Kristen Osborn
Solo Voices Workshop Curator and Producer

RTE Ensemble Member and Artistic Associate

Kristen Osborn is a Chicago-based director and theatre maker who is passionate about sparking compassion through storytelling. Currently, Kristen is an ensemble member and artistic associate and outreach coordinator at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, and the literary manager and casting associate at Northlight Theatre. She is the founder and producing artistic director of JoyistLA. Directing credits include Sam Chanse’s the opportunities of extinction, Eugene O’Neill’s Fog, JoyistLA’s First Embrace, and an original adaptation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, Lift. Assistant directing credits include Henry IV, (dir. Daniel Sullivan, Shakespeare Center LA,) The Scene (dir. Kimberly Senior, Writers Theatre,) Mother of the Maid (dir. BJ Jones, Northlight Theatre,) The Cake (dir. Lauren Shouse, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble,) Choir Boy (dir. Trip Cullman, Geffen Playhouse), Fighting Shadows (dir. Robert Egan, Inner-City Arts.). She is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television. www.kristenosborn.com

Lisa Dillman
RTE Literary Director, Festival Dramaturg

Lisa Dillman’s plays include Ground, Rock Shore, American Wee-Pie, Half of Plenty, The Walls, No Such Thing, Six Postcards, Flung, and Shady Meadows. Her work has been produced throughout the U.S., including at Steppenwolf, Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival, American Theatre Company, Rogue Machine, Seattle Public Theatre, and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She has received commissions from Steppenwolf, Goodman Theatre, Northlight, Baltimore Centerstage, and the Chicago Humanities Festival. She is a longtime ensemble member at Chicago’s Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, where she serves as literary director. Rivendell has produced the world premieres of her plays Chiaroscuro, The Walls, and American Wee-Pie.  Also a teacher, she has taught playwriting at Western Michigan University, Chicago Dramatists, Northlight Theatre, Victory Gardens, and the Chicago Public Schools. Her work is published by Samuel French, Dramatic Publishing, Heinemann, Playscripts Inc., and Smith & Kraus. She is currently working on a new play commissioned by The Defamation Experience.

Zoe Lesser
 – Associate Producer



Zoe Lesser is a producer, director, and choreographer based in Chicago, originally from California. She was the LookOut Producing Apprentice at Steppenwolf Theatre Company for the 19/20 season and has also worked with Prop Thtr, Haven Chicago, and Silencio. Beyond the Midwest, she has worked with Directors Lab West, The Orchard Project, and Beth Morrison Projects. She is a graduate of Skidmore College.

Tony Churchill
Digital Content Producer

Anthony Churchill collaborates on media for theatre, events, and installations. Recent projections and media with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Greenhouse Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, Raven Theatre, The Cher Show, Q Brothers, Porchlight Music Theatre, Silk Road Rising, Theatre Wit, Stage Left, Museum of Broadcast Communications, Big Noise Theatre, and 16th Street Theatre – Berwyn.  Tony has been nominated for five Jeff Awards for Projections, and awarded one. When not working on plays, he enjoys sculpting tiny astronauts in peril, and exploring with his beautiful wife Sara, and rescue pit bull Cheetoh. www.artlabchicago.com

Tara Mallen – Rivendell Artistic Director 

Tara Mallen is an actor, director, and the Producing Artistic Director at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She is the 2017 3Arts William Franklin Grisham Awardee and the 2014 Volunteers of America Silver Star Awardee. Most recently Mallen was seen onstage in The Cake for which she won the 2018 Jeff Award for Performer in a Principal Role. In 2016 she performed in the world premiere production of Lynn Nottage’s Sweat at Arena Stage. Prior to that she was in Rivendell’s Jeff nominated world premiere productions of Look, we are breathing and Rasheeda Speaking. Tara appeared in Steppenwolf’s How Long Will I Cry: Stories of Youth Violence written by Chicago Journalist Miles Harvey. She was part of the ensemble in Rivendell’s world premiere, Jeff nominated production of The Walls and played Jolene Palmer (inspired by the true-life story of Aileen Wuornos) in Rivendell’s award winning production of Self Defense, or the Death of Some Salesmen—both productions part of Steppenwolf’s Visiting Theater Initiative. For Rivendell, Tara has produced and acted in over twenty-five productions. She received a Joseph Jefferson Award for Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Gwenyth in WRENS as part of that production’s Jeff-winning ensemble. She was nominated the following year for Actress in a Principal Role for her work in My Simple City. Her screen credits include Steven Soderbergh’s film Contagion opposite Kate Winslet, the Starz series Boss starring Kelsey Grammer, the NBC pilot of Chicago Fire, the CBS/Sony Pictures pilot Doubt, the NBC series Chicago P.D. and the Netflix series Sense8 directed by Lana and Andy Wachowski. With Rivendell, Tara conceived and directed the world premiere of WOMEN AT WAR, directed the Jeff nominated Midwest premieres of The Electric Baby, 26 Miles (co-production with Teatro Vista); Fighting Words; Psalms of a Questionable Nature; the co-production of Elliot, a Soldier’s Fugue with Stageworks/Hudson in Hudson, NY; and the brief and brilliant Shady Meadows by Lisa Dillman as part of the 2007 Chicago Humanities Festival.

A NOTE FROM TARA MALLEN, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Welcome to Rivendell’s first (virtual) Women’s Solo Voices Series!  Like everything else at this particular moment, Solo Voices has not played out in the way we had originally anticipated. But through ingenuity and intense determination, this gifted cadre of artists have shifted their approach and in doing so, have crafted an entirely new platform to continue developing their work.

Solo performance has existed in some form or another for thousands of years, and is truly the oldest form of theater. Early human tribes saw the rise of shamans whose job it was to retell their oral histories. These shamans were given special status, even mystical status, as the “sacred holders of knowledge”.  We are so proud to lift up our four “shamans” and support them as they continue to hone their deeply personal stories — even within the chaos of the pandemic. We look forward towards the moment we can open our doors at Rivendell and invite you in to experience these projects as they were intended – live and in community. But in the meanwhile, we hope you will enjoy these brief excerpts from the creative and provocative work being done on these three brand new solo plays.

–
Tara Mallen, Artistic Director
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

A NOTE FROM PRODUCER/DIRECTOR KRISTEN OSBORN

When the shelter-in-place order was issued in Chicago, we were forced to answer difficult questions about what would happen to the Solo Voices workshop. As we assessed our options we realized that, of all the projects to adapt to working in isolation, a one-person show could actually succeed in this digital format. And a new play development process, where the first priority is to address the playwright’s needs for moving the piece forward on the page, could also take place over Zoom. We decided to take the Solo Voices workshop online. In doing this, we quickly learned that the essential ingredient, without question, was the artistic teams’ collaborative spirit and willingness to dive into this unorthodox approach to a new work festival together.

The incredible artists who jumped into the “digital pivot” did not know what to expect. As producers, we were (and still are,) figuring it out as we go. But as we navigate the roller coaster of these challenging circumstances individually, working on these projects and having (digital) space and time for the playwrights to dig more deeply into their inspiring new plays, has been a bright spot of connection and hope. Of course there have been unforeseen challenges and uncertain moments, times in which Zoom exhaustion set in and our hearts and minds were full and fatigued, but we have forged on. We’ve shifted our focus from “product” to “process,” and are excited to share excerpts of the artistic conversations that took place over the course of workshop with online audiences.

Coming Soon!

Coming Soon!