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Art

Written by Kamau Nosakhere

Directed by Zoé Zifer and Emily Matos

synopsis

Faced with an audience that is hard to satisfy, The Painter finds himself in a cycle with ART and The Cleaner as they strive to create something they can all be proud of.

Bios

Elian Rivera
Role: The Painter
Elian is a Puerto Rican actor from NYC and recent grad of Fordham University Lincoln Center’s theatre program. He is excited to join this cast and be back for another Chain Festival! Some of his past credits include: Dime Novel (Chain Theatre) Sins of Sor Juana (Fordham Theatre) Macbeth (LAMDA) Make Your Soul Grow (Kentia Studios). He would like to thank Kamau for giving him an opportunity to be a part of this show. He would also like to thank his parents and family for their constant support. @elian_rivera

Milagros Luis
Role: The Cleaner
Milagros Luis is an Argentine actor, director, and choreographer recently graduated from Fordham University’s Theatre Program. Recent productions include Stain, Constellations, Love You to the Moon, and Puke & Rally. She is excited to be back on stage acting and has a few more projects coming up this season, stay tuned! IG: @milagrosxluis

Emily Matos (Assistant Director)
Emily Matos is a sculptor, performer, and storyteller whose multidisciplinary practice moves between sculpture, performance, and community-centered installation, exploring Black, queer, and femme identity through acts of care, ritual, and everyday labor. She is currently pursuing a B.A. in Studio Art at CUNY Hunter College with a focus in sculpture. Emily’s work honors tenderness as resistance and reimagines community as both muse and material. @honeybadger.o

Zoé Zifer (Director)
Zoé Zifer is an actress, director, producer, and lover of multidisciplinary art who focuses on intersectional work inspired by her lived culture and rooted culture. Select directing credits: Archive of My Own (Hudson Guild) *NYTF ‘25 Best Director and Best Production Winner*, Aries in Wolf's Clothing (Teatro LATEA) MLK26: The Pan-Africanist Interpolation (The Apollo Stages at The Victoria). BFA Dramatic Arts, The New School. @zoezifer

Kamau Nosakhere (Playwright)
Kamau Nosakhere (any pronouns) is a Florida-born, Barbadian, New York-based actor and writer. As a writer, he aims to tell stories that manifest a dreamlike version of the world in which we live.  His works are a communal offering to the audience; they work to subvert and reimagine the audience’s shared reality by creating safe, attainable utopias.  As a Black, genderqueer artist, Kamau centers the experiences of people of marginalized backgrounds and tells their stories through his words.  Staged readings of his works include: Pop (Fordham University Collaboration Festival), Pale, Purple, Moon (Fordham University Collaboration Festival), And Why Not Death (Fordham University Collaboration Festival), Slay the Dragon They Said (Under St. Marks Theatre), A Place Like This (Under St. Marks Theatre), and Write Me (Under St. Marks Theatre, Co-written with Isabella Acuña).

I'll Remember For You

Written by Matthew Daley

Directed by Hunter Fenstermaker and Jordan Blue

Synopsis

A former stand-up comedian turned stay-at-home dad goes missing for 48-hours. When he is found, he discovers that the life he led is no longer his life.

BIOS

Hunter Fenstermaker (Director) is excited to be returning to The Chain Festival as director. She has helmed The Aliens Came (Chain Theater), Love’s a Funny Thing (The PIT), and Pen Pals (NY Theater Festival). She is a graduate of AMDA and would like to thank her family for their continued support.

Jordan Blue (Director) is an AMDA alumni and is making his directorial debut! He would like to thank everyone for coming to see the show, and most importantly the people who got him to where he is today.

Matthew Daley (Writer, Actor) has not acted on stage since middle school, so please forgive him if he embarrasses himself or you. He is also the playwright of The Grand Experiment (Chain Theatre), DMV not the Musical (The PIT), The Aliens Came (Chain Theater), Love’s a Funny Thing (The PIT), and Pen Pals (New York Theater Festival).

The Painter

Written by Richard Vetere

Directed by Maja Wampuszyc

Synopsis

In the year 1600 in Rome a painter brings a young prostitute from the Tavern of the Hawk. As they wait for dawn, his desire for her becomes a revelation.

Bios

Richard Vetere (PLAYWRIGHT) Vetere’s plays ZAGŁADA and BLACK & WHITE CITY BLUES were named the Best Plays of 2025 by Theater Scene.  His screenplay CARAVAGGIO won The Golden Palm for Best Screenplay at the Beverly Hills International Film Festival in 2022. He holds a masters in Comparative English Literature from Columbia University. RichardVetereauthor.com. @vetererichard

Maja Wampuszyc (DIRECTOR) Fall 2025 directed & starred opposite Len Cariou in Vetere’s ZAGŁADA & Best Supporting Actor at The GVFF for THE LAST GOODBYE. Broadway: IRENA’S VOW. Off-Broadway & NYC include LADY MACBETH & HER LOVER, pool (no water), NIGHTSHADOWS (Akhmatova). Film & TV: THE IMMIGRANT; MONA LISA SMILE; GOING SHOPPING; THE KNICK; MADAM SECRETARY; SEARCH PARTY; SVU, with Bret Adams LTD. @majawampuszyc

Rick Baitz (COMPOSER) composes chamber, electronic, vocal, and orchestra music. Theater: I’ll Be Seein’ Ya, Ten Unknowns, The Road to Mecca, Three Hotels, A Fair Country, Dutch Landscape, The Film Society. Media: THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES (HBO), WHAT SHE SAID: THE ART OF PAULINE KAEL, WHO CARES ABOUT KELSEY, HEART OF AFRICA (NatGeo). Installations: FDR Presidential Library, Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Fellowships at Tanglewood, Yaddo, and MacDowell Colony. Awards include a Grammy nomination for the album Beautiful Star and BMI’s Classic Contribution Award for his albums Into Light and River of January. Currently teaching at The Juilliard School and Vermont College of Fine Arts

Joshua Warr (AD) wears many theatrical hats in NYC as an actor, director, producer, with extensive experience in production / house management. Most recently PM for ZAGŁADA by Richard Vetere. He's a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA and is the Executive Director and Founder of Art of Warr Productions. Joshua also works in real estate, with Cooper & Cooper Real Estate of 1 Penn Plaza. @thebestlittlewarrhouse

Carly Cooper (THE PROSTITUTE) is a NYC based actor and producer. She holds her MFA in Acting from the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and her BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Michigan. Recent credits: HILLSDALE (BCTR) FIVE TIMES IN ONE NIGHT (ASDS & LTV), THE HAPPINESS PROJECT (The Tank). Special thank you to Maja for trusting her to help bring this piece to life. @carlycoop

Evan Dominguez (THE PAINTER) is an NYC-based filmmaker and actor. He studied acting at Laguardia High School and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre, and has appeared in Melissa B. Miller-Constanzo's ALL THESE SMALL MOMENTS, as well as HBO's MARE OF EASTTOWN starring Kate Winslet. His debut short film, THE SUPERINTENDENT, which he wrote, produced, directed, edited and starred in, is scheduled to be released on NoBudge on February 22 2026. @evandaviddominguez

Vocals by Beth Blankenship Thomson