Digital Playbill

Creators of the Theatre Production of La Maleta de Maebelle

Glass Half Full Theatre was founded in 2011 on the belief that theater has the power to transform perspectives and inspire change. Embracing a philosophy of optimism and creativity, we dedicate ourselves to creating innovative performances that challenge, entertain, and uplift. Through our commitment to diverse storytelling and collaborative artistry, Glass Half Full Theatre seeks to illuminate the human experience and foster a sense of hope and connection within our community. For more information, visit www.glasshalffulltheatre.com

Author and Illustrator of Maebelle’s Suitcase

Tricia was born in 1960 as a baby years ago in the swampy parts of Texas. She passed her rite of passage in New York City throughout her 20's, spent many years in northern New Mexico, and now lives in Western Massachusetts. She loves to make things, loves to draw and paint and print. She loves to then make all this into 3-D using clay. She loves to sew. Tricia has had over 40 children's books published that she has either written and illustrated, or illustrated.  She is proud to have received many book awards and honors. Her commercial work also includes illustrations for various magazines, posters, labels, jacket covers, graphic design, (even) bus stop shelter art, etc.

Director, Puppet Designer, Co-Deviser

Caroline Reck (Director, Puppet Designer, Co-Deviser) is the founder and a current Co-Producing Artistic Director of Glass Half Full Theatre in Austin, Texas. Since 2012, she has led the company in the collaborative creation of nuanced works that bring awareness to climate justice and migration issues. Her work focuses on strategies to open the hearts and minds of audiences to these difficult topics using light-hearted, imaginative, and interactive puppet-based performance. A speaker of English, French, and Spanish, Caroline uses multilingualism to enhance the visual narratives of her works.  She has received awards for her Direction, Writing, Design, Puppetry, and Acting from the B. Iden Payne in Austin. A graduate of École Internationale de Théâtre, Jacques Lecoq in France with an MFA in Theatre for Self-Producing Artists from Towson University, Caroline is on faculty at St. Edward's University and Austin Community College where she teaches Movement and puppetry techniques.

Co-Deviser, Puppeteer, Producer

Gricelda Silva (Co-Deviser, Puppeteer, Producer) is a native Spanish-speaking Mexican-American from Laredo, Texas. She has BAs in Psychology and Philosophy from St. Edward’s University. She began training in physical theatre, acting, and puppetry soon thereafter. Her acting career started 15 years ago with her professional debut as The Boy in The Red Balloon (Tongue and Groove Theatre) that awarded her a B. Iden Payne for Outstanding Performer in Youth Theater in 2010. She has worked with Glass Half Full Theatre since 2012, first as a performer and puppeteer and then adding the roles of deviser, writer, and producer of original plays alongside Caroline Reck (Co-ProAD of GHFT).  Gricelda has been featured by a multitude of theatre companies in Austin, with highlights including Glass Half Full, Trouble Puppet, The Vortex, Shrewd, Salvage Vanguard, just to name a few. She has received numerous local awards including B. Iden Paynes for Outstanding Performer (Youth Theater), Outstanding Puppetry, Outstanding Lead Actress, and Outstanding Ensemble Performance. She received an Austin Critics Table Awards in 2014-2015 for Acting (Lead Role), and was voted Best Actress in Austin in 2015 by the Austin Chronicle. Her first Glass Half Full show featured her playing opposite Caroline in The Orchid Flotilla (2012), and she has since appeared or played a critical role in every Glass Half Full production to date, as a performer, deviser, producer, and writer both in Texas and nationwide.

Costume Designer with integrated puppets

Kelli Bland (Costume Designer with integrated puppets): Kelli Bland is a multi-disciplinary artist and maker. She studied puppetry for several months under Joan Baixas at the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. She has built puppets, and costumes for puppets for both Glass Half Full Theatre and Trouble Puppet Theater Company. She has created foam and felt costume pieces and puppets for music videos and television commercials, for clients such as Microsoft, The Whiskey Shivers, Takis, and H-E-B.

Director, designer, and puppet theatre artist

Director, designer and puppet theatre artist Anatar Marmol-Gagné is originally from Caracas, Venezuela. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut, and a BA in English/ Creative Writing from Hunter College. Her strong background in art, dance, music, writing, fiber and fabrication all come together seamlessly with her love for puppetry.  She has trained at the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Puppets in Prague, designed puppets for The Dramatic Question Theater, Yale, Hartford Symphony, Glass Half Full Theater, performed in slams and has toured her full length show “Calle Allende” all over the country.  Her short film  “The Moment Has Yet To Come” premiered at the 2017 Reel Puppetry Film Festival at the Puppeteers of America National Puppet Festival. She was the Artist in residence at Artspace in 2019. She was Workshop Chair for the  2023 Puppeteers of America National Puppet Festival: New in 2023 - workshops in Español! For the first time ever. She is the recipient of a Jim Henson Workshop Grant for her new production “Sueños”which will premier in May 2025, and is the founder and  curator of The Pinned & Sewtured Puppet Cabaret (2014). She serves on the Puppeteers of America Board of Directors www.pinnedandsewtured.com @pinnedandsewtured 

Dramaturg

Henry Castillo is a Provost’s Early Career postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin. He teaches Latin American theatre and performance studies. He is a former member of the Colombian avant-garde theatre troupe Teatro Experimental de Cali, led by the late maestro Enrique Buenaventura. As a Black scholar, his research interests span Creación Colectiva theatre, Afro-diasporic performance and racial capitalism, as well as Blackness, indigeneity, and cultural heritage in Latin America. He is currently working on a monograph under contract with the University of Michigan Press entitled “Racialized Bodies as Heritage.” Henry holds a B.A. in Linguistics from UCLA and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Performance Studies from New York University. He enjoys living in Austin with his wife, two children, and their cat, Luca.

Composer & Voice of Binkle

Kiko Villamizar, born in Miami to Colombian parents, was taken to Colombia as a child and raised on a coffee farm where he learned Colombian folk music through oral tradition with his family. He studied jazz in Miami, and then began traveling, collecting melodies and rhythms that make for a genuine world class fusion of Colombian rhythms. Kiko has  three albums out, curates and runs a Colombian festival, and has composed for plays before like The Pastorela at the MACC. Kiko does stand up comedy and acts at places like Creek and the Cave and the Comedy Mothership (and around the country in general).

He was nominated for Latino Artist of the Year twice in The Austin Chronicle, and has his very own Kiko Villamizar day at City Hall (May 7th)!

Sound Design

K Eliot Haynes is an award winning designer based in Austin, TX. He has been designing for Glass Half Full from the very early days including: The Orchid Flotilla, Once There Were Six Seasons, The Missionary Position, Simple Sundries, Don Quixote de La Redo, Polly Mermaid: Apocalypse Wow!, Cenicienta, Yamel Cucuy, Lucha Libre in the Global Arena, and La Maleta de Maebelle. Other recent designs include: Sightless, Lonely Planet and The Snow (ACC Drama). The Call of The Wild, Gretel! The Musical and The Wind in The Willows (Theatre Heroes), Marisol, Rhinoceros, Anon(ymous),The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, These Shining Lives, Antigonick and The Wolves (St. Edward’s University). Frankenstein, Riddley Walker, The Crapstall Street Boys, The Jungle, American Blood Song and UNDARK: A Radioactive Puppet Play (Trouble Puppet Theater). This Wonderful Life, The Santaland Diaries, Red Hot Patriot, Buyer & Cellar, POP! and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 (ZACH Theatre). Eliot is very proud to work with all the incredible folks at GHFT!

Lighting Design

Rachel Atkinson is a multi-disciplinary collaborative artist with a particular focus on designing theater for young audiences, immersive theater design, and design for devised theater. Glass Half Full credits include Once There Were Six Seasons, Don Quixote de La Redo, Polly Mermaid: Apocalypse Wow!, Cenicienta, Yamel Cucuy, Lucha Libre in the Global Arena, and La Maleta de Maebelle. She is a faculty and staff member at Austin Community College. Rachel holds an MFA in Theatre Design from The University of Texas at Austin.

Fabricated Props

Scenic Design and Technical Director

Scenic Fabrication Artist

Scenic Fabrication Artist

Light Hang

Light Board Op

Stage Manager

Graphic Design