The Fagin Effect is a pastiche of Oliver Twist in which the original characters are used to tell a new story that takes place in London, 1850. As entire neighborhoods are demolished to make way for the first underground railway, the appearance of a young man in the 'shop' of one Julius Fogel presents an opportunity for some of London's dregs to turn their lives around with the assistance of a real estate developer named Whitelaw.
Beau Buccilli: (Boze) is a graduating senior at Case Western Reserve University where he is majoring in Theatre with a concentration in Dramatic Writing. During his time at CWRU, Buccilli has appeared in Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Underpants, Our Town, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Plaza Suite, The Tempest, Barefoot in the Park, and Romeo and Juliet among others. He has also directed productions including The Problem, 2+2+2, Alice in Wonderland, and two new play festivals in addition to several of his own original works. Buccilli is a member of IMPROVment, CWRU’s premier shortform improvisational comedy troupe. less is a graduating senior at Case Western Reserve University where he is majoring in Theatre with a concentration in Dramatic Writing. During his time at CWRU, Buccilli has appeared in Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Underpants, Our Town, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Plaza Suite, The Tempest, Barefoot in the Park,... more
Ben Charles: (Owen Trimble) is currently working on a production of Twelfth Night with New York Classical Theatre set to perform in Central Park and Battery Park this summer. Regional Credits include Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prince Edward in Richard III, and Abrams in Romeo and Juliet at the Utah Shakespeare Festival; a world premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s O Beautiful, The Cripple of Inishmaan, Our Town, and Way to Heaven with Delaware’s Resident Ensemble Players; and Romeo and Juliet, Tartuffe, and She Loves Me with the Texas Shakespeare Festival. Charles has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) at the University of Delaware. less is currently working on a production of Twelfth Night with New York Classical Theatre set to perform in Central Park and Battery Park this summer. Regional Credits include Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prince Edward in Richard III, and Abrams in Romeo and Juliet at the Utah Shakespeare Festival;... more
Bernard Bygott: (Skinner) recently appeared in Cleveland Play House's production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program production of In Arabia We’d All Be Kings. Bygott created the role of Calandrino in the world premiere opera Decameron at Prince Music Theater. He spent two seasons in residence at American Shakespeare Center, where numerous acting credits include The Comedy of Errors, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. Other appearances include Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Theater For The New City (New York City), The Northern New England Repertory Theatre Company, Quintessence Theatre Group, Storybook Musical Theatre, The Ko Festival of Performance, Mum Puppettheatre, Glimmerglass Opera, International Opera Theater (Italy and U.S.), and The Little Orchestra Society at Lincoln Center. This summer he joins Ohio Shakespeare Festival as Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. less recently appeared in Cleveland Play House's production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor and the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program production of In Arabia We’d All Be Kings. Bygott created the role of Calandrino in the world premiere opera Decameron at Prince Music Theater. He spent two seasons in residence at American... more
Dana Hart: (Mr. Whitelaw) received critical honors this year for his solo performance in Conor McPherson’s St. Nicholas with Ensemble Theatre. He is currently performing with Cesear’s Forum in Arthur Miller’s Elegy for a Lady at PlayhouseSquare’s Kennedy's Theatre through May 26th and will sing the role of the Druggist in Oberlin College’s Summer Theatre production of The Cradle Will Rock by Marc Blitzstein. Hart last appeared at Cleveland Play House in the 2010, world premiere, Michael Bloom adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Other Cleveland-based world premieres include Sara Morton’s Safety; Michael Tisdale’s Gold Star, Ohio; Park Goist’s My Writer, My Actress; and Cleveland writer Anne McDonnald’s A Day Without Equals, (performed in Harrare, Zimbabwe). Hart apprenticed to CPH from 1974 to 1976 and appeared off-Broadway in Holy Ghosts, Twelfth Night, The Mousetrap, and Molly Bloom and with several regional theatres before returning to Ohio, where he lives in Berea. less received critical honors this year for his solo performance in Conor McPherson’s St. Nicholas with Ensemble Theatre. He is currently performing with Cesear’s Forum in Arthur Miller’s Elegy for a Lady at PlayhouseSquare’s Kennedy's Theatre through May 26th and will sing the role of the Druggist in Oberlin College’s Summer... more
Sarah Kinsey: (Nettie) is a second-year student in the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program where she recently appeared in Steven Adly Guirgis’ In Arabia We’d All Be Kings. Prior to coming to Cleveland, Kinsey spent many years working in Chicago in theatre, commercials and voiceover. She spent a year as a member of Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Acting Apprentice Company (2003 – 2004) and received her Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Theatre from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 2003. less is a second-year student in the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program where she recently appeared in Steven Adly Guirgis’ In Arabia We’d All Be Kings. Prior to coming to Cleveland, Kinsey spent many years working in Chicago in theatre, commercials and voiceover. She spent a year as a member of Actors... more
Stephen Spencer: (Jaspar) recently portrayed Skank in the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ In Arabia We’d All Be Kings. He was also seen in the recent CPH New Ground Theatre Festival production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor. Spencer has worked professionally with Triad Stage and North Carolina Shakespeare Festival as well as on tour with North Carolina Theatre for Young People. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2011. This summer Spencer will be joining Chautauqua Theater Company for the summer conservatory program at the Chautauqua Institution. less recently portrayed Skank in the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program production of Stephen Adly Guirgis’ In Arabia We’d All Be Kings. He was also seen in the recent CPH New Ground Theatre Festival production of Every Good Boy Deserves Favor. Spencer has worked professionally with Triad Stage and North Carolina Shakespeare Festival... more
Tom Alan Robbins: (Julius Fogel) recently appeared at Cleveland Play House playing multiple roles in a critically lauded production of My Name is Asher Lev. Robbins created the role of Pumbaa in The Lion King on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include the original casts of Is He Dead?, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Threepenny Opera, Sunset Boulevard, and Once upon a Mattress. He also played Thenardier in the first national tour of Les Miserables and appeared off-Broadway in On the Verge, Isn’t It Romantic, The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket, and John Houseman’s revival of The Cradle Will Rock. He recently played Charlie in the world premiere of The Whale at The Denver Center. For the Encores! series at NYCity Center he appeared in Music in the Air, Pardon My English, and Tenderloin. Television credits include Seinfeld, Third Watch, NYPD Blue, Tales of the City, all of the Law and Order franchises, and Baby Talk, on which he was a series regular. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School. less recently appeared at Cleveland Play House playing multiple roles in a critically lauded production of My Name is Asher Lev. Robbins created the role of Pumbaa in The Lion King on Broadway. Other Broadway credits include the original casts of Is He Dead?, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Threepenny Opera, Sunset Boulevard,... more
Elynmarie Kazle: (Stage Coordinator) returns to Cleveland Play House where previous credits include New Play Readings of Daphne’s Dive, Silent Sky and Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile; Conviction; Eric Coble’s adaptation of Huck Finn; and the Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program production of All’s Well That Ends Well directed by Geoff Bullen. Elsewhere she’s stage managed at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Stockholm’s Stadsteater, The Old Globe, and The Pasadena Playhouse among others. A United States Institute for Theatre Technology Fellow, she’s served on USITT’s board of directors, created the Stage Management Mentoring Project and currently serves on the Board of the Ohio Valley Region. Locally she worked with Great Lakes Theater, Opera Columbus, and the Ohio Ballet. In 2001 she created a stage management mentoring program for Akron’s Firestone High School Visual and Performing Arts Program which continues today with 24 stage managers working various events throughout the year. less returns to Cleveland Play House where previous credits include New Play Readings of Daphne’s Dive, Silent Sky and Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile; Conviction; Eric Coble’s adaptation of Huck Finn; and the Case Western Reserve University/CPH MFA Acting Program production of All’s Well That Ends Well directed by Geoff Bullen.... more
Laura Kepley: (Director) directed Cleveland Play House mainstage productions of In the Next Room, or the vibrator play and My Name is Asher Lev; the reading of Daphne’s Dive for New Ground Theatre Festival; and CPH FusionFest 2011 readings of Silent Sky and Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile. She joined CPH in 2010 as associate artistic director, having arrived in Cleveland from Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. While at Trinity Rep, she directed The Clean House, The Syringa Tree, and world premieres of Shapeshifter, Boots on the Ground, and Some Things are Private. Kepley has directed over 20 new plays including Breadcrumbs at Contemporary American Theatre Festival, The K of D at The Kennedy Center and Orlando/University of Central Florida Shakespeare Festival, and several written by George Brant such as Grizzly Mama at Dobama Theatre, Elephant’s Graveyard at The University of Texas at Austin, and shoptalk for The Drama League’s DIRECTORFEST. She has worked with playwrights on the development of their work at The Public Theater (N.Y.), The Playwright’s Center (Minn.), PlayPenn (Pa.), Naked Angels (N.Y.), PlayhouseSquare’s Launch Program (Ohio) and WordBRIDGE Playwrights' Lab (S.C.). Kepley is a Drama League Fellow and a recipient of the 2009 – 2011 National Endowment for the Arts/Theatre Communications Group Career Development Program for Directors. less directed Cleveland Play House mainstage productions of In the Next Room, or the vibrator play and My Name is Asher Lev; the reading of Daphne’s Dive for New Ground Theatre Festival; and CPH FusionFest 2011 readings of Silent Sky and Three Voyages of the Lobotomobile. She joined CPH in 2010... more
Michael Bloom: (Playwright) is the eighth artistic director of Cleveland Play House. Recently for CPH he adapted Emma (published by Samuel French) and directed Lost in Yonkers, Heaven’s My Destination, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Lincolnesque, Rabbit Hole and Well. He has directed at many of the country’s other major theatres including American Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Old Globe Theatre, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, Alley Theatre, Alliance Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre and the Sundance Playwrights’ Institute. His productions have also been seen throughout Japan and in Tokyo at the Aoyama Theatre and Theatre Cocoon. His off-Broadway production of Sight Unseen garnered three Obie Awards, and he received a Drama Desk nomination for direction. Other productions include the American premiere of A Young Lady from Rwanda; Gross Indecency, Elliott Norton Award for Best Directing, 1998; the world premiere of Dinner with Friends at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Los Angeles premieres of The Cryptogram and The Old Neighborhood at Geffen Playhouse; Major Barbara and The Philadelphia Story at Kansas City Rep; and the world premiere of Tennessee Williams’ Spring Storm. Among the many playwrights he’s worked with are John Robin Baitz, Anthony Clarvoe, Don DeLillo, John Guare, David Hare, William Hauptman, Arthur Kopit, Neil Labute, David Lodge, Donald Margulies, David Mamet and Wallace Shawn. Bloom has been associate artistic director at Hartman Theatre Company and associate director at American Repertory Theatre. He has taught at New York University, Harvard University, University of Texas and Scripps College. His articles have appeared in American Theatre Magazine and The New York Times; and his book Thinking Like a Director was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in 2001. less is the eighth artistic director of Cleveland Play House. Recently for CPH he adapted Emma (published by Samuel French) and directed Lost in Yonkers, Heaven’s My Destination, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Lincolnesque, Rabbit Hole and Well. He has directed at many of the country’s other major theatres including American Repertory... more
The Fagin Effect
May 12, Helen Rosenfeld Lewis Bialosky Lab Theatre
written by CPH Artistic Director Michael Bloom
directed by Laura Kepley
