about us.
OUR MISSION: Method & Madness seeks to reveal our collective humanity and accurately represent and comment on 21st century America through clear, inventive, and moving productions of classical plays in an intimate and interactive setting.
Method & Madness was founded spring of 2017 by Will Block, Renee MacDonald, and Margaret Starbuck. In our 2017 inaugural season, Method & Madness produced The Head that Wears the Crown: Richard II and Henry IV in rep and donated 10% of the proceeds to the American Civil Liberties Union. We believe Shakespeare's work remains timely and insightful, and we pick our shows with an eye towards promoting social change. Join our mailing list for news on upcoming productions.
our TEAM.
WILL BLOCK, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Will Block is a classically trained and obsessed actor and director. Originally from Sacramento, Will worked and trained with the Sacramento Theatre Company, the Sacramento Shakespeare Festival, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival before getting his Bachelors in Theatre Arts from UCLA's School of Theatre, Film, and Television. During his time at UCLA, Will spent two years as Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Company at UCLA, during which time he directed productions of The Tempest and Twelfth Night, which went on to an extended run at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. As an actor, selected credits include Iago in Othello (Shakespeare at UCLA), Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Julio in Double Falsehood (UCLA) Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Santa Clarita Shakespeare), @Blaze22 in the World Premiere of Gamers (UCLA and Hollywood Fringe), Lysimachus and Ensemble in Pericles (Porters of Hellsgate), Hally in Master Harold...and the boys and Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island (Sacramento Theatre Company). He thanks you for supporting local theater.
RENEE TORCHIO MACDONALD, PRODUCER/PRODUCTION MANAGER
After 4 amazing years, Renée recently graduated from UCLA’s school of Theater, Film, and Television with an emphasis on acting. Throughout her time at UCLA, Renée developed a passion for producing, and for 3 years co-produced an entirely student run theater festival with fellow Muse of Fire member Margaret. Additionally, she interned in the school’s production office, learning the ins and outs of successfully mounting a show from start to finish. She couldn’t think of a better way to start her post-grad life than to juggle her acting life, with her passion for producing, and is incredibly grateful to a member of a team with so many talented, intelligent, and creative artists. Renée is thrilled to put her academic experiences to work for Method & Madness and fulfill the vision of this young and exciting company.
MARGARET STARBUCK, Executive Director
Margaret is a recent graduate of UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. At UCLA she majored in theater, specializing in scenic and production design, directing, and acting. During her time at UCLA she strived to take advantage of every possible opportunity and stay as busy as possible. Her love of keeping busy and working on multiple projects at once lead her to design for several student theater groups and for the theater department, to act in both departmental and student shows, and to complete the directing continuum of classes. Recent work includes scenic designing a UCLA outdoor production of A Midsummer Nights Dream, as well as performing in it as Philostrate and Mustardseed, and directing Othello with Shakespeare Company at UCLA. Outside of her work in theater she enjoys salsa dancing and ballet, binging crime dramas on Netflix, and reading novels!
Annette Bizal, Associate executive director
Annette Bizal is delighted to join Method & Madness as Associate Executive Director. She received her B.A. in Theater from UCLA and previously operated as Literary Manager at an experimental playwriting company. Annette has a background in acting, writing, and clowning. She looks forward to creating more madness (methodically, of course) as we continue our second season!
Phoebe balson, marketing director
Phoebe Balson is an actor, writer and recent graduate of UCLA where she earned her Bachelor
of Arts degree in Theater. As a student, she served as Marketing Director for Shakespeare
Company at UCLA and participated in many of their productions both on stage and behind the
scenes including: Henry IV Part I, The Tempest, Richard III, 14 Lines, The Merchant of Venice,
and The Taming of the Shrew. Last spring, she workshopped an original one act play with
Shakespeare Company at UCLA called Scott and Juliet. Most recently, Phoebe stage managed
Beatniks at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. She recently joined the Method and Madness board
and is excited to be a part of this exciting company and its leadership team. She currently works
at Trapeze School New York on the Santa Monica Pier as an office associate and instructor.