Mrs. Porter from Turn Around, Jimmy Booker
RICHARD ALFREDO’s full-length plays include: The Dark Clothes of Night (“This delicious little play…pops and fizzes with one quick-change delight after another, and it’s the kind of fun that can only happen onstage.” New York Times Critic’s Pick); Three Drunk Girls in High Heels (slated for 2026 NYC production); Turn Around, Jimmy Booker; Where the Deer and the Antelope Play; The Oyster’s Bellyache; A Nickel for the Candy Butcher; and The Rise and Fall of Father Dan. Richard also contributed to the book for the Broadway musical On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan.
MONIQUE VUKOVIC (Mrs. Porter) attended the National Shakespeare Conservatory and has worked with esteemed artists, companies, and theaters, including Tom Noonan’s Paradise Factory, Roundabout Theatre Company, Vineyard Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, The Debate Society, The Tank, Hartford Stage, and Living Room Theatre. She has appeared in The Sinner, FBI: Most Wanted, Poker Face, Way Down, We Wanted Children, Barry, Losing Ground, and Room 314. moniquevukovic.com
Mommy Is So Disgusting
RISA MICKENBERG is a writer and director. Her play Egg was developed at Paradise Factory and went on to be a feature film starring Christina Hendricks, Alysia Reiner and Anna Camp, premiering at the TriBeCa Film Festival and playing at Nantucket Film Festival and Bentonville (100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Her plays have been commissioned by South Coast Rep and produced at the Brighton Festival, SoHo Theater London and the Edinburgh Fringe. She was a film fellow at MacDowell and Yaddo. She’s taught at Vermont College of Fine Art and IFC. She’s developed numerous comedy series for HBO. She’s a member of WGAE and SAG-AFTRA. www.risamickenberg.com
BEATRICE LOW (Beatrice) is originally from England and is a recent graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Her selected credits include Twelfth Night (Olivia – Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe), Alice in Wonderland (Alice – His Majesty’s Theatre, London’s West End), From Up Here (Lauren), The Winter’s Tale (Hermione), and Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio). She is thrilled to be part of the Paradise Factory Monologue Show.
Hester and Marty from Hello, Beautiful
JOAN MATHIEU (Hester) studied playwriting at Paradise Factory where she currently serves as Artistic Director. Her one-act play Diet Coke for the Dead was featured in Paradise Factory’s One-Act Festival (May/June 2025). She recently made her New York City acting debut in Grant Varjas’ Bookstore as part of the same series. She also appears in Andrew Sully’s short film Crowded River. Her work has appeared in The Antioch Review, The Rumpus and Hermette Magazine. She is the author of Zulu: An Irish Journey (Farrar, Straus & Giroux).
KEN FORMAN (Marty) recently played Nick in Diet Coke for the Dead by Joan Mathieu here at Paradise Factory. He appeared in Wilder, Wilder, Wilder (Broadway) and in the premieres of Jason Wells’ Men of Tortuga (NY), Eric Maierson's Reprise, Grant Varjas’ 33 to Nothing and Accidentally, Like a Martyr, Francine Volpe’s Late Fragment, Anastasia Traina's From Riverdale to Riverhead, Tom Noonan’s What the Hell's Your Problem? and Derek Murphy’s Inside Danny’s Box. Other appearances include Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth (Theatre For A New Audience), Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Roundabout) and Measure for Measure (NYSF). His favorite regional productions include Circle Mirror Transformation, The Cherry Orchard and To Kill a Mockingbird. In TV and movies, he’s been seen in The Plot Against America, The Deuce, Gotham, The Jim Gaffigan Show, First Reformed, Not Fade Away and The Hungry Ghosts. His award-winning web series New Moon can be viewed at newmoonseries.com
MONIQUE VUKOVIC (director) attended the National Shakespeare Conservatory and has worked with esteemed artists, companies, and theaters, including Tom Noonan’s Paradise Factory, Roundabout Theatre Company, Vineyard Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, New Georges, Clubbed Thumb, The Debate Society, The Tank, Hartford Stage, and Living Room Theatre. She has appeared in The Sinner, FBI: Most Wanted, Poker Face, Way Down, We Wanted Children, Barry, Losing Ground, and Room 314. moniquevukovic.com
A Drop of Ink
ERIC MAIERSON’s short play That Picture of You appeared at the Paradise Factory One-Act Festival, starring Sean Patrick Folster and Katie Moore. Eric is a two-time Emmy-winning filmmaker. His short films have played at film festivals across the globe, and his prose has appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, and McSweeney's. He is also the writer and director of the critically acclaimed theatrical play Reprise. Eric earned his master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Emerson College and begins classes in Holocaust and Genocide Education at Rowen University in the fall. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Ellen, and their dogs, Beanie and Stanley. His website is ericmaierson.com
KATIE HONAKER (Kathryn) is an actor, voice-over artist, teacher, and coach who has been teaching voice and speech at Atlantic Acting School/NYU Tisch since 2003. She became a certified Miller Voice Method teacher in 2021. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, she lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, two daughters and sweet dog May. You can find out more about Katie at katiehonaker.com
SHANNON PATTERSON (Director) is a New York-based director, actress and teaching artist at The Barrow Group, where she has also developed and directed numerous new plays. Her directing credits include the Off-Broadway New York premieres of Torben Betts’ Muswell Hill, Erik Gernand’s The Beautiful Dark, and John Yearley’s The Unrepeatable Moment. She was also the resident acting coach for the Max original series Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Pretty Little Liars: Summer School, as well as a specialty coach on Apple TV’s Before. Most recently, as an actor, she originated the role of Mary in the world premiere of 17 Minutes at The Barrow Group and received glowing reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She sends heartfelt thanks to Eric for bringing her aboard for her first production here at Paradise Factory.
The Tour
KEN FORMAN wrote for Up All Night with Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda Shear on the USA Network and the movie Hacks. His award-winning web series New Moon can be viewed at newmoonseries.com
SEAN PATRICK FOLSTER (Paul Bynum) is happy and proud to make his fourth appearance at the Paradise Factory, previously seen in Reprise, Shining City and That Picture of You. He acts, writes, directs, sings, teaches and meditates. He likes people, and being left alone. He'd like you all to eat at Conway Diner on 2nd Avenue between 4th and 5th because it's great, and you deserve it.
Burger Heaven from A Story About a Girl
JACQUELYN REINGOLD is a playwright, TV writer, teacher, and advocate. A workshop of her play Fear Less, an O’Neill finalist, is slated for the fall of 2025 at Ensemble Studio Theater (EST). In New York City, her plays were performed at EST, MCC, Naked Angels, and Axial Theater; across the country, her work has been featured at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Portland Center Stage, PlayLabs in Minneapolis; and around the world her plays have been performed in London, Dublin, Berlin, Belgrade, and Lima. Honors include Lilly Award, Kennedy Center, EST/Sloan Commissions, MacDowell, Yaddo, and Susan Smith Blackburn finalist. Her work has appeared in Best American Short Plays, DPS, French, Smith & Kraus, and Applause. She is a member of EST and Tent Theater, a New Dramatists alum, and founding member of Honor Roll! Her TV writing credits include The Good Fight, Grace & Frankie, and In Treatment. jacquelinereingold.com
PETRA HINDS (Denise) is an actress from Hoboken, New Jersey. She studied Theater and Political Science at Williams College, where she received the Ruth Sanford prize for theater. She recently completed training at the Atlantic Acting School’s Evening Conservatory. You can find her performing in new works at The Tank, The Brick Aux, and here at Paradise Factory. Instagram: @petrahinds
CADY MCCLAIN’s directing credits include: Paint Made Flesh by Howard Meyer at The Cell in New York City (with support from Sothebys); Never the Sinner by John Logan at Bethany Arts Community; Census by Susan Miller for the Glass Ceiling Breakers Festival; Just a Yellow Cab in New York City by Youlim Nam for the Chain 2025 Winter One Act Festival; and multiple staged readings for Axial Theatre, including A Story About a Girl by Jacquelyn Reingold. Film credits include: Seeing is Believing: Women Direct - Jury Award Newport Beach Film Festival, Audience Award for a Feature Film at the SOHO Film Festival, Best Documentary Pro-Action at the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival, Official Selection, St. Louis Film Festival, Heartland Film Festival, Oxford Film Festival, Sedona Film Festival, and High Falls Film Festival. Short films: Burnt Feathers, Broken Wings Winner, Best Film, Best Ensemble, Best Screenplay at the Paramount Studios KITS Movie Awards, Best Impact Film: Santa Fe Film Festival, Best Short Documentary: Mystic Film Festival; The World of Albert Fuh, Best Comedy Drama Short at the Indie Gathering Festival, Honorable Mention for Best Director by the Los Angeles Film Review, Honorable Mention from the SaMo Indie Film Fest. Web Series: Venice the Series by Crystal Chappelle, two Emmy nominations; and Switch by Stavroula Toska, starring Olympia Dukakis, winner Best Pilot, Santa Fe Film Festival, Official Selection Hollyshorts, Dances with Pilots, and more.
The Audition
RICHARD CALIBAN (Man) recently directed Gil Kofman’s Leni’s Last Lament at Paradise Factory starring Jodie Markell. Caliban was artistic director of critically acclaimed, award-winning Cucaracha Theatre and has worked as a playwright, director and composer at such venues as the Public Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Primary Stages, La Mama, The Cherry Lane, Merkin Hall, Geva Theatre, Berkshire Theater Festival, Naked Angels, The Vineyard Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre; and overseas in Budapest, Uzbekistan and the United Kingdom. Caliban started out as an actor at La MaMa many years ago. He is thrilled that Paradise Factory is giving him a chance to perform again.
Nothing Feels Good
TRACI PARKS’ darkly comic plays have been performed at theaters, including Moving Arts in Los Angeles, Seattle Rep’s Poncho Forum, NJ PAC, the Actors Studio, The Culture Project, HERE Arts Center, Little City Lights and many NYC venues. She has been a playwriting mentor and director at Falconworks Theater’s Off the Hook series in Brooklyn, is currently a member of the Playwrights-Directors Workshop at the Actors Studio, and copyedits an online news site.
RHONDA KEYSER (Joan) is an actress, voice-over artist, environmental educator, and grassroots organizer who has appeared in a number of films, most recently Daphne Macy’s Validation and Josh Klausner’s Wanderland. On stage she has appeared in plays by Tom Noonan, Luke Rosen, Derek Murphy, and Kristen Kosmas. She has worked opposite Tate Ellington, Sam Rockwell, and Jane Curtin, directed and acted in a short written for her by Noonan, and performed in Jason Mann's winning entry for HBO's Project Greenlight. She is delighted to be able to perform Traci Parks’ work as she develops her beautiful play.
Maid of Honor
LISA EBERSOLE (Amanda) is a writer and filmmaker who got her start producing plays at Paradise Factory. Lisa created the fertility comedy 37 Problems on Amazon and recently staged a reading of her ’90s nostalgia girls’ trip treasure hunt comedy Beach Week. Lisa currently lives in Venice Beach, California, where she founded Lisa Ebersole Coaching for screenwriters and filmmakers, and Rainbow Healing Studio for those looking to reconnect with their childhood sense of infinite possibility. She is a proud Board Member of the Shawn Regruto Cinematic Foundation.
Bronseman’s Monologue
from 3 Chickens Confront Existence
BILL SCHAUMBERG is a playwright and director. His play, 3 Chickens Confront Existence, premiered at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, playing a sold-out run and returned in the summer of 2025, followed by an encore performance at Underbelly Boulevard Theatre in London as part of its best-of-the-fringe series. Bill’s audio play, Mind Support, won the Critics Choice Award at the 2022 Atlanta Fringe Festival and was awarded Silver at the 2023 Signal Awards. His one-act monologue, Death of a Log, has been performed at The Triad Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade, and was published by Epiphany Literary Magazine.
DONTONIO DEMARCO (Bronseman) is a Brooklyn-based actor who studied at New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. His most recent credits include Cabin in the Woods on HBO Max, Evaders, a short film made in 2024, Feed The Beast, a new play about the Tuskegee syphilis experiments and Death of a Salesman, for which he won best supporting actor in Wilmington, North Carolina, 2025.
NATE NGUEPSI (Director) is a NYC-based film director whose artistic voice is deeply informed by his Cameroonian heritage and first-generation African American upbringing in St. Louis, Missouri. A graduate of Webster University’s acclaimed Film program, he’s directed several short films, including Lost Encounter, Fools & Gold, and crowdfunded Sophie, a Kickstarter Staff Pick. Through Sleeping Tiger Productions, Nate continues to develop compelling short-form narratives while working in sales, maintaining a sharp eye on human connection and storytelling. He’s currently building toward his goal of directing visually striking feature films that explore nuanced themes with emotional honesty and cinematic flair.
CEYDAN (DANY) SIBLINI (Stage Manager) has the pleasure of working between New York and Beirut, and, as a devotee of downtown theater, is delighted to be working on this production.
KARLI FISHER (Production Assistant) is a playwright, dramaturg, and musician from Houston, Texas.
This program was produced by Joan Mathieu, Ken Forman and Eric Maierson of Paradise Factory.
Special thanks to Chase McCloud, Joseph Carey, Nick Daly, Maria Waterman, Fiona Davis, Monique Vukovic, Rhonda Keyser and Denver Butson.
This season is dedicated to the founder and artistic director emeritus of Paradise Factory, Tom Noonan.
PARADISE FACTORY, a 501(c)(3) non-profit company, dedicated to discovering, nurturing and celebrating the voice of the individual. We seek to advance the performing arts by fostering emerging artists with a focus on theater as an incubator for the cinematic form. The artists we love tend to draw on their own lives for inspiration and approach each work as an act of self-discovery and actualization. This method leads to the creation of deeply personal art that inspires both artists and audience members to view themselves and the world from a new, more authentic perspective.
