Edna O’Brien’s novels include The Country Girls Trilogy, Night, Down By The River, and, most recently, In The Forest. Plays include Family Butchers, Triptych (Magic Theatre), A Pagan Place ( Royal Court Theatre), Virginia (Haymarket Theatre), Our Father (Almeida Theatre), and Iphigenia (Crucible Theatre). She is an honorary member of the American Academy of Letters.

Deborah Black*
(Singing Woman, Sister Immaculata) is glad to return to Magic Theatre after more than 20 years.  Other Irish roles include Maggie in Dancing at Lughnasa for Pacific Alliance Stage, Mrs. Masters in Goodbye to the Hill for DEO Ireland, Behan’s The Hostage Lovers by Brian Friel, and two productions of Playboy of the Western World.  She has played nuns in Suddenly Last Summer at Berkeley Repertory, Nun-Crackers for the Willows Theatre, and Comedy of Errors for Tahoe Shakespeare.  She recently participated in Playground, played Golde in Fiddler on the Roof for CCMT, and completed a two-year run as Earth Mother in Menopause the Musical.  She thanks her husband Gary for 33 years of nurturing support. 

Anne Darragh*
(Martha and others) is thrilled to be taking part in a play by Edna O’Brien. She was last seen at the Magic in The God of Hell. Recent Magic Theatre productions include The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, The Sex Habits of American Women, Ted Kaczynski Killed People with Bombs, and The American in Me. Her most recent performance was in The Good German at Marin Theatre Company.  She had the honor of playing Harper in the original Eureka Theatre production of Angels in America.  Locally she has also performed with ACT, AlterTheatre, Aurora, Berkeley Rep, Brava, Campo Santo, Encore Theatre, Theatre Rhinoceros, and San Jose Rep. This one is for her Irish father.

Matt Foyer*
(Father, Thady, and others) is thrilled to be making his Magic Theatre debut and would like to thank Chris Smith, Edna O’Brien, and company for this unique opportunity. Previous stage credits include Dromio of Ephesus in The Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Portland); Heinrich in Oscar (The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC); Bob Ewell in To Kill A Mockingbird, Emil Hahn in Judgment at Nuremberg, Downs in Tom, Dick & Harry (International City Theatre, Long Beach), Samuel in Unfinished American Highwayscape #9 & 32, Ensemble in Mother Courage & Her Children (The Theatre @ the Boston Court); Fouquet in Power (2006 Ovation Award nominee), Dr. Prentice in What the Butler Saw (Theatre Banshee, Burbank). Film and TV: appearances in Days of Our Lives, Guilty or Innocent, and the recent horror indie, The Call of Cthulhu. Matt is a graduate of The California Institute of the Arts and in his spare time plays with the LA-based Celtic band, Slugger O’Toole.

Robert Parsons*
(Mr. Gentleman) Local credits include: Pleasure & Pain, The Right Kind of People, Lonesome West, The American in Me, Schrödinger’s Girlfriend, and Ted Kaczynski Killed People with Bombs (Magic Theatre); Little Foxes, Black Rider, Buried Child, Colossus of Rhodes, and Good (ACT); Pal Joey, Visions of Kerouac, and Communicating Doors (Marin Theatre Company); as well as appearances at Aurora Theatre Company, SF Shakespeare Festival, Word for Word, SF Playhouse, Willows Theatre, Shotgun Players, Z Space Studio, Berkeley Rep, and Theatreworks. International, New York and regional credits include productions at Australia’s Sydney Festival, HERE (NYC), Ahmanson Theatre, Alley Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, New Repertory Theatre, and OSF Ashland.  Film credits include the independent features Black August and Almost Famous.

Mary Pitchford
(Cynthia and others / Musical Director) Born in Hereford England, Mary graduated from The Royal Academy of Music in London where she majored in violin and piano. While in England she worked as musical director, composer, and performer for various shows including the award-winning production of Lorca’s When Five Years Pass at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Shortly after, she scored Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf for a national tour of the UK. In 1992, she emigrated to the US, where she immersed herself in California’s eclectic music scene by playing in various folk, swing, rock, blues, and country bands (Her most recent recording The Crafty Foxes features mandolinist David Grisman and percussionist Joe Craven). Her most recent theatre work was NYTC’s I Love You Your Perfect, Now Change at the Marine’s Memorial. Last year she spent traveling and playing in New Zealand and France, returning to the States in the summer for a few weeks to perform with Cal Symphony and The Mark Morris Dance Company. She is currently living in Marin where she is teaching violin and piano and working on her upcoming debut CD of original music.

Summer Serafin
(Baba) Credits include Found Objects (Marin Theatre Company); Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (SF Shakespeare Festival); 365 Days/365 Plays (Cutting Ball); Peaches in Regalia (Three Wise Monkeys); Romeo & Juliet and Measure for Measure (Harlequin Productions); Macbeth (THT Players); The Tamer Tamed (Northern Stage); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Central Park, NYC); Henry VI, Parts 1 and 2, Hay Fever  (Pacific Repertory Theatre); and the one-woman show All Employees Must Wash Their Hands at Luca’s Taproom in Oakland.  She performed in the New York Premiere of Tennessee Williams’ Spring Storm.  Summer received her three-year Acting Diploma from The Oxford School of Drama, UK.

Cat Thompson*
(Sister Mary and others) most recently appeared as Lady Percy and Doll Tearsheet in Henry IV, Parts I & II at Marin Shakespeare Company. Other credits include King Lear, Alice in Wonderland (Marin Shakespeare); Reckless (SF Playhouse); Holes (Orpheum Theatre); The Fugitive Kind, Misalliance (Center Repertory Theatre); Visions of Kerouac (Marin Theatre Company); Beirut (Pacific Repertory Theatre); As You Like It, Macbeth, The Tempest (California Shakespeare Festival); The Merchant of Venice, Taming of the Shrew (Carmel Shakespeare Festival); Comedy of Errors (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival); Dreamstealers, Midnight Brainwash Revival (FoolsFury); Coppola’s workshop production, Othello (Bannam Place Theatre); Macbeth, Tartuffe (Sonoma Shakespeare Festival).  Cat is a company member of PlayGround.  For Rose and all the Murphys.  www.catthompson.com.

Michael Louis Wells*
(Hickey and others) Credits include Tilted House directed by Mabou Mines Founder Lee Breuer (NYC); three seasons recurring as Legal Aid attorney, Matthew Clemens, in NBC’s Law & Order; indie films Shut Yer Mouth! and The Search for One-Eyed Jimmy. Off-Broadway: Paul Weitz’s All For One (with Calista Flockhart, Liev Schreiber);  Joined At The Head (Manhattan Theatre Club); 10 plays over four seasons at Washington DC’s Studio Theatre, including the US premiere John Byrne’s The Slab Boys Trilogy (Helen Hayes nominee).  Also a writer, Michael’s Seven Pages Unsigned received a workshop as part of New Voices West 2007 at the Magic.  His plays have been published, produced, and workshopped in London, NYC, San Francisco, Boston, LA, Washington, DC. Winner: London New Play Festival. Member of EST, DGA, ASCAP. Thanks, Chris! For Curt.

Allison Jean White*
(Kate) was last seen at the Magic Theatre as Windsong in the world premiere of Rebecca Gilman’s The Crowd You’re in With. She played Ellie Dunn in Berkeley Rep’s production of Heartbreak House and was a junior company member at ACT, where she appeared in Travesties, The Circle, The Imaginary Invalid, The Real Thing, and A Christmas Carol. Other credits include Chez Moi; A Clown Cabaret with Infinite Stage at The Players Theatre in New York, Red Light Winter at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, and Killing My Lobster’s Goooal!!! here at the Magic. Allison is a graduate of Brown University and the ACT MFA Program.

Jean Butler
(Associate Director / Choreographer) has been dancing for over 30 years. Trained in Irish step dancing under renowned teacher Donny Golden, Jean has toured as a soloist with Mick Moloney, Cherish the Ladies, Donal Lunny, Solas, Kila, and the Chieftains.  Best known for choreographing and originating the principle role in Riverdance, Jean toured with the show enjoying phenomenal global success for three years before leaving to produce her own show Dancing on Dangerous Ground which had exclusive engagements at Drury Lane (London) and Radio City Music Hall (NYC).  Anna Kisselgoff of The New York Times described this show as “a successful attempt at channeling Irish step dancing into genuine artistic expression.” In 2005, she completed her Masters in Contemporary Dance Performance from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, where she was also Artist in Residence (2003-2005).  Her current solo work has been commissioned and supported by the Irish Arts Council (2005-2007), The Dublin International Dance Festival (2006-2007), The Project Arts Center (Dublin), Daghdha Dance Company (Limerick), and Plankton Productions (Japan). In 2007, Jean choreographed her first full-length solo show entitled does she take sugar, which ran at Project Arts Center, Dublin. The show was recently awarded “most innovative production” in the critics’ survey in the renown Ballet-Tanz Magazine Yearbook 2007.  Jean teaches Irish Dance Master Classes internationally and has been a guest lecturer at NYU, Notre Dame University, and Trinity College, Dublin.  As a freelance dancer, choreographer, and actress, Jean continues to work internationally in television, film, and theatre, and is committed to exploring Irish step dance in its post-modern era.

Cassandra Carpenter+
(Costume Designer) has designed in the Bay Area for over 10 years.  Her credits include ACT, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Word for Word, Thick Description, Center Repertory Company, and San Jose Repertory Theatre.  In addition to design, Cassandra has been on the costume staff at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Old Globe Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and has served as the Director of Costumes for San Jose Repertory Theatre and California Shakespeare Festival.  Other design projects include Smuin Ballet, ODC, Chanticleer, and Nightletter Theatre.  Cassandra owns and operates her own independent costume studio in San Francisco, CMC & design, building costumes for numerous theatrical and commercial clients including ACT, Smuin Ballet,  Baz Lurman’s La Bohème, and Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.

Sara Huddleston 
(Sound Designer / Production Director) Semi-recently relocated from Los Angeles, where she had been designing sound and scenery for over seven years, Sara joined the Magic staff in March as their Production Director and Resident Sound Designer.  Design credits include: The Boomerang Kid (Powerhouse Theatre); Preludes and Fugues (Son of Semele Ensemble); In On It (Encore Theatre Company); American Standard (Firefly Productions); How I Learned to Drive (Vox Humana); Expedition 6, The Crowd You’re in With (Magic Theatre); and, most recently, The Shaker Chair (Encore Theatre and Shotgun Players).

Angela Nostrand*
(Stage Manager) is thrilled to return to the Magic. Recent credits include: The Crowd You’re in With, Expedition 6, The Long Christmas Ride Home, and The God of Hell (Magic Theatre); Bosoms and Neglect, Private Jokes, Public Places, and The Price (Aurora); Restoration Comedy (Standford Summer Theatre); Charlie Cox Runs with Scissors and The Pavilion (Marin Theatre Company); Family Alchemy and Rose (Traveling Jewish Theatre); The Wonderful Story of Zaal, The Killing Blanket, and The Master Maid (Word for Word’s School and Library Tour); Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse, The Laramie Project, The Last Train to Nibroc, The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and others (The B Street Theatre); and The People’s Temple (Berkeley Rep).

Kurt Landisman+
(Light Designer) is please to return to Magic Theatre where he designed lighting for The Crowd You’re In With, The Joan Rivers Theatre Project, The God of Hell, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, and Edna O’Brien’s Triptych, which received the Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Award for best lighting. He designed lighting for numerous new works at the Magic in the 80s and 90s, most notably the world premiers of Sam Shepard's True West and Fool for Love. His lighting designs have been seen at most Bay Area theatres and have received numerous Bay Area Critics’ Circle and Drama-Logue Awards. Nationally, his designs have been seen in practically every state in the Union, as well as Off-Broadway in New York. Internationally, his designs have been seen in Tokyo, Singapore, and Shanghai.

Annie Smart+
(Scenic Designer) is from London where she designed sets and costumes for companies including The Royal Court (Fen, A Mouthful of Birds, Not Quite Jerusalem and others) and The National Theatre (The Father, Say It with Flowers, Black Snow, The Mountain Giants, The Skriker). Bay Area designs include Threepenny Opera, A Doll’s House, Night and Day (ACT); Othello, The Tempest, Man and Superman (Cal Shakes); The Right Kind of People (Magic Theatre); A Long Day’s Journey Into Night (San Jose Rep); Brooklyn Boy, Theophilus North (TheatreWorks); Big Love, Suddenly Last Summer, Fètes de la Nuit, Honour, To The Lighthouse, Taking Over (Berkeley Rep); and KQED’s The Josh Kornbluth Show.  She works nationwide and teaches design at UC San Diego and Berkeley.

Áine Uí Cheallaigh
(Musical Advisor) was born and raised in Belfast, Ireland. She has lived in the Irish speaking area of An Rinn, Co. Waterford since 1982. It is there that she came under the main musical influence in her life, the sean nós singer Nioclás Tóibín.  She has won the coveted Corn Uí Riada, the gold medal for sean nós singing, on two occasions and has performed her repertoire of traditional songs, in Irish and English, all over the world, from Mexico and the US, to Oman in the Middle East. She continues to be in demand for workshops and festivals at home and abroad. Áine was the first soloist with Riverdance in 1995.  Her interest in many genre of song lead her to study for an MA in Medieval Chant Performance in 2002. She has performed several times with members of the renowed medieval group Discantus.  She made her Broadway debut in 2007 as Evleen in The Pirate Queen. She was the consultant on traditional song in that work also.  Áine has recorded tracks on many albums. Her solo recording “Idir Dhá Chomhairle” was reissued on the Gael Linn label in 2007. She is currently working on a new CD.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association. AEA, founded in 1913, represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org.

+Member of United Scenic Artists local 829. United Scenic Artists represents the designers and scenic painters for the American Theatre.