What Antora’s been up to…

Spring 2022: Wow! It’s so strange that Antora didn’t have any performance-related news for two years…what possibly could have occurred across the entire globe during that period?? Anyway, during the lockdown period Antora moved back to Chicago. She misses Austin (especially during Chicago winters!) but she’s happy to be back in the midwest. This spring, Antora returned to her home base and assistant taught a middle school improv and scene study class at Piven Theatre Workshop. It was so meaningful to help guide young theatre artists to connect and play together, especially when many of them had experienced isolation throughout the pandemic.

March 2020: Antora already misses her good friday castmates and production team, and is feeling the confusing and scary whirlwind of changes brought on with the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s been lucky to be part of two productions in Austin that were recorded and preserved online – watching them has made her feel close to her theatre community during this time of social distancing! You can check out Cyrano de Bergerac with The Archive Theatre here and good friday with New Manifest Theatre Company here.

March 2020: New Manifest Theatre Company has released a podcast, and Antora had the opportunity to participate with some of her good friday cast members. You can hear her episode here.

March 2020: The Austin Chronicle review for good friday is out, and specifically mentions the stellar cast for this thought provoking, important piece of theatre.

February 2020: Check it out – the trailer for good friday has been released. Can’t wait to share this work with the wider community!

January – February 2020: Antora is hard at work rehearsing her next project in Austin: The Texas Premiere of good friday by Kristiana Rae Colón with New Manifest Theatre Company. She is honored and thrilled to be part of this all femme team.

November – December 2019: Frankenstein is open, and the reviews are in! The Austin Chronicle loves the show and makes particular mention of the pride that the full ensemble takes in the final production.

November 2019: Antora’s next show in Austin is coming up fast! She’s set to appear as various characters, including a young peasant girl named Agatha, in Frankenstein with Different Stages Theatre.

September 2019: Check it out! Antora wasn’t the only one who loved Cyrano. Reviews from Austin Chronicle, CTX Live Theatre, and Broadway World Austin were all overwhelmingly positive!

September – October 2019: For her first full production in Austin, Antora had an amazing time playing various roles in Cyrano de Bergerac. She was particularly fond of playing Sister Marthe, a young nun with a playful friendship with Cyrano in Act V. She could not have dreamed of a better introduction to the theatre scene than this warm and wonderful cast!

July 2019: Antora is thrilled to announce that she’s been cast in her first show in Austin: a brand new translation of Cyrano de Bergerac with brand new company The Archive Theater. Rehearsals start at the end of the month!

January 2019: Antora is starting to dip her toes in to the Austin theatre and improv scene. She’s working through the improv sequence at ColdTowne Theater (and loving it!). She’s also enjoying seeing theater and starting to audition in her new city.

September 2018: Making big moves! Antora is excited to announce that she is relocating to Austin, Texas for the foreseeable future. She’ll miss her community in Chicago-and especially her co-workers and “Piven family” at Piven Theatre Workshop-but she can’t wait to explore the vibrant performance art and theatre scene in her new city!

6/25-6/26: For the several months, Antora has been training with the inimitable Scott Shallenbarger and a crew of unbelievably talented improvisers to learn about Playback Theatre, all leading up to this culminating performance at her artistic home, Piven Theatre Workshop. Playback  bases its material on the stories of the community, inviting audience members to share true stories from their lives, cast the major players from the team of improvisers, and then see the ensemble immediately theatricalize and perform the stories back to them. Antora has never been part of such a powerful, moving improvisation process!

4/27-6/10/2018: Puppets and Greek Tragedy–Prometheus Bound at City Lit Theater is right up Antora’s alley. She’ll be operating puppets ranging from the larger-than-life Hephaestus to a smaller rod puppet Hermes throughout the run of this brand new translation from acclaimed classics scholar and translator Nicholas Rudall.

3/23/2018: Another round of Tater Tot Theatre, the class Antora teaches for 5 through 7-year-olds has closed successfully! This session, Antora wrote and directed a new adaptation of the Russian fairy tail “The Giant Turnip” for her class of fabulous Tots. They did an amazing job at their final “performance” for family and friends and she couldn’t be prouder!

2/23-3/5/2018: New works in the new year: Antora is excited to dive into another devising process, this time with Blue Goose Theatre Ensemble in their world premier Sweet Sixteen Extravaganza!!! Antora will be playing the role of Harmony, a former child beauty pageant queen struggling with life in and out of the spotlight as she approaches her sixteenth birthday party.

12/15-12/17/2017: An evening of story, song, and spectacle! Antora had an amazing time collaborating with director and designer Mikalina Rabinsky and singer Susan Payne-O’Brien to present Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas as part of The Distant Flight of Birds, an evening curated by Sarah Bendix. Antora puppeteered and collaborated on the movement design of this gorgeous piece! Kyle Mathews captured some beautiful images of the performance, as well.

11/11/2017: Science fiction?! Theatre?! Together?!! Antora is excited to join Otherworld Theatre Company for Paragon, a Science Fiction and Fantasy Play Festival. She looks forward to performing in Human Touch, the short play which will kick off the full festival at 11am on November 11th!

10/28-11/18/2017: Antora is performing with her long-time improv team, Full Body Whisper, in Piven Theatre Workshop’s annual Story & Sketch Series. With a new name and headliners Forte performing an early show every Saturday, this year’s series promises to be the most fun yet!

10/20-10/28/2017: New work/workshop alert! Along with a wonderful group of collaborators lead by Scott Dare and Michele Stine, Antora has been devising a movement-based piece called Getting Old Sux. The 15-minute piece is being presented as part of the Danztheatre Playwright Festival.

8/5/2017: Come to the beach for a C(re)ation Night with (re)discover theatre! Antora and Kelly Nesheim will bring their popular Mustacioed Men out for some fun in the sun as part of this casual evening to celebrate summer’s guilty pleasures. Antora will also perform in a fun dance piece choreographed by Claire Bauman.

7/31-8/1/2017: What a rewarding, fantastic experience to bring Red, White, & Unblemished: An Iphigenia Workshop to the stage. Antora would like to express her gratitude to collaborators Kaitlin Gilgenbach and Molly Donahue, to the unbelievably talented cast, and to Piven Theatre Workshop’s Women’s Voices Project for giving the piece a first public performance. Next up: Molly, Kaitlin, and Antora reflect upon the feedback they got regarding the development of the piece and decide how to continue bringing this story to life!

July 2017: Rehearsals have officially begun for Antora’s collaboration with Kaitlin Gilgenbach and Molly Donahue: Red, White, & Unblemished: An Iphigenia Workshop. Antora couldn’t be more excited about the fantastic cast and killer creative team working on this brand new adaptation.

6/29-7/2/2017: Antora performs in another new work through Piven’s Lab Season. Under the direction of Piven Theatre Workshop legend Susan Applebaum, Antora has been participating in devising workshops and story rehearsals on and off for the past six months, and these efforts have more than paid off with a weekend of sold-out performances of Wise Women and Witches! The show blends Piven’s signature Story Theatre form with scenes, fairy tales, and personal narratives to explore many of the defining moments of transition that women face over the course of their lives.

6/11 & 6/14/2017: Joyce Piven is in town! Antora will be participating in a Story Theatre style reading of Chekhov’s short story The Darling under Joyce’s direction.

5/22/2017: New Work! First Read Through! For several months, Antora has been plotting with collaborators Molly Donahue (director) and Kait Gilgenbach (playwright) to create an updated adaptation of Iphigenia in Aulis. An invited crew of artists gathered to read the first draft of the script, which brings Euripides’ classic story of familial betrayal and sacrifice and places it in a 21st century race for political power. The show will have particular focus on our version of the Greek chorus–a highly physical core of performers who will represent the  living internet. A chorus of four to six women will build a personified internet, using movement to show the rush of information and the pressure of a constant, vocal audience. Antora will be the movement director for the project, which will have a workshop performance as part of the Lab@Piven at the end of July!

5/15/2017: Antora is on set. She had a great time filming the horror short The Burrow with Hustle & Grit Productions. Stay tuned for updates on this project!

4/1-4/15/2017: Improv Season again! Antora performed with two ensembles throughout the run of Piven Theatre Workshop’s 3rd Annual Improv Series. She joined long-time team Full Body Whisper, and the newly formed women-only team Pirate Cowboys Astronauts Dinosaurs. As always, it was a great time playing on the Piven stage.

3/12/2017: More new works in Chicago. Antora read several parts in a staged reading/benefit performance of a new screenplay, Waiting, by Colleen Griffen and Stephanie Gruber Nelson. The performance featured a number of actresses from Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and Chicago Med, and proceeds from the benefit supported Piven Theatre Workshop’s Piven Prison Program as well as upcoming outreach initiatives with the Evanston YWCA’s services for victims of domestic abuse.

3/10/2017: Antora put on her teaching artist cap again. Through the City of Evanston and Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, Antora had the privilege to teach 16 students between 5-7 years old in the Tater Tot Theatre program, which culminated in a performance for parents, family, and friends. Antora couldn’t be prouder of her teaching team and wonderful students!.

2/11/2017: MixTape is in the air again. Antora had a great time performing in a piece by Claire Bauman and Caroline Sarles in Od Theatre’s annual Valentine’s day MixTape, Deal with the Feels ❤. She also played a puckish cupid throughout the night!

1/29/2017: Antora was delighted to perform in a staged reading through the Lab@Piven of a new, story theatre-style adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, adapted and directed by Stephen Fedo. Antora had a wonderful time playing the characters of Prue, Nancy, and Cam and working with an incredibly talented cast. She always loves performing on the Piven Theatre Workshop stage!

12/16/2016: Holiday MixTape time! Audiences were delighted by another performance by the Mustache Men (Antora and frequent collaborator Kelly Nesheim), this time taking a humorous (and acrobatic) look at how these two characters prepare for Santa Claus to visit.

November/December 2016: New work, huzzah! Antora has been collaborating with playwright Kait Gilgenbach, director JD Caudill, and an amazing ensemble of actors to workshop a new script. More news on this one soon.

10/28/2016: Antora closed out October by diving back into  Theatre for Young Audiences by directing The Little Red Hen: Part Two through Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre. Antora also flexed her teaching artist muscles, working with an AMAZING cast of five- through seven-year-olds.  She was so proud of the  work that her students did, and family and friends were blown away by how great their kids did in the final performance.

10/16/2016: Antora was thrilled to perform Cabin in the Snow with the Puppet Wonder Wagon, a portable puppet stage created in collaboration with Links Hall and Nasty Brutish and Short. Antora had a great time revisiting this piece in various locations around Chicago!  Shout out to Evan Barr Photography for capturing some beautiful images of the shows and the interactive puppet playtime afterwards!

10/7/2016: It’s MixTape time again. Antora and dance partner Claire Bauman were invited to perform in Od Theatre’s MixTape: Greatest Hits performance with their piece Comptine D’un Autre. MixTape is one of Antora’s favorite Chicago Theatre traditions, and she couldn’t be happier about being asked to perform in the greatest hits show!

Summer 2016: Antora makes her directorial debut! Throughout the summer, Antora will be directing free-to-the-public theatre for young audiences pieces through Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre.  These “Pop-Up Theatre” shows will be throughout the city of Evanston. Follow Fleetwood-Jourdain on Facebook to see where we’ll pop up next!

6/17/2016: After workshopping and devising over the past months, Peter and Wolf with Od Theatre had its phase one performance! Antora had an amazing time working with the talented ensemble and creative team to bring this feminist re-imagining to life.  With lots of music and a wide physical vocabulary, this was exactly the kind of work that Antora loves to dive into!

4/16/2016: Dead Man Walking at Piven Theatre Workshop is open!  At the Opening Night Reception, Antora was honored to meet Sister Helen Prejean.  Sister Helen wrote the inspiring book the play is based on, which details her journey through the criminal justice system as a spiritual adviser to death row inmates.  Antora is understudying the role of Hope in this moving and thought-provoking play, which runs through May 15.  Buy tickets and read more about Piven Theatre’s community outreach in tandem with the production here.

4/10/2016:  The Mustachioed Men are coming back!  Antora and collaborator Kelly Nesheim will once again perform their acrobalance act, this time for Heels Over Head, a monthly variety show featuring physical performance at the Mission Theater at iO Improv Theater.  The show is Tuesday, April 12 at 8pm. More details and ticket information here!

2/29/2016: Antora sat in on the first table read for Dead Man Walking at Piven Theatre Workshop.  She’s so excited to be understudying the role of Hope for this production, which is the capstone event for the months-long Quality of Mercy Project spearheaded by the theatre.  Learn more and join the nation-wide conversation about the death penalty and our criminal justice system here.

2/12/2016: What a thrilling Valentine’s day weekend!  Antora performed on Friday and Saturday in another round MixTape with Odradek Theatre company, this time with a Valentine’s day theme.  Antora reunited with frequent collaborator Kelly Nesheim to create an acrobalance piece for MixTape: Deal With the Feels celebrating the strength of friendship and taking a look at how sometimes we need to carry each other (literally).  Antora also performed in the opening night of Anytime/Anywhere: The 2nd Annual Piven Improv Series on February 13th.  Antora will perform throughout the series with two groups: Please Don’t Kiss Me and Anonymous.  Antora’s main arts administration job is managing the School wing of Piven Theatre Workshop, and she always has a blast getting to perform on the Piven stage!

12/12/2015: Antora had the pleasure to join in on one of her favorite Chicago theatre traditions: MixTape with Odradek Theatre Company.  MixTape is a recurring variety hour of theatrical and dance performances set to music, choreographed and performed by members of the Chicago independent theatre and performance communities. The result is a collaborative mixtape of “Live Music Videos” set around a single theme.  The theme this time around was The Old Country, and Antora had a blast busting out her slippers for a short Nutcracker-themed ballet piece with Claire Bauman as well as portraying a bumbling fairy godmother in a piece directed by Kelly Nesheim.  Learn more about Odradek and MixTape here.

11/30/2015: The White Dove workshop with Joyce Piven culminated in an open performance for the wider community.  Antora had a fantastic time training under Joyce Piven while exploring the art of Story Theatre adaptations.

11/13/2015: Antora is thrilled to announce that she has joined the ensemble for (re)discover theatre.  Learn more about the company and its work here!

10/19/2015: Antora has begun workshop rehearsals for The White Dove at the Lab @ Piven.  Through several weeks of workshops, Piven Theatre Workshop founder and Artistic Director Emeritus Joyce Piven hopes to explore the Story Theatre form using this Brothers Grimm fairy tale as a point of inspiration. She is joined by instructor Susan Applebaum, who is exploring the myth of Icarus with her ensemble.

10/18/2015: Antora has successfully closed Farewell My Friend: The Romance of Romeo & Juliet with (re)discover theater.  Antora performed in the ensemble of the show and was Juliet’s understudy.  Antora performed the role of Juliet at several previews as well as one performance during the run of the show.