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Round 14 Recipients

Exceptional Merit:

LEILA BUCK, En Garde Arts, New York, NY

Leila’s fellowship will focus on the development of her piece Mix & Match, commissioned by En Garde Arts - a theatrical event that invites the audience into the journey of two families - one Lebanese and (mostly) Muslim, one Irish and (mostly) Catholic - being joined in marriage. As guests at the wedding, and witnesses to the families' struggles before, during, and beyond, audiences are invited to eat, dance and engage in an immersive, interactive exploration of the challenges and joys of connecting across all kinds of borders. Leila will continue writing the piece in collaboration with director Tamilla Woodard and the team, and develop the role she will play as M.C./HOST– the audience’s guide between time, place, reality, memory and dreams. She will also hone her vocal and musical training and Arabic language skills, travel to Lebanon for research and study expressive arts therapies in service of this piece and all of her work as an actor, writer, facilitator and educator. Leila has performed and developed her work and others at The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Cleveland Public, Brooklyn Museum, Mosaic, Arena Stage, the U.N., and the Wilma (Barrymore Award) and across the U.S., Europe, China, Australia, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. Her other current projects include American Dreams - a theatrical game show directed by Tamilla Woodard where the audience decides who will be the next U.S. citizen - which begins touring this fall, and 1001 Nights (A Retelling), a California Shakespeare Theater commission co-written with and directed by Evren Odcikin. Leila is a member of the Public’s first Emerging Writers Group, a Usual Suspect with NYTW and an adjunct professor at NYU. www.leilabuck.com

SHANNON DORSEY, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, DC

The Fox Fellowship will support Shannon's dedication to understanding, deeply connecting and reflecting the vast, varying, African parts of her Black Womanhood. Shannon will learn different aesthetics and physical theatre practices within the African Diaspora through time and immersion directly on the continent. She will study intimacy work with a mentor and with different organizations focusing on the best ways to stage theatrical intimacy. She will also invest in sharpening her physical, vocal, language and puppetry skills within the spectrum of her performance artistry. This experience will contribute to her personal healing and growth, as much as it will contribute to her career. The Fellowship will provide this support and help give her the tools needed to become an intuitive and effective intimacy choreographer/director, especially for Black Women. Through Woolly Mammoth, she will host a series of workshops focused on actors of color and other marginalized performers. She looks to give performers the gift of movement, touch, combat and violence in a story without jeopardizing their personal sense of safety and integrity. Shannon received dual degrees in theatre (SCAT) and African American studies (AAS) from Temple University. Shannon has also trained in many styles of dance and physical theatre. A DC native, she performs with Woolly Mammoth Theatre, where she is a Company Member. She has also performed at 777 Theatre (Off Broadway), NYC Central Park SummerStage, Arena Stage, Cincy Playhouse, Round House, Ford's, Kennedy Center and Studio Theatre. She has received several Helen Hayes Award nominations, including one for Outstanding Lead Actress, two for Outstanding Supporting Actress, and jointly won an Outstanding Ensemble Award. www.shannd.com

MOSES GOODS, Honolulu Theatre for Youth, Honolulu, HI

Moses' long-term project Two Ships will follow the two lineal journeys that converge to form his unique identity. One journey begins on an ancient Polynesian voyaging canoe navigating the waters of the Pacific, and the other in the bowels of a slave ship crossing the Atlantic. This fellowship will take place in three distinct phases. First, Moses will return to the source of his Black heritage by connecting with family and roots in the Southeastern United States. Based in Hawaiʻi, Moses’ current body of work is rooted almost entirely in Hawaiian culture and has thus far been void of representation from his Black heritage. Phase two will be to connect with other Black artists and theatres nationally and to explore various Black artforms. The third phase will be to establish relationships within Hawaiʻi’s Black community and develop work based on those relationships. Moses will work with Honolulu Theatre for Youth to create a piece documenting the history of Black people in Hawaiʻi. The population of Black people in the islands has never exceeded 4%, but historically there have been a number of significant Black figures who have lived in Hawaii. Moses is one of Hawaiʻi’s most prominent theatre artists. His career began in the University of Hawai‘i’s Department of Theatre and Dance in 1998. Since then he has traveled the globe performing his original work to a wide range of audiences. His body of work ranges from full length plays to theatrical storytelling pieces. www.actormosesgoods.com

Distinguished Achievement:

AYANNA BERKSHIRE, Artists Repertory Theatre (ART), Portland, OR

Ayanna will focus her fellowship on advanced education and research related to career success for performers of color, examining racial identity and the success inhibitors which may be specific to theatre professionals of color working in predominantly white communities. With the support of Artists Rep and local theatre professionals, she will design workshops and initiative groups to further the discussion of racial identity in the performing arts in Portland, Oregon. Ayanna will channel these discussions into the development of devised works. Ayanna currently resides in Portland, Oregon, where she is a Resident Artist at Artists Repertory Theatre. She enjoys creating community in the theatre and film industries and teaching actors how to build large careers in smaller markets. In addition to theatre, Ayanna has over 50 film and television credits, including one of her most popular roles to date, playing Cora in the movie Twilight. Theatrical highlights include performing in The Scottsboro Boys by Kander and Ebb, directed by Susan Stroman and originating the role of Robin in the world premiere of Wolf Play by Hansol Jung. www.ayannaberkshireinfo.com

TONIA JACKSON, True Colors Theatre Company, Atlanta, GA

Tonia will use the fellowship to study movement for the aging actor as well as immerse herself in Shakespeare, storytelling and voice/dialect techniques to gain more skills and employment as an actor. Her new studies will allow her to mount master classes and panel discussions with other veteran actors, allowing young performers to gain knowledge and mentorship. She will deepen her relationship with True Colors Theatre Company and offer artistic input in their process. Her ultimate goal is to build a bridge between young disenfranchised African American youth and the world of theatre at two critical stages of their lives: their first introduction to theatre and starting a career. Tonia will provide a safe space for actors of color to learn to connect their personal narrative and physicality to plays that are foreign to their experiences and use art as a means for social change, healing and self-discovery. Tonia attended the Goodman School of Drama. She has been a company member at Penumbra Theatre for over 20 years. She has worked at Steppenwolf Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, American Stage, Lorraine Hansberry, True Colors Theatre, Magic Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Center Stage, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Pan Asian Theatre and Trinity Rep. She’s a five-time Suzi Bass nominee, winning one for best ensemble for Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery at Horizon Theatre. She was also nominated for a Jeff Norton Award for Frankie and Johnny. www.toniajackson.com

STEPHAN WOLFERT, Syracuse Stage, Syracuse, NY

As a military veteran turned classical actor, Stephan Wolfert's fellowship will focus on healing-centered engagement with the veteran community and their families. At the crux of this project will be community engagement events and workshops centered around theatre as a means to create space for and support veteran voices and experiences. Stephan will also rehearse, workshop and perform an adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III, as well as his critically-acclaimed and award-winning solo show CRY HAVOC! for the community. CRY HAVOC! has been performed over 500 times for thousands of veterans and their families in six countries and is part of the DE-CRUIT program, which Stephan founded to help treat trauma in military veterans through Shakespeare and science. For this work, he has received numerous awards from the mental health community and has been published in the fields of both theatre and psychology while lecturing and performing throughout the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Italy and The Netherlands. Stephan will continue research on the role of trauma on veterans and how touring adaptations of theatrical works can best engage veteran communities across the nation. Stephan brings over two decades of professional experience to his fellowship at Syracuse Stage. After receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree from Trinity Rep Conservatory in 2000, Stephan helped create the military segments for Twyla Tharp and Billy Joel’s Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Movin’ Out. Learn more about Stephan’s work, using theatre as medicine, at www.DECRUIT.org.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships selection panel included Susan Booth, artistic director, Alliance Theatre; Michelle Shay, actor; Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr., artistic director, HartBeat Ensemble; Victor Vazquez, founder, X Casting NYC; and M. Burke Walker, founding artistic director, Empty Space Theater. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation. The Fox Foundation reviewed the panel recommendations and made the final selection of the Round 14 recipients.

Round 13 Recipients

Exceptional Merit:

ANSA AKYEA, Guthrie Theatre Foundation, Saint Paul, MN

With the support of the Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship, actor Ansa Akyea will develop and write a piece of theater that uses Herman Hesse's Siddartha as a metaphor for the immigration journey of West Africans (Ghana & Liberia) living in Minnesota. The fellowship would support workshops, interviews and developing script structure through anecdotal stories of immigrants and their journey as they have moved and live in the Twin Cities, as well as the stories of people originating from Ghana. The grant will fund Akyea's travel to Ghana so he can contextualize what West African immigrants are leaving or trying to change.

MONIQUE GAFFNEY, Old Globe Theatre, San Diego, CA

Monique’s project focuses on creating and developing a devised, multi-media theatre piece inspired by the book Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust by Immaculèe Ilibagiza – a true story about a woman who survived the Rwandan genocide for 91 days living with seven other women in a 3’ x 4’ bathroom. Original stories of survival, resilience, and forgiveness will also be included as partnering communities will provide subjects based on verbatim interviews. The culminating piece includes a theatre-based curriculum to be used as a teaching tool for audiences in the community about the refugee and asylum seekers crisis here and abroad.

REYNALDO PINIELLA, Classical Theatre of Harlem, New York, NY

Reynaldo Piniella’s fellowship will culminate with him starring in a bilingual production of Hamlet at the Classical Theatre of Harlem. He will travel to Cuba, the home of his ancestors, to immerse himself in Cuban culture, the Spanish language and salsa dancing. He will then travel to London, the home of Shakespeare, to immerse himself in classical text. He will continue training at The Actors Center, under master teachers Ron Van Lieu, Dakin Matthews and Jim Calder. Through educational and outreach opportunities with the Classical Theatre of Harlem, he will engage the Latinx communities of Spanish Harlem and Washington Heights to immerse himself further in his native Afro-Latinx culture with the goal of bringing his production of Hamlet to the people of New York, free of charge.

KENNY RAY RAMOS, Cornerstone Theater Company, Los Angeles, CA

Kenny Ray Ramos will work in collaboration with Cornerstone Theater Company on the creation of Native Nation written by Larissa FastHorse, premiering in Phoenix and then touring to tribal communities across the United States. Kenny will hone his skills as an actor creating and performing theater with and about the Native American community and the collective challenges they encounter. The Fellowship will seek to increase tribal communities’ access to theatre and reclaim the use of storytelling and performance as a way to heal and empower communities and reconnect everyone to the land that unites us.

Distinguished Achievement:

KAREN MACDONALD, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Lowell, MA

The focus of this fellowship is twofold. First, Karen will take part in international workshops and programming in order to build new skills and to grow as an artist. Second, Karen will work closely with Merrimack Repertory Theatre and members of the Lowell community in order to develop a new piece of work telling the history of Lowell’s Mill Girls, their daily lives, their work and their impact on labor in America.

DAEL ORLANDERSMITH, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL

To create a role of the depth and caliber she wishes to play, Dael Orlandersmith will develop an original solo play about being a mixed-race woman and more broadly about the fight of mixed-race Irish people to be recognized as fully Irish. To do so, Orlandersmith will explore constructions of race and national identity in both Ireland and the United States while pushing the boundaries of the types of stories she is perceived as being able to tell.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 13 selection panel included Shá Cage, actor; William Carden, artistic director, Ensemble Studio Theatre; Oanh Nguyen, executive artistic director, Chance Theater; Nancy Piccione, director of casting, Manhattan Theatre Club; and Regina Taylor, writer, director, and actor. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 12 Recipients

Exceptional Merit:

ESTEBAN ANDRES CRUZ, 16th Street Theater, Chicago, IL

Esteban Cruz will empower audiences in his hometowns of Berwyn and Cicero – predominantly Latinx neighborhoods near the west side of Chicago – by collaborating with 16th Street Theater to create a new solo play: A Cross-Eyed, Queer Mexi-Rican's History of America. With original songs, standards, and ballet folklórico, Esteban will recount the mutual histories of Mexican-Americans/Chicanos and Puerto Ricans, perform at 16th Street Theater, and tour to audiences of adults and students in bilingual presentations. The fellowship includes training in dance, Spanish language, and solo writing in Chicago and teaching local high school students. Esteban is the first Latinx artist 16th Street Theater has worked with who grew up right in the community they serve and it is the mutual goal of 16th Street and Esteban to engage students with theatre in a way that both entertains and draws from their rich cultural histories. Through a partnership with 16th Street Theater, which offers affordable tickets to its community, Esteban is fulfilling his career goal of reaching people who can't afford theatre and giving marginalized communities the experience of seeing a reflection of themselves on stage. Esteban has worked with 16th St Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Factory Theater, Victory Gardens Theatre, The Hypocrites and won a Joseph Jefferson Award, Best Actor, for Jesus Hopped the A Train.

CELESTE DEN, South Coast Rep, Costa Mesa, CA

Celeste Den's fellowship will focus on developing skills as a self-generating theatre artist. She will train with the SITI company to refine her physicality and learn the Lecoq technique for physicalizing original narratives so she can develop a solo piece utilizing stories from her own experience as an undocumented immigrant as well as stories from the Asian and Latinx undocumented communities in Los Angeles and Orange County. South Coast Rep’s (SCR) community in Orange County is vibrantly diverse and includes large Latinx and Asian American communities. Celeste's project provides the opportunity for SCR to join national and local conversations about immigration and American inclusiveness. Her project is tailor-made to address the stated objective of SCR's recently adopted long-range plan – to "face outward" - and put into action their priority to do more work that's rooted in community and reflective of Orange County's great cultural diversity. This will be the first time their theatre has undertaken a project centered on an actor's creation of a solo show using a community-based process. Celeste received her BFA in Theatre from the University of Florida and her MFA in Acting from California Institute of the Arts. She has worked with South Coast Rep, Goodman Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Center for New Performance, LA Women's Shakespeare, East West Players and Playwrights’ Arena. Celeste recently made her Broadway debut in Julie Taymor's production of the Tony Award winning play M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang.

AUTUMN NESS, Children's Theatre Company, Minneapolis, MN

Autumn Ness will develop a solo pre-school production based in Dadaist sound poetry, with a focus on theatre for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Autumn’s vision is to create work that re-imagines the concept of audience inclusion and increases access to an underserved group of children and educate herself on how to conquer barriers in theatre for special needs children, through research and studies in the world of autism spectrum disorder. Her goal is to study how to best serve this crucial audience through: research and training with Tim Webb and Oily Cart Theatre in London, attendance at the Big Umbrella Festival in New York (the first festival specifically for audiences with ASD), interviews with experts in the field of child autism, in-school workshops with special education classrooms, and family interviews. Additionally, she will take a workshop in the art of wordless sound poetry and improvisational composition with Jaap Blonk in the Netherlands. She hopes to discover what an artist can bring to the complex world of childhood neurological disorders from the perspective of a woman, a mother, a member of an ASD family, and an artist with 17 years of youth theatre experience. During her career at Children's Theatre, she has workshopped, developed, and performed in over 60 productions, collaborating with internationally renowned teams to create new works and world premieres.

SARITA OCÓN, PlayMakers Repertory, Chapel Hill, NC

Sarita is dedicated to deepening her artistic practice and process as both the Actor and the Activist. With this fellowship, Sarita will have the opportunity to perform in two mainstage productions at PlayMakers -- the range of which will showcase and explore both Sarita’s specific Latinx identity and her formidable skills as an actress, in the world premiere Leaving Eden and a new adaptation of Brecht’s Galileo. The fellowship will support Sarita’s interest to develop new models of community engagement in and around these productions. In 2016, the National Immigration Forum reported North Carolina's Latinx population nearly doubled between 2000 to 2010, from 4.7 to 8.4 percent, ranking the accelerated growth as the sixth fastest in the nation. Sarita and PlayMakers want to build and strengthen community partnerships with the growing Latinx and immigrant populations; expanding outreach programming to include civic panels, dialogues, and workshops, centered around the current immigration debate and how recent state policies are impacting Latinx communities of North Carolina. Sarita will create a "Flor y Canto" series, showcasing new young voices of University of NC, Chapel Hill's Latinx community, a majority of whom are first and second generation college students. Following the production of Leaving Eden, community programming will continue with PlayMakers presentation of Brian Quijada's critically acclaimed solo show Where did we sit on the bus?, exploring what it means to be Latino in America. Sarita has performed with Arizona Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, BRAVA Theater Center, California Shakespeare Theater, Gala Hispanic Theatre, Golden Thread Productions, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, San Francisco International Arts Festival, San Francisco Playhouse, ShadowLight Productions, Teatro Visión and Ubuntu Theater Project.

Distinguished Achievement:

SHAWN HAMILTON, Alley Theatre, Houston, TX

Shawn Hamilton will engage with residents of several historically black neighborhoods of Houston as well as local musicians as he researches the city’s jazz history. The Fox Fellowship will give Shawn both the time and resources to study with skilled artisans and develop skills, both musically and theatrically, as he creates a new theatre piece for musicians and actors. Shawn’s research will include talking with members of the current music scene, older residents with connections to the past and music scholars and historians. The intended outcome is to create a piece about Houston for Houstonians, telling a story the Alley Theatre has yet to tell to an audience that would not necessarily have engaged with the material otherwise. Shawn has worked with the Alley Theater, Guthrie Theater, Stages Repertory Theater, Main Street Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, Park Square Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Trinity Repertory Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Penumbra Theatre, Ordway Center and Ten Thousand Things Theater.

PHILLIP LUNA, Su Teatro, Denver, CO

Phillip Luna’s goal is to build a bridge and find parallels between the Group Theatre acting techniques he has practiced for over thirty years and the styles of acting utilized in the Teatro Chicano Movement (Teatro for short) and carpas, tent shows. He wants to empower actors to embrace Teatro and excel in communicating to the audience and community. He will study with master teachers in Mexico and the U.S., then develop a way of bridging the forms between Method and Meisner acting techniques and Teatro. Su Teatro is the third oldest Chicano theatre company in the United States - their commitment to their community began over 40 years ago and they are still dedicated to serving that community. Su Teatro views their relationship with Phillip as integral to the long-term health of the organization especially regarding the conversation of the eventual inter-generational transition of leadership. His influence is considered key to bridging Su Teatro’s community activism and their artistic vision as an artist-activist-based theatre with artistic traditions and methodologies. Su Teatro will host workshops and create opportunities for actors to work with Phillip and learn Teatro methodologies. Phillip has worked with Spotlight Theatre, Su Teatro, The Betsy Stage, Spark Theatre, Crossroads Theatre, Aurora Fox, Mercury Theatre, El Centro Su Teatro, Denver Civic Theatre, Industrial Arts Theatre and The Avenue Theatre.

NICKY PARAISO, La MaMa ETC, New York, NY

Nicky Paraiso will create a new collaborative dance-theatre work, now my hand is ready for my heart: intimate histories, an evening-length work exploring how a generation of artists deal with aging, individually and collectively, with a cast of esteemed choreographer/performers. This piece is a reflection on his life's work as a performer in New York City - Nicky has been with La MaMa ETC for 40 out of their 56 years and this piece is a reflection on the aging of the artists that are part of their rich community. Nicky will undergo dance, movement, physical training to prepare for performances. He will direct and perform in the work, incorporating his working process as an actor, composing music and text as well. Nicky will engage the downtown experimental dance community and will invite both the theatre and dance communities to view work in progress showings and share in the feedback and development of this work with the hopes of building communication between and among these communities. His goal is to see whether barriers in communication between the theatre and dance communities can be breached and overcome, even in small, incremental ways, and, additionally, open up intergenerational dialogue between artists of totally different fields and disciplines. Nicky has worked and developed work at La MaMa, Dublin Theatre Festival, Singapore Initiation Performance Festival, Trinity College/Hartford CT, Muhlenberg College, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, National Asian American Theatre Company, Asian-American Writers’ Workshop, Dance Theater Workshop, Dixon Place, HERE, Artists Space, The New Museum, BACA Downtown, Performance Space 122, among others.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 12 selection panel included J. Nicole Brooks, Actor/Artist; Billy Hopkins, Casting Director, Billy Hopkins Casting; Anthony Rodriguez, Co-Founder/Producing Artistic Director, Aurora Theatre; Sherri Young, Executive Director, African-American Shakespeare; and Grace Zandarski, Assistant Professor, Yale School of Drama. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 11 Recipients

Exceptional Merit:

KHANISHA FOSTER, Chance Theater, Anaheim, CA

Khanisha’s long-term goal as an actor is to build and perform roles where she can inhabit all the parts of herself as a mixed race, comedic woman of color who code switches her way toward her authentic voice. At 1.6 million, California has the biggest population of mixed-race people in the United States. The Chance Theater community, specifically housed in Anaheim, is a blend of cultural and economic diversity and the company itself is run by multi-cultural leadership and parents of multicultural children. Khanisha will lead a code-switching workshop series hosted at Chance Theater to create a training ground for the multicultural actor. Khanisha and the Chance community will work with a linguistic expert, and will additionally include clown and physical transformation workshops, digital-storytelling workshops, and story-mining workshops. The series will foster an environment where she and community members can train in a space that understands the multi-identity voice and will prepare her to create innovative work for the stage.

TAOUS CLAIRE KHAZEM, Mixed Blood Theatre, Minneapolis, MN

Taous’ primary goal with her host theatre is to expand Mixed Blood’s neighborhood programming by recreating a project she developed in Algeria called The Kabyle Folktale Project. She will work with the Somali community in Mixed Blood Theatre's Cedar Riverside neighborhood on an intergenerational folktale project. She and the theatre will invite community elders to share the folktales they remember from their childhoods, capturing and celebrating the community's oral tradition. She will offer physical storytelling and performance skills that develop into an original play created by the young actors and performed at Mixed Blood. Taous will also be a resident actor, performing extensively in Mixed Blood's upcoming season, and will sharpen her skills in singing and interpreting classical texts. Taous was a recipient of the 2017 and 2015 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grant. She has taught in many areas of Algeria working with the U.S. Embassy of Algiers, French Cultural Center, and British Council. She plays Maria on the Algerian sitcom Sultan Achour 10.

BOBBY MORENO, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York, NY

Bobby will develop a one-man show about his journey to sobriety. His hope is that by creating a frank, brutally honest, and deeply personal theatre piece, others who are struggling will know they're not alone. During the fellowship, he will cultivate relationships with multiple communities in an effort to help give people the perspective and strength to live free from addiction. Over the past year he has had the immense fortune of working with suicide survivors at the Bellevue clinic and he would like to continue to volunteer there not only to be of service, but to have multiple perspectives of addiction to infuse his work. He and Ensemble Studio Theatre will utilize their development process of readings and rewrites with the aim of a workshop production. He will then take his one-man show to college campuses to show young people who are inundated with excess that there are different choices they can make. Additionally, he will use this fellowship to take a series of classes in varied disciplines that will liberate and cultivate his mind, body, and soul. Bobby received an Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play Nomination from the Drama Desk Awards for his performance in Year of the Rooster and a Best Featured Actor Nomination by the League of Cincinnati Theatre. He has acted at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, and Playwrights Realm, among others.

VANESSA SEVERO, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Kansas City, MO

Through her fellowship work, Vanessa will further her artistic growth through Laban movement training, develop her one-woman show, Frida: A Self Portrait, and strengthen the bridge between Kansas City's community of diverse actors and KC Rep by offering a series of professional actor training sessions which will create a pipeline of access to local professional auditions for actors of color or with disabilities. Kansas City has a diverse community that is growing at a fast pace, and Vanessa’s goal is to strengthen that community by supporting Kansas City artists of color to address a serious gap which exists for actors of color in Kansas City. Because of patterns of production, selection and casting, actors of color have fewer performance opportunities citywide. As a result, many actors of color arrive at auditions with less experience under their belts. Vanessa will use this Fellowship to build a master class that offers regular training sessions for actors of color, specifically addressing auditions and monologues. She will work with KC Rep's education director, Mindy McCrary, and associate artistic director, Jason Chanos, to create a path for these actors. Participation in her master class will guarantee students one season audition with KC Rep, and KC Rep will commit to involving the students in public events like their Monday Night Playwright Series (which offers free staged readings of new scripts), and give them other access points to their staff, rehearsals, and other resources throughout the season. Vanessa has worked with The Living Room Theatre, The Unicorn Theatre, The Coterie Theatre, Off Center Theatre, among others. Vanessa is currently directing Shipwrecked! for Spinning Tree Theatre.

Distinguished Achievement:

MIA KATIGBAK, Ma-Yi Theater Company, New York, NY

The immediate driving force powering Mia is the need to face the physical and artistic challenges of a mature actor tackling a rigorous performance schedule. She will train to augment the stamina and resources she already has as she explores new avenues for creativity. She will spearhead the implementation of a series of master classes at Ma-Yi with a small group of advanced-level Asian American actors doing text analysis and scene work, working on a diverse repertory that will include classic and new plays. The master classes will be led by invited theatre artists - directors, actors, teachers - to offer as many varied approaches as possible. The classes will be intergenerational and include mature actors and those approaching a mature age so that they are equipped for opportunities ahead that NAATCO (National Asian American Theatre Co.) and Ma-Yi are working to provide. Mia is the 2016 recipient of the Lilly Award for Trailblazing, Obie Award for Performance, Lucille Lortel Award through League of Professional Theatre Women, and Charles Bowden Actor Award, among others. She is co-founder and artistic producing director of the award-winning company NAATCO and founding director of CAATA (Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists).

LUVERNE GERALD SEIFERT, Ten Thousand Things, Minneapolis, MN

Luverne Seifert will travel to Switzerland and France to deepen his skills and training with two classically trained legendary clowns in order to prepare to co-create and perform in a devised comedy for Ten Thousand Things (TTT). Inspired by the lives of poor workers stuck in small towns, Park and Lake will look at a car wash in a resort community servicing wealthy visitors. Examining income inequality, the play will ask audiences to choose an ending of change or stasis. Luverne will hold pre-performance workshops at low-income centers throughout Minnesota, casting a few participants in small roles. The communities that will experience this production are TTT’s traditional ticket-paying audiences and TTT's non-traditional audiences such as the incarcerated, immigrants, homeless and rural Minnesotans. In addition to the performances, the workshops that he conducts will provide opportunities for community performers to gain skills in areas that are not accessible to them. Luverne is recipient of the 2009 Ivey Award for outstanding performance in Twin Cities Theatre, a McKnight Fellow Artist for Theatre, and multiple Minnesota State Arts Board awards and grants. He has acted with Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Children’s Theater Company, Berkeley Rep, Guthrie Theater, and Workhaus Collective, among others. Luverne has been an instructor at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Theater Arts and Dance for the past 15 years and is co-founder of Sod House Theater.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 11 selection panel included John Dias, Artistic Director, Two River Theater; Scott Freeman, Owner, The Freeman Studio; Laura Kepley, Artistic Director, Cleveland Play House; Shawn LaCount, Artistic Director, Company One Theatre; and Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Executive Artistic Director, MOXIE Theatre. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 10 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

OBEHI JANICE, Company One Theatre, Boston, MA

Obehi will engage the audiences and artists connected to Company One Theatre to further cultivate and grow these relationships. The mission of Company One Theatre is to change the face of Boston theatre by uniting the city’s diverse communities through innovative, socially-provocative performance and developing civically-engaged artists. Company One Theatre serves an audience that is 55% people under the age of 35 and 31% people of color; with 31% self-identifying as low income (under $25,000 annually). Obehi will work closely with students in the theatre’s Stage One program through a series of master classes in creating original work through storytelling. The Stage One program is two-fold: there is an arts expansion program in the Boston Public School (BPS) system as well as an apprenticeship program for young artists. Master Classes will give BPS students close engagement with a working actor and writer and transferrable skills in storytelling and creative writing. Young artists in the apprenticeship program will have the opportunity to create new work and have capacity support for their "Don't Kill My Scribe" new play workshop. She will mentor the young apprentices by being available to observe and read their work as well as provide a listening ear and guidance to any and all questions about maintaining a career in theatre. Further, she will visit the Professional Development for Actors class as a guest artist to conduct workshops related to storytelling and self-identity. She will travel to East Africa to observe and train. In Uganda, she will attend the Kampala International Theatre Festival under the guidance of Deborah Asiimwe. In Zimbabwe, she will attend and train at the Zimbabwe Center of the International Theatre Institute under the guidance of Lloyd Nyikadzino. As a first-generation actor and writer in Boston, Obehi understands the value of connecting with artists and audiences who are traditionally underserved. Obehi will represent Company One Theatre locally and abroad as an ambassador, an educator, and a performer who deeply cares about the theatre’s mission and purpose.

BI JEAN NGO, Lantern Theater Company, Philadelphia, PA

Bi Jean will study classical text and voice through Linklater workshops as well as stage combat, Elizabethan dance, and movement during a month-long intensive workshop at the Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA. She'll also take part in a three-week workshop at Dell’Arte International in the summer of 2017, where she will learn mask, clown, and how to devise theatre through physical movement. Afterward, she'll teach both the classical and contemporary text and movement skills to her peers and mentees of the Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists Group, under the auspices of the Lantern Theater Company. Her plan is to be a vanguard for diverse representation onstage not only in Philadelphia, but in other regions. Her goal is to use her exposure to influence more leading theatre companies to choose plays written by Asians, featuring Asian actors, and directed by Asians, as well as to create and act in plays that reflect her own ethnic experience and the stories of her immediate community. By acquiring facility with classical theatre from Shakespeare & Company, Bi will be better equipped to add her voice to the company’s classical repertoire which is routinely performed throughout the region. The masterclasses that she will conduct after each residency will provide vital training opportunities for emerging Asian performers, helping to give them work and empower their creative voices.

REGGIE WHITE, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, CA

Berkeley Rep and Reggie White will combine White's experience as an actor in play productions and actor training with Berkeley Rep's knowledge of mentorship and new play development. They will work towards a common goal: creating a bridge between exceptional teen writers of color and the framework of institutional theatre. With this project, eight exceptional high school students of color in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco that are interested in writing will have an opportunity to attend an immersive, year-long relationship with the theatre as playwriting apprentices. They'll participate in writing masterclasses and see some of the best new work being done by playwrights of color in the Bay Area. They will also have the opportunity to sit in on rehearsals for a new play in Berkeley Rep's season, observing how plays move from the brain of the playwright to the proscenium. Their apprenticeships will culminate in writing a play of their own, workshopped by professional actors, directors, and dramaturgs. Berkeley Rep's existing work with teens is focused on developing future arts leaders. Together with their claimyourARTS advocacy initiative, Teen Council leadership group, and other programs, this new project will add another avenue for teen participation outside of the normal pipeline for playwrights and arts leaders. The teens' presentations, occurring at the same time and with invited artists from The Ground Floor's Summer Lab, will raise national awareness of this work and the talent of these students.

Distinguished Achievement:

MARISSA CHIBAS, Bootleg Theater, Los Angeles, CA

Marissa will travel to Crete and research matrilineal caves and sacred sites in preparation for her first project at Bootleg, The Second Woman. This interdisciplinary performance draws from John Cassavetes' film Opening Night and Henry Rider Haggard's novel She, both of which share themes of the terror of aging and the mysteries of the feminine. Marissa will deepen and enhance her skills as a performer by taking intensive workshops in improvisation, clowning, Afro-Cuban dance, and vocal technique. These workshops will be conducted at Bootleg and made available to high school students from the downtown Los Angeles area. She will include community members in her process and encourage them to generate their own work through multi-disciplinary workshops. Training sessions related to The Second Woman will be opened up to community members free of charge to provide an opportunity to participate and witness the process of developing this play. She is also deeply invested in the women in her community and through this piece hopes to offer a ritual for embracing change and age.

BOBBIE STEINBACH, Actors' Shakespeare Project, Somerville, MA

Bobbie will embark on a series of trainings to stretch the boundaries of her physical work and explore new art forms, then integrate these practices into Actors' Shakespeare Project’s workshop of her one-woman show, In Bed with the Bard. She will also devise a piece with the women of ASP, I Am Lear, which she has been developing with ASP company member and former Fox Fellowship recipient, Paula Plum. This multi-media, movement and voice-based project looks at aging, loss, diminishment of power, and the subsequent gaining of clarity, truth and self-awareness. As part of the devising process Bobbie and colleagues will work with community seniors from the Newbridge Center in Dedham, MA and Miller's River Housing Group for Underserved Seniors in Cambridge, MA.

This integrated project models the role an artist can play as a professional actor, mentor, director, teacher, and collaborator—something that sits at the heart of ASP's work. Bobbie will also create and run workshops for older actors, which will encourage them to take charge of their creative energy and find new ways to expand their professional skills.

JAMES A. WILLIAMS, Pillsbury House Theatre, Minneapolis, MN

Pillsbury House Theatre (PHT) will host a two-year fellowship during which James A. Williams (J.W.) will build on his 30-year career as a text-based actor to further develop approaches for using music and movement in the creation of characters whose stories have roots deeper than text. Using the unsolved (and unspoken) 1932 murder of his own grandfather as a starting point, Williams will use new skills to explore death, abandonment, and secrecy as they apply to father-son relationships among African American men. Pillsbury House Theatre (PHT) focuses their work on the 23,000 people living in four adjoining underserved neighborhoods of South Minneapolis. The 2010 U.S. Census figures show the area includes 37% white residents (as compared to 64% citywide), 33% Hispanic or Latino residents, and 21% Black or African American residents. Over 20% of area residents live below poverty, and nearly one quarter are first-generation Americans. J.W.'s fellowship will give voice to the unspoken legacy of secrets that are handed down through generations of African American men and then bring the resulting work to workshop groups in the communities served by PHT. In the context of PHT's larger body of work, J.W.’s fellowship promises to strengthen PHT's ability to represent the experiences of people in the communities they serve.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 10 selection panel included Mark Booher, Artistic Director, PCPA – Pacific Conservatory Theatre; Aaron Calafato, Actor; Leilani Chan, Artistic Director, TeAda Productions; Anne D'Zmura, Department Chair of Theatre Arts, CSULB; and Kent Gash, Founding Director of the New Studio on Broadway at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 9 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

SHA CAGE, Penumbra Theatre Company, St Paul, MN

Sha will sharpen her skills in voice, movement and text. She will work intensively with Penumbra's Summer Institute teens towards developing their new works and artistic voices. She will train in le jeu, clowning and improv and will use these skills to add dimension to the work. She will also study African drumming as a cultural call to action with Fode Bangoura to integrate techniques with the teens in their storytelling. Sha has performed at the Guthrie Theater, Ten Thousand Things, Frank Theater, Mixed Blood Theater and Theatre de La Jeune Lune, among others. She is the recipient of a Mcknight Theater Artist Fellowship, a NPN New Works Commission & Creation Fund, a regional Emmy and was named a Change-maker by the Women’s Press.

HEATHER LITTEER, La MaMa E.T.C., New York, NY

Heather will create a new solo work called A Rabbit: HerStory and in High Heels composed of dance, music, storytelling, puppetry and poetry. She will engage in intensive acting, dance and vocal training led by Robert La Fosse for movement and ballet, Master Puppeteer Basil Twist with a focus on Silks, Nick Hallet vocals rooted in the Bel Canto technique and Barbara Maier Gustern for voice and mentored by Nicky Paraiso of La MaMa. She will travel to La MaMa Umbria’s Playwriting retreat in Italy. In addition, Heather will work with young women of the Lower East Side in a workshop using theatre to encourage self-expression, strength and confidence. Heather has been a core member of Big Art Group since 2004 performing in France, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and throughout the US and has acted at La MaMa, Wild Project, Bruno Walter Lincoln Center, Producers Club, Abrons Art Center and The Jackie 60 Playhouse, among others.

Distinguished Achievement:

MIRIAM LAUBE, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland, OR

Miriam will study the classic forms of Ovid’s poetry and Indian classical ragas to create a song cycle based on Ovid’s Heroides in collaboration with women actors of the OSF acting company. She will undertake courses at the Ali Akbar College of Music in San Francisco, private study with Myra Melford, associate professor of Music, UC Berkeley, and John Fyler, professor of English, Tufts University and travel to India to do an intensive course in Indian classical music in conjunction with Theatre Mitu. Miriam hopes her work will foster a connection with a South Asian community who might be drawn to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Miriam has worked with OSF for eleven seasons as an actor, director, educator and fundraiser. Acting in professional theatre for 21 years, she has performed in productions at The Guthrie Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Public Theater, Dallas Theater Center, among others. Miriam will play the role of Cleopatra in Bill Rauch’s production of Antony and Cleopatra and has appeared in the world premieres of Family Album and Party People.

GAVIN LAWRENCE, Center Stage, Baltimore, MD

Gavin will develop his skills as a solo performer and, through collaboration with playwright Daniel Alexander Jones and director/choreographer Laurie Carlos, he will create a solo performance piece. He will study at Susan Batson studio to craft distinct characters based off of community members he interviews. He will consult with solo performers Roger Guenveur Smith and Danny Hoch and work under the mentorship of historian Peter Rachleff. Gavin’s goals are to create theatre that could embolden the African American residents in the Baltimore community. Gavin has performed at Steppenwolf, Goodman Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Mixed Blood Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, among others. His play, Cut Flowers, won five Black Theatre Alliance Awards, including the Lorraine Hansberry Award for Best Writing of a Play. He won the Audelco Award for Outstanding Lead Actor and his grants and fellowships include a Cultural Community Partnership grant from the NEA and MN State Arts Board and a Many Voices Fellowship from the Playwrights’ Center.

SONJA PARKS, Children's Theatre Company, Minneapolis, MN

Sonja will explore Theatrical Jazz aesthetic and “jazz acting” methodology by spending time in Lagos, Nigeria to study the practice of Oriki (Yoruba ‘praise poetry’); she will learn from the Gullah people of the South Carolina Islands who employ a vocal polyrhythmic mastery to increase her vocal dexterity; she will participate in Shamanistic healing circles in the American Southwest; and will travel to Reykjavik, Iceland to observe Skalds who fuse traditional sagas with digital storytelling. Utilizing the Theatrical Jazz aesthetic, she will aid the children in Minneapolis, MN and Lagos, Nigeria in telling their own stories and sharing their stories firsthand via Livestream and/or Skype. Sonja was an original member of poet/playwright Sharon Bridgforth’s root wy’mn theatre company and toured nationally with them for 3 years. She has performed at The Public Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, The Kennedy Center, The Royal Shakespeare Company, among others. Sonja is the recipient of an NEA Grant, a 2002 and 2013 Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, a McKnight Artist Fellowship, two Minneapolis Ivey Awards. She currently teaches acting at the University of Minnesota.

KEITH RANDOLPH SMITH, Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA

Keith will create a one-man show based on letters between him and his son, who was incarcerated. He will attend the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. He will take a course in criminology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and sit in on classes with legendary performers, Joan MacIntosh and Deb Margolin. The play will be shaped under the guidance and direction of Kent Gash. Keith intends his story to speak to community members who have been affected by the prison industrial complex and will engage in dialogues to present options and hope while addressing the realities of addiction. Keith has acted on- and off-Broadway and regionally at Circle in the Square, Samuel Friedman Theatre, Classic Stage Company, Second Stage, Manhattan Theatre Club, Old Globe Theatre, Yale Repertory, among others. He has a New Dramatist Charles Bowden Award, an Audelco Award Best Actor Nomination for Holiday Heart, an Elliot Norton Award Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance for Looking Over the President’s Shoulder, and a Black Theatre Alliance Award Nomination, Best Actor in a Play for Jitney.

JOE WILSON, JR., Trinity Repertory Company, Providence, RI

Joe will expand his ability to create character and develop his skills in conceiving new work. He will evaluate the evolution of his acting and master new techniques in order to enhance his performance and flourish as a member of an acting company. He will develop a play centered on the life and work of Duke Ellington’s composer, Billy Strayhorn, under the guidance of Kent Gash and he will continue his vocal and physical training in The Margolis Method. Joe, an actively engaged artist activist, who has received honors for his advocacy of the arts, education, marriage equality and underserved youth, will use his fellowship to empower himself to become a stronger catalyst for his community by telling the story of Billy Strayhorn, an openly gay, African-American man and civil rights activist. Joe has appeared on Broadway, Off Broadway and regionally, working in nearly 30 different roles at Trinity Rep. He has taught at Brown University, University of Minnesota and Tulane University and is a recipient of the Siseretta Jones Award for Cultural Literacy and the Arts, the Pell Award and received citations in 2012 and 2010 from U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, RI Governor, RI Speaker of the House and Providence Mayor for representing achievements and aspirations in the RI, Providence and African American communities and as an outstanding actor.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 9 selection panel included Tisa Chang, Artistic Producing Director, Pan Asian Repertory; Nataki Garrett, Associate Artistic Director, Calarts Center for New Performance; Loretta Greco, Producing Artistic Director, Magic Theatre; Eric Rosen, Artistic Director, Kansas City Repertory Theatre; and Gerard Stropnicky, Founding Member Emeritus, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation. The Fox Foundation reviewed the panel recommendations and made the final selection.

Round 8 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

SUN MEE CHOMET, Mu Performing Arts, St. Paul, MN

Sun Mee will hone her love and grasp of movement, dance and physical theatre by observing Marcela Lorca, Head of Movement at the Guthrie Theater, studying with Master Iyengar Yoga Teacher Nancy Boler; Pig Iron Theatre Company; and Dr. Young-Lan Lee at Kyunghee University in Korea. She will create a workshop production of a new movement theatre piece with company members of Mu Performing Arts to culminate her studies. Sun Mee has acted at Ten Thousand Things Theater Company, Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Lincoln Center Theater, as well as others. She received funding from the Jerome Foundation towards the development of her solo play How to Be a Korean Woman and the Minneapolis Star Tribune awarded her Outstanding New Script of 2008 for Asiamnesia. Sun Mee is a recipient of the Playwrights' Center 2013-14 McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship. She received her MFA from the Graduate Acting Program at NYU.

CINDY IM, TheatreWorks, Palo Alto, CA

Cindy will use her fellowship to advance her training in movement, voice and text, priming herself for roles in the classics. She will study Shakespeare, voice and text at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and Le Jeu and Clown at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris. She will also be mentored by Stephen Buescher, Head of Movement and Physical Theater at A.C.T. During her time in residency at TheatreWorks, Cindy will visit high schools and colleges to host meetings and master classes with Asian American performers in order to help students and performers overcome obstacles connected to considering and maintaining careers in theatre. Cindy has acted in productions at American Conservatory Theater, Crowded Fire Theater, Goodman Theatre and Theatre Dijon Bourgogne; and has worked under the direction of Chay Yew, Mark Rucker, Rob Melrose, Desdemona Chiang, among others. She received her M.F.A in Acting from California Institute of the Arts.

JENNIFER KIDWELL, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Philadelphia, PA

Jennifer will continue her study of voice and clown, as well as develop fundraising, budgeting, marketing and publicity skills necessary for her professional development. She will further develop her vocal production and movement through Alexander, Primitive Voice, Clown, and Bouffon training. In addition to this work, she will attend international theatre festivals to expand her connections to theatre abroad. She appeared in the world premiere of Zinnias directed by Robert Wilson, The Bacchae and 365 Plays/365 Days at The Public Theater, and is currently in the process of developing two devised pieces exploring pedagogy, race and schizophrenia.

ORLANDO PABOTOY, Ma-Yi Theater Company, New York, NY

Orlando will research, develop and adapt Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar into a one-man show. He will incorporate Visayan language and songs with Shakespeare’s text, and collaborate with Richard Feldman to utilize elements of classical theatrical conventions, commedia dell’arte, and masks in the development of the work. He has appeared in roles at The Public Theater, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre and The Old Globe, among others. He received an Obie Award for his work in The Romance of Magno Rubio and is a faculty member at New York University and a graduate of The Juilliard School.

DANIEL ROBERT SULLIVAN, Roundabout Theatre Company, New York, NY

Daniel will use the resources of Roundabout’s Education Department to collaborate with teenage actors to create a new play about the urban high school experience. He will lead workshops in improvisation and interview with the students and transform devised work into a text. He has toured nationally and internationally as Tommy DeVito in the Jersey Boys and acted in roles at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival and Gloucester Stage Company, among others. Daniel is a Master Teaching Artist with Roundabout, directing the theatre’s first two annual Student Theatre Arts Festivals. His first book, Places Please! Becoming a Jersey Boy, was published by Iguana Books in 2012.

Distinguished Achievement:

EVELINA FERNANDEZ, The Latino Theater Company at Los Angeles Theatre Center, Los Angeles, CA

Evelina will document the company’s history from their first professional production in 1985, La Victima, through their most recent production, A Mexican Trilogy, with photographs, videos, reviews and interviews with the ensemble. She will work in collaboration with Jose Luis Valenzuela, Dr. Jorge Huerta, Dr. Chantal Rodriguez, Sal Lopez, Lucy Rodriguez and Geoffrey Rivas to leave a written and digital record of their ensemble’s history for the generations to come. She will disseminate this knowledge through workshops, work groups, classes, and discussions beginning at the National Latino Theater Encuentro (Encounter). She has acted in the theatre for 35 years and has been a founding member of The Latino Theater Company for 28 years. She acted in the first production of Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum and toured nationally and internationally with El Teatro de la Esperanza. As a playwright, her work includes Luminarias, Dementia, Liz Estrada in the City of Angels and Solitude.

DAVID GREENSPAN, Transport Group Theatre Company, New York, NY

David will use his fellowship to develop a solo rendition of Eugene O’Neill’s Strange Interlude, exploring the dynamics of family pathologies through the lens of this seldom-produced American classic renowned for its interior monologues. While investigating the play, David will engage in a study of O’Neill's life and career and the period in which the play was written, collaborating with Transport Group Artistic Director Jack Cummings III and Dramaturge Kristina Corcoran Williams. He has performed in his own plays and premieres of plays by writers including Terrence McNally, Richard Foreman, Sarah Ruhl, Adam Rapp, Mac Wellman and David Adjmi. For his work in New York and regionally he has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Alpert Award in the Arts, five Obie Awards (including one for Sustained Achievement), and a Connecticut Critics Circle Award, as well as Outer Critics Circle, Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk nominations.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 8 selection panel included Malcolm Darrell, New Play Production Associate, Center Theatre Group; Nicky Paraiso, Director of Programming, The Club La MaMa; Blake Robison, Artistic Director, Cincinnati Playhouse; Tara Rubin, Casting Director, Tara Rubin Casting; and Charlayne Woodard, Actress/Playwright. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 7 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

MAGGIE LACEY, Cleveland Play House, Cleveland, OH

Maggie will become a "songcatcher" as she explores storytelling through music and researches what and why we sing. She will improve and develop her voice and guitar skills, as well as her knowledge of the American story as told through its songs. Lacey will travel the country in pursuit of those traditions that go beyond the spoken word (such as “hollerin”), experiment with how they might intersect with her work as an actor and teller of stories, and use that knowledge to create an alternative kind of cabaret. She will combine this endeavor with community outreach by bringing her work to hospice patients and others who are unable to attend theatre. Lacey has acted on Broadway in Our Town, Inherit the Wind and Dividing the Estate. Off-Broadway and regionally she has worked with Signature Theatre, Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New Audience, Arena Stage, and Hartford Stage, among others. She received her MFA from the Graduate Acting Program at NYU.

Distinguished Achievement:

NORA COLE, Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY

Nora will research, write and mount her third solo show based on a collection of 50 letters and postcards written by her uncle, Lieutenant Robert Lawery to her aunt, Katherine Louise Cole during WWII. She will develop a physical and vocal regimen to sustain the demands of principle and solo performing by training in Pilates, yoga, Tai Chi and private voice study at the Manhattan School of Music. Highlights of her 34 years as a performer include 15 years with Vinnette Carroll: Your Arms Too Short To Box With God (B'Way), Medea (title role), multiple productions with George C. Wolfe: Jelly’s Last Jam and On the Town (B'Way) and Caroline of Change at the Royal National Theatre, her work with Rinde Eckert and David Schweizer in And God Created Great Whales and multiple engagements at fourteen regional theatres. Her other solo shows, Olivia’s Opus, an ode to adolescence and Voices of the Spirits in my Soul, based on her family slave history comprise a trilogy that reflects her roots and experiences as a native of Louisville, Kentucky. She is the recipient of a Spencer Cherashore Individual Artist grant, Actors Theatre of Louisville Women in Music Award, Theatre of Renewal Award, a Hedgebrook alum and an Audelco, Joseph Jefferson and Connecticut Critics Circle nominee.  Goodman School of Drama (BFA)

ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS, Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago, IL

André seeks to further develop his experimental methodology, The Golden Triangle and the 5W Stack/Inner Athlete System. De Shields will deepen this unique style of Griot Performance Art that combines rigorous physical exertion, discipline and contemplation through a new, original work, Confessions of a P.I.M.P. (Positive Individual Making Progress). De Shields will also mentor artists and young people in Victory’s Poets Conservatory and school programs. His career spans more than 40 years, gaining multiple Tony Award nominations, an OBIE for Sustained Excellence of Performance, two Joseph Jefferson Awards, eight AUDELCO Awards, two Black Theatre Alliance Awards, an Emmy Award and the National Black Theatre Festival Living Legend Award.

GODFREY L. SIMMONS, JR., Epic Theatre Ensemble, New York, NY

Godfrey will study with experts in voice and text to take on lead classical roles that require an actor to vocally and physically carry the show. Simmons will codify what he learns in a curricular plan for teaching classical voice and text at Epic Theatre Ensemble’s mentoring and training programs for high school students from disadvantaged communities. For nearly 25 years, Godfrey has had a range of experiences working as an actor-for-hire, a resident company member at regional and Off-Broadway theatres, and a teacher of acting. He has won an AUDELCO Award as Best Supporting Actor in Old Settler at Primary Stages and co-created Dispatches from (A)mended America. In addition to his 8 year association with Epic, Simmons has ongoing relationships with People’s Light and Theatre Company, Lark Play Development Center and is a Lifetime Member of Ensemble Studio Theatre.

BRUCE TURK, Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT

Bruce will investigate the comic thread which runs through French comedy from Molière to Feydeau and prepare an approach to performing these works. Turk will conduct dramaturgical studies with Stephen Wadsworth, receive vocal training with Kate Wilson, travel to London to train in neutral mask and clown and to Paris for intensive studies of Play, Clown and Melodrama at École Phillipe Gaulier. He will return frequently to Hartford Stage to conduct workshops and perform. Turk is a former resident member of Tadashi Suzuki’s Acting Company Mito in Japan and has worked extensively with Julie Taymor on productions of Titus Andronicus, Juan Darien, and The Green Bird, in which he starred in the title role. He has performed both On and Off Broadway and at major regional theatres across the country, including six seasons as a member of The Old Globe's Shakespeare Repertory. He has worked with such distinguished directors as Stephen Wadsworth, Michael Kahn, Paul Mullins, Ron Daniels, Adrian Noble and Darko Tresnjak.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 7 selection panel included Sandra Delgado, Fox Fellow, Goodman Theatre; Sara Garonzik, Producing Artistic Director, Philadelphia Theatre Company; Mark Rucker, Associate Artistic Director, American Conservatory Theater; and Ken Washington, Director of Company Development, Guthrie Theater. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 6 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

SANDRA DELGADO, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL

Sandra will immerse herself in an intense study of actor-generated and interview based theatre making techniques and apply these techniques to an original show, para mis Madres. She plans to embark on observerships with The Civilians and Tectonic Theatre Project in the US and Marta Carrasco in Spain. She will train in physical theatre with Pig Iron and SITI Company. She will also travel to Colombia to conduct interviews for para mis Madres and observe theater. Sandra is a founding member of Collaboraction, an Ensemble member and former Associate Artistic Director of Teatro Vista and a TCG Young Leader of Color. She will be seen in the world premiere of Chicago Boys at the Goodman Theatre in October.

MARIA DIZZIA, Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, CT

Maria will travel to China to observe professional mourners to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of expressivity in cultural practice and the foundations of theater in ritual. She plans to work with teacher Kim Gillingham to help her integrate funeral ritual performance with contemporary theater practice and with the Linklater Center for Voice and Language to study how this vocal training method undoes the societal repressions that inhibit our voices and frees the emotional life of the actor. Maria has performed off-Broadway in Cradle and All, Hallway Trilogy, The Drunken City, Eurydice, Pullman Car Hiawatha, Apparition, Alice the Magnet, Cause for Alarm, and Gone Missing, as well as her Tony-nominated Broadway performance in Sarah Ruhl’s In the Next Room.

MIRIAM SILVERMAN , The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, DC

Miriam will develop a personalized approach to verse and voice work to serve her as a performer and educator. She plans to study with experts in the field including Patsy Rodenburg, Kristen Linklater, Andrew Wade and Catherine Fitzmaurice. She will apprentice Ellen O’Brien, STC’s Head of Voice and Text while in residency at STC. Miriam will travel to London to take part in a workshop on the Estill method and attend the RSC's World Shakespeare Festival. In London she will also attend training sessions with Tim Carroll and The Factory. She will travel to Thorais, France for a workshop in the Roy Hart technique and to Gdansk, Poland to attend the International Shakespeare Festival. As an Affiliated Artist Miriam will return to STC to perform leading roles in classical plays and hold workshops for the theater's acting fellows. Miriam has appeared on stage at STC, The Public Theater, Guthrie Theater, Folger Theatre, Red Bull, Arena Stage, and Trinity Rep.

Distinguished Achievement:

PETER HOWARD, Cornerstone Theater, Los Angeles, CA

Peter will travel to six former Cornerstone host communities to observe changes that have happened since the company's residency. These observations will form the core of a large-scale inquiry into how an actor can affect community, and how community can affect an actor. He will write and perform in a piece that explores the changes in these disparate American communities, in the theater company he helped found and in himself over the span of 25 years. Howard will also train in Theater of the Oppressed and Lessac vocal techniques, and visit other models of community-based professional theater practice in the U.S. and abroad.

JOHN DOUGLAS THOMPSON, Theatre for a New Audience, New York, NY

John will expand as a classical actor by preparing himself to play lead roles in Shakespeare’s comedies. John will approach this goal with academic study and comparative analysis of Shakespeare and Marlowe with James Shapiro at Columbia University.  He will also explore clown techniques, and Shakespeare clown with group and individual study with Christopher Bayes, as well as observing rehearsals and performances of Mr. Bayes’ productions of The Servant of Two Masters and The Doctor in Spite of Himself.  Thompson will also study how language works in Shakespeare’s comedies and Marlowe’s tragedies with Andrew Wade.  He will perform in readings of three Marlowe tragedies and three Shakespeare comedies led by Arin Arbus and other directors.  John has performed at American Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Royal Shakespeare Company, Hartford Stage, Shakespeare & Company, Yale Rep, Irish Rep, Wilma Theater, Red Bull, and New York Theatre Workshop.  He received an OBIE, Lucille Lortel, and Callaway Award for his performance of Othello at Theatre For A New Audience, and a Callaway Award for The Emperor Jones at Irish Rep.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 6 selection panel included Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director, La Jolla Playhouse; Regina Bain, National Director of Training and Evaluation, The Posse Foundation; Lisa McNulty, Artistic Line Producer, Manhattan Theatre Club; David Muse, Artistic Director, The Studio Theatre; and Daniel Swee, Casting Director, Lincoln Center Theater. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 5 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

USMAN ALLY, American Theater Company (ATC), Chicago, IL

Ally will study documentary theatre techniques and interview-based character creation with ATC artistic director PJ Paparelli. He plans to travel to Pakistan to conduct interviews on immigration with his parents and US Embassy immigration officials. He will also interview South Asian immigrant families in Chicago. Usman will then workshop the documented work through a series of readings and retreats, which will culminate in a production at ATC.

SULI HOLUM, HERE, New York, NY

Holum’s Fellowship will support and enhance the process of developing Chimera, a highly theatrical solo-performance exploring medical chimerism – the combination of two sets of genes in an individual body.  Chimera is being developed in collaboration with playwright Deborah Stein through the HERE Artist Residency Program with additional support from the Creativity Fund at New Dramatists, the Playwrights' Center, and Workhaus Collective.  Holum will work towards certification at the Laban Institute in New York, participate in workshops on the use of technology in new performance at EMPAC, train with Complicite in the United Kingdom, and develop grantwriting skills at the Foundation Center. She also plans to attend the Kunstenfestivaldesarts in Brussels, an international three-week festival that emphasizes interdisciplinary work.

ALVIN CHAN , Honolulu Theatre for Youth (HTY), Honolulu HI

Chan will travel to China, Hong Kong, Japan and his native Hawai’i to develop his expertise in traditional Asian performance techniques. He will study Beijing Opera in Nanjing with master teacher Master Lu, take a Manga intensive course at the Kyoto Seika University in Kyoto, receive private training in Japanese Kyogen from Master Mariushi Yatsuhi, and take a four-week intensive course with the Ha Kwok Cheung Dragon and Lion Dance Troupe in Hong Kong. On his return to Hawai’i, Chan will lead a series of workshops on these techniques with the HTY acting company, and perform in their productions, The Lion Dancer and Momotaro.

Distinguished Achievement:

LAURIE MCCANTS, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble (BTE), Bloomsburg PA

Mccants will hone her skills in physical performance, puppetry/object manipulation, musical instrument and Pranayama Yoga (breath work) in preparation for her solo performance Industrious Angels, a music-theatre piece evoking women’s secret creative lines, mother/daughter bloodlines, and Emily Dickinson’s ghost. She will study puppetry with Eric and Ines Bass of Sandglass Theatre, Jon Ludwig of the Center for Puppetry Arts, and Lynn Jeffries of Cornerstone Theater; physical performance with Joan Schirle of Dell'Arte International; and toy piano with composer Guy Klucevsek.  She will present the first public workshop versions of Industrious Angels at BTE and the Ko Festival of Performance in July 2011, and then prepare for a national tour starting in 2012.

FRANK CORRADO, A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), Seattle WA

Corrado will expand Pinter Fortnightly, a series he founded in March 2009, which is devoted to public readings of the works of Harold Pinter. As the series’ resident actor/curator/co-producer/casting agent, he will better compensate participating actors and invite actors, directors and scholars outside Seattle to take part. Corrado will work in partnership with ACT artistic director Kurt Beattie to expand the series to include other intellectually rigorous and underrepresented writers. Also, there have been preliminary discussions about a possible Pinter Festival at ACT in 2012 utilizing a number of the theatre spaces.

The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships Round 5 selection panel included Ricardo Khan, Director/Writer, Crossroads Theatre Company; Ellen Lauren, Associate Artistic Director, SITI Company; Lisa Portes, Head of Directing, The Theatre School at DePaul; Melissa Smith, Conservatory Director, American Conservatory Theater. The panel's recommendations were presented to Robert P. Warren, President of the Fox Foundation, and the Foundation made the final selection.

Round 4 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

CHRISTINA APATHY, Perseverance Theatre, Douglas AK

Christina plans to attend Theatre Mitu’s South India Artist Intensive to explore an artist’s personal mythology as citizen of the world in 2010. In 2011 Christina will participate in the Teacher Development Program at the Actors Center. In 2012 she will take a course in The Moving Body at the London International School of Performing Arts to gain a deeper understanding of the dynamic forces at the core of the artist’s existence, attend a puppetry festival in Portugal the Sibiu Theatre Festival in Romania, and spend time at the Kneehigh Theatre in Cornwall, UK.

HEATHER SIMMS, McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton NJ

Heather will travel to Jamaica to audit courses on Caribbean Dialectology, the socio-historical background of Caribbean Language and women’s narrative in the African Diaspora. She will also study Afro-Caribbean dance. She will then travel to London for additional voice training, and to observe the Jamaican-founded Talawa theatre company. She will then travel to Ghana to participate in the African Culture Through Arts program to explore Ghanaian storytelling traditions. In the final phase of her fellowship, Heather will curate a reading series at the McCarter that will introduce the McCarter community as well as other actors and directors to new voices.

J. NICOLE BROOKS, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Chicago IL

In preparation for a role in an opera based on a slave settlement in Colonial Brazil, Nicole will learn Afro Brazilian Samba, Portuguese and Capoeira to prepare for travel to Brazil for a deeper insight into Brazilian culture. She will also develop her circus skills at the Actors Gymnasium, and continue studying with master teachers David Downs of Northwestern University and Mary Ann Thebus of Artistic Home.

Distinguished Achievement:

STEPHANIE BERRY, Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York NY

Stephanie will study voice at the Linklater Center for Voice and Language in New York, yoga and meditation at Harlem Holistic Studios and Improvisation classes at HB studios. She will travel to Sierra Leone to study storytelling with village griots and attend storytelling festivals including the Zora Neale Hurston Festival, the Gullah Festival and the Hane Native American Storytelling Festival. She will collect stories from a diverse section of Harlem residents, and present her findings in a production celebrating the living history of West Harlem.

PAULA PLUM, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Boston MA

Paula will travel to France to study Mask Play, Characters, Melodrama and Characters and Writing at the Ecole Phillipe Gaulier, take two Mask intensives at Dell’Arte International and study at the Ecole Mime in Montreal. She will also develop a new original work based on the life of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, and offer master classes on Mask and working with sexuality onstage.

Round 3 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

Bill Barclay, Shakespeare & Co, Lenox, MA

Bill will travel with the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre to Bali to study traditional Balinese dance, yoga, Alexander technique, shadow puppetry, mask making and theatrical/religious ritual. In 2009/2010, he will work with actor/composer/playwright Rinde Eckert at the University of Iowa and Irina Brook’s company in Paris. Towards the end of his residency, he will work on his clown with Christopher Bayes. Bill will develop a multi-disciplinary approach to acting Shakespeare and create solo work through syntheses of poetry, music, movement, clown and ritual.

Tami Dixon, City Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA

Employing techniques learned from workshops with Keith Johnstone, The Ping Chong Company and actor/writer Lisa Kron, Tami Dixon will embark on a journey towards the development of Slope Stories, a performance piece that will use stories from City Theatre’s neighbouring community members as source material. The fellowship will ultimately advance Tami’s training in innovative approaches to character development.

Hoon Lee, Lark Play Development Center, NY

During his residency at the Lark, Hoon will participate in the Playwrights’ Workshop, Studio Retreats, Barebones productions and the international exchange. With Artistic Director, John Eisner, he will also develop an exploratory Playwright-Actor project with a playwright. Hoon will work closely with Lark artistic advisor Olympia Dukakis, who will mentor him during his fellowship.

Zishan Ugurlu, La MaMa E.T.C., NY

Zishan will travel to Iran, Dubai, London and Los Angeles and will study the three following areas: Muslim women in the world; Muslim women in their home nation and Muslim women and men together in the same space in the context of ritual. Through her experiences abroad and at home, Zishan’s goal is to develop her imagination, voice and body in what she calls a “passionate quest for authenticity.” She will develop a piece about Muslim women with La MaMa’s artistic director, Ellen Stewart.

Distinguished Achievement:

Ellen Lauren, SITI Company, NY

Ellen Lauren will re-invigorate the link between Suzuki and SITI Company by sharing her knowledge with SITI’s acting company. Her proposed activities are three-fold: advanced study with Tadashi Suzuki in Japan; advance master class culminating in a student production of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters , and the production of a book. Ellen will travel with The Suzuki Company to Seoul, Korea to take part in the BeSeTo Festival; Beijing, China to train with Chinese/Japanese cast of Clytemnestra under the direction of Danny Ho and to the Tanganka Theatre, Moscow to participate in two workshops led by artistic director, Yuri Lyubimov.

Kate Valk, The Wooster Group, NY

Kate’s fellowship activities include singing lessons with Hai-Ting Chinn to support her work in a new opera, La Didone; Noh Theatre lessons with John Oglevee; Spanish language classes at Queen Sofia Institute in preparation for a bilingual production to be developed by The Wooster Group from the work of Federico Garcia Lorca; meditation and yoga classes, and vocal training in the Kristen Linklater method with Natsuko Ohama.

Round 2 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

Amit Lahav is co-founder of London-based theatre company Gecko, whose productions include The Race (winner of Total Theatre Award) and Taylor’s Dummies (Time Out Critics Choice, Guardian Pick of the Fringe). His Fellowship will partner him with David Farr, Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith in London. With Mr. Farr as his mentor, Mr. Lahav hopes to expand his artistic vision and creative practice, so that he can perform in theatre on a larger scale. Mr. Lahav will spend time in each department of the Lyric Hammersmith to gain a larger understanding of the theatre management process as a whole. His program activity will begin with his performance in The Arab and the Jew in the Lyric Studio, leading towards creating an original work in the Lyric’s Main House.

Gabriel Quinn Bauriedel is founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philadelphia, PA. Mr. Bauriedel will use his Fellowship to study with master teachers Giovanni Fusetti and Philippe Gaulier on clown and commedia dell’arte mask training. He also plans to find and create a vocabulary for the expressiveness of the voice through workshops with members of the Roy Hart School. In addition to his intense training, Mr. Bauriedel plans on using his Fellowship to attend numerous theatre festivals including Avignon, Festival du Monde, and Festival d’Automne. With the experience gained from the Fellowship, Mr. Bauriedel will return to the Pig Iron Theatre Company and lead workshops on clown and mask ending in the development of an original work which will become part of Pig Iron’s touring repertory.

Andres Munar is a New York-based actor who was recently seen in Acts of Mercy at Rattlestick Playwright Theater. Mr. Munar will use his Fellowship to become a guest ensemble member of Cornerstone Theatre Company, an honor that has never before been bestowed. Mr. Munar will participate in two Cornerstone Institute Summer Residencies and appear in The Justice Bridge Show, the culminating project of a three- year Justice Cycle, which encompasses five plays exploring how laws shape and divide communities. Mr. Munar will also use his Fellowship towards a month-long residency with Sylvia Pelaez at Teatro La Gruta in Mexico City to immerse himself in Latin American rehearsal and performance techniques.

Distinguished Achievement:

Barbra Berlovitz, a co-founder of Theatre de la Jeune Lune in Minneapolis, MN, has been performing and directing with the company since its inception in 1979. Ms. Berlovitz will use her Fox Fellowship to enrich her acting as well as her approach to teaching acting by shadowing three internationally known theatre masters, Patsy Rodenburg, Philippe Gaulier, and Ariane Mnouchkine. Upon her return from Europe, Ms. Berlovitz plans to bring her skills and inspiration back to Theatre de la Jeune Lune and lead her fellow actors in the creation of an original piece. She will also use her talents to offer workshops and master classes to the cast as well as young professional actors.

Ron Campbell is a west-coast based actor, whose performance awards include the Los Angeles and Bay Area Critic’s Circle Awards, the Helen Hayes and Jeff Award nominations, and four Backstage West Garland Awards. Through his Fox Fellowship, Mr. Campbell will study techniques with theatre companies in Greece, Italy, Japan and finally, Sweden in three specific stages: Mask in Greece and Italy, Body in Japan, and Voice in Sweden. He envisions this Fellowship as a “comprehensive exploration into combining mask work, movement and voice and applying these techniques to classical texts.” Mr. Campbell then plans to hold workshops for California Shakespeare Theater’s Associate Artists to share his findings with the possibility of developing a performance piece marrying Mr. Campbell’s physical work with aspects of Shakespeare.

William McNulty, a long-standing member of Actors Theatre of Louisville’s acting company, will use his Fox Fellowship to attend The Actors Center’s Intensive Teacher Training Program, working with acting teachers such as William Esper and Ron Van Lieu. He will then travel to the Acting School at the Atlantic Theatre Company in NYC to observe and train in the classroom for the duration of the summer program. Upon returning to Louisville, Mr. McNulty will teach classes for Actors Theatre of Louisville’s apprentice company as well as the community at large while continuing to work onstage as a resident actor.

Round 1 Recipients

Extraordinary Potential:

Jonathan Broadbent is based in London and has performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre of Great Britain and London’s Gate Theatre. Mr. Broadbent’s host theatre for the Fox Fellowship is the Bristol Old Vic Theatre (Bristol, England). The fellowship will allow Mr. Broadbent to continue his voice training and develop his Shakespearean repertoire, culminating with the portrayal of Orlando in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, directed by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre’s artistic leader, Simon Reade. While in residence, Mr. Broadbent will develop his adaptation of The Late Mr. Shakpeseare, by Robert Nye and serve as liaison between the theatre’s administrative staff and the new, full-time resident acting company.

Juan Rivera Lebron’s Fox Fellowship will focus on vocal and text analysis. He will study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona and locations throughout Spain. His studies will include an exploration of the similarities and differences in approaching Shakespearean text, and Spanish classical text in its original language. Mr. Lebron will subsequently offer classes and workshops for the company members and staff of the Fox host theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Ashland, OR), and help develop bilingual curriculum that will focus on Shakespeare and Spanish classical texts in conjunction with the theatre’s education department.

Distinguished Achievement:

In 2006-2007, Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham will play in rotating repertory Shylock in The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, directed by Darko Tresnjak, and Barabas in The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe, directed by David Herskovits, both to be produced by Theatre for a New Audience (New York, NY). The Merchant of Venice will subsequently tour to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon to be presented in the RSC's Complete Works Festival. Mr. Abraham, who has acted in over 80 films and 90 plays and was last seen Off Broadway in Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted, has been awarded funding that will provide time to prepare for the rigors of repertory performance, including training with internationally acknowledged voice expert Cicely Berry.

Karen Kandel’s acting credits include international tours of productions directed by Ong Ken Sen, JoAnne Akalaitis, Lee Breuer and Peter Sellars. She will study Noh theatre in Japan, improvisational vocal techniques (both Eastern and Western Classical), dance training in Paris and clown and mime training in New York. She is a longtime collaborator of the host theatre, Mabou Mines (New York, NY) and will, with other artists, develop a new piece for the theatre through open work sessions, readings, presentations and residencies.

Joan Schirle has received a Fox Fellowship with Dell'Arte International (Blue Lake, CA), a thirty-year-old, internationally recognized touring ensemble and school, of which she is a co-founder. Her Fox Fellowship work will primarily focus on vocal training. She will study in France with members of the Roy Hart Theatre, at the Banff Center with Richard Armstrong and in New York with Catherine Fitzmaurice and others. Upon completion of her studies, she will lead workshops with Dell’Arte company members. Dell’Arte has also committed to develop one of two projects which will feature Ms. Schirle.

Andrew Weems received a Fox Fellowship with the Intiman Theatre (Seattle, WA). His acting credits include roles on Broadway, with Theatre for New Audience (including at the Royal Shakespeare Company), New York Theatre Workshop and at major regional theatres throughout the U.S. He has worked frequently with director Bartlett Sher, including two productions at the Intiman, where Mr. Sher is artistic director. Mr. Weems will travel to Tamil Nadu, India to study at the Kattaikuttu Sangram and to Kerala, India to study at the Bhasabharathi Center. Upon his return to the U.S., he will continue to develop his play Namaste Man (Lost and Found in Kathmandu), an autobiographical piece based on his travels and his upbringing in Asia and Africa. Members of the Intiman Theatre’s artistic staff will collaborate with Mr. Weems on his play.