The Thanksgiving Play

Megan Graves (Logan) is delighted to be returning to Olney after appearing in the American Premiere of Oil! REGIONAL: Arena Stage: The Great Society, The Little Foxes; Folger Theatre: Love's Labor's Lost, King John, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Second Shepherd's Play; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Gloria; Studio Theatre: Translations; Constellation Theatre Company: Peter and the Starcatcher; The Hub Theatre: Redder Blood; Virginia Repertory Theatre: Peter and the Starcatcher. EDUCATION: BFA in Acting from Shenandoah Conservatory. UPCOMING: Olney Theatre Center: Dance Nation. Megan is a proud company member of Only Make Believe, a non-profit organization that creates theatre with children in hospitals, care facilities, and special education settings. onlymakebelieve.org

Dani Stoller (Alicia) is an actor and playwright originally from Brooklyn, New York. Her playwriting credits include Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes, which had its premiere at Signature Theater, Accepts With Pleasure, and the upcoming The Joy That Carries You written with Awa Sal Secka and premiering spring 2022 here at Olney! Past performing credits include: Olney Theatre Center: The Diary of Anne Frank, The Humans, The Crucible, and Annie. Other DC credits include productions at The Folger, Keegan Theatre, 1st Stage, Studio Theater, and The Kennedy Center. www.danistoller.com

Parker Drown (Jaxton) is thrilled to be back at OLNEY THEATRE CENTER. Previous Olney Theatre Center credits include: A Chorus Line, Spring Awakening, Cinderella, Grease, Joseph… OFF-BROADWAY: The Lightning Thief. REGIONAL: People’s Light: Dot; Penguin Rep: Buyer and Cellar. DC AREA: Signature Theatre: Kid Victory Hairspray; The Keegan Theatre: RENT [2010 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor]; Rep Stage: Speech and Debate; Toby’s Dinner Theatre: The Producers, All Shook Up, et al. EDUCATION: BFA in Acting from Syracuse University, and proud alumnus of the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center.

David Schlumpf (Caden) was previously seen at Olney as Buddy in Elf! [Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical] and Billis in South Pacific. DC AREA: Round House Theatre: Sleep Deprivation Chamber [Drama League Nomination for Outstanding Digital Theatre], Theatre J: Sheltered. NATIONAL TOUR: Grease, the Musical. CHICAGO AREA: Writers Theatre: Next to Normal (directed by David Cromer), Days Like Today, Goodman Theater: Dartmoor Prison, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre: Sense and Sensibility, As You Like It, Timon of Athens, Marriott Theatre: She Loves Me, Evita, Paramount Theatre: The Who’s Tommy. EDUCATION: BFA Musical Theatre from University of Florida and MFA Acting from Roosevelt University, Chicago College of the Performing Arts. Next up, Signature Theatre: She Loves Me.

Conor Patrick Donahue (he/him/his) (Jaxton, Caden u/s) is excited to make his debut at Olney Theatre Center alongside the cast of Thanksgiving Play. DC area credits include: Dog Sees God (Prologue Theatre); Escape from Peligro Island (Imagination Stage); Treasure Island (Synetic Theater); The Nutcracker (Puppet Theater Co); Lobby Hero, Appropriate (Silver Spring Stage). Conor is a graduate of the Studio Acting Conservatory and holds a BA in Theatre from Warren Wilson College.

Mishy Jacobson (Logan, Alicia u/s): La Jolla Playhouse WOW: Allegory (Charlotte L. Pierce); Shakespeare at Stratford: Coriolanus (Coriolanus), The Winter’s Tale (Emilia, Dorcas); The O’Neill Theater Center (Workshop Productions): Sit with Us (Mishy), A Musical History of the Modern Motor Vehicle (Nightrider), An Adaptation of the Oresteia (Electra, Chorus); Ovalhouse Theater (Off West-End, London): Under Milk Wood (Voice 1, Polly Garter); BADA: Miss Julie (Miss Julie), The Tempest (Miranda), Fewer Emergencies (Voice 1); Bonn Studio Theater: Honor, Shame, and Violence/Tina Packer’s Shakespeare Anthology Project (Juliet). Education: BA in Theatre from Boston College (Summa Cum Laude), certificate from The British American Drama Academy (BADA), Shakespeare & Company, National Theater Institute, Shakespeare Academy at Stratford. Mishy recently produced The Renaissance Reborn: In Conversation with Carl Cofield and Ty Jones. She also compiles the annual report for the United Nation’s Human Rights Initiative, The Cites for CEDAW, presented at the annual Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CSW). Mishy is currently interning with Christopher Bayes (Head of Physical Acting at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, Pandemonium Founder).

Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota) is an award-winning playwright. Larissa's produced plays include The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons, Artists Rep), What Would Crazy Horse Do? (KCRep, Relative Theatrics), Urban Rez (Cornerstone Theater Company, ASU Gammage, NEFA National tour 2019-20), Landless and Cow Pie Bingo (AlterTheater), Average Family (Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis), Teaching Disco Squaredancing to Our Elders: a Class Presentation (Native Voices at the Autry), Vanishing Point (Eagle Project) and Cherokee Family Reunion (Mountainside Theater).

Additional theaters that have commissioned or developed plays with Larissa include Yale Rep, History Theater, Kennedy Center TYA, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Arizona Theater Company, Mixed Blood, Perseverance Theater Company, The Lark Playwrights Week, the Center Theatre Group Writer’s Workshop and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor.

Larissa’s awards include the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award for an American Playwright, NEA Distinguished New Play Development Grant, Joe Dowling Annamaghkerrig Fellowship, AATE Distinguished Play Award, Inge Residency, Sundance/Ford Foundation Fellowship, Aurand Harris Fellowship, the UCLA Native American Program Woman of the Year and numerous Creative Capital, Ford, Mellon and NEA Grants.

Larissa is the vice chair of the board of directors of Theater Communications group and represented by Jonathan Mills at Paradigm NY. More info at hoganhorsestudio.com.

Raymond O. Caldwell (Director) Born in Wiesbaden, Germany and raised all over the world, Raymond O. Caldwell (he/him/his) is an award-winning director and producer who has been leading Washington, DC’s Theater Alliance as Producing Artistic Director since 2018. He has directed for Round House, Imagination Stage, Mosaic Theater, The Kennedy Center, National Players/OTC, Solas Nua, CulturalDC, and the Hegira. Prior to leading Theater Alliance, he was a faculty member and resident director in Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts for six years, and spent six seasons as the Community Engagement Partnership Manager at Arena Stage. He is committed to using theatre as a tool to transform communities, and has worked with a number of non-profits and NGOs throughout the world. In July 2019—in partnership with the US Department of State and NGOs based in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal—he developed theatre with artists and activists to promote peace and counter violent extremism. He has done similar work throughout the US, India, Ukraine, and Croatia. MFA, Acting/New Play Development: The Ohio State University; BFA, Acting: University of Florida.

Tashiana Quiñones (Production Stage Manager) is a Stage Manager from Northern New Jersey who has studied with both Rutgers, Mason Gross School of The Arts Conservatory and The Olney Theatre Center Apprenticeship. Olney Theatre Center credits include: The Royale, Singin’ In The Rain, Miss You Like Hell and The Humans (Virtual). Independent credits include: Orphans (directed by Nicholas Polonio), Frailty Thy Name (Nutshell Theatre Company), and the short film Where Do The Birds Go? (directed by Israel Orengo). Live Event credits include: Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit NYC.

Milagros Ponce de León (Set Designer) Previous Olney Theatre Center credits include: Miss you Like Hell, Matilda, In the Heights, Sweeney Todd, Carousel, Once on this Island; Washington, DC AREA: Signature Theatre: Detroit’67; Round House: Quixote Nuevo; Ford’s, Artistic Associate: Silent Sky, Into the Woods, Jefferson’s Garden, Ragtime; Olney Theatre; Gala Hispanic Theatre: Life is a Dream, The Sins of Sor Juana; Imagination Stage: The Little Mermaid, Heidi, 101 Dalmatians, Rapunzel; Kennedy Center Family Theatre, Rep Stage, Theatre Alliance, Studio Theatre 2nd Stage, Washington Ballet. REGIONAL: Everyman Theatre: Steel Magnolias; Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Penn State Centre Stage. Upcoming projects include Mountaintop at Ford’s Theatre. AWARDS: 5 Helen Hayes nominations. TEACHING: Head of the BFA Theatre Design & Technology Program at Penn State, member of USA-829. EDUCATION: University of Maryland: MFA Scenic Design, MFA Drawing & Painting; Pontifical Catholic University of Peru: BFA Drawing & Painting.

Jeannette Christensen (Costume Designer) Design credits include: The Kennedy Center - Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, How to Catch a Star, and Earthrise. Adventure Theater MTC - Elephant & Piggie: We are in a Play! (Helen Hayes Nominated - Outstanding Costume Design), Blueberries for Sal, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, and Luchadora (upcoming). Gala Hispanic Theater - Que las Hay!, Picasso, El Perro del Hortelano, Ella es Tango, and On Your Feet (upcoming). Theater Alliance - The Blackest Battle, Quadrant Series, Protest in 8, and Day of Absence. 4615 Theater - Museum 2040, Lion in Winter, King John, Separate Rooms, and The Infinite Tales. Olney Theater Center - National Players Tour 70. Other regional credits include Pointless Theater, Imagination Stage, Monumental Theater, Dance Exchange, and Mosaic Theater. She has assisted with costume designs for American Players Theater, Roundhouse Theatre, Folger Theatre, Wolf Trap Opera, and Studio Theater. She has worked as a costume designer/mentor with Arizona State University, University of Maryland, Bowie State University, American University, and George Washington University. Education: BA in Design & Production from Arizona State University, MFA in Design from the University of Maryland. Find more of her work at jchristensendesign.com.

Alberto Segarra (Lighting Designer) Selected Washington, D.C. credits include: Quixote Nuevo at Round House Theatre, Good People at Keegan Theatre, Tender Age at Studio Theatre, El Perro del Hortelano at GALA Theatre, Earthrise at The Kennedy Center, Blood at the Root at Theater Alliance (Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lighting Design), The Agitators, Vicuña & the American Epilogue, and Satchmo at the Waldorf at Mosaic Theater, and An Act of God at Signature Theatre. Regional credits include 1776 and The Gift Horse at New Repertory Theatre and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at BlueBarn Theatre. Alberto received his MFA in Lighting Design from the University of Maryland, College Park, and he is a USA 829 member. Upcoming projects include: Acoustic Rooster at The Kennedy Center, White Noise at Studio Theatre, Dear Mapel at Mosaic Theatre, and The Three Musketeers at Cleveland Play House. albertosegarra.com.

Kelly Colburn (she/they/Kelly) (Co-Projections Designer) is a multi-disciplinary artist working as a producer, director, designer, and deviser for live performance. She is the Artistic Lead for Theatre at Flying V as well as the Digital Producer at Theater Alliance. She is a DCCAH Fellowship Awardee, a recipient of a 2019 Helen Hayes Award for Lighting/Projections Design for Blood At The Root (co-received with Alberto Segarra), a 2017-2018 NextLOOK Resident and a recipient of the 2018 Jim Henson Puppetry Grant. BFA NYU Tisch ’11 | MFA UMD ’18. www.kellycolburn.com

Dylan Uremovich (Co-Projections Designer) is a DC based lighting and multimedia artist. His other DMV area collaborators include Everyman Theatre, Mosaic Theater, Pointless Theater Company, CulturalDC, Infinity Theatre Company, Everyman Theater, University of Maryland, Dance Place, S.J. Ewing & Dancers, Orange Grove Dance, Xing Dance Theater and The Kennedy Center. His twin artistic obsessions are telling amazing stories and creating interactive designed environments. Check out more of his work at UremovichDesign.com.

Tosin Olufolabi (Sound Designer) is a sound designer, deviser & facilitator. Her sound designs include The Wind in the Door, The Adventures of Xenia Oya (Kennedy Center TYA); Ghost/Writer (Rep Stage); In the Middle of the Fields (Solas Nua); Hi, Are You Single?, Gloria (Woolly Mammoth); Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Dancing Men, Loveday Brooke in the Mystery of the Drawn Daggers & Lovers’ Vows (We Happy Few); Head Over Heels (Monumental Theater); My Barking Dog (Edge of the Universe Players 2); Sleep Deprivation Chamber, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Round House Theatre); Ties That Bind, Caucasian Chalk Circle & Antigone (Catholic University); God is Dead & April is Getting Married (Three Muses); Peepshow (dog & pony dc); Abortion Road Trip & Soldier Poet (Theatre Prometheus); Lela & Co. (Factory 449); Blacktop Sky (York College). Assistant design credits include Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Kennedy Center TYA); One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest & Baggage (Gallaudet University); Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth, Thumbelina, Anatole & Davy Copperfield (Imagination Stage); Still Life with Rocket (Theater Alliance).