®
by
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
directed by
Lava Alapai & Dámaso Rodríguez
SEPT 3 - OCT 1
ROBERT & MERCEDES EICHHOLZ FOUNDATION
RONNI LACROUTE
DAVID & CHRISTINE VERNIER
JAN 20 - FEB 18
Season Ticket Packages and Single Tickets now available! artistsrep.org • 503.241.1278 1515 SW Morrison St. ROBERT & MERCEDES EICHHOLZ FOUNDATION
RONNI LACROUTE
DAVID & CHRISTINE VERNIER
AN OCTOROON BY BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS CO-DIRECTED BY LAVA ALAPAI & DÁMASO RODRÍGUEZ
Dámaso Rodríguez, Artistic Director | Sarah Horton, Managing Director
CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
BJJ/George/M’Closky......................................................... Joseph Gibson* Playwright/Wahnotee/Lafouche........................................ Michael Mendelson^* Assistant/Pete/Paul............................................................ John San Nicolas^* Minnie............................................................................... Andrea Vernae* Dido.................................................................................. Josie Seid + Grace/Br’er Rabbit............................................................. Ayanna Berkshire^* Dora.................................................................................. Kailey Rhodes + Zoe.................................................................................... Alex Ramirez de Cruz Ratts/Folly Artist................................................................ Jimmy Garcia*
CREATIVE TEAM
Co-Director....................................................................... Lava Alapai~ Co-Director....................................................................... Dámaso Rodríguez~ Dramaturg......................................................................... Pancho Savery Scenic Designer................................................................. Tal Sanders # Costume Designer............................................................. Wanda Walden Lighting Designer............................................................... Blanca Forzán Composer/Sound Designer................................................ Phil Johnson Props Master..................................................................... Robert Amico Voice & Text Director ........................................................ Mary McDonald-Lewis^ Fight Choreographer.......................................................... Jonathan Cole~ Stage Manager.................................................................. Carol Ann Wohlmut^* Production Assistants........................................................ Karen Hill +, Megan Moll Board Op........................................................................... Jason Coffey TIME: NOW & 1859 SETTING: AN EMPTY, UNFORTUNATE-LOOKING THEATRE & THE PLANTATION TERREBONNE IN LOUISIANA An Octoroon had its World Premiere at SoHo Rep | Sarah Benson, Artistic Director/Cynthia Flowers,Executive Director | Subsequently produced by Theatre for a New Audience | Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director | Henry Christensen III, Chairman/Dorothy Ryan, Managing Director | at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center, Brooklyn, NY in 2015
THERE WILL BE NO INTERMISSION. The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.
* Member of Actors Equity Association, the union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Actors Equity Association, founded in 1913, represents more than 49,000 actors and stage managers in the U.S. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. www.actorsequity.org ^ Artists Repertory Theatre Resident Artist # The scenic, costume, lighting, projection and sound designers are represented by United Scenic Artists + Equity membership candidate ~ Stage Directors & Choreographer Society This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
LORT League of resident theatres
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A MESSAGE FROM ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DÁMASO RODRÍGUEZ Welcome to Artists Rep and to the kickoff production of our 35th Anniversary Season— Branden JacobsJenkins’ An Octoroon. This still-young writer (he’s only 32 years old) is quickly becoming one of the most prominent, most produced playwrights in the country. I’ll venture to add that he may be the boldest and most unpredictable playwright to have emerged in my lifetime. Today’s play, An Octoroon, is subversive, controversial and filled with uncomfortable truths delivered through audacious comedy and jarring visual poetry. His work deserves the platform and visibility that Artists Rep can provide as one of Portland’s most prominent arts organizations. This play uses unconventional means to confront our country’s unshakable and undeniable racist heritage. Through the character of BJJ, Jacobs-Jenkins directly addresses his audience, questions, and wrestles with what it means to be a black artist
(especially) in a theatre culture where he is, more often than not, surrounded by white people. He proceeds to put on display, and then subvert, one of 19th Century America’s most popular, crowd-pleasing pieces of entertainment, The Octoroon. A popular “hit” of its time (and still taught in some university modern drama classes) in all its racist and distressing stereotypes, including the manner in which it was traditionally performed: in blackface and redface. I propose that he means for audiences to laugh, and to laugh uncomfortably and involuntarily, at his screamed revelation, skewering and rewriting our shared heritage. As the play (and the play within the play) ascends into heightened absurdity, ultimately a kind of cathartic sadness remains. And after the curtain call, I hope it can move our audience toward reflection in the way that art is uniquely capable of— via a experience that can be complex and unconscious and perhaps more powerful than a traditional narrative or intellectual examination. These are incendiary times in Portland. It’s tempting to avoid a production of An
“I’m just going to say this right now so we can get it over with: I don’t know what a real slave sounded like. And neither do you.” –Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, An Octoroon
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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MESSAGE CONTINUED Octoroon in favor of less challenging or more comforting material, but opting not to produce the play feels to me like an act of fear and retreat. Doing this play has afforded our community of theatre-makers (staff, board, guest artists, company members) the opportunity to confront our own relationship to the institution of racism and to move together toward creating an inclusive, diverse and equitable culture at Artists Rep. At times the process of discussing our past, our privileges, our biases and our mistakes has been uncomfortable, in the same way that powerful art can make us uncomfortable,
but I’ve found that the most difficult conversations have resulted in mutual understanding and unity. It’s a necessary position from which to make theatre together. On behalf of all of us at Artists Rep, thank you for being a part of the conversation today. We look forward to welcoming you back again soon! With respect and gratitude,
For a detailed analysis of the play’s myriad layers and intentions, please read scholar, dramaturg and Artists Rep board member Pancho Savery’s essay It All Depends on the Difference Between “The” and “An”: Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon, pg. 10).
SHOW SPONSORS:
SEASON SPONSORS:
Bob & Janet Conklin Charlotte Rubin
ADDITIONAL MAJOR CORPORATE & FOUNDATION SUPPORT:
Artists Repertory Theatre is a participant in the Audience (R)Evolution Cohort Grants program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the professional not-for-profit American Theatre.
Artists Repertory Theatre | 5
PLAYWRIGHT’S BIO
BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ credits include Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre; Pulitzer Prize-finalist), Appropriate (Signature Theatre; Obie Award), An Octoroon (Soho Rep; Obie Award) and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He is a Residency Five playwright at Signature Theatre and under commissions from LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, MTC/Sloan, and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. His recent honors include the MacArthur Fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, the Benjamin Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation Theatre Award, the Steinberg Playwriting Award, and the Tennessee Williams Award. He currently teaches in the Hunter College Playwriting MFA Program, where is a Master-Artist- in-Residence.
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Branden Jacobs-Jenkins: FEEL THAT THOUGHT BY ELIZA BENT
Back in 2014, Eliza Bent, a performer and arts journalist, interviewed playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins for American Theatre magazine. Here are a few highlights from that interview. Let’s talk about An Octoroon. I feel like Neighbors, An Octoroon and Appropriate are all linked in some deep, fundamental way. I don’t think of it as a trilogy but I feel like it’s a thing I have moved through and have come to a conclusion with it. Neighbors, An Octoroon and Appropriate are all studies in genre. They are all engaged in the act of looking at how the theatre interacts with questions of identity—I hate that word, but I think the question always transforms and that has to do with being alive. Why do we think of a social issue as something that can be solved? Is there such thing as “the last play about anything ever”? Maybe it’s actually like nothing we’re living with is that new. Except for iPhones. We’re still idiots, we’re still human idiots. And we always have been. So there’s that.
What’s your relationship to melodrama? Melodrama is actually what the majority of our American theatrical heritage was until Eugene O’Neill came along and popped us in the face with modernism. But, in addition to the Greeks, he was super influenced by melodrama— Boucicault being the reigning king of the form in the 19th Century. And I think melodrama is an amazing thing—it’s like the science part of what we do. A generation of French guys literally just kept doing things to an audience and refined a codified formula for making an audience feel the way that these French guys thought they should feel at any given moment. This idea that we’re just these
animals that are easily manipulated by certain steps or moves or gestures is so profound to me and made me wonder: What is it that we’re doing? Is it ethical? Or are ethics somehow besides the point? I became really obsessed with Boucicault. He’s actually like our first American dramatist, because he’s this Anglo-Irish guy that came over here and wrote one of the first, most important plays about American life. It was this huge sensation and a direct response to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which is this hugely important flag in the history of American theatre. I was interested in how Boucicault would rewrite his plays depending on his audiences—like for The Octoroon, he had two different endings: one in which the heroine died (for American audiences) and another where she didn’t (for the British audiences). To me, that did not square up against the idea of a “responsible artist.” An artist had to make an artistic choice and stand by it. The idea that he would be commercially reworking his work just to make money was just… I don’t know. But as I dug deeper, I realized that’s not actually how it shook down. He tried his original ending in London and the audiences wouldn’t deal with it. He wrote like all these pamphlets and editorials defending his ending as “truthful” but in the end, perhaps a little out of spite, he rewrote the ending. I think a lot of people see this as some sort of… weakness on his part, but I think it’s telling that he burned that draft—that it’s not even in the public domain anymore. Then he made a cut version for the printing, which was never actually produced and I thought, “This is so amazing.” I did all this crazy archival research at the New York Public Library and I found this insane unfinished essay he wrote on the art of dramatic writing. One thing I’ve always lamented is that playwrights Artists Repertory Theatre | 7
never really write down what they think in a real way. I love Arthur Miller’s theatre essays—this is me being academic and ridiculous. So I find this Boucicault essay and it says how the whole enterprise for us is creating the dramatic illusion. We’re just trying to create the most perfect illusion, because that is where catharsis begins with audiences. And the way we get that illusion is that we create the most believable illusion of someone suffering. And I was, like, obsessed with this essay and that kind of became the guide for An Octoroon. I wanted to talk about the illusion of suffering versus actual suffering and ask, is there a relationship between the two? In terms of meta-melodrama, I just like the idea that this isn’t a new idea. This is like Brecht, but the idea that you could feel something and then be aware that you’re feeling it is really profound to
what I am obsessed with: feelings and that they’re mysterious and that we constantly try and fail and sometimes succeed put language on them.
And yet you’re not interested in telling people how to feel? Well, no, not how to feel about their feelings. I think my work has annoyed some people because I believe that ugly feelings have a place in the theatre! If you cannot feel angry or upset or, like, scandalized or grossed out or bored in the theatre, where else are you supposed to feel safe to do that? There were all these crazy talk backs for Neighbors where someone would be like, “I walked out!” I would be like, “That’s amazing! That’s okay. I think you took charge of your life and made a choice.” I want the right to walk out of anything.
“I I LOVE IT WHEN AN AUDIENCE CAN HOWL TOGETHER, BUT I’M EXCITED BY PEOPLE WHO TITTER OR CACKLE AT THE WRONG TIME. I LOVE PEOPLE WHO WALK OUT!” me. That somehow we possess these two faculties, one which is intellectual and gets us through the world, but the one that’s always working is the subconscious feeling place, and that’s what we care about that’s what the theatre is obligated to.
To make people feel? Yeah. It’s about feeling and building emotional experiences for people. That’s a very tall order, and I think it requires thought and care. When you talk about feelings, we’re talking about things we were doing since we were babies. I was with someone the other day and she was like, “Oh, watching theatre is one of the first things you learn how to do. When you’re a baby one of the first things you do is learn to sit and look at everything.” Is that why it’s so familiar to us? This is
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There’s a slight paradox at the heart of what we do, and this is when we get to the idea of American theatre. We’re a democracy. A democratic nation is at the heart of the American idea of itself. But audiences are not democratic. Audiences are about consensus. The successful audience is laughing at the same time and gasping at the same time. Well, a democratic audience is actually kind of weird. Sometimes people are laughing and something they aren’t. That feels real to me. I love that. I love it when an audience can howl together, but I’m excited by people who titter or cackle at the wrong time. I love people who walk out! And how everyone looks at the person who walks out. Being in groups is weird! [Laughter.] We don’t know what we’re doing. From “Feel That Thought” by Eliza Bent. Originally appeared in American Theatre magazine, Vol. 31, No. 5. Used with permission from Theatre Communications Group.
SERIES TOURING ARTISTS CURATED BY ARTISTS REP
THEy, THemself and SCHMERM Written & performed by Becca Blackwell Co-presented with PICA’s Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival
SEP 8-11
“A singular sensation” -New York Theatre Review
Part standup comedy special, part teen zine confessional, They, Themself and Schmerm is Becca’s disturbingly hilarious personal tale of identity, abuse, sexuality and gender. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll question what bathroom to use.
THE HOLLER SESSIONS Written, directed & performed by Frank Boyd Created in collaboration with the TEAM
MAR 8-11
“A euphoric and heartrending experience” -Culturebot
An explosive Kansas City DJ broadcasts his articulate, profane and impassioned testimony to American jazz in an 80-minute music-filled interactive experience.
W HITE RABBIT RED RABBIT A play by Nassim Soleimanpour
APR 12-15
“A dazzling, transcendent piece of alive-andkicking avant-garde theater” –Entertainment Weekly No rehearsals. No director. No set. Every night a new actor opens an envelope and encounters the script for the first time. Will you participate? Will you be manipulated? Will you listen? Will you really listen?
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➤ SPOILER ALERT: POST-PERFORMANCE READING
IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “THE” AND “AN”: Branden Jacobs Jenkins’ An Octoroon BY PANCHO SAVERY
I
n 1859, Irish American playwright Dion Boucicault’s play The Octoroon, or Life in Louisiana first appeared on the stage, one of more than 100 he would write in his lifetime. The Octoroon, based on Mayne Reid’s 1856 novel The Quadroon, was popular with both northern and southern audiences, which suggests that either its argument was so overtly neutral, or that one section or the other missed the message. The play tells the story of Zoe, illegitimate octoroon (meaning 1/8 black blood) daughter of the recently deceased Judge Peyton and his slave mistress. Surprisingly, the judge’s wife has accepted Zoe as part of the family and treat her accordingly, although her neighbors treat Zoe as if she were a mere servant. The judge’s nephew, George, comes to Louisiana to take over the family’s estate and to try to save it from creditors. The main creditor, M’Closky, the northern villain, stoops to murder to get what he wants, which includes Zoe, but he is upended when a new photographic technique catches him in the act. Zoe, who loves George, makes the ultimate double sacrifice of first encouraging him to marry the rich Dora, whom George doesn’t love, in order to save the plantation. Zoe then kills herself to both avoid the clutches of M’Closky and to help George forget her and live happily with Dora. The play’s logic has some flaws. Since M’Closky has been caught in his villainy, the plantation will be saved, and so neither George’s marriage to Dora nor Zoe’s suicide are necessary. But from a southern perspective, neither George’s naïve belief that he can marry Zoe and thus thwart
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miscegenation laws, nor the destruction of the traditional plantation way of life by slimy northerners, are threatened. The crucial scene in the play comes when the plantation is about to be sold, and the slaves decide “for de pride of de family, let every darky look his best for the judge’s sake – dat ole man so good to us, and dat ole woman.” This perpetuates the false notion of slavery as a benevolent institution that treats slaves like family. There is no talk of escape, resistance, or the slave revolts led by Gabriel Prosser in 1800, Denmark Vesey in 1822, and Nat Turner in 1831. There is no mention of David Walker’s 1830 Appeal that called for active resistance on the part of the slaves, nor of Frederick Douglass’ 1845 Narrative that depicts his fighting back against the noted “nigger breaker” Mr. Covey, which Douglass prefaces by noting, “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.” The play ends with the “natural order” restored. From this perspective, the play could be considered racist. On the other hand, it is also clear that Boucicault sees George as heroic. He loves Zoe despite her “Mark of Cain,” and is willing to marry her. And Boucicault is clear in his message that the southern laws that would prevent Zoe
“THIS PERPETUATES THE FALSE NOTION OF SLAVERY AS A BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION THAT TREATS SLAVES LIKE FAMILY.”
LEFT: The Octoroon by Dion Boucicault, published 1859. RIGHT: Dion Boucicault, an Irish American playwright who wrote The Octoroon.
and George from marrying are a mistake. From this perspective, the play is not racist (although there is never any talk about the inherent evil of slavery as a system; only that Zoe, as only 1/8 black should not have to suffer under it). What does Boucicault mean to convey by his use of the article “the?” Does “the” not convey singularity and uniqueness, as in “the only one?” How is Zoe unique? Is Boucicault saying there were no other octoroons? Surely not. Is Boucicault saying he only cares about this one octoroon? That seems more likely. She is so almost white, and pure, and educated that there shouldn’t be such a law for her. This one is okay, he seems to be saying, and we need to have sympathy for her. Such an attitude would reinforce the notion of Boucicault’s conservatism. In May 2014, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon opens. It is both based on and a response to Boucicault. Much of the basic plot is the same. George, Zoe, Dora, and M’Closky are all present. On the other hand, many things are different. What is the difference between Boucicault’s “the” and Jacobs-Jenkins’ “an?” Presumably,
Jacobs-Jenkins is arguing that whoever this Zoe is, she is representative of many others who are like her. But before the play begins, there is a 10 page prologue entitled “The Art of Dramatic Composition,” in which “BJJ,” standing in for the contemporary author, engages in a dialogue with the “Playwright,” standing in for Boucicault. We immediately know that this is going to some kind of Brechtian meditation on the nature of theatre; and, from BJJ’s first line, a meditation on what it means to be a “black playwright,” although he also immediately says he doesn’t know what that means. Will we by the end of the play is another question. BJJ prepares to act in his own play by covering himself in whiteface. In doing this, he is signifying on the white practice of blackface minstrelsy. In the 19th Century in particular (but also into the 20th Century with Al Jolson and Fred Astaire), one of the most popular forms of entertainment for white theatregoers was minstrel shows, in which white actors applied burnt cork to themselves and pretended, through racist caricature and ridicule, to imitate the supposed ways of African Americans. And so, before the
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play proper has begun, we are presented with yet a third question. Is one of the “functions” of a “black playwright” to take back what was taken, to recover the “truth” of African American experience by turning around the tools of the master on himself, turning racist blackface into more truthful whiteface; pointing out, for instance, how often black actors and playwrights are limited to stereotyped roles such as sports stars, drug addicts, pimps, and physical abusers? What if white actors and playwrights were limited to playing evil, sadistic slaveowners?
particularly contemporary. There is talk of a “slave mixer,” and we get, “Bitch you need to calm your busybody ass down.” (At the beginning of the play proper, JacobsJenkins notes, “I don’t know what a real slave sounded like. And neither do you.”) In the middle of the play, there is a frank conversation about the selling of slave children, another interaction absent from the original. At the beginning of the third act, another new scene comments on the fact that it is illegal for slaves to read. One of the two most significant changes is that when the plantation is about to be sold and Pete makes his speech about the proper code of behavior at the auction, it turns out that most of the slaves have already run away as part of the “Runaway Plannin’ Committee,” contradicting the earlier dialogue about the impossibility of being able to escape. Those who have been left behind have either overslept (adding humor to a serious topic) or have deliberately been left behind because they are house slaves (highlighting Blackface became popular in the 1820s when white actors would paint the class tension between their faces black with burnt cork to portray African Americans through racist caricature and ridicule. those who work in the “big house,” who are often lighterIn the same way that the play challenges skinned, and those who work in the fields, us in the prologue, the opening scene who tend to be darker). Here, once again, challenges us by commenting upon Jacobs-Jenkins complicates Boucicault’s Boucicault’s first scene. Boucicault opens vision of slavery. Another significant thing with a comic slave scene where the Jacobs-Jenkins has done is to eliminate house slave Pete refers to other slaves as two characters, Mrs. Paley and Scudder, “black trash.” In contrast, An Octoroon the lesser of the two northern mortgage begins with a slave dialogue that features holders. The result of this is that their complaints about conditions, a justification language gets transferred into the mouths for stealing bananas, a lack of a sense of of others. George, for example asks, belonging because of having been won in a “What’s the matter, nigger Pete?,” a term poker game, talk of rape by slave masters, he never uses in the original. Zoe also uses and the unlikelihood of success in trying the same term (unlike in the original) and to escape because they are surrounded kicks Pete when he falls asleep, something by a swamp. And the language used is Scudder does in the original. Both
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“WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOUCICAULT’S ‘THE’ AND JACOBS-JENKINS’ ‘AN?’”
characters have evolved from one-sided, absolutely good melodramatic figures in the original to characters who clearly have flaws and a dark side in the contemporary version, again complicating Boucicault’s vision of slavery as a generally benevolent institution. After the auction at the end of the third act, there is another interlude between BJJ and the Playwright, in which they analyze the purpose of fourth acts in the theatre, concluding that they are places where multiple plots come together and morals are provided. There is also a fascinating discussion about the fact that the hinge of one of the plots rests on the newness and accuracy of photography. Since photography is no longer new, and no longer always accurate, this might not work for the audience. BJJ suggests that since “the theatre is no longer a place of novelty,” the only thing left, “the final solution,” is “probably just an actual experience of finality,” which turns out to be a lynching photograph projected on the back wall. Not only is the previous section repeated, but the rest of the play is performed in its light. This is not just a random prop designed to get a response, but rather is integral to the play. Lynching was a tool before, during, and after the Civil War to keep “uppity Negroes” in their place. How does the photo affect your response to the play and to the specific repeated speech? In light of the dialogue on the purpose of fourth acts, did this one succeed? Did it provide a moral and bring the two main plots (Zoe’s and Paul’s) together? Act five leaves us, perhaps, with the biggest questions. It begins traditionally
with Zoe going to Dido to ask for poison to kill herself, and Zoe refers to her as “Mammy.” We are immediately told that Dido is “Taken aback by her word choice.” “Mammy” is about as pejorative a term as one can use, especially because, among other things, it connotes being old. Interestingly enough, Boucicault uses the less offensive term “Aunty.” After Zoe has left to kill herself, there is another fascinating conversation between Minnie and Dido, who also open the first act, making clear that Jacobs-Jenkins wants the realistic experiences of slaves to be the frame around the entire play. And from this dialogue, we get an attack on Zoe, both because she has insulted Dido; and even more so, because she is about to kill herself, “Cuz she in love wit that white man.” The play concludes with their folk wisdom on not becoming “too worked up over small stuff” and “live life for you.” How does this ending help us understand Jacobs-Jenkins’ “an” in contrast to Boucicault’s “the?” It would appear that Zoe is not only one of many octoroons, but one of many who places her devotion to a white man over her very life. In doing so, she dies not only in vain, since she doesn’t know about the Liverpool letter that will save the plantation; but also, at least according to Minnie, she dies a race traitor. This, I would argue, completely changes the meaning of Boucicault’s play, where Zoe is a hero who dies for a noble cause, or at least thinks she does, to Jacobs-Jenkins’ play where she is a race traitor who gets what she deserves because of her ill-advised choice. And what about the rabbit? Why is it in the play? In African American folklore, Br’er Rabbit is a trickster figure who outwits larger and more dangerous animals, and thus is a heroic figure who, like slaves, has to struggle to survive. Unfortunately, the best known examples of these tales are those published by Joel Chandler Harris in the 1880s and ‘90s as part of the plantation tradition. This
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“FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS, THE EVER-PRESENT RABBIT, ALWAYS SCRUTINIZING THE WHITE AUDIENCE, WILL WATCH OVER AND PROTECT, TO WHATEVER LIMITED EXTENT POSSIBLE, THE AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESENCE IN THE WHITE WORLD.”
Br’er (brother) rabbit, a trickster figure in African American folklore.
was an attempt on the part of southerners and their sympathizers to assuage their Civil War defeat by creating, on the one hand a portrait of the ante-bellum South as a place of joy and security with slaves happy and carefree, and on the other hand picturing the post-bellum world as one in which idle, illiterate, former slaves are a constant sexual threat to the fragility and purity of southern womanhood, thus necessitating the Ku Klux Klan. The tales morph from tales told by African Americans to other African Americans into tales told by an old black uncle to a young white boy. Br’er Rabbit appears six times in Jacob-Jenkins’ play, the first two times at the beginning of the second act when George is in the process of taking Dora’s picture. In these
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two instances, the rabbit is signaling his association with the camera as a trickster’s tool that uncovers the true murderer. The third time, also in the second act, is after Zoe has revealed to George her “Mark of Cain.” The first two times, the rabbit “wanders through, unseen,” and notices “the audience from afar.” The third time, he “pauses, notices the audience, and seems to inspect it for a bit before exiting.” It’s almost as if the rabbit wants to make the audience pause and ask a question. Is Zoe in some way acting the trickster in trying to convince George to marry Dora to save the plantation, or is Jacobs-Jenkins warning the audience that it is being tricked by Zoe? His fourth appearance, “or not” is at the end of the act, again anticipating the tricksterism of the camera. At the end of the third act, BJJ announces, “Maybe I sit in the audience of every show and play Ratts. Or maybe it’s Br’er Rabbit? Let’s just say it’s Br’er Rabbit.” For African Americans, the ever-present rabbit, always scrutinizing the white audience, will watch over and protect, to whatever limited extent possible, the African American presence in the white world. The rabbit’s sixth and final appearance comes at the very end of the play, holding “a gavel and a tomahawk, symbols of two forms of “justice.” This appearance comes at the end of Dido and Minnie’s dialogue in which they both condemn Zoe and resolve to live life as it comes. The last line of the play is Dido’s, “Anyway, finish telling me about the rabbit,” and then he appears. It is the folk wisdom represented by Br’er Rabbit that will enable African Americans to survive the briar patch of living in the white world.
STAY IN THE WORLD OF AN OCTOROON READING LIST THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD BY COLSON WHITEHEAD SWING TIME BY ZADIE SMITH HOMEGOING BY YAA GYASI A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES BY JOHN KENNEDY TOOLE WAKING UP WHITE AND FINDING MYSELF IN THE STORY OF RACE BY DEBBY IRVING
MOVIE LIST WAY DOWN SOUTH (1939) BAMBOOZLED (2000) THE WATERMELON WOMAN (1996)
PLAYLIST DNA., KENDRICK LAMAR FORMATION, BEYONCÉ THE STORY OF O.J., JAY-Z
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ACTOR BIOS
(IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
JOSEPH GIBSON BJJ/George/M’Closky Originally from Houston, Texas, Joseph Gibson has been acting professionally in Portland for five years. He is excited to open another season with Artists Rep where last year he performed in the comedy Trevor. Past credits include We are Proud to Present... (Artists Rep), How We Got On (Portland Playhouse), Cymbeline (Anon it Moves), American Night (Milagro Theatre), Masque of the Red Death (Shaking the Tree) The Lion in Winter and Macbeth (Northwest Classical Theatre.) In addition to touring Hands Up! (Red Door Project) this year, Joseph worked with the Red Door Project on the August Wilson Monologue Competition. Joseph is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and currently serves on the Portland AEA Liaison Committee.
MICHAEL MENDELSON Playwright/ Wahnotee/Lafouche Michael is a Resident Artist with Artists Rep. Credits here include Jon in Marjorie Prime, Trevor, Mothers and Sons, The Price, Tribes, The Quality of Life, Mistakes Were Made, Ten Chimneys, Red Herring, Sherlock Holmes and The Case of The Christmas Carol, God Of Carnage, Superior Donuts, Design For Living, Holidazed, Becky’s New Car, Three Sisters, Eurydice, Orson’s Shadow, Mr. Marmalade, Theater District, Present Laughter and Love! Valour! Compassion!. Local credits include Portland Shakespeare Project, Oregon Shakespeare Festival/Portland, Profile Theatre, Northwest Classical Theatre, Miracle Theatre, triangle productions!, TygresHeart Shakespeare, Portland Center Stage, A Contemporary Theatre, New Rose, Portland Rep. NYC credits: 16 | Artists Repertory Theatre
Revolving Shakespeare Co., Theatre 1010, Lincoln Center/Clark StudioTheatre, Genesius Guild, The Barrow Group. Regional credits: PCPA Theatrefest, Paper Mill Playhouse, Saint Michael’s Playhouse, Penobscot Theatre, Arkansas Rep, First Stage Milwaukee, Idaho Rep, Attic Theater and Wisconsin, Utah and Berkeley Shakespeare Festivals. Michael received a BFA from Wayne State University and an MFA from the University of Washington’s PATP. He is the Artistic Director of Portland Shakespeare Project and a member of AEA and SDC.
JOHN SAN NICOLAS Assistant/Pete/Paul A native of San Diego, CA, John first worked at Artists Rep on Jack Goes Boating in 2011. He has since appeared in The Motherfucker With the Hat, Exiles, The Invisible Hand, The Liar, Grand Concourse, A Civil War Christmas, Trevor and The Talented Ones, and is proud to be a Resident Artist. He has also performed at Portland Center Stage (Twist Your Dickens: The Second City’s Christmas Carol, Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline), Portland Playhouse (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Bingo with the Indians), Third Rail Repertory Theatre (A Noble Failure, The Pain and the Itch), Oregon Children’s Theatre (The Red Badge of Courage, The Pressure Point!), Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (Three Sisters), Badass Theatre Company (Invasion!), Miracle Theatre (Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue, Sonia Flew), The Anonymous Theatre Company (The Crucible, The Good Doctor, Lend Me a Tenor, Rumors), Clackamas Repertory Theatre (Baskerville), Shaking the Tree Theatre (Far Away), CoHo Productions (Reasons To Be Pretty), Fusion Theatre Co. (Old Times, Disgraced) and several others. He has appeared on the television
show Leverage and has made several appearances on IFC’s Portlandia. He has been a member of Actors’ Equity Association since 2002 and is proud to serve on the Portland AEA Liaison Committee. He also teaches acting and directs on occasion, most recently directing the World Premiere production of Play by D.C. Copeland and teaching scene study classes at Jana Lee Hamblin’s Act Now Studio. John is enormously proud to call Artists Rep home. It’s his favorite place.
ANDREA VERNAE Minnie Andrea is so excited to perform her second show with Artists Rep after performing in A Civil War Christmas last season. She is a native of Miami, Florida. She is also a former Portland Playhouse Apprentice. She was last seen in Building the Wall with triangle productions; Pen/Man/Ship with Portland Playhouse, The Every 28 Hours Plays with Confrontation Theatre, Antigone Project with Profile Theatre, and at Portland Playhouse in Peter and the Starcatcher. When not onstage, Andrea is proud to serve as Managing Director of Confrontation Theatre.
JOSIE SEID Dido Josie is so pleased to return to the Artists Rep stage. Her last appearance here was as Viney in The Miracle Worker. Additional previous roles include: The Queen/Angela/Hermione in A Maze (Theatre Vertigo), Lina Darling in Nine the Musical (Lakewood Theatre), The Soothsayer in Antony and Cleopatra (Portland Actors Ensemble), and Trix in The Drowsy Chaperone (Broadway Rose). She also brought Lola to life in Cottonwood
in the Flood as part of the Vanport Mosiac Festival, as well as being a member of the Drammy Award-winning ensemble of The Brother/Sister Plays (Portland Playhouse). She has also had the honor of appearing in readings for new works: Alan’s Confectionary, My Walk Has Never Been Average, Blind and Left Hook as part of Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival. Film credits include: ER Doctor in I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore and Leverage.
AYANNA BERKSHIRE Grace/Br’er Rabbit Ayanna is a Resident Artist of Artists Rep and a proud member of AEA. Ayanna is excited to work with Artists Rep and this amazing group of collaborators to bring An Octoroon to Portland stages. In this current political climate, she finds it deeply important to shine a light on innovative, thoughtprovoking, and challenging works. Through pieces like An Octoroon, she hopes that we continue to question our own relationship to race and societal norms, building a culture of deeper understanding for all humankind. She also hopes you’ll laugh a lot. Ayanna’s previous works include: The Importance of Being Earnest, A Civil War Christmas, Grand Concourse, The Understudy, Intimate Apparel and Race (Artists Rep); The Scottsboro Boys (Ahmenson Theatre - Los Angeles); Back Bog Beast Bait, Bang.Curtain.End of Show and The Investigation of the Murder in El Salvador (defunkt theatre); Fuente Ovejuna (Teatro Milagro); The Tales of Canterbury (Ensemble Loupan); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Tygre’s Heart), and more. Film credits include: Twilight, Extraordinary Measures, Wendy and Lucy, Say Uncle, The Dust Factory and The Record Keeper; and coming in 2017: My Abandonment, Artists Repertory Theatre | 17
ACTOR BIOS Lean on Pete, The Sound and Boundary Springs. TV credits include: Chicago PD, The Librarians, Portlandia, Grimm, Parenthood, Castle, Grey’s Anatomy, Awake, Leverage, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Significant Mother. Be sure to look for Ayanna in additional plays within Artists Rep’s 2017/18 season. Thank you for supporting live theatre!
KAILEY RHODES Dora Kailey was onstage last season in Artists Rep’s The Importance of Being Earnest as Gwendolyn Fairfax, and she is very happy to be back with such an incredible cast and reunited with her corset. Earlier this summer, she was dancing with a cow as Dainty June in Broadway Rose’s production of Gypsy. You may have seen her as Roxie Hart in Metropolitan Community Theatre Project’s Chicago, for which she received a 2016 Drammy nomination, or in Lakewood Theatre’s One Man, Two Guvnors. “This work of art could not come at a more necessary time, when it’s essential that we examine our place in the past and contemplate our agency in the future, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to help bring this conversation to Portland’s forefront. Thank you to the cast for the privilege to listen, learn and create.”
ALEX RAMIREZ DE CRUZ Zoe Alex is originally from Ventura, California, but has settled in Portland as an area actor, deviser and theatre-maker. Favorite credits include: 26 Miles (Profile Theatre), The Oregon Trail (Portland Center Stage), db (CoHo Theatre), TeatroSOLO: Deseo (Boom Arts
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Theatre), Passion Play (Shaking The Tree and Profile Theatre), Dance For a Dollar, (Miracle Theatre) and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Portland Playhouse). She is dedicated to creating original devised theatre and is a proud member of String House, an independent producing title and new works laboratory, nominated for two Drammy Awards for “Best Devised Production.” When not onstage Alex is inspired by the impact theatre has on Portland’s youth and is proud to work as a coach and actor with Playwrite Inc. and as a performer with Portland Center Stage’s touring education program, All is Fair in Love and Shakespeare.
JIMMY GARCIA Ratts/Folly Artist After studying at Southern Oregon University and performing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Jimmy is happy to be back in Portland where he began his acting career years ago on the stages of Milagro Theatre, Stark Raving Theater and Portland Center Stage. In Southern Oregon, he performed a variety of roles working with such esteemed directors as Bill Rauch, Libby Appel, and Pat Patton to name a few. He has most recently performed in Milagro’s World Premiere Òye Oya, Artists Rep’s A Civil War Christmas, Profile Theatre’s Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue, and 26 Miles. Jimmy can next be found at Profile’s The Happiest Song Plays Last.
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Artists Repertory Theatre’s mission is to produce intimate, provocative theatre and provide a home for artists and audiences of varied backgrounds to take creative risks. Artists Rep is Portland’s premiere mid-size regional theatre company and is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez and Managing Director Sarah Horton. Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theatre company in Portland. Artists Rep became the 72nd member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) in 2016 and is an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN).
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CREATIVE TEAM BIOS DÁMASO RODRÍGUEZ Co-Director Dámaso is in his fifth year as Artistic Director of Artists Repertory Theatre. In 2001 he co-founded the Los Angeles-based Furious Theatre Company, where he served as Co-Artistic Director until 2012. From 20072010 he served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse. His directing credits include work at Artists Rep, Playwrights’ Center, the Pasadena Playhouse, Intiman Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Laguna Playhouse, A Noise Within, The Theatre@Boston Court, Naked Angels and Furious Theatre. Rodriguez is a recipient of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, the Back Stage Garland Award, the NAACP Theatre Award and the Pasadena Arts Council’s Gold Crown Award. His productions have been nominated for multiple LA Weekly Theatre Awards and LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards. In 2012, Rodriguez was honored by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation as a Finalist for the Zelda Fichandler Award. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Directing credits at Artists Rep include the World Premiere musical Cuba Libre by Carlos Lacámara featuring the music of threetime Grammy-nominated band Tiempo Libre; the Portland premieres of Nick Jones’ Trevor, David Ives’ adaptation of Pierre Corneille’s The Liar, Nina Raine’s Tribes and Exiles by Carlos Lacámara; the U.S. premiere of Dawn King’s Foxfinder; the West Coast premieres of Jeffrey Hatcher’s Ten Chimneys and Dan LeFranc’s The Big Meal; and revivals of The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder, The Miracle Worker by William Gibson and The Playboy of the Western World
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by J.M. Synge. Credits at other theatres include productions by contemporary and classic playwrights including Craig Wright, Neil LaBute, Matt Pelfrey, Peter Sinn Nachtrieb, Richard Bean, Owen McCafferty, Alex Jones, William Shakespeare, Eugene O’Neill, Tennessee Williams, Noel Coward, Bernard Shaw, Clifford Odets and Lillian Hellman. Upcoming directing projects for Rodríguez are: The Humans by Stephen Karam and Magellanica by E.M. Lewis at Artists Rep; and Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. www.damaso-rodriguez.com.
LAVA ALAPAI Co-Director Lava is originally from Okinawa, Japan and grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii where she learned the art of Bunraku puppetry. She graduated with an MFA in acting from California Institute of the Arts and has been creating theatre in Portland for more than a decade. Credits include design and acting work for Portland Playhouse, defunkt theatre, Tears of Joy Theatre and Many Hats Collaboration, among others. Directing credits include Columbinus, Charlotte’s Web and Locomotion for Oregon Children’s Theatre, and staged readings for Profile Theatre and Playwrights West. She is an associate member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC). She would like to thank her amazing team and beautiful cast for giving her the opportunity to create this show with them, and her wife, Alex, for agreeing to go on this crazy ride with her. Visit www.lavaalapai.com to see Lava’s work as a photographer.
PANCHO SAVERY Dramaturg Pancho is professor of English, humanities, and American studies at Reed College, where he teaches courses in American literature post1850, African American literature, and modern and contemporary American and European drama. He also teaches in Reed’s freshman humanities program on the ancient Mediterranean world, focusing on Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, Persia, Palestine, and Rome. He has given theatre talks at Profile Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, and Portland Playhouse; directed Delve Reading Seminars through Literary Arts in Portland; and has published essays on Robert Creeley, Ezra Pound, Saunders Redding, Ralph Ellison, Cecil Brown, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, Robert Farris Thompson, Albert Murray, and others. He currently also serves on the Artists Rep Board of Directors.
TAL SANDERS Scenic Designer Tal Sanders holds an MFA in Design from California Institute of the Arts. An Assistant Professor of Theatre, he serves as Faculty Scenic and Lighting Designer as well as Technical Director for Theatre & Dance at Pacific University. An acclaimed designer with numerous national credits, his work has been awarded The Independent Theatre Award (7X), The Garland, and The Drammy (2X). He is a proud member of the United Scenic Artists, and has designed lighting and scenery for many aspects of entertainment including:
theatre, film, television, theme parks, mall décor, and zoos. For Artists Rep, Tal has designed scenery for Tribes, The Motherfucker With the Hat and Ithaka.
WANDA WALDEN Costume Designer Wanda is an award-winning costume designer, actor, visual artist and writer born in Chicago, raised in Portland and now lives in the Bay Area. Wanda’s first production for Artists Rep dates back to 1989 and her most recent production with Artists Rep was We Are Proud to Present... In addition to costuming An Octoroon she created the visual exploration of the production found in the lobby. Wanda’s other credits include Vanport Mosaic Festival (Hercules Didn’t Wade in the Water, American Summer Squash, Left Hook and Cottonwood in Flood), PassinArt Theater where she is a resident costumer (Gospel of Love and Kindness, Black Nativity, Smoldering Fires and Tommy J and Sally) and Portland Playhouse (How I Learned What I Learned). Some of Wanda’s favorite plays include The Color Museum, When Will I Dance, Two Trains Running, King Umps, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Sherman: a Jazz Opera, Red Beans and Rice and Simply Heavenly. Wanda has an art studio in Oakland, California, and has been commissioned twice to do the Worship in Pink artwork for breast cancer awareness for the Susan C. Komen for Oregon and SW Washington. Wanda is the Artistic Director of Retrospect Productions, a theatrical modeling company. Wanda is a prolific writer of historical scripts including Soul Shadows, Turn Back and Get Your History, Blues Me, Jazz Me, Rock Me in Rhythm, and Harlem on My Mind.
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CREATIVE TEAM BIOS BLANCA FORZÁN Lighting Designer Blanca holds a degree in architecture from Del Valle de Mexico University. In her vast work experience, Blanca has worked with the National Institute of Fine Arts (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes Mexico) for over two decades. She also operates as a lighting designer, producing manager, set designer, tour manager and international technical director. Notable shows include Faust (Brooklyn Academy of Music), Hamlet (Cádiz, Spain), Woyzeck (Mexico City), Moliere (Medico, Barcelona, Columbia), and many more. Blanca continues her theatre studies and production techniques in light and design at the Banff Center in Canada. After her experience in New York, she decided to focus on more jobs in the United States. These productions so far include Broken Promises, Contigo Pan y Cebolla and El Muerto Vegabundo (Milagro Theatre) and País de Bicicletas (Aurora Theatre, Laurenceville, GA). Blanca is so happy to be working with Artists Rep!
PHIL JOHNSON Composer/ Sound Designer Phil Johnson is a painter and theatrical artist based in Portland. His recent productions include Hands Up! (Red Door Project), Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue, The Antigone Project, A Lady Onstage (Profile Theatre), Worse Than Tigers (ACT Theater/Red Stage), Contigo Pan y Cebolla (Milagro Theatre), All My Sons and The Importance of Being Earnest (Valley Repertory Theater). When he isn’t designing or teaching, Phil Johnson is traveling the world spreading art education to impoverished areas. He
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most recently taught theatre in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Phil has a BFA and MA from Ohio University. For updates, artwork, digital downloads, and links to show soundtracks please visit PhilJohnsondesignstheworld.com.
ROBERT AMICO Props Master Robert Amico is an artist and puppeteer who graduated Magna Cum Laude from Lewis & Clark College, where he studied Studio Art and Theatre. He has recently worked in the crafts department of Michael Curry Design, as a puppet fabricator and props artisan for Portland Center Stage’s productions of The Little Shop of Horrors and Oregon Trail, and as a props artisan and set dresser for Portland Escape Rooms. He has also worked as the costume designer for Post 5’s production of Othello and as the puppet designer and fabricator for Kettlehead Productions’ The Tall Tales of Paul Bunyan performed as part of the 2017 Fertile Ground Festival.
MARY MCDONALD-LEWIS Voice & Text Director Mary McDonald-Lewis has been a professional artist since 1979. She resides in Portland, Oregon, and is an international dialect coach for film, television and stage. She also works as a voice actor, oncamera actor, stage actor and director. An Octoroon is MaryMac’s 29th show with the company, and you can also hear her work at Portland Center Stage, where she is also resident dialect coach, and on other stages around town. She is deeply grateful to the patrons and audience members of Artists Rep, whose support allows the theatre to provide her services to the actors. Mary holds her MFA in Directing from the
University of Portland. MaryMac loves what she does, and she thanks Finnegan, Sullivan and Flynn for always wagging their tails when she comes home. www.marymac.com
JONATHAN COLE Fight Choreographer Jonathan has worked throughout the Northwest as a director, actor and fight director, and is a tenured faculty member of the Theatre Department at Willamette University. He is one of two Society of American Fight Directors Certified Teachers of stage combat in Oregon, and co-owns Revenge Arts, one of the largest stage combat consortiums in the United States. His choreography is most often seen on Artists Rep’s stage, where he recently choreographed fights for Feathers and Teeth, The Talented Ones, Trevor, Skin of Our Teeth, The Miracle Worker, and The Liar. Jonathan’s choreography has also been seen at Third Rail Repertory Theatre, Portland Shakespeare Project, Clackamas Repertory Theatre and Profile Theatre. He is proud to be a Full Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers society.
CAROL ANN WOHLMUT Stage Manager Carol Ann studied theatre arts at the University of Northern Iowa. However, most of her education comes from working for past 30 years in every aspect of theatre arts. She has been the Stage Manager for 31 plays at Artists Rep: The Weir, Art, The Shape Of Things, Copenhagen, Top Dog/Underdog, The Lobby Hero, Mercy Seat, Enchanted April, The Seagull, Assassins, Mr. Marmalade, Mars On Life – The Holiday Edition, Rabbit Hole, Blackbird, Three
Sisters, Design For Living, Othello, Ah, Wilderness!, Mars On Life-Live!, The Cherry Orchard, God Of Carnage, Red Herring, Ithaka, Mistakes Were Made, The Playboy Of The Western World, Blithe Spirit, The Invisible Hand, The Liar, Broomstick, Mothers And Sons, Grand Concourse, Feathers and Teeth and The Importance of Being Earnest. Carol Ann has stage managed for many theaters in the Portland area, including Portland Center Stage, Portland Rep, Stark Raving Theater, New Rose Theatre, triangle productions!, Musical Theater Co, Metro Performing Arts, Northwest Children’s Theatre and Carousel Co. In addition, Carol Ann guest lectures on Stage Management and making a living in theatre arts at various educational facilities.
KAREN HILL Production Assistant Karen is happy to be at Artists Rep for her fourth season. She has worked on The Importance of Being Earnest, Marjorie Prime, A Civil War Christmas, American Hero, Grand Concourse, The Miracle Worker, Cuba Libre, and Exiles. She also works at Portland Shakespeare Project, Oregon Children’s Theater, Profile, and the Portland Opera. She is grateful every day that she gets to create beautiful art, and would like to thank her husband, Mike, for his continued support of this crazy lifestyle.
MEGAN MOLL Production Assistant Megan Moll, still new to the Portland theatre scene, is excited to be back for her second season at Artists Rep after working on Feathers and Teeth
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CREATIVE TEAM BIOS and The Importance of Being Earnest last season. Megan graduated in 2016 from Pacific University where she studied Music and Theatre, and likes to dip into both art forms whenever possible. Most recently she stage managed for Chamber Music Northwest’s summer music festival in Portland, and you can sometimes find her at Artists Rep’s Late Night Piano Bar, brushing up on her singing skills.
JASON COFFEY Board Op Jason is thrilled to be back for his 15th season with Artists Rep as light/sound board op. He has been a part of such notable productions as American Hero, Marjorie Prime, The Talented Ones, Broomstick, Mothers and Sons, The
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Invisible Hand, as well as the numerous productions dating back to the 2002/03 season. Not only has Jason worked backstage for Artists Rep, but he also had the privilege of being on stage in A Streetcar Named Desire as Steve Hubbell, back in 2008. Jason has been working professionally as an actor and technician/ Stage Manager since 1994, with many other companies including triangle productions!, Teatro Milagro, Northwest Children’s Theater, and The 3rd Floor Sketch Comedy Troupe. Most recently, he Stage Managed triangle productions! third remount of Avenue Q, Buyer & Cellar, and last summer’s hit Green Day’s American Idiot. Jason has also been seen on an episode of Leverage has done several local industrial films and commercials.
Artists Repertory Theatre’s mission is to produce intimate, provocative theatre and provide a home for artists of varied backgrounds to take creative risks. Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is Portland’s premiere mid-size regional theatre company. Artists Rep became the 72nd member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) in May 2016 and is an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN).
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STUDENT MATINEE PROGRAM OPEN CAPTIONED PERFORMANCES
STAFF Artistic Director: Dámaso Rodríguez
PRODUCTION
Managing Director: Sarah Horton
Production Manager: Kristeen Willis Crosser
ARTISTIC
Company Manager & Casting Associate: Vonessa Martin
Artistic Producer: Shawn Lee Associate Producer: Kristeen Willis Crosser Director of New Play Development & Dramaturgy: Luan Schooler ArtsHub Director: Jerry Tischleder Resident Artists: Linda Alper, Ayanna Berkshire, Bobby Brewer-Wallin, Chris Harder, Michelle Jazuk, JoAnn Johnson, Kevin Jones, Val Landrum, Sarah Lucht, Susannah Mars, Gilberto Martin Del Campo, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Michael Mendelson, Allen Nause, Amy Newman, Vana O’Brien, Rodolfo Ortega, Sharath Patel, Gregory Pulver, John San Nicolas, Vin Shambry, Andrea Stolowitz, Joshua Weinstein, Megan Wilkerson, Carol Ann Wohlmut
ADMINISTRATIVE Director of Finance & Administration: Jim Neuner Finance & Administrative Assistant: Vonessa Martin Executive Assistant: Allie Rangel
MARKETING Marketing Manager: Jessica Gleason Publicist: Nicole Lane
Operations & Sound Technician: David Peterson Resident Stage Managers: Michelle Jazuk, Carol Ann Wohlmut Interim Technical Director/Scene Shop Foreman: Nathan Crone Master Carpenters: Eddie Rivera Master Electrician: Ronan Kilkelly Scenic Charge: Sarah Kindler Voice & Text Director: Mary McDonald-Lewis Resident Fight Choreographer: Jonathan Cole
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Mike Barr, Chair Jeffrey Condit, Vice-Chair Dr. Andrew Glass, Treasurer Patricia Garner, Secretary Marcia Darm, MD, Past Chair Julie Ball Denise Frisbee Blake Johnson Michael Parsons Pancho Savery Andrea Schmidt Cyrus Vafi
Marketing Associate: Mary Beth Leavens Digital & Graphic Design Specialist: Jeff Hayes
AUDIENCE SERVICES Music Events Specialist: Susannah Mars
FOR THIS PRODUCTION
Audience & ArtsHub Services Director: Karen Rathje
Scenic Artist: Kelly Tobuko
Audience & ArtsHub Services Manager: Christina DeYoung Box Office Manager: Jon Younkin Box Office Associate: Jack Ridenour House Managers: Deborah Gangwer, Karl Hanover, Valerie Liptak, Tara McMahon, Miranda Russ Concessions: Jennifer Zubernick, Geraldine Sandberg
DEVELOPMENT Development Director: Sarah Taylor Audience Development & Events Manager: Kisha Jarrett
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Carpenters: Ben Serreau-Raskin, Corey McCarey, Riley Bova, Tyler Buswell, Braydon Little Electricians: Kelly Terry, Cameron McFee, Molly Gardner, Ben SerreauRaskin Stitchers: Darcy Sharpe, Kathleen Reid Wardrobe: Clare Hungate-Hawk Production Interns: Abbey Mosely, Melinda Roddy, Zachary Olson, Ben Caldwell, Mark Fernandez Special Thanks: Bryan Aulick, Bakersfield Cotton Warehouse
OUR SUPPORTERS We built the set, sewed the costumes, adjusted the lights, called the cues, and rehearsed, and rehearsed, and rehearsed. YOU GENEROUSLY DONATED TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. TAKE A BOW. This list celebrates Artists Rep donors of $100 or more who gave between August 1, 2017 and April 1, 2018. Join this cast of characters with a gift today. Call Sarah Taylor at 503.972.3017 or visit www.artistsrep.org.
GAME CHANGERS ($100,000+)
Anonymous Robert & Mercedes Eichholz Foundation James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation Renaissance Foundation The Estate of David E. Wedge
VISIONARIES ($50,000-$99,999)
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Ronni Lacroute Meyer Memorial Trust Oregon Community Foundation Creative Heights The Regional Arts & Culture Council, including support from the City of Portland, Multnomah County and the Arts Education & Access Fund Theatre Communications Group David & Christine Vernier
PRODUCERS ($25,000-$49,999)
The Collins Foundation Edgerton Foundation Roy & Diane Marvin Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation The Shubert Foundation William Swindells
PATRONS ($10,000-$24,999)
Anonymous (2) Julia & Robert S. Ball The Boeing Company Ginger Carroll In memory of J. Michael Carroll Marcia Darm MD & Bruce Berning
Margaret Dixon Patricia & Bennett Garner Andrew & Eva Glass The Kinsman Foundation Rafati’s Catering Charlotte Rubin Marcy & Richard Schwartz John & Jan Swanson Work for Art, including contributions from more than 75 companies and 2,000 employees
STAGEMAKERS ($5,000-$9,999)
Anonymous (2) Mike Barr Karl & Linda Boekelheide Jeffrey G. Condit Robert & Janet Conklin Dark Horse Wine Dan Gibbs & Lois Seed Tom Gifford & Patti Fisher Mark Horn & Mark Wilkinson Hotel deLuxe Intel Matching Gift Program Arthur & Virginia Kayser Romy Klopper Hugh & Mair Lewis Charitable Fund of the Southwest Washington Community Foundation Maletis Beverage Mentor, a Siemens Business Opsis Architecture Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency Lorraine Prince Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust Standard Insurance Company Bill & Cornie Stevens
Ed & Rosalie Tank U.S. Bank Foundation OCF Joseph E. Weston Public Foundation
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE ($2,500-$4,999)
Anonymous (2) Molly Butler & Robin Manning Denise & Robert Frisbee Stephen Fuller Diane Herrmann Cody Hoesly & Kirsten Collins The Jackson Foundation Leslie R. Labbe Drs. Dolores & Fernando Leon Kristine Olson Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Bob & Linda Palandech Michael Parsons & Katelyn Randall Alan Purdy Len & Susan Magazine Charlie & Miriam Rosenthal Steve & Trudy Sargent James G. & Michele L. Stemler Tom Trotter Lora & Andy Woodruff
BACKSTAGE PASS ($1,000-$2,499)
Anonymous (2) Carole Alexander Ruth Alexander F. Gordon Allen & Janice M. Stewart Rachael & Scott Anderson Phyllis Arnoff Asplund Tooze Foundation The Autzen Foundation Bruce Blank & Janice Casey Nita Brueggeman Richard & Nancy Chapman
Michael & Lynne Chartier Nathan Cogan Family Fund of the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation The Collier Smith Charitable Fund Barbara & Tom Cooney Allison Couch & Tom Soals Susan Dietz Betty & Richard Duvall Marc Franklin & Mary Lou Moriarty Carol Fredlund & John Betonte Free Geek Curtis Hanson Pam Henderson & Allen Wasserman Higgins Restaurant Dr. Kathleen P. Holahan Robert Holub Sarah & Alan Horton Jessie Jonas Juan Young Trust Bruce & Cathy Kuehnl Susanne Dziepak Kuhn Kirsten & Christopher Leonard Jim & Eva MacLowry Susannah Mars & Gary Johnson Dr. Robert & Kimberly Matheson Laurie & Gilbert Meigs Deanne & Wilfried Mueller-Crispin Megan Murphy Allen & Frances Nause Kay Parr Duane & Corrine Paulson Joan Peacock, In Loving Memory of Ben Buckley Patricia Perkins David Pollock Richard & Wendy Rahm Julia Rea & Jim Diamond Bonnie & Peter Reagan Robert Reed
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OUR SUPPORTERS CONTINUED John Ridenour Richard & Mary Rosenberg Joanne & James Ruyle Marilynn & Richard Rytting Dr. & Mrs. William Sack Drea Schmidt & Emilee Preble Marian & Elihu Schott Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Roy Schreiber & Carole Heath Norm & Barb Sepenuk Bert Shaw & Liana Colombo Elizabeth Siegel Faye & Lucille Stewart Foundation Marilyn & Gene Stubbs Tonkin Torp LLP Marcia Truman & Allen Tooke U.S. Bank Matching Gifts Elaine & Ben Whiteley
Carole Whiteside Andrew Wilson & Dr. Ronnie-Gail Emden
SUPERSTARS ($500-$999)
Anonymous (2) Kip Acheson & Elizabeth Carr Kirby & Amelia Allen Bakersfield Cotton Warehouse Cheryl Balkenhol Dennis Bash Leslie & Richard Bertellotti Earle & Kathleen Bevins Lesley Bombardier Michele Bowler-Failing & Bill Failing Cecile Carpenter Charles & Barbara Carpenter Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation Marie-Jose & Martyn Corden Patsy Crayton Berner
Jim & Vicki Currie Edward & Karen Demko Cheri Emahiser Leslye Epstein & Herman Taylor Peg & John Espie Vladimir Fiks Kyle & Charles Fuchs Don & Judy Fuller Susan & Dean Gisvold Lynn Goldstein Melissa & Bob Good Penny & Alan Greenwood Dick Hamlet & Corinne McWilliams Richard L. Hay Kirk Hirschfeld Mike & Judy Holman Robert Holub Lois Hrella Judith & Gregory Kafoury Beth & Chris Karlin Keeton Corporation Carol Kimball PJ Kleffner
Jody Klevit Linda & Ken Mantel Kathleen McCarthy & Steve Scherr, in honor of Sarah Lucht & Don Alder Dan McKenzie Andy C. McNiece & Nancy L. Haigwood Robert & Jessica McVay Dolores & Michael Moore Don & Connie Morgan Katherine Moss Chris & Tom Neilsen Barry & Jane Newman David & Anne Noall Marcy Norman Ted Olson & Linda Nelson, In Loving Memory of Madeline Nelson Alfred & Eileen Ono Olliemay Phillips John Ragno Brennan P. Randel & Matthew Corwin
OUR THEATRE CANNOT EXIST ON TICKET PURCHASES ALONE. We depend on you to pick up the mantle of funding art in our community. Ticket sales alone only cover 40% of what it takes to keep this theatre running. Your donations are essential to making great art possible. Questions? Contact Kisha Jarrett at kjarrett@artistsrep.org or 503.241.9807 x112 to ask how you can set up a recurring monthly donation or discuss other ways to support Artists Rep!
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Scott & Kay Reichlin Dámaso Rodríguez & Sara Hennessy Dianne Sawyer & Pete Petersen The Carol Schnitzer Lewis Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Wayne D. Schweinfest Peter & Jeanette Scott Jinny Shipman & Dick Kaiser Nick & Sandra Snell Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Darsee Staley & Dave Linder Wendy Sternberg & Winhard Bohme Greg & Martha Struxness Donald & Roslyn Sutherland Paul Thompson & Portia Sipes Karen Whitaker Pam Whyte & Ron Saylor Cynthia Yee
INSIDERS ($250-$499)
Anonymous (2) Meg & Chuck Allen Kris Alman & Mike Siegel Ted & Fran Ames Bob Amundson & Sully Taylor Linda Apperson Jane Bergin Ann Brayfield & Joe Emerson A. Sonia Buist, M.D. Carol Burns Cambia Health Foundation Valri & Vince Chiappetta Molly Cochran & Sam Ellingson Elaine & Arnold Cogan Deborah Correa Priscilla & Nick Cowell Debbie Cross & Paul Wrigley Robert Daasch & Linda Schaefer Nancy & John Decherd Tonya DeCroce & Gary Weiss Wolfgang Dempke & Alise Rubin
Linda Dinan Steven Dotterrer Carmen Egido & Abel Weinrib George & Donna Evans Jim & Betty Ferner Donna Flanders & Carl Collins, In honor of Cody Hoesly Larry & Marilyn Flick Roswell & Marilynn Gordon Barbara & Marvin Gordon-Lickey Paul & Theresa Graham Allan Griffin Paul Harmon Edward Hershey Stephen Hillis Barbara Holisky & Gary McDonald Lynnette & Don Houghton Gary & Joy Hunt Icenogle Family Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of Renaissance Charitable Foundation Joni & Bill Isaacson Blake Johnson & Mara Krinke Janice Isenberg Marianne KeddingtonLang & William Lang Edward & Elaine Kemp Karen Kemper Carol & Jeff Kilmer Leslie Kolisch & Roland Haertl Kelly & Brenda Lawrence Joy & Roger Leo Peter & Janice Linsky Dorothy Lyman John Lynch Ralph Maiano Earlean Marsh Meg McGill & Mark Ramsby Ruth Medak Bob Mensel Judy & Steven Miller Paul Miller David & Anne Munro Evelyn & Tom Murphy Robert Nimmo & Linda Jensen Stephanie Oliver Pacific Power Matching Gift Program Senator Bob Packwood Sue Pickgrobe & Mike Hoffman Karen & John Rathje
Helen Richardson & Don Hayner Vern Rifer Jane Robinson & Michael Sands Rebecca Ross Ms. Cara Rozell Luan Schooler & Timothy Wilson Mary Ann Seth-Wish & John Wish Scott Stephens & Leslie Houston H. Joe Story Milan & Jean Stoyanov Pat & Larry Strausbaugh David & Rosemarie Sweet Diane Taylor Sarah & Robert Taylor Chris Ullom Barbara Van Fleet Tony & Gail Vander Heide Robert & Ann Watt Anthony Wilcox Carl Wilson & Evan Boone Carol Ann & Patrick Wohlmut Maureen Wright & Lane Brown Helen Youngelson-Neal Alan & Janet Zell
FRIENDS ($100-$249)
Anonymous (4) Christine Abernathy Kay & Roy Abramowitz John Ahlen & Don Main Amelia Albright Michael Allen & Anne Schagen Thomas Robert Anderson Andina Restaurant Ruby Apsler ArborBrook Vineyards Herman Asarnow & Susan Baillet Arlene Aschraft Nancy Ashton Ruth Beiser Bach Susan Bach & Douglas Egan Dale Bajema & Diana Coleman Ann Balzell & Joe Marrone, In memory of Deforest Arn Piper
Linda Barnes & Robert Vanderwerf Laura Barton George Bateman Joan Baucus Mary Beach Anne Becklund Alan & Sherry Bennett William Bennington Pamela Berg Dr. Dana Bjarnason Catherine Blosser Joe Blount Betty & Fred Brace James Breedlove Peggy Bromley Gerry & Nancy Brown Jim Brunke Lauretta Burman Marlene Burns & Jon Dickinson Thomas A. Burns Douglas Campbell Don Caniparoli Robin Carpenter Michael Carter & Teresa Ferrer Denise Carty & Roger Brown Jean Carufo & Barbara Engelter Tom & Anne Caruso Chamber Music Northwest Lou & John Chapman Russ & Mary Chapman Julie Child Bradley Coffey Ilaine Cohen CoHo Productions Rick & Jean Collins Leslie & Alan Comnes Anne Conway & Louis Baslaw Abigail & Michael Corbet Harriet Cormack Gerald Corn Cowhorn Vineyards Fran & Roddy Daggett Joel Datloff & Linda Wiener Elaine & Earl Davis Marvin & Abby Dawson Carolyn DeLany-Reif Barbara & George Dechet Jewel Derin Elaine & Bill Deutschman Lisa Dodson Jeanne & Lauren Donaldson
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OUR SUPPORTERS CONTINUED Ed Doyle & Judy Posey Anne Driscoll K. Eaton Elizabeth & John Ehrsam The Ellermeiers Laury Ellis & Kathy Fode Jim & Joan English Nevill Eschen David Evans Jeff Feiffer Greg & Carol Flakus Heidi Franklin Patricia Frobes & Richard Smith John & Chris Gardner Susan GendeinMarshall & Lee Marshall
Andy Ginsburg & Danielle L. Erb Linda Gipe Nick Giustina & Patricia Brewer George Goodstein Gretta Grimala Candace Haines John Hall & Jean Jensen Hall Gail & Irvin Handelman Ulrich Hardt Kimberly Harrison Meredith Hartley & Jeremiah Pyle Andrea Heid Thomas Hellie & Julie Olds Joe & Diana Hennessy Sarah Hershey
Seasonal Food for all occasions
30 | Artists Repertory Theatre
Charles & Margaret Hickman Mary Higgins Laurie Holland Eric & Keena Hormel Kristine & Steve Hudson Carol & T.A. Hull Deborah Indihar Irving Street Kitchen Constance Jackson & Xavier Le Héricy Chris Jacomino Jeri Janowsky & John Crabbe Katharine Jansen Betsy & Jerold Jeronen Colleen & Jeff Johnson Phyllis Johnson Erika & Tom Kane Ron & Ruth Katon Nancy G. Kennaway Karen Kervin Heather Kientz Shawn Kilburn Doris & Eric Kimmel Larry King & Daniel Hutchison Frederick Kirchhoff Anneliese Knapp Tom & Judy Kovaric Norman Krasne Gary & Martha Kruger Louise Kurzet Ted Labbe & Kelly Rogers Robert & Helen Ladarre Barbara LaMack Elyse & Ron Laster Kelly & Brenda Lawrence Mary Lawrence Mary Lou & Ross Laybourn Mark J. Lee Nathan B. Leverenz Richard Lewis & Meg Larson Scott Lewis Literary Arts Little Red’s Bakeshop Live Wire Radio Ralph London Leslie Louderback Henry C. Louderbough Una Loughran Steve Lovett Jane Luddecke & Robert Anderson Dr. Christine Mackert Sheila Mahan Jim & Midge Main John & Renee Manson Joann Marks Ms. Nancy Matthews
Lynn Mayer Robert McAdams Anne & Kathy McLaughlin Kathy McLaughlin Katie McRae Cynthia Meduri Mariellen Meisel Linda Meng Libby & Miles Merwin Susan & Greg Miner Monique’s Boutique Patrick Mulcahey Molly Jo Mullen, Alternative Dispute Resolution Multnomah Whiskey Library New Deal Distillery Patricia Oldham Erik Opsahl Joan Oramas Oregon Ballet Theatre Nancy Park Katherine Patricelli & Dennis Reichelt Gordon & Sondra Pearlman Carla Pentecost Pierre & Linda Pham Kevin Phaup Donna Philbrick Roger Porter Terrance & Barbara Porter Portland Baroque Orchestra Dee Poujade The Qualls Family Charitable Fund Carole Quick Ana Quinn Jay & Barbara Ramaker Edward & Kara Lynn Rankin Dick & Linda Reedy Betty & Jacob Reiss Bob & Marilyn Ridgley Mark Rittenbaum Rebecca Robinson, In memory of Gary D. Robinson Charles & Judith Rooks Ms. Cara Rozell Ellen Rubinstein Jane Sage Darrell Salk & Tricia Knoll Pancho Savery Curtis Schade Magda Schay Sheldon & Jean Schiager Jean Scott & Myrth Ogilvie
Joyce Semradek Mary & KC Shaw Laurel & Dan Simmons Karen & E. Smith Neil Soiffer & Carolyn Smith Karen & Charles Springer Scott Stuart & Brenda Meltebeke Julia Surtshin & Richard Sessions Gary Taliaferro Roberta Taussig Bahram & Susan Tavakolian Leslie Taylor & Doug Beers Tektronix Matching Gift Program Robert Thinnes Margaret Thompson Marilee Thompson Tracy Thornton Steve & Linda Tubbs Cyrus Vafi Kaye Van Valkenburg Phil VanderWeele & Joan Snyder David & Julie Verburg Pamela Vohnson & David Streight Sue & Jim Walcutt Marilyn Walkey & Mike McClain Judi & J. Wandres Janet F. Warrington Laura Watson Mike & Linda Wells Ann Werner Victoria Wetle Walt & Kim Weyler Pat & Frank Wilson Sabina Wohlfeiler Susan Woods Yamhill Valley Vineyard John & Pat Zagelow Kurt & Heather Zimmer
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UP NEXT @ ARTISTS REP
AN INSTALLATION OF VISUAL ART AND LIVE THEATRE
STARTS OCT 1 Ripped from today’s headlines and breaking the theatrical mold, artist Lin Bo’s work, Qín (Caught), presents a sly philosophical puzzle that investigates the murky intersections of fact and fiction in the crafting of art and news.