THE JOHN BLADE CAST...
Craig Lawrence as "John Blade, Super Spy"
Craig Lawrence has been preparing his whole life to play John Blade, Super-Spy. Never before, and never again, will there ever be a more perfect role for him. Craig is a product of years of stage and fight training, and recently earned his Teaching Certification from the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD). Craig has graced the stage in productions of Don Giovanni (Washington National Opera), Tis Pity She's A Whore (Centerstage, Baltimore), Macbeth (Baltimore Shakespeare Festival), and Shadowboxer (Maryland Opera Workshop, College Park). As a teacher and choreographer, Craig has worked in productions, schools and theater programs all over the DC area, including a recent turn with the webseries "The Broken Continent". When not working with fights and beautiful people, he spends his time working with a camera and beautiful people through his photography company, FightGuy Photography. www.fightguyphotography.weebly.com
Mallory Shear as "Mimi"
Mallory Shear is thrilled to be getting physical onstage with Live Action Theatre. She received her undergraduate degree from Bucknell University and is a recent graduate of Catholic University with a Master of Arts in Theatre Education. She is also a licensed firefighter, equestrian, and enjoyed 8 months on a national tour with Missoula Children’s Theatre. Mallory first started stage combat training as an apprentice with The Shakespeare Theatre in NJ many years ago and is excited to be getting back in the action with her new DC fight family. Mallory has performed, taught, stage managed and directed with theaters all over the DC area including The Folger Shakespeare Library, Round House Theatre, Adventure Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company, InterAct Story Theatre, Imagination Stage, First Draft/Charter Theatre, WSC Avant Bard, and many more. She currently serves as Director of Education and Outreach for No Rules Theatre Company and works as a principal tutor with Fairchild Educational Services, specializing in arts integration.
Jenny Male AS "jENNY"
Jenny Male (SAFD Certified Teacher) is Associate Professor of Theatre and Coordinator of Musical Theatre at Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. She teaches stage combat, voice & movement for the actor, musical theatre, and Shakespeare performance. She has choreographed fights and dances for several local theaters including Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, Rep Stage, Maryland Ensemble Theatre, Everyman Theatre, and Iron Crow Theatre Company, as well as for the outdoor drama Tecumseh! in Ohio. Jenny is often busy directing fun-filled musicals for the Red Branch Theatre Company such as Into the Woods, Avenue Q, [title of show], The Secret Garden, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Urinetown. She is also the Resident Fight Director for RBTC and Rep Stage. In 2002, Jenny earned her MFA in Theatre Pedagogy with an emphasis in Movement & Fight Direction from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2009, she was awarded Best Performance (Female) and Best Scene at the Advanced Actor Combatant Workshop in North Carolina.
Carl Brandt Long as "Doctor Professor Tantamount"
Carl Brandt Long is excited to be a part of Live Action Theatre's debut production. No stranger to fighting at the Capital Fringe Festival, Carl acted in and choreographed the fights for Raising Cane, last year's brutal slugfest from Grain of Sand Theatre, and he appeared in Macbeth at the 2010 Fringe Festival. He has also performed with companies including Constellation Theatre Company, WSC Avant Bard, and Madcap Players. An actor combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors since 2008, Carl has choreographed fights for productions all over the DC area, and recently won a WATCH award for his fight work in Deathtrap with McLean Community Players. He is a proud founder and the resident fight director of Grain of Sand Theatre, for which he is directing Tell-Tale, soon playing at the Bedroom at Fort Fringe.
Robb Hunter as "Baltus"
Robb Hunter has directed violence for many area theatre companies including The Shakespeare Theatre (The Winter’s Tale, The Alchemist, et al), Arena Stage (Ruined, Stick Fly, Noises Off, et al), The Studio Theatre (Invisible Man, Superior Donuts, American Buffalo, Legends!, Reasons to be Pretty, and The Walworth Farce for which he received a Helen Hayes nomination for outstanding choreography). Other credits include work with The Washington National Opera, Olney Theatre Center, Ford’s Theatre, Centerstage, Rep Stage, and The Baltimore Shakespeare Festival, among others. Mr. Hunter is a Fight Director, Society of American Fight Directors Certified Fight Director and Certified Teacher, member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, AEA, and SAG-AFTRA. He is currently Artist in Residence at American University where he teaches acting, stage combat, movement and various other courses. In addition, he has taught stage combat for the MFA program at CUA since 2005 and this year he joined the faculty for the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Training Program at Washington National Opera. When not teaching or directing violence, he is busy supplying theaters all across the country with weapons (safe ones, of course!) as the CEO of the theatrical weapons company, Preferred Arms, Inc. Robb is incredibly excited to take to the stage again and to sling steel (lead?) with such a fantastic group of folks! www.preferredarms.com
Christian Sullivan as "Jeff"
Christian Sullivan does lots of things in the DC area.
He fights.
He acts.
He builds things.
He fights.
He acts.
He builds things.
Lex Davis as "Troy"
Lex Davis recently performed in Canterbury (The Miller) and The Sleeping Beauty: A Puppet Ballet (Sleeping Beauty) with Pointless Theater, American Voices (John Wayne) with Infinite Stage, and Reflections with Wandering Souls. He was director and fight director for Imagination Meltdown Adventure with Pointless Theater (Winner: Capital Fringe Festival Director's Award). Fight Direction credits include: American Century Theatre, American Ensemble Theatre, Impressionable Players, Flying V and Theatre J. Lex is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park and is a founding company member of Pointless Theater.
Sara Hodges as a "Ninja"
Sara Hodges makes her way to the stage via a circuitous route involving stage combat, fencing, dance training, over a decade of martial arts (including a blackbelt in Gojuryu karate), and lots and lots of Advil. Past credits include stunt performance in DC's own webseries "The Broken Continent", "The Hunted" (another fabulous webseries), and fight choreography for the stage (Metamorphoses, Macbeth, The Rover). A fighter at heart, she couldn't be more happy to be making her DC theatre debut alongside her fight family in John Blade.
Megan Reichelt as a "Ninja"
Megan Reichelt is thrilled to return to the fighting world after a five year hiatus! Previous roles include Aurora and Opal in The Pirate Laureate of Port Town with Flying V, Juliet in Living Dead in Denmark, Lucille in The Gallerist, and ensemble in Skin of Our Teeth with Rorschach Theatre, Naomi in A Cre@tion Story for Naomi and When the Stars Go Out with Bright Alchemy Theatre, Emily in The Resurrectionist King with Active Cultures, and Feste in Twelfth Night with Wandering Souls. She is a company member of Flying V. Thanks to her Koala Bear and Mole for helping her realize her dream of being a ninja.
David Van Tassell AS "Francis/Ninja"
Even though he has always been thrown onto stage as a kid, David Van Tassell attended Walter Johnson High School where he started exploring his interests in both acting and filmmaking. Once he started his higher education at McDaniel College, he left the stage to pursue both his B.F.A. in cinema and the study of Hapkido, Muay Thai, and the Wu Tang Tiger Style Method made famous by Master RZA. Upon exiting with his degree as McDaniel's first cinema graduate, David saw the need on both stage and film sets for people who are willing to fight on top of cars, get lit on fire, and run with scissors at Usain Bolt speeds while juggling Kodiak Bears. This is why this summer David Van Tassell returns as "Francis" in the blockbuster event of the summer, The Continuing Adventures of John Blade, Super Spy. David would like to extend shout outs to his mom, teammates from Rockstar Film Company, colleagues from the DC Stunt Coalition, and his friends. You lot know who you are; don't make a thing about it...