Ideation – Cast and Creative Team

The Cast

Ben Euphrat* (Scooter) is an actor, director, musician, and producer based in San Francisco and marks Ideation as his SF Playhouse debut. Recent credits include Good People at Marin Theatre Company, Learns a Lesson with Killing My Lobster, Status Update at Center REP, and direction for Assistance with OpenTab Productions, where he is co-founder/Artistic Director. Ben has studied improv with the Groundlings and IO West, trained to be a corporeal mime, and has worked extensively in film and commercial. Follow him at beneuphrat.com

Jason Kapoor (Sandeep) is stoked to reprise this role for San Francisco Playhouse. His recent productions of Antony and Cleopatra (Antony) and The Changeling (Deflores) were among his productions at The London Academy of Dramatic Art, where he trained this past year. Before his MA degree at LAMDA, Mr. Kapoor attended San Jose State University appearing in Proof (Robert) and Emma (Mr. Knightley) receiving awards for excellence in acting. Other credits include Of Mice and Men (Lennie) for San Jose Repertory’s Theatre On Tour, Twelfth Night (Orsino) at SJSU, Much Ado About Nothing (Claudio) and The Merchant of Venice (Morocco) with Shady Shakespeare Company.

Carrie Paff* (Hannah) is thrilled to reprise her role with this kick-ass team. Other credits include The Big Meal, Bill W. & Dr. Bob and A Picasso at San Jose Rep; Every Five Minutes and The Other Place at Magic Theatre; This Is How It Goes and A Delicate Balance at Aurora; After the War at A.C.T.; A Streetcar Named Desire, Tiny Alice and It’s a Wonderful Life at Marin Theatre Company; Double Indemnity at A.C.T. in Seattle and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde at Arizona Theatre Company. Internationally, she appeared in Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and in London. Film work includes Quitters, Love & Taxes and This is Hamlet. She holds a master’s degree in educational theater from New York University and is the cofounder of StageWrite, Building Literacy through Theatre. Carrie was recently named one of the Ten Bay Area Actors We Love by the San Jose Mercury News. www.carriepaff.com

Mark Anderson Phillips* (Brock) is super happy to be back at SF Playhouse, where he was last seen in the Sandbox production of Ideation. Credits- Regional/Interntional: As YouLike It, The Merry Wives of Windsor (Santa Cruz Shakespeare), The Big Meal, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus, The Weir, Long Day’s Journey Into Night (SJ Rep), Hir, True West (Magic Theatre), Abe Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party (SF Playhouse), Good People, Waiting for Godot, Tiny Alice (Marin Theatre Company), Clybourne Park (Rep of St. Louis), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Arizona Theatre Company), Double Indemnity (ACT Seattle), Salomania, Miss Julie, Salome, Small Tragedy (Aurora Theatre), Time Stands Still, The 39 Steps, Opus, Theophilus North, The Grapes of Wrath (TheatreWorks), Joan Rivers, a Work in Progress (Edinburgh Fringe). Film: Joan Rivers, a Piece of Work. TV/Web: Nash Bridges, This is Macbeth, This is Hamlet, Flummox and Friends. Directing: Sleuth, The 39 Steps (Center Rep.) www.markandersonphillips.com

Michael Ray Wisely* (Ted) is elated to be back with this group of artists for the remount of Ideation. Recent roles include The Letters at the Aurora Theatre Co. and (as) Macbeth for the SF Shakespeare festival. Well known to bay area theatre audiences, other credits include: TheatreWorks (Of Mice and Men), Center REPertory Co. (Arms and the Man, A Christmas Carol), Marin Theatre Co. (Seagull). Aurora Theatre Co. (Trouble in Mind,The Birthday Party), San Jose Stage Co. (Glengarry Glen Ross), Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Heartbreak House), as well as many appearances with Magic Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Marin Shakespeare Co., Shotgun Players, Alter Theater and others. Michael Ray has starred and guest-starred in film and television. In addition to his work as an actor, he directs film/video and shares the helm of a bay area independent production company. www.3andahalfegos.com

The Creative Team

Aaron Loeb (Playwright)’s work has been performed in around the country. His full-length plays include Brown, First Person Shooter, Blastosphere (with Geetha Reddy) and Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party, which had its Off-Broadway premiere in 2010. In addition to the Glickman Award for Ideation, other honors Loeb has received are: two Bay Area Theater Critic Circle Awards for Best New Play (First Person Shooter in 2007, Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party in 2008–both of which had their world premieres at the San Francisco Playhouse), Outstanding Play from the New York International Fringe Festival (Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party 2009), GLAAD Media Award Nominee (Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party 2009), and seven “Emerging Playwright Awards” from PlayGround. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Inc. and a Playwrights Foundation resident playwright.

Josh Costello (Director) is a Bay Area stage director and the Literary Manager and Artistic Associate at Aurora Theatre Company, where he directed Wittenberg. Other recent projects include his adaptation of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother for Custom Made Theatre Company, Reborning by Zayd Dohrn and the Sandbox production of Ideation by Aaron Loeb for SF Playhouse, and Toil & Trouble by Lauren Gunderson for Impact Theatre, all world premieres. Other directing work includes My Children! My Africa! and the Bay Area premiere of Lovers & Executioners for Marin Theatre Company, House of Lucky at Magic Theatre, Romeo and Juliet: The Fire Ballet at The Crucible in Oakland, Hamlet at Shakespeare-by-the-Sea in LA, and his adaptation of The Rover for The Chance Theater in Orange County and for a live television broadcast on LA and Orange County’s PBS affiliate. Josh was the founding Artistic Director of Impact Theatre, the Artistic Director of Expanded Programs at Marin Theatre Company, the Education Director at Marin Shakespeare Company, and a faculty member at Cal Shakes, ACT, SF Shakes, UC Riverside, Cal State Long Beach, South Coast Rep, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood. Josh holds a BFA in Theatre from Boston University, and an MFA in Directing from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Greg Ayers* (Understudy – Ted/Brock/Sandeep) is ecstatic to be back from New York and back at San Francisco Playhouse where he last appeared in Our Town. He has also appeared at the Aurora (Small Tragedy), PCPA Theaterfest (The Lion in Winter), Playhouse West (Taking Sides) and the Orpheum Theatre (Holes). You can see him in the mockumentary Unflinching Triumph; The Philip Rockhammer Story. Greg has written several plays, the most recent being Rated M for Mature which premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival and was included in the Best Of Fringe Encore Series. A HUGE THANK YOU to Lauren, Bill and Susi for welcoming me back to San Francisco with open arms.

Tiiu Eva Rebane* (Understudy – Hannah) is also the Box Office Manager here at the Playhouse, and is elated to join as an understudy. Favorite onstage credits include Hairspray (Nat’l Tour), Smokey Joe’s Cafe (CenterRep), Are We There Yet, (NY premiere, 12 characters) Guys and Dolls (Adelaide,) and a one-woman show with Oceania Cruises. Member SFBALC and AEA Women’s subcommittee, working towards gender parity and inclusion in the arts.

Abra Berman (Costume Designer) has been designing costumes for over twenty five years. Collaborations includes SF Playhouse, West Bay Opera, Marin Shakespeare Company, Company C Contemporary Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Berkeley Playhouse, Berkeley Opera, Brava Theatre, Pocket Opera, Lamplighters Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Alameda Civic Light Opera, Palo Alto Players, The De Young Museum, The Museum of Performance and Design, Hillbarn Theatre, Arclight Theatre, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Ballet Califia, Cinnabar Theatre, and Sonoma County Repertory Theatre, among others. Abra has an MFA from UCLA in theatrical costume design.

Zaque Eyn (Sound Designer) is a producer, sound engineer, technical director, and event manager of over 13 years, his accomplishments and projects range from; Neverland (M.J.), Henson Recording Studios, Pomplamoose, Lauren Mayhew, George Lucas, to Anita Baker, OK GO and author of the book Mastering the Music Business. Looking to expand on his unique boutique style, in new and exciting ways, he views the world of plays as the new medium with no limits on his creativity.

Jacquelyn Scott (Props Artisan) works as production designer and propsmaster for theaters and film companies throughout the Bay Area. Previous credits include Into The Woods, Bauer, Jerusalem, Abigail’s Party, A Behanding in Spokane, Reborning (San Francisco Playhouse), Bad Jews, Buried Child, The Happy Ones, Annapurna, The Lily’s Revenge, The Brothers Size, Oedipus El Rey, Goldfish, Octopus (Magic Theatre), Assassins, God’s Plot (Shotgun Players), Companion Piece (Z Space), American Hwangap (The Play Company, New York) and all around art department for Lucky Dragon Productions, Terri Timely, Park Pictures and Heist.