THE CHAIRS

Jadzia “JJ” Devis (She/They) is a recent alum at SUNY New Paltz in New York with a BA in Theatre Arts Design & Technology and a minor in Art Studio. She primarily focuses on stage management but loves to dabble in other areas when they can. All of the shows they have worked on were college theatre shows except for three professional experiences: Prodigal Son with The Backyard Payers, The Trip to Bountiful with the Actors’ Ensemble, and African Booty Scratcha with the Virtual Theatre Collaboration. Outside of theatre, she enjoys learning about astronomy and playing her ukuleles. JJ would like to thank Shakespeare & Company for the incredible and exciting opportunity to safely continue theatre. She wishes all to stay safe and remember to have fun during these times.

S&Co [including]: Heisenberg, Comedy of Errors, Henry IV, Heroes, Red Velvet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kaufman’s Barbershop, As You Like It, The Merry Wives of Windsor. BROADWAY: The Rivals (Lincoln Center); Match (Plymouth Theatre.) LONDON: Half Life(National Theatre and Duke of York’s); Dirty Linen and New-Found-Land (Arts Theatre); Total Eclipse, The Fool, Trixie and Baba, The Enoch Show (Royal Court.) Plus extensive UK Regional work. US REGIONAL: The Christians (Chautauqua Theatre Company), King Lear, Richard II (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), Bedroom Farce (Huntington Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Virginia Arts Festival), Hamlet(North Shore Music Theatre), Third (Hangar Theatre), All My Sons (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Hay Fever and Rat in the Skull(Berkshire Theatre Group), Someone to Watch Over Me (Stage West), The Crucible and My Fair Lady (Syracuse Stage.) TV and FILM: “Chappelle’s Show” (Comedy Central); “The Camerons,” The Story of Ruth, “Beloved Enemy,” “Clapperclaw,” “Dr. Finlay’s Casebook” (BBC); Fraulein Doktor (Paramount.) Associate Professor, Syracuse University Drama Dept. 1985 - 2016.

Credits Include: Broadway: A Streetcar Named Desire; Noises Off, Off-Broadway: Entertaining Mr. Sloane with Alec Baldwin (Roundabout Theatre); Juno and the Paycock; Arms and the Man (Roundabout Theatre); The Hope Zone with Olympia Dukakis (Circle in the Square); Horton Foote's Night Seasons and Laura Dennis (Signature Theatre); Communion; Trip to Bountiful with Ellen Burstyn (Phoenix Theatre); Laughing Wild. Regional: multiple productions at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Geva Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, Stages Repertory Theatre, and Houston Shakespeare Festival. Film and TV credits include Law & Order: SVU, Guiding Light, End of the Line, Cornflower Blue (PBS Films). Directing Credits include; Tartuffe, Vinegar Tom, Co-Curator of Made in the Berkshires. Barbara co-wrote and performed in Through the Looking Glass, an original work presented at the Unicorn Theatre as a benefit for the Berkshires Women Writers Festival.

S&Co: The Chairs, King Lear, Topdog/Underdog, Macbeth, Heisenberg, Cymbeline, God of Carnage, Or, Two Gentleman of Verona, Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged), It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, Comedy of Errors, Richard II, Rough Crossing, Blue/Orange, The Ladies Man, Othello, Twelfth Night, Richard III, The Taster, As You Like It, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The War of the Worlds, Santaland Diaries. Regional: American Stage Theatre Company, Hartford Stage Company, Montana Repertory Theatre, WAM Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, The Wilma, Wallis Center, The Public Theatre, McCarter Theatre, New Repertory Theatre, Hangar Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Stonington Opera House Arts, CLOC. Education: MA from University of Toronto; BA from Ithaca College. Member of Actors’ Equity Association and Stage Managers’ Association where she serves on the Board of Directors as Editor-in-Chief and International Cohort chair. Follow @doctorstgmgr on Instagram.

James played leading roles in London's West End and in UK regional theatre before becoming a US resident 20 years ago. James has received BAFTA, Spotlight, Helen Hayes, Berkshire Eagle and Ovation awards for his theatre and television work. James played Sir Robert Chiltern on Broadway in An Ideal Husband and in many leading parts for PBS Masterpiece Theatre, including Tommy Beresford in Partners in Crime, currently being shown again on Amazon Prime. In 2018, he directed Mothers and Sons for S&C, receiving an Outstanding Director award from Berkshire Theatre Critics Assn. In 2019, he directed The Children, also for S&C and again nominated as outstanding director. He has recorded many audiobooks, receiving an Audiophile award for The Portrait of Dorian Gray last year. Last Fall, James directed Ionesco’s The Chairs here and this year opens the Great Barrington Public Theatre season with Alison Larkin’s solo show, Grief the Musical.