ABOUT THE ARTISTS

David Deblinger (writer/performer) is a co-founder of Labyrinth Theater Company. His early solo show, Shmoo, won a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Award and was produced for Labyrinth by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. He has appeared in new plays at Manhattan Theater Club, Vineyard Theatre, The Public Theater, Theater for a New Audience, Williamstown Theater Festival, The Old Globe and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, where he won The Acclaim Award for best lead performance in a play. On TV he has appeared on, “Deception,” “Broad City,” “Blue Bloods,” “Law and Order SVU,” “Law and Order,” “Damages,” “The Sopranos,” “Sex in the City” and the movie “Clubland” on Showtime. Lucky Penny was developed at the Cherry Lane Theater and selected to be a part of Labyrinth’s 2015 Barn Series. It was workshopped at HB Playwrights Theater in January of 2016, which led to a critically acclaimed run at Harold Clurman Lab Theater in January of 2017 and has continued with performances around the country. David is also a master teacher of acting and storytelling.

Fred Johnson (performer) is an acclaimed jazz artist who has recorded and/or toured with Aretha Franklin, Chick Corea, George Benson, David Sanborn, B. B. King, Patti LaBelle, Herbie Mann, and the great Miles Davis. He has spent the past 35 years leading workshops and seminars on the power of creative expression as a tool for personal well-being and healing. Fred has collaborated on facilitating workshops with many great healers including Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Maya Angelou, Michael Beckwith, Jack Canfield, and Marianne Williamson. He is Artist in Residence at the STRAZ Performing Arts Center.

Ben Snyder (director/developer) is a playwright and filmmaker. His plays have been produced at Center Stage New York, The Vineyard Theater, Crossroads Theatre, The Apollo Theater, New York Stage and Film, and at HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Over the past decade, The Hip Hop Theater Festival has presented Ben’s plays at venues including The Bronx Museum, P.S. 122, The Harry Dejur Playhouse, The Public Theater, New York Theater Workshop, and Summer Stage. His films have screened at Cannes, Seattle, LA, Woodstock, Aspen, Austin, Napa, and been featured on the PBS series “On Story.” Ben’s feature film “11:55” with Julia Stiles, Elizabeth Rodriguez, and David Zayas and John Leguizamo was released in 2017. He was the Story Consultant on the award-winning documentary The Wolfpack. His original TV pilot, Nobody's Nobody's, starring Michael K. Williams, won Best Writer and Best Director awards at Series Fest, and is being developed at WB. Most recently, he was hired to develop an original miniseries for Channel 4 (England) and Lionsgate Entertainment, a half-hour comedy for the rapper T.I. and Rainforest Entertainment, and was commissioned to adapt the solo-shows of John Leguizamo into a feature film. Ben holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of Labyrinth Theater Company. More about his work can be found at www.twicepaper.com