Comfort Sasquatch: A staged reading
Written by Richard Shirk
Directed by Jessica Johnson
Dramaturgy by Skyler Goff
CAST
Eric West, A Sasquatch: Evan Eckstrom
Sylvia McDaniels: Lauren Davis
Meerkat McDaniels: Naroé Palacios-Cruz
Francine Forest: Elizabeth DeVault
Sam West Natchez: Scotty Cherryholmes
Chuck Winestarr / EMT Kurt /Burt McAllister: Zak Hamrick
Lawrence Dribble / Dr. Max Horseman: Tom Chalmers
Clara Reston, RN: Katie Alexander
Betty Bookman: Katie Langwell
Frank Morwell: Michael Lilly
Wendy McAllister: Shelley Lieberman
Hilda Omerish: Vicki Mangieri
SETTING
It’s Christmas time again, and it has never seemed chillier in Ashford, Washington - a small town with two stoplights in the shadow of Mt. Saint Helens anchored by Vermillion Hills Retirement Home out on Tahoma Canyon Road. The only business open after 6pm in the once vibrant downtown is the Redfern Karaoke Pub - a black-coffee diner during the day, a somewhat rowdy karaoke roadhouse at night, and the social hub for the town.
TIME
It’s 1989 during the coldest cold snap in thirty years. There are only two weeks until the annual Karaoke Christmas Eve party at the Redfern Pub. And they are proving to be tumultuous.
COMFORT SASQUATCH
SCENE LIST
ACT I
Late for Work - Early morning, Tuesday, December 12
Good Day at Work - Later that morning
Ode to Karaoke - That evening
And Then Home - Later that night
A Bad Day at Work - Early afternoon, Wednesday, December 13
Late Getting Home - Later that night
Extra Shift Music Self-Therapy - One of the extra shifts
Eric and Sam - Mid-morning, Sat., Dec. 16
Wendy, Max, Eric, and Clara Pt 1 - Later that evening
INTERMISSION
ACT II
Loowit, Pahto, Yahoma, Wy-East - Mid-week
Wendy, Max, Eric, and Clara Pt 2 - Later that evening
Black Coffee, Cherry Pie - Mid-morning, Wednesday, December 20
Sylvia and Meerkat - Simultaneous to Wendy, Max, Eric, and Clara Pt 2
Night and Day - Saturday, December 23
Miss You - An hour later
Karaoke Christmas Eve - Early Evening, Sunday, December 24
ABOUT THE CAST
click or hover over a photo to see bio
Evan Eckstrom (Eric Michael West)
Evan has been working with The Magnetic regularly since March 2022. He has enjoyed performing in Algorithm & Blues: A Dating Sketch Show, Beautiful Cages, Magnetic's 3rd Annual One-Act Play Festival, The Frankenstein Rubrics, and Happyland: A Rock Opera. Before Asheville, he was co-founder of a small company in Boston, MA called Strange News Theatre. Thank you always to Emily for tolerating my evenings out of the house!
Lauren Davis (Sylvia McDaniels)
Lauren is happy to be making her first appearance on the Magnetic stage! She has trained as an actor from a very young age and received her BFA in Acting from East Carolina University. You can find her in various local film projects, ‘Echoes’ on Netflix, ‘Black Widow Murders’ on Oxygen, as well as in the upcoming One Act Play festival at The Magnetic Theatre. She too, shies away from karaoke.
Naroé Palacios Cruz (Meerkat McDaniels)
Naroé Palacios Cruz is excited to make her acting debut with The Magnetic Theatre. Originally from Peru, she minored in Filmmaking at Cornell University and is excited to participate in storytelling from a performer's perspective. When she isn't acting, you can find her at dance class, walking her beloved dog Kurt, or belting out a song at karaoke.
Scotty Cherryholmes (Sam West/ Natchez)
Scotty Cherryholmes earned a BFA in Drama in 1975 from Sam Houston State University in Texas. He is retired after a career in marketing and advertising specializing in theatre, tourism, and restaurant development. Scotty and his cat, Rocky, live at 3,900 feet on Saunook Mountain west of Waynesville. Last December Scotty played Santa Claus in Elf the Musical at Asheville Community Theatre. He played Jacob in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Owen Musser in The Foreigner at HART. His favorite roles include Captain Hook in Peter Pan, Caldwell B. Cladwell in Urinetown, Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, Jonathon Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, Rooster Hannigan in Annie, Richard Henry Lee in 1776, Senex in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Albert Peterson in Bye Bye Birdie, J. B. Biggley in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Big Harp in The Robber Bridegroom.
Zak Hamrick (EMT Kurt, Lawrence Dribble, Burt McAllister)
Zak Hamrick (he/him) began acting in 2019 and this will be his first directorial credit. Past acting credits include The Magnetic, Nemesis Theatre Company, Multiverse Theatre Collective, Parkway Playhouse, the Montford Park Players, and virtually with Different Strokes PAC. Much love to his partner Eliza, brother Luke, mother Josephine, and all of the friends, lovers, and enemies that have supported him along the way.
Katie Langwell (Betty Bookman)
Katie’s acting credits include: Immediate Theatre Project in Silent Sky, Dead Man’s Cellphone, & On The Verge, with North Carolina Stage Company in A Doll’s House, & with The Magnetic Theatre in The Family Tree. Writer/performer credits include How To: Sketch Comedy Crew (Sublime Theater) and numerous award-winning 48 Hour Films. NYC theatre credits: original Pulitzer Prize winning production of How I Learned To Drive; writer/director/performer with Hits Like a Girl, a women’s sketch comedy troupe; associate artistic director/performer for the critically acclaimed Adobe Theatre Company. Katie teaches French and Drama at Hanger Hall School and her play Rumplestiltskin was produced by the Montford Park Players as part of their 2021 production: Grimm’s Fairy Tales.
Shelley Lieberman (Wendy McAllister)
Shelley is very excited to back at The Magnetic where she has appeared in the One Act Play Festival and Indecent. She has been involved with theatre, both musical and dramatic productions for the last 15 years. She recently appeared as Edith Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, and also in Music Man, Robin Hood, and Guys and Dolls. She was also the murderess in a Murder Mystery. In addition she sings with the Asheville Symphony chorus, Flatrock chorus, and Womansong.
Elizabeth DeVault (Francine Forest)
Elizabeth DeVault is an actor, singer, director, and voice artist in the Asheville area. She holds degrees in Vocal Performance (MM, U of SC 2013) and Theatre (MA, Regent University 2019). Recent performing credits include Hamlet (Rosencrantz) and Wendy & Peter (Mrs. Darling/Panther Protea) at Montford Park Players, Robert Ward’s The Crucible (Sarah Good), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck). As a stage director, recent credits include Little Women, OTMA, and The Tempest; she’ll be directing Young Frankenstein (Hendersonville Theatre) in October. Outside of the theatre world, Elizabeth works as a legal specialist and is a voice artist, primarily narrating audiobooks.
Tom Chalmers (Dr. Max Horseman, Chuck Winestarr)
Tom Chalmers has performed and acted on stage in New York, Los Angeles, and most recently Asheville. In NYC, he performed weekly shows with Groundlings East / Gotham City Improv, as well as in a few off-Broadway shows, including The Nancys and his one-man show, Every Bone In My Body. In Los Angeles, he did several shows with Sacred Fools Theater Company, including Bobby in JACK, and The Idiot Evil in Dubya 2000. Since coming to Asheville, Tom embodied the role of Crumpet in The Santaland Diaries for several years, as well as doing shows with Dark Horse Theatre and appearances in productions by Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance and Asheville Lyric Opera Company. Tom has also been seen on screen in feature films like Better Luck Tomorrow and The Hebrew Hammer, many short films, and a handful of national commercials. Tom is also host and producer of the long-running monthly storytelling series, Listen to This. He is a member of the popular improv comedy troupe, Reasonably Priced Babies. He teaches at Warren Wilson College, the Flatiron Writers Room, Magnetic U, and The Asheville School of Improv (which he started). You can hear Tom on AshevilleFM 103.3 where he co-hosts a sports talk radio show with Scott Bunn called Run That Back, Wednesdays from 7-8pm. That feels like enough.
Katie Alexander (Clara Reston, RN)
Katie is a passionate human with experience as a community organizer, digital organizer, field director and program director. Katie currently serves as the Regional Director of the Health and Economic Opportunity Program at Pisgah Legal Services. She is thrilled to be making her debut at The Magnetic Theatre.
Michael Lilly (Frank Morwell)
Michael is delighted to be part of this New Play Development reading. He is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union (SDC) and fully supports the current WGA strike. Enjoy!
Vicki Mangieri (Hilda Omerish)
This is Vicki's debut at The Magnetic Theatre. She has been in three shows at HART in Waynesville (her home), most recently as Marie in Calendar Girls. She was very active in the Chattanooga theater scene before moving to NC. Favorite roles include Daisy (Driving Miss Daisy), Big Mama (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), and Amanda Wingfield (Glass Menagerie). Vicki has appeared in commercials, training videos, student films and in two episodes of Snapped on the Oxygen Channel. She is also an artist and her work can be seen at Vicki's Visions Fluid Art on Facebook.
| Playwright | Richard Shirk |
| Director | Jess Johnson |
| Dramaturg | Skyler Goff |
| Intern | Juien Swoap |
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION TEAM
RICHARD SHIRK (Playwright / Voice Actor) - Richard studied theatre at the University of Iowa with an emphasis in playwriting. He put it down for quite awhile to work on film, music, and careers. Recently, he’s been working on applying the same indie-aesthetic and creativity he brings to his music to writing. This has resulted in Sounds of Séance (2021) - a supernatural play loosely based on the life of British psychic Rosemary Brown and Comfort Sasquatch - a pot-smoking romp of a Christmas play.
JESSICA JOHNSON (Director) - Jessica has worked in theatre since the early 2000s as a stage manager, director, props and scenic designer, and dramaturg. In addition to her behind the scenes theatre work, she has a background in nonprofit development, works for the nonprofit software company Neon One, and currently serves as the Co-Artistic Director for The Magnetic Theatre.
SKYLER GOFF (Dramaturg / Voice Actor) - Skyler Goff is a published author, educator, online merchant, and actor. He has performed for and worked with children in schools all over the country, specializing in programs involving horror, escape room building, and zombie survival. He would like to give special thanks to his wonderful family. Without their constant support, open minds, and flair for the dramatic, this show would never have existed. He also wants to thank his partner in crime and passion, Ashleigh Goff, who accepts him at his best and his worst and, more importantly, makes him laugh on a daily basis.
JULIEN SWOAP (Voice Actor / Intern) - Julien is a rising senior at Hamilton College, studying neuroscience. He just completed a semester abroad in Copenhagen. His curiosity about the human brain led him to an interest in playwriting and learning about theatre.
A BIG THANKS TO NEW BELGIUM BREWING, OUR 2023 SEASON SPONSOR!
| Co-Artistic Director | Jessica Johnson |
| Co-Artistic Director | Katie Jones |
| Technical Director | Abby Auman |
| Marketing Manager | Jennifer Bennett |
| Box Office Manager | Quinn Terry |
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
George Awad
Eliza Heath
Jason Phillips
Josh Sullivan