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Adjunct Profiles
BOBBI BLOCK, IMPROVISATION Bobbi Block has been performing, teaching, producing and directing Improvisational Theatre in the Philadelphia area for the past 16 years. She is the Founder /Artistic Director and performs with the reality-based longform improv company, Tongue & Groove. In 2007 Bobbi conceived and directed LEAP: The Actors’ Improv Experiment, for the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. Bobbi was the Co-Producer and Education Director of the Barrymore Award-winning improvisational theatre company, ComedySportz Philadelphia, for 15 years, and was Artistic Director of the company for 2 years. In addition, Bobbi has been performing longform improv for 11 years with LunchLady Doris, and performed with the interdisciplinary improvisational theatre company, Playback Philadelphia, for four years. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi got her Masters degree in Theatre from Villanova University, and has since trained with master improvisers in Chicago, NYC and LA. Bobbi has taught improv at the University of the Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Bucks County Community College, the Wilma Theatre, the Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, ComedySportz, Philly Improv Theater (PHIT) and private classes. She currently teaches Improv at Temple University. As a Communications Skills Consultant, Bobbi travels the world using acting, improv and theatre techniques to train corporate executives in leadership and team development skills.
DEBORAH BLOCK, DRAMATIC IMAGINATION & COLLABORATIVE ART As a director, dramaturge or choreographer Deborah has worked on over 50 professional and 40 educational productions with a professional emphasis on new plays and movement based theater. Her work has been seen in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Alaska. Deborah was one of the founding organizers of the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe and was the program director for nine years. Some awards include the Independence Fellowship in the Arts, The Albert Benzwie Memorial Scholarship in Playwriting. She is currently the co-artistic director of Theatre Exile and received her MFA in Theatre at Temple University.
NANCY BOYKIN, ACTING Nancy Boykin has worked as an actress in the professional theatre for more than twenty years. She has performed a range of roles from Shakespeare, the classics, contemporary and new plays in theatres such as The Long Wharf, New York Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival. She was honored by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle as Best Actress for her portrayal of 'Juno' in Juno and the Paycock. In Philadelphia, Ms. Boykin has worked at the Wilma, the Arden, Interact and Act II Playhouse. She holds her MFA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
MARLA BURKHOLDER, ACTING, SPEECH & CREATIVITY Marla Burkholder holds a BA in English and Theater from Eastern Mennonite University and an MFA in Acting from Temple
University. She teaches Voice and Speech for theater majors at Temple University and Muhlenberg College, along with dialect coaching productions at various Philadelphia area theaters. Marla is a members of Actor's Equity Association and the Co-Artistic Director of Shakespeare in Clark Park.
Dirk Durossette, design Dirk has been teaching and designing in the Philadelphia area for the last ten years. He has designed scenery for Temple Theaters, Temple Opera Theater, University of the Arts, Villanova University, Drexel University, West Chester University, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, Painted Bird Productions, New City Stage Company, Theater Horizon, Freedom theater, MumPuppettheatre, Gas and Electric Arts, Amaryllis Theater Company, Lantern Theater, and InterAct Theater.
MICHAEL FRIEL, LITERATURE & theater arts Michael Friel has won two national playwriting competitions and has had works produced locally and
throughout the country. In 1995 he appeared on Broadway in Terrence McNally's "Master Class". He holds an MFA in Playwriting from Temple.
DIANE GAARY, ACTING & ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE Diane Gaary teaches speaking voice and movement and has a particular interest in how body use affects the speaking and singing voice. With a BA in Theatre and English from Smith College and an MFA in Acting from The University of Virginia, Diane has teacher certification from The American Society of the Alexander Technique (AmSAT), Alexander Technique International, and the Lessac Institute for Voice and Body Training, as well as Feldenkrais Practitioner certification from the Feldenkrais Guild®. Diane’s training also includes classical singing, numerous theatrical voice and speech techniques, and speech pathology which she studied on the graduate level at the University of Virginia. Diane gives lectures, classes and workshops both nationally and internationally, and she maintains private studios in both Philadelphia and New York City where she teaches professional actors, singers, and dancers who work on Broadway, off Broadway, in regional theatre, and at the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and cabaret.
NEILL HARTLEY, ACTING Neill Hartley is involved in several aspects of professional theater. As an actor, he has appeared with many regional companies including the Arden Theatre, InterAct Theatre, and the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival. He shared a best ensemble Philadelphia Barrymore award for Batboy, The Musical for 1812 Productions. He has four one-man shows that he regularly presents: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Spirit of Lindbergh, Sherlock Holmes and The Speckled Band and P.T. Barnum: The Master Showman. His work can also be seen in commercials and films, and he is a spokesperson for Spray-N-Grow, a national gardening company. Neill is the artistic director for Acting Without Boundaries, a theater company for young adults with physical disabilities. He has also directed for Philadelphia Young Playwright’s, the University of the Arts, the University of Pennsylvania, Arcadia University and Luna Theater. Most recently he has directed The Sound of Music for AWB, The Prisoner of Second Avenue for Isis Productions, and Chicken for New City Stage Company. Neill holds an MFA in Acting from Temple University, and has been an adjunct professor at Temple for many years.
david o'connor, CREATIVE SPIRIT David completed his MFA in Directing at Temple in 2007. Since arriving in Philadelphia, David has directed numerous productions around town including “Master Harold” … and the boys at Lantern Theater Company, for which he was nominated for a Barrymore Award. Previous to coming to Temple, David worked in theatres in and around Connecticut, especially Seven Angels Theatre, where he directed several productions including Dancing at Lughnasa, for which he was nominated for a Connecticut Critics Circle Award. David has a BFA in Theatrical Production Arts from Ithaca College.
ian rose, stage combat Ian Rose has been staging fights in the New York and Philadelphia areas for over twenty-five years. A Fight Master with Fight Directors Canada, he is also recognized as a Certified Instructor and Fight Director with both The Society of American Fight Directors and Fight Directors Canada. Ian has worked for Riverside Shakespeare and Interborough Repertory Theatre in New York, The Whole Theatre in New Jersey, MTM Studios in Rome, to name a few. Closer to home his credits include The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, the Philadelphia Theatre Company and Novel Stages. Ian has taught at six Canadian Nationals, and is one of the creators of the esteemed workshop at Ryerson University in Toronto. Ian is an adjunct professor at Temple University and Arcadia University. For more information see Ian's website: www.ianrosefights.com
ROBERT SMYTHE
, Dramatic Literature and Puppetryis considered one of Philadelphia's most creative and imaginative directors and producers. A recipient of prestigious fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as six Solo Performer Fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, he has won six Barrymore Awards and received three additional nominations. A performer and teacher as well as a director and playwright, in 2011 he appeared on Broadway in The Little Prince, while Philadelphia Magazine named him “Best Professor” in their 2010 annual “Best of Philly” issue. He was the first artist to receive a commission from the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts in 2008, and the resulting collaboration between him and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Stravinsky’s “l’Histoire du Soldat,” won the 2011 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Collaboration. He was the founder of Mum Puppettheatre, Philadelphia’s largest small theater and the only regional theater in the United States dedicated to puppetry. He served as Mum’s Artistic Director for 23 years, and during that time he wrote and directed over 20 original productions using puppets, masks and human actors. Many of those shows were also performed on tours throughout Europe, Japan, and North and Central America.
In addition to his work for Mum, he has directed and designed puppet work for theaters throughout the region and across the country, including for the Arden Theater, the Wilma Theater, Interact Theater Company, and the Minneapolis Children’s Theater. He has created four original concert works with the Philadelphia Orchestra; Swan Lake won the 2003 Barrymore Award for Outstanding Collaboration of the Year. From the Ashes, his original play for masks and puppets, was named “Pick of the Fringe” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001 after winning three Barrymore awards. From the Ashes also won Robert’s first of three Citations for Excellence in the Art of Puppetry from UNIMA-USA. In 2002 his choreography for Mum’s landmark production of Equus, was awarded both the Philadelphia dance community’s “Rocky” award and the Barrymore Award for Outstanding Choreography.
cheryl williams, acting A regional theater actress for over 25 yrs., Cheryl has worked with numerous companies throughout the country, particularly enjoying working on 27 productions of Shakespeare. A sampling of these companies would include Chicago Dramatists, Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Purple Rose Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Playhouse, Meadow Brook Theatre, Madison Rep and the Three Rivers, Antioch, Orlando and Illinois Shakespeare Festivals. She received her MFA in Acting from Wayne State University in Detroit while performing with the Hilberry Repertory Theatre. She was honored to receive a Princess Grace Theatre Fellowship for her work with the Attic Theatre, which enabled her to act with the company, while teaching at the Attic Conservatory and in the Detroit Public Schools. Cheryl has lived in NYC, Chicago, and Dayton, Ohio, serving as artist-in residence for Sinclair Community College, where her directorial debut of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure was selected as an ACTF Region III Finalist. Cheryl has also taught at DePaul University in Chicago, Wayne State and conducted various Shakespeare workshops for professional companies.
ADDITIONAL ADJUNCTS
MADI DISTEFANO, Acting
MILLIE HIIBEL, Design
JOHN LOPES, Acting