Argia Coppola
Playwright of LOVE IS BLONDE
ARGIA COPPOLA is an Italian playwright and poet based in New York. Her latest play, Love is Blonde, based on the novel Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates, opened in Italy in fall 2017 to a excellent reception by audience and critics. It's set to run in Milan in Jannuary 2019. Argia’s previous work includes numerous plays that have been produced and published throughout Europe to great acclaim. She has collaborated worldwide with the award-winning Italian production companies Marcido Marcidoris and Famosa Mimosa, and with directors including Gabriele Vacis, Mario Martone, and Irene Papas. Her work has been featured at the Festival of Performing Arts in Algiers, the Greek Festival of Epidauro, and at the INDA festival in Sicily – among many others. Argia’s own production company, Il Cane di Pavlov, was awarded the international development grant “Note & Sipari” by Fondazione CRT of Turin for two years running. She holds a BA in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from D.A.M.S. (School of Arts), an MFA in Drama from the Teatro Stabile in Turin, and a PhD in Drama with a Playwriting concentration from Columbia University. She is a current member of The Dramatist Guild of America.
You can discover more about her world here.
Joyce Carol Oates
Author of BLONDE
JOYCE CAROL OATES is a five-time Pulitzer Prize nominated novelist, a recipient of the National Book Award, and the author of over forty novels. She has taught at Princeton University since 1978 and became Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor in the Humanities, Emeritus and Professor of Creative Writing, Emeritus. She has stayed there ever since, while maintaining a reputation as one of America's best writers. Her highly original, fictional account of Marilyn Monroe’s life, Blonde (2001), was a national best-seller, and a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist. She has won several awards over the years, including the National Book Award for Them, and many of her novels have become critically acclaimed best-sellers.
Giancarlo M. Traina
Copywriter & Creative Director of all things LOVE IS BLONDE
GIANCARLO M. TRAINA is an advertising copywriter hailing from Turin, Italy who has recently relocated to New York City. After exhausting his thirst for things legal at the Law School of Turin and at the Centre For Transnational Legal Studies of London (in partnership with Georgetown Law), he began working as a wordsmith for cultural, fashion and design ventures. With his passion for blending thoughts into a creative flow of words and visuals, he has built LOVE IS BLONDE's campaign, website, social media, and brand identity.
You can discover more about his world here.
Raja Khairallah
Graphic Designer & Illustrator for all things LOVE IS BLONDE
RAJA KHAIRALLAH is a Lebanese-Italian illustrator and fashion photographer with a knack for unveiling the introspective nature of all things pop, and the underrated imaginary we live by daily. With her glam-meets-verism approach, she designed our playbill, our Marilyn postcards, and created our smashing new set of pinks. You can peek at her world here.
Advisors
Barbara Altissimo – Choreographer at Liberamenteunico
Reza Fakari – President of St. Francis College New York
Piero Fassino – Former Italian National Secretary of the Democrats of the Left and Member of the Italy-USA Foundation
Biagio Fersini – Production Designer
Paolo Gaudiano – Founder & CEO at Aleria
Antonella Greco – Italian Professor at Fordham University New York
Steve Hughes – Owner at Hughes Event Design & Management
Frank Igneri – President at Redgrave Electrical Maintenance
Jackie Ortiz Igneri – Argia’s Mentor
Massimo Lapucci – Secretary General of Fondazione CRT and Chair of EFC
Giuseppe Lavazza – Entrepreneur
Damiano Possenti – Management Consultant
Ennio Ranaboldo – President of Martin Bauer Inc.
Albert Salvatico – Entrepreneur
Adam Sansiveri – Director at AllianceBernstein