THE CREATIVE TEAM
JOHN DESOTELLE (Director) Artistic Director of the Nuance Theatre Co. and director of the John DeSotelle Acting Studio. Mr. DeSotelle has been acting, directing and teaching in the theater for more than 25 years on both the east and west coasts. Prior to opening the Studio in 2013, John taught the Meisner technique at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. In 1994 he founded the Fitzwater Theater Company in Sacramento, CA; which later moved to upstate New York. Directing credits: Rabbit Hole, Proof, Hamlet, Talk To Me Like The Rain and Let Me Listen, Awake and Sing!, Waiting for Lefty, Raft of the Medusa, Burn This, Equus, Wait Until Dark, Tales of Edgar Alan Poe: The Black Cat, Telltale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado.
Olympic performances by entire cast [Rabbit Hole], telling a tragic, important, and all too common story with grace and humor. We, the audience, empathized, cried, and took the journey with them. Outstanding.
It is not often that the feeling of walking into someone’s house can be achieved in a tight, black box theater, but the director and his production staff [Rabbit Hole] accomplish just that. The short distance to the action assists in the audience sensing every nuance in the text and complex emotions of bereavement, anger, contentment and hopefulness. In such an intimate setting the audience is gifted with a journey that touches on nearly all the fundamental yearning of loss, gain, and how we humans mourn. It is what theater goers thrive for.
OnStage
JUDITH FEINGOLD (Stage Manager) is an actor and director trained in the Meisner technique, and hailing from the John DeSotelle Acting Studio, where she now serves as a teaching assistant. Further training includes Shakespeare and Company, in Lenox, MA. Favorite projects include Awake and Sing, This Property Is Condemned, The Evils Of Tobacco, Hamlet, Proof, Cocaine, and Rabbit Hole. Upcoming work includes Nuance Theatre Co.’s Macbeth.
This production truly made everyone in the audience that (and every) night feel right alongside these characters, making this such a heartfelt and miraculous theatrical experience. Such a beautiful, well-crafted production deserves my praise and much, much more.....Such a wonderful cast and crew make this production of Rabbit Hole something truly special.
Broadway World
KAREN HOFFMAN (Assistant Stage Manager) is working with Nuance Theatre Co. for the first time having returned to the theater last year after a forty year absence. She is currently a first year acting student at John DeSotelle Studio studying the Meisner technique and is enjoying being back in the work!
MATTHEW IMHOFF (Scenic and Lighting Design / Technical Director) has collaborated with Nuance Theatre Co. as the designer on the acclaimed productions of Rabbit Hole, Proof and Hamlet. Selected Off-Broadway: A Modest Proposal (world premiere, Cherry Lane Theatre); soot and spit (New York Times Critics’ Pick); Love and Yogurt; A Little Princess (U.S. Premiere, Signature Theatre); Game of Thrones: The Rock Musical; Disney’s High School Musical; Frankenstein (third year at St. Luke’s). He also designed the 2016 KOTA Sustainable Fashion Awards and collaborated as the lead designer on Hippos, Inc., an immersive avant-garde performance art installation for the Panorama Music Festival featured in the New Yorker Magazine. Matthew is the recipient of the New Hampshire Theatre Alliance’s 2018 award for Best Light Design for his work on Forty Second Street. www.matthewimhoff.viewbook.com
It was a great show [Rabbit Hole]! The actors did an astounding job with honest and breathtaking performances
Everything about this production [of Proof] is just so well done,......Moments like these, when you have to remind yourself to breathe, are an indication of real theater in my mind; fortunately, this production is saturated with them.....Nuance really has a knack for casting its actors as well, as everyone in this show is amazing....I would gladly review any show in which this cast made an appearance.
In brief, this show is a absolute triumph.
Broadway World
Doing local theater is not easy, especially off-off Broadway. The challenges are immense. So what does John DeSotelle do? He takes on Shakespeare. Not only that, but Hamlet. And not only Hamlet, but the full 3 1⁄2 hour production. Oh, and did I mention that the lead is played by an actor in his first major role?
Talk about challenges! That being said, Mr. DeSotelle brings to life a wonderfully staged and visually beautiful show.......The Meisner trained ensemble knew their way around the story and glided effortlessly from scene to scene. Time well spent. I would encourage you to see the show, and see how well the challenge of bringing this incredible story to life is met.
Outer-Stage
SONYA PLENEFISCH (Costume Design) returns to Nuance Theatre Co. for a second time after Rabbit Hole this past June. Sonya is a British-trained performance designer currently based in NYC, with a degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Award nominations include a 2019 nomination for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards' Outstanding Innovative Design category for properties design and a 2017 nomination for the Linbury Prize for Stage Design in the UK. Recent NYC design credits include Bound (dir. Tara Moses), Refuge (Blessed Unrest), and Pink House (dir. Jenna Rossman). www.sonyaplenefisch.com
Meisner-master John DeSotelle directs the Nuance Theatre’s ambitious take on William Shakespeare’s enigmatic tale. The company’s experimental stage is transformed into a castle in the 16th Century complete with a drawbridge, ramparts, and ghost… not an actor but a visual effect as old as the dark ages!
Stage Buddy
Great direction, terrific cast, marvelous Broadway caliber set.
The show was amazing! Nuance Theatre Co. just got a new fan!!