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What We Do | About the Company | Current Company Members | Former Company Members | Some Places Where We've Performed and Taught

What We Do

• Long-form improvisation: One- and two-act pieces 30-120 minutes long, composed of interrelated shorter scenes, in which narrative, characters, and themes arise and evolve--kind of like scripted plays

• City of Medicine: a serial medical show, presented monthly.

• The Musical! : We employ the styles and conventions of post--World War II Broadway to create a big show, replete with overture, show-stoppers, dance numbers, ballads, choral sections, and a rousing finish (see streaming video here)

• Short-form improvisation: Discrete scenes 3-10 minutes in length

• Courses and workshops: improv is an exhilarating art form to learn in almost any setting, not just theaters, universities, and schools

• Applied Improv (FIZ): an exciting, effective, and fun educational/training program utilizing the principles and techniques of improvisational theater in non-traditional venues
  

• Transactors Experimental Theater (TET): open workshops dedicated to exploring new improv forms and principles and developing company members

Based in Chapel Hill, N.C., Transactors Improv is a not-for-profit corporation, supported in part by grants from the Orange County Arts Commission and the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency receiving partial funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Contact Us

E-mail us at transactors@transactors.org or call
(919) 824-0937

Current Company Members

Mike Beard
From the production side of the tracks, Mike Beard has been a designer, engineer, and technician for over 30 years. His touring sound production work spans 48 states and hundreds of artists. Mike is equally comfortable with lighting and he even plays bass clarinet on occasion. He has a B.S. in Music, Communication, and Recording from UNC-Asheville in his sock drawer. Transactors Improv's resident tech guru for several years, Mike also directs and performs in TET shows, while continuing to blend improv, voodoo, and technese from behind the consoles for main stage productions. Mike can also be found at his recording studio, in the field designing sound systems, or at home with his wife, daughters, cats, and toys.

Anoo Brod
Anoo has been performing improv since her debut with Transactors in 1997. Since then she has also taught improvisational theater to people ranging in age from four to 76 in all sorts of places, including businesses like Novant Health, schools such as UNC's School of Public Administration, and arts centers around the Southeast. Recently Anoo has appeared in MooreTale Film and TinkhamTown Production films and performed in the all-female improv group Ask Daphne. She is also an intuitive life coach, writer, poet, and goofy spazz.

Jill Greeson
Jill Greeson has acted locally and directed for the Ten by Ten and Theater Orange festivals, Common Ground Theatre, and Wordshed/Ghost and Spice. Her past performing experience has been dancing with Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians, Chavasse Dance and Performance, Ways and Means Dance Company, and in work by Clay Taliaferro.

Greg Hohn
A member of Transactors Improv since 1989, Greg Hohn has been the company's executive and artistic director and lead instructor since 1996. He teaches Applied Improv (FIZ) in the MBA program at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School, in Duke University's Theater Studies Department, and in academic settings, corporations, and organizations across the country. He has also taught improv and acting in many different venues, including UNC's MFA acting program. Greg's other theater work includes performances with Archipelago, Manbites Dog, Shakespeare & Originals, Temple Theatre, the 10x10 Festival at The ArtsCenter (acting and directing), and Long Beach Playhouse. He also works in film, television, radio, and industrial/corporate media (visit his website here). Greg graduated from UNC with a degree in English and has written fiction and for stage, radio, and periodicals.

Rachel Klem
Rachel Klem received her MFA in acting from The Theatre School at De Paul University. She has been professionally improvising since she was 18, working with such esteemed companies as Bay Area Theatre Sports in San Francisco and Apiering Daily at Navy Pier in Chicago. Rachel is managing director of Ghost & Spice Productions, with whom she also acts and directs. She is the manager of Common Ground Theatre in Durham, where audiences can see theatre, music, and--of course--Transactors Improv.

Jeffrey Moore
Jeffrey Moore has appeared in various Triangle plays and independent films. He has written and produced short films such as What The Frock, Word, and A Manson Family Christmas for his film company, MooreTale Films. Jeffrey also had the pleasure of writing A Trailer Park Christmas with fellow Transactor Rachel Klem. Jeffrey has a B.A. in communications from UNC-Greensboro and puts his acting and improv skills to good use by day as a mailman in Raleigh. He has yet to shoot anyone.

Nancy Pekar
Nancy Pekar has been performing with Transactors Improv since 1999. Previously she performed with Reality Optional Improv Company in Pittsburgh and with the Ark Theater in Madison, Wisc. She acted in and directed improv shows and original plays while attending Carnegie Mellon University, and she played the bride in the improvisational La Nozze Italiana. She appeared in the 2009 Common Ground Theatre production of A Trailer Park Christmas. Nancy holds a BA in Creative Writing and works as a writer and editor.

Dan Sipp
Dan Sipp is a Chapel Hill native and a Transactor since 1988. He recently returned to the Triangle from an eight-year hiatus in Chicago. While in The Windy City he studied with The Annoyance Theater and the ImprovOlympic (now known as the iO). He performed for many years with iO House teams People of Earth and The Pat Shay Dancers and directed groups at The iO and The Playground. He's also proud to be founding member of the independent ensemble The Goldbrick. Dan teaches long-form improv at the Worx Training Center in Raleigh. He's pleased to be back home where he can work with some of his best friends in the world and watch all of the Carolina games on TV.

Steven Warnock
Steven started working with Transactors Improv in 2001. In the past few years he has appeared in Loveseat Theater's production of Sex, Drugs, and Dinner and has been seen in One Song's production of The Phantom Tollbooth, The ArtsCenter's 10 x 10 Play Festival, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, and Romeo and Juliet. He has also been a storyteller for A Tour of Southern Ghosts festival near Atlanta. Steven received his BA in religion and completed a masters of divinity degree (yep-not lying!). He moved to the Triangle from Georgia in January 2001 and works with Project Compassion in Chapel Hill.

Jeff Alguire (City of Medicine cast)
Jeff trained at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, spent seven years working with some of Chicago's finest Off-Loop theatre companies, and now lives and performs in the Triangle. Acting credits include: Road to Nirvana, Long Day's Journey Into Night, A Skull in Connemara, One For the Road, The Miss Firecracker Contest, All in the Timing, and Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll (Ghost & Spice); Abigail's Party (Party Girl Productions); A Streetcar Named Desire and The Waves (Little Green Pig); and Over the River and Through the Woods (Raleigh Little Theatre). Jeff is a co-founder of Ghost & Spice and Common Ground Theatre. He has a BA in Drama from San Francisco State University.

Former Company Members

Regina "Q" Bartolone (2001-04) is working on a Ph. D. in comparative literature at the University of North Carolina.
Joe Brack (2004-05) works as an actor in Washington D.C.
Martha Brown (1983-85) an original Transactor, is a speech pathologist in Chapel Hill.
Peter "PC" Cashwell (1990-91) wasn't the company's first musician but his piano work made us realize the potential of having an accompanist. He now teaches high-school English at Woodberry Forest School in Virginia. An avid and delightful writer, his book on birding, The Verb 'To Bird,' is available at www.petercashwell.com.
J Chachula (1996-99) is a founding member of Flying Machine Theatre in Raleigh and acts, directs, and teaches in the Triangle.
Monifa Chamble (1999-2003) lives and works in New York where she earned an MFA in theater.
Steven Cragg (1987-89, director 1988-89) lives in Los Angeles, where he is an actor, writer, and visual artist. He writes for and performs on Mad TV.
Rob Dator (1986-87, 1996-97) is an actor and writer based near Greensboro.
Sarah Froeber (aka Sally Nussbaumer, 1983-85), an original Transactor, lives near Chapel Hill and is involved in educational theater.
Peri Hope Goldberg (1989) is a currently unemployed, happily married, speech-language pathologist living in Orlando playing mommy to three young kids and doing community theatre whenever she gets the chance.
Susan Goodnight (1993-94) runs a philanthropic foundation in the Triangle.
Sandy Gribbin (2002-04) is currently living and performing in Toronto.
Zannie Gunn (1997) lives in the Triangle and performs at Dirty South Improv with the long-form team Community Bike.
Zach Hanner (1999-2001) lives in Wilmington where he performs improv and is a screen actor and a writer.
Allison Heartinger Connor (1988-93) lived in LA for several years after leaving Transactors. She appeared in several national commercials, did voice overs, and wrote for television. Her favorite Hollywood jobs included appearing in two episodes of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and writing Looney Tunes comics. Allison recently moved to Dallas, where she writes radio and TV commercials, does voice overs, and hosts a local TV show, Makeover Marvels.
Tim Johnston (1987-96, director 1989-96) is a facilitator working in Washington, D.C.
Mark Lewis (1992-2004) plays music of all sorts in the Triangle, frequently continuing his collaboration with Transactors. The company produced his musical comedy, New Jersey, New Jersey, in Spring 2004.
Ann Linge (1996-99) is an actress and director living in New York State. She earned an acting MFA from Hunter College and recently had her first child with husband David.
Tom Marriott (1983-85) is an actor in the Triangle area, working with companies such as Archipelago and Little Green Pig.
Gilly Macnee (1988-89) is living the pastoral life in the bucolic setting of Ashe County with his wife and three children. As seems to be a trend with former company members, he's taken up birding.
Mark Miller (1983-87, director 1983-87) an original Transactor, lives in the Triangle and makes a living acting in TV and movies and on stage (visit his website here).
Cynthia Mitchell (1986-87) is an actress and writer living in the Triangle.
Jay O'Berski (1998-99) is an actor, director, and teacher. He is artistic director of Little Green Pig Theatre and is on the faculty at Duke University.
Carol Parker (1999-2001) is a dancer, actress, and Pilates instructor based in Durham.
Shirley Ritter (1985-87) is an actress in LA.
Mary Ruth (1983-87, director 1983-87), an original Transactor, is an arts educator in central North Carolina.
Susan Saunders (1983-85) was Transactors' first musician.
Steve Scott (1997-2006) lives in Greensboro, where he does voice-overs and acts, including lots of time in the role of dad to his young daughter, Charlotte.
Eric Singdahlsen (1996-2000) completed the MFA acting program at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and now uses theatrical techniques in medical education.
Michele Vazquez (1998-99) earned an MFA in acting at the University of California at San Diego and is now a touring actress based in New York.
Kathy Williams (1998-99) is a member of PlayMakers Repertory Company in Chapel Hill.
Jane Allen Wilson (1998-2003) works for the Chatham County Women's Center.

Some Places Where We've Performed and Taught

Festivals
Artsplosure, Raleigh, N.C.
Atlanta Arts Festival
Big Stinkin' Improv Festival, Austin, Tex. (twice)
Chicago Improv Festival
First Night (Annapolis, Charleston [S.C.], Charlotte,
Raleigh, and Winston-Salem)
Forest Theater Festival, Chapel Hill
iO South Improv Invitational, Raleigh
Just for Laughs Improv Tournament, Montreal
A Love Affair, Tifton, Ga.
Miami Improv Festival
Minnesota Fringe Festival, Minneapolis
North Charleston (S.C.) Arts Festival
Panoply, Huntsville, Ala. (twice)
San Francisco Improv Festival
Spoleto Festival Theatre Fringe, Charleston, S.C. (six times)
Spontaneous Combustion improv festival, Kansas City, Mo.
Stoneleaf Theatre Festival, Asheville, N.C. (twice)

Educational venues
Augusta State University, Augusta, Ga.
Averett College, Danville, Va.
Brenau University, Gainesville, Ga.
Columbia College, S.C.
Duke University, Durham, N.C.
Durham Academy, N.C.
East Carolina University, Greenville, N.C.
Firespark Summer Arts Program, Gainesville, Ga.
Francis Marion University, Florence, S.C.
Medical University of S.C., Charleston
Morehead Foundation, Chapel Hill, N.C.
N.C. School of Science and Math, Durham
N.C. Teaching Fellows Program, Charlotte
Pfeiffer University, Albemarle, N.C.
Piedmont Arts Assoc., Martinsville, Va.
Presbyterian College, Clinton, S.C.
Princeton Day School, Princeton, N.J.
Rockingham Community College, Wentworth, N.C.
S.C. Governor's School, Charleston
StArts, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, S.C.
State University of West Georgia, Carrollton
Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, Va.
Tri-District Arts Consortium, Columbia, S.C.
University of North Carolina: Asheville, Chapel Hill
Greensboro, Pembroke, and Wilmington campuses
William & Mary College, Williamsburg, Va.
Woodberry Forest School, Va.
School systems throughout the Southeast

Theaters
Andy Griffith Playhouse, Mt. Airy, N.C.
The ArtsCenter, Carrboro, N.C.
Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Fayetteville, N.C.
Cedarhurst/Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, Ill.
Columbus Area Arts Council, Columbus, Ind.
Common Ground Theatre, Durham, N.C.
Gainesville Arts Council, Ga.
Hickory Community Theatre, Hickory, N.C.
Manbites Dog Theater, Durham, N.C.
Paramount Theater, Burlington, N.C.
Reston Community Center Theatre, Reston, Va.
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem
Sunrise Theatre, Southern Pines, N.C.
Temple Theatre, Sanford, N.C.
Tryon Little Theatre, Tryon, N.C.
Arts councils throughout the Southeast

Corporate and organizational venues
Burroughs-Wellcome
CSC Index
DuPont
First Bank of S.C.
Glaxo
Mobius Group
N.C. Society for Quality Assurance
Northern Telecom
Professional Secretaries International
Prudential
Rhone-Poulenc
SAS Institute
Southeast Public Health Leadership Institute
Southern Company

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