DAVID CAUDLE | The Common Swallow

Playbill Text for 43 Bleecker St. Production

MacLeod Andrews (Jim) has recently performed as Jake in Slipping at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. Off-Broadway: Too Much Memory (New York Theatre Workshop Jonathan Larson Lab/Rising Phoenix Rep/Piece by Piece), the New York premiere of Somewhere in the Pacific by Neal Bell, No End of Blame, and Hang Up (Atlantic Stage 2/Potomac Theater Project). New York: Nobody by Crystal Skillman (RPR). Andrews is a company member of RPR. He has recorded a number of audio books and is a 2008 graduate of Middlebury College.

Matt D’Amico (Tripp). Regional credits include The House of Gold, Italian Sojourn, and The Ballad of Emmett Till (O’Neill Playwright’s Conference); Othello, Cymbeline, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, and Romeo and Juliet Alabama Shakespeare Festival); Saint Joan (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis); Hamlet, Life is a Dream, and Caucasian Chalk Circle (South Coast Repertory); Inherit the Wind and Death of a Salesman (Geva Theatre); Camille (Bard Summerscape); Richard II (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ); As You Like It (Indiana Rep); Sweet Mercy (New York Stage and Film); Dive, Thief of Man, and Zealot (Guthrie Theater); Othello, Dracula, and Acorn (Actors Theatre of Louisville); and Twelfth Night and The Tempest (Colorado Shakespeare). Other credits: Fizz (Ohio Theatre); The Duchess of Malfi and Hamlet (Kings County Shakespeare). TV: Law & Order. He is a graduate of the Juilliard School.

Annie Golden (Corinthia/Melinda) was discovered by Academy Award-winning film director Milos Forman while fronting her rock band the Shirts at CBGB’s and was cast as Jeannie in his movie of the musical Hair in 1978. She has done subsequent work on Broadway and off, originating roles for Stephen Sondheim, Terrence McNally, Jerry Zaks, Richard Foreman, and others, while continuing to record and tour Europe as a singer-songwriter. Golden can be seen on the silver screen in Twelve Monkeys and Baby Boom, and she has contributed her voice to the animated film The Pebble and the Penguin. She appears opposite Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor in I Love You, Philip Morris, due out in February, 2010.

Julie Jesneck (Abra/Red). Broadway: Rock ’N’ Roll. Off-Broadway: Walls (Cherry Lane), Green Girl and The Nightshade Family (SPF, Romania), Kiss Me! (The Play Co.), Mr. Marmalade (u/s) (Roundabout); Abu Ghraib Triptych (Ensemble Studio Theatre ), and Mistral (Drama League). Regional: A Thousand Clowns (Intiman Theatre), The Trip to Bountiful (Henry Award) (Denver Center), Thinking of You (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Old Globe), The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Alliance/Acting Co. Tour), The Ruby Sunrise (Humana Festival) (Trinity Rep/Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), and Mary’s Wedding (San Jose Rep). Television: Law & Order and Empire Falls (HBO). Julie is a graduate of the Juilliard School.

Kirsten Kelly (director). Recent credits: Slipping by Daniel Talbott (Piece by Piece Productions/Rising Phoenix Rep/Rattlestick), Crash! (an ensemble-created piece with Roots & Branches Theatre Co.), Art (Two River Theatre Co), The Government Inspector (Calvin College); 365—Week 47 (Rising Phoenix/Public); the Washington D.C. premiere of Boy Gets Girl by Rebecca Gillman (Theatre Alliance), for which Kelly received a Helen Hayes Nomination for Best Direction; the Midwest/Chicago premiere of David Mamet’s Boston Marriage, for which she received an After Dark Award for Best Director; and Sam Shepherd’s Savage Love/Tongues with the Juilliard Percussion Ensemble. She is cocreator of the “CPS! Shakespeare” program at Chicago Shakespeare, where she directed Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. Film credits: Front of House, a web series for Strike TV; Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint, a short film of the “Beyond the Machine” concert at the Lincoln Center; Asparagus!: Stalking the American Life, an award-winning documentary on the 2006–7 film festival circuit that was released on DVD in 2008 and broadcast on PBS in 2009. Kelly is a graduate of the Master’s Directing program at Juilliard and is a member of Rising Phoenix Rep.

Douglas Rees (Policeman/Porter) has appeared at many theatres regionally, and most recently has appeared in New York in the acclaimed New York City premiere of Michael Hollinger’s Opus at Primary Stages. Favorite past roles include Lennie in Of Mice and Men, Henry Carr in Tom Stoppard’s Travesties, Pato in Martin McDonough’s Beauty Queen of Leenane, and Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Elizabeth Rich (Karen), while living in Chicago, performed at Steppenwolf as the mother in The Pillowman, directed by Amy Morton; as Varya in The Cherry Orchard, directed by Tina Landau; and as Mme. De Farge in A Tale of Two Cities, directed by Jessica Thebus. Elizabeth also performed at the Goodman as Kristine Linde in Dollhouse, directed by Robert Falls, and at Theatre J as Hannah in Hannah and Martin, directed Jeremy Cohen, to name a few of her credits. Rich is the recipient of a 2006 Helen Hayes Nomination, a 2005 Jeff Award, and a 2004 After Dark Award. Regional credits include performances in The Scene (Alley Theatre), directed by Jeremy Cohen, and in Cradle of Man (Florida Stage), directed by Michael John Garces. In New York, she has received a Talkin Broadway citation for Best Actress and a Midtown International Theatre Festival Best Featured Actress nomination for her work in Non Play: Shadows of a Dream, directed by Mikhael Tara Garver, at the Horace Mann Theatre and for Couldn’t Say, directed by Lisa Rothe, at the Abingdon.

Eli Taylor (sound design) has done sound design for the InGenious Festival at the Manhattan Theatre Source and for the Impetuous Theatre Group’s performance of After Darwin. Most recently, he composed and did sound design for Damian Wampler’s Twin Towers at Planet Connections. While attending Sarah Lawrence College, Taylor did sound design for Lessen by Lori Leigh, which was then taken to Bailiwick Rep in Chicago. He also coproduces and directs for Private Ear Audio Theatre, which performs original radio plays live once a month at the Brooklyn Lyceum.

Gabriella Willenz (assistant director) is an Israeli-based director and producer. Recent New York directing credits include Presumptuous by Paul DiPaola at Manhattan Theater Source and On the Beach by Lucile Lichtblau as part of the 2008 Estrogenius Festival. In New York, Willenz has assisted Israel Horovitz and Daniella Topol, among others. Willenz is currently producing Meg’s New Friend by Blair Singer for The Production Co. and codirecting Big Love by Charles Mee as part of the MTWorks 2009 fundraiser. Willenz is a member of the 2009 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.

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Special thanks to Donjé Photography, 45 Bleecker Street Theatre’s staff, Actors’ Equity, The Actors Fund, the Howl! Festival producers, Primary Stages, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, New Harmony Project, Manhattan Theatre Source, Michelle Bossy, Andrew Leynse, Tessa LaNeve, David Furr, Makoto Takada, Zack Colonna, Joel Moritz, Blackbird, Mary Flinn, Grant White, Jon Cormier, and last but not least, Nathaniel Siegel and Jane Friedman.  

   Characters and Setting  |  Act One  |  Act Two

   Contributor’s notes
   Introduction
   Author’s Commentary
   Director’s Commentary
   Playbill