White Rabbit Red Rabbit
in association with Aura Nova Productions and Boat Rocker Entertainment
proudly present
White Rabbit Red Rabbit
by Nassim Soleimanpour
No rehearsals. No director. No set. A different actor reads the script cold for the first time at each performance. Forbidden to leave his country, playwright Nassim Soleimanpour distilled the experience of an entire generation in a wild, utterly original play, which is performed by each actor only one time... ever.
Content warning: contains discussion of suicide.
March 11th, 2022 @ 7:00pm
March 12th, 2022 @ 4:00pm & 7:00 pm
March 13th, 2022 @ 2:00pm & 5:00 pm
April 1st, 2022 @ 8:00pm & 10:15pm - SPECIAL ADDED PERFORMANCES!
Schedule of performers:
Friday 3/11 @ 7pm - Samantha Chaya Biatch
Saturday 3/12 @ 4pm - Megan Orcholski
Saturday 3/12 @ 7pm - King Hang
Sunday 3/13 @ 2pm - Joel Kopischke
Sunday 3/13 @ 5pm - Jackey Boelkow
Friday 4/1 @ 8pm - Maggie Marks
Friday 4/1 @ 10:15pm - Suzan Fete
Standby performer - Joshua Ariel Biatch
About the Performers
Samantha Chaya Biatch (Friday, March 11th @ 7pm)
Sam is thrilled to take part in White Rabbit Red Rabbit! A new resident of Milwaukee, Sam has received theatrical training from several institutions. She received her BA in Theatre from Smith College, and studied also at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and at Stella Adler Studio of Acting. In 2018, Sam apprenticed as an actor at the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN, where she performed her understudy role in their production of All's Well that Ends Well (Countess). Minneapolis roles include Lotte in Feminal and First Spirit in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol. Recent roles include Clifford in Margaret and the Clown in All's Well that Ends Well.
Megan Orcholski (Saturday, March 12th @ 4pm)
Megan is beyond delighted to perform in this fascinating show. Dr. Megan Orcholski (who is getting used to being called Dr. after finishing her doctorate in communication in 2020) has been performing, speaking, coaching, learning, and teaching for over 25 years. While it’s always an honor to be on stage, these are the types of unique opportunities she prefers. For example, Megan joined Original Practices MKE for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like it. She directed Roommates for Cooperative Performance's 2018 One Acts Festival. Behind the scenes, Megan is giving notes for Sarah Moore’s Cooperative Performance show One Universe (go see it in April!) Her current “roles” include mothering a tiny human, teaching college communication courses at UWM, and making delicious food for her loved ones. She spends much of her free time talking and educating about communication, rhetoric, gender, sexuality, social constructs, and many other taboo dinner table topics. Megan even has a TedxTalk, which you can watch on Youtube here or Google “No Apology Living”!
King Hang (Saturday, March 12th @ 7pm)
King is excited (and slightly terrified) to be performing this show that he knows nothing about and has done absolutely nothing to prepare for it (on purpose). King is a Milwaukee Theatre Artist, with previous Milwaukee credits including Miracle on 34th Street (Wallace Ainsley) with Forte Theatre Company, Macbeth (Banquo) and The Tamer (Lucentio) with Sunstone Studios, and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Demetrius) with Optimist Theatre. With a great love for collaboration and general chaos, King hopes you enjoy the variety of the talented artists subscribed to interpret this text for the first time in their lives.
Joel Kopischke (Sunday, March 13th @ 2pm)
Joel is thrilled to jump into the unknown with you all. Joel has been performing professionally for over 40 years, singing loudly and having fun on stage, TV, radio, and film. He is also a cooperative governance consultant, working with co-op boards and leaders across the country in various types of businesses. He loves combining his passion for the arts and cooperatives with Cooperative Performance, where he has been involved since 2013, as a board member, playwright, and director. He appeared on Sunstone’s stage last fall in Toil and Trouble and has also recently performed with Mad Rogues, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s YPW Showcase, Schmitz & Giggles, Forte Theatre, and Musical Mainstage. He has previously performed with Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, First Stage, MSO, TAP, & Melody Top. Additionally, Joel has released humorous holiday CDs I Got Yule Babe & Ground Control To Santa Claus and his musical Dairy Heirs, co-written with Alissa Rhode & Eva Nimmer, debuted in 2018 at Northern Sky Theatre (original cast recording now available). Next up, he can be seen in Preludes with Milwaukee Opera Theatre and Little Women with Forte Theatre. He is currently writing a new musical with Adam Qutaishat and some other super talented and lovely folks.
Jackey Boelkow (Sunday, March 13th @ 5pm)
Jackey Boelkow holds her BFA in Musical Theatre from UW Stevens Point and is currently a touring company member for Kohl's Wild Theater. Jackey's recent credits include Margaret in Voices Found Repertory's Margaret, Ensemble in Skylight Music Theatre’s The Full Monty, Chris in Outskirts Theatre Co's Carrie, and Suzy in Sunset Playhouse's The Marvelous Wonderettes. You can see more work on Jackey's website www.JackeyBoelkow.com or her Instagram @JackeyBoelkow.
Maggie Marks (Friday, April 1st @ 8pm)
Maggie Marks is an Actor and Mom from the Milwaukee area, and has been acting, training, and working in the theater world for 20 plus years. After graduating from Skidmore College with a double major in Spanish and Theater, she traveled and trained around the world She has trained with Saratoga International Theater Institute (SITI), the British American Drama Academy (BADA) in Oxford, England, the Williamstown Theater Festival, Beverly HIlls Playhouse, and the Audition Studio (Chicago). She has lived in Spain, Peru, England, Chicago, L.A, Cleveland, and upstate New York, and traveled to several countries. While living in Cleveland, she worked with Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Fourth Wall Productions, Karamu Theater, Weathervane Playhouse, Charenton Theater Company, Theater Ninjas, Cleveland Public Theater, and toured an taught with the Illusion Factory (Children's Theater). After three years in Cleveland she returned to Milwaukee and acted for Milwaukee Shakespeare Theater Co. and Waukesha Civic Theater and a few others before starting a family and taking a 10 year theater hiatus. In that time she still did commercial work with Jennifer’s Talent and Lori Linns Agency, and acted occasionally as a Standardized patient for Froedert. During her hiatus, she also served as a Board member for the Shorewood Library, and was the head of the hiring committee for the current Library Director. In the Milwaukee area, she has worked with several theaters, such as: First Stage Children's Theater, Renaissance Theaterworks (House Manager and Actor), Mad Rogues (Actor and Board committee member) Sunset Playhouse, Milwaukee Entertainment Group, Voices Found Repertory, Schmitz and Giggles, and Sunstone Studios (Facilities Manager, Director, and Actor).
Suzan Fete (Friday, April 1st @ 10:15pm)
A graduate of University of Illinois, Suzan co-founded Renaissance Theaterworks in 1993. Her favorite Renaissance Theaterworks projects include: directing Top Girls, The Shape of Things, Blackbird and The Road to Mecca, touring Neat to Port Elizabeth South Africa in 2013 and finishing as a finalist twice with Lucky Numbers and All of the Everything in the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, 2015 and 2019. She is especially proud that Renaissance Theaterworks won the prestigious 50/50 in 2020 International Applause Award for the 2015-16 season. The Applause Award is given to theaters in recognition of their commitment to women playwrights. Suzan lives happily in Wauwatosa with her husband Jeff.
Joshua Ariel Biatch (Standby)
Josh is excited to be working on this cray play with Sunstone and Cooperative Performance. Josh studied theatre at Kenyon College, and furthered his work as an Apprentice Actor at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. When not acting, Josh can be found teaching with Milwaukee Youth Theatre or choreographing stage combat. Previous credits include Richard Gloucester (Margaret, Voices Found Rep), CB (Dog Sees God, StageQ), and Benedick (Much ado About Nothing, The Crow's Nest). Shalom!
Production Staff
Additional Credits
Poster Design by Jason "Tiki" Tackett.
White Rabbit Red Rabbit was originally produced by Volcano Theatre in association with Necessary Angel and Wolfgang Hoffmann. Dramaturgy by Daniel Brooks and Ross Manson.