The Drafts

The Drafts are the resident acting ensemble of Horse Trade Theater Group supporting the work of its artistic community. Committed to new play development, The Drafts monthly reading series has featured over 100 original scripts and inspired several full productions.

The Drafts reading series has featured notable emerging playwrights Pia Wilson (The Public's EWG), Michael McGuire, Kelley Girod, Paul David Young, Megan Mostyn-Brown (LAByrinth), Terence Patrick Hughes, Augusto Federico Amador (The Public's EWG), Ziella Bryars, and Micheline Auger. The Drafts also perform annually in The Drafts Fest, a showcase of their talents and the talents of selected playwrights and directors they have met throughout the year. Drafts have been cast members of Lines, Donnie and the Monsters, punkrock/lovesong, and Song for a Future Generation (The Management), all shows produced or presented by Horse Trade. The Drafts will present three new full length Lab Productions in the upcoming season.

For more information and schedule click here.

Active Artistic AssociatesCompany MembersArtistic Associates

Amanda Van Nostrand is thrilled to be a part of Drafts! Some of her favorite roles include: Natalya in The Marriage Proposal, Sissy in Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, and the title role in Dulcy. She is also active in the improv comedy scene and has been seen at Upright Citizen's Brigade and performs regularly with The Red Tie Mafia for which she also coaches. For more info, check out her site.

Ben Kaufman grew up in Columbus, Ohio. He Interned with Shadowbox Cabaret of Columbus, and then went on to graduate from Ohio University's School of Theater with a BFA in Acting. During school he spent a summer at Monomoy Theater on Cape Cod. Following graduation he accepted an Internship with Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati where he served as an understudy for regional premieres of Michael Hollinger's Opus, and Steven Dietz' Fiction. He is happy to be apart of this iteration of The Drafts, and looks forward to what may come.

JB Roté fell in love with the theatre from her first role as a snowflake in first grade in Vermont. She apprenticed at Williamstown Theatre Festival, majored in Acting at Brandeis University and completed her BFA in London at the British American Drama Academy. She has also studied and performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade, Magnet and Peoples Improv Theaters. She is enjoying being an active member in The Drafts. Theatre credits include: Crawl For It, Change The Be and Donnie and the Monsters (Horse Trade), Balcony Scene 2010 (MoMA PS1). Come see her this August in LINES (Horse Trade). More info at jbrote.com. Love and thanks to Horse Trade Theater, my darling friends and family.

Bethany Geraghty Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Bethany Geraghty arrived in New York via Ireland. Past productions have included Boston Marriage, Henry VI, The Chekhov Project(New School for Drama), Wonder of the World (Spare Room, Ireland), Much Ado About Nothing (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival). Bethany holds an MFA in Acting from The New School for Drama.

Blaze Mancillas Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Educated at Chaminade University of Honolulu. Training: Columbia University MFA Acting class of 2012, SITI Company Summer Workshop at Skidmore College summer 2011. Recent credits include: Claudio in Much Ado About Nothing at Classic Stage Company, Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream at Riverside Theater in NYC and the Folkwang University Shakespeare Festival in Essen Germany, Alex in The Room and a Richard at Ars Nova and Dan in What the Sparrow Said at Theater for the New City and Respira Teatru Theater Festival in Sibiu Romania. Stoked to be working with Horse Trade Theater Group.

Brett J. Diggs is a Baltimore,MD native and S.U.N.Y. Purchase Acting Conservatory grad (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Two Gentlemen of Verona, 27 Wagons Full of Cotton). An easy-going guy who loves sports and a good film among other things, he's excited to be a part of The Drafts and looks forward to this experience enhancing his craft as an actor as well as developing his new-found interest in screenwriting. He hopes you all enjoy the work we bring before you. Contact email. Management: Multi-Ethnic Talent/Annette Alvarez, Mgr.

Claire Duncan is an actress, singer, and voice over artist, from Kingston, Ontario, who has been residing in NYC for the last four years. Recent Off-Broadway: Filch in Threepenny Opera (Drama Desk Nominee Outstanding Revival), Award-Winning Performance in Celebration of Life (Soho Playhouse), Booth! (Skirball Center). National Tours: Original Cast of Jigsaw Jones (ArtsPower). Other New York: Standing on Ceremony (Strawberry One-Act Festival, Finals), End Of The Line (West Village Musical Theatre Festival, Best Actress Honorable Mention). Feature Films: Penelope in Homer And Penelope, Holly in Kissless; International Award-Winning short films MAMA and Falling For Caroline. Website.

Dana Berger is a graduate of LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in NYC and Duke University (B.A. in Theater Studies). She received a New York Innovative Theatre Award Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance for the one-woman show Washing Machine, with Fist in the Pocket Theater. The show was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award. Recent roles include Heidi in The Tutors (dir. Laura Braza, Attic Theater Company), Kristal in Did You Ever Watch The Wonder Years (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater/theaterjam 3, dir. Craig Lucas), Dunyasha in The Cherry Orchard (dir. Tyne Rafaeli), and KC in A Shot Away (dir. Melanie Williams, Red Fern Theatre Company). Other companies she has worked with include Target Margin Theater, Syracuse Stage, The Process Group (FringeNYC), UglyRhino and New York Theatre Experiment.

Drew Moerlein is a Syracuse University graduate. NYC credits include: Don Gio (Midtown Int'l Theatre Festival), Charles Mee's, Big Love, at the Riverside Theatre, and the reading and showcase of Odyssey: The Epic Musical (Produced by the Araca Group). Regionally, Drew appeared on Syracuse Stage in The Real Thing (Max u/s), Lost in Yonkers (Uncle Louie u/s), Sound of Music (Baron Elberfeld), and A Christmas Carol (Topper). At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival he was Hardchannel in Tim Robbins', Embedded. TV: One Life to Live, many National Commercials, MTV Promos, and HowCast.com's Drinking Games Expert. Film: V/H/S (Magnolia Pictures; 2012 Sundance Film Festival and SXSW FF), Yearbook (Dir. Carter Smith, 2011 Sundance FF). Thank you to all of my AMAZING friends and family for their support! Check me out at DrewMoerlein.com or at OUR BAR NYC, a monthly fun-fest of vignettes in a bar!!

Eddie Jackson currently from University MFA Acting program. He is proud to be a part of Horse Trade Theatre Company. His recent work includes: Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, La Ronde, Miss Julie, My Artichoke Heart, TheOresteia and Medea. Eddie graduated with his B.A. in Theatre Artsfrom California State University, Sacramento. Regional credits include: Caliban(The Tempest), Reverend D (In the Blood) and Macduff (Macbeth). Website.

Emma Healey is a graduate of Dickinson College where she received a B.A. in Theatre with an emphasis on acting and directing. During her junior year, she studied abroad at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, where she performed in both academic and community productions; she also took the opportunity to intern at the Norwich Theatre Royal during her first semester. Emma recently relocated to New York from Baltimore. Her most recent credits include Ellen in The Little Dog Laughed (Baltimore), and Lizzie in Protest (Manhattan Repertory Theatre, Winter One Act).

James Allerdyce earned his B.F.A in Theatre-Acting at The New World School of the Arts in Miami. He had the opportunity to travel to Greece performing as Tathybius in The Trojan Woman, has performed his One-Person-show MARS: Population 1 in the 2009 New York International Fringe Festival, and recently played the role Buck in Horse Trade's premier of Lines this summer.

Jessica Ranville is a recent graduate of the New School for Drama. She has worked in Montreal and Toronto before moving to New York three years ago. With an interest in new work that she has continued to explore at the New School, Jessica is excited to work on these new plays with The Drafts.

Justin Mark DeWolf is new to New York and very glad to be a part of The Drafts. He is originally from the pacific northwest and recently graduated from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Justin Tatum is excited to be a part of Horse Trade Theater Company's reading series as one of The Drafts. He was last seen in Smith Street Stage's production of Twelfth Night as Sebastian. His regional credits include, A Soldier's Tale, as Eddie Slovik, and Heaven's My Destination, as Actor A for The Cleveland Play House. Some of his favorite credits include Defender of the Faith - Thomas;Bug - Peter Evans; Griller - Dylan; and Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead - Matt. Film and Television credits include, The Path of the Wind; George Romero's Deadtime Stories; andThe Good Wife. "A smooth sea never made a skilled mariner."

Lauren Kate Morrison has recently relocated from Pittsburgh, PA to NYC. She graduated from Point Park University with a B.A. in Theater Arts. She has most recently been seen with the Drafts as Hepworth in the reading of The Church of Diminishing Marginal Returns. She has also been seen in the world premier of Time After Time at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Some of her other favorite projects include Visual Head of Phun Chix Productions and Owner of Lauren Morrison Photography.

Marchelle Thurman hails from Chicago and graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Theatre. Some of her favorite New York credits include Kori in Like Us, Mary in The Confession and Melissa in Clean Energy, Clean Conscience. She would like to thank her beautiful friends and family for their constant love and support.

Misha Calvert studied Drama at Colorado College where she formed a site-specific theater company and created her first solo performances.
After undergrad Misha carved out a name in New York as an experimental theater artist, garnering both acclaim and scandal for her media manipulation and public satires, most notably The Mister and Miss Williamsburg Pageant and Revirginization. She also explored her role as a writer and director, including Off-Off Broadway productions of The Picture of Dorian Gray (actor/co-writer) and A Seagull is Born (writer/director).
In 2012 Misha graduated from The Studio/New York two-year conservatory and currently splits her time between New York and London.

Victoria Wallace Originally from Washington, DC , Victoria is a proud graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where she majored in Theater. That Fall, she began her training in New York City as a BFA Acting major and Hispanic Studies minor at Marymount Manhattan College. She continues her Spanish language and Acting training through various independent workshops and projects throughout the city. Victoria's most recent stage performance was of Lupe in Glass Cord at Teatro Latea. She is ecstatic and eager to begin her journey at Horse Trade!

Wei-Yi Lin Actor, performer, daughter and Taiwanese. Recently became the resident actress in Horse Trade Theatre Company. New York credits include Orchestra in BAM Attic studio( 3day residency stage reading workshop),Hopscotch in Schapiro Theatre, La Round in Riverside Church Theatre, The Oresteia in Miler Theatre, The Creditors, Broken Wings, The Chairs in Columbia University, and My Artichoke Heart in Dream Up Festival. International credits: Mid Summer Night's dream (As Puck) in Essen Shakespeare Festival, Germany; Rabbit Hole at South Sea Theatre, Michael Jackson Extravaganza at National Theatre of Taiwan, Mulan, Rent, and I Hate Hamlet all at the NTU Theatre. She just received the Master Degree from Columbia University( Majoring Acting), and also a Jazz dance teacher in Taipei.

Alex Hodgins is a native of the Northwest and is thrilled to be working with the Drafts. After graduating from Western Washington University with a degree in Acting and Playwriting in 2009, he moved to Seattle where he started a theatre company which toured an original show in 2010. Past works include Outside of a Horse, (toured Washington); various, Twentieth Century Cycle (toured Washington, New York and England); various, Macbeth; Macduff, Oleanna; John, The Trestle at Popelick Creek; Chas.

Brittany Bellizeare is a recent graduate of The New School for Drama and is now a "Master" of Acting!! At least she hopes to think she is. Some of her favorite roles include Amita in I'd Do Anything by Rebecca Stokes, Maggie in Den of Thieves, Rosa in CHAIN,Lona Hessel in The Pillars of Society, and Juniper in Juniper; Jubilee, a now published play and 2008 Samuel French Festival Winner, by Janine Nabers. Other theatre credits include All's Well That Ends Well, Private Life of the Master Race, Lysistrata, 365 Days/365 Plays, (Princess) Escalas in Romeo & Juliet: Jerusalem, a different yet enlightening take on the Shakespearean classic, The Colored Museum: Symbiosis, and Woman + War with The Synchronicity Performance Group at 7Stages Theatre in Atlanta. She was blessed with the opportunity to be apart of the summer long Shakespeare Lab Intensive at The Public Theatre in 2008 where she performed in the a collection of scenes and sonnets in Nights, Fights, Schemes, Dreams arranged and directed by Barry Edelstein. She was also a member of The Bridge Program 2007 at One on One Productions. She is truly grateful to those who continue to mentor and enlighten her along the way. She sends love and thanks to God and her family and friends! She is ready to simply "live her magic."

Matthew Wise is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and the Atlantic Acting School. He is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area but is a born again New Yorker. He is excited to be working with The Drafts and the very talented playwrights involved as well.

Nick Maccarone is a recent graduate of Columbia University's School of the Arts where he received an M.F.A. in theater. In his final year at Columbia he had the opportunity to work with Diane Paulus in an adaptation of James Baldwin's novel, Another Country. Nick recently completed a two-week workshop at La MaMa exploring an original piece by Fernando Rivas entitled Soul Ascending. A native of Oakland, Calif. he is relieved to have his soul back and thrilled to be exploring original works with the Drafts in the greatest city in the world.

Paul Herbig has worked extensively in Off-Off Broadway theatre, working with Mainspring Collective, Emerging Artists Theatre, Heiress Productions, and the American Theatre of Actors among others. At Horse Trade Paul has acted in the plays Donny and the Monsters and Lines, both directed Heidi G. Grumelot. Paul has also worked in independent film, and just finished shooting The Adventures of Paul and Marian, his first lead in a feature. He would like to thank Horse Trade for always being a wonderful group to work with.

Penny Pollak is an NYC based performer and writer. "Dark and a little creepy," her solo play No Traveler received glowing reviews in last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival and will be premiering in Winnipeg in July. You can see Penny perform all over NYC from storytelling to physical theater. Since 2007 she's hosted Penny's Open Mic at UNDER St. Marks Theater. An ANYTHING Open Mic for all artists of any kind featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine and Backstage.com. Website.

Quinn Warren's recent credits include: Hamlet in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Panicked Productions/Midtown International Theatre Festival), The Ballad of Lulu and Dad (Artistic New Directions),Misery, Apathy, and Despair (InGenius Festival/Manhattan Theatre Source), the Northeast premiere of Trapezium(Playhouse on Park), the world premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's You May Go Now (Centenary Stage Company), the world premiere of Emily Mann's Mrs. Packard (McCarter Theatre & Kennedy Center), and the award-winning world premiere of Stripping Eden by Wayne Paul Mattingly. Quinn graduated magna cum laude from Stephens College with a BFA in Theatre Arts and is an Equity Membership Candidate. Website.

Reiss Gaspard is a South Florida transplant and a long time New Yorker who has a great respect for the craft of acting and thought provoking theatre. He is a long time company member of the critically acclaimed Ground Up and Rising theatre and is excited to be working with such dedicated actors and writers here at the Drafts. He received his B.A. at Florida State University and continues to study his craft at the historical HB Studios.

Reynaldo Piniella is a New York native representing East New York, Brooklyn. He has performed recently with the Castillo Theatre, New Federal Theatre and Primary Stages. He has also appeared in film projects with the Discovery Channel, Pearson Education, New York Magazine and Chai Lifeline. Reynaldo is looking forward to his journey with The Drafts!

Yesenia Tromp Yesenia is so excited to be a part of "The Horse Trade Theatre Group." She holds a B.F.A in acting from Long Island University, C.W. Post. She was most recently seen in a reading at The Lark Play Development Center. Previous NYC credits include "The Tenth Man" (Viking Theatre Company), "Bluff" (Rapscallion Theatre Collective), "Sweet Love, Sweet Lines, Sweet Life!" (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), "American Culture" (Quo Vadimus Arts) and "Third Child" (NYC Fringe Festival). Thanks to everyone for making this process so enjoyable!

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Horse Trade's continuing mission is to seek out new art, new artists, and new audiences. We do this by creating an accessible community of varied voices that value collaboration, resourcefulness, and innovation. We provide a home for independent theater artists, we nurture their development, and we help establish their careers by promoting their work to local, national, and international audiences.

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