36 minute read
to the Coca-Cola Stage
“MAKE IT MATTER”: BRINGING EVERYBODY TO THE COCA-COLA STAGE
Co-Directors Susan V. Booth and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden discuss Everybody’s unique staging, timeliness, and challenge for its audiences
STORY BY Ashley Elliott
“This play [feels] like a fresh start,” says Co-Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden. “It proposes a reset while also giving us some landscape to reflect on how we got to where we are today.” Everybody, masterfully written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and inspired by the 15th century play Everyman, tells the story of Everybody, a happy person, a free person, a person who believes nothing but the best lies ahead. Then Death comes calling, and Everybody must go on a journey to find what has had lasting significance in their lifetime.
And she’s right. The only other story that comes to mind when thinking of a tale where the central character is Death is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This play, like that book, must masterfully balance the weight of the driving theme (the fact that the audience is watching the main character die) with a sense of humor that lightens the mood.
Coming Soon in the
2022/23 SEASON
NOV 12–DEC 24
One of Atlanta’s most treasured holiday traditions, featuring a completely reimagined set design and stunning new costumes..
By CHARLES DICKENS Adapted by DAVID H. BELL Directed by LEORA MORRIS
FEB 10–MAR 5
2023
Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
A fierce new comedy about the risks and rewards of celebrating who you are.
Written & Directed by KATORI HALL
Plus many more! Tickets and memberships available at alliancetheatre.org
SHARE YOUR STORY. PRESERVE YOUR STAGE.
The posting of photos taken before the show, during intermission, or
in our lobbies is not only allowed but strongly encouraged! We do kindly ask that you refrain from taking pictures, recording audio, or capturing video during the performance to allow our audiences and performers to stay connected with each other during our brief time together. Our stories are not simply told for you, but with you.
Recent events — namely the pandemic — have brought mortality to the forefront of our minds like never before. Co-Directors Booth and KajeseBolden kept this in mind when planning to bring Everybody to the CocaCola Stage.
“I’m not sure this play would resonate the same way if [the pandemic] hadn’t happened,” says Kajese-Bolden. “We are still searching for avenues to process what we all went through. This play invites not just the audience, but the artists, to explore the meaning of life through humor and physical play that hopefully leaves us thankful for another day to live on purpose.”
Since its origin on Signature Theatre’s Irene Diamond Stage in 2017, this play has captivated audiences with its cutting wit, hard-hitting questions, and, most notably, its unique storytelling device. Very rarely do actors (apart from swings) enter a theatre space not knowing what role they will be called upon to play, and yet that is exactly what Everybody asks them to do.
At the beginning of the play, five of the roles are decided by lottery, live before the audience. Most of Booth and Kajese-Bolden’s cast of “beautiful humans, inside and out” have each learned every single part in the show. “We knew we needed fearless performers,” Booth says, “who bring their full and authentic selves to the stage.”
Everybody co-directors Susan V. Booth and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden
Another way Everybody breaks boundaries is that the scenic design completely shatters the expectation of what the Coca-Cola Stage will look like. In addition to typical seating, the artistry of the woodwork in the house and additional seating have been added to the stage, creating an incredibly unique theatre-inthe-round experience.
“It’s exciting when you get to play with the familiar, but in a whole new configuration,” Kajese-Bolden continues. She’s eager to see how the audience reacts to seeing how the Coca-Cola Stage has been transformed. “We are approaching this stylistically in a way that one might for a smaller space, so that excitement is making this gorgeous vast space feel intimate and safe.”
Kajese-Bolden and Booth also got to play with their own sense of familiarity in codirecting the show. Both had co-directed before but were hesitant to try it again; especially with such a quirky, off-the-wall show.
However, once they dove into the project, they both swiftly changed their minds.
“To have this brilliant brain/heart/ visionary partner in the work of conceiving this event has been pretty glorious,” says Booth.
“It’s an experiment in working at the top of our game without having to sacrifice meaningful events [and] relationships in our lives that so often get sidelined when you are working on a show,” KajeseBolden adds. “We also said our number one rule is to keep the joy meter on high, which is the only way we want to work after a pretty stressful couple of years.”
Coming full circle to that everpresent topic of joy, the codirectors also hope the audience will walk away from the show with
“a feeling of communal connection and a deeper engagement with their own purpose and passions,” says Kajese-Bolden.
Booth agrees, adding, “Make it count. Right here and right now; make it matter.”
FROM EVERYMAN TO EVERYBODY
STORY BY Makalee Cooper, Emory Literary Intern
When Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Everybody’s playwright, was asked about his playwriting process in an interview, he emphasized his “investment in the tradition we’re writing in. Theatre is an old thing. It’s thousands of years old. TV isn’t. Film isn’t. We’re doing a really old thing.” In such an old art form, it’s practically impossible to tell an entirely new story. After all, that’s what genres are — a way to define humans telling slightly varied versions of the same story again and again.
Jacobs-Jenkins has welcomed the opportunity to use historical text as the basis for a modern story. During the opening monologue of Everybody, it is revealed that Everyman, the play that directly inspired Branden Jacobs-Jenkins to write Everybody, is a 15th century morality play. Although Everybody explains that a “morality play” is simply a play with a moral, theatre scholar John Payne Collier defines the genre as “a drama, the characters of which are allegorical, abstract, or symbolical, and the story of which is intended to convey a lesson for the better conduct of human life.”
This definition is a bit stuffy, and the realistic applications of morality plays are more nuanced. When a play is performed on stage, life is breathed into these allegorical figures and they are no longer abstract concepts that exist on a page; instead, they are a part of the real world that are more capable of making people understand the consequences of their actions. Although morality plays do teach a moral, they do it in a way that makes people realize how applicable to everyday life seemingly far-away concepts like death are.
Although Everybody defines Everyman as a morality play, the opening stage directions state that it is a “treatise in the manner of a morality play.” This distinction, although small, insinuates that Everyman was not created to be performed. In fact, the play has no record of being performed until 1901 — 500 years after it was translated into English. Instead, many historians have theorized that Everyman was written as a religious text, to be read and to help people understand that they can — and will — be confronted with death, so living a life of sin is not doing anyone any favors.
Everyman’s moral is explicitly Catholic, which makes sense, as Catholicism was the dominant sect of European Christianity during the 15th century. The moral can be loosely understood as follows: many people are leading lives of sin, forgetting
about God, and not doing the Corporal Acts of Mercy, such as giving to the poor or feeding the hungry. However, all that anyone needs to do is confess, repent, and scourge/ punish themselves, and their good deeds will then be strong enough to speak for them in front of God, and allow them to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
To amplify this moral, God specifically asks Death for a man who has forgotten that God is almighty in favor of worshiping his own riches, who happens to be Everyman.
Although Everyman’s strict Catholic moral is a product of a society with a unifying belief, the essence of the story is one that every society can relate to: How do we deal with our imminent death? JacobsJenkins took this question one step forward: How do we deal with our imminent death in today’s secular, diverse society?
Of course, taking any mention of repentance and confession out of the script was the first step in making Everyman modern. However, another feat that JacobsJenkins accomplished with this play was an exploration of the limits of theatre and casting: the lottery system. During each performance, Everybody and all of the allegorical figures are chosen by chance, in a lottery system. There are 120 different casting combinations that can be made from the 5 actors that will be affected by the lottery.
Not only does this system of chance force each actor — and audience member — to confront their own mortality, but it also illustrates the beauty of theatre. The production will be different every time it’s onstage, just as life and death are different for every person. Everybody holds a mirror to the audience in both the actors’ dialogue and the mechanics of the show.
Theatre may be an old thing with the same basic stories being told again and again, but finding ways to shape these stories around an ever-changing world is what keeps art alive.
The cover of the 15th century play Everyman.
VIRTUES: WHAT MAKES MEANING OF WHAT MATTERS IN LIFE?
STORY BY Claire Jackson, Spelman College Student
This quote, spoken in a bout of existentialist frustration by Rick and Morty character Morty Smith, is a bleak but also gripping message. He says it in the wake of his sister, Summer, realizing she was an unplanned pregnancy that changed the trajectory of their parents’ lives. But hey, it’s true, right? Maybe Morty would like
Claire Jackson Everybody as a play because of it. Because of the truth that we don’t pick our parents, our destiny is up to us and what we make of our situations. And spoiler alert: Everybody dies. The cast of Everybody is randomized, the roles known by each actor, and the lottery is performed every show in order to notify them of who they will be embodying for that performance. It’s random, and it’s spur of the moment, but so is death, isn’t it? Our lives are a blank canvas that we are tasked with painting. Which virtues will help us fill the white space with color, and which ones do we neglect, leaving them on the palette? Do we call on our Strength too much, leaving Emotions behind? Or maybe Love saturates the canvas, and Time is pushed to the side. It is up to each of us, at the end of the day, to realize what legacy we want to leave on the world, and at the end of the day, how the world will reflect on each of us. So, perhaps, this all means we should take a step back, and enjoy the little things more. Life and Death are scary things to think about, let’s talk about fun things instead. Go on that walk with the friend you haven’t seen in years. Pick that hobby up that you’ve been pondering for a while. Tell the people in your life that you’re grateful for them. Because, while Morty was harsh, he might have had a point. Sometimes, you just gotta watch TV.
Susan V. Booth, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director & Mike Schleifer, Managing Director
present
BY BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS
SCENIC & COSTUME DESIGN LEX LIANG
SOUND DESIGN MELANIE CHEN COLE
CASTING JODY FELDMAN
LIGHTING DESIGN THOM WEAVER
PROJECTION DESIGN MILTON CORDERO
STAGE MANAGER ANNA BARANSKI*
DIRECTED BY SUSAN V. BOOTH & TINASHE KAJESE-BOLDEN
SPONSORED BY
World Premiere produced by Signature Theatre, New York City
(Paige Evans, Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director; James Houghton, Founder)
CAST *ANDREW BENATOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Death *BRANDON BURDITT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Somebodies *SHAKIRAH DEMESIER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Love SKYLAR EBRON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Girl/Time *DEIDRIE HENRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Usher/God/Understanding *CHRIS KAYSER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Somebodies *BETHANY ANNE LIND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Somebodies *COURTNEY PATTERSON. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Somebodies *JOSEPH J. PENDERGRAST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Somebodies
UNDERSTUDIES SOLEIA HOWINGTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Girl/Time PARRIS SARTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Usher/God/Understanding/Love DELLAN SHORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Somebodies/Death
STAGE MANAGERS *ANNA BARANSKI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Stage Manager *BARBARA O’HALEY . . . . . . . . . Assistant Stage Manager (Aug 1 — Sept 4) *KACIE PIMENTEL . . . . . . . . . . Assistant Stage Manager (Aug 29 — Oct 2) SAMANTHA HONEYCUTT . . . . . . .Stage Management Production Assistant
PRODUCTION AND DESIGN ASSISTANCE JODY FELDMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Line Producer HAYLEE SCOTT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . COVID Coordinator LAURY CONLEY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Costume Designer SEAMUS BOURNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Associate Scenic Designer RAIYON HUNTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Casting Associate CONNOR HAMMOND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fight Coach ANNA BARANSKI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fight Captain VICTOR JACKSON II. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Movement Consultant
FOR THIS PRODUCTION SAMANTHA HONEYCUTT . . . Young Performer Supervisor (Aug 1 — Aug 14) AMANDA PEREZ . . . . . . . . Young Performer Supervisor (Aug 15 — Sept 4) BARBARA O’HALEY . . . . . . . Young Performer Supervisor (Sept 5 — Oct 2) GRAHAM SCHWARTZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sound Mixer JAYSON T. WADDELL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deck Sound MONICA SPEAKER, RODNEY WILLIAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wardrobe SKYLAR BURKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Properties Stagehand BRYAN PEREZ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crew Chief VICTOR MOULDEOUX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Automation Stagehand GABRIELLE DRUM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electrician STEVE JORDAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Light Board Operator
SPECIAL THANKS Sandy Kemper Comedian David Perdue Comedians Lace Larrabee and Katherine Blanford Michael Rooks Nicole Albert, MHS., LPC
COMMUNITY PARTNER Center for Ethics at Emory University
* Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
The Alliance Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, an independent national labor union. The Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, and is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT), the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young Audiences (ASSITEJ/USA), The Atlanta Coalition of Theatres, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Midtown Alliance.
Photos may be taken in the theater before the performance, during intermission, and following the performance. If you share your photos, please credit the designers.
Photos, videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited, is a violation of United States Copyright Law, and is an actionable Federal Offense.
This production is approximately ninety minutes long and has no intermission.
A STAGE FOR EVERY AGE
Now enrolling for fall classes.
alliancetheatre.org/classes
ANDREW BENATOR
(Death) is thrilled to be a part of this cast and telling this story. Previous Alliance credits include A Christmas Carol; Small Mouth Sounds; Crossing Delancey; Troubadour; Disgraced; One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark; Good People; August: Osage County; Tennis in Nablus; and Eurydice. Other Atlanta credits include Indecent and Pitmen Painters at Theatrical Outfit, RACE and Between Riverside and Crazy at True Colors Theatre, and Boeing Boeing at Aurora Theatre. Andrew has worked offBroadway and in regional theaters across the country. Film and TV credits include The Founder, Game Night, Million Dollar Arm, “Amazing Stories,” “Bigger,” and “Stranger Things.” 2016 Recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship. Thank you for supporting live theater!
BRANDON BURDITT
(Somebodies) is thrilled to be returning to the Alliance Theatre! Burditt is a proud alum of Morehouse College (‘18). He was most recently seen at Illinois Shakespeare Festival as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and Edgar in King Lear. Past roles include Hands Up here at the Alliance, Oberon in A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Cymbeline in Cymbeline at Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Caesar in Gem of the Ocean directed by Chuck Smith, The Soldier in The Colored Museum (2017), Canewell in Seven Guitars (2015), and Jib in Hoodoo Love (2015). He has written a one-act play honoring survivors of sexual assault titled Interviews, which awarded him a grant from Morehouse. The play has been performed at both Morehouse and Tougaloo College in Mississippi.
SHAKIRAH DEMESIER
(Love) is elated to be back at the Alliance Theatre... or any theatre really because Covid is rude. She is a Haitian-American stage and tv/film actress and comedy writer from NYC now based in Atlanta. She’s a Hofstra University, HB Studio, and UCB graduate with a penchant for performing in and writing stories that focus on the African diaspora. Her work has been recognized by the NAACP and the ABC Network’s Talent Showcase and she is currently creating her own series of work focusing on immigrants in America. Shakirah’s favorite regional credits include: Streetcar Named Desire; Nick’s Flamingo Grill; Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous; and Seize the King. You’ll also find her on tv series: “Cobra Kai” on Netflix, “American Soul” on BET, “Watchmen” on HBO, “Queens” on ABC and the CW’s “Legacies”. Follow her at: @pleasedontcallmeshak
SKYLAR EBRON (Girl/ Time) [she/her] is ecstatic for her debut performance with the cast of Everybody at the Alliance Theatre! Skylar is a 5th grade vocal and dramatic arts student who also plays piano and guitar. Skylar is grateful to her parents for nurturing and supporting her dreams as a young actor and performer. When not on stage, Skylar is an active Junior Girl Scout and avid animal lover. Find her on social media: @skylar_ebron_official
DEIDRIE HENRY (Usher/ God/Understanding) Regional: To the Yellow House (LaJolla Playhouse), Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Portland Center Stage), It Can’t Happen Here (Berkeley Rep), A Streetcar Named Desire (Portland Center Stage), American Night (Yale Repertory), Raisin in the Sun (Mark Taper, Kirk Douglas Theatre), Parade (Mark Taper, Center Theatre Group), Ballad of Emmett Till (Goodman), Yellowman (Berkeley Rep), As You Like It, Three Sisters, Wit, Hamlet, Seven Guitars, Much Ado About Nothing (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Blues for an Alabama Sky (Alliance Theatre, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Huntington). Film/TV: Handmaid’s Tale, Game of Silence, BOSCH, to name just a few. It’s great to be back home.
SOLEIA HOWINGTON (u/s Girl, Time) is excited to be making her debut in Everybody at the Alliance Theatre. A 4th grader at Brighten Academy, where she has enjoyed participating in annual musical productions as an ensemble player. At Brighten, she received the “Good Citizen” award, for which she is
proud. Aside from enjoying language arts, reading, and writing, she loves painting, drawing, singing, dancing, and playing Roblox. She is a member of the chess club, enjoys learning Japanese, and is fascinated by the world of astronomy and astronauts. She loves being a mentor to younger kids at her school, ensuring that everyone knows that her favorite color is pink. She loves traveling with her family and discovering fun vacation spots. She is very grateful to all her family and friends for their support.
BETHANY ANNE LIND
(Somebodies) is thrilled to be back on the Alliance stage. Previous Alliance credits: Shakespeare in Love, Cuckoo’s Nest, August: Osage County, and the world premieres of Edward Foote, Carapace, Troubadour, and 26 Miles. She has appeared on stages from coast to coast including La Jolla Playhouse: His Girl Friday; and originating roles in the world premieres of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre then Arena Stage; The Storytelling Ability of a Boy at Florida Stage then Aurora Theatre; and Really Really at Signature Theatre. Recurring television roles include Grace Young in “Ozark,” Molly Quinn in “Reprisal,” and Clara Steele in “Doom Patrol,” as well as guest roles on “Stranger Things,” “The Walking Dead,” “Greenleaf,” “Lore,” “Rectify,” and an upcoming episode of Branden JacobsJenkins’ FX series: “Kindred.” Film: Chaos Walking, Flight, Doctor Sleep, Crackerjack, Mean Girls 2, and leading roles in critically acclaimed indie features: The Wheel, Through the Glass Darkly, and opposite Will Patton in Blood on Her Name. Thank you for supporting local theatre, independent films, and Atlanta based artists! Insta: @BethanyAnneLind Twitter: @LindBethanyAnne
CHRIS KAYSER
(Somebodies) is thrilled to continue his collaboration with the Alliance Theatre in Everybody. Previous Alliance credits include Peter Pan, Brigadoon, A Christmas Carol, The Grapes of Wrath, Eurydice, Art, Miss Evers’ Boys, Angels in America: Perestroika, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Glengarry Glen Ross, August: Osage County, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ever After.
COURTNEY PATTERSON
(Somebodies) returns to the Alliance after appearing in several productions including Small Mouth Sounds, Disgraced, Geller Girls, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, August: Osage County, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and A Christmas Carol. She has been on various stages around the city throughout her career (Georgia Shakespeare, Theatrical Outfit, Aurora Theatre, and Synchronicity Performance Group). TV/Film: “The Walking Dead,” “Stuff You Should Know,” “Drop Dead Diva,” “Good Eats,” SuperIntelligence, Life of the Party, Anchorman 2, Let’s Be Cops, Trouble With the Curve. Thank you for supporting live theatre! Much love to Nick, Javier, Susan, Mom, and Dad. www.courtneypatterson.net
JOSEPH J. PENDERGRAST
(Somebodies) [they/ them] is thrilled to return to the Alliance. They have performed in most theaters in Atlanta including Alliance Theatre (Alice Between and Ever After); Found Stages (Frankenstein’s Funeral); Aurora Theatre (In the Heights); Serenbe Playhouse (Spring Awakening); Actor’s Express (Head Over Heels); and Synchrocity Theatre (Lyle the Crocodile).
PARRIS SARTER (u/s Usher, God, Understanding, Love) is delighted to be back at the Alliance. She holds an M.A. in Performing Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design. Alliance: A Christmas Carol (u/s Mrs. Cratchit/Missy Watkins) Atlanta: Booty Candy, Angels in America (Suzi Recipient), and An Octoroon (Suzi nominee) (Actor’s Express); Eclipsed (Suzi Recipient) (Synchronicity Theatre); Angry Fags and The Revolutionists (7Stages); The Cake and Square Blues (Horizon Theatre). Regional: Wrong River (Flint Repertory). Upcoming: Eucine in Paris. The life of Nina Simone with Hush Harbor Labs at the Black Arts Festival this September. Thank you again for supporting live theater.
DELLAN SHORT (u/s Somebodies, Death) is a 2022, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, graduate from Brenau University; he is thrilled and overjoyed to be making his professional debut on the Alliance stage. Dellan would like to thank his parents Jill and Jim, his brothers Britton and Tanner, and his girlfriend Ryan for their endless support. Find Dellan on socials: @Shellan_dort
SUSAN V. BOOTH
(Co-Director) joined the Alliance Theatre in 2001 and has initiated the Palefsky Collision Project, the Kendeda Playwriting Competition, the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab, and commercial partnerships on such projects as The Prom; Tuck Everlasting; Ghost Brothers of Darkland County; The Color Purple; Bring It On: The Musical; Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away; Sister Act: The Musical; Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk; and Jesus Christ Superstar GOSPEL. She has directed nationally at the Goodman Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, New York Stage and Film, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and many others. She holds degrees from Denison and Northwestern Universities and was a fellow of the National Critics Institute and the Kemper Foundation. Booth’s leadership is underwritten by the BOLD Theater Women’s Leadership Circle, an initiative to support and promote women’s theater leadership funded by The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation. She is married to Max Leventhal and is the proud mother of Moira Rose Leventhal.
TINASHE KAJESE-
BOLDEN (Co-Director) is the BOLD Associate Artistic Director at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. Tinashe is a Princess Grace Award 2019 Winner for Directing, and Map Fund Award recipient to develop her devised new work All Smiles centering the experience of children on the Autism Spectrum. Most recently, she was Associate Director with Kenny Leon for Trading Places. Tinashe held a salaried creative and Director’s Shadow position during the pre-production, pilot and 2nd episode development of the TV Series “Our Kind of People” (Fox Studios) under Lee Daniel’s production company and was Director Shadow on the season finale of “BMF.” Select directing productions include Toni Stone (co-production Milwaukee Repertory Theater and the Alliance Theatre), School Girls, Or the African Mean Girls Play (Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre), Ghost (Alliance Theatre), Native Gardens (Virginia Stage Company), Pipeline (Horizon Theater), Nick’s Flamingo Grill (World Premiere at the Alliance Theatre, Hertz Stage), Eclipsed (Synchronicity Theatre, Best Director Suzi Bass Award). Upcoming projects: The Many Wondrous Realities of Jasmine Starr-Kidd (2022/23 Alliance/ Kendeda National Playwriting Competition Winner/World Premiere Alliance Theatre). As a director and actor, she has worked on + off Broadway, including The Imperial Theatre, Primary Stages, 59E59 Theatre, Classical Theatre of Harlem; and regionally at Yale Rep, Woolly Mammoth Theater Co, Cincinnati Playhouse, The Geva Theatre, CTG’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, among others, as well as recurring roles on TV/Film (Suicide Squad 2, Marvel’s “Hawkeye,” CW’s “Valor,” “Dynasty,” HBO’s “Henrietta Lacks,” Ava Duverney’s “Cherish the Day,” among others.) She proudly serves on the ARTS-ATL Artist Advisory Council. “My mission is the pursuit of what connects our different communities and how we create art that serves that.”
BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS
(Playwright)’s plays include Girls, Everybody, War, Gloria, Appropriate, An Octoroon, and Neighbors. A Residency Five playwright at Signature Theatre and a 2020 Guggenheim fellow, his honors include a USA Artists fellowship, the Charles Wintour Award, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award. He currently serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council and sits on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. This fall, he joins the faculty of Yale University as Professor of Practice.
LEX LIANG (Scenic & Costume Design) is thrilled to be back at the Alliance, where he has previously designed scenery for Carapace, and costumes for Into the Woods, What I Learned in Paris, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Troubadour, Candide, and others. Regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, The
Asolo, Cleveland Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center, Geva Theatre, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Playmaker’s Rep, Portland Center Stage, St. Louis Rep, Syracuse Stage, Woolly Mammoth, and many others. NYC/Off-Broadway: 50+ productions—recent work includes Penelope, Or How The Odyssey Was Really Written, and The Bacchae. Upcoming: The Acting Company’s Romeo & Juliet. Lex is the founder and principal of LDC Design Associates, an experiential event design and production company in NYC. Recent projects include Ubuntu Pathways: Fight For Good, Operation Smile’s 35th Anniversary Gala, The Tony Awards Gala, and BCBG’s 30 Year Retrospective, NYFW. www.LexLiang.com
THOM WEAVER (Lighting Design) Previously for Alliance: Toni Stone. OffBroadway credits include: The Total Bent (Public), Kingdom Come (Roundabout), Exit Strategy (Primary Stages), King Hedley II, How I Learned What I Learned, The Liquid Plain (Signature Theatre Company); Teller’s Play Dead (The Players Theater). Regional credits include productions with: Huntington Theatre Company, Arden Theatre, The Wilma Theater (Associate Artist), Philadelphia Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Getty Pavilion, Children’s Theatre Company, The Cleveland Play House, Portland Center Stage, The Folger Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Round House Theatre, Hangar Theatre, CenterStage, California Shakespeare Theater, Syracuse Stage, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Lincoln Center Festival, City Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre, as well as numerous designs with Pilobolus. He is the recipient of two Jeff Awards, six Barrymore Awards and two AUDELCO Awards. Education: Carnegie Mellon and Yale. He is a member of Wingspace Theatrical Design and Co-Founder of Die-Cast. He/him. Black Lives Matter.
MELANIE CHEN COLE (Sound Design) [she/her] is thrilled to be making her design debut at the Alliance Theatre with this production of Everybody! Regional: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alley Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Dallas Theater Center, Geffen Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, The Huntington, Indiana Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, PlayMakers Rep, South Coast Rep, Utah Shakespeare Festival. Education: M.F.A. in Theatre and Dance from UC San Diego. melaniesound.com, @melaniechencole.
MILTON CORDERO (Projection Design) is thrilled about making his Coca-Cola Stage debut. Cordero started his career in film and theater (actor, Electric, Light Design) at a very young age. Eventually, he explored the use of multimedia in live performances, which led him to develop a career as a projection designer. Cordero’s Projection Designs have been seen on stages in New York, Atlanta, and Puerto Rico. Favorites credits include: Anna in the Tropics (Bay Street Theater, NY), Hands Up (Alliance Theatre, GA), In the Heights (Choliseo, PR), The Nether (Emory Theatre, GA), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the NightTime (Aurora Theatre & Horizon Theatre, GA), Tierra Mia (Gibaro de Puerto Rico), and El Burlador de Sevilla (Teatro Círculo, NY). You can follow Milton on IG: mcorderodesigns and/ or take a glance at his work on www. miltoncordero.com. His goal is to keep exploring and contribute to bringing the Latin theater to the next level, as well as honoring God with his talents.
JODY FELDMAN (Casting) began her theater career as an actress in Atlanta before moving into administration as the Assistant General Manager at Frank Wittow’s Academy Theatre. Feldman started her career at the Alliance as casting director in 1991 and added producer to her title and responsibilities in 2001. She has cast and produced more than 200 productions at the Alliance, encompassing a range of world premieres that includes The Last Night of Ballyhoo, What I Learned in Paris, Broke, Troubadour, In the Red and Brown Water, and more than 10 years of Alliance/ Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition-winning plays, plus such world and regional premiere musicals as Tuck Everlasting; Aida; The Color Purple; Sister Act: The Musical; Bring It On: The Musical; Ghost Brothers of Darkland County; Harmony, A New Musical, and The Prom. Jody is most proud of the thriving Alliance engagement activities and partnerships that recognize theatrical work as a catalyst for community conversation and connection.
ANNA BARANSKI (Stage Manager) is excited to be returning to Alliance Theatre after working on the 2021 adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Previously Anna was a seasonal stage manager with the Dallas Theater Center (2009-2020). In addition, she has enjoyed stage managing at the following select theaters: The Children’s Theatre, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Triad Stage, Musical Theater West, Circle Theater, Casa Mañana Theatre, Theatre Arlington, Kids Who Care, Inc., Trinity Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, and Second Thought Theatre. Anna is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, with an MFA in Stage Management, and completed her professional internship at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. www.annabaranski.com @dinosaur.stage.manager
BARBARA GANTT O’HALEY (Assistant Stage Manager Aug 1 — Sept 4; Young Performer Supervisor Sept 5 — Oct 2) [she/her] is glad to be working at the Alliance again after six years away. Previous Alliance credits include: Slur, Tell Me My Dream, Courage, Grimm Lives of the In-Betweens. Other Atlanta credits include: Big Fish, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Simply Simone, In the Heights, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Perfect Arrangement, Indecent, Slow Food, Ms. Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, The Wickhams, Our Town, 110 in the Shade, Pitmen Painters, An Iliad (Theatrical Outfit); as well as My Fair Lady, Cats, Young Frankenstein (Atlanta Lyric Theatre). Love to Patrick, Elliana, and Keeva! Proud Member AEA.
KACIE PIMENTEL (Assistant Stage Manager Aug 29 — Oct 2) graduated from the University of Houston, where she received her BFA in Theatre Stage Management. She has recently finished the SM apprenticeship at Studio Theatre where she worked on The Hot Wing King, John Proctor is the Villain, and White Noise. She has also previously worked in stage management at Casa Mañana Theatre, Chautauqua Theatre Company, and Sea World San Antonio.
SAMANTHA HONEYCUTT (Stage Management Production Assistant; Young Performer Supervisor Aug 1 — Aug 14) studied Stage Management at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before beginning her career working across the country. Her credits include: Year of the Rooster, When January Feels like Summer, and Five Times in One Night (Ensemble Studio Theater). Legally Blonde; Hello, Dolly!; My Fair Lady; and Music Man (Cape Playhouse). Frankenstein, Hairspray, Penny Candy, American Mariachi, Supreme Leader (Dallas Theater Center). Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous (Hartford Stage), and Trading Places (Alliance Theatre).
MIKE SCHLEIFER (Managing Director) joined the Alliance Theatre in 2014 as General Manager, and in 2016 became Managing Director. Schleifer has led the administrative team on more than 50 productions and was one of the architects of the “On the Road” season, in which the Alliance produced 12 shows at 12 venues. He started the Alliance’s Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Committee and serves on the League of Resident Theatre’s Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Initiative. Previously, he spent 13 years at Baltimore’s Center Stage, working as Associate Producer, Production Manager and Resident Stage Manager. While in Baltimore, he spent seven years as an adjunct faculty member at Towson University and guest lectured all over the East Coast. He began his career as a Stage Manager and has dozens of stage-management credits in New York and regionally. He is married to theater director and educator Laura Hackman and is the proud father of two boys, Jack and Ben.
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION (AEA)
Founded in 1913, AEA is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. www.actorsequity.org
SYNOPSIS
Everybody is a happy person, a free person, a person who believes nothing but the best lies ahead. Then Death comes calling, and Everybody must go on a journey to find what has had lasting significance in their lifetime. Inspired by the 15th century play Everyman, Everybody explores the meaning of life and the roles we play along the way.
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As a young seminary student, I can recall many days in the (no longer standing) Bishop Hall of the Candler School of Theology waxing poetic about the meaning of biblical texts. I can remember debating not only varying interpretations of some of the most commonly recited scripture but also the validity, scarcity, and origins of the texts themselves.
Though we had varying beliefs of the words on those pages, essentially what drove our discussions and ultimately our very presence at this place of higher learning was our quest to understand not only the meaning of these words but the implications of these words on our lived experience and the implications of these words in the afterlife.
In this funny, witty, surprising, sobering, and thought-provoking play, it feels that the playwright has distilled the entire three years I spent pursuing a Master of Divinity degree into less than two hours and, considering the price of a theatre ticket, did so for tens of thousands of dollars less!
In such a divisive world where we struggle to find common ground on much of anything, it is refreshing to come together for an amazing ride exploring one of the very few things we all share in common… the inevitability of death.
Those big questions that I explored as a student and that are creatively presented in this play spilled into the work that I do to this day. In fact, it was in part my preoccupation with these very questions that attracted me to the position at the Emory University Center for Ethics where today, 15 years later in a building shared with (believe it or not) the Candler School of Theology, I direct the Ethics & the Arts Program.
The Ethics & the Arts Program is centered on the belief that the production of art, its role in public conversation, its preservation, and its presentation all provoke us to confront ethical challenges, sometimes in startling new ways. We are committed to inspiring innovative thought by using creative expression to elevate moral discourse. Since the inception of the Ethics & the Art Program our longstanding partnership with the Alliance Theatre to create space for deeper engagement with the audience has always been central to our work within the program.
On a more personal note, this play is coming right on the heels of the one year anniversary of the passing of my father. It is without doubt that reflections about life and death have been very present on my mind. What this play helped me explore was not only what might happen after we die but, more importantly, in what ways do we want to live. It challenges us to question not just what we want to do for a living, but who do we want to be while we are yet living.
My dad provided a great model for me to personally grapple with and strive to live into these big questions. My work in the community, at the Center for Ethics, and in partnership with the Alliance allow me to feel like I may in fact be carrying that out. And this play invites us ALL an opportunity to step outside of ourselves into the shared world of Everybody and begin the process of exploring those questions for ourselves… together.
Carlton Mackey
Director of the Ethics & the Arts Program and Associate Director of the D. Abbott Turner Program in Ethics and Servant Leadership Emory Center for Ethics
