Credits
Pointless Theatre Presents: Rhinocéros
An original translation of Eugene Ionesco’s seminal play
Translated & Directed by Frank Labovitz.
Spooky Action Theater, 1810 16th St NW, Washington, DC 20009
Ensemble
MARY MYERS, Berenger
MOMO NAKAMURA, Daisy
LEE GERSTENHABER*, Old Gentleman/Botard
NICK MARTIN, Logician/Firefighter
NICHOLAS TEMPLE, Waiter/Dudard
NIUSHA NAWAB, Cafe Manager
MELISSA CARTER, Grocer's Wife/Mrs. Boeuf
MADELINE KEY, Housewife
STEPHEN MURRAY, Jean
JOSHUA WILLIAMS, Grocer/Papillion
Production
FRANK LABOVITZ*, Director
JAMES RAYMOND, Scenic Designer
HAILEY LAROE, Lighting Designer
JESS RASSP, Puppet Design
KITT CRESCENZO, Costume Designer
AJ JOHNSON, Sound Designer
TOMMY SHERROD, Composer
KRISTEN GEATZ, Stage Manager
JACKIE LITTMAN, Poster Art
* Pointless Company Member
This performance runs 2 hours with one 15 minute intermission.
Ensemble
MARY MYERS (Berenger)
Mary Myers is an actor and Teaching Artist based in Washington, DC. Select credits: Pointless Theatre Company: King Ubu; NextStop Theatre Company: 45 Plays for 45 Presidents (Helen Hayes Award: Supporting Actress); Constellation Theatre Company: Melancholy Play (Helen Hayes Nomination: Ensemble); 4615 Theatre Company: Museum 2040; Adventure Theatre: The Velveteen Rabbit; Source Festival: Perfect Arrangement; Nu Sass Productions (Company Member): Can't Pay, Won't Pay! and Marx in Soho (Helen Hayes Nomination: Lead Actress). She also performed Marx in Soho at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. BA in Theatre: The College of William & Mary; Physical Theatre Intensive: St. Mary's University in Twickenham, England. marymyersactor.com
STEPHEN RUSSELL MURRAY (Jean)
Pointless Premiere! Keegan Theatre: Legally Blonde, Chicago, Spring Awakening, What We're Up Against, American Idiot; Folger Theatre: Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead; Signature Theatre: Spin; Adventure Theatre: Winnie the Pooh; 1st Stage: Never the Sinner; Arena Stage: For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls; Constellation Theatre: Little Shop of Horrors; 4615 Theatre: Separate Rooms. EDUCATION: MFA Classical Acting, Shakespeare Theatre Company. UPCOMING: Spooky Action Theater: Maple & Vine
NICHOLAS TEMPLE (Waiter/Dudard)
Pointless Premiere! Select recent credits: Perfect Arrangement (Bob Martindale/Silver Spring Stage); A Few Good Men (Lt. Jack Ross/Little Theatre of Alexandria); Deathtrap (Clifford Anderson/Silver Spring Stage). When he’s not playing lawyers onstage, Nick pretends to be one in real life.
MELISSA (MEL) CARTER (Grocer's Wife/Mrs. Boeuf)
Previous Pointless credit: Forest Treás. Recent credits include: Housewarming at 4615 Theatre Co, Thumbelina and Zomo the Rabbit at Imagination Stage, Fundable at Theater Alliance, Lady from the Village of Falling Flowers at Spooky Action, and a stage reading of (An Audio Guide for) Unsung Snails and Heroes with the Manhattan Theatre Club. Mel is a resident artist with the 4615 Theatre Company. When she's not on a stage Mel's building tiny stages all alone in her bedroom. Mel is thrilled and overwhelmed by the human contact this production has provided.
LEE GERSTENHABER (Old Gentleman/Botard)
Select Pointless: Visions of Love (Ensemble), Imogen (Belarius), King Ubu (Bordure), Doctor Caligari (Ensemble), A Very Pointless Holiday Spectacular (Stuffy), Sleeping Beauty: A Puppet Ballet (Carabosse), Canterbury (Wife of Bath). Other: Little Red Riding Hood & 3 Little Pigs (Little Red/Gregory - The Puppet Co.), Hand to God (u/s Jessica/Studio Theatre), Source Festival: Buried Cities (Leah), A Bouquet a Day (Laura). Lee received her B.A. in Theatre from the University of Maryland. She is a founding company member of Pointless Theatre and an avid lover of spectacle. More is more!
MADELINE KEY (Housewife)
Pointless Credits (ensemble/ puppeteer): .d0t: a Rotoplastic Ballet, King Ubu , Hugo Ball, Doctor Caligari, A Very Pointless Holiday Spectacular, Sleeping Beauty, Minnie the Moocher. Other credits include performance work with Flying V Theatre and the Smithsonian Discovery Theatre. UMD graduate, Erasable Inc. alum, and proud pit-bull momma.
NICK MARTIN (Logician/ Firefighter)
Pointless Credits: King Ubu (Ensemble), Rite of Spring (Mask Design), Gimme a Band, Gimme a Banana! (Mask Design). Other recent credits include Constellation Theatre Company: Little Shop of Horrors (Helen Hayes Nomination: Direction), Melancholy Play (Helen Hayes Awards: Direction, Production), The Master and Margarita; Imagination Stage: Wake Up Brother Bear, Blue; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Othello. BA in Theater and Math: The College of William & Mary. Syllogisms are silly. Nick is silly. So Nick is a Syllogism.
MOMO NAKAMURA (Daisy)
Pointless Premiere! Selected recent credits: Mysticism and Music (Ensemble/Constellation Theatre Company); The White Snake (Greenie/Constellation Theatre Company); Crystal Creek Motel (Ensemble/Flying V Theatre). Momo works as a Standardized Patient and Physical Exam Teaching Associate at medical schools in DMV, but Momo is not a doctor. Momo is a dumpling.
NIUSHA NAWAB (Cafe Manager)
Pointless Premiere! Select Credits: The Infinite Tales (4615 Theatre); Henry V (WeHappyFew Theatre); Loves LaBeers Lost (LiveArtDC). In addition to stage acting, Niusha is also a voice actor and writer. He's also a decent beatboxer and will drop a beat for you if you want to show off your sick freestyling.
JOSHUA WILLIAMS (Grocer/Papillion)
Pointless Premiere! Select recent credits: Richard II and Henry IV Part 1 (Hotspur/Brave Spirits Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (Tybalt/Quill Theatre). Josh is an actor, director, and choreographer based in Washington D.C. When he's not tweaking the perfect recipe for salsa, he can be found in his natural habitat training in stage combat, trying to learn to juggle, and avoiding practicing his harmonica. Down with fascists, trans rights are human rights, and Black Lives Matter.
POINTLESS THEATRE CO. is dedicated to creating bold, visceral, and affordable spectacles that gleefully smash the traditional boundaries between puppetry, theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts. Through our work we excite a passion for adventurous art in the nation's capital and nurture a diverse, active, and inspired audience.
Production
FRANK LABOVITZ (Director) Pointless: King Ubu (Director), Costumes for Visions of Love, Rite of Spring, Don Cristóbal, Gimme a Band, Gimme a Banana!, Doctor Caligari, Sleeping Beauty: A Puppet Ballet, Mark Twain's Riverboat Extravaganza. Other: Roundhouse Theatre, Studio Theatre, Forum Theatre, Theater J, Metrostage, Imagination Stage, and Adventure Theatre. Helen Hayes Awards: Dreamgirls (Signature Theatre, 2013). Nominations: The Threepenny Opera (Signature Theatre, 2015), The Totalitarians (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, 2015). Frank received his MFA in design from The University of Maryland (which might explain how he got dragged into all this Pointlessness).
JAMES V. RAYMOND (Scenic Designer) Pointless Premiere! Select credits: set dressing & props sourcing for A Strange Loop (Broadway), set design for Pippin (Monumental Theatre Company, 4 Helen Hayes Award nominations). In The Heights (Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre, Broadway World Regional Awards Nominee - Best Scenic Design), Cabaret (Ovations Theatre, Broadway Regional Awards nominee, Non-Equity Set Design of the Decade). James has worked closely with the late six-time Emmy award-winning Production Designer of Sesame Street, Bob Phillips, as well as two-time Tony Award Nominated Broadway Designer Dede Ayite. Carpentry: Round House Theatre, ARTECHOUSE, Woolly Mammoth and Constellation Theatre Company, just to name a few. James earned an MFA in Scenic Design and Technology at West Virginia University and a Bachelors at DeSales University. He is currently on the faculty at Shenandoah University’s Conservatory in Winchester, VA; and started working recently as a scenic artist at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. jamesvraymond.com
HAILEY LAROE (Lighting Designer) Pointless Premiere! Hailey has been working as a Lighting and Projections designer in the DC area since moving back to Maryland in 2018. Recent credits include: Lighting design for Nat Turner in Jerusalem (Next Stop Theatre), Man Covets Bird (Spooky Action Theater), Winterfest (Adventure Theatre), Lighting and Projection design for Christmas Eve (ExPats Theater) Associate projections for The Phlebotomist (1st Stage) and La Casa De La Laguna (Gala Hispanic Theatre). Enjoy the Show! haileylaroedesigns.com
KITT CRESCENZO (Costume Designer) Pointless Premiere! Recent credits include: Dreamgirls (ArtsCentric/Center Stage, Baltimore, MD), POP! (Stillpointe Theatre, Baltimore, MD), And Baby Makes Seven… (The Strand Theatre, Baltimore, MD). Upcoming projects: American University DanceWorks. Kitt works as a costume design assistant at Arena Stage in Washington, DC and is a company member of Stillpointe Theatre in Baltimore, MD. Because - that’s correct - she is a masochist who commutes in to DC every day hauling bags of costumes and dazzling her fellow MARC Train riders with her traveling bedazzling skills.
JESS RASSP (Puppetry + Mask Designer) Pointless Premiere! Recent credits include: rECHOllection (The Chameleon/Submersive Productions), Unsettling (core ensemble/North American Cultural Laboratory), Covid Monologues (producer, director/Single Carrot Theatre). Jess is a puppet maker and puppeteer in the Baltimore area who specializes in immersive and devised physical theatre. jessrasspdesign.com
KRISTEN GEATZ (Stage Manager) Pointless Premiere! Recent Credits include: She Kills Monsters, Appropriate (WATCH Award Nomination), Equivocation (WATCH Award Nomination), all at Silver Spring Stage. Recent performance credits include: Much Ado about Nothing and Ruddigore with The Georgetown Gilbert and Sullivan Society. A self-described “old” dancer, Kristen found stage management was the perfect union of her love of all things theater and logistics. Many thanks to her very first ballet teacher, Wendy Walker, for bringing her onto the Pointless team.
DONORS & SUPPORT
Pointless Theatre’s 2022 Season is generously sponsored by The Nora Roberts Foundation, The Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Foundation, Jonathan G. Willen & Associates, and The Share Fund. Funded in part by the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.
With additional support from Caroline Wilkins, Sang Kim, Dr. Linda Stillman
David L. Olson, Bertrand Choe, Cadie Chea, Julia Davis, Melanie Douglass, Laura Menyuk, Catherine Schuler, The Brown Penny Fund
Special thanks to Lex Davis, Megan Flynn Marketing, Steve Cosby & Renegade Productions, The Universalist National Memorial Church.
This show is dedicated to Victor Shargai.
Thank You to Our Donors
Damon Arhos, Sherry Atkinson, Lee Blaser, Kevin Boteler, Lindsey Boyle, Curt Breckenridge, Margaret & Frank Cervarich, Rose Ann Cleveland, Patty Curran, Julia Davis, Leonard Frenkil Davis, John Driscoll, Alison Drucker, Marcy Gerstenhaber, Ed Gramlich, Katrina Grusell, Hilary Hess, Thomas Holzman, Robert Kimmins, David Kriebs, Claire & Curtis Menuk, Laura Menyuk, David L. Olson, Paige O'Malley, Farrell Parker, Rachel Ricci, Catherine Schuler, Amy Shelton, Daniel Vine, James Weeks, Joanne Whalen, Ryan Wilby, Bridget Woodbury.
Join the team and get unlimited BOGO tickets all season, plus exclusive event invites. Membership is $120
POINTLESS Staff
MATT RECKEWEG (they/them)
Producing Artistic Director
PATTI KALIL (she/her)
Co-Artistic Director
WENDY SNOW WALKER (she/her)
Managing Director
SARAH WILBY (she/her)
Director of Development
RACHEL PARKS (she/her)
Director of Marketing
Company Members
Mel Bieler, Aaron Bliden, Frank Cervarich, Kyra Corradin, Lex Davis, Lee Gerstenhaber, Frank Labovitz, Alex Leidy, Sadie Leigh, Devin Mahoney, Owen McCusker, Rachel Menyuk, David Lloyd Olson, Matthew Sparacino, Scott Whalen, Michael Winch
EMERETI: Navid Azeez, Mary Catherine Curran, John Hamilton, Robert Christopher Manzo, Stacy Musselman, Ruth Anne Watkins, Nick Wilby
Board of Governors
Caroline Wilkins, Chair
Melanie Douglass, Vice Chair
Donna Wilkerson, Treasurer
David Lloyd Olson, Secretary
Alison Beyrle, Development Chair
Font of House
Adam Kaiser, House Manager | Jared Jacknow + Lejla Kekic, Box Office Associates
