Next Draft Series
UPLINE
by Brynne Frauenhoffer
May 17, 18, & 19, 2026
at Rivendell Theatre
PRODUCTION TEAM
Playwright:
Brynne Frauenhoffer
Director:
Christina Casano^
Dramaturg:
Dan Washelesky
Production Manager:
Zoe Sjogerman^
CAST
CHELSEA - Gabriela Diaz^
PAUL - Peter Ferneding^
FIRST DAUGHTER - Krystal Ortiz
SECOND DAUGHTER - Jocelyn Zamudio
HEATHER - Ky Anderson^
JEFF - Hudson Thierrault
TAMMY - Maddy Brown^
TIM - David Stobbe^
STAGE DIRECTIONS - Carley Cornelius
^ Denotes Avalanche Theatre ensemble member
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Brynne Frauenhoffer
Playwright
Brynne Frauenhoffer is a Chicago-based playwright. Past productions of her work include Pro-Am (First Floor Theater, 2024; winner of the 2025 Jeff Award for New Work; selected for The Kilroy List 2020), and Bury Me (Dandelion Theatre, 2019). Her play Disillusioned will premiere at City Lit in spring 2027; it was developed as part of Goodman Theatre's New Stages Residency 2023, and was recently selected for the Great Plains Theatre Commons 2026 New Play Festival. Other workshops and readings include Synchronicity (Salt Lake Acting Company; 2018 Semi-Finalist for the O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights Conference), Vape Naysh and Exorcise (First Floor Theater), Church Hurt (Black Cat Theatre), and Pizza Hut Heartbreaker (Commission Theatre Company; selected as a Top 20 submission to Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival 2026). Brynne’s short plays have been produced by Broken Nose Theatre, MadLab, American Blues Theater, Commission Theatre, and the Chicago One-Minute Play Festival. She is a proud company member with First Floor Theater. www.brynnefrau.com
Carley Cornelius
Stage Directions
Carley makes her Avalanche debut with UPLINE. She is an ensemble member of Definition Theatre where she has worked on Fairview, The Dutchman, An Octoroon, America V. 2.1, and White (Non-Equity Jeff Nominated). In Chicago, she has worked with The Goodman, Victory Gardens, Chicago Shakespeare, Writers Theatre, Chicago Sketchfest, The House Theatre of Chicago, and Windy City Playhouse. Some regional credits include work with Colorado Theatreworks (Venus in Fur, Constellations), Urbanite Theatre (Drowning Girls), Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Shakespeare in Love), TheatreSquared (At the Wedding), as well as productions with Montana, Texas, Door and Great River Shakespeare Festivals. You may have seen her telling you to "read a f*$#ing book" on The Onion, eating a weird soup on The Bear, searching for lost children on NBC's Chicago Fire, drinking Maker's Mark on Hulu or trying to find a home on HGTV's House Hunters. Carley holds degrees from Ball State University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and is represented by Big Mouth Talent. #stayinit
Christina Casano
Director
Christina Casano (she/her) is a theatre artist based in Chicago. Her training includes a BA in Theatre from Miami University, Victory Gardens Theater’s Director’s Inclusion Initiative, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey's Summer Professional Training Program. Selected directing credits: Dear Elizabeth (Remy Bumppo), I Build Giants and Poison (The Plagiarists), Henry IV Pt. 1 (Starling Shakespeare Co), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stone Soup Shakespeare), The F*ck House (Strawdog Theatre), Plaid As Hell (Babes With Blades), Grape Leaves (workshop, Avalanche) Socks & Co. (workshop, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre), Work in Progress (workshop, The Plagiarists) How To Murder… (workshop, Bramble Theatre), Blood of My Mother’s (workshop, Wayward Sisters), Deep Shadows (audio drama, EFCT), Fame Heaux (staged reading, Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival). Other favorite projects: Short Shakes! Romeo & Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Some Like It Red and The Epic of Gilgamesh, etc. (The Plagiarists), How To Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens), Bury Me (Dandelion Theatre), The Light Fantastic (Jackalope Theatre). She is the Creative Producer for Remy Bumppo and the former Artistic Director of The Plagiarists. www.cmrcasano.com
Dan Washelesky
Dramaturg
Dan Washelesky (they/he) is a Chicago-based director, dramaturg, playwright, teaching artist, and the Managing Director of Bramble Theatre Company. Previously they served as Managing Director at The Passage Theatre, Director of New Play Development at Valiant Theatre, and Head of Dramaturgy at First Run Theatre. Dan has also worked with Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre, Paramount Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Silk Road Cultural Center, Stage Center Theatre, Avalanche Theatre, Eclectic Full Contact Theatre, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, and Dacha Theatre. MA: Washington University in St. Louis.
David Stobbe
Tim
David Stobbe is a founding member of The Tramps, an itinerant collective ready to make a stop in an undisclosed location near you. He is grateful to return to Avalanche, which he considers his developmental home. David’s Chicago credits include the premiere of PIVOT by Alex Lubischer (Rivendell Theater) Pro-Am (First Floor Theater), Marie Antoinette and The Magical Negroes (The Story Theater), Ophelia in Space (The Tramps), and Big River (Mercury Theater). Regional credits: Waitress (Paramount Theater), Frozen (Fulton Theater), and Buddy Holly (Marriott Theatre).. He can be seen in John Mossman’s Good Guy with a Gun and in the upcoming comedy Line cooks Much love to Porridge and his Wife Becky.
Gabriela Diaz
Chelsea
Gabriela Diaz is a Chicago-based actor and long-time fan of Brynne Frauenhoffer. This year she is grateful to be working across her artistic homes: she recently assistant directed and script supervised the pets at Bramble Theatre Company, where she also serves as Development Director; she is currently playing Hotspur in Henry IV with Olde School Shakespeare Collective, where she is an ensemble member; and she is producing and acting with The Tramps (which she co-created) with support from the Independent Productions Initiative this summer. She is thrilled to be assisting in the development of Upline, and will return to Avalanche this fall to perform in Skyler Tarnas’ premiere of They Broke Up! Gaby would like to thank her Houston fam, her Chicago fam, and her cat, Vacía.
Hudson Thierrault
Jeff
Hudson is a theatre maker & accessibility provider who moved to Chicago in 2022. He is a co-founder of Here's The Exit Theatre Co. and is a staff member at Jackalope Theatre. Recent understudy credits include ART and HEDDA GABLER at Remy Bumppo. Directing credits include THE HUNS and WAYFINDING with Here's The Exit.
Jocelyn Zamudio
Second Daughter
Jocelyn is currently in Do Something Pretty at Rivendell Theatre. CHICAGO credits: Sanctuary City, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Billie Jean (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Happy Days Are Here (Again) (Steep Theatre); Anna in the Tropics (Remy Bumppo Theatre); Rust (Goodman Theatre: New Stages); Rightlynd (Victory Gardens Theater). REGIONAL: Bull: a love story (Paramount Theatre). TELEVISION: Chicago P.D (NBC), The Chi (Showtime). EDUCATION: School of Theatre and Music at University of Illinois Chicago. Jocelyn is represented by Gray Talent Group and a 2025 3Arts Make a Wave awardee.
Krystal Ortiz
First Daughter
Krystal Ortiz is a Cuban-American playwright, performer, dramaturg, and producer based in Chicago and sometimes NYC. Krystal was recently under commission as a playwright for the Goodman Theatre’s 2024-2025 New Stages Residency. There, with her co-writer Satya Jnani Chavez, she began developing “Fruition", a live-looping musical about repressed gay moms. Krystal’s historical punk rock musical, “frikiNation", had four workshops in 2025, including a workshop production presented in National Queer Theater’s Criminal Queerness Festival in NYC. Chicago acting credits include: The Writer (Steep Theatre), Anna In The Tropics (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Verböten (The House Theatre), X (Sideshow Theatre Company), Please, Continue [Hamlet] (Chicago Humanities Festival/MCA Stage), Lettie (Victory Gardens), La Havana Madrid (Teatro Vista, Goodman Theatre), For Services Rendered (Griffin Theatre Co), and The Fly Honey Show (The Inconvenience). Regional credits include: Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center for the Performing Arts). Originally from Miami, FL, Krystal is an alumnus of the Music Theater division at New World School of the Arts High School and holds a BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. www.krystalortiz.com | instagram: @lin.unwell.miranda @frikination.musical
Ky Anderson
Heather
Ky Rambo (professionally: Kylie Anderson) (they/she) is represented by Stewart Talent. Ky is a company member at Avalanche Theatre and a founding company member at Bramble Theatre Company but has worked with a medley of other theaters in Chicago including Redtwist, Remmy Bumppo, Steppenwolf, and Lookingglass Theatre. Ky has studied at University of Oklahoma (BFA: Drama, Acting Emphasis), Stella Adler’s Studio in New York City, NY (Physical Theatre), The Actor’s Gymnasium in Evanston, IL (two years of Aerial Arts and Clown), and School at Steppenwolf (Class of 2019) in Chicago.
Maddy Brown
Tammy
Maddy Brown (she/her) is a Chicago-based actor and dramaturg. Recent credits include The F*ck House (Strawdog), The Singularity Play (Jackalope), Trial in the Delta (Collaboraction), and a short on The Onion. As a dramaturg and assistant director, she has worked at Remy Bumppo, Steep, Theatre L'Acadie, and Avalanche Theatre. She is the Literary Manager at Avalanche Theatre and a graduate of UNCSA. maddyjbrown.com
Peter Ferneding
Paul
Peter is very excited to be working in the Next Draft series as an Avalanche Ensemble Member. Chicago theatre credits include Pot Girls (The Story Theatre), The Normal Heart and Antigone (Redtwist Theatre), Pro Am (First Floor Theater), Night Watch (Raven Theater), Arabia, Arabia! (The Plagiarists), Clue (Mercury Theatre), Chagall in School (Grippo Stage Co), Outlaws, How to Kill a Rodent, and Batshit (Avalanche Theatre). Peter has also been seen on Chicago PD. He is a graduate of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Represented by DDO. A huge shout out to everyone who worked tirelessly to put Next Draft together. As always, he owes a great deal of gratitude to Brutus (his tuxedoed, four legged buddy), his friends, and of course his family for their continued support.
Zoe Sjogerman
Production Manager
Zoe is the Executive Director of Avalanche and the creator of games and adventures for her two children.
WITH SUPPORT FROM
