• Collaborators
  • Our Work
    • The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore
    • Out of Bounds
  • About WGT
    • Contact WGT
    • Support
You are here: Home / Collaborators

Working Group Theatre

Collaborators

WORKING GROUP COMPANY

JENNIFER FAWCETT
A graduate of the University of Iowa MFA Playwrights Workshop, Jennifer’s plays have been produced at the Tennessee WomenÕs Theatre Project (Nashville), The Drilling Company (New York), Riverside Theatre (Iowa City), Available Light Theatre (Columbus), the Adirondack Theatre Festival (Glens Falls, NY), Alcyone Festival (Chicago), Theatre Masters (Aspen/West Palm Beach), the Hatchery Festival (Washington, DC), and developed at the Lark Playwright’s Week, Cultural Conversations (Penn State), the LiPttle Festival of the Unexpected (Portland Stage Company, ME), Central Square Theatre and M.I.T. (Cambridge, MA), Curious Theatre (Denver), Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, Palm Beach Dramaworks (West Palm Beach, FL), and Performance Network Theatre (Ann Arbor, MI). Prior to moving to the U.S., Jennifer worked in Toronto, Canada, where she toured with her company, Red Engine Productions, to festivals across the country.

In 2013, Jennifer had three plays premiere: The Broken Chord (Hancher Auditorium commission) about caregivers and AlzheimerÕs Disease, Birth Witches (Riverside Theatre/Cornell College) and her youth show about cyber bullying, Out of Bounds (Hancher Auditorium commission). Out of Bounds is continuing to tour schools in 2014 and will be presented as a full length play by Hancher in May 2014.
Jennifer has directed two original shows for The Telling Project (Austin, TX), Telling: Iowa City (which she co-wrote with Jonathan Wei), and Telling: Des Moines, working with veterans to tell their stories to their communities.

As an actor Jennifer has performed with Working Group Theatre, Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival, Riverside Theatre, Iowa Summer Repretory Theatre, and numerous theatres in Toronto, Canada. Televison credits include Monk (USA Network), Noddy and Friends (Catalyst Entertainment), Christmas on Delancy Street (Glendale Productions), and numerous commercials and voiceovers.

In 2013, Jennifer made her third trip to Africa as a teaching artist and director with the International Theatre and Literacy Project. In both 2011 and 2013, she helped the students of Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda create an original play about their lives The 2011, play toured to the Centre x Centre International Theatre Festival in Kigali. In 2010, Jennifer worked on another original play with students in Arusha, Tanzania which was performed for the community. Find out more by visiting: www.jenniferfawcett.org

SEAN CHRISTOPHER LEWIS
Director, Playwright, Solo Performer and Filmmaker, Sean’s plays and solo performances have been performed internationally at the Institut Del Teatre in Barcelona, Spain; at Orange Tea Theatre in Amsterdam, Netherlands; at the Uno Festival of Solo Performance in Victoria, British Columbia; in Rwanda at the Centre X Centre International Theatre Festival; and with Ghost Dog Productions on tour throughout the United Kingdom. In the United States his work has been produced across the continental US at Baltimore Centerstage (MD), Interact Theatre, Graterford Prison, Luna Theater and Touchstone Theatre (PA), Woolly Mammoth Theatre (Washington DC), Southern Rep (New Orleans), American Theater Company, Prologue Theatre and Halcyon Theatre (Chicago), Hancher Auditorium, the Englert Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Grinnell College Center Stage Series, CSPS/Legion Arts and Luther College’s Center of Faith and Life (Iowa), Available Light Theatre, Know Theatre, Cleveland Public Theatre and Actor’s Summit (Ohio)Lied Center for Performing Arts (Nebraska), Redfern Performing Arts Center and Pontine Theatre (New Hampshire), Salt Lake Acting Company (Utah), Sandglass Theatre (Vermont), Hartbeat Ensemble (Connecticut); Horizon Theatre (Atlanta); Equinox Theatre (Montana); Blank Theatre and Theatre of Note (Los Angeles); Empty Boat and the Idaho Juvenile Detention Center (Idaho); Revolutions International Theatre Festival (New Mexico), Ko Festival of Performance (Massachusetts), Cape May Stage (New Jersey), Lawrence Arts Center (Kansas) and Adirondack Theatre Festival, Drilling Company, Gerald W. Lynch Theatre, Bowery Poetry Club and Theater for the New City in his native New York.

His plays and solo pieces have been developed at the Ojai Playwrights Conference, Lark New Play Development Center, National Center for New Plays/Stanford University, PlayPenn, NYU’S HotInk Festival of International Playwriting, Kitchen Dog Theater’s New Works Festival and Orlando Shakespeare Festival’s PLAYFEST.

His first feature film as a writer and director, THESE HOPELESS SAVAGES, has been nominated Awards from film festivals across the United States and Europe (Twin Cities Film Festival, Snowdance International Film Festival, Orlando Film Festival, 30 Under 30 Film Festival, Indianapolis International Film Festival, Long Beach Indie, Hoboken International Film Festival, Beacon Independent Film Festival, Hamilton Ontario Film Festival, Wild Rose International Film Festival, Nevada City International Film Festival, Red Dirt International Film Festival). He also collaborated with noted indie director Hal Hartley on his series MY AMERICA, scripting the episode entitled “THE ‘GO.”

As a Playwright, he started to develop his talent long ago. His first play was written and presented during his school years, and it was quite successful. Lewis wanted to develop his playwriting skills, so he applied for multiple custom writing positions to work as a freelance essay writer. This work was not his dream job, yet it offered him space for creativity and self-expression. The challenging tasks he needed to carry out in a short time taught him to brainstorm ideas quickly and cross the poor ones out with no regret. Also, Lewis became more flexible in points of view on various social problems since his plays’ characters were not all ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Thus, playwriting appeared to be the base of his following screenwriting aspirations that took him where he is now. 

“Working as a freelance writer online was one of my best choices in life”, Lewis said. “This job has a lot of benefits, from the ability to get tasks done anytime to the communication with different customers. It is also financially rewarding for a student”, he emphasized. Therefore, if you think about getting a part-time job while in college, consider applying for a freelance writer position.

A noted essayist, he can be heard on NPR’S This American Life.

MARTIN ANDREWS
Martin Andrews is an actor, director, voice coach, and theatre facilitator. In 2009 he co-founded Working Group Theatre where he has helped to create new plays that have been published in the New York Times Magazine and called “… some of the most important political theatre of the decade” by the Huffington Post. His work has received support from The Association of Performing Arts Presenters/ Met Life Foundation Re-imagining Community Participation Program, The New England Foundation for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Humanities, The Iowa Arts Council, The University of Iowa, and The United States Department of Justice. Currently, he is creating/developing the New Mexico Shakespeare Project, a collaboration among professional actors and directors Albuquerque and Santa Fe. He was the Core Creator of The Broken Chord Project, a year-long examination of Alzheimer’s Disease carried out through interviews with patients, doctors and caregivers; improvisation and storytelling classes with dementia patients; and service as bedside Hospice aides. He is the creator and director of Was the Word , a monthly spoken word, storytelling, and music series that raises money for human service organizations. In 2011 he created Make It Better, Iowa, a Theatre of the Oppressed training series for LGBT Youth dealing with harassment. He co-directed Telling: Iowa City in 2012, a full length play created from the stories of returning veterans and acted by the vets themselves. As an actor, Martin has originated roles in seven world premiere plays with Working Group. He has continued to act around the country developing new work and performing established plays.

Martin is a certified Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and was Co-Creator and Co-Director of the FIRST INTERNATIONAL FITZMAURICE VOICEWORK CONFERENCE in Barcelona, Spain, which brought together over 50 students and teachers from nine countries. He serves as the Assistant Director of Community Development for The Fitzmaurice Institute. He has worked extensively as a voiceover artist, and founded his own voice over company in January 2010, Canopy Creative Productions, where he directs voice actors and oversees audio editing and production. As a voice and public speaking coach, Martin has helped both actors and non-actors develop the tools to tell their stories clearly and effectively.

Martin earned his MFA in Acting from the University of Iowa, and an M.Ed and a BA from The Ohio State University.

ASSOCIATES

Julia S. Stewart is a writer, journalist, and blogger based in Southern California. She obtained her Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. After graduation from university, she went on to Ph.D. studies to become a research scientist. Once she received a grant for her research from Stanford University, she decided to move on campus to dive deep into her work. At this time, she cooperated with a few essay writers and launched an online writing service for students with them. She aimed to help young people from all walks of life to start a writing career and, on the other hand, help Californian students to improve their grades and writing skills with her service.

The writing service working processes, communication among writers and students, and training were conducted online. This is to ensure personal safety during the pandemic, and flexibility for both students and writers. To get help through Julia S. Stewart’s service, a student needs to do the following:

  1. 1. Sign up for a free account on the service website. The process takes less than a minute and does not require you to provide any personal information. All you need to do is enter your email and create a password;
  2. 2. Fill out the form of a request for academic help. Here, a student needs to state his subject area, topic of the task, kind of assistance they need, e.g. essay writing, a consultation, editing of the paper, etc. Selection of the sources for writing, paper outline, and other additional services are also available;
  3. 3. Wait for the tutor or writer to join the talk. Once the request for assistance is received, the service starts choosing the writer to carry out the task. The process does not take more than 5-10 minutes. At this point, a student does not need to take any actions on their side;
  4. 4. Get help. After assigning the writer or tutor, a student can ask any questions or give any clarifications on the matter. All communication should be done via the service website to ensure complete mutual understanding. Julia S. Stewart checks the work of moderators from time to time to see what needs to be changed to improve customer’s experience with her service;
handmadewriting.com/

Shawn Ketchum Johnson is a visual artist who was drawn to theater out of a fascination with the collaborative process and a commitment to community engagement. While exhibiting artwork nationally and abroad, he began working with theaters as a scenic designer, drawing intuitively on his experience in installation art and large-scale sculpture. Recent credits include Northwestern University productions of Pride and Prejudice, Nickel and Dimed, Machinal and How to End Poverty in 90 Minutes, an original work devised by Michael Rohd of Sojourn Theatre. For WGT, he has designed Atlas of Mud, The Toymaker’s War, The Broken Chord, All Recipes Are Home, and is a collaborator on The Riot Ballet. He is on the Stage Design Faculty at Seattle University.
www.shawnketchumjohnson.com

Courtney Schmitz is a freelance lighting designer based in Minneapolis who received her MFA in lighting design from the University of Iowa in 2009. She has designed professionally for 20% Theatre, crash.dance productions, Yellow Tree Theatre, Six Elements Theatre, Freshwater Theatre, Theatre in the Round, Lyric Arts Company of Anoka, Savage Umbrella, Nimbus Theatre, Open Window Theatre, Bucket Brigade Theatre, Inver Hills Community College, Riverside Theatre, the University of Iowa Department of Dance, Cornell College, Iowa Summer Rep, Florida Players, and the University of Florida Opera Department. For WGT, she has designed lighting for Out of Bounds, Mayberry, The Broken Chord, and All Recipes Are Home.
http://cargocollective.com/schmitzlighting

Kristy Hartsgrove-Mooers has originated roles in All Recipes Are Home, Out of Bounds, The Broken Chord, Mayberry, Rust, Atlas of Mud and in the road company of Denali, which won the Cincinnati Acclaim Award for Best Ensemble. She has appeared regionally with the Iowa Summer Repertory (University of Iowa), Riverside Theatre (Iowa City), the Old Creamery Theatre (Amana, IA), the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble (Chicago). She teaches at Coe College and the University of Iowa, and holds an M.F.A. from Illinois State University.

Saffron Henke is an actor, director, and educator with an M.F.A. from the Professional Actor Training Program at the University of Washington, during which she also performed with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Idaho Rep, Seattle Children’s Theatre and the Recklinghausen Ruhrfestspiele in Germany. She was in the acting company at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and an Associate Artist and resident acting company member at the Sacramento Theatre Company. In the Midwest, she has worked with Riverside Theatre, Coe College, Augustana College, St. Ambrose University, Cornell College, ChiARTS, and the Englert School of Performing Arts. She has also appeared on web series for Web Therapy and HBO’s True Blood. With WGT, Saffron originated roles in The Broken Chord, The Kreutzer Sonata, and Abundant Happiness: the Music of Robert & Clara Schumann. She is the recipient of the 2005 Princess Grace Foundation Honorarium for Emerging Artists and is currently on the theatre faculty at Miami University.
www.saffronhenke.com


  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
ABOUT WGT
Mission and History
Collaborators
Work
SUPPORT
Donate
GET INFO
Get E-Mail news
Contact Us
Sitemap
CONTACT US