Name: Mel HouseHometown: Baltimore
Education: 2 Year Training Program at the William Esper Studio, MA Applied Drama: University of Exeter's School of Drama (UK), BA Theatre: Goucher College, Study Abroad: Iona Center (Athens), NIDA (Sydney), Globe Theatre (London)
Select Credits: Peter Weiss'Night with Guests (NYFringe), Hedda Gabler (Baruch Performing Arts Center), In the Bones (NYIT Award for Outstanding Actress), Shrunken Heads (Playwrights Horizons), Rabbit Island (Backstage Critics Pick), Homunculus: Reloaded (3 NYIT Awards), East of the Sun West of the Moon (Baltimore's Centerstage), Much Ado About Nothing (Baltimore Shakespeare Festival), Nerve (Edinburgh Fringe Festival).
Why theater?: When I was six, my mother took me to Baltimore's Theatre Project to see Uncle Vanya. I fell in love! And knew instantly that I wanted to play on stage for the rest of my life.
Who do you play in Macbeth (of the Oppressed)?: Macduff.
Tell us about Macbeth (of the Oppressed):Macbeth of the Oppressed is Shakespeare's Macbeth, paired down a hair to keep it fast-paced and super active. What makes this production unique is that the audience isn't viewing the story through the typical white, heteronormative and gender-binary lens that the majority of theatre is presented through. Instead, you follow the story while seeing a world that more truthfully reflects New York City.
What is it like being a part of Macbeth (of the Oppressed)?: The cast and crew are AMAZING! A generous, supportive, love fest. And they let me fight with an axe, so I'm killing it!
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Art that feels like Truth. That reveals new possibilities for Living, Being, Expanding. Anything that lets me see the bizarre ugly beautiful fullness that is being alive, and helps me to accept my essential humanness more.
Any roles you’re dying to play?: Vanda in Venus and Fur, Joan in Saint Joan, Margie Walsh in Good People, Violet and Barbara in August O'Sage County, Nora in A Doll's House, anything written by Carol Churchill, Sarah Ruhl, Melissa Gibson, Lucy Thurber, or Halley Feiffer.
What’s your favorite show tune?: Every song from Next to Normal and "Tomorrow" from Annie
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Uzo Aduba
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Amy Poehler in "Shit Happens."
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Laurette Taylor in The Glass Menagerie.
What show have you recommended to your friends?: "Transparent" and "Catastrophe"
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Scotch and cheap chocolate covered cherries
What’s up next?: I'm heading to Cape Town, South Africa, in November with Barefoot Workshops to create a short documentary. And my son and I are making a documentary about our multicultural family: www.staircaseproductionz.com. Join us at Macbeth (of the Oppressed) from October 8-24 at The 14th Street Y! www.fabmarqueeproductions.com