Team: 5 Hour Piece
Director and Founder of The How
Polina Ionina
Polina Ionina is a Russian-American actor. Classically trained at Pace University BFA Acting program in lower Manhattan, Polina has also studied abroad in Kyrgyzstan and at the Grotowski Institut in Poland. In NY she’s worked with Interactive PlayLab led by improv pioneer and master clown Jeff Wirth, and with the experimental theater group Dzieci. Polina is a founder of The How, and has performed with and directed the ensemble at celebrated venues such as IRT, The Tank NYC, and Dixon Place. Previous work with The How include: The Vyuga Project, Vandals, Hunger, What We Do, and I Am the Wind. Polina has also worked with up and coming film-makers in NYC such as Alex Blackstorm, Sonoko Ogata, and Steve Perterson as well as industry giants such as Bob Balaban, and Lisa Robinson.
ig: @mspyaari
Weronika Helena Wozniak
Weronika is a Polish NYC actress and graduate of Conservatory program at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. Since 2016 performed on numerous Off- and Off-Off-Broadway stages. Selected theatre: A Midsummer’s Night Dream (The Seeing Place), The Jewish Question (Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center), The Video Games (Off-Broadway, Elektra Theatre), Vandals (The Tank, Dixon Place), Detective Story (Heights Players), Spyglass Seven (international Edgar Allan Poe Festival), Octopi Wall Street (Hollywood Fringe Festival ‘19), Three Sisters (Columbia University), Sex v. Love Musical (Dixon Place). Member of Polish Theatre Institute in NY where she continues to educate Polish first-generation Americans about their mother-tongue and culture through theatre. She dedicates her spare time to languages and poetry. She hopes that one day every gender, orientation, religion and race will be equally represented in the entertainment industry worldwide.
ig: @weronikahelena
Rand Faris
Rand Faris is a Middle Eastern Actress who has completed her studies in England, graduating with a BA hons degree in Drama and Psychology. Born in America, and raised in Jordan, she has a diverse perspective on different cultures. She has been in New York for over four years, and has studied at various acting conservatories upon arrival and throughout. She continues to train presently, when time allows. She has participated in theatre work at different venues in New York, and worked closely with The How theatre company based in Brooklyn exploring different forms of Theatre. She is now focusing more on Film and TV, but is always keen on being involved in the theatre world. She is fluent in Arabic and English, and hopes to bridge the gap between Arab and Western Cultures through work she creates or contributes to. In her spare time she enjoys writing and filming her own projects.
ig: @farisrand
Tana Sirois
Tana graduated from the Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts with a 1st class honours degree in Acting, and went on to co-found Dirt [contained] Theatre Company, which makes provocative, socially conscious theatre with an absurd twist. Dirt [contained] has been producing work in the UK and USA for the past ten years.
This past year, Tana originated the role of Alice in the NYC premiere of the musical Painted Alice. Film credits include Alexis (Blue Bloods), Katie (For Hope), NYC theatre credits include Nina (Stupid Fucking Bird), Lais (Garden Of Delights), Tracy (Seascape With Sharks And Dancer) and Judy (Easy Laughter).
Last year Tana co-wrote the play Crushing Baby Animals which was produced at The IRT Theatre.
Tana is one of the founders of Culture Lab LIC in NYC, where she currently works as the Performing Arts Director. She is also the associate artistic director for the theatre company Stripped Scripts.
Tana is a proud company member in the feminist, musical comedy troupe, Broad Comedy, and can be found touring the country (often in a vagina headdress) raising money for Planned Parenthood and The ACLU.
ig: @tana_sirois
Photo by: Meadow Studio NYC
Cy X
Cy X is a black queer non-binary storyteller and cyber witch merging sound, video art, installation, and performance. Their practice is grounded in the art of synthesis: truth generation and sound generation which is used to create portals. Fusing art and technology with the practice of witchcraft, they are inspired to use spells, rituals, and alchemic practices to fundamentally alter the world around us. Cy earned a BA in Film and Media Studies from Colorado College and is a MPS Candidate at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program.
ig: @cyberwitch666
Rosalee DeHuff
Rosalee is so elated to be working on this project with Polina and the rest of these amazing women! She previously workshopped and performed “What We Do” with Polina & The How. Rosalee is a graduate of SUNY Oneonta’s Theatre program and The Studio/New York Summer Conservatory program. In NYC she has performed in a number of short comedy and music shows with Loop Troupe. Rosalee recently dove into the music world as a singer/songwriter—her music can be found on Spotify/Apple Music etc.
ig: @rosaleedehuff
Maria Swisher
Maria Swisher is an actor, writer and theatre-maker originally from Marshall, Missouri. Maria studied at New York University and Strasberg Studio for Theatre and Film. She then moved to the United Kingdom where she graduated with a first class degree from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts. While at LIPA, she completed her dissertation on science fiction in the theatre, and wrote her first play, The Last Eden, which was produced with support from the Arts Council England under Dirt [contained] in 2011. While in England, she has trained with the RSC and Complicité. In London she was a member and producer at Craft Theatre Company (Dante's Inferno.) Her short play, The Trip, was produced at the Lyric Hammersmith and was shortlisted this year for the John Petherbridge Award for New Writing. In 2016 she had her New York directorial debut with Garden of Delights, also at the Plaxall Gallery with Dirt [contained], which was attended by the 88 year old author, Fernando Arrabal. Acting credits include Elizabeth (When the Rain Stops Falling), Semiramis (The Chairs), Freda Caplan (Dangerous Corner), Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd), Lady (Orpheus Descending) and Estelle (No Exit, Fusion Theatre). This summer, Maria debuted her latest original play, Crushing Baby Animals (co-written and performed with Tana Sirois) with support from The Queens Council for the Arts and Long Island City Artists.
ig: @swishthedish