Midsommer Flight, a company that has been presenting high quality, accessible productions of Shakespeare’s plays in Chicago’s parks since 2012, today announced a series of three virtual panel discussions addressing some of the theatre industry’s most challenging topics, to be held on three successive Tuesdays in February 2021. This series continues the company’s efforts to provide professional development for stage directors, following its DIRECTORS FLIGHT workshop program that was inaugurated in winter, 2020, but truncated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new program, called DIRECTOR DIALOGUES, will bring together six working Chicago directors for live discussions over the Zoom platform. Panelists and moderators will include Beth Wolf, Monty Cole, Stephanie Mattos, Maureen Yasko, Chris Smith, Lavina Jadhwani, Madeline Sayet, and LaKecia Harris. Each session will provide time for open discussion with the attendees. Participation is open to all. Advance registration is required and will be open in January. Registration is free but donations are gratefully accepted.
The DIRECTOR DIALOGUES schedule of speakers and topics is as follows:
Tuesday, February 2nd, 7PM CST - Beth Wolf and Monty Cole – “The Art of Adaptation,” moderated by Stephanie Mattos
Tuesday, February 9th, 7PM CST - Stephanie Mattos and Maureen Yasko – “Getting Close: Fight and Intimacy post-COVID,” moderated by Chris Smith
Tuesday, February 16th, 7PM CST - Lavina Jadhwani and Madeline Sayet – “Why Shakespeare?”, moderated by LaKecia Harris
Top Row L-R: Monty Cole, LaKecia Harris, Lavina Jadhwani, Stephanie Mattos
Lower Row L-R: Madeline Sayet, Chris Smith, Beth Wolf, Maureen Yasko
DIRECTOR DIALOGUES is Midsommer Flight’s second program initiated to enhance professional development opportunities and provide communal support for stage directors. In 2019, Midsommer Flight launched DIRECTORS FLIGHT, a fellowship opportunity for early career classical directors to gather together, attend workshops and work as a cohort to stage a full show. The program was in progress when its inaugural production, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, had to be postponed due to COVID-19.
Wolf says “Midsommer Flight still hopes to honor the work of our first directing cohort by potentially bringing MUCH ADO back later in 2021, but given the current state of the pandemic, it’s not possible to invite a new cohort of directors for a full second term of DIRECTORS FLIGHT fellowships right now. We’re excited, though, to be able to use this time to launch DIRECTOR DIALOGUES, which may become an ongoing element of our professional development programs.”
PANELIST/MODERATOR BIOS
Beth Wolf
Beth Wolf is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of Midsommer Flight, where she has directed nine Shakespeare plays in Chicago parks since the company's founding in 2012, including critically acclaimed productions of THE TEMPEST, TWELFTH NIGHT, and HAMLET, among others. Other recent credits include THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS at Artemisia, THE ROOMMATE at Citadel Theatre (Equity Jeff Recommended), and NON-PLAYER CHARACTER at Red Theater (2020 Non-Equity Jeff nomination for Projection Design). Other Chicago credits include LIAR!, which won first place in the City Lit Art of Adaptation Festival; ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, BLACK MAGIC: AN EVENING OF SHAKESPEARE, BURY THE DEAD, and THE FANTASTICKS (Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where she was formerly the Artistic Director and co-founder); and various staged readings and assistant directing credits with Remy Bumppo, Idle Muse, City Lit Theater, and more. Beth is a proud Northwestern University graduate with a double major in Theatre and Gender Studies. She lives in Chicago with her husband and their two young children.
Monty Cole
Monty Cole is an award-winning theatre and film writer-director from Oak Park, IL. He has directed for Steppenwolf, Center Theatre Group, The Goodman Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Victory Gardens Theater, the Center for New Performance, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Alley Theatre, and others. His plays include AMERICAN TEENAGER (a commission from the Goodman Theatre) and BLACK LIKE ME, an adaptation of the 1961 novel currently in development with The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. He recently finished his residency as one of four writers in the Goodman Theatre's Playwrights Unit. He is currently an Artist in Residence at the Center for New Performance. Monty has a BA in Theatre Studies from Emerson College and an MFA Directing degree from the California Institute of the Arts. He is represented by William Morris Endeavor. www.monty-cole.com
Stephanie Mattos
Stephanie Mattos is a Chicago-based actor, director, and combatant from a multitude of places. As a director, she believes that Black lives contain multitudes, and is driven to show all facets of the Black experience, in all its highs and lows. She has directed for Otherworld Theatre Company, assistant directed for Babes with Blades Theatre Company, and was part of the inaugural class of Midsommer Flight's DIRECTORS FLIGHT fellowship program. More information can be found at stephaniemattos.com.
Maureen Yasko
Maureen Yasko (she/her) an actor, musician, teaching artist, and movement director specializing in fights and intimacy. Resident Intimacy Director and Associate Fight Director of Midsommer Flight, she has appeared onstage in MACBETH (Lady) & TWELFTH NIGHT (Fabian, Malvolio); and directed Fights and/or Intimacy in AS YOU LIKE IT, HAMLET, THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, THE TEMPEST, and TWELFTH NIGHT. A Jeff Nominated Fight Director, she is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors who has also trained with Stage Combat Deutschland, with Intimacy Directors International, and with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. Maureen holds a BA in Theatre, Music Minor from AASU in Savannah, GA; is a certified Yoga Instructor; and is also an ensemble member of Babes with Blades Theatre Company, A Crew of Patches Theatre Company, and The Conspirators.
Chris Smith
Chris Smith is an actor and fight choreographer who was born and raised in Chicago. Chris majored in Acting with a focus in Stage Combat at Illinois State University. He is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and a company member and Resident Fight Director with Midsommer Flight Theatre Company. Chris had the pleasure to be involved with last year's inaugural Director's Flight and is thrilled to be involved with the DIRECTOR DIALOGUES.
Lavina Jadhwani
Lavina Jadhwani is a theatre director, adaptor, and activist. Recent directing credits include AS YOU LIKE IT at the Guthrie Theatre, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ROE, and THE CAKE at Asolo Repertory Theatre. Directing fellowships include the Phil Killian Directing Fellowship at OSF, the Drama League's Classical Directing Fellowship at Shakespeare & Company, and the National Directors Fellowship (O'Neill/NNPN/SDC/Kennedy Center). Lavina lives in Chicago, where she was recently named "One of the Top Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago" by NEWCITY; in 2013 she was TIMEOUT CHICAGO's "Best Next Generation Stage Director." BFA/MA, Carnegie Mellon University; MFA, The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Madeline Sayet
Madeline Sayet is a citizen of the Mohegan Tribe and the Executive Director of the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP). For her work as a director, writer, and performer she has been honored as a Forbes 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment, TED Fellow, MIT Media Lab Director’s Fellow, National Directing Fellow, Drama League Director-In-Residence, NCAIED Native American 40 Under 40, and a recipient of The White House Champion of Change Award from President Obama. She is known throughout the field for her work promoting indigenous voices and decolonizing systems. Her solo performance piece WHERE WE BELONG premiered at Shakespeare's Globe and will have its US Premiere in DC as part of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company's coming season. Recent directing work includes: A TLINGIT CHRISTMAS CAROL (Perseverance Theatre), STAGED AT HOME: A VIRTUAL BENEFIT CONCERT (Long Wharf Theatre), MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (South Dakota Shakespeare), HENRY IV (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), WHALE SONG (Perseverance Theatre), SHE KILLS MONSTERS (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), AS YOU LIKE IT (Delaware Shakespeare), THE WINTER’S TALE (Amerinda/HERE Arts), POPPEA (Krannert Center, Illinois), THE MAGIC FLUTE (Glimmerglass), MACBETH (NYC Parks), MISS LEAD (59e59). www.madelinesayet.com
LaKecia Harris
LaKecia Harris is a Chicago native who attended Ball State University. When she left Muncie, she returned to Chicago to start her career as an actor. She has been fortunate to work with A Red Orchid Theatre (FULFILLMENT CENTER), Babes with Blades (WOMEN OF 4G), and of course Midsommer Flight (TWELFTH NIGHT, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA). LaKecia became a company member with Midsommer Flight in 2018.
ABOUT MIDSOMMER FLIGHT. Midsommer Flight is a theatre company dedicated to presenting high quality, accessible productions of Shakespeare’s plays in Chicago communities. After the company’s well-received inaugural production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM in 2012, the Chicago City Council honored Midsommer Flight with a resolution praising “the Midsommer Flight theater troupe on their dedication to bringing the arts to underserved communities.” The company incorporated as a not-for-profit in the state of Illinois in early 2013 and has since produced ROMEO AND JULIET (2013), MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (2014), MACBETH (2015), TWELFTH NIGHT (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) AS YOU LIKE IT (2016), HAMLET (2017), TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA (2018) and THE TEMPEST (2019). The company was nominated in 2019 for the third time for the League of Chicago Theatres “Emerging Theatre Award.”
Midsommer Flight is committed to presenting financially accessible theatre. Summer productions are 100% free to the public (donations gratefully accepted) and winter programming is Pay-What-You-Can. Since its inception, Midsommer Flight has reached 11,500 audience members to unwavering critical acclaim. For more information visit www.midsommerflight.com.