Mary in the Looney Bin: the Fanciful History of Mary Todd Lincoln's Confinement
by Larry West
Larry L. West (he/him) | Playwright
Larry is a teacher, director, and playwright. He has taught and directed at the University of Utah, Weber State University, Texas Woman’s University, Boise State University, International College – Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and Wabash College in Indiana. He has directed over 200 university and professional productions in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, North Carolina, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. His plays have been performed at UNLV (Peyote Jokes), Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Faust III), Utah Shakespeare Festival (workshop production of Whistler's Mother's Son), Great Salt Lake Fringe (The Weyward Sisters), and for Pygmalion Productions in Salt Lake City (Remington & Weasel). As a champion of new plays and emerging playwrights, Larry was actively involved in the Sundance Theatre Lab. Formerly, he served as Producer for Pinnacle Acting Company. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Weber State University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from the University of Oregon.
Emilio Casillas (he/him) | Director
Emilio Casillas is a theatre maker from sunny San Diego and received his BFA in Theatre Production and Design from Westminster University in Salt Lake City, Utah. Emilio serves as the Artistic Director of the Classical Greek Theatre Festival (CGTF), is a production manager with La Musica Lirica - an opera training program in Novafeltria, Italy - and is the Director of Programming for Davis Arts Council (DAC). Notably, Emilio served as Festival Director of the Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) in 2016.
Design credits include La Bohème, L’elisir d’amore, and A Little Night Music for Westminster Opera Studio (scenic & lighting), The Christians and Eurydice at Good Co. Theatre (scenic), the CGTF production of Medea (scenic), and The Beauty Queen of Leenane with Pinnacle Acting Company (lighting).
Directing credits include the premiere of Larry West’s Punxsutawney at GSLF, The Christians and the NNPN Rolling World Premiere of Man and Moon with Good Co. Theatre, Perdida at the Grand Theatre, Prometheus Bound and The Oresteia with CGTF, The Combat and The Telephone for Opera Contempo and NEXT Ensemble, and the world premiere of Steve Yockey’s Sleeping Giant at Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC). As assistant director, Emilio has worked on Larry West’s adaptation of Titus Andronicus, A Streetcar Named Desire at the Grand Theatre, and Utah Opera’s productions of The Long Walk, Gianni Schicchi, Pagliacci, The Little Prince, Silent Night, and Sweeney Todd.
Emilio made his playwriting debut in 2022 as co-writer for SLAC's Summer Show: Down the Rabbit Hole, and his adaptation of The Nutcracker is used by DAC for their Active Pages literature program.
April Fossen (she/her) | Mary
April has previously appeared at SLAC in Mercury, Bull Shark Attack, Blackberry Winter, and the NPSS reading of David Kranes' Part of the Story. She has also appeared locally in A French Toast (Meanwhile Park); The Audacity and Suffrage (Plan-B Theatre Company); A Streetcar Named Desire (The Grand Theatre); Stage Kiss (Wasatch Theatre Company); August: Osage County (Silver Summit/Utah Rep); Be Here Now and Mother of the Maid (Pygmalion Theatre Company); Pride and Prejudice and Clue (Hale Center Theater, Orem); Medea and Women of Trachis (Classical Greek Theatre Festival); and Titus Andronicus and Three Days of Rain (Pinnacle Acting Company). Regional credits include work with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the California Shakespeare Festival. April holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from UC Berkeley.
Anne Louise Brings (she/her) | Olivia
Anne was most recently seen at SLAC as Roberta in the World Premiere of The Robertassey, A Year with Frog and Toad, and as Nina in Stupid F**king Bird. Past favorites include Maureen in The Beauty Queen of Leenane (Hart Theater Company), Poppy in Noise Off! and Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire (The Grand), Harper in Angels in America, Una in Blackbird, and Sally Bowles in Cabaret (Utah Rep.), Lavinia in Titus Andronicus and Floria in Boeing Boeing (Pinnacle Acting Company), Cindy in Booksmart (Plan-B), Mercy Lewis in The Crucible (Pioneer Theatre Company), Ali in Spark (Pygmalion Productions), Jean in August: Osage County (Utah Rep./Silver Summit Theatre Company), Wiglaf in Beowulf (Meat & Potato Theatre Company), Rosalind in As You Like It (Davis Arts Council), and Antigone in Antigone (Regional Tour). Anne graduated from Westminster College with a BFA in Theatre Performance and is represented by Talent Management Group for film and television.
Tyson Baker (he/him) | Rupert
Tyson has appeared at Pioneer Theatre, Utah Shakespeare, Plan-B, PYGmalion, Voodoo, Pinnacle, Wasatch, West Valley Arts, Hart Theatre, The Grand, Old Lyric Rep, SLAC, and has spent several seasons at the Jackson Hole Playhouse. Some notable favorites include playing Rothko in RED, Paul Sheldon in Misery, M in Lungs, directing Matt Bennett's NON at the Great Salt Lake Fringe 2024 Festival, and workshopping The Cryptid Play at Kayenta New Play Lab. Love to Latoya.
Kathryn Atwood (she/her) | Carolyn
Kathryn was born and raised in Massachusetts and has lived and worked in London, New York, Boston, and San Francisco. Since moving to Utah, she's played at Sundance, Salt Lake Acting Company, Pygmalion and Sting & Honey, among others. Most recently, Kathryn's been seen as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest for Sandy Arts Guild, and at the Parker Theatre in Macbeth and A Christmas Carol. For Jacques, as always.
