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Pigs Eye Staff

A native of Minnesota's "Iron Range", Randy first took interest in theatre while attending Lakewood Community College (now Century College) in White Bear Lake in 1989. From there, he worked for a number of theatres in the Twin Cities area, including Theatre in the Round, Lakeshore Players, The Guthrie Theatre, The Phipps Center for the Arts, and Shakespeare & Company. In 1994, Randy began attending Mankato State University (now Minnesota State University-Mankato) in pursuit of his bachelors degree in theatre. While working in several productions at Mankato, Randy expanded his interests to include writing, directing, stage managing, lighting design, and set construction. After graduating with a bachelors degree in Theatre Arts, Randy took a hiatus from theatre to concentrate on screenwriting. He returned to acting in 1999 and has remained active since. In 2000, he became one of the founding members of Pigs Eye Theatre and its artistic director. Randy's favorite past roles include: Phillip the Bastard in King John, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Jacques in As You Like It, Taylor in K2, The Interviewer in The Shadow Box, Roberto Miranda in Death and The Maiden, Walter Hollander in Don't Drink the Water, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd, Glenn in The Desperate Hours, and Garry LeJune in Noises Off. Randy is also Pigs Eye's resident playwright.

A founding member of Pigs Eye, Kris considers herself the multiple job doer. Her title changes from year to year, from acting as secretary for the Artistic Director (her husband Randy), she also has performed in various Pigs Eye shows as well as jobs such as, prop finder, thrift store scavenger, errand girl, party planner and public relations. She has a BA in Theater from the University of Minnesota, and other training such as Minnesota Academy of Stage Combat, Margolis-Brown Movement Theatre, and Morris Johnson’s Afro-Caribbean Dance. Some of her Pigs Eye appearances have been Karen in Speed the Plow, Babe in Crimes of the Heart, Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Other singing and dancing favorites are the Queen in Snow White, a sexy vamp in Mahoney’s Mirror rock musical and The Judge in Soulless Bloodsucking Lawyers: a Musical. Kris is self-employed in the Spa business and resides with her husband and two cats in Minneapolis.

Jay, originally from the bayou backwater ghetto of Natchitoches, grew up farming crawfish with his Grandpappy, Jay Bob. Young Jay passed his free time poring over a battered copy of Shakespeare's Complete Works he found in a dumpster, learning the many stories by heart. When he reached his mid-teens, Jay was ready to set out on his own. Hitchhiking with just five dollars in his pocket, a bag full of crawfish, and his beloved complete works, Jay made his way north, eventually ending up in Minnesota, he says, "cause there's lotsa fish there." There followed a "dark period" which we know very little about. Jay wandered the lakes and streams of the northern wilderness of Minnesota, often stirring up rumors of Sasquatch sightings. Eventually, just prior to his 19th birthday, Jay returned from obscurity, appearing at an audition for the newly formed outdoor classical theatre, Shakespeare & Company. The rest, as they say, is history. Jay currently holds the record for consecutive seasons at Shakespeare & Company. Favorite roles include: Guard 4 in Macbeth, Guard 3 in Henry V, Guard 6 in Julius Caesar, and Scary Bearded Girl in various shows.