Meet the This Wrestling Place Team
Sarah Norris
Adaptor & Director
Sarah is the Founding Artistic Director of New Light Theater Project. Her directing work has been seen around the country (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Fresno, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Maine & Alaska) and around the world (Australia, England, & Ireland). Select NYC: Playwrights Horizons, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), LAByrinth Theater Company, Disney Theatrical Productions, 59E59 Theaters, The Flea Theater, Primitive Grace ( Paul Calderon & David Zayas), and The Gallery Players. She has an MFA in Directing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a BA in Theatre from the University of Alabama. She is the former Artistic Director of Access Theater (2016-2018) where she launched the Access Theater Residency Program for indie companies and she is a former Associate Producer for the Broadway company, Bisno Productions. She is a proud member of SDC, AEA, and serves on The Artist Co-op Artistic Board. For more information, please visit her website: SarahNorris.org.
For New Light: Everything is Super Great, Hitler's Tasters, The Great Novel, Hal & Bee, Still Dance the Stars, Two of Us, In the Soundless Awe, REX, Picture Ourselves in Latvia, The Oedipus Project, Frisky & the Panda Man
Emma Sandall
Music/Movement/Sheila
Emma is a multi-disciplinary artist who led an international dance career with Béjart Ballet Lausanne, The Royal Ballet, Scottish Ballet and West Australian Ballet. She founded and co-directed her own mixed media dance company (Ludwig) in Perth, Australia in 2010 and created and produced several new works which were presented in Australia, Italy, Germany and New Caledonia. These include Fleck and Flecker, Death and the Maiden, Body Song and Crossing Satie. She was the recipient of several state and federal grants and residencies as a solo artist in Australia and Austria and won third prize at the prestigious Rome International Choreography Competition in 2011 with her solo work Crossing Satie. Body Song was selected for the Stuttgart International Solo Dance Theater Festival in 2012 and subsequently chosen to tour Germany as part of that festival. In 2015 Emma produced and directed a dance projection with Paul Vasterling and the Nashville Ballet at the Kennedy Center to accompany Ben Folds Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.
Sheila Heti
Author, 'Motherhood'
Sheila is the author of eight books of fiction and non-fiction, including the novels Ticknor, Motherhood, and How Should a Person Be? and the story collection, The Middle Stories. She was named one of "The New Vanguard" by The New York Times book critics; a list of fifteen women writers from around the world who are "shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century." Her books have been translated into twenty-two languages. Her most recent novel, Motherhood, was chosen by the book critics at the New York Times as one of their top books of 2018, and New York magazine chose it as their top book of the year. Her novel, How Should a Person Be? was named one of the 12 “New Classics of the 21st century” by Vulture. It was a New York Times Notable Book, a best book of the year in The New Yorker, and was cited by Time as "one of the most talked-about books of the year.”
Her play, All Our Happy Days are Stupid, had sold-out runs at The Kitchen in New York and Videofag in Toronto. She is currently developing a new play called The Dug Out.
She is the founder of the Trampoline Hall lecture series, appeared in Margaux Williamson’s film Teenager Hamlet. She lives in Toronto.
Ben Folds
Executive Producer
Ben Folds is widely regarded as one of the major music influencers of our generation.
He’s created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with Ben Folds Five, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records. His last album was a blend of pop songs and his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra that soared to #1 on both the Billboard classical and classical crossover charts.
For over a decade he’s performed with some of the world’s greatest symphony orchestras, and currently serves as the first ever Artistic Advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center.
In addition to solo rock and orchestral touring, Folds has recently written his first book “A Dream About Lightning Bugs,” which debuted as a New York Times Best Seller, and is described as a collection of interrelated essays, anecdotes and lessons about art, life, and music.
He also serves on the advisory Board of Planet Word in Washington, DC, the world’s first interactive museum of words and language.
He is also no stranger to television, having been featured for five seasons as a judge on NBC's critically-acclaimed a capella show "The Sing Off." He continues to appear in cameo roles on cable and network TV shows, and composes for film and TV.
An avid photographer, Folds is a member of the prestigious Sony Artisans of Imagery, has worked as an assignment photo editor for National Geographic, and was featured in a mini-documentary by the Kennedy Center's Digital Project on his photographic work.
An outspoken champion for arts education and music therapy funding in our nation's public schools, in 2016 Ben held the distinction as the only artist to appear at both national political conventions advocating for arts education, has served for over five years as an active member of the distinguished Artist Committee of Americans For The Arts (AFTA), and serves on the Board of AFTA’s Arts Action Fund. He is also Chairman of the Arts Action Fund’s ArtsVote2020 national initiative to advocate for a greater commitment to the nation’s creative economy through improved public policies for the arts and arts education, and hosts a podcast series of interviews on arts policies with current 2020 presidential candidates.
Michael Aguirre
Ensemble
Michael began his career in Chicago working with Steppenwolf, the Windy City Players, Chicago Dramatists, and First Folio. Regional: The Wilma Theater (Philadelphia), Hexagon Theatre (South Africa), Red Barn Theater (Indiana). New York: Pearl Theatre (City Center), Signature Theatre, Waterwell, Snorks and Pins, and The Acting Studio/Chelsea Rep Lab, which produced his original play Almost a Fantasy at the 2012 NYC Fringe Festival. Michael was a 2011 Wide Eyed Productions Playwright Apprentice and a semi-finalist for the Neil Labute New Play Festival. He is a graduate from Indiana University. He is the former Producing Director of Access Theater (2016-2018). For more information, visit his website: MichaelAllenAguirre.com.
For NLTP – The Jewish Wife (Husband), The Great Novel (Saul Brennan), Still Dance the Stars (Philip/Phil), SIDD (Ensemble), Apartment Play (Richard), The Oedipus Project (Oedipus)
Claudia Campbell
Ensemble
Select Theater: REX (NLTP), Still Dance The Stars (NLTP/Chicago Dramatists), Waiting for the Parade, Florida Girls, Father’s Day (Redfield Company), Martin Charnin’s Winchell (Brooks-Atkinson Broadway Workshop), Frank McCourt’s The Irish and How They Got That Way (Irish Rep and National), A Single Woman (Culture Project), Cowgirls (Director’s Company), Words of Choice (National Tour, WIREDARTS streaming, Judson Church), Jackson Heights Trilogy (Theatre 167), Six Degrees of Separate (Queen’s Theatre in the Park), The Dwelling Place (Pen and Quill Society). New Works: LaMama, Actor’s Chapel, Circle-in-the-Square, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons. Regional Selects: The Spitfire Grill (James Valcq Composer/ Director - American Folklore Theatre and The Good Theater-ME), Cowgirls (Caldwell-FL Premiere), Steel Magnolias (TAP-WI), Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Shivaree, The High Heeled Women, Snake in the Grass (Originals-ME). Seasons: Monmouth Shakespeare-ME, Forestburgh Playhouse-NY, Skylight Comic-WI. Proud member of AEA, SAG, AFTRA.
Hallie Griffin
Ensemble + Social Media
Hallie is a New York based actor, singer, social media maven and content creator. Theater: Hitler’s Tasters (EdFringe 2019 Sold Out Run/Best of Fringe -The Stage), Folk City: The Musical (Broadway World Regional Awards: Best Actress), In The Soundless Awe, REX, Edelweiss Pirates, [title of show]. She is a Resident Artist and Social Media Co-Director for New Light Theater Project. Love and thanks to Sarah and Mike, Emma and Ben, the cast, my family and my Zach. @bucketosunshine / HallieGriffin.com
For NLTP – Hitler's Tasters (Liesel), Our Prospects for the Coming Season (Ensemble), Motel 60 (Mary), In the Soundless Awe (Ensemble), REX (Ismene)
Daisy Press
Nephesh
Daisy is a prominent interpreter and creator of music in the US and Europe and a principal vocalist at Brooklyn’s famed performance space "House of Yes." She has worked closely with influential living composers Steve Reich, Bernhard Lang, and George Crumb, and for her recording and performance of Morton Feldman’s seminal “Three Voices,” the New York Times hailed Daisy as “intrepid” and “passionate.” Daisy has a permanent featured role in the ongoing off-Broadway show “The Devouring” where she performs her own arrangement. She is a regular guest soloist with Vienna-based Ensemble Phace and most recently sang Romitelli’s “Index of Metals” with them at the Wiener Konzerthaus.
Daisy is a specialist in the music of 12th-century mystic Hildegard of Bingen, and she incorporates elements of North Indian (Hindustani) ragas into her unusual and extraordinary interpretations of Hildegard’s medieval chants. In late 2020 she will be releasing her first album of Hildegard chants.
Beth Meyers
Music Director
Multi-instrumentalist, Beth Meyers is a performer/composer of the 21st century. A day’s work might find her writing original music with her indie-neo-folk band, Damsel, playing viola in the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, singing the music of Steve Reich with members of So Percussion, recording strings alongside such artists as Regina Spektor, Bjork and The National, or performing contemporary chamber music with ensembles like the Knights and Alarm Will Sound.
In 2019 Beth co-composed the multi-generational opera, “The Nightingale And The Tower” with Rebecca Comerford and Jason Treuting which premiered at the Libbey Bowl in Ojai, California. Earlier that year, her string arrangements were featured in the limited run, “Regina Spektor on Broadway”. Her other theater credits include her as the violist at Wicked and Rocky Broadway as well as acting sub at Carousel, Cinderella, and Ghost. She’s worked closely with the experimental theater groups, Theater of a Two-Headed Calf and 3-Legged Dog Media and Theater Group.
Beth holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and the University of Rochester. She is a New Amsterdam Records artist and can be heard on multiple albums in their roster.
Ashlee Wasmund
Co-Choreographer
Ashlee is a Resident Artist with New Light Theatre Project and is absolutely thrilled for the opportunity to collaborate on this exciting new piece! Most recently she has worked on the New Light productions of Still Dance the Stars and Hitler’s Tasters in NYC, Chicago, and Edinburgh. She currently hails from North Carolina where she is the Program Director for Musical Theatre and Dance at Western Carolina University’s School of Stage & Screen while also working professionally as an actor, choreographer, and director. Other most recent projects include Murder for Two at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Unto these Hills with the Cherokee Historical Association, and a new full-length dance piece titled Light Chasers to the album of the same name by Cloud Cult. This spring, Ashlee will also serve as the Assistant Director for Women in Jeopardy at Arizona Theatre Company as well as have the first workshopped reading of her new adaptation of A Christmas Carol, in association with lyricist and composer Kristen Hedberg. Ashlee holds an MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University and is Fiona’s biggest fan. ashleewasmund.com
For NLTP – Hitler's Tasters, Still Dance the Stars
Yana Birÿkova
Projection Designer
Yana is a video artist and designer from Moscow, Russia. She has designed shows at The Red Bull Theater; Alvin Ailey Dance Theater; Westport Country Playhouse; Irish Repertory Theatre; Yale Repertory Theatre; Carnegie Hall; Dmitry Krymov Lab; Yale Cabaret among others. The 2019 finalist of the Robert L.B. Tobin Director-Designer showcase for Opera America, Yana lectures and teaches workshops on media design at Harvard University. MFA: Yale School of Drama. yanabiryukova.com
An-lin Dauber
Scenic & Costume Designer
An-lin is a member of the New Light Theater Project. She previously designed sets for New Light’s Hitler's Tasters and The Great Novel. Notable set and costume designs include Seven Guitars ( Yale Repertory Theatre), Paul Swan is Dead and Gone (The Civilians), And Then They Came For Me (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Blood Wedding; A Bright Room Called Day; Small Craft Warnings; The Time of Your life (The Williams Project), The Seagull (Serenbe Playhouse), The Song of Summer (Mixed Blood Theater), The Good Person of Szechwan; An Acorn (Brown/Trinity Repertory Theatre). MFA Yale School of Drama. anlindauber.com
For NLTP – The Great Novel, Hitler's Tasters
Carsen Joenk
Sound Designer
Carsen is a director, sound designer, co-artistic director of Rat Queen Theatre Company. Select Sound: "DADDY" (asst. The New Group), A Bright Room Called Day (assoc. Juilliard), rail. (Philadelphia Fringe), Mary Stuart (Hedgepig), Fiction. (600 Highwaymen). Select Directing: Judy Doomed Us All (Ice Factory), Unboxing (Dixon Place), The Bench (Secret Theatre); workshops/readings with La MaMa ETC, Art House Productions, and Fresh Ground Pepper. 2019-2020 Wingspace Directing Mentee, 2019-2021 SDCF Observer. carsen-jewell-joenk.com
For NLTP – The Great Novel, Hitler's Tasters
Courtney Knysch
Production Stage Manager
Select NLTP credits: Hitler’s Tasters (Stage Manager), the hollower (Casting), Still Dance the Stars (Ashley/Ash), Monte Cristo (Casting), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia/Fairy), REX (Dramaturg), SIDD (Ensemble), The Oedipus Project (Producer). Grateful to Sarah and Mike, Emma and Ben, the cast and crew for this incredible journey.
For NLTP – I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo & Juliet, Hitler's Tasters, the hollower, Still Dance the Stars, Monte Cristo, A Midsummer Night's, REX, SIDD, The Oedipus Project
Kelly McCarty
Assistant Director
Kelly is a New York based actor, singer, dancer and is now turning the page to directing. She is absolutely thrilled and humbled to be working under two women she admires tenfold, Sarah Norris and Ashlee Wasmund. After spending a year as a Performance/Marketing Associate Company Member at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, TN Kelly made the leap over to NY this past September. Credits: Connecticut Repertory Theatre (Mamma Mia- Sophie, Sweeney Todd-Ensemble), POTS (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder *regional premiere- Pheobe), (Tuck Everlasting *regional premiere, *nominated for best leading actress- Winnie), (Kinky Boots- Lauren), and under the direction of Sarah Norris (Company- Amy). This is her debut work in NY and with The New Light Project; much love, gratitude, and thanks to Sarah and the rest of the brilliant team. BFA in Musical Theatre at Western Carolina University. kelly-mccarty.com / @kellylaurenmccarty
For NLTP – Janie Wants a Dog (Darkroom Developed)
Christina Tang
Lighting Designer
Christina is a lighting designer based in NYC. She is a frequent collaborator on new dramatic work. Select recent credits: CIRCLE (lead artist Martine Gutierrez, PSNY), The Black Act (lead artist Kia LaBeija, PSNY), Madame Lynch (The Drunkard's Wife). christinaftang.com
For NLTP – The Great Novel, Hitler's Tasters, Meaningful Conversation