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ABOUT

Located in the historic U street corridor of Washington, D.C., Spooky Action Theater (SAT) is a dynamic, young theater company that has been recharging the audience's imaginative, intuitive, emotional core by linking artists & audience in a collaborative enterprise. We designed and built a versatile performance space that accommodates multiple seating and staging configurations. Movable walls and audience risers enable us to approach each production with a fresh perspective.

We believe a good play imparts a special kind of rapture. Albert Einstein coined the term spooky action at a distance to describe a bit of quantum mechanics even he found incredible: two particles can become entangled such that, forever after, a change in one is matched by instant change in the other, no matter what the distance between them. Spooky action happens when actors provide a bare framework to be fleshed out by the imagination of the audience, creating the world and action of the play.

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HISTORY

Spooky Action Theater was founded in 2004 by actor/director Richard Henrich, who sought to offer more plays that require audiences to participate with their imaginations. When originally founded, Spooky Action utilized rental space throughout the Washington, DC and Maryland area to hold productions.  

In 2010, Spooky Action Theater reached an agreement with the Universalist National Memorial Church at 1810 16th Street NW to renovate the downstairs auditorium of the church and create a multipurpose performance space. Work was completed in fall 2010 and the new theater venue in the Dupont Circle neighborhood was born. The result is an affordable, flexible, user-friendly performance space in a convenient, metro-accessible location.

Spooky Action has gained growing recognition as a valued contributor to the DC performing arts community. Our productions are regularly reviewed in The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and Maryland Theatre Guide, among others.  SAT’s production of Reckless was recognized by DC Metro Theatre Arts.com as one of the best of 2012.  DC Theatre Scene praised our recent production of Kafka on the Shore, adapted by Frank Galati from Haruki Murakami’s novel, for its “beautiful and evocative images.” We received our first Helen Hayes Awards © nominations for our Spring 2013 production of Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide, a new adaptation by TJ Edwards, for outstanding ensemble and outstanding movement (Monalisa Arias) and our winter 2014 production of The Wedding Dress, by Nelson Rodrigues, received the honor of being named a Helen Hayes Awards © recommended production and received rave reviews. 

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TEAM                   

RICHARD HENRICH
​Artistic Director

pronouns: he/him/his
rehenrich@spookyaction.org
Richard is founding Artistic Director of Spooky Action Theater and directed many of the company’s first productions, including Rameau’s Nephew, Alice in Wonderland and Holy Ghosts. Richard has a special connection with Samuel Beckett, having directed Beckett’s Play at the Yale Experimental Theater, as well as productions of Krapp’s Last Tape, Ohio Impromptu and The Lost Ones featuring Carter Jahncke at Spooky Action Theater.  As an actor, Richard has been seen in roles at Arena Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Washington Shakespeare Company and other Washington area theaters.  He also has the unique distinction of having performed the role of Krapp at the British Council in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

GILLIAN DRAKE
Director of New Works

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AZALINE GUNN
Company Manager

pronouns: they/them/theirs
agunn@spookyaction.org
Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Azaline graduated from The University of Alabama with a B.A. in Theater. Their undergraduate work included leadership roles in the Gamma Gamma Cast of Alpha Psi Omega as Technical Director: assisting in the production of 9 student-run performances each year in roles as House Manager, Stage Manager, Production Supervisor, and Master Electrician. Their work as a designer and technician has been mounted in theaters in Michigan, New York, Alabama, Georgia, and Maryland -- and they are eager to make art here in Washington, D.C.  In 2016, Azaline was named the first recipient of the Peyton Trueblood Award for Stage Management; they hope that the work they do in spaces such as Spooky Action continue to contribute to Peyton's memory as theater professional and artist. 
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BRIDGET SHEAFF
Casting Manager

pronouns: she/her/hers
bgsheaff@spookyaction.org
Bridget Grace a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. BA 2014, The Catholic University of America. As a playwright, she has published many written works, including Perfect, Forgive and Forget, love letter to my home town,  A Chance of Rain, The Days of Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches, Idle Hands, Kissing Lessons, It’s Not About the Hair, Danny's How-to-Vlog, The Art of Preservation, The Next Table, and Decisions. Bridget Grace is the Casting Director and Associate Producer with We Happy Few Productions and the Casting Manager with Spooky Action Theater.
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DC AREA DIRECTING: We Happy Few: Cyrano de Bergerac, The Dog in the Manger, A Midnight Dreary; Capital Fringe Curates: Shakespeare’s Worst; Teatro Lirico: Chateau Margaux, Los Gavilanes; Parlor Room: Burst; Monumental Theatre: Infinite Future; Perisphere Theater: Tartuffe; Nu Sass Productions: Exit Carolyn; Spooky Action Theatre: Motherless Children; Source Festival: Static, The Physics of Now, Ball Drop; REGIONAL: Cape May Stage:Merry Melodies, Savage in Limbo. ASSISTING: Theater J: The Wanderers, Sons of the Prophet; Constellation Theatre: The Wild Party. Signature Theatre: Titanic; Spooky Action Theater: Collaborators; Rorschach Theatre: very still & hard to see. Cape May Stage: Mistakes Were Made, Other Desert Cities, Blithe Spirit, Moon Over Buffalo. PLAYWRITING CREDITS: Dowling Catholic High School: Smarty Pants; The Strand: And Maybe a River Will Come; The Fine Arts Association: An Evening with Julia Maggiano; Nu Sass Productions:The Next Table; Ohlone College: Exit Interview; Gallery Players: Art of Preservation. 

ROBERTA ALVES
Marketing Manager

pronouns: she/her/hers
roalves@spookyaction.org

TYLER HERMAN
Director of Education

pronouns:he/him/his
Tyler Herman is a brother, a son, an actor, a director, a husband, a writer, a teacher. He has taught for The Actors' Center, Brown University, Templeton Academy, Young Playwright's Theatre, American Dance Institute, Faction of Fools Theatre, and more. He has also acted at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Imagination Stage, Adventure Theatre-MTC, Faction of Fools Theatre Company, and more. BA: Cornell University, Theatre, Dance, Music. MFA: Brown University/Trinity Rep, Acting and Directing.
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