Abhimanyu Katyal-VOLUMNIA

WITH THE PORTERS: Debut

Abhimanyu (Abhi) Katyal / (Volumnia). REGIONAL: Olney Theatre Center: A Nice Indian Boy, Fulton Theatre: Disgraced [2016/17 Robbie Award Best Actor in a Play], Hanover Theatre: A Christmas Carol (Timothy Cratchit). FILM: Music, Ladybird. TV: New Girl, How to Get Away with Murder, Castle, Fresh Off the Boat, Saturday Morning All Star Hits!, Ghosted, Casual, The Thundermans, General Hospital. EDUCATION: A.B., Stanford University (International Relations). www.abhiactsup.com

Thomas is the Associate Artistic Director and founding member of the Porters, select favorite credits include: title role in Richard II, Rosencrantz in Hamlet and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Ulysses in Troilus and Cressida, the Duke in Measure for Measure, title role in Timon of Athens, the Queen in Cymbeline, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Falstaff in Henry IV, Parts I and II, and Wolsey in Henry VIII. As a director with the Porters: Hamlet, Oedipus the Tyrant, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, King Lear, Orwellian, Othello, the Henry VI trilogy (Valley Theatre Award: Best Director), King John, and Double Falsehood.

Dawn Alden (she/her) is a mover, a shaker and a Maker. She holds an MFA in Acting, and has over 30 years experience in that, stage combat, and new play development. She founded and ran an all-female theatre company in Chicago (Babes With Blades), acts with and runs a film production company in LA (Vicarious Films) and co-hosts a podcast (34 Circe Salon).  She is dedicated to creating work by and about women, for everyone.

Jono Eiland feels so fortunate to be back on stage with the Porters. He is a founding member of Sojourn Theatre and a company member of The Porters of Hellsgate. Jono’s past credits include: Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 (Porters of Hellsgate); The Book of Will, Pericles (Santa Cruz Shakespeare); Hamlet (Ensemble Theatre Company); The Inheritance (Geffen Playhouse); Miss You Like Hell (Baltimore Center Stage). He graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.A. in Theater Arts. As always, Jono gives thanks to his family, teachers, and Renée.

Renée is thrilled to be back with the Porters for Coriolanus! Renée is nervous and excited to be doing her first non-Henry show with the Porters. Many thanks to her parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew for their unwavering support, and the mysterious handsome man who lives in her apartment and makes perfect oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

Ahkei Togun is an Actor and Producer originally from the east coast. After transferring from New York, he extended his education in LA and ultimately received his BFA from the Amercian Musical and Dramatic Academy. Since then he has prided himself in stage work and has featured on stages like A Noise Within, The Matrix Theatre and many more. At The Odyssey Ahkei has played Ensemble in The Serpent, Alan in Picnic, and Daz in Kill Move Paradise. After over a decade of performance, Ahkei decided to add producing to his creative belt; with the intentions of creating a platform and community that felt like home. Since then, he has curated over 20 different shows, connecting and creating with over 100 artists of all kinds. Nonetheless his passion for acting persists, and is more than excited to be taking on his first production with the Porters family!

Jennifer Lee Weaver has been a professional actor for many years on stage and the big and little screens like Netflix, iTunes, Freeform, various festivals and even your aircraft. Her solo show, “The Great Brain Robbery” may be coming to a stage near you! Thank you and love to her partner, family and fellow artists aiming to change the world! 

It’s a joy to be back on stage with the Porters! 

www.jenniferleeweaver.com

Lili Fox-Lim firmly believes in the power of art to create social change, and that is what fuels her as an artist. Lili grew up an athlete, graduating high school as an All-American lacrosse player. She then earned a B.A. in Psychology from Stanford University, where she discovered her passion for acting. In fact, she realized that her favorite elements of sports and psychology were foundational to acting— physicality, teamwork, and connection.

Nneoma Sampson is ecstatic to be presenting Coriolanus with The Porters of Hellsgate Theatre Company. She is a Chicago native by way of New York City. She has recently appeared in films such as “Queenpins” and “Chip n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers.” She has also appeared on television shows such as HBO’s “The Outsider,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Blue Bloods,” “Homeland,” and “Daredevil.” She is a proud member of both SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity Association Unions.

Kate is delighted to be performing with the Porters of Hellsgate again. Previous roles with the company include Goneril in King Lear, Jocasta in Oedipus Rex and Skyler in Breaking Bard. Regional theater highlights include Cinderella in Into the Woods, Lainie in Two Rooms, and Rachel in Reckless. Kate is also a writer and musician. 

Howard Leder is a Los Angeles-based actor as well as one of TV’s most respected editors. Recent stage: A Man of No Importance and Macbeth (A Noise Within), Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 (Porters of Hellsgate), Twelfth Night (Actors Co-op), The Nether (Veil Theatre), The Comedy of Errors and Cymbeline (Utah Shakespeare). TV: “This Is Us” (NBC) and the upcoming season of “Paradise” for Hulu. As an editor, his credits include “This Is Us” (NBC), “The Newsroom” and “Perry Mason” (HBO), and “Paradise” (Hulu). He is a graduate of Oberlin College and Conservatory and the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Dennis Gersten appeared in the Odyssey’s Lear Redux, and The Porters’ Henry IV. He’s co-artistic director of Theatre Unlimited, director for stage and podcasts, playwright, and founding member of Stagewrights, Inc., NYC, and Michael Chekhov Studio, LA. He performed three seasons at Coachella Valley Repertory; and in LA with: Odyssey, New American, Boston Court, Fountain, Road, Andak, Crown City, Theatre 40, Coeurage, The Huntington, and Hollywood Fringe. He’s a teaching artist with IOCA/P.S.Arts.

LA theatre credits include Meteor Shower (Little Fish Theatre), Sisters Three (Inkwell Theatre), A Gulag Mouse (Sacred Fools Theater Co.), Bigfoot! The Musical (Unknown Artists), Hole in the Sky (Circle X Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (The Porters of Hellsgate), and Richard III (Shakespeare by the Sea). Recently, she appeared in NBC's St. Denis Medical as well as the films V/H/S/85 and Shoulder Dance. Dana is also a writer, comedian, and voiceover artist.

After multiple degrees and many years abroad, Stephanie moved to Los Angeles in 2010 to cause havoc. For the last 9 years, Stephanie has run a monthly classical play reading group, the Common Room Players, with her husband, Brian Carroll. Her podcast, Sisters of Sci-Fi, is her greatest love after film and theatre. New to the Porters, she is immeasurably grateful to be directing one of her most favorite plays, Coriolanus, with them.

Theo Embeck (he/him) is a therapist by day and multihyphenate theater-maker by night. Favorite projects include producing Son of Semele’s Company Creation Festival, an incubator for devised work, for several years, adapting classic queer novels for the stage, and creating weird little solo shows like Spice Up Your Sex Life til it Burns and Christopher Nolan Hates Women. Ask him about the trans period marriage farce he’ll be working on next year. 

Athziri Morales-LIGHTING DESIGNER

Nick Neidorf officially joined the Porters in the fall of 2010, after a long informal association with the company. Since then, he has worked primarily behind the scenes as the Porters’ resident composer & sound designer. He has been responsible for the sound design of nearly every Porters production since 2010. Original scores include Troilus and Cressida, King Lear, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline, Henry VIII, and, hopefully, many more to come.

Sheryl Scott is a Manager on the Series Team at 20th Television. A first-generation Afro-Latina and military kid, Sheryl made her way to Entertainment through the fields of tech and aerospace and studied Theatre at Meredith College.  She has been with Disney Entertainment since 2018 where she’s worked in Scheduling at ABCE, Series at ABC Signature, completed The Executive Incubator Program, a two-year apprentice-style rotational program designed to train the next generation of emerging Executives, and is now on the 20th Television Series team.  From her own experience, storytelling and representation are ways to connect with not only humanity, but with yourself. Being able to see, feel, and hear experiences like and unlike her own have shaped and solidified her passion for representation, authentic depictions, and deepening levels of connection. 

Sheryl Scott-PRODUCER