A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
In December of 2022, I went to the Austin Film Society to see a Polish film called EO. I knew nothing about it, but decided to attend this film because the description was something like, “The tale of a donkey who wanders the Polish countryside and the people he meets.” I’ve always had a soft spot for a donkey and, while I entered the theatre hoping for a joyful Polish romp (I’ve since learned there is no such thing as a joyful Polish romp), what I ended up watching was one of the more brutal and devastating films I’ve ever seen. So devastating that, when the credits rolled, I couldn’t move from my chair until a friend had to take me by the arm and bring me out of the theater.
When Bre Bietz, a longtime friend and someone who I’m also lucky to call a collaborator, originally sent me the script for Insomnia Cafe, the first thing I thought of was EO. The Donkey’s overwhelming desire for affection and companionship, the way I felt when the lights came up, and most of all, the feeling I had when I looked around the theater and saw so many others having the same experience they also did not expect to have.
So, if you are here tonight because you love the sitcom Friends, just as I came to EO for the Donkey, welcome. I am ecstatic you are here. I hope that while you came for Friends, you enjoy the full journey we are about to take you on. This journey, at times, will be very funny; every actor in our show is incredibly talented, and I believe them all to be geniuses. At other times, it will be very dark. But through it all, my hope is that the journey will make you feel emotions in full. Whatever those emotions are.
I want to thank Bre for writing a bold and original play and for being so giving and graceful with all my big ideas for her script. We both cut our teeth in the same theaters over a decade ago, and I really wanted this show to pay tribute to all of the best parts of our shared experience.
To my darling crew and my darling actors, my vision for this show was extensive. It was a complicated and complex undertaking, and each person has taken on their respective task with fearless grace. It’s been the honor of my creative life to guide you all through the process.
Highwire artist Philippe Petit once wrote:
“Whoever does not want to struggle against failure, against danger, whoever is not prepared to give everything to feel that he is alive, does not need to be a high-wire walker.”
Thank you for being here and supporting Insomnia Cafe & Dirty Gold Theatre. It means more than you know. Or maybe you know, I’m pretty upfront about how much all of this means to me.
I hope you enjoy our high-wire performance.
Roy Lazorwitz
Artistic Director of Dirty Gold Theatre
Director of Insomnia Cafe
ACTORS
KYLE ROMERO
"MAN"Kyle Romero is an actor/clown from the tiny little swamp town of Orange, TX. He currently serves as the Conservatory Director at the Austin School of Comedy at Fallout Theater and performs weekly with his improv team All Night, All Night, All Night (ColdTowne Theater). His solo show, Kyle Romero is Your Dad, has played at Austin Sketch Fest, Denver Sketch Fest, and FronteraFest where everyone said it was really good and they are proud of him. Recent credits include The E(xmas)ist with Grackle Jack, Macbeth (But He’s Just a Sword) with Walking Shadow Shakespeare Project, and The Man From Earth with Bottle Alley.
LENA LONG
"WOMAN"Lena is a performer and community builder in Austin, Texas. She played Sarah Connor in Terminator: The Musical like 4 years ago and won’t shut up about it. She is a performer in the local wrestling show Fight Opera. She works at the City and thinks the new logo is GOOD. Special shout out to her mom (Darcy), dad (Stan), Kevin (husband), and her-inherited-from-her-Grandmother’s 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis for always being there when she needed.
JUSTIN G. SMITH
"DWYER"CREW
BRE BIETZ
Bre Bietz is a writer, performer, director, and comedy producer whose work transforms pop culture obsession, emotional catastrophe, and theatrical chaos into immersive live performance. Drawing from experimental comedy, underground theater, multimedia experimentation, and live spectacle, her work exists in the space where sincerity and absurdity collide at full speed. She is the creator of Terminator: The Musical (yes, really), and her performance work extends into Austin’s alternative entertainment scene through larger-than-life wrestling personas including Sleezy Havoc, the ethereal chaos entity of Slam Portal, and the plunky, feral child Lil Aidynn in Fight Opera. She would like to thank her friends, her family, her boyfriend Derek, and every artist still making strange, ambitious stories despite mounting evidence that culture may have peaked somewhere around Seasons 4 through 8 of The Simpsons.
Writer
ROY LAZORWITZ
Roy Lazorwitz was born and raised in the great state of New Jersey and dropped out of community college twice before moving to Astoria, Queens to pursue the life of a starving artist. Since that time, he has gotten the chance to write, direct, produce, and perform across many different mediums. In addition to being a co-founder and Artistic Director of Dirty Gold, he was recently nominated for an Austin Theatre Critics Award for best director for his work on Venus in Fur. Roy loves both of his dogs equally and thinks there is no greater thrill in life than having responsibility.
Director
Lindsey Ollinger
Lindsey is stoked to be a part of this production! After getting her theatrical debut with ACC in 2017, she transferred and graduated with a degree in stage management from The University of Texas. Her recent SM credits include ACC’s The Long Christmas Ride Home, Color Arc Productions' Wanna Play, and ACC's Reefer Madness. She would like to thank her family and friends for their support, Ryan for being a constant source of stability and love, Matit for being Matit, and Dirty Gold Theatre for welcoming her in with open arms!
STAGE MANAGER
Tory Granfield
Producer/Prop Design/Set DressingMs. Granfield does not exist.
Allison Paranka
Allison never thought watching all of Friends twice would come in handy, but she is very pleased to have been proved wrong with this production of Insomnia Cafe. Past onstage roles include Lady Macbeth in Macbeth in the Dark (Past is Prologue Productions), Nellie in Summer and Smoke (The Filigree Theatre), and Tamora in Titus Andronicus (The Stage). She was also a member of the Shakespeare at Winedale classes of 2019 and 2020. When not on stage, she teaches and directs Shakespeare at Tara Performing Arts High School in Boulder, Colorado. She holds an MFA in Classical Acting from the Shakespeare Theater Company Academy/George Washington University.
Assistant Director
KATY MATZ
Katy Matz is a performer, educator, and theatre professional based in Austin, TX. Her most recent projects include Guts (performer, Fallout Theatre), Story Wranglers (choreographer, Paramount Theatre), and Hannah and Spencer End Homophobia (director/choreographer, Fallout Theatre). Katy loves shopping and dressing up her friends like they’re Barbies, and greatly appreciates Dirty Gold for letting her do so on their dime.
Costume Design
Luis Sandoval
Luis Sandoval is a lighting designer, writer, and actor who graduated from Southwestern University with a BA in Theatre. His focus is to bring the themes of a show out through lighting to immerse the audience in an authentic experience and transport them to another world. Recent credits: Venus in Fur (Dirty Gold Theatre), Last Séance of Harry Houdini (Bottle Alley Theatre), Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra (Walking Shadow Shakespeare), YOKE (Dirty Gold Theatre) and Pueblo Revolt (Ground Floor Theatre).
Lighting Design
Michael Schatz
Sound Design and Original MusicMichael Schatz is a crowdsurfing aficionado and Barton Springs enthusiast. He serves as chief engineer at Blue Rock Studio and is on the road with William Beckmann. When Michael finally makes it home, he plays in the metal band Tears of Ra and writes his own chill, relaxed beats to study & vibe to under the name Absolute Horizon.
Sam Carey
Set Construction TeamSam Carey is one half of Fight Opera’s tag team championship gauntlet holders and art team co-lead.
Donovan Gentry
Set Construction Team (Box Specialist)Donovan is a founding member of Fight Opera, where he serves as co-lead of the Art Team. He is also sometimes the Opossum King.
Henry Arrambide
VIDEO EDITORHenry I. Arrambide is a video editor of many years, having worked on projects of all shapes and sizes - he is delighted he can assist his friends and stitch something into the show!
Julia Bennett
Julia is so proud to work with this incredible group of folks on Dirty Gold’s killer production of Insomnia Cafe! As an actor who enjoys exploring a wide variety of mediums and art forms, Julia likes learning how those forms feed into each other in surprising ways. Their first full-length collaboration with Dirty Gold Theatre was Venus in Fur (Vanda), with other favorite productions including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Backyard Theater), Antigone (The Filigree Theatre), Red (ACC Drama), and various experimental performance projects created both solo and with friends. Julia couldn’t be more stoked to be here - thanks to the entire Insomnia Cafe team for their dedication!
Interstitials & Insomnia Tour Guide
Will Fynes
As a long-time fan of their theatrical mission (and the shows too), I am simply thrilled to contribute for the first time to this Dirty Gold production. Thank you very much to Roy, Rebecca, all of the DG players, Ross, Jennifer, Matt, and the rest of the cast and crew of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.
Insomnia Tour Guide
Rebecca Greaves
Rebecca Greaves is a queer theatre artist originally from Massachusetts. She holds a BA in Theatre Performance and an MA in English Literature from Tulane University, where she began cultivating a practice that blends movement, experimentation, and storytelling. Rebecca spent a decade deeply rooted in the New Orleans theatre community before relocating to Austin, TX. After becoming a certified yoga teacher through Practice Yoga Austin, she started to combine her yoga and theatre training to support a more sustainable, mindful, and playful approach to performance. She is focused on creating provocative, character-centered work that prioritizes artist well-being and community connection.
intimacy advisor 
Andrew Pace
Andrew Pace (he/him), just called 'Pace' by those who know him, has a fervent love for storytelling, especially with friends. During his time in the Media Arts and Production school at Indiana University, he developed a love for sound engineering and quickly began a side hustle as a producer for voice over artists. Yoke is his first foray into bringing his sound design expertise to the realm of theater. Pace currently spends his 9-5 as a solutions architect and dedicates his free time towards his obsession with running, playing, and creating soundscapes for tabletop role-playing games.
Pre-Show Sound Design
Sam Kins
Sam Kins is a Visual/Mixed-Media Artist creating abstract figurative works and writings in Austin, Texas under the moniker StudioKollisions. Her work delves into themes of gender exploration, queerness, and complex identity through unconventional depictions of femme bodies. She regards the integration of new mediums—a continuous evolution within her artistic process— as an opportunity to inform and amplify her works’ voice. She is focused on fostering creative community, the storytelling of underserved experiences, and inspiring vulnerability.
Dirty Gold Marketing Director
SJ Anderson
SJ Anderson (they/them) is a queer, second-generation Malay American graphic designer and illustrator. Drawing inspiration from their own life, SJ’s work is a blend of identity exploration, punk values, surreal escapism, and fantasy. They are known for their design work for Austin indie theatre companies like Bottle Alley Theatre and Dirty Gold Theatre, as well as their work for Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. They are currently freelancing.
IG: @S.ANDE
SHOW POSTER, Promotional and Program Design
PATRICK NEESE
Patrick Joseph Neese is an Austin-based designer, improviser/sketch comedian, and filmmaker. His scenic work includes productions of "True West" and Wise Guy Theater Co.'s "Dead" at Fallout Theater. He brings 13+ years to his builds in the haunted house industry, where several of his designed-and-built attractions have been featured on the Travel Channel.
Scenic Design & Build