Performance

Riley Elton McCarthy (they/them) is a nonbinary performer driven by the insatiable urge to transform into the silliest little guy in the room. Riley's excited by finding irony and humor in the most unlikeliest of places, and their endless search for joy brings out the best of themselves in any room. Riley's playfulness, and eagerness to reinvent gender has lent them the versatility to play the sparkling ingenue, to boy next door, to the comedic best friend, dungeon masters, and seagulls and beyond. Riley wants to play complex nonbinary people living honest and authentically human lives. Hailed as "an American rising star" by POVInternational for their performance in Southern Bedfellows, Riley seeks to draw out empathy and let the sun shine even in the darkest of their characters. 

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Select credits include Sloane in Ivories at The Brick, 59E59, and Edinburgh Fringe, Haywood in Southern Bedfellows at Folkeatret in Copenhagen, Denmark, and originating Cynthia in The Lesbian Play at Marymount Manhattan College.  

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portrait by Joseph Sherlock.