Meet the CPI Artistic Team

DR. RICHARD OWEN GEER, PhD. FOUNDER, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE, INC.

People Magazine says "Director Richard Geer heals troubled communities with the magic of theatre-- and the gift of new hope." Dr. Richard Geer created Community Performance-- Theater of, by and for the community- to empower individuals and bring neighborhoods together. Working in partnership with communities and organizations, Geer has founded over a dozen theater groups, including Georgia's Official Folk Life play, "Swamp Gravy", which was part of the 1996 Cultural Olympiad in Atlanta, Georgia, and was performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Geer also founded Uptown Chicago's Scrap Mettle SOUL, a multi-generational, multi-cultural, mixed economic performance project. Geer's work, which American Theatre calls a "gem of cultural democracy" has been showcased across America, as well as England, Scotland, Brazil and Chile. Geer holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University. He has returned to serve as Artistic Director for Swamp Gravy.

JULES CORRIERE, Playwright, Director, Partner, Community Performance, Inc. 

Jules Corriere has written twenty-two plays, edited a book of oral histories, and recently completed a season writing and directing a monthly radio-variety show. Her production of Scrap Mettle SOUL's The Whole World Gets Well won the Presidential Points of Light Award and toured in London and Edinburgh. Other playwright credits include "Let My People Go! A Spiritual Journey" which performed at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall; and Turn the Wash Pot Down in Union, S.C., which was featured in People Magazine and named by the state legislature as the First Official Folk Life Play of the state. American Theatre magazine said of this play, "Even if Turn the Washpot Down doesn't save Union 's life, it has already saved its soul." Jules now serves as Co-Artistic DIrector of Swamp Gravy. She appears in the 2005 edition of Who's Who for her work in the field on Theater Arts and Social Activism.

BRACKLEY FRAYER, Lighting, Site Designer

Brackley Frayer is a professor of lighting design at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas , and has taught at Dartmouth College , West Virginia University, and the University of Florida . He recently designed Oedipus at Polonus at the Delphi theater in Greece , for the International Ancient Greek Theater Festival.  Regional design credits include work with Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Las Vegas , Seven Stages-Atlanta, the Hippodrome Theatre, The Texas Shakespeare Festival, The New York Lyric Opera Company, and the American Girl production of Circle of Friends in Chicago . Mr Frayer has been associated with Community performance for 15 years and has designed lighting for productions in Uptown Chicago, Newport News, VA, Union SC, Fort Walton Beach , Florida, Winona Mississippi, and the nationally recognized original production of Swamp Gravy of Colquitt, Georgia, which went on to perform at The Kennedy Center in Washington,D.C., and the Cultural Olympiad in Atlanta. He is a member of United Scenic Artists- Local 829. Mr. Frayer earned an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

JOSEPH VARGA, Set, Site Designer

Joe Varga has designed sets for numerous regional professional theatre companies across the country. His New York Credits include designs for Playwrights Horizons, SoHo Rep, Manhattan Punchline and several Off-Off Broadway productions. He has also deigned for the Actor's Theater of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse, Philadelphia 's Walnut Street Theater, and Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Mr. Varga has worked with Community Performance for 15 years, designing both sites and sets. His theaters can be seen in Virginia , South Carolina , Georgia , Florida and Mississippi . Mr. Varga is a longtime member of the union of professional American stage designers, and he serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he is a professor of scenic design.

KEVIN IEGA JEFF, Choreographer

Iega is an accomplished choreographer, director, teacher and performer. In 1982, Iega founded the internationally acclaimed JUBILATION! Dance Company in New York . In 1994, he served as Artistic Director of Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theater and presently is Co-Founder/Artistic Director of Deeply Rooted Productions in Chicago , IL . Iega’s choreography and direction is familiar to audiences worldwide from an international tour of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess to Spike Lee’s film She’s Gotta Have It. Iega's choreography is part of the repertoire of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Ensemble, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Williams/Henry Dance Theater, Kansas, Dallas Black Dance Theater, SUNY Purchase and Howard University ’s Dance Programs and DC Contemporary Dance Theater in Washington . His intricate and explosive work Walls, premiered during the 1996 Summer Olympics Festival in Atlanta . His seminal work Church of Nations received the award for Best Choreography from the 1996 Black Theater Alliance committee. Iega made his professional debut in the Broadway musical The Wiz. He was the principal dancer in the Broadway production, Com’in Uptown starring Gregory Hines. With America 's premier ballerina Cynthia Gregory, he performed as The Beast in Beauty and the Beast in the 1994 Academy Awards Broadcast.