The Mountain Giants (Abridged)
&
Act IV
In The Mountain Giants, Cotrone the magician presides over a group of outcasts who are visited by a touring theatre troupe. That night, as the boundaries between dream and reality collapse, Controne tries to convince the actors to join them in their villa forever.
In Act IV, Cotrone has been silenced by the giants who have come down from their mountain to convince the villa's inhabitants to give up their art and the poverty that comes with it, and instead join them in comfort and the business of the deal.
Act IV was written by playwright by Francesca Peppiatt and directed by Chad Wise. The Mountain Giants was written by playwright Luigi Pirandello and is abridged and directed by Maria Burnham.
Biographies
Maria Burnham
Maria Burnham (Director) likes hats, which is good because she wears a lot of them. A marketing and communications professional in both her theatre and muggle lives, Maria has also been known to write, direct, act, produce, stage manage, design a prop or two and manage up — a concept she learned in her former life as a journalist. In Chicago, she's worked with such companies as TUTA, Otherworld, Hobo Junction, New Millennium, Strangeloop, Nothing Special Productions, Stockyards Theatre Project and Red Theater, where she is also company member. Behind it all is a love of storytelling. Sometimes whimsical, sometimes dark, always subtly dissident, the stories Maria tells shine light in places people rather leave dark.
Chad Wise
Chad Wise (Director) is excited to be part of Six Authors in Search of a Character. In addition to acting as Ghostlight Ensemble's Managing Director, he founded New Millennium Theatre Company in 1998 and served as its artistic director for many years, bringing experiences like The Texas Chainsaw Musical, Miyagi! A Karate Kid Musical and Silent Night of the Living Dead to Chicago stages. Along the way he’s worked with the likes of The Public House Theatre and Terra Mysterium, as well.
Jean E. Burr
Jean E. Burr (Diamante) moved up to Chicago during the Polar Vortex of 2014 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with degrees in film studies and Japanese. Some of her favorite roles include Winifred (Once Upon a Mattress), Sally Brown (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown), Cassie Hack (Hack/Slash), Margalo (Stuart Little: The Musical), Paulina (The Seagull), Safari Guide (Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition at Disney World), and Linda (Blood Brothers). Her burlesque persona, Harley Darling, has performed with Gorilla Tango Burlesque, Vaudezilla and Plan 9 Burlesque. She would like to thank her family, friends, the cast & production team, and Chippo for their continued awesomeness. Check out more at JeanEBurr.com.
Javier Carmona
Javier Carmona (Cotrone) performs for the first time with Ghostlight Ensemble. He has also worked with The Loop Players, Chicago Dramatists and Dandelion Theatre Chicago. Most recently he has been a student of The Actors' Space, Barcelona and Black Box Acting. He is represented by Lily's Talent Agency, Chicago.
Paul Czajkowski
Paul Czajkowski (Doccia) hails from South Florida where he was a company member with the Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival for eight seasons and performed comedy with the Atlantic Theater, doing sketch and improv. Here in Chicago, Paul has performed at iO and the Annoyance Theater, Stage 773, The Playground, The Second City, Cornservatory Comedy, MCL and the Green Mill’s Paper Machete. Paul also is a classically trained Flautist.
Terri Lynne Hudson
Terri Lynne Hudson (La Sgricia) is an actor, improviser and performance artist. She has most recently appeared in Eclipse Theatre's staged reading of Come Down Burning. She is a graduate of The Second City Conservatory Program. She can often be found doing improv, sketch and variety performance around the city. This is her first time performing with Ghostlight.
Kirk Jackson
Kirk Jackson (Cromo) couldn't be happier to be working with Ghostlight Ensemble for the first time! Among the companies he has worked with in the recent past are Refuge Theatre Project, Underscore Theatre, Hell in a Handbag, Cowardly Scarecrow, Strangeloop Theatre and New American Folk Theatre (of which he is a company member). Some of his most recent roles are Loogie in Trash, a pair if evil twins in Musical Horror Story, nine different characters in Story of a Story: the Untold Story and Bruce Springsteen/T.M.P.M.I.T.W. in the Jeff nominated High Fidelity: The Musical. He is a graduate of Illinois State University's acting program.
Miona Lee
Miona Lee (Countess Isle) is originally from St. Louis, Missouri and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre performance from Missouri State University. Favorite roles include Scheherazade in A Thousand Times Goodnight, Emily Christie in Hack/Slash, Gwendolyn in The Odd Couple, Snug/Cobweb in A MidSummer Night's Dream, Vixen in Dracula, Alice in The Wildling (staged reading) and any/all the roles she's done for Fight Night. In addition to acting, she studies physical storytelling and contact improv in the Loui Movement Technique with Creative Wellness and aerial arts with The Actors Gymnasium. Thanks to Tim for all the love and support I could ever ask for.
Chuck Quinn IV
Chuck Quinn IV (The Count) is excited to be joining Ghostlight Ensemble for Six Authors in Search of an Author. Chicago-area credits include: Frank Abagnale, Jr. in Catch Me If You Can (Big Deal Productions), Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (DePaul Theatre Union) and Stillman in Ordinary People (Citadel Theatre). Chuck is a current software engineering student at DePaul University and a proud graduate of iO Chicago. Big thanks to the cast and crew for a wonderful experience, and to his family for all the love and support. chuckquinniv.com
Josh Razavi
Josh Razavi (The General) is thrilled to be working with Ghostlight Ensemble on The Mountain Giants! Hailing from the Midwest (Go St. Louis!), he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre from Illinois State University, where, somehow, he never had to read Pirandello. Upon arrival in Chicago, he trained and performed with house teams at The Second City Training Center- Chicago and iO, respectively. He continues to do comedy in Chicago, as well as musicals and plays, and building the odd puppet or two when he can. A big thanks to Maria and Chad and the rest of the cast for making all of this so much fun!
Represented by Stewart Talent. Twitter and Instagram @JoshRzv.
J. Rohr
J. Rohr (The Officer) is proud to be a part of another Ghostlight production. Descended from the prehistoric bear-dog (Amphicyonidae), he divides his time between various forms of performance from reciting poetry and spoken word fiction to nonfiction storytelling.
Zoe Sjogerman
Zoe Sjogerman (Mara Mara) is a Chicago-based actor who moved back to the Midwest after spending 8 years in New York. She couldn't be any happier to be back working in the Chicago theater community. Some roles she is proudest of include Regan - King Lear (Eleusis Collective), Sonya - Vanya, by Sam Holcroft (Eleusis Collective) and Witch - Macbeth (What Dreams May Co.) You can see her play Lord Rivers in Fury Theatre's upcoming production of Richard III at Indian Boundary Park this summer.