THOSE GUILTY CREATURES
ABOUT US
Those Guilty Creatures is a performance/producing collective, made up of Ryan Dobrin and Carina Goebelbecker. We are grounded in ensemble-based music and movement work and are dedicated to raising the volume on quieted voices. Previous projects include our site-specific dark comedy The Voices in Your Head, experiential and ensemble-based screenlife short film The Homiesexuals: a social media tragedy, collaborative dance party wanna dance?, revival of Dutchman, performed at Access Theater in November 2019, and original devised piece She’s a Witch!, which premiered at The Tank in June 2019.
After going to high school together and studying devising, dance, and performance, Ryan and Carina went to separate colleges to solidify their love of theatre. Having reunited post-school, they found their separate educations complement their shared aesthetic. They are building a community of collaborators, equally as invested in sifting through hard conversations.
WHO WE ARE
RYAN DOBRIN
Ryan Dobrin (He/Him, Director) is one of the Producing Artistic Leaders of The Movement Theatre Company, the associate director of Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway, and the director of Those Guilty Creatures. Fellowships/affiliations include The Drama League, Playwrights Horizons, MTC, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Roundabout Directors Group, Fault Line Theatre, and Ars Nova. Associate/assistant credits on and off-Broadway with directors including Maria Friedman, Sam Gold, Billy Porter, Christopher Ashley, Trip Cullman, Zi Alikhan, Whitney White, Tyne Rafaeli, and Margot Bordelon. Productions and development include: 24 Hour Plays Broadway, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Joe's Pub, Victory Gardens Theater, The Brick, IRT Theatre, University of Michigan, Fordham University, Atlantic Acting School, Clubbed Thumb, EST, NYU’s Experimental Theatre Wing, Shakespeare Academy at Stratford, A4, Playdate Theatre, Ars Nova, and Waterwell. Ryan graduated from Wesleyan University, where he received the Rachel Henderson Theater Prize and the Outreach & Community Service Prize.
Instagram: @ryandobrin
CARINA GOEBELBECKER
Carina Goebelbecker (She/Her) is a New York based theater artist and educator. She has performed in pieces at Greene Naftali Gallery, The Brick, Life Wold, The Tank, and Theatre Row, and has choreographed for the Columbia MFA Directing productions. Carina has collaborated on productions with the New York City Players (NYC and France Tour) and Mabou Mines. Carina was a member of the 2018 Apprentice Company at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Carina's collaborative spirit has led her to be involved in the creation of immersive theater, devised theater, and original musicals and plays. Her love for theatre has led her to performance opportunities around the world in France, Germany, England. Carina graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University Cum Laude, where she received a degree in Theatre with an Acting Concentration. Carina received her MA in Human Rights Studies from Columbia University. Her thesis research explored Narrative Medicine and its possibilities for the rights claims of D/deaf community members in the medical context. She continues to explore storytelling for social change through her writing and work as a Teaching Artist.
Instagram: @carinagoebel
PORTFOLIO
THE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD
Support group members gather to share a bizarre bond. Over an hour-long meeting, eight New Yorkers of varying backgrounds exchange stories, escape the ridicule of the outside world, and build an oasis, even as individual needs test its stability. Staged for an audience of just 18 each night at a cozy, storefront church, The Voices in Your Head offered an intimate, singular experience, and a haven for weird joy.
Created by Grier Mathiot & Billy McEntee
Director: Ryan Dobrin
Production Stage Manager: Debbie Holloway
Movement Director: Carina Goebelbecker
Produced by Billy McEntee + Those Guilty Creatures
Ensemble: Christian Caro, Marcia DeBonis, Vanessa Kai, Patrick Foley, Tom Mezger, Daphne Overbeck, Erin Treadway, Jehan O. Young
January 2024, St. Lydia’s
Photos Courtesy of HanJie Chow
“If you need a morsel of sweet weirdness, acted by top-shelf Off-Off megastars, try The Voices in Your Head … Warm, witty, bonkers”
- Helen Shaw (writer for The New Yorker)
"I found solace — and nearly nonstop laughter — in Those Guilty Creatures’ immersive, site-specific group therapy black comedy."
"Created by Grier Mathiot and Billy McEntee and gleefully directed by Ryan Dobrin, The Voices in Your Head is as smart as it is hilarious. It’s not so much about how we deal with death than how we deal with life."
-Mark Rifkin, review for This Week in New York
"I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this piece. If you are a fan of immersive theatre (or support groups?), do anything you can to get a ticket. It definitely is full of weird joy."
-Nolan Boggess, review for Theatrely
"Why is that funny? Not everyone in the audience laughed as much as me, which is fine — that discomfort is equal testament to this shrewd little show’s power."
- Joey Sims, review for No Proscenium
“Ryan Dobrin directs a wickedly hilarious 60 minute piece with an incredible cast … that I will be thinking about for years to come … Excited for the future of this one”
COURTSHIP
Four Bulgarian teenagers train at an elite Tennis Academy in Central Florida while navigating their own shame and desires. Things get spooky ;)
Mercury Store Movement Workshop
Director: Ryan Dobrin
Playwright: Ryan Drake
Choreographer: Carina Goebelbecker
Sound Designer: Carsen Joenk
Featuring the Mercury Store Ensemble
THE HOMIESEXUALS: A SOCIAL MEDIA TRAGEDY
best viewed on your phone
Winner, Best Director - Short Film, Lavender Film Festival 2023
Winner, Best Screenplay - Short Film, Lavender Film Festival 2023
Selection, NewFilmmakers New York AltFest 2023
Selection, ShockFest Lucky 13 2023
Nomination, Best LGBTQ+ Film, ShockFest 2023
Finalist, NewFilmmakers New York 2022
Semi-Finalist, Dumbo Film Festival 2022
Semi-Finalist, Big Apple Film Festival and Screenplay Competition 2022
This experiential and ensemble-based screenlife short film, made to be viewed on a phone, explores the avalanche of online discourse and nuanced activism through TikToks, Facetimes, comments sections, and the myriad of other internet informational screentimes that have been our source of connection in 2020 and 2021. When Tripp, an attractive and queer-presenting TikTok-er is attacked in a possible hate crime, the internet reaction grows from supportive to increasingly hostile, sparking a conversation on queerbaiting and straight male worship in the age of cancel culture and Gen Z activism. Never focusing on a single character or video for more than a few minutes, the film will zoom through dozens of reactions, conversations, and personal reactions, told entirely through phone-based apps and videos.
Directed by Ryan Dobrin
Written by Gage Tarlton
Dramaturgy by Melory Mirashrafi
Created in collaboration with Ryan Dobrin
Produced by Ryan Kane, Those Guilty Creatures (Carina Goebelbecker & Ryan Dobrin), & Gage Tarlton
Digitally Designed & Edited by Zack Lobel
Original Score & Sound Design by Heath Saunders
Sound Mix by Twi McCallum
Additional Graphics by Gauge Wiley
Original TikTok Choreography by Pauline Lamb
Music and Lyrics to “Dance Again” by Laura Galindo
Starring (in order of appearance): Sean Stack, August Gray Gall, Laura Galindo, Avery Rose Pedell, Julia Newitt, Carina Goebelbecker, Nathan Mullen, Delilah Napier, Shana Laski, Lucy Grebin, Talia Light Rake, Morgan Rielly, Hope French, Sierra Berkeley Fisher, Luxy Banner, Emily Cass McDonnell, Andrus Nichols, Mark Feuerstein, Thom Sesma, Kerstin Anderson, Imani Russell, Ashley Hope Villanueva, Skylar Okerstrom-Lang, Vince Ryne, Camden Garcia, Parker Huseby, Jasmine Rogers, Ashton Muñiz, Andrew Rodriguez, Sinclair Daniel, Jamie Lowenstein, Carson McCalley, N’yomi Stewart, Chloé Lexia Worthington, Alvaro Chavez, Sim Yan Ying “YY”, Betsy Scarisbrick, Zofia Weretka, Kiaya Scott, Ciara Alyse Harris, and Vienna Ayla.
Inspired by the New York Times article, “Everyone is Gay on TikTok” by Alex Hawgood
This film was made possible with the generous support of:
Seaview Productions
Jamie Hulley Arts Foundation
Levy & Chauviere LLC
Ken-Matt Martin
WANNA DANCE?
We wanted to capture the conflicting desire to continue collaborating and creating, while also accepting the reality that, at least for right now, we have to dance by ourselves. But then we decided -- why settle when technology is at our fingertips? So we called on our friends to help.
Thank you to everyone who shared videos of themselves spreading joy and celebration. Thank you to everyone who let us know that they weren't in a place to be dancing. We know this is a complicated and scary time for everyone, and this is our personal way of healing.
Remember, even though you may be isolating, you're not alone. We're only a video chat away from a dance party.
Created by Those Guilty Creatures (Ryan Dobrin and Carina Goebelbecker)
Featuring Carina Goebelbecker
And our friends Simisola Akinola, Margaret Baughman, Britt Berke, Alex Branam, Soleil Ray Browne, Xander Browne, Caroline Festa, Hope French, Karen French, Cade Huseby, Parker Huseby, Ryan Kane, Kimo Kepano, Natalia Lee, Becca Light Rake, Talia Light Rake, Henry Lombino, Julia Newitt, Tolulope Ojo, Kimberly Sears, Molly Shea, Sim Yan Ying, Ashley Hope Villanueva, Alina Whatley, and Chloé Lexia Worthington.
April 2020
DUTCHMAN
A Black man named Clay rides the subway alone late at night. He is approached by Lula, a young white woman who seems to know everything about him. As the two travel through the night, Lula's charged conversation with Clay slowly reveals a troubling undercurrent to their meeting. Suddenly, Clay’s perilous existence as a Black man in a white-dominated society becomes impossible to ignore. This production of Dutchman asked questions about Black masculinity, comments that ring even more offensive in today’s culture, and observing a horror in a public space while having a phone to escape into, especially when so many tragedies are constantly at our fingertips and in our neighborhoods. When does ignoring a horror turn into being responsible for it?
By Amiri Baraka
Director: Ryan Dobrin
Production Stage Manager: Emily Bubeck
Lead Producer: Henry Lombino
Associate Producers: Those Guilty Creatures (Ryan Dobrin & Carina Goebelbecker) and Keyonne Session
Consulting Producer: Cynthia Tong
Costume & Set Design: Tekla Monson
Light Design: Zack Lobel
Sound Design: Connor Wang
Props Design: Emily Zimmerman
Dramaturgy: Bisa McDuffie-Thurmond
Fight Choreography: Carina Goebelbecker
Marketing Director: Kimberly Sears
Ensemble: Xander Browne, Tim Creavin, Zora Iman Crews, Sierra Berkeley Fisher, Hope French, Carina Goebelbecker, Keyonne Session
November 2019, Access Theater
Photos Courtesy of Rafael X
SHE'S A WITCH!
The act of witch-hunting and demonization is a time-tested practice to diminish women and their feelings, opinions, and sense-of-self. She's A Witch! explores what is to exist in a society that automatically wants to put you down, while discovering how to still thrive. Through repeated attempts at spell-casting as an act of defiance, the performers dig deeper and deeper to understand what forms of magic will make the world an easier place to exist.
Created by Those Guilty Creatures (Ryan Dobrin & Carina Goebelbecker) and Ensemble
Director: Ryan Dobrin
Choreographer: Carina Goebelbecker
Stage Manager: Zoë Kaplan
Set, Costume, & Props Design: Tekla Monson
Light Design: Zack Lobel
Sound Design: Gabriel Drozdov
Marketing Consultant: Kimberly Sears
Ensemble: Carina Goebelbecker, Sim Yan Ying, Chloé Lexia Worthington
June 2019, The Tank; November 2019, Friends Academy
Photos Courtesy of Jejomar Erln Ysit
IN DEVELOPMENT
Eat Your Heart
We are developing our next devised piece tentatively titled Eat Your Heart. We are exploring the idea of compartmentalization, emotional suppression and catharsis, and outward versus inward presentation. Utilizing the Greek tragedy format as a template, we are devising a piece that explores the ways we carry this weight in our lives.
LET'S CONNECT
Ready to make some art with us?
Contact us today.
carinagoebelbecker@gmail.com
ryandobrin@gmail.com
