Production Team

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Copy of JAMES YOST, Director (Co-Artistic Director)
Copy of JAMES YOST, Director (Co-Artistic Director)

James Yost is the co-artistic director of Interrobang Theatre Project and previously served as the producing artistic director for BareBones Theatre Group, a company he co-founded in 1998. Selected credits include: Mr. Marmalade, Psycho Beach Party, Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical, The Graduate, The Play About the Baby, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Drift, Ugly Art, bash; the latter-day plays, Squirrels, The Wizard of Oz, Lend Me A Tenor, Orson's Shadow, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Pitchfork Disney and Noises Off.  For ITP, credits include Orange Flower Water (Jeff nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Joseph Wiens), Ibsen is Dead, The North Pool and last season's critically acclaimed REALLY REALLY (named one of the best shows of 2015 by the Chicago Tribune). Yost recently directed True West by Sam Shepard for Shattered Globe. This summer he is directing Boeing Boeing for Davidson College. He teaches acting, directing, production design and film at the high school and collegiate level. He is published in Teaching Theatre Journal, a publication of Dramatics Magazine.

GEORGETTE VERDIN, Co-Artistic Director
GEORGETTE VERDIN, Co-Artistic Director

Along with working for Interrobang and being a freelance director, Georgette is also the founding theatre teacher at Polaris Charter Academy, an Expeditionary Learning School in West Humboldt Park. She directed last season's KATRINA: MOTHER-IN-LAW of 'EM ALL and Jeff Recommended RECENT TRAGIC EVENTS, as well as this season's production of the 2013 Yale Drama Series Winner STILL. This spring she'll be directing Donald Margulies' TIME STANDS STILL for Aston Rep. Georgette holds a Masters in Directing from Roosevelt University and a B.A. in Theatre Performance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA.

DEANNA JENT, Writer
DEANNA JENT, Writer

Deanna Jent is the Artistic Director of Mustard Seed Theatre and a Professor of Theatre at Fontbonne University in St. Louis, where she has been teaching since 1995. She has written stage adaptations of the novels Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis and Imaginary Jesus by Matt Mikalatos. Her play Falling won the Kevin Kline award for Best New Play of 2011 and was nominated for a Drama Desk Best Play Award following its off-Broadway run in 2012. Falling was produced in Singapore in 2016 and has been translated into Portuguese for an upcoming production in Brazil. She has directed at professional theaters throughout St. Louis and was named “Best Director of a Musical” by the St. Louis Theatre Circle for Mustard Seed Theatre’s production of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. Deanna grew up southwest of Chicago in Plano and earned her Ph.D. at Northwestern University in 1989.

CHRISTINA CASANO, Production Stage Manager
Christina is a theatre artist based in Chicago. She earned a BA in Theatre from Miami University and completed the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey Summer Professional Training Program. She has stage managed, acted, and directed around Chicago for the last two years. Selected works include Milk Like Sugar (The Yard+Raven Theatre), Twelfth Night (Crowded Bookshelf Dramatics), The Epic of Gilgamesh, etc., Belladonna Luna Sonata, and These Saints Will Burn (The Plagiarists), Owners (ITP), Macbeth and Angels in America (Miami University). Christina is a company member of The Plagiarists, where she serves as the Resident Stage Manager.

SARAH GISE, Casting
Sarah has been a proud ITP company member since February 2015. She graduated from the University of Southern California (USC) with a BFA in Acting. She was previously seen in Interrobang's Fifth Season productions, Owners and Really Really. She is currently a company member with New American Folk Theatre (Chicago) and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre (Los Angeles), with whom she won the LAWeekly Best Actress award for The Belle of Belfast in 2013. She can be seen at many film festivals around the country in the new film Halfway starring Quinton Aaron from The Blindside, which was awarded Best Feature at the Julian Dubuque International Film Festival. In February 2016, she performed the one-woman show The Amish Project with AtticRep in San Antonio, TX, and shortly after was invited to take the show to the Teatro Potlach FLIPT festival in Rome, Italy. She can be seen performing in the Midwest premiere of Still by Jen Silverman with Interrobang from September 28-October 30th at the Athenaeum, followed by the remount of AtticRep's The Amish Project by Jessica Dickey with Interrobang November 10th-December 4th.

SHEILA KETTERING, ASL Interpreter
Sheila is thrilled to be working with Interrobang Theatre Project interpreting this production of Falling.  Sheila has been interpreting for twenty five years in the Chicagoland area in a variety of settings, such as medical, business, educational, video relay interpreting and is especially passionate about theatrical interpreting.  Some recent productions Sheila has interpreted: Good Friday (Oracle Theater),  Wonderful Town and Magic, The Play (The Goodman Theater), Hand to God (Victory Gardens Theater), The Little Mermaid (The Paramount Theater), and The Kid Who Ran for President (Merle Reskin Theater). Sheila would like to thank Interrobang for this wonderful opportunity, and her wonderful husband Bill for all his love and support.

MARGARET KNAPP, Dramaturg
Margaret is new to the Interrobang Theatre Project family and is happy to be working both as the dramaturg for Falling and as the Literary Manager for the company. A proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1992, Margaret has acted at various theaters in the Midwest such as the Apollo here in Chicago, Drury Lane-Oakbrook, The Unicorn Theater in Kansas City, MO, and The Human Race Theater in Dayton, OH. Her directing credits include: Uncle Vanya, Honey Brown Eyes, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Rhinoceros, Museum by Tina Howe, and 12th Night. Margaret also teaches Speech, Acting and Comparative Literature at various colleges in Illinois. 

CHRISTOPHER AARON KNARR, House Manager & Social Media Guru
Originally from South Bend, Indiana, and relocated to beautiful Chicago, Christopher graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in Theatre & Drama, and studied abroad with The Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland. Recent credits include Interrobang Theatre Project's Season Seven productions Still and The Amish Project, and all Season Six productions as House Manager, Marketing, and Social Media. He was House Manager for the fifth season's Owners and Really Really and contributed to past productions of Orange Flower Water as Production Assistant, and Terminus, The Pitchfork Disney, and Ibsen is Dead as Assistant Stage Manager. 

MORGAN LAKE, Sound Design
Morgan Lake is a Chicago-based sound designer. She is very excited to be working with Interrobang Theatre Project for the first time. Recent projects include designing The Terrible (The New Colony) and engineering It's a Wonderful Life (American Blues Theater). Upcoming work includes engineering The Life of Galileo (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company) and Little Shop of Horrors (American Blues Theater) this spring.

PAULINE OLEKSY, Props
Pauline is a scenic and properties designer from Illinois. She has recently earned her Masters of Fine Arts in stage design from Northern Illinois University and works designing and detailing exhibits and trades shows. Pauline currently resides in Chicago where she is pursuing opportunities in scenic design for theater and corporate stages, properties design, and scenic painting.

GREG PINSONEAULT, Set Design
Greg Pinsoneault is a Chicago based designer who recently received a BFA in Scenic Design from The Theatre School at DePaul University.  Chicago credits include works with Griffin Theatre, Profiles Theatre, Interrobang Theatre Project, Rasaka Theatre Company, The Agency Theatre Collective, Cock and Bull, and Underscore Theatre Company.  He has also assisted on productions at The Cort Theatre (NYC), The Broadhurst Theatre, Glimmerglass Opera, The Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Paramount Theatre, and Drury Lane Oakbrook.  Greg was the recipient of The 2014 Theatre School Michael Merritt Award and the 2015 USITT W Oren Parker Undergraduate Scene Design Award.  Examples of his work can be found at GPScenic.com.

AL RACI (CI/CT), ASL Interpreter
Al is thrilled to be interpreting Falling for Interrobang Theatre Project. Past credits include Goodman Theater shows The Magic Play, The World of Extreme Happiness, Animal Crackers, The Trinity River Plays, Chinglish, Red, Race, Stage Kiss, Camino Real, The Iceman Cometh, and Crowns. Al has also interpreted for many productions at Steppenwolf, The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre at Navy Pier, Chicago Children's Theater, Victory Gardens, the Lyric Opera, the Oil Lamp Theatre, and the Paramount Theater. He works full-time as a freelance interpreter in the Chicago area and brings a rich background of experience to the production of Falling. Al would like to thank Interrobang for making accessibility possible here. 

DAVID ROSENBERG, Press Relations

ROB STEPEK, Lighting Design
Born and raised in Chicago, Rob is more than excited to be back in the city and working with Interrobang Theatre Project for the first time. He holds a 2015 MFA in lighting design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a 2012 BS in theatrical design and production from Illinois State University. Both locations allowed Rob to experiment and find his design aesthetic and he is more than happy to be able to continue with his professional career with a great team on The North Pool.

STEPH TAYLOR, Costume Design
Steph makes her Interrobang debut. Recent design credits include: Dead Man Walking (Piven Theatre), The Wiz, Arabian Nights, and To Kill a Mockingbird (ETHS Theatre). Associate designs include: Robin Hood, Pinocchio, and Fog Island (Filament Theatre), Support Group for Men, Blue Skies Process (Goodman Theatre) and Stupid F***ing Bird (Side Show Theatre Company). After graduation from Illinois State University, Steph ran wigs and wardrobe for two years at Drury Lane Theatre. She would like to thank her family, friends and supporters of live theatre.

ZOE VERDIN, Website & Creative Design
Zoë provides creative direction for all ITP print and digital marketing, while working as a freelance graphic designer and practitioner of Thai bodywork and trigger point therapy. Zoë has also worked as scenic designer/carpenter, costume designer and muralist on all main stage productions at Polaris Charter Academy since 2011. Her most recent designs include costumes and backdrop for the Academy’s Wiley and the Hairy Man and publicity for Interrobang’s Season Six: Unnatural Disasters. Zoë has a BA in Studio Art from Carleton College, with concentrations in ceramics and photography. Zoë is delighted to be collaborating with Social Media Marketing Guru, Christopher Knarr on publicity for Season Seven’s Flesh & Blood series, and with Ed Anderson on ITP's website.

ALAN WEUSTHOFF, Technical Director
This is Alan’s first show with Interrobang Theatre Project. As a freelance Technical Director, Alan has most recently built the sets for The Wiz with Kokandy Productions, Venus in Fur with Circle Theatre and In The Heights with Porchlight Theatre. Other Chicago credits include: Winterset (Griffin Theatre), How We Got On (Haven Theatre), Sister Cities (Chimera Theatre), Caught (Sideshow Theatre), and Once In A Lifetime (Strawdog Theatre). Alan is a graduate of the theater program at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO.

JOSEPH WIENS, Assistant Director
Joseph has been a Shattered Globe Theatre company member since 2011. He has been seen in The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Romeo and Juliet, Orpheus Descending, Her Naked Skin, Other People's Money, The Grown Up, The Whaleship Essex,  Animals Out of Paper, In the Heat of the Night and True West with SGT. Other credits around Chicago include Breaks and Bikes with Pavement Group,  A Touch of the Poet and Beaten with The Artistic Home, The Tennessee Willams Project with The Hypocrites and Orange Flower Water (Brad) for Interrobang Theatre (nominated for a Jeff Award for Supporting Actor in a Play) and Look Back in Anger at Redtwist Theatre (nominated for a Jeff  Award for Best Actor). TV credits include Chicago PD. He was most recently seen in The Tall Girls at Shattered Globe Theatre. Joseph spent 4 years working in an Autism program for Envision Unlimited. He currently teaches a theater group for Thresholds focusing on mental health and the arts. He is very excited to work on Falling with James and Interrobang.

CLAIR YEARMAN, Fight Choreographer
Claire is a certified teacher with The Society of American Fight Directors, an actor, fight choreographer, and adjunct professor of theatre. She received a Jeff nomination for her fight choreography for Red Tape Theatre’s production of The Love of the Nightingale. Claire has an MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University and is a company member with Interrobang Theatre Project.