Cast
Nuala Hill (Peter) is a local to Ithaca and has been performing for the majority of her life. She performed with Ithaca Ballet for eight years and was a company member for three. Notable roles include Little Snow White in Snow White and Clara in The Nutcracker. She has been performing with Circus Culture for seven years, including a copproduction of Pagliacci with Opera Ithaca and a performance at the American Youth Circus Organization Festival in 2017. In 2022 she toured with her troupe Fern Collective, performing their original piece Altercation of the Mundane. Most recently, she performed I Hope You Are Fed with Fern Collective here at the Cherry Artspace during the 2023 Hupstate Circus Festival.
Robin Guiver (Wolf, ensemble) is an actor and movement artist, recently relocated to Ithaca with his family, after nearly two decades working in theatre and film in the UK. Some of his best know projects include Creature work on the recent Star Wars films, and Jurrassic World Fallen Kingdom; an appearance in season 12 of Dr Who; being the on set performer for Flounder and lead puppeteer in Disney’s live action film of The Little Mermaid, and the live action puppeteer for Warner Bros Tom and Jerry.
As an actor Robin trained in Lecoq’s style of actor0created physical theatre at the London International School of Performing arts, specializing in mask work and animal movement. He has appeared as the lead in a number of award winning short films, and was a member of the original West End cast of the Royal National Theater’s production of War Horse, as both human characters and a horse puppeteer, before going on to take over the movement associate role on the production. He’s toured the UK and Europe, and performed at the prestigious London International Mime Festival, and was both professional cast and movement assistant in the 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony.
Robin is looking forward to sharing his creative experience with the artistic community in his new home. Website
Cora Williams (Bird, ensemble) has been performing with the circus for over half a decade. She started training and performing with Circus Culture right here in Ithaca, NY! Since then she has been on 2 semi-traditional big top tours with Circus Smirkus and just came back from training at École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal.
Cora’s favorite thing to do is lay on the hot pavement in the rain and watch the steam that comes from the ground. She loves watching the sky change from the tops of trees and can be seen people watching whenever she gets a chance. Her favorite ice cream is a limited edition Turkey Hill flavor that she hopes every year will come back (it never does). She misses eating $0.89 mangoes with her friends back in Montreal and her favorite part of being back in Ithaca is the silent disco and reconnecting with her community. Cora hopes you enjoy the show and will excuse her for her dance moves!
Sylvie Yntema (Duck, Grandfather, ensemble) is delighted to learn and play with such a talented group of creatives! Previous Cherry: The Snow Queen, Felt Sad Posted a Frog, A Day, Trap Door, An Odyssey, Pursuit, The Wetsuitman, Voices of Ukraine, As You Like It. She has performed locally with Civic Ensemble, Homecoming Players, Hangar Theatre, Fitz&Startz Productions, and Clockmaker Arts. Sylvie studied BFA acting at The Mason Gross School at Rutgers University, is a graduate of the Actors Workshop of Ithaca, a Pilates instructor, and a massage therapist.
Lilypad Puppet Theatre (“Lily Silly” Gershon and Matt Ocone) is a local non-profit, bringing puppet shows and puppet-making workshops to all ages! We produce a monthly puppet series for families right here at The Cherry as well as an annual adult variety show – the Crankie Cabaret. See our other fabulous puppet projects at lilypadpuppettheatre.org!
Production
director Jen Pearcy-Edwards, originally from Texas, came to The Cherry Arts after 17 years living and working in London. She has worked professionally as a performer, director, and producer, and is a graduate of renowned physical theatre school LISPA (London International School of Performing Arts – now relocated to Berlin as Arthaus Berlin) where she trained in the Lecoq pedagogy.
As a theatre and film director, she has received further training through the Young Vic Springboard Programme and Raindance Film School. Jen’s movement direction work includes Abbey Wright’s production of The Glass Supper by Martyn Hesford at the Hampstead Theatre Downstairs and The Lord of the Flies at Colet Court, St Paul’s and has worked extensively with Ambassador Theatre Group and the Half Moon Theatre. She is a founding director of Corvus Pictures, her film production company with Robin Guiver.
Jen is thrilled to be directing in the US again and to be collaborating with Lilypad and Circus Culture.
stage manager Kay Hibbert
asst stage manager/rigger Miley Charsky
air performance consultant Amy Cohen is a circus educator, advocate, instigator, and devising director who consults on projects that integrate and celebrate the circus arts. Amy was mentored into the circus world as a kid by a diverse group of circus artists who originated the legendary Big Apple Circus in NYC and believes strongly in the importance of “passing it on”. She has a degree in arts management from Ithaca College, a MA in circus studies from NYU, and was a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom researching circus arts development. Locally, she is the founder and director of Circus Culture as well as the Hupstate Circus Festival. Amy consults on projects related to circus all over the county. Website
costume design Andrea Mejuto is a costume desginer born in Colombia and raised in NYC. This year she graduated with a BFA from Ithaca College School of Music, Theater, and Dance. Since then she has designed at Ars Nova, Kitchen Theater, Hangar Theater, and now Cherry Arts.
lighting tech Nuala Ugine
lighting tech Shawn Waterman
livestream designer Greg Levins graduated NYU with an emphasis in film directing, screenplay writing and video editing. Greg worked for a handful of casting houses in NYC, auditioning actors in countless commercials, industrials, music videos and films. He’s directed two indie features, wrote a handful of screenplays and dabbled in music video and commercial production. Since moving to Ithaca he’s made a number of promotional videos for Ecovillage, filmed a weekly Gayogohó:nǫ’ language class taught by one of the few remaining native speakers for several years, along with working for the Cherry Arts in numerous productions over the last two seasons. He’s thrilled to be a part of Peter and the Wolf, helping to expand the audience to include viewers at home with a live stream feed.
livestream designer Karen Rodriguez is an Ithaca-based filmmaker and cinematographer. She is the owner of WIND-UP PICTURES. Her short film GETTING OUT OF THE BOX premiered at ImageOut in Rochester this fall. She has designed livestreams for productions at THE CHERRY since the 2021-22 season including AND WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON’T by Iva Brda, THE WETSUITMAN by Freek Mariën, and E-MOTION by Saviana Stănescu and Daniel Gwirtzman. A 2017 Fulbright Scholar, Karen holds an MFA in Film and Video Production from the University of Iowa Graduate College. Instagram: @mejutoo.art
sound editor Lily Kimball Waltras