THE DREAMER EXAMINES HIS PILLOW / IL SEGNO SUL CUSCINO by John Patrick Shanley
STARRING: AUGUSTUS OICLE, BIANCA CERAVOLO & GIAMPIERO JUDICA
DIRECTED BY: MICHÈLE LONSDALE - SMITH
ANGELO MAI, ROME - MAY 26th, 27th & 28th, 2023
THE DREAMER EXAMINES HIS PILLOW, written by John Patrick Shanley, is the story of a woman, Donna, played by Bianca Ceravolo, who is faced with the question of fate: Whether the sins of the family are avoidable or if she is doomed to repeat them. After confronting her boyfriend Tommy, played by Augustus Oicle, she pleads with her dad, played by Giampiero Judica, to set Tommy straight so they can live Happily. Ever. After. Told in three related scenes, the play uses indirection and richly evocative language to make its unsettling but ultimately illuminating points.
This is Michèle’s second crack at the “Dreamer” bat. She mounted the first production in Vancouver, Toronto, and New York City, where the playwright was in attendance, and now here in Rome.
Augustus Oicle
Augustus Oicle is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, producer, and filmmaker originally from Vancouver. He started studying with Ms. Lonsdale•Smith at the Lyric School of Acting in 2007. He is a member of the Gracemoon Arts Company, and has studied and worked with Michèle and the company in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, New York, Rome, and Tobago. He has studied acting consistently from the age of eleven.
Augustus also co-creates, writes, and produces original work with Gracemoon Arts along with other community members. His works include his own short film, “Ember Part 2” and ‘Strangers’. Additional credits include ‘Umbrella Academy’ Season 3 on Netflix, the upcoming series ‘Fellow Travellers' on Showtime and most recently , ‘Something You Said Last Night’, winner of the Changemaker Award at Toronto International Film Festival, 2022.
“I feel profoundly grateful to have fallen in love with acting and to have come across a mentor and a community that cherish this art form as much as I do. My life is blessed with the opportunity to create art with the people I dream of working with. I cannot wait to give every inch of my life to this play. Let’s tell some truth, let’s bust everything, let’s have some fun.”
Bianca Ceravolo
Bianca Ceravolo was born and raised in Pisa. She began theater classes as a child, which led to her first co-starring role in the film “Short Skin” directed by Duccio Chiarini. In 2018 she appeared in his film “L’ospite”, as well as the acclaimed television series “L'Amica Geniale: storia di un nuovo cognome”. A multidisciplinary artist, Bianca began her musical study with the cello at the L. Cherubini Conservatory in Florence, then with the CIE maritime: école de l'acteur. In 2022, she began studying “composition of music applied to the image”, at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. While on stage and screen, Bianca continues to pursue her musical journey, composing and writing her own pieces. While in the actorial sphere, she had the opportunity to study with Javier Galito Cava, Matthew Lenton, Eleonora Danco, Doris Von Thury, and her current acting coach and director Michèle Lonsdale•Smith. Bianca has pre-recorded the cello in the composition of this production of “The Dreamer Examines his Pillow” by John Patrick Shanley. She is playing the cello live, in Gracemoon’s production of “Venus in Fur'' by David Ives.
Giampiero Judica
Giampiero Judica grew up artistically in New York where he got his M.F.A in acting and directing at the New School of Social Research. He has worked ever since on stage, film, and television in Italy, Europe and the United States. His credits include HBO’s ‘Boardwalk Empire’, Netflix’s ‘Hache’ as Lucky Luchiano, Ridley Scott’s ‘All the Money in The World’, as well as the well-known Italian television series ‘Inspector Nardone’ and ‘Tutto Po’ Succeder’”. He has performed in prestigious venues such as Circle in the Square, La Mama and the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, and the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Giampiero has dedicated himself to both classic texts like Shakespeare, Pirandello and Eugene O’Neill, as well as modern Americans such as Tennessee Williams, Clifford Odets and Tony Kushner among others. A lifetime member of The Actor’s Studio in New York, he has appeared on the most prominent stages in Italy, and continues his work as an actor, a director, and mentor to actors across the globe.