Warren C. Bowles* (YOUSSOUF SADIO) is making his debut at Illusion Theater. He has experience as an actor, director, fight choreographer, and playwright at Mixed Blood Theatre, The Guthrie Theater, Six Points Theater, Ten Thousand Things Theater, History Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, American Players' Theater, Park Square Theatre, and others across the country. His degrees come from the Universities of Minnesota and Notre Dame with studies at l’Université Catholique de l’Ouest (Angers, France). He received a 2005 McKnight Fellowship for Theater Artists, a 2016 Ivey recognition for directing, and in 2013 he was named a “Local Legend” at the annual MLK breakfast.

*member Actors’ Equity Association

STAN EGI* (MOON-SO) is thrilled to be back in Minneapolis since performing at the Guthrie Theatre in Naga Mandala directed by Garland Wright.  He recently performed at the Goodman Theatre in Nightwatch directed by Chay Yew, in King of the Yees by Lauren Yee at Baltimore’s Center Stage and Seattle’s ACT Theatre. On Broadway he appeared in the Tony Award winning Anything Goes for 2 years.  Off Broadway: Public Theatre in Golden Child by David Henry Hwang, Manhattan Theatre Club directed by Oskar Eustis, Playwrights Horizons in Yankee Dawg You Die by Philip Kan Gotanda.  Regional Theatres: leading roles at American Conservatory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Sundance Theatre Lab, New Jersey Repertory, South Coast Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, Huntington Theatre, Yale Repertory.  Film: Rising Sun with Sean Connery, Paradise Road with Glenn Close, Come See the Paradise, Gung Ho, Boys on the Side.  TV: Hawaii Five-O, CSI, Medium, Numb3rs, J.A.G.  Stan lives in Los Angeles with his wife, actress, and choreographer Annie Yee.

*member Actors’ Equity Association

Richard Ooms* (BAJRAN) began his career in repertory at the Playhouse in the Park in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1970. He appeared Off-Broadway in Anna K in 1971.  In 1972 he became a founding member of John Houseman’s The Acting Company where for eight years he performed in over 35 plays, appearing in cities throughout the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Australia. Richard was a member of the acting company at the Guthrie Theater from 1981 to 2013.  He has appeared in roles ranging from King Lear to Argon in The Imaginary Invalid. Richard has also appeared at The Childrens’ Theater Company, The Mixed Blood Theater, with Ten Thousand Things and Park Square.  Other regional credits include American Conservatory theater in San Francisco, IRT in Indianapolis, The St. Louis Rep and Missouri Rep in Kansas City. Richad can be seen in the films Drop Dead Gorgeous and The Thirteenth Warrior.

*member Actors’ Equity Association

Joelle Coutu* (Stage Manager) is excited to back with Illusion Theater.  Joelle has been a stage manager in the Twin Cities for over 20 years for various large and small companies.  She has worked for such places as the History Theater, Guthrie Theater, Skylark Opera, Theater Latte Da, Lyric Opera of the North, Gilbert & Sullivan Very Light Opera Company, Park Square Theater, Triple Espresso, among others. 

*member Actors’ Equity Association

Amber Brown (Costume Design) works as a designer and technician across the twin cities. Her designs include Illusion Theater: Five Minutes of Heaven; Pillsbury House Theatre: Charlie Brown Black, Great Divide II: Plays on the Politics of Truth, Almost Equal To, The Great Divide: Plays for a Broken Nation; Park Square Theatre: Aubergine; History Theatre: Stewardess; Loudmouth Collective: Testament of Mary; Mixed Blood Theatre: Interstate, Autonomy, Corazón Eterno, Agnes Under the Bigtop; 7th House Theater: Rhinoceros; Macalester College: 12 Ophelia's, Accidental Death of an Anarchist.

Garvin Jellison (Lighting Design) is a freelance lighting designer, stage manager, and production manager. Graduating from The Theatre School at DePaul University, he started his career in Chicago, working with Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and many local dance and theater companies. Garvin spent time on the road with William Shatner, Anthony Bourdain, Bill Nye, and other celebrity personalities on touring productions while working for a national arts presenter in Chicago. Other touring work included Wild Kratts Live!, where he was Production Manager for 5 years. Closer to home, he has worked extensively in the Twin Cities dance community as a lighting designer and stage manager. He is currently Production Manager for Trinity Irish Dancer Company and Head Electrician at The Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts. Really circling back to his roots, Garvin got his start in the industry as an intern at Illusion Theater back in 2007. 

C ANDREW MAYER (Sound Design) has been blessed to work extensively in the Twin Cities including at the Jungle, History Theater, Guthrie Theater, Minnesota Opera, Mixed Blood, Theatre Latte Da, Pillsbury House, Six Points, Great River Shakespeare Festival, and numerous others; and nationally at Everyman Theater (Baltimore), ACT (San Francisco), Philadelphia Opera, Opera Colorado (Denver), Arkansas Rep (Little Rock), and others.  Previously at Illusion, he designed A Play by Barb and Carl, For The Loyal, Finding Fish, and Miranda. He was a 2008-2009 McKnight Artist Fellowship and won an Audelco Award for his design for Carlyle Brown’s Pure Confidence at 59E59 in NYC. In summer he serves as the Producing Director of the Acadia Repertory Theatre on Mount Desert Island, Maine. 

Joseph Stanley (Scenic Design) is a scenic designer based in the Twin Cities.  His design work has been featured by many theatre, music, and dance companies including Full Circle, Stages Theater, Mixed Blood, Frank Theater, Theater Mu, Pillsbury House Theatre, Park Square Theater, History Theater, Children’s Theatre Company, Jungle Theater, Carlyle Brown & Co., Theatre Latte Da, the Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Carleton College, Macalester College, Stuart Pimsler Dance Theater, Zorongo Flamenco, James Sewell Ballet, and others.  Joe received an Ivey Award for scenic design in 2010.  He was a founding Artistic Director of 15 HEAD—a theatre lab.

Pearce Bunting* (Ensemble) moved to Minneapolis in 2010. He’s worked with The Illusion, Open Eye Figure Theatre, Ten Thousand Things, Theatre Latte Da,, Theatre Novi Most, Park Square, CTC, and The History Theatre. Internationally, Pearce has performed in Oslo with the Jo Strømgren Kompani, at Vienna’s English Theatre, in the Czech Republic and at the Edinburgh Fringe. He’s appeared in Mama Mia (Broadway/National Tour) and played Bill McCoy on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. He also cohosts the podcast Growing Up Naked with his kid, Milo. Pearce has been a longtime collaborator at PWC and is delighted to be back for Red Dragon!

*member Actors’ Equity Association

Dominique Jones (Ensemble) is a multi-versed performance artist and mentor who has participated in many reputable performances through theater, poetry, videography and dance.They have been grateful to compose original music for Stepping Stone Theatre in St. Paul, be a part of The Ordway’s inaugural Green Room Fellowship and perform on many different stages to date.Through his involvement in the community as a teacher, mentor, and artist, he was honored to be named one of the first U.S. Bank Future Leaders in 2018.

Domino D’Lorion (Ensemble) (They/Them) is an actor, writer, educator, and a drag queen in the Twin Cities. Originally from Chicago, Domino is an alum of The Chicago Academy for the Arts, Northwestern’s NHSI Theater/Musical Theater program, and holds their BFA degree from the UMN/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program, with a B.A. in Business Management. Domino has appeared in Boudica in the Dowling Studio at the Guthrie Theater, their award-winning original show STOOPIDITY at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Hit the Wall at the Southern Theater with Mixed Precipitation, After The Fires at the Illusion Theater with Transatlantic Love Affair & several play readings and developments with The Playwrights Center. Outside of theater, they currently work as a DEI Consultant for QueerSpace Collective and as a tour guide at Paisley Park Studios.

Ninchai Nok-Chiclana (Ensemble) is a performer, teacher, and cultural bearer of the Afro-Puerto Rican art of Bomba. She has worked with multiple Twin Cities theatres, including History Theater, Artistry Theatre, the Guthrie, and more. In other aspects of performing, she has had the opportunity to be a teacher of the organizations Boriken Cultural Center & El Arco Iris Center for the Arts.  Ninchai Nok-Chiclana web site

Carolyn Pool* (Ensemble) has performed with nearly every theatre in the Twin Cities, as well as theatres across the country. She is the co-creator (with Shanan Custer) of 2 Sugars, Room for Cream (winner of a 2013 Ivey Award) and Sometimes There’s Wine both of which most recently ran in the Andy Boss Stage at Park Square Theatre. Other work at Park Square includes August; Osage County (Ivy) and Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Jean). At Illusion Theater, Carolyn appeared the world premiere of James Still’s Miranda (Miranda), Three Viewings (Mac), Bill W. and Dr. Bob (Lois Wilson), and Mercy of a Storm (Zan) in a co-production between Illusion Theatre and Florida Stage. Carolyn is a recipient of a 2008 Ivey Award (outstanding ensemble for Orson’s Shadow in which she played Vivien Leigh) and in 2011 won “Best Actress” at the SoCal Film Festival for her work in the short film Rotations of the Earth.

*member Actors’ Equity Association

Wariboko Semenitari* (Ensemble) is a theater artist based in the twin cities whom is Nigerian, trans and proud. They are dedicated to the exploration of black bodies on stage and in theatrical spaces. Currently you can catch them in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at artistry through October 29.

*member Actors’ Equity Association

Filsan Said (Stage Manager) (she/her) is a 2023-2024 Playwrights Center Artistic & Administrative Apprentice who graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities with concentrations in Theater Arts, Geography, African American, and African Studies. She lent her voice to the Penguin Random House audiobook “When the Stars are Scattered.” She has performed in productions with the Southern Theater, Pangea World Theater, New Arab American Theater, and the Guthrie Theatre. Filsan is part of Soomaal House of Art, a Minnesota-based collective of Somali artists that fosters artistic community, mentorship, and provides opportunities for students, emerging, and established artists.

Carla Solari is an actress, teacher and writer. She started her studies at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Buenos Aires graduating with the title of National Actress. Later she obtained a bachelor's degree in acting at the National University of Arts. She continued her acting studies with prestigious teachers like Ricardo Bartís, Miguel Guerberof and Rubén Szuchmacher; and internationally with teachers such as Yolanda Vázquez (Coach of the Shakespeare’s Globe in London) and Eduardo Vasco (director of the National Classical Theater Company in Spain). She was awarded the prestigious Florencio Sanchez prize for "Female Revelation 2014" for her leading role in the play Fedra by Yannis Ritsos with the direction of Ana Fouroulis.

Amber Patton has been acting since the age of five when she got to play Rosa Parks in a school assembly. Since then, she has been able to immerse herself in the craft and gone on to study at places like Academy of Art University where she received an A.A. in Acting, and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York where she completed the conservatory program. She’s gone on to do voice acting in commercials for Fidelity and Jenny Craig as well as on camera commercials for Humana. Most recently, she’s returned to stage as the understudy for Stacy in the play “5” directed by H. Adam Harris and written by JuCoby Johnson.

www.amber-patton.com

Asher de Forest (Stage Manager) is a Minneapolis-based early career playwright and a 2023-2024 Playwrights' Center apprentice. He holds a BA in English (Creative Writing) and Theater and Dance from Macalester College. In 2021, he received the Ruth Easton Leadership Award from Macalester's Theater and Dance Department. He became a Global Playwright Series semi-finalist in 2022. Asher's work has been fully produced at Macalester (directing honors) and performed in developmental readings by Applause Community Theatre and One Egg No Batter Productions, among others. His plays may be found on New Play Exchange.

Willie Jones III (Stage Directions) graduated from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theatre BFA Actor Training Program. He has also received training from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He has performed on stages such as The Globe and Morsani Hall. As a playwright, his plays have received workshops and readings at the likes of The Lorraine Hansberry Theater and Millsap College, as well as prison and regional competitions. He is the former interim Co-Director of Theatre at CFCArts and is the former Artistic Director of Stage Door Theatre. He was also the Executive Producer of the “Blackness Is…” Theatre Arts Festival in collaboration with The Guthrie, and a co-founder of the MN Black Theatre Circle. Additionally, he was the co-founder of the Quarantine Bakeoff Playwriting Competition. He is currently the Artistic Director of the Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project and is the Founding Co-Actor/Manager of the Jones Classical Theatre.