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Bios

Steven Pearson, Project Conception, Design and Direction

Steven Pearson has directed and acted professionally in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. In addition to extensive theatre work, he has performed with Malashock Dance and Company in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, worked with performance artist Eleanor Antin on several tours, and directed a number of original operas including Trillium by jazz great Anthony Braxton. In 1982 he began 12 years of intensive work with avant-garde stage director Tadashi Suzuki, and later with his contemporary Shogo Ohta, and Kenji Suzuki of Theatre Group TAO in Tokyo. In Japan he appeared in Nippon Wars, Play One, Clytemnestra, and as Claudius in Hamlet. Steven is a co-founder of Pacific Performance Project/East, and under that umbrella has directed Days and Nights Within, Mizu No Eki (The Water Station), End Of The Rope (LaMama, NY and Sibiu, Romania), Myra’s War, BALANCE, GRAVITY and FLIGHT. He also conceived and wrote Opium, in which he played the role of Thomas, directed by Kenji Suzuki and performed in Seattle, Tokyo and Kanazawa, Japan. He played Robert Hooke in Peter Kyle’s Skippy-O’s Dream, and in 2006 performed in the premiere of Peter Kyle Dance in To What Extent at the Henry Street Settlement in New York. Other professional work includes directing the premiere of Flags by Jane Martin produced by the Mixed Blood Theater and the Guthrie Theater, playing Firs in The Cherry Orchard Sequel at LaMama, and appearing as LJ in Drinking Ink by Nancy Bannon at the 92nd Street Y in New York. Steve was a Professor of Act- ing in the Department of Theatre at the University of California, San Diego where he became head of the graduate acting program, and subsequently taught acting and directing in the School of Drama at the University of Washington, where he was head of the Professional Actor Training Program for eleven years and was awarded the Peterson Arts Professorship. Mr. Pearson is a Professor of Theatre and Head of Graduate Acting at the University of South Carolina. He holds an MFA Directing, and a BFA Acting from Carnegie-Mellon University.

Robyn Hunt, Playwright and Performer, “Alisse”

A member of Actor’s Equity, Hunt has acted professionally in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan. She worked for over a decade with Tadashi Suzuki, performed in Tokyo and Kanazawa in Opium, a joint Pacific Performance Project/Theatre Group Tao production under the direction of Kenji Suzuki, studied and performed in Kyoto under the direction of Shogo Ohta. Between 1994 and 2000, she performed frequently at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville under the direction of Jon Jory. Hunt was co-founder and first artistic director of the San Diego Public Theatre and co- heads the Pacific Performance Project/East now based in Columbia, S.C. She served as Head of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Drama at the University of Washington for 11 years. In 2001, she received the University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award, and in 2005 was keynote speaker at UW’s Convocation. Most recent acting roles include Dottie in Noises Off, the title role in Mother Courage (Connecticut Rep, Seattle, and South Carolina), Ranevskaya in both GRAVITY (Connelly Theatre, NYC) and The Cherry Orchard Sequel (LaMama, NYC), Cherish in Drinking Ink (92nd Street Y, NYC), and Nancy Bannon’s Pod Project (Dance New Amsterdam, NYC). Hunt appeared as Miss Haversham in To What Extent in the New York debut of Peter Kyle Dance (Henry Street Settlement/ Abrons Arts Center, 2007). She has created several evening-length dance/theatre pieces, including the trilogy Suite for Strangers, which had its Seattle debut in 2004. Other dance/theatre collaborations include: Myra’s War (a year-long pro- ject funded by the Simpson Center for the Humanities), Prix Fixe, and Shogo Ohta’s The Water Station (Mizu No Eki). She appears in American Theatre magazine, January 2008, “Shaping the Independent Actor.” Images and descriptions of her work can be viewed at the Pacific Performance Project/East website (P3/east.com) and in Theatre Journal (Oct. 2008). Ms. Hunt is a Professor of Theatre at the University of South Carolina, and holds a MFA Acting, BA Theatre, University of California, San Diego.

Lee Fitzpatrick, Performer, “Madeleine”

Theatre: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Williamstown Theatre Festival, B Street Theatre, Ameri- can Stage, Beef and Boards, Pacific Performance Project/Connelly Theatre, Panndora Produc- tions/Little Fish Theatre, Island Stage, American Shakespeare Center (Blackfriars Playhouse and national tour). Film: Anniversary, Kate and Leopold. Training: M.F.A. (University of Washington), The Public Theater/NYSF Shakespeare Lab, United Stuntmen Association’s Stunt School.

Jen Burry, Performer, “Sophie”

Jen Burry most recently performed the role of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing (Vermont Shakespeare Company). Other roles include, Hope/Sandrine/Marci/Gayle in Almost Maine (Arundel Barn Playhouse), Sally in Line in the Sand and Belle in A Christmas Carol (Vir- ginia Stage), Rosamund in The Violet Hour, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Gertie in Fuddy Meers, Celia in As You Like It and Olivia in Twelfth Night at The University of South Carolina where she completed her MFA in Acting. She completed her BS in Mathematics at SUNY Brockport and is a member of Rebel Theater Company’s Cabinet.

William Shuler, Performer, “Gerard”

William recently completed his BA in Music and Theatre from the University of South Carolina. For nearly fifteen years, he has studied piano with Jennifer Langford, Dr. Eugene Barban, Dr. Tien-Ni Chen, and Dr. Joseph Rackers. He has studied acting and movement with Robert Richmond, Robyn Hunt, Steve Pearson, and David Britt. Will has worked for Theatre South Carolina, USC Lab Theatre, Town, Workshop, Trustus Theatre, Columbia Children’s Theatre, Roanoke Island Historical Association, and Pacific Performance Project/ East. This fall, he served as conductor for the Atlanta premiere of Pageant: The Musical, directed by Bill Russell. Will is also a founding company member of Serenbe Playhouse, which just completed it’s inaugural season just outside Atlanta, GA. Recent acting credits include: Shakespeare’s R&J (Student 1/Romeo), The Jungle Book (Kaa), FLIGHT (Gerard), Cyrano de Bergerac (Poet/Accordion Player), The Lost Colony (Actor/Tech), Simon’s Pirate Adventure (Ginger), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Le Chevalier Danceny), The Snow Queen (Kai/Poo), Little Shop of Horrors (Orin), and Southern Baptist Sissies (Brother Chaffey/Houston). Recent music direc- tion/supervision/conducting credits include: Pageant, john & jen, The Jungle Book, Lorca: Alone in a Dream, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Oklahoma!, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mother Courage and Her Children, West Side Story, and Jekyll & Hyde.

Eric Bultman, Performer, “Jean Luc”

Eric has been a professional actor and director for 30 years. He trained at the National Theatre Institute, received a BA in Drama from Duke University, and an MFA in Theatre from the University of South Carolina. In 2004, he received the South Carolina Arts Com- mission Individual Artist Fellowship in Performing Arts (Acting). He is a company member with The Pacific Performance Project/East and has appeared in two productions with them: GRAVITY and FLIGHT. Eric is an adjunct professor of theatre at the University of South Carolina Sumter and he is the Executive Director of The Sumter Little Theatre.

Lisa Martin-Stuart, Costume Designer

Lisa is pleased to be collaborating once again with Pacific Performance Project/East, having designed costumes for the production of GRAVITY at the Connelly Theatre in 2007. Lisa is the Head of Costume Design at the University of South Carolina and has designed over 50 pro- ductions for USC. Film credits include: Ulee’s Gold and Ruby in Paradise. She has designed costumes for American Folklore Theatre, Aquila Theatre Company of London, Asolo State Theatre, Charlotte Reparatory Theatre, and Hippodrome State Theatre. Lisa also works as a wardrobe stylist for television with the award winning production company Mad Monkey in Columbia SC.

Jeremy Winchester, Lighting Designer

For the past decade, Jeremy Winchester’s design work for theatre and dance has been seen across the country, from New York to Seattle, and from South Carolina to Michigan. He has worked for companies as diverse as the Spoleto Festival USA, Boise Contemporary Theatre, and Hartbeat Ensemble. He has collaborated with Pacific Performance Project/East since 2005, when he designed lighting for the NYC premiere of Shogo Ohta’s Mizu No Eki (The Water Station). Recently, Jeremy spent two years as the assistant professor of lighting design at the nationally renowned University of Evansville. He has since accepted the position of Artistic Director Designate of mid-Michigan’s only full-time professional theatre company, the nation- al award winning Flint Youth Theatre.

Walter Clissen, Sound Designer

Walter has 25+ years of experience in all aspects of the audio world. He received his BFA/MFA from the Higher Institute of Theatre and Culture Spreading in Brussels, Europe. Born in Belgium and working in venues all over Europe, he moved to Los Angeles, CA in 1988. His Sound Designs have been heard internationally in Theatre and Opera houses (e.g. L.A.’s Center for Bilingual Arts, La Mama ETC New York City, PCPA Theatrefest Santa Maria-Solvang CA, Arizona Repertory Theatre, Tucson AZ, Romanian National Theatre, Cluj, Romania, The Flanders Opera Belgium etc.). Recent work includes Arno Raunig’s “Barrock” and Subsonic Sonar’s “Emerald Green Vortex”. He co-composed and designed the new musical, “Seven Stars in Paradise” He taught several audio courses, workshops and lectures in Europe, at UCLA, CSU Fresno, Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts in Santa Maria,CA, and at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. He is currently asst.professor in sound design at the University of South Carolina.

Brian Hanscom, Assistant Director/Dramaturg

Brian is a freelance director and member of The Rebel Theater Company in NY. Brian has directed Almost, Maine (at the Arundel Barn Playhouse, and Bentley College), Cowboy Mouth, (Michael Checkov Theatre Co., NY) Hablo, Diablo (92nd St Y/ Makor, NY) Mischief Makers and 30 Plays in 60 Minutes (The Contemporary Stage Company, DE) and received his MFA in Directing from the University of South Carolina where he directed The Violet Hour, Romeo and Juliet, Fuddy Meers, and This Is Our Youth. He most recently fin- ished assistant directing Walter Mosely’s The Fall of Heaven at the Cincinnati Playhouse. Brian has been an assistant director Off-Broadway with Primary Stages and regionally at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Lewiston Public Theatre. While Brian is origin- nally from Maine, he currently lives in NY with his wonderful partner and their rambunc- tious cat, Charlie.