Artists

Bide Akande became an Ensemble Member of Theatre Y after he stampeded towards the opportunity to perform Berenger in Ionesco’s Rhinoceros! His previous credits include “Biff Loman” in Death of a Salesmen, “Mortimer Brewster” in Arsenic and Old Lace, and, most recently, as “-“ in Attempts On Her Life with Tuta Theater. Bide is one half of the comedy duo Hello Brother, and he has performed at the Second City, iO, and other places probably, I don’t know. When he’s not acting, Bide works as an assistant public defender for Cook County, and he’d like to remind you that nothing in the production of Rhinoceros should be construed as legal advice.

Arlene Arnone became part of the Theatre Y Ensemble following her appearance in their production of Self-Accusation. Her last production was in The Elgin Theatre's production of Over The River and Through The Woods as Emma Cristano. This past November she appeared in Gallery Theatre's production of Last Romance and The Jewish Theatre of Elgin's production of Rosenstrasse as The Baroness. Arlene returned to her first love, the theatre, in 1997 when she retired to Florida after having run her own international advertising business. She immediately joined Curtain Call Playhouse in Pompano Beach and debuted in their first production, Last of the Red Hot Lovers as both 'Jeanette' & stage manager. She was involved in all aspects of that theatre, from acting and backstage work to Assistant Artistic Director.Her first love remained acting and she appeared in Romantic Comedy, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Blythe Spirit. After her return to the Chicago area in 2013, she joined Theatre of Western Springs and has served on several crews, including Hospitality, Box Office, Paint & Costumes. She became TWS' Annual Costume Chair in 2014 and costumed Slaughterhouse Five, The Dinner Party, The Man Who Came To Dinner. & Rumors. Her acting roles at TWS were Louisa Cortlandt in Design for Murder in 2014 and Jesse in Calendar Girls in 2015. In September 2016 she played both Helen & Mrs. Hedges in Elmhurst's GreenMan Theatre Troupe's production of Born Yesterday and followed that with costuming GMTT's production of Nickle & Dimed in November. This past September she returned to the James Downing Theatre to reprise her role as Rose in Men Are Dogs, having played Rose in Old Ringers in September 2017. In 2015 she added film to her resume and since then has appeared in a number of student films for Colombia College, DePaul University as well as Northwestern and Loyola. She's also appeared in several short films, the most recent of which she shot in Milwaukee, WI called Walter's Wedding. Recently Someplace began playing on YouTube and she's done several stints on the Chicago TV shows....Fire, Med, PD, Empire and a brand new TV pilot which hopefully will be seen sometime in 2019, along with an episode of a new series called Proven Innocent.

Terreon Collins is a multi faceted artist who continues to grow, not only his resume, but his skill set. Since his Chicago debut in the 2023 Jeff Nominated production of “We Are Proud to Present-“, he has worked on and featured in an array of projects from puppeteering in three iterations of “Little Carl”, mentoring & costuming in “The Wiz Walk”, to his very first leading role in Ionesco’s “Rhinoceros”.

Matt Fleming is very excited to be an Ensemble Member at Theatre Y, where he first appeared in 2018’s production of Stories of the Body, and most recently appeared as the Grocer and Dudard in Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. Matt works as a paralegal at Sperling & Slater, has 3 adult children who still command his affection, attention and concern, is always genuinely excited to meet a fellow Iowan and is usually mentally planning his next road trip. Matt has theatre degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Kaleb Jackson [they/them] is a Chicago-based performer, writer and director from the suburbs of Chicagoland, and previously seen at Theatre Y in Jackie Sibblies Drury’s We Are Proud To Present... They received their BFA in acting from Ohio University where they performed, directed and produced many shows. In 2020 after the wake of George Floyd, Kaleb also co-founded and would later serve as Artistic Director for Vibrancy Theater, a theater company that uplifts and broadcasts Black, Indigenous and People of Color in theater at Ohio University and beyond. For business inquiries, headshots sessions or more information about Vibrancy, please visit kalebjackson.net or follow @kaleebjackson on Instagram.

After graduating from Northern Illinois University in 2002 with a B.F.A. in acting, became a company member of Studio K in Budapest, Hungary. Co-founded Theatre Y with Director Christopher Markle, an International Theater Company, based in Chicago, IL in 2006.

Premiered the English language version of Transylvanian writer András Visky’s JULIET with over two hundred performances worldwide. After the death of co-founder Christopher Markle, became sole Artistic Director and COO, selecting and casting all plays, and seeking ever more international masters with whom to collaborate. Starred in Visky’s I KILLED MY MOTHER, earning a Chicago’s Best Actress Orgie Award and a Ben Brantley feature on the cover of the New York Times Art Section when invited to present at LaMama in New York: "an almost elemental presence". Directed VINCENT RIVER, about which The Chicago Reader lauded Lorraine for turning even an “overwritten” and “implausible script” into “probing, harrowing, hallucinogenic truth,” and named her one of the 6 Stars of 2012 for her performance in Visky's PORN: 1989. A BUTTERFLY. In 2013 Lorraine directed the world premiere of The Binding, a collaboration between Theatre Y and two acclaimed Serbian/Hungarian choreographers, which was a cover feature of the Chicago Reader. Collaborating with Theatre du Soleil’s Georges Bigot for one year (2015-16), developed the Theatre Y Ensemble of 14 actors, according to the traditions of the Theatre du Soleil. Now leads this ensemble to discover a common language and a new way to work, searching for a way to make theater without the “dictator”. In 2018 she began to research Movement Therapy for Trauma Rehabilitation, and teaches both harmed and responsible parties across the city of Chicago.

Nadia Pillay is a Chicago based actress that is pleased to have joined the Theatre Y Ensemble after appearing in Stories of the Body and Self-Accusation. Prior to that she collaborated with McKaw Theatre in Its Ok To Say Goodbye. She will be returning to the McKaw Theatres's stage this summer for the premier of Continuous Cut.

Howard joined the Theatre Y ensemble after his first appearance in their production of Self-Accusation. Howard was most recently seen as Lou in The Night Before The Night Before Christmas (James Downing Theater). Favorite roles include Nunzio in Over the River and Through the Woods (James Downing and Gallery); Morrie in Tuesdays With Morrie (MadKap and Gallery), Mr. Dussel in The Diary of Anne Frank (GreenMan), and Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet (Albright). Howard has appeared with Aleatoric Theatre Company, Firsthand Theatrical, StageLeft, Polarity, Center Stage, Strangeloop, and St. Sebastian among others, and in several short films and videos. He is also a member of the Reverb Ensemble.

Tania Gillian Ramirez is a Mexican actress, writer and comedian. She studied Theater at SAH and local universities. One of her favorite roles was The House of Bernarda Alba (2015) presented by Aguijon theater. She has been an  Active actress in Chicago since 2012. Theatre Y productions include András Visky’s JULIET (2020) and RHINOCEROS (2024). She performed in "La Pinche India" at Aguijon Theater (2024, Spring.)

Eric K. Roberts is a social worker, actor, film photographer, and hip-hop oral historian. Since discovering the stage a few years ago, he has played Valmont in Christopher Hampton's "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," Cadmus in Euripedes's "The Bachhae," and Oberon in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."  He is proud to be a Theatre Y ensemble member.

Andrew Schoen is overjoyed to be an Ensemble Member of Theatre Y, having first appeared in The Binding (2012 )and most recently in We Are Proud to Present...(2023). He has worked in voiceover and performed theater all over town with Trap Door Theatre, Found Objects and most recently Curious Theatre Branch. He received a BFA acting degree from Northern Illinois University. Andrew paints houses during the day.

Kris Tori was born in Pogradec, Albania and raised in Chicago. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago and is currently attending University of Chicago in Illinois (UIC) with a Masters (MA) in the Latin American and Latino Studies Program and with a focus in Theatre which she adores. Her theatre credits include Cervantes and Shakespeare: Mano A Mano, Tren Al Sur, The House of Bernarda Alba, Blowout, Yerma and Las Soldaderas with Aguijon theatre which she is also an ensemble member there. Delirium, Hecuba, and Marisol with Columbia College Chicago. Special thanks to her parents for their support and to Theatre Y for this wonderful opportunity.

is a time based multidisciplinary collaborative performance artist, director, cultural curator, installation and teaching artist. They received an MFA in Theatre from Ohio University and an MFA in studio art from School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They have served as an associate theater director for KB Theatre in El Paso, TX, Cultural Researcher for Mt. Zion Preservation Society in Ohio in collaboration with Ohio Preservation Office, and Art & performance curator in various cities centered around Cultural and Archival Preservation, Migrations, and Queer Futurity as it relates to Black Spirituality, Somatics. They have incorporated their Diversity and Inclusion training from J.L. creative services into Community Engagement Approaches and Studio Ethics. Time Traveling is not only a subject matter in most of their work but a method of creation/ a praxis/ a pedagogy. They push against, overlap and reject norms. Having grown up in The Black Pentecostal Church tradition, despite their queerness, they think of their work as trying to find that which is holy, whole, holistic and/ or holds within Black and/or Queer functionality. They do this often through spiritual surrealism and traditional folkloric techniques. Since moving to Chicago they have been in deep collaboration with three other performance based artists Sun Lynn, Jordan Brown and Carissa Lee located in Chicago.  https://www.keziawaters.com/

Héctor Álvarez is a writer, actor and director from Spain based in Chicago. He has studied non-Western theater traditions in China, Japan and Indonesia, and in 2008 received a  Watson Fellowship to research community-based performance in Latin America. He has a BA in Theater from Macalester College and an MA in Modern English Literature form University College London. As an actor, he has trained and studied with Augusto Boal, Peter Schumann, Malte Lambrecht, and Guillermo Heras and has performed in more than 20 productions. He is incredibly honored to be a member of Theatre Y’s ensemble.

has been a company member of Theatre Y since 2019. She has had every possible role at Theatre Y between 2019 and 2025: Stage Manager of several Camino Projects, the star of We’re Gonna Die, Executive Assistant, the technician of Little Carl, We Are Proud to Present, and Rhinoceros, the co-writer/editor of LATE: A Love Story, and most recently the Managing Director of Theatre Y.

After briefly pursuing a degree in anthropology Katie ended up with an eclectic theatrical training from a Buddhist college, Naropa University, where her studies included Lecoq physical theater and ritual theater, Tibetan movement and meditation practices, Afro-modern dance and ballet, and vocal training from the Roy Hart Theatre. Her experience as a whole, combined with extensive travel and continuing studies in meditation post-graduation, has largely been a process of letting go of ego and surrendering to play. She considers herself immensely lucky to be able to work now with Theatre Y, a company she finds to be similarly spiritual in nature and one that is also relentlessly committed to beauty.

Georges Bigot will forever be the Godfather of the Theatre Y Ensemble.  An iconic figure at Ariane Mnouchkine’s Theatre du Soleil from 1988 to 1992, Georges Bigot played the title roles in Richard II and The Terrible but Unfinished Story of Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia, Helene Cixous’ eight-hour epic that turned the fury of neo-Shakespearian dramaturgy to the facts of recent history. Also for Mnouchkine, Bigot played major roles in Twelfth Night, Henry IV and the Atreus Cycle of three Greek tragedies, productions which made theatre history wherever they toured. In the Indiade, Cixous’ epic tale of the founding of modern India, Bigot played Nehru. Many have placed him among the greatest stage actors of the last thirty years. Of Bigot’s days with the Theatre du Soleil, critic Olivier Berardi, says:

“What Georges Bigot does on stage is unique, not unique in the sense that he has his own style -- any actor can say as much -- but unique in the simple sense that no one else can do what he does. Georges Bigot is first of all a voice, a voice like Louis Jouvet’s could sometimes be; it seems he inherited his diction from Paul Meurisse and his brute energy from Brando. Bigot is a mask in human form that, when turned towards an audience, hits you like a punch in the stomach. Everyone who saw him come on stage as Richard II, or Prince Hal, or Sihanouk or in the Indiade knows exactly what I’m talking about.”

Since 1992 Bigot has worked with a host of directors on a vast range of projects: Von Horvath’s Figaro Gets a Divorce in 1993, Edward Bond’s Saved in 1997; The Cid in 1999; Titus Andronicus in 2003; Brecht’s Galileo in 2004, Edwardo de Filippo’s La Grande Magie in 2008; Wajdi Mouawad’s Heavens in 2009; Marivaux’s The Game of Love and Chance in 2014, 

He’s directed half a dozen plays himself, notably Chekhov’s The Seagull in Los Angeles (with Tim Robbin’s The Actor’s Gang) and, in Cambodia, a Khmer adaptation of Norodom Sihanouk.