2024 SoloFest 3
March 15 – 17
THE GREAT DIVIDE
Written and performed by Amy Crossman.
Directed by Scott Ebersold
Costumes by Brynne Oster-Bainnson
Sound Design by Sam Kaseta
Phoebe Brooks – Dramaturge
Melony Reyes – Stage Manager
Everything is fine! No, seriously, no one’s got a drinking problem, and the panic attacks are just, no, they’re – it’s fine, everything’s fine!! A comedic roller coaster ride that explores love, heartbreak, and choosing life in the face of incalculable loss.
From the birth of love to its shattering heartbreak, it’s a wild ride. And what really matters is what comes next, the fresh start after the storm. Picture this: a trashy NYC apartment, and a dress that’s maybe a bit too daring, a New Year’s Eve bash where your latest crush is the only familiar face in the room. Every look, every laugh—it’s all building blocks for your unique “Meet Cute” or maybe that brutal rejection. Which path will you choose? The Great Divide is a darkly funny and utterly heart-wrenching play.
Amy Crossman (Writer/Performer) is an AEA actor, teaching artist, playwright, and sometimes clown. As an actor, she’s worked with the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Boomerang Theatre Company, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Chenango River Theatre, among other places. As a teacher, she’s taught at HVSF, PSF, Barrington Stage Company, Queens Theatre, Hangar Theatre, and Manhattan Theatre Club, as well as privately. She’s studied with a lot of kind and funny people including Judy Gold, Chris Bayes, Karl Bury, and Mark H. Dold. She loves Diet Coke, Harry Potter, and therapy. www.amycrossman.com.
Scott Ebersold (Director) is a theatre director who enjoys developing new plays and musicals and reinventing classics. He is known for creating work that celebrates marginalized voices and taking the audience on unexpected journeys. He recently served as an artistic associate at Classic Stage Company. He directed the off-Broadway premiere of the new musical The View UpStairs, which was nominated for two Lucille Lortel Awards, three Drama Desk Awards and an Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Musical. He was nominated as Best Director for the production by the “Viv” Awards by Audelco, which was established to honor excellence in Black theatre and artists in New York City.
Brynne Oster-Bainnson (Costumes) is a designer for theater, film and opera. MFA: NYU. Some select recent theater credits include: Millennials are Killing Musicals (Out of the Box Theatrics), The Nobodies Who Were Everybody (Theater in Asylum), Measure for Measure (Smith Street Playhouse), Love’s Labor’s Lost (Columbia University), Hit the Wall (Spin Cycle) Don Giovanni, and Bel Canto (Aspen Music Festival). For more, visit brynne-osterbainnson.com and follow on instagram @brynnefinite
Melony Reyes (she/her) Stage Manager was born and raised in New York City. She has a BA in Theatre from The City College of New York. Her favorite credits include The Great Divide (Here Arts Center), Frankenstein the Musical (The Players Theater) & Time Biter (SoHo Playhouse). Melony would like to thank her mother and sister for their love and support.
Sam Kaseta (they/he) is a sound designer, composer, conductor, and teacher. They grew up in central Connecticut and attended university at Princeton, where they graduated cum laude with a Bachelor in Arts in music, as well as certificates in theater and German. After moving to New York City in 2015, they began working as a composer, sound designer, and MD at various venues, including The Tank, Frigid, Soho Rep., New Dramatists, The Players’ Theater, ART N.Y., Ars Nova, The Brick, Dixon Place, and more. In 2019, they graduated with a Masters of Music in concert composition from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Music.
Phoebe Brooks (Dramaturg) is a theater creature. Dramaturgy credits include The Great Divide, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Rock Medea and Ashil Lee’s Me No Know Korean. Selected directing credits: The Amazing Doctor She Medicine Show (Edinburgh Fringe ‘24), The Fantastical Fellowship: Final Quest for the Crisis Crystal XXVII (FRIGID Fest), Could This Meeting Have Been An Email and Measure for Measure (SWP). Assistant/Associate Director: & Juliet, The Da Vinci Code, I Can Get It For You Wholesale. Programming Director for Spicy Witch Productions. Associate Member, SDC. MFA: Columbia University. phoebebrooks.com
Thanks To Tim Errikson, Boomerang Theatre Company, Stephanie Machado, Baize Buzan, Emma Orelove, Evan Maltby, Ian Smith, Janelle Hoffman, Nan Hoffman, Lorenzo Landini, Jill Ashley, Sarah Palestine, Peter Jamieson, Simone Stadler, James Karpen, Lisa Mielke, Christine Mower, Ashley Bonilla, Briana Canalini, Patricia Wade, Edgar McIntosh, Mark Dold, Jenny and Tom Crossman, Brock Bivens, Christa Hilton, Stacey Ceron