Core Team Members of The Skeleton Rep(resents)
RIA T. DILULLO: Founder, Artistic Director, Developer
Greetings! My name is Ria T. DiLullo and I am the founder and artistic director of The Skeleton Rep(resents). I am a New York City native whose love of live performance stems from my earliest days. From public school class trips to see Queens College productions to my first ever Broadway show, I have always been drawn to the power and magnitude that the stage specifically, and storytelling more broadly, can achieve.
As a youngster, I was privileged to train as an actor under Elaine Lamont at the Theatre Learning Center. However, as an adolescent, I shifted gears towards athletics and away from the arts. The love was always present though, and reemerged full-fledged in college.
When not working towards my degree in American Civilization at Brown University, I spent my time in the theater department as a stage manager, technical assistant, and student of history & performance, as well as stage managing professionally in downtown Providence. I graduated Cum Laude and earned the American Civilization’s departmental Award for “Best Original Thesis,” acknowledging my work on Donald Duck cartoons during WWII. I also received the Weston Award for Excellence in Technical Theater.
After college, I spent time traveling and training, stage managing and acting. I was especially drawn to physical forms of performance, including but not limited to Noh, Butoh, mask, puppetry, Lecoq, and Alexander Technique. Once I settled back down in NYC, I shifted my focus to directing and putting in the hours for a Pilates certification in mat and apparatus.
As I started to make my way through the indie theatre scene of the city, it became clear to me that it left much to be desired. Genuine opportunities were few, far between, and unpaid or underpaid. In an effort to spend more time practicing the craft of theatre-making, I started asking playwrights and actors if they wanted to meet up and read new pages together. This format quickly evolved and formalized into the Salon Series, which predates The Skeleton Rep(resents) by a few years.
In 2015, from the ashes of my first company (Marrow’s Edge, co-founded with Daria Marinelli), The Skeleton Rep(resents) was born. The mission came to me immediately, and with clarity - to explore modern myth. Right away, I began producing/directing shows that I believed fit the mission.
While the company has morphed over the years, it’s core focus has maintained and crystalized. The Salon Series is still the centerpiece of our developmental work, now complete with a multi-day process, starting with a reading & critical response session. We have also come to offer “Craft Development Readings,” which are a single-day process with no audience. Finally, in 2020, I, through TSR, made the commitment to compensate all artists for all their time, including development. Since then, we have spent at least 90% of our annual budget on stipends.
2020 may have brought the pandemic, but TSR never stopped. Immediately, I set to work envisioning how we could make something that explored modern myth, got lots of artists involved, and adhered to the requirements around isolation. From that was born “The Great Vanishing” Parts I - III. A year later, that material sparked my (& TSR’s) first feature film project, “The Great Vanishing: Part IV,” which we filmed during summer 2021. It is currently in post-production, set to hit the festival circuit in 2022. In addition to adding film to our development roster, I also moved the Salon Series online, which has allowed for us to work with artists from everywhere, not just those within the reaches of the NYC transit system.
In addition to captaining The Skeleton Rep(resents), I am a Pilates instructor with a focus in holistic biomechanics. I am currently working my way through a certification in the Fajardo Method of Movement. When I am not developing new work or training, I can often be found outside hiking, kayaking, swimming, and fire-building, or inside reading, cooking, and watching shows with Barron Bass. If you'd like, you can peruse my C.V. here.
As a youngster, I was privileged to train as an actor under Elaine Lamont at the Theatre Learning Center. However, as an adolescent, I shifted gears towards athletics and away from the arts. The love was always present though, and reemerged full-fledged in college.
When not working towards my degree in American Civilization at Brown University, I spent my time in the theater department as a stage manager, technical assistant, and student of history & performance, as well as stage managing professionally in downtown Providence. I graduated Cum Laude and earned the American Civilization’s departmental Award for “Best Original Thesis,” acknowledging my work on Donald Duck cartoons during WWII. I also received the Weston Award for Excellence in Technical Theater.
After college, I spent time traveling and training, stage managing and acting. I was especially drawn to physical forms of performance, including but not limited to Noh, Butoh, mask, puppetry, Lecoq, and Alexander Technique. Once I settled back down in NYC, I shifted my focus to directing and putting in the hours for a Pilates certification in mat and apparatus.
As I started to make my way through the indie theatre scene of the city, it became clear to me that it left much to be desired. Genuine opportunities were few, far between, and unpaid or underpaid. In an effort to spend more time practicing the craft of theatre-making, I started asking playwrights and actors if they wanted to meet up and read new pages together. This format quickly evolved and formalized into the Salon Series, which predates The Skeleton Rep(resents) by a few years.
In 2015, from the ashes of my first company (Marrow’s Edge, co-founded with Daria Marinelli), The Skeleton Rep(resents) was born. The mission came to me immediately, and with clarity - to explore modern myth. Right away, I began producing/directing shows that I believed fit the mission.
While the company has morphed over the years, it’s core focus has maintained and crystalized. The Salon Series is still the centerpiece of our developmental work, now complete with a multi-day process, starting with a reading & critical response session. We have also come to offer “Craft Development Readings,” which are a single-day process with no audience. Finally, in 2020, I, through TSR, made the commitment to compensate all artists for all their time, including development. Since then, we have spent at least 90% of our annual budget on stipends.
2020 may have brought the pandemic, but TSR never stopped. Immediately, I set to work envisioning how we could make something that explored modern myth, got lots of artists involved, and adhered to the requirements around isolation. From that was born “The Great Vanishing” Parts I - III. A year later, that material sparked my (& TSR’s) first feature film project, “The Great Vanishing: Part IV,” which we filmed during summer 2021. It is currently in post-production, set to hit the festival circuit in 2022. In addition to adding film to our development roster, I also moved the Salon Series online, which has allowed for us to work with artists from everywhere, not just those within the reaches of the NYC transit system.
In addition to captaining The Skeleton Rep(resents), I am a Pilates instructor with a focus in holistic biomechanics. I am currently working my way through a certification in the Fajardo Method of Movement. When I am not developing new work or training, I can often be found outside hiking, kayaking, swimming, and fire-building, or inside reading, cooking, and watching shows with Barron Bass. If you'd like, you can peruse my C.V. here.
EMILY CLAIRE SCHMITT: Playwright, Screenwriter, Storyteller
My name is Emily Claire Schmitt and I am honored to be a Core Member of The Skeleton Rep(resents). I am a playwright and screenwriter focused on uncovering the mystical in the modern world, a mission that overlaps with and enhances, but is not identical to, that of The Skeleton Rep.
Ria’s vision and mine are complementary pieces of a whole. We both perceive the world as filtered through a grander structure. For myself, that structure is my Christian faith. For The Skeleton Rep, that structure is mythology. But myths are not lies. They exist on a plane separate and yet intimately infused with our own. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, some myths are simply true.
As a playwright, I focus primarily on questions of gender and sexuality within Catholicism. My play The Chalice was produced as a collaboration between the historic Stonewall Inn and Xavier Theatre, a Jesuit theater company. It tells the story of a gay man who receives a controversial religious relic from his estranged father. My play Whatchamacallit was produced by The Skeleton Rep in 2016. It follows Vanessa, the lone atheist at her Catholic girls’ high school, who becomes inexplicably (and possibly miraculously) pregnant. The comedy, which grapples with issues of consent, sexuality, and faith, has since been developed into an original musical titled The Inconvenient Miracle. (Music by Emily Rose Simons, Story by Myself and Ria T DiLullo). Other theatrical work includes Absolution (recipient of the Xavier Theatre Virtual Play Grant) and Confessional (Skeleton Rep 2018 Salon Series.)
As a TV writer, I am fortunate to work professionally for The Hallmark Channel. Credits include Raise a Glass to Love (story and teleplay, 2021) and Beverly Hills Wedding (teleplay 2021.) I am currently working on two horror scripts, both dealing with aspects of spirituality. Finally, I am ghostwriting a beautiful yet hilarious memoir, which I can’t tell you about, but is an absolute blast.
My work at The Skeleton Rep is primarily focused on the dramaturgical side, with a special focus on new play development. If you’re a playwright working with Skeleton Rep, you’re definitely going to spend some time with me. My philosophy of new play development is that it should always be guided by the vision and philosophy of the author – not by myself, actors, or anyone else who may have an opinion. For this reason, I rely heavily (but not exclusively) on Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Method. Expect to see me guiding feedback during the Craft Development Series, Short Play Festivals, and early rehearsals for the Salon Series.
It’s an absolute privilege to be trusted with the development of so many powerful, necessary new plays. Skeleton Rep’s mission is important, and if we’ve chosen to work with you, it means your work is important too. I humbly look forward to supporting you as you craft the play you intend to write. www.emilyclaireschmitt.com
Ria’s vision and mine are complementary pieces of a whole. We both perceive the world as filtered through a grander structure. For myself, that structure is my Christian faith. For The Skeleton Rep, that structure is mythology. But myths are not lies. They exist on a plane separate and yet intimately infused with our own. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, some myths are simply true.
As a playwright, I focus primarily on questions of gender and sexuality within Catholicism. My play The Chalice was produced as a collaboration between the historic Stonewall Inn and Xavier Theatre, a Jesuit theater company. It tells the story of a gay man who receives a controversial religious relic from his estranged father. My play Whatchamacallit was produced by The Skeleton Rep in 2016. It follows Vanessa, the lone atheist at her Catholic girls’ high school, who becomes inexplicably (and possibly miraculously) pregnant. The comedy, which grapples with issues of consent, sexuality, and faith, has since been developed into an original musical titled The Inconvenient Miracle. (Music by Emily Rose Simons, Story by Myself and Ria T DiLullo). Other theatrical work includes Absolution (recipient of the Xavier Theatre Virtual Play Grant) and Confessional (Skeleton Rep 2018 Salon Series.)
As a TV writer, I am fortunate to work professionally for The Hallmark Channel. Credits include Raise a Glass to Love (story and teleplay, 2021) and Beverly Hills Wedding (teleplay 2021.) I am currently working on two horror scripts, both dealing with aspects of spirituality. Finally, I am ghostwriting a beautiful yet hilarious memoir, which I can’t tell you about, but is an absolute blast.
My work at The Skeleton Rep is primarily focused on the dramaturgical side, with a special focus on new play development. If you’re a playwright working with Skeleton Rep, you’re definitely going to spend some time with me. My philosophy of new play development is that it should always be guided by the vision and philosophy of the author – not by myself, actors, or anyone else who may have an opinion. For this reason, I rely heavily (but not exclusively) on Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Method. Expect to see me guiding feedback during the Craft Development Series, Short Play Festivals, and early rehearsals for the Salon Series.
It’s an absolute privilege to be trusted with the development of so many powerful, necessary new plays. Skeleton Rep’s mission is important, and if we’ve chosen to work with you, it means your work is important too. I humbly look forward to supporting you as you craft the play you intend to write. www.emilyclaireschmitt.com
CALLIE CONSIDINE: Stage Manager, Production Assistant, Creative
Callie Considine (she/her) is a NYC-based director, stage manager, playwright, and visual artist. She graduated with a B.A. in Theatre Studies from Ithaca College where she developed her love of the craft onstage and backstage, as well as her love of nature. She thrives in the new works development process and takes great joy from being a part of the collaborative exploration of new stories. Working with The Skeleton Rep has been the pride and joy of her theatrical career, as it constantly offers new and unique perspectives of what myth is and how it applies to our lives in the here and now as well as how it shapes our understanding of our history. She can be found running the rehearsal room, hosting salon series, giving voice to stage directions in The Skeleton Rep’s virtual salons, and assisting in the season selection process. You can learn more about her via instagram @callieisaginger.