Barret O'Brien

Written by Barret O’Brien

Directed by the acting company

With Sara Lessmann, Alayha McNamara, Miranda O’Brien, and Barret O’Brien

House Managers: Jim Amberg, Willow Murawski 

Lighting consultant:  Joshua Huertz

Sound Consultant: Natalie Scott

Production Intern:  Zoe Kenney

Special Thanks to:  Kay-Lynn Sherman, SheenRu Yong, Dorita Borgerson, Chris Jones, Suzanne Willow, and Lanita Witt.

BIOS:

Sara Lessmann is the founder of BlankSlateBody, providing fitness and movement education for actors.  She holds an MFA in Acting from East 15 Acting School in London and a BA in Theater Arts from Carroll University in Waukesha, WI.  Currently based in England, Sarah has performed as Bottom in Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe, Elisa in Snow Queen, directed by Tony Graham; Rebecca in Ashes to Ashes, directed by Simon Pullen, and Joyce in Neaptide at the Arcola Theatre in London.  Sarah wrote and produced How To Be A Tree which debuted in 2018 at The Camden Fringe Festival. 

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Alayha McNamara was head of the Access Department and coordinated accessibility worked at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for over ten years. From 2016 – 2019, she was director’s assistant to Sergei Ostrenko, founder of IUGTE – the renowned Russian physical theatre program based on Stanislavski and Meyerhold’s theories. Alayha founded “The Body of Acting” to facilitate body awareness in the modern-day artist. She has studied and taught physical theater in Oregon, Seattle, Austria, Berlin and the Ukraine. In her hometown of Ashland, Alayha strives to bring international, interracial, and “inter-abled” people together through the neutral platform of physical theater.

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Barret O’Brien is a playwright, actor, and educator.  His plays have been performed at venues across the country including New York, Louisiana, Texas, Connecticut, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.  As an actor he has performed in over 90 plays in venues from New York to the Republic of Georgia, including six seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  Barret is the author of the books Greater Wilder and The Full Bent and founder of American Dog Theatre Company, a theater collective dedicated to the health and restoration of our precious planet.  Barret is a professor of acting at Southern Oregon University and lead teacher of Creative Connections – an enrichment program that empowers youth to find their voice through theatre. 

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Miranda O’Brien is a 3rd-grade student from Ashland.  She enjoys gymnastics, Harry Potter, and the music of Adele.