Matt Holzfeind

Elliot

Matt Holzfeind (Elliot) is happy to make his Theater Wit debut. Chicago credits include: the title role in BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON (Bailiwick Chicago), ENRON (TimeLine Theatre), PORGY AND BESS (Court Theatre), PETER PAN (A PLAY) (Lookingglass Theatre), THE HIDING PLACE (Provision Theater), HONUS AND ME (Chicago Children’s Theatre), ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST (Writers’ Theatre), THE THREE PENNY OPERA (The Hypocrites), and ROMEO & JULIET (T.U.T.A.). As well as: THE THREE FACES OF DR. CRIPPEN, and THE SPIRIT PLAY (both with The Strange Tree Group, where he is a ensemble member); and work with The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, and Victory Gardens theaters. Regional credits include: THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, TITUS ANDRONICUS and SCAPIN (Utah Shakespeare Festival). Film credits include: RETURN TO THE HIDING PLACE, and BLACK BOX. He is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Drama.

Kristina Valada-Viars

Molly

Kristina Valada-Viars (Molly) has appeared in Time Stands Still (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Jeff Nom),Olives and Blood (Neighborhood Productions@HERE), Pony (About Face), Monstrosity (13P), Love Drunk (Abingdon), August: Osage County (u/s Broadway), The Music Teacher (The New Group), This is Our Youth (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), 516 (NY Fringe). Film and Television: Molly’s Girl (Best Actress in a Feature, Iris Prize Film Festival), The Door in the Floor, BlackBox, Law & Order, CI; Animal Husbandry.

Rae Gray

Lauren/Katie/Nell

Rae Gray (Lauren/Katie/Nell) is totally stoked to make her Theater Wit debut. Most recently she performed in THE BOOK THIEF at Steppenwolf Theatre where she also appeared in WEDDING BAND. Other credits: CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION (Victory Gardens); SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (Ravinia Festival starring Patti LuPone and Audra McDonald); two seasons of A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Goodman Theatre); THE REAL THING (Writers’ Theatre); INHERIT THE WIND (Northlight Theatre); CROOKED (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble); JAILBAIT (Profiles Theatre); MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Drury Lane Oakbrook); OLIVER and STATE FAIR (Marriott Theatre); STATE FAIR and A CHRISTMAS STORY (Theatre at the Center); AH, WILDERNESS! (Eclipse Theatre); SUMMER PEOPLE (The Gift); THE CRUCIBLE and CRY OF PLAYERS (TimeLine Theatre). Regional credits: THE NORTH CHINA LOVER (Berkeley Rep.) and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Gateway Playhouse, NY). TV credits: NBC’S CHICAGO FIRE. Rae is a Rivendell Theatre ensemble member and a junior at the University of Chicago. http://raegray.tumblr.com/

Andrew Jessop

Don/Clark/Franklin

Andrew Jessop (Don/Clark/Franklin) received Jeff Award noms for his portrayals of Jeff in LOBBY HERO and Katurian in THE PILLOWMAN, both at Redtwist Theatre where he is the former Co-Artistic Director. Also at Redtwist, his directorial debut of MAN FROM NEBRASKA received the Jeff Award for Best Production in 2011. In April, Andrew will begin production on his first co-written screenplay, HOVERING. You can find more of Andrew’s past work at www.andrewjessop.com. Special thanks to Jeremy and the wonderful cast and crew at Theater Wit!

Jon Matteson

Understudy for Elliot, Don, Clark, Franklin

Jon Matteson (Understudy for Elliot, Don, Clark, Franklin) is thrilled to be involved in Completeness. This is his first production with Theatre Wit. Jon is a graduate from The University of Kansas and a proud Jayhawk. Jon is a company member with (re)discover theatre, which has finished their first season. Some of his recent credits with (re)discover include the title role in Hamlet and An Evening of Beckett. He can also be seen at The Annoyance and iO, where he has been playing with Fiction for the Poor for two years. Jon would like to thank his friends, his family, and Lily for being so supportive.

Alee Spadoni

Understudy for Molly, Lauren, Kate, Nell

Alee Spadoni (Understudy for Molly, Lauren, Kate, Nell) is excited to be in the company of such talented, … s Seascape at Oak Park Festival Theatre. UArts Alum. Special thanks to Erica Sartini, Laura Durham and Elana Boulos of Two Birds Casting, Paola, Marc, Janice, Quinn, Suzanne, Robert, Cast, Crew, Beautiful Friends and Family for all of the love and support.

Itamar Moses

Playwright

Itamar Moses (Playwright) is the author of the full-length plays OUTRAGE , BACH AT LEIPZIG, CELEBRITY ROW, THE FOUR OF US, YELLOWJACKETS, BACK BACK BACK, and COMPLETENESS, the musicals NOBODY LOVES YOU (with Gaby Alter), and FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE (with Michael Friedman and Daniel Aukin), and the evening of short plays LOVE/STORIES (OR BUT YOU WILL GET USED TO IT). His work has appeared Off-Broadway and elsewhere in New York, at regional theatres across the country and in Canada, and is published by Faber & Faber and Samuel French. He has received new play commissions from The McCarter Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Wilma Theater, South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, and The Goodman Theatre. On television, Itamar has written for both TNT’s MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE and HBO’s BOARDWALK EMPIRE. Itamar holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, MCC Playwrights Coalition, and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. He was born in Berkeley, CA and now lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Jeremy Wechsler

Director

Jeremy Wechsler (Director) is the artistic director of Theater Wit where he has directed TIGERS BE STILL (Kim Rosenstock), THIS (Melissa James Gibson), THE FOUR OF US (Itamar Moses), SPIN (Penny Penniston), FEYDEAU-SI-DEAU (Georges Feydeau), MEN OF STEEL (Qui Nguyen), THOM PAIN (BASED ON NOTHING) (Will Eno), TWO FOR THE SHOW (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and THE SANTALAND DIARIES (David Sedaris and Joe Mantello). He has directed over forty shows in the last fifteen years at various theaters, including: THE FLU SEASON (Will Eno), A TASTE OF HONEY (Shelagh Delaney – best show of 2007, The Wall Street Journal), THE PLAY ABOUT THE SQUIRREL (Mia McCullough), THE WHITE DEVIL (John Webster), THE REAL THING (Tom Stoppard), SZINHAZ (Itamar Moses), TITUS ANDRONICUS (Shakespeare), THE ROARING GIRL (Thomas Middleton), THIS IS THE RILL SPEAKING (Lanford Wilson), HAY FEVER (Noel Coward) NOW THEN AGAIN (Penny Penniston), A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY (Brian Friel), EUROPE (David Grieg), HENRY VI: BLOOD OF A NATION (Shakespeare), THE PROMISE (Jose Rivera), LIFE IS A DREAM (Calderon), THE PRISONER’S DILEMMA (David Edgar), CABARET (Masteroff/Kander/Ebb) and THE THREEPENNY OPERA (Brecht/Weill). He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres. His productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work.

Joe Schermoly

Scenic Design

Joe Schermoly (Set Design) is a set designer, technical director and painter around town. His design work has been seen at Griffin Theatre (PUNK ROCK, NO MORE DEAD DOGS, PORT, CONSTANT WIFE), Strawdog Theatre (DUCHESS OF MALFI, MASTER AND MARGARITA, RICHARD III), Lifeline Theatre (THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, THE CITY & THE CITY), Sideshow Theatre (IDOMENEUS, THE UGLY ONE) Eclipse (BEYOND THE HORIZON, THE TRESTLE AT POPE LICK CREEK) and more. He has also designed and built shows in London for The Finborough, Bush and Gate theatres among others. Joe studied set design at Northwestern University, is a proud Griffin Theatre company member and is the Technical Director at Lifeline Theatre. See more of his work at www.joeschermoly.com

Michael Rourke

Lighting Design

Michael Rourke (Lighting Design) is pleased to return to Theatre Wit where he previously designed Now. Then. Again. (in, ironically, the ‘same’ space which is now completely different!). He has designed the lighting for over 100 productions in the Chicago area and has received a Jeff Award for Kabuki Lady Macbeth (on his third nomination), a Jeff Citation (Now. Then. Again.), an After Dark Award (M. Butterfly), and a Dean Goodman Drama Logue Award (Michael, Margaret, Pat & Kate). Over the past thirty years, he has designed over 300 productions in the U.S. and the U.K. He and his wife, Barbara Reeder (also a Lighting Designer), base their design & consulting company – Reeder & Rourke Lighting Design Unlimited, Inc. – in Chicago. Mr. Rourke is an adjunct faculty member of The Theatre School at DePaul University and has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Virginia.

Janice Pytel

Costume Design

Janice Pytel (Costume Designer) Recent Chicago credits include Concerning Strange Devices from the Distant West (currently running at Timeline Theatre); Crooked and Falling A: Wake (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble); Disgraced (American Theatre Company); The Caretaker, The Detective’s Wife; A Streetcar Named Desire; and Picnic (Writers’ Theatre); Spunk (Court Theatre); Middletown (Steppenwolf); and Festen (Steep Theatre), The Long Red Road (Goodman Theater). Broadway: 33 Variations; I Am My Own Wife. Regionally she has worked with Alley Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Centerstage, Kansas City Rep., Arena Stage, La Jolla Playhouse, Center Theatre Group, Madison Rep., and Geffen Playhouse. Feature film: Mariachi Gringo (Speak Productions). Multi Media: Catherine Sullivan’s Triangle of Need (Walker Art Center, Metro Pictures Gallery). Janice is a member of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. Her online portfolio can be found at www.janicepytel.com.

Michael Stanfill

Video Design

Michael Stanfill (Video Design) is originally from the Pacific Northwest, and moved to Chicago to attend Graduate School at Northwestern University where he earned an MFA in Lighting Design. After years designing for dance, theater, and the occasional roller derby bout, he began integrating Projections and Video into his Lighting Designs. He now freelances in the region as both a Lighting and Projection/Video designer. Recent projection projects include Sunset Blvd. and Children of Eden (Timberlake Playhouse), The State(s) of America: the Regina Taylor Project (Northwestern University), The Gingerbread House (Red Tape), The Life and Times of Tulsa Lovechild (Roosevelt University), The Promise, Enola (Side Project), Pool (no water) (Vitalist), Assassins (Chicago Humanities).

Karen LaCoursiere

Properties Design

Karen LaCoursiere (Properties Design) began her love of design at an early age when she realized she liked things around her to look organized and pretty. After graduating from Illinois Institute of Art Schaumburg with her Bachelors in Interior Design she worked at Steppenwolf Theatre in the Properties Department. This fueled her love of theatre and satisfied her need to organize and make things look pretty. It was a win - win. Karen has lived overseas in Hong Kong, loves to travel, sail, do yoga and has two dogs (and a husband).

Joseph Fosco

Original Music, Sound Design

Joseph Fosco (Original Music, Sound Design) is a Chicago based composer and sound designer. He has been nominated for a New York Drama Desk award, and 9 Jeff awards. He has received 3 Jeff Awards, 2 After Dark awards and an Orgie Theatre Award. Joseph is a company member of A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago. He has also designed shows at The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, The Museum Of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Northlight Theatre, Marriott’s Theatre in Lincolnshire, Noble Fool Theatricals/Fox Valley Rep., Theater Wit, Porchlight Theatre and many others. Regionally he has composed music and designed sound at Barrow Street Theatre (NY), 29th Street Rep. (NY) and theatres in Seattle, Madison, and Milwaukee. In England Joseph has designed in London, Edinburgh, Brighton, and Manchester. Joseph has composed music for film, video, multimedia, and dance. Visit www.josephfosco.com for more information.

Sarah Luse

Stage Manager

Sarah Luse (Stage Manager) is extremely excited to be working with Theater Wit for the first time. Some of her favorite Chicago credits include THE RUBY SUNRISE, W;T, LONESOME WEST, and NIGHT AND HER STARS (The Gift), BONHOEFFER’S COST (Provision), CORONADO (Steep), and HEY! MR. SPACEMAN! (Strange Tree). Along with stage managing Sarah also does production management. Some of those credits include SPIRIT PLAY and GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD (Strange Tree) and A DOLL’S HOUSE and THE GRAPES OF WRATH (Infamous Commonwealth). Sarah is an artistic associate of The Strange Tree Group.

Jarrod Bainter

Production Manager

Jarrod Bainter (Production Manager) is a Lighting Designer and Technical Director from the central Illinois area. He is very proud to be Production Managing Completeness, his first project with Theater Wit. He is also a company member at Red Tape Theatre and The Fine Print Theatre. In addition he will be continuing in residence artistry at Chicago Dramatists Theater and Adventure Stage Chicago.

Majel Cuza

Assistant Director

Majel Cuza (Assistant Director) loves working at Theater Wit and is honored to assisting Jeremy in this production. Majel has directed, production managed, and stage managed with many Chicago companies including Red Tape Theater, InFusion Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Soul Theater, Stage Left Theatre, Rivendell Theater Ensemble, Rubicon Theatre Project, Infamous Commonwealth Theatre and Halcyon Theatre. Majel has also worked in film, most recently producing and directing short films, BOXES and DISOWNED AND DISPOSSESSED.

Katie Adams

Assistant Stage Manager

Katie Adams (Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to be working with Theater Wit for the first time. Previously she has stage managed for Chicago theatre companies including The House Theatre of Chicago, Lifeline Theatre, Steep Theatre Company, and Prologue Theatre Co. Katie is an alumna of Northwestern University.

Highly recommended! A knockout Chicago premiere. Perfect!

Moses possesses a unique gift for blending the exceedingly brainy with the knowingly sexy and neurotically chaotic. He thrives on complexity, but he also knows that if you are going to have scenes filled with substantive talk about molecular biology, algorithms and the Traveling Salesman Problem (a matter crucial to theoretical computer science), you also had better have some attractive people taking their clothes off and at least trying to get into bed with each other.

That’s the all but unbeatable combination Moses finesses with such dexterity and comic self-awareness in “Completeness,” arguably his best play to date. First produced in 2011 at California’s South Coast Repertory, it is now receiving a knockout Chicago premiere at Theater Wit, with whip-smart direction by Jeremy Wechsler, exceptionally sophisticated performances by an ideal cast of four, and visual design that is a perfect complement for its intimacy-meets-hi-tech world view.

Moses’ scenes, spot-on in the way they capture insecurity, desire, the excitement of connection and the terror of what happens next, are beautifully rendered by Holzfeind and Valada-Viars. They clearly are exceptionally smart (you can’t fake this dialogue), and they have one of the best sex scenes you’ll see on any stage.

Gray, a “real-life” junior at the University of Chicago, is a proven talent, with a delicious mix of guilelessness and shrewdness, and she is perfection in several roles. Jessop also plays multiple roles, wide-ranging in age, and does so with panache.

Joe Schermoly’s sleekly modern cabinet set, combined with Michael Stanfill’s video design and Michael Rourke’s lighting, contains its own rich set of variable possibilities. ‘Completeness’ is the real deal.

— Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

★★★★ If you don’t find math and science sexy, Completeness might change your mind.

Moses has found a terrific analogy, even if he does pound the nail hard: “Is there really a way to know up front for sure?” Molly asks Elliott about the viability of her data but, just as surely, about the viability of their new relationship. There isn’t, of course. Theories can only be tested, never proven, and as Elliott demonstrates via a famously unsolvable math problem, the number of paths they could take is exponentially too large to count. (Rae Gray and Andrew Jessop nicely embody a number of other fish in the sea.) Jeremy Wechsler’s smart, handsome staging, with a sleek set by Joe Schermoly and video design by Michael Stanfill that each hold a number of surprises, rides the line between sensual and cerebral. Meanwhile, the charismatic Holzfeind and Valada-Viars parlay higher math and genome mapping into persuasive pillow talk, demonstrating proficiency in yet another scientific discipline: chemistry.

— Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago

★★★ Very enjoyable! Celebrates the seductive power of smarts!

Itamar Moses’ very enjoyable new play “Completeness” might just be the only tolerable kind of rom-com: one that celebrates the seductive power of smarts. “Completeness” has a lot to enjoy. At Theater Wit, there long has been a love of sexy plays about math, comedies probing the meeting point of romance and logic, and, in this most recent case, a play that ponders whether a computer scientist can submit himself to biological imperatives (yeast cultures, you might say) long enough to bed a cute biologist, not to mention whether the cute biologist in question can apply enough mathematical logic to make the relationship functional, in the binary sense. Moses knows these kinds of characters well and his play is on the best footing when it stays with a core couple. Valada-Viars is so relentlessly intense, she single-handedly holds your interest. The show also has the benefit of a very zesty high-tech set from Joe Schermoly that represents the hearts of the geeks with a series of graphic images on the walls of their studies/boudoirs. It’s a clever way to look at a couple who cannot separate their personal lives from their research. And, these days, who can?

— Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

★★★½ Engrossing and captivating!

Moses has written a refreshingly original, contemporary and non-negotiable take on a very old subject. Breaking the science/sex barrier is a lot trickier than overcoming the brain/blood one. Wechsler’s consummate cast superbly negotiates Moses’ custody battle over ideas and intimacy. Geekily gesticulating in flights of rigorous analysis, Holzfeind manages to be forensically eloquent and emotionally clueless at the same wonderful time. Valada-Viars’ achingly questioning Molly is a marvel, so perceptive in one realm and obtuse in another.

The title notwithstanding, it’s their incompleteness that wins us over. By play’s end, their willingness to accept uncertainty in life’s most important transformation amounts to a victory for the species. Sometimes you just “go with the flow.” Don’t worry about unrepeatable outcomes. Imprecisely phrased but painfully palpable, life is short and love is shorter.

— Lawrence Bommer, Stage and Cinema

Recommended! Sweet and universal!

Itamar Moses avoids tired stereotypes and offers some new insight on love and connection; his fully fleshed-out characters bring home the difficulties in store as people who live in their heads act with their hearts.

Eliott (Matt Holzfeind) is a computer-science grad student vying for the attention of Molly (Kristina Valada-Viars), a biology grad student in search of help organizing her research. Interdepartmental cooperation leads to sex, which leads to love, which leads to the bittersweet confusion about “the future” that Moses’ script nails.

Holzfeind and Valada-Viars accurately portray lovelorn twenty-somethings trying to negotiate the frontiers of love, making two mistakes for every one they desperately try to avoid. Their vulnerability is sweet and universal; audience members shifted uncomfortably during the heart-wrenching monologues in which both characters own up to their errors. We’ve all made those amorous missteps; kudos to Moses for dramatizing them so poignantly.

— Lisa Buscani, New City

★★★½ Utterly compelling! Pointed and funny.

Theater Wit’s Midwest debut of Itamar Moses’ Completeness (same playwright of another Theatre Wit darling, The Four of Us, also directed by Wechsler and proving the two make a formidable team) is a true thinking nerd’s romantic comedy. Put a bunch of TED Talks in a room with a sophisticated look at love in the 21st century, and you might get an idea of how this production came to be. Fearless in both its willingness to be unapologetically high-minded and an unblinking look into the harsh truths of romance, Completeness has many pointed, frequently funny things to say about how Gen Xers and Millennials are coping with the fallout of the failures of 20th century ideals while wading into their own uncharted terrain.

Both actors deserve extra credit on their exam for being able to riff on the complex dialogue without missing a beat. Thanks to the brisk pacing of director Jeremy Wechsler, the action never drags — the two hour fifteen run time virtually zips by as you become absorbed in the lives of these relatable, flawed characters hiding behind the esoteric to prevent potential pain.

And what dialogue it is. Not just showy for its own sake, the metaphor at the core of Completeness is utterly compelling: that as we increase the complexity of our lives and become the first generation to be raised not seeking but filtering information, we also become trapped in the ‘analysis paralysis’ that too many solutions offer. Like a trebuchet of truth, Completeness lobs insights that land with audible heaviness into the audience. It’s not for the faint of mind or heart. Exploring the perils of overthinking in matters of the heart (emotions most likely evolved to help us see through logic, not be slaves to it), Moses has composed an often brilliant synthesis of a show that breaks with many traditional romantic comedy tropes.

— Clint May, Chicago Theatre Beat

Critic’s Choice! Amazing! Enrapturing.

Everyone is talking about their feelings in this very intense yet somehow disconnected and apathetic way and I couldn’t help but think: damn, this is exactly how my friends think about love. The characters in Completeness sometimes have these really big chunks of dialogue about Traveling Salesmen, heartache, love, mice, and feelings. Usually in a show the audience is all like, “oh long dialogue chunk, #bored” but these characters are psychoanalyzing their problems in this really enrapturing and real-time way. These dialogue exchanges show that Moses has a real understanding of making a moment, which is all we really want from a good show.

…And that’s where Completeness hit me the most; the show says things people are thinking but don’t necessarily want/know how to verbalize. Through the show, we realize that we talk about things in metaphors and that is both interesting and sad and well, complicated. We feel all the feelings and package them in metaphors. This is what Completeness gives us: a better understanding of our own metaphors.

— Tyler Gillespie, Gapers Block

A must see! Wechsler’s winning production makes for a gripping spectacle.

In Jeremy Wechsler’s winning production, the tug of war between heart and head makes for a gripping spectacle. As might be expected in a play about a computer scientist and molecular biologist, Moses’ script is a dense and heavy affair. A weaker production could easily collapse under its weight. Happily, Holzfeind and Valada-Viars are both charming and adept performers, making Elliot and Molly into three-dimensional, flesh-bound humans, rather than the talking heads that they could so easily become. You like them, occasionally you loathe them (but never for too long) and you want for them to find happiness. Amidst the ever-increasing science jargon, they never allow the show to become about anything other than heart.

However, the most thrilling aspect of Wechsler’s production is its bold design. Starting with a set by Joe Schermoly that looks like the Apple store of the future and sets a stark, antiseptic tone, Wechsler then explodes that sterility in his transitions. Utilizing video (by Michael Stanfill) and tracks of running lights (by Michael Rourke) all accompanied by an original score (Joe Fosco), Wechsler is able to create a key sense of narrative propulsion.

— Centerstage Chicago