The Cast
CHRIS “Buj” BUJOLD has been directing, teaching, and performing improv for over 15 years. He trained and performed at The Upright Citizens Brigade. He also performed with Stupid Broken Children as well as The Tribe with member teams Jolly Farm Revue and Damn Skippy. He can be seen occasionally performing with Brian Paul in “BP and the Buj” or with John Herman in “Gameboyz.” He has also taught improv workshops for Destination Imagination, New Hampshire Theatre Project, NH Educational Theatre Guild, Educational Theatre Association, and a variety of public schools. In addition to improv, he produced and acted in original plays for Nosedive Productions, an award-winning Off-Off Broadway theatre company, of which he is a founding member. He holds a BA in Theatre & Film, an MA in Teaching English, and a PhD in Awesome.
JACQUELINE MARTELL is a New England native who lived in San Francisco for five years where she studied advertising and commercial voice over acting. A veteran of theatre, Jacqueline enjoys singing, playing piano, and acting in her spare time. When she’s not on stage at the Player’s Ring, you’ll often find her in the audience cheering on her fellow thespians. Jacqueline also frequents the lost city of Atlantis, the Land Before Time and that old armoire that leads to Narnia. She would like to thank all of her family and friends for their continued support and for keeping her laughing.
DAVID CHEVALIER has had a lifelong love of improv. He caught the acting bug at UNH but did not indulge this side of himself until joining Stranger than Fiction in 2009. Now he has participated in numerous improv shows, festivals, and camps, and has begun acting in online videos. In addition to performing, he is author and artist of the medieval web comic Powers for Profit. Also he is a husband and father of two.
BRIAN “BP” PAUL is a New Hampshire native and veteran of the local improvised theater scene. He has appeared in memorable improv shows like “BP and the Buj,” Tim Paul’s The Rumble, and in character-based long form shows like The Tribe’s Sea Mission: Aquanauts Prime (as Archer, the Temp Worker) and Thomas in Wonkyland (as Wendell). You can also see Brian with a cheeseburger on his head in Odd Noggin Land, a surreal musical web series that won a Best of New Hampshire Award in 2009.
JOHN HERMAN has performed improv comedy from New York to Tokyo. He is also an avid media maker who designs both straight theatre and improvised stage shows, web TV shows, award winning film shorts, global collaborative music albums, and comics. He is in demand as a spokesman for the new revolution in communications media. And he is hard at work finishing his first novel. For more info on John, check out his website.
TARA MCDONOUGH has been improvising for more than twenty years, and has taught and performed in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Portland, and now Portsmouth! She is co-founder of Printer’s Devil Theater at Seattle and San Francisco’s Un-Scripted Theater Company, recently voted the Bay Area’s “Best Theater Company.” When not onstage with Stranger Than Fiction, Tara is practicing her ukulele, spinning alpaca fiber, or working on her book, Playwrights for Improvisors.
NOAH SHEOLA has been performing, teaching and directing improvisational comedy for over fifteen years, including eight seasons of Tuesday Night Improv at the Players’ Ring and countless appearances at New England festivals and clubs. A seasoned performer of scripted theater as well, Noah has played Edgar in King Lear, Frankie in Sam Shepard’s A Lie of the Mind, and the title role of Martin McDonough’s The Cripple of Inishmaan. Also a playwright, Noah won the 2002 F. Gary Newton Playwrighting Contest for his comedy Lose Some Win Some. His historical farce, The Grotesque History of Marie Antoinette played to rave reviews and packed houses at the Players’ Ring in 2004, later enjoying a production in Chicago. Noah’s comedy Scent and Sentimentality was nominated for the Spotlight on the Arts Award for Best Original Script of 2005. In 2006, Noah directed his biographical drama about the life of 19th-century chess prodigy Paul Morphy in a production featuring fellow Stranger than Fiction cast members John Herman and Chris Bujold.
JILLIAN THIELE has taught English and Theatre Arts for over 7 years in the Southern New Hampshire area. A college research grant allowed her to travel throughout England studying Theatre and Film, spending some time in Stratford-on-Avon at the Shakespeare Institute. Jillian has also acted as technical director, costume designer, art director, and prop master for countless school productions. This is her third year of improvising with Stranger Than Fiction. A mozzarella stick afficionado, Jillian also enjoys cooking, electronic indie rock, and visiting as many unique 7-Elevens as possible.
JEN WHITLEY studied acting, as well as the fascinating subject of psychology, at Saint Michael’s College in Vermont. Her addiction to performing improv began three years ago when she joined The Escapists, an improv and sketch comedy group based in Portland, Maine. Jen is delighted to continue the improv addiction with Stranger than Fiction! Of course, as a Maine native she enjoys long walks on the beach. Other interests include hiking, practicing the ukulele, and eating almost any kind of homemade pie.
JON WELLINGTON has been doing improv theatre & comedy for ten years. He has been with Stranger Than Fiction for seven years. Improv is the best way to relieve tension and say all of the inappropriate things that normal life and the real world will not allow. In his free time, Jon likes to shoot guns and spend time in the woods doing things that will one day get him put in prison for a very long time. He’s having a great time though.
In addition to our seasonal cast, Stranger Than Fiction is supported by a board of directors that includes Brian Spielvogel, Kristen Harbaugh, Noah Sheola, Brian Paul, Chris Bujold, and John Herman. We also have various members in different stages of pregnancy, birth, and child rearing hiatus. No kidding.
