Posts filed under ‘VFC Jr.’
Many many thanks
There are few ways to thank everyone for the incredible experience we had at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Producing
Kendra Chell, Kappa Victoria Wood & Brett Colbeth
and cultivating an audience for this show proved to be a team effort, and I want to thank everyone in the program below, plus the following participants: Jennifer Jejay of I Heart Hamas, Todd Blakesley & Dulce Maria Solis of Chela, Meghan McCauley of Spring Awakening, Monica Martin from ArtWorks, Anton Ray of Warrior Poet and Matt Quinn of Theater Asylum.
We were one of the plays awarded a Best of the Fringe, which includes an offer for extension. Comment below to subscribe to our mailing list or email cindy@cindymariejenkins.com .
Many thanks as well to Theatre Unleashed, who nominated us for their Unleashed Award!
Voices From Chornobyl jr.
Written by Cindy Marie Jenkins | Directed by Aaron Kozak
Shelley Delayne & Kappa Victoria Wood
Inspired by the book of interviews
Voices From Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich
Produced by special arrangement with the publisher
Featuring Kendra Chell, Brett Colbeth*, Shelley Delayne, Jesse Sharp* & Kappa Victoria Wood
Stage Managers Jessica Farley & Deanna Fleysher
Sound Designer Corwin Evans
Co-Producer Rachel Stoll | Social Media Jennifer Brooks
Dramaturg Karen Jean Martinson | Graphics Caroline Sharp
ensemble
Kendra Chell
KENDRA CHELL (Irina | June 25 & 26) was recently nominated for an LA Weekly Award for her role in the Open Fist Theatre production of The Illusion. She holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from San Francisco State University and has studied with LAMDA, Berkeley Rep and UCB. She has worked with American Conservatory Theatre, The San Francisco Mime Troupe, The Antaeus Company and Kingsmen Shakespeare. Past credits include Arcadia, La Ronde, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, A Lie of the Mind, James Joyce’s THE DEAD and The Rover. Film and TV credits include “The Selling,” “Against the Grain,” “Venice By The Sea,” “Close So Far” and “Mary Olsen” webisodes. Kendra is a proud member of the A2 Ensemble, Antaeus’ Academy Company. http://kendrachell.com/
BRETT COLBETH (Vasily June 11, 19, 25 & 26) is thrilled to be a part of VFC Jr.! Recent L.A. theatre credits include Dakin Matthews’ The Capulets and The Montagues at Andak Stage Company, Last Fling at Circus Theatricals, and Bart DeLorenzo’s critically acclaimed King Lear at Antaeus Theatre Company. Brett was most recently seen in Antaeus’ workshop production of Love’s Labour’s Lost directed by Darin Anthony. Brett is a member of A2 (Antaeus’ Academy Company) as well as Shakespeare and Friends. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Much love to his peers, Cindy Jenkins, and wonderful family- Dad, Mom and Jackie. Enjoy the show!
Shelley Delayne
SHELLEY DELAYNE (Irina | June 11, 18 & 19) was in the ensemble of a Hollywood Fringe Festival show last year (The Girl Who Would Be King) which received a nomination for an LA Weekly Theatre Award and is excited to be back at the Fringe as part of a completely different kind of show. Other non-Fringe plays in Los Angeles include: Laundry & Bourbon, Sylvia, Salome, Jake’s Women, and On the Verge.
Jesse Sharp
JESSE SHARP (Vasily June 18) is a recent graduate of the MFA acting program at UC Irvine. Recent credits include: Into The Woods (Baker) Two Gentleman of Verona (Valentine) and the world premier musical Great Expectations at the Tony Award Winning Utah Shakespeare Festival. Tours include Grease (Vince Fontaine) and the fantastic kids show Henry and Mudge with Theatreworks USA. TV/Film credits include “General Hospital,” “The Man Show,” “Not Another Teen Movie” as well as several indies & webseries. He is excited to be making his Fringe debut! www.JesseSharp.net
Kappa Victoria Wood
KAPPA VICTORIA WOOD (Katya) is honored to return to Voices From Chornobyl, which has eerily become more relevant than ever. Some of Kappa’s previous work includes ‘Corie’ in Barefoot in the Park, ‘Laura’ in The Glass Menagerie, ‘Gilmer’ in Godspell and ‘Gabby’ in The Petrified Forest. Kappa would like to thank her fiancé Michael Curran for his love and support and you for supporting live theater!
additional ensemble
BRAD BEACOM |CAROLYN BLAIS | DREW DOYLE | ENCI | AARON LYONS* | SHAWN MACAULAY* | ROBERT NEGRON* | CHANNING SARGENT | BRIAN SPARROW | KATIE SWEENEY | NICOL ZANZARELLA-GIACALONE*
*denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the professional union of actor and stage managers
production team
JENNIFER BROOKS (Social Media) has been working on and off (mostly off) the stage for 15+ years. She holds a BA from San Francisco State, where she was the Student President of the Theatre Department. For over five years, she worked with L.A. Theatre Works, the premier radio theatre company in the country, where she was in charge of casting 10+ shows a year with top name actors of stage and screen for their radio show on NPR. She has also worked with California Shakespeare Theatre, Campo Santo and Malibu Theatre Company. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two cats.
CORWIN EVANS (Sound Designer) is a freelance designer of sound, projections and integrated experiences. He’s worked in the LA area for five years, and chances are pretty darn good he’s going to see you at some events this Fringe. He’s excited at the prospect of a prodigious amount of high-fives. Corwin is on a mission to work in almost every one of the 300+ theaters in LA. In the meantime, he enjoys the roller coaster ride of cat ownership, writes original music for theatre and/or fun, pretends to be a comedy writer on his lunch hour and works as a Concierge for Center Theatre Group. www.CorwinEvans.com/ | www.facebook.com/corwin0 | www.twitter.com/corwinevans | www.latensemble.com/
Jessica Farley
JESSICA FARLEY (Stage Manager) is fantastic and has been working in theatre and short films for over 15 years. She trained at the George Washington University and with instructors from the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Jessica is a participant in the Global Theatre Project and founding member of the Tripod Actors Collective. She’s thrilled to be working on VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL as she has worked on projects for humanitarian causes throughout the world. Jessica loves people and is especially excited to be involved in the Hollywood Fringe and would like to give a shout to her uncle Marc Spiegel, storyteller extraordinaire, who wrote and performed The Grubrag’s Ballad for the Capitol Fringe Festival in D.C. in 2010 and will again be performing 2011. Jessica is passionate about human rights and has worked with Amnesty international for about 15 years and is a coordinator for their Young Professionals network and the State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Southern California, for which she often speaks publicly and engages in community outreach. Her human rights and community-building work informs her artistic pieces, which all stem from a deep dedication to the creation of meaning and the True, the Beautiful and the Good.
Deanna Fleysher
DEANNA FLEYSHER (Stage Manager) is a performer, teacher and director just arrived from NYC. She is very excited to be working on this project!
Cindy Marie Jenkins
CINDY MARIE JENKINS (Playwright & Outreach) is a Storyteller based in Los Angeles. She is obsessed with outreach & community-building. In 2008, Cindy gave a Key Note Speech at “Remember Chernobyl,” an Annual Conference for UK & Irish Chernobyl Charities. April 2011 presentations included Stockton England and 3 locations in Los Angeles. In June the ensemble travels to San Diego to present the piece in conjunction with Inner Mission Productions. June also brings the premiere of her ten-minute play Dragon Compact as part of Moving Arts’ CAR PLAYS, presented at the RADAR LA International Theatre Festival, leading up to the TCG Conference. She is also running around the Directors Lab West June 11-18th, as a member of the Steering Committee. In March she returned to The Indy Convergence, where she workshopped MYTHistory Part .5 (www.Twitter.com/MYTHistories), a transmedia piece on perception. Previous community art installations/interactions were shown at the 1st Annual Atwater Art Walk, Summer Nights on the Boulevard, The Barnsdall Gallery, The Courtyard Gallery, the Silver Lake Jubilee (2010 & 2011) and the Children’s Festival of the Arts in Hollywood. She regularly contributes to LA Stage Times, Atwater Village Now, The Inspired Classroom, Bitter Lemons & LAFPI. www.CindyMarieJenkins.com www.Twitter.com/cindymariej
Aaron Kozak
AARON KOZAK (Director) has been doing theater for 20 years, debuting in “Camelot” in 1990 at the Lamplight Theatre in Nacogdoches, Texas. Since then, he’s performed in over forty plays, 7 feature films, and countless shorts. He wrote, produced, directed, edited and starred in”The Show Businessman,” which was selected as an official finalist of the 2010 Las Vegas Film Festival. His directing/editing credits include Ebay’s Regifting Campaign with Andy Richter, Revelle Studios’ “Star Mashers,” MTV’s “True Life,” “The Night Audit,” “Basketball Shorts,” “The Chinnedy’s,” and “Savages.” As a playwright, he was privileged to be affiliated with the International Fringe circuit. His play “Goodbye, Love. Goodbye, Joy. Hello, Travis McElroy.” was performed at the Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, DC; and his play THE BIRTHDAY BOYS will be making its New York debut in late 2011
/early 2012.
KAREN JEAN MARTINSON (Dramaturg) is a scholar, dramaturg, director, and sometimes puppeteer who freelances throughout Los Angeles. Martinson was awarded her Ph.D. in Theatre History, Literature, and Theory from the University of Minnesota in 2008. Through her academic and artistic work, she explores issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality within US American consumer culture. www.MissKarenJean.com
Caroline Sharp
CAROLINE SHARP (Graphics & Social Media) is proud to be a part of this tremendous production. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama, Caroline has studied with the renowned Atlantic Theater Company in both New York and Los Angeles. Her work includes roles in The Importance of Being Earnest, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, An Enemy of The People, & the recent new musical, Group which also has performances at the Hollywood Fringe. www.CarolineSharp.net
RACHEL STOLL (Producer) is happy to be producing in the Hollywood Fringe Festival again this year. She is awesome. Special thx to Cindy Marie Jenkins and the rest of the VFC team, to my mother for supporting our April production and to Jon Armstrong for keeping me sane. www.RachelStoll.Com | www.Twitter.com/RachelStoll
donors
Executive Producer | $200 | Barbara Blankenship Advocate | $100 | Shelley Delayne | Aaron Lyons | Sponsor | $50-99 | Kelly Banusciewitz of Beans Boutique | Alex Bruno | Hallie Faben
Patron | $0-49 | Cassandra Davis | Alicia Gibbs | Bari Hochwald | Eugene Hutchins | Mike Khachanov | Christopher Lutz | Lauren Maddox | Karen Jean Martinson | Robert Negron | Pamela Noles | Stephen Gabriel Pallo | Sherri Pender | Leonora & Scott Pitts | Steven Scott | Michael Seel | Marta Segura | Marc Stigler | Alyson Unger | Janet Whitty | Bethanee Wilgocki | David Wisehart
special thanks
Abraham Tetenbaum, Bitter Lemons, Cynthia Brickman, Kumbi Butler of Heartbeat House, Joe Luis Cedillo & Company of Strangers, Rhianon Elan, Tracy Eliot, Alexandra Goodman, Dan Jenkins, Meghan McCauley, Pamela Noles, Lee Osteen II, Kat Primeau, Patty J. Robinson, Michael Seel, Richard Tatum & so many more.
much gratitude to the entire Fringe Staff
Jon Armstrong, Ezra Buzzington, Alexa Hanhram, Ben Hill, Nick Hill, Stacy Jones, Kanchan Mattoo, Meghan McCauley, David McKeever, Elizabeth Steele, Abbie Wagoner and Gavin Worth
VFC Jr. Reviews Are In!
Voices From Chornobyl Jr.
“More kids would go to college if school was taught like this.”
-11 year-old audience member
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cast bios | team bios | other Fringe Family shows
“Utilizing simple metaphors, song, and language that is always clear and never condescending, complex issues such as radiation poisoning and nuclear power are defined, replacing fear with knowledge and imparting a message that is as reaffirming as it is timely.”
-Kat Primeau, Actress & Producer
“Great structure, well-acted and good use of the audience to start it all off. My only complaint is I wanted more but that came in the form of a great Q&A afterwards as well.”
-Jeff Gardner, Actor & Sound Designer
Cindy Marie Jenkins’ deft writing bridges the gap between an educational presentation and an interactive children’s show that is as funny as it is serious…. I highly recommend this show for parents and children alike. It is equal parts entertaining and important.
-Adam Emperor Southard, Writer & Parent
“Jenkins keeps the horror of the meltdown to a minimum, allowing the subdued fear and forced calm of Katya’s parents and slight allusions to post meltdown physical debilities to provide a great jumping off point for discussions post show.” -Thomas Hampton Reviews
“Great Jumping Off Point”
Teaching your kids about basic arithmetic is easy. You can learn to count and add using your fingers and toes, or kernels
of corn. Teaching children about power plants fueled by nuclear reactors and damage caused by radioactive spills, fires, core meltdowns caused by both human error and natural disaster; well that is a wee more difficult.
Stepping in to foster that conversation is VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL JR, Cindy Marie Jenkin’s short play inspired by the book of interviews Voices From Chernobyl, by Svetlana Alexievich.
VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL JR flirts with Story Theater conventions, allowing a family living in the shadow of the ill fated Ukrainian plant to narrate their own experiences during the crisis.
Katya is the daughter of a scientist and a nurse. She is nine, precocious, and inquisitive. The audience learns valuable lessons with her, as her dad explains that, “Our government likes to tell us all the positive things. It is up to us to find out more…”
We see events unfold through her eyes, as she worries about the firefighters and her younger neighbor. Jenkins keeps the horror of the meltdown to a minimum, allowing the subdued fear and forced calm of Katya’s parents and slight allusions to post meltdown physical debilities to provide a great jumping off point for discussions post show.
CHORNOBYL JR is not only a primer on nuclear power. It offers a fantastic way to broach power creation and consumption, pollution, trust in and truth from those in authority, and environmental based illnesses with the young theater goers you catch this show with.
Thematic content includes: Bring Kids.
VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL JR $10
6/11 TO 6/26 1pm
Purchase tickets online
Free preview performance 6/11, all shows 1/2 price for Fringe participants
VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL on Facebook
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5 Stars From Our 1st Review!
REVIEW
Voices from Chornobyl Jr.
by Adam Emperor Southard · June 11, 2011
The task of writing a show for children about the Chernobyl tragedy must be daunting but you wouldn’t know it from this lovely production. Cindy Marie Jenkins’ deft writing bridges the gap between an educational presentation and an interactive children’s show that is as funny as it is serious.
The particular preview that I had the pleasure to see had an adoring adult audience, but Voices From Chernobyl Jr is tailor made for children eight years and up. I highly recommend this show for parents and children alike. It is equal parts entertaining and important.
Our Fringe Correspondent Interview
Stacy Jones, Publicity Director for the Fringe, and her Correspondents Team are accomplishing an amazing task: seeing lots of shows and filming short interviews with the creators directly afterwards. Our show is the second interview in this clip!
Excerpt of VFC jr. script
Brett Colbeth & Kappa Victoria Wood in rehearsal
Here is an excerpt of our piece, by request from parents thinking about seeing the show! Remember that our preview tomorrow is Pay Way You Want for Families, and we run June 18, 19, 25 & 26 at 1pm. Thanks!
KATYA
I’d heard stories, every family has the one distant cousin or favorite uncle who spoke out against the government, and I’d heard of them disappearing, or going to jail, or worse. I guess you understand more about the world the older you get, because it wasn’t much longer after that when I learned more about living near a power plant.
(coming home from school)
At the foot of the hill puffs a tractor
At the top of the hill a reactor
With Chornobyl we are strong
Our motherland can do no wrong.
VASILY
Who taught you that song, Katya?
KATYA
My teacher. She said that Chornobyl creates power for us to use in our homes. See?
(Runs to the light switch and turns it on and off)
We have electricity in our house because the Chornobyl power plant makes it for us.
VASILY
What else did your teacher tell you?
KATYA
That our motherland will become a strong force in the world because of all the power that Chornobyl creates, and we are very lucky to live so close to it.
VASILY
Did your teacher say anything about safety tests?
KATYA
No…
VASILY
Let me tell you more, Katya. Your teacher told you all the good things, but it wasn’t necessarily the whole story. What I want to tell you isn’t really bad, but it is a reason why we should be careful. I need to ask you not to tell anyone else about it, though. We can talk about these things to each other, with you, me and Mom, but not to anyone else, okay?
What’s next? Find out by seeing the show!
New Team Members
We are incredibly lucky to welcome Corwin Evans, Deanna Fleysher and Jessica Farley to our already chock-full-of-talent team and ensemble.
No, seriously, they are awesome! Be sure to say hi when you see them at the show or around the Fringe.
——–
CORWIN EVANS is a freelance designer of sound, projections and integrated experiences. He’s worked in the LA 
area for five years, and chances are pretty darn good he’s going to see you at some events this Fringe. He’s excited at the prospect of a prodigious amount of high-fives.
Corwin is on a mission to work in almost every one of the 300+ theaters in LA. In the meantime, he enjoys the roller coaster ride of cat ownership, writes original music for theatre and/or fun, pretends to be a comedy writer on his lunch hour and works as a Concierge for Center Theatre Group.
http://www.corwinevans.com/
http://www.facebook.com/corwin0
http://www.twitter.com/corwinevans
http://www.latensemble.com/
DEANNA FLEYSHER (Stage Manager) is a performer, teacher and director just arrived from NYC. She is very excited to be working on this project!
JESSICA FARLEY (Stage Manager) is fantastic and has been working in theatre and short films for over 15 years. Most of her work has been on the East Coast as she is a native of Washington, D.C. Her favorite roles include Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Morse in Naomi Wallace’s One Flea Spare. She has also studied modern dance, flamenco and various kinds of physical theatre. Jessica is a singer and writer as well and has performed her poetry in small venues in Los Angeles and has published work in local magazines in Spanish and English. She trained at the George Washington University and with instructors from the Shakespeare Theatre Company. Jessica is a participant in the Global Theatre Project and founding member of the Tripod Actors Collective. She’s thrilled to be working on VOICES FROM CHORNOBYL as she has worked on projects for humanitarian causes throughout the world. Jessica loves people and is especially excited to be involved in the Hollywood Fringe and would like to give a shout to her uncle Marc Spiegel, storyteller extraordinaire, who wrote and performed The Grubrag’s Ballad for the Capitol Fringe Festival in D.C. in 2010 and will again be performing 2011.
Jessica is passionate about human rights and has worked with Amnesty international for about 15 years and is a coordinator for their Young Professionals network and the State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Southern California, for which she often speaks publicly and engages in community outreach. Her human rights and community-building work informs her artistic pieces, which all stem from a deep dedication to the creation of meaning and the True, the Beautiful and the Good.
Fringe Family Friday Interviews #3 – Jay Alvarez
VFC, Jr. is talking to some of the other Hollywood Fringe participants in our new series, Fringe Family Friday Interviews. Our third interview is with Jay Alvarez, who is presenting his one man show at the Fringe, Be Careful! The Sharks Will Eat You!
What made you decide to write a children’s show and put it into Fringe Family?
I never set out to do a show. My father had passed away and a couple of years before he passed my nephew had taped him recounting the story of our escape. I had grown up with these stories and also had been surrounded by similar stories.
One day I was sitting at Franklin Canyon Park in Beverly Hills by the lake where Opie throws the stone in the old Andy Griffith show and I was listening to the recording and I just started to write. I found that it was just flowing through me, it wasn’t an effort to write which was interesting because I don’t consider myself a writer. For a couple of weeks I went back to that lake almost every day and wrote. It became therapeutic as it was a very down time for me as an actor. Anyway I wrote it and thought in the back of my mind that it might make a good play or something. One day I finished writing, I put it away and it sat in my computer for two years. Two years later after moving back to NYC I serendipitously met my very talented director Theresa Gambacorta and I mentioned that I had written this piece, it was the first time in two years that I had mentioned the piece, one thing led to another and we started working on it. It’s an interesting side story how we met, sometimes things are just meant to be……….
What has been the most exciting or fun thing about working on this particular project?
What was most exciting about working on the piece was the rehearsal process. It became about peeling away the excess and finding the essence of the piece. Exploring each character’s truth. Theresa took the piece and sliced and diced it to where we got it to a tight 65 minutes. We spent several months exploring and I’m glad we did. I think we were able to give a sense of this period in history through one family. We scheduled the piece for three performances last June and I thought that would be it but I was wrong I’ve been doing it in NYC and Miami since then. This is a gift that my father left me.
What do you hope families will take away from your show when they see it during the Hollywood Fringe?
I have a very dear friend who brought her somewhat moody teenage niece to see the show. A couple of days after seeing the show she called her aunt and said “you know aunt Judy seeing the show made me think of how many people we pass on the streets each day that must have wonderful stories they live with and we just “pass them by.”
I often have people come up to me after the show wanting to tell me about their grandmother that escaped Russia or an aunt from Hungary. I had a very young Jewish woman who knew her grandmother had escaped Germany and wished she knew her story. I am very humbled by these reactions.
I would hope young and older audiences alike would see courage and determination and most importantly the idea that Love concurs all. I would hope that American born kids understand what so many go through to get to our shores that immigrants are not here to take anything away from us that instead they come with gifts to offer. I would hope that immigrant kids who cling to their heritage to the exclusion of their American side discover that becoming American only adds to who they already are, they can embrace two cultures fully, I certainly have done so. I am Cuban and no one can take that away from me but boy I am so American as well and I love it!
Are there any shows you are planning to see at the Fringe?
I’m so excited about The Fringe! I’m starting my exploration of what I want to see. Since we only have so many days and such a huge smorgasbord I’m going to start with my research. But I would say go out there and experience the world within the few blocks where we will all be presenting such diverse experiences.
Costume Images
Helping create and discover what this family from Chornobyl wears is another real first for the project. We cobbled together a good look for a 2006 workshop of the now-”adult” script, had a
Shawn McAulay & Sarah Brown in original 2006 workshop
wonderful Costume Designer for the 2007 Demo, Christy Hauptmann, and she really took the vision by the horns. Since then, we’ve only presented readings, so truly looking into costumes is a welcome treat!
Thinking about costumes for our Fringe Family show brought me back to a lot of interesting research, and opened my eyes to a whole new group of blogs and stories about people in Ukraine.
This is the best one I found, mostly because it so beautifully shows both the vast changes through each generation but also confirms that styles are essentially ten years behind ours and a little more colorful than we are used to seeing. I am by no means an expert on fashion, and am open to other interpretations. Do you agree or see something more?
3 generations of women in a Ukrainian village.
Other pictures I found useful were:
-
- Entering Town of Chernobyl, Ukraine (8 miles south of Chernobyl)
Story of the Script: VFC jr.
It’s a strange idea, turning Svetlana Alexievich‘s interviews into a play, and even stranger to think of a children’s script. I 
know because of the looks I get from people when I say it.
This particular script has been in development a few months, and on the day after our first real rehearsal, I’d like to honor all of the artists whose encouragement and collaboration leads us to the Fringe.
First, Rachel Stoll, who re-ignited this idea in the back of my brain that the stories of Chornobyl will be lost if we can’t open our audience to children. History books certainly aren’t covering it.
Next, the ensemble members who braved our first read-through: Brad Beacom, Katie Sweeney & Kappa Victoria Wood from our so-called ‘adult’ script. Due to unexpected scheduling conflicts, Brad & Katie couldn’t continue on the journey, but their feedback , along with Dramaturg Karen Jean Martinson, Actress Caroline Sharp & Blog Editor Jane Whitty (behind the camera), sparked exactly what I needed to move our script to the next draft.
Enjoy!
Maybe on purpose, maybe not, but I cut a lot of my own feedback out of it.
So the moral is: surround yourself with great talent so you can sit back and drink Fat Tire!
And just in case you want to see some quick excerpts of the adult script before part 2:
What You're Saying