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May 11 - 20, 2017 , The Helen

These Mortal Hosts

World Premiere Production

Written by Eric Coble
Directed by Laley Lippard

What happens when you discover you're not alone in your body? In this world premiere play, Cleveland writer Eric Coble takes us to the tiny town of Dove Creek, Colorado, where three seemingly random locals find themselves at the center of mysteries—and potential miracles. As their lives become increasingly linked, the line between faith and madness begins to thin, and these former strangers hurtle down a course of life-changing proportions.

Photos & Videos Download Hi Res Photos

From left to right: Amy Fritsche (Phyllis), Megan Medley (Meaghan), and Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

From left to right: Amy Fritsche (Phyllis), Megan Medley (Meaghan), and Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

From left to right: Megan Medley (Meaghan), Amy Fritsche (Phyllis), and Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

Amy Fritsche (Phyllis). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

From left to right: Amy Fritsche (Phyllis), Fabio Polanco (Earl), and Megan Medley (Meaghan) . Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

From left to right: Amy Fritsche (Phyllis) and Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

Megan Medley (Meaghan). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

Megan Medley (Meaghan). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

Amy Fritsche (Phyllis). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

From left to right: Megan Medley (Meaghan) and Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

From left to right: Megan Medley (Meaghan) and Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

From left to right: Amy Fritsche (Phyllis), Megan Medley (Meaghan), and Fabio Polanco (Earl). Photo credit: Michelle Berki.

Artists

Amy Fritsche

Amy Fritsche

(Phyllis) previously appeared at Cleveland Play House in the world premiere of These Mortal Hosts and the reading of Little Row Boat or, Conjecture. She toured nationally with Annie and internationally in the world premiere of Best Intentions in London, England and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Regionally, she more(Phyllis) previously appeared at Cleveland Play House in the world premiere of These Mortal Hosts and the reading of Little Row Boat or, Conjecture. She toured nationally with Annie and internationally in the world premiere of Best Intentions in London, England and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Regionally, she has performed with Phoenix Theater, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, CATCO Theatre, and Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles. Locally at Cleveland Public Theatre, Dobama Theatre, Porthouse Theatre, and Mamai Theatre. Favorite roles include, Arcadia (Hannah Jarvis), Superior Donuts(Officer Randy), As You Like It (Rosalind), A Little Night Music (Countess Charlotte), Annie (Grace Farrell), Chapter Two (Jenny) and Violet (Violet). She received the 2015 Cleveland Critics Circle Theater Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Violet. She is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Kent State University and is a proud member of SAG/AFTRA, AGVA, and AEA.

Megan Medley

Megan Medley

(Meaghan) Megan Medley is so grateful to this class for all that they have shared together in this program and is ready to hit the Big Apple and start the next adventure. Most recently, she tore it up with her classmates as Lady M in Macbeth. At Cleveland Play more(Meaghan) Megan Medley is so grateful to this class for all that they have shared together in this program and is ready to hit the Big Apple and start the next adventure. Most recently, she tore it up with her classmates as Lady M in Macbeth. At Cleveland Play House she learned a lot understudying Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank, and had a blast playing in Shakespeare in Love. Since joining the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program she has performed alongside her classmates in She Stoops to Conquer, Clybourne Park, Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses, and the world premiere of The Good Peaches. She had the wondrous opportunity to perform in the world premiere of These Mortal Hosts at the New Ground Theatre Festival. Other credits include Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Giselle (NoExit Performance); and Rapture, Blister, Burn (Theatre on the Square). She would like to thank her love Aurélien Bayo and her family for their love and support and her sweet kitties!

Fabio Polanco

Fabio Polanco

(Earl) has previously appeared at Cleveland Play House in These Mortal Hosts, The Crucible, A Grand Night for Singing, The Grapes of Wrath, and the reading of Informed Consent. Most recently, he directed In Pieces: A New Musical by Joey Contreras in conjunction with the composer/lyricist, and facilitated Creando more(Earl) has previously appeared at Cleveland Play House in These Mortal Hosts, The Crucible, A Grand Night for Singing, The Grapes of Wrath, and the reading of Informed Consent. Most recently, he directed In Pieces: A New Musical by Joey Contreras in conjunction with the composer/lyricist, and facilitated Creando Teatro for Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center in Cleveland. Other credits include the Broadway national tour of Les Misérables, and roles at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Signature Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Great Lakes Theater, Musical Theatre Project, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Porthouse Theatre, Cleveland Musical Theatre, Cain Park, Dobama Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, and numerous film and television credits. Fabio holds an M.F.A. from Case Western Reserve University. He is an associate professor of theatre at Kent State University, and has been a member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1996.

Michael Boll

(Lighting Designer) is a Cleveland-based Lighting Designer. His Cleveland Play House designs include Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, Pipeline, Native Gardens, An Iliad, The Invisible Hand, The Good Peaches, The Little Foxes, Venus in Fur, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, In the Next Room or the more(Lighting Designer) is a Cleveland-based Lighting Designer. His Cleveland Play House designs include Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, Pipeline, Native Gardens, An Iliad, The Invisible Hand, The Good Peaches, The Little Foxes, Venus in Fur, Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, and Stew and the Negro Problem. Productions with the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program include Macbeth, Metamorphoses, The Winter's Tale, An Orchard, and Angels in America: Millennium Approaches. Other Cleveland lighting design work includes Cleveland Public Theatre, Karamu House, Cain Park, Cleveland Museum of Art, Dobama Theatre and Beck Center for the Arts. Off-Broadway credits include The Moliere Cycle (Classic Stage Company), Songs for a New World (George Street Playhouse), Dog Sees God (SoHo Playhouse) and The Moonlight Room (Associate Lighting Designer, Beckett Theatre). His work has also been seen at the N.Y. Fringe Festival, La MaMa E.T.C., HERE Arts Center, and Yale Cabaret.

Eric Coble

Eric Coble

(Playwright) plays include The Velocity of Autumn (Tony- and Pulitzer-nominated), Fairfield, These Mortal Hosts, Bright Ideas, and The Giver. Eric’s plays have been produced Off-Broadway, in all fifty states of the U.S., and on several continents, including productions at Cleveland Play House, Manhattan Class Company, The Kennedy Center, Actors more(Playwright) plays include The Velocity of Autumn (Tony- and Pulitzer-nominated), Fairfield, These Mortal Hosts, Bright Ideas, and The Giver. Eric’s plays have been produced Off-Broadway, in all fifty states of the U.S., and on several continents, including productions at Cleveland Play House, Manhattan Class Company, The Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre, Alliance Theatre, New York and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Habima Theatre (Israel), Pentacion Productions (Spain), Teatr Polski (Poland), Orange Row (Mexico), and the Contemporary American Theatre Festival (U.S.) Awards include two AATE Distinguished Play Awards for Best Adaptation, an Emmy nomination, the Chorpenning Playwriting Award for Body of Work, the AT&T Onstage Award, National Theatre Conference Playwriting Award, an NEA Playwright in Residence Grant, a TCG Extended Collaboration Grant, the Cleveland Arts Prize, two Cuyahoga Arts and Culture Fellowships, and four Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Grants. Twenty-seven of Mr. Coble’s scripts have been published by Dramatists Play Service, Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, Smith & Krause and others.

Esther M. Haberlen

(Costume Designer) has credits with the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program that include The Misanthrope, Too True to Be Good, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and last season's Passage. Her scores of theater and opera design credits range with companies as diverse as Great Lakes Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Lake more(Costume Designer) has credits with the CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program that include The Misanthrope, Too True to Be Good, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and last season's Passage. Her scores of theater and opera design credits range with companies as diverse as Great Lakes Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Opera Theater, Cleveland Institute of Music, Chagrin Valley Performing Arts Academy, Willoughby Fine Arts Association, Cleveland Public Theatre, and the Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Music. Esther holds a BFA in theater production and design from the State University of New York (Fredonia), and also worked as a costume technician at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and The Chautauqua Conservatory. Esther is costume shop director for GLT and its sister theatres, Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. A native of Syracuse, New York, she has proudly called Cleveland home since 2003.

Tom Humes

(Stage Manager) returns for his sixth season as a resident member of the stage management staff at Cleveland Play House. Selected area stage management credits include Memphis, Rock of Ages, Godspell, The Frogs, Smokey Joe's Café, Avenue Q, Pippin, and Oliver! (Cain Park); Le Nozze di Figaro and more(Stage Manager) returns for his sixth season as a resident member of the stage management staff at Cleveland Play House. Selected area stage management credits include Memphis, Rock of Ages, Godspell, The Frogs, Smokey Joe's Café, Avenue Q, Pippin, and Oliver! (Cain Park); Le Nozze di Figaro and Cosi Fan Tutte (The Cleveland Orchestra); Tosca, La Boheme, and Lucia Di Lammermoor (Opera Cleveland); Caroline, or Change (Dobama Theatre and Karamu House); and History Boys (Beck Center for the Arts). He is a proud member of both Actors' Equity Association and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE). He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with a minor in Mathematics from Bowling Green State University.

Roc Lee

(Sound Designer) is a DC based Composer/Sound Designer. He holds a Master of Music in Stage Music Composition from CUA. Credits include: The Year of Magical Thinking, Mother Courage (Arena Stage); CHARM, Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies (Mosaic Theater); Fickle Fancy Farce, Dial M for Murder, assistant on more(Sound Designer) is a DC based Composer/Sound Designer. He holds a Master of Music in Stage Music Composition from CUA. Credits include: The Year of Magical Thinking, Mother Courage (Arena Stage); CHARM, Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies (Mosaic Theater); Fickle Fancy Farce, Dial M for Murder, assistant on The Diary of Anne Frank (Olney Theater Center); Our Town (Faction of Fools); The Revolutionists (Catholic University); Romeo and Juliet (We Happy Few); In the Red and Brown Water, Insurrection, Begotten, Visible Impact (Georgetown University); Sleeping Beauty (Pointless Theatre); Seneca El Raton de Biblioteca, In the Heights (GALA Hispanic Theater). roclee.net

Laley Lippard

Laley Lippard

(Director) is a freelance director, producer, and educator focused on directing new work and developing new plays. She is the founding executive producer of the Chicago Home Theater Festival, which aims to curate performances and conversations that directly disrupt injustice. Currently, she is a proud member of the Cleveland more(Director) is a freelance director, producer, and educator focused on directing new work and developing new plays. She is the founding executive producer of the Chicago Home Theater Festival, which aims to curate performances and conversations that directly disrupt injustice. Currently, she is a proud member of the Cleveland Play House community as the directing fellow under mentorship of artistic director Laura Kepley; as well as the directing fellow with the O’Neill Theater Center, NNPN, and Kennedy Center. Laley has directed at Steppenwolf Theatre, Magic Theatre, foolsFURY Theater, Remmy Bumppo, Seaside Repertory Theater, and Virginia Stage Company, including the world premiere of Matt Pelfry’s Pure Shock Value at Exit Theatre in San Francisco and her world premiere and original adaptation of Macbeth at the side project in Chicago. As an artistic associate at Magic Theatre, Laley produced and directed for the theatre’s new play workshop ZMagic and lead the playwright’s forum sevenby7. She has served on literary panels at O’Neill, The Playwrights’ Center, Steppenwolf Theatre, Playwrights Foundation, Magic Theatre, and TheatreWorks and has workshopped plays with O’Neill Theater Center, Alliance Theatre, American Theater Company, Just Theatre, and The Garage. Laley has worked with HowlRound and the AVNPI at Arena Stage, Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Court Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre. Laley is a proud member of the Society Directors and Choreographers, the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and SDC Directing Observership Program. She holds an M.F.A. in Directing from Northwestern University.

Cameron Caley Michalak

(Scenic Designer) is thrilled to be back with CWRU MFA Program! Regional Theatrical design credits include: Cleveland Play House productions of These Mortal Hosts, Venus in Fur, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and A Soldier’s Tale with Catch and Release. CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program’s design credits include Passage, She more(Scenic Designer) is thrilled to be back with CWRU MFA Program! Regional Theatrical design credits include: Cleveland Play House productions of These Mortal Hosts, Venus in Fur, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and A Soldier’s Tale with Catch and Release. CWRU/CPH MFA Acting Program’s design credits include Passage, She Stoops to Conquer, A Philadelphia Story, The Three Sisters, The Misanthrope and The Winter's Tale. Cleveland Ballet’s The Nutcracker Suite, Alice, Provocativo. Selected local credits include When Farah Cries (Borderlight International Theatre Festival); Dance Nation, John, Appropriate, The Effect, The Night Alive, Becky Shaw (Dobama); Les Misérables, Mary Poppins, The Wiz, Assassins, (Near West Theatre); Meteor Shower, Really Really, and Seminar (Beck Center); and Aida, Sweeney Todd and Hairspray, among many others (M.A.D. Factory). Cameron recently completed his MFA from Goddard College, and acts as Technical Director and Instructor for Cleveland State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance

CPH Donor Generosity is Worthy of a Curtain Call!

CPH Donor Generosity is Worthy of a Curtain Call!

CPH Donor Generosity is Worthy of a Curtain Call! We have been honored by the outpouring of support we have received from you in reaction to this cri...

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