Washington Ensemble Theatre Stages ED, DOWNLOADED, Now thru 2/24

Washington Ensemble Theatre to Present ED, DOWNLOADED by Michael Mitnick in its reigonal premiere. Directed by Ali el-Gasseir, Ed, Downloaded will play today, January 31 - February 24, 2014, running Thursdays through Mondays at 7:30. The Opening Night Reception is set for tonight, January 31st after the show.

ABOUT THE PLAY: Set in a future where one can purchase immortality and spend an afterlife in a digital heaven of one's favorite memories, this soon-to-be true story tackles classic themes of love and death in a world where technological advancements bring infinite possibilities. Half-live action play and half-feature film, Ed, Downloaded is a sci-fi love story for high-tech dreamers.

Performances run at 608 19th Avenue East, at The Little Theatre in Capitol Hill. Tickets are $15-$20 and are available at the door or in advance at www.washingtonensemble.org. NEW! $15 Industry Tickets Any Night of the Week!

CAST:

Noah Benezra* - Ed

Gin Hammond** - Selene

Adria LaMorticella - Ruby

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Michael Mitnick - Playwright

Ali el-Gasseir* - Director

Maria Manness* - Stage Manager

Leah Salcido Pfenning* - Assistant Director

Cameron Irwin* - Scenic Designer

Robert Aguilar - Lighting Designer

Chelsea Cook - Costume Designer

Brendan Patrick Hogan - Sound Designer

Sonya Hachez - Properties Designer

Dani Norberg - Master Electrician

(*Denotes member of Washington Ensemble Theatre)

(**Denotes member of Actors Equity Association)

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES:

Michael Mitnick (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright, whose other plays include Sex Lives of Our Parents, Fly By Night , Spacebar: A Broadway Play by Kyle Sugarman, and the libretto for the Broadway-bound musical version of Animal House.? He also wrote the screenplay for the adaptation of the Newbery-winning novel The Giver, which will star Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges. His screenplay The Current War was among the 10 Best Screenplays of 2011 on THE BLACKLIST and will be produced by Steve Zaillian (Moneyball, Schindler's List), Timur Bekmambetov and Harvey Weinstein. ?Michael is a member of Ars Nova and P73 Playgroups, and a 2012 Visionary Playwright Award recipient. Currently, Michael is writing commissions for The Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club and Theatre Masters in conjunction with The Goodman Theatre. ?He received his MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama.

Ali el-Gasseir* (Director) is a Co-Artistic Director of Washington Ensemble Theatre and a Seattle-based theatre maker. Along with his duties with the Ensemble he serves as the Casting director for the Intiman Theatre Festival. He has directed regionally in Seattle and California and as a performer has acted for companies such as Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Theatre Rhinoceros, and the Ensemble. Ali holds a BA in Theatre Arts from UC Santa Cruz with an emphasis in Directing and an MA in Theatre History and Criticism from San Francisco State University.

Noah Benezra* (Ed) is a Co-Artistic Director at Washington Ensemble Theatre. Noah has worked as a producer, literary manager, and actor at Washington Ensemble Theatre since 2010. Noah has been seen at the little theatre in The Mistakes Madeline Made, Robopop!, Milk Milk Lemonade, and Bed/Snake. As the Literary Manager for Washington Ensemble Theatre, Noah has facilitated new play development workshops with local and national playwrights and has built relationships with other emerging theatre companies across the country. Noah is also a pretty nice guy, you should talk to him - he likes people!

Gin Hammond** (Selene) is a Harvard University/Moscow Art Theatre grad and has performed nationally at theaters such as The Guthrie, Arena Stage, Seattle's ACT, the Pasadena Playhouse, the ART, the Berkshire Theatre Festival and the Studio Theatre in Washington D.C., where she won a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress for her performance of The Syringa Tree. Internationally, she has performed in Russia, Germany, Ireland, Scotland and England, and can be heard on commercials, audio-books, radio plays, and a variety of video games. Recent favorite Seattle productions include Huckleberry Finn: Uncensored at Book-It, and I'M/MIGRANT, by award-winning playwright Yussef el Guindi. Hammond teaches at Freehold Theater Lab/Studio and will be performing her 28-character solo show, Returning the Bones, at Key City Public Theater in October... after co-producing the second annual Sandbox One-Act Play Festival at West of Lenin in June...and directing Gifts of War at Velocity in September. Phew.

Adria LaMorticella (Ruby) has appeared recently in Book-It Repertory Theatre's Owen Meany's Christmas Pageant and Seattle Children's Theatre's The Cat in the Hat. She has also performed with various other Seattle theaters including Balagan, GreenStage, Annex, Macha Monkey, and Pony World and is a company member of the Seattle based theatre troupe, Blood Ensemble. Adria graduated with a BA in Theatre from Western Washington University in 2008. This is her first production with Washington Ensemble Theatre and couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to work with such an incredible group of artists.

Maria Manness* (Stage Manager) graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2012 where she studied Stage Management, Technical Direction and Original Works, and is now the Production Manager for Washington Ensemble Theatre. Along with Ed, Downloaded, she is also currently working on the Ensemble's following show The Icelandic Illumination Rangers, and hopes that you will join her for that all-ages auroral adventure. Other favorite Seattle stage management credits include Red Light Winter, 25 Saints and Jesus Hopped the A Train with Azeotrope as well as Demon Dreams at West of Lenin.

Leah Salcido Pfenning* (Assistant Director) is so happy to have joined the Washington Ensemble Theatre as the Casting Director. Leah is a Theater/Original Works graduate of Cornish College of the Arts and in addition to casting, also does photo and video editing work for the Ensemble. She has worked for Book-It Repertory Theatre and Intiman Theatre. Leah is excited for Season 10 and all the great work beyond!

Cameron Irwin* (Scenic Designer) is Resident Set Designer at the Washington Ensemble Theater and staff designer at ZGF Architects. He is thrilled to be able to work with the talented and fun loving cast and crew of Ed, Downloaded. He received a degree in Architectural Studies from the University of Washington in 2011. Other current collaborators include Sight by Sound, The YC, and Tectonic Marrow Society.

Robert Aguilar (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to be designing for WET once again! His upcoming projects include Little Shop of Horrors (5th Ave Theatre/ACT), Arcadia (Seattle Public Theatre), and Parade (Contemporary Classics). Recent local designs include A Crack in Everything (zoe|juniper), Next to Normal, The Yellow Wood, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Zanna Don't! (Contemporary Classics), Bo-Nita, I Am My Own Wife, Inspecting Carol, Of Mice and Men, The K of D: an urban legend, Speech & Debate and boom (Seattle Rep), The Lady with All the Answers (ACT), If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (SCT), Hairspray in Concert , Titanic: The Concert (5th Ave). Robert is the Managing Director and Resident Lighting Designer of Contemporary Classics, and is the Lighting Associate at Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Chelsea Cook (Costume Designer) is pleased to be working with Washington Ensemble Theatre again! Chelsea is a freelance Costume Designer and shop manager, having worked at Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Intiman Summer Festival. Favorite designs include Trails and Lizzie Borden with Village Theatre, Spring Awakening with Balagan, She's Come Undone with Book-It, and Radiance, a new play workshop with Seattle Repertory Theatre. Her work has also been seen at ACT Theatre, Seattle Public Theater, Gilbert & Sullivan Society, and iDiom Theatre.

Brendan Patrick Hogan (Sound Designer) is an award-winning sound designer and composer whose work has been heard in theaters across the country. He is the resident sound designer at ACT Theatre, where he has designed over 30 productions since 2009, including Sugar Daddies, Double Indemnity, Other Desert Cities, Yankee Tavern and Ramayana. As a former member of Washington Ensemble Theatre, Hogan composed and designed for Mr. Marmalade, God's Ear, Titus, Neighborhood 3 and RoboPop!. Other designs and compositions include Red (Seattle Repertory Theatre - 2012 TPS Gregory Award winner), Chamber Cymbeline (Seattle Shakespeare Company), The River Why (Book-It Repertory Theatre) and This Wide Night (Seattle Public Theatre).

Sonya Hachez (Properties) has been the assistant to costume designer Ron Erickson on Strawberry Theatre Workshop's The Normal Heart, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and This Land: Woody Guthrie. She has been assistant scenic designer for Neverwhere (directed by Roger Benington, scenic designed by Matthew Smucker, at Cornish Playhouse), assistant costume designer for Bat Boy: the Musical! (directed by Kathryn Van meter, costume designer Sophie Thoma, at Cornish Playhouse), and properties coordinator for Cloud 9 (directed by Timothy McCuen Piggee, scenic designer Kathleen Le Coze, at Raisbeck Performance Hall). She has worked with Outsiders Inn on a Jacobean piece The Bloody Banquet, assisting with costumes and props. Sonya is currently in her junior year at Cornish College of the Arts, majoring in costume and scenic design.

Dani Norberg (Master Electrician) recently graduated from Cornish College of the Arts, which is like the Hogwarts of the Pacific Northwest. Her recent lighting designs include Neverwhere at Cornish, Bad Asses, are we queer enough for you with the Queer Teen Ensemble Theatre, and Night of the Living Dead at Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other lighting designs include References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and Spare Me, both at Cornish as well as Cabaret, also at Seattle Academy. She is excited to be staying busy with awesome projects post-graduation and can not wait to see what is next!

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