Duende (from Spanish mythology): (n.)
the mysterious power of art to deeply move a person.
Duende seeks to make profound, illuminating, and elegant works for the theatre that are classics-based or inspired, language driven and actor focused.
Desire. Ache. Feeling so deep and visceral that words won’t do. Art that affects us in a primordial way. Stories that explore the breadth and depth of human experience and leave us breathless.
Wonder. Mystery. Beauty. Ephemera.
Duende is magic. Duende is powerful. Duende is profound and moving and hilarious and ecstatic and stirring and heart-wrenching and joyful.
It comes out of nowhere. It surprises. It delights. It startles and mystifies and illuminates.
It is the depth and width of the human experience in the magical container of art.
Desire. Ache. Feeling so deep and visceral that words won’t do. Art that affects us in a primordial way. Stories that explore the breadth and depth of human experience and leave us breathless.
Wonder. Mystery. Beauty. Ephemera.
Duende is magic. Duende is powerful. Duende is profound and moving and hilarious and ecstatic and stirring and heart-wrenching and joyful.
It comes out of nowhere. It surprises. It delights. It startles and mystifies and illuminates.
It is the depth and width of the human experience in the magical container of art.
Meet the team
Founding Artistic Director & Actor: Amy Hayes
Amy Hayes has been performing for live audiences since she was a young child, singing on radio jingles, and recording in the studio. She studied acting at Interlochen Center for the Arts, received her B.A. in Theatre and English from Vanderbilt University, and her MFA in Acting from the University of Nebraska. She continues to study at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA.
She has acted all over the country in such roles as Lady Macbeth, Toinette in Moliere’s Imaginary Invalid, Lucia in A Shayna Maidel, Maria and Olivia in Twelfth Night, Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy, and Maria in The Sound of Music, Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Cecily in The Importance of Being Ernest, Mrs. Erlene in Lady Windermere’s Fan, and Veronica in God of Carnage (Nebraska Rep), as well as a one-woman show called Atomic Pomegranate.
She directed Romeo and Juliet (for Y2K and ACO Players); Midsummer Night’s Dream (for Putnam County Playhouse); Romulus Linney’s Sand Mountain (Wagon Train Productions in Lincoln, NE), Twelfth Night for IndyShakes at Indyfringe, , and Art which she created for Indyfringe Festival. She directed Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia at DePauw and Impressionism for Wisdom Tooth Theatre Project.
Film credits include Mrs. Samuelson (with Rae Dawn Chong) in The Celebrant (2013) and Dr. Stolarz (with Marc Menchaca and Jon Huertas) in Reparation (2014).
Indianapolis audiences have seen Amy as Gretchen in the Midwest Premier of Chris White’s Rhythms at The Phoenix Theatre, Jasmine in the premier of Chris White’s Thaw at Indyfringe, Hermione in The Winter’s Tale for IndyShakes, in No Exit Performance Group’s Middletown, Gertrude in Acting Up Production’s Hamlet, and Mama in Wisdom Tooth’s Distracted, and Mistress Ford in Merry Wives of Windsor for IndyShakes.
Amy has recorded two music CD’s (Some Things Never Change and Hidden Graces) both for Spring House. Her book A Collection of Wednesdays was published in 2010 by Zondervan Press (Harper Collins).
She taught acting and theatre courses at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and was the founding director of The Fall Festival of Shakespeare at DePauw, a program which brings Shakespeare alive to Putnam County teenagers through their performance of his plays. She served as Artistic Director for Wisdom Tooth Theatre Project in Indianapolis for two years.
She launched Willow Tree Acting Lab in 2018 in NYC to teach and coach actors to sharpen their audition skills and to nurture them in their art.
She has acted all over the country in such roles as Lady Macbeth, Toinette in Moliere’s Imaginary Invalid, Lucia in A Shayna Maidel, Maria and Olivia in Twelfth Night, Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy, and Maria in The Sound of Music, Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Cecily in The Importance of Being Ernest, Mrs. Erlene in Lady Windermere’s Fan, and Veronica in God of Carnage (Nebraska Rep), as well as a one-woman show called Atomic Pomegranate.
She directed Romeo and Juliet (for Y2K and ACO Players); Midsummer Night’s Dream (for Putnam County Playhouse); Romulus Linney’s Sand Mountain (Wagon Train Productions in Lincoln, NE), Twelfth Night for IndyShakes at Indyfringe, , and Art which she created for Indyfringe Festival. She directed Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia at DePauw and Impressionism for Wisdom Tooth Theatre Project.
Film credits include Mrs. Samuelson (with Rae Dawn Chong) in The Celebrant (2013) and Dr. Stolarz (with Marc Menchaca and Jon Huertas) in Reparation (2014).
Indianapolis audiences have seen Amy as Gretchen in the Midwest Premier of Chris White’s Rhythms at The Phoenix Theatre, Jasmine in the premier of Chris White’s Thaw at Indyfringe, Hermione in The Winter’s Tale for IndyShakes, in No Exit Performance Group’s Middletown, Gertrude in Acting Up Production’s Hamlet, and Mama in Wisdom Tooth’s Distracted, and Mistress Ford in Merry Wives of Windsor for IndyShakes.
Amy has recorded two music CD’s (Some Things Never Change and Hidden Graces) both for Spring House. Her book A Collection of Wednesdays was published in 2010 by Zondervan Press (Harper Collins).
She taught acting and theatre courses at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and was the founding director of The Fall Festival of Shakespeare at DePauw, a program which brings Shakespeare alive to Putnam County teenagers through their performance of his plays. She served as Artistic Director for Wisdom Tooth Theatre Project in Indianapolis for two years.
She launched Willow Tree Acting Lab in 2018 in NYC to teach and coach actors to sharpen their audition skills and to nurture them in their art.
Managing Director & Actor: Olivia Vessel
Olivia Vessel began performing as a young child, dancing with a professional children’s modern dance company in Utah where she grew up. Not much later she began studying acting and singing as well, and eventually received her B.F.A in Acting from the University of Utah.
During her time in Utah, she also began teaching both acting and dance classes, which since then has taken her all around the world. Most notably, she has directed and performed in a new musical at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, taught acting at various schools around London, choreographed for a dance company in Arras, France, and studied Bunraku puppetry in Nagahama, Japan. She now lives in NYC pursuing a career as an actress, comedian, and theatre educator.
By day, she is currently an acting teacher with Barbizon Modeling Agency, and works for URTA (University Resident Theatre Association) as the Project Manager, helping Universities and independent theatre companies around the country produce shows and hire Equity artists, and aiding the Education Manager in organizing the annual URTA auditions for MA/MFA programs around the country.
By night Olivia performs her original solo comedy show, Olivia’s Corner (check her out on YouTube) in comedy clubs such as the world famous Comedy Cellar!
During her time in Utah, she also began teaching both acting and dance classes, which since then has taken her all around the world. Most notably, she has directed and performed in a new musical at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, taught acting at various schools around London, choreographed for a dance company in Arras, France, and studied Bunraku puppetry in Nagahama, Japan. She now lives in NYC pursuing a career as an actress, comedian, and theatre educator.
By day, she is currently an acting teacher with Barbizon Modeling Agency, and works for URTA (University Resident Theatre Association) as the Project Manager, helping Universities and independent theatre companies around the country produce shows and hire Equity artists, and aiding the Education Manager in organizing the annual URTA auditions for MA/MFA programs around the country.
By night Olivia performs her original solo comedy show, Olivia’s Corner (check her out on YouTube) in comedy clubs such as the world famous Comedy Cellar!
Marketing Consultant & Actor: Jennifer Marinelli
Jennifer Marinelli is an actress, physical performer, and marketer hailing from Michigan.
She is currently the Digital Marketing Manager for New York City's Signature Theatre.
As an actress, she was most recently been seen in SHINKA at NYC's Planet Connections Festival. She is a resident artist with two physical theatre companies, the award-winning Ren Gyo Soh and The Ume Group.
Jennifer has also worked with the New York Shakespeare Exchange, Open Hydrant Theatre Company, Hudson Warehouse, Woodshed Collective, and more.
Jennifer graduated from Michigan State University and has trained with Shakespeare & Company, The William Esper Studio, and The Barrow Group.
More information at www.jennifermarinelli.com.
She is currently the Digital Marketing Manager for New York City's Signature Theatre.
As an actress, she was most recently been seen in SHINKA at NYC's Planet Connections Festival. She is a resident artist with two physical theatre companies, the award-winning Ren Gyo Soh and The Ume Group.
Jennifer has also worked with the New York Shakespeare Exchange, Open Hydrant Theatre Company, Hudson Warehouse, Woodshed Collective, and more.
Jennifer graduated from Michigan State University and has trained with Shakespeare & Company, The William Esper Studio, and The Barrow Group.
More information at www.jennifermarinelli.com.
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