Make It Play

Performance is a gift, and it goes two ways. The performer gives the gifts of their virtuosity and vulnerability to the audience, and the audience gives the performer the gift of their attention. Performers are also constantly giving gifts to one another onstage – gifts of timing, opportunity, focus, fuel. The text is a gift from the author to the performer and the audience, and the performance is a gift in turn from the actor back to the author. Really, all of theatre is just people being generous and grateful, over and over again.

Making New Plays is a class in gift-giving, in which students in the BFA Acting program and the Playwriting/Screenwriting program study how to give and receive the gifts of text, performance, and proposal. The course insists that actors write and that writers perform – that both cohorts expand into new areas of vulnerability, and new opportunities to share themselves. In the plays that have resulted from these explorations – St. Jay and The Walker-Kings – you will witness students who have never been onstage sharing scenes with students who have never spoken their own stories, until now.

These plays are these students’ gifts to one another, and to you. We hope that you like them.

Leah Bickley (she/her) is a fourth-year playwright, director, and actor in theater and performance. Past writing credits include Frame(D) (2021), The Great [Gay] Gatsby (2021), The Right Now Show with Trevor Johannasonberg (2020). After obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in May 2022, Leah will go on to pursue a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting at the Actor’s Studio Drama School at Pace University in the fall. Leah thanks her friends and family for always supporting her in all of her creative ventures.

Mariana Carreño-King (Assistant Professor of Playwriting) Mariana’s plays include Saha Ginger Hank (LAByrinth Theatre Barn Series), Truckers (Humanitas LA, 2019), The Red Gene (LAByrinth Theatre Barn Series), Miss 744890 (2014 Winner, MetLife Nuestras Voces, Repertorio Español, 2016; picked for publication in Italian as part of the American Playwrights Project); Patience, Fortitude and Other Antidepressants, (commissioned by Intar Theatre and produced as part of Encuentro 2014, at the LATC); Dance for a Dollar (a dance-theatre collaboration, Miracle Theatre, Portland, OR); Ofelia’s Lovers (Mabou Mines Residencies); Rare Encounters, Darkroom, The Wake and Fool’s Journey (Intar’s NewWorksLabs); and Adela (Autonomous University of Queretaro, Mexico), among others. Mariana is also a stage director, translator, member of LAByrinth Theatre Company, Humanitas Play LA resident (2018-2019) and Alumna, Hispanic Playwrights in Residence Lab (HPRL) at Intar.

Ben Free (Sound Designer) is a third year lighting design student from Tolland, CT. Their past credits include We are Proud to Present a Presentation… (ASD), Crystal Clear (LD), Hidden Alchemy - Chelen (LD), and A Walrus in the Body of a Crocodile (ALD). They would like to express thanks to their family and friends for their unconditional love and support.

Aladen Gulmohamad is a third year playwriting/screenwriting major from East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. His Purchase credits include: POV Fest (Killing the Curve) and New Plays Now (Attack). Other credits include All the Wrong Places (Goodnight I Love You), Storyboard (The Journal), and NYTF (Attack). Many thanks to Mariana Carreno, Jack Tamburri, and every other professor and teacher who’s helped him grow as a writer!

Eryn Harris (she/her) is a third year, theater and performance and playwriting and screenwriting major from Queens, New York. Purchase rep credits include: What To Send Up When It Goes Down (Three) and Thank You Ms.Pike (Director). Other credits include The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot (Jesus) and Blood At The Root (Justin) at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School. She would like to thank her Mom and Grandma for raising her and the rest of her family and friends for their continued support.

Gabby Liriano (Lighting Designer) is a third year BFA D/T student concentrating in lighting design from Cortlandt Manor, New York. Purchase credits include: The Misanthrope (Master Electrician), The Colored Museum (Master Electrician), As You Like It (Programmer), Sweat (Sound Designer), and Life Is A Dream (Assistant Sound Designer). Many thanks to her Mohmmay.

Lenore Mardas (she/her) is a third year playwriting/screenwriting major from Greenville, New York. Shows she has worked on include Curtains, Cinderella, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and The Addams Family. She is very excited to be a part of this experience.

Lydia Mardas (she/her) is a third year playwriting/screenwriting major from Greenville, New York. Past acting credits include Curtains, Cinderella, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and The Addams Family at Greenville High School. Past writing credits include POV Fest. She is also currently working on a short film. She would like to thank her sisters for always inspiring her to be creative!

James McCallum (he/him) is a second semester Junior at SUNY Purchase majoring in both Playwriting and Screenwriting and Literature. Thanks to help from Peggy Stafford, Jack Tamburri, and Mariana Carreno, James is excited to take the stage as both Actor and Playwright.

Precious Omigie is a third year BFA actor from Brooklyn, New York. Purchase Rep credits include: Truth and Reconciliation (Child/Grandma) Babette’s Feast (Astrid) Barbecue (Barbara). Thank you to her family and friends for their love and support!

Katie Parkinson is a third year BFA actor from Seattle, Washington. Past credits include: Truth and Reconciliation (Woman), Babette’s Feast (Philippa), Pirandello Party (Ines/Signora Onoria), and Barbecue (Lillie Anne). She is sending lots of love and thanks to her family back home, especially her dogs.

Randy Santanahidalgo (he/him) is a fourth year student majoring in playwriting and screenwriting. Some of his work includes the short play “Holiday Trip,” which was produced by the POV Fest in 2021. He would like to thank his family and friends for their unending support.

Nina Schatell (Production Stage Manager) is a third year stage management student. Her past credits include New Plays Now (PSM), Barbecue (SM), Everybody (SM), Dialogues of the Carmelites (ASM), The Colored Museum (ASM). She would like to thank Liv and the amazing cast and crew for all their hard work.

Precious Omigie is a third year BFA actor from Brooklyn, New York. Purchase Rep credits include: Truth and Reconciliation (Child/Grandma) Babette’s Feast (Astrid) Thank you to her family and friends and those who have been supportive!

Sanise Lebron Valazquez (she/her) is a third year acting major in Purchase’s Theater Conservatory program. She is from the Bronx, New York and has the pleasure of playing Young Lowenhielm and Leif. Past Purchase credits include: Truth and Reconciliation (Wife), Babette’s Feast (Young Lowenhielm and Leif), and Barbecue (Marie) Other credits include: The Bennett Academy of Performing Arts, King of the Rodeo (Bobby Lynn). She would like to thank her family and friends for their constant support and love.

Jack Tamburri is a theatremaker based in New York. His work includes the short films for young audiences Sophocles in Staten Island and Clifford Odets in Staten Island, produced during the pandemic by Ma-Yi Studio, queer clown solo I Was Confused From the Beginning with performer Jenson Titus, feminist comedy trio A Hard Time for Pig Iron Theater Co, and the rock music adaptation PEER GYNT & the Norwegian Hapa Band for Ma-Yi Theater Co. Jack is co-creator of School Play, a physical theatre solo for young audiences which was showcased at the 2018 IPAY conference. Jack is also an educator who has taught directing, devising, and self-producing at Purchase College, where he is currently the Director of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts. Jack is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the Yale School of Drama.

In our teaching and art, the Conservatory values inclusiveness, equality, and excellence. Upholding all of our training is our aim to train and graduate citizen artists: multifaceted people with a strong sense of purpose in approaching an arts education.

What is a citizen artist? Citizen artists seek to discover how their unique voices can contribute to our world. They understand what it means to be an artist, and what they are here on earth to say and do and make.

The Conservatory trains future citizen artists in three degree programs:

+ BFA Actor Training. The BFA is an intensive professional training program offered to a highly select and diverse group of students. The professional training is anchored in four years of study in acting, voice, speech, and movement, complemented by offerings in dramatic literature and analysis, history of the theatre, stage combat, improvisation, mask work, acting for the camera, and the business of acting. As one of five schools in the Consortium of Professional Theatre Training Programs, Purchase is one of a handful of colleges in the world capable of training artists at this level—and of drawing a faculty from the ranks of professional theatre

+ BFA in Theatre Design/Technology. Emphasizing studio and classroom training, our professional training program in theatre design/technology gives students the guidance and support of established and theatre industry professionals. Many of our alumni are recognized at the top of their field, and have received Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk Awards, among other honors. Quite literally, Purchase grads are working in or have worked in every theatre on Broadway, in all tristate venues, and with countless touring productions

+ BA program in Theatre and Performance. From traditional theatre to cutting-edge interdisciplinary work, the theatre and performance major encourages creativity, intellectual curiosity, social engagement, and critical thinking. The core requirements combine scholarship and practice to provide students with a strong foundation in theatre history and dramatic literature, with mandatory stagecraft/production courses. Theatre and Performance majors are encouraged to expand the scope of their education by studying abroad, as well as pursuing coursework in other programs of study within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Purchase College