Family

Biographies

Raymond Bobgan (Executive Artistic Director)
Raymond is now in his seventh year as Executive Artistic Director. During his tenure, CPT has eliminated over $200,000 in debt, developed an operating reserve of $100,000, made significant progress on renovating its buildings, produced 15 world premieres (9 by local artists), expanded its programs to support new work and achieved unprecedented national coverage. Raymond specializes in creating new work through an ensemble process. He was the founding Artistic Director of Wishhounds (aka Theatre Labyrinth) and has directed and collaboratively conceived and created more than twenty new theatrical works. Recent creations include: Year 25 Vigil, with Karin Randoja for Humber College at Theatre Passe Murraille (Toronto), Insomnia, with Holly Holsinger and Chris Seibert, Cut to Pieces, with Chris Seibert; Blue Sky Transmission: A Tibetan Book of the Dead, co-produced by CPT and La Mama ETC (NY); and The Confessions of Punch and Judy, co-produced by CPT, NaCl (NY) and Number 11 Theatre (Toronto), which was published in New Canadian Theatre Volume 9. Other recent shows include: Open Mind Firmament: An Evening of William Butler Yeats, Gao Xingjian's The Other Shore, Dennis Kelly's Osama the Hero, and Thornton Wilder's Our Town.

In 1994, Bobgan initiated the Student Theatre Enrichment Program, a job training program that engages at-risk youth in writing, producing and performing new plays. Raymond was the first director of CPT's Y-Haven Theatre Project. Raymond's theatrical work seen in Romania, Brazil, Denmark, Serbia, Turkey, The United Kingdom and Canada and featured in American Theatre Magazine, Canadian Theatre Review, Theatre Journal and in Lisa Wolford’s book Grotowski's Objective Drama Research. Raymond was recently recognized by American Theatre Magazine as 1 of 25 national theatre artists that will shape the next 25 years of American theatre. He is a Creative Workforce Fellow of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, funded by the Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, and an alumnus of Theatre Communications Group/Pew Charitable Trust's National Theatre Artist Residency Program and the TCG/NEA Career Development Program for Directors. Raymond was Acting Artistic Director of CPT (1995-1997) and served CPT in many roles including Associate Artistic Director, Education Director and Resident Director at various times since 1991.

Catie Dargue (Development Director)
Catie Dargue came to CPT with a rich background and passion for theatre and her personal growth as an emerging playwright sparked her interest in theatre's specializing in new work. With a degree in Theatre and Communications from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR and a Masters Degree in Playwriting from the University of London, she has a diverse and multicultural understanding of fundraising and theatre. She worked for two years as a trust account representative for US Bank's Charitable Service Group which instigated her interest in non-profits and development. In 2004, Catie became the youngest board member at Portland Actor's Conservatory in Oregon. She served as co-artistic director of Gin-in-the Tea Theatre Company (UK) and artistic director of her own company, Shark Eat Muffin (US). She studied for two years at the Royal Court Theatre in the young writers program and the invitation writers program. In 2010, after spending four years living abroad in London, she moved to Cincinnati where she worked with the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless as Director of Development and Operations. Following that, she worked at Cincinnati State College in the Federal Grants department. Catie was instantly attracted to CPT's mission and dedication supporting the arts and the community.

Chris Seibert (Education Director)
A performer, director and playwright primarily working in the devised theatre method, Chris develops new plays, solo works and original adaptations. She has appeared in a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional performance venues including Daley Plaza, Navy Pier, Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Cleveland Play House and Cleveland Public Theatre. Notable works include the multi-media one-woman performance Cut to Pieces, co-created with Raymond Bobgan, and Insomnia: The Waking of Herselves, co-created with Raymond Bobgan and Holly Holsinger. Additional CPT stage credits include Fefu and Her Friends, Our Town, Two-Headed, Osama the Hero and Open Mind Firmament. As Cleveland Public Theatre's Director of Education, Chris facilitates the production and tour of 6 to 8 original, ensemble-driven theatre works each season. Through these programs she works collaboratively with C eveland inner-city teens, children in public housing and adults in recovery to create original performances based on the participant’s life experiences. She is the recipient of a Chicago C.A.A.P. grant for multi-disciplinary performance, and her co-written screenplay Moon Tooth was a semi-finalist in the Chesterfield Writer's Film Project. Through the Council of International Programs USA, Chris traveled to Istanbul, Turkey as part of a contingent of Cleveland-area arts professionals working with Turkish artists in the development of arts programs for marginalized urban youth. In 2010, she was awarded a Creative Workforce Fellowship, a program of the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, generously funded by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Chris' work was recently featured in Convivium33 Gallery's 21st Century Expressions of the Second Sex, a showcase of selected works by leading regional female artists.

Denis M. Griesmer (General Manager)
Denis has served as General Manager for the past five years but has worked in a variety of artistic and managerial positions at CPT since the fall of 2001. Denis was Director of the Y-Haven Theatre Project, one of CPT's adult outreach programs from 2006 to 2009. The Y-Haven Theatre Project collaborates with residents of Y-Haven's Transitional Housing Program to create an original play based on their personal experiences. Notable artistic roles also include Associate Producer for CPT's original production, Blue Sky Transmission: A Tibetan Book of the Dead. Denis brings 15 years of theatre management and project management consulting to his role at CPT. A graduate of the Northwestern University School of Speech Theatre Program, Denis was Production Manager and then Associate Producer for San Francisco's acclaimed Pickle Family Circus. He later worked as Production Coordinator on feature films by Cleveland writer Joe Eszterhaus including Telling Lies in America and Burn, Hollywood, Burn. Denis has also served as Vice President of the Board of Directors of Greater Cleveland Community Shares of which CPT is a member.

Beth Wood (Associate Artistic Director)
After appearing on the CPT stage since 2002, Beth joined the CPT staff in 2007. An actress, educator, director, administrator and theatre technician, she holds a BA in Communications and Theatre from John Carroll University. A former Actor-Teacher for Great Lakes Theater, Beth has taught a variety of theatre and acting courses throughout Northeast Ohio, and has served as the technical director for John Carroll University, Lakeland Theatre and Stagecrafters. CPT acting credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mrs. Bob Cratchet's Wild Christmas Binge, A Bright Room Called Day, Fefu and Her Friends, The Rocky Horror Show, Our Town, Pulp, Matt & Ben, Anna Bella Eema (co-production with Theater Ninjas), Open Mind Firmament, Don't Call Me Fat and Akarui. As a director of adventurous scripted work, Beth's CPT directing credits include BOOM by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb (third U.S. production), Why Torture is Wrong and the People Who Love Them by Christopher Durang (second U.S. production), FEVER/DREAM by Sheila Callaghan, The SantaLand Diaries by David Sedaris at PlayhouseSquare's 14th Street Theatre, Antebellum by Robert O'Hara (second U.S. production) and in the Spring of 2013, There Is a Happiness That Morning Is by Mickle Maher. In addition to her work with scripted productions, Beth co-created and directed the acclaimed two-person cabaret show The Loush Sisters for PlayhouseSquare in 2011.

Zachary Svoboda (Technical Director)
This is Zackary's first season at CPT. His theatrical experience includes positions as master electrician, assistant technical director, sound engineer, set designer, and lighting designer. He has worked at Cleveland State University, Euclid High School, and Cleveland Institute of Music. Zack comes to CPT from Rock the House a corporate and private event producer.

Rebecca Hill (Marketing Coordinator)
Rebecca joined the CPT staff in 2008 as the Box Office Manager. In 2011, she decided to challenge herself by changing careers to marketing while still working for a theatre she believes in. Rebecca graduated from Ohio University with a BFA in Directing and then moved to Cleveland to be one of the founders of Fourth Wall Productions, a local theatre company that specialized in new works by young artists. At Fourth Wall, she directed Malicious Bunny, All the Way from China, Schism, Just Shy of Closure, Dog Sees God and a few other plays. Prior to joining the staff of CPT, she spent three years at the Cleveland Play House, where she served as an assistant director and worked as a member of the box office staff. Rebecca is excited to be exercising her directing skills this season with The World's Largest Axe in CPT's Springboard Series.

James Kosmatka (Director of Patron Services)
James joined the Cleveland Public Theatre staff in 2011, but has been associated with C PT since he served as a marketing intern in 2006. At CPT, James has worked as a sound designer, director, assistant director and stage manager and productions have included The Santaland Diaries, Osama the Hero and poor little lulu and Big Box productions including Seppuku, InCogNegro and The Beetlebug and the Bad Worm. Prior to CPT, James worked as an office manager at Cleveland State University and as a freelance theatre artist with such companies as The Beck Center for the Arts, The Cleveland Play House and The University of Rochester International Theatre Program. He is an alumnus of Cleveland State University, where he co-created the hit adaptation Night of the Living Dead.

Renee Schilling (Development Assistant)
Renee recently joined the CPT staff in 2012. She was one of the 2011-2012 Joan Yellen Horvitz Director Fellows at Cleveland Public Theatre. As an actor she was most recently seen in The Excavation (Theater Ninjas) and as performer and co-author of 30 Awkward Minutes with Pat and Glenn featured in CPT's 2011 Big Box series. Most recent directed and devised works include, To Fasten Your Seatbelts (AtTENtionSpan '12), Jesus is Dead... and Jerry Garcia is God (Big Box '12) and Not the Flying Stupendas (Co-written with Jill Levin). Renee is a graduate of CSU's Theatre Program.

Faye Hargate (Education Associate)
Faye Hargate joined the CPT staff as the Education Associate in 2009, after working at the theatre as an actor, educator and stage manager since 2007. She is a graduate of the two-year professional theatre program at Ecole Jacques Lecoq and earned a BA in Religious Studies and Theatre from Bowdoin College. At Ecole Jacques Lecoq, she specialized in physical theatre and the creation of original, ensemble based theatre. She was an ensemble member of international theatre company Ici et La and was an ensemble member and associate artistic director of C leveland’s Theater Ninjas from 2006-2009. Her devised work creations with CPT include: Royal Ann's Preserve (director, co-creator, performer), Imagine Home (co-director, 2011 Student Theatre Enrichment Program), I am Somebody! (director, 2011 Brick City Theatre program), Fellsalie (director, creator, performer, CPT's Pandemonium 2010), The Song of the Seekers (asst. director, CPT's 2010 Student Theatre Enrichment Program), Hold Fast to Dreams (co-director, 2010 Brick City Theatre) and Open Mind Firmament (actor/creator). As Education Associate, Faye aids in the creation, production and tour of the original, ensemble-driven theatre works created by CPT's core education programs: Brick City Theatre, Student Theatre Enrichment Program, Women's Voices and Y-Haven Theatre Project. Her recent CPT stage credits include FEVER/DREAM, Don't Call Me Fat, Open Mind Firmament and Anna Bella Eema. She is a Cleveland native and lives in Cleveland.

Emily Ritger (New Play Associate)
Emily joined the CPT staff in January, 2013. A director, educator, administrator and dramaturge, she holds a Bachelor of Science in Theatre and Philosophy from the University of Evansville. A native to Wisconsin, Emily spent the last four years in Chicago where she spent time on staff at American Theater Company in the roles of Artistic Administrator and Production Manager, Redmoon Theater as their Neighborhood Arts Program Associate, Chicago High School for the Arts as an Acting Instructor and at The National High School Institute as an Acting Instructor and Director. As a freelance artist, she has worked at Northlight Theatre, TimeLine Theatre, Teatro Vista and The National Public Housing Museum. She sat on American Theater Company and Redtwist Theatre's reader committees for new work, and facilitated independent new play development for Chicago playwrights. She has training in Viola Spolin and Paul Sills' Theater Games and Story Theater.

David Ellison, A.I.A. (Project Architect of The Gordon Square Theatre)
David Ellison was trained at the Cooper Union in New York City and has practiced architecture in Cleveland since 1987. He was the set designer for CPT's Marat/Sade, Kitchen Table U., Street Sense and Measure for Measure.

James A. Levin (Founder of Cleveland Public Theatre)
Award-winning director, playwright and producer, James A. Levin founded the Cleveland Public Theatre in 1982, bringing innovative off-off Broadway-style theatre to Cleveland after three years with Dario D'Ambresio's Pathological Theatre Company in residence at Cafe LaMama in New York City. He has envisioned, launched and supervised the renovations of both the James Levin Theatre and Gordon Square Theatre. He has launched many regionally recognized projects such as the New Plays Festival, Danceworks, the Performance Art Festival, The American Indian Festival and Vaudeville. He has produced most of the work at CPT since its inception and all of the Shakespeare productions. Directing credits include Atomic Vaudeville, Marat/Sade, Beirut, Dolores Rain, The Sam Shepard Festival, and Killer Joe. Except in the courtroom, he has not acted for several years, the last major part being the title role in The Triumphant Return of Blackbird Flynt by Peter Ullian. He has written lyrics for various rock bands and for theatre productions including Lysistrata 2085, Marat/Sade and Star Wares and Let the Knowing Speak, a jazz cantata featuring Jon Hendricks, Jackie Byard and Phil Wilson. Writing credits include Star Wares (a rock musical in collaboration with Linda Eisenstein), which won a fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council and CPT's late night satire, The Titanic, the true story. Born in Cleveland, James graduated from Shaker Hts. High, the University of Michigan, and CWRU law school.