Director's Notes:
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is an iconic piece of American Theatre. The hardest part of directing this play is finding your own path. The same is true for the actors taking on these roles. To do either you have to dissect the play and the characters, finding the right balance between the various levels of the characters and the situations. Martha can't just be a shrieking harpy, and George can't merely be a devious manipulator. The play can't be a never-ending screaming match. Who would want to sit in a theatre for three hours watching that? Albee's writing is much more nuanced than that, and deserves the added effort needed to make the characters ring true and the situation believable.
We have consciously chosen to not copy the movie. They took many liberties with the script that we could not, and would not.
This amazing group of actors and I have tried to find our own path, to find the right balances and nuances to bring these characters to life; to make them more than one dimensional parodies of people.
We sincerely hope that you will enjoy our production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
- D. Keith Stiver
D. Keith Stiver (Director) holds a BFA in Musical Theatre performance, and two Master’s Degrees in music. While he often serves as Music Director of musicals for several regional theatres, Keith also enjoys directing. He is thrilled to be back at Twin Masks and to be working with such a wonderful cast. Outside of the theatre Keith is an adjunct instructor of music at Cuyahoga Community College, runs the Stiver Voice Studio (stivervoicestudio.com), and serves as co-music director at Lyndhurst Community of Faith Church. He is grateful for the love and support of his husband Marc and their two chihuahuas, Sebastian and Junior.
Vincent Sarowatz (George) - WAOVW marks Vince's 3rd show with TMPAC. Orphans in 2018 and most recently Lone Star in 2022 are at the top of the list of favorite shows. When he's not acting or working at Spotify as a software engineer, Vince enjoys traveling to new places and eating new food. He wants to thank John, most of all, for putting up with him during this show. Snap went the dragons!
Theresa Dean (Martha) - This is Theresa’s second time performing at TMPA, having previously appeared as "B" in Three Tall Women. She has been active in theatre for nearly 40 years, most recently as Betty in The Great American Trailer Park Musical (Stow Players), Mrs. Lovette in Sweeney Todd (Happy Endings Lyric Players), and Annie in Art of Murder (Chagrin Valley Little Theatre). Favorite past shows/rolls include Man of La Mancha (Aldonza), Into the Woods (The Witch), Legally Blond (Paulette), and The Three Penny Opera (Jenny). "To Keith, Claudia, Vince, Corey, and Jessie - Cheers, dears!"
Corey Thur (Nick) - Corey is excited to take the stage for the first time at TMPAC in a show where he gets free bourbon…just kidding! A few prior shows he has been involved with include Spring Awakening (Georg), Flames (Edmond), Fiddler on the Roof (Fyedka), and The Pirates of Penzance (The Pirate King). By day, he works as a Corporate Recruiter in Hudson. By night, he is either here at the theater, at home cooking, or spending time with his friends, his family, or his ferrets. His partner, Jordan, said he wanted to be mentioned in this bio, so in order to appease him, this is Corey mentioning him. In all seriousness though, Corey would like to thank Jordan for the constant support, and of course running lines with him so much that Jordan could probably step up and recite the show in its entirety. Enjoy the show!
Jessie Pollak (Honey)- Jessie is thrilled to be back on the Twin Masks stage! She recently received her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from John Carroll University, and works as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the Beachwood area. You may have recently seen Jessie as a Female Ensemble member in Kinky Boots at Weathervane Playhouse, Erin Andrews in this year’s Murder By The Falls: Murder, Center Stage at Chagrin Valley Little Theatre, and a cast member of Love, Loss, and What I Wore here at Twin Masks. Along with performing on the stage, Jessie has recently been getting into the directing scene, and most recently directed Seussical the Musical at Playmakers Youth Theatre. She would like to thank Keith and this stellar cast for their patience and the opportunity to work with all of you!