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Short and Sweet: Three Plays

About the Artists

Jennifer Dean (Jessie, Commit Me to Memory) has a B.A. in Theatre from UCLA and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and Circle in the Square in New York. In San Francisco she has worked with the Bare Bones Theater Company, Custom Made Theater Company, First Seen, Three Wise Monkeys and produced plays through her own company La Vache Enragee (www.lveproductions.com). Her upcoming performances include Karen in David Mamet’s Speed the Plow, Jesse in Karen Macklin’s Commit Me to Memory, and Ralph in Woman’s Will’s Lord of the Flies.

Jessica Fudim (choreographer, Ritual Trio) had a marvellous time collaborating with the Ritual Trio gang. Jessica just returned from NY where she presented her rock-theater choreography at the Ur Performance Space and The Charleston in Brooklyn, and at New York City’s Mercury Lounge with the rock band I Love You. She was a founding co-director and faculty member of The Experimental Performance Institute (EPI) at New College of California, and over the last 5 years she has shown her multi-media performance work at Bay Area venues such as New College, Dancers Group, Brady Street Dance Center, Theatre Artaud’s Twilight Salon, Studio Z, The Store, Sonoma Community Center, and has also performed at ODC, Venue 9, and Intersection for the Arts. Jessica’s alter ego Tabby Loid Fluffman, is a proud member of the all-girl group, Stink 69.

Elizabeth Gjelten (playwright, Ritual Trio) came to playwriting as a writers and performer in solo theater and poetry theater. A former member of Writers Who Act (with Bill Talen) and the Z-Space Artists Residency Program, she performed her own work at the Working Women Festival (at Il Teatro 450), Venue 9, The Marsh, Climate Theater, Life on the Water, and other venues around the Bay Area. She has also staged readings of her play sat Greenhouse (at Teatro Esperanza) and the Magic Theater. Along with her ongoing studies in poetics with Diane di Prima, she is currently in the MFA program in playwriting at SFSU.

Jennifer Kollmer (playwright, Hit the Muscle)'s work has appeared in Fourteen Hills and has been performed in Washington, DC at the Kennedy Center, in New York at the Boomerang Theatre Company, and in San Francisco through the Greenhouse workshop at El Teatro De La Esperanza, the PlayGround Emerging Playwrights Festival, Luna Sea Theater, and in an abandoned bunker in the Marin Headlands. Kollmer's You're It was a finalist in the Actors Theatre of Louisville National Ten-Minute Play Contest. For more on Jen, check out her website.

Daniel Lai (Bartender, Ritual Trio) will play Stu in Act Now!’s production of Talk Radio in July, and is thrilled to be on board this round with Durable Theatre. Recent film credits include Orlando in Business or Pleasure and Myron in The Truth. He also is, occasionally, a standardized patient and medical educator for UCSF & Stanford’s School of Medicine. FYI, he may add to his name. Daniel has a B.A. in Drama from San Francisco State.

Nicole Lungerhausen (Holly, Hit the Muscle) is thrilled to be working with Durable Theatre on Hit the Muscle. A performer for over ten years, she most recently appeared in the West Coast premiere of A Man of No Importance at the New Conservatory Theatre Center. Her other credits include work at the Exit Theatre, Teatro de la Esperanza, the San Diego Comic Opera, and the San Diego Repertory Theatre. Nicole holds a B.A. in Theatre and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.

Karen Macklin (playwright, Commit Me to Memory, director) is a local playwright, director, journalist, and poet from Brooklyn, New York. Her articles have been published bicoastally in major newspapers and magazines including The New York Times and San Francisco Weekly. Her plays -- which include Popping the Cherry, And Baby Makes Two, Commit Me to Memory, and Mr. President--have received readings and/or productions in San Francisco (at Actors Theatre, Eureka Theatre, Mason Street Theatre, and Teatro de la Esperanza), and have been chosen as finalists for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, the Actors Theatre of Louisville Heideman Award and Humana Festival, and the American Theatre Co-op Playwriting Award. She has been fortunate enough to work in the past as an assistant director to master theatre artists Octavio Solis and Erik Ehn, and is thrilled to be working with such a talented ensemble of actors, playwrights and designers on Short and Sweet.

Sarah Mitchell (Lisa, Hit the Muscle) has worked with such Bay Area companies as Killing My Lobster, Three Wise Monkeys, Isis Arts Collective, and Thunderbird Theater Company. This is her second visit to the SF Fringe Festival, the first being last year's Best of Fringe Winner and Best Comedy winner "A Beautiful Man" (which scored a Dean Goodman Choice award for Ensemble Acting along the way). Next up: Killing My Lobster Goes to the Polls at the ODC Theater in October.

Fred Pitts (Michael, Hit the Muscle) has been performing since before he was born. He has won several TONY AWARDS, 3 OSCARS, and a Lifetime Underachievement award from the ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY of Kansas. Currently starring in a made-for-TV movie about his life on THE ANIMAL CHANNEL. When he's not making up false theater bios, he's glad to be working again with Karen Macklin.

Jan Probst (Woman, Ritual Trio) studied acting at the Bennett TheatreLab, has an MFA in playwriting from SFSU and is a member of Barewitness Films. Her last appearance at the Fringe was in '99 with her solo show No Fences. Jan thanks the Durable gang for the sweet opportunity to play someone other than a mom or an aunt, and Anna Rahe of Grace Pilates for helping her find her way home. For more on Jan, see www.janprobst.com.

Eric Rice (Man, Ritual Trio) holds a B.A. in Drama, Emphasis in Acting, from SDSU, made possible through funding from the U.S. Army G.I. Bill/College Fund. He's a company member with Three Wise Monkeys Theatre Company and Managing Director of Unidentified Theatre Company. He's also a member of the SAG. His most recent roles were Adam in Custom Made Theatre Company's premiere production of Commit Me To Memory at the 2004 BOA Festival and Bunny in the premiere of A Beautiful Home for the Incurable at Pear Avenue Theatre.

David Stein (Adam, Commit Me to Memory) spent this summer performing with the Shotgun Players in "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" and played a variety of roles in the sketch comedy "Speed the Play", part of Shotgun's annual SASSAFRAS Fundraiser. He has also worked with Killing My Lobster, Three Wise Monkeys and the Encore Theatre Company. This is his first Fringe experience and he is excited to be working with the Durable crew. For more on David, see his website.

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