New Stage Theatre Company

Ildiko Lujza Nemeth

Ildiko Lujza Nemeth, founder of the New Stage Theatre Company is an actor from Budapest, Hungary. She was a member for nine years of the R.S.9 Theater Company in Budapest, known internationally as a theater of experimentation. Some of her roles included: Melisande in Pelleas and Melisande, Arkadina in The Seagull, Albertinka in Operetta, Mme. Tourvel in the Dangerous Liasons, and Ilse in The Giants of the Mountains. Ildiko performed with the company in the United States, England, Poland, Scotland, France, and Romania and participated in festivals throughout Europe. During these travels, Ildiko garnered such prizes as the Guardian Criticss Choice at the Scotland Fringe Festival in Edinburgh and the Best Performance Award at the International Gombrowicz Festival in Poland. In 1998 a new phase of Ildikos life commenced with her move to New York. After graduating from the Actors Studio Drama School, she formed The New Stage Theatre Company, giving life to her dream and continuing her mission as an artist. Her New York credits include: Bobby in the Pruning Rachel Rose, Gina in Under Covers and character One in S. Mrozek's Striptease which was invited and performed in the Actor Studio.

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DIRECTOR
Ildiko Lujza Nemeth
Jessica Sofia Mitrani

WITH
Basak Arikan
Brook Boertzel
Stacia French
Shara Gemes
Markus Hirnigel
Isabelita Lewis
Florencia Minniti
Tchera Niyego
Viviana Parra
Natasha Zagli

Jessica Sofia Mitrani

Jessica Sofia Mitrani was born in 1968 in Colombia, and has lived and worked in New York City since 1999.

She joined the New Stage Theatre Company in 2002 after completing her MFA from the Actor's Studio the same year. Her work has been shown at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Museum of Modern Art Bogota, Museum Of Modern Art Barranquilla, Art Basel Miami Beach Fair,Brooklyn Ballet ; included in numerous film festivals and programs such as Women in the Director's Chair in Chicago, Women Make Movies in New York, Oberhaussen Short Film Festival in Germany, Interfilm Berlin Film Festival, and São Paulo International Short Film Festival among others; and broadcast on the television networks ARTE-WDR in Germany and France, and SBS in Australia.
She has been profiled in magazines and books, including Dwell, the New York Times Style "T" magazine, Artnexus, Time Out NY, Backstage, Cinemas d'amerique latine, Kinetoscopio, Semana, Numero, La presencia de las mujeres en el cine colombiano, Escribir en Barranquilla, and El Arte del Caribe Colombiano.

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Basak Arikan

Basak Arikan is originally from Eastern Turkey. She has a B.A. in Psychology. While attending college, she participated in various plays at the METU Theatre Company in Ankara. She also worked as an assistant director on a series of documentaries with Thomas Balkenhol. After her studies, she moved to London where she produced experimental videos. She featured these videos (Deja Vu, Paganini, Waterfall) at small film festivals throughout Europe. She also made a stop in Germany, where she assisted on a long feature. Eventually, her love for Istanbul brought her back to Turkey, where she earned her masters as a director at Marmara University and performed at the Studio Players Theatre for five years. Some of her plays are "Le Chants de Maldoror", "La Musica"; "Where is Ouidupus?" and "Becoming a Rhinoceros" written and directed by Sahika Tekand. Basak studied acting at Total Theatre Lab in New York . "Some Historic, Some Hysteric" is her NYC debut.

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Brook Boertzel

Brooke began acting and singing professionally at the age of five on her native island of Guam. She continued studying Theater/Voice and Creative Writing at Northern Michigan University. In May of 2002 she received an MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School. Since then Brooke has continued to work as an actor in New York in both theater and film. Her most recent production premiered in the 2003 New York City International Fringe Festival. This Fall Brooke plans to attend NYU where she will receive an MA in Educational Theater. She sends love to her family and thanks Ildiko and Jessica for thinking of her for this role.

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Stacia French

Stacia French was born in Houston Texas but grew up some where between Northern California, Maui, Orlando, Paris and Madrid. Upon completing her postgraduate studies in drama from Drama Studio London she returned to NYC where she has been working in theatre and film. Some favorite NY roles include Hanjo, The Pragmatists, The Water Hen, Rhinoceros, Shiva/ Proper, and The Trojan Women. She would like to thank Jessica and Ildiko for this sticky challenge.

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Shara Gemes

Shara Gemes was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, where she was involved in The Arkadia Theater Group. Shara constantly traveled throughout Europe, Israel, and New York where she studied theater and comparative mythology.

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Markus Hirnigel

Markus Hirnigel was born in Vienna, Austria, where he began his studies at the University of Vienna. After his move to New York, he began his studies with Sandford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He then became a member of La Mama E.T.C. and worked extensively with the company for the next three years. He then returned to Europe where he continued to study acting in England at the R.A.D.A. During this time, he appears in productions in London, Oxford, Edinburgh and Spoleto, Italy. Elizabeth Swados invites him to participate in her production off The Hating Pot and he returns to New York for the next two years. During the following summer, Markus returns to Austria to work in several productions at the Salzburg Theater Festival. He most recently appeared as Vershinin in a production of The Three Sisters at the Chekhov Festival in New York City.

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Isabelita Lewis

Isabelita Lewis was born in Panama where she began dancing at the age of ten. She was frequently given stelar roles in her academy's productions and represented her country in Central American Ballet Competitions bringing home several medals. She also recieved awards such as the "Jovenes Valores" Award, a prize given to young adults who stand out in their field. She continued her education at Butler University where she received her BA with honors in Dance Pedagogy. She moved to New York City a year and a half from now and received a scholarship from Dance Space Center. She has performed with the National Ballet of Panama, Momentum Dance Company, Ballet International and many other choreographers in Panama, Indianapolis and New York City.

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Florencia Minniti

Florencia Minniti was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied Communications and Media at the University of Buenos Aires. Her drama and theatre studies were coached by several teachers from the "porteqo" underground scene. She participated in many independent films as a production coordinator and actress. Her first stage role was in a local theatre festival as a main character in a children's play. She was part of a theatre group dedicated to producing improvisational and experimental pieces written by the members of the group and exposed at different venues in Argentina. She came to the U.S. and studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She participated as a plastic artist in the piece "Have you seen my ball..?" for an exhibition "The Sphere in the Contemporary Structure" at De Cordoba Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts. Her favorite role remains undefined."

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Tchera Niyego

Tchera Niyego studied at the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School and has pursued her training with SITI Company since 1999. She has performed her own writings on NYC stages, The Moth, Nell’s, KGB, Mother’s.. Other stage credits include; Raw Impressions Dance Theater; Ghostfolds directed by Ara Fitz(Number 3) Women Center Stage Festival, Iceberg directed by Jessica Wallenfels(The Holy Whore), Raw Impressions Out-of-the-Box Theater;Secrets of Aviation by Vanessa Garcia( Arzu)... The New Stage Theatre Company; S. Beckett’s Come & Go directed by Ildiko Nemeth and Jessica Mitrani(Flo & The Widow), Diana Raznovich’s Dial-A-Mom directed by Ildiko Nemeth and Jessica Mitrani(Substitute Mother Center Staff)…Film credits include; Les Vampyres directed by Maria Beatty, Sundance Film Festival 2000, A Man Who Refuses to Make a Whistle by Noritoshi Hirakawa, Empire State by Ted Ciesielski, Jane the Stalker by Cybil Lake, Birds of Paradise by Julia Montilla, MOMA PS1... Tchera can currently also be seen in Subversions directed by Layna Feesher and Elise Knudsen performing on the NYC subway every Sunday.

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Viviana Parra

Viviana Parra was born in Argentina in 1970. She is an Argentinean Tango Specialist. She has been teaching dance for the last 10 years. Viviana has performed in Argentina, Europe and the USA. Among her highlights in New York City were performing at; the Metropolitan Opera House in Lincoln Center, Town Hall, and with numerous symphony orchestras.

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Natasha Zagli

Natasha Zagli was born in Athens, Greece, where she studied at the theatrical organization "Morfes". She did work there for both theatre and TV. She has since moved to New York, where she studied at Circle In The Square Theatre School. She has worked with Theatron Inc. She wants to thank Ildiko and Jessica for their great help and support.

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