Arizona Theatre Company is proud to announce its participation in the Digital Premiere of the seven winning plays of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence, a national short play competition for middle and high school students, in-collaboration with fellow partner theatres including Alliance Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Orlando Repertory Theatre, and South Coast Repertory. Starting on December 14, 2020 – the 8-year remembrance of the shootings at Sandy Hook — the winning titles will be available on the streaming platform Broadway on Demand.
Malcolm Events & Community Conversations FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 4 PM HANG & FOCUS LIVE
Guest: The Cast and Crew of Malcolm
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 5 PM READING OF "THE WAR AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE" WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 5 PM #ENOUGH ATC COMMUNITY PANEL SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 3 PM CREATIVES IN CONVERSATION
BIOS Debkanya Mitra (Playwright) is a Maryland-based writer and is currently a student at the University of Maryland. Nickole Custodio (Director) has been an ATCteen since the spring of 2019. She performed as part of the 2019 Spring Festival, Summer on Stage: Matilda, and Hamlet. She is excited to make her directorial debut through this program.
Zoie Staats (Assistant Director/Costume Designer) is a sophomore in high school who has always had a love for writing. Zoie has been taking the ATCTeen playwriting classes for two years now.
Petra Polzin (Sister) is 15 years old and has been acting for 5 years. She has been a part of ATC teen for a little over 2 years. She's an actor, improviser, homeschooler, artist, and cosplayer.
Faith Santos (College Friend) is a 16 year-old Filipino American artist based in Laveen, AZ. She has been appreciating art from a very young age and is channeling her talents and skills in performance to transform and heal various audiences. She believes activism and art work hand in hand and can curate change and empowerment.
Preston Campbell-Cueva (Bandmate) is a senior at Tucson Magnet high school. He has starred in many plays and is very excited to share the story of Malcolm and bring awareness to the issue surrounding gun violence and racial inequality in The United States of America. He has produced, directed, filmed and starred in many of his own short films and is involved in the THMS Marching 100 and Jovert Steel Drum band and being the Captain of the Track team at his school. He is looking forward to our show and is happy to show you all Malcolm.
Lauren Youngstedt (Driver) lives in Phoenix, Arizona and is a proud thespian. Her hobbies include singing, dance, and improv. She lives with her mom, dad, older sister, and two cats named Jake and Toby. Malcolm has a very important message in it that Lauren thinks everyone, regardless of beliefs, politics, or status, needs to hear. Twenty twenty has been a stressful year for all of us, but she’s excited to be a part of this new, adaptive form of theatre!
Roark Polzin (Production Manager/Costume Designer) is 19 years old and he is an actor, costume designer, artist, cosplayer, Star Wars fan, maker of things, and theatre enthusiast. He joined ATC teen over two years ago and has been acting and helping out backstage for almost five years. Other ATC Teen productions I’ve participated in: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee- Prop Assistant, 10 O’clock Sharp - Prop Artisan, She Kills Monsters (Summer on Stage) - Actor (Steve), Hamlet - Actor (Laertes) Core Stories (postponed) - Costume Designer Mika Fricke (Stage Manager) is a 15 year old artist born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. He took his first acting class at age 7 and has loved theatre ever since. Mika had his first performance with ATCteen in November of 2019 and has taken many classes and workshops there. Some of Mika’s most fulfilling roles include Guildenstern from Hamlet, Lysander from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Lord Farquaad from Shrek The Musical. Mika’s art has been used on the program for 5 of Live Theatre Workshop’s student productions, and he is currently the Graphic Designer on ATCteen’s student council. The show Malcolm with ATCteen was Mika’s second time as a Stage Manager. His hobbies include digital painting, special effects makeup, and talking to friends. Mika learns at home from loving parents and is a part of SOARing (Southern Arizona Unschoolers.)
Valeria Rios
Isabella Beres (Lighting Designer) is a 14 year old artist in Tucson, Arizona. She joined ATCteen this past January, and has been involved with the creative team for 1 and a half years and has grown up with a love for theatre. She believes it is important to continue with Theatre through the pandemic and to spread awareness through theatre. Olivia Santellenes (Sound Editor) has been involved in theatre most of their life. Their most notable credits include The Addams Family at North Valley Arts Academy (NVAA) and The Little Prince at Denver Center for the Performing Arts. They also won the NVAA Outstanding Actor Award in 2019 for their role as Cassie Lang in Marvel's Stature. Outside of the theatre, you'll find Olivia at the skatepark or at home, brushing up on their Mario Kart skills.
(Sound Editor) also known as Leander, is a beginner in sound design starting back in October with her church along with learning special effects makeup starting out with gore makeup. This led her into cosplay though this is very small. She has performed with Ballet Folklorico Tapatio under one of their intermediate groups in her freshman year of high school. She also writes on the Wattpad platform. When it comes to awards, she has placed top five in four out of six events for the 2019-2020 Academic Decathlon at Sunnyside High School and also been awarded a certificate of appreciation from the Veterans of Foreign Wars. This award was for representing them in the Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service program at the Veterans Hospital in Tucson, Arizona.
Rain Bousquet (Animation Artist)(She/Her) is a 16 year old actress, musician, dancer, and playwrite. She belongs to Arizona Theatre Company's teen program and the City High School drama club. She enjoys spending time with her dogs and hanging out with her friends. As well as making time for hobbies and fun.
Staged Reading in Connection with this Program
The War Against Gun Violence
Zoie Staats (Playwright) is a sophomore in high school who has alwasy had a love for writing. Zoie has been taking the ATCTeen playwriting classes for two years now. She is starting to become more involved in ATCTeen this year and has been working as the assistant director and assistant costume designer fo rthe upcoming play, Malcolm.
Elena Titus (Stage Directions) is a junior at Xavier College Prep in Phoenix and is excited to take part in this show! She has participated in voice lessons and workshops with ATCTeen and sang "Requiem" from Dear Evan Hansen in the Phoenix showcase this past spring. Elena enjoys theatre immensely and is grateful that she was able to perform live this fall, acting out scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream and singing in "The Telephone Hour" in Bye Bye Birdie and "Miss Maria" in the XCP/BCP Fall Showcase. She hopes you enjoy the production!
Roark Polzin (Andrew Wilcox) is 19 years old and he is an actor, costume designer, artist, cosplayer, Star Wars fan, maker of things, and theatre enthusiast. He joined ATC teen over two years ago and has been acting and helping out backstage for almost five years. Other ATC Teen productions I’ve participated in: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee- Prop Assistant, 10 O’clock Sharp - Prop Artisan, She Kills Monsters (Summer on Stage) - Actor (Steve), Hamlet - Actor (Laertes) Core Stories (postponed) Costume Designer
Hayden Stagg (Jamison Kelly) is an activist and artist, first and foremost. Since joining ATC Teen in 2018 with his debut role as St. Jimmy in American Idiot, he continued to be actively involved as not only a council member, but also several other acting roles, most notably Clemmie in 10 O'clock Sharp and John in Lock in of the Living Dead. A senior in high school, he eagerly awaits a further acting career in college, and is honored to be a part of the War Against Gun Violence.
Anya Moseke (Captain/Ms. Davis) is a junior in high school and has been a lover of performance all her life. She has been involved in a handful of porductions with Arizona Theatre Company, including American Idiot (Alysha), Matilda (Lavender), and Hamlet (Ophelia). She is excited and grateful to be involved in this new ATC production and it's activism in spreading the word about he effects of gun violence.
Chaya Evans (Stephanie Wilcox) is a college freshman who can't wait to pursue her dreams of working toward a BFA in musical theatre. She has performed with many local theatre companies around the Tucson community, one of them being Arizona Theatre Company. She has been an ATC teen improv troupe (FUSAI) and has participated in some of their productions such as American Idiot (Ensemble), Matilda (Eric), and 10 O'clock Sharp (Teddy).
Talya Fleisher (Juliet Wilcox) is a sophomore in high school and is super passionate about theater. She has been in many shows at Live Theatre Workshop and has always enjoyed performing. This is her first show at ATC but she's very excited to be a part of this community and to participate in this special project.
Special Thanks Will Rogers Tajh Oates Chanel Bragg Odalys Catalan Paula Ortega RE-FRAME Youth Arts Center Oskar Anderson ATCteen Council
ATCteen is a free, radically accessible, learner-driven, artistic leadership program where students ages 13-19 take on the roles of producer, director, designer, playwright, performer and technician in order to create and produce their own theatre productions. Classes and engagement with Arizona Theatre Company professionals and productions enhance the hands on learning experience. Teen members can curate their educational experience by picking from a variety of classes and activities or designing their own projects. ATCteen shows are led by teen artistic teams comprised of student designers, technicians, directors, choreographers, music directors, conductors and more. We believe each student brings something unique to the table and want to help them unlock their unique creative potential.
For more information about ATCteen, please visit arizonatheatre.org/atcteen