a Roi Escudero performance-art-cinema™ (Theatre-Media) Atelier
Biographies
ANTONIN ARTAUD [1896-1948] French actor, director, playwright, poet, essayist of the avant-garde theatre, artist, and early member of the surrealist movement in Paris. He is one of the formative influences on the modern European theatre. His concept of the Theatre of Cruelty, his label for a theater intended to release feelings usually repressed in the unconscious that would assault the representational dynamics of traditional theater and break the boundaries between actor and audience, stage and spectacle, Artaud has been an important influence on modern dramatists such as Genet, Albee, and Gelber and on directors such as Grotowski, Beck, and Brook (among others), as well as the happenings of the 1950s & 1960s, the alternative theatre movement, and “performance art". He was born September 4, 1896, in Marseilles, France, to a Catholic cultivated family with a Greek background. His father was a wealthy ship fitter. Artaud’s mother bore nine children, but only three lived beyond childhood. An attack of meningitis at the age of four left him with terrible neuralgias. Later on he was prescribed laudanum to manage his pain, anxiety and depression, and became addicted to opiates for the rest of his life. After moving to Paris, Artaud became an actor. He appeared in silent classics such as Abel Gance’s Napoleon (1927) and Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), as well as on stage. He had a long and intimate relationship with Romanian actress Génica Athanasiou, the protagonist of his film, The Seashell and the Clergyman (1927) directed by Germaine Dulac. This silent film is considered the first surrealist film. He was a founder of the Theatre Alfred Jarry (1926-1929) with Robert Aron and Roger Vitrac. In 1935 Artaud’s adaptation of Les Cenci opened at the Folies Wagram Theater, where it had a short, unsuccessful run. Following a journey to Mexico in 1936 during which he lived among the Tarahumara Indians, and another to Ireland in 1937 Artaud began a nine year period of incarceration and electro-shock treatments in mental institutions following a lifetime of physical and mental instability. His best known written work, The Theatre and its Double, was published in 1938 and remains a highly influential piece of literature to this day. He recorded his final work, the radio broadcast Pour en finir avec le jugement de Dieu, shortly before his death at a clinic in Ivry at the age of 52.
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ROI ESCUDERO (MADAME NEBUNIE La FOLIE, Artaud's Madness and Conceptual Performance-Artist/Playwright/Director/ Production Designer. Mise en scène: scenic and virtual sets, costumes, masks, objects of art/ Multimedia-video Concept/Design/Editor/Director) is an award-winning conceptual performance artist-visual storyteller who uses her background in visual arts and theatre to create post-modern theatrical works and immersive spectacles. Roi is a citizen of the U.S., born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Roi’s paternal grandmother, Reyes, a fantastic storyteller, opened the little girl’s imagination. Roi’s parents, art lovers themselves, sent Roi to learn art with the renowned visual artist Juan Battle Planas and dance with Natacha Albrich and Maria Fux. Roi stayed with Fux into adulthood. She learned Littérature Française and costume Design with Janette & Elvirette Kinot and her mother Nené Laplacette. Roi collaborated in two projects with The Instituto Di Tella’s star, pop artist Edgardo Gimenez. He created a lithograph for Roi’s firth conceptual installation of performance-art at Nordiska: Los Que Se Disfrasan de Sol con Alfileres de Gancho. This lithograph is part of the MoMA’s New York collection. Roi continued her training in performance-art, writing and direction with Argentinian masters such as Carlos Gandolfo, Alberto Ure, Salo Vasochi, voice with Carlos Capdevila and film director Alberto Fisherman, who taught Roi screenplay writing. Her musical play Donald Sol y Luna co-scored by Donald Mc Cluskey won el Gauchito de Plata. Odeon and RCA Argentina produced her songs and records. Roi learned experimental theater with Guliano Vasilico, in Rome, Italy.
In the USA Roi studied TV production at H.S.B.H. Studio, Ca; Traveling Theater with Cuban director Osvaldo Praderes in NYC and attended The School of Visual Art, NYC. Renowned playwright Mario Fratti was her playwright mentor. Roi’s artwork including her performance-art plays and documentary-visual theatre have appeared at The Art Museum Council Gallery at the Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA), Los Angeles International Open Festival, The Charlie Chaplin Space L.A., The Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, The Spanish Institute NYC and other cultural institutions and art galleries. Roi is the creator of performance-art-cinema™, (Theatre-Multimedia) an immersive work containing theater, installation art, multimedia, cinéma vérité, and live performance. Her vision paved the way for multimedia-theatre through her award-winning and nominated Series BUBULINOS’ DREAMS and the ANTONIN ARTAUD Series. In New York Roi Escudero’s theatrical work has been presented at the FRINGE Festival, FRIGID New York, The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), The Planet Connections Theatre Festivity (PCTF), Midtown International Theatre Festival, IATI Theater, American Theatre of Actors (ATA), Center for Remembering and Sharing (CRS), chaShama Gallery and other events and site-specific installations, including The Indie Theater Fund.
Roi creates theatrical installations for patrons of the art and art collectors. Her soft sculptures and puppets known as Bubi’s Dolls are part of international art collections, including those of Joan and Frederick M. Nicholas, Marcia Simon Weisman, Nancy Epstein, Count Giuseppe Panza di Biumo, Italian Designer Valentino and others.
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Roi is the Founder, Creative Producer/Lead Designer and Artistic Director of the awards-winning ETdC Projects' Lab. Its productions include: Above All, a performance-art video for Tertulia 2021 at IATI Theater; ARTAUD MARAT, a Roi Escudero Performance-art play cinema play, winner of The Excellent Experimental Award FRIGID New York 2020; The 11th DIMENSION which received a 2019 IT Award Nomination from the prestigious New York Innovative Theater Awards for Outstanding Performance-art Production. Roi also won for The 11th DIMENSION the 2018 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity AWARD for Outstanding Experimental Playwright, plus 3 NOMINATIONS: Outstanding Overall Production, Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Costumes Design. Flow (2016) won The Greener Planet Award for its use of recycled material in set and props, the PCTF AWARD for Outstanding Scenic Design and Outstanding Performance-art-Multimedia-Projections. NOMINATIONS: Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Costume Design. Artaud...mon mômo (2013) won the PCTF AWARD Outstanding Multimedia Event, Video and Projections. NOMINATION: Outstanding Direction. B=Essence (2012) NOMINATION: Outstanding Multimedia Event, Video and Projections. 11 Seconds of Ecstasy! (2010) won the PCTF AWARD for Outstanding Performance-Art-Multimedia Event, Use of Projections and Special Effects. NOMINATIONS: Outstanding Overall Production of a New Play, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Sound Design and Antonin...mon Artaud at the MTF Plays by Mario Fratti, Performed, Adapted, Designed and Directed by Roi Escudero; Cain (2017) won the PCTF AWARD for Outstanding Projections Design. NOMINATIONS: Outstanding Overall Production, Outstanding Playwright, Outstanding Direction. The Colonel’s Wife (2015) won the PCTF AWARD for Outstanding Overall Production Revival/Adaptation/Sequel. NOMINATIONS: Outstanding Direction of a play with Music Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play with Music, Outstanding Multimedia Performance-art and Video Projections. Roi also designed and directed Fratti’s play The Anniversary and Translated and Adapted La Matra India an award winning Literatura Fantastica short story by Patricio Gonzales Novoa, The Matra India (2011) won the PCTF 2011 for Outstanding Performance-Art-Multimedia Event. NOMINATION: for Outstanding Overall Production of a Short Play. ETdC Projects' Lab also produced other plays by Roi Escudero: Antonin...mon Artaud, What a Trip!, After Charlie, Bubulinos Archetypes, Bubulinos Dreams and The Dimension of Progress.
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IOAN ARDELEAN (ARTAUD and ALL His HALLUCINATIONS and Movement), attended the University of Arts Târgu - Mures - Romania, where he received his Ph.D. in Theatre and MFA in Directing. Mr. Ioan Ardelean is an NYC based actor and director born in Romania. His formal training and versatile style is ideally suited for dramatic roles as well as Commedia dell' Arte characters. He has assembled an extensive list of stage, commercial and film credits. His repertoire includes Shakespearean productions and modern plays at The National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca-Romania, The Almeida Theatre in London and several Off-Broadway productions in New York City. In June of 2019, his directed piece Fourteen Little Red Huts, was presented in Voronezh-Russia at the Andrei Platonov Festival. In September 2019 he conducted a workshop based on Suzuki&Viewpoints at Hop FestivalConstanta, Romania, and directed The Returning, at North Theatyre Satu-Mare, Romania. Among his favorite roles are Artaud in The 11th Dimension, a Roi Escudero performance art play (Nominated for Outstanding Performance Art Production New York Innovative Theatre Awards 2019 and the PCTF Award 2018), Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Khlestakov in The Governor Inspector, Tormod in More and Samuel Beckett in The Last Godot. Currently, Ioan is an artist in residence at ETdC Projects’Lab collaborating in movement and portraying Artaud in ARTAUD MARAT, which was presented in NYC as part of the FRIGID 2020. Artaud Marat won Excellent Experimental Award at the festival. As a recent citizen of the U.S, Ioan has a heightened sensitivity to create an environment where diverse identities and communities are honestly and courageously affirmed.
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VALENTIN EWAN (The CARETAKER, The Ghost of Dr. Ferdière and Producer/Dramaturg/Historian/Stage Manager/Videographer/Multimedia and Technical Director), a NYU graduate with a Major and Honors in History from the College of Arts and Science, and a Minor in Documentary Film from the Tisch School of the Arts. Valentin is an active artist at ETdC Projects’ Lab, where he works as creative producer, researcher, editor, stage manager, videographer/multimedia designer and technical director. His work at ETdC includes award-winning and nominated productions like the performance-art plays of Roi Escudero: Artaud Marat and The Inmates of His Mind, winner of FRIGID 2020 Award for Excellent Experimental; The 11th Dimension (2018), Flow (2016), Antonin mon Artaud (2013) and B=Essence (2012), as well as Mario Fratti's plays Cain (2017) and The Colonel’s Wife (2015). For The 11th Dimension, Cain and Flow, Valentin won the PCTF award for Outstanding Multimedia/Projections/Special Effects, and a 2019 Innovative Theatre Awards nomination for Outstanding Performance Art Production as co-producer of The 11th Dimension. Valentin loves working and creating with ETdC Projects' Lab, and he works as a freelance project manager and technical director for commercial and philanthropic multimedia events. Valentin is also a passionate freelance writer and editor who has written articles and reviews for many groups and is an active at-large judge at the Innovative Theatre Awards. "I am ever eager to be part of the wonderfully collaborative and creative experience of theater!" valentinewan8899@gmail.com
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MIKA OYAIZU (MADEMOISELLE Raison d'être and all her Manifestations) born in Tokyo, Japan, first started ice-skating at an early age, since then she has been deeply involved with music and dance, and later became a competition dancer in International style Ballroom Latin Dance. Mika has training in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Ballroom, Latin, West Coast Swing, Yoga and Pilates as well as Acting and Narrating. She received her BFA in Scenography, theater arts. Since Mika discovered Tango in 1999 she has been studying and dancing different styles: Milonguero, Apirado, Canyengue, Traditional Salon, Fantasia and Nuevo. Mika has frequently danced in New York and Buenos Aires, studying with masters such as Juan Carlos Copes, Mingo and Esther Pugliese, Pablo Pugliese, Chiche and Marta, Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne, Olga Besio, Guillermina Quiroga, Chicho Frumboli, Maria Plazaola, Mariela Franganillo, Mauricio Castro, Adrian Veredice and Alejandra Hobert, Moira Castellano and Gaston Torelli, and great Milongueros among them. Mika has also taught Argentine Tango in groups and private, as well as choreographing, and performing in Milongas, corporate events and shows: NY Dance Center, Stepping Out Studios, The Arts Cure Center, Australian Consulate of New York, Lincoln Center, 92Y, Riverside Church Theater NY, New York Athletic Club, Bar Sur, and as far afield as Japan. Mika’s enthusiastic devotion to Tango was featured on "La Nación", the Argentine national newspaper, as “Tanguera from overseas”. As a dancer and actor, she has appeared in theatrical shows, films, TV and off-off-Broadway productions, including "Sayonara" at Miller Theater in NY, "Agapanthus Tango" at the Australian Consulate of New York, "Still Alice" by Sony Pictures, "Person of Interest" on CBS, and "Manhattan Love Story" on ABC. As an artist, she is working to achieve her own style based on strong traditional techniques. Since 2009 she has been a continual artist in residence of Roi "Bubi" Escudero's ETdC Projects' Lab and has featured in several of their productions: "Argentina Passionate!” at American Theatre of Actors at New York Musical Theater Festival, "B=Essence" at Bleeker Street Theater in NY, the award-winning production "Artaud...mom momo", "11 seconds of ecstasy!", "Matra India" at The Robert Moss Theater in NY, where she was nominated for Outstanding Dance Choreography, and "The Colonel's Wife" by Mario Fratti at The Paradise Factory Theater in NY, for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress by Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Awards. Currently, Mika is collaborating with the new production of ETdC Projects’ Lab: ARTAD MARAT, a Roi Escudero Performance-art play. mikaoyaiz@gmail.com
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© Umbrellas Installation by James Ewan at MOCA Museum, L.A. California
© Background painting by Günther Uecker at Lévy Gorvy Gallery NYC
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JAMES NICKERSON EWAN (Structure: Artaud's Door and Virtual Paintings: Celestial Intruder and Tarahumaras Dreams), has been painting independently since his youngest years spent traveling the world, and the powerful international cultures and politics of his travels became early influences on his work alongside a grounding in architecture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. His installations of paintings mounted on large sun umbrellas, canvases and sculptures, are part of public and private collections in USA, France, England, Italy and Argentina. Art collectors and patrons of the arts that own James Ewan’s art work include: Joan and Frederick M. Nicholas, Marcia Simon Weisman, Nancy Epstein, Anna Bulgari, Nichola Bulgari, Joan Borinstein, George I. Rosenthal, Mary Frances Rand, Ambassador Carlos Muñiz, the John Wayne Foundation and other private collections. His work has appeared at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles California (MOCA); The Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires; ART L.A; The Rodeo Collection, Beverly Hills; The Peninsula Hotel, Hong Kong; Epcot Center, Orlando, Florida; Filmland Center, Culver City, CA.; The Dance Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. and other public spaces and private events. In New York his atmospheric theatrical backgrounds have been displayed in award winning productions like EtdC Projects’ Lab, Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, The Musical Theatre Festival, The Fringe Festival, The Midtown International Festival, Frigid Festival and the Spanish Institute.
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VICTORIA RIC (MADEMOISELLE Raison d'être and all her Manifestations) is a Bolivian actress based in New York City. She started her acting career in Barcelona, Spain 15 years ago in the Nancy Tuñón-Jordi Olivé Studio. She continued her education with teachers like Nickolay Mijailovich Kirichenko, from the Kupala Theatre in Minsk amongst other great names. Back in Bolivia she explored different contemporary dance techniques, writing poetry and combining them with her acting background in order to explore new expression languages while she kept working in films and theater. Over the last 3 years, she works and lives in New York City. Her last film shot in 2019 was “Waiting in the Lake” from Bolivian Director Okie Cardenas, where she shared credits with the greatest actors in her country. Since arriving in New York, she has been part of various casts of independent movies and theater plays. Among the best projects she performed in include the film “Extra Innings”, which won best film in the Manhattan Film Festival (and others), and the play “The Whale and the Dog Star” written by Ben Holbrook, with the Fundamental Theater Company. Her body of work is tainted with a great subjectivity that expresses a feminine universe, rebellious and melancholic, which makes her voice always recognizable.
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