KEVIN RAY | WORKS
Unearthly Visitants
A NEW PLAY
BASED ON gHost stories by edith wharton
ADAPTED & DIRECTED BY KEVIN RAY
This adaptation of Edith Wharton’s ghost stories was presented at Triskellion Arts, Brooklyn, NY from October 22 to 24, 2021
Scroll down for information about the creative team, cast, production photos, behind-the-scenes videos, design process, and more.
Devised In Collaboration With
AUGUSTUS W. COOK II, JON DEGAETANO, VAS ELI,
ALYSSA KOROL, IAN MCNALLY, MONICA MENDEZ,
HENRY MENESTRIER, JIMMY MORGAN, UKI PAVLOVIC,
MATENIN SANGARE, RACHEL RHEA SHANNON,
JOHN TERESI & YANG YU
Music & Video
Watch clips of UNEARTHLY VISITANTS underscored by music composed for the production.
“Searching"
Original musica composed by Ian McNally
“On the Roof"
Original musica composed by Ian McNally
“In a Fog"
Original musica composed by Ian McNally
WHARTON'S GHOSTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
A fierce social critic and the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize (The Age of Innocence, 1920) Edith Wharton's chilling short stories are the beating heart of this devised play probing the confinement of social norms and the price the living pay for ignoring the past.
The play contains Wharton's short stories "Afterward", "The Eyes", "Miss Mary Pask" and "Bewitched."
Production Photos
Click images to see larger photo
Photos by Jonathan Levin
"Afterward"
Americans Ned and Mary Boyne purchase their dream estate in the English countryside. Lyng has everything, including a ghost—one they won’t know they’ve seen until long afterward.
“The Eyes"
At a late-night gathering, the worldly Andrew Culwin recounts being haunted by a pair of hideous, disembodied eyes. Each appearance coincides with a moment he believes himself to be acting out of genuine selflessness—but whose eyes are they?
“Miss Mary Pask"
A hypochondriac traveling through Brittany pays a late-night visit to Miss Mary Pask — a timid, colorless woman he believes to have recently died. What he encounters in her fog-shrouded house above the Bay of the Dead leaves him shattered in ways he cannot explain.
“Bewitched"
In a frigid New England village, a farmer’s wife summons three neighbors with a desperate claim: her husband is wasting away, drawn nightly to an abandoned shack by the frozen pond by a dead girl’s ghost. They agree to witness it for themselves—but in Hemlock County, some things are better left unseen.
Creative Team
JON DEGAETANO • LIGHTING DESIGN
Jon DeGaetano is an artist creating work centered in design, performance, and collaborative making. Most recent work includes Amadeus lighting/set (Ephrata Performing Arts), Breath and Imagination set (Penguin Rep), I Know Exactly What You Mean by Ogemdi Ude projections/interactive media (Danspace NY) Cuando el Fuego Abrassa lighting/set (La Mama), L’Amico Fritz lighting (La Mama), EXHAUSTED creator (The Tank, Darkfest), UNEARTHLY VISITANTS deviser/designer (Triskelion Arts), Love’s Labour’s Lost, lighting/set (Atlantic Stage 2/NYU), Will They Play Golf on Mars, designer collaborator with Janine Cunningham (Dixon Place), Lacy Rose and her Starling Quartet, lighting/set (HERE Arts). Jon is also in collaboration with Matthew Deinhart in an ongoing series of technology based installation art. MFA Brooklyn College. jondegaetano.com
ALYSSA KOROL • COSTUME DESIGN
Alyssa Korol is a theatre and film costume designer, wardrobe manager, and crafts artisan, who enjoys creating thought provoking works that challenge societal expectations and invite audiences to consider topics from different perspectives. She grew up in northern Vermont and is now based in the New York City area. Past works include UNEARTHLY VISITANTS, Richard II (The Enemies, William Shakespeare), The Passion According to GH (Fractured Atlas, an operatic adaptation of Clarice Lispector’s 1964 novella of the same name). Boston University MFA in Costume Design, 2018. alyssakorol.com
IAN MCNALLY • ORIGINAL MUSIC
Ian McNally is a composer, performer, and producer based in Queens. Studying under David Fulmer and Shafer Mahoney, he has had pieces performed by The Talea Ensemble, Mazumal, and members of the International Contemporary Ensemble. Most recently he has scored Unearthly Visitants (Triskelion Arts), The Machine Stops (Mark O’Donnell Theater), and Emilie (The Flea). Aside from his composing work, Ian has produced a number of Brooklyn and Queens based bands at Huntsville Road Recording Studio and performs around the city with bands Demeter and Moon Hound.
HENRY MENESTRIER • PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
Henry Menestrier is a NYC-based theatre artist, focused predominantly on stage management, lighting design, and set design and holds a BFA in Technical Theater and Design from Brooklyn College. He is very excited to be working with Kevin again, having worked with him on Unearthly Visitants in 2021. Recent Stage Management credits include Unearthly Visitants (Triskelion Arts Center), The Moors (Brooklyn College), Little Women (The Gallery Players), and The Winter's Tale (Brooklyn College).
KEVIN RAY • PRODUCER & DIRECTOR
Kevin Ray is a Brooklyn based Generative Theater Artist, producing & directing original work in collaboration with actors & designers through KEVIN RAY | WORKS. He produced and directed UNEARTHLY VISITANTS (2021), a devised play based on ghost stories by Edith Wharton and THE MACHINE STOPS (2023), a devised play based on the short story of the same name by E.M Forster. He has received grants to support his work from New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), Brooklyn Arts Council, The Puffin Foundation and Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism (FAIR) in the Arts. Kevin’s work has been written about in Greenpointers and The New Yorker and has been described as “A Space Mountain roller coaster ride, an intellectual white water rafting expedition, a production that will have you talking about it for hours and days to come.”
Kevin holds an MFA in theater directing from Brooklyn College and he writes about producing and directing independent theater on his Substack publication Modern Drama.
YANG YU • SCENIC DESIGN
Yang Yu is a New York based lighting and set designer for performing arts. She is interested in using light, space, and timing to create an emotionally charged environment, as well as visualizing music. Previous collaboration with Kevin Ray includes set design for The Machine Stops (Mark O’Donnel Theater), Unearthly Visitants (Triskelion Arts), Neighborhood 3 (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater). Recent lighting design credits include Good Luck in Space (The Riverside Theatre), The Lydian Gale Parr (Target Margin Theater), Unresolved Rage Game (Soho Rep Writer Director Lab); Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Crossroads Theatre Company); Lewberger and the Wizard of Friendship (Theater Row). Publication: Collected Light Volume Three: Women in Entertainment Lighting. MFA from Brooklyn College yangyudesign.com
CAST
AUGUSTUS W. COOK II
Augustus W. Cook II is an NYC based Theater Maker, Cultural Producer, and Marketing Professional. He graduated from The Stella Adler Studio of Acting in 2013. He then went on to co-teach in Stella Adler’s Outreach Division where he worked with students throughout the 5 boroughs. Augustus studied across CUNY campuses to earn both a BA in Investigative Theatre and Mass Media Production and Marketing. He has worked on the press and marketing teams of The Public Theater, AFROPUNK, Bulova, and more.
VAS ELI
Film: Snakeeater, Zoom With Me, Varlet, Delenda, Hell House 2, Kidnapping of A Fish, The Naked Woman, Dominant Species (Slamdance selection) TV: WeCrashed (Apple TV+), For Life (ABC), The Deuce (HBO), The Blacklist (NBC) Theatre: Off-Broadway: Tamburlaine (TFANA), Jericho (Attic Theatre); with Piper Theatre: Island of Dr. Moreau, Splitfoot, The Lincoln Dress MFA Brooklyn College. vasileflutur.com
MONICA MENDEZ
Monica is a New York City based actor. Most recently, she played #7 in The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe, Mother in Scenes from Family Life, and Logainne in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee directed by Kevin Ray. She has been nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship from KCACTF, written her own short film, “Before”, and is now a collaborator on several new writing projects including a new play about two first generation teenagers navigating through their adolescent life while dealing with the hurdles of society. Monica’s goal is to tell as many stories that not only touch audiences, but have them thinking about their life and role in society. When she’s not auditioning, you can find her taking more acting classes or in the kickboxing studio working on her punches and kicks! Monica received her BFA in Acting from Brooklyn College.
JIMMY MORGAN
Jimmy Morgan is an actor and musician working in theater and film. Most recently he was seen portraying Benedick in the Stone Church Player’s production of Much Ado About Nothing this past June. He has also been seen on stage at The Public Theater in the annual Bring A Weasel and A Pint of Your Own Blood Festival, at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Upright Citizens Brigade, Improv Asylum, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts, The Tank, and The Secret Theater. He has worked on several short films and web series in recent years and can also be seen playing around NYC and the northeast with his band, Amoeba Earhart. He holds an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College and a BA in Theater from Muhlenberg College.
UKI PAVLOVIC
Uki Pavlovic is an actor, director, and a producer, for both film and stage. Currently, he is set to star in a queer thriller directed by Nate Dushku. His screen work also includes recently released series "The Highlands Inn", a dramedy about actors, their pipe dream, and the chosen family, which he wrote, directed, and acted in. His short film, "The Black Mallow", about the struggles of a young immigrant in America, is currently available on Amazon. His most recent stage work includes directing "Moony's Kid Don't Cry" which premiered at DipFe Festival and Gwangju International Theater Festival in South Korea.
MATENIN SANGARE
Matenin Sangare is a first generation NYC based actor and writer. She received her BFA Acting degree from Brooklyn College in 2019. She was recently seen in Eclipsed, playing the role of The Girl/Wife #4 at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. She recently wrapped filming an indie sci-fi film, which will be making its festival run (keep a look out). Some of her other work includes working with Gi60 one minute play festival, Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom directed by Kevin Ray, Lear, and La Folie. mateninsangare.com
RACHEL RHEA SHANNON
Rachel is a New York City based actor, singer, and voice-over artist. She is a graduate of The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. You may have seen her in UNEARTHLY VISITANTS as Alida Stair/Mrs. Rutledge/Others and as Debra in The Zenosyne Hotel, heard her as Winlee in the Multiclass Theatre Podcast, or seen her on the UTC Theatre Company stage in Silent Sky (Margaret), EVITA (Eva Peron), and Hay Fever (Myra). She is grateful to be making art and would like to thank her beautiful family, friends, and teachers for their ever-flowing love and support.
JOHN TERESI
New York: UNEARTHLY VISITANTS (Kevin Ray Works), Decimal (New York Theater Festival), QUILTBAG, Animus Anima//Anima Animus, Woe is Me (The Public/Weasel Festival), All of a Sudden (The Farm/MWEntGroup); Regional: Sweeney Todd (PFO), Woyzeck (WTF), Baby Wants Candy: The Improvised Musical (WTF), A Reception for Time Travelers (WTF), Orpheus in the Berkshires (WTF), Mercy Train (Microscopic Opera), Cendrillon, Macbeth (Resonance Works); University: Porch Play, LEAR, A Map of Virtue (Brooklyn College), The Beggar’s Opera,* L’étoile* (Carnegie Mellon); BFA: Vocal Performance, Carnegie Mellon University; MFA: Acting, Brooklyn College. johnmteresi.com johnmteresi.com
UNEARTHLY VISITANTS was performed by permission of the Estate of Edith Wharton and the Watkins/Loomis Agency.
UNEARTHLY VISITANTS was sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, administered by Brooklyn Arts Council. Funding has also been made possible by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd.
