The Trial of Dionysus

Cast and Creative Team

Caitlin Stasey (Pentheus): Caitlin Stasey is an Australian actress known for her work in both Australian and American television and film. She starred as Ellie Linton in Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010), followed by her role as Claire in the comedy-drama series Please Like Me (2013-2016). During this time, she also appeared in the historical drama series Reign (2013-2015). Stasey continued her work in US television with roles in the crime drama Mayans M.C. (2023) and the dramedy Bridge and Tunnel (2021-2022). In 2022, she appeared in the psychological horror film Smile. Most recently, she starred in the Australian comedy series Class of ’07 (2023). For The Clown School Company: A Kind of Electra, The Idiot’s Paradise.

Jaz Sinclair (Judge): For Amazon: Gen Z.

Tiffany Elle (Bromius): Tiffany Elle (she/her) is happy whenever she’s at The Clown School, and is absolutely thrilled to be in the latest production of The Clown School Company. On screen, she’s been in Better Things, The High Note, and lots of commercials. On stage you can find her in LA’s cutest bouffon troupe, iL Fungo. For The Clown School Company: A Kind of Electra, The Idiot’s Paradise.

Sarah Painter (Tiresias)
Sarah Painter (she/her) has been working in the theater for the last 25 years. She started her career performing and devising plays in New York’s experimental downtown theater venues: SOHO Rep, Dixon Place, Richard Foreman’s Theater and Bushwick Starr. Most recently in Los Angeles, she performed with Living Room Shakespeare as Lady Macbeth (Macbeth) and Henry Bolingbroke (Richard II), as well as devising shows with various clown ensembles. She produced The Clown School Company’s production A Kind of Electra. She received a BFA in Acting at University of Maryland Baltimore County, MSW at University of Southern California and Clown Cred from The Clown School.

David Bridel (Director): is the Founding and Artistic Director of The Clown School and The Clown School Company. He has worked as a director, playwright, choreographer, and teacher of clown, physical theater and acting in many venues and many countries for many years. More about David here.

Kate Hutter Mason (Choreographer): Founder and owner of Stomping Ground L.A. – a community arts complex founded in 2020 on the native lands of the Kizh, Chumash, and Tongva Nations known as El Sereno/East L.A. As a foundational experience for this next step in her artistic and entrepreneurial career, Kate co-founded the L.A. Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC) in 2005, and held the Artistic Directorship from 2005 - 2015. Today, she serves as the President of the Board of Directors. Additionally, Kate works in the corporate sector applying her skills learned in non-profit arts as Director of Strategic Initiatives for the aerospace design and manufacturing company, Click Bond, that was founded by her parents and is in its 2nd generation of leadership as a family-owned and operated company. Kate is thrilled to hold many careers in balance and see how each is informed by the other including continuing to instruct dance, choreograph, and be the mother of two spirited and wonderfully free willed children, Charley and Rory, with her husband Eric. Kate is an alumnus of the Walnut Hill School and a graduate of the University of Southern California with a BFA in Theatrical Design. Kate also holds an MFA in Dance and Choreography from Purchase College, SUNY. Kate has presented her choreography at prestigious venues throughout L.A. including the Broad Stage, Celebrate Dance at the Alex Theater, Ford Amphitheatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, L.A. Theatre Center, Diavolo Dance Space and Highways Performance Space. Kate was also the movement director for the band Foster The People on their 2013 Summer Tour and part of the Move campaign by indie clothing retailer Alternative Apparel. Kate has been a visiting artist at USC, UCLA, California State Long Beach, Santa Monica College, Scripps College, Chapman University, Ohio State University, Wayne State University, and Loyola Marymount University.

Arrow Schulman (Associate Director): Arrow Schulman (they/them) is an actor, clown, writer and director. They are the founder and artistic director of Living Room Shakespeare, which creates intimate, micro-scale productions of classical works in non traditional spaces. Most recently they appeared as Richard II and Macbeth with LRS, and are hard at work on their next production! Other recent credits include William Mullholland in Here Comes the Flood (Dell’Arte International); Arlecchino in A Night of Commedia (Dell’Arte International); and Bowie the Clown in A Long Lost Friend (Oh My Ribs Entertainment). They received a BA in Theatre from Northwestern University and have also trained with The Clown School and Dell’Arte International. You can follow their work at @LivingRoomShakespeareCo on Instagram. 

Steve Dukeheart (Music Composer and Performer)
Steve Dukeheart is a Los Angeles based musician, songwriter, and performance artist. He’s been a student and performer at the Clown School since 2021. An alumnus of Boston’s Berklee College of Music, Steve writes, records music, and performs in his own group “Song Lab”, an experimental multimedia rock band. He lives in Eagle Rock with his wife Courtney, daughters Joy and Ivy, and cats Caystro and Penelope. For more information about Steve and his work visit www.thesonglab.net.

Jess Esa (Dramaturg)
Jess Esa (they/them) is an actor, writer, and dramaturg from the UK. They have an MA in English Literature from The University of Exeter, and are passionate about bringing classical work to life for contemporary audiences. Their most recent acting roles include The Witches & Malcolm in Macbeth, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Living Room Shakespeare) Antonio in The Tempest, Soothsayer & Octavius Caesar in Julius Caesar (Revelry Theatre Group), and Issac in Family Dinner (AnyWay Production Co). They’re currently working on The Road to Mantua, an original, devised play premiering in 2026. Jess is also a performing arts photographer, check out their work at jesaphotography.com.

Taubert Nadalini (Sound Designer): Taubert is an actor, director, and sound designer who has worked for theaters across Southern California and for TV shows on NBC, HBO, and Showtime. He’s an alum of USC’s School of Dramatic Arts and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He likes things that sound cool. Represented by Denny Sevier at The House of Reps and Heidi Rotbart Management. @taubertnadalini

Camille Roberts (Lighting Designer): Camille Roberts is an LA based lighting designer. She has had the privilege to design for a multitude of productions, including iLuminate at the STRAT Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas and a variety of dance festivals across southern California (camillerobertsdesign.com). Additionally, she has worked as a lighting technician on many shows, including Comet / Poppea at MOCA, When We Were Young Festival, EDC Las Vegas, Countdown, and many others. Camille is very excited to be working on this production, and hopes that you enjoy it as much as she does! My instagram handle is @_camilleroberts

Jessika Pilkes (Art Direction): Jesse’s childhood in NYC and early exposure to Cirque du Soleil were formative to her creative journey and love for wonder and whimsy. Jesse graduated from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied screenwriting and film directing and went on to earn a best director award from the Director’s Guild of America for her vintage circus themed short film. While living in Hong Kong and working as a photographer and videographer for cultural travel companies, Jesse traveled to over thirty countries, throughout Asia, Northern Africa and Central America, capturing the essence of diverse cultures and deepening her affinity for visual story-telling and world building. In addition to costuming, Jesse is currently writing, directing and choreographing clown foolery.

With thanks to Jess Esa for photography & Harold Nieves-Fisch for videography.