Meet the Creative Team

MEN ON BOATS BY JACLYN BACKHAUS DIRECTED BY MARY BETH EASLEY Meet the Creative Team
Director \| MARY BETH EASLEY Mary Beth Easley is head of directing in the Department of Theatre Arts. From 2006–2018, she was Artistic Director of the CUNY-Brooklyn College Department of Theater. Focusing on new play development, intercultural theatre expression, and outreach to under-represented urban and rural communities, Ms. Easley has been directing plays, coaching, and teaching acting for many years. She has directed Off-Broadway and in regional theatres throughout the United States. In NYC, her work has been featured at The Bushwick Starr, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep, The Women’s Project, The New Federal Theater, and LaMama ETC, among others.
Movement Director \| JOHANNA KASIMOW Johanna Kasimow is an Assistant Professor of Directing in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa. Her recent creative research focuses on the interplay of clown and affect in performance in a new play titled The Grüb, which probes the sensations of hiding, trans-generational inheritance, and the rhythms of survival in an underground pit. Johanna has worked with artists and theatre companies across the US, including: Pig Iron Theatre Company, The Eva Steinmetz Project, Antigravity Performance Project, Tiny Circus, Theatre Horizon, and New Paradise Laboratories. Recently, Johanna directed City In Heat, a site-specific live cinema performance piece, as part of the Open Air Media Festival at Public Space One in Iowa City. Her teaching and research has focused on clown and mask; civic and social practice art; community-based theatre; theatre of the climate crisis; and contemporary performance. Johanna received an MFA in Devised Performance from the University of the Arts/Pig Iron School in Philadelphia.
Dramaturg \| MARGARET SMITH BA(hons) English Literature & Theatre Studies from The University of Sheffield MA Theatre Criticism & Dramaturgy from Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, University of London. Margaret (She/Her) is a first-year MFA candidate in Dramaturgy. Her most recent credits include Fahrenheit 451 (CDT, Complicité), A Bright Room Called Day (Collaborazione), Scenes from an Execution (Dear Hunter Theatre), and the premiere of W.E.T. (CSSD). She hopes you enjoy the show.
Stage Manager \| MEENAKSHI CHINMAI Meenakshi is a second-year MFA stage manager. She has been involved in several production in India from a very young age. Her love for theatre started from acting in several children’s plays, but things took a turn and her passion for stage management started when she met her mentor Dr. Terry John Converse, Emeritus professor Washington State University. She is very happy and proud to be a part of the UIowa stage management cohort. She is very grateful to her mother Charu and mentor Terry Converse for being such a strong influence in her life and supporting her in pursuing a career in theatre. She is grateful to be a part of such an amazing play with a full strong and independent female cast for her first mainstage production at UIowa. She extends her heartfelt gratitude to her professors, friends, ASM, and the whole team behind Men on Boats. Enjoy the Show!
Scenic Designer \| CHLOE COBB Chloe is a second-year Theatre Arts MFA student with a focus in scenic design. Hailing from the Grand Canyon state, they are so excited to bring a slice of the Grand Canyon to the midwest. Previous projects at Iowa include scenic design for Ugly Lies the Bone as part of the mainstage season, and Fathers and Sons for New Play Festival. In the spring, Chloe will be designing the set for Into the Woods.
Costume Designer \| JENNY NUTTING KELCHEN Jenny Nutting Kelchen is a costume designer and visual artist, as well as Resident Costume Designer, Costume Studio Director, and Lecturer for the Cornell College Department of Theatre and Dance. Jenny received her B.A. in Studio Art from UNI and her M.F.A. in Theatre Design from the University of Iowa. Jenny has designed costumes for Cornell College, Riverside Theatre, Old Creamery Theatre Company, UNI, Grinnell College, Coe College, Iowa Summer Rep, Working Group Theatre, Theatre Cedar Rapids, and La MaMa Etc. Men on Boats is Jenny's fifth production with Mary Beth and is a full circle moment as this is Jenny's 100th mainstage production design, with her first being at the University of Iowa some 20 years ago. Cheers to this amazing team and cast!
Sound Designer \| MARK BRUCKNER Mark Bruckner (Sound Designer, Songwriter, Vocal Coach) is a New York Innovative Theater, Audelco Award-winning composer, and Henry Hewes American Theatre Wing design nominee. Recent work: Original Music and Sound Design for Ugly Lies the Bone (directed by Mary Beth Easley, Spr 2023 Mabie Theatre); Music Direction, Conductor, and Arranger for Something Rotten (directed by Jonathan Hadley, Spr 2023 Mabie Theatre); Original music and music director for The Bacchae (directed by Sarah Gazdowicz, Thayer Theatre, Fall 2022); Original music and sound design for The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein by Edward Einhorn (Jermyn Street Theatre, West End London, UK, March 2022); Original music and ambisonic sound design for Body Concert by Kevin Augustine of Lone Wolf Tribe which just received the Grand Prize for Best production at the 17th International Lalka Też Człowiek festival in Warsaw, Poland. Visit www.markbruckner.ne
Lighting Designer \| JEFFREY OAKLEY
Assistant Movement Director \| BRADY VAN PATTEN Brady Van Patten is a queer Chicago based physical theatre performer and creator, presently a Master of Fine Arts graduate student at the University of Iowa with a choreographic emphasis. Existing at the intersection of theatre and dance, Van Patten as a creator seeks to continuously celebrate queer stories in ways that exist and challenge heteronormative political and social constraints by celebrating queer spirit. Van Patten's recent performances include One Giant Leap, an evening length clown show through collaboration with the University of Iowa's Department of Theatre Arts and Another Stage of Staging Ourselves, a collaborative project that explores the complexities of queer, male friendships presented at The Witching Hour Festival by the Englert Theatre. In Chicago, Van Patten has guest performed his original work with The Neo-Futurist Theater Company in The Infinite Wrench Pride Show. He has created and performed original works for spaces including the Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival at the Ruth Page Center of Performing Arts, Heels Overhead festival at The iO Theater, and THAWALLS at Links Hall and Navy Pier. Collaboraction Theatre Company in the PeaceBook Project under the director of Kacie Smith and Ben Wardell, Kelly Anderson Dance Theater, Carson Reiners, Jennifer Kayle at The Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Comedy Dance Chicago, and invited workshop guest for Lucky Plush Productions.
Assistant Stage Manager \| JACKSON J. KOPESKY Jackson J. Kopesky is an alumnus of the University of Iowa. His thanks go to Cosette, whose faith in him never wavered.
Assistant Costume Designer \| ABBY PAUL* Abby Paul is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Cinema and Theatre Arts. Abby is thrilled to be in her first mainstage show and be able to assist in costume design at the same time! She is very thankful for everyone who has helped bring this show together, and Jenny Kelchen for her mentorship.
*Undergraduate student. UI Theatre is dedicated to providing hands-on theatre experience for both undergraduate and graduate students.

MEN ON BOATS
BY JACLYN BACKHAUS
DIRECTED BY MARY BETH EASLEY
Meet the Creative Team

Director | MARY BETH EASLEY

Mary Beth Easley is head of directing in the Department of Theatre Arts. From 2006–2018, she was Artistic Director of the CUNY-Brooklyn College Department of Theater. Focusing on new play development, intercultural theatre expression, and outreach to under-represented urban and rural communities, Ms. Easley has been directing plays, coaching, and teaching acting for many years. She has directed Off-Broadway and in regional theatres throughout the United States. In NYC, her work has been featured at The Bushwick Starr, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep, The Women’s Project, The New Federal Theater, and LaMama ETC, among others.

Movement Director | JOHANNA KASIMOW

Johanna Kasimow is an Assistant Professor of Directing in the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Iowa. Her recent creative research focuses on the interplay of clown and affect in performance in a new play titled The Grüb, which probes the sensations of hiding, trans-generational inheritance, and the rhythms of survival in an underground pit. Johanna has worked with artists and theatre companies across the US, including: Pig Iron Theatre Company, The Eva Steinmetz Project, Antigravity Performance Project, Tiny Circus, Theatre Horizon, and New Paradise Laboratories. Recently, Johanna directed City In Heat, a site-specific live cinema performance piece, as part of the Open Air Media Festival at Public Space One in Iowa City. Her teaching and research has focused on clown and mask; civic and social practice art; community-based theatre; theatre of the climate crisis; and contemporary performance. Johanna received an MFA in Devised Performance from the University of the Arts/Pig Iron School in Philadelphia.

Dramaturg | MARGARET SMITH

BA(hons) English Literature & Theatre Studies from The University of Sheffield
MA Theatre Criticism & Dramaturgy from Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, University of London. Margaret (She/Her) is a first-year MFA candidate in Dramaturgy. Her most recent credits include Fahrenheit 451 (CDT, Complicité), A Bright Room Called Day (Collaborazione), Scenes from an Execution (Dear Hunter Theatre), and the premiere of W.E.T. (CSSD). She hopes you enjoy the show. 

Stage Manager | MEENAKSHI CHINMAI

Meenakshi is a second-year MFA stage manager. She has been involved in several production in India from a very young age. Her love for theatre started from acting in several children’s plays, but things took a turn and her passion for stage management started when she met her mentor Dr. Terry John Converse, Emeritus professor Washington State University. She is very happy and proud to be a part of the UIowa stage management cohort. She is very grateful to her mother Charu and mentor Terry Converse for being such a strong influence in her life and supporting her in pursuing a career in theatre.

She is grateful to be a part of such an amazing play with a full strong and independent female cast for her first mainstage production at UIowa. She extends her heartfelt gratitude to her professors, friends, ASM, and the whole team behind Men on Boats. Enjoy the Show!

Scenic Designer | CHLOE COBB

Chloe is a second-year Theatre Arts MFA student with a focus in scenic design. Hailing from the Grand Canyon state, they are so excited to bring a slice of the Grand Canyon to the midwest. Previous projects at Iowa include scenic design for Ugly Lies the Bone as part of the mainstage season, and Fathers and Sons for New Play Festival. In the spring, Chloe will be designing the set for Into the Woods.

Costume Designer | JENNY NUTTING KELCHEN

Jenny Nutting Kelchen is a costume designer and visual artist, as well as Resident Costume Designer, Costume Studio Director, and Lecturer for the Cornell College Department of Theatre and Dance. Jenny received her B.A. in Studio Art from UNI and her M.F.A. in Theatre Design from the University of Iowa. Jenny has designed costumes for Cornell College, Riverside Theatre, Old Creamery Theatre Company, UNI, Grinnell College, Coe College, Iowa Summer Rep, Working Group Theatre, Theatre Cedar Rapids, and La MaMa Etc. Men on Boats is Jenny's fifth production with Mary Beth and is a full circle moment as this is Jenny's 100th mainstage production design, with her first being at the University of Iowa some 20 years ago. Cheers to this amazing team and cast!

Sound Designer | MARK BRUCKNER

Mark Bruckner (Sound Designer, Songwriter, Vocal Coach) is a New York Innovative Theater, Audelco Award-winning composer, and Henry Hewes American Theatre Wing design nominee. Recent work: Original Music and Sound Design for Ugly Lies the Bone (directed by Mary Beth Easley, Spr 2023 Mabie Theatre); Music Direction, Conductor, and Arranger for Something Rotten (directed by Jonathan Hadley, Spr 2023 Mabie Theatre); Original music and music director for The Bacchae (directed by Sarah Gazdowicz, Thayer Theatre, Fall 2022); Original music and sound design for The Marriage of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein by Edward Einhorn (Jermyn Street Theatre, West End London, UK, March 2022); Original music and ambisonic sound design for Body Concert by Kevin Augustine of Lone Wolf Tribe which just received the Grand Prize for Best production at the 17th International Lalka Też Człowiek festival in Warsaw, Poland. Visit www.markbruckner.ne

Lighting Designer | JEFFREY OAKLEY

Assistant Movement Director | BRADY VAN PATTEN

Brady Van Patten is a queer Chicago based physical theatre performer and creator, presently a Master of Fine Arts graduate student at the University of Iowa with a choreographic emphasis. Existing at the intersection of theatre and dance, Van Patten as a creator seeks to continuously celebrate queer stories in ways that exist and challenge heteronormative political and social constraints by celebrating queer spirit. Van Patten's recent performances include One Giant Leap, an evening length clown show through collaboration with the University of Iowa's Department of Theatre Arts and Another Stage of Staging Ourselves, a collaborative project that explores the complexities of queer, male friendships presented at The Witching Hour Festival by the Englert Theatre.

In Chicago, Van Patten has guest performed his original work with The Neo-Futurist Theater Company in The Infinite Wrench Pride Show. He has created and performed original works for spaces including the Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival at the Ruth Page Center of Performing Arts, Heels Overhead festival at The iO Theater, and THAWALLS at Links Hall and Navy Pier. Collaboraction Theatre Company in the PeaceBook Project under the director of Kacie Smith and Ben Wardell, Kelly Anderson Dance Theater, Carson Reiners, Jennifer Kayle at The Harvest Chicago Contemporary Dance Festival, Comedy Dance Chicago, and invited workshop guest for Lucky Plush Productions.

Assistant Stage Manager | JACKSON J. KOPESKY

Jackson J. Kopesky is an alumnus of the University of Iowa. His thanks go to Cosette, whose faith in him never wavered.

Assistant Costume Designer | ABBY PAUL*

Abby Paul is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in Cinema and Theatre Arts. Abby is thrilled to be in her first mainstage show and be able to assist in costume design at the same time! She is very thankful for everyone who has helped bring this show together, and Jenny Kelchen for her mentorship.

*Undergraduate student. UI Theatre is dedicated to providing hands-on theatre experience for both undergraduate and graduate students.