The Folks at Home

Tracy has appeared at the IRT in Shakespeare’s Will and A Doll’s House Part 2. She is a member of the Core Acting Company at American Players Theatre, where her roles have included Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, Jacques in As You Like It, Lady M in Macbeth, Olivia in Twelfth Night, Judith Bliss in Hay Fever, Beatrice in Much Ado about Nothing, Malaprop in The Rivals, and Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. Other regional credits include the Goodman Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. “Love to M & G.”

Olivia made her IRT debut in Oedipus. She has worked regionally with Steppenwolf Theatre, the Louisville Orchestra, Portland Center Stage, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, New Stages Theatre, Atlanta Shakespeare Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Madison Repertory Theatre, Theatre Lila, Forward Theatre, Horizon Theatre, Robey Theatre, and Barter Theatre, to name a few. Film/TV: Honk for Jesus, Dopesick, Chicago Med, Empire, Wolfpack (recurring), and Cobra Kai, among others. Olivia was part of the inaugural cohort of the 2020 Arts and Social Justice Fellowship at Emory University and a Spring 2021 Fellow with the Hambidge Center. oliviaddawson.com

Keith is honored and thrilled to be making his IRT debut in The Folks at Home. Some of his favorite theatre credits include As Much as I Can tour (Harley&Co.), Marie Antoinette and the Magical Negroes (Story Theatre), The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Steppenwolf), The Last Pair of Earlies (Raven), The Meeting (Fleetwood-Jourdain), and Untitled: A One-Man Show (Inis-Nua). Keith is a proud graduate at the Theatre School at DePaul and is represented by Gray Talent. “Seek God first!”  @klou_theartist

Claire was last seen at the IRT as Mrs. Peacock in Clue. This past holiday season, Claire was the director and head writer of (and acted in) A Very Phoenix Xmas Returns at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Center. Various other fave credits: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Phebe in As You Like It (Indianapolis Shakespeare Company); Storyteller in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Trekkie Monster/Lucy in Avenue Q (Phoenix Theatre). Directing: Love’s Labor’s Lost (IndyShakes), The Diary of Anne Frank (Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre). Claire is also a certified Intimacy Director with IDC Professionals. clairewilcher.com

Garrett is honored to be making his IRT debut with this delicious play. Other theatre credits include Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s (Goodman Theatre/Mark Taper Forum), Trayf (Geffen Playhouse—LA Drama Critics Nomination), My Father’s War (TheatreSquared), Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol (St. Louis Shakespeare Festival—St. Louis Theatre Circle nomination). TV credits include J.J. Abrams’ Duster & NBC’s Chicago Fire, New Amsterdam, Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice. Garrett is a founding member of the Santa Fe–based immersive collective the Exodus Ensemble. Training: the Theatre School at DePaul University & the British American Drama Academy. @garrettryoung

Playwright: Mrs. Harrison (produced by the IRT in 2021), Safe Space, Backing Track, Merland, The Ever Present, Human Resources, and Always the Bridesmaid. Author: Here for It, or How to Save Your Soul in America; a biography of Rep. Maxine Waters, Reclaiming Her Time, written with Helena Andrews Dyer. Television: AppleTV+’s Dickinson, FX’s Better Things. For four years he was a senior staff writer for Elle.com. He won the 2016 Barrymore Award for Best New Play (Time Is on Our Side) and the 2018 Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award. He has been published multiple times in the New York Times, TIME, Philadelphia Inquirer, and others.

At the IRT, Linda has designed You Can’t Take It with You, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The 39 Steps, and more. She has designed hundreds of stage productions at regional theatres across the country and abroad. Awards include the Merritt Award for Design and Collaboration, Jeff Awards for House and Black Snow at the Goodman and I Hate Hamlet at the Royal George, and a Helen Hayes Award for Dancing at Lughnasa at Arena Stage. Linda is a professor emerita of the Theatre School at DePaul University, where she was associate dean and head of the scene design program.

IRT: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin, The House That Jack Built, The Diary of Anne Frank. Recent projects: Mozart l'opéra rock (Seven Ages, Ltd, Beijing China), Mr. Parent (Boston Playwright Theatre, Geva Theatre Center). Active collaborator with Seattle Children’s Theatre; Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; Berkshire Theatre Group; Trinity Repertory Company; Merrimack Repertory Theatre; New Repertory Theatre; Contemporary American Theatre Festival; Children’s Theatre of Charlotte; Lyric Company of Boston; Theatre Square; Orlando Repertory Theatre; Orlando Shakespeare Theatre; Don Gong Theatre in Beijing, China; Expresso Theatre in San Jose, Costa Rica; ;Cayman Culture Foundation, Cayman Island. yao-chen.com, USA 829

IRT: The Reclamation of Madison Hemings, Clue. Regional: Writers Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Bristol Riverside Theatre, Florentine Opera Company, First Stage,  DePaul University, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Victory Gardens, TimeLine Theatre, Madison Children’s Theater, University of Illinois Chicago Theatre, University of Indiana Northwest, Remy Bumppo Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, The Hypocrites, Definition Theatre, First Floor Theater, About Face Theatre, MPAACT, and Pegasus Theatre. Jared was the lighting assistant for The Wiz Live on NBC, and associate designer for Lookingglass Theatre’s tour of Lookingglass Alice in Miami and Denver. Based in Chicago, Jared spends weekends as a professional DJ. goodingdesigns.com

Based in Portland, Oregon, Sharath works nationally and internationally focusing on experimental, commercial, academic, political, and socially conscious theatre. IRT: The Book Club Play. Recent designs: Cleveland Play House, Theatrical Outfit, Portland Center Stage, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Seattle Children’s Theatre, ACT, American Rep, Artists Rep, Seattle Rep, Yale Rep, Alabama Shakes. Additional work: New York City, San Francisco, L.A., India, France, England, Germany, Romania. Affiliations: USA829, Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, Arts Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, Resident Artist at Artists Rep. BFA: Ohio University. MFA: Yale School of Drama. sharathpatel.com

Derek is pleased to be collaborating with Indiana Rep for the first time. Composer credits include Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Cleveland Play House), Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Asolo Repertory Theatre), In Every Generation (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley), Toni Stone (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre/Alliance Theatre), Protocol (Portland Center Stage), The Chinese Lady (Artists Repertory Theatre). Derek holds an M.F.A. in sound design from Ohio University and a B.A. in music with an emphasis in sound recording technology from Elizabeth City State University.

Samantha is an intimacy director, fight director, actor, and teaching artist. She is based in Chicago and works internationally. Samantha is a Certified Intimacy Director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators. A Certified Teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors. A Jeff award nominated fight choreographer. An award winning actor. She has been a resident artist with Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Prague Shakespeare Company. Regionally, Samantha has worked with theatres such as Lyric Opera of Chicago, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cleveland Play House, and others. SamanthaJKaufman.com