Meet The Roly Polys
THE ROLY POLYS
The Roly Polys (Janet Bentley and Andy Evan Cohen) have made plays, written songs, composed music, designed sound and video, and performed live music since 2012. Roly Poly Productions is the formalization of this collaborative team into a theatrical production company designed to develop new plays, adapt classics, and nurture affiliated artists. Projects include: Mr. Chekhov and Mr. Porter at Medicine Show Theatre (script development, co-writing, arranging, direction, and music direction), To Damascus II by August Strindberg at The Gene Frankel Theatre (co-composition, co-sound and video design), Comes a Faery by James McClindon with Nylon Fusion Theatre Company at The New Ohio Theatre, NYC (co-composition, co-sound design), The Big Funk by John Patrick Shanley with Nylon Fusion at La Tea (co-composition and live performance), live musical performance at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity 2013, "Why?" and "The Last Polka (for Cat and Casio)" at The Brick's evening of songs from Beck's "Song Reader", and The Golem of Garbage: A Future Fable (co-writing / still in development).
JANET BENTLEY
Photo by Al Foote III - http://alfoote3photography.com/
Janet Bentley (rolypolyproductionsllc@gmail.com) is a director, dramaturg, writer, actor, sound designer, graphic designer, composer, and musician. She holds an MFA in dramaturgy from the University of Iowa, a BA in theatre from the University of South Florida, and has multiple years training and experience in piano, dance, voice (opera and musical theatre), acting, and teaching theatre. Janet made her international debut as a director/deviser, theatre instructor, and sound designer at Ashtar Theatre's International Youth Festival in Ramallah, Palestine, winning an award for her co-direction of The Waiting Room with Co-op Theatre East, NYC. Some New York credits include world premieres of The Dark and Our Fantasia by John Patrick Shanley (directing), Basement by Michael Hagins (Roly Poly Productions @ Nominated for two New York Innovative Theatre Awards), Detroit '67 by Dominique Morriseau (Sound Design @ Kingsborough-CUNY), Experimenting With Katz by David Adam Gill (Sound Design), an original dance-play called Horse (Director/Writer; Planet Connections Theatre Festivity 2017 - nominated for 10 awards), Brooklyn (Cain's Adventure) by Mario Fratti (Directing & Original Music by The Roly Polys @ Theatre For The New City), Mr. Chekhov and Mr. Porter (directing/development/scenic design at Medicine Show Theatre), Lila on the Wall by Edward Allen Baker (The Bridge Theatre @ Shetler Studios), Abu Casem’s Slippers by August Strindberg (directing for Strindberg Repertory), The Troubadour Struck by Lightning by Ed Malin (directing at FringeNYC 2016), Blankets and Bedtime: 3 Restless Plays by Erik Champney (producing and directing at Planet Connections Theatre Festivity), After Tartuffe by Judy Klass (directing at Fresh Fruit Festival @ The Wild Project), Queers for Fears by Ed Malin (directing at F*ckfest @ The Brick), The Addicts by Ed Malin (directing at Theatre for the New City), The Big Funk by John Patrick Shanley (Live Original Music @ La Tea), Incendiary Agents by Jack Karp (Dramaturg/SM @ The New Ohio Theatre), "This Round's On Us" (director/playwright in multiple festivals with Nylon Fusion - since 2013), and Coventry Carol by James McLindon (Emerging Artists Theatre). Regional directing credits include As You Like It, The Pillowman, Baal, The Woman From the Sea, Time on Fire, Parallel Lives, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Randy Noojin’s The Knife Trick. Upcoming: sound design for New Light Theatre Project's "Spotlight Series" production of Yasmine Reza's Life X 3, directed by Jerry Harmon (November 2018) and directing Mark Levy's CC You In Hell at Horse Trade Theatre's FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL in 2019. Janet is co-artistic director and founding partner at Roly Poly Productions, and a member of Nylon Fusion Theatre Company and New York Madness. For more info, click HERE for full CV.
ANDY EVAN COHEN
Photo by Roberto Chamorro - @robertochamorro
Andy Evan Cohen (andymusicnyc@gmail.com)
is an award-winning sound and video designer and composer. His music and designs have been performed and featured all over the world, including productions in Scotland, Switzerland, Israel, Canada, and New Zealand. His New York stage credits include off-Broadway productions of In Bed With Roy Cohn, A Midsummer Night's Dream (MasterWorks), Our Trojan War (Aquila Theatre US Tour), and Ay Carmela! (Repertorio Español), as well as nearly 100 off-off-Broadway productions with companies such as Animus Theatre, Boomerang Theater, New Light Theater, Nylon Fusion, Red Fern, Stable Cable, Strindberg Rep., White Horse, and T. Schreiber. His national tour credits include work on Oklahoma! (Networks Broadway), The Hungry Hungry Games (Mills Entertainment), and The American Soldier (Kennedy Center). Other media credits include the short films "The Mall" and "Show & Tell Tango", the web series "Off Off Kilter", and music for PBS Documentary films and UN Radio (Africa). Andy holds degrees from Oberlin and The Manhattan School of Music. Twitter: @AndyEvanCohen
is an award-winning sound and video designer and composer. His music and designs have been performed and featured all over the world, including productions in Scotland, Switzerland, Israel, Canada, and New Zealand. His New York stage credits include off-Broadway productions of In Bed With Roy Cohn, A Midsummer Night's Dream (MasterWorks), Our Trojan War (Aquila Theatre US Tour), and Ay Carmela! (Repertorio Español), as well as nearly 100 off-off-Broadway productions with companies such as Animus Theatre, Boomerang Theater, New Light Theater, Nylon Fusion, Red Fern, Stable Cable, Strindberg Rep., White Horse, and T. Schreiber. His national tour credits include work on Oklahoma! (Networks Broadway), The Hungry Hungry Games (Mills Entertainment), and The American Soldier (Kennedy Center). Other media credits include the short films "The Mall" and "Show & Tell Tango", the web series "Off Off Kilter", and music for PBS Documentary films and UN Radio (Africa). Andy holds degrees from Oberlin and The Manhattan School of Music. Twitter: @AndyEvanCohen