Staged Reading: Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver Creative

Company Director

David Lee

David Lee has served as the Artistic Director at Avenue Arts Marketplace and Theatre since the conception of the theatre company in 2017. He has had the pleasure of working with a diverse group of actors including youngsters as the Director of the young actors workshop each fall and spring. Some of his favorite shows with the the Junior class are “Annie JR”, “Willy Wonka JR”and “Shrek JR”. David also understands the importance in the development of new works and has formed a company of actors called “Underground” that preforms staged readings of new works. He invites you to check out the season of new works at AvenueArts.org. David is a Canton, Ohio native and attended Malone University where he was trained in the Michael Chekhov Technique of acting and revived and B.A. in Communication, Visual and Preforming Arts.

Company Manager

Emily Hisey

Emily Hisey has loved theatre since she was chosen to play the coveted role of Twinkle the Christmas Angel at age nine - she’s been escaping reality ever since. Past stage credits include Jane Eyre, Dancing at Lughnasa, Doubt, and A Year With Frog and Toad. Emily is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with such talented and hardworking artists. “Enjoy the show and thank you for supporting live theatre!”

Original Creative Team

Merri Biechler (Playright)

Merri Biechler is a playwright, actor, and educator. She teaches at Ohio University and is the Managing Director of Brick Monkey Theater Ensemble, a professional theater company located in Southeast Ohio. She is the recipient of a 2014 Boomerang Fund for Artists award. Her plays include "Tammy Faye’s Final Audition" (Tantrum Theater, Dublin, OH; Centenary Stage Company; Cincinnati Fringe 2015 – Best of Fringe; Washington DC Capital Fringe 2015 – Best of Fringe); "Occupation" (Hollywood Fringe 2016 – Dozen Best; Seven Devils Playwrights Conference semifinalist; P73 Playwriting Fellowship semifinalist; Perishable Theatre’s International Women’s Playwriting Festival finalist); "Art in the Machine" (Raue Center for the Performing Arts commission); "An Appalachian Christmas Carol" (Brick Monkey Theater Ensemble world premiere; Woodford Theatre, KY); "Real Girls Can’t Win" (Centenary Stage Company Women Playwrights Series winner; Stavis Award nominee; David Mark Cohen Award finalist; Victory Gardens Theater workshop; and six college productions around the country); "Bombs, Babes and Bingo" (Mortar Theatre Company world premiere; New Orleans Fringe Festival; Artist’s Laboratory Theatre workshop; P73 Playwriting Fellowship semifinalist; Clubbed Thumb biennial commission finalist); "Confessions of a Reluctant Caregiver" (Princess Grace Award finalist; Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award winner; Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition finalist; WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory participant, and the recipient of grants totaling $40,000 to use the play as a teaching tool for medical students); "The Shared Wife" (Trustus Theatre annual playwriting competition finalist); and "Dolley Madison and the Secret History Club" (Kennedy Center/White House Historical Association commission). Merri received her MFA in playwriting from Ohio University.

As an actor, she studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse and at his home on the island of Bequia, West Indies. She appeared in numerous new plays in NYC including Peter Hedges' "The Girl in Pink," "Tell It To My Scooter, Pal," and "The Age of Pie"; and Brighde Mullins' "Pathological Venus" at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Merri spent 18 months with the original Off-Broadway cast of "Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding," appeared in the films "He Said, She Said"; "The Thing Called Love"; "Claire in Motion"; "Trailerpark" and "Pieces of April"; and guest-starred on episodes of "Judging Amy"; "E.R."; and "Murphy Brown."