If you haven’t watched it, you should.  It has a lot of the elements that this play has.  Each character is so earnestly pursuing their objective but it doesn’t take itself too seriously and for some reason, we understand that it has it’s own internal logic.  We accept that ghosts can touch humans or turn back into humans and we’re ok with all of it.  We’re along for the journey because we’re invested in the characters and I hope that’s what we achieve with this play.

This play is about ghosts - have you ever encountered the supernatural yourself?  

I have not, but I am very easily scared and if I made it through without having a heart attack, I would most likely be traumatized forever.  That being said, I secretly want to see one.

What is the scariest movie or play you have seen?   Why?

I still remember seeing Woman in White when I was 14 at California Theater Center and never being so scared in my life.  The moment when she screams and appears in the audience is still something that haunts me today.  I hope to give the audience at least a few thrills like that in this show.

What do you hope audiences will take from this production?

I know it sounds simple, but I hope that they will have had a good time.  There are some really funny moments and truly jump in your seat moments too and that they feel satisfied and surprised by the story we told.  Ultimately, I “hope” that they walk away feeling like someone just told them a really great ghost story.  Because, to me, that is why I am involved with theater, to tell really great stories.

BRADY BROPHY HILTON  (DIRECTOR) Brady just successfully directed the world premiere of Gorgeous Hussy: The Last Interview of Joan Crawford by Morgan Ludlow for Wily West.  She began her directing career in Seattle, directing a number of shows with Book-It Repertory Theatre, Cornish College of the Arts, and Groundwork Theatre. In the Bay Area, she has directed It's All in the Mix for All Terrain Theater, Sheherezade 2011 for PCSF, Boys Clinging Together for the SF Fringe Festival, readings of The Cocktail Plays, Ashtad and Dardanos, and Love in the Time of Zombies for Wily West Productions and "TGIF" Monday Night Foreplays for PianoFight.   She has served as a producer for Sleepwalkers Theatre and is the Staged Readings Producer for the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco (PCSF). She was the Education Director for Teatro ZinZanni for a year and a half where she developed and ran their circus educational program Camp ZinZanni and she worked as the Education Associate for Book-It Repertory Theatre for three years. Brady graduated from the Cornish College of the Arts with a BFA in Original Works, cum laude and trained with the Young Conservatory at ACT.