Coffeehouse Chronicles #185: Martha Clarke
Between Dance and Theater. reflection on the work of Martha clarke.
Moderated by Jim Nicola
Featuring Martha Clarke, Chuck Mee, John Kelly, Beth Henley, Arthur Solari, Alfred Uhry, and Donna Zakowska
with performers
Gabby Malone, Andrew Robinson, George De La Pena, Polly Sytron, Rico LeBron, Dylan T Jackson
Credits
Curated by Michal Gamily
Moderated by Jim Nicola
The artists
Jim Nicola
bio
James C Nicola is the Artistic Director Emeritus of NYTW. Prior to that, he was Producing Associate at Arena Stage, in casting at Joseph Papp’s NY Shakespeare Festival. He directed
and assisted Off-Off Broadway, and in London at the Royal Court Theater and The Young Vic. He was awarded a Special Tony Award and a Lifetime Achievement Obie Award. Tufts University graduate.
Chuck Mee
bio
Charles Mee has written Big Love, True Love, First Love, bobrauschenbergamerica, Hotel Cassiopeia, Orestes 2.0, Trojan Women A Love Story, Summertime and Wintertime among other plays—all available on the internet at www.charlesmee.org. His plays have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, American Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, the Public Theatre, Lincoln Center, the Humana Festival, Steppenwolf, and other places in the United States as well as in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Brussels, Vienna, Istanbul and elsewhere. He was honored with a full season of his plays at the Signature Theatre. Among other awards, he is the recipient of the Award of Merit in Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two Obies, of a Laura Pels Award, the Booth Award, and of the Richard B. Fisher Award. He is also the author of a number of books of history (Meeting at Potsdam, The Marshall Plan, The End of Order) that have been selections of the Book of the Month Club and the History Book Club. He is the former editor-in-chief of Horizon magazine, a magazine of history, art, literature, and the fine arts. And he is a lifetime trustee of the Washington think tank, The Urban Institute. His work is made possible by the support of Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Richard B. Fisher.
John Kelly
bio
John Kelly is a performance and visual artist.
Beth Henley
bio
Beth Henley is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays CRIMES OF THE HEART (Pulitzer Prize in Drama, New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play, and Tony Award nominee for best play) and THE WAKE OF JAMEY FOSTER were produced on Broadway. Off- Broadway productions include THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST, AM I BLUE, THE LUCKY SPOT, THE DEBUTANTE BALL, ABUNDANCE, IMPOSSIBLE MARRIAGE, FAMILY WEEK, THE JACKSONIAN, and BUGHOUSE. BUGHOUSE was developed with Martha Clarke and John Kelly.
MS. Henley has completed a commission from Women + On the Edge of Democracy project. The play WAY BACK NOW, will be produced at The Flynn theatre in October. Her new play DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR has been workshopped at Berkeley Repertory and NYSF.
Alfred Uhry
bio
Alfred Uhry has been awarded 2 Tonys, an Oscar and a Pulitzer Prize. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall Of Fame in 2014.
George De La Pena
bio
GdlP is a multidisciplinary performing artist, director, and educator. A native New Yorker, he has collaborated on multiple projects with Martha Clarke. He has also performed in film, television, on and off Broadway. He is currently a Professor at the University of Iowa.
Rico LeBron
bio
Rico LeBron is an actor, guitarist, and videographer originally from Atlanta. He is currently in the Broadway company of Galileo, beginning performances in November at the Shubert Theatre. Also on Broadway, he was in Swept Away at the Longacre Theatre. His additional credits include God’s Fool at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Angel Reapers at Signature Theatre Company, Make Believe at Second Stage Theater, The Tempest at The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park, and the world premiere musical The Moon and the Sea by Douglas Lyons. His film credits include Social Animals from Paramount Pictures. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Music degree.
Dylan T Jackson
bio
Originally from South Florida, Jackson joined the development of Martha Clarke’s God’s Fool for La MaMa in 2021 and briefly played ‘Leo’ on the Italian tour with La MaMa Umbria in 2023. He stars as ‘Stanley’ in the Peacock’s latest crime-drama series M.I.A., as ‘Sebastian’ in the 2026 indie feature Floating Carousel, as well as MGM+’s Godfather of Harlem and Apple TV’s City on Fire.
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