THE COMPANY
Ariel received her training from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and LINES ballet. She received a scholarship from the Boston Conservatory and graduated with a BFA in dance. She has been a company member with DoubleTake Dance since their Summer Stage debut in 2012. Since then she has enjoyed performing with them all over NYC from Baruch College to The Secret Theatre and the New York Half Marathon. She recently made her burlesque debut with Rox Republic, under the guise“Luna Love"
Emily is an accomplished actress, director and playwright with a BFA in Theatre Performance, and lots and lots of fun experience with stuff like Shakespeare, improv comedy, and ukulele playing. Ya know: an artist.
Kate DaRocha is thrilled to be ruffling her feathers with this saucy crew! From growls to squawks, the journey to Rite of Spring has been a wild one. When not encouraging strangers to give in to their animal instincts, Kate can often be found in other original immersive works, reading several books at once, and eating tacos. She would like to thank the cast, crew, Shag, and most importantly, flamingos; the most frightening all pink animal.
A creature that continuously evokes feline and avian qualities, the catbird enjoys long naps in the shade and flights above the sunset. She will rip apart your couch then beg you to cuddle; dare you to catch her wings then make you watch her fly.
Isabelle Kenet is a poet, playwright, puppeteer, actor and student at Oberlin College. She has performed at La Mama ETC, The PIT, The Drama Bookshop, and is a member of the storytelling collective The Collective Sex. She is super psyched to be a part of Shag Playhouse.
Eric Paterniani is praised by The New York Times for “evincing an Italian accent with Pythonesque zeal” for The Taming Of The Shrew (Grumio) for Shakespeare in Bryant Park he also starred in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona (Launce), As You Like It (LeBeau), Hamlet (Bernardo), Othello (Clown), Three Sisters (Tuzenbach), El Cruce Sobre El Niagara (Carlo), Line (Arnall) and The Rocky Horror Show (Eddie/Dr Scott). From Ravenna, Italy, Eric is a Rome Theatre Academy graduate, Golden Gemini Award winner.
Ian Prince attended St. Mary’s College of Maryland for theater, which was very unusual because his typical habitat is caves in Alaska. He was the apprentice to a master of Japanese Kyōgen theatre for three years in Matsuyama, Japan and can speak fluent English, and Japanese.
Jonathan Rentler (Panthera tigris) of the Carivora Order is sometimes quadruped and sometimes bipedal, generally with a blonde pelt marked by jagged black stripes. Long tufts of fur grow behind his knees and around his ankles. His underside is blonde. Each paw has three toes and a round, pink pad. The source of his power is a flame blazing wildly inside his body. He generally is a fiercely brave and loyal beast of burden.
Iffy Roma is a creature of creativity who believes passion is contagious. She is the creative Director and performer of the Burlesque troupe La Bella Roma. She is the Lead Teaching Artist/Artistic Associate for the Non Profit theatre company Girl Be Heard which is dedicated to using theatre to challenge the status quo while developing the artistic and activist voice of its members. Iffy is also a graduate from the CUNY baccalaureate program with a degree in theatre public relations.
Camille Shandle is a polar bear cub who likes to play, tumble around, and make silly noises. She is also an NYC based multi-disciplinary performer and a fan of the oxford comma. Camille studied acting at the William Esper Studio, and has acted, danced, and improvised in independent films, live theatrical events, and other projects around the city. She is happy to be freely expressing her inner baby polar bear with SHAG and enthusiastically encourages others to join. Come on in-the water’s fine!
Rachel Switlick is a New York based performance artist and choreographer. Since completing her BFA in Dance and BA in English through The Ohio State University, Rachel has been on the search ways to weave her talents, training, and personal taste into interdisciplinary work with other artists. She has thoroughly enjoyed playing around with the phenomenal performers for this fantasy evening, and she looks forward to bringing you more delectable movement in the future. Photo Credit: MH_project.
Sophie Walker is a performer, writer, and baker from New York City. She is a founding member of The Collective Sex, a collective of storytelling activists who believe that in a sex positive work talking about sex is intimate, connected, fun, and should happen regularly. She loves talking about sex, writing about sex, connecting sex and her family in performance, reading about oysters, and making bread.
Elizabeth Weitzen is a theatre artist, performer, designer, activist & co-founder of Shag Playhouse! She studied acting and design at Tisch, and has a fondness for contact improvisation, cats, and glitter. You can catch her in performances with NYC experimental Shakespeare troupe The DLP, hosting weekly bar quizzes at Lovecraft, in interactive murder mystery dinner theatre, and in the forthcoming series FEAR, among other projects, as well as behind the counter at Shag Brooklyn most Sundays.