Julia Heynen
Encyclopedia
Julia Heynen is an American stage actress. She defined the role of Helen in Jacob Appel
's Helen of Sparta
at the Venus Theatre
, a role in which critic Ted Ying singled out her performance as a "forceful personification of the face that launched a thousand ships" and praised her as "beautiful, confident, [and] charismatic." She also originated the part of Ophelia
in Chris Wind's Not Such Stuff.
Critic Sophia Carteret wrote of Heynen that she "lets Ophelia's voice speak out as Shakespeare should have done. She lets us see the conflicting emotions of a girl learning to see the world with a woman's eyes; one who, in aiming to do right, comes to see that the duty of listening, reflecting, and obeying can be less important than the acts of observing, questioning, and seeking to correct the errors committed by oneself and others. Given the longest segment in the play, this character shows the most complexity and personal development on stage and the actor gives the role all that it needs to succeed both dramatically and intellectually."
Heynen earlier starred in regional productions of Private Eyes
, Hedda Gabler
, Pirandello's
Six Characters in Search of an Author
and nearly three dozen other productions in the Washington and Baltimore areas.
As of the summer of 2010, she is starring in the Red Branch Theatre's production of David Auburn's
Proof
. The New Dramatist named her a "local legend" in 2009, the first from the Baltimore-Washington region in eight years.
Heynen is a graduate of Goucher College
.
Jacob M. Appel
Jacob M. Appel is an American author, bioethicist and social critic. He is best known for his short stories, his work as a playwright, and his writing in the fields of reproductive ethics, organ donation, neuroethics and euthanasia....
's Helen of Sparta
Helen of Sparta (play)
Helen of Sparta is a tragicomic play by Jacob M. Appel. It premiered at the Venus Theatre in Laurel, Maryland on January 23, 2009. The play starred Julia Heynen as Helen, D. Grant Cloyd as Paris, Phil Amico as Protesilaus, Mary Burke-Hueffmeier as Laodamia and Ellie Nicoll as Oenone...
at the Venus Theatre
Venus Theatre
The Venus Theatre is a major American regional theater in Laurel, Maryland. The theater was founded by Deborah Randall in 2001. The theatrical company is currently the largest production company in Maryland focussed primarily on the retelling and adaptation of classics. Past productions have won...
, a role in which critic Ted Ying singled out her performance as a "forceful personification of the face that launched a thousand ships" and praised her as "beautiful, confident, [and] charismatic." She also originated the part of Ophelia
Ophelia
Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet.-Plot:...
in Chris Wind's Not Such Stuff.
Critic Sophia Carteret wrote of Heynen that she "lets Ophelia's voice speak out as Shakespeare should have done. She lets us see the conflicting emotions of a girl learning to see the world with a woman's eyes; one who, in aiming to do right, comes to see that the duty of listening, reflecting, and obeying can be less important than the acts of observing, questioning, and seeking to correct the errors committed by oneself and others. Given the longest segment in the play, this character shows the most complexity and personal development on stage and the actor gives the role all that it needs to succeed both dramatically and intellectually."
Heynen earlier starred in regional productions of Private Eyes
Private Eyes (play)
Private Eyes is a 1996 drama by Steven Dietz about deception and broken trust, labeled by the author as a "comedy of suspicion", as the story is brought in multiple layers and the audience is repeatedly tricked to believe that the current situation is real...
, Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
, Pirandello's
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author
Six Characters in Search of an Author is a play by the Italian writer Luigi Pirandello.The play is a satirical tragicomedy. It was first performed in 1921 at the Teatro Valle in Rome, to a very mixed reception, with shouts from the audience of "Manicomio!" .Subsequently the play enjoyed a much...
and nearly three dozen other productions in the Washington and Baltimore areas.
As of the summer of 2010, she is starring in the Red Branch Theatre's production of David Auburn's
David Auburn
David Auburn is an American playwright.He was raised in Ohio and Arkansas. He attended the University of Chicago, where he was a member of Off-Off Campus, and received a degree in English literature....
Proof
Proof
Proof may refer to:* Proof , sufficient evidence or argument for the truth of a proposition* Formal proof* Mathematical proof, a convincing demonstration that some mathematical statement is necessarily true...
. The New Dramatist named her a "local legend" in 2009, the first from the Baltimore-Washington region in eight years.
Heynen is a graduate of Goucher College
Goucher College
Goucher College is a private, co-educational, liberal arts college located in the northern Baltimore suburb of Towson in unincorporated Baltimore County, Maryland, on a 287 acre campus. The school has approximately 1,475 undergraduate students studying in 31 majors and six interdisciplinary...
.