12 CHAIRS
written by Jesse Jae Hoon
directed by Charlotte Murray
sound design by Nina Field
musical guest Mike O’Malley
dramaturgy by Gabriella Steinberg and Al Parker
12 Chairs is a commission of the Radio Roots Fellowship
FEATURING
Ippolit Mateyevich Vorobyaninov............................................................Ben Langhorst
Ostap Bender.................................................................................................Angel Lin
Father Fyodor & others..........................................................................Brandon Bogle
Elena Stanislavovna & others................................................................Frankie Placidi
The Widow Gritsasueva & others......................................................Amanda Centeno
Claudia & others..................................................................................Arielle Gonzalez
Jesse Jae Hoon (he/him) | is a playwright, actor, and organizer. Plays include Somebody is Looking Back At Me, Dong Xuan Center (2022 Princess Grace Fellowship Finalist, 2019 O'Neill NPC Finalist), On the Clock, I've Got A Sinking Feeling in the Pit of My Stomach, The House of Billy Paul, Emergency Wine & Cheese Fundraiser of the Amagansett Democrats’ Association (2022 O'Neill NPC Semifinalist), and 12 Chairs. Short plays include Chicken is Condemned to be Free and I'm Going To Make an Academy Award®-Winning Movie. CRNY Resident Playwright at Ma-Yi Theater Company; 2022-2023 Writing Fellow at Playwrights Realm; commission from Theater J; 2022 semifinalist, Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission; inaugural member, Orchard Project Adaptation Lab; member, The TANK NYC's LIT Council, Page Break. MFA in Playwriting from Hunter College, BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch (Playwrights Horizons). Organizer with Democratic Socialists of America and Equity Next. Teaching undergraduate playwriting at Hunter College. jessejaehoon.com / @jessejaehoon
Charlotte Murray (she/her) | is a New York director, deviser, and theater maker. Credits include: Ritual (Witness Immersive), Noirtown (Witness Immersive), Our House is Haunted (Dixon Place, Corkscrew Theater Festival), Fat Faggot (Judson Memorial Church, Dixon Place), and Political Subversities (The PIT). She has worked with creators Elena Heyman, Jaki Bradley, Andrew Neisler, Annie Tippe, and Jennifer Morris. Fresh Ground Pepper, Playground PlayGoup 2019 - 2020. NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Playwrights Horizons Theater School.
Nina Field (she/her) | is a queer, nuyorican sound artist, designer and composer based in the Bronx, New York. As a member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA) and USA 829, she is a highly trained and experienced professional with experience working on musicals, straight plays, experimental work, installations, and movement pieces. Her design practice utilizes synthesizers, samples, recordings, digital instruments, and sound effects to create immersive soundscapes for audiences.
Mike O’Malley (he/him) | is one half of the Brooklyn-based chamber-folk duo Gawain and The Green Knight, a band preoccupied with mortality, unresolved longing, and small human moments. Gawain and the Green Knight are a homemade valentine to that cute ghost in your attic. Made up of married folks Alexia Antoniou and Mike O’Malley, Gawain and the Green Knight have been performing around NYC since January 2018, singing about their affection for little human moments and their healthy fear of death. But, you know- in a cute way. Sit a little while with their two EPs – Ghosties and A Sleeping Place – or take a listen to their new single, “Lick.” www.gawainandthegreenknightband.com
Ben Langhorst (he/him) | is an actor and writer based in New York City. As an actor, he has appeared at the Atlantic Theater Company, Pipeline Theatre Company, and Next Door @ NYTW. On screen, he has appeared in Gossip Girl, That Damn Michael Che (HBO Max), and Allswell (Tribeca). As a writer, his work has been seen at Judson Memorial Church, Dixon Place, Joe's Pub, and Pangea. BFA: NYU (Tisch)
Angel Lin (she/they) | is an actor, musician, and anything synonymous to the word geek. Recently: ...Putnam County Spelling Bee (George Street Playhouse). Select theatre: Memorial (Off-Bway, Pan Asian Rep), Once (Bway National Tour), Mr. Holland’s Opus (Ogunquit, World Premiere), Godspell (PCLO), Cinderella (Paper Mill Playhouse), workshops/concerts at The Public Theater, Atlantic Theater, Playwrights Realm, NAMT, 54 Below and more. Select VO: "Nari" in Guillermo Del Toro's Wizards: TOA (Dreamworks/Netflix), Pinkalicious (PBS), Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon and more. @its_AngelLin // www.angeldoesthings.com
Brandon Bogle (he/him) | is a multi-disciplinary artist based in NYC! He loves to write, act and cook in set traditional order. Currently, he works as a freelance Technical Director throughout NYC. Thanks to Jesse for this opportunity!
Frankie Placidi (she/her) | is an actor and writer based in Brooklyn. She is a graduate of NYU Tisch and works frequently in the NYC downtown theater scene. She loves to collaborate on new work and make people laugh. Frankie really loves people. Engaging with all the beautifully different ways that people exist through performance and writing brings her into communion with her own truth. She wants people who engage with her art to feel the same.
Amanda Centeno (she/her) | is an actor who loves cheeseburgers and new play development. Upcoming: Short Stack 2 (Ma-Yi/Second Generation co-pro), La Mama, June 15th-18th.
Arielle Gonzalez (she/her) | is a Latina actor, singer, and comedian based in NYC. Select credits include: I'm Going To Make An Academy Award®-Winning Movie (Ma-Yi Theater Company Short Stacks Playfest), The Dark (The Vineyard’s Dimson Theatre), and ZeroSpace (The Hotel Pennsylvania). You may have seen her in recent Grammarly commercials, she apologizes for spamming your laptop screen. She has her BFA in Drama from NYU and is a proud member of The Fled Collective.
Gabriella Steinberg (she/her) | is a public librarian and dramaturg. She has worked for the Theatre Division at the Library for the Performing Arts, NYPL, and has worked in off-Broadway and regional theater literary offices as a dramaturg, outreach educator, and more. Board Member of the Theatre Library Association. Graduate of Kent State University, and Sarah Lawrence College where she served as Literary Manager of PlayGround Theatre Co. She encourages everyone to read playscripts like books!
Al Parker (they/them) | is a creative producer, dramaturg, and audience services manager based in New York City. Hailing from South Dakota, they completed their studies in Dramatic Literature and Creative Writing at New York University, and now enjoy playing with and expanding the boundaries of intersectional storytelling in theater. Currently the Associate Artistic Director of The Parsnip Ship, Al has also worked in artistic, administrative, and audience services roles at Breaking the Binary Theatre, Signature Theatre Company, Ars Nova, MCC Theater, Rattlestick Theater, Page 73, Chelsea Factory, Colt Coeur, and the Billie Holiday Theatre, among others. They are a proud member of National Queer Theater’s Artistic Collective.
Alyssa Rios (she/her) | is a New York City-based non-equity stage manager and designer. She is a graduate of CUNY Hunter College, where she received a BA in Theatre in January of 2019. Her work as a stage manager is largely with new plays that center marginalized people who have been systemically underrepresented based on gender, race, and sexuality. She frequently mentors undergrads in Stage Management and Sound Design. Recent credits: Sound Designer for The Meisner Studio Projects @ NYU (Spring ‘22 and Spring ‘23); Stage Manager for The Art of Killin’ It (FutureProof); Stage Manager & Sound Designer for Doña Mañana (People’s Theatre Project).
Prince Kofi Bawuah (he/him) | is a sound designer and technician who comes to us from New Jersey. A recent graduate of Montclair State University with a major in theater production, his recent credits include Ain’t Misbehavin’ (The Encore), Come Apart (The Tank NYC), As You Like It (MSU Memorial Auditorium), The Names We Gave Him (MSU Memorial Auditorium), Head Over Heels (Alexander Kasser Theater), and Grease (Axelrod Performing Arts Center).
The Parsnip Ship’s Radio Roots is an audio play commission program created in 2019 to support dynamic playwrights interested in re-engaging with playwriting through audio-focused storytelling, breaking away from traditional forms of visual storytelling. Originated as a writers’ group and reimagined in 2023 as a fellowship, Radio Roots seeks to cultivate distinct new theater artists by providing resources for the development of innovative and accessible stories for radio drama. We empower our playwrights to explore the capacities of radio drama and re-define the sound of their stories. Based on the novel by Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov and with dramaturgy by Gabriella Steinberg and Al Parker, Jesse Jae Hoon developed and adapted 12 Chairs for audio as the first Radio Roots Playwriting Fellow.
THE PARSNIP SHIP CREW
Artistic Director + Host Iyvon E. (she/her)
Managing Director Katy Donnelly (she/her)
Associate Artistic Director Al Parker (they/them)
Digital Operations Director Todd Kirkland (he/him)
Special Projects Director Jesse Manning (he/him)
Development & Marketing Coordinator Olivia DiPasquale (she/her)
Sound Engineer/Editor Luke DiCola (he/him)
Stage Manager Alyssa Rios (she/her)
Sound Operator Prince Kofi Bawuah (he/him)
RADIO ROOTS FELLOWSHIP
Radio Roots Playwriting Fellow Jesse Jae Hoon (he/him)
Dramaturg Gabriella Steinberg (she/her)
Producer & Dramaturg Al Parker (they/them)
The Parsnip Ship is produced with Business Lunch Productions.
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