ZERO HOUR
The Mars Experiment
by the Wily West Writing Team
The Mars Experiment
by the Wily West Writing Team
July 17, 23, 25, 31 August 6, 8
Directed by Ariel Craft
Heather Cooper | Production Stage Manager
Gabrielle Immelman | Set Design
Cassie Barnes | Lighting Design
Genevieve Perdue | Costumes & Props
Anton Hedman | Sound Design
Colin Hussey| Photography
Wily West Writing Team
Jennifer Lynne Robert | Head Writer
with
Laylah Muran de Assereto, Melissa Keith, Jaene Leonard, Charles Lewis III, Morgan Ludlow,
Bridgette Dutta Portman, and Karl Schackne
CAST
Samantha Behr, Jason Jeremy, Katrina Kroetch, Kyle McReddie,
Richard Wenzel, Susannah Wood
Heather Cooper | Production Stage Manager
Gabrielle Immelman | Set Design
Cassie Barnes | Lighting Design
Genevieve Perdue | Costumes & Props
Anton Hedman | Sound Design
Colin Hussey| Photography
Wily West Writing Team
Jennifer Lynne Robert | Head Writer
with
Laylah Muran de Assereto, Melissa Keith, Jaene Leonard, Charles Lewis III, Morgan Ludlow,
Bridgette Dutta Portman, and Karl Schackne
CAST
Samantha Behr, Jason Jeremy, Katrina Kroetch, Kyle McReddie,
Richard Wenzel, Susannah Wood
Would you leave everything behind, all the comforts of earthly life—friends, family, ice cream, sex—for the experiment? Would you live in isolation and have the experience taped for a reality show for the people back home on Earth so that you can be among the first humans to colonize Mars? These six people did. They left their jobs. They left their families. They underwent physical and mental evaluations. They signed contracts. They trained. They made love for the last time. And at ZERO HOUR, they made peace with their decision. But that was six months and sixty-eight days ago...
Who's Who
CASSIE BARNES
Lighting Designer Cassie is thrilled to be on the design team for Wily West's double-world premiere. Cassie hails from Walnut Creek and has an extensive freelance design background with several companies in the Bay Area. She is so happy to be working with director Ariel Craft again. |
SAMANTHA BEHR
Freya Samantha Behr has been on a role with new works, most recently playing Mary Ann Belle in an Off-the-page reading of "The Things They Carried" with Word for Word, and, prior to that, contributing to the development process of "Pro Bono" with SF Playhouse. Other roles in the Bay Area include Kari in "The Pavilion" at Cinnabar Theatre, and the title role of "Sylvia" with Independent Cabaret Productions. Next up, she'll switch gears to a classic--"Streetcar Named Desire"-- to play Stella with Role Players Theatre in Danville. She credits Trinity University and the National Theater Institute for her training. |
HEATHER COOPER
Production Stage Manager Heather Cooper is thrilled to go to outer space with Wily West Productions. She is the Assistiant Production Manger at the American Conservatory Theater as well as the lights and sound operator at SF Oasis. Prior to moving to the Bay she was the Stage Manager at Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville, NC and also freelanced in NYC. Credits Include: Sweeney Todd (Playmakers Repertory Company), Return to the Forbidden Planet, The 39 Steps, Fiddler on the Roof, Legally Blonde: The Musical, Around the World in 80 Days, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Spitfire Grill (Cape Fear Regional Theatre), Perfect Catch, Circus in a Trunk, A Christmas Carol (Canal Park Playhouse), The Pillow Book, The Eyes of Babylon, WTC View (59E59). |
ARIEL CRAFT
Director Ariel Craft is a Bay Area director and arts administrator. As a director, Ariel is passionate about collaborating intimately her fellows makers to generate bold and hearty choices and, as the Artistic Director of The Breadbox, a San Francisco-based company dedicated to the exploration of humanity's forbidden instincts, Ariel is passionate about contributing a unique and adventurous voice to the Bay Area’s vibrant theatre community. Recent Bay Area directing credits include The Pillowman, Blood Wedding, and ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore at The Breadbox, The Oregon Trail at Impact Theatre, and Late: A Cowboy Song at The Custom Made Theatre Co. Ariel holds a BFA with Honors from New York University where she studied directing and multidisciplinary theatre-making at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School. Ariel was awarded an Artistic Fellowship at the American Conservatory Theater following her graduation and she currently holds the title of Assistant Artistic Director at The Custom Made Theatre Co. |
GABRIELLE IMMELMAN
Set Design Gabi is a award-winning theatre-maker new to the US and biking the bay area. She considers herself to be freelance adventurer and theatre-maker and a full time awesome person (well trying to be)! She has worked in various aspects of the theatre as a producer, production manager, stage manager and props and scenic designer. In past 4 years she has been involved in over 30 theatrical, film and television productions including South African national award-winning productions of The Seagull and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Her most recent work includes Nancy Carlin and Micheal Rasbury’s Max Understood (produced by the Paul Dresher Ensemble), Broadway on the Bay’s My Fair Lady and Faultline Theatre’s production of Shiner. |
JASON JEREMY
Cosimo Jason is thrilled to make a return to the Wily West stage after a few years of being on hiatus. Jason got his start doing radio theatre as a kid, corrupted by such lovable kooks as the Firesign Theatre troupe and NPR’s Dr. Science. Jason has been a part of Wily West from the very first show, The Widow West and is one of the founding members of the company. He has appeared as the Mighty Magora in Maidrid's Bow and also in San Francisco Stories both Wily West Productions, as Matthew in Private Eyes (Spare Stage), and in numerous roles over the years for Sheherezade, Playwrights' Center of San Francisco's annual play festival. |
KATRINA KROETCH
Una Katrina Kroetch is originally from Portland, Oregon and she has been acting in the Bay Area for three years. She just finished "Timon The Musical!" with Theater Rhinoceros and will be continuing her work at Exit Theater in "Fluffy, A Gorilla" premiering at the SF Fringe Festival this September. She has had a two year Internship at The Northwest Children's Theater and attended Clown Conservatory at Circus Center. When she isn't acting on stage she's a princess at children's parties and enjoys playing with her puppy, Wesley. |
MORGAN LUDLOW
Artistic Director | Playwright Morgan is the recipient of the 2013 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Original Script for his play GORGEOUS HUSSY: An Interview with Joan Crawford. Morgan has produced more than 30 productions in the past 15 years. In 2008 he founded Wily West Productions in San Francisco and his play, RUTH AND THE SEA was listed as one of the of "Best Productions of 2010" by the SF Bay Times. He has served as the Producing Director for the Playwrights Center of San Francisco. In Salt Lake City, Morgan produced the Belle of Amherst, procuring the McCune Mansion for a 6-week engagement and raised more than $7,000 in revenue to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Morgan was a full-time staff member for the Salt Lake Acting Company (a fully professional Equity theatre devoted to producing new American plays), and he also served as the Producing Director for Plan-B Theatre Company, a cutting-edge theatre troupe that was recently voted Best Theatre Company by Salt Lake City audiences. |
KYLE MCREDDIE
Justin Kyle McReddie is incredibly exited for his first performances with Wily Wes Productions. Kyle is an actor, fight choreographer and a graduate from SFSU who tries to boldly go where no (gender unspecified) has gone before! Kyle is also exited for his upcoming role in the SF Fringe Festival, and wants to thank his friends, family, and especially his Grandma Lynn for all of their love and support. |
GENEVIEVE PERDUE
Costume Design Props Genevieve is excited to be returning to the Wily West stage as a company member this season. She was seen last as Maryella in last season’s Unhinged and simultaneously in Drowning Kate as Dr. Shelly Onslow, where she also assisted in set painting, prop creation, costume and makeup design for both shows. In addition to her experience with WW, she has been seen regularly on the stage at City College, appearing in various reading series with the Playwright’s Center of SF and earlier this year in the reboot of the San Francisco’s beloved Theatre Pub. Before returning to her home state of California, she gallivanted around receiving an eclectic theatrical education from unlikely sources in Wyoming, Colorado and North Carolina. |
JENNIFER LYNNE ROBERTS
Head Writer | Playwright Jennifer Lynne Roberts is a playwright, producer, and essayist. She's earned her MFA in Creative Writing from California College of Arts and is the current President of the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco. Her first full length play, BEEKEEPER premiered at Virago Theatre Company in 2011. Her short plays include: TWELVE POLE CREEK, produced by Wily West Productions’ Spooky Cabaret, and PCSF's 24-Hour fest; CHYROSOMELIDAE HIDE NO MORE, co-produced by Wily West Productions for PCSF’s Sherherezade 13; FREEZE TAG, produced at the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco's 24-Hour Play Fest; FACTORY FARM: A DOCUMENTARY, staged readings as part of both Repro Rights! a benefit for Planned Parenthood in San Francisco, and The Disreputables Theatre Company's SLUT Festival in Washington, D.C. In 2014 Jennifer headed Wily West's first collaborative multi-authored show, SUPERHEROES which received a TBA Award nomination for Best Anthology. |
RICHARD WENZEL
Burrhus Richard Wenzel (Dr. Burrhus; Van Clarkson) is a Bay Area actor/singer and a company member of Custom Made Theatre where his favorite roles include co-starring as Julius Becker in Prelude to A Kiss and Satan in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. Last seen here as an FBI Agent in The Genuine Show, he is excited to be here at The Exit again making his debut with Wiley West in tonight’s production. Thanks go out to acting coach Kathryn Keats-Conti and vocal coach Daniel Levenstein. |
SUSANNAH WOOD
Marlene Susannah Wood has recently performed as Martha Brewster in "Arsenic and Old Lace" with Pinole Players, Queen Lear in "Queen Lear" with Poor Players, Anna Trumbull in "What I Did Last Summer" with Piedmont Oakland Repertory Theater, and Falstaff #5 in a staged reading of "Falstaff" with Actors Ensemble of Berkeley. She also played a pregnant teenager, Hans the pimp, an ant (the insect), and Woman Over 60 in "The Golden Dragon" with Do It Live Productions. As founder and former Artistic Director of Opera Piccola ("Small Works"), Wood helped develop and direct ten touring productions for children and families based on multicultural folk tales. Her other former and current careers include journalism, grant writing and teaching. Susannah is very happy to be joining Wily West's terrific company for its summer shows |
Kyle McReddie looking up at the stars through a dust storm.
Susannah Wood plays Marlene a retired NASA engineer and colonist!
|
The Wily West Writing Team
LAYLAH MURAN DE ASSERETO
Playwright
Laylah is a San Francisco area playwright, director, and producer. She produced the annual short play festival "Sheherezade" from 2008-2014, which received a TBA nomination for Outstanding Anthology last year. Her short play, FORTRESS FOUND, will be part of the 2015 SF Olympians Festival. Most recently her one-act UNDERNEATH THE ABOVE AND BELOW received a reading in PCSF's 2014 Fall Reading series. Three of her short plays, ANONYMOUS ME, JAIN, and CASH FOR CAPSE were included in Wily West's TBA Outstanding Anthology-nominated "Superheroes". Her first short play CENSORED IN TEHRAN was included as part of "Sheherezade X". Her plays PITCHFORK AND LIGHT and PERSONAL SPACE have appeared in PCSF's 24-Hour Play festival (2013 and 2014). Other works have received readings with Southern Railroad Theatre Company and The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco. She has directed for Sheherezade 13, PCSFs Reading Series, Southern Railroad Theatre's "I Do Declare" series, and will be directing 4 short plays in "Repro Rights! Women @ Risk" for Repro Rights Theatre and 3 Girls Theatre in August at Thick House. She is a proud member of the Dramatit's Guild, Playwright Center (Minneapolis), and PCSF. You can learn more at http://laylahmuran.co/
Playwright
Laylah is a San Francisco area playwright, director, and producer. She produced the annual short play festival "Sheherezade" from 2008-2014, which received a TBA nomination for Outstanding Anthology last year. Her short play, FORTRESS FOUND, will be part of the 2015 SF Olympians Festival. Most recently her one-act UNDERNEATH THE ABOVE AND BELOW received a reading in PCSF's 2014 Fall Reading series. Three of her short plays, ANONYMOUS ME, JAIN, and CASH FOR CAPSE were included in Wily West's TBA Outstanding Anthology-nominated "Superheroes". Her first short play CENSORED IN TEHRAN was included as part of "Sheherezade X". Her plays PITCHFORK AND LIGHT and PERSONAL SPACE have appeared in PCSF's 24-Hour Play festival (2013 and 2014). Other works have received readings with Southern Railroad Theatre Company and The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco. She has directed for Sheherezade 13, PCSFs Reading Series, Southern Railroad Theatre's "I Do Declare" series, and will be directing 4 short plays in "Repro Rights! Women @ Risk" for Repro Rights Theatre and 3 Girls Theatre in August at Thick House. She is a proud member of the Dramatit's Guild, Playwright Center (Minneapolis), and PCSF. You can learn more at http://laylahmuran.co/
MELISSA KEITH
Playwright
Melissa is happy to return to Wily West as a writer after performing in their 2012 productions of Sheherezade XII and Spooky Cabaret. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Marquette University and in the Bay Area has worked with New Conservatory Theatre Center, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Virago, All Terrain Theatre, Open Tab, and SF Theater Pub. She is a member of the Monday Night Playground Writers’ Pool, where two of her plays were selected and performed this 2014-15 season. She also writes sketch comedy for Killing My Lobster and will be writing and performing in their July show, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING HAT, and writing for their August show, LOBSTER JONES’ DIARY. melissakeith.com
Playwright
Melissa is happy to return to Wily West as a writer after performing in their 2012 productions of Sheherezade XII and Spooky Cabaret. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Marquette University and in the Bay Area has worked with New Conservatory Theatre Center, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Virago, All Terrain Theatre, Open Tab, and SF Theater Pub. She is a member of the Monday Night Playground Writers’ Pool, where two of her plays were selected and performed this 2014-15 season. She also writes sketch comedy for Killing My Lobster and will be writing and performing in their July show, SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING HAT, and writing for their August show, LOBSTER JONES’ DIARY. melissakeith.com
JAENE LEONARD
Playwright
Jaene trained in New York City at David Mamet’s Atlantic Theater Company, Stella Adler Conservatory and with original Group Theater member Bobby Lewis. She has studied with, or been directed by, Golden Globe- , Emmy-, Tony-, and Oscar-winning artists including Mr. Lewis, Mr. Mamet, Bartlett Sher and William H. Macy. She also was a regular at Naked Angels’ Tuesdays at Nine in NYC. Jaene’s first play, CHIC BAND -- a scene from which was published in Smith & Kraus' Best Stage Scenes 2000, received a workshop production in NYC and staged readings with Playwrights’ Kitchen and at Track 16, both in LA. WHAT ABOUT BOO was part of Yankee Rep's (NYC) End of the Line, and in which she also served as head writer and actor. The first of her ARIZONA PLAYS TRILOGY was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference in 2008. HOME$ICKNESS, a short play about the fast and furious mortgage debacle, had a developmental reading with Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco in 2010, and OIL AND WATER about the BP Oil Spill, was produced in San Francisco’s Sheherezade in 2011. AS IS - NO WARRANTY received a staged reading with Berkshire Playwrights Lab in August, 2009, under the direction of Jim Frangione, and starring Grant Shaud of Murphy Brown fame. Jaene recently added solo performance to her resume, developing, writing and performing LAST OF ELEVEN, and IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD, AWKI and MY SISTER'S MEDICINE in W. Kamau Bell’s Solo Performance Workshop, directed by Martha Rynberg. LAST OF ELEVEN was part of the Maui Fringe Festival. Jaene also has written screenplays and is currently in rewrites on her YA fantasy novel, Less Watercress: The Tales of Juniper.
Playwright
Jaene trained in New York City at David Mamet’s Atlantic Theater Company, Stella Adler Conservatory and with original Group Theater member Bobby Lewis. She has studied with, or been directed by, Golden Globe- , Emmy-, Tony-, and Oscar-winning artists including Mr. Lewis, Mr. Mamet, Bartlett Sher and William H. Macy. She also was a regular at Naked Angels’ Tuesdays at Nine in NYC. Jaene’s first play, CHIC BAND -- a scene from which was published in Smith & Kraus' Best Stage Scenes 2000, received a workshop production in NYC and staged readings with Playwrights’ Kitchen and at Track 16, both in LA. WHAT ABOUT BOO was part of Yankee Rep's (NYC) End of the Line, and in which she also served as head writer and actor. The first of her ARIZONA PLAYS TRILOGY was a semi-finalist for the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference in 2008. HOME$ICKNESS, a short play about the fast and furious mortgage debacle, had a developmental reading with Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco in 2010, and OIL AND WATER about the BP Oil Spill, was produced in San Francisco’s Sheherezade in 2011. AS IS - NO WARRANTY received a staged reading with Berkshire Playwrights Lab in August, 2009, under the direction of Jim Frangione, and starring Grant Shaud of Murphy Brown fame. Jaene recently added solo performance to her resume, developing, writing and performing LAST OF ELEVEN, and IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD, AWKI and MY SISTER'S MEDICINE in W. Kamau Bell’s Solo Performance Workshop, directed by Martha Rynberg. LAST OF ELEVEN was part of the Maui Fringe Festival. Jaene also has written screenplays and is currently in rewrites on her YA fantasy novel, Less Watercress: The Tales of Juniper.
CHARLES LEWIS III
Playwright
If you’ve been around the Bay Area theatre scene, you’ve come across Charles Lewis. He’s as ubiquitous to the scene as cheap red wine (which he indulges in with great frequency). He acts, he writes, he directs, he mingles, he flirts and – more recently – he blogs (TheThinkingMansIdiot.wordpress.com).
Playwright
If you’ve been around the Bay Area theatre scene, you’ve come across Charles Lewis. He’s as ubiquitous to the scene as cheap red wine (which he indulges in with great frequency). He acts, he writes, he directs, he mingles, he flirts and – more recently – he blogs (TheThinkingMansIdiot.wordpress.com).
BRIDGETTE DUTTA PORTMAN
Playwright
Bridgette Dutta Portman’s plays have been read and produced in the San Francisco Bay Area, across the country and overseas. Her short comedies have been part of Sheherezade, co-produced by Wily West for the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco, for four consecutive years. One of them, AUTO-INCORRECT (2013), went on to several productions in the UK. Bridgette was among the writers for Wily West’s 2013 Showdown competition and 2014 Superheroes project. One of her full-length plays, FRIAR LAZARO, OR THE KING OF TERRORS, was part of Wily West’s Spooky Cabaret series in 2012. Bridgette is a board member and literary committee chair of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, as well as a member of the Pear Writers’ Guild (Pear Avenue Theatre, Mountain View) and the City Light Source playwrights group (City Lights Theater, San Jose). She is excited to be joining Wily West.
Playwright
Bridgette Dutta Portman’s plays have been read and produced in the San Francisco Bay Area, across the country and overseas. Her short comedies have been part of Sheherezade, co-produced by Wily West for the Playwrights' Center of San Francisco, for four consecutive years. One of them, AUTO-INCORRECT (2013), went on to several productions in the UK. Bridgette was among the writers for Wily West’s 2013 Showdown competition and 2014 Superheroes project. One of her full-length plays, FRIAR LAZARO, OR THE KING OF TERRORS, was part of Wily West’s Spooky Cabaret series in 2012. Bridgette is a board member and literary committee chair of the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco, as well as a member of the Pear Writers’ Guild (Pear Avenue Theatre, Mountain View) and the City Light Source playwrights group (City Lights Theater, San Jose). She is excited to be joining Wily West.
KARL SCHACKNE
Playwright
Karl Schackne is an actor and playwright. Raised in the Bay Area, he earned his BA in Film at San Francisco State University, then shifted gears years later and started acting at City College of San Francisco. He continues to be involved in CCSF stage productions, appearing in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Claudio), CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION (Schultz), THE TEMPEST (Sebastian), ALMOST MAINE, and A FLEA IN HER EAR (Tournel). He has also performed with the Primitive Screwheads in MUCH ADO ABOUT LEBOWSKI, the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco in their reading series’ and semiannual 24-Hour Playfest, SF Olympians, and Theatre Pub. His short plays include: LITERALLY, produced by the PCSF for the 24-Hour Playfest (2013); CHOCOLATE, produced by Seoul Players for both the Daegu Play Festival and Seoul 10 Minute Play Festival in 2014; SUPERHEROES CONFERENCE OPENING ADDRESS, produced by Wily West for Superheroes (2014).
Playwright
Karl Schackne is an actor and playwright. Raised in the Bay Area, he earned his BA in Film at San Francisco State University, then shifted gears years later and started acting at City College of San Francisco. He continues to be involved in CCSF stage productions, appearing in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Claudio), CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION (Schultz), THE TEMPEST (Sebastian), ALMOST MAINE, and A FLEA IN HER EAR (Tournel). He has also performed with the Primitive Screwheads in MUCH ADO ABOUT LEBOWSKI, the Playwrights’ Center of San Francisco in their reading series’ and semiannual 24-Hour Playfest, SF Olympians, and Theatre Pub. His short plays include: LITERALLY, produced by the PCSF for the 24-Hour Playfest (2013); CHOCOLATE, produced by Seoul Players for both the Daegu Play Festival and Seoul 10 Minute Play Festival in 2014; SUPERHEROES CONFERENCE OPENING ADDRESS, produced by Wily West for Superheroes (2014).
