The Neo-Futurists to Welcome Six New Artistic Associates

For the first time in 25 years, The Neo-Futurists open the doors to a group of six word-playing, art-slinging and talent-oozing Artistic Associates. These six artists have been regulars around The Neo-Futurarium for years and the Neos are finally making honest artists out of them. The new Artistic Associates are: Anthony Courser, Clifton Frei, Evan Hanover, Halena Kays, Molly Plunk, and John Szymanski.

Artistic Director, Bilal Dardai states, "The Neo-Futurists chose to honor these six artists due to their talent, generous spirit, and passion for our work and aesthetic. The company has been fortunate to work with many amazing collaborators, and this inaugural crop of Artistic Associates have proven on multiple occasions to be invaluable to our Prime Time productions as performers, directors, writers, designers, musicians, and dramaturgs. We welcome every opportunity we have had to bring them aboard our projects and we're looking forward to working with them as much as possible in the future."

Anthony Courser was last seen as Princess, the drunken elephant, in the Jeff Recommended Ivywild with The Hypocrites--his fourth collaboration with Halena Kays, Jay Torrence and Ryan Walters following Burning Bluebeard, Daredevils and Daredevils Hamlet with The Neo-Futurists. Also on The Neo-Futurists' stage:Picked Up, The Fool (returns to his chair), guest starring as Abraham Lincoln in "Anthony Courser Guest Stars As Abraham Lincoln" in Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind, and set designer for Analog. A company member with Barrel of Monkeys since 2001, Anthony regularly teaches creative writing to Chicago Public School students, and regularly performs in That's Weird Grandma. He is the host of Chi-town Clown Revue, which will be performing at Chicago's Theatre On The Lake this summer, and is a graduate of Dell Arte International School For Physical Theatre.

Clifton Frei has worked with the Firehouse Theatre Project, Yellow House, Richmond Shakespeare Company, Sycamore Rouge, The Hypocrites, the unnamed showparty ensemble, LiveWire, and finally, The Neo-Futurists. He considers it his wildly good fortune to have had the opportunity to write and perform for three Neo-Futurist productions: Fear, Crisis: A Musical Game Show, and Chalk and Saltwater: The Ladder Project.

Evan Hanover is a researcher by day and, as it turns out, a researcher by night also. He has been collaborating with the Neos for over a decade, working as a dramaturg for A 60-Minute History of Humankind, The Fool (returns to his chair), Crisis: A Musical Game Show, Chalk and Saltwater: The Ladder Project, and The Sovereign Statement; and an on-stage dramaturg in Fear. He also frequently acts as house photographer.

Halena Kays is the artistic director of The Hypocrites where she both performs and directs-most recently The Fall of the House of Usher (actor), Ivywild, and Six Characters in Search of an Author (director). She is the co-founder and former artistic director of Barrel of Monkeys where she created and directed their critically acclaimed long-running show That's Weird, Grandma. She is a UT-Austin and Northwestern grad, current lecturer at University of Chicago and a former member of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care unit. With The Neo-Futurists she directed 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Burning Bluebeard, co-created and directed Daredevils andDaredevils' Hamlet and the site-specific extravaganza, Fake Lake. Halena has been nominated for a Jefferson Citation for Best Supporting Actress and Best Direction, named one of the top 50 "players" in Chicago theater by NewCity, and received a signed letter from MR. Rogers saying she was "special" in 1978.

Molly Plunk has appeared in Neo-Futurist Prime Time productions as a commercial actor for Crisis: A Musical Game Show, lovingly played the Fairy Queen in Jay Torrence's smash hit, Burning Bluebeard, and most recently joined four of Chicago's finest in a blood sweat and tears style romp, as they fought tooth and nail to reclaim the glory and honor that is rightfully theirs: The Miss Neo Pageant.

John Szymanski is a musician, composer, arranger, producer/engineer and teacher based in Chicago. His first project with The Neo-Futurists was The Fool (returns to his chair), and he has since collaborated musically and otherwise with the company in many shows, including Fear, Crisis: A Musical Game Show,Daredevils' Hamlet, Laika Dog In Space, Chalk and Saltwater: The Ladder Project, and various movies within the It Came From The Neo-Futurarium film fest series. Outside of the Neos, John has contributed music and sound to productions by The Whiskey Rebellion Theatre, Theatre Oobleck, The Harlotry And Necromancy Appreciation Society and The Drinking and Writing Brewery Theatre. He has also scored the music of two films for LA-based filmmaker Peter Sebastian. John is the keyboardist for Chicago band My My My, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for Bethany & The Two Johns, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist for The Gub Club, guitarist for cover band Sidecar, and musical collaborator with many.