The Water Project (Immersive)
ARTIST BIOS
Alice Nash, The Storyteller. Alice teaches History at UMass Amherst. She had her first taste of acting at age 8 in "The King and I" at the Playhouse on the Mall in Paramus, NJ. Almost 50 years later, The Water Project tempted her out of 'retirement.' She is delighted to be working with this talented cast and crew.
Amber Wolfe is a singer-songwriter from Western Massachusetts. Amber composes in the Americana tradition and performs with jazz inspired improvisation. Wolfe released her debut EP, I Left the City, in 2016. Amber graduated from Smith College in 2014 with a major in History. The Water Project offers Wolfe a unique opportunity to fuse her academic and artistic practices. She performs live at venues in the Pioneer Valley and beyond.
Aubrey Morin, Edith. Aubrey is 14 years old and attends Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School. She is currently in a vocal MTD show of Les Miserables as a soloist. She has performed as an orphan in Annie Jr , and Head Angel in A Christmas Pageant. Aubrey has been taking voice lessons for 3 years and has been active in several chorus groups. In addition to theater and singing Aubrey enjoys traveling, kayaking and is very active in social justice projects.
Brooke Steinhauser, Gertrude. Brooke is delighted to be combining so many of the things she loves in one (water) project: Pioneer Valley history, museums, theater, and some vintage duds thrown in for good measure. She has been performing and singing for many years and received a BA in Theater from Muhlenberg College. Favorite roles have included Hamlet, Glinda, and Myrtle Mae. By day Brooke is program director at the Emily Dickinson Museum, but she will happily bend your ear about Emily any time. She'd like to thank Emma for shining her creative light on such worthy human stories.
Christine Stevens, Mother. Christine has been participating in, creating and teaching theatre in the Valley since 1989. A certified teacher of the Alexander Technique since 1992, she was a member of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA faculty for 15 years.
As a founding member of Hampshire Shakespeare, she loved playing Dromio, Helena, Trinculo, Kate and Beatrice. Her voice over work includes books, ads, tutorials and video game promos. She now teaches theatre in Greenfield.
As a founding member of Hampshire Shakespeare, she loved playing Dromio, Helena, Trinculo, Kate and Beatrice. Her voice over work includes books, ads, tutorials and video game promos. She now teaches theatre in Greenfield.
Emily MacLeod, Dramaturg. Emily is a theater educator, director and dramaturg based in Northampton, MA. She loves working on classic texts with heightened language and physicality. Her favorite gig is directing high school students at the American Shakespeare Center Theater Camp in Staunton, VA.
Emily Taradash, Costume Designer. Emily is pleased to be back on the TheatreTruck after previously performing as the Fairy Queen in The Emily Dickinson Project. Now more often behind the scenes, Emily works at Ocean State Theatre Company as their Costume Shop Supervisor and Resident Costume Designer. Select Design credits include It’s a Wonderful Life, Breaking Legs, 1776, The Miracle Worker, Anything Goes, Damn Yankees and Avenue Q (Ocean State Theatre), The Duck Wife (Inertia Prod. Montreal), Almost, Maine (Cockeyed Optimists); Milledgeville Memoirs (ATA); All Kinds of Shifty Villains (Disgraced/Rachel Klein Prods) The Kritik, A Doll’s House (Harbor Stage), Grease (New Bedford Festival Theatre), On an Average Day, Romance, The Captain’s Doll (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre). MFA UMass Amherst, BA UVM. Thank you to the Ayres, TheatreTruck, my family and Joe.
Jane Williams, Mother. Jane is excited to be a part of this immersive project in her hometown of New Salem. Her connection with the area has been informed by stories of neighbors and extended family members whose lives were uprooted by the making of the Quabbin Reservoir. She feels grateful to finally have an opportunity to honor the strife of the people of the “lost towns” and to provide an opportunity for the audience to both witness and experience this struggle for themselves.
Jay Winell, Rumor. Jay is a graduate of the San Francisco School of the Arts and holds a BA from Hampshire College with a concentration in Dance and Theater for Community Building with a focus on Social Movement History. At Hampshire College Jay created an hour long interactive dance-play called The Red Flame that explored labor history, persecution and resilience through song and dance. Jay is currently a Physical Education teacher in Northampton, teaching dance at the YMCA and Ascendance Studios, performing with the band Flame n' Peach and the Liberated Waffles, pursuing a licence in Special Education and gleefully collaborating on the tinydance project (dance, song, biking...). Jay is honored to be working on a historical play that tells a piece of the tapestry that is people's history.
Mamma's Marmalade is a progressive bluegrass band from Amherst, MA that's been playing around New England since 2014 and getting people dancing everywhere they go.
Maria José Botelho Ayres, Old Edith. Maria José's deep connection to water comes from her early childhood. She was born in Azores, a nine-island archipelago situated 900 miles from Portugal and 2,300-plus miles from Boston. The Atlantic Ocean was visible from many points in her village of Santa Barbara. While pockets of beach can be found along the coast of her island of São Miguel, jagged and steep cliffs prevail. She was taught to respect these waters because they were often unpredictable and unkind.
Maria José reminds us that humans have used the resources found in their environments and on our bodies to communicate and interact throughout history. She has been excited to participate in this immersive play because it has created a space for her inquiry into performance as a literacy practice as she reframes what is deemed as "the arts.” This experience has allowed her to draw on study, memory, emotion, gesture, speech, song, movement, etc. as she collaborates with the other actors to enact her character and recast the Quabbin storyline.
When Maria José is not in New Salem, she is Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at the College of Education of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also is the Faculty Director of the Five College Doors to the World Project, a local initiative for teachers and other practitioners that considers global children literature as entry points for critical engagement with culture as represented through words and images. Maria José lives in Amherst with her husband Jim.
Maria José reminds us that humans have used the resources found in their environments and on our bodies to communicate and interact throughout history. She has been excited to participate in this immersive play because it has created a space for her inquiry into performance as a literacy practice as she reframes what is deemed as "the arts.” This experience has allowed her to draw on study, memory, emotion, gesture, speech, song, movement, etc. as she collaborates with the other actors to enact her character and recast the Quabbin storyline.
When Maria José is not in New Salem, she is Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture at the College of Education of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also is the Faculty Director of the Five College Doors to the World Project, a local initiative for teachers and other practitioners that considers global children literature as entry points for critical engagement with culture as represented through words and images. Maria José lives in Amherst with her husband Jim.
Olivia Holcomb, Rumor. Olivia is thrilled to be a part of this immersive production of The Water Project. She got the immersive bug in high school when she performed Outside Over There with ARHS Theater Company. She is currently a Theater Major at the University of Massachusetts. She has been collaborating with Emma Ayres on many projects for years, from musical adventures such as June and the Bee, Emma June and now more recently a duo project Lady Patience to plays in High School and now College. She is psyched to playing along side her Mother and Father, Christine Stevens and Tim Holcomb, without their guidance, would not be here. Also thank you Beanie for the use of your car. Enjoy the show!
Phoebe Silliman, Fish. Pheobe is very excited to be involved in her first immersive theatre experience. Previous roles include Winthrop in Northampton High School's The Music Man, a cat in Starlights Youth Theatre's The AristoCats, a Pearl in Pioneer Valley Ballet's The Little Mermaid, and various roles with the Nickerson Players, a youth-run amateur theatre group. Phoebe is homeschooled and in her free time she enjoys listening to Harry Potter audiobooks and playing outside with her siblings.
Sofia McNerny, The Time Keeper. Sofia has played everything from an angel/spirit in first grade, to an aggressively flirty Mrs. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank, last year in eighth grade. This spring was her first role in a professional production as "Fish" in The Water Project. The Water Project productions have been her first step into professional theater, and she looks forward to more.
Tim Holcomb, Pappy. Tim is a theatre artist, carpenter and climate activist. He has resided in the Valley for 28 years.
He has cofounded three theatre companies: Hampshire Shakespeare Company, DramaWorks InterActive and Village Theater Company. Collaborating with his family and dear friends gives him enormous satisfaction. He dedicates his performance to his (and all) children who deserve to inherit a more just and sustainable world.
He has cofounded three theatre companies: Hampshire Shakespeare Company, DramaWorks InterActive and Village Theater Company. Collaborating with his family and dear friends gives him enormous satisfaction. He dedicates his performance to his (and all) children who deserve to inherit a more just and sustainable world.
Tony Tonez Hall, Rumor. In 2014 Tonez took part in "La Cura" and "Absurdistlan" in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, MX. Tonez also co-facilitates the band Flame n' Peach & the Liberated Waffles, writing songs, Singing, playing Tenor Banjo, Washtub Bass, Mandolin, and Percussion. They attended UMass Amherst, and grew up in Central MA. Outside of the arts, Tonez co-owns Local Maple Granola, and works for Mycoterra Farm.
Zoe Young, Edith. Zoe is delighted to make her debut with TheatreTruck. She is currently studying Communication and Theatre at UMass Amherst, and is especially drawn to theatre for social change. She has been collaborating on The Water Project since its first production in the spring of 2015, and has loved learning the history of the Quabbin Reservoir, and watching the play evolve. She is grateful to be working alongside such an incredible cast & production team, and is excited to perform in her first immersive piece.
