2016 Season

The Language Archive

Romantic Comedy May 5-28, 2016

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by Julia Cho

directed by Scot Whitney

Romantic Comedy May 5-28, 2016

George studies dead languages and is busy trying to record the conversations of the last two speakers of one such endangered language, Elloway. But despite his vast knowledge of languages, George is inept in the language of love. He doesn’t know what to say to his wife, Mary, to keep her from leaving him. Nor does he recognize the deep feelings his assistant, Emma, holds for him. This beautiful, modern-mythic comedy is a delightful exploration of the terrifying inadequacy of language to bridge the distance between even the most conscientious of human beings.

Cast & Creative

Director Scot Whitney

Scot Whitney

In 26 seasons and 76 shows at Harlequin:

A Man for All Seasons (Director) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Director) A Rock 'n' Roll Twelfth Night (Director) A Rock N' Roll Twelfth Night (Director) American Buffalo (Director) Antony & Cleopatra (Director) As You Like It (Director) Baltimore Waltz (Director) Clybourne Park (Director) Cymbeline (Director) Cyrano de Bergerac (Director) Dancin' in the Aisles (Director) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Director) Dracula (Director) Enrico IV (Director) Fighting Over Beverley (Director) Frozen (Director) Gloucester Blue (Director) Hamlet (Director) Hapgood (Director) Henry V (Director) Let the Good Times Roll! (Director) Letters from Waldo (Director) Macbeth (Director) Mating Dance of the Werewolf (Director) Measure for Measure (Director) Murder in the Cathedral (1st Tempter/1st Knight) My Old Lady (Director) Or, (Director) Orphans (Director) Recent Tragic Events (Director) Reckless (Director) Richard III (Director) Rock 'n' Roll Twelfth Night (Director) Romeo and Juliet (Director) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Director) She Stoops to Conquer (Director) Shining City (Director) Sins of the Mother (Director) Six Hotels (Director) Sixteen Words for Water (Director) Soul on Fire! (Director) Talking With (Co-Director) Ten Seconds in the Life of Fenwick Green (Director) The 39 Steps (Director) The American Pilot (Director) The Dumbwaiter (Director) The Elsinore Diaries (Director) The Lady's Not for Burning (Director) The Language Archive (Director) The Life and Death of King John (Director) The Life and Times of Leonardo da Vinci (Director) The Lonesome West (Director) The Love List (Director) The Misanthrope (Director) The Real Thing (Director) The Rocky Horror Show (Director) The Seafarer (Director) The Taming of the Shrew (Director) The Tempest (Director) The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Director) The Understudy (Director) The Weir (Director) The Winter's Tale (Director) The Woman in Black (Director) Two Gentlemen of Verona (Director) Under a Mantle of Stars (Director) Unexpected Tenderness (Director) Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike (Director) Waiting for Godot (Co-Director) What I Did Last Summer (Lighting Designer)

Scenic Designer / Video Designer Jeannie Beirne

Jeannie Beirne

Jeannie Beirne is the Resident Scenic Designer for Harlequin Productions. She has also enjoyed working with The Olympia Family Theatre, Saint Martin’s University, and South Puget Sound Community College. In Missouri, she has designed Urinetown and The Music Man with Missouri Western State University, and The Drowsy Chaperone, She Loves Me, and Damn Yankees for Tent Theater. In Arizona, Jeannie designed Mama and Jack Carew and the world premiere of Suocera by Hal Corley at the Theatre Artists Studio and Big Love with Kim Weild at Arizona State University.

In 12 seasons and 40 shows at Harlequin:

A Christmas Carol (Scenic Design) A Doll's House (Scenic Design) August: Osage County (Scenic Design) Building Madness (Scenic Design) Cabaret (Scenic Design) Every Brilliant Thing (Scenic Design) Falsettos (Scenic Design) Fighting Over Beverley (Scenic Designer) First Date (Scenic Design) Fun Home (Scenic Design) Hedda Gabler (Scenic Designer) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Scenic Design) Hundred Days (Scenic Design) I Ought To Be In Pictures (Scenic Designer) Is This a Room (Scenic Design) Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (Scenic Design) Little Shop of Horrors (Scenic Designer) Love and Information (Scenic Design) Man of La Mancha (Scenic Design) Middletown (Scenic Designer) Noises Off (Scenic Design) POTUS (Set Design) Present Laughter (Scenic Design) Pride and Prejudice (Scenic Design) Ruthless (Scenic Designer) Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol (Scenic Design) Sweeney Todd (Scenic Design) Tenderly (Scenic Design) The 1940s Radio Hour (Scenic Designer) The 39 Steps (Scenic Designer) The Highest Tide (Scenic Design) The Language Archive (Scenic Designer / Video Designer) Three Days of Rain (Scenic Design) To Kill a Mockingbird (Scenic Designer) Until the Flood (Scenic Design)

Costume Designer Jocelyne Fowler

Jocelyne Fowler

In 9 seasons and 16 shows at Harlequin:

A Christmas Survival Guide (Costume Designer) Blackbird (Costume Design) Clybourne Park (Costume Designer) Cymbeline (Costume Design) Dry Powder (Costume Designer) First Date (Costume Design) Gloucester Blue (Costume Designer) I Ought To Be In Pictures (Costume Designer) Jesus Christ Superstar (Costume Designer) Magical Mystery Midsummer Musical (Costume Design) Middletown (Costume Designer) Sixties Chicks Too (Costume Designer) The Americans Across the Street (Costume Designer) The Highest Tide (Costume Design) The Language Archive (Costume Designer) Two Gentlemen of Verona (Costume Designer)

Lighting Designer Mark Thomason

Mark Thomason

Mark is a local lighting designer based in Tacoma and teaches technical theatre and design at Tacoma School of the Arts and occasionally at the University of Puget Sound, having spent most of the last 20 years as a lighting designer, production manager, and technical director; he also works with Zombie Orpheus Entertainment and much of his film work can be seen on The Fantasy Network. BA in Theatre Production from Bradley University.

In 12 seasons and 21 shows at Harlequin:

A Doll's House (Lighting Design) Dry Powder (Lighting Designer) Falsettos (Lighting Design) First Date (Lighting Design) Fun Home (Lighting Design) I Am My Own Wife (Lighting Design) Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill (Lighting Design) Murder for Two (Lighting Design) Murder on the Orient Express (Lighting Design) My Name is Rachel Corrie (Lighting Design) Noises Off (Lighting Design) Richard III (Lighting Designer) Sweeney Todd (Lighting Design) The Art of Racing in the Rain (Lighting Design) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (Lighting Design) The Glass Menagerie (Lighting Designer) The Lady's Not for Burning (Lighting Designer) The Language Archive (Lighting Designer) The Last Five Years (Lighting Designer) The Lonesome West (Lighting Designer) Until the Flood (Lighting Design)

Sound Designer Gina Salerno

Gina Salerno

In 23 seasons and 96 shows at Harlequin:

A Christmas Carol (Co-Sound Design, Stage Manager, Sound Design) A Christmas Survival Guide (Stage Manager) A Doll's House (Sound Design) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Asst. Stage Manager) A Rock N' Roll Twelfth Night (Stage Manager) A Stardust Christmas Carol (Asst. Stage Manager) And a Nightingale Sang (Asst. Stage Manager) Blackbird (Sound Design) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Stage Manager) Clybourne Park (Sound Designer) Dancin' in the Aisles (Asst. Stage Manager) Dry Powder (Sound Designer) Enchanted April (Stage Manager) Enrico IV (Sound Designer/Asst, Stage Manager) Fighting Over Beverley (Sound Designer) Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Stage Manager) For Peter Pan On Her 70th Birthday (Sound Design) Gloucester Blue (Sound Designer) Hedda Gabler (Stage Manager) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Stage Manager) I Am My Own Wife (Sound Design) I Ought To Be In Pictures (Sound Designer) Jesus Christ Superstar (Stage Manager) Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Stage Manager) Let the Good Times Roll! (Asst. Stage Manager) Little Shop of Horrors (Stage Manager) Love and Information (Stage Manager) Macbeth (Asst. Stage Manager) Man of La Mancha (Stage Manager) Mauritius (Sound Designer) Measure for Measure (Prostitute, Asst. Stage Manager) Middletown (Stage Manager) Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson - Apt 2B (Sound Design) Murder for Two (Stage Manager) Murder on the Orient Express (Stage Manager) My Name is Rachel Corrie (Sound Design) My Old Lady (Sound Designer) Noises Off (Sound Design) Operation Stardust (Asst. Stage Manager) Or, (Sound Designer) Philadelphia Story (Stage Manager) Present Laughter (Sound Design) Pride and Prejudice (Sound Design) Psychopathia Sexualis (Sound Designer/Asst. Stage Manager) Rabbit Hole (Sound Designer) Recent Tragic Events (Sound Designer) Romeo & Juliet (Sound Design) Romeo and Juliet (Citizen/Party Guest) Ruthless (Stage Manager) Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol (Stage Manager) Shining City (Sound Designer) Sins of the Mother (Sound Designer) Six Hotels (Sound Designer) Sixties Chicks (Asst. Stage Manager) Sixties Chicks Too (Stage Manager) Soul on Fire! (Asst. Stage Manager) Sovereignty (Sound Design) Stardust for Christmas (Esther Bartoli, Asst. Stage Manager) Stardust Serenade 1942 (Stage Manager) Summer in the Sixties (Stage Manager) Sweeney Todd (Stage Manager) Tenderly (Stage Manager) The 1940s Radio Hour (Properties Designer / Stage Manager) The American Pilot (Sound Designer) The Americans Across the Street (Stage Manager) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (Sound Design) The Elephant Man (Sound Designer) The Elsinore Diaries (Stage Manager) The Highest Tide (Stage Manager) The Ladies of the Camellias (Sound Designer/Asst. Stage Manager) The Language Archive (Sound Designer) The Last Five Years (Stage Manager) The Last Schwartz (Sound Designer) The Life and Times of Leonardo da Vinci (Asst. Stage Manager) The Love List (Asst. Stage Manager) The Rocky Horror Show (Asst. Stage Manager) The Seafarer (Sound Designer) The Stardust Christmas Blizzard (Stage Manager) The Stardust Christmas Commotion (Stage Manager) The Stardust Christmas Dazzle (Stage Manager) The Twelfth Night of Stardust (Asst. Stage Manager) The Woman in Black (Asst. Stage Manager) The Women (Sound Design) This Flat Earth (Sound Design) Three Days of Rain (Sound Design) Time Stands Still (Sound Designer) To Kill a Mockingbird (Stage Manager) Under a Mantle of Stars (Sound Designer/Asst. Stage Manager) Unexpected Tenderness (Sound Designer) Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike (Sound Designer) Wait Until Dark (Sound Design)

Properties Designer Jeff Leigh

Jeff Leigh

In 7 seasons and 31 shows at Harlequin:

A Christmas Survival Guide (Properties Designer) August: Osage County (Properties Design) Clybourne Park (Properties Designer) Dry Powder (Properties Designer) First Date (Properties Design) Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Properties Designer) Gloucester Blue (Properties Designer) Hedda Gabler (Properties Designer) Henry V (Properties Master) I Am My Own Wife (Properties Design) Jesus Christ Superstar (Properties Designer) Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Properties Designer) My Name is Rachel Corrie (Properties Design) Or, (Properties Master) Philadelphia Story (Properties Designer) Present Laughter (Properties Design) Recent Tragic Events (Properties Designer) Ruthless (Properties Designer) The 39 Steps (Properties Designer) The Language Archive (Properties Designer) The Last Schwartz (Properties Designer) The Stardust Christmas Blizzard (Properties Designer) The Stardust Christmas Dazzle (Properties Designer) The Stardust Christmas Enchantment (Properties Design) The Stardust Christmas Fandango (Properties Design) The Understudy (Properties Design) Three Days of Rain (Properties Design) Time Stands Still (Properties Designer) To Kill a Mockingbird (Properties Designer) Two Gentlemen of Verona (Properties Designer) Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike (Properties Designer)

Fight Choreographer Robert MacDougall

Robert MacDougall

In 24 seasons and 59 shows at Harlequin:

A Midsummer Night's Dream (Fight Choreographer) A Rock N' Roll Twelfth Night (Fight Choreographer) Accomplice (Fight Director) American Buffalo (Fight Choreofrapher) Antony & Cleopatra (Fight Director) As You Like It (Fight Director) boom (Fight Director) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Fight Choreographer) Clybourne Park (Fight Choreographer) Cymbeline (Fight Choreographer) Cyrano de Bergerac (Fight Choreographer) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Fight Director) Dracula (Fight Director) Enrico IV (Fight Director) Fighting Over Beverley (Fight Choreographer) Gloucester Blue (Fight Director) Hamlet (Fight Director, Fight Choreographer) Hapgood (Fight Director) Henry V (Fight Director) Inspecting Carol (Fight Choreographer) Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Fight Choreographer) Letters from Waldo (Fight Choreographer) Little Shop of Horrors (Fight Choreographer) Macbeth (Fight Director) Mating Dance of the Werewolf (Fight Choreographer) Mauritius (Fight Director) Measure for Measure (Fighter Director) My Old Lady (Fight Director) Or, (Fight Choreographer) Orphans (Fight Choreographer) Richard III (Fight Director) Romeo and Juliet (Fight Director) She Stoops to Conquer (Fight Choreographer) Sins of the Mother (Fight Director) Six Hotels (Fight Director) Stardust for Christmas (Fight Choreographer) Ten Seconds in the Life of Fenwick Green (Fight Choreographer) The American Pilot (Fight Director) The Dumbwaiter (Fight Choreographer) The Lady's Not for Burning (Fight Director) The Language Archive (Fight Choreographer) The Last Schwartz (Fight Director) The Life and Death of King John (Fight Director) The Lonesome West (Fight Director) The Love List (Fight Director) The Misanthrope (Fight Choreographer) The Real Thing (Fight Choreographer) The Taming of the Shrew (Fight Director) The Tempest (Fight Choreographer) The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Fight Choreographer) The Understudy (Fight Choreographer) The Zoo Story (Fight Choreographer) Time Stands Still (Fight Choreographer) To Kill a Mockingbird (Fight Choreographer) Unexpected Tenderness (Fight Director) Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike (Fight Choreographer) Waiting for Godot (Fight Choreographer)

Stage Manager Michelle Himlie

Michelle Himlie

In 2 seasons and 2 shows at Harlequin:

Cymbeline (Properties Design) The Language Archive (Stage Manager)

Russ Holm Resten / Baker / Zamenhof

Russ Holm

Favorite roles elsewhere include: the dual roles of Richard Burbage and William Jaggard in The Book of Will (SPSCC), Edmund in King Lear, El Gallo in The Fantasticks (Electric City Theatre), Charlie in The Foreigner, Hines in The Pajama Game (Abbey Players), Kenickie in Grease, Arthur in Camelot (Summer Showcase), Mr. Peachum in The Threepenny Opera (Capital Playhouse), Geppetto in Pinocchio (Olympia Family Theatre) and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (TAO). Russ is grateful for the opportunities to share stories on stage and looks forward to what lies ahead.

In 26 seasons and 51 shows at Harlequin:

A Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Past, Player 4 (Jacob Marley, others)) A Doll's House (Dr. Rank) A Man for All Seasons (Sir Thomas More) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Snug/Lion) A Rock 'n' Roll Twelfth Night (Malvolio) Arcadia (Bernard Nightingale) As You Like It (Duke Frederick/Duke Senior) August: Osage County (Beverly Weston) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Big Daddy) Cymbeline (Cymbeline, Cornelius) Cyrano de Bergerac (de Guiche) Deathtrap (Sidney Bruhl) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Utterson, Hyde 1) Dracula (Dr. John Seward, John Seward) Enrico IV (Doctor Dionisio Genoni) For Peter Pan On Her 70th Birthday (Jim) Hamlet (Ghost/Player/Priest/Soldier) Henry V (Ensemble) Measure for Measure (Duke Vincentio) Murder in the Cathedral (3rd Priest) Murder on the Orient Express (Monsieur Bouc) Operation Stardust (Sgt. James Avery) Operation: Stardust (Sergeant James Avery) Philadelphia Story (William Tracy) Psychopathia Sexualis (Dr. Block) Richard III (Hastings) Rock 'n' Roll Twelfth Night (Officer/Priest) Romeo & Juliet (Capulet/Ensemble) Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Lead Player) She Stoops to Conquer (Servant/Inn Customer) Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol (Watson/Ensemble) Stardust for Christmas (Salvatore Mantolini, Simon Mantolini) The American Pilot (Captain) The Elephant Man (Pin Man/L. Police/Lord John/Porter/Will) The Ladies of the Camellias (Gustave-Hippolyte Worms) The Language Archive (Resten / Baker / Zamenhof) The Misanthrope (Oronte) The Real Thing (Max) The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff) The Stardust Club Christmas 1944 (Sam Hart) The Taming of the Shrew (Gremio) The Tempest (Sebastian) The Winter's Tale (Leontes) To Kill a Mockingbird (Bob Ewell) Two Gentlemen of Verona (Eglamore / Panthino / Outlaw #2)

Alyssa Kay Emma

Alyssa Kay

Alyssa is a long-time collaborator with Harlequin over the past decade as both an actor and resident Fight/Intimacy Director. Alyssa has worked with numerous other companies across Puget Sound including Seattle Rep, Book-It Repertory, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Opera, Tacoma Opera, Taproot Theatre, the University of Washington School of Drama, and Seattle University. Alyssa is also a freelance teaching artist, Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and co-founder of the PNW Theatrical Intimacy collective. Huge love to Fox and her parents for all their support. www.alyssakay.net

In 9 seasons and 22 shows at Harlequin:

A Christmas Carol (Martha Cratchit/Ensemble, Fight and Intimacy Director) Baskerville (Fight and Intimacy Director) Blackbird (Fight/Intimacy Director) Building Madness (Fight and Intimacy Director) Cabaret (Intimacy and Fight Director) Every Brilliant Thing (Fight/Intimacy Consultant) Falsettos (Fight and Intimacy Consultant) Fun Home (Fight/Intimacy Director) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Fight and Intimacy Director) Love and Information (Ensemble) Man of La Mancha (Fight and Intimacy Director) Murder for Two (Fight and Intimacy Director) Sovereignty (Intimacy and Fight Director) The 39 Steps (Anabella/Margaret/Pamela) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) (self, Fight Director) The Highest Tide (Intimacy Director) The Language Archive (Emma) The Revolutionists (Fight & Intimacy Consultant) This Flat Earth (Fight and Intimacy Director) Three Days of Rain (Nan/Lina) Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike (Nina)

Aaron Lamb George

Aaron Lamb

Aaron is the Producing Artistic Director of Harlequin Productions. As an actor, he has worked in Seattle for Village Theatre, Taproot Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Company, and has worked regionally throughout the country. Aaron was awarded a Seattle Critics (Footlight) Award for his work as Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband at Taproot Theatre, the Memphis Critics (Ostrander) Award for Best Actor as Jerry in The Full Monty at Playhouse on the Square, a Kennedy Center award for Best Actor for his work as Samuel Coleridge in Grasmere, and an OC Weekly Award for his work as Peck in How I Learned to Drive. Aaron holds an MFA in acting from California State University, Fullerton, a BA from Washington State University, and is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association.

In 18 seasons and 44 shows at Harlequin:

A Bright Room Called Day (Gottfried Swetts, Director, Sound Design) A Christmas Carol (Player 6 (Fred, others), Director, Player 4) A Doll's House (Director) August: Osage County (Director) Cabaret (Director) Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Brick) Deathtrap (Director) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Dr. Jekyll) Enchanted April (Mellersh Wilson) Every Brilliant Thing (Director) Falsettos (Musical Director, Piano and Synth) Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (Director) Hedda Gabler (Director) Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Director) Hundred Days (Director) I Am My Own Wife (Director) Is This a Room (Director) Love and Information (Director) Man of La Mancha (Director) Mating Dance of the Werewolf (Ken) Middletown (Director) Noises Off (Frederick Fellowes) Philadelphia Story (Macaulay Connor) Present Laughter (Garry Essendine) Rent (Director & Music Director, Piano/Keys) Romeo & Juliet (Director, Video Design) Ruthless (Director / Music Director, Piano 1) Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol (Director) Sweeney Todd (Director) The 1940s Radio Hour (Director / Music Director, Piano) The 39 Steps (Richard Hannay) The Highest Tide (Director) The Language Archive (George) The Last Five Years (Jamie Wellerstein / Piano, Musical Director) This Flat Earth (Director) Three Days of Rain (Director) Time Stands Still (Director) To Kill a Mockingbird (Atticus Finch) Wait Until Dark (Director)

Caitlin McCown Mary

Caitlin McCown

Originally from the midwest, Caitlin has worked in cities across the country as an actor, stage manager and scenic designer. After completing the resident company program at the Civic Theatre of Allentown in Pennsylvania, Caitlin moved to Chicago where she performed with Footlik Theatre, Boundaries Theatre, n.u.f.a.n. Theatre Ensemble, and Epic Theatre, and was a member of Ouroboros Theatre Company. Caitlin completed her graduate studies in Los Angeles before relocating to Seattle where her regional credits include Guiderius and the Queen in Cymbeline (Island Stage Left), Stella in Welcome to My Secret Lair (Theater Schmeater), and the Countess in Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Twelfth Night Productions). Other favorite roles include Mary Warren in The Crucible, Whitney in A Piece of My Heart, Mdme. de Tourvel in Les Liasons Dangereuse, and Susan in Vinegar Tom. Caitlin teaches children’s creative drama and is Venue & Production Manager at West of Lenin in Seattle.

In 1 season and 1 show at Harlequin:

The Language Archive (Mary)

Pat Sibley Alta / Instructor / Conductor

Pat Sibley

A veteran actress of many of the Seattle Area theatres including BookIt, Intiman, TAG and Taproot, Pat has spent the last 9 years doing five different national tours: Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!, Mrs. Pugh in Annie, Wicked Witch of the West in Wizard of Oz, Frau Blucher in Young Frankenstein and Mama in Memphis. She has also appeared at the Utah Shakespearean Festival playing Hannah in Spitfire Grill and 1st Witch in Macbeth. She was most recently seen in Seattle in Arts West’s productions of Dogfight and Judy’s Scary Little Christmas.

In 4 seasons and 4 shows at Harlequin:

Richard III (Dutchess of York) Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol (Mrs. Hudson/Ensemble) The Language Archive (Alta / Instructor / Conductor)

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The Language Archive

Cast & Creative

Gallery