RAYMOND BOBGAN
Raymond Bobgan creates new performances that are bold, multilayered, and highly physical through an ever-evolving ensemble process. Raymond’s work has been seen in Romania, Brazil, Denmark, Serbia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Canada, and has been featured in American Theatre magazine, Canadian Theatre Review, Theatre Journal, and in Lisa Wolford’s book Grotowski’s Objective Drama Research. Raymond has created many works for CPT including: Feefer Rising, with Faye Hargate; Rusted Heart Broadcast; Insomnia: The Waking of Herselves, with Holly Holsinger and Chris Seibert; Cut to Pieces, with Chris Seibert; and Blue Sky Transmission: A Tibetan Book of the Dead, co-produced by CPT and La MaMa ETC (Off-Broadway).
Raymond founded the Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP), a job-training theatre program for teens, and co-created the Y-Haven Theatre Project with James Levin which engages formerly homeless men in writing and performing theatre, and initiated Station Hope, a community arts festival exploring contemporary issues of social justice. With Faye Hargate, Raymond initiated Teatro Público de Cleveland, CPT’s resident Latino theatre company, and Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi مسرح كليفلاند العربي, a new group dedicated to creating and performing theatre from Arabic-speaking communities.
Raymond’s professional troupe, Cleveland CORE Ensemble, recently toured Red Ash Mosaic, a surreal journey through projection to purpose. They are currently working on a new project, Candlelight Hypothesis #1-12, which will premiere in June of 2020.
Raymond was the first recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize in the discipline of Theatre. He is a two-time winner of the Creative Workforce Fellowship and a recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Fellowship. He is an alumnus of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG)’s Early Career Development Program for Directors, and of the National Theatre Artist Residency Program (Pew Charitable Trust and TCG). Raymond also received the Cisgender Ally Award at Cleveland’s Transgender Day of Remembrance and Equality Ohio’s Ally Award. In 2018, he was honored with the Cleveland Foundation’s Homer C. Wadsworth Award and in 2017, his administrative leadership was recognized with The Governor’s Award for the Arts in Ohio.
He currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the National New Play Network, serves on the Theatre Communications Group Board of Directors, and is the Chair of the Board of the Gordon Square Arts District Cleveland Improvement Corporation.
This is Raymond Bobgan’s 14th season in the leadership position at Cleveland Public Theatre.
FAYE HARGATE
Strongly rooted in her hometown of Cleveland, Faye is an artist who starts from the deeply personal and dives into the complexity of the human spirit. Faye’s work does not fit neatly into a defined artist role and breaks new ground as a theatre artist. Whether you’ve witnessed Faye’s acting prowess enabling her to seamlessly shift from character to character; experienced her extraordinary gift of creating original and dynamic art in collaborative settings (most recently seen this winter in Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi’s وبعدها التقينا مسرح كليفلاند العربي And Then We Met…, co-created by Faye, Raymond Bobgan, and the Ensemble and directed by Faye and Raymond); or been transformed by one of her performance art installations, Faye’s artistry is unparalleled and pushes the form of theatre forward.
Faye is a founding member of the Cleveland CORE Ensemble, and under the direction of Raymond Bobgan, she has collaboratively created and performed in original works Fire on the Water (Part Four of the Elements Cycle), Red Ash Mosaic, and Rusted Heart Broadcast, to name a few. Faye’s solo show Feefer Rising was premiered in 2015 at CPT. She was last seen in Cleveland CORE Ensemble’s Crevice, Moth, & Flame at Pandemonium 2019: Alchemy, Fire on the Water (2019), and will be featured in next season’s Candlelight Hypothesis #1-12.
As an installation artist, Faye has collaborated with Joan Hargate to direct and create performance art installations When the She’ll Broke – Workshop at Entry Point 2018, She’s Wearing White…, Royal Ann’s Preserve, Echoless Shore, and Fellsalie.
Faye was appointed to Director of Community Ensembles in 2016 after serving in a range of education, community connection, and artistic roles since joining full-time staff in 2009. She works with Teatro Público de Cleveland (TPC), supporting the production of bilingual devised plays, Spanish language scripted plays, and community projects at events like Station Hope and the Ohio City Street Festival, and Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi, collaborating with Raymond Bobgan and company members to support the development of new plays by, for, and with Arabic-speaking communities. Faye also line produces TPC and Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi productions.
Faye has over ten years of experience with CPT’s Cleveland Act Now (formerly Brick City Theatre), teaching, directing, producing original plays and community events. In 2018, she founded CAN Academy, a theatre training program onsite at CPT for younger teens and youth that live in Cleveland and surrounding neighborhoods.
Faye is a 2014 Creative Workforce Fellow, and in fall 2019, she was recognized by Cleveland Museum of Contemporary Art as a New Agency Member.
Holly Holsinger
Holly’s tenure at CPT spans 20+ years (there is even a section of the CPT campus named after her; Holly’s Hall). She’s served in a variety of roles at CPT including (but not limited to) Teaching Artist, Education Director, Interim Managing Director, Performer, Creator, and Director. Holly has touched every level of the organization and is most certainly at the heart of what CPT is all about.
On stage, Holly enchants and captivates audiences with electrifying performances, often featuring beautiful and mystifying physical scores. Her one-of-a-kind vocal quality and ability is a vital element in her daring, intense, and remarkably honest work. As a creator, she champions women, investigates important issues, and celebrates human connection and the vulnerability and reverence of this togetherness which is beyond our everyday selves. Holly is also a highly skilled director whose expertise enables her to create dynamic environments where the traditional and experimental converge.
Holly was recently seen at Entry Point 2020 in a selection of Marie Curie Horror Story, her original play about the triumphs and tragedies of Marie Curie’s life. In the winter of 2019, Holly directed Teatro Público de Cleveland’s (TPC’s) A Xmas Cuento Remix. In the fall, she engaged in a teaching exchange at The Raikin Theatre School in Moscow, Russia through Cleveland State University, where she is an Associate Professor. And in the past year, Holly toured to New Orleans and London with her solo show, Frankenstein’s Wake, a twisted adaptation of Mary Shelley’s masterpiece co-created with Raymond Bobgan (Frankenstein’s Wake first performed Off-Broadway in 1997 and remounted at CPT as part of the 2015/2016 season). Other original works shown at CPT include Ancestra and Insomnia: The Waking of Herselves, co-devised with Chris Seibert. Holly was also featured in Waters (working title) at Entry Point 2019, Red Ash Mosaic (2017, 2018) and at countless Station Hopes and Pandemoniums of years past.