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Saturday, March 15
A staged reading of
AC / DC
About the play
A nurse and her colleagues navigate the highs and lows of human connection within their hospital walls during the height of the pandemic. In a parallel fantasy universe, a long-dreamed-of trip to Europe, originally planned for March 2020, becomes a testament to the healing power of imagination. Meanwhile, the arrival of an unexpected grandchild brings a profound and vulnerable kind of love, posing the ultimate question: In a world filled with uncertainty and inevitable loss, why risk loving at all?
elaine magree, Playwright
Elaine Magree is a Theatre Maker: director, writer, performer, and teacher. She is métis (French/Indigenous) with ancestors from three continents.
She was the director of The Artist in Residence Program and Co-Director of The New Music Theatre Project at The Z Space, is a recipient of The Sui Generis Award and a two time nominee for Theatre Bay Area’s Best Solo Show award. She was a Regent’s Fellow at UC Davis where she received an MFA in Directing. She is currently a Brady Fellow at Three Girls Theatre where her play AC/DC is in development.
Her company, The Whole Works, toured the west coast including The People’s Theatre Festival and The National Women’s Theatre Festival. Elaine’s work has also been seen at The Magic Theatre (Michael McClure), The California Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Artaud (Lauren Elder’s Surrender) The Marsh, The 54th St. Theatre NYC, Brava, and at festivals and venues across the country. She served as adjunct faculty at San Francisco City College and Solano College. She taught theatre classes for youth at The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and for women in Sacramento County jails and in recovery centers and shelters.
She was the director of The Artist in Residence Program and Co-Director of The New Music Theatre Project at The Z Space, is a recipient of The Sui Generis Award and a two time nominee for Theatre Bay Area’s Best Solo Show award. She was a Regent’s Fellow at UC Davis where she received an MFA in Directing. She is currently a Brady Fellow at Three Girls Theatre where her play AC/DC is in development.
Her company, The Whole Works, toured the west coast including The People’s Theatre Festival and The National Women’s Theatre Festival. Elaine’s work has also been seen at The Magic Theatre (Michael McClure), The California Shakespeare Festival, Theatre Artaud (Lauren Elder’s Surrender) The Marsh, The 54th St. Theatre NYC, Brava, and at festivals and venues across the country. She served as adjunct faculty at San Francisco City College and Solano College. She taught theatre classes for youth at The East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and for women in Sacramento County jails and in recovery centers and shelters.
Susannah Martin, Director
A director, teacher, performer, and theatre maker of Tunisian heritage, and a Sephardic/Mizrahi Jewish feminist-activist-artist, Susannah has taught and directed for organizations throughout the Bay Area. For five years, she was the Joint Artistic Director of Paducah Mining Co., a San Francisco-based theatre ensemble that produced acclaimed work by established playwrights and devised original pieces on complex material such as domestic terrorism, spousal abuse, and poverty in America. During her tenure with Paducah, she was awarded three Dean Goodman Choice Awards. She is also a Bay Area Critic’s Circle, Broadway World, and Shellie Award nominee.
Recent, selected directing credits include: the world-premiere of Lisa Ramirez’s Book of Sand (a fairytale) for Oakland Theater Project; Denmo Ibrahim’s Arab Spring for the the Bay Area Playwright’s Festival; Nabra Nelson’s What to Expect When You’re Simulating Expecting for Golden Thread Productions’ New Threads Reading Series; Carol S. Lashof’s The Melting Pot for Those Women Productions; Betty Shamieh’s Make No Mistake for both All New People and Golden Thread Productions; Alejandra Rivas and Kimiya Shokri’s Magic Fruit as part of TheatreFirst’s serial season; Elaine Magree’s pussygrabbingREVENGE as part of TheatreFirst’s History Keeps Me Awake; Sheila Callaghan’s Women Laughing Alone With Salad, David Greig’s The Events, and Christopher Chen’s Caught at Shotgun Players (Company Member); the world-premiere of Dipika Guha’s In Braunau for the San Francisco Playhouse; and countless readings and workshops for companies as varied as the Aurora Theatre Company, Playwright’s Foundation, The Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and Z Space.
Susannah is currently the Theatre Director and Arts Program Coordinator at San Francisco University High School as well as Guest Faculty at Saint Mary’s College. She was formerly Adjunct Faculty at Los Medanos College and a Guest Lecturer at UC Davis where she taught Introduction to Directing. She taught movement, voice, acting, and composition for the California Shakespeare Theater for twelve years and directed several Shakespeare productions for their 5-week summer conservatory, including Julius Caesar, All’s Well That Ends Well, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, Titus Andronicus and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Susannah has also taught for Berkeley Playhouse, Sonoma County Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Porchlight Theatre Company, the New Conservatory Theatre, and a variety of high schools throughout San Francisco and the East Bay.
Susannah received her BFA in Theatre from NYU, where she studied Composition and Directing with such noted teachers as Anne Bogart, Bob Moss, Marleen Pennison, and Todd London. She received her MFA in Directing from UC Davis, where she studied Directing and Choreography with Sarah Pia Anderson, Irina Brown, Peter Lichtenfels, and Della Davidson.
She strongly believes in fostering new voices and developing young storytellers to build and transform our communities.
Recent, selected directing credits include: the world-premiere of Lisa Ramirez’s Book of Sand (a fairytale) for Oakland Theater Project; Denmo Ibrahim’s Arab Spring for the the Bay Area Playwright’s Festival; Nabra Nelson’s What to Expect When You’re Simulating Expecting for Golden Thread Productions’ New Threads Reading Series; Carol S. Lashof’s The Melting Pot for Those Women Productions; Betty Shamieh’s Make No Mistake for both All New People and Golden Thread Productions; Alejandra Rivas and Kimiya Shokri’s Magic Fruit as part of TheatreFirst’s serial season; Elaine Magree’s pussygrabbingREVENGE as part of TheatreFirst’s History Keeps Me Awake; Sheila Callaghan’s Women Laughing Alone With Salad, David Greig’s The Events, and Christopher Chen’s Caught at Shotgun Players (Company Member); the world-premiere of Dipika Guha’s In Braunau for the San Francisco Playhouse; and countless readings and workshops for companies as varied as the Aurora Theatre Company, Playwright’s Foundation, The Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Crowded Fire Theatre Company, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and Z Space.
Susannah is currently the Theatre Director and Arts Program Coordinator at San Francisco University High School as well as Guest Faculty at Saint Mary’s College. She was formerly Adjunct Faculty at Los Medanos College and a Guest Lecturer at UC Davis where she taught Introduction to Directing. She taught movement, voice, acting, and composition for the California Shakespeare Theater for twelve years and directed several Shakespeare productions for their 5-week summer conservatory, including Julius Caesar, All’s Well That Ends Well, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Measure for Measure, Titus Andronicus and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Susannah has also taught for Berkeley Playhouse, Sonoma County Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Porchlight Theatre Company, the New Conservatory Theatre, and a variety of high schools throughout San Francisco and the East Bay.
Susannah received her BFA in Theatre from NYU, where she studied Composition and Directing with such noted teachers as Anne Bogart, Bob Moss, Marleen Pennison, and Todd London. She received her MFA in Directing from UC Davis, where she studied Directing and Choreography with Sarah Pia Anderson, Irina Brown, Peter Lichtenfels, and Della Davidson.
She strongly believes in fostering new voices and developing young storytellers to build and transform our communities.
Cast
Katja Rivera as Olive
Katja Rivera, (Theater Artist, Bodyworker and Abuela), is originally from Los Angeles, and studied theater at LACC Theatre Academy and Drama Studio London at Berkeley. Bay Area acting credits include: Shotgun Players, Magic Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, Center Rep. Directing credits include Shotgun Players, Theatre Cultura, Douglas Morrison, CustomMade, RPE (Danville), SF Playground and TheatreFIRST. She is a long-time company member of Shotgun Players, an associate producer with PlayGround-SF and a member of Latinx Mafia. Recent directing credits include: Romeo & Juliet(SF Shakespeare) Yerma (Shotgun Players) La Vida Loca (Theatre Cultura) References To Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Custom Made Theatre), Apertures Of Love In Times Of War, (PlayGround Festival Of New Works)
L Duarte as Emiliana / Cowboy Boots / Headscarf / Ensemble
L. Duarte (they, them) is an actor, teaching artist, playwright and director.
L continues to harness the power of the arts to help build community that cares and responds to the needs of the people.
L is a founding member of Latinx Mafia, a Bay Area collective of Latinx Teatristas, working to ensure Latinx stories are valued and accurately represented. Their most recent project includes dismantling anti-blackness and anti-indigenous practices in the Latinx community. Find out more at www.latinxmafia.com.
L has worked all around the Bay Area for various theatre companies such as San Jose Stage Company, PacRep, Theatre Rhinoceros, Theatre of Yugen, and CentralWorks. L has been featured in several short films, commercials, industrials, and web series.
L is a graduate of UCLA, UCSC, and has trained with A.C.T. and Shakespeare & Co.
L continues to harness the power of the arts to help build community that cares and responds to the needs of the people.
L is a founding member of Latinx Mafia, a Bay Area collective of Latinx Teatristas, working to ensure Latinx stories are valued and accurately represented. Their most recent project includes dismantling anti-blackness and anti-indigenous practices in the Latinx community. Find out more at www.latinxmafia.com.
L has worked all around the Bay Area for various theatre companies such as San Jose Stage Company, PacRep, Theatre Rhinoceros, Theatre of Yugen, and CentralWorks. L has been featured in several short films, commercials, industrials, and web series.
L is a graduate of UCLA, UCSC, and has trained with A.C.T. and Shakespeare & Co.
Brittany Sims as Terrie / Leora / Madam / Ensemble
Brittany Nicole Sims is thrilled to be apart of the New Works Festival with 3GT. She earned her BA in Theatre Arts from California State University, Sacramento. She has won a Shellie Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2020 for her role as Mary in ReproRights. Other companies she's had the honor to work with include: All Terrain Theater, Inferno Theater, Vallejo Shakespeare in the Park, The SF Olympians Festival, Playwrights Center of SF, The Exit Theater, African American Shakespeare Company, Custom Made Theater, Three Willows Theatre, The New Conservatory Theatre and Those Women Productions, B8 Theater and Central Works and SF Playhouse. Brittany is grateful to her family for all their love and support.
Louel Senores as Rafe / Ensemble
Louel is a Berkeley-based actor, stage manager, and playwright, and is thrilled to be working with 3GT! You may have last seen him in Found Family (Left Coast Theater), Four Play (Theatre Rhinoceros), or rather, not seen him stage managing Yerma (Shotgun Players). In hopefully about a year and a half’s time, he’d be stoked if he could bring into the world his first full-length: Better Unkept. He’s a proud company member of Berkeley Interactive Theater and PlayGround SF, and is also a member of Shotgun’s EDIB Committee.
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