Our Company:

Bergen Anderson

Bergen Anderson was raised in Iowa, lived in Sweden, was schooled in Minnesota, and now calls Chicago home. She has worked with a number of theatres in Chicago including: Black Sheep Productions, Steep Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Stage Left, Raven Theatre, Tin-Fish, Xunesis Productions, and Steppenwolf. She enjoys playing guitar and drinking Kopparberg's pear cider.

Chad Eric Bergman

Chad Eric Bergman has collaborated in the theatre as a director, scholar, translator, designer, actor and playwright. In Chicago, he has worked with Stage Left, Live Bait, Chicago Dramatists, MPAACT, parker and Plasticene. He earned his PhD in Theatre History and Criticism from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Bergman also spent a year in Finland on a Fulbright researching the political implications of bilingual theatre. He has been an artist in residence at the Ragdale Foundation and the University of Chicago’s Summer Incubator.

Mary Jo Bolduc

MJ is from a suburb of Chicago, but her very large extended family hails from the south side of city.  She now calls the north side her home.  Most of her background is in improv and sketch comedy, which she still very much enjoys.  She has worked with the Second City National Touring Co., Annoyance, I.O., and ComedySportz. She is grateful to have had the opportunity to perform with amazing store-front theatre companies throughout Chicago: WNEP, New Leaf, Mary Arrchie, Right Brain Project, Lifeline, The Nine, Provision, Trapdoor, Timeline, Jackalope, Halcyon, Tinfish, and of course, Akvavit.  She is proud to be a part of such a creative community in this great city

Wm. Bullion

Billy is currently directing the Chicago premiere of Jon Fosse's A Summer's Day for Akvavit Theatre. He joined Akvavit after acting the role of Manne in Astrid Saalbach’s Red and Green in 2011 and last year directed their staged reading of Björn Hlynur Haraldsson’s DubbelDusch before tackling A Summer's Day for the first time while coordinating Akvavit's Nordic Spirit 2012 festival. A savvy director who sometimes acts, Mr. Bullion was recently was named to the Planning Committee for DirectorsLab Chicago. Back in the day, Bullion founded Sliced Bread Productions for whom he directed and produced works by the likes of Shakespeare, Brecht, Bullion, Durrenmatt, Charles Ludlam and, more recently, renowned painter-playwright Jeff Whipple. As an actor, Wm. has also been seen around Chicago with groups like Lifeline, Oak Park Festival, Factory, Prop Thtr, City Lit, Stage Left and Building Stage. He indeed does have Nordic roots; you just have to go all the way up his family tree to the Viking conquests of Mercia to find them.

Kirstin Franklin

Kirstin was born and raised in Colorado. Since leaving home she has studied and lived in Minnesota, Florence, London, Louisville, New York, Sarasota and now Chicago. She has had the opportunity to perform with many regional theaters across the country including: The Guthrie, Pangea World Theater, The New York Fringe, Actors Theatre of Louisville and Asolo Repertory Theatre. As a director Kirstin has worked worked with Northlight Theatre, North Park University and Actors Theatre of Louisville. At Akvavit Theatre you may have seen Kirstin performing in Red and Green, Kokkola, and Autumn Dream or in the staged readings The People in the Basement and They Died with Their Boots on.  Kirstin also produced/created and directed the Akvavit web series FINDING FOSSE available for viewing on Akvavit's You Tube Channel.  Kirstin studied theater at St.Olaf College (where she also managed to study a little Norwegian!) and received her MFA in acting from the FSU/Asolo Conservatory.

Joshua K. Harris

After growing up in Texas and earning his Masters from Oklahoma City University, Joshua abandoned the safety of a teaching career and moved to Chicago to pursue a life of constant risk in theatre. He has since appeared on stage with multiple Chicagoland theatres, playing characters ranging from the Giant at the top of the beanstalk to Ebenezer Scrooge. His interests include pro wrestling and Johnny Cash. He looks forward to learning more with every new endeavor.

Matthew Isler

Matthew Isler was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and studied Theatre at Indiana University.  He has since called Chicago home for more than eight years.  Matthew is a graduate of the Second City Conservatory Program and has been seen in many productions around town.  He is most proud of his work as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet with Purple Bench Productions and Morten in Red and Green with Akvavit Theatre.  In his spare time he loves to play guitar and teach 10th grade Reading and Writing.  Matthew is extremely excited to work with such a talented group and looking forward to calling Akvavit Theatre his home.

Mark Litwicki

Mark Litwicki’s recent credits include directing En las sombras de Colján for Chicago’s Spanish-language theater company Colectivo el Pozo, as well as co-producing/co-directing the Finnish drama Knives Cut the Air in the 2012 Nordic Spirit Theatre Festival. Litwicki’s bilingual play One Small Illegal Woman was produced at Meztli theater in Chicago. Early work included a role in Las dos caras del patroncito, an itinerant Teatro Campesino piece presented in rural Arizona. He has done radio, TV and commercial recording in Japan and Colombia, and also works with Odradek Theater Co. He holds a PhD from Loyola University Chicago, teaches writing and Latino literature at Morton College in Cicero, and has taught graduate courses for Loyola and la Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. Litwicki divides his time between Chicago and Bogotá.

Sarah Nelson

Sarah Nelson is a freelance artist and consultant in Chicago with a double degree in Theatre and Business/Economics from North Park University.  In Chicago she has worked with Akvavit Theatre, The Neo-Futurists, The Hypocrites, and Drinking and Writing Brewery.  You can find her rocking out in the band She Speaks in Tongues, parading around Chicago’s storefront scene, or here on your computer screen.

Breahan Eve Pautsch

Breahan Eve Pautsch is originally from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. She earned her BA in Theatre and English at UW-Madison. She has been working in Chicago as an actor and director since 2003. As an actor, she has worked with various theatre companies including Akvavit, Hobo Junction Productions, Halcyon Theatre Company, Chicago ScriptWorks and The Side Project. On film, Breahan has worked with Mudgeonsoul Cinema, Full Voice Productions and Butcher's Son Films. As a director, she has worked with Raven Theatre, Hobo Junction Productions, Full Voice Productions, Mudgeonsoul Cinema and Stockyards Theatre Project.

Andy Quijano

Andy Quijano is an actor and producer.  He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from Northern Illinois University.  He joined Akvavit Theatre in April 2011 and has been proactively involved in the development of the company and has assisted in producing and outreach.  He currently serves as the company’s person for External Relations and has been involved in ongoing networking to enhance the international profile of Akvavit Theatre.  He has spent time in Iceland and Sweden connecting with theatre professionals.  He has also spent time studying Icelandic at the University of Iceland.  In Chicago he has worked with Stage Left, Teatro Vista and Teatro Luna.

Our Interns:

Emily Ewing

Emily is studying all things writing and theatre at North Park University. She is excited and grateful to participate in a new realm of Chicago Theatre and can't wait to see what the theatre world will throw at her next!

Katie Patterson

Katie Patterson is excited to be helping out with the Akvavit Theatre Company and is excited to expand her theatre knowledge and experience! she currently studies both theatre and biology at North Park University.

Please contact us for more information about out internship program.