The Cottage
July 31, 2019 - August 24, 2019 | Gompertz Theatre
REGIONAL PREMIERE. Set in the English countryside in 1923, this sexy comedy of love and betrayal unfolds when Sylvia Van Kipness decides to expose her secret love affair to her husband. The true meanings of love and marriage are called into question as a surprising, hilarious web of secrets unravels in this ridiculous—potentially murderous—romantic comedy.
The Cottage by Sandy Rustin.
Run Time: 107 minutes with a 15 minute intermission
To view a large print version of our playbill, click here.
CREATIVE
Director | Jason Cannon
Scenic Designer | Andrea Bechert
Costume Designer | Abby Parker
Lighting Designer | Thom Beaulieu
Sound Designer/Supervisor | Thom Korp
CAST
Beau | Greg Balla*
Clarke | Drew Hirshfield*
Marjorie | Tracie Lane*
Richard | Casey Predovic*
Sylvia | Hanley Smith*
Dierdre | Anna Stefanic*
* Denotes member Actors’ Equity Association. The Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
GREG BALLA (Beau) Off Broadway: Straight, Blue Man Group, You Can’t Kiss a Movie. Regional credits include: Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Pioneer Theatre Co.); Only a Kingdom w/ Betty Buckley (John Drew Theatre at Guild Hall); Ether Dome (La Jolla, Hartford, Huntington); Into the Woods; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lyric Stage Co.); Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (Bad Habit Prod.); and Ragtime (Fiddlehead Theatre Co). Mr. Balla is a graduate of Fordham University Lincoln Center. imGregBalla.com. IG:imGregBalla. 
DREW HIRSHFIELD (Clarke) FST: Cherry Docs, Hand to God. Regional credits include plays at Magic Theater, Huntington Theatre Company, Geva Theatre Center, Premiere Stages, American Conservatory Theater, New Harmony Theatre, Alley Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, among others. New York credits include new plays with Ensemble Studio Theatre, Collaboration Town, New York Stage & Film, 59E59 Theaters. Broadway National Tour: The Lion King. He teaches acting at New York Film Academy. He earned his MFA from American Conservatory Theater. 
TRACIE LANE (Marjorie) Juilliard: Pelagiya in Queens, Marlene in Top Girls, Dorine in Tartuffe. Shakespeare: Joan la Pucelle in Henry VI Part 1 (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Olivia in Twelfth Night (Tennessee Shakespeare Co.); Rosalind in As You Like It, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Helena in All’s Well That Ends Well, Portia in Merchant of Venice (American Shakespeare Center); Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Viola in Twelfth Night (Houston Shakespeare Festival). Regional: Mrs. Givings in In the Next Room (Stages Repertory Theatre); Yelena in Uncle Vanya (Classical Theatre Company). IG:tracielane48.
CASEY PREDOVIC (Richard) Off-Broadway: Orwell In America (59E59); Lost and Found (Lucille Lortel); The Man Who Had All the Luck, The Magistrate (TACT). NYC: All Fall Down (NYMF), Violent Child (EST), Happy’s Funeral, Sybil’s Last Show, Dawn, workshop – The Land Where the King is a Child (La MaMa). Regional: Our Town, Letting Go (Northern Stage); Just Like Us (Denver Center); The Foreigner (Repertory Theatre STL); Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Hartford Stage); Fly (ASF); Theory of Everything (Lake George), Monomoy Theatre 13 seasons. TV: Blue Bloods, Elementary, Person of Interest, Good Wife. BFA, UNCSA. 
HANLEY SMITH (Sylvia) is thrilled to be making her FST debut! Credits include: The Last Five Years (Syracuse Stage, directed by Jason Alexander); In the Next Room (Gulfshore Playhouse); Venus In Fur and Les Mis (The Fulton); Major Barbara (Portland Center Stage); She Loves Me (Gretna Theatre); and The Glass Menagerie (Pioneer Theatre). Hanley is also a proud member of the folk trio, A Band Called Honalee. hanleysmith.com. @backstagehanley.
ANNA STEFANIC (Dierdre) is thrilled to be back at FST after performing in Guitar Girls earlier this year! Other favorite credits include Once (Mad Cow Theatre), I And You (Kitchen Theatre Company), In Praise Of Elephants (Ancram Opera House), The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini (Speakeasy Dollhouse), we are destroyed (New York Theatre Workshop reading), Beneath The Gavel (54 Below), A Marriage Contract (Metropolitan Playhouse). Her original singer-songwriter album “Warrior” and poetry collection “Flytrap” can both be found online.
INTERVIEWS
Playwright Spotlight: Sandy Rustin | READ
There's Something About Sylvia: An Interview with Hanley Smith | READ
Conflicted in Comedy: An Interview with Greg Balla | READ
ARTICLES by FST
"The Cottage" - A Comedic Rendevous by Michael Nichols and Becca Jennings | READ
Sandy Rustin: She Wrote Her Biography, Then Lived It by Jenna Tonsor and Becca Jennings | READ
ADDITIONAL ARTICLES
Read Sarasota Magazine's Interview with Playwright Sandy Rustin about The Cottage | READ
Learn More About The Man Who Started It All, Noël Coward | LEARN
Read What Aileen Jacobson from The New York Times Thinks of The Cottage | READ
