Playing the Rapture: artists

artist credits

Robert Allen (director) + Antoinette LaFarge (writer, artist) are an artistic team whose previous credits include Demotic (2006, Baltimore Theatre Project; 2004, Beall Center for Art + Technology, Irvine, CA), Galileo in America (2004, workshops, Goethe Institute, LA, and Villa Aurora, Pacific Palisades), The Roman Forum Project (2003, Beall Center; included in an LA Times list of 10 best shows of the past 3 years); Virtual Live (2002, Location One, New York); The Roman Forum (2000, Side Street Live, Los Angeles); and Still Lies Quiet Truth (New York International Fringe Festival, 1998). Their solo credits are listed below.

Robert Allen (director) is a theater movement specialist who teaches movement for actors when he is not directing. His recent and upcoming projects include A Dream Play by August Strindberg (2008, St. Petersburg, Russia); The Faulkner Project: As I Lay Dying (2006, University of Maryland, Baltimore County); For a Better World by Roland Schimmelpfennig (2006, University of Maryland, Baltimore County); A Dream Play by August Strindberg, adapted by Courtney Baron (Cal State Long Beach, 2003); Zwischen Fear und Sex: Fünf Proben (Hellerau, Germany, 2002); Twilight by Anna Deveare Smith (Cal State Long Beach, 2002); How I Got That Story by Amlin Gray (NY, August 2001); Dear Anton (Chekhov Now Festival, 1999); The Creditors (New York International Fringe Festival, 1999); August in January, a festival celebrating August Strindbergs 150th birthday (Theater 22, 1999); Le Mnage (LaMama E.T.C. 1998); and The Good Night (Theatre for the New City, 1998). Robert has an M.F.A. in Theater from Columbia University, where he studied directing with Anne Bogart. His work as a director is grounded in prior experience as a choreographer and performer in German Tanztheater, working with Reinhild Hoffmann (a contemporary of Pina Bausch) and other German directors. Robert also possesses an M.F.A. in modern dance from UCLA and a B.F.A. in visual art from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Antoinette LaFarge (script, visual design) is Associate Professor of Digital Media at the University of California, Irvine. An artist and writer with a special interest in games and virtual realities, her recent work includes the intermedia performance project Reading Frankenstein (2003, Beall Center for Art + Technology, Irvine, CA ) and the curatorship of two groundbreaking exhibitions on computer games and art: ALT+CTRL (2004, Beall Center for Art + Technology, Irvine, CA) and SHIFT-CTRL (2000, Beall Center for Art + Technology). Her writing has appeared in several books, including Searching for Sebald (ICI Press, 2007), the Anthology of Art (2002), and Benjamin's Blind Spot (ICI Press, 2001), as well as in such periodicals as Wired, Leonardo, Tout-Fait, and Gnosis. She is also the founder-director of the Museum of Forgery, a virtual institute dedicated to the aesthetics of forgery. She has an M.F.A. in Computer Art from the School of Visual Arts, New York.

Philip White was born and raised in Madrid, Spain, where he was introduced to music by way of the Flamenco guitar. After graduating with dual degrees in Drama and Composition from Tufts University and the New England Conservatory of Music, Philip moved to Los Angeles, where he became actively involved with several theater companies. In May 2005, he graduated from the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program at USC. That same year he was named a semi-finalist in the Turner Classic Movies Young Film Composers Competition. Soon after he scored his first feature film, Patterns of Passion, and has since contributed music to the animated feature Sharkbait, voiced by Freddie Prinze, Jr., John Rhys-Davies and others. He has also orchestrated and contributed music to the animated TV series Me Eloise, voiced by Tim Curry and Lynn Redgrave, and contributed arrangements to The Comebacks, Meet the Spartans and the CW's TV drama Supernatural. As an orchestrator, he has worked on Alvin & the Chipmunks, The Perfect Holiday and The Simpsons Game by Electronic Arts. In addition, his rendition of the Paraguayan folk song "Recuerdos de Ypacaraí" was aired on KCRWÕs "Morning Becomes Eclectic". He has most recently music-directed the Syzygy Theatre Group's West Coast premiere of Goblin Market, a musical based on the Victorian poem by Christina Rosetti. Philip is thrilled to be collaborating once again with Robert Allen and Antoinette LaFarge on Playing the Rapture.

John Mellies (actor) has been acting in Southern California for about 7 years. He received his MFA from Cal State Long Beach, where he has appeared in many productions, including Pilgrims, The Colonel Bird, The Third Lie, and Knights of the Round Table. This is his fourth project with Robert Allen. Previously he took part in Galileo in America (2004) and The Roman Forum Project (2003) and traveled to Germany in 2002 to take part in the summer workshop Ordnung und Unordnung. John also has a love for comedy and improv, both teaching and performing. He is currently venturing into film acting, with a few student and independent shorts to his credit.

Jay Wallace (actor), native of Kansas City, originally journeyed 8 years ago to Southern California, where he now resides, to attend Cal Rep, the graduate acting program at CSULB, where he earned an MFA. Jay's theatre credits range from Shakespeare (Horatio/Rosencrantz in Hamlet, the Dauphin in King John, Kent in King Lear) to musicals (the King in The King & I, Lucky in Dames at Sea, El Gallo in The Fantastiks). He has also originated a variety of characters in numerous west coast and world premieres, including the current production of The Who's rock opera Quadrophenia, appearing as Dave. Jay is currently forging a film and television career, though theatre remains his true love. Jay is pleased to be working once again with director Robert Allen and is excited to be a part of this truly unique and interesting new project.

Laurel Haac (costume designer) is the product of a multicultural upbringing and a long-time addiction to videogames. Graduating this May with a B.A. in production design from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Laurel has already designed for several modern and experimental plays, most recently including A Duet for Water by Naomi Wallace and The Rudy by Francesca Sanders. In addition to working as a costume designer, Laurel also spends her time singing for the Baltimore progressive-rock band At The Zoo and writing/illustrating several comics. Her work can be viewed at www.luxhaac.com.