WHO'S WHO?

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Meghan Covington (Playwright)

Meghan started working professionally as an actor almost 20 years ago while obtaining her BFA in Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University. Her most notable performance work took place regionally on the stages of The Kennedy Center for the Preforming Arts, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co, The Shakespeare Theatre, Round House Theatre, Olney Theatre in Washington DC, and Firehouse Theatre, Richmond Shakespeare Festival, and Theatre Lab in Richmond, VA. Most recently she performed in RETCo's productions of The Parking Lot and Every Brilliant Thing. Notable directing and playwriting credits include RETCo's Riverside Haunts Episodes I and II. Meghan currently servers as Artistic Director and board president of RETCo.

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Jessica Irons (Director)

Jessica, an Ossining resident, and sits on the Board of Bethany Arts Community, and is the current president.  She sat on the Board of Ossining MATTERS for 6 years and was president for 2. For 10 years she was the Artistic Director of the award winning , NYC based Andhow ! Theater Company where she fostered new plays from a seed of an idea through to full productions. She directed Off & Off Off Broadway at the Flea, The Ohio, HERE Arts Center, 78th Street Theater Lab, Dixon Place, The Blue Heron Arts Center, The Ontological at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery  New Georges and adobe theatre company.  She was the Associate Artistic Director of adobe theatre company and the Artistic Associate at Adirondack Theater Festival. As an educator she has directed/taught in Newark NJ, Redhook, Brooklyn, for the 52nd Street Project in Manhattan, Allan Stevenson, Fordham University, the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester and elsewhere throughout the tri-state area . Locally, she has directed adults professionally for Rivers Edge Theatre Co.  She was the original therapeutic arts director at Children of Promise, NYC in Bedford Stuyvesant, where she developed and implemented therapeutic art & theater curricula for children of incarcerated parents.  Jessica studied theater at Skidmore College (BA) and Creative Arts Therapy at the New School.

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Bryant Lewis (Ichabod)

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Justin Gordon (The Ghost)

Justin Gordon is a classically trained set, stage and studio actor. He is a 2023 Young Artist in Residence at Bethany Arts Community, where he continues to hone his craft in storytelling. He has been educated at the University of Michigan, the National Theater Institute (NTI), Complicite Theatre Company, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University and is an alumni member of the Lin Manuel Miranda Family Fellowship. Previous roles include Macbeth in New York City and Othello in Ann Arbor, MI. In addition to acting, Gordon is an accomplished educator and poet. 

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Julia Schonberg (Katrina)

Julia Schonberg (she/her) is an actor, theatre maker, applied theatre artist, educator, and arts worker based in Tarrytown, NY by way of Cleveland, Boston, and Brooklyn. Julia received herBFA in Theatre Arts from Boston University and her MA in Applied Theatre from CUNY's School of Professional Studies. Julia has worked both on and offstage with NY based companies: The Barrow Group, Houses on the Moon, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Superhero Clubhouse, The Bushwick Starr, Brave New World Repertory Theatre, Writopia Lab, Columbia Stages, and River's Edge Theatre Co. She is a founder and company member of The Neighborhood Theatre Project, a theatre company creating opportunities for community building, reflection, and dialogue through original, verbatim theatre making. Julia is the community engagement & outreach coordinator at Bethany Arts Community in Ossining, NY. juliaschonberg.com, theneighborhoodtheatreproject.org @juliamschonberg

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Marissa Porto (Lady Shirley)

Marissa is thrilled to be making her River's Edge debut! For the past 15+ years, Marissa has been primarily working as a Theatre Educator. Over the years, however, she has continued performing wherever and whenever she could. Favorite recent roles: Alice in The Drowning Girls, Penny in Urinetown, and Baker's Wife in Into the Woods. Lately, Marissa has been spending most of her time raising her 2 wonderful daughters. She's honored to be part of this ensemble and to make her return to the stage with such an inspiring group of artists!

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Billy Poorten (Prince John)

Billy Poorten has studied acting with Pamela Scott, James Price, Jed Aicher, and Julia Schonberg. His credits include Otto in an early 1990s middle school production of The Diary of Anne Frank, which closed after one performance.  More recently, he appeared in Eli Rubinson & Tim Borowiec’s film Song of Myself.  Billy is humbled and delighted to be working with all these wonderful people at River’s Edge. Instagram @billypoor10

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Katie  Kopajtic (Will Scarlet)

Katie is a writer, filmmaker and theater artist based in Tarrytown. In 2016 she formed Tres Brujas Productions with her wife Monica Robles. In 2017 she brought her first solo show “Confessions of a Personal Trainer” to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it ran for a 26-show run amid four star reviews and sold out performances. Katie is returning to the Fringe this summer with her new play “Modern Witches,” a solo show about witchcraft and Virginia Woolf. Her published essays and fiction may be found in Catapult, Electric Literature, Cream City Review, Variant Literature & more. Say hi on socials! Twt/IG @katiekopajtic

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Johnny Gottsegen (Much)

Johnny Gottsegen is delighted to be joining the River’s Edge Theatre Company for this production! An NYU graduate, Johnny has performed in both classical work, including as both Falstaff and King Henry IV in an adaptation of the Henriad, and new productions, such as Wendall in Acclymation: A Play on Work and Life. He most recently played Mutius and Aemelius in Barefoot Shakespeare’s production of Titus Andronicus. In addition to the stage, Johnny has starred in several short films, and his commercial work includes video promoting transgender awareness for Tinder. His voiceover work was recently on view as part of Girl Mode at Soho Rep. When not acting, Johnny reviews new and independent literature, and is currently working on his first full-length screenplay. He’d like to thank his family and his long-suffering roommates for all their support.

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Shenendoah Thompson (Friar Tuck and Sheriff and composer of the "Merry Men Song")

Shenendoah Thompson is a storyteller from West Virginia. He has played roles such as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, The Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance, and Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd. He has directed numerous new works and plays, authored several plays and screenplays, and released two albums of original music. Currently, he is working on a third album and preparing a one-man version of William Shakespeare’s Henry V.

Manu Marquez (Tommy)

Manu  is a 24 year old actor from Spain. He started his career in Madrid where he studied in the best acting schools in the country (Estudio Corazza and Estudio Juan Codina). After a few projects later and being working and living between Madrid and Mexico City, he decides to start his career in the US studying in the Atlantic Acting School in New York, where he fell in love with the city and is now based.

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Jacob Irons (Sir Theo)

Jacob Irons is excited to be in his first River’s Edge Theatre production. He has been acting since he was nine at Theater O. He most recently performed as the Prince in The Handless Maiden by Jeremy Dobrish.  He thanks his mom, dad, and especially his sister Esme.

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Orry Shackney (Sir Lenny)

Orry is an 18 year old who plays guitar, skateboards, and listens to loud music. He has done a plethora of projects with Theater O, a theater organization in Ossining. He comes from a wonderful family whom he loves very much.

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Candice  Cross (Tanner/Lucy)

Candice trained in Voice and Musical Theater under Professor Florence Birdwell at Oklahoma City University. You may recognize her from previous RETCo shows as Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky and the Mother in Riverside Haunts 2. While she has had the chance to perform as Laurey in Oklahoma!, Grizabella in Cats, and Grace in Annie, her favorite roles have been as Wife to Rob and Mommy to Beckett and Eliot.

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Nicole Arcieri (Understudy Alanna)

This is Nicole's first production with River's Edge Theatre Co. and she is so excited to be working with such a wonderful group of people. Nicole has been acting for a little over a decade and is very active in the theatre community in Westchester. Her stage credits include: Mary in The Erythrosine Ballad (Westchester Collaborative Theater), Stacey in Ode to Clouds (WCT), Ensemble in A Sketch of New York (Producer's Club), Romaine Patterson et al. in The Laramie Project (Unitarian Universalist Congregation), Mary Joy in The Killing of the Snow Fox (American Theatre of Actors), Peter Simple in The Merry Wives of Windsor (ATA), and Rin in Two Woman House (Hudson Guild Theatre). Her film credits include: Lead in Roadkill, Lead in The Fool is Hurt, Supporting in A Night Out, and Day Player in Black Retail. Nicole also regularly performs with Blind Tiger Improv in the Hudson Valley.

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Sarah Matthay (Understudy Marian/Robin)

Thrilled to be joining River’s Edge. Theater credits (59E59, PS122, NYC Fringe Festival, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, Player’s theatre, NJ Rep & more) Indie film (Reckoning, Street Lure, Millennium Crisis) Trained at London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts (LAMDA)

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Traci Redmond (Understudy Prince John/Shirley)

Traci is a Dobbs Ferry based performer, voice-over artist and theater-maker. Previous work with RETCo include playing The Captive in the inaugural production of Riverside Haunts: Stories to Tell in the Dark and Sandra in Listening by Jennifer O’Grady. This summer she could be seen running around the Mercy College campus in a top hat playing Longaville in Irvington Shakespeare Company’s production of Love’s Labours Lost. As a former member of the Actors Equity Association, she performed all over NYC including Manhattan Theater Club, Dixon Place, fi:af/PS122, Primary Stages, bluemouth inc, The Tank Theater, Upright Citizen's Brigade, Queens Players, The Creek Theater, & National Comedy Theater. Thank you to Meghan and David and the whole RETCo family! Love and a million thank-yous to Jon, Fitz & Ripley for your love and support! www.traciredmond.com 

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Emma Sarnacki (Understudy Lenny/Much/Will)

Emma Sarnacki is delighted to be working with RETCo again after playing the Girl at Raven Rock in Riverside Haunts Ep II last fall. While pursuing an English ducation degree, Emma appeared in SUNY Oneonta's productions of Doubt (Sister Aloysius), Peter and the Starcatcher (Prentiss), Stop Kiss (Sara), and The Taming of the Shrew (Hortensio). Emma currently lives in the Bronx and works at SUNY Maritime College.

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Ravely (Understudy Tanner/Lucy)

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