Terence Aselford (ensemble) is no stranger to playing multiple roles, having done so most recently in Stella Adler for Washington Women in Theatre, and Oy! for the Center Company. He has performed at The Shakespeare Theatre, Theatre of the First Amendment, Rep Stage, The Georgetown Theatre Company, Ford's Theatre, Source Theatre and the Kennedy Center. He has recorded over 200 audiobooks for a variety of publishers, and has appeared in The Learning Channel's Great Books series. Other television work includes Unsolved Mysteries as well as national and regional commercials, including one with his wife, actress/director Catherine Aselford, and their son, Bobby. A first-generation Irish-American, this is the first time he has been cast as an Irishman. Lori Boyd (ensemble) appeared at the Washington Theatre Festival in the premiere productions of Irish Authors Held Hostage and Men and Parts. She co-wrote with John Morogiello the screenplay for Forenziks, which is available on DVD from the National Film Challenge. Her big band revue, Of Thee I Swing, was produced by Radio King Orchestra in Alexandria and Frederick. Ms. Boyd produced and performed in a benefit for tsunami relief at NOVA Anandale with the Capitol Steps. Other credits include Brave Irene at Adventure Theatre, Snoopy at Maryland Ensemble Theatre, and on television in Homicide: Life on the Street. Tina Eck (musician) played flute for both the premiere and New York productions of Irish Authors Held Hostage. She is a German radio correspondent who stumbled upon the music in the backroom of an Irish Pub some twelve years ago. She has since been playing Irish tin-whistle and flute, and regularly performs at local pubs, festivals, parties, and plays. Terence Heffernan (ensemble) appeared in the premiere of Irish Authors Held Hostage at the Source Theatre's Washington Theatre Festival, playing terrorists from around the globe as well as serving as the production's dialect coach. Mr. Heffernan has also toured with National Players of Olney Theatre, in which he performed the role of Victor in Frankenstein and Don John in Much Ado About Nothing. His most recent roles include, The Bailiff in Kafka's The Trial by Scena Theatre, John 1 in Cigarettes and Moby Dick by Venus Theatre and the Drum Major in Woyceck at the Playbill in Washington, D.C. He became a member of the Actors Equity Association after understudying the roles of both attorneys in Midwives, Ron in Tabletop, and Hector in Heartbreak House at the Round House Theatres in Bethesda, and Silver Spring, MD. He has worked extensively as a stand-up comedian and created his own show at the House of Blues as well as all of the cartoon voices for the House of Payne show on Rock 103.5 in Chicago. Mr. Heffernan is producing an independent feature film, Waiting On A Friend, in which he is a writer, director and actor. Matt Shortridge (musician) performed in the premiere and New York productions of Irish Authors Held Hostage. He teaches technical theater at Georgetown Day High School. Sheila Samaddar (choreographer, stage manager) is very proud to be involved for a second time with Irish Authors Held Hostage, having stage managed the production in the New York Fringe Festival. She is coming off a recent tour to Japan and Thailand with the international group Up With People, where she was a core dancer for the new production Tree of Nations which helped raise awareness for tsunami survivors. Her local credits include June in the American Music Stage's production of Chicago and in Anything Goes as an Angel/dancer with Chevy Chase Community Players. John Morogiello (playwright and ensemble) is a Playwright in Residence at the Maryland State Arts Council. His short plays Fashion Specifics and Men and Parts were finalists for the Heideman Award at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where the latter play was produced. Happy Hour, a film adaptation of Men and Parts, was named Best Short Comedy at the 2003 New York Independent Film and Video Festival. Mr. Morogiello is a frequent collaborator with Martin Blanco, having worked under his direction as author, actor, or dramaturg at venues including Canadian Stage Company, Center Stage, the Kennedy Center, Source Theatre, Rep Stage, Georgetown Theatre Company and Belmont Italian American Playhouse. Other plays and productions include: The Matchmaker's Guide to Controlling the Elements and Gianni Schicchi. Other awards include: Kennedy Center Fellowship of the Americas, Baltimore magazine's 1996 Best Up and Coming Playwright and The Source Theatre'sWashington Theatre Festival's Outstanding Achievement in Acting and Best Production for Irish Authors Held Hostage. Mr. Morogiello's articles have been published in American Theatre and Dramatics, and in programs and study guides for Long Wharf Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, and Belmont Italian American Playhouse. Mr. Morogiello's plays Larry's Resolution and The Little Farmer are available through their publisher One Act Play Depot. Martin Blanco (producer, director) was Resident Director for Belmont Italian American Playhouse for four seasons, where he directed noteworthy productions of Gozzi's Turandot, Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus, Goldoni's The Mistress of the Inn and a number of premiere works including his own play A Visit from Saint Nicholas. He is a frequent collaborator with playwright John Morogiello, having directed productions of Mr. Morogiello's Gianni Schicchi, The Answer, Fragile Circle, Men and Parts, and a staged reading at the Kennedy Center following a workshop at Canadian Stage Company of Chancellorsville. Mr. Blanco received an Outstanding Direction award from the Source Theatre's Washington Theatre Festival for the premiere production of Irish Authors Held Hostage. He has performed at Yale Repertory Theatre in productions of Moliere's Scapin and John Guare's Moon Over Miami, and in revues at Yale Cabaret. He has taught a variety of theater classes at Boston University, SUNY Albany, and American University. Mr. Blanco has worked for the National Endowment for the Arts, Management Consultants for the Arts, Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Huntington Theatre Company. Mr. Blanco is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. J. Thaddeus Burian (Executive Avatar) is popularly known as the last great theatrical impresario of the previous century, though he prefers to be known as the first great theatrical impresario of the current century. Official documentation of his birth was lost in the great Prague plague of 1900, but legend tells us that Burian's mother gave birth to her astonishing progeny on a European stage during a performance in the 1890's. Ever the professional, the noble mother merely handed her baby to a comic maidservant and continued the scene, politely ignoring the audience's fervent cries for an encore. The maidservant took Burian backstage and laid him in a trunk--a pleasure he attempts to duplicate at every opportunity. Even as a child, Burian's effect on the theatrical world was staggering. Watching from the wings as Stanislavski rehearsed THE CHERRY ORCHARD in 1902, the young Burian suddenly seized Epikhodov's guitar and broke a string. His destiny was undeniable when author Anton Chekhov responded with the immortal words: "We're keeping that, people."