Placer Repertory Theater to Present ColLABoration LAB

​Placer Repertory Theater's ColLABoration LAB this June 22nd at 7 p.m. will bring "Prismatic Views" into focus by examining the myriad facets of self-identification and how they impact our works, roles, aspects, and mindsets. Joining the LAB this month are a number of self-labeled queer artists such as Livia Wolfe, as well as a preview of Ghosts of Placer County, a work in development which will share stage readings later this month. June's LAB hosts are Placer Rep company members Kevin Foster, Outreach Director, and Placer Rep's Audio Engineer/Stage Manager, Gage Doss.

A partial line-up of performers, presenters, and organizations & creatives to be profiled include:

Livia Wolfe (Activist, Artist, and Trans representative at NY Fashion Week)
James Caldie (Composer)
Matt Kaiser (Singer-Songwriter)
Preview of a new historical play in development Ghosts of Placer County
A Tribute to Joan Schirle, Dell'Arte physical theater company co-founder

Creatives from the arts, culture and humanities who wish to present and nonparticipating general audience members are welcome. Visit Eventbrite.com to register for this FREE live event (also livestreamed via Zoom) or email outreach@placerrep.org. "With such eclectic, creative presenters and attendees sharing insightful discourse, you can look forward to discovering something new every month," said Kevin Foster, the LAB Host. Creatives and cultural advocates come together to incubate new works and ideas in an open and supportive atmosphere.

Collaboration LAB is a FREE monthly open stage/mic for the arts, culture and humanities hosted by Placer Repertory Theater in-person and via Zoom, on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. (Pacific), January through October 2022. This program is FREE, and currently unfunded. You may donate to Placer Repertory Theater via their website (Placerrep.org) or reach out to development@placerrep.org for sponsorship opportunities.

Audiences may recall Placer Repertory Theater as the professional company that produces the monthly show RIFTS IN TIME: Interactive Adventure Theater and commissions and produces new works relevant to Placer County, who won five regional theatrical awards with Broadway World and Gold Country Media in 2021.

Placer Repertory Theater (PlacerRep.org) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit professional performing arts and cultural organization with the mission to offer educational and quality-of-life enriching professional performing arts and cultural programs relevant to the people of Placer County, while supporting local organizations and acting as an economic engine for the area. Follow Placer Repertory Theater on Facebook and Instagram: @PlacerRep.

Publishers: Contact Kevin Foster, Outreach Director, at Outreach@PlacerRep.org, or Teresa Stirling Forsyth, Producing Artistic Director, at ArtisticDirector@PlacerRep.org.

TERESA STIRLING FORSYTH - Producing Artistic Director

With an MFA in Dramatic Arts and an MS in Business Management & Leadership, this former Silicon Valley high-tech VP and critically acclaimed professional director/playwright also plays the role of Producing Artistic Director for Placer Repertory Theater. Previously, the artistic director for two San Francisco theater companies and founder/board president of an economic & workforce development nonprofit organization for Santa Cruz County, her performing arts background includes directing/playwriting for national and international touring productions with renown performing artists, such as Brenda Wong Aoki, and companies like Dell'Arte International. As an educator, she has instructed and/or directed at UC Davis, University of San Francisco, University of Minnesota and other educational institutions. Projects on which Forsyth worked performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian, Dallas Theatre Center, San Diego Repertory Theatre and many other renown venues, and received Dramalogue Awards, Critics Circle Awards, Indy Award: Best Spoken Word Album, Broadway World Awards, as well as numerous grants from the NEA, NEH, CAC, ACPC and corporations. Most recently for Placer Repertory Theater, she is the playwright/director for Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of the Four and Persuasion: a holiday romantic comedy, author for the upcoming world premiere of My Jekyll & Hyde and director/dramaturg for New Beginnings: the new play about the historic Placer County Roundhouses. She is a member of the professional organizations: The Dramatists Guild, The Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), TCG and NNPN/New Play Exchange.

KEVIN FOSTER - LAB HOST & Outreach Director

Kevin Foster is an area local excited to work at Placer Repertory as Outreach Director. He began training in acting at UC Davis while earning his B.A. in Music Performance. After graduating, he performed at Davis Musical Theater Company in Peter Pan, The King and I, Damn Yankees, and the Elly Award winning production of Chicago. His other credits include The Importance of Being Earnest at Chautauqua Playhouse and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Sacramento Theater company, where he has taught youth performing arts classes. He currently teaches for Rockstar Music Academy in Lincoln and is working on his solo show commissioned by Placer Rep for a 2022 world premiere. Kevin also may be seen in Placer Rep's digital short series Sherlock Holmes: Domestic Mysteries on YouTube and Facebook, in Placer Rep's "The Jane Austen Soiree" and "An Evening with Sherlock Holmes," in 2021, and recently won a Broadway World award as a supporting actor in Persuasion / A Jane Austen Holiday in December 2020.

Gage Doss - Audio Engineer/Stage Manager

Doss is currently the lead Audio Engineer for Love Horror Events in Sacramento, a position he has held for over twelve years, and has a long history as a sound designer and stage manager for theatrical events. Gage has already been instrumental in improving the sound quality of the ColLABoration LAB as we work to provide a high-quality experience for both those in-person, and our presenters and guests that participate live via Zoom.

Guests for the June 22nd 2022 Line-up:

Livia Wolfe - Activist, Artist, Mental Health Advocate of Sacramento

Livia Wolfe is a Human Rights and Environment Activist, Mental Health Advocate, Runway Model, Media and Fashion Coordinator, Speechwriter, Actress, BTS Photographer, and model for Empowered Trans Woman, a major trans advocacy effort which reaches 6.25 Million people annually. In February 2022, she proudly represented Trans Clothing Company and trans women worldwide on the runway at New York Fashion Week in Times Square. Forbes.com featured Livia and her team at NYFW in a significant article outlining their show, which made Fashion Week history. Since late 2021, Livia has been working with the Sacramento County Department of Health on a transgender-specific mental health campaign, "Stop Stigma Sacramento." As part of her advocacy work, Ms. Wolfe sat at the meeting table of then Senator Kamala Harris, and Senator Dianne Feinstein to help affect the path of policy in the United States. Prior to living in Sacramento, Ms. Wolfe worked for the U.S. Department of Defense. Her work was with critical (classified at the time) command and control microwave systems for United States Navy vessels. Her hero is her father who loved her unconditionally, and hunted Nazis during WWII.

ANNE MERINO - Color Commentator

Merino began her career dancing for notable companies such as American Ballet Theatre and the London Festival Ballet and is currently the artistic director of Placer Theatre Ballet. A prolific choreographer, she won the Vanguard Award for Choreography. Merino's traditional theatrical training was received at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Second City with Del Close and John Belushi and later trained under Alan Rickman at the British American Drama Academy. As an actress, and former member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA, Ms. Merino performed with The Groundlings and Tim Robbins' The Actors' Gang and is a member of the theatre department faculty at William Jessup University. As a writer, she recently won film festival awards for her screenplay, "The Season of the Wolf," and received critical acclaim for her recently released novel, Hawkesmoor.

THE EVENT

June 22, 2022 at 7 p.m.

401B Vernon St Roseville CA 95678 (and via Zoom)

Go to Eventbrite to secure your seat:

Email Outreach@placerrep.org to request a presenter's slot.