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The Actors’ Reading Collective presents
by C. Philip Moore
adapted by Anne Hallinan
directed by Ansley Valentine
Mr. Griddle's Christmas
A reclusive, bitter man's isolated world is shattered by a mysterious talking mouse, whose demands unlock a flood of memories, culminating in a Christmas miracle that offers him a final chance at love and redemption.
Run time: 35 minutes
Cast:
Mary Elizabeth Baird*, Aldo Billingslea*, James Carpenter*, Gretchen Hall*,
Luna Hall, Tyler Hallinan, Luisa Sermol*
*Member, SAG-AFTRA
Available to stream
December 25, 2025 - January 6 11, 2026
Our Cast & Creative Team
Cast (in alphabetical order)
Mary Elizabeth Baird*
Aldo Billingslea*
James Carpenter*
Gretchen Hall*
Luna Hall
Tyler Hallinan
Luisa Sermol*
Mouse
House
Mr. Griddle
Parents, Ensemble
Child 1
Child 2
The Wife Lila
Creative Team
Ansley Valentine
Anne Hallinan
Director
Adaptor
Production Team
Ansley Valentine
Editor
Mary Elizabeth Baird (Mouse)
Mary is thrilled to be a part of ARC where her most recent appearances include Lillian in Recipe, Mother Theresa in The Last days of Judas Iscariot , Hazel in The Children, Queen Eilzabeth in Shakespeare and the Zombie Plague of 1589, and Aunt Patricia Carney in The Ferryman. She has also had a wide ranging theatre life in NY, Regionally, and in the Bay Area.
Aldo Billingslea (House)
Aldo is a founding member of ARC and the Theatre Program Director for The222.org. He’s performed at a number of theaters regionally and nationally and serves on the boards of TheatreWorks and the Institute of Contemporary Art in San Jose while teaching Acting at Santa Clara University.
James Carpenter (Mr. Griddle)
A former Associate Artist at BRT and Cal Shakes, his Bay Area credits include Cutting Ball Theatre, ACT, Shotgun players, The Aurora Theatre, Center Rep, The Magic Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Cal Shakes, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and San Jose Rep., Mark Taper Forum, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Old Globe Theatre, The Huntington, Yale Rep, Arizona Theatre Company, and The Intiman. James was awarded a Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship in 2010. Film and TV credits include: Nash Bridges, Metro, The Rainmaker, and the independent films Presque Isle, Singing, and For The Coyotes. He is a founding member of the Collective.
Gretchen Hall (Parents, Ensemble)
Gretchen is an actor and educator whose career spans Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theater, film, and television. Her most recent film was recognized on the Oscar Shorts shortlist. At Indiana University, she teaches acting, voice, and speech. She is a certified Miller Voice Method instructor and a trained Knight-Thompson Speechwork® instructor, specializing in speech and dialects. She holds an MFA from NYU Graduate Acting and a BA from Fordham University, and she is currently pursuing a Master’s in Social Work to broaden her work as a therapist.
Luna Hall (Child 2)
Luna Hall is a second-grader in Indiana. This is her first job as an actor. She loves art,
music, singing and her two sisters!
Anne Hallinan (Adaptor)
Anne last performed with ARC in Recipe (Ruth). A long-ago member of the S.F. Mime Troupe, her credits include Escaped Alone (Lena), Magic Theatre; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Cassandra), Center Rep; Les Blancs (Madame Neilson), Stanford Rep; The Arab-Israeli Cookbook (Rena, Rose, Shoshi), TheatreFirst. She has worked with Central Works, Cutting Ball, El Teatro Campesino, Theatre Q, Those Women, Utopia Theatre Project, Woman’s Will, Berkeley Rep, S.F. Playhouse, and Theatre Rhinoceros, among others. Latest screen credit: Deal of a Lifetime. This is her second “wordification” (adaptation in Word for Word style) of a story. www.annehallinan.com
Tyler Hallinan (Child Two)
Tyler is working with ARC for the first time. He is an 8th grader at Willard Middle School in Berkeley, where he plays trumpet in the Jazz Band and the Concert Band. He has been cast as Itz in The Conversion of the Jews, a short film based on a Philip Roth story and starring Josh Radnor and Rachel Bloom.
Luisa Sermol (the Wife Lila)
Luisa is a founding member of ARC. Her local credits include work with Berkeley Rep, ACT, Theatreworks Silicon Valley, Aurora, City Lights, Center Rep, and Hillbarn theatres. Regional credits include 2nd Stage (Broadway), Lincoln Center, Roundabout, Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Williamstown
Theatre, Shaking the Tree, Profile, Broadway Rose and Classic Stage Company. Film/television: Grimm, Leverage, Zero Effect, Insect Poetry. Juilliard School grad, 2024 Lunt Fontanne Fellow. Up next: The Glass Menagerie at Lakewood Theatre in Portland, Or. luisasermol.com
Ansley Valentine (Director, Editor)
Ansley is a professional director and educator. He holds an M.F.A. in Directing from Indiana University. He loves contemporary plays, having directed or produced several. His credits include Barbecue, Fallujah, The Near East, Les Misérables, The Colored Museum, and Twelfth Night. For ARC, he directed our reading of Recipe this summer.
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Once it starts, you can hit the icon in the bottom right corner for full screen.
ENJOY!