directed by

Audrey Gregory

Best listened to with headphones . . .

Listen . . .

Content Disclosures:
Death, harmful Imperialist language, Psychological Torment, Violence, Gore, Blood, Screams, and Loud Sounds. Please listen with caution!

Listen Close, Listen Well includes

“The Monkey’s Paw” written by W.W. Jacobs and adapted by Steven Gross,

“Seities” written by Ian Farrell,

and “Funhouse” written by Amir Gad.

CAST

Isabella Capelli . Mother and Gerry

Avi Fidler . Son

Jackie Marino-Thomas . Jules

Kashaun McGhee . Sergeant and Lawyer

Jeff Pfeiffer . Father and Truth

Solomon Troupe . Narrator and Emcee

PRODUCTION

Audrey Gregory . Director

Erin Renee Russo . Assistant Director

Matthew Bock . Stage Manager

Steven Gross . Dramaturg

Allie Britt . Sound Design and Editing

Neill Hartley . Dialect Coaching

Peter Stamerra . Crew

BIOS

Ian Farrell – Playwright, Seities (he/him)

Ian is a sophomore DPP at the University of the Arts, and is incredibly excited to be a part of this project as a playwright! Previous credits at UArts include Berzerk! (Dramaturg, Equinox New Play Festival), Find Myself Here (Dramaturg), You, On A Date workshop (Asst. Director / Dramaturg), and the upcoming Overgrown (Asst. Director / Dramaturg). He's grateful for such a unique and thrilling opportunity in these weird times, and looks forward to sharing all of the terrifying work of "Listen Close, Listen Well"!

Amir Gad – Playwright, Funhouse (he/they)

Amir is a New Jersey based dramaturg, playwright, and collagist. This is his first produced written work, and they cannot be more happy than to be doing it with such an excellent team. His previous experience is Dramaturgy on Will: A Coverup, In The Red and Brown Water, and Liar Upon the Starship Limpidius, all here at UArts.

@pluton14n

Special Thanks: Matthew Bock, Isabella Capelli, Erin Renee Russo, his cat Sappho

Isabella Capelli - Mother & Gerry, Monkey's Paw & Funhouse (she/her)

Isabella Capelli (She/Her) is very excited to bring you some audio spooks! She’s a freshman DPP major, with a Creative Writing minor, and is very thankful for all of the opportunities her first year at UARTS has presented her with. Her previous credits include POP! (Assistant Stage Manager), Look Up, Canyon (Playwright) as a part of the 2021 Equinox Festival, and Men on Boats (Dramaturg). Listen Close, Listen Well is her first acting experience at UARTS and she is grateful to have had the opportunity. Shoutout to Matt!

@bellacapellii

Special Thanks: Chris Crawford, Amir Gad for trusting me to bring Gerry to life, and the team for your never-ending hard work and support! :)

Avi Fidler – Son, Monkey's Paw (they/he)

Avi Fidler (they/he) is a Philadelphia and Boston-based actor and a Braving The Bard company member. They are currently pursuing a degree in Acting from The University of the Arts. Boston-area credits include The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Christopher Boone), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Rosencrantz), and Twelfth Night (Viola). Philadelphia credits include Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again (Ensemble) and Men on Boats (Hall). BTB credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nick Bottom), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Dumaine), and Julius Caesar (Mark Antony). Avi would like to thank his parents, friends, and educators for their constant support.

Some of Avi's past and future radio work can be heard at Braving The Bard on all major social media platforms!

Jackie Marino-Thomas - Jules, Funhouse (she/they)

Jackie Marino-Thomas is about to complete her Junior year at University of the Arts, studying for an Acting BFA! When she's not acting, Jackie can be found taking nature photos, making jokes about historical events, and hanging out with her pet gecko.

@jackiemarothom

Special Thanks: Thanks to my quarantine pod and my family!

Kashaun McGhee - Sergeant/Lawyer, Monkey's Paw (he/they)

Kashaun McGhee is a sophomore acting major in the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts. This is Kashaun's first radio play and he's super excited to be working with an incredibly talented team of creatives. This is Kashaun's second (would-be-third) production at UArts and he's very excited to finally be apart of a production within the UArts community.

@ksmnocreativity

Jeff Pfeiffer - Father & Truth/Mimic, Monkey's Paw & Seities (he/him)

Jeff is a senior acting major. He is very exited to be a part of this production. Past UArts credits include: Hamlet and Monty Python’s 500 Years of Sillyness.

@jpfeiff8

Solomon Troupe - Narrator/Emcee (he/him)

Hey! I'm an African-American multidisciplinary artist currently focused on directing, creative writing and voice acting. If you like my work you should check out my youtube channel. And thank you for watching LCLW! It was uber fun to do and I truly think it's a great show. ❤

YOUTUBE: Solomon Troupe INSTAGRAM: solomon_troupe

Special Thanks: Thank you to my mom, Shelby Richards, for being my number one supporter. To Teri Parker Lewis for being a large part of why i'm here today. And to Amy Dugas Brown for continuing my growth as an artist right now. It seems that behind every great man is a team of spectacular women!

Audrey Gregory - Director (she/her)

Audrey is a fourth-year senior at the University of the Arts, who is not-so-patiently awaiting graduation where she will be receiving her B.F.A. in Directing, Playwriting & Producing. Audrey has loved every minute of bringing this show to life and cannot thank her team and cast enough for their incredible work! Audrey recently left Philadelphia to move back home to Colorado, and she is ready to begin her work as a theatre artist here in her hometown of Golden. Though she will miss the city dearly, she would like to thank her fellow students, teachers, mentors, and friends for their lessons, inspiration, collaboration, and energy that they so lovingly shared over these past four years. Audrey is eager to continue her multifaceted work in theatre by managing shows, directing, and most importantly throwin’ hands and swingin’ swords! As most of the cast and crew round their third semester of online school, Audrey would like to express her endless gratitude to everyone who has put their time and talents into "Listen Close, Listen Well". She would like to thank her cast and team again for always indulging her ideas and running with them, and for their tenacity and perseverance as we juggled experimentation, failures, and successes in this medium. A huge congratulations goes out to her fellow seniors who are also presenting their thesis projects, Audrey could not have asked for a more inspiring and loving group to show her work alongside. Thank you, and enjoy our show!

Erin Renee Russo - Assistant Director (she/her)

Erin is an actor, director and sound designer residing in Philadelphia. Get to know me and my work (or just say hi!) at erinreneerusso.com.

@erinreneerusso

Special Thanks: Thank you to the playwrights for trusting us to bring their work to life! :)

Matthew Bock - Stage Manager (he/him)

Matthew is a freshman DPP major and a Film minor, and is really thankful to have been a part of this process! This was his first time as a Stage Manager, but certainly not his last. Previous credits at UArts include having his play, Pump to Pump, produced as part of the 2021 Equinox New Play Festival. Matthew loves writing, acting, stage management, and just about everything that the DPP major includes. He also loves his pet leopard gecko, George.

@mattrichb_

Special Thanks: Emily Betts, Madelyn Bock

Steven Gross – Dramaturg (he/they)

Steven Gross is a queer multi-hyphenate theater maker and currently a junior Directing, Playwriting, and Production major at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Recent projects include The Last Five Years (Stage Manager, The University of the Arts), Promenade (Assistant Music Director/Editor/Designer, The University of the Arts), Don't Stop Me (Dramaturg, Polyphone Festival). He wants to thank everyone involved in Listen Close, Listen Well for their hard work, heart, and incredible Kahoot skills! Find out more and get in touch at thestevengross.com

@stevengross_

Allie Britt - Sound Designer (she/her)

Hello! I am a sound designer and audio engineer living and working is Philadelphia. I have a passion you creating and storytelling through music, soundscapes and in exploring concepts through acoustics. I am a junior soon to be senior at Uarts, hope you enjoy what you hear!

SoundCloud @KissKillua

Special Thanks: Larry Fowler

Neill Hartley - Dialect Coach, Monkey’s Paw (he/him)

Neill Hartley (Dialect coach) is involved in several aspects of professional theater. As an actor, he has appeared in many regional companies including the Arden Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia Theater Company and the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater. He shared a Philadelphia Barrymore award as best ensemble for Batboy, The Musical with 1812 Productions. He has eight one-man shows that he regularly presents and his work can be seen and heard in many voice-overs, commercials and films.
Neill is the Artistic Director for Acting Without Boundaries, a theater company for physically disabled teens and young adults. He has also directed for Philadelphia Young Playwright’s, the University of the Arts, Ursinus College, Arcadia University, LaSalle University, New City Stage Company and Luna Theater. Most recently he has directed Anything Goes for AWB and Night’ Mother for Isis Productions.
He is an assistant professor of voice and speech at the University of the Arts and has acted as a speech/dialect coach for several professional theater productions, including many for UArts.

Land Acknowledgement

We are intentionally aware that our school’s institution is located on land that was stolen. We acknowledge that the Lenni Lenape people are the original stewards of that land.

We had team and cast members contributing to this project virtually, so we’d like to acknowledge many different places where we participated from. 

Our team members in Delaware reside on the land originally tended to by the Munsee Lenape people, known as the “Grandfather” tribe. Our team in South Carolina owes tribute to the Eastern Cherokee people as the original and continued inhabitants of that land. Our team in Colorado lives on land historically and presently stewarded by the Cheyenne and Ute peoples. Zoom, the platform that we used throughout our process, is headquartered in what is now called San Jose, CA on the traditional lands of the Ohlone and Tamyen peoples. 

We would also like to acknowledge the privilege that comes with being able to create art virtually. Today our art is supported mostly by the technologies that leave immense carbon footprints. Across the globe, Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by climate change, yet still in many communities the products of these tech companies are not even accessible. 

We encourage you to look into whose land you’re on at native-land.ca and then learn how to support the indigenous peoples in your community. For all those in or around Philadelphia, on Lenapehoking, Indigenous Peoples’ Day Philly (ipdphilly.org) and Indigenous 215 (indigenous215.net) are great organizations to get involved with.

This land acknowledgment includes language inspired by Adrienne Wong of SpiderWebShow, Groundwater Arts, and Noelle Diane Johnson.