| GAF 2023 | Student Leadership Team | Artists | Events | Installation Views |
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Please Hold/On Hold-ing is a musical performance art piece that follows Ben, Diego, and Carla as they become repair service phone operators. They use YOUR refrigerator, dishwasher, and HVAC emergencies as a musical metaphor to navigate early pandemic misadventures and explore the boundaries between ourselves and others.
COLLABORATORS: Steven San Luis, Anita Castillo-Halvorssen, and Gustavo Marquez
BIO:
Ben Fears (they/he; GAF festival manager) is a songwriter, performer, musician, and interdisciplinary artist. Born and raised playing bluegrass in southern Indiana, Fears was captivated by the power of music and performance to bring people into community with each other. Fears’ artistic practice centers on the interactions of musical composition, performance art, and collaborative making. He explores how these media are uniquely situated to understand and reflect trans/queer experiences. Fears is also founder, songwriter, and vocalist for The Qu!et for the Neighbors, a rock band based in the New York City area. Fears has also composed original music for internationally awarded short films like Jester, which won gold in the 2021 Barcelona Film Festival as well as songwriting for artists such as Wolftyla.
Steven San Luis (all pronouns) is a queer playwright and director from southern Georgia. Their work has been featured in Stage It! (2020) and onstage at festivals through Local Theater Company, The Road Theater Company, Boxfest Detroit, and Ghostlight Ensemble. Director credits include Wisdom from Everything (assistant director, Local Theater Company staged reading), The Rape of the Sabine Women by Grace B. Matthias (assistant director, Local Theater Company), and NYC: 1975 (movement director, Powerhouse Theater Company). San Luis recently directed the solo show Disordered, which won the Best Encore Award at the United Solo Festival.
Anita Castillo-Halvorssen (she/her; Carla) is a queer Venezuelan-Norwegian actor, singer, and educator in New York City. Originally from Colorado, she recently graduated from Brown University’s MFA acting program at Trinity Rep. She is a faculty artist at Middlebury College and serves as an artist advisor for Notch Theatre Company. Anita is a producer and ensemble member of the womxn’s creative collective The Hive. Television: Harlem, Law & Order, The Good Fight. New York Theater: Red Bull Theater, Clubbed Thumb, New Dramatists, The Chain, The Tank. Additional Training: British American Drama Academy, and a BA in Film and Theater from Swarthmore College.
Gustavo Marquez (he/him; Diego) Credits include productions of The Three Musketeers, Light it Up!, Antigone (Cleveland Play House); Sweat, A Christmas Carol, Native Gardens (Denver Center Theatre Company). Television credits include Blue Bloods, Chicago PD, And Just Like That. He received his MFA in Acting from the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Play House program. Gustavo-Marquez.com
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