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THE ARTISTS

DARA SILVERMAN (she/her)

Artistic Director, Producer, Writer

Dara Silverman is a writer and artist who recently moved from Oakland to Philadelphia. Her creative process involves colliding seemingly disparate elements to explode open a new creative space between them; and Agile Rascal is the most elaborate iteration of this process, colliding theater with bicycling. In addition to writing and producing with Agile Rascal, Dara's plays have been finalists for the Jewish Plays Project and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, and her work has been published by Smith and Kraus, Inc. She has trained with SITI Company, Pig Iron and Bread&Puppet and received residencies from the Santa Fe Art Institute, The Lookout Arts Quarry, and AIRIE in the Everglades. Dara holds an MFA from San Francisco State University in playwriting. When not working on Agile Rascal, Dara runs Heart and Bones Writing, a one stop word shop. Email Dara at: Dara@agilerascaltheatre.com

MIGUEL ALEJANDRO CASTILLO (he/him)

Director, Performer, Lighting

Miguel Alejandro Castillo is an interdisciplinary artist from Caracas, Venezuela. A choreographer, director, educator, and performer, he is drawn to the permeability of art forms and the new inquiries that arise from cross-disciplinary and multicultural collaborations. Castillo is currently a Fresh Tracks artist in residency at New York Live Arts and the movement director for Prisoner of The State, a new opera by David Lang commissioned by the New York Philharmonic. As a dancer, Miguel has performed in the works of Faye Driscoll, Jeanine Durning, Maria Hassabi, Tzveta Kassabova, Alex Springer & Xan Burley, Peter Schmitz, Laurel Jenkins, Delfos Danza Contemporánea, among others. In 2021 Castillo was a danceWEB scholar at the Impulstanz Festival in Vienna. Castillo is a proud United World College alumnus, holds a bachelor’s in dance and theatre from Middlebury College and an M.F.A in Choreography and Performance from Smith College.

SAM CORDES (he/him)

Producing Director, Performer

Sam Cordes was "born in a trunk" in Kansas City, Missouri and has been doing professional theatre since the age of five. Raised by actors, Cordes made quite the name for himself as an upcoming talent in the thriving theatre community of his hometown and has gone on to receive his B.F.A. in Theatre from Stephens College for Women in Columbia, MO and his M.F.A. in Theatre from The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Sam currently works as an adjunct Professor of Theatre at Hastings College in Nebraska. As an avid bicycle tourist, Cordes has never owned a car, enjoys daily commuting and has ridden his bike over 8,000 miles around the country. More info at: http://samcordes.net/. Email Sam at: Sam@agilerascaltheatre.com

JAREN FEELEY (he/him)

Composer, Peformer

Jaren Feeley is a musician-composer based in Berkeley, California. His work focuses on the intersection of music and community building. He has created original scores for over a dozen productions in the Bay Area including work with Ragged Wing Ensemble, Custom Made Theater, Cutting Ball Theatre, and A.C.T.'s Costume Shop. His scores have incorporated chamber music and spoken word, children's choirs and dystopian electronica. In addition to composing, Jaren regularly organizes themed concerts and artistic happenings. He is the founder and artistic director of Moonstruck, a popular concert series that brings audiences to remote locations in the Bay Area wilderness for site-specific performances. Learn more at jarenfeeley.com.

SELENA FELICIANO (she/her)

Performer

Selena is a member of community, and artist on occupied Chochenyo Ohlone  land (Oakland, CA). Her work  focuses on amplifying the messages of people and movements rooted in  climate justice. Selena has a passion for the critical redesign of 21st  century  collective ownership—that of regenerative land stewardship, cooperative  models of sustainable asset creation for underrepresented groups, and  energy resilience. When she's not on two wheels, Selena is surfing or  hiking among redwoods. More info at: www.selenafeliciano.com

KEAN HAUNT (he/him)

Performer

Kean Haunt is a Boston based actor, deviser, musician, and occasional stilt walker. He studied theater at Middlebury College, where he acted, designed sets and lights, and devised plays with his friends. Just days after graduating he joined up with the Rascals in Montana for his first ever theater tour, which was also his first ever bike tour. He rejoined the crew for the 2019 project in Bethlehem, PA. Outside of the Rascals, he has performed with Double Edge Theatre, the Potomac Theatre Project, and is a full time cast member of Blue Man Group Boston. He enjoys singing loudly while commuting on his bike.

LEXY HO-TAI (she/her)

Designer

Lexy Ho-Tai is an interdisciplinary visual artist who's interested in the intersection between art-making and making the world a better place. Her work often utilizes repurposed materials, colliding colors, textures and shapes to make creations that are at once both other-worldly and surreal, and comforting and organic. She is passionate about arts and accessibility, and has most recently been exploring public and participatory art, including performances, murals, and workshops. She has a BFA in Fashion Design from Parsons School for Design (2016), where she was nominated for Designer of the Year. She has been an artist-in-resident at the Watermill Center, the Flux Factory, and ARoS Museum, and a Van Lier Fellow at the MAD Museum. See her work at Lexymakesthings.com.

JOHN PAUL OLSEN (he/him)

Performer

John Paul Olsen has been involved in theatre since his high school years in Mesquite, Texas, where his talents ranged from acting, singing and dancing, to set building, and directing. John has been involved with Bay Area theatre, including Lucid Dream Lounge and the West Marin Players. and he performed as The Attendant in Agile Rascal's Sunlight on the Brink. He has much experience in maintaining and repairing bikes. He currently lives in Dallas County, Texas near his family and works for UPS.

ROSE SCHWIETZ (she/her)

Production Manager, Director

Rose Schwietz is a director/musician/performer/teacher born and raised in Minnesota. She has lived most of her adult life in Kathmandu, teaching theatre and English to Nepali high school students, and directing and performing with the Kathmandu-based One World Theatre. She trains regularly with SITI Company and worked as a tech intern with The Wooster Group. She is now based in the Twin Cities while continuing regular projects in Nepal and India. When not on her bike or in rehearsal, you can find her reading, writing, or playing cribbage. Her greatest love in theatre is the collaborative process of building, creating, and performing together.

FORMER RASCALS

SARAH BELL   Performer, Designer (MT)
ALEXIS CAMILLE   Performer (CCT)
REN DODGE   Technician, Photographer (CCT)
FENNER  Performer, Ensemble Director (CCT)
KENDRICK HAUNT  Performer, Costumes (FL, PA)
JENNY HIPSCHER  Performer (CCT, VT) Director (FL)

MICHAEL HULBURT  Performer (FL)
LELIA JOHNSON  Performer, Managing Director (CCT, MT)
JOEL KNOPF  Performer, Composer (FL)
JACKIE RIVERA 
Performer (MT, FL, PA) Associate Artistic Director (VT)
ASHLEY WHITING  Performer (FL)
NICK ZELLE   Intern Photographer (FL)

 

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