To say that Ellenor Riley-Condit has been busy lately is an understatement. Riley-Condit plays the lead role in Another Jungle; she is currently pursuing an MFA in
Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College; and she serves as Co-Artistic Director of The Syndicate, Cloudgate Theatre’s co-producer.
The Syndicate, an ensemble theatre company that produces new plays by women, queer, and trans artists, has been an ideal partner for Cloudgate’s inaugural production. The company is dedicated to highly collaborative new play development processes, often working with scripts that test the boundaries of theatrical form. Next on the docket for The Syndicate is Syndicated, a month-long festival of work at New York’s IRT Theater. The company will premiere two new works, Bluets, a solo show starring Riley-Condit and based on the book by Maggie Nelson, and Tiny Errors at the End of the Millennium, a play that invites the audience into press conferences, Y2K bunkers, boy band rehearsals, and dance competitions as the year 1999 turns to 2000. Also as part of Syndicated, Riley-Condit will spearhead First Read, a new play readings series and development workshop that centers queer, trans, and non-binary theater artists.
As an actor, Riley-Condit is aesthetically rigorous, disarming audiences with her candor, incisiveness, and razor-sharp instincts. Her training with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company Conservatory in New York have provided her with a strong, clear stage presence, which she brings to bear in her role as the Writer. She spends most of the play onstage alone giving a real-time presentation to the audience. She says, “I love all of the direct address. I work on a lot of plays that hinge on acknowledging the audience and working with them, as if they're another character in the piece. Another Jungle does this really well and I can’t wait to figure out more about the mechanics of that. It’s a double-edged sword, bringing the audience in so closely, because they’re a thousand times less predictable than a fellow actor on stage, but if we can get the audience truly engaged, that’s exciting, then it really becomes a different show every night.”
Above: Another Jungle director Tara Branham with Riley-Condit in rehearsal for Another Jungle.
Below: Members of the The Syndicate during a recent residency at Juniata College.
