Playwright Philip Ridley’s Radiant Vermin kicks off CoHo’s 23rd season with pitch-black humor, sharp social satire, and a group of staggeringly talented artists both onstage and off. Meet the trio of actors who are bringing these complex characters to life and the director whose skill and vision holds the team together.
Kelly Godell is doing triple duty with Radiant Vermin, appearing onstage as Jill, as well as serving as a co-producer AND costume designer! She was most recently seen in The Secretaries at Profile Theater, and will appear in Small Mouth Sounds at Artist Rep later this Fall, as well as Sense and Sensibility at Portland Center Stage this Winter. Some other favorite credits include Noises Off (Third Rail Repertory) and Miss Julie (Shaking the Tree). Television credits include Grimm and Leverage. Kelly has a BFA from the University of Oregon and is a member of the Actors Equity Association.
Diane Kondrat is appearing in her first CoHo Production as Radiant Vermin‘s mysterious Miss Dee. Since moving to Portland in 2013, Kondrat has appeared with Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Profile Theatre, Shaking the Tree, Oregon Children’s Theatre, and the sketch comedy monster Spectravagasm. Her history includes 18 years as the head of an interactive theatre company that brought productions to prisons and universities, and 20 years as the creative impulse behind Oasis Productions, a stage company featuring small cast shows with great roles for women. Recently she tried to poison Hitler in Adroit Maneuvers and was in the fight cage of Girl in the Red Corner at defunkt theatre. In spring 2018, she was honored to play Tracey in Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize winner Sweat at the Phoenix Theatre (Indianapolis, IN), and at Halloween she’ll again be one of Sam Dinkowitz’s coven as they mix horror and hilarity in Terrorgasm! www.dianekondrat.com.
Chris Murray is back on the CoHo stage as Ollie after performing in many CoHo shows, including The Receptionist, Animals and Plants, and Hamlet. He has appeared locally at Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Third Rail Rep, Profile Theatre, Portland Playhouse, Oregon Children’s Theatre, triangle! Productions and Stark Raving Theatre. Regional credits include The Humana Festival, The Denver Center, The Kennedy Center, and LAByrinth Theater Company. This season he can be seen in In The Wake at Profile Theatre, Sense and Sensibility (with Radiant Vermin partner Kelly Godell!) and Crossing Mnisose at Portland Center Stage.
Scott Yarbrough, Director and Radiant Vermin co-producer, is the Founding Artistic Director of Third Rail Repertory Theatre, where he directed 28 shows and produced 42. He brought National Theatre Live to Portland and leads an annual theatre tour to London. It was on that London tour in 2015 that Scott first discovered Radiant Vermin, and he’s been hoping to direct it ever since. Scott has degrees in Theatre from Oklahoma Baptist University (BA), Louisiana State University (MA), and Ohio University (MFA), and his work as a director has been recognized with four Drammy awards. Representative credits: Recent Tragic Events, Dirty Story, The Lonesome West, Grace, Number Three, A Lesson From Aloes, Shining City, Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Dead Funny, A Skull In Connemara, Kiss Me Like You Mean It, The Lying Kind, The Gray Sisters, The Wonderful World Of Dissocia, Last Of The Boys, The Pain And The Itch, Noises Off, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Night Alive, The Nether, The Events, Chesapeake, Red Noses, The Farce of Scapin, and The Road To Mecca.
