about cO-OP THEATRE EAST
Co-Op Theatre East believes in the power of art to foster a dialogue for social change. We provide an entertaining performance forum in which to ask evocative, challenging questions of artists and audiences on our way to creating collaborative answers.
Co-Op Theatre East (COTE) was founded in April 2008, by Casey Cleverly, Robert A. K. Gonyo and Ashley Marinaccio, three classmates in the Performance Studies graduate program at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. COTE was formed to create theatre that actively works to challenge the status quo and create lasting social change. Hailing from an academically rigorous program that critically engaged performance and drama, as well as the humanities and social sciences, the COTE founders seek to put theory into practice through their theatrical work.
COTE produces theatre that deals with the questions of today, the situations we find ourselves immersed in as New Yorkers, Americans, and world citizens at this critical moment in time. We view the act of creating theatre as a political act and recognize the unique role that theatre has played in raising consciousness throughout history. The world is shaped by narrative. Stories unite, divide, enlighten and entertain. COTE produces theatre that explicates the world we live in. All of the major problems plaguing our country and world come from the assumptions that shape our dominant culture: sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, economic inequality. To create effective and lasting change, these narratives must change.
OUR FOUNDERS
Robert A. K. Gonyo
Robert is a theatre artist, voiceover talent, and musician residing in Woodside, Queens. Favorite directing credits with COTE include Season to Taste, which he co-created with ensemble members Laura Iris Hill and Anna Savant; Muzungu by David Myers, co-produced with Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group; Samuel Beckett's radio play Cascando (with music ensemble thingNY); the ensemble-devised house-party show O Brave New World; and his own scripts, the radio play Conference and the one-act Urinal Play. In addition to his work with COTE, Robert is a company member with EndTimes Productions, the producer of New York's only independent theatre podcast, Go See a Show!, and a member of The Best Thing Ever, a directors collective. robertgonyo.com
Ashley Marinaccio
Ashley is an activist and artist dedicated to creating theatre that challenges the status quo. Though a New Yorker at heart, she was born and raised in New Jersey and has traveled extensively throughout the world, most notably in the Middle East, where she lived in Beirut, Lebanon while studying Arabic and Middle Eastern theatre performance. Her interests include utilizing theatre for peace building, healing and empowerment in conflict zones and in marginalized communities both home and abroad. She has countless directing, performing and playwriting credits. Ashley's directing work has been seen at the White House, United Nations, regionally at New Jersey State Theatre and on tour throughout the US. Selected acting credits include Charlotte in Beyond Therapy, Hecuba in The Trojan Women, Lulu in Cabaret and appearances in new plays at Primary Stages, two television pilots and several film roles. As a playwright, she's been called "Reminiscent of Tony Kushner in that she wants to use theater to make a political point, but without sacrificing an ounce of entertainment value...a writer to keep an eye on" by Show Business Weekly and has received critical acclaim for her work from the New Yorker, Backstage and NYTheatre.com. Ashley co-founder and Artistic Director of Co-Op Theatre East and Project Girl Performance Collective. She is alumna of the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics' EMERGENYC and American Theatre Wing's SpringboardNYC programs and member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Ashley holds her M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and BA in theatre directing and sociology/anthropology with minors in women/gender and Middle Eastern from Pace University. Visit www.ashley-marinaccio.com for more information.
Ashley is an activist and artist dedicated to creating theatre that challenges the status quo. Though a New Yorker at heart, she was born and raised in New Jersey and has traveled extensively throughout the world, most notably in the Middle East, where she lived in Beirut, Lebanon while studying Arabic and Middle Eastern theatre performance. Her interests include utilizing theatre for peace building, healing and empowerment in conflict zones and in marginalized communities both home and abroad. She has countless directing, performing and playwriting credits. Ashley's directing work has been seen at the White House, United Nations, regionally at New Jersey State Theatre and on tour throughout the US. Selected acting credits include Charlotte in Beyond Therapy, Hecuba in The Trojan Women, Lulu in Cabaret and appearances in new plays at Primary Stages, two television pilots and several film roles. As a playwright, she's been called "Reminiscent of Tony Kushner in that she wants to use theater to make a political point, but without sacrificing an ounce of entertainment value...a writer to keep an eye on" by Show Business Weekly and has received critical acclaim for her work from the New Yorker, Backstage and NYTheatre.com. Ashley co-founder and Artistic Director of Co-Op Theatre East and Project Girl Performance Collective. She is alumna of the Hemispheric Institute for Performance and Politics' EMERGENYC and American Theatre Wing's SpringboardNYC programs and member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab. Ashley holds her M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and BA in theatre directing and sociology/anthropology with minors in women/gender and Middle Eastern from Pace University. Visit www.ashley-marinaccio.com for more information.
Casey Cleverly
As an artist, Casey directs both new works of theatre and reimagined classics to ask bold questions about contemporary society and push theatrical boundaries. Most recently she adapted Terence Rattigan’s After The Dance as a site-specific interactive production in a Brooklyn loft. Other favorite directing credits include: Twelfth Night Wall Street (Planet Connections Theatre Festivity; winner “Best Actress” award) Trojan Women Redux (adapter); Much Ado About Nothing (set in Macau), The Importance of Being Earnest, Smooth Criminal (premiere), There is No Dash (premiere); The Pie Queen of Chatham New York, Prince William (Bad Theater Fest), A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer, Rumors, The Butler Did It. She also assistant directed and did dramaturgy for Shana Gold on Lynn Rosen’s new play Goldor $ Mythyka (The New Georges, Spring 2013). Her adaptation of Euripides' Trojan Women (focusing on the current issues of human trafficking) is currently being used in the dramaturgy curriculum at Boston University. She holds an MA in Performance Studies from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, and studied script development at both The College of William and Mary, and Cambridge University. Member of the Chicago Director’s Lab, the 2015 SDCF Observership Program, and Old Vic, New Voices.
As an artist, Casey directs both new works of theatre and reimagined classics to ask bold questions about contemporary society and push theatrical boundaries. Most recently she adapted Terence Rattigan’s After The Dance as a site-specific interactive production in a Brooklyn loft. Other favorite directing credits include: Twelfth Night Wall Street (Planet Connections Theatre Festivity; winner “Best Actress” award) Trojan Women Redux (adapter); Much Ado About Nothing (set in Macau), The Importance of Being Earnest, Smooth Criminal (premiere), There is No Dash (premiere); The Pie Queen of Chatham New York, Prince William (Bad Theater Fest), A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant and a Prayer, Rumors, The Butler Did It. She also assistant directed and did dramaturgy for Shana Gold on Lynn Rosen’s new play Goldor $ Mythyka (The New Georges, Spring 2013). Her adaptation of Euripides' Trojan Women (focusing on the current issues of human trafficking) is currently being used in the dramaturgy curriculum at Boston University. She holds an MA in Performance Studies from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, and studied script development at both The College of William and Mary, and Cambridge University. Member of the Chicago Director’s Lab, the 2015 SDCF Observership Program, and Old Vic, New Voices.
Co-Op Theatre East Ensemble members.