Join us on April 22, 2022 for a post show discussion about Gender, Revolution and Gender Crossing on Stage with Brooklyn College professor Helen Richardson and The Tank’s Gabriel Torres. Please remain in the theater following the evening’s performance.
Panelists
Laura Tesman
Laura Tesman is a director, writer, and collaborative theater maker. She has worked internationally, regionally and in New York City. Recent international, collaboratively devised works include Hymn to Liberty and Io (Philippi Theater, Kavala, Greece), Between Two Breathsm (Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada), My Berlin (Berlin, Germany), Kuafu (Rome, Milan, Verona, Italy); Echo (Apollo Theater, Syros, Greece); Mythos: Kuafu & Pinocchio and In Transit (Taipei City Taiwan). Favorite New York directing credits include Anna Christie (Lehigh Valley Barge #79), La Folie (Black Lady Theater), and the ensemble-based devised works Bound (4th Street Theater), and Nocturnal: Portrait of a New York Night in Nine Movements (New Ohio, FringeNYC). She is a director with the World Wide Lab, a member of Lincoln Center Directors Lab and associate member of Stage Directors & Choreographers. She is a professor of embodied performance, dramatic literature, and devised and collaborative theatre-making at Brooklyn College-CUNY where she chairs the Department of Theater.
Vassiliki Troufakou
Vassiliki Troufakou is a stage and film actress. born and based in Greece, who enjoys acting on stage and appearing on film, equally. She graduated from the National Drama School of Greece in Athens and in her 10 years of experience she has played roles in both contemporary and classic repertoire, including leading roles and performances for the National Theatre of Greece. She has a special love for ancient Greek tragedies and has performed on multiple occasions on the ancient theatre of Epidaurus and in open ancient theatres across Greece. In 2016 she received the Greek Academy Award for best actress for the film “Ouzeri Tsitsanis”( dir. M. Manousakis). With an ardent passion for science, Vassiliki also graduated from the National Technical University of Greece (N.T.U.A) and as of 2021 is a certified civil engineer.
Despoina Sarafeidou
Despoina Sarafeidou is an actor and translator. She has performed in numerous plays from both the classical and contemporary repertoire, in Greece and abroad, and was most recently in Samuel Beckett’s The Calmative (Fournos Theatre, Athens). In 2011, she founded her own theatre company, 1+1=1, and has produced seven original works. As an actor and assistant director, she has worked with Mabou Mines director Lee Breuer in Boston and New York, and acclaimed Greek director Roula Pateraki. Film work includes A Touch of Spice, Jaguar, and The Wedding List. She has collaborated with composers/musicians such as Ross Daly, Kyriakos Kalaitzidis, and Eve Beglarian in multicultural performances in Greece, the UK, and the United States. She has also translated French, Spanish, and English theatre, literature, anthropology, and psychoanalysis. She has written plays and adaptations, which have been produced in Greece and New York (La Mama). Sarafeidou is a graduate of Athens State University in philosophy and psychology and a member of the International Theatre Institute. She won the Karolos Koun 2018 Best Actor Award for the role of Sarah in The Sacrifice of Abraham. She received the Leading Female Role Award (Apollon International Theatre Festival, 2011), Actor of Europe Award (Actor of Europe Theatre Festival, 2012), and Best Performance in a Transgender Role Award (3rd Queer Theatre Awards, 2014) for her performance in the one-woman show Kassandra (by Sergio Blanco), which she performed in 20 festivals throughout Europe and the United States. She collaborated with Ioli Andreadi and Aris Asproulis In Memory of a Young Child (2019) and is happy to be working with them again.
Gabriel G Torres
Gabriel Torres is a multidisciplinary artist from Colombia and New York. Gabriel’s work deals in the conversations between community engagement, creative placemaking, theater making and film. Gabriel has worked in Hong Kong, NYC, and Colombia as an educator, documentarian, theater director, and community engagement consultant. Gabriel is currently working on Haus of Dust, a campaign to bring awareness about substance use in latinx queer communities from his personal experience. Haus of Dust is a successful collaboration between Gabriel and a collective of 10+ artists and institutions working to bring forth the project. To learn more, visit iamdust.org . Gabriel is the community engagement and marketing manager at The Tank NYC.