Cast (In Alphabetical Order)
 Jessica Jane Childs (Beed) is truly honored to be a part of this important play. Through this process, she’s gained a lot of insight into how the effects of war, love, life, and death are universal. She would like to thank Juan for leading this talented theatrical infantry into battle. She will now cease the pretentious military analogies, and cut to the point of the bio . . . Chicago Credits include: Coronado (Steep Theatre), Letters X/ 3, 4 & 5 (Ground Up Theatre), Runner Stumbles, The Visit (Halcyon Theatre).
 Adam Dodds* (Wallace) Adam is a proud Company Member of Halcyon, with whom he performed in The Runner Stumbles, Yerma, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, and one weekend of Henry IV, and directed Orra for the 2008 Alcyone Festival. He has also acted and designed costumes for a metric handful of productions with excellent companies like Quest, Caffeine, Lincoln Square Theatre, Steep, Speaking Ring, North Lake Shore Players, and Clock Productions. Adam thanks each of you for supporting new live theatre!
 Kamal Hans (Jassim) Kamal is excited to make his debut with Halcyon Theatre. Kamal is a working actor and producer in TV, film, and theater in Chicago. He has studied at the Goodman School of Drama, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Julliard and Illinois Wesleyan University. Kamal serves on multiple boards and strives to heighten awareness of talent in the South Asian community. Kamal’s favorite roles include Dr. Aziz in Vitalist’s A Passage to India, Devendra in Silk Road’s production of Merchant On Venice, Marius in Fanny, Caliban in Shakespeare’s Tempest, Salieri in Amadeus and Anatoly in Chess. Kamal would like to thank his father for inspiration, family for support and wife for being the basis of everything he does.
 Trey Maclin (Crane) Trey Maclin has been seen on various Chicago stages for well over a decade, the most recent performing as "The Bearded Man" in Prop Theater's production of Love Sauce and, prior to that, as Woody Guthrie at Victory Gardens Theater. Catch him in April in the remount of TUTA's acclaimed production of Uncle Vanya at the Chopin theater. He offers up thanks to Juan for the opportunity and good times.
 DeRante Parker (Goop) DeRante feels honored to be part of Militant Language. This is his third production with Halcyon Theater and was last seen as Theobald in Orra, with the Alcyone Festival. Other favorite roles include: Henry in Holy Ghost; Chilli in In The Blood; and Willie Molopo in Master Harold and the Boys. DeRante has a Bachelors Degree from Idaho State University and a MFA in acting from the University of South Carolina. DeRants sends a special thank you to his friends and family for their support during this process and as always, he enjoys doing theater because its opportunity to bring people together.
 Greg Wenz** (Jacks) Greg is thrilled to be a part of the Premiere of Militant Language. He recently became an artistic associate with Halcyon Theatre. Previous Halcyon credits include Fainwell in A Bold Stroke for a Wife and Nelson in Cloud Tectonics. In the spring he played Ross and The Porter in Greasy Joan & Co's production of Macbeth. Greg would like to thank everyone at Halcyon for all the opportunities.
Crew
Sean Christopher Lewis (Playwright) served as the 2007-2008 National New Play Network’s Emerging Playwright in Residence at InterAct Theatre in Philadelphia. He is the winner of the inaugural Rosa Parks Award for Social Justice in Playwriting from the Kennedy Center, the Norman Felton Fellowship and the Invictus New Play Award. His work includes Militant Language- a play about the Iraq War that has been developed at the 2006 NNPN University Workshop, 2007 NYU HotInk! Festival and the 2007 PlayPenn Festival of New Plays in Philadelphia. It will be presented as a National World Premiere this fall by Available Light (Columbus), Bang and the Clatter (Cleveland), Halcyon Theatre (Chicago), Know Theatre (Cincinnati), Next Stage (Seattle), New Haven Theatre Company (Connecticut) and Theater for the New City (NYC). His play The Aperture- about child soldiers in Uganda won the Rosa Parks Award, was presented as part of Penn State University’s Cultural Conversations Festival, works hopped Off Broadway at the York Theatre and will receive a full production in February 2009 at the Cleveland Public Theatre. A noted solo performer, Lewis, has toured his hip hop piece I Will Make You Orphans (Uno Festival of Solo Performance, Available Light 01 Festival, Riverside Theatre, Hyde Park Theatre, Galapagos Art Space, Cincinnati Fringe, Equinox Theatre, Center for Independent Artists) and a mystery The Gone Chair (OpenStage Harrisburg’s Flying Solo Festival, Riverside Theatre, 2009 Cultural Conversations Festival). His work has also been developed at the Lark New Play Development Center, the ArtSpark Festival of New Media and the Orlando Shakespeare Festival’s PLAYFEST!. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa’s MFA Playwrights Workshop.
Juan Castañeda* (Director) Juan is a native of Chicago, and a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University. As a company member of Halcyon Theatre, Juan has directed Cloud Tectonics and assistant directed Yerma. Other credits include: Director of Lynett at 3am for Steep Theatre’s One Act Festival, assistant director of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot with Steep Theatre, assistant director for Clay Continent with The Mammals, Stage Manager for Al son que me Toques, Lorca with La Molecula Artisitca, and a handful of acting and film directing credits as well. Up next Juan will be performing in Halcyon Theatre’s The Other Shore. Juan would like to thank the hard work that went into mounting this production, both artistically and administratively, and would also like to thank everyone in the audience for coming to see the show.
Jesus Contreras** (Assistant Director) Jesus does not like writing about himself, nor referring to himself in the third person, so lets just stop doing that. If you would like to know more about me, please visit halcyontheatre.org, or shoot me an email at
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. What I would rather do with this space is thank everyone in the cast and crew of this production for their time, dedication, and work on the show. It was a truly inspiring and amazing experience, one of the greatest of my life. Thank You. I would also like to thank you, the person reading this at some point, before, during or after the show, for coming to our play. We all understand how valuable your time is, and are greatly appreciative that you have given us the opportunity to share it with you. Thank You.
Tony Adams* (Artistic Director, Scenic/Costume Design) Tony has hundreds of credits as a director, designer, actor, writer and producer. Before moving to the Chicago, Tony was in Paris where he worked as an actor, director, writer and designer. You can see some of his work and check out his blog at www.tonyadamsdesign.com. He has worked on each of Halcyon's productions to date. Recent credits outside of Halcyon include include Drowned World (Lighting Design) and Blue/Orange (Scenic and Lighting design) with Actors Revolution; The History of Pandas Told by a Saxaphonist who has a Girlfriend in Frankfurt (Scenic and Sound Design) and Happy End (Sound design) with Brown Couch; Infancy (director) and Bang the Drum Slowly (director) at Steep Theatre Company, where Tony was a longtime member.
Margot Momoi-Piehl (Lighting Designer) is very pleased to be working with Halcyon Theatre. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point studying theatre design/technology before moving to Chicago a year and a half ago. While in college, one of her favorite lighting design projects included: Afterimages, a student dance show where she not only designed, but also performed as a musician. Margot also served as the lighting/electrics intern for the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN. She would like to specially thank Mom, Dad and Darren, along with all of her family and friends for their unconditional love and support.
Oscar Salinas (Sound Designer) Oscar is excited to make his debut as a theatrical sound designer. Although new to Theatre, Oscar Salinas has been producing and engineering for years, working at various studies around the Chicago Land area. Oscar has assisted on sessions with Jewel, Billy Idol, and Kenny Chesney and is now working in his own right recording bands, poets, and rappers such as Symphonic Affair, So The Story Goes, Malik Yusef, Michael K. Williams, and LiL Maq to name a few. Oscar would like to thank his mom and dad for always being very supportive, his cousins, and all the friends and family that have been pursuing a life surrounded by art and passion.
Greg Poljacik** (Fight Choreography) graduated with a BA in Performance Theatre from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia (next to Virginia Beach/Norfolk...if that helps.) He originally was going to pursue aeronautical engineering and lay a path towards becoming the first man to walk on Mars. Instead he figured it would be easier and more fun to play a guy who walks on mars in a movie. Since moving to Chicago Greg has worked with numerous companies including the Lyric Opera Chicago, The Journeymen, Bailiwick, La Costa, Chicago Script Works, Women's Theatre Alliance, Chicago Fusion, ArtCraft, Rogue and Hunger and Dread. His jobs ranged from acting, to sound design, to directing, and to fight choreography (once choreographed a dance, we wont talk about that though). He credits his success and the man he is today to his Babeishka (its a made up word...)
Latoya Jones** (Properties Design) Latoya graduated from Southern Illinois University (SIU) at Carbondale in 2005 with a BA in Theatre and a minor in Psychology. Latoya served as House Manager for the 2007-2008 season. She also staged Managed Halcyon's production of Yerma. She has assistant stage managed On the Verge (2004) and stage managed Home (2005) at the McLeod Theatre at SIU. She also stage managed the musical Honk! (2005) with the Stage Company Community Theatre in Carbondale for their summer children's theater. This is her first time doing props and it's not as easy as she thought. She would also like to thank God for giving her strength, and her family, and friends for all their love and support.
Denise Santomauoro** (Dramaturg) Before moving to Chicago, Denise attended Christopher Newport University in Virginia, where she recieved a B.A. in Theater. Since her arrival to Chicago, Denise has worked with such companies as The Easy Street Players, The North Lakeside Cultural Center, Brown Couch, LaCosta Theatre and does social issues children's theater with Imagination Theater. Halcyon productions include Yerma, Haroun and the Sea of Stories (for which she was served as dramaturg) and Henry IV. Thanks to her family and Greg.
* Company Member, ** Artistic Associate
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