Greenway Arts Alliance Presents George Orwell's 1984

"War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength." Greenway Arts Alliance Presents: George Orwell's 1984, directed by Kate Jopson as the first production of their novel to stage program Greenway Reads. 300 Fairfax High School students are reading the novel and will attend matinee's of the theatrical production. The adaptation by Alan Lyddiard creates an interactive and engaging experience for audience members. Jopson said, "We're trying to create an immersive experience. The elements of the play and its themes are all around us in the real world. We try to emphasize that and as soon as you arrive at the theater there's not anywhere you're not in the set of 1984, even in the lobby and bathrooms."

Greenway Arts Alliance Presents George Orwell's 1984, adapted by Alan Lyddiard and directed by Kate Jopson. Performances are Friday's and Saturday's at 8 PM, Fairfax HS student matinee's** are Wednesday's and Friday's at 9:30 AM at Greenway Court Theatre (544 N Fairfax, Los Angeles, 90036). Tickets are available at boxoffice@greenwayarts.org or by calling 323-655-7679. General Admission: $20; Students $10 (with valid ID) There is free adjacent parking, immediately north of the theatre for evening performances. **Street parking for matinees. No alcohol allowed on the premises.

The diverse cast includes Randolph Thompson, Amielynn Abellera, Peggy Blow, Derek Manson, Taylor Jackson Ross, Bill Salyers, Robert Paterno, Lisa Dring, Reuben Uy, Kathleen Coyne, Niall Ferguson, and Lizzie Edwards. Understudy: Robert Paterno* *Please Note understudy performances on October 21st & 22nd and November 16th - 19th

Greenway Court Theatre's professional production of 1984 is the culmination of GREENWAY READS, collaboration along with the City of West Hollywood Public Library, Greenway Institute for the Arts, the Melrose Trading Post and Fairfax High School. Fairfax High School students and residents of West Hollywood are included in an all school and community reading of the novel 1984 culminating with Greenway Court's theatrical production of Orwell's 1984. Greenway's multi-disciplinary approach to programming will focus on the novel's themes while bringing it to life on stage and through arts education and special events.

Whitney Weston (Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director) co-founded Greenway Arts Alliance with Pierson Blaetz in 1997. A lifelong activist, Whitney is committed to keeping the arts and community working together. Both within and outside of Greenway, Whitney has produced and performed in numerous shows and has earned recognition from the NAACP, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, LA Weekly and the Women in Theatre Red Carpet Award.

Pierson Blaetz (Co-Founder/Co-Artistic Director) co-founded Greenway Arts Alliance with Whitney Weston in 1997. He has spent a lifetime integrating the worlds of art & business. As a social entrepreneur he founded several businesses, including "Free Time," a volunteer placement service, and "infoLink," an information retrieval service. Pierson has produced, directed and performed in film and Theatre Projects and has earned recognition from The Drama Circle Critics, NAACP, Garland Awards, LA Weekly and - way back when 1984- The Dramalogue Award for Best Male Performance. Pierson has been recognized for outstanding service by the LA Mayor's Office, LA City Council and LAUSD's School Board and Administrators' Union.

Kate Jopson (Director) is Artistic Director of The Flagship Ensemble, and Associate Artistic Director of Circle X Theatre Co. She is co-founder of the devising group Hephaestus Co. Currently, she develops documentaries with Stick Figure Productions. She was one of National Arts Strategy's Creative Community Fellows and is working with the playwright Octavio Solis to adapt The Cherry Orchard to reflect her rural hometown. Directing Credits Include: Twelfth Night (Coeurage Theatre Co.; Second Skin (The West/The Flagship Ensemble); A Willow Grows Aslant (La Jolla Playhouse-Without Walls Fest.); A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Doll House, Casagemas, Elizabeth I, Cry Old Kingdom (UCSD); The Hanging Odes (Theater Pub); Jesus, She Said (Marin Fringe Festival: Critic's Choice, Best Director). Assistant Directing Credits: Gabor Tompa: Seoul Arts Center, Des McAnuff: La Jolla Playhouse, Domenique Lozano: A.C.T, Jonathan Moscone: CalShakes, Aaron Posner: CalShakes, Erika Chong-Shuch: The Magic Theatre, and Andrei Belgrader: Boston Court. Kate was formerly Experience Director for Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, a 30-year-old site-specific Dance Company, and Associate Artistic Director of the all-female Shakespeare company Woman's Will in the Bay Area. She has been a guest lecturer at UC San Diego and CU Boulder. She holds a B.A from UC Berkeley and an M.F.A in Directing from UC San Diego. www.katejopson.com

Jesse Mandapat (Sound Designer/Music Director) Recent sound designs include: Good Kids | Dog Sees God (Chapman University); Third (South Pasadena Theatre Workshop); Locusts Have No King (INTAR Theatre, NYC), new work written by J. Julian Christopher and directed by David Mendizabal; Dry Land (Pomona College); Francesca Francesca (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Associate Sound Design: Pearl (Lincoln Center NYC - David H Koch Theater). Assistant Sound Design: Charm(Celebration Theatre); La Cages Aux Folles (East West Players); Red (South Coast Repertory); Copenhagen (Rubicon Theatre Company). Other collaborations include: What Goes Around, a Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre traveling production educating Southern California high school students on STD prevention; music research and creative development with Walt Disney Imagineering. Jesse Mandapat holds an MFA in Design & Production from CalArts (focus in Sound Design) and a BA in Music from UC San Diego. www.jessemandapat.com

Hana S. Kim (Projection Design) Hana S. Kim is a set and projection designer for live performances. Selected Recent Projects include City of Conversation at Wallis Annenberg Performing Arts Center, Fallujah (opera) with Long Beach Opera, Dogeaters at Magic Theater, Subliminal with Theater Movement Bazaar at Getty Villa, and I am My Own Wife with Two Turns Theater Company in Brooklyn. Upcoming projects include Sonnets to Orpheus at LAX Festival, Fallujah(opera) remount with New York City Opera, White Snake at Center Stage in Baltimore, and Grandeur at Magic Theater. Other credits include video art installation at Annenberg Center of Photography and Emille at Baryshnikov Arts Center in NY. She has received Theater Bay Area Critics Circle Award, StageScene LA Award, Stage Raw Award, and Princess Grace Award in Theater Design. She has been nominated for Ovation Awards and Theater Bay Area Awards amongst others. For portfolio, please visit: www.hananow.com

Halei Parker (Costume Designer) is a freelance designer making her debut design at Greenway Court Theatre. Some of her recent designs include The Hairy Ape and Go Back to Where You Are at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, Pavilion at Malibu Playhouse, Diet of Worms, Lady Windermere's Fan, Uncle Vanya, Fool for Love, and Gallery Secrets at Chalk Repertory Theatre, In Case of Emergency for La Jolla Playhouse's WOW Festival, Gruesome Playground Injuries at Rogue Machine Theatre, Animals Out of Paper at East West Players and many more productions at theaters around Los Angeles. Halei is also a professor of costume design and construction at Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State LA in addition to being a company member of Rogue Machine Theatre and an artistic circle member and resident designer at Chalk Repertory Theatre. Her work has been seen on stages and screens around the world including Scotland, The Czech Republic, Mexico, and Canada. Halei holds a BFA in Theatre Design from the University of North Texas and an MFA in Costume Design from University of California San Diego.

Bo Tindell (Lighting Designer) Bo is a local freelance lighting designer who grew up doing theatre in Clovis, CA. Recently hired as a Visiting Professor for the Theatre Department at Cal Lutheran University. Previously spent time as A/V Manager and Lighting Operator with Celebrity Cruises for two different contracts. Regional Designer Credits: Berkeley Playhouse, NY Fringe, Cal State Los Angeles, LACHSA, Couerage Theatre, and Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival. M.F.A. from UC San Diego and B.A. from Cal State Fullerton. www.wbtindell.com

Susan K. Coulter (Production Stage Manager) is ridiculously excited to be working with Greenway Arts Alliance on this production of 1984. Some stage management credits include Stand-Off @ HWY #37, The Frybread Queen, Walking on Turtle Island, and Ghostlands of an Urban NDN at Native Voices; The Fix at ICT; and Titus Redux with Circus Theatricals/Not Man Apart, amongst others at Theatre @ Boston Court, A Noise Within, Electric Footlights, Red Dog Squadron, the Black Dahlia, The Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, and she just came back from Edinburgh Fringe Festival, stage managing and designing lights for Out of Our Father's House with Red Compass Productions. As a production manager, she has worked with Furious Theater Company with No Good Deed, Gidion's Knot, and Foxfinder. Susan also produces with Electric Footlights, including Kyle Jarrow's Trigger, Meghan Brown's The Kill-Or-Dies, and most recently Please Don't Ask About Becket. BA, UMKC. MFA, UC-Irvine.

Andrew Staton? (Fight Arranger) After many a month having his time and energy funneled into numerous tv and film projects, Andrew is excited to be working on the stage again and would like to thank Greenway Court Theatre for that opportunity. Andrew has been involved with the world of stage combat since he fight captained Romeo and Juliet his senior year of high school. That was 17 years ago and in that time, he has been lucky enough to work with many talented actors. You can see Andrew's latest work tonight and in the newly released feature film Clowntown viewable on demand and available for purchase worldwide. His website is www.andrewstaton.com and you can follow him on social media under Andrew_Staton. Break a leg to our show's performers this evening and he would also like to send his love to his fiancé Lora, whose beauty inspires him everyday.

JR Bruce (Set & Prop Design) is a Los Angeles-based scenic designer. Current Projects: Streetcar Named Desire at Jewel Theatre Company in Santa Cruz, CA. Selected Los Angeles projects include: Twelfth Night, Vieux Carre, Failure: A Love Story (Ovation nominee), Trouble with Words at Coeurage Theatre, Woman of No Importance at SacRed Fools, Trying(Ovation nominee), Other Desert Cities, Master Class, RED at International City Theatre, Homefree, Lake Anne at Road Theatre. Selected Regional and National credits: 2015 North American Tour of Chugginton Live! Great Rescue Adventure (Lifelike Touring), Intimate Apparel (Ensemble Theatre Company, INDY Award winner), Lonely Boy's Guide to Survival and Werewolves (La Jolla Playhouse), The Sound of Music (San Diego Musical Theater). JR is co-founder of The Flagship Ensemble, who creates experience-driven performances and develops new theatrical work. MFA- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, BA -Graceland University in Lamoni, IA. See his portfolio at www.JRBruceDesign.comhttp://www.jrbrucedesign.com

http://www.jrbrucedesign.com

Gabrieal Griego (Associate Producer) is excited to be working with such a talented bunch of artist on this wonderful project! Past projects include co-directing The Hillary Game & The Royal, w/director Guy Zimmerman; AD credits: The Gary Plays, Part 1, 2 & 3, w/director Guy Zimmerman, which she also production managed and stage managed; DOMA Theatre Company's multi award winning American Idiot, w/director Marco Gomez, which she also production managed; Ovation Recommended and LA Pick of the Week Gidion's Knot w/director Darin Anthony. Directing credits include, Suckers for 2Cent's Theatre Group's INK Fest '16, The Woman in Black, nominated for Best Play Revival by VADA, and Hollywood Fringe favorites: N8 Zwang, Down in Front, Gayby's Playdate, and A Few Good PB&Js. Upcoming projects include production managing for LA Theatre Works, and producing a full run of all three parts of The Gary Plays series, in conjunction with the launch of Open Fist's new space in February 2017.

Shey Lyn Zanotti (Box Office/House Manager) Shey came to Greenway running the box office for I Love Lucy Live and never left. Before that, she held multiple front of house positions in NYC from bartender to house manager, as well as a teaching artist position with the Women's Project Theatre for 5 years.

Randolph Thompson (Winston) has appeared in productions with Coeurage Theatre Company, Circle X, Pacific Resident Theater, La MaMa, Witness Relocation Co., and Mabou Mines among others. He is a founding member of Loose Canon Collective, which produces classical works in LA. He performs improv regularly at the Nerdist School, and can be seen in various commercials and TV shows. He is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Amielynn Abellera (Julia) is honored to be a part of Greenway Court's 1984. She dedicates her performance to all those fearfully living under the abuse of power. She is a proud graduate of University of Southern California's MFA in Acting program. Thank you and love to my family, friends, and Anastasia. For more on Amielynn please visti, amielynnabellera dot com.

Peggy A. Blow (O'Brien) Ms. Blow most recently appeared at the Atwater Village Theatre as the Red Queen in Murray's Mednick's The Fool & The Red Queen. She has appeared in theatres all across the California, as well as nation-wide, garnering various Ovation nominations and other awards along the way; locally, for best supporting actress as Lula Green, in the Antheus Theatre production of Wedding Band, as Mrs. Dickson in Ensemble Theatre Company's Intimate Apparel (Santa Barbara), just to mention a couple. Her television credits and mentions are equally as impressive. You will recognize her having portrayed Rosa Lopez in American Crime Story: The people v. O.J. Simpson, the Fox 2016 Emmy Award winning mini-series. Coming in a few months, you will see her as Amelia in a new Netflix comedy series, Real Bob. Peggy is proudly represented by Smith & Hervey/Grimes Talent Agency.

Taylor Jackson Ross (Parsons)
Los Angeles born and raised, Ross acquired a BA in Drama from UC Irvine. This is her first show with Greenway Court Theatre. Past projects:: The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum-- Lear (Albany), Harper Lee's To Kill A Mocking Bird (Miss Stephanie), Equivocation (Judith), The Taming of the Shrew (Understudy for Katherine), Tom (Jane), and Romeo and Juliet (Tybalt), Mine is Yours Theatre Company -- R&J (Mercutia) and The Winter's Tale (Camillo), Creating Arts Company -- Beauty and the Beast (Madame/The Wardrobe), A Noise Within -- Great Expectations (Ensemble), Coeurage Theatre Company - Love's Labour's Lost (Understudy for Rosaline).

Derek Manson (Syme) tours with the acclaimed musical comedy THE BICYCLE MEN, and has appeared on the Second City Hollywood stage in QUICK & DIRTY, FUN AND OTHER TRAUMATIC EVENTS, and the news satire show SECOND CITY THIS WEEK. LA stage credits also include THE GARY PLAYS with Open Fist and Padua Playwrights, LIFE EXPECTANCY and THE 39 STEPS at Malibu Playhouse, ROOM SERVICE with the Open Fist, MAKING PARADISE with Cornerstone Theater, THE BEWILDERED HERD at Greenway Court, and PLAY/Ground with The Theatre @ Boston Court. Regional stage credits include JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH with South Coast Repertory, PICASSO AT THE LAPIN AGILE, ARCADIA, and Romeo & Juliet with the ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta, AMADEUS with Sacramento Theatre Company, and NEVER THE SINNER with Woodshed Collective in NYC. As a vocalist, Derek has appeared in several editions of the FOR THE RECORD concert series, and in the rock musical THE EXISTENTS. As a director: EINSTEIN IS A DUMMY with Sierra Madre Playhouse. FILM: ON FIRE, THE BEGINNING, MEND, [A GIFT], HELD. TV/VO: Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! , PERFECT COUPLES, THE WB, and SNL's BEST OF TV FUNHOUSE.

Robert Paterno (Winston US/Syme US) works extensively throughout Los Angeles as an actor, arts educator, and sketch comedian. He works as a Teaching Artist with The Unusual Suspects, Geffen Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, and Theatricum Botanicum, and teaches Forensic Science each summer for Johns Hopkins University's Center For Talented Youth. He holds an MFA Acting from Southern Methodist University and a BS in Marine Biology from Texas A&M University. Robert has appeared in other theatrical adaptations of books, including Mr. Dussel in The Diary of Anne Frank @Cupcake Theatre and in The Speakeasy Society's immersive theatrical experience, Johnny: The Quick and the Dead, inspired by Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. TV/FILM CREDITS: Vampire Diaries (recurring). LA CREDITS: LaugthivismLA @io West;Candidate Confessions @Second City; The Last Days of Judas Iscariot @Hudson Theatre (LA Weekly Best Ensemble & Revival); Julius Caesar @Shakespeare Orange County; A Midsummer Night's Dream & Measure For Measure @Theatricum Botanicum. Twelfth Night @Coeurage Theatre; Rio Hondo @Theatre of Note;Occupation @SacRed Fools Theatre; revolver @Celebration Theatre; LA Views@Company of Angels; and Elizabeth Hammond @Drive Theatre; REGIONAL CREDITS: The Merchant of Venice & Pericles @Great River Shakespeare; and The Miser @Stagewest. Instagram: @robterno; Twitter: @Robert_Paterno

Lisa Dring (Julia US) is an actor, writer, puppeteer and clown. She has performed with Asolo Repertory Theatre, Humana Festival, Bread & Puppet, East West Players, One Year Lease, Theatre of NOTE, Rogue Artists, Bootleg, SCF @ Son of Semele Theater and Circle X Theatre Co. Her latest solo show,Death Play, was featured in Son of Semele's Solo Creation Festival and received a full production with Circle X last spring. Lisa holds a BA in Theatre from USC and apprenticed at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Additionally, she has studied clown with Chris Bayes and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at CalArts. Lisadring dot com

Kathleen Coyne (Charrington US) has appeared on the Los Angeles stages of EST/L.A., Company of Angels, The Blank Theatre, the Matrix, The Met and in New York at Playwrights' Horizons, Theater in the Park, the Hudson Guild, and the Direct Theater among others. Kate has also toured nationally. As a performance artist she has worked with Marina Ambromovic, John Fleck, and Scott Kellman. She has been seen in many television shows including House, Parks and Recreation and The Young and the Restless. She has been awarded two LACAD Individual Artist grants and created "Traveling in Time - Stories of L.A." at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Kate is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre/ L.A., and Associate Artist with Cornerstone Theater Company, and Company of Angels. She is also an Artist Leader with Imagination Workshop.

Reuben Uy (Parsons US) is a theater and film actor based in Los Angeles, California. He was last seen as Etienne in East West Players' La Cage Aux Folles. Selected credits: Laertes Hamlet, Argan Le Malade Imaginaire, Benedick Much Ado About Nothing, Eilert Loevborg Hedda Gabler, Stanley Kowalski A Streetcar Named Desire, Charles Aznavour Piaf, Luke Altar Boyz. For film, he played JJ in the film Metro Manila, Audience Award winner in the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.

When: October 21st through November 19th. Friday and Saturday at 8 PM; Student Matinees: Wednesday and Friday at 9:30 AM. US Performances October 21st & 22nd and November 16th - 19th

Where: Greenway Court Theatre (544 N Fairfax, Los Angeles, 90036) There is free adjacent parking, immediately north of the theatre. No alcohol allowed on the premises.

How: Tickets are available at boxoffice@greenwayarts.org or by calling 323-655-7679. General Admission: $20 - Students: $10 (with valid ID) Doors open at 7:30PM

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