FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Red Tape Theatre Announces Two New Ensemble Members
CHICAGO (September 22, 2012) – Red Tape Theatre announces two new ensemble members: Izumi Inaba and Johnard Washington. “One of the greatest joys of running a theatre company,” says Artistic Director James D Palmer “is having the resources to provide a home for artists. Izumi and Johnard are both artists who exemplify the core values of Red Tape and we are honored to have them with us.”
Izumi Inaba is very excited to be joining the Red Tape ensemble. She has designed costumes for Obscura, Tragedy: a tragedy, Elephant’s Graveyard, and The Skriker. Earlier this season she was invited to be invited to be Red Tape’s resident costume designer. Chicago credits include works with A Red Orchid, Porchlight, Chicago Shakespeare, Chicago Dramatists and About Face, Griffin, Steep, Building Stage, The Hypocrites, Side Show, Mary-Arrchie, etc. She is a recipient of Jeff Award 2011 for makeup design of Cats (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre). MFA in Stage Design, Northwestern University.
Johnard Washington has recently moved to Chicago by way of Houston, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Methodist University studying theatre. There, he was seen in a variety of roles: La Discreta Enamorada (Hernando); The Laramie Project (Greg Pierotti, et al.); Trouble in Mind (John Nevins); Our Lady of 121st Street (Flip Johnson); An Ideal Husband (Lord Goring) and many independent projects. Mr. Washington also worked closely with Kitchen Dog Theatre and the Orchestra of New Spain under the direction of Tina Parker, Gustavo Tambascio and Grover Wilkins III. In Chicago, Mr. Washington has worked primarily with Red Tape Theatre. He was Hungry Townsperson in Elephant’s Graveyard directed by James Palmer and now can be seen in Churchill’s The Skriker where he plays Yallery Brown directed by Eric Hoff. Mr. Washington is happy that Red Tape has been so welcoming to him and looks forward to growing as an artist doing cutting edge theatre.
The complete list of Red Tape ensemble members now also includes: Nicholas Combs, Carrie Drapac, Amanda Drinkall, Emily Guthrie, Alex Kyger, Kyle Land, Lona Livingston, Becky Mock, James D Palmer, Paige Sawin, Meghan Reardon, Myah Shein, and Mike Tepeli.
About Red Tape Theatre:
Red Tape Theatre Company, now in its ninth season, is committed to the creation of new and experimental work. Red Tape’s plays invite our audiences to reimagine their world. Red Tape’s work serves a vital purpose in our community: to arrest attention and create empathy. The ensemble collaborates with playwrights, musicians, dancers and visual artists on three annual productions. This work is supported by the Fresh Eyes Playwrights Workshop and the Chicago Fringe Artist Networking Night, both of which are produced annually. Red Tape is housed in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. The unique performance space is continually reinvented to enhance audience/artist relationship.
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