The Plagiarists

Contact:
PO Box 578545
Chicago, IL 60657-8545

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Casey Adams

Casey is a relative newbie to the Chicago theatre scene, having moved to the city in the summer of 2007, and she is simply tickled pink to be the newest member, and resident stage manager, of The Plagiarists! A nomad at heart, Casey has lived in six cities over the past five years, acquiring a B.A. in theatre from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, and SMing and ASMing in such disparate locations as Green Bay, WI, and Miami, FL, as well as a few stops in between. Locally, she has stage managed for New Leaf Theatre; Rubicon Theatre Project; the Bristol Renaissance Faire; and, of course, for her darling Plagiarists. In her nonexistent spare time, Casey enjoys Couchsurfing, dancing around bonfires, inhaling literature, and doing bizarre things with decoupage glue.

Kaitlin Byrd

Kaitlin moved to Chicago in 2001 and worked at Bennigan’s across the street from the Art Institute. Simultaneously, even while holding down such a high pressure job, Kaitlin began acting in the city playing such parts as Mayella Ewell in Collaboraction’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Mollie in Broutil & Frothingham’s production of The Mousetrap, Lorna in Famous Door’s The Cidar House Rules Parts I & II, and Phyllis in TimeLine Theatre’s production of This Happy Breed. She’s also done some fun short films and eventually, got a better waiting tables job. She feels privileged to be founding The Plagiarists with the best pals in Chicago. She plans to steal some really cool stuff in the coming years.

James Dunn

James Moved to Chicago in 2002 after recieving his B.A. in theatre performance from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. Since moving to Chicago he has written works for the Rhino Festival, improvised for The Playground and Improv Olympic and acted for several theatre companies. James is a proud ensemble member of Infamous Commonwealth Theatre Company, and has garnished a Jeff Citation and a After dark award for his work with them. James is a co founder of the Plagiarists, and looks foreward to a lifetime of subversion with them. He also likes music a lot…..a lot.

Layne Manzer

Layne Manzer is fresh to Chicago Theater, but most recently co-wrote and performed in Living the Dream. He has been seen at Rogue Theatre in their productions of Sleepy Hollow and A Christmas Twist. While earning a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Layne performed in roles that include Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet and Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina. Layne was a member of Rough Magic Productions where he performed in Fool for Love as Martin and in Tape as Vince. Some of Layne’s favorite non-performance credits include his executive producter role for Living the Dream, Ones and Zeros, and Lobster Alice. Favorite Nebraska credits include his performance in the Omaha Community Playhouse’s productions of Tennessee William’s Not About Nightingales as Queenie and in Battle of Shallowford as Fred Martin. Most recently, he is attending Harrington College of Design for interior design that he hopes to apply in theater set design as well. He loves being part of The Plagiarists and feels very luck to work with it’s talented members.

Ian Miller

Ian Miller is the resident designer and filmmaker for the Plagiarists. He moved to Chicago in 1999 to get his film degree from that veritable, old, misanthrope factory, Columbia College. Since then he has made his living as a commercial film and video editor and as web and graphic designer. Ian has done commercial work for such depraved corporations as Chrysler and Coke, and he as also done work for good-guys such as Amnesty International and The Chicago Foundation for Women. Ian is convinced that The Plagiarists is cure to all things boring. He is also happy that you have enjoyed this website.

Gregory Peters

Gregory Peters graduated from The University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2000. As Artistic Director of Lincoln, Nebraska’s Rough Magic Productions, he directed Fool For Love, Sick: A Love Story, Lobster Alice, Tape, Private Eyes, Touch, Matt & Ben, and number of shorter pieces. He directed Death and the Maiden, Ti Jean Blues, and Alice in Wonderland at UNL, and As You Like It, Murder in the Cathedral, and The Baltimore Waltz for other local companies. In 2006, he moved to Chicago and directed the ensemble-created comedy Living the Dream. Favorite acting roles include Rosencrantz in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Thomas in Grace, The Amanuensis in The Illusion, The Narrator in KID-SIMPLE, and Ezra Chater in Arcadia. He’s also written some plays. But what he’s most proud of is being a part of The Plagiarists.

Justine C. Turner

Justine C. Turner grew up a block from Chicago in the liberal Chicago suburb that once was inhabited by Frank Loyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway once called Oak Park a town of broad lawns and narrow minds. Justine grew up there when the lawns had gotten smaller and the minds more open, thus creating an artist thirsting for something new, different, and with something to say. As an early artist in the city she worked with the well respected Teenstreet theatre, then spent her time at Columbia College Chicago earning her BA in Theatre. She then worked and grew as an artist with such companies as A Crew of Patches theatre company, Famous Door Theatre co., Defiant theatre, The Journeymen, Noble Fool theatricals, and most recently Writers’ Theatre. While growing and learing from her experiences at these theatres she still longed to create her own work and make something new of theatre. She thinks The Plagiarists are just the kind of upstart group of young people that will help her to hone her craft into productions of beauty, eloquence and badassedness. Having worked with this group on the hit play, Living the Dream, she felt the chemistry might finally be right to give her the desire to commit to starting a brand new company.

Lindsay Verstegen

Lindsay holds a BFA in musical theatre from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point where credits include Evelyn in The Shape of Things, Sarah in Spinning Into Butter and Eve in Children of Eden. After floating around the city performing in various storefront projects that included work with Speaking Ring Theatre Company, Chicago Jewish Theatre and Orion’s Left Foot Theatre Company, Lindsay fell into (like everyone else) really Living the Dream she had talked so much about. Since then, she’s proud to say that being a founding member of The Plagiarists is her favorite thing yet. In addition to writing and acting with The Plagiarists, Lindsay also writes and illustrates her own series of children’s books, volunteers with the Chicago Bicycle Federation, and coordinates Public Relations for The Plagiarists. She is also a top-knotch babysitter, chalkboard artist and cake baker.