by Walter Thinnes
Eleanor has got quite the present for Leonard on his 70th Birthday. But the fun only starts when the clock hits midnight.

Director: Amanda Schlachter

Eleanor — Jenny Aldrich Walker
Sunshine — Julee Breehne

Jenny Aldrich Walker (Eleanor) is delighted to be an Eleanor again. Her first Eleanor was in Lion in Winter, a play she longs to repeat (next time with favorite costar Don Walker). This is her eleventh play as an actor with Theatre Odyssey. She also directed three festival plays. A retired member of Actors’ Equity, her theatre credits span over 60 years, nine states and five countries. She’s served on the boards of two theaters and founded two children’s theaters. Sarasota County second-graders know her as the Orangeblossom Fairy, and hundreds of preschoolers call her Granny J. Jenny continues to produce and perform in her original shows about American artists. Later this month she will appear in The Players’ production of Ron Pantello’s Damaged Goods. www.JennyAldrichPresents.com

Julee Breehne (Sunshine) is thrilled to be working with old friends and new. She’s appeared in several Theatre Odyssey productions and cherishes every part of the process. She’d like to thank her friends and family for their encouragement and support. This one’s for the girls!

Amanda Schlachter (director) is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at The State College of Florida where she teaches multiple performance classes and directs two shows per year. Other directing credits include The Out-of-Door Academy, Reflections Theatre Ensemble,  Kaleidoscope, The Players Centre for The Performing Arts and Sarasota Actors’ Workshop. Amanda is a graduate and company member of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC), holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from The University of Central Florida and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from The University of Florida.  She is grateful to Theatre Odyssey for this opportunity! AmandaSchlachter.com

Walter Thinnes (playwright) is an emerging playwright whose seven full-length, five one-act and eighteen ten-minute plays have received more than 120 productions, readings or awards in twenty-six states, including The Kennedy Center, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Conference and several Off-Off-Off-Broadway Theaters. He is the recipient of the Colonial Players’ Promising Playwright Award in Annapolis, MD; Theatre Oxford’s L.W. Thomas Award in Oxford MS; Appalachian New Play Festival Judge’s Choice Award in Athens, OH; and the winner of the Centre-Stage New Play Festival in Greenville, SC. Walter recently relocated from New York City to central Florida and is delighted to have the opportunity to see Theatre Odyssey perform his work in person. Zoom presentations are fine but there is nothing quite like live theatre with a breathing (and hopefully laughing) audience. Thanks for joining us.

by Don Salvo
A college-age male student is accused of “unwanted sexual contact” by a female student. An interview involving the students is conducted to determine an outcome.

Director: Steve Black

Professor — Jan Wallace
Young Woman —Julee Breehne
Young Man — Scott Ehrenpreis

Jan Wallace (Professor) – actress, teacher, director, playwright, trained at LAMDA, London and New York’s Playwrights Horizon’s Theater School. She has appeared extensively off-Broadway and in New York Regional theaters. Favorite roles include: Shirley Valentine (Shirley), Noises Off (Dotty Otley/Mrs. Clacket), The Prime of Miss Jean Broadie (Jean Broadie), The Hollow (Lady Lucy Angetell), The Shadow Box (Maggie), California Suite (Diana), and many more. She originally created her role of Shirley Valentine at the Harold Clurman Theater in New York. In Sarasota she performed at the Asolo Rep, the Banyan Theater, The Players, MPAC and The Island Players.

Julee Breehne (Young Woman) is thrilled to be working with old friends and new. She’s appeared in several Theatre Odyssey productions and cherishes every part of the process. She’d like to thank her friends and family for their encouragement and support. This one’s for the girls!

Scott Ehrenpreis (Young Man) has a B.F.A in performance from Ohio University’s School of Theater. Scott was last seen in Theater Odyssey’s Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival in The Unspoken Problem. Most memorable and noteworthy show was playing Ben Silverman in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys, a role that Scott reprised four times professionally. Scott is thrilled to be affiliated with Theater Odyssey again. It is such a treat to originate roles and produce quality work by very talented playwrights.

Steve Black (director) is a graduate of Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. Steve’s directing credits include five productions of Shakespeare works, Dramas, Comedies, Musicals and one-person shows. As the Director of Theatre at the Fort Hayes Career Center for sixteen years, Steve has former students who now have multiple Acting and Singing credits on Broadway, as well as regional theatres, motion pictures and prime time television. Now living in Venice, Florida, Steve has taken the role of Artistic Director for the Sarasota Area Playwrights Society. Steve is most excited to work with Theatre Odyssey.

Don Salvo (playwright) was a Fellow in the School of Speech and Drama at Northwestern University, taught playwriting at Stetson University Lifelong, was a co-founder of the Playwrights’ Lab at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, and teaches playwriting and acting at Celebration Lifelong Learning. Don’s play, Unraveled, a Heideman Award Finalist for Drama from the Actors Theatre of Louisville, was produced off-Broadway, introducing Joe Manganiello to New York audiences. Don is a published playwright and has had his plays performed throughout the country. A video of his published Naked Player production is available for viewing on YouTube. A professionally trained dancer/actor, he is a proud member of Actors’ Equity and has performed in over 60 productions with the Kenley Players. He earned degrees from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, and Duquesne University. Don is thrilled to have One-Way Mirror produced at Theatre Odyssey.

by Greg Burdick
A widow receives an unexpected delivery.

Director: Alan Brasington

Widow — Sue Bachman
Driver — Glenn Schudel

Sue Bachman (Widow), a strong supporter of new original theatre, is honored to be returning to Theatre Odyssey after playing the Announcer in Jake the Pain Within in February’s Student Playwriting Festival. After relocating to Florida last September with her husband Sy, Sue is now an active member of Sarasota Area Playwrights Society as both a playwright and an actress. A theatre graduate of Northwestern University, Sue worked for more than two decades as an actress, playwright and director in Colorado Springs, where 10 of her short plays have been produced and where, in 2013, she was awarded Best Actress by the Pikes Peak Arts Council for her portrayal of Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman.  

Glenn Schudel (Mickey) has spent more than twenty years in professional and educational theatre, most notably as an assistant director and troupe manager at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia. He currently teaches Creative Writing at Ringling College of Art and Design. Most recently, he appeared as Cuthbert Burbage in Monica Cross’s award-winning The Wonder of Our Stage at the Players Centre for Performing Arts. In 2019, his one-man show Asides; or, My life with Will won Outstanding Premiere at the Sarasolo Festival.

Alan Brasington (director) — State University at New Paltz, Rotary Fellowship-England, Scholarship/Graduate Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, A.P. A. Repertory Lyceum Theatre Broadway, original Jesus Christ Superstar, Broadway; ten other Broadway Shows, plays Off-Broadway, and U.S. Professional Theatres: i.e. Guthrie Theatre, Missouri Rep, Syracuse University, Penn State, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Taught acting, Shakespeare, Restoration Comedy at Syracuse University. Has provided props to stores and movies all over the world: 1200 full-size 1950s Chevy trucks to Old Navy. Ralph Lauren, Polo, Gap, Club Monaco, many others; Dark Shadows, Captain America, Great Gatsby, Woman in Gold, Doctor Strange, Florence Foster Jenkins. New York Council of the Arts, TV soaps, One Day at a Time. Good Times. I write; and record on the internet for Steinbeck Now.

Greg Burdick (playwright) is thrilled to return to Theatre Odyssey after taking part in their Twelfth Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival with his play, Secret’s Out. A Theatre Arts educator and director originally from Pittsburgh, PA, Greg’s work has been produced by BoxFest Detroit, Rhino Theatre, Studio Theatre Tierra Del Sol, Radio Theatre Project of Studio@620, and developed in Baltimore, New York City, Oklahoma City, Minneapolis, Lake Charles, Boca Raton, Miami, Houston, Seattle and even internationally in Tottori, Japan. In August of 2019, his play Monessen Falls (available through Next Stage Press,) made its U.S. premiere at Good Luck Macbeth Theatre Company in Reno, NV. His latest work, Accommodation, is currently under option with 3Gems Productions and is slated for a world premiere in Los Angeles later this year. Proud member of the Dramatists Guild, he lives in Lakeland, Florida. To learn more, visit gregburdickplaywright.com. 

by Lyle Landon
It is the summer of 2020 when people were escaping from the physical and mental restrictions of COVID to the outdoors whenever possible. Jessica is seated at one end of the bench reading on her phone when a Henry, who’s an unknown boyish man about her age, asks to share the space. Her disinterest slowly disappears as she becomes curious about this stranger and starts to feel the stirrings of playful interactions and the possibility of adventure.

Director: Alan Brasington

Jessica — Aden Russell
Henry — Seth Bracewell

Aden Russell (Jessica) — Aden’s professional work in theatre, film, TV, and radio began in the Metro-Detroit area, earning her entrance into the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA), and Actors’ Equity. Her Theatre Odyssey credits began in 2020 and she is thrilled to be part of this, her fourth Theatre Odyssey Festival, as Cecilia in Smart Pizza and as Jessica in Six Feet Apart. She is so grateful to return to live theater, once again, with this festival and is looking forward to her next live performance in August with the musical Let it Be.   

Seth Bracewell (Henry) is enjoying his return to the stage after a 20-year hiatus, appearing in The Mystery Of Irma Vep and The Great American Trailer Park Musical in 2021. Seth is also an accomplished vocalist, performing as a soloist and in vocal ensembles from a young age, and is currently a staff singer at First United Methodist Church. Originally from Canada, Seth has called Sarasota home for 10 years. 

Alan Brasington (director) — State University at New Paltz, Rotary Fellowship-England, Scholarship/Graduate Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, A.P. A. Repertory Lyceum Theatre Broadway, original Jesus Christ Superstar, Broadway; ten other Broadway Shows, plays Off-Broadway, and U.S. Professional Theatres: i.e. Guthrie Theatre, Missouri Rep, Syracuse University, Penn State, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Taught acting, Shakespeare, Restoration Comedy at Syracuse University. Has provided props to stores and movies all over the world: 1200 full-size 1950s Chevy trucks to Old Navy. Ralph Lauren, Polo, Gap, Club Monaco, many others; Dark Shadows, Captain America, Great Gatsby, Woman in Gold, Doctor Strange, Florence Foster Jenkins. New York Council of the Arts, TV soaps, One Day at a Time. Good Times. I write; and record on the internet for Steinbeck Now.

Lyle Landon (playwright):  Six Feet Apart is Lyle’s first play to be performed in the Sarasota area. Two of her short plays, Baby Rabies and 10:10pm, were presented at Manhattan Repertory Theatre (NYC) and the Grove St. Theater (Montclair, NJ), respectively. Having recently moved “home” to Florida (Lyle was born in Miami and raised in Coral Gables) she is delighted to now reside in Bradenton with her husband and playwright, Dan Landon. Lyle and Dan are both members of the Dramatists Guild. While “up north” Lyle acted in many community theater comedies and musicals. Her writing skills were nurtured and honed during her media career as an award-winning publisher and creator/host for the public TV show, A Greener Day. 

by Meryl Rachlin
Man calls local pizza place for pizza order and has great difficulty as automated/artificial intelligence taking his order is overly helpful.

Director: Amanda Schlachter

Paul — Dave Downer
Cecilia — Aden Russell
Siriana — Michael Longobardi

Dave Downer (Paul) is excited to be a part of Theatre Odyssey’s Seventeenth Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival, having recently been part of the Tenth Annual Student Ten-Minute Playwriting Festival! Dave is a local Sarasota resident and works in the architectural field as his main source of employment. However, he is also a professional singer and actor. He has performed all over the Bradenton, Sarasota, Venice, and North Port areas in theater productions, play festivals and concert events. Dave lives in Sarasota with his wife, children and dogs. Love to Ann and the family!

Aden Russell (Jessica) — Aden’s professional work in theatre, film, TV, and radio began in the Metro-Detroit area, earning her entrance into the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA), and Actors’ Equity. Her Theatre Odyssey credits began in 2020 and she is thrilled to be part of this, her fourth Theatre Odyssey Festival, as Cecilia in Smart Pizza and as Jessica in Six Feet Apart. She is so grateful to return to live theater, once again, with this festival and is looking forward to her next live performance in August with the musical Let it Be.   

Michael Longobardi (Siriana) is an alumni of the State College of Florida and plans to earn a degree in communications from the University of South Florida. She has been in many productions over the past years and has portrayed characters such as Vera in And Then There Were None and Agnes in The Shadow Box. She also earned the Director’s Award in 2019 for Delta Psi Omega at SCF theatre.

Amanda Schlachter (director) is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at The State College of Florida where she teaches multiple performance classes and directs two shows per year. Other directing credits include The Out-of-Door Academy, Reflections Theatre Ensemble,  Kaleidoscope, The Players Centre for The Performing Arts and Sarasota Actors’ Workshop. Amanda is a graduate and company member of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (NYC), holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre from The University of Central Florida and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from The University of Florida.  She is grateful to Theatre Odyssey for this opportunity! AmandaSchlachter.com

Meryl Rachlin (playwright) is a full-time visual artist who also loves writing plays. Seven of her plays have been presented at Celebration Lifelong Learning’s Staged Readings. Meryl became brave enough to submit her first plays during the lockdown of 2020, and The Lauderdale by the Sea, Seaside Players produced her play The Moovies in a zoom reading. A Bostonian, Meryl relocated with her husband Bill in 2005 to Celebration, Florida, and soon after joined the new Lifelong Learning program as an art teacher and member of the steering committee. Meryl has enjoyed teaching art classes and taking classes such as “How to Write a Ten-Minute Play.” Meryl paints or draws portraits of people and animals on commission and also creates unique 3D dog portraits through her Art That Pops. She is thrilled to see her play being performed!

by John J. Kelly 
A very pregnant young woman meets two strangers who introduce her to concepts she’d not heard before.

Director: Leona Collesano

Mary — Katie Priest
He — Terry Rhodes
She — Phyllis Banks

Katie Priest (Mary) is a local actor working in the Sarasota area, represented by 22Talent. Her first two years of college, she studied musical theatre and piano performance at The State College of Florida. She then transferred to Florida State University. In 2018, she received her Bachelor’s in Music and Performance. She was most recently seen as Cinderella in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and Maggie in A Shadow Box. When she is not performing, she teaches piano and voice lessons at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School and is a vocal professor at The State College of Florida. “Thank you, Theatre Odyssey, for this experience!”

Terry “Tbone” Rhodes (He) is a man of ever-evolving vision. Blessed with deep vocals, he formed his own band, The Future Urban Zoo, touring extensively throughout southwest Florida. Sarasota theater audiences will remember Tbone in local productions of Miss Saigon and Sideshow at The Players Centre and The Full Monty at Venice Theatre. Listeners of WSLR know Tbone as the host of Music Scene and Be Seen. As a community activist, Tbone founded Every Child’s Voice, an arts-based after school program designed to be a safe haven and hot meal for children, and COPE International (Council on Opioid Prevention and Education) to address the growing nationwide opioid epidemic. His one-man show, Looking Black Over My Life, is a homage to the singers, songs, and historic events that inspired him and shaped his destiny.

Phyllis Banks (She) is a Sarasota native and has been acting for well over 25 years. She has performed in numerous productions with the Players of Sarasota, Manatee Players, Venice Theatre, Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and Theatre Odyssey. Phyllis recently retired from the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office after 34 years of service and is thrilled to be back on the Theatre Odyssey stage!

Leona Collesano (director) is thrilled to be directing again for Theatre Odyssey. Leona has directed many plays and musicals including:  You Can’t Take It with You, Tony and Tina’s Wedding, Theatre Odyssey Ten-Minute Play Festival. In addition to directing, she has been seen on stage (and backstage) performing throughout Sarasota and Manatee Counties. Wishing the best to Theater Odyssey on this year’s festival!

John J. Kelly (playwright) is only recently returned to Florida after years “up north.” His plays, both short and full-length works, have been published, anthologized, and performed by theatres of all kinds across the country (including New York, Chicago, D.C.) and around the world (Canada and the UK). An Emeritus Professor of Theatre from Elmira College, he directed, produced, or acted in well over 250 professional and university productions. John is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.

by Keith Whalen
David, a high school senior, applies to hold meetings in the building for an after-school religious group, but is called on the carpet by the principal, Mr. Durkis, who objects to the unusual group. 

Director: Steve Black

Mr. Durkis — James Kassees
David — Tom Horton

James Kassees (Mr. Durkis) is happy to finally be back on stage with old friends and new in Theatre Odyssey’s Ten-Minute Play Festival. James has been doing theatre for more than 40 years, acting, directing, writing and improvising. He has appeared in several Theatre Odyssey productions, as well as readings and a play at The Players. He has also understudied at Asolo Rep, improvised at Florida Studio Theatre and played Richard Nixon in Arthur Keyser’s In Whom We Trust. James will always treasure memories of working with one of the nicest guys ever to grace a stage, Chuck Conlon. Love always to Barb. 

Tom Horton (David) is incredibly proud to be working with Theatre Odyssey on Youth for Dark. He is a Sarasota based actor originally from England and some of his favorite past roles include, MacBeth in MacBeth, Biff in Death of a Salesman, and Chip in 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. 

Steve Black (director) is a graduate of Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio. Steve’s directing credits include five productions of Shakespeare works, Dramas, Comedies, Musicals and one-person shows. As the Director of Theatre at the Fort Hayes Career Center for sixteen years, Steve has former students who now have multiple Acting and Singing credits on Broadway, as well as regional theatres, motion pictures and prime time television. Now living in Venice, Florida, Steve has taken the role of Artistic Director for the Sarasota Area Playwrights Society. Steve is most excited to work with Theatre Odyssey.

Keith Whalen (playwright) — Keith’s plays have won awards and been produced across the country, and more recently, around the globe. His play White Angel won Best Play in Theatre Odyssey’s Ten-Minute Play Festival, and his play Youth for Dark won Best Play in the Tales from the Brookside Festival and was a semifinalist in the 46th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. Keith is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild.