MADAME LA MORT & PLEASURE By Rachilde Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Directed by Melissa Attebery
RACHILDE (Playwright) wrote more than 20 plays which were produced throughout Europe, but her theatrical writing is largely unknown in comparison to her work as a novelist. At the height of her career, she hosted a salon that attracted the most prominent members of the French symbolist movement as well as international celebrities such as Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, H.G. Wells and Friedrich Nietzsche. She is credited with having coined the term "absurd" for the new style of non-realistic drama and played a major role in the formation of the symbolist theatre―a "theatre of the soul" which sought to transcend the physical stage. Rachilde was instrumental in creating the first art theatres in Europe, the Théâtre d’Art and the Théâtre de l’Oeuvre, and through her support, writers such as Collette and Alfred Jarry, achieved success. Born Marguerite Eymery in 1860, she took the pseudonym "Rachilde" at 17, after a note of encouragement from her idol Victor Hugo convinced her that she was destined to become a professional writer. Although she later married Alfred Vallette, editor of the literary journal Mercure de France, she never settled down to the life of a bourgeois housewife. Instead, her career as a playwright, novelist, literary critic, salon hostess, social commentator and Paris celebrity lasted well into the 20th century. Her last novel was published in 1942, and she died in 1953.
MELISSA ATTEBERY (Director) began in LA in television development and production at Paramount, Viacom and Granada Entertainment, before moving to the New York stage. Melissa has evaluated scripts for the Atlantic Theater Company, New York Theatre Workshop and FringeNYC; assistant-directed for Tina Howe at the 24 Hour Plays on Broadway; and directed Things Unsaid this Spring—three beautiful, new plays with original music, at The Players. BA, Dramatic Art and Film Studies, UC Santa Barbara; MFA, Directing, Actors Studio Drama School. Member, The Actors Studio Playwright/Director Workshop; Associate Member, SDC; Resident Director and Associate Artistic Director at Emerging Artists Theatre. www.melissaattebery.com.
Jes Bedwinek (Paul): NYC credits: Costard - Love’s Labour’s Lost (The New School for Drama), Cheri -In a Wicked Mood (Love Creek), Lizzie - Blood Red Roses (CityShow), Triumph of Love (Love Creek),Monster Party (TinyRhino Festival), Touch Mee (DiversityWorks), Rise of the Nothing Man (NYU Reading). Regional credits: Olivia - Twelfth Night (Oberlin Summer Theatre Festival), Margy - Chicago premiere of Mae West’s Sex (Prologue Theatre), The Foreigner (Metropolis Performing Arts), Spring Awakening (Promethean Theatre), Genre (Improv – Second City). Jes has also worked with the Moscow Art Theatre at A.R.T. (Cambridge). MFA candidate at The New School for Drama.
Ratnesh Dubey (Doctor Godin in Madame La Mort) is a rising actor in New York’s indie film scene. He performs Stand Up comedy in clubs and colleges in cities across Country. He has worked in numerous indie films, commercials, has had guest spots in network television shows and is currently working on television and web pilots. He is best known for his role of an immigrant son visiting his mom in his award winning Web Video film "A Ticket to Visit Mum” for British Airways. The film received over two million hits on YouTube. He has also been in numerous Off-Broadway. Ratnesh is originally from Mumbai, India and currently resides in NYC. You can view his work on vimeo.com/channels/ratneshdubey.
Meetu Chilana (Veiled Woman/Lady Death in Madame La Mort) is an Actress, Singer/Songwriter, and TV Host. She has been the lead vocalist and character in Cirque du Soleil's ZARKANA (which was in residency at Radio City Music Hall and the Kremlin Theater in Moscow) and also in the national tour of Cirque du Soleil's KOOZA. Meetu was selected as one of 14 actors nationwide to be endorsed by NBC in their 2013 Diversity Initiative. She is currently a host on AVS TV, an internationally syndicated Bollywood magazine show with 90 million viewers worldwide, and is also in the process of completing a new album of original music. For more information please visit her website: www.MeetuChilana.com.
Italian born Emanuela Galliussi (Lucie in Madame La Mort) started studying acting and dance at the very young age. Upon graduating from the prestigious Accademia Nazionale D'Arte Drammatica "Silvio D'Amico" she quickly began to work in Film, TV and Theatre with some of Italy's top directors. She lived in Paris where she collaborated with Juliette Binoche on the preparation for her role in "Certified Copy" by Kiarostami. With the support of acting coach Susan Batson, Emanuela moved her base to NYC and starred in numerous indie features. As a writer/producer her first feature length script "To Fall" is currently being casted by Billy Hopkins. www.emanuelagalliussi.com.
Zoe Anastassiou (Jacques Durand in Madame Le Mort) is half Greek half Australian but sounds British - it's complicated! She received her BA's in Theatre & Psychology from Middlebury College, VT and her MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama, NY. She's a founding member of At Play Productions and a member of the Old Vic New Voices, Loom Ensemble and The Cry Havoc Theatre Company. She has been fortunate enough to have performed in a wide array of Theatre, Film, TV and Voiceover work. Too much to list! More can be found at http://zoeanastassiou.weebly.com.