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BEDLAM: THE SERIES

 So f*%ked up it’s Shakespeare.

Film Stills from Bedlam: The Series (Derek Aspenberg, DP)

Bedlam the Series temporary poster Woman with a Crown

Bedlam:

THE SERIES

Created & Directed by Eric Tucker
Written by Eric Tucker & Musa Gurnis

BEDLAM: THE SERIES twists Shakespearean characters and plots we know and love – King Lear,The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Merchant of Venice– into a new story of love, deceit, betrayal and revenge. More The Sopranosthan doublet and hose, in BEDLAM you’ll find family drama, organized crime, and romantic comedy stewed together and told in Shakespeare’s own delicious words. This mini season enters you into this fractious, delightful world where everything may not be exactly as it seems – but it is BEDLAM.

SYNOPSIS:
Small time crime boss Linda “King” Lear is sick. Her attempt to retire early is a debacle that devolves into a bloody family fight for control of Windsor City. Suddenly forced to retire, Lear splits up the business among her three children, expecting them to take turns caring for her during chemo. But her two oldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, are out for themselves. Lear disowns her youngest, favorite kid, Cordelia, who runs off with a dashing rival crime lord named France. Meanwhile, Lear’s top lieutenants are both having family troubles of their own. Frank Ford is sure his wife Alice is stepping out on him with an off- brand Keith Richards, Lear’s drinking buddy Falstaff. George Page’s daughter Anne is sneaking around with a scumbag called Oswald, and his bastard son Edmund is trying to screw his legitimate brother Edgar out of his inheritance. The rest is BEDLAM.

A NEW FRONTIeR

As a theatre company, most immediately, we need to adapt to our current situation and find ways of staying alive, creating content that serves our mission and vision, while assuring the well-being and livelihood of our regular artists and staff. BEDLAM: THE SERIES, will allow BEDLAM, the small Off-Broadway theatre company, to work in a world where theatre temporarily does not exist. It will be the new platform where we realize our work and continue our pursuit to re-visit and reinvigorate the Classics as well as present these texts in a way that is more representative of the world in which we live.

We will take the plot lines of three Shakespeare plays, along with text from several others and create a series that introduces audiences to William Shakespeare as he has never been experienced before. We will make Shakespeare’s language and characters accessible, exciting and fresh to both Shakespeare fans and Shakespeare newcomers. We will make a series that is both innovative and experimental, engaging a diversity of BIPOC artists across all departments, and all the while in adherence to all necessary Covid safety and health protocols.

Eric Tucker
Artistic Director
BEDLAM

Meet the cast

Zuzanna Szakowski headshot

ZUZANNA SZADKOWSKI

LINDA "KING" Lear

Zuzanna Szadkowski played Dorota in the CW’s hit drama series “Gossip Girl”. She can be seen as Nurse Pell on the Cinemax series from Steven Soderbergh, “The Knick.” Other television credits include: “Search Party,” “The Good Wife,” “Elementary,” “Girls,” “Guiding Light,” “The Sopranos,” “Law and Order,” and “Law and Order: Criminal Intent.” Film credits include Pigeon, Growing up and Other Lies, Loserville and Butterflies of Bill Baker. Off-Broadway theater credits include queens at LCT3, Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet (WSJ Performance of the Year 2018) with Bedlam and Peter Pan also with Bedlam, The Comedy of Errors as part of the Public Theater’s Mobile Shakespeare Unit, and Nora and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss and What I Wore. Regional theater credits include The 39 Steps at The Actors Theater of Louisville, The Merry Wives of Windsor at Two River Theater and The Nerd at Bucks County Playhouse. Zuzanna is a Master Teacher for YoungArts in Miami. She received a B.A. from Barnard College.

TRINEY SANDOVAL

TRINEY SANDOVAL

GEORGE PAGE

BROADWAY: Bernhardt/Hamlet, Marvin’s Room, Macbeth, A Free Man of Color, A Man for All Seasons, Frost/Nixon. OTHER NEW YORK THEATRE: 72 Miles to Go…(Drama Desk nomination), The Thin Place, Timon of Athens, The Idiot, As You Like it. REGIONAL: La Jolla Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, American Players Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, Round House Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alliance Theatre, Virginia Stage, Center Stage, Yale Rep., Milwaukee Rep., Alabama Shakespeare, Idaho Shakespeare, California Shakespeare, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, among others and six seasons with The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. TV: “The Black List,” “Elementary,” “The Sopranos,” recurring roles on “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU.”

KADEN KEARNEY

KADEN KEARNEY

CORDEEL

Kaden Kearney (they/them) –  NYC: Indoor Person (Normal Ave.) Regional: One Man, Two Guvnors, Agent 355, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chautauqua Theatre Company); S/he & Me (Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner’s Renberg Theatre) The Winter’s Tale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Swan Shakespeare Festival). Writing and Devising credits: We Are (UCI), The Women Heart in an Enby Soul (solo show). MFA: University of California, Irvine. BA: California State University, Long Beach. 

MIKE LABBADIA

MIKE LABBADIA

PISTOL

With Bedlam: Saint Joan (Gulfshore Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Hamlet (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Romeo + Juliet, Much Ado (Do More Readings). Selected NYC: Strictly Dishonorable (Attic Theater Company), Hedda (Bridge Production Group). Regional: Saturday, Sunday, Monday (Virginia Rep). As a filmmaker and producer his films have screened on Short of the Week and at festivals like Bushwick Film Festival, Boston Underground, Oaxaca Film Festival and Miami Web Fest. BFA: UNCSA

 
TRACEE BEAZER

TRACEE BEAZER

ALICE FORD

Broadway: Frozen, Something Rotten, Honeymoon in Vegas, Holler if Ya Hear Me, the Wedding Singer, Good Vibrations, and Hairspray. Broadway National Tour: All Shook Up. Off- Broadway: Radiant Baby (Public Theater), Two Gentlemen of Verona (Nysf-Public Theater), and Pirates of Penzance. Film/Tv: “The Beauty and the Baker,” “God Friended Me,” “Rise,” “House of Cards,” “Law & Order SVU,” “Spinning Into Butter” and “Camp.”

 
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ELAN ZAFIR

FALSTAFF

There’s Always the Hudson (Woolly Mammoth); Everybody, Romeo & Juliet, Othello, Salomé (Shakespeare Theatre Company); (Upcoming) Enlightened, Junk (Arena Stage); King John, The Way of the World (Folger Theatre); Twelve Angry Men, Ragtime (Ford’s Theatre); The Vagrant Trilogy, Paper Dolls, Eureka Day (Mosaic Theatre); Tender Napalm (Signature Theatre); Happiness and Other Reasons to Die (The Welders); Jumanji (Adventure Theatre); Venus in Fur (Rep Stage); Writer and performer: Ben & Lucille (Capital Fringe); Writer and performer: The Unaccompanied Minor (Edinburgh Fringe); TV: “House of Cards,” “King of Crimes,” “Making of the Mob.” PERSONAL: Training: Dome Theatre Canada; STC’s Academy for Classical Acting.  www.elanzafir.net

 
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CLAIRE HSU

ANNE PAGE

Made in Taiwan, Claire Hsu is a two-time award-winning trilingual actress, who has performed in French, English and Mandarin on stage and on screen. Favorite theater credits: The Hard Problem (Quantum Theater), Lynette Has Beautiful Skin (The Marjorie S. Deane Theater), The Doormen (NYC fringe festival) and Le Décalage (Grand Lecture Hall). Coolest things she thinks she’s done: sharing screen with Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix (You Were Never Really Here), screen testing at Disney Studios as the live-action Mulan finalist, and holding breath for 1.5 minutes with a mouthful of garlic. Upcoming: Focus Features’ “Boogie”.

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RYAN QUINN

EDMUND

With Bedlam:  The Crucible (NYC/Connelly Theater & Boston/Central Square Theater), Sense and Sensibility (A.R.T. & Portland Center Stage), and Dead Dog Park (59E59 Theaters).  Off-Broadway: Whorl Inside a Loop (Second Stage); The Killer, King Lear, Hamlet, and Antony and Cleopatra (Theater for a New Audience); Vanity Fair (Pearl Theatre Company). Select regional: Yellowman (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Hamlet and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Old Globe Theatre); The King Stag (Yale Repertory Theatre); Pride and Prejudice (Dorset Theatre Festival); and eight seasons with The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. TV/Film: “Blindspot,” “Madam Secretary,” “The Blacklist: Redemption,” “Person of Interest,” “Friends from College,” and “Ovum.”  Ryan is the artistic director of Esperance Theater Company (esperancetheatercompany.org).  M.F.A:  Yale School of Drama.

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JOHN TERRY

NYM

John Terry is excited to be a part of Bedlam: The Series. He recently wrapped filming on the feature film The Intimates and the short film 20 Questions. On stage, John was most recently seen in Bedlam’s production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Previous credits include Russ/Dan in Clybourne Park, The Figure in The Orphan, and Kent in King Lear. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a MFA and the University of Utah with a BFA in acting.

Perri Yaniv

PERRI YANIV

BARDOLPH

Perri Yaniv (Bardolph) is a New Yorker with over 50 indie theatre and film credits; recent favorites include Mary’s Little Monster and The Brutes (both with SpitNVigor), REFUGE (Blessed Unrest and Albania’s Teatri Odi), The Plantation (Brave New World’s site-specific adaptation of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard), and Barefoot Theater Company’s award-winning revival of Joe Pintero’s Raft of the Medusa, for which he was named outstanding featured actor in a play at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. He’s played title roles in revivals of Ansky’s The Dybbuk, Shaw’s Don Juan in Hell, and Mayakovsky’s The Bedbug. Film credits include Winter Has No Sun, Delivery Hour, and short films Purity, Untoward, Chinese Rocks, Street Pillow, and The Boundary. For more info: www.perribazyaniv.com

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ERIC TUCKER

Frank ford / DIRECTOR & CO-WRITER

Wall Street Journal DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR 2014. Off Broadway: The Crucible; Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet; Pygmalion; Peter Pan; Vanity Fair; Bedlam’s Sense and Sensibility (Off Broadway Alliance Award, Lortel nom, Best Director, Drama League nom, Best Revival, 4 Helen Hayes awards including Best Director and Best Production); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Drama League nom Best Revival, WSJ Best Classical Production 2015); Bedlam’s Saint Joan (NY Times/Time Magazine top 10; Off Broadway Alliance Best Revival 2014); Bedlam’s Hamlet (NY Times top 10); Tina Packer’s Women of Will; New York Animals (World Premiere by Steven Sater/Burt Bacharach), Twelfth Night and What You Will (NYTCritics Picks); The Seagull (WSJ Best Classical Production 2014). Other: Caesar and Cleopatra (ASC); The Rivals (BRT); The Merry Wives of Windsor (Two River), Disney’s Beauty & The Beast (OSF); Pericles (APT, WSJ Best Classical Production 2017); Copenhagen (Central Square Theatre), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (HVSF), Mate (The Actors’ Gang). Eric resides in New York City where he is Artistic Director of Bedlam.

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KATIE HARTKE

MEG PAGE

With Bedlam: Sense & Sensibility (A.R.T.). Katie is a co-founder of the NYC-based Esperance Theater Company, where she played Olivia in Twelfth Night, Lord Capulet and Lady Macbeth in Youth & Ambition, and Leena Breitwisch in the world premier of Jeremy Kamps’ Breitwisch Farm. She has appeared in 10 seasons with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, where favorite roles include Viola (Twelfth Night), Imogen (Cymbeline), Lucrece (The Liar), Rosaline (Love’s Labours Lost), and Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream). Other regional work includes Virginia Stage (Sense & Sensibility), Arts Center of Coastal Carolina (Blithe Spirit), Half Moon Theater (cul-de-sac), Arc Stages (Love/Sick), Portland Stage (A Christmas Carol), Middlebury Acting Company (Cat on A Hot Tin Roof), Shadowland (Clybourne Park, Love/Sick), Epic Theatre Ensemble (Othello), Flux Theatre Ensemble (Life Is A Dream), Core Theatre Comp (Wonder of the World), and the NY Fringe (A Tiger in Central Park).  TV/Film: “Succession,” “The Blacklist,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Guiding Light,” “College Humor,” “The Circuit,” and various commercials and voice overs. Training: Bachelor of Music, Catholic University; Circle In the Square Theater School.

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SHAUN TAYLOR-CORBETT

SLENDER

Shaun was in the original production of In the Heights on Broadway and closed the show in the role of Sonny. He played Frankie Valli in the 2nd National Tour of Jersey Boys, Juan in Altar Boyz Off-Broadway, and Usnavi and Sonny from In the Heights on the First National Tour as well as in the Broadway company. He recently had the honor of performing the role of Cheever in The Crucible with Bedlam Theatre Company at the Connelly Theater. His original Native American musical, Distant Thunder, will receive its first production in 2021 at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City. He and his mother, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, along with Chris Wiseman based the show on Shaun’s deep connection with the Blackfeet community in Browning, MT. He is a proud company member of Native Voices at the Autry, which produced the show’s first workshop. Shaun was also a company member for three seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His credits there include: As You Like It, Oliver; Between Two Knees (World Premiere, 1491s); Henry V, Nym/Cambridge/Bates; Love’s Labour’s Lost, Moth; Off the Rails/Measure for Measure, Momaday/Claudio; Beauty and the Beast (dir. Eric Tucker). LA Theater: Romeo and Juliet, Romeo (Theatricum Botanicum); Vieux Carre, Tye (Coeurage Theatre); Ubu Roi, Boggerlas; Arcadia, Septimus Hodge (A Noise Within). TV/Film: “Hi-5,” “Discovery Kids,” “Supremacy,” “Gamer’s Guide,” “All My Children.” As a writer, Shaun and Chris’s pop songs have appeared on tv in the US as well as around Europe. Shaun has also collaborated with Daniel Jones from Savage Garden on multiple songs.

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TED LEWIS

EVANS

Ted is a founding member of Bedlam, having appeared most recently in their production of Uncle Vanya Romeo Juliet. Other Bedlam productions include Saint Joan, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, What You Will, New York Animals, Peter Pan and the off-Broadway hit Sense & Sensibility. Additional  credits: Love’s Labor’s Lost (Folger Theatre, directed by Vivienne Benesch), They Promised Her the Moon (Miranda Theatre Co., directed by Valentina Fratti), The Tempest (A.R.T., co-directed by Aaron Posner & Teller). Ted was also seen in the final season of HBO’s “The Dueuce.”

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NIGEL GORE

SHALLOW

Trained at the Rose Bruford College in London and the Trinity Rep Conservatory in RI. He is a founding member of the AUREA Ensemble. Notable: George, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, (Eliot Norton Award Outstanding Actor). Public Theatre Boston; Richard, Richard III, (Westword Denver; Best Actor Award), Colorado Shakes. Recent: Aguecheek, Twelfth Night, Falstaff, Merry Wives, Porter, Macbeth; S&CO. James Tyrone, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Oldcastle. Off-Broadway: Pickering, Pygmalion, Bedlam. Dr. Rank, A Doll’s House, Ostermark, The Father, TFANA: Col. Brandon, Sense & Sensibility, Dorn, The Seagull, Bedlam. Regional: Mrs. Jennings, Sense & Sensibility, Bedlam/A.R.T., Prospero, The Tempest,  Sir Toby Belch, Twelfth Night, Caesar, Julius Caesar, S&Co; Killigrew, Nell Gwynn; Enobarbus, Antony & Cleopatra, Folger DC; Bottom, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Macbeth, Colorado Shakes; Squeers/Hawk, Nicholas Nickleby, Lyric, Boston; Lyman Felt, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Oldcastle, VT: Caesar, Julius Caesar, Orlando Shakes; Brutus, Julius Caesar, Prague Shakes; Women of Will; Shanghai, Prague, The Hague, UK, Mexico. Volumnia, Coriolanus, Mercury Theatre Colchester, England.

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MUSA GURNIS

REGAN / Co-writer

Dr. Musa Gurnis (co-writer/Regan) is gobsmacked to see the series she helped write come to life. A theater scholar and practitioner, she is the author of Mixed Faith and Shared Feeling: Theater in Post-Reformation London, co-published by the University of Pennsylvania Press and the Folger Shakespeare Library (2018); as well as co-editor of Publicity and the Early Modern Stage, Palgrave (2020). Musa’s articles appear in academic journals such as Shakespeare and Shakespeare Studies, and in collections such as the forthcoming Arden Shakespeare’s Changeling: State of Play. Musa has dramaturged projects such as the devised piece Shakespeare Is A White Supremacist (Fractal Theater Collective, DC); nude performances of Hamlet and The Rover in Prospect Park (Torn Out Theater, NY); an eight-play repertory of Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses plays (Brave Spirits, DC); Romeo and Juliet (Gate Theatre, Dublin); and As You Like It (Abbey National Theatre, Dublin). For Bedlam Musa has dramaturged The Crucible and King Lear. As an actor in DC, Musa has appeared at Mosaic Theater in Theory (lead) dir. Victoria Murray-Baatin, and in Les Deux Noirs (supporting) dir. Raymond Caldwell; as well as in Brave Spirits’ Theatre’s The Changeling (DeFlores) dir. Charlene V. Smith, and The Duchess of Malfi (Cariola) dir. Casey Kabela. Musa holds a PhD from Columbia University in early modern English theater and has studied classical acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and the Red Bull Theatre in NY. 

ARASH MOKHTAR

ARASH MOKHTAR

ALBANY

Off-Broadway: The Crucible, The Connelly Theater; Hamlet, The Sheen Center. Regional (selected): The Corpse Washer (by Naomi Wallace & Ismail Khalidi), 2019 Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville; The Humans, Pittsburgh Public Theatre; Disgraced, Coachella Valley Rep (nom. Best Lead Actor in a Drama, Desert Star Awards, CA.); Sinners, (dir. Brian Cox), Mirror Rep; Family Shots, Human Race Theatre Co., Kiss of the Spider Woman, Richmond Triangle Players. Film: Checkmate; Benji the Dove; Day 39 (Finalist, 42nd Annual Student Academy Awards, 2015), Black Site Delta; Chosen (opposite Cathy Moriarty); Best Man in the Dark. TV: “Ramy,” “The Blacklist,” “Instinct,” “Madam Secretary,” “Forever,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Elementary,” “Believe,” “Zero Hour,” “Person of Interest,” among others. Add’l. Credits, NY: Rhinoceros, Richard III, Coriolanus, Broadway Bound, The Servant of Two Masters, An Ideal Husband, Killer Joe, Closer, and Hurlyburly. www.arashmokhtar.com

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RAMI MARGRON

CORNWALL

Rami Margron (they/them) is and actor and dancer originally from Oakland CA. T.V.: “Ray Donovan,” “FBI,” “Bull,” “High Maintenance.”  Film: Alberto and the Concrete Jungle, Burn County, Messina High, Love AnyWay, Trail Ghost. Off-Broadway and Regional theatre: Angels in America (Actors Theatre of Louisville) Hurricane Diane (The Old Globe), Pericles, Macbeth (Berkeley Rep), Tempest (Pittsburgh Public Theater), Pride and Prejudice (Long Wharf), Midsummer, Twelfth Night, Lady Windermere’s Fan (Cal Shakes), Moll Flanders, The Clean House, The Country Wife (Pacific Rep), Around the World in 80 Days, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol (Marin Theatre Co), The Lily’s Revenge (Magic Theater), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shake and Bake) and Angry Young Man (Urban Stages). Over the years, Rami has been a member of several wonderful companies including Crowded Fire Theatre (edgy new plays), Woman’s Will (all-female Shakespeare), The Original Action Pack (improv comedy), Mugwumpin (devised theatre), House/Full of Black Women (site specific ritual performance project), and a handful of dance companies. Rami specializes in Haitian dance and other dances of the African diaspora. For four years, Rami co-hosted The SHOUT, a popular monthly storytelling event in Oakland, CA.

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ZACHARY FINE

EDGAR

Zachary Fine is an actor, playwright, director and teacher. Broadway credits include China Doll with Al Pacino. Off-Broadway credits include The Acting Company, The Mint Theater, Pearl, Red Bull, Fiasco, Theater For A New Audience, New York Classical Theater. Regionally Guthrie, Folger (two-time Helen Hayes nominee), Playmakers, and many more. Director; Spanish language world premiere of El Bien Del Pais (Our Country’s Good) at Teatro Helenico, Mexico City; Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival; Key West Theater; Thin Air Shakespeare Festival, Tony nominee Bryce Pinkham’s Between The Moon and Me at Birdland and Playmakers Repertory Company. TV/Film; “Person of Interest,” “BlackBox” (recurring), “One Life to Live.” Writing his play Bewilderness was produced regionally at Playmakers Rep and has been in development with many theaters. His other writing has been supported by the Lark, EAT Festival’s One Man Talking, Space on Ryder Farm, IRT, The Acting Company, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival and Playmakers Rep. Apprenticed with Christopher Bayes and trained at Ecole du Phillipe Gaulier, The Circus Center in San Francisco, Spymonkey w/Aitor Basauri and received an MFA from the University of Tennessee and B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) Oberlin College. He teaches clown and games at NYU and holds workshops around the world. 

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LISA BIRNBAUM

GONERIL

Lisa Birnbaum (Goneril) is over the moon to be a part of Bedlam’s inaugural television series.  NY Off Broadway credits include John Webster’s White Devil, Other Than We, F#%king Up Everything (now Brooklyn Crush), Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party, On Island and Lizzie Borden amongst others. Recent Regional credits include Bedlam’s King Lear (Bristol Riverside Theatre), Cleo (Alley Theatre), Bedlam’s Sense & Sensibility (Folger, ART, & Portland Centerstage), Lysistrata (Conn. Rep), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Playmakers Rep), The Moscows of Nantucket (TWN), Italian American Reconciliation (Longwharf Theatre), The Cry of the Reed (Huntington Theatre), Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare Theatre of D.C.), Alls Well That Ends Well (Yale Rep.), Romeo and Juliet and Anything Goes (Williamstown Theatre Festival). On Camera credits include “Two Black Dudes,” “Evil,” “Madam Secretary,” “Deception,” “Law & Order,” “What Would You Do” and “Guiding Light.” Lisa holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the Yale School of Drama and is also a teaching artist at NYCDA. Visit her on instagram @liserbeth!

 
Ashley Bufkin

ASHLEY BUFKIN

FRANCE

Ashley Bufkin is a Las Vegas native and MFA graduate from Rutgers University. Previous credits: Bayano: My Odisea (National Black Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (Hangar Theatre), Little Women (Hangar Theatre), 3 Musketeers 1941 (Project Y Theatre), In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play) (Gulfshore Playhouse), Pride and Prejudice (Pittsburgh Public Theater), A Doll’s House Part Two (Barrington Stage Co), Julius Caesar (Shakespeare’s Globe).

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KAREN ALVARADO

QUICKLY

Karen Alvarado is a Latinx actress born in Corpus Christi, Texas. She grew up touring bilingual history plays in Texas and Northern Mexico. After getting a Theatre BA from Texas A&M University, she enjoyed a professional acting career in Austin, Texas. While in Austin she served as the Founding Artistic Director for The Last Act Theatre Company for four years before moving to New Jersey to complete an MFA in Acting at Rutgers University Mason Gross Conservatory, and received classical training from Shakespeare’s Globe in London. She is currently the Founding Co-Artistic Director of Thinkery & Verse. Karen recently appeared as Johnna in August Osage County (REP) and Penelope in Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey (BAM). Other favorite credits include Claudio, Hero and Don Jon in a 4-person version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and the lead character in Bride of the Gulf at the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Karen also directed Bride of the Gulf and the play received critical acclaim from The Scotsman and The List. During the pandemic, Karen has lent her voice to Podcasts “Decameron 2020: Survival Through Stories” and “That’s How the Story Goes – the Hall-Mills Murders,” as well as a new geocaching audio adventure called “GHOST HUNT: The Hall-Mills Double Homicide.” Engage with Karen’s art here: thinkeryandverse.org and karenalvarado.com

 
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GALEN MOLK

FENTON

New York: Richard II (Bedlam), Julius Caesar (TFANA), King John (ATA), The Exes (Theatre Row), Matthew Amendt’s The Comedian’s Tragedy (Access), Against the Wall (Playwrights Downtown), To Live in Peace (Theater for the New City), meg jo beth amy & louisa (Dixon Place). Regional: Mary Zimmerman’s The Odyssey, Julius Caesar (OSF), The Bottle Tree, Zero (ANPF). Training: Heidi Marshall Studio, Southern Oregon University (BFA). www.galenmolk.com

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WOODY FU

SIMPLE

Woody Fu is an actor/creator based in New York. His credits include “Pose” (FX), “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel” (Amazon), and the forthcoming “ABC Discovers 2020 Actor Showcase”. He was a lead in the feature Lucky Grandma, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival. Woody trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in NY, where he performed on Maude Night (sketch), Characters Welcome (characters), and Baby Wants Candy (musical improv). Internationally, he was a cast member of Boom Chicago (Amsterdam), and also starred as Jon Snow in Thrones! The Musical Parody at Edinburgh Fringe. His one-man show Asian Gracefully was featured in The New York Times and Time Out New York, and toured Toronto, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando and Philadelphia. His one-man show Too Many Asians! ran through 2019 at UCB, and toured in Los Angeles and Montreal. As a creator, Woody co-wrote and starred in the digital sketch series “UR Asian Friend,” produced by UCB Comedy and Nerdist. One of the sketches, “Ghost” was a finalist of the Just For Laughs “Eat My Shorts” Competition 2019 (Montreal), and an Official Selection at Just For Laughs 42 (Toronto). His self-produced comedy shorts include “Fucking Japanese,” which was featured on Vulture. He also created the series Asian American Studies (Official Selection of Slamdance 2019). He cohosts the “Emotional Slut” podcast (Spotify/Apple) with SJ Son, where they discuss the Asian American experience, repression, sex, racism, immigrant parents, and break down audience-submitted dating disaster stories. He is represented by Ken Treusch at Bleecker Street Entertainment.

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MURPHY TAYLOR SMITH

DOLL

Murphy Taylor Smith is a trans woman performer, writer, and musician. Recent Penn State grad. Originated the roles of Kitty Minx in Joe Iconis’ Love in Hate Nation and Arabella in Sam Salmond’s Dust and Embers. She was named the 2019 York Theatre N/E/O Writer of the Future. Music/lyrics for Elektric (2021 UMich), RADIO (comm. by UNC Greensboro), Results Will Vary* (comm. by Penn State). @msmurphysmith // MurphyTaylorSmith.com

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MAYA MARGARITA

LA BELLE

Maya Margarita is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work has led her to perform in spaces such as Brooklyn Museum, MoMa PS1, and Madison Square Garden. She is grateful to MN Acting Studio & Morgan Sullivan for their support on her journey back to the acting realm of performance. 

 
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TIFFANY DENISE HOBBS

PORTIA

Tiffany Hobbs: From Augusta, Georgia, Tiffany is an actress, singer, dancer, and former member of the Brierley Resident Acting Company at the Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center. Broadway: Waitress. National Tour: The Lion King. Regional: King Hedley II, A Raisin in the Sun, Clybourne Park, Much Ado About Nothing, Race, Spunk, The Odd Couple, among others. Television: “Claws” (TNT); Donald Glover’s Emmy Award-winning “Atlanta” (FX); “Ozark,” “The Haunting of Hill House” (Netflix); “Love Is __” (OWN); “MacGyver,” “Bull” (CBS); “Happy” (SyFy); and “Code Black” (ABC). Film: The Trial of the Chicago 7. She is a recipient of the Star Project Award from NBC and the American Black Film Festival, and was selected Best Leading and Featured Actress in a Musical (Broadway World). Training: M.F.A. acting, SMU; Yale School of Drama; The Second City; Upright Citizens Brigade. tiffanydenisehobbs.com IG: @tiffanydenisehobbs

 
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VIOLETA PICAYO

NERISSA

Violeta Picayo is a Cuban-American actor, director, and choreographer, based in NYC. Selected credits – New York: Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam), Julius Caesar (Pocket Universe), RadioBABEL (SITI Lab), Taming of the Shrew (Tale Told), This Is…How to Dance (SITI Company). Film/Digital: A Despicable Woman, Small Talk, Upstate. Violeta has worked regionally at the American Repertory Theater, Portland Center Stage, Bristol Riverside Theatre, and the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Internationally, she has worked in Argentina, Greece, Scotland, and England. Violeta is an associate artist of Anne Bogart’s SITI Company and a company member at Bedlam. www.VioletaPicayo.com

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MIA VALLET

SWILL

Mia is thrilled to appear in Bedlam the Series! Her past credits include: Off Broadway: Mary Shelley Frankenstein (Ensemble for the Romantic Century, Signature Theatre), Ashville (The Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre). Television: “Hightown: (Starz), “Eye Candy: (MTV), “Believe” (NBC), “Blindspot “(NBC), and “The Mysteries of Laura” (NBC). She has a BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.

 
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CAROLINE GROGAN

ROBIN

Caroline Grogan is a NY based actor and teaching artist. Her theater credits includ: Bedlam’s The Crucible (Boston & NY), Mona Mansour’s Beginning Days of True Jubilation directed by Scott Illingworth, Chuck Mee’s Jesus (13th Street Rep), and Polaroid Stories (Tisch Stage Works). Caroline is also a puppeteer for Puppetsburg, the Development Director and teaching artist for the arts nonprofit, Zara Aina, and a founding ensemble member of Society Theatre. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. http://www.caroline-grogan.com

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New Series From Off-Broadway's Bedlam to Offer a Shakespeare Mash-Up

BEDLAM: THE SERIES twists together characters and plots from King Lear, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Merchant of Venice and more. . . The new streaming series will allow the company to produce work as theatres nationwide are largely shuttered in the wake of COVID-19.

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Acclaimed Bedlam Theater To Mash Up Shakespeare For Irreverent New Media Series

The new series will follow small-time, ailing crime boss Linda “King” Lear, whose attempt to retire and split up her business among three daughters devolves into a bloody family fight for control of Windsor City…

Creative Credits:

Director

Eric Tucker

Writers

Eric Tucker
Musa Gurnis

Director of Photography

Derek Aspenberg

Producer

Sarah Bellin

Costumes

Engie Hassan

Production Designer

Michael Gilchrist

BEDLAM: The Series

DONORS:

Bedlam would like to thank the following Contributors for their major support in realizing Bedlam: The Series.

ANGELS:

Ashley Garrett & Alan Jones
Sarah Hancock


PRODUCERS’ CIRCLE:

Charles & Karen Schader
Isaac Koyfman
Ryan Quinn
Melissa Hirsch
Alan & Donna Altschuler
Ashley Garrett & Alan Jones
Emily Rechnitz
Claudia Perles
Sarah Hancock
Diane Miller
Amy Greer & Mark Murphy


ASSOCIATE PRODUCER:

Scott & Roxanne Bok


PILLAR:

Angus Vail & Julie Daugherty
Peter & Lauren Lese

Elaine Wolbrom
Arthur Grayzel & Claire Lieberwitz

George Reed

Kathleen & Joel Millonzi
Neil & Kathleen Chrisman

Amy Greer & Mark Murphy
Deborah Benson & Frederic (Ric) Marx
Susan McGeary
Hank and Kathrin Midgely
Ken & Caryl Field
Janet Tiampo


PATRON:

Stephanie Gittleman
David Lieberman
Lorren Erstad & David Lerner
Judith Ferber
Christopher & Roberta Tunnard
Philip & Mary Oppenheimer
Tom & Cindy Mooney
Martha Sicniewicz

This List reflects the Donors from the above Giving Levels only. Bedlam would like to thank all those who gave to the Campaign, especially at this particularly challenging time. The List is current from September 8 – December 8, 2020. We apologize for any inaccuracies. To learn more about donating to Bedlam: The Series, or to advise of any needed corrections, please contact Susannah Millonzi, Director of Development, at development@bedlam.org