ENSEMBLE MEMBERS

Esther Edelman

Esther Edelman (UMO Co-Founder/Artistic Director) Esther was the lead creative artist for UMO’s Rapunzel which premiered in spring 2005. In addition to performing in almost all of UMO's mainstage pieces, Esther co-directed UMO's Body Inheritance, choreographed the Bungee Finale for Millennium Circus, and co-wrote and directed The Making of Gone With the Wind: a Buffoons Tale at the University of South Florida. Esther has directed many of UMO's Special Events including UMO's appearance as the Ringulons on top of the Space Needle. Esther performs solo work on aerial "fabric", a circus apparatus. Esther danced with Sara Pearson and Company and studied with choreographers Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis in New York. She received her Performing Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

Martha Enson

Martha Enson (UMO Co-Founder/Artistic Director) received her M.F.A. from the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and Ecole LeCoq (Paris) in 1987. With UMO she has created and directed Instinction (1988), Caravan of Dreams (1994), and Cities (2001). She premiered her solo work, Pandora in 1997. She produced the first and second Seattle Fringe Theatre Festivals. She has both directed and performed with Teatro ZinZanni in Seattle and San Francisco. Martha is a certified Bikram Yoga Instructor, and lives on Vashon Island with her husband Kevin Joyce, and their sweet daughter Ruby Lucia.

David Godsey

David Godsey (UMO Co-Founder/Chief Artistic Officer) is a graduate of the Professional Training Program at the Circle in the Square in New York and the Laboratory of Movement Studies at Ecole LeCoq in Paris. Since UMO's co-founding in 1987, the Ensemble has been the focus and outlet for his performance work. Most recently David was lead artist for UMO's creation of FINAL BROADCAST (2007) He also directed the creation of UMO's Millennium Circus (1999) as well as Birth, Love, Death and Re-Birth (1996), a collaboration with the Seattle Men’s Chorus. He currently provides artistic focus for UMO's new work series and manages the company's educational programs.

Elizabeth Klob

Elizabeth Klob (Artistic Director) the founder and current Artistic Director of Open Circle Theater in Seattle received her training at the Professional Actors Training Program at SUNY Purchase, NY. Noted awards received under her direction include 2002 Winnipeg Best of the Fest for See Me Naked, written by Maria Glanz, 2001 Edmonton and Seattle Best of the Fest for See Me Naked, 2000 Best of the Fest in Seattle for Pu’uhonua, also written by Glanz and 1993 received Best of the Fest in Seattle for Action, by Sam Shepard. She also worked on VIC: Spirit Made Flesh, an award winning original play by Maria Glanz based on the life of the infamous Victoria Woodhole, the first woman to run for president of the United States. Her most recent directing credits with UMO include Rapunzel (2005) and Zen Tales... (mostly) in 2007.

Janet McAlpin

Janet McAlpin (UMO Co-Founder/Artistic Director) completed two years at Ecole LeCoq (Paris) and conceived and directed UMO's first full-length production, El Dorado, and through that play brought Buffoon Theater to UMO. Janet has co-created and performed over 20 original productions with UMO since 1989, and was the creative director of UMO’s Fatal Peril (2003) and Zen Tales... (mostly) in 2007. She has also appeared as Bella in Seattle's Teatro ZinZanni and has created a solo performance titled Grounded. Janet taught mask, buffoon, and personal clown at Naropa Institute for nine years, and has taught LeCoq based "personal clown" since 1988.

Amy Rider

Amy Rider (Artistic Associate) is a frequent UMO collaborator, both on stage and off. Amy received her circus arts training at Circomedia in Bristol, England where she specialized in aerial (corde lisse, doubles static trapeze) and physical theater. As an actor, Amy has performed locally with Annex Theater, Open Circle Theater, On the Boards, Theater Schmeater and the Seattle Shakespeare Company. She is a teaching artist with Seattle Children's Theater where she teaches movement technique and acting improvisation, and the Interagency Academy where she develops new works of theater with underserved, exceptionally talented youth.

Lyam White

Lyam White (Ensemble Member) is the one of the newest members of the UMO family. His first outing with the Ensemble was in Fatal Peril. Lyam studied acting, playwriting, literature and philosophy at Southern Utah University, after three years at the Grandstreet Theater Youth Program in Helena, MT. Along with these studies, he has also practiced a diverse array of martial arts, notably Capoeira Angola, Aikido Kokikai and Goju-Ryu Karate, in which he held the rank of brown belt. His Seattle appearances include roles in Trojan Women and Twilight Zone at Theater Schmeater. Most recently, he appeared as Kung-Fu Guy in Action Movie: The Play at Seattle’s Consolidated Works. Lyam has also worked with Seattle’s Annex and Greenstage Theatre Companies. A member of Open Circle Theater since 1997, Lyam conspired with Elizabeth Klob on Church of Pie, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and VIC: Spirit Made Flesh, as well as with other directors for productions of The Shadow and Brecht's Edward II. Open Circle also produced his full-length zombie farce Sunken.