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"A Life" Cast and Creative Team

Front row: (L-R) Adam Bock (Playwright), Rose Riordan (Director), Fig the Dog (Dog), Alison Heryer (Costume Designer), Sarah Stark (Production Assistant). Back row: (L-R) Jennifer Rowe (Assistant Director), Cycerli Ash (Actor), Mark Tynan (Stage Manager), Gary Norman (Actor), Nat DeWolf (Actor), Dana Green (Actor), Casi Pacilio (Sound Designer)
Front row: (L-R) Adam Bock (Playwright), Rose Riordan (Director), Fig the Dog (Dog), Alison Heryer (Costume Designer), Sarah Stark (Production Assistant). Back row: (L-R) Jennifer Rowe (Assistant Director), Cycerli Ash (Actor), Mark Tynan (Stage Manager), Gary Norman (Actor), Nat DeWolf (Actor), Dana Green (Actor), Casi Pacilio (Sound Designer)

​A Life

By Adam Bock
Directed by Rose Riordan

THE CAST in order of appearance

Nat DeWolf*Nate Martin
Gary NormanCurtis
Cycerli Ash*Ellen and others
Dana Green*Jill and others 
Jen RoweUnderstudy, Jill and others

For select performances, Jen Rowe will replace Dana Green in the role of Jill and others. Notice will be posted indicating the change. 

THE CREATIVE TEAM

Tony CisekScenic Designer
Alison HeryerCostume Designer
Diane Ferry WilliamsLighting Designer
Casi Pacilio with Scott ThorsonSound Designer
Mark Tynan*Stage Manager
Molly Shevaun ReedProduction Assistant
Sarah StarkProduction Assistant
Harriet BassNew York Casting
Will CotterLocal Casting
Brandon WoolleyLocal Casting

MEET THE CAST

Cycerli Ash, Ellen and others
Cycerli Ash, Ellen and others

Cycerli is honored and excited to make her Portland Center Stage at The Armory debut. She gives all glory to God for blessing her with this gift. She received her M.F.A. in acting from the University of Tennessee, and her bachelor's degree from Rutgers University. She was honored last year as part of the Drammy Award-winning PassinArt: A Theatre Company, where she played Mary in Black Nativity by Langston Hughes and Risa in Two Trains Running by August Wilson. Cycerli's recent television credits include Skinned (TVOne) and Tales (BET). Recent regional theater credits include work at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre and Dominion Theatre. She is the CEO of the faith-based nonprofit theater company, Dae Productions, located in Atlanta, GA. Special thank you to Papa Paul and Ma Susan Schwarz for all you have done for me.

Nat DeWolf, Nate Martin
Nat DeWolfNate Martin

Nat is thrilled to be making his debut at Portland Center Stage at The Armory. New York credits include Take Me Out on Broadway and The Public Theater, and Antlia Pneumatica and Betty's Summer Vacation at Playwrights Horizons. Regional theater: Two River Theater, American Repertory Theater, Westport Country Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, TheaterWorks Hartford, Barrington Stage Company, Boise Contemporary Theater and Kitchen Theatre Company. Film credits include Lisa Picard is Famous, which he co-wrote and co-starred in, A Most Violent YearThe Preppie Connection and We Are What We Are. Recent TV credits include House of Cards, Gotham, The Black List, Pan Am and Law & Order: SVU. He is a graduate of Boston Conservatory and A.R.T. Institute at Harvard University.

Dana Green, Jill and others 
Dana GreenJill and others 

Dana is delighted to be back at The Armory, where her credits include Major BarbaraConstellationsGreat Expectations, Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Other Portland credits include Scarlet at Portland Playhouse; d.b. at CoHo Productions; Gidion's Knot and The Realistic Joneses at Third Rail Repertory Theatre; and Dead Man's Cell Phone at Profile Theatre. She spent four seasons with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and has performed at numerous regional theaters including The Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Yale Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Court Theatre, Meadow Brook Theatre and Shakespeare Festival of Dallas. Television credits include Early Edition, Grimm, The Librarians, Here and Now and American Vandal.

Gary Norman, Curtis
Gary Norman, Curtis

Gary is thrilled to return to Portland Center Stage at The Armory. Past credits include Our Town at The Armory; Fly By Night and Chicago at Broadway Rose Theatre Company; The Receptionist by Adam Bock and The Outgoing Tide at CoHo Productions; One Flea Spare at Shaking the Tree; The Playboy of the Western World at Artists Repertory Theatre; and The Adding Machine and The Long Christmas Ride Home at Theatre Vertigo, where he was a member of the acting ensemble. He has also appeared on the small screen, guest starring in Grimm (NBC); Leverage and The Librarians (TNT); and Life After First Failure (CW Seed). Gary is an accomplished portrait and headshot photographer. Originally from Virginia, Gary has called Portland home for 21 years and vows never to go back.


Jen Rowe, Jill and others
Jen Rowe, Jill and others

Jen most recently closed a production of The Secretaries at Profile Theatre. Her work on stage has been seen at The Armory, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Milagro Theatre, CoHo Productions, Boom Arts, and Oregon Children's Theatre. She has written and performed in sketch shows for Curious Comedy Theater, Action/Adventure Theatre, and Live Wire Radio. Voice credits include campaigns for Oregon Lottery and Our Oregon. Television credits include TNT’s The Librarians and NBC’s Grimm. She is seen in the short film Go Missing. Directing credits include Portland Playhouse, Western Oregon University, Proscenium Live and Third Rail Repertory Theatre. She assistant directed A Life and is delighted to join the cast. Jen is represented by Q6 Talent. hellojenrowe.com

For select performances, Jen Rowe will replace Dana Green in the role of Jill and others. Notice will be posted indicating the change. 


MEET THE CREATIVE TEAM

Adam Bock, Playwright 
Adam’s plays include The Colby Sisters (Kiln Theatre, formerly known as Tricycle, London) Phaedra (Shotgun Players, dir. Rose Riordan), A Small Fire (Playwrights Horizons, Drama Desk nomination), book for We Have Always Lived in the Castle, with music by Todd Almond (Yale Repertory Theatre), The Receptionist (Manhattan Theatre Club, 2008 Outer Critics nomination, Best Plays of 2007-2008, The Evidence Room with Megan Mullally), The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons, 2008 Outer Critics nomination), The Thugs (Soho Rep, 2007 OBIE Award for Playwriting), The Shaker Chair (2005 Humana Festival), Swimming In The Shallows (Second Stage Uptown, Shotgun Players, 2000 BATCC Award, Clauder Prize), Five Flights (Encore Theatre and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 2002 Glickman Award, ACTA nomination, Osborn nomination), and The Typographer’s Dream (Encore Theatre/Shotgun Players). Mr. Bock is a Guggenheim fellow, NEA grantee, a three-time resident at Yaddo, a former member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and New Dramatists, a NYTW Usual Suspect, a Clubbed Thumb Associate, a TDF Open Doors mentor and a member of the board of Space on Ryder Farm. Mr. Bock’s plays are published by Samuel French, Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts, Inc. A Life is his fifth play produced at The Armory, following The Typographer’s Dream (2014), A Small Fire (2014), The Receptionist (2010) and The Thugs (2007). His work has also been featured at three JAW festivals, including A Life (2014), which was commissioned by Portland Center Stage at The Armory and the Perkins Coie’s “Innovative Minds” program.

Rose Riordan, Director
Rose is in her 21st season at Portland Center Stage at The Armory, where she serves as associate artistic director and has previously directed Kodachrome, Every Brilliant Thing, Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild and Reckless, The Oregon Trail, Our TownThe People’s Republic of Portland (2013 and 2015), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and SpikeThe Typographer’s Dream, LIZZIEA Small FireThe MountaintopThe Whipping ManThe North PlanRed, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestA Christmas StoryThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeThe ReceptionistA Christmas CarolFrost/NixonHow to Disappear Completely and Never Be FoundDoubtThe UnderpantsThe Pillowman and The Thugs, which won four Drammy Awards, including Best Ensemble and Best Director. Rose has recently directed, for various other theaters, Adam Bock’s Phaedra and The ReceptionistThe Passion Play and Telethon. In 1999, she founded the annual JAW: A Playwrights Festival. JAW has been instrumental in developing new work for the company’s repertory, including this season’s production of A Life and Storm Large’s Crazy Enough, as well as Kodachrome, Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild and Reckless, ThreesomeBo-NitaThe People’s Republic of PortlandThe Body of an AmericanThe North PlanAnna KareninaOutrage, Flesh and BloodAnother Fine MessO Lovely Glowworm, Celebrity RowAct a LadyThe Thugs and A Feminine Ending. She enjoys being part of a company committed to new work and having a beautiful building in which to work.

Tony Cisek, Scenic Designer
Tony has collaborated with Ms. Riordan at Portland Center Stage at The Armory on productions of Our Town, A Small Fire, The Whipping Man, The North Pool, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Christmas Story and Frost/Nixon. Also for The Armory, he has designed The Color Purple, Astoria, Ain’t Misbehavin’, A Feminine Ending, Sometimes a Great Notion and Anna in the Tropics; and his designs here have received five Drammy Awards. Tony’s work has been seen Off-Broadway and regionally at Roundabout Theatre, Arena Stage, Guthrie Theater, Goodman Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Alliance Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Baltimore Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, Cleveland Play House, Folger Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, GALA Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Group and Signature Theatre. tonycisek.com

Alison Heryer, Costume Designer
Alison is a costume designer for theater, film and print. She is thrilled to be returning to Portland Center Stage at The Armory, after designing costumes for Kodachrome, Fun Home, Lauren Weedman Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild and Reckless, His Eye is on the Sparrow, The Oregon Trail, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Our Town, Three Days of Rain and Threesome. Other design credits include productions with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 59E59 Theaters, La MaMa, The New Victory Theater, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Portland Opera, Artists Repertory Theatre and The Hypocrites. She has exhibited work at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, World Stage Design and the Prague Quadrennial of Design and Space. Alison is on the faculty at the School of Art + Design at Portland State University and a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. alisonheryerdesign.com

Diane Ferry Williams, Lighting Designer
Diane is pleased to be returning to Portland. Diane has worked for many theaters around the country and abroad. Her most recent design is an international tour of How to Succeed ... beginning in Beijing, China. In the U.S., her work has been seen at The Marriott Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Goodspeed, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, ACT-Seattle, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Ford’s Theatre, Hubbard Street, Regional Dance America and elsewhere. Other international work includes The Harlem Gospel Singers (Paris and the European tour) and Die Shone Und Das Biest (Berlin and the European tour). She has also lit several national tours and premieres. Awards include a Jeff Award, an After Dark Award, a Carbonelle Award, Drammy Awards – including the 2015 Drammy for Ain’t Misbehavin’ – and seven Jeff nominations. Diane has an M.F.A. in theatrical design from Northwestern University.

Casi Pacilio, Sound Designer
Casi’s home base is The Armory, where recent credits include Kodachrome, A Christmas Memory/Winter Song, Wild and Reckless, His Eye is on the Sparrow, The Oregon Trail, Little Shop of Horrors, A Streetcar Named Desire; A Small Fire and Constellations with composer Jana Crenshaw; and 12 seasons of JAW. National shows: Holcombe Waller's Surfacing and Wayfinders; Left Hand of Darkness, My Mind is Like an Open Meadow (Drammy Award, 2011), Something’s Got Ahold Of My Heart and PEP TALK for Hand2Mouth Theatre. Other credits include Squonk Opera’s Bigsmorgasbord-WunderWerk (Broadway, PS122, national and international tours); I Am My Own Wife, I Think I Like Girls (La Jolla  Playhouse); Playland, 10 Fingers and Lips Together, Teeth Apart (City Theatre, PA); 2.5 Minute Ride and Fires in the Mirror (Profile Theatre). Film credits include Creation of Destiny, Out of Our Time and A Powerful Thang. Imagineer/maker of the Eat Me Machine, a dessert vending machine.

Scott Thorson, Original Sound Designer, JAW 2014 
Scott is a local sound designer and job captain with BRIC Architecture, a local K-12 design firm. Credits at The Armory include sound design for The MountaintopThe Typographer's Dream, Sex With Strangers (Drammy nomination), and four seasons of JAW, including the original sound design for A Life in 2014. Other Portland designs include Sweet and Sad, Noises Off, Middletown and The Night Alive for Third Rail Rep; Ivy and Bean for Oregon Children's Theatre; and Uncanny Valley for Hand2Mouth Theatre.

Mark Tynan, Stage Manager
Imagine being in a room full of artists, watching the birth of an idea, a movement given purpose, a sentence, phrase, scene, act given life. Then imagine that room translating to the stage with lighting, sound, costumes, scenery and props; then you can imagine what Mark’s job is like. Special thanks to the phenomenal stage management apprentices, Alexis Ellis-Alvarez, Molly Reed and Sarah Stark, who help keep the vision attainable. Prior to The Armory, Mark toured nationally and internationally with musicals including Dreamgirls, The King and I with Rudolf Nureyev, How to Succeed …, Grand Hotel, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent and Jersey Boys. Other Portland credits include several summers with Broadway Rose Theatre Company in Tigard. Regional credits include Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla, CA) and Casa Mañana Theatre (Fort Worth, TX).

Molly Shevaun Reed, Production Assistant
Molly is thrilled to be joining Portland Center Stage at The Armory this season as a stage management apprentice, where she most recently served as a production assistant for JAW: A Playwrights Festival (Pick a Color and The Birds of Empathy). Originally from Denton, Texas, Molly has worked in stage management, props design and developing new work as a director in Dallas and Portland. Local credits include Spectravagasm X (stage manager), the one-woman original play Endless Oceans (director/designer/producer) and The Few at CoHo Productions (assistant director/production assistant). Dallas credits include Dry Land at Upstart Theater (stage manager) and Nomad Americana (formerly titled Rooting) at Nouveau 47 Theatre and WaterTower Theatre’s Out of the Loop Fringe Festival (director/designer). Molly holds a B.F.A. in theater performance from Baylor University. Love and thanks to Cam, Fam, Lyss and Bear. 

Sarah Stark, Production Assistant
Sarah is a recent Portland transplant from Chicago, where she graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in theater and performance studies. Chicago stage management and assistant stage manager credits include: Little Shop of Horrors (American Blues Theater); Civility! (The Syndicate); Ellen Bond, Union Spy(The House Theatre of Chicago); Love’s Labour’s Lost, She Kills Monsters, Belleville, Urinetown: The Musical (The University of Chicago). Most recently, Sarah has worked as an assistant stage manager for several productions at The Glimmerglass Festival. She is thrilled to be continuing her work and education at The Armory this season!

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