Theater 127: A View of The Enemy
Synopsis:
Martine and Amy are actresses about to open in a Broadway play. Martine is assured. Amy, who lives in a shelter, is fragile. They are friends. The enemy of the title is Paul, a theatre critic with a razor-sharp pen dipped in acid. Are the actresses prepared to face their foe?
Writer
Dana Coen
Dana Coen is the playwright. He received an M.F.A. from UCLA. He is the Director of the Writing for Screen and Stage program at University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill. His previous plays include Bunches of Betty, Sympathy, Tinkle Time, Internal Bleeding, and Property. He has also written extensively for television series, including NCIS, Bones, JAG, Carol and Company, General Hospital, and Silk Stalkings. Coen is also a producer, director and actor.
Dana Coen
Director
Dennis Gersten
Dennis is co-artistic director of Theatre Unlimited in the Noho Arts District in L.A. He is a founding member of the Michael Chekhov Studio in L.A., and Stagewrights, Inc. in NYC, as well as a teaching artist with Inside Out Community Arts/P.S.Arts. He has directed and performed in many original and classic works, garnering multiple awards.
Dennis Gersten
Cast:
Matt Ritchey (Paul Villiers)
Matt Ritchey holds a BFA in Acting from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, a Certificate in Shakespeare from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and is a graduate and former Associate Producer at Director’s Lab West. His original play Blackboxing (writer/performer) won six awards at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival including "Best Cabaret/Variety" Fringe Award and "Standout Song Award." His play Romeo and Juliet In Hell (writer/director) was nominated for four awards (including "Best Director") at the 2019 LA Valley Theater Awards; and Angel’s Flight (writer/director) won “Best Cabaret/Variety” at the 2016 Hollywood Fringe Festival and a “Best Director” nomination by Rogue Shakespeare Company. His mystery stage play Nevermore had its third production in Halloween of 2016, and his film Poker Night (director) won "Best Comedy Short" at the Culver City Film Festival and was nominated for Connect Film Festival's "Apollo Award" for "a compelling exploration of masculinity" in filmmaking.
He’s the creator of Storycrafting (storycrafting.biz), a coaching and coverage service for writers. His clients have won “Best Original Screenplay” at Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and played at the New York Theater Festival.
You can spot him on TV calling for a “Loan Falcon” during commercial breaks.
Matt Ritchey
Leah Jarvik (Amy)
Leah is a Los Angeles-based actress and a recent Seattle transplant. Recent theatre credits include Cybernella (Culver City Public Theater), The Fifth Wave and Blood Water Paint (Macha Theatre Works), I Did The Holidays My Way (Tales of The Alchemysts Theater), The Winter’s Tale and Head Above Water… (Powerhouse Theater). During the pandemic she has performed online with V.S. Theatre Company, AFI Conservatory, Station House, and the Secrets of Chekhov (LA); GreenStage, The Seattle Film Summit, Zelda Oasis Productions and Macha Theatre Works (Seattle); and Clamour Theatre Company (Florida). Leah completed a double major in Theatre and English at Haverford College, and is the current Literary Associate at Macha Theatre Works. Come visit at leahjarvik.com or on Instagram @leahjarvik.
Leah Jarvik
Whitton Frank (Martine)
Whitton Frank is a voice, film, television and theater actor living in Los Angeles. Recent work includes the award winning horror short Seeing Green as well as immersive vo work in the VR world of The Under Presents and The Tempest and as Kate in season 1 of RomCom Pods. Her theater credits include Florence Boorman in Her Naked Skin/Greenwood Theater, Andrea in Cat’s Eye/Pleasance Theater, King Arthur and Mordred in Clarissant/Little Candle Productions, Grumio in Taming of the Shrew/The Porters of Hellsgate and Flaming Girl in What the Moon Saw/Son of Semele Ensemble. She can also be seen as Jenna Laffy in season 3 of the TNT show Murder in the First. She is a popular audiobook narrator and can be found on Audible and other sites. And in her copious free time she moonlights as a DJ and specializes in vintage jazz, blues, and soul.
Whitton Frank
Peter Bonoff (Ricky)
Peter Bonoff is an actor and musician from Portland, Oregon. He received his B.F.A. in Acting from the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). He made his onscreen debut in the feature film adaptation of William Faulkner's classic novel The Sound and the Fury, directed by James Franco. Recently, he starred in the pilot episode of the upcoming series Influence, written and directed by Max Del Rio and Matt Reesing. He was last seen onstage playing Claudio in Measure for Measure at the New American Theatre. He is currently based in Los Angeles.
Peter Bonoff
Sound Production:
Oak House Recording Studio in Pasadena, CA with Sound Engineer David Peters.
