Irresistible

a coLAB

ABOUT THE SHOW

In a time of turmoil, will resentment, anger, and fear tear us in opposite directions? Will our better selves triumph? Where will we and our nation end up? Deep inside us, what irresistibly pulls… and at what cost?

From the Constitution to cake – from sex appeal to social construct – what is…

IRRESISTIBLE?

Join Liars & Believers and over a dozen innovative actors, dancers, writers, musicians, and visual artists for this multi-disciplinary immersive experience.

This was the first theatre show at Sonia at the Middle East! Check out the new venue!

ARTISTIC TEAM

DIRECTOR - Jason Slavick
Jason Slavick is the Artistic Director of Liars & Believers. He is a director, writer and educator. For the LAB, he conceived and directed Who Would Be King, Yellow Bird Chase, and ICARUS, which premiered in Cambridge, played Outside The Box in Boston and made an acclaimed New York debut at the 2013 New York Musical Theatre Festival (honorable mention for book and design). Jason directed 28 Seeds, he co-wrote and directed, Song of Songs: a LoveRomp, and wrote and directed Le Cabaret Grimm: a punk cabaret fairy tale {sans fairies}, which premiered in Boston and played at the 2012 New York Musical Theatre Festival (best featured performer and best design, honorable mention for choreography). Jason also directed the LAB’s experimental project, Talk to Strangers. Jason wrote and directed Heaven & Hell: The Fantastical Temptation of the 7 Deadly Sins, a musical excursion commissioned by The Boston Conservatory. As a company member of Boston Theatre Works, Jason directed Othello (Elliot Norton Award nominated for Best Production and Best Actor), The Tempest, Antony & Cleopatra, and Macbeth. He developed and directed Emily Mann’s critically acclaimed Meshugah, Olga Humphrey’s Veronika Vavoom Volcanologist, and his own play J: a one-act improvised tragi-comedy. He also directed numerous developmental workshops and readings including Joyce Carol Oates’ The Tattooed Girl. Jason has directed throughout New England, in Tel Aviv, and in Philadelphia. Besides the shows above, Jason has written and directed The Golem, Icaphish, and Alice: a Grotesque Turn in Twelve Scenes. Jason has taught at colleges and schools throughout New England. He earned his MFA in directing from The Trinity Repertory Conservatory in Providence, where he was awarded the inaugural Pell Scholar Award. There he had the great fortune to work with Oskar Eustis, Brian Kulick, and Kevin Moriarity. Jason also studied at the Dell Arte International School of Physical Theatre, the Eugene O’Neill National Theatre Institute, and the Warsaw Theatre Academy in Warsaw, Poland.
CO-PRODUCER - Becca Leifer

Becca Leifer is a director, designer, stage manager, producer, and theatre educator in the Greater Boston area. Becca earned a BA in Anthropology from Columbia University in New York and a BA in Bible Studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Previous credits include: Who Would Be King (LAB, NYC & Philadelphia) Le Cabaret Grimm (LAB), Marisol (Columbia University), Caligula (Time Square Arts Center), The How and The Why (One Bird Productions).

CO-PRODUCER - Rachel Hock

Rachel Hock is the founding Artistic Associate of Liars & Believers. She produced the LAB’s first three coLABs, Talk to Strangers, Interference, and Lunar Labyrinth. She also co-produced with Johnny Blazes the HubBUB pre-show of Le Cabaret Grimm. She received a BA in English from the University of Rochester. She is also a writer, and by day she is a personal assistant/superhero.

COLLABORATORS

Tess Degen
Tess Degen is a native of Berlin Germany, where she grew up surrounded by the Berlin Wall. Its’ political and personal history has always held a tremendous fascination for her. On a visit home she found the story of Helga Knittel during a walk around the wall memorial and became inspired to tell her story. Tess came from professional modern dance to acting in both theater and film. www.tessdegen.com
Jesse Garlick
Jesse Garlick is Boston based actor and theatre educator who is also an artistic associate with Liars&Believers. Off-Broadway credits: Good (PTP/NYC). Boston credits: A Christmas Carol, Journey to the West, Arcadia (Central Square Theatre) Good, Assassins (New Repertory Theatre), Hamlet (Brown Box Theatre Project), Salome (Bridge Rep), Beowulf (Poets Theatre), A Midsummer Nights Dream (Classical Repertory Company), Who Would Be King, Yellow Bird Chase, Talk to Strangers (Liars&Believers). Jesse is a faculty member at Boston Ballet’s ECI Department as well as a freshman drama director at Newton South High School. He is also a co-founder of 360 Dance Ensemble. Jesse graduated from Boston University with a BFA in Acting as well as having attended the Academia Dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy. 
Sarah Gazdowicz
Sarah is a Boston-based performer, director and teaching artist.  As a performer, Sarah has worked many times with imaginary beasts including their annual Winter Pantomimes, Knock (IRNE best ensemble) and Betty Bam!.  She has recently appeared in The 39 Steps (Moonbox Productions), both performed and directed in the collaborative effort A Palpable Hit (Gunpowder Plot) and is a proud ensemble member of the long-running, high-brow entertainment, Sh*t-Faced Shakespeare.  Recent directing credits include Penny Penniworth: A Story of Great Good Fortune (Titanic Theatre Company), Laura (The Greater Boston Stage Company – formerly Stoneham Theatre), Polish Joke (Titanic Theatre Company), A Winter’s Tale (Maiden Phoenix Theatre Company) and The Farnsworth Invention (Flat Earth Theatre – IRNE Best Director).  Sarah will be returning to ‘the beasts’ for Winter Panto 2018: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and to Flat Earth Theatre summer 2018 to direct The Nether.
M.I.C. King
Michael King aka M.I.C. King (Master of Introspective Ceremonies and Must Inspire Change, sometimes “man I’m cool!”) was born in and raised in Westchester, New York and has been a Boston Transplant since the end of 2011. King is a rapper and poet of passion, and works with behavioral teens in the greater Boston area as a counselor. Though he’s no stranger to theater, this will be King’s first time working with visual artist on a collaborative piece and is looking forward to being around people who wish to use their talents to encourage others of bettering themselves and the world. King would like to thank all the people involved in the efforts with special thanks to Rebecca Leifer, Rachel Hock, and Jason Slavick for reaching out and sharing this opportunity with him. “Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best.”  – Robert Baden-Powell
Becca Lehrhoff
Rebecca Lehrhoff is a Somerville-based theater, visual, and teaching artist whose work ranges from acting, devising and dance to scenic design, art installation and mural painting. Rebecca holds a MFA in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University and a BS in theater from Skidmore College. A LAB artistic associate, Rebecca’s company credits include: Who Would Be King, Yellow Bird Chase, Interference & their new, in-progress piece currently titled Beyond. Other theater credit include: The Weird (Off The Grid Theater Company), Winter Panto 2018: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Winter Panto 2017: The Princess & The Pea (Imaginary Beasts), Beowulf, King Arthur (Poets’ Theatre), Sacred Spaces Redux (Exchange Artists), Enigma Variations (Flat Earth Theater), Beck: Song Reader (Chimera Lab Dance Theater). Select scenic design credits include: Yellow Bird Chase (LAB), How Soft the Lining (Bad Habit Productions), From the Sea to Somewhere Else (Flotsam Productions), The Farnsworth Invention (Flat Earth Theater- IRNE Award- Best Fringe Show), Penny Penniworth: A Tale Of Great Good Fortune, Polish Joke (Titanic Theater Company), Chalk (Fresh Ink Theater).
Nathan Leigh
Nathan Leigh is a composer, writer, and activist. He has designed sound and composed original music for New York Theatre Workshop, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Group, Red Bull Theatre, The Debate Society (Gothamist: Best Sound Design 2007 for The Eaten Heart), Stoneham Theatre (IRNE Best Sound Design 2009 for Strangers On A Train), Central Square Theatre (IRNE Best Sound Design 2010 for The Hound of the Baskervilles), and many more. With Kyle Jarrow, Nathan co-created the musicals Big Money (WTF Boris Segall Fellowship 2008) and The Consequences (World Premiere 2012 at WHAT). With Jason Slavick and the Liars and Believers ensemble, Nathan Leigh composed scores for adaptations of Song of Songs and Icarus. With Megan Sass, he is the composer and lyricist for The Mad Scientist’s Guide (NYC Fringe 2015). Since 2010, Nathan has served as the lead music reviewer for AFROPUNK, and produced their monthly mixtape series. Nathan’s most recent solo album is Ordinary Eternal Machinery.
Evan Lukash
Evan “v.Kash” Lukash is a 34-year-old internationally known, Boston-based visual artist. After studying photography and sculpture at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and Tufts University, Evan made a name for himself from coast to coast and abroad with his colorful visuals projections at festivals, clubs, stadiums, and anywhere a projector or screen could be found at musical and art events. After several years of travel and performance, the artist took a break from the visual projection realm to further his development in the physical arts with the “Project Anonymask” series, featuring one of a kind painted masks. Starting with Guy Fawkes masks during the Anonymous movement, Evan’s work reverberated quickly and was soon seen at art galleries, shows, and protests all over the globe. During this time, he also created mobile galleries throughout the US, painting on self-described “Neo-Canvases”; most notably, the human body. Utilizing loud, bright colors on a regular basis, the exceptional presence of his works is dramatic and unmistakable. Evan has been interviewed by NPR, and his body art featured in the Boston Herald, Boston Globe, and Barstool Sports. Locally, you can catch v.Kash playing electronic music shows, in and around Boston and Cambridge. During the months of December and January, Evan’s artwork can be seen on display at Zuzu, in Cambridge, MA.
Jay Mobley
Jay Mobley is a Boston-based composer, performer, and music director. Previous LAB credits include Who Would Be King (as composer & performer) and ICARUS (as music director and guitarist). Other regional music direction: Jack & the Giant (Greater Boston Stage Company), Midnight Society (dir. Amanda Faye Martin & Kai Chieh-Tu), Beowulf (The Poets’ Theatre, IRNE nomination for Best Music Director, Small Stage), and NYSTI’s Summer Theatre Institute. Jay works collaboratively with a wide range of artists. He has created podcasts for a theater
 company in Austin (Exchange Artists), served as a musical consultant for a Boston opera
 company (OperaHub), and led the arts program at an Adirondack summer camp (Fowler Camp
 & Retreat Center). On banjo, Jay has played with bands based in Brooklyn, NY, Northampton, MA, and Rochester, NY, and has toured in the freak-folk/puppet-rock-opera group 23 Psaegz. New England’s acclaimed male vocal chamber ensemble, Renaissance Men, recently commissioned and premiered a new song cycle for 8 men’s voices by Mobley based on interviews of people with lived experience of mental illness. Mobley holds an MusB in Composition from Fredonia State University of New York and studied conducting at the Conductors Institute of Bard College Conservatory and composition at New England Conservatory.
Glen Moore
As an artistic ensemble member with Liars & Believers, Glen Moore played Saul in Who Would Be King, which he helped devise over the course of 2015. He was last seen in the New England Regional Premiere as Gene in The Last Schwartz with Gloucester Stage Company. Boston area credits include; BLINDERS (Flat Earth Theatre), The Importance of Being Ernest (Moonbox Productions), Of Mice and Men (Boston Children’s Theatre), CLOSER (Bad Habit Productions), Of Mice and Men (Moonbox), The Time of My Life (Zeitgeist Stage Company), And Nither Had I Wings to Fly(BHP), Arcadia (BHP), Eurydice (Independent Drama Society) Regional Theatre; Speech And Debate (Curious Theatre Company). He holds a B.A. in acting from The University of Northern Colorado and also studied briefly at The National Theatre Conservatory. Glen is an Equity Membership Candidate with AEA and has worked as an acting coach in Boston and Denver both privately and with Model and Talent Management Agency. He would like to thank his friends and family for all their support.
Jeff Pearlstein
Hailing from the Suburbs of Boston Jeff’s First leading role was as Abraham Lincoln in 1st grade. His muse then turned to drawing dragons and cartoons then as his teen years dawned his mental energy went to hitting things ( i.e. drums). So basically, Jeff specializes in “Things your parents told you not to if you wanted solid career choices”. He spent a good chunk of his life thus far playing music and acting the fool (both in professional and private life) in various bands and touring the country with renaissance faires. He also shows up five times in the first 60 seconds of the pilot for the TV show “Arrested Development” with nary a line and played Best Man “Barry Wheeler” in the Blue Ocean Music Hall’s run of Tony & Tina’s Wedding. “Irresistible” is his first show with Liars and Believers.
Shaina Schwartz
Shaina Schwartz has been performing and teaching throughout New England for over 10 years. An attendee of the Boston Youth Moves program at Jeannette Neill Dance Studio, she went on to study music and theater at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. A former resident artist at the award-winning children’s theater, The Peacock Players, and dance captain/co-choreographer with the Boston Tap Company, Shaina is now the primary tap instructor at Boston University and multiple prestigious Greater Boston area studios. She is the Artistic Director of the New England based educational dance company, Touche Taps, which focuses on comprehensive music, percussive dance and composition training, working with over 300 dancers, ages 7 to 65+, every week!
Rachel Wiese
Rachel Wiese, LAB Artistic Associate: Who Would Be King, Yellow Bird Chase, Beowulf (in collaboration with Poet’s Theatre). Regional: Metamorphoses, and Wildflowers (Zach Theatre), Lifelines and Hometeam (Vetworks), Sacred Space Redux and A Streetcar Straight to Hell (The Exchange Artists), Frankenstein and The Jungle (Trouble Puppet Theatre), Marvelous Things, People Will Talk About You Sometimes, and Her Little Prince (Poison Apple Initiative), Oceana (The Vortex). Film and stunt acting credits are on imdb.com. Rachel teaches Acting at Worcester State University and directs a bilingual theatre program for Texas A&M University in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy.
Molly Zenobia
Zenobia is a composer, performer, and explorer of sounds and emotions who has shared a stage with Foo Fighters, Rachel Sage, Edie Carey, Mila Drumke, and the Dresden Dolls. She has collaborated with contemporary popular electronic and ambient music pioneer Roedelius, worked in studio with Counting Crows founding member Matt Mally, and studied tabla and Hindustani classical voice in Kolkata, India. Zenobia is also an active theater musician who served as percussionist for Wheelock Theatre’s (AEA) original stage adaptation of Pinocchio. She was commissioned to compose a musical setting from The Raven for Dream Within a Dream, an Edgar Allan Poe-inspired production that premiered at the Somerville Theatre. She’s a collector of sounds & colors, creator of soundscapes, an engineer and designer, with three studio albums under her belt. You can see what she’s up to on her youtube channel @mollyzenobia, or her instagram @zenobia.zen.
Stage Manager: Deirdre Benson

Additional performers: Veronica Barron, Luke Paulino, Ethan Rubin

Additional music production by Mateo Gold

Additional photography by Hanno Lentz (www.hanno-lentz.de/Still-Photography)

PRESS

Features

‘Irresistible’ Is An Immersive Variety Show With A Message About Our Politics Today

Wonderland

Liars & Believers’ ‘IRRESISTIBLE’ Flips The Script To Give A Diverse Cast Creative Control

WBUR

Reviews

Liars & Believers ‘IRRESISTIBLE’ Applies Woke Spin to Vaudevillian Concept

Theater Mirror

Reflecting On Liars & Believers Recent Event – ‘Irrestistible’ coLab

The White Rhino Report

Anything But Typical: ‘Irresistible’

The New England Theatre Geek

 

Media

Check out some of our musical collaborators

 

More from Molly Zenobia on Bandcamp

More from Veronica Barron on Bandcamp.

What is a coLAB?

It’s our most experimental project. We choose a theme. Then we gather artists to play with us – musicians, dancers, aerialists, video artists, visual artists, clowns, mask-makers, puppeteers, comedians, poets… you name it!

For several months, we discuss ideas. Everyone makes individual work and shares it. We get into each other’s pieces, comment on the them, juxtapose them, and contradict them. We put it all together… then we drop the audience down Alice’s rabbit hole.

It’s an immersive, artistic, wild ride. Who is the central character? You.

This is where we take risks. We meet new artists. We introduce you to them. We meet their audiences. This is where we try new things.

Wanna play?

And look who else is joining us