Ghost Songs at Independent Shakespeare Co. Studio

David came to the US in 1995 in the Almeida Theatre production of Hamlet (starring Ralph Fiennes) which transferred to Broadway after a run in London. The UK cast was joined by a few American actors, one of whom was Melissa Chalsma. David and Melissa were married 10 months later and co-founded Independent Shakespeare Co. Shortly after that, David and Melissa made LA their home in 2001. They have two children and this is their 101st production together. Most recently, David performed his one-man adaptation of Hamlet, Solus at the ISC Studio in Atwater Village. Other roles for ISC include Hamlet, Macbeth, Henry V, Richard III, Richard II, Iago, Titus Andronicus, Benedick, Feste, Bottom, Prospero, Oberon, Julius Caesar, Launce, Master Ford, Leontes, Friar Lawrence, Dr. Pinch, and Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol With Charles Dickens (now in its 20th year). David has directed ISC productions of Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry V, Love's Labour's Lost, The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Macbeth, The Snow Geese, and Twelfth Night. As a composer, David has written songs for many ISC productions as well as two original musicals: Red Barn and Anita Berber Is Dead. Other theatre roles: Dickens in Scott Carter’s The Gospel According To Jefferson, Dickens and Tolstoy (Geffen Playhouse); Ivanov (with Ralph Fiennes, Almeida Theatre, London and Maly Theatre, Moscow) Mother Courage(with Glenda Jackson, Mermaid Theatre London). Film and TV include Stargate Origins, The Understudy, Ironclad, Perfection, and the Travel Channel series Lawrence Of America. David has also directed an award-winning movie version of The Comedy Of Errors called Live At The Porpentine.

Leonora Pitts is an award-winning filmmaker, screenwriter, actress, dancer, and educator whose work is rooted in community, collaboration, and feminist storytelling. She earned her BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch, training at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School and later joining its faculty, and holds an MFA in Screenwriting from the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts. As an actress and dancer, Leonora spent several years on the New York stage, including a lengthy run in the long-running off-Broadway hit The Donkey Show, and has appeared in numerous films and television shows. Her screenplays Mad Bad Dangerous to Know and This Way Comes have won multiple festival awards and were recognized by the Nicholl Fellowship and Stowe Narrative Lab. She has written and directed four award-winning shorts screened at festivals worldwide, and produced and co-stars in I Hate Myself and Want to Die, which premiered at Austin Film Festival and is available to stream. Leonora teaches directing at AFI Conservatory, is board emeritus for Independent Shakespeare, and serves on the advisory council for the legendary Vidiots Foundation.