Artistic Team: Performers
Marisela Barrera is a slasher: theater director/actor/arts administrator - and a native of San Juan, a Borderplex town with their own Virgen. Barrera headed the Theater Arts Program at the Guadalupe where she directed Beautiful Senoritas, Posada Magica, Psst...I Have Something To Tell You, Mi Amor –and founded TeatroFEST, a citywide theater arts festival ("Best of Stage 2005" by the SA Express News). Marisela also wrote and directed the world premieres of Milagritos ("Best of Stage 2002" by SA Express News), Confessions of a Southside Karaoke Singer, and Ay, Pedro! with the Guadalupe. Barrera honed her theater skills in Dallas where she received a BFA in Acting from Southern Methodist University, and worked as Artistic Director with Cara Mia Theatre and Education Manager with Dallas Theater Center. Barrera performed with Guillermo-Gomez Pena in Jump-Start's Epcot: El Ala-MALL (2004) and in Latino Genius: Local Locos (2007). Recent projects include two directing stints with San Pedro Playhouse: Anna in the Tropics and Electricidad, three years as Juanita in “Las Nuevas Tamaleras,” plus numerous backyard teatro performances. Barrera’s interest in exploring the Latino experience in the US through theatre is realized through contemporary mediums for storytelling and traditional forms of teatro Chicano. She has a four-year old daughter, Valentina Inez, and four dogs: Lupe-Pupe, Guera-Perra, Chuco-Pachuco, and Letta-Petta. Barrera currently programs cultural events with Main Plaza Conservancy and is learning how to play button accordion.
David Connelly most recently acted the title role in King Lear, performing with his students at the North East School of the Arts (NESA), where he created and has taught the acting component of the Musical Theater program for the past nine years. He performed on Broadway and at the Festival of Perth, Australia, in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Tony-nominated production of "The Song of Jacob Zulu." Regional credits include performances with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the Goodman Theatre, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Utah Shakespearean Festival, and the San Antonio Public Theatre. David adapted, directed and composed music for Shrapnel in the Heart: Letters and Remembrances from the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial, produced by Chicago's Famous Door Theatre Company. Shrapnel in the Heart received a Joseph Jefferson Citation, several After Dark awards, and was named as one of the Best Productions of 1993 by both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.
Valerie Cortinas has appeared in two AtticRep's productions, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and Mr. Marmalade. Most recently, Valerie appeared in several of Trinity University’s main stage productions, such as The Laramie Project, Romeo and Juliet, Triumph of Love, and Much Ado About Nothing.
Rick Fredrick is a recent transplant from Chicago where he enjoyed a ten year run as a company member of the critically acclaimed European Repertory Company. He has been seen in roles such there as; Woyzeck in Woyzeck, Ariel in The Tempest, Dr Lvov in Ivanov, Sammy Werlitzer in Happy End, Dr Astrov in Uncle Vanya, the Beggar in Jean Giraudoux’s Electra, was Nick in inugural AtticRep production of One for the Road and Carter in Fat Pig. Rick is proud to make San Antonio home and thrilled to work with AtticRep.
Renee Garvens made her debut performance at the AtticRep in Fat Pig and will appear in The Back of the Throat. She has been been seen on local stages since moving to San Antonio in 2001. Renee is in her sixth season as a member of the Vexler Children's Theatre Troupe. Some of her favorite past roles include Alice in Alice in Wonderland, Sarah in Beau Jest, Huck Finn in Tom Sawyer, and Charlotte in Charlotte's Web. She has also appeared in numerous local and national television commercials and independent films.
Gloria Sanchez is a San Antonio native and holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of the Incarnate Word. Her favorite roles include Costanza in Enchanted April and Victoria Santos in Santos y Santos both of which she was recognized with ATAC Globe Awards. Other productions include Othello, Macbeth, Private Eyes, and Electricidad. She also performs stand-up comedy and has been a cast member with The Murder Mystery Players of San Antonio for 10 years.
Joel Setles is a San Antonio based actor and Theatre Arts instructor. He is the founder of the sketch comedy troupe Comedia A Go-Go and co-founder of the arts organization La Colectiva. He has performed and produced original works at The Gualdaupe Cultural Arts Center, Jump-Start Theater, The State Theater, Teatro Campesino and SomArts Cultural Center among others. Joel is dedicated to community development through the teaching, presentation, and creation of Theatre and Media Arts.
Andy Thornton grew up in San Antonio. After getting his BFA in Drama from North Carolina School of the Arts, Andy spent a year in Russia studying the language and traveling. He was a founding member of The Knights of Indulgence Theatre United States (KITUS), an all-original grassroots theatre company, which had its homes in Delaware and Northern California. Since moving back to San Antonio in 2003, Andy has been active as an actor, director, and teacher. With AtticRep, he was in the Ensemble of the Forum Theatre Project: Borders and Walls, played Lee in True West, and Francis in Lincolnesque. Before that, he played Junius Booth in Trinity’s production of Booth, directed by Stacey Connelly. With the Classic Theatre Company, Andy played Tom in The Glass Menagerie and Howie in Rabbit Hole. Other favorite roles include Michal in The Pillowman and Len in Book of Days. He directed Scott McDowell’s The Good Samaritan at the Overtime Theatre last summer, and looks forward to directing the Classic’s Uncle Vanya this summer. For his teaching, he was honored with the Yellow Rose of Texas Education Award, and last fall, Andy was the Stieren Guest Artist for the Speech and Drama Department at Trinity University.
Directors, Designers & Stage Management
Stacey Connelly (Director and Dramaturg) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Drama at Trinity University. She received her B.F.A. from the University of Oklahoma and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Theatre from Indiana University. Her teaching areas include acting, dramatic literature, text analysis, and theatre history. Among her directing credits are The Cashier, Buried Child and Our Town at Loyola University Chicago; Molly Sweeney with the San Antonio Public Theatre; King Lear at North East School of the Arts; and a number of productions at Trinity, among them The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Top Girls, Tango, Spring Awakening, Candida, Present Laughter, Dracula and Hay Fever. Her scholarship on modern drama has appeared in leading national journals. Specializing in German theatre between the two world wars, she served as a Research Fellow for the German Academic Exchange Service in Berlin. Her other research interests include political theatre, especially the work of Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator.
Tim Hedgepeth (Director) is a San Antonio-based theater director, actor and instructor. Recent productions include A Christmas Carol (University of the Incarnate Word), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Trinity University), Mr. Marmalade and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (AtticRep), The Actor’s Nightmare & Sister Mary…(Church Theatre and Bistro) and a series of musical revues for the McNay Art Museum and San Antonio Library Foundation. On local stages he has appeared in Talking Heads, Guys & Dolls, The Underpants Gregg Barrios’ Rancho Pancho at the Church Theatre and the Tennessee Williams Festival in New Orleans. Prior to returning to San Antonio, Tim was the Executive Director of the Mississippi Arts Commission in Jackson where he also founded Renaissance Theater Workshop. His productions there included Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Suddenly Last Summer and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? He has served a grants panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and several state arts councils. Upcoming projects include directing Edward Albee’s The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? for AtticRep, where he is proud to be a founding member.
Roberto Prestigiacomo (Director and Producing Artistic Director) Directing credits in professional and academic theatres (representative): King Lear, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, The Triumph of Love, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Marisol, How I Learned to Drive, One for the Road, Fat Pig, Back of the Throat, and original works like pastiche, Sabbia and Guernika. His creative work includes the development of community-based theatre through improvisation and storytelling techniques, and the creation of original physical theatre pieces. At Trinity University, Roberto teaches directing, acting, physical theatre, community-based theatre, and contemporary performance. He is a member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers (SSDC), American Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE), and is a native of Rome, Italy.
Yinelly Arnold (Production Stage Manager - Actor) Some of her past credits include Pain of the Macho, Baby with the Bathwater, Twelfth Night, Charlotte’s Web, Just a Kiss, and Stage Manager for Las Nuevas Tamaleras.
Jodi Karjala (Costume Designer) is the Costume Designer and Costumer for the Department of Speech and Drama at Trinity University. This is her second production with AtticRep, having designed the costumes for One for the Road. Outside of Trinity, Jodi designed costumes for Sister Mary Ignatius and Actor's Nightmare at the Church Theater, and Enchanted April at the San Pedro Playhouse Cellar Theater. She has received ATAC Globe awards for her costume designs for Into the Woods, School for Scandal, Triumph of Love and Anything Goes. Jodi holds an MFA in Stage Design from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
Martha Penaranda (Scenic and Costume Designer) studied textile design in her native Colombia. She studied scene and costume design at the Academy of Fine arts in Florence, Italy, and has a dual master’s degree in scene and costume design from Carnegie Mellon University. Martha has designed sets and costumes for the AtticRep production of The Last Day of Judas Iscariot, and scenery for Fat Pig. Other favorite projects included; The Water Children, directed by the playwright, Wendy MacLeod, and Conference of the Birds, with costumes designed by Paul Tazewell. Until 2003, she was Assistant Professor of Drama at Kenyon College. Creation of her work is made possible in part by an Award from the Artist Foundation of San Antonio, and the Robert L. B. Tobin Foundation for the Performing Arts.
Siggi Ragnar (Photographer) is a native of Iceland and his work as a photographer has been influenced by the harsh conditions, beautiful landscape, and distinctive light of the Northern Atlantic. As a photographer, his mission is to capture and tell the stories of today’s world. Siggy lives in San Antonio with his wife and two children. For more of Siggi's work click on sRagnar.
Chris Sauter (Scenic Designer) earned a BA in 1993 from the University of the Incarnate Word and an MFA from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 1996. He exhibits nationally and internationally with solo exhibitions at John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, Cueto Project, NY,NY, Finesilver, Houston, TX, Elizabeth Dee, NY,NY, Galerie Valerie Cueto, Paris, France and Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles, CA. Group exhibitions include EVA in Limerick, Ireland, Domicile: Public.Prive at the Musee d’Art Moderne Saint-Etienne, France, Wall to Wall Drawing at The Drawing Center, NY, Drawing Outside the Lines at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ, Out of the Ordinary at the Contemporary Art Museum, Houston and Come Forward: Emerging Art in Texas at the Dallas Museum of Art. In 1999, he participated in the Artpace international artist residency. Chris Sauter lives and works in San Antonio.
Tickets, Reservations & Directions