Samantha and Leo are a team—best friends and roommates, fat girl and gay guy against the world—until a new friend upends their cozy co-dependent diet of mutual self-loathing and Grey’s Anatomy marathons. An ode to the complications of friendship in its many fucked-up forms, with a special nod to a kind of love that sometimes looks a lot like rage. Produced as a part of Studio R&D, Studio Theatre’s new works initiative.
Runtime: 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission.
Environmental Warnings: There will be simulated marijuana smoking in this production.
The world premiere of I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart
is generously underwritten
by David and Jean Heilman Grier
through Studio R&D, a new work development program.
Morgan Gould brings her play, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, to Studio for its world premiere. She has previously held staff positions at Playscripts, Inc.; Lark Play Development Center; Cape Cod Theatre Project; and Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company, where Morgan co-created Untitled Feminist Show and worked alongside Young Jean on the premieres of Lear and We're Gonna Die; tours of Pullman, WA and The Shipment; and the original workshop production of Straight White Men. Ms. Gould is a member at Ensemble Studio Theatre, a Women’s Project lab member, a New Georges affiliated artist, and an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab, the Stage Director’s & Choreographers Foundation Observership Program, the Target Margin Theater’s Institute for Collaborative Theater Making, The Civilians R + D Group, and the Playwrights Horizons Directing Residency Program. In 2016, Ms. Gould received the Beatrice Terry/ Drama League Residency Award for I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart. In 2012, she created Morgan Gould & Friends, a theater company comprised of eight actors, three designers, and a filmmaker. Their work has been seen around New York at The New Ohio Theatre, Dixon Place, The Brooklyn Lyceum, HERE Arts Center, Ars Nova, CAP21, BAX, New Georges, The Culture Project, and more. Most recently, Ms. Gould directed the Off Broadway premiere of Kentucky by Leah Nanako Winkler (EST/P73). She holds a BA in Directing from Fordham College at Lincoln Center, as well as an MFA in Playwriting from Brooklyn College.
(As of January 2017)
Nicole Spiezio comes to Studio for I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart after recently performing onstage at The Gym at Judson and Perry-Mansfield with Primary Stages. Her play The Witchelor, which she co-authored with John Early, has had performances at Ars Nova's ANT Fest and Atlantic Stage 2. As a comedian and storyteller she's performed in New York at UCB, Joe's Pub, Union Hall, The Moth, and The Cake Shop. Recent on-screen credits include The Characters on Netflix, Bessie on HBO, 555 on Vimeo, and Bev on NoBudge. Her video "Housewife Sonata" has been featured on Anderson Cooper Live and Jezebel.com. Ms. Spiezio holds a BFA from NYU Tisch and is a founding member of Pipeline Theatre Company.
(As of January 2017)
Tommy Heleringer makes his Studio debut with I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart. Select New York credits include Minor Character; O, Earth; Losing Tom Pecinka; Silver Men; Warhol’s Son; and Small Craft Warnings. Regional credits include Vieux Carré at the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Festival, Last Gas at Opera House Arts, and various shows at Williamstown Theatre Festival. His film and web credits include Gayby, The Outs, and Whatever This Is. Mr. Heleringer is a member of Morgan Gould & Friends Theatre Company and a graduate of Fordham University.
(As of January 2017)
Anna O'Donoghue is a New York based actor, writer, and literary manager, and makes her Studio debut with I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart. She has appeared on, off, and off-off Broadway. Some credits include Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll and Eurydice at Second Stage, The Way West at Labyrinth, and Christine Jones' site specific installation Theater for One. Regionally, she has performed at Syracuse Stage, the Guthrie, Weston Playhouse, and NJ Rep, among others. Ms. O'Donoghue has participated in numerous new play readings and workshops with the Huntington, Sundance, P73, New York Theatre Workshop, New Dramatists, the Lark, the Inge Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Seven Devils, PlayPenn, the O'Neill Theatre, and many more. Film and media credits include Adult Ed, Funny Bunny, Compulsive Love, Bait, Crickets, The Last Great American Webseries, and Stochasticity. Ms. O'Donoghue is a company member of Morgan Gould & Friends, Lesser America, and a frequent collaborator with The Representatives. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School.
(As of January 2017)
Luciana Stecconi’s previous designs for Studio Theatre include The Effect, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Bad Jews, An Iliad, Lungs, The History of Kisses, In the Red and Brown Water, The Year of Magical Thinking, Amnesia Curiosa, Souvenir, Contractions, and Crestfall, among others. She has designed for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Signature Theatre, The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences, Mosaic Theater, Theater J, Everyman Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Georgetown University, Catholic University, American University, Imagination Stage, and many more. She’s the Assistant Professor in Scenic Design at Emerson College. Stecconi holds an MFA in design from Brandeis University and is a member of USA Local 829.
(As of December 2018)
Andrew Cissna returns to Studio Theatre after designing Murder Ballad, Silence! The Musical, and I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart. Regional credits include Jitney at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Noises Off and Harvey at Milwaukee Rep, Seminar at PlayMakers Repertory Company, and Noises Off at Perseverance Theatre. Recent DC credits include Gem of the Ocean and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House Theatre, Heisenberg and John at Signature Theatre, Me Jane at Kennedy Center TYA, and Copenhagen at Theatre J. Andrew holds a BFA from UNC School of the Arts and an MFA from the University of Maryland.
(As of February 2019)
Ivania Stack previously designed several productions at Studio Theatre including I Wanna F***ing Tear You Apart and Water By The Spoonful among others. Ivania designs for many regional and DC area theatres, including Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Company Member), Seattle Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre (Resident Artist), Kennedy Center, Center Stage, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Everyman Theatre, The Second City, Signature Theatre, Imagination Stage, Olney Theatre Center and Studio Theatre. She has an MFA in design from the University of Maryland and is an Adjunct Lecturer for Georgetown University.
(As of February 2019)
Justin Schmitz previously designed I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart for Studio Theatre. DC credits include productions at The Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Theater J, Round House Theatre, Forum Theatre, Imagination Stage, Rorschach, WSC Avant Bard, Constellation Theatre, Keegan, UMD, Gallaudet University, and Catholic University. Regional credits include The Dixon Place Theater in NYC, Chautauqua Theater Company, Triad Stage, Utah Shakespeare Festival, iCan House, North Carolina Black Theater, Woodbury Theatre, Actors Guild of Parkersburg WV, and The Pump House - WI. Upcoming projects include TRAYF at Theater J and the 2018 Chautauqua Institution Season. He is a 2018 Helen Hayes Award nominee for his work on The Wild Party at Constellation Theatre Company, and was previously nominated in 2017 for I Call My Brothers at Forum Theatre. He has received full design fellowships at The Kennedy Center with the Kenan Institute, The Orchard Project through The Kennedy Center, and Chautauqua Theatre Company. He holds an MFA from UNCSA and a BA from UW-La Crosse.
(As of April 2018)
Adrien-Alice Hansel is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of Queen of Basel, The Remains, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Animal, Laugh, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of Cry It Out,Translations, Curve of Departure, The Effect, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She also served as production dramaturg on roughly 50 new, contemporary, and classic plays there, including premieres by Naomi Wallace, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn and Rude Mechs, Rinne Groff, The Civilians, Anne Bogart and SITI Company, Jordan Harrison, and John Belluso. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of eight editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of April 2019)
Elisabeth Ribar makes her Studio debut with I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart. Selected DC credits include A Christmas Carol, Dial M for Murder, The Tempest, Bedlam’s Hamlet and Saint Joan at Olney Theatre Center; When She Had Wings at Imagination Stage; and Sense and Sensibility, District Merchants, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pericles, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Mary Stuart, and Julius Caesar as the resident assistant stage manager at Folger Theatre. Elisabeth holds a BS in Theatre and Political Science from Murray State University.
(As of January 2017)
Laura Scialdone returns to Studio for I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart after working under Matt Torney for Studio's production of MotherStruck. Other DC credits include assisting Amber McGinnis for her production of Girl in the Red Corner. She is a recent graduate of Birmingham-Southern College's Theatre Arts program. At Birmingham-Southern, Ms. Scialdone worked and collaborated with former SETC president, Alan Litsey, and CASE Alabama Professor of the Year, Michael Flowers. Her acting credits in Birmingham-Southern's Blackbox Theatre include ReEntry, Something Unspoken, Hello From Bertha, and Proof. Her directing credits include Children of a Lesser God and Probably (KCACTF Irene Ryan Nominee).
(As of January 2017)
