The Thousandth Night BIOGRAPHIES

Carol Wolf (Playwright) Carol Wolf’s plays have been seen on both coasts and in five countries and include The Terrible Expriment of Jonathan Fish, a feminist musical farce, Jacalyn, drama, Eddie and Molly’s Garden, gangster comedy, DAY/BLACKNIGHT/MORNING, pastoral comical, Daughter of France, historical romantical….She also wrote the script for the video games Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, and Legacy of Kain:Defiance. Her movie company, Paw Print Studios, recently received funding and is in production with The Skiff and Letters to my Grandchildren. Her play, Walking on Bones is scheduled to be made as a film in the fall. Carol Wolf teaches playwriting at Foothill College, in person and on-line. She is delighted to see her work at Aurora Theatre Company and would like to dedicate her part of this production to her Mom, Carolyn Wellington, who introduced her to theatre at an impressionable age.

the cast

Ron Campbell* (Guy de Bonheur) has received The London Fringe One-man Show of the Year Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, The Bay Area Critics Circle Award for both Lead and Solo Performance, 4 KPBS Patte Awards, 4 Backstage West Garland Awards and 15 Dramalogue Awards and Helen Hayes and Jeff Award Nominations. Ron has performed in such theatres as The Mark Taper Forum, The Seattle Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, The Habima Theatre (Israel), The Mercury Theatre (Chicago), The Old Globe, The Old Red Lion Theatre (London), The Metro Stage (Washington D.C.), The Intiman Theatre, the Edinburgh, Telluride and California Theatre Festivals and here at Aurora in Benefactors. A founding member of The Actor’s Gang and Associate Artist of The California Shakespeare Theater, Ron’s other one man shows include Buckminster Fuller, The Bone Man of Benares, Shylock, A Tale of Two Cities and Beckett’s Eh Joe. Add Einstein in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Vladimir in Waiting for Godot and many others to the eponymous roles in Richard the Third, Cyrano de Bergerac, Tartuffe, The Imaginary Invalid, The Inspector General and Corpse! Plus more than 25 Shakespeare productions playing roles like Iago, Malvolio and both Dromios. On television Ron has appeared on Babylon 5, Hypernauts, and Crusade among others, and in several films including The Witches of Eastwick, Dead Bang, Spy Hard, Silhouette, The House of Maxwell (directed by Jessica Kubzansky) and the independent films SINKER and Farewell to Flander’s Field for which he received The Moscow International Film Festival Best Actor nomination. Ron teaches at The Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and can be contacted at soarfeat@gmail.com.

the artistic team and the crew

Penelope Ayles (Production Assistant) is delighted to be returning to Aurora Theatre Company for this production. She most recently worked on Aurora’s highly-acclaimed productions of Betrayal, The Old Neighborhood and Thérèse Raquin. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art she has worked in principal theatres in England on such shows as The Lion King, and Les Miserables. She has also completed a six week tour of The Crucible around Europe. Other favorite productions include Hobson’s Choice, Master and Margarita and On the Town.

Chris Houston (Sound Designer) is a pianist, composer, and producer. His compositions and productions have been featured on film, television, and stage. Recent work at Aurora includes The Persians, The Man of Destiny, Antigone Falun Gong, and Thérèse Raquin.

Jessica Kubzansky¥ (Director) is the Co-Artistic Director of The Theatre @Boston Court and an award-winning director working around the country at venues as diverse as The Geffen Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, the Mark Taper Forum New Works, the American Stage Co., The Boston Publick, London’s Old Red Lion, Edinburgh’s Assembly Rooms, etc. She, Ms. Wolf, and Mr. Campbell originated The Thousandth Night in LA and have toured it extensively. Recently: the world premieres of Jean-Claude van Itallie’s Light (T@BC), Julia Cho’s BFE (Portland Center Stage JAW/WEST), Tom Jacobson’s The Orange Grove, a modern adaptation of The Cherry Orchard (Playwrights’ Arena), Bryan Davidson’s War Music (Geffen Playhouse and LATC), Cody Henderson’s Cold/Tender (T@BC), Sheila Callaghan’s Kate Crackernuts (24th Street Theatre), the Salamone/McIntyre musical Moscow (Chekhov Now Festival, NYC) as well as The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Illinois Shakespeare Festival), Toys in the Attic (The Colony), Measure for Measure (A Noise Within), David Hare’s Amy’s View (International City Theatre), and many more. Kubzansky recently received the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre.

Richard Olmsted (Set Designer) has designed more than 20 Aurora productions beginning with The Gin Game in 1993, and more recently, Dublin Carol, Lobby Hero, Partition, Knock Knock, and Saint Joan. His work has appeared at many of the areas theatres including Traveling Jewish Theatre (Cherry Docs, Times Like These, God’s Donkey, and See Under: LOVE), Marin Theatre Co. (Bus Stop, Me and My Girl, As Thousands Cheer), Thick Description (Dreamlandia, Santos & Santos), California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and San Jose Rep. Mr. Olmsted has taught design at UC Berkeley, Mills College and Las Positas College.

Susan M. Reamy* (Stage Manager) is pleased to be returning to Aurora Theatre Company where her stage management credits include Dublin Carol, Betrayal, Lobby Hero (in Napa), The Old Neighborhood, Thérèse Raquin, The Entertainer, The Homecoming, The Weir, and The Aspern Papers, among others. Susan’s other Bay Area experience: California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Opera Center, Marin Theatre Company, Magic Theatre, A Traveling Jewish Theatre and San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Elsewhere her work has included The Kentucky Cycle, Uncle Vanya, The Grapes of Wrath, and Once on This Island. Susan holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Stage Management from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.

Jon Retsky (Light Designer) is happy to have been with Aurora Theatre Company since its first season in the Addison space. Recent designs here include Dublin Carol, Betrayal, and The Old Neighborhood. Other credits include: Best of Playground at Zeum, designs for SF Playhouse: Kimberly Akimbo, Monster, and Our Town (Bay Area Critics Circle nomination). Jon also serves as resident designer for the Willows Theater, with recent designs of AIDA and Judgement at Nuremberg. Other credits include: Assistant Design for Opposite of Sex, Resident Designer for Chaddick Dance, and a variety of others. Outside of theater, Jon has consulted on a number of architectural lighting projects and exhibits, and owns/operates GOT LIGHT?, a Lighting Design company for Special Events.

*Member, Actors' Equity Association
¥Member, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC)