Robert A. K. Gonyo is a theatre director, actor, voiceover artist, podcaster, musician, and tour-guide residing in Woodside, Queens, NY. Born and raised in upstate New York, Robert attended Siena College, where he studied Political Science and Creative Arts with a focus in theatre and music. After several years working in campaign politics, he attended the Master’s program in Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. Upon the completion of his formal studies, he co-founded Co-Op Theatre East (COTE), an independent theatre company that was active from 2008–2022, with the mission to create new, innovative, socially-minded works of theatre.
While versed and practiced in all areas of stagecraft, Robert’s focus in the theatre remains on directing. His credits include Frank McGuinness’s Carthaginians, Dinner With Friends, Richard II, The Trial of Donna Caine, The Shape of Things, and Picnic for the Stella Adler Studio of Acting; Million Dollar Quartet and Escape to Margaritaville for Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, VA; the ensemble-created Season to Taste and David Myers’s Muzungu, both with COTE; live performances of Samuel Beckett’s radio play Cascando and Vinko Globokar’s Un jour comme un autre, both featuring music ensemble thingNY; the ensemble-derived Mission with Mixed Phoenix Theatre Group; as well as multiple works in Amios Theatre Company’s Shotz series.
An aficionado of radio plays, Robert is the producer of Living Radio, a monthly series of new radio plays written from the news of the day. He is also the host (in the guise of “Professor Mortimer,” his tour-guide alter-ego with Haunted Manhattan) and producer of Apparitions, a podcast of new radio horror. He also wrote & directed the radio plays Conference, which puts the audience on a campaign strategy conference call, Poll, which was performed live onstage as part of Theater in Asylum’s The Debates series, and A New Cassette, featured on the Geste podcast.
He is also the creator of several works with COTE, such as his one-act Urinal Play, an allegory set in a corporate men’s room with an omniscient, disappearing boss and an overflowing toilet; O Brave New World, a site-specific, improvisation-based performance about technology and theatre set in the midst of a real house-party; and numerous murder-mystery dinner-theatre performances, created as charity fundraisers.
As a performer, Robert has acted roles in classics and brand new plays, from drama to musicals to performance art. Favorite roles include Demetrius in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Chairman in Rupert Holmes’s Drood, Rev. Kimball and others in the Drama-Desk-nominated The Threepenny Opera with Marvell Repertory Theatre, John Ivan in Myrton Running Wolf’s Carlisle: A Different Three Sisters, and sharing the stage with best friend & the greatest Buddy Holly portrayer in the world, Todd Meredith, on trumpet and mandolin in Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.
His voiceover work can be heard on several audiobooks, the Tracing Xenakis and ICEcast podcasts from the International Contemporary Ensemble, which he also produced, as well as his own off-off-Broadway podcast, Go See a Show! Also a guitarist, trumpeter, vocalist, songwriter, and amateur mandolin player, Robert performs music with Todd Meredith as the duo Acoustic Pic Slide, as well as with other friends around New York.
As a tour guide, he can be found primarily in Greenwich Village, leading ghost tours around Washington Square Park as the aforementioned “Professor Mortimer” with Haunted Manhattan, as well as leading pub crawls with Literary Pub Crawl.
Robert is the Director of Election Engagement for the League of Independent Theater, the advocacy group working to promote the interests of indie theatre artists in NYC.
Interviews
Given my work in & affinity for podcasts, I’ve had the opportunity to chat about my work a few times on various podcasts—take a listen.
BroadwayRadio, July 14, 2015—Host James Marino and I discuss the origins of Go See a Show!, the theatre ecosystem, podcasting, and more.
Nerd Roots, February 27, 2015—Hosts Kia Sayyadi & Ben Fullon and I discuss my nerd roots—love of Lovecraft, the Batman, podcasts, music, theatre, gaming, and whatnot.