THE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD Site-Specific Dark Comedy, to Premiere at St. Lydia's, a Progressive Brooklyn Church

St. Lydia's (304 Bond Street, Brooklyn, NY), a progressive storefront church, presents an intimate, site-specific, hour-long new play, The Voices in Your Head, from January 8–29, 2024. The dark comedy, about an idiosyncratic support group, is presented by St. Lydia's, Billy McEntee and the independent theater collective Those Guilty Creatures. The Voices in Your Head is created by Grier Mathiot and Billy McEntee, and Ryan Dobrin directs. Tickets are on sale at StLydias.org/events.

 

The cast features Christian Caro (Off-Broadway debut), Marcia DeBonis* (The Trees, “High Maintenance”), Patrick Foley* (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Circle Jerk), Vanessa Kai* (“Kung Fu”; Lucille Lortel Award nominee, KPOP), Tom Mezger* (Pip's Island), Daphne Overbeck (Club Cumming performer), Erin Treadway* (Drama Desk Award nominee, Spaceman), and Jehan O. Young* (...The 84th Annual Starburst Cotillion, Nightkeeper). *These actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

 

In The Voices in Your Head, support group members gather to share a bizarre bond. Over an hour-long meeting, eight New Yorkers of varying backgrounds exchange stories, escape the ridicule of the outside world, and build an oasis, even as individual needs test its stability. Staged for an audience of just 16 each night at a cozy, storefront church, The Voices in Your Head offers an intimate, singular experience, and a haven for weird joy.

 

Ryan Dobrin (Associate Director on Broadway's Merrily We Roll Along) directs the show that his theatermaking collective, Those Guilty Creatures (alongside Carina Goebelbecker), is co-producing. Grier Mathiot and Billy McEntee created the piece. Carina Goebelbecker is the play's movement director, and Debbie Holloway is the stage manager.

 

About the Creators

 

Grier Mathiot (Creator, they/them) is an LA-based film film executive.

 

Billy McEntee (Creator/Producer, he/him) is a Brooklyn-based writer. He's the Theater Editor at The Brooklyn Rail and has contributed arts coverage to publications including The Washington Post and Vanity Fair. He was the inaugural Terry Helbing Fellow from the American Theatre Critics Association and teaches with The School of The New York Times. He's made plays at The Brick Theater and through a Queens Arts Council grant. His short film Lindsay Lindsey Lyndsey premiered last year.

 

About the Director/Producer

 

Ryan Dobrin (Director/Producer, he/him) is one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of The Movement Theatre Company, the associate director of Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway, and the director of Those Guilty Creatures. Fellowships/affiliations include The Drama League, Playwrights Horizons, MTC, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout Directors Group, Fault Line Theatre, and Ars Nova. Productions and development include: 24 Hour Plays, NYTW, Playwrights Horizons, Joe's Pub, Victory Gardens, The Brick, IRT Theatre, University of Michigan, Fordham University, Atlantic Acting School, Clubbed Thumb, EST, NYU's Experimental Theatre Wing, Shakespeare Academy at Stratford, A4, and Waterwell. BA: Wesleyan University (Rachel Henderson Theater Prize).

 

About the Cast

 

Christian Caro (Caleb, he/they) studied at Fordham University where he received a B.A. in Theatre Performance. Christian is also a singer/songwriter who performs his music under the stage name: Gray Caro. His work has brought him onto various stages in New York City and Brooklyn.

 

Marcia DeBonis* (Vivian, she/her) recently appeared in the feature films Sometimes I Think About Dying (Sundance 2023), Booger, Merry Good Enough, and will soon be seen starring in Gazer. Other film credits: Sully, Seneca, That's What She Said, Bride Wars, Letters to Juliet, Woody Allen's Whatever Works, 12 & Holding, L.I.E., The Truman Show, The Devil's Advocate, Judy Berlin, This Is My Life, 13 Going on 30. TV credits: “Heels,” “The Time Traveler's Wife,” “The Other Two,” “Almost Family,” “Orange Is the New Black,” “Homeland,” “Lipstick Jungle,” “High Maintenance,” “Social Distance,” “The Blacklist,” “The Deuce,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Sneaky Pete,” “Divorce,” amongst many others. New York theater: The Trees (Playwright's Horizons), Mary Paige Marlowe (Second Stage), Small Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova).

 

Patrick Foley* (Blake, he/him) is an Obie Award-winning actor and writer who was most recently seen alongside Parker Posey in the world premier of Thomas Brashaw's The Seagull / Woodstock, NY (The New Group). His play Circle Jerk, co-written with Michael Breslin, was a 2022 Obie Award Winner and 2021 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama. With Breslin, he's a creative director of Fake Friends, a theater and media company credited with pioneering digital theater. Their play This American Wife was named one of the "Best Performances of 2021" by The New Yorker. He executive produced/co-wrote the book for Ratatouille: The Tik Tok Musical, which won a Webby Award and raised $2 million for the Actors Fund. BA: NYU Tisch, MFA: Yale School of Drama.

 

Vanessa Kai* (Gwen, she/her) is best known for her portrayal as Pei-Ling Zhang in CW's hit series "Kung Fu.” In theater, Vanessa is a Lucille Lortel-nominated actor and has performed in world premieres at Ars Nova/Ma-Yi Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage Theater, Baltimore Center Stage/Playwrights Realm, WP Theater/New York City Center, among others. Additional TV and film credits include "New Amsterdam," "Orange Is the New Black," "The Mysteries of Laura," "The Blacklist," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," and "Madam Secretary.” vanessakai.com

 

Tom Mezger* (Ted, he/him) is an actor and improvisor based in Brooklyn, NY. He appeared as Mr. Collins in Clementine Players' Pride and Prejudice and as H in the Atlantic C5 production of Twelve Ophelias. Other NY credits include: Pip's Island, Heydays (Brouhaha), and PoHa (UCB). Tom is a founding member of Clementine Players and was its first artistic director. He is a graduate of Boston College and the Atlantic Acting School Full-Time Conservatory. tommezger.com

 

Daphne Overbeck (Regina, she/her) is an artist based in New York. Praised as an "exceedingly charming star chanteuse" by Time Out and a “nightlife mainstay” by The New York Times, she's primarily engaged as a hostess and performer at venues including Joe's Pub at The Public, Club Cumming, and The Slipper Room. Recent favorite credits include I Do, I Think (her wedding to herself at Joe's Pub), By A Thread (a cabaret residency at the Laurie Beechman Theater), and Lindsey Lindsay Lyndsey (a short film).

 

Erin Treadway* (Sandra, she/her) is a frequent collaborator with playwright/director Leegrid Stevens and their company Loading Dock. With Loading Dock: Molly in Spaceman (Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance), Jesse in War Dreamer (Wild Project), Kailey in A Peregrine Falls (Wild Project), Julie in Miss Julie, Asian Equities (The Dock at LD), Cleo in The Twelfth Labor (Gene Frankel), and Clara in The Dudleys! (HERE). Other projects: Mayo Methot in Casablancabox (HERE), Therese in The Hook (Arthur Miller premier with Brave New World).

 

Jehan O. Young* (Hadiya, she/her) hails from Stone Mountain, GA by way of Fremont and San Bernardino, CA.  Currently based in NYC, Jehan (/juh•HAHN/) has performed on numerous stages across NYC including countless esteemed basements with working pipes and a black curtain. Recent theater credits: Nightkeeper (Aaron Landsman/Chocolate Factory Theater) and The Harriet Holland Social Club Presents The 84th Annual Starburst Cotillion (New Georges/The Movement Theatre Company). BFA: Spelman College, MFA: Columbia University.

 

*These actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.

 

About the Team

 

Carina Goebelbecker (Movement Director/Producer, she/her) is a New York-based theater artist and educator. She's a multidisciplinary choreographer for stage and film projects. Carina has collaborated on productions with the New York City Players (NYC and France Tour), Mabou Mines, Torn Out Theater, November Theatre, Playdate Theatre, and more. She teaches with Arts Ignite, Project Rousseau, and as a rotating supporting artist for CO/LAB. Previously a Resident Artist at the Monira Foundation. Select producing credits: The Homiesexuals: a social media tragedy (short film), Flash (fundraiser concert), Dutchman (Access Theater). BA Theatre: Barnard College, MA Human Rights Studies: Columbia University.

 

Debbie Holloway (Stage Manager, she/her) is a community builder with professional experience in events, food, film criticism, editing, and music-making. She has worked with the James Beard Foundation, the Museum of Food and Drink, Narrative Muse, Directed by Women, the Food Education Fund, Music that Makes Community, the Morbid Instinct Collective, and is currently on staff at St. Lydia's as community coordinator and space use manager. She lives in Brooklyn, where she can be found community gardening, eating excellent takeout, and riding the B26.

 

Performance Schedule and Health Information  

 The Voices in Your Head will be presented at St. Lydia's at 304 Bond Street in Brooklyn. All shows will begin at 7:30 PM, and the runtime is one hour with no intermission. All tickets are $28 and general admission. Tickets can be purchased at StLydias.org/events.

 

Performances will be on January 8, 10–13, 15, 17–19, 22, 24–27, and 29. Press is welcome on the January 10, 11, and 12 performances. Reviews are welcome as of January 10. Masks are not required though they are welcome. If audience members are feeling ill, they should protect themselves and others by remaining at home. The cast will be testing for COVID weekly.

 

About St. Lydia's

 

St. Lydia's Dinner Church is a place where life is lived out around the table. A progressive, LGBTQ-affirming congregation in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, the community at St. Lydia's works together to dispel isolation, reconnect neighbors, and subvert the status quo. You are very welcome here. Learn more at stlydias.org or on Instagram @st_lydias.

 

About Those Guilty Creatures

 

Those Guilty Creatures is a performance/producing collective, made up of Ryan Dobrin and Carina Goebelbecker. They are grounded in ensemble-based music and movement work and are dedicated to raising the volume on quieted voices. Previous projects include the short film The Homisexuals: a social media tragedy by Gage Tarlton (Best Director and Screenplay, Lavender Film Festival; Selection, ShockFest Lucky 13; Selection, NewFilmmakers New York AltFest); Wanna Dance?, a virtual dance party made at the start of the shutdown; a revival of Dutchman by Amiri Baraka (Access Theater); and an original devised piece titled She's a Witch! (The Tank).

About Actors' Equity Association

Actors' Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org

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