The Cell Presents HAMLET 8/3-4

Empirical Rogue is a company comprised of alumni from The American Repertory Theatre / Moscow Art Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training, a two year MFA program based at Harvard University and in Russia at the Moscow Art Theatre - one of the most rigorous graduate training programs in the US.

Hamlet will be directed by David Hammond, former resident director of ACT and Yale Repertory

The artistic team is interviewing prospective producers for an extended run in New York. The production will then act as the centerpiece of a massive philanthropic and artistic adventure: we're going to find communities across America that desperately want to turn historic, neglected spaces into centers for the arts. We'll provide community organizers with developmental and practical support. We'll bring the cast and crew in to help with the Early Stages of renovation. We'll rehearse and perform in the unfinished space. And we'll partner with community volunteers to generate the kind of awareness, publicity, capital, and ongoing support that will help establish new creative hubs in America's cultural landscape.

the cell - A Twenty First Century SalonTM - is a collective for artists to incubate and present new works of art.

EMPIRICAL ROGUE creates and performs holistic theater that arises from the aesthetic demands and potentials of new and classical texts. Rigorous research and experimentation free the creative team and audience to explore the extremes of human behavior through stories of lasting relevance.

Hamlet is an Equity-Approved Showcase

*These Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association

David Hammond (Director)

David Hammond is a former resident director for The American Conservatory Theatre and the Yale Repertory Theatre and was Artistic Director of PlayMakers Repertory Company for fourteen seasons. He has directed productions for Roundabout Theatre Company, the San Francisco Opera, the Aspen Music Festival, the Carmel Bach Festival, and numerous Shakespeare festivals. He has coached Shakespeare texts or conducted workshops for The Actors Theatre of Louisville, the American Shakespeare Festival, the Denver Center Theatre Company, and the Atlantic Theatre Company. He has also traveled extensively as a cultural specialist for the United States Information Service, directing and teaching in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
Hammond has taught on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the Yale School of Drama, The American Conservatory Theatre Advanced Training Program, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was a guest instructor for twelve years at the New York University Graduate Acting Program and has taught since 2006 for The American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard. He joined the faculty of Guilford College in 2007 as Professor of Theatre Studies and is the college's Arts Division Chair.

Tim Eliot (Hamlet)

Tim Eliot is an actor, director, dramaturg, producer, and the Founding Artistic Director of Empirical Rogue. As an MFA candidate at the ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard, Tim found a dedicated mentor and collaborator in the gifted David Hammond. He hopes to introduce Hammond's techniques, and the work that they inspire, to a larger audience. BA from Yale, MFA from ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard. As the President of the Yale Undergraduate Shakespeare Company, Tim was responsible for seven productions over the course of three years.

New York: Men Go Down (Hotel Savant), Mad Forest (Columbia Stages), Red Beads (Mabou Mines), Rockberry (Jollyship the Whiz-Bang), Akropolis/Prototype and Seven Woes of a Libra Prophet (Andrew Ondrejcak), Hamlet (Gallery Players), The Gay Ivy (Dixon Place), The Girl Detective (Ateh Theater), In Bocca Alla Lupa (Grotto Theater). Regional: The Real Thing (Northern Stage), Sexual Perversity in Chicago (American Repertory Theater), Much Ado About Nothing (Stonington Opera House Arts), Cherry Docs (New Rep Theater), The Little Tragedies (Moscow Art Theater), Compleat Works of WS... (Nat'l Tour), Taming of the Shrew (Commonwealth Shakespeare).

Anthony Gaskins* (Claudius / Ghost)

Was last seen Off-Broadway as Porter in A Little Journey at the Mint, and as Antonio in Malfi Inc. He played Don Juan at the Moscow Art Theater in Pushkin's Little Tragedies, Hamlet in Hamletmachine directed by Marcus Stern, and Leontes in Shakespeare's Winters Tale at the ART/MXAT Institute. Film Credits include a Co-Starring role as Black in Crazy Beats Strong Everytime, an Official Selection of the SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, and Dudley in Polar Star Productions' The Jerk Theory. Anthony is excited for the opportunity to work on such a wonderful project with such talented individuals.

Careena Melia* (Gertrude)

Currently playing Hecate in Sleep No More- Punchdrunk Theater Company. NY- Macbeth (3rd Witch)- Theater for a New Audience, Anne Frank and Me (Mimi)- American Jewish Theater, New Plays Series- Irish Rep, The Playboy of the Western World (Susan Brandy) Alpha Omega Theater Company Regional: Sleep No More (Hecate)- American Repertory Theater/Punchdrunk, Trojan Barbie (Helen) American Repertory Theater, Romeo and Juliet (Juliet) LA Shakespeare Festival, Ah, Wilderness (Muriel) The Huntington, Moby Dick Rehearsed (Cordelia/Pip) Berkshire Theater Festival, All The Rage (Annabelle Lee) Pittsburgh Public Theater, The Tempest (Miranda) Great Lakes Theater Festival. Film/TV- Moonlight Mile, Songs In Ordinary Time (CBS), JAG (CBS), Touched by an Angel (CBS), Under Hellgate Bridge, The Dark Light, Wake, Two Way Crossing. MFA American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater at Harvard University. 

Adam Kern* (Polonius / Second Gravedigger)

TS Eliot Fellow - Old Vic, London. MFA - ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard. BFA Musical Theatre - Kent State University. International: Macbeth, Again (Old Vic), Phoenician Women (Moscow Art). Regional: The Full Monty (ReVision), Julius Caesar (A.R.T.), Caligula (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Jesus Christ Superstar (Stark Theatre), CATS (Barn Theatre), Liz Swados' Missionaries (St. John the Divine), Kyle Jarrow's Trigger (A.R.T. Institute) and Anne Washburn's Communist Dracula Pageant (A.R.T. Workshop). Film: Mamarosh (Supporting) TV: Onion Sports Network; StartUp (Pilot), Pilot Season Survival Guide. Proud member AEA, AFTRA. www.adam-kern.com

Susannah Hoffman* (Ophelia)

Susannah received a BA in Psychology from St. Mary's College and an MFA in acting from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. Her regional theater credits include Ophelia in Hamletmachine (ART Institute, dir. Marcus Stern), The Little Tragedies (Moscow Art Theater), Sexual Perversity in Chicago (ART), and The Donkey Show (ART).

M. Zach Bubolo* (Laertes / Soldier)

NYC credits include Timon of Athens (Theatre Row) and Guiding Light. Regional credits include Donkey Show and Alice vs Wonderland at the ART; Streamers, and Present Laughter at The Huntington, Our Town (George) at Wellesley Summer, Progress at Boston Playwright's Theatre, House, Divided at New Rep, Beauty and the Beast (Lumiere), and Thoroughly Modern Millie at Reagle, and A Midsummer Night's Dream with Commonwealth Shakespeare. MFA Harvard/ART '11.

Nick Crandall (Horatio / Captain)

Nick Crandall received a BA in Drama from Colorado College and an MFA in acting from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute at Harvard. He has also received training in London at the British American Drama Academy and in San Francisco at A.C.T.'s Classical Acting Intensive. Regional theater credits include Othello (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company), The Cheshire Cat in Alice vs. Wonderland (A.R.T.) Drums in the Night (A.R.T./MXAT Institute) and Sophocles' Ajax (A.R.T., dir. Sarah Benson). He has also performed in theaters in San Francisco and Minneapolis, including two world premiere productions with the Minneapolis Playwrights' Center's resident company, The Workhaus Collective.
Chris Staley (Rosencrantz / Francisco / Soldier / Spirit)

Christopher Staley received a B.S. in Theater and Psychology from Skidmore College and an MFA from A.R.T./MXAT Institute Harvard. He has trained at the Moscow Art Theater through the National Theater Institute, at the Watermill Center with Robert Wilson, as well as with the Siti Company International Summer Intensive with Anne Bogart. Regional credits include the Mad Hatter in Alice vs. Wonderland (dir. Janos Szasz) at the ART, as well as Aeneas in Trojan Women (ART Institute; dir. Scott Zigler), Neighborhood 3: Recquisition of Doom, Drums in the Night, and I Speak Therefore I am (ART Institute; dir John Tiffany). Christopher will also be directing fellow cast member Christian Grunnah (Guildenstern) in a one man show called Garbage Boy at the Saratoga ArtsFest.

Christian Grunnah (Guildenstern / Barnardo / Gentleman)

Christian most recently finished performing one-man show, Garbage Boy, written by Chris Millis and directed by fellow actor/collaborator Christopher Staley. He received a BS in Theater, with a minor in Dance from Skidmore College, an MFA in Acting from A.R.T./MXAT Institute at Harvard and was an apprentice with the Berkshire Theatre Festival, in Stockbridge, MA. He is a founding member of The Carriage House Players. Regional: Garbage Boy, The Pillowman (The Carriage House Players); Alice vs. Wonderland (American Repertory Theater); The Bear (Moscow Art Theatre School); Trojan Women, Drums in the Night, Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom (ART/MXAT Institute); Aesop's Network (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Uncivil Wars (Pickup Performance - David Gordon); Richard II (dir. Dave Demke); To Whom it May Concern (dir. Deb Fernandez). Film: Us One's in Between (Nameinuse Productions)

Doug Chapman (Player King / First Gravedigger / Cornelius / English Ambassador / Spirit)

New York: Regarding Hot Air Balloons (Andy Warhol - IRT Theatre), Spaceship Alexandria (Tom - The Brick Theatre), with International WOW Company: Auto Da Fe (Soldier), Reconstruction (Mic). With The American Repertory Theatre: Romance (The Doctor); The Seagull (Dorn u/s); Communist Dracula Pageant (Prosecutor u/s). With The American Repertory Theatre Institute: Ladybird (The Drunk); Aloha, Say the Pretty Girls (Martin); Largo Desolato (Edward); Ajax in Iraq (Lieutenant/Fletcher/Chorus); Discreet Charm of Monsieur Jordain (Choreographer). Elsewhere: Captain Bluntschli in Arms and the Man (PVCC); MR. Martin in The Bald Soprano (Live Arts); Ferdinand in The Tempest (MBC). Doug holds an MFA from the ART/MXAT Institute at Harvard University, a BA from Oberlin College and graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy.

Jason Beaubien* (Marcellus / Reynaldo / Player Queen / Gentleman / Osric)

Originally from Detroit, Michigan. Theater: Most recently seen as Evan in Quartet at the Theater for the New City; Dr. Wheelgood in The Donkey Show (original Boston cast/American Repertory Theater, dir. Diane Paulus); Benjamin Backbite in The School for Scandal (New Harmony Theatre, dir. Lenny Leibowitz); Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Nat'l Tour) Film: I Am Legend, Hardball, and the upcoming Dark Feed. Education: BA, Oakland University; MFA, American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.

Gardiner Comfort* (Fortinbras / Voltimand / Player Lucianus / Priest / Sailor)

Julius Caesar, American Repertory Theater/multiple tours in France; ReEntry, American Records; The Zero Hour, 13P; A Parsifal, PS122; Red Beads, Mabou Mines; Henry IV, part one, BAM/Hebbel Theater, Berlin; Violent Delights, Public Theater's Shakespeare Lab; MFA American Repertory Theater IATT/MXAT at Harvard.

Whitney Eggers (Dramaturg)

Whitney Eggers is a freelance dramaturg, most recently serving as production dramaturg for CENTERSTAGE's The Homecoming (dir. Irene Lewis) and Crime and Punishment (dir. Jason Loewith). She's previously worked at the American Repertory Theater on productions of Paradise Lost, Endgame, Largo Desolato, and Hamletmachine, and holds an MFA in Dramaturgy from the A.R.T./MXAT Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University.