Rhoda: A Life in Stories by Book-It Repertory Theatre

RHODA: A Life in Stories by Ellen Gilchrist Adapted by Rachel Atkins Directed by Sheila Daniels

April 20 - May 12 Center house Theatre

About

the

writer of poems, short stories, novels, and nonfiction commentaries, Ellen Gilchrist has been praised by critics for her subtle perceptions, unique characters, and sure command of the writer’s voice. She was born on February 20, 1935 in rural Mississippi. Because of her father’s duties with the Army, the family moved frequently. At the age of 19, Gilchrist dropped out of school and ran away to marry the first of four husbands, Marshall Walker, with whom she had three children. In was not until she was 40 that Gilchrist began writing fiction. Her first book was a collection of short stories, In the Land of Dreamy Dreams, published in 1981 (the same year her first grandchild was born). Since then, Gilchrist has written eighteen more books: six novels, eleven short story collections, and the personal narratives gathered in Falling Through Space that first aired as a series of commentaries on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” Gilchrist has received numerous awards, including the National Book Award for Fiction in 1984 for her novel Victory over Japan. Her body of work is consistently funny and urbane, but its greatest distinction is that in book after book the author returns to her most provocative characters so that their lives are ongoing and continue

Notes

Author to evolve. Rhoda: A Life in Stories is just like that: written over the course of 15 years and consisting of 23 short stories , it chronicles the characters’ evolution from age eight all the way through her life as a mother and gandmother. As with Rhoda most of Gilchrist’s characters are women-- willful, innovative, and resilient heroines whose feminity is not in contradiction with their independence and self-reliance. Gilchrist’s favorite themes include familial love and loss; power struggles between the young, the old, and the restless; reckless passion; and the chameleon-like nature of happiness. All of which can be found vividly in this worldpremiere production. Enjoy!

Director by Sheila Daniels from

the

“We are lonesome animals. We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say-and to feel- ‘Yes, that is the way it is, or at least that is the way I feel it.’ You’re not as alone as you thought.” —John Steinbeck

different reasons now. At that time, I wanted more than anything to be as sexy and wild as she was. Now I love her for her love of solitude, for her selfishness, for her rage , for her “divine cynicism.” But most of all I connect with her flawed and furious love for those around her, and in particular her love for her father.

year or so ago I walked into Jane Jones’ office, sat down, looked at her books. Our conversation went something like this:

I have three distinct memories of my father during my childhood: my father taking me to a Russian circus after I’d been very ill, my father teaching me how to punch, and my father laughing at me for an incident that has produced a particularly embarrassing photograph. I lived in an absolute belief that nothing could harm me when I was with my Dad – or Daddy as I still call him when I am particularly vulnerable, or (let’s be honest) when I want something from him. Between him and my endlessly patient and equally inspiring Mother, I was encouraged to believe there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do.

“Ellen Gilchrist…I haven’t read her for about ten years. I love Ellen Gilchrist.” “How do you feel about Rhoda?” “I love her. She makes me crazy but I love her: I always wanted to be more like her.” “This is so weird, Sheila.” And a collaboration was born. I’ve been reading Ellen Gilchrist’s work since I was introduced to her almost twenty years ago by my favorite professor, Charlotte Headrick. At first I was most taken with one of Gilchrist’s other heroines, Anna, but it is Rhoda who has grown on me, and who I have grown up with over the years. As Gilchrist writes in her introduction: “Rhoda is passion, energy, light.” Rhoda burns in her passions and sometimes burns people up. She is not always likeable but she is always fully and fiercely herself. It has been such a pleasure to reconnect with Rhoda again after a ten year absence: to realize why I loved her then and to love her again for

The past weeks in the rehearsal hall have been full of memories for everyone: I’ve heard family stories and stories of bullfights, stories of childhood injuries and escapades, of adult escapes and old sorrows, of mothers and fathers and brothers and lovers and all the people who create the stories of our own lives. I hope that Rhoda will touch something off in you: a memory, a longing, an epiphany. I hope you will share your story with your neighbor, or call you brother or sister or lifelong friend when you get home and say “Remember when…?”

Notes

A da p t e r by Rachel Atkins from

n the bitter cold of New Hampshire in 1989, a friend from New Orleans first introduced me to Ellen Gilchrist. This was during my last years of college, and I had resigned myself to the idea that I was never going to do anything more practical than be a writer, so I was always looking for authors whose work spoke to me. I devoured the book, Victory Over Japan, a short story collection which included three stories about Rhoda, two of which are in our show tonight. I didn’t just want to be Ellen Gilchrist, I wanted to be her characters, any of them: that bold, that truthful, that clear.

the

I still have that same copy of Victory Over Japan, battered and now sporting a mysterious hole in the front cover. I have read everything else Ellen Gilchrist has written since, and her writing still cuts me to the bone. Of all her stories, collections and characters, Rhoda was a natural choice for the theatre. Rhoda: A Life in Stories brings drama to everything she does. She is a poet at heart, and she speaks like one. She is wild and funny and outrageous—and then suddenly she slips the rug out from under you and reveals all the layers below: her complexity, her honesty, her depth.

Her books have traveled with me from New Hampshire to New York to Seattle, What luck to be brainstorming with to France and back. I have read them on Jane one day about another project planes and in cars, on beaches and in we could do together and discover bedrooms. I began writing this very adthat we both love Ellen Gilchrist. And aptation at the Rio in Las Vegas during then it was another stroke of luck to the World Series of Poker. Location is bring in Sheila, a director who loves important to Ellen Gilchrist, and to her her as well. It’s been a true pleasure to characters. Rhoda’s journey throughout be a part of this creative team. the South and Midwest surely shapes I hope you too will leave the theatre the woman she becomes: her girlhood Jane Jones as Rhoda and Jim Gall as Rhoda’s father tonight a little bit in love. For those Dudley Sr. Photo by Erik Stuhaug. on the family plantation, marriage and of you already familiar with Ellen Gilchildren among the excesses of New Orleans, her writing life in christ and Rhoda, you know what’s coming. For those who the Ozark Mountains. How many of us can remember exactly don’t, you’re in for a treat, and I am honored to make the where we were the first time we read something pivotal in our introduction. lives, something that touched and changed us? Where does a piece of writing live forever inside us?

About

this

he stories in this production are culled from five different previously published collections and a novel, now brought together and arranged chronologically. This production also includes one story from a later collection, entitled I, Rhoda Manning, Go Hunting with My Daddy, as well as material from several personal vignettes from Ellen Gilchrist’s recent collection of essays about literature, teaching and writing called The Writing Life. These stories span modern American social history as they span Rhoda’s life through it: growing up in the shadow of the Second World War; adolescence and coming of age within the repressive post-war environment of the 1950’s and early 1960’s; adulthood during the lavish decadence and debauchery of the 1970’s, the materialism and backlash of the 1980’s; and into the 1990’s, the age of AIDS. Rhoda lives through times when female roles were limited and specific: when abortion was illegal, divorce was shocking, and a woman’s place was in

Production the home, preferably barefoot and pregnant. As the battles for civil rights and women’s liberation and the sexual revolution were being fought all around the country, Rhoda was fighting her own private battles. Ultimately, she emerges victorious: self-sufficient, independent, a writer, despite it all. “It is nineteen eighty--eight in the lives of our heroes, of our heroine. Twelve years until the end of the second millennium, AD. There have been many changes in the world and many changes in the lives of Rhoda and Dudley and Saint John since the days when they fought over the Broad Jump Pit in the pasture beside the house on Esperanza. The river they called the bayou was still a clean navigable waterway back then, there was no television, no civil rights, no atomic or nuclear bomb, no polio vaccine. Still, nothing has really changed.” --Ellen Gilchrist, Mexico

Book-It Repertory Theatre

Jane Jones & Myra Platt Artistic Directors

Sharon Burke Managing Director

RHODA: A Life in Stories by Ellen Gilchrist

Adapted by Rachel Atkins • Directed by Sheila Daniels

CAST (in alphabetical order)

Troy Fischnaller Jim Gall* Ray Gonzales Adam Jones Jane Jones* Kelly Kitchens Peter Dylan O’Connor Tracy Repep John Ulman Jessica Wallet

Dudley Jr., Malcom Jr. Dudley Sr., The Englishman/Ensemble Mr. Marcus, Raine, Matador, Garth/Ensemble Wayne, Jimmy/Ensemble Rhoda Ariane, Hotel Owner/Ensemble St. John, Malcolm Sr., Teddy, John Tucker/Ensemble Lauralee, Gena, Sally, Doris/Ensemble Bunky, Bob Rosen, Doctor, Eric/Ensemble Leta, Mariana/Emsemble

Artistic and Production Staff Sheila Daniels Rachel Atkins Bill Forrester Doris Black Robert Aguilar M. Elizabeth Eller Jodi Briscoe Jodi Sauerbier Larry Rodriguez Brady Brophy-Hilton Scott Lovell Ilvs Strauss Mandi Wickline Mary Cannon Jenn Dugan Lynne Ellis

Director Adaptor Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Stage Manager Properties Mistress Technical Director Assistant Director Master Carpenter Sound Board Operator Assistant Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Costume Assistant Master Electrician

Rhoda: A Life in Stories will have a 10 minute intermission. * Member of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the U.S. Support provided by:

Media Sponsors:

Who’s Who - THE CAST Troy Fischnaller (Dudley Jr., Malcolm Jr.)

Troy is very pleased to be making his third appearance at Book-it, after playing Carrasco in Don Quixote and Arthur in Cry, the Beloved Country. Some of Troy’s favorite roles include Hovstad in An Enemy of the People (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), Clown in The Winter’s Tale (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Ty Cobb in Honus and Me (Seattle Children’s Theatre), Halprin in God’s Country, Happy in Death of a Salesman, and Sid in Waiting for Lefty (Capitol Hill Arts Center). He has also collaborated in three local sketch comedy troupes, performing for audiences in Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. He wishes to thank Chuck.

Jim Gall (Dudley Sr., The Englishman/ Ensemble)

Jim feels lucky to be in this show with so many many people he adores and working with his wife Kelly Kitchens is icing on the the cake. Jim was last seen on the Book-It stage in If I Die In A Combat Zone and the first incarnation of Pride and Prejudice. Favorite roles around town include Atticus Finch in To Kill A Mockingbird at the Village and Mountain McClintock in Requiem For A Heavyweight at Theater Schmeater. Thanks to Sheila and Jim would like to dedicate this show to his father Bob Gall.

Ray Gonzales (Mr. Marcus, Raine, Matador, Garth/Ensemble)

Ray is plased to be back at Book-It once again. Past Book-It shows include Double Indemnity, Sweet Thursday, Hard Times, Waxwings, and Giant. A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, Ray was last seen as Angelo the Goldsmith in Seattle Shakespeare Company’s production of Comedy of Errors. Other theatre credits include New City Theatre, ACT, Intiman, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Bridges International Theatre. Ray and his partner Kellini are the proud parents of Shelby and Rubyrose.

Adam Jones (Wayne. Jimmy/Ensemble)

Adam is very excited making his professional debut in Rhoda. He is a senior at Cornish College of the Arts and will receive his BFA in Performing Arts next May. A couple of his favorite roles at Cornish include Juror #9 in Twelve Angry Americans and Lucio in Measure for Measure. Thank you to the cast and crew for making this show so much fun and much love to Mom for believing in me.

Jane Jones (Rhoda)

Jane is the founder of Book-It and Founding Co-Artistic Director with Myra Platt. Locally Jane has performed with Book-It, The Seattle Rep., Intiman, ACT, Seattle Children’s Theatre and Tacoma Actors’ Guild. Nationally her credits as an actor and director include work with Playwrights Horizons, The Roundabout and the Atlantic Theatre in New York City, and with The Guthrie Theatre, The McCarter, American Conservatory Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse in the Park, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Mark Taper Forum, Portland Center Stage, The Philadelphia Drama Guild, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, The Denver Center Theatre Company and Steppenwolf Theatre, in the regions. Film credits include work with such legendry directors as David Lynch, Cameron Crow, Curtis Hanson and Corrie Moore in Twin Peaks, Singles, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and The Dark Horse. Jane has guest taught and directed at The Julliard School, Stanford University, Cornish College of the Arts and the University of Arizona. She wishes to thank TEAM RHODA for their trust and support, all “The Babes” for keeping the fires roaring and Kev and Asa, Mel and Myra Mae for everything else.

Kelly Kitchens (Ariane, Hotel Owner/ Ensemble)

Kelly is delighted to be back at Book-It where she has previously performed in Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant , Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, Waxwings, and House of Mirth. She was most recently seen in Crumbs Are Also Bread at Washington Ensemble Theater. Other favorite roles include Hermione in The Winter’s Tale (Wooden O Theater), Olivia in Twelfth Night (Seattle Shakespeare Company) and Susie in Wit (Seattle Public Theater). Kelly received her B.A. in Theater and English from Vanderbilt University and her M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Texas.

Peter Dylan O’Connor (St. John, Malcolm Sr., Teddy, John Tucker/Ensemble)

Peter contributes to theatre in many capacities. Some of his favorite roles include Charlie Conlin in Stones in his Pockets, Randy Rage in PileDriver!, Macduff in Macbeth, Eric Bogosian’s one man show Sex, Drugs Rockn-Roll, and Joe Mitchell in Waiting for Lefty. Also as an actor, Peter was a Guest Artist for the Novosibirsk State Children’s Theatre (Siberia, Russia) in 1994-95 and has performed all over Europe. Peter is a professional photographer, Scenic Designer and the resident Master Carpenter at the Capitol Hill Arts Center. In his off hours he builds houses in the Seattle area and looks for the next opportunity to travel.

Who’s Who - THE CAST (cont.) Tracy Repep (Lauralee, Gena, Sally, Doris/ Ensemble)

also has toured nationally in several productions with California Theatre Center. Locally, John has been seen in Spokane InterTracy Repep is delighted to make her first players Ensemble’s Dracula and Music From A Sparkling Planet, Book-It appearance, and to collaborate again The Capitol Hill Arts Center’s God’s Country, Seattle Shakespeare with director Sheila Daniels. Recent credits in- Company’s Cyrano de Bergerac and most recently in Book-It clude Travesties (Seattle Public Theater), The Repertory Theatre’s Bud, Not Buddy. John lives in Seattle with his Winter’s Tale (Seattle Shakespeare Company), soulmate, Katjana, and also works as a photographer. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), Hamlet (Wooden O Theatre), King John (upstart Jessica Wallet (Leta, Mariana/Ensemble) crow), and the theatrical concept album Delaware: A Subtle Jessica is a senior at Cornish College of the Spectacular (with local band “Awesome”). Regionally, Tracy has Arts. Her favorite roles include Lady Torrance played with the Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, in Orpheus Descending and Odile in Swan Bailiwick Repertory, and Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. She Lake: Remix (both at Cornish). Rhoda marks continues to be inspired by the love and support of her family, her professional debut. She would like to offer and of her partner, actor Tim Hyland. most humble thanks to Sheila Daniels, Jane

John Ulman (Bunky, Bob Rosen, Doctor, Eric/ Ensemble)

Jones. Thanks to Mom, Dad, Philip, and Arashi for all their love and support.

John is originally from Bakersfield, California, where he performed in two seasons of the Kern Shakespeare Festival. He went on from there to receive his B.A. degree in drama from UC Irvine. John has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. He

Who’s Who - Artistic & Production Staff Jane Jones (Co-Artistic Director, Book-It Repertory Theatre)

Jane is the founder of Book-It and founding Co-Artistic Director of Book-It Repertory Theatre, with Myra Platt. In her 20 years of staging literature, she has performed and directed works by such literary giants as Charles Dickens, Eudora Welty, Edith Wharton, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Pam Houston, Raymond Carver, Frank O’Connor, Ernest Hemingway, Colette, Amy Bloom, John Irving, John Steinbeck, Daphne du Maurier and Jane Austen. A veteran actress of 25 years, she has played leading roles in many of America’s most prominent regional theatres including The Guthrie, American Conservatory Theatre, The McCarter and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Locally, she has been seen at The Rep, ACT, Empty Space, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Tacoma Actors Guild, and Intiman. Film and TV credits include The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Singles, Homeward Bound, Twin Peaks, and Rose Red. She co-directed with Tom Hulce at the Seattle Rep, Peter Parnell’s adaptation of John Irving’s The Cider House Rules, which enjoyed successful runs here in Seattle, at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (Backstage West Award, best director) and in New York (Drama Desk Nomination, best director). Jane recently directed Pride and Prejudice at Portland Center Stage. For Book-It, she directed The House of Mirth, Rebecca, Travels with Charley, Pride and Prejudice, Howards End, In a Shallow Grave, The Awakening and Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant. Book-It performances include roles in Ethan Frome, Silver Water, Cowboys Are My Weakness, and Breathing Lessons.

Myra Platt (Co-Artistic Director, Book-It Repertory Theatre)

Myra is co-founder of Book-It Repertory Theatre with Jane Jones. She studied literature and theatre at Northwestern University (B.S. Analysis and Performance of Literature) and Circle in the Square (NYC). As actor, director, adapter and composer, she has helped Book-It produce over 50 world-premiere stage adaptations. Most recently, Myra conceived and directed the World Premiere production of Plainsong by Kent Haruf, adapted by Kevin McKeon. She is currently working on the World Premiere adaptation of Isabel Allende’s The House of The Spirits which will open in June at the Leo K. Theatre. She has also adapted and directed Giant, Red Ranger Came Calling, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Cowboys Are My Weakness, Roman Fever, A Little Cloud (by James Joyce), A Telephone Call (by Dorothy Parker), and A Child’s Christmas in Wales. She has also directed Cry, the Beloved Country, Sweet Thursday, The Phantom Tollbooth and Danger: Books!. She co-adapted Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant with Jane Jones and composed music for Red Ranger Came Calling (with Edd Key), Ethan Frome, Owen Meany’s Christmas Pageant, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, The Awakening, the first workshop production of The Cider House Rules, A Telephone Call, and I Am of Ireland. As an actress, Myra appeared as Margaret Schlegel in Howards End, Elaine in The Dying Gaul at Intiman, and as Edna in Book-It’s production of The Awakening (for which she received an Honorable Mention/Backstage West Los Angeles Garland Awards). She originated the role of Candy Kendall in John Irving’s The Cider House Rules at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and at the Mark Taper Forum. She is the proud mother of Wilson.

Who’s Who - Artistic & Production Staff Sharon Burke (Managing Director, Book-It Repertory Theatre)

Sharon joined Book-It Repertory Theatre in July 2004. Previous theatre experience includes ten years at The 5th Avenue Theatre as general manager, director of finance, and with Sterling Tinsley, founder of the 5th Avenue’s first education outreach program, Adventure Musical Theatre. Before coming on board at BookIt, Sharon worked as the director of finance and operations at both the Bellevue Art Museum and the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington. Sharon graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor of science in accounting and has CPA certification. She has served on the board of directors of several arts organizations in the Seattle area, including Seattle Choral Company and Theatre Puget Sound, and has been teaching the finance portion of the University of Washington non-profit arts management extension course.

Sheila Daniels (Director)

Sheila last worked with Book-It as an actor, playing Jane Jones’ daughter Rose in Amy Bloom’s Silver Water. She is the Associate Artistic Director at Capitol Hill Arts Center (CHAC), a co-Artistic Director of the newly founded Theater Under Ground and the cofounder of Baba Yaga Productions. Directing credits include The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), Burning Bridget Cleary (Ladykiller Productions), Shock Brigades: Women in Combat, Vaya con Lola (Baba Yaga), Waiting for Lefty, God’s Country, Arcadia (CHAC), Macbeth (Wooden O), The Last State (On the Boards), Anaphylaxis (Throwing Bones - Artistic Pick of 2003 Seattle Fringe Festival) The Trojan Women, Language of Angels, Dream of a Common Language, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Transformations and Other Tales (Theater Schmeater), COLD (Tacoma Museum of Glass) and Machinal (A Theater Under the Influence). She is a resident director at Cornish College of the Arts, where she teaches Acting and Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration. Sheila’s next project is a 3-actor Crime & Punishment with Theater Under Ground at CHAC. This is for her father Kenton and her Grandfather Phil.

Rachel Atkins (Adaptor)

Rachel is the Scriptwriter and Education Director for Living Voices, an educational theatre company with whom she has nine different multi-media shows currently touring nationwide. The tenth will be produced in 2007. Rachel was an Annex Theatre Hothouse 2004 playwright. Previous adaptations for Book-It include Rebecca, The Journey that Saved Curious George, My Sister Eileen, and a variety of children’s literature and Guilty Pleasures (Book-It’s annual fundraiser). Rachel also works as a teaching artist for Book-It, Seattle Repertory Theatre and Seattle Children’s Theatre. She is the former Scriptwriter/Dramaturge and Director of Education for the former Ardeo Theatre Project in St. Julien l’Ars, France. Rachel has over 15 years of writing, teaching and directing experience. She graduated from Dartmouth College and holds her MA in Educational Theatre from New York University. Love and thanks to Laurence for bringing her to Vegas, where this script was born.

Bill Forrester (Scenic Designer)

Bill is excited to return to Book-It. Among the theatre he has designed for are Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Alliance (Atlanta), Arizona Theatre Company. Denver Center Theatre, Geva (Rochester), Kansa City Rep, Northlight (Chicago), Portland Center Stage, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Village (Issaquah), and Yale Rep where he designed the original production of Story Theatre.

Doris Black (Costume Designer)

Doris is pleased to be making her Book-It debut. Some examples of her theater design work include: Comedy of Errors and Love’s Labour’s Lost for Seattle Shakespeare Company, Black Nativity for Intiman, Angels in America and Kiss Me Kate for the University of Puget Sound, “A” My Name is Alice and Forbidden Xmas for Tacoma Actor’s Guild, The Jungle Book and Something Big Has Been Here for Youth Theatre Northwest, The Snow Queen for theatre simple, The Wizard of Oz and Children of Eden for Civic Light Opera, Noises Off and Fiddler on the Roof for Village Theatre and designs for the Seattle Men’s Chorus/Women’s Chorus. Her film work includes the Costume Design for Police Beat, Cthulhu and Dark Horse. She works for periodcorsets.com, a company that produces period undergarments such as corsets and bustles. She received her M.F.A. in Costume Design from the University of Washington.

Robert Aguilar (Lighting Designer)

Robert is a lighting and makeup designer for stage and film. Current and upcoming designs include: Rhoda: A Life in Stories (The show you’re about to see!), Into the Woods with Contemporary Classics/UTS, and 4 Short Plays with KJ Sanchez and Grant Makers in the Arts. Recent designs include: Crumbs are Also Bread with John Langs for Washington Ensemble Theatre, Girls and Gods with Karys Cresney for Printer’s Devil, A New Brain with Brandon Ivie for Contemporary Classics, The Bridge of San Louis Rey with Sheila Daniels for Strawberry Theatre Workshop, The Museum Play with Marya Sea Kaminski for Washington Ensemble Theatre, Black Water with Melanie White for Off Center Opera, Yemaya’s Belly with Brendan McCall for Working Classroom, Talk Circle, Pendulum, and Pathology with Cyrus Khumbatta, Burning Bridget Cleary with Sheila Daniels for Lady Killers’ Productions, and Stones in His Pockets with Jerry Manning for Capitol Hill Arts Center.

M. Ellizabeth Eller (Sound Designer)

Elizabeth is excited for her first collaboration with Book-It on Rhoda: A Life in Stories. She is a nationally acclaimed theatre artist, and has been recognized by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC for her work. Elizabeth has worked at the O’Neill Theatre Center as a guest artist, and at a number of theaters in the Seattle area directing and designing. Some of her local sound design work includes tempOdyssey and Crescendo Falls 5 at Theater Schmeater, A Winter’s Tale and Cyrano de Bergerac at Seattle Shakespeare Company, and King John with Upstart Crow. You can hear her next at Seattle Public Theater with Master Harold…and the Boys, and Seattle Shakespeare Company’s School for Scandal. Elizabeth is, as always, deeply grateful for the support of her loved ones.

Who’s Who - Artistic & Production Staff (cont.) Jodi Briscoe (Stage Manager)

A Seattle native, Jodi graduated from the Performance Production Department of Cornish College of the Arts in 2001. Since then she has worked in various capacities with The Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Contemporary Theatre, Opera Idaho, and Ballet Idaho. Recent stage management experience includes an educational tour of Theft of the Gold with Seattle Opera, Infinite Noir a new puppet work by Douglas Paasch, The Birthday Party and Burning Bridget Cleary at Capitol Hill Arts Center, and The Louis Stotin Sonata at The Empty Space Theatre. Jodi is excited to make her Book-It debut with such a fabulous and talented ensemble.

Larry Rodriguez (Technical Director)

Larry hails from the Philippines and has been passionate with the theater since 1994. He was Technical Director and Lighting Designer for the Philippines’ Pioneer Theater Company – The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). He also studied Lighting Design and Sound Engineering under the Tutelage of Shigeo Saito, Kunihiko Ichiki and Naomi Matsumoto in Tokyo, Japan. Larry was a Theater Manager for three years with The Far Eastern University, which houses the Philippines’ First Cultural Center where early theater and vaudeville shows started during the 1940’s. He was behind its 1998 ambitious renovation and refurbishing of the entire facility. Larry also ventured out of theater by working as Director of photography for companies that produced television commercials and music videos. Before leaving the Philippines he was involved in over 50 productions from stage, television and film, and represented the country in International theatre festivals and competitions. He moved to Seattle in 2005 and joined Book-It Repertory Theater. This is his second season and is continually grateful for having the opportunity to work among great talents.

Brady Brophy-Hilton (Assistant Director)

Brady is thrilled to be working with Book-It on this production and to be a part of their directing internship program. She holds a BFA in Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts where her directing credits include: The Yurt, Where the Sidewalk Ends and Rain and Suburban Motel: Problem Child. Since graduating, she has assistant directed Ada with Richard E.T. White at the Hedgebrook Women’s Playwright Festival, Mail Order Bride, directed by Bob Leigh, and was an ensemble member in Strawberry Theater Workshop’s This Land. This season she has assistant directed Bud, Not Buddy with Mark Jared Zufelt and directed, in association with Groundwork Theater, Beautiful Bodies by Laura Cunningham. Next up, Brady will assistant direct The House of the Spirits.

Lynne Ellis (Master Electrician)

Lynne also wrestled electrons for A Tale of Two Cities, Broken for You, and The House of Mirth. Most recently, she tamed photons for Chamber Macbeth with Seattle Shakespeare Company. Sometimes she is an assistant at ACT, sometimes a lighting designer at Theater Schmeater or Open Circle Theater. When not climbing ladders, she climbs hills on her bike.

Jodi Sauerbier (Properties Designer)

Jodi moved to Seattle in 1991 from Bigfork, Montana - home of the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. In 1996 the theatre bug proved incurable and since then she has found herself backstage of many Seattle theatres including 5th Avenue Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Opera, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Annex Theatre, and the late Center Stage (Mercer Island) and Bathhouse Theatres. She bids a sad farewell to Empty Space Theatre where many fond memories were created. Other work for Book-It Theatre includes Broken For You, The Awakening, House of Mirth, Little Women, Breathing Lessons, Dracula: Harker’s Journal, Jane Eyre (as Stage Manager), and many others. Thank you to Tower Records/Video on 5th & Roy for 13 amazing years!

Jenn Dugan (Costume Assistant)

Jenn is happy to be working with Book-It once again, where she previously assisted on Bud, Not Buddy. A native New Yorker, she has designed and built costumes for productions in Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Washington, and West Virginia. Favorites have been Big River, West Side Story, Seussical, Rocky Horror Show and My Way. Locally, Jenn has worked with ACT, GreenStage, Seattle Shakespeare Company, and Bellevue Community College. She is also an accomplished wardrobe supervisor, having also assisted for film, television, and theatre. Jenn has a BPS degree in fashion design from Marist College and currently lives in Seattle, WA.

Ilvs Strauss (Costume Assistant)

Ilvs cannot tell you how excited she is to be back working for Book-It. Previous shows she worked on include Broken For You, Bud, Not Buddy and A Tale of Two Cities. She has worked as a techie for various companies such as On the Boards, CHAC and theatre simple. Aside from programming lights and monitoring sound, ilvs has served as AsstTD for the Degenerate Art Ensemble and TD/co-Artistic Director for QPOC Liberation Project. There is also event production work with One Reel and NW Folklife listed on her record. Further down the list reads something about a background as an analytical chemist and something about graduating magna cum laude with a degree in said field of science. She sends her love to The House in the Sky. end transmission.

Gin Hammond (Dialect Coach)

Gin last worked with Book-It Rep coaching dialects for The House of Mirth. In addition to Rhoda: A Life in Stories, Gin most recently worked with Sharon Ott as the dialect coach for Kansas City Rep’s production of The Syringa Tree. She received her MFA from the American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University / Moscow Art Theatre School, and has worked steadily across the country at theatres such as The Guthrie, Arena Stage, The Longwharf Theatre, ACT, The Pasadena Playhouse, ART, The Berkshire Theatre Festival and The Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. She has also performed internationally in Moscow, Heidelberg, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and may be performing in Norway and Ireland this July. Gin can say from experience that Book-It Rep is one of the finest theatres in the world!

S p ec i a l T h a n k s Special thanks to the following organizations and individuals for their generous support: Cornish College of the Arts • University of Puget Sound • University of Washington • The Seattle Public Library Patricia & Kenton Daniels • Phillip & Harriet Daniels • Charlotte Headrick • Don Darryl Rivera A & A Printing • Barnes and Noble • Bailey/Coy Books • Rex Carleton • Victoria and Humberto Castaneda Brian Curry and Ten Mercer • Ken Holmes • KUOW • J. Lohr Winery • John Merner • Pacific Publishing Company The Pollard Group • Seattle Center • Seattle Post-Intelligencer • Seattle Shakespeare Company • Erik Stuhaug • Karen Lane and Theatre Puget Sound • University Book Store

Company Members

Board of Directors President - John Bullwinkel Vice President - Deirdre Runnette Treasurer - Mary Metastasio Secretary - Mary Beth Shaddy Steve Bull Linda Capell Peter Capell Mary Anne Christy John Davis Stephanie Feldt Seann Hallisky Jacqueline Park Robert Pillitteri Lynne Reynolds Kathy Tune Helen Wattley-Ames Lucy Flynn Zuccotti

Book-It Staff Jane Jones and Myra Platt • Artistic Directors Sharon Burke • Managing Director Annie Lareau • Education Director Mark Jared Zufelt • Artistic Associate Tanja Gearhart • Director of Marketing & Communications Kara Vollman • Development Associate Margaret Carter • Associate Education Director Leslie Barnard • Education Intern Larry Rodriguez • Technical Director/Production Manager Rachel Alquist • Box Office Manager Heather Guiles • Bookkeeper Tom Stewart • House Manager/Volunteer Coordinator

James Dean Laura Ferri Gail Frasier Heather Guiles Andy Jensen Jennifer Sue Johnson Jane Jones Daniel Harray Reginald Andre Jackson David Klein James Lapan Mary Machala Kevin McKeon Myra Platt David Quicksall Stephanie Shine Susanna Wilson

Book-It is a company of professional actors and directors who perform classic and contemporary works of fiction for the stage. Our mission is to transform great literature into great theatre through simple and sensitive production and to inspire our audiences to read. We strive to return theatre to its roots, to the place where the spoken and the written word intersect and where the story comes alive for the audience. What you see and hear at a Book-It performance is literary prose spoken by the characters of the story as if it were dialogue in a play – often word for word in a short story and, in adaptations of larger works, selected narrative. This is the Book-It Style. We ask our audiences to use their imaginations, thereby becoming participants in a Book-It performance.

Book-It Repertory Theatre

Mainstage | Book-It All Over | Special Editions

Events not to be Missed!

a ScripTease Wed, April 25, 7pm

Brave New World

written by Aldous Huxley Adapated and directed by Joy Marzec

Sun, May 6, 7pm

Moby Dick

written by Herman Melville Adapated and directed by David Quicksall Book-It Repertory Theatre invites you to a ScripTease, readings from two new adapations in-the-works by Book-It company members David Quicksall and Joy Marzec. The readings are held in the Center House Theatre and are free and open to the public.

Book-It Book Club

Hosted by Book-It and the University Book Store

Thu, April 19 7:30pm University Book Store

Save the date for our next Book-It Book Club meeting when we discuss Isabel Allende’s bestseller The House of the Spirits. Special featured guest will be Etta Lilienthal, the scenic designer for Book-It’s production of The House of the Spirits.

From the page to the stage

Hosted by Book-It and the Seattle Public Library

Tue, May 22, 7pm

The House of the Spirits Downtown Public Library Curious about how books make it to the stage? Then join us for our next From the Page to the Stage event when the cast and crew of The House of the Spirits give you the inside scoop on how they turn Isabel Allende’s magnificent saga into a magnificent theatrical event.

Book-It Repertory Theatre is a participant in the New Generations Program, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American Theatre. This two-year grant funds Book-It’s Artistic Associate, Mark Jared Zufelt, in an artistic director mentorship led by Co-Artistic Directors Jane Jones and Myra Platt.

Contributors • March 1, 2006 - April 10, 2007 *Denotes gifts given in-kind Book-It would like to express our gratitude to the following for their generosity.

LITERARY LEGENDS ($50,000+)

Matthew N. Clapp, Jr. The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/Theatre Communications Group

LITERARY TITANS ($30,000+)

The Seattle Foundation / Dorothy I. Anderson Fund

LITERARY HEROES ($10,000+)

ArtsFund Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Boeing Company Dorsey and Whitney, LLP* Harvest Foundation Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation The Lucky 7 Foundation Beth McCaw and Yahn Bernier Seattle Post-Intelligencer* Tiger Williams

LITERARY CLASSICS ($5,000+) Foundations/Corporations Fales Foundation Trust Mellon Nesholm Family Foundation Safeco Insurance Starbucks Foundation Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation Individuals Sonya and Tom Campion Amy and Thaddeus Hanscom Anne and Steven Lipner Kathy and Jim Tune 12

Shirley and David Urdal Linda Talley and Ron Norris C. Bagley Wright

Leadership Circle ($2,500+) Foundations/Corporations Expedia, Inc Matching Gifts Program Horizons Foundation Howard S. Wright Construction Co. J. Lohr Winery* KUOW 94.9 FM* Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc. Microsoft Matching Gifts Program Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs PONCHO Stoel Rives, LLP Ten Mercer* Valve Corporation Individuals Emily Anthony and David Maymudes Avery Rogers Brooke Suzanne Burke Linda and Peter Capell Mary Anne Christy and Mark Klebanoff Emily Davis Julie Edsforth and Jabe Blumenthal Stephanie and Stuart Feldt Ellen and John Hill Martha Hutton and John Bullwinkel Jane Jones and Kevin McKeon

Ed McNerney and Ruth Valine Mary Metastasio Susan Monti Colette Ogle Jacqueline and Brian Park The Pillitteri Family Shawn and Mike Rediger Lynne and Nickolas Reynolds Kris and Mike Villiott Helen Wattley-Ames and Bill Ames Judith A. Whetzel Marcia and Klaus Zech Lucy Flynn Zuccotti and Thomas Zuccotti

Nobel Award Society ($1,000+)

Foundations/Corporations

Dorsey & Whitney LLP Gladys & Sam Rubinstein Foundation ING Matching Gift Program Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc. Microsoft Matching Gifts Program Sage Foundation Schiff Foundation US Bank Individuals

Kim Anderson Karen and D. Thompson Challinor Pam and Ollie Cobb Mimi Gardner Gates

Contributors â&#x20AC;˘ March 1, 2006 - April 10, 2007 *Denotes gifts given in-kind Laura Hull and John Atwill Louise McNerney and Jan Sobieralski Gladys and Sam Rubinstein Deirdre Runnette Mary Beth Shaddy and Robert Bleeg Brad and Colleen Stangeland Patricia and John Q Torode Shirley and David Urdal April J. and Brian Williamson Pulitzer Award Society ($500+) Kim Anderson Rosa Ayer Kira Bacon Judy Brandon and H. Randall Webb Becky Brooks and Jeff Youngstrom Linda and Peter Capell Alexandra and John Davis Zimmie Caner and Tom Edwards Jean Gorecki and Dick Dobyns Mary Francis and Harold Hill Toni J. S. Hoffman IBM Matching Gifts Program Jacqueline Kiser Martha Kongsgaard Laird Norton Trust Co. Darcy and Lee MacLaren Lynn Manley and Lex Lindsey Anne McDuffie and Tim Wood Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc. Betty Ann and Louie Richmond

Heidi Sherman and Jake Sedlock Margaret Silver Mary Snapp Diane Stevens Lawrence J. Symonds Sally and Charles Weems Judith and Morton Weisman Leora and Bob Wheeler Deborah Willingham Trish and Andrew Zuccotti National Book Award Society $250+

Nancy and Craig Abramson Sarah Brooke and Tony Pasqualini Steve Bull and Christiane Pein Heather Carmichael Olson Evelyn and Jim Chumbley Linda Cody and Richard Nelson Whitney and Adam Cornell Nora and Allan Davis Mary Dombrowski Vicky and Ray Downs Cinthia Fischer and Chris Linnett Liz Fitzhugh and Jim Feldman Nancy Geiger and Michael Krasik Helen and Max Gurvich Seann W. Hallisky David Hamilton Stephanie Hilbert Ann Ramsay-Jenkins and Bill Jenkins Debbie Killinger Collette and Brendan MacLean Glenda Maledy Brad Mathews Jean and Tom McKeon Sarah Merner Frances Mickey

Sandra and Richard Monroe Christine Fiedler Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Connor H. Stewart Ross Evelyne Rozner Steven W. Sarkowsky Dorothy Best Strand and Michael B. Slade Sara Thompson and Richard Gelinas Washington Mutual Matching Gift Program Richard B. Wesley Patty and Walter Wilson Nancy Worssam and William Seach Margo and Tom Wyckoff Valerie Yockey and Bob Winsor Pen/Faulkner Award Circle $100+

Artsfund Matching Gifts Program Ruth Bacharach Jacqueline Bardsley John and Sandra Barney Judith Benjamin Julia Bent Martin Berg Susan and Don Berger Lindsay and Tony Blackner Joseph Boling Kelly Bosworth Mary Anne Braund and Steve Pellegrin Donna and James Brudvik Laury and Bill Bryant Rachel Bukey Juliann Buron Tracy Burrows and Steve Bennett Barbara Buxbaum Joann Byrd Martha Byrne Marcie Campbell McHale Christina Chang Joyce Chase Jack D. Clay Patty Cogen and Larry Stein Andrew R. Cohen Lin Coker

Gayle and Richard Collins Loretta and Bob Comfort Carol and Clayton Cook Elizabeth Crane Jenny and Richard Cummins Cathy and Phil Davis Melinda J. Deane and Dan Wheetman Nancy and Bruce Deane Sandra and Paul Dehmer Dottie Delaney Victor Denenberg Mary E. Dickinson Michelle Dunn Betty Eberharter Rukshana Edwards Joyce Erickson Constance L. Euerle Jean Burch Falls Barbie Faubion Denice Fischer Fortier and James M. Fortier Gail Frasier Sandy Fry and Jim Mueller Janice M. Giles and S. Edward Parks Vicki Goldstein Anna Gordon Jane Graham Stacy Grano Charles Gravenkemper Cheryl Hadley Ann Hagedorn Lisa Hanscom Nicki Harbo Frances Broyles Hare and Steve Hare Signe and James Hayden Ellen and David Hecht Teresa Hedges Kate Hokanson Nancy Holcomb Trish and Doug Honig Diane Hostetler Ron Hovde M.E. Hubbard Karen Hust Melissa Huther and Gordon Hof Kristin Ihrig Mary Kae Irvin Eva Jackson Eric Jensen Charmian Jondall and 13

Contributors • March 1, 2006 - April 10, 2007 *Denotes gifts given in-kind Samuel McCormick Kris Jorgensen Clare Kapitan and Keith Schreiber Ronnie Katz and David A. Springer Pam Kendrick Julie and Glenn Kouhia MIchael B. Lane Nancy Lawton and Steve Fury Laura K. Lindenmayer Leo Longo Craig Lorch Thomas Lucas Ellen and Stephen Lutz Marsha and William Madigan Doug and Josie Manuel Julie B. and Lyle A. Margulies Rachel McCall and Douglas McCall, Jr. Kathy McCluskey Anna and Paul McKee Lynn Meyer Tracy Middlebrook Marcia and Joel Migdal Susan R. Monas and Samuel Wineburg Cornelia and Terry Moore Joan Moritz Margaret Morrison Glenn Morrissey Ed Murphey Kenneth Muscatel Leslie Nellermoe and Darrell McKissic Joann G. Nicon Maren Norton Rosanne Olson and Ed McMahon, Jr. Lynn Parker Jane Pearson Corliss Perdaems Carol and Edward B. Perrin Kit and Bill Phillips Michell and Larry Pihl Robert Pillitteri Susan Porterfield Lisa and Patrick Quinn Esther M. Reese Ann Reis Karen and Eric Richter 14

Jean Ross and Robert A. Radcliffe Anne Sarewitz Satori Software Robert C. Saunders Cindy Saver Susan Schaefer Marguerite and Jim Schellentrager Kurt Schira Ann R. Schuh Stephanie Searing and Randy Barnard Meredith and Craig Shank Joana and Michael Shapiro Martha Sidlo Peter Sill Ilene and David Siscovick Shellie Slettebak Jil Spitzer-Fox and Davis B. Fox Helen Stusser Gail Tanaka Kamella Tate Sally H. and Robert Telzrow Kate Thayer Kerry Thompson Jorie Wackerman Washington Post Matching Gifts Program Audrey Watson Barbara Wingerson Shauna Woods Barbara Wright and Dwight Gee Wright Runstad & Co. Dr. Sharon Zerr-Peltner O. Henry Award Circle $50+ Doug Adams Shawn Aebi Judith Alexander Amgen Foundation Nancy and Richard Anders David Andersen Suzy and Tony Ball Tina C. Baril Shawn Baz Carolyn J. and Daniel M. Bernhard Cheryl Ann Boudreau John Bradshaw Lael Ellis Braymer Diane and Ernest Burgess

Elizabeth and Mark Chamberlin Lynne and David Chelimer Susan and Dennis Chiavelli Harriett Cody

Kay and Garry Crane Nancy Cushwa Kathleen and Robert Davis Diana Delimitros Argeres and Peter Argeres Sally Dittamore Robert and Marti Duncan Aimee Dunne Harris and June Emmons Marilyn Endriss and Peter Dygert

Barbara Garrick Ann Glusker and Peter Hunsberger Granat & Granat, Inc. Carla and Kirk Griswold Mary Gulbrandsen Patricia and George Henderson Jessica Hickey Carolyn Hojaboom Mary Holm Ronald DeChene and Robert Hovden Wendy Jackson Peggy and David Kasik Richard Kelly

Special Thanks to our In-Kind Contributors Alphagraphics • Five Spot Café Guylian Chocolate J.Lohr Winery • Morfey’s Cake Shoppe Ten Mercer • TS McHughs St. Clouds Restaurant All donations are represented for the period of March 1, 2006 April 10, 2007. Listings reflect gifts in aggregate for one calendar year. Amounts include employer matching gifts when applicable. Book-It makes every attempt to be complete and accurate in this list. Please call Kara Vollman at (206) 216-0877 x 105, or email her at kara@book-it.org if any changes should be made in the way your name is listed.

Touring Stories Student Matinees Residency Programs

Book your touring story today!

T h e Tr u m p e t o f t h e S w a n by E.B. White, Grades: K-6

Tours: thru June

Call 206.770.0880!

www.book-it.org New 2007/2008 season coming soon! 15

The House of the Spirits By Isabel Allende Adapted and directed by Myra Platt NEW DATES: JUNE 8 - 24 Seattle Rep’s Leo K Theatre “Mesmerizing... A novel of force and charm.” - The Washington Post

“...Moving and compelling...” - The New York Times

Tickets on sale now! 16

206.216.0833