Director and Cast Bios
Mariangela Saavedra (Director)
Productions directed at The Stagecrafters include: On Golden Pond, and a staged reading of Talk Radio; other activities at The Stagecrafters comprise stage management of The Fantasticks and Clever Dick. She has also directed a number of plays at Allens Lane Theater, including: The Insanity of Mary Girard (as part of the 2019 Philly Fringe); The Bible (Abridged); I Hate Hamlet; An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein; and a full stage performance of Talk Radio; in addition to several productions presented at Allens Lane Art Center by her performing arts company, Casabuena Cultural Productions.
Training and career in theater arts: Numerous behind-the-stage positions, including working at Ticket Philadelphia (Ticketing and other services); and currently serving as Director of Center on the Hill, located at The Presbyterian Church in Chestnut Hill.
Toto Dobbs (Assistant Director / Stage Manager)
Working at our theater for the first time. Performance experience includes: Woman Laughing Alone With the Salad (Intimacy Consultant) at Theatre 502 in Louisville (KY); Intimacy and Fight Director at the Q Collective in St. Louis (MO); Assistant Director for Almost Maine, and Associate Director and Stage Manager for How to Start a Wildfire (original play written and performed by survivors of sexual violence), both at The University of Louisville, earning there an M.F.A. in Theatre Arts (concentration in performance); and currently working as actor, writer, and marketing manager for The Dracula Inquiry (a queer horror podcast created by The Artsonists).
Blake Edward Alvey (Unknown Caller)
Blake is performing at The Stagecrafters for the first time. Credits at other theaters include: Tape (Jon) with Serious Dog’s Productions; Salamander (Male) and Fifth Vital Sign (Tony) with Elephant Room Productions. Blake is also a member of the Elephant Ears Reading Series, where he directs recorded readings and discussions of new plays with playwrights and other theater artists.
Gina Williams (Drive)
Performance experience at The Stagecrafters: White Guy on the Bus (Molly) ~ our final play before closing owing to the pandemic. Other performance credits: The ‘movement piece’, Tocka (Ensemble) at Free Fringe Philadelphia (2019); Collaborative presentation with Philadelphia Young Playwrights.
Training and schooling: B.A. in Theater from Temple University with concentration in Acting; Additional coursework in Directing, Musical Theater, and Dance. Gina is currently working on a new Web series, Agency, in the role of the spit-fire character Marissa.
Steve Conner (Gaucho)
First appearance at The Stagecrafters. Credits at other area theaters include: Awake and Sing (Schlosser) at Quintessence Theatre Group; 74 Seconds to Judgement (Doug) and V to X (Jenkins) at Arden Theatre; Dealer’s Choice (Stephen) and Angels in America (Part One and Part Two) (Roy Cohn) at Players Club of Swarthmore; several online productions via Zoom during the pandemic.
Thanks to his wife, Steve has gotten into audio book narration, currently with more than a dozen works, and counting.
Harrison Rothbaum (Artificial Leg)
Previously appeared at The Stagecrafters in Lobby Hero (Jeff). Acting credits elsewhere include: Therapy, Negotiations, and Guile (Gene) at A Saturday’s Child (Camden, NJ); California Suite (Stu Franklyn) at Narberth Community Theatre; The Breakfast Club (Andrew Clark) and Poe’s Horrors: Fall of the House of Usher (Traveler / Narrator), both at Dickinson Community Players (Binghamton, NY). Theatrical positions include Assistant Director for The Vagina Monologues, also at Dickinson Community Players; and 24-Hour Theatre (Acting Team member) in Binghamton Night Live at Hinman Production Company.
Education: Graduate of Binghamton University.
Neena Boyle (Ditto)
Prior performance credits at The Stagecrafters: Shakespeare in Hollywood (Olivia Darnell); Clybourne Park (Betsy / Lindsay); Clever Dick (Lady Calvarley). Prized credits in area productions include: King Lear (Swing – u/s > performed) at Bristol Riverside Theatre; Dracula: A Gothic Mystery (Mina Murray); Richard III (Queen Elizabeth); and The Philadelphia Story (Tracy Lord) at Allens Lane Theatre; and, most recently, When Shakespeare’s Ladies Meet at Laurel Hill Cemetery. Neena holds a B.F.A. degree in Acting (with a Musical Theatre Minor) from the University of the Arts.
Neena expresses endless gratitude to Mariangela for bringing her back to live theater after the pandemic, but her favorite new role is as Mrs. McHattie, dedicating this show to her new husband Billy.
Breffny Rouse (The Actupuncturist)
We welcome Breffny to our theater for the first time. Acting credits at several theaters in Bucks and Montgomery Counties include among favorite productions: Other Desert Cities (Aunt Silda) at Town and Country Players; God of Carnage (Veronica) at Playcrafters of Skippack; The Gingerbread Lady (Evy) at Dutch Country Players; and Working, The Musical (Housewife) at Montgomery Theater.
Breffny is a full time Realtor, married, and the mother of four.
Larry Arrigale (The Clerical Line)
Prior appearances at The Stagecrafters: The Cherry Orchard (Lopakhin); Enter Laughing (Marlowe); and The Woman in Black (The Actor). Other stage credits include I Hate Hamlet (Barrymore) and Six Degrees of Separation (Flan) at Allens Lane Theater (also Assistant Director / Props Master (The Norman Conquests) and member on their Board of Directors). Additional performance credits: Trouble in Mind (Al Manners) and The Exonerated (Gary) at The Drama Group. Larry holds an M.A. in Theatre from Villanova University.
Ben Lyle Lotka (I Was Right About Everything)
Recent stage credits include: Much Ado About Nothing (Don John) at Maukingbird Theatre Company and Richard III (Sir William Catesby) at Tomlinson Theater (Temple University). Feature film experience: Stray (Michael White), directed by Nena Eskridge at Stray Productions. Theater study: Holds a B.A. degree from Temple University, where he studied Acting under Dan Kern and Cheryl Williams.
Ben says he is privileged to return to the stage in his hometown and to make his Stagecrafters debut in a new work by John Patrick Shanley. He would like to thank Mariangela Saavedra for her vision and confidence. He gives his love to his mother, Irene.
Shelli Pentimall Bookler (Lockdown)
Shelli is stepping onto the stage at our theater for the first time. Her many stage credits include: Macbeth (Lady Macbeth) at Footlighters Theater (Berwyn); Best of Enemies (Mary Ellis) and WTC View (Josie), both at Allens Lane Theater; and Intimate Apparel (Mrs. Van Buren) at Players Club of Swarthmore.
Education and theatrical pursuits: Shelli earned an M.A. in Theater Arts from Eastern Michigan University (Ypsilanti, MI), and an M.F.A. in Playwriting from Temple University; also has acquired experience as director, playwright, and choreographer, as well as dramaturg, at numerous theatrical venues.
Jim Broyles (The Choreographer's Hand)
Featured in a number of appearances at The Stagecrafters over the past dozen-plus years, most recently: Spinning into Butter (Ross Collins); Come Back Little Sheba (Milkman); On Golden Pond (Bill Ray); Shakespeare in Hollywood (Oberon); Trouble in Mind (Al Manners); and Of Mice and Men (Slim). Additional credits at Allens Lane Theater include: The Insanity of Mary Girard (Stephen Girard): An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein (Ensemble); Talk Radio (Barry Champlain); The Ultimate Christmas Show (Abridged).
Jim says he is pleased to be back at The Stagecrafters (and back on a live stage!), and is extremely grateful to our theater, and director Mariangela, for this opportunity.
