Saudade Theatre presents a co-production with Colectivo 84
A World Premiere
Playwright & Director Mickaël de Oliveira
Translated by Maria Inês Marques
Produced by Vanessa Varela, Filipe Valle Costa* & Diogo Martins
Starring Joy Brunson, Liliana de Castro, Diogo Martins & Filipe Valle Costa
Assistant Director Filipe Valle Costa
Stage Manager Garrett Crouch
Original Music by Drum & Lace
Publicity by Green Galactic
Venue Anthony Meindl's Actor Workshop
@ 905 Cole Avenue, Hollywood, CA
On the verge of apocalypse, in the middle of a mountainous forest, four friends grapple with the strangest of all human acts. What deaths do we give ourselves and what countless tales do we tell about them?
MY FAVORITE SUICIDE
The show runs 70 minutes without intermission.
*Actor appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
MEET OUR CAST
JOY BRUNSON
Joy Brunson is excited to make her Saudade Theatre debut in the World Premiere play My Favorite Suicide. Best known for her role as “Shauna Andrews” on NBC’s hit show This is Us, Joy has been acting for the screen and stage for over ten and twenty years respectively. Graduating with a B.A. in Women’s Studies with a Concentration in Black Performance from Spelman College, Joy has spent her life following her passions of acting, golf and community service. Leading her to create two successful organizations including her non-profit organization Tee 2 Tea and podcast Artistically Speaking with Joy B. “Thank you Saudade Theatre for this incredible experience, thank you to my parents and partner for your unyielding support, and thank you to my cast mates for always having my back and letting me have yours.” JoyBrunson.com to learn more about Joy! @JoyBrunson on IG
LILIANA DE CASTRO
Liliana De Castro began her career in the theatre at a very young age. Her work extended to television and film, but she regularly returns to the stage to reconnect with the reason she chose acting in the first place. Liliana worked with several prominent theatre companies in Brazil, including internationally acclaimed Armazem Cia de Teatro. Collaboration has played an important role in her career, including working on four plays with the award-winning Brazilian playwright Daniela Pereira de Carvalho. Recently, she ventured to the East Coast to work with playwright Rodrigo Nogueira on The Ideal Obituary that premiered at The Tank in NYC. In My Favorite Suicide, Liliana once more returns to the stage to collaborate with Saudade Theatre and playwright Mickaël de Oliveira. She is thrilled to be a part of this exciting production that brings contemporary Portuguese theatre to a wider audience.
DIOGO MARTINS
Saudade Theatre Co-Artistic Director
Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal, Diogo's gypsy soul and artistic aspirations brought him to New York where he has resided for over 10 years. He holds a MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School. Diogo is one of the proud Co-Artistic Directors of Saudade Theatre, the only theatre company based in the United States solely devoted to the production of Portuguese works. He is also an original member of the Actors Theatre of New York and a member of the LAByrinth Theatre Intensive Ensemble 2014. Theatre Credits include: The Constitution (Under St. Marks, American premiere), Tennessee on the Hudson (The Box Theater), The Accident (The Kraine Theater, winner of the Best Drama Award at The Frigid Festival 2015), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Gibney Theater), to name a few. Besides his work in theatre, Diogo has been involved in a number of independent short films and has lent his voice to a series of other projects, most notably the audiobook version of José Saramago’s “Skylight”.
FILIPE VALLE COSTA
Saudade Theatre Founder & Co-Artistic Director
Lisbon-born, Filipe holds an M.F.A. in Theatre from the University of Florida. When Filipe arrived in NYC he quickly became aware of the absence of information and knowledge regarding Portuguese theatre in the United States, and decided to launch Saudade Theatre in 2014. The company's mission is to develop original work grounded in the Portuguese experience, as well as translating Portuguese playwrights. He is currently known for his series regular role in John Singleton's FX drama series Snowfall. Additional TV credits include: Chicago Med, Blue Bloods, Gotham and Unicornland. Theatre credits include: Lilia (Rising Circle Theater Collective), Good Grief (Intar), Henry V (The Shakespeare Forum), and End Days (Hippodrome), to name a few.
MEET OUR TEAM
MICKAËL DE OLIVEIRA
Playwright & Director
Mickaël de Oliveira holds a Ph.D. degree in contemporary Portuguese and European dramaturgy from the School of Humanities – University of Lisbon, where he is also a postdoctoral fellow. Oliveira started writing for the theatre in 2004, and in 2009, along with John Romão, cofounded Colectivo 84, where he develops his writing and directing projects. His work was distinguished with the Maria Matos New Playwriting Award (Maria Matos Municipal Theatre, 2007) and an Honorable Mention – António José da Silva Prize (D. Maria II National Theatre, Lisbon / FUNARTE, Brazil, 2012), as well as nominations for Best Play in 2011 and 2016 (Portuguese Society of Authors/RTP). Oliveira has written more than 20 plays, which have been produced internationally and translated into several languages, including French, English, Spanish and Slovak. Oliveira also serves as the artistic director of END – New Dramaturgy Encounters, a project that aims to foster new Portuguese and international playwriting. He was Assistant Professor of Arts Administration and Artistic Studies at the School of Education and Humanities (Leiria) and Guest Lecturer at the School of Theatre and Film Studies (Lisbon). From September 2011 to August 2015, Oliveira was Assistant Artistic Director of the Gil Vicente Academic Theatre (Coimbra).
MARIA INÊS MARQUES
Translator
Maria is a DFA candidate in Dramaturgy at Yale School of Drama. Her dramaturgy credits include: The Moors, by Jen Silverman (Yale Repertory Theatre, dir. Jackson Gay); Bulgaria! Revolt!, by Miranda Rose Hall and Elizabeth Dinkova; José Rivera’s Cloud Tectonics and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Yale Cabaret); Neva, by Guillermo Calderón, dir. Kate Bergstrom, and The Good Person of Szechwan, dir. Addie Gorlin (Brown University/Trinity Rep). She worked as managing editor for Theater (Yale University / Duke UP), and as script reader for Yale Rep and Theatre for a New Audience. Maria was the translator and dramaturg of the English language world premieres of Boris Yeltsin and The Constitution, by Mickaël de Oliveira (Yale Cabaret; Theatre Under St. Marks, NYC). She collaborates, as visiting dramaturg and translator, with the Portuguese theater company Saudade (New York, Los Angeles) and currently works as the producer and dramaturg of Colectivo 84 (Portugal). She is the co-curator of the 2019 Encounter of New Dramaturgies (Coimbra, Portugal). Maria’s writing has appeared in Theater and TDF Stages.
VANESSA VARELA
Producer
Saudade Theatre Executive Director
Born and raised in Miami, Vanessa received her B.S. in TV Production from the University of Florida. She launched her career in reality TV before moving to New York, where she worked as an Assistant Editor at Mackenzie Cutler and later was the Managing Director at Media2, where she produced unscripted TV, promos, graphics packages, and live events. She currently produces at Nathaniel Howe Studios in Beverly Hills.
GARRETT CROUCH
Stage Manager & Lighting Designer
A multi-hyphenate human with a deep passion and love for entertainment, Garrett graduated from AMDA College and Conservatory for the Arts in 2015, and since then has been keeping a finger in every pie of the industry he can. Actor, writer, musician, technician, director, and stage manager are just a few pies to name. He recently collaborated with the Puckwit Gang in a successful run of Dangerous Cures of Dr. B which he co-wrote the script and score for. When he isn't writing the score to a show or acting out, you can usually find him in the booth, managing at Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz, where he was Prod/Stage Manager of the multiple award winning Rotterdam (Skylight).
DRUM & LACE
Composer & Sound Designer
Drum & Lace, aka Sofia Hultquist, is an Italian composer, sound artist and performer who writes and creates music for film and media. Raised in Florence, Italy, she received her undergraduate degree from Berklee College of Music (Film Scoring and Composition) and a master’s degree (Music Technology and Composition) from New York University. Her composition work includes writing for fashion, dance, theatre and commercials for NARS, Always, Squarespace, Saudade Theatre, Tanya Taylor and Girls Who Code. Her feature-length film credits include The First Monday in May (dir. Andrew Rossi), The Gospel According to André (dir. Kate Novack), Invisible Hands (dir. Shraysi Tandon), the upcoming HBO documentary At The Heart of Gold (dir. Erin Lee Carr, premiered at Tribeca Film Festival 2019 and AppleTV+ series Dickinson (created by Alena Smith). Drum & Lace’s performances often include elements of sound installation and spatial audio, most recently with events such as The Echo Society VI: Family, an installation/performance at Pulse Art Fair Miami 2018, a Quadraphonic Soundbath alongside Suzanne Ciani’s Quad LP and an ambient reinterpretation of a Debussy opera titled Debussy e la Natura at Festa Della Opera 2018. She was part of Ableton Loop 2018 and held workshops/panels and performed at Moogfest 2019.
BIBI COUCEIRO
Production Assistant
Born and raised in Lisbon, Portugal Bibi is grateful she grew up with the culture, ocean and the sun by her side. She is now an actor based in New York City, where she graduated from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts and The Neighborhood Playhouse, intensive course. She also holds a BA in Theatre & Performance Studies from the University of Warwick, in the United Kingdom. Though, it was in the country of The Three Sisters, Russia where she truly found the interest for Theatre. Since then she has been majorly interested in creating work surrounding human rights, gender equality and Portuguese history. She is thankful for being a part of Saudade Theatre's World Premiere of My Favorite Suicide. Obrigada.
GREEN GALACTIC
Publicist
Established in Hollywood, California in 1993, Green Galactic (GG) provides publicity and marketing consulting services primarily to arts, culture, and entertainment clients. Specifically, GG develops strategic marketing campaigns, publicizes new initiatives, and builds audiences. GG’s primary goal is to generate exciting media attention for its clients. As a boutique lifestyle marketing firm, GG’s client focus is on innovative culture producers. Within this world, GG offers a full range of services guiding clients from the initial planning stage, through branding, all the way to media placement. GG’s core strength is in building and maintaining diverse media relationships – nationally, regionally, and locally – in order to access desirable culture seekers including urban adventurers, theater & performance art fans, music lovers, art consumers, film buffs, foodies, the LGBTQ community, youth culture, and local creative industry professionals. GG’s mission is to intelligently and enthusiastically promote cultural organizations and people who enrich the world, making it happier, healthier, and more interesting.
MEET OUR SPECIAL GUESTS
SALINA CORRAL, PsyD
Chair of the Pasadena Mental Health Advisory Committee
Hosting post-show Q&A on October 19, 2019
Established in 2008, Pasadena Mental Health Advisory Committee (PMHAC) believes that mental health applies to everyone and aims to make a collective impact in changing/shifting the way we think about mental health among ourselves and in our community. Its mission is to increase community engagement and awareness of mental health and well-being, including knowledge about suicide prevention, mental health facts, resources and services – among Pasadena community members and local organizations through partnership and advocacy, with compassion and empathy. With leadership from Chair of the Pasadena Mental Health Advisory Committee, Salina Corral, Psy.D., PMHAC is a grassroots organization seeking to engage those who may be facing mental health challenges or struggles, those who may know someone in need, and/or those seeking an opportunity to advocate and help.
PJ STAHL, MA, CSCS
Fitness Expert
Hosting post-show presentation on November 3, 2019
PJ Stahl, MA, CSCS, is a fitness entrepreneur at heart and is always looking for new innovative ways to progress the fitness industry. He utilizes more than 20 years of experience, an extensive education in kinesiology and numerous national certifications to provide elite level ventures and services, including: Project Steel Fitness (Creator, Co-Owner and Head Coach), RFE Fitness (Master Trainer, Educator and Ambassador), Power Systems (Master Coach, Educator and Ambassador) and Reebok (Reebok Trainer and Ambassador). His knowledge and understanding of exercise physiology and creating results-oriented programs has made his services in demand from professional athletes (MLS, AVP, NFL, NHL and MLB) such as David Beckham, to models, actors, performers and musicians such as Britney Spears. Stahl has appeared as a Fitness Expert numerous times on The Doctors television show and has been a Fitness Consultant for Universal Pictures, RFE Fitness, Reebok, Power Systems, Men’s Fitness, LIVESTRONG and Athletes’ Performance (renamed EXOS), just to name a few clients.
SUPPORT SAUDADE THEATRE
souˈdädə/ [n.] a feeling of longing, melancholy, or nostalgia that is characteristic of the Portuguese.
Founded in 2014, Saudade Theatre is the first theatre company in the United States devoted to developing original and thought-provoking work grounded in the Portuguese consciousness.
Your support is crucial to our efforts to give a voice to Portuguese playwrights and artists in the United States. Through your donations, we aim to continue exploring our mission and to produce new works year after year in Los Angeles and beyond.
Donations are accepted through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas. A 501(c)(3) public charity, Fractured Atlas empowers artists, arts organizations, and other cultural sector stakeholders through fiscal sponsorship.
ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION
Actors' Equity Association (“Equity"), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors' Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions.
Equity is governed by its own members through an elected Council, representing principal actors, chorus actors and stage managers living in three regions: Eastern, Central and Western. Members at large participate in Equity’s governance through a system of regional Boards and Committees. Equity has 28 designated area liaison cities with over 100 members each.
THANK YOU, DONORS!
Jeremy Silveira, Erin Keskeny, Diana Lopes, Lisa Cook, Lauren Caldwell, Itwillwork Inc., Michael Sell, Daniel Cervenka, Samaa Kemal, Anthony Ng Monica, Cooper S. Lawrence, Jonathan Karp, Chase Milner, Samia Lichter, Linden Tailor, Amelia Harris, Lorraine Rose, Beatriz Ramos, Jason Lewis, Alexis Forte, Justin Harmon, Adriana Varela, Josefita Aguirre, Melquisedec Flores, Ana Ribeiro, Bernardo Cubria, Ren Campbell, Diogo Maçarico, Anonymous, Joana Valle Costa, Sandra Gomes, Juan Cardenas, Theresa Hubbard, Kim Lin Bova, Manuel Uriza, Paulina Garcia, Jessica Golovin, Colton Gramm, Isabel Ellison, Teresa Tamm Correa, Daniel Mendes, João Abreu, Lindsay Head, Olivério Mirador, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Kevin Stanfa, Tatiana Suarez-Pico, Jason Weiss, Rafael Morais, Andres Varela, António Valle Costa, Rita Valle Costa, Daniel Varela, Ryan George, Victoria Schade, Aaron & Cassidy Slavick, Dipti Bramhandkar, Jacqueline Guillen, Luis Castillo, Jordyn Palos, Matt Mercurio, Cristian & Anna Gonzalez, Ricardo Forte, Lily Zepeda, Vincent Siu, Tomás Valle Costa, Nicole Herman, Saudade Coffee, Coley Campany, J Cunha dos Santos, Cara Weber, Tim Altmeyer, Tim Christenson
VERY SPECIAL THANKS
Garrett Crouch, Brooke & Stephen Ruffin, Tatiana Suarez-Pico, Grace & Jason Weiss, Salina Corral, Pasadena Mental Health Advisory Committee, PJ Stahl, Project Steel, Sandra Gomes, Ricardo Rocha, Diniz Cellars, Chantal & Tiffany Barlow, Saudade Coffee, Casa Ermelinda Freitas, Joana & Leonor Freitas, Kevin Coelho, HGC Imports Inc., Beatriz Couceiro, Pedro Marnoto Pereira