About

WHAT WE DO

The Tympanic Theatre Company is dedicated to producing new and developed work with fantastical, frightening, or absurd subject matter that provokes, inspires, and entertains. Through our use of vibrant storytelling, dynamic language, and colorful characters, we invite our audience to plunge headfirst with us into theatrical worlds that are fresh, energetic, and visceral.

WHO WE ARE

Christopher Acevedo - Literary Manager
Christopher Acevedo is a founding member of the Tympanic Theatre Company. He moved to Chicago in2007 and has since appeared in Collaboraction’s Sketchbook X, Pavement Group’s fracture/mechanics, Red Tape Theatre’s inaugural and second CFAN Festival (with Genesis Ensemble), Curious Theatre Branch’s Rhinofest(with Tympanic Theatre Company), Drangoncello’s And Time Runs On, Dramatis Personae’s Feats of Strength and The Side Project’s Splayed Verbiage (Cut to the Quick Festival).  He is also an Artistic Assoicate with The Genesis Ensemble, and with them has appeared in The Secrets Project, and In Love’s Bright Coils. With Tympanic Theatre Company, he has appeared in Splintered Crosses, The House of Weird Death, Gregor & the Squonk, Bastards of Young, And Then It Burst, Ozma & Harriet, and Muerte del Maestro.  He earned his BA in Theatre from Florida State University.

Casey Bentley – Ensemble
After graduating with a BA in Theatre Production from Florida State University in 2008, Casey has worked with multiple companies across the US such as Opera New Jersey, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Nebraska Theatre Caravan. Following her third tour of A Christmas Carol with NTC, Casey decided to move to Chicago. Since this relocation she has worked on a number of projects, including building props and puppets for Tympanic.

Brian Berman – Ensemble
Brian has been working with the Tympanic Theatre Company for over three years.  Brian has been the Lighting Designer for their productions of Musing, Bastards of Young, Ozma and Harriet, Muerte del Maestro, and Verse Chorus Verse. Brian enjoys biking and running marathons and is a graduate of Michigan Technological University with a degree in Computer Engineering.  His professional experience includes stage operations work with Lyric Opera Cleveland, Pine Mountain Music Festival, and Glimmerglass Opera.

Daniel Caffrey – Artistic Director
Daniel Caffrey is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Tympanic Theatre Company. Writing and directing credits with Tympanic include Splintered Crosses, The House Of Weird Death, and Gregor And The Squonk. His short plays have been produced in Chicago by ARFTCO, Chicago Dramatists, Dramatis Personae, Dream Theatre Company, Hobo Junction, iO, and WildClaw. Occasionally an actor, he has performed with The Side Project (Slipping), Tympanic, and WNEP (this year’s SKALD storytelling competition). He has also directed with The Side Project in their Cut To The Quick festivals. Upcoming projects include his short play “Wishbone” in Dramatis Personae’s Feats Of Strength festival, “Yukon Cornelius, Greatest Prospector In The North” with ARFTCO’s Christmas Spectacular, and writing and directing “Pogo” for The Ruckus’ Tell It & Speak It & Think It & Breathe It. He holds BA degrees in Creative Writing and Theatre, and is a graduate of the Training Center at iO.

Ali Delianides – Director of Development
Ali Delianides graduated from Florida State University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre. After graduation she originated the touring role of Mama in Omaha Theater Company for Young Audiences first national tour of Old Yeller. In Chicago she has been seen in Tympanic’s productions of Gregor and the Squonk (Margaret), And Then it Burst (Alice), with Point of Contention in their annual CHAOS play festivals, and with Chicago Kid’s Company in their productions of Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and Tortoise and the Hare. Ali is also a teaching artist with Victory Gardens Theater’s educational outreach program.

Charlotte Mae Ellison – Assistant Director of Development
Originally from New York, Charlotte Mae Ellison received a B.A. in Acting and Costume Design from Emerson College in Boston. She performed with Tympanic in Muerte del Maestro, Wonderful, and Brewed, and stood as head costume designer for Deliver Us from Nowhere: Tales from Nebraska. Charlotte worked around Chicago with The Right Brain Project, Chicago Fusion Theatre, Prologue Theatre, Open Source Theatre Project, Pride Films and Plays, and traveled outside the city to perform Circle Mirror Transformation with The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Charlotte is a founding member of Area IV Theatre, with whom she toured the Canadian Fringe Circuit in MARCH and designed From the Nightshade Family at the Chicago Fringe Festival. She also studied and performed at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland.

Joshua Ellison – Ensemble
Joshua Ellison is a founding member of Area IV Theatre where he directed MARCH (Edmonton International Theatre Festival) and From the Nightshade Family (Chicago Fringe Festival). His work was also seen at Oracle, where he directed Samuel Beckett, Andre the Giant, and the Crickets. He is very excited to be joining Tympanic where he directed a part of Deliver Us From Nowhere.

Paul E Martinez – Managing Director
Paul E Martinez is a founding member of Tympanic who came to Chicago after graduating from Florida State University’s School of Theatre in 2006. He is also a graduate of Second City’s Improv Conservatory. In Chicago, he has been seen in Los Desaparecidos (Babes With Blades), as well as in Gregor and the Squonk, And Then It Burst, Ozma & Harriet, and Muerte del Maestro with the Tympanic. Paul has also performed with improv ensembles Tymprov and Colorado Beautification Coalition.

Laura Turner – Secretary
Laura Turner joined Tympanic Theatre Company in 2010 after having been involved in several previous productions, including Bastards of Young and Ozma & Harriet for which she stage-managed. Laura graduated from Florida State University in 2008 and is currently pursuing her Masters of Public Health at University of Illinois Chicago.

Chrissy Weisenburger – Web Administrator
Chrissy Weisenburger graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2007 with her B.A. in Acting. Shortly after she jumped into Tympanic Theatre. She has appeared in Tympanic’s productions of Splintered Crosses, House of Weird Death, Gregor and the Squonk, and Extinction Fantasies, as well as Tympanic’s performances in Curious Theatre Branch’s Rhino Fest in 2010 of And Then It Burst, and in 2011 of Wonderful. She also helped in designing costumes and/or make-up for a number of Tympanic productions. She sends her thanks to her family, friends, and fiancee PJ, whose support has meant the world to her!

EMERITUS COMPANY MEMBERS

Timothy Bambara
Timothy Bambara has been producing, directing and acting in Chicago for the past 4 years. He received his MFA in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2006. He is a recipient of the 2008 CAAP Grant and was a participant in the 2008 Chicago Director’s Lab. Favorite directing credits include The Rise of Emperor Eric, The Cook (asst. Director), Tamales!, Where’s My Money? and Den of Thieves. Tim has directed May is a Special Time of Year, Ozma and Harriet, and The Deer Callers for Tympanic. As a director Tim has also worked with Prologue Theatre, Point of Contention, and Appetite Theatre. As an actor he was most recently seen in Chicago Fusion Theatre’s 12 Hungry Men.

Leo Mendoza
Leo Mendoza joined Tympanic Theatre in 2007, after performing with them in their first production, Splintered Crosses. He’s trained at Act One, The Artistic Home, Lee Strasberg (NYC), and iO Chicago to name a few. In 2009 he moved to NYC, but still is happy to be a part of this great company. Chicago credits include: Modigliani (u/s), Putman Transit; Off-off Bwy credits include: Six Cylinder Love (Unity Stage Co), Love in an Elevator (Left Hip Prod), Outsourcing Christmas (World Players). Improv credits include: Magnet Circuit Team, Del Close Marathon 2009, Imaginary Friends (Chicago).

ARTISTIC ASSOCIATES

Jamie Bragg
Jamie Bragg has been performing, directing and dramaturging in Chicago since 2006. Recent performance credits include Thyona in Big Love (Chicago Fusion Theatre), Margret in Woyzeck (Oracle Productions), Jamie in Halfshut (Right Brain Project) and Sandra in Ozma and Harriet (Tympanic Theatre). Jamie has recently directed with Tympanic Theatre (“Dark Horse,” part of 2010′s Extinction Fantasies) and Commedia Beauregard (“The Disturbing Chair,” part of 2011′s Master Works: The Museum of Bad Arts Plays). She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2004, and she was a proud literary intern (2005-2006) at Actors Theatre of Louisville, home of the Humana Festival of New American Plays.

McKenzie Gerber
McKenzie Gerber is a founding ensemble member of Tympanic Theatre. Playwriting/directing credits with Tympanic include Splintered Crosses “What King?” and The House of Weird Death “Something out there” (co-writer / sound designer). Tympanic acting credits include Splintered Crosses, Gregor and the the Squonk, Bastards of Young, & And Then It Burst. He holds a BA degree in Theatre from Florida State University.

Michael Greco
Michael “Mick” Greco has appeared on stage with Tympanic Theatre Company in And Then It Burst, House of Weird Death and Splintered Crosses. Tympanic also staged his short play “Northstar Navigation” as part of Bastards of Young. Mick has performed elsewhere in A View From The Bridge (Actors Workshop, now Redtwist Theatre), and in classical productions for Chase Park Theatre, LiveWire Theatre and St. Sebastian Players.

Susan Myburgh
Susan Myburgh is a founding member of Tympanic Theatre Company where she has directed Gregor And The Squonk, Morality Play, The Great Black Vulutre, and Tea.  She has also been seen all over the Chicago stages in Devil’s Don’t Forget (The Mammals), Orchard Reading Series (Apple Tree Theatre), Disturbed 2009 (Oracle Theatre), The Ride Down Mount Morgan (Redtwist Theatre), And Then It Burst (Tympanic Theatre for Curious Theatre’s Rhino Festival 2010) and most recently in The Right Brain Project’s Pretty Penny.  This summer she directed Alice in Wonderland in Virginia for Endstation Theatre. Susan is represented by Lily’s Talent Agency where she does voice-over and commercial work.  She holds a BA in Theatre from Florida State University.

Dustin Pettegrew
Dustin is currently pursuing a BFA in Scenic Design from Columbia College Chicago where he has designed scenery for several student directed projects which include No Exit, Phaedra’s Love and Rag and Bone. Dustin is currently designing the set for the faculty directed Main Stage production of RENT which will run at Columbia at the end of April. Dustin designed the scenery for Tympanic’s productions of Muerte Del Maestro, Verse Chorus Verse and most recently Orange Orbs.

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FRIENDS OF TYMPANIC

We love what these folks do.  If you dig Tympanic, chances are you will, too.

Consequence of Sound
InFusion Theatre Company
Oracle Productions
Right Brain Project
The Ruckus
The Side Project