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A Trouble In Tunis

Written and Directed by Spencer Giles

synopsis

When her mentor, famed detective Alfred Remmington, suspiciously dies after a high-profile case, assistant detective Emily Porter must dig into their last moments together to solve the mystery of his death. But is she ready to fill the shoes of the man whose murder she’s trying to solve? And can she put aside her grief long enough to get justice?

Bios

Caitlyn Alico Beckwith (Emily) Caitlyn Alico Beckwith is a Manhattan-based actor originally from the south shore of Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Hofstra University’s BFA in Theater Performance program. Favorite recent credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Mercutio), In The Hot Seat (Sloane), and Alexandria (Rheann). She is so happy to be making theater with her friends! caitlynalicobeckwith.com

Ryan Pereira (Henry) Ryan Pereira is an actor from Waltham, MA, who recently graduated from Hofstra University with a dual degree in Drama and Film Studies and Production from Hofstra University. Past credits include Hercule (Can-Can), Whizzer (Falsettos), Wayne Frake (State Fair), and Claudio (Much Ado about Nothing). As always, he’d like to praise and thank his parents for their endless support! Instagram: @_ryanpereira

Ben Kaplan (Remmington) Ben Kaplan is a New York City-based actor, comedian, and musician. Recent projects include the Argyle Theater's Descendants the Musical and Ben and Aaron Have a Sleepover. You can learn more about Ben at Benkaplancreative.com.

Spencer Giles (Writer/Director) Spencer Giles is a writer, director, and producer based in NYC. This is his sixth time at the Chain One Act Festival and he is so excited to be back. Previous Credits include Hope/Less (Writer/Director, Chain Theatre), That’s Our Show! (Writer/Director/Producer, The PIT), and Alternative Medicine (Writer/Producer, Various).

Phoebe-Nicole Martin (Fight Choreographer) Phoebe-Nicole Martin is an NYC actor and fight director. As a former graduate of Hofstra University (25) they are so excited to be making their New York fight director debut. You can see more of their work in the upcoming production of The Woke tragedy Of Richard iii: Dyke Of Gloucester in February

Good Men

Written by Timothy Nolan

Directed by Catherine Gold

Synopsis

The play is an imagined dialogue between an father and a son, each wanting to reconnect with the other, but bemoans that neither can keep their politics to themselves long enough. When a grandson is introduced, the stakes get higher. Can they put their stuff away long enough to build a relationship with an innocent?

BIOS

Marc Romeo (Father): Stage credits include productions at Lincoln Center, Classic Stage Co., Ensemble Studio Theater, AMT and many others across the stages of NYC. Film and TV credits include the indie films Black Eyed Susan, Cascades, The Pepper Project and the TV shows 100 Centre Street, produced and directed by Sidney Lumet, and Law and Order directed by Dann Florek. He is a member of both Bobby Moresco's The Actor's Gym and Ensemble Studio Theater. Thank you to Tim and The Chain Theater for this opportunity. LLNJ

Jake McMichael (Son): is an actor and writer from Baltimore, MD. Jake is thrilled to be back on the stage; he has been busy workshopping a play of his own with the Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors Workshop. Credits include Cal Weyland in Reasons (Off-off-Broadway, Sargent); Master Page in Merry Wives of Windsor (Off-Broadway, Cullum); and Player King in Hamlet (Off-Broadway, Cullum). He would like to thank Tim for writing a banger of a short play; Catherine, for facilitating and giving permission to this brief yet significant journey; and Marc, for being a genuine stage dad (thanks for the snacks!).www.jakemcmichael.com Insta: @sjmcmichael

Catherine Gold (Director) is a director, actor, and writer residing in New York City. Catherine will be directing Good Men at the Chain Theater Winter Festival 2026. She has previously directed at The International Human Rights Art Festival, The Tank, Gene Frankel Theatre, and other NY theatres.  Catherine has directed, written, and acted in a number of plays and has produced and performed in short and feature films.  

Timothy Nolan (Playwright) received his MFA in playwriting at the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University and was named an Indie Theater Now Person of the Year. His play Stuck With Fred is published by Next Stage Press and has been seen in New York (AMT Theater) and Los Angeles (Road Theater Company). His play Balubaland was presented at the Actors Studio in 2025. His play Acts of Contrition received an Excellence in Playwriting award from the New York International Fringe Festival, and his play E Minor Seventh was a finalist in the National Short Play Contest by City Theater. Other plays include The Sugar Plant (Chain Theater One Act Festival, Actors Studio Drama School MFA Repertory Season, Rogue Theater Festival) and What’s In A Name which was staged at the Chain Theater. He is a member of the Actors Studio Playwrights/Directors Workshop and the Dramatists Guild. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, screenwriter Susannah Nolan. www.timothy-nolan.com

How to Boil Water

Written and directed by Kacie Koen

Directed by Nathan Rakolta

synopsis

There’s a world beyond this one. One beyond the hum of the TV screens– beyond the cinching aprons and the expired 80s bob. A home cooking cultural icon revolts against her last episode. There’s sewing lessons and bloodied bodies. There’s bruises and blue-screened studios. Was this show ever hers?

Bios

Kacie Koen (Playwright & Co-Producer) is a playwright/producer/essayist based out of NYC. Originating from Hot Springs, Arkansas, Kacie is a current junior majoring in Drama & Theatre Arts (conc. playwriting) and English at Columbia University. Playwriting: How to Boil Water (Reading, Williamstown Underground), Pretty Girls Don’t Go to Heaven (Production, Arkansas Creative Collective). Producing: Teaghlach (dir. Arsh Vohra, Columbia NOMADS), Wordplay: a Barnard College reading series (3 Seasons, Columbia NOMADS). Kacie is a proud lover of complicated women, and she would like to express once again her gratitude for the support of her team, her family, and her friends. 

Nathan Rakolta (Director & Tech Director) is a director, writer, actor, and a disaster in the kitchen. He is an undergraduate at Columbia University studying for a double B.A. in Drama and Theatre Arts & Film and Media Studies. Directing: Julius Caesar (2025), The Waste Land (2024), The Laramie Project (2023) Film: MOLD, Flask, The Gifts. He has starred in university productions such as XMAS!20 (Judah Maccabee), Anastasia (Vlad), and The Boys in the Band (Hank). He has received awards including certificates of Special Congressional and Senatorial Recognition awarded by Brenda Lawrence, Haley Stevens, Debbie Stabenow, and Gary Peters. Channeling his inner Martha Stewart, his greatest culinary achievement is his “Mac & Cheese.” Nevertheless, he is overjoyed to share this work with you. 

Ally Stancavage (Rehearsal Stage Manager) is an undergraduate English student in the Dual BA between Columbia University and Trinity College Dublin and co-founder of the Santa Barbara-based group Monarch Theatre Company (@monarchtheatersb). Previous stage management work includes BRIGHT TROUBLE (DU Players), Philadelphia, Here I Come (DU Players), fish. (DU Players), and Teaghlach (NOMADS). Other favorite work includes directing Shades (DU Players, Irish Society Drama Award nomination), The Addams Family (Trinity Halls), and William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost (Monarch Theatre Company). She’s so grateful to Kacie and Nathan for bringing her on board, this stellar cast for making rehearsals a joy, and to everyone at The Chain for facilitating this incredible experience! 

Chavon Patterson (Producer) is a second-year graduate student in the MAAME program at the New School. Her passions include creating art she’s proud to be a part of and playing The Sims. 

Preston J. Kifer (Dramaturg) is a local dramaturg, writer, and director. Hailing from Tampa, Florida, Preston's work has been featured across professional, educational, and community organizations alike. His research interrogates the intersection of theatre, community, politics, and economics. This past year, Preston was nominated for Best Playwright by Best of Tampa Bay. This will be his New York debut as a dramaturg. Preston is a current candidate at Columbia University for his MFA in dramaturgy. He would like to shout out his artistic team, peers, friends, and family for their constant support. 

Alice Highman (Martha) is a New York-based actor last seen onstage in the premieres of Zoe Helms' gothic dark comedy ERASE ERASE (Harlot) and Francesca Bolam's BOOK CLUB at the Flea Theater (Rogue Theater Festival). Alice is a graduate of The Barrow Group's professional conservatory. She also holds a BA in film and television production and international relations from USC and a JD from Harvard Law School. Many thanks to the whole HOW TO BOIL WATER cast and creative team! 

Oscar Alejandro Guevara (The Man: Husband/Father/Lover/Consumer) is a Venezuelan actor raised in Tennessee and now based in New York City. His training includes HB Studio, The Barrow Group (New York City), Estudio Corazza, Escuela de Teatro David Amitin (Madrid), and El Conservatorio Vicente Emilio Sojo (Barquisimeto). Previous credits include The Village Idiot (Stag and Lion Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Riverside Park), The Frat Boy Play (The Tank). Oscar would like to dedicate his performance to his late cat, Philip. IG @_oscarguevara 

Eden Johnson (The Woman: Producer/Mother/Aunt/Consumed) an indigenous actor, choreographer, and Kennedy enthusiast who recently graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Russian History and Political Science (it makes more sense in her head). Notable acting credits include Agaue in Bacchae (CUPAL), Izzy in Treatment History (NYTF), and Mephistopheles in Spelling Club (Rogue Theatre Festival). Eden is currently a part of LeiMay's choreography incubator program and has also choreographed for NOMADS, New York Circus Project, and Accidental Evils. Immeasurable thanks to Kacie, Nathan, Goose, and her lineage full of strong southern women who taught her that there is a world beyond this one: everything she does is because of and for them. eden-johnson.com 

Haley Chisholm (Lighting Designer) is an NYC-based lighting designer, electrician and sound engineer from Massachusetts. She is a recent graduate of Northwestern University where she studied Lighting Design, Visual Art and Computer Science. Recent credits include: Not About Nightingales (Programmer, Williamstown Theatre Festival), Lobster (LD, Northwestern), and Cinderella (LD, Northwestern). 

Joey O’Neill (Sound Designer) is a sound designer, composer, flutist, and pianist studying at Columbia University. His compositions have been performed by groups such as Yarn/Wire, Decoda, Bergamot Quartet, Telegraph Quartet, PinkNoise, W4RP, and Platypus Ensemble; at venues such as The DiMenna Center, Tanglewood, Colby College, Symphony Space, and MDW Vienna; and have been recognized through the ASCAP Morton Gould Awards. At Columbia, he sound designs for theatre and film and plays flute and piano in the Columbia University Orchestra, in chamber groups, and for musicals. Additionally, he has interned at the Ojai Music Festival and at Music Will. He was previously a flutist in the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and graduated with honors from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College. 

Oscar (Set Designer) 

Clara Noggle (Costume Designer) is an actor, writer, director, designer, and overnight sensation currently based in NYC. She is a sophomore at Columbia pursuing degrees in Theatre and English. She is so excited to be costuming this show after working on previous projects with Nathan ranging from senator suits to paper cowboy costumes. Catch her play Mountain Mountain Biking Biking premiering at Columbia University this Spring! 

Melañia Horowitz (Fight Choreographer) is a fight choreographer, director, and performer that has never properly learned how to boil water and is grateful this show taught them how to do that. For the past few years, Melañia has fight choreographed for several performance groups at Columbia, with some recent favorites including Newsies, Vincent Almost in King John, Julius Caesar, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. They also fight choreographed the Dol-Men, another one-act at this festival! Melañia is set to direct Tennessee Williams's A Cavalier for Milady with the Barnard Theatre Department in April as part of their senior thesis. : )