A Doctor in Spite of Himself

The Cast

Julie BriskmanJULIE BRISKMAN* (JACQUELINE)

is honored to be making her Yale Rep debut working with her dear friend Christopher Bayes. A resident of Seattle since 2000, Julie has performed leading roles at Seattle's major theatres, including Sarah in Spinning into Butter, Anne Hathaway in The Beard of Avon, and Beline in The Imaginary Invalid at Seattle Repertory Theatre; Sylvia Fowler in The Women, Eppie in The Lady with All the Answers (Gregory Award nominee), Jo/Mae in Dirty Blonde, Jane Hopcroft in Absurd Person Singular, and Lottie in Enchanted April at ACT Theatre; and Jenny Diver in The Threepenny Opera at Seattle Shakespeare Company. She was a member of the Guthrie Theater acting company for seven seasons, where her roles ranged from Olga in The Three Sisters to the title role in Molly Sweeney. National credits include Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Arizona Theater Company, Portland Center Stage, Trinity Repertory Company, and The Old Globe. Julie is a proud producing core ensemble member of The Seagull Project and will be seen as Arkadina in February 2013.

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LIAM CRAIGLIAM CRAIG* (LUCAS, THIBAUT)

is excited to return to Yale Rep, where he last appeared in The Servant of Two Masters. His New York credits include the Broadway production of Boeing Boeing (understudying and performing the role of Robert) and Off-Broadway productions of The Internationalist (Vineyard Theatre), Aunt Dan and Lemon (The New Group), Two Noble Kinsmen (The Public Theater), and Don Juan (Theatre for a New Audience). His regional theatre credits include The Wild Duck (Bard Summerscape), A Christmas Story (Actors Theatre of Louisville), The Scene (Hartford Stage, Alley Theatre), The Lady from the Sea (Intiman Theatre), and Henry V (Shakespeare on the Sound). Television and film: Unforgettable, Mercy, Rescue Me, Boston Legal, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Royal Tenenbaums. Liam received his BA in English and theater studies from Yale College and his MFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program.

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STEVEN EPPSTEVEN EPP* (CO-ADAPTER, SGANARELLE)

was an actor, writer, and Co-Artistic Director at Theatre de la Jeune Lune, winner of the 2005 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, from 1983–2008. Title roles there included TartuffeCrusoeHamletGulliverFigaro, and The Miser; as well as major roles in Yang Zen Froggs, Romeo and JulietCyranoChildren of ParadiseScapin, GerminalDon Juan GiovanniThe Three MusketeersTwelfth NightThe Magic FluteThe Hunchback of Notre DameThe Seagull, and The Little Prince. His Yale Rep appearances include Theatre de la Jeune Lune's Children of Paradise in 1993 and Truffaldino in 2010's The Servant of Two Masters, directed by Christopher Bayes. His other theatre credits include productions at the Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, Spoleto Festival, American Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, Intiman Theatre, CENTERSTAGE, and Off-Broadway's The New Victory Theater. Steven is the Co-Artistic Director of The Moving Company. Steven holds a degree in theatre and history from Gustavus Adolphus College. He was a 1999 Fox Fellow and is a 2009 McKnight Theatre Artist Fellow. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and three children.

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RENATA FRIEDMANRENATA FRIEDMAN* (LUCINDE, PUPPETEER)

New York credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream (New Victory Theater), The Importance of Being Earnest (Aquila Theatre Company), and The K of D (New York International Fringe Festival and Fringe Encores). Regional credits include The K of D (Seattle Repertory Theatre, Illusion Theater); The Scarlet Letter, A Doctor in Spite of Himself (Intiman Theatre); The Cherry Sisters Revisited (Actors Theatre of Louisville and Humana Festival); Eurydice, The Female of the Species, Vincent in Brixton (ACT Theatre); My Name Is Asher Lev (Barrington Stage Company); Hamlet, Pharaoh Serket, Jason and the Golden Fleece (Seattle Children's Theatre); the Orchard Project; the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival; and a national repertory tour with the Aquila Theatre Company. She is a graduate of New York University.

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ALLEN GILMOREALLEN GILMORE* (M. ROBERT, GÉRONTE)

is happy to return to Yale Rep, where he last appeared in The Servant of Two Masters. His other collaborations with director Chris Bayes include Scapin at Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Intiman Theatre, and Court Theatre (BTA nomination); The Comedy of Errors at Idaho Shakespeare Festival; Endgame at Court Theatre; and A Doctor in Spite of Himself at Intiman Theatre (Footlight Award). He recently performed as The Player in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at Writers' Theater (BroadwayWorld Chicago nomination) and as Athos in The Three Musketeers at Shakespeare Santa Cruz. Other favorite roles include Othello and Iago in Othello, Bynum in Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Jeff, Black Theater Alliance award nominations), Cyrano in Cyrano de Bergerac, James Hewlett in The African Company Presents Richard the Third (AUDELCO Award), and Siswe Banzi Is Dead (Jeff, BTA nominations). Allen is from Texas and is a US Army Infantry veteran.

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CHIVAS MICHAELCHIVAS MICHAEL* (LÉANDRE, Old Man)

Off-Broadway work includes Brooklyn Omnibus (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Romeo and Juliet (Classic Stage Company), The Broadway Problem (Lincoln Center Concert), and Sliding into the Beast (New York Theatre Workshop). Regional credits include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Much Ado about Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare on the Sound); Hamlet (Tulane Shakespeare Festival); A Chorus Line, Oklahoma! (Porthouse Theatre); Flyin' West, Once on This Island, I Am a Man (Mahogany Theatre). University work includes The Winter's Tale, Our Lady of 121st Street, Kalakkuta Show, Rocket to the Moon, Gem of the Ocean, A Month in the Country, A Raisin in the Sun (NYU); El Haj Milik and The Wiz (Dillard University). Film credits include Fish: The True Story of a Boy in a Man's Prison. Education: BA, Dillard University; MFA, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program.

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GREG C. POWERSGREG C. POWERS (trombone, tuba, ukulele)

Seattle-born musician Greg Powers is overjoyed to be making his debut at Yale Rep. After years of toiling in pits, Greg is pleased to be appearing on the actual stage. He performs on trombone, tuba, ukulele, didjeridu, garden hoses, and more. Since his graduation from the University of Washington, Greg has been on a musical journey across the globe. A Fulbright Fellow to India, he is a pioneer in adapting Hindustani Music to the trombone, and the only trombonist on earth performing in the Dhrupad style. Pran, Greg's collaboration with Stuart Dempster, has just released its new CD, Traveler's Todi. He is at home playing salsa, rock, Banda, Dixie, swing, avant garde, and jazz; and you are as likely to find him in a burlesque theatre as in a symphony hall. Greg performs regularly with The Pacific Brass Quintet, The Village Theatre, The Bellevue Philharmonic, The Fremont Moisture Festival, La Banda Gozona, and The Bavarian Village Band.

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JACOB MING TRENTJACOB MING TRENT* (VALÈRE, CHERUB)

Broadway work includes Shrek the Musical (original cast, Papa Ogre; understudy Shrek). Off-Broadway credits include The Merchant of Venice (Theatre for a New Audience), On the Levee (Lincoln Center Theater's LCT3), and Widowers' Houses (Epic Theatre Ensemble). National tours include The Merchant of Venice, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Continental Divide (Time Magazine Theatre Event of the Year). Jacob has also appeared in workshops, readings, and productions with Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, New Georges, McCarter Theatre, Barbican Theatre, Birmingham Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Long Wharf, American Conservatory Theater, The Acting Company, and Pittsburgh City Theater. TV credits include Law & Order, Bored to Death, and Unforgettable. Education: The Public Theater's Shakespeare Lab; MFA, American Conservatory Theater.

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JUSTINE WILLIAMSJUSTINE WILLIAMS* (MARTINE, PERRIN)

is making her Yale Rep debut. New York and regional theatre credits include My New Best Friend (world premiere, Brown/Trinity Playwrights Rep); Journey to the Ocean, directed by Aya Ogawa (The Foundry Theatre); Murder in the Cathedral, directed by Alec Duffy (Hoi Polloi); Galileo, Illyria, Child's Christmas in Wales (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); The Illusion (Chautauqua Theatre Company); and Falfurious (The Culture Project/Women Center Stage). With The Glass Contraption: Clowns (The Public Theater and NY Clown Theatre Festival, directed by Chris Bayes) and The Amazing Ted Show! (Ars Nova and the National Arts Festival in South Africa). Film credits include He's Way More Famous Than You and Facedancing (Official Selection, Maryland Film Festival). As a singer, Justine has worked with numerous bands and vocal ensembles performing at Joe's Pub, Drom, and other NY venues. Education/Training: Brown University, The Actors Center Conservatory, and École Philipe Gaulier in Paris.

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ROBERTSON WITMERROBERTSON WITMER (accordion, clarinet, DRUMS)

lives in Seattle, where he works as a freelance composer, musician, and sound designer. Recent performance credits include Go, Dog. Go! at Seattle Children's Theater; A Doctor in Spite of Himself at Intiman Theatre; WEST at On the Boards; and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at The 5th Avenue Theatre. His recent work as a composer and sound designer includes A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet (Seattle Shakespeare Company); Of Mice and Men (Seattle Repertory Theatre); O Lovely Glowworm (New Century Theater Company); and Cloud 9 (Strawberry Theater Workshop). Rob also performs with many bands, including The Toucans, The Love Markets, and "Awesome."

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*member of actors' equity association, union of professional actors and stage managers.