THE
ARTISTS
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THE COMPANY
Brad McEntire: Acting Artistic Director/ Company
Member
Ruth Engel: Acting Managing Director/ Company Member
Jeff Swearingen: Company Member
Oscar Contreras: Company Member
Jeff Hernandez: Company Member
Rhianna Mack: Company Member
Love of the Art: Company Member
Matt Lyle
Brad
McEntire
Brad
works as a playwright, director, performer and improviser. He is the
founder of Audacity Theatre Lab and its predecessor Audacity
Productions (1999-2006). Many of his plays
were developed originally with Audacity and have gone on to productions
around the USA and Asia. His first collection of plays has been published
under the title Two
Plays (And Some Sketches) By Brad McEntire. He was an original
member of the DFW Playwrights' Alliance, a current member of UNIMA-USA,
the Applied Improvisation Network, a member of The Playwrights Center
of Minneapolis and a former company member with Dallas' innovative Our
Endeavors Theater Collective. He is an alumnus of Directors Lab
West (2004) and the Chicago Directors Lab (2009). Brad performs as one
half of the improv duo FUN GRIP
and is one of a handful of pioneering performers in the sub-arcana of
solo improvisation (there are only maybe half a dozen or so practitioners
in the United States). He is the creator of the original solo improvisational
story format Dribble Funk,
a hybrid creation at the crossroads of longform improv, traditional
theatre and storytelling. He has blogged since the year 2000 and maintains
the arts-and-adventures-oriented blog The
Theatre, Thoughts and Travels of B. McEntire. In May of 2010 he
launched a webcomic called DONNIE
ROCKET TOASTER-FACE, which is updated monthly. Brad is also a semi-regular
contributor to TheaterJones.com.
As an actor he has appeared on stages in New York, Dallas, London and
Hong Kong and on the screen in national commercials for FedEx, SuperPages,
JC Penney, First Choice Energy and Piccadily Restaurants. Brad is represented
by the Mary Collins
Agency. Brad currently teaches Film and Theatre Appreciation at
Tarrant County College. He likes cigars and books-on-tape. For more
information, visit his website at: BradMcEntire.com
Ruth
Engel
Ruth
is a director and theatre maker. Over the last few years she has performed
and directed both at home here in the United States and internationally.
Her directed works for Audacity have included GRADING ON A CURVE, PENS
& STRINGS, ANGEL IN THE BARN and VOLUME OF SMOKE. She holds a Masters
degree in both English Literature from Andrews University in Michigan
and in Directing from Texas Woman's University in Denton, TX. She currently
serves as a Development Assistant at Undermain Theatre, an on-again-off-again
part-time teaching artist for Junior Players and teaches English at
Tarrant County College. She likes to travel, watch hulu.com and sew
things. Also, if you are with her and you pass a dog, she will ALWAYS
stop and pet it, usually while making cooing sounds. More information
about Ruth and her artisic endeavors can be found at her website: RuthEngel.net
Jeff
Swearingen
Swearingen
works primarily as an actor for stage and screen, an improviser and
an arts educator. He has performed in many Audacity plays including
THE LAST CASTRATO, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL LULLABY YOU'VE EVER HEARD, MILKY
WAY CABARET, and as Blork in the World Premiere of Matt Lyle's HELLO
HUMAN FEMALE. He has performed with many theatres around the DFW area
including Bootstraps Comedy theatre (THE BOXER), Theatre Three (TRYSTS
IN TOLEDO), Wingspan Theatre (THE GNÄDIGES FRÄULEIN), Dallas Hub Theatre
(title role in HAMLET), Plano Rep (STAGEDOOR CANTEEN), Theatre Quorum
(DEALER's CHOICE), Dallas Childrens Theatre (title role in THE STINKY
CHEESE MAN - National Tour) among others. He has appeared in national
commercials for Taco Bueno as well as the independent feature films
A SAVIOR RED and
AMERICAN CLICHE. Jeff has performed improv comedy in Dallas, Austin,
New Orleans, Atlanta, New York and Hong Kong. He currently performs
with the THE VICTIMS and as part of the comedy duo FUN
GRIP. For the last decade he has taught, written, directed and performed
for youth at the Plano
Children's Theatre. He leads his own youth-oriented educational
theatre group called Fun house Theatre & Film. Jeff has an unwieldy
addiction to cigarettes and Red Bull. He is represented by The
Mary Collins Agency.
Oscar
Contreras
Oscar
is originally from San Luis Potosi, Mexico and grew up in the Dallas/Fort
Worth area. Mr. Contreras has been working consistently in various areas
of the theatre and entertainment industries. He has developed many theatrical
productions around town including the theatrical productions of PICO
DE GALLO by Martice Enterprises, JOURNEY OF RHYTHM by Fine Arts Chamber
Players, LAS MUJERES DE JUAREZ by Momentum Productions and most recently
THE 8: REINDEER MONOLOGUES by Tumorboy Productions. Oscars most recent
on-camera credits include CHASE Banking, W. Hotels, The
Beacon, R U Invited and multiple national commercials, industrials
and Voice Overs. His ATL credits include VOLUME OF SMOKE, I HAVE ANGERED
A GREAT GOD, ANGEL IN THE BARN and PENS AND STRINGS. Oscar frequently
falls asleep at movies and owns an embroidered Liza Minnelli pillow.
Mr. Contreras is currently represented by the Mary
Collins Agency.
Jeff
Hernandez
Jeff
is a performer, painter and sometimes-playwright. He is the author of
several sketches and plays, most notably the performance piece MAP OF
WOE, his own adaptation of BABE THE SHEEP PIG for Plano
Childrens Theatre and his contribution to ATL's EYE
IN THE SKY PROJECT. Mr. Hernandez holds a BFA in Fine Arts from
Southern Methodist University, where he was recipient of the Dan Wingren
Award for Artistic Endeavor. Recently he directed ARSENIC AND ROSES
for Audacity Theatre Lab at the 2009 Festival of Independent Theatres
and co-wrote PENS & STRINGS which Audacity World Premiered at the 2009
FronteraFest in Austin. As an actor his credits for Audacity include
ANGEL IN THE BARN, MILKY WAY CABARET, I HAVE ANGERED A GREAT GOD and
as Mephistopheles in the Audacity Productions 2002 version of Mickle
Maher's AN
APOLOGY FOR THE COURSE AND OUTCOME OF CERTAIN EVENTS DELIVERED BY DOCTOR
JOHN FAUSTUS ON THIS HIS FINAL EVENING. Jeff is obsessed with Facebook
and his DVR. More from Jeff at his various homes on the web: LiveJournal,
MySpace, Tumblr.
Rhianna
Mack
Rhianna
is an amazing whirlwind of theatre performance. A writer and performer,
she was raised in Shreveport, LA. She obtained her degree in Computer
Animation from The Art Institute of Dallas. Rhianna works in film, commercials,
industrials, print, voiceover, dance and theatre. She has toured nationally
with The Dallas Children's Theater in the leading role "Lida" in A MIDNIGHT
CRY: THE UNDERGROUNF RAILROAD TO FREEDOM, MUFARO'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS:
AN AFRICAN TALE and took on six different characters in AFRICAN TALES
OF EARTH & SKY. Visit her website at: Rhianna
Mack-Brand of a True Artist.
