2013: Oil & Water - Archived Bios

DIRECTION & SCRIPT:

Joan Mankin (Director) has worked as an actor, clown, and teacher in the Bay Area for many years. Mankin has been a company member of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Pickle Family Circus, the Dell'Arte Players Company, and Make-A-Circus. In addition, she has performed with The American Conservatory Theater; the California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, San Diego Rep, Marin Theater Company, Aurora Theater, Theaterworks, A Traveling Jewish Theater, San Jose Stage Company, and the Magic Theatre. Joan's film credits include appearances in Bee Season, Made in America and Desert Hearts. She has directed for Circus Center, the Magic Theater, SF Shakespeare Festival, Make-A-Circus, the Phoenix Theater, Theaterworks of Colorado Springs, the Bricks and Earth Circus of Calgary, Canada, and the SF New Vaudeville Festival. Joan holds an MFA in theater and has taught at SF State University, University of CA at Santa Cruz, Antioch University in Ohio, ACT, the Dell'Arte School of Physical Performance, and the High School of Performing Arts in SF.

Pat Moran (SFMT Collective, Music Director, Writer, Composer, Lyricist, Musician) began his involvement with the Mime Troupe during 2005's Doing Good and sometimes feels like he hasn't left the building since. He has been an artist in residence at The University of San Francisco, The University of Miami (Ohio), and CSU Fresno. In addition to his work with theater, Pat is an active performing musician, and ASCAP member composer for film and television. He has been a lead teacher with the Mime Troupe's Youth Theater Project and Summer Workshop and is also a private guitar instructor. Pat received a BFA in Philosophy with a Concentration in Ethics and Public Policy from Clark University, and an MFA Performer Composer degree from California Institute for the Arts.

Adolfo Mejia (Writer) is a writer originally from Southern California. Now residing in San Francisco, he is the co-director of the Adrian Cervantes Mejia Fund, a grant-giving non-profit organization founded in memory of his brother, a past performer with the San Francisco Mime Troupe. A former Djerassi Artist in Residence as well as a former Emerging Artist in Residence with the Troupe, Adolfo is also currently at work on his third novel, untitled, which touches on the EZLN movement in Chiapas.

CAST:

Rotimi Agbabiaka (Actor) is thrilled to return to the Troupe after appearing in 2010's Posibilidad. In the Bay Area, he's also performed at Berkeley Rep, CounterPULSE, Yerba Buena Center, with Performers Under Stress, and was most recently a cast member at Beach Blanket Babylon. His one-man show, Homeless, won Best Solo Performance at the San Francisco Fringe Festival. He has an MFA in Acting from Northern Illinois University and loves calling San Francisco home.

Velina Brown (SFMT Collective, Actor, Performance Booker) has been a principal actor for the Mime Troupe in such shows as Social Work, Escape to Cyberia, Coast City Confidential, Soul Suckers from Outer Space, Killing Time, Damaged Care, City for Sale, Eating It, 1600 Transylvania Avenue, Mr. Smith Goes to Obscuristan, and Showdown at Crawford Gulch. She was Veronique in Veronique of the Mounties, she's played Condoleeza Rice three times, and was both an actor and Contributing Lyricist on GodFellas and Making a Killing. Velina's most recent shows with the Troupe include For The Greater Good: Or the Last Election, Red State, Too Big to Fail, and Posibilidad, Or Death of the Worker for which she won Best Principal Actress by the Bay Area Critics Circle. You may have seen Velina earlier this year in Theatre Rhino's lovely A Lady and A Woman. Other credits include A.C.T., Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Word for Word, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, Thick Description, SF Playhouse, Theatreworks as well as film (Bee Season with Richard Gere, A Many Splintered Thing with Chris Evans and Milk with Sean Penn) and television (Party of Five, Nash Bridges,Trauma, Final Witness). Velina also is the founder and owner of the "Business of Show Biz," which offers career planning consultations and workshops for theater artists. She also writes a popular column of the same name for Theater Bay Area Magazine. In 2012 she was honored as one of the magazine's "35 Faces," artists who've made significant contributions to the Bay Area theater community. For more info and to hear some of Velina's music please visit her website.

Hugo E Carbajal (Actor) is a recipient of the 2013 Theatre Bay Area Titan Award. He began his involvement with the Mime Troupe as a mask designer for the production of 2012: The Musical! He aspired to one day share the stage with the troupe. Dream come true?... check! He was most recently seen as the Mexican version of Luther in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Boxcar Theatre in SF. He's performed with Shotgun Players, Stagebridge, Alter Theater Ensemble, Shadowlight, and TeatroVision. He was also a performer with Kaiser Permanente's Educational Theatre, touring the bay area for eight years. Now, he is truly excited to be touring the bay area with SFMT this summer, and getting a sun burn on his shiny bald head. Follow onTwitter.

Lisa Hori-Garcia (SFMT Collective, Assistant Director, Actor) has been with the troupe since 2004, working on summer shows as an actor and assistant director. She has worked with a wide variety of theater companies such as Marin Theatre Company, Asian American Theater Company, Magic Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Woman's Will, Impact Theater, and Word for Word. Lisa has been program director and a lead teacher with the Mime Troupe's Youth Theater Project and summer workshop. Currently she is a teaching artist with Word for Word. Lisa is a former Ensemble Member & Production Manager with New WORLD Theater in Amherst, MA and received her BA from Smith College and MFA in Acting from the University of Southern California.

MUSICIANS:

Aharon Wheels Bolsta (Musician) plays drums, middle-eastern percussion, tabla, the PanArt Hang, kalimba, bansuri flute, jaw harps, West African percussion and sings. Aharon was a musician with the SFMT 50th anniversary season in 2009, performed and taught in Brazil in the 2010 International Body Music Festival, and has toured several times covering Europe, Indonesia, and North America. Aharon has studied classical Indian tabla with Swapan Chaudhuri and Hindustani Raga with Ali Akbar Khan at AACM since the mid-90's. He also studied improvisation with Fred Frith at Mills College, jazz singing with Maye Cavallaro at the Berkeley Jazz School and with many masters in the locations and traditions of Bali, Japan, Mali (West Africa), Turkey, the Balkans, Ireland, and the good old USA.

Jacob Shandling (Musician)

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Maurice Beesley (Technical Director) was tricked into auditioning for the Senior Class play in 1961. Since then he has built scenery for A.C.T., S.F. Opera and Berkeley Rep., and others of fond memory. He has been a member of the stage crew of nearly every theatrical venue in San Francisco and has supervised tours around the West and to Hawaii. Maurice has been a proud member of Local #16, I.A.T.S.E. for over thirty years.

Lawton Lovely (SFMT Collective, Sound Engineer, Poster Designer) recently graduated from Miami University in Oxford, OH with a BA in Theatre and a minor in American Studies. While at Miami University he had the opportunity to be involved in multiple productions in a variety of areas. He debuted is first play titled The Dream Machine and he Performed, Directed, Designed Set & Sound, and served as Technical Director & builder for many shows at Miami University. He was also a recent recipient of Honorable Mention in the 2012 Region III Sound Design competition at the KCACT festival. Lawton first came to the Troupe two summers ago as a sound intern and workshop participant. He returned again last season as Sound Assistant/Sound Engineer. Upon completing his two summers he concluded that it wasn't enough, so when the Troupe offered him the job of Sound Engineer for last year's season, he said YES! Additionally Lawton applied to, and was excepted, in to the Emerging Artist in Residence Program for 2012 and now he is the newest member to join the SFMT Collective.

Karen Runk (Production Stage Manager, Web Programmer) moved to SF with the intention of only staying for a few months. One and a half decades later she's still here! This is largely due to the talented folks at the Troupe. Runk first experienced the Troupe by stage managing two '97 youth projects, Revenger Rat Meets the Merchant of Death and Inside Out. After which she ran screaming into the arms of the Magic Theatre and there she stayed, contently for two years. The Troupe then wooed her back for their '99 Summer Production City For Sale. Still under the Troupe's wooing spell she's stage managed a plethora of their summer shows and has only managed to escape, successfully, one full summer back in '02 when she worked with SFShakes.

Jenn Scheller (Scenic Designer & Painter) is an award winning scenic designer that calls the Bay area home. Originally from Indiana, she holds her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida. She has worked extensively as a Technical Director, Charge Artist, and Props Artisan along side her design work. Her most recent work has been with the Bentley School, Douglas Morrisson Theatre, and Cal Shakes. Jenn is excited to become apart of the SF Mime family!

Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (SFMT Collective, Costume Designer) was born in Cambridge Massachusettes. Keiko holds a BFA in Interdisciplinary Arts and an MA in Multimedia from the University of Iowa. She arrived in San Francisco with the Horse Drawn, Caravan Stage Company of Canada. She has been an actor, designer and director for the Mime Troupe since 1987. Keiko has also designed costumes for many other Bay Area Theater companies including, The San Francisco Circus School, Berkeley Rep, S.F. Shakespeare in the Parks, The Asian American Theater Company and African American Shakespeare Company. She has directed City for Sale, and Gotta Getta Life for the Mime Troupe, and Cowboy versus Samurai for the Asian American Theater Company. In addtion to designing costumes for the Mime Troupe this summer she is also designing costumes for Crowded Fires' production of 410 GONE.

Junelle-Johannah Taguas (Tour Manager) is excited to be a part of this summer's production team. She started at the Mime Troupe as a tech intern and workshopper in 2008. Over the past five years Junelle has remained involved with the Troupe filling various positions: assistant stage manager, YTP stage manager, YCWP stage manager, and production assistant. Junelle is an Equity Membership Candidate stage manager. Companies she has stage managed for include: Central Works, Golden Thread Productions, Transient Theater, Symmetry Theatre, RasaNova Theater, OutLook Theater Project, Climate Theater, and the University of San Francisco's PASJ department. Junelle has a B.A. in Drama from the University of Portland, OR. She is planning on applying to a dual Master's Degree program in ASL-English Interpreting and International Development in the near future.

Daniel Yelen (Props Designer), is returning for a fifth Mime Troupe show. Daniel simultaneously serves as props master for an eleventh season with Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera. He has performed and designed for Lamplighters Music Theater since 1987, recently appearing in their 2012 production of The Gondoliers and their 60th Anniversary Gala. He designed Merrily We Roll Along for Altarena Playhouse, Judgment at Nuremberg for San Francisco Free Civic Theater, The Diary of Anne Frank for Custom Made Theater, and Henry V for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Perennial affiliations include San Francisco Opera Guild's Opera à la Carte educational program, and the Gilbert and Sullivan Scenes program offered by the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His costume handiwork has graced the boards of Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, Curtain Theater, Masquers Playhouse, Multi Ethnic Theater, Pocket Opera, SF Free Civic Theater, and Mountain Play productions of The Music Man and The Sound of Music.