Shows category: SparkFest

Leela Velautham was born and brought up in the UK. Alongside an academic career in sustainability research, she has been featured in the Best of Playground SF 24 and 25 and twice in the best of Playground NY, is a two-time semi-finalist of the Bay Area Playwrights Festival  2021 and 2022 (with the plays “The Empty Crusade” and “Modern Love”, respectively) and won the University of Oxford’s New Writing Festival in 2011 for her play “Schroedinger’s Hat”. A full production of her one-act play “Post-Scarcity Possibilities” was staged as part of the 2022 Meganne George Women’s Work Short Play Festival at the New Perspectives Theatre Company. She is currently a member of the New Perspectives Theatre Company’s 2022 Full-Length Lab.

Illana Stein (she/her) is a NYC-based director, originally from Fort Worth. Amphibian credits include Director/Co-writer (with Deborah Yarchun and Sean Hudock) on Hans & Sophie (five DFW Critic Awards including Outstanding Director and Outstanding New Play) and A Lost Leonardo. She recently directed Handle with Care (Stage West). NYC Directing credits: Julius Caesar Tour (HVSF), NYU (Tisch, Stella Adler, Strasberg) Associate/Asst. credits: TFANA, Signature, Pearl, OSF, Yale Rep, A.R.T., Hangar Theater, Cincy Playhouse, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company. Drama League First Stage Residency, LCT Directors Lab, AJT Theatremacher Program Director, JPP Artistic Producer, and League of Professional Theatre Women Board. illanastein.com 

Taliyah Salih is excited to be working with Amphibian Theater for the first time. Most recently she stage managed Moon Man Walk (Jubilee Theater), Wonder of the World and Chamber Music (Texas Wesleyan University). She is currently perusing a BFA in Design and Technology, with an emphasis in stage management.

Jeff Stanfield is a graduate of Texas Christian University. After spending eight and a half seasons with Dallas Children’s Theater, he is pleased to have returned to Fort Worth with Amphibian Stage. You may have seen him on stage under the open Texas sky at the Hip Pocket Theatre in such productions as Love Letters to a Raven, Loop the Loop, In Watermelon Sugar, The Lake Worth Monster and Don Quixote.

Ally Varitek is a dramaturg and occasional actor who recently graduated from Baylor University Theatre. She loves the intersections of the arts and is especially passionate about the literary side of theatre. She’s an interdisciplinary aficionado who finds herself enamored with approaching relationships from a place of abundance instead of competition and above all loves learning about the human experience through theatre. Find her at allyvaritek.com!

Joy Yvonne Jones is an accredited actor, poet, playwright, model, and entrepreneur; who embodies revolutionary art with every project she is a part of. Recipient of the San Diego Critic Circle Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Joy’s stage credits include Saartjie Baartman in Voyeurs de Venus (Moxie Theatre), Caitlin in Ferryman (New Village Arts), Frances in Mud Row (Cygnet Theatre), Jane in Pride and Prejudice (Cygnet Theatre), Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (New Match Collective), Lady Macbeth in Macbeth (Texas Shakespeare Festival). She is currently working on her One Woman show: Cleopatra, and a short film, A Month of Sundays. Follow her on Patreon, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, or visit her website to know where you can catch her next. Joyyvonnejones.com

Carter Gill (He/Him) is based in Dallas and New York, Carter Gill is currently a recurring guest-starring in the award-winning Harlan Coben’s Shelter streaming on Amazon Prime. Carter currently serves on the Movement Faculty at Southern Methodist University and works as a movement director with Dallas Theatre Center. Gill has performed with several Off-Broadway and regional productions over the past 15 years and recently, he was a company member of Punchdrunk NYC’s Sleep No More. He has worked with Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons, The Lark, Theatre for a New Audience and The Women’s Project, among others. Regionally, Gill has performed with The Berkshire Theatre Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre and Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he and the company were Helen Hayes Award nominees for Best Ensemble. He proudly crafted and performed in several company-created Commedia dell’arte productions in New York and he has collaborated with such esteemed directors as Karen Allen, Alan Muraoka, Tatiana Pandiani, Christopher Bayes, Daniel Fish, Mark Lamos, Patricia McGregor, Alan Paul, Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Les Waters, Norman Ayrton and Evan Yionoulis. Film and television credits include Banana Split on Netflix, NBC’s Law & Order, CBS’s Person of Interest, AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies, TV Land’s Younger and Evil on CBS, Harlan Coben’s Shelter. MFA in Acting from the Yale School of Drama. Upcoming Theatre: The French Play, by Gonzalo Rodriguez Risco at SMU, director. Hamlet directed by Becca Wolff at Telluride Theatre Company, choreographer.

Mitchell Stephens is an actor, choreographer and movement artist based in DFW. Mitchell is happy to be back at Amphibian after working on She Wolf, Cyrano, Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins. Mitchell’s work spans the country and all over the metroplex. Recent Credits include Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, The Great Distance Home, Silent Sky, Lord of the Flies (WaterTower Theatre), Reykjavík (Kitchen Dog Theatre) La Maupin: The French Abomination, Everything will be Fine (Prism Movement Theatre). Mitchell is a proud facilitator for De-Cruit, using Shakespeare to treat Post Traumatic Stress and specializes in incarcerated veterans with Amphibian.

Lisa Fairchild is honored to be appearing in her second SparkFest with the team at Amphibian Stage, having previously appeared as Sheila in the staged reading of Sharifa Yasmin’s Close to Home. It was directed by Sophia Watt who then directed Lisa in Dance Nation at RecRoom Arts in Houston. It is a current delight to be directed by Illana Stein who recently guided her performance in Handle with Care at Stage West.

Stan Denman is an actor, playwright, and director who lives in Waco, Texas. His acting credits include Booth at Second Thought Theatre, PARADE at Water Tower Theatre, The Unseen at DFW’s Out of the Loop Festival and at the Cherry Lane Theatre in NY, and Horton Foote’s Drama Desk-nominated production of The Traveling Lady at Ensemble Studio Theatre in NY. In addition to Actor’s Equity, he is also a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Stan is a professor of theatre at Baylor University, where he has directed over 30 productions.

Harley Elias is an Indian-Iraqi Arab-Jewish playwright and performer from New York City, who often writes plays about the strangeness of history, the dismantling of power systems, and revolutions. He has been the recipient of residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, with Resonance Ensemble, a Fulbright Grant, the Wild Epiphanies New Play Award, two Samuel French OOB Awards, a Young Playwrights Award, the Hester-Franklin Prize, and his Play #3 is published by Samuel French. Recent plays include Thug Play (Resonance Ensemble), The Pardon (Brown University), and 47 Years of Marriage (Samuel French OOB). For the composer Francisco de Guevara, he wrote the libretto for the opera 11:35, set to premiere in Mexico City in 2023. The documentary he co-wrote and directed, Reconquest of the Useless, was shown at the Havana, Zurich, Woodstock, and Virginia Film Festivals. As an actor his credits include Les Miserables (Broadway and National Tour), A Thousand Clowns (Broadway), A Christmas Carol (Broadway), Ragtime (National Tour). He has worked at the Goodspeed Opera House, EST, Workhouse, Second Stage, HB Studio, Soho Rep, and performed solo at the Kennedy Center. He holds a BA and MA in History and Art History from Stanford and is currently pursuing his MFA in Playwriting at Brown. He is currently under commission from Miami New Drama and Theater J.

Jay Duffer directed The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) for Amphibian both in 2014 and 2017, and Babbette’s Feast in 2019. He will direct Marie Antoinette in our 2022 season. Past Amphibian acting credits include Wittenberg, The Nosemaker’s Apprentice, The Mystery of Irma Vep and the workshop production of David Davalos’ Daedalus (Retitled A Lost Leonardo). He has professional acting and directing credits spanning several decades and has performed in theatres from Off-Broadway, to regional theatres, to productions overseas. Jay has been involved in new works and script development with Threads Theatre Company (serving as a Founding Member and the Executive Director of New Works), Pulse Ensemble Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Source, Kaleidoscope Theatre Company, Fort Wayne Civic Theatre and Brooklyn based The Artful Conspirators. His play, Asleep in the Arms of God, received its world premiere in November 2017 at the Box Theatre in Riverside, CA produced by New Threads Productions (CA). His play, Big Girl, Little World premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival. His latest play, naked, was included in Amphibian’s inaugural SPARKFEST in the summer of 2021. Prior to joining Amphibian as Managing Director, Jay was Associate Professor of Theatre and Department Chair at Huntington University in Indiana. At HU, he directed a wide variety of approximately 50 plays and musicals while heading the theatre program. Jay currently teaches Directing for the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas Arlington. He is a member of Actors Equity Association and is an Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Kaitlin Hatton is excited to be working with Amphibian Stage again! Recent props designs include Ann (WaterTower Theatre), La Medium (FW Opera), Baba, Spaceman, Marie Antoinette (Amphibian Stage Productions), Kodachrome, Fences, Young Frankenstein, An Empty Plate in the Cafe du Grand Boeuf, The Glass Menagerie, The Last Wide Open, and One Man, Two Guvnors (Circle Theatre). Recent stage management includes I’m Proud of You, The Other Josh Cohen, Tiny Beautiful Things (Circle Theatre), Marjorie Prime, Handle With Care, Between Riverside and Crazy, Witch, On The Exhale (Stage West), Baba, Spaceman, The Hollow, Egress, Hans & Sophie, She-Wolf, Gutenberg! The Musical!, Babette’s Feast, Lonely Planet, and Artist Descending A Staircase (Amphibian Stage Productions). Kaitlin holds a BFA in Theatre – Design and Technology from Texas Wesleyan University and teaches Stage Management there. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and received the 2019 Live Theatre League Bill Garber Young Artist Award.

Levi Richey is a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington with a BFA in Musical Theatre. He most recently worked on the stage management team of THE VISIT and MISS MOLLY here at Amphibian. Some recent roles include: the Beadle in SWEENEY TODD and the Emcee in CABARET.

Jeff Stanfield is a graduate of Texas Christian University. After spending eight and a half seasons with Dallas Children’s Theater, he is pleased to have returned to Fort Worth with Amphibian Stage. You may have seen him on stage under the open Texas sky at the Hip Pocket Theatre in such productions as Love Letters to a Raven, Loop the Loop, In Watermelon Sugar, The Lake Worth Monster and Don Quixote.

Soria is a proud Iranian American born and raised in Arlington, Texas. With a background in sustainability and environmental planning, this is Soria’s first entry working in theatre, and she is bursting with appreciation to Amphibian Stage for the opportunity to be immersed in the creative arts while amplifying the diversity of MENASA experiences. Soria holds a Bachelor’s in Political Science and Masters degrees in City and Regional Planning, both from the University of Texas at Arlington.

When not playing around in the garden, Soria enjoys observing people and culture through media, food, and politics. Connect on LinkedIn to stay in touch.

Patrick Bynane is originally from Northeast Ohio and has lived and worked across the US. He has a Ph.D in Theatre History from LSU (Geaux Tigers!) and is a proud member of Actors Equity. He has lived in Denton, TX since 2006 when he moved there to join the Texas Woman’s University Theatre Program. He is Program Director for TWU Theatre and is currently enjoying a semester sabbatical to pursue creative and scholarly projects. He is thrilled to return to the Amphibian stage where he has previously been seen in this past summer’s SparkFest, Babette’s Feast and A Lost Leonardo among other productions.

Parker Gray is a Dallas-based Actor, Teaching Artist, and Playwright and is excited to be immediately returning to Amphibian after being seen in this year’s SparkFest! Recent favorite credits include The Play that Goes Wrong (Stage West & WaterTower Theatre), Young Frankenstein (Circle Theatre & Theatre Three), Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical, Little Shop of Horrors (Theatre Three) and other various productions at Dallas Theater Center, Casa Mañana, Kitchen Dog Theater, Undermain Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas, Lyric Stage, Fair Assembly, Shakespeare in the Bar, and Second Thought Theatre where he currently serves as the Executive Director. Parker’s voice can be heard in various shows with Crunchyroll and seen in the Dallas-made horror film The Finale. Parker’s premiere play, Incarnate, received a reading at Undermain for their Whither Goest Thou America Festival in 2022 and he can be seen next in the World Premiere of Anne-Tig-Uh-Knee at Second Thought. Parker would like to thank his family and Kristen for their endless support. BFA in Acting from SMU. Represented by the Kim Dawson Agency.

Aaron Mateo Arroyo (Administrator) is thrilled to be making his Amphibian Stage debut with SparkFest! Recent credits include Sam in Mamma Mia at Lyric Stage, Inspector/ Hermit in Young Frankenstein at Circle Theatre and Theatre Three. Some of his favorite roles are Freddy Trumper in Chess: The Musical, Abram Baker in Our Class, and Florizel in The Winter’s Tale. He holds an MFA in Acting from UC Irvine. Aaron is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. Sends many thanks to Jay, Harley, the cast, and the crew of this show. Love to Sterling, Matty, and Tiresias.

Analisa Salinas is a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington, with a BFA in Theatre Arts (with a concentration in Musical Theatre) and minors in History and English. Most recently, she was the Bird Seller in UTA’s Sweeney Todd. She was also an apprentice for Amphibian Stage’s annual SparkFest in 2022, where she made her professional debut. Her other credits include Roz in 9 to 5, and a performer/writer for Design for the Future, a devised theatrical piece in collaboration with MIT. She’s also written and directed short plays for UTA.

Born in Egypt, raised in London and now based in Seattle, Yussef El Guindi’s work frequently examines the collision of ethnicities, cultures and politics that face immigrants, Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans in particular. El Guindi holds an MFA in playwriting from Carnegie-Mellon University. He is the recipient of many honors, including the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, the Stranger’s Genius Award, and the 2010 Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award. El Guindi’s past productions include “Hotter Than Egypt” at Marin Theatre Company, ACT in Seattle, and at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts; “People of the Book” at ACT; “Language Rooms” at Pony World Theatre in Seattle, and Broken Nose Theatre in Chicago;  “Hostages” at Radial Theater Project in Seattle; “The Talented Ones” at UCSB’s LAUNCH PAD and Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland (Santa Barbara Independent Indy Awards); “Threesome” at Portland Center Stage, ACT, and at 59E59 (winner of a Portland Drammy for Best Original Script);  “Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World” (2011 Gregory Award) also at ACT, Center Repertory Company at Walnut Creek, CA, and at Mosaic Theater Company (DC). “Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat” was produced by Silk Road Rising and won the M. Elizabeth Osborn award. His plays “Back of the Throat” (winner of L.A. Weekly’s Excellence in Playwriting Award for 2006), “Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World”, “Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes”, “Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda and Karima’s City” have been published by Dramatists Play Service. “Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith”, “Collaborator”, “Threesome”, “The Talented Ones”, “Hostages” and  “In A Clear Concise Arabic Tongue.” have been published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Bloomsbury/ Methuen Drama published “Selected Works of Yussef El Guindi”.

Reena Dutt is dedicated to new and reimagined texts that catapult polarizing conversations through unexpected stories with the bodies, voices and life experiences of the under-heard. She most recently directed YELLOW FACE by David Henry Hwang at UC Riverside, and the midwestern premiere of AMERICAN FAST by Kareem Fahmy in Indiana. She was Assistant Director for the Broadway transfer of THE COLLABORATION by Anthony McCarten starring Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope. Dutt is also a filmmaker having screened films at over 80 festivals/networks worldwide including Sundance, LAFF, Outfest, NBCUniversal, and BET. Fellowships: Drama League, Film Independent and SFFilm. www.ReenaDutt.com

Levi Richey is a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington with a BFA in Musical Theatre. He most recently worked on the stage management team of THE VISIT and MISS MOLLY here at Amphibian. Some recent roles include: the Beadle in SWEENEY TODD and the Emcee in CABARET.

Jeff Stanfield is a graduate of Texas Christian University. After spending eight and a half seasons with Dallas Children’s Theater, he is pleased to have returned to Fort Worth with Amphibian Stage. You may have seen him on stage under the open Texas sky at the Hip Pocket Theatre in such productions as Love Letters to a Raven, Loop the Loop, In Watermelon Sugar, The Lake Worth Monster and Don Quixote.

Ally Varitek is a dramaturg and occasional actor who recently graduated from Baylor University Theatre. She loves the intersections of the arts and is especially passionate about the literary side of theatre. She’s an interdisciplinary aficionado who finds herself enamored with approaching relationships from a place of abundance instead of competition and above all loves learning about the human experience through theatre. Find her at allyvaritek.com!

Laurel Collins began her career as a tap dancer in Tommy Tune shows on Broadway. She’s tried many other jobs and always finds her way back to the performing arts. She podcasts (Sumo Kaboom), performs all over DFW, and teaches.

Greg Holt is very happy to be returning to Amphibian Stage Productions where he last appeared in Babette’s Feast. Amphibian audiences may also remember him from Artist Descending a Staircase, Cyrano, and Time Stands Still. Other D/FW credits include leading roles at Shakespreare Dallas (The Tempest), Contemporary Theatre of Dallas (The Diviners), Theatre Three/Theatre Too (The Birds), WaterTower Theatre (The Game’s Afoot), and Circle Theatre’s digital reading of George Orwell’s 1984. In Austin, he has worked at Zachary Scott Theatre Center (Pride’s Crossing), Mary Moody Northen Theatre (Macbeth, Measure for Measure) and Live Oak Theatre (She Loves Me, for which he won the Austin Critics Table Award).

Asia Richards is a recent graduate from Baylor University, where she studied Theatre Performance and Anthropology. Her most recent credits on the Baylor Stage include Duke Solinus in The Comedy of Errors, Juror #4 in Twelve Angry Jurors. Asia is ecstatic to make her first appearance on the Amphibian stage.

Meagan Harris (She/Her/Hers) is delighted to be joining Spark Fest for her third year! She loves the opportunities Amphibian brings to playwrights to stage their works and expose audiences to new voices! She is proud to have earned her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts in Acting and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Art History from Southern Methodist University. She is also represented by the Mary Collins Agency for film and television. You may have seen her most recently at Amphibian understudying for the role of Molly in Spaceman. She’s also worked around town at Fair Assembly, the Undermain, Kitchen Dog Theatre, IMPRINT Theatreworks, Shakespeare Everywhere and Teatro Dallas as well as performing in her recently co-founded theatre company: Auriga Productions. Meagan would like to thank her family and friends for all their continued support of her work! Find more info about her at marycollins.com.

Roger Calderon has produced, written and directed high-profile events and galas for New York’s theatrical industry and LGBTQ+ non-profit world. He has co-produced benefits honoring Broadway luminaries such as Angela Lansbury and Patti LuPone, as well as written remarks for Tony Award winners and nominees such as Billy Porter, Cynthia Nixon, Harvey Fierstein, Jeremy Irons, Vanessa Williams and Kathleen Turner. 

As a screenwriter, Roger’s most recent short film scripts, Laredo, TX (2020) and Collared (2021) advanced to the semi-finals round of the NYC Midnight Short Screenplay Challenge. His short film script, Public Domain Day (2021) received an Honorable Mention in the NYC Midnight Screenwriting Challenge. 

Roger conceived, produced and directed the documentary, Trinity Pride: A Community Rebounds in 2021. The documentary brought together 13 LGBTQ+ community members from Fort Worth and recounted their stories of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

He is a co-host of Queer ConTXt, a podcast that illuminates the queer experience in Texas while providing a safe space to explore identity, context and queer expression. 

He is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College with a degree in Theater Arts Performance and Arts Management.

Emily Scott Banks is a member of Actors Equity who has been in or led over 90 professional shows since returning to the Dallas/Fort Worth stages 20 years ago. Most recently she played Camille in Into the Breeches at Stage West and directed the first shows back at three different theaters when reopening’s first began in 2021. Pre-pandemic Emily reprised the one-actor Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol at Stage West to a sold-out run; appeared as Agatha in The Moors at Theatre Three, Angel in Angels in America – Perestroika at Uptown Players, directed Sarah Ruhl’s Stage Kiss at Circle Theatre in Fort Worth, and played Madame Ranevsky in The Cherry Orchard for The Classics Theatre Project. Her many area directorial credits include the critically acclaimed The Big Meal; The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for WaterTower Theatre. For Stage West the award-winning Stupid F*cking Bird, Life Sucks., An Iliad and The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence; and Egress for Amphibian Stage. Emily has won awards for her work in both disciplines, including multiple DFW Critics’ Forum Awards, and Best Actress of the Year nods from Dallas Observer, D Magazine, and TheaterJones.

Taliyah Salih is excited to be working with Amphibian Theater for the first time. Most recently she stage managed Moon Man Walk (Jubilee Theater), Wonder of the World and Chamber Music (Texas Wesleyan University). She is currently perusing a BFA in Design and Technology, with an emphasis in stage management.

Jeff Stanfield is a graduate of Texas Christian University. After spending eight and a half seasons with Dallas Children’s Theater, he is pleased to have returned to Fort Worth with Amphibian Stage. You may have seen him on stage under the open Texas sky at the Hip Pocket Theatre in such productions as Love Letters to a Raven, Loop the Loop, In Watermelon Sugar, The Lake Worth Monster and Don Quixote.

Ally Varitek is a dramaturg and occasional actor who recently graduated from Baylor University Theatre. She loves the intersections of the arts and is especially passionate about the literary side of theatre. She’s an interdisciplinary aficionado who finds herself enamored with approaching relationships from a place of abundance instead of competition and above all loves learning about the human experience through theatre. Find her at allyvaritek.com!

Joseph Tully is a recent graduate from Baylor University, where he studied Theatre Performance. His most recent credits upon the Baylor Stage include Antipholus of Ephesus in Ten Comedy of Errors, Juror #10 in Ten Angry Jurors, and Jim Fingal in The Lifespan of a Fact. Joseph is absolutely thrilled to make his first appearance on the Amphibian stage and would like to thank all those involved with the creation of this performance.

Efren Paredes is excited to work with Amphibian Stage in this year’s SparkFest festival! Efren is a recent graduate of UTA, where he performed the role of Misha in Lydia and Max in Cabaret. He also was a composer, director and playwright for the Teaching Arts Lab Theatre (TATL) company. He would like to thank his family and friends, for their words of inspiration and confidence.

Renee Micha’el Jones began her acting debut at age six and minored in Theater while majoring in Fashion Design at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a Bachelor’s in Human Ecology and a master’s in Child and Adolescent Developmental Psychology from Northcentral University. She teaches Theater in the Lancaster Independent School District. Renee has performed on stage nationally. Television and film credits include such shows as Walker Texas Ranger, Carter High, and Lil Voices, currently on Netflix. Renee is a cultural artist who loves to embed the African diaspora in her textile works and teachings.

Ally Varitek is a dramaturg and occasional actor who recently graduated from Baylor University Theatre. She loves the intersections of the arts and is especially passionate about the literary side of theatre. She’s an interdisciplinary aficionado who finds herself enamored with approaching relationships from a place of abundance instead of competition and above all loves learning about the human experience through theatre. Find her at allyvaritek.com!