Tommaso Spinelli

Born in the costal town on Livorno, Tuscany, Tommaso moved to Rome where he got his degree in acting at the National Film School/Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. He has since appeared in several full-length and short films, and toured in Italy and abroad with various European directors, including Jan Fabre and Eimuntas Nekrošius. He appeared in the short film "East River" next to Academy Award© winner Lupita Nyong'o.  He regularly translates plays and collaborates with leading literary agencies including Arcadia & Ricono. He is the theatre editor for sillabe, a leading art publisher in Italy. His publications include LEAR by Edward Bond (minimum fax) and "La parola al Drammaturgo" by David Tuaillon (sillabe) and Calendar Girls (sillabe).  He is a University of Cambridge Certified Teacher and Examiner, and has taught public speaking and English to managers in Italy and London. As an interpreter, he collaborates with several agencies in New York, working for Discovery Channel, Jaguar and Mini. When he is not playing a leading role with Umanism, Tommaso busies himself as Trip Leader and Hiring and Traning Mentor at Backroads. He is a member of ATA – American Translators Association.

Marco Calvani

Trained as an actor, he made his debut as a playwright in 2002 with Quasi, commissioned by the European Social Forum. "Strong Hands" was his first play to be translated and performed to great acclaim throughout Europe. Commissions from the Todi Art Festival, the Phoenix Theatre of London, Teatro diRoma, Théâtre de la Ville of Paris and the Grec Fundaciò of Barcelona followed. His play "The City Beneath" had its New York debut at the Sage Theater in 2009. In the same year he also wrote and directed "Penelope in Groznyj" performed first at Berlin’s Kunsthaus Tacheles and was the only European guest at Bali's international Ubud Festival. In 2011 he won a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts of Paris and was invited by the Théâtre de la Ville  to represent Italy in an International Writing Project. In the same year he was awarded the Siae Prize as best playwright at the Spoleto Festival. He created the project AdA (Author directing Author) with his friend and colleague Neil LaBute, for which he wrote "Things of this world" (2012, Spoleto Festival, Fringe Festival Madrid, La MaMa Theatre New York) and "The Second Time" (2014, Biennale Venice, La MaMa Theatre New York ) In 2013 the Teatro Metastasio Stabile della Toscana organized a retrospective of his work for which he wrote and directed "I am Dracula". In 2013 Glory Kadigan directed the New York première of his play "Oil" for which he was presented with the Award for Outstanding Playwriting at the Planet Connections Theater Festivity Awards He is the founder and artistic director of Mixò, an international cultural center that brings together young actors and writers and promotes original works for stage and screen. His works have been translated and performed in six languages. In 2015 he was awarded the Writer Fellowship from the Edward Albee Foundation. Marco is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America Dramatists Guild of America and of the Playwrights/Directors Unit at the Actors Studio.