Theater Wit presents
by Melissa James Gibson Original Music by Peter Eldridge Directed by Jeremy Wechsler THE CAST Jane.......................................................................................................................Rebecca Spence* Merrill.......................................................................................................................... Lily Mojekwu* Tom.................................................................................................................................. John Byrnes Alan........................................................................................................................... Mitchell J Fain* Jean-Pierre.............................................................................................................. Steve Hadnagy UNDERSTUDIES Caren Blackmore (Merrill) John Cardone (Alan) Joseph McCauley (Tom, Jean-Pierre) Sarah Kinsey (Jane) THE PRODUCTION TEA M Playwright................................................................................................. Melissa James Gibson Director................................................................................................................. Jeremy Wechsler Scenic Designer.........................................................................................................Roger Wykes Lighting Designer.........................................................................................................Mike Durst Costume Designer.............................................................................................Samantha Jones Sound Designer.............................................................................................. Christopher Kriz** Properties Designer.................................................................................................. Sarah E. Ross Stage Managed by.......................................................................................... Dana M. Nestrick* Casting................................................................................................................ Two Birds Casting * denotes a member of Actors’ Equity ** denotes member of United Scenic Artists This is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service.
Playwright’s Horizon, Inc., New York City, produced the World Premiere of THIS Off-Broadway in 2009. THIS was commissioned by Playwrights Horizons with funds provided by The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Theater Wit 1
BIOGR APHIES Rebecca Spence (Jane) recently portrayed the role of Merteuil in Remy Bummpo’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Jeff Nomination, Supporting Role) and Catherine Donohue in Rivendell Theatre Ensemble’s These Shining Lives (Jeff Nomination, Lead Role). Other Chicago credits include The Voysey Inheritance (Remy Bumppo); The Crucible, Household Spirits, Our Lady of 121st Street and Pacific (Steppenwolf Theatre); Cyrano (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Twelfth Night (Noble Fool Theatricals) and Dracula (Defiant Theatre). Film: Contagion, The Dilemma, Audrey the Trainwreck, Earthling, Public Enemies, Grace is Gone and The Break-Up. Television: Detroit 1-8-7, The Chicago Code, The Beast and Prison Break. This is her first collaboration with Theater Wit. Lily Mojekwu (Marrell) is tickled to be making her Theater Wit debut. Chicago theatre credits include: Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre). The Brother/Sister Plays (u/s), The Elephant Man, Intimate Apparel (u/s) (Steppenwolf Theatre). The Overwhelming and Well (Next Theatre). Greensboro A Requiem (Non-Equity Jeff Nomination: Best Supporting Actress) and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (Non-Equity Jeff Award: Best Ensemble) (Steep Theatre). King Lear, As You Like It, Love’s Labours Lost and Henry V (Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre). The Great God Pan (Wildclaw Theatre). Another Part of the House (Teatro Vista). The Violet Hour (Uma Productions). John Byrnes (Tom) is thrilled to make his Theater Wit debut with This. He is a proud member of The Hypocrites, with whom he has performed in The Hairy Ape, Our Town, 4.48 Psychosis and many others. Recently, John has 2 Theater Wit
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) appeared in Port with Griffin, Thieves Like Us with the House, All My Sons at Timeline and The Overwhelming at Next Theatre. He has worked regionally around the country as well as in television and radio. When he’s not on stage, John teaches theater to teenagers around the city, most recently with Court Theatre. He holds a BFA in Acting from Boston University’s School For the Arts. Mitchell Fain (Alan) is happy to be working with Theater Wit without having to don an elf costume. He has starred for the last four years in Theater Wit’s annual production of The Santaland Diaries, has recently performed at The Actors Theatre of Louisville in It Takes a ‘Ville for The Second City as well as Lookingglass Theatre’s production of Lookingglass Alice and also on The NCL Star as part of another brilliant Second City touring company performing improv/sketch comedy. Other Credits: Stilettos, Circus and Soul, Hamlet; The Musical, Henry VI, Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As Bees in Honey Drown, Bitches, Hayfever, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Lynching of Leo Frank. Television: What About Joan?, Early Edition and most recently The Beast on A & E. Mr. Fain is an Artistic Associate of Chicago’s The Midnight Circus and About Face Theatre as well as a Co-host of The Windy City Queer-cast. He received his degree in English at the University of Rhode Island. Steve Hadnagy (Jean-Pierre) is happy to be working with Theater Wit for the first time. Steve was most recently seen in last year’s production of Bertolt Brecht ‘s Baal at TUTA and in the title role in Macbeth at City Lit Theatre. Other area appearances include Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, also at TUTA. Regional credits include Escape From Happiness at Roundhouse Theatre and the world premiere of Lynwood Pharmacy at
Wooley Mammoth Theatre in Washington D.C. He also toured with The National Players as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet and holds a Master of Fine Arts from DePaul University Theatre School. Melissa James Gibson (Playwright) Melissa’s plays include This (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist); [sic] (OBIE Award for playwriting, Kesselring Prize, The Best Plays of 2001-02); Suitcase or, those that resemble flies from a distance (NEA/ TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights); Brooklyn Bridge, with a song by Barbara Brousal (AT&T Onstage award); and Current Nobody (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize finalist). Her work has been produced and/ or developed at Playwrights Horizons, Center Theatre Group, Soho Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, The Children’s Theatre Company, Steppenwolf, ATF, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, among others, regionally and internationally. Current commissions: Atlantic Theater Company; Manhattan Theater Club (Sloan Foundation). Honors: Jerome Fellow; MacDowell Colony Fellow; Whiting Writers Award; Lucille Lortel Foundation Playwrights’ Fellowship; Guggenheim Fellowship; LILLY Award. MFA: Yale School of Drama; graduate of New Dramatists. Jeremy Wechsler (Director) is the artistic director of Theater Wit where he has directed the Chicago premieres of The Four of Us (Itamar Moses), This (Penny Penniston), Feydeau-Si-Deau (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (based on nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries (David Sedaris and Joe Mantello). He has directed over forty shows in the last fifteen years at various theatres, including: A Taste of Honey (Shelagh Delaney, “US Best of 2008” in The Wall Street Journal), The Play About the Squirrel (Mia McCullough), The White Devil (John Webster), Szinhaz (Itamar Moses), The Duchess of Malfi (John Webster), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare), The Roaring Girl (Thomas Middleton), Flight (Mikhail Bulgakov), The Most Fabulous Story Every Told (Paul
Rudnick), This Is the Rill Speaking (Lanford Wilson), Hay Fever (Noel Coward), now then again (Penny Penniston), A Month in the Country (Brian Friel), Europe (David Grieg), Henry VI (Shakespeare), The Promise (Jose Rivera), Un Robot (Laura Jacqmin), The Coarse Acting Show (Michael Green), Life Is a Dream (Calderon), The Prisoner’s Dilemma (David Edgar), Cabaret (Kander/Ebb) and The Threepenny Opera (Brecht). He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres. His productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work. Roger Wykes (Scenic Design) favorite Chicago designs include Oh, Boy!, The Body Snatchers (City Lit Theater) OklaHomo! for the Holidays (About Face Theatre) The Last Unicorn (Promethean Theater Ensemble), The Flu Season and Camp Freedom (Black Sheep Productions) and The Four of Us (Theater Wit). Mr. Wykes was born an raised in the Oregon High Desert and received his BFA from Southern Oregon University. http://rogerwykes.carbonmade.com Mike Durst (Lighting Design) is the resident lighting designer for the Black Dahlia in Los Angeles including designs for premieres by Jonathin Tollins, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Austin Pendleton, and Stephen Belber. In Chicago he works for The Goodman Theatre. Other credits include Better Angels by Wayne Liebman (inaugural production at the Eli Broad Performing Arts Center, Santa Monica). Pete Townshend in concert at La Jolla Playhouse. X, Live in Los Angeles at The House of Blues. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, The Nightman Cometh National Tour. NYC: New York premiere of Jamie Pachino’s Splitting Infinity (Summer Play Festival), Stock Home for NYC Fringe. Off-Broadway: Extinction at Cherry Lane (Red Dog Squadron), Secrets of the Trade (Primary Stages) at 59e59. Mike has received Chicago’s Jeff Award, Los Angeles’s Ovation Award, and San Diego’s Craig Noel Award. Theater Wit 3
B I O G R A P H I E S ( c o n t .) Dana M. Nestrick (Production Stage Manager) Dana’s thrilled to return to Theatre Wit where she’s previously done The Santaland Diaries (’09 & ’10), American Theatre Company – The Big Meal, Welcome to Arroyos, Speech & Debate, I Do! I Do!, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, (sub) Celebrity Row, Writers’ Theatre – A Minister’s Wife (Workshops & Sub SM), Teatro Vista – Our Lady of the Underpass, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble – Sleuth, The Goodman Theatre – Assistant Stage Manager Romance; Stage Manager Binky Rudich or the Revenge of the Space Pandas, Provincetown Repertory – Production Stage Manager The Mystery of Irma Vep, Hartford Stage –Assistant Stage Manager Topdog/Underdog, A Christmas Carol (’02-’05), Metamorphoses, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Christmas Carol, Tennessee William’s Eight by Tenn, Trip to Bountiful, Much Ado About Nothing, Tazwell Thompson’s Constant Star, World Premier of Tea at Five starring Kate Mulgrew, Tennessee William’s Letters from Tennessee – A Distant Country Called Youth. Arizona Repertory Theatre- Stage Manager Steel Magnolias, A Flea in Her Ear, Music Theatre Arizona Production Stage Manager Side by Side by Sondheim. Proud AEA member. Dana is also a professional Costume Craft artisan. Dana is a proud member of the Core Production Company at American Players Theatre where she has been the Painter/Dyer for the past 10 seasons. Samantha C. Jones (Costume Designer) is thrilled to make her Theatre Wit debut designing This. As a designer her work has been seen at American Blues Theatre (It’s a Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph!) 16th Street Theatre (Menorca, Fires in the Mirror, Unveiled, and The End of the Tour), Chicago Dramatists (Jade Heart), Remy Bumppo Theatre Co. (American Ethnic, Heroes, Night and Day), Peninsula Players Theatre (A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, Wait Until Dark, Around the World in 80 Days, Heroes, Over the Tavern), Congo Square Theatre (A Colored Museum BTAA nominated for Best Costume Design), and Florida Studio Theatre (Playmakers). Her upcoming projects include Rantoul 4 Theater Wit
MISSION : SMART ART or Die with American Blues Theatre, Brothers of the Dust with Congo Square Theatre, and Hickorydickory with Chicago Dramatists She is an Ensemble member of American Blues Theatre. Christopher Kriz (Sound Design) is pleased to be working with Theatre Wit again, having recently designed sound for Spin. Current Chicago credits include Eclipsed (Northlight Theatre), Precious Little (Rivendell Theatre), Dental Society Midwinter Meeting (16th Street Theatre), Madagascar (Next Theatre), Dead Pile (XIII Pocket), Shining City (Redtwist Theatre) and Pullman,Wa/Church (Red Tape Theatre). Recent credits include the national tour of America Amerique (Jena Company),Lonesome West (Gift Theatre), Lobby Hero (Redtwist Theatre), The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe (First Folio), Aiming For Sainthood (Victory Gardens), Thieves Like Us (House Theatre), The Invasion Of Skokie (Chicago Dramatists), Baal (TUTA),The Hiding Place (Provision Theatre), Master Harold and The Boys and All My Sons (TimeLine Theatre). Upcoming productions include The Woman In Black (First Folio) and The Conquest of the South Pole (Strawdog Theatre) . To hear more of his work, please visit www.christopherkriz.com. chriskriz@gmail.com Sarah E. Ross (Properties Designer) served as properties designer for the premiere of Spin at Theater Wit last year. Other Chicago credits include scenic designs for Rantoul and Die (American Blues Theater), The 99th Mainstage Revue and Sex and The Second City (The Second City); costume designs for Tobacco Road (American Blues Theater) where she won a Joseph Jefferson Award. Regional credits include scenic and properties designs at Summer Studio Theater Company, Peninsula Players Theater, Helen Hocker Theater, Topeka Civic Theater and Academy, and Washburn University Theater Department. She is an ensemble member with American Blues Theater. web.me.com/seross2
Theater Wit dedicates itself to producing plays that address contemporary issues with humor and intelligence. With groundbreaking new plays and classic works, Theater Wit seeks to engage its audiences with wit and wisdom. Theater Wit recently finished a $1.3 million renovation on the old Bailiwick Arts Center. It will be home to Theater Wit, resident companies, and numerous visiting artists, creating a welcoming and professional home for the neighborhood to experience Chicago’s diversely talented theater scene.
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R E S I D E N T A N D V I S ITI N G S H OWS TH I S S E A S O N AT TH E ATE R W IT
Stage Left Theatre Enemy of the People February 25 - April 3
InFusion Theatre Soul Samurai April 25 – June 5
Theater Wit This February 25 - April 23
Griffin Theatre No More Dead Dogs April 28 - June 19
Route 66 Theatre Ensemble A Twist of Water February 17 – March 27
Teatro Vista Freedom, NY May 7 - June 12
Bohemian Theatre Ensemble Dirty Blonde April 1 – May 1
Stage Left LeapFest June
Call the Theater Wit Box Office for tickets 773-975-8150 or visit us online at theaterwit.org T H E AT E R W I T S TA F F Jeremy Wechsler....................................................................................................Artistic Director David Wechsler............................................................................................... Company Manager Mercedes Rohlfs....................................................................................................... Grant Director Nadia Garofalo, Mikey Laird......................................................................................... Box Office Jay Kelly, L.C. Williams & Assocs......................................................................... Press Relations Michelle D. Miller and John D. Neumann, Jones Day................................................... Legal Richard Kasemsarn........................................................................................................... Architect David Trent Zilmer..........................................................................................General Contractor
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Kathryn Stieber................................................................... President Paul Danao..................................................................Vice-President Charles Hornewer.............................................................. Treasurer Steve Owen.......................................................................... Secretary Todd Goldberg Ashley Nelson Neal Smyth Bruce Wechsler
With so much going on at Theater Wit, we recommend you get our e-newsletter to keep up. Get updated news on our resident companies, pre-production insights, interviews and photos. You can also be our bestest ever e-pals by visting us at facebook.com/theaterwit. Fill out a mailing list insert and give to any bartender, usher or house manager to get a free piece of chocolate, or sign up online at theaterwit.org/join. 6 Theater Wit
WitRESIDENCE
Providing a home to Chicago’s Theaters Each season, Theater WIt offers its space to one or more companies to produce in year round. The WitRESIDENCE program combines the principles of a cooperative and a traditional rental house to create a more cohesive, professional, and efficient nonprofit environment. In its facility, Theater Wit will play host to other Chicago theater companies on a minimum two-year basis. The resident companies will volunteer their time for space maintenance, share audience development initiatives, and gain a home under one roof. Meet our resident companies! B O H E M I A N T H E AT R E E N S E M B L E BoHo Theatre’s mission is to create theatre that incorporates the arts as a whole — Art for art’s sake. BoHo’s vision is to challenge convention through literary originality and eclectic expression while fostering an everevolving artistic environment in which people are inspired to learn, think, dream, and feel. To teach others and ourselves how to expand, create, and present art through theatre while reveling not only in the process, but also in the journey. BoHo’s season is chosen to highlight and explore the four bohemian pillars of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love. Four shows, four pillars (and maybe a holiday musical thrown in for good measure!) S TAG E L E F T T H E AT R E Stage Left Theatre’s mission is to develop and produce plays that inspire debate about political and social topics. We focus on presenting complicated issues in the context of an engaging story, without prescribing a single point of view. We attempt to spark respectful debate about the issues most relevant to our community, and activate audiences to continue those conversations beyond the walls of the theatre. Stage Left also works to inspire playwrights to address political and social themes through our Downstage Left new work development program.
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T H E AT E R W I T D O N O R S Over $5000 Arts Work Fund Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation The Penniston Family Foundation The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation PAV John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Bruce and Sandy Wechsler Jeremy Wechsler
$1000-$5000 Paul Danao Alan, Hedy, Roger, Eric and Julie Daniel Todd Goldberg Tom Lally The Saints Kathryn Stieber
$500-$999 Anne Larson & Josh Vincent Lysaught Consulting Inc. Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Morris Art Murphy Susie & Rick Rieser
$250-$499 Russell Ainsworth Joey’s Brickhouse Steve & Rose Owen Neal Smyth & Martha Christensen Trent Zilmer / Z-Build design
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$100-$249 Judith Block Sherwin Brook Debra Chesnin Nancy & Vito Coletto Cooper’s Monina Danao Helmut & Elfie Freudenthaller Steve & Ann Gilford Molly Glynn Todd & Brandy Goldberg Joe Goodkin & Andrea Carr The Hecht Family Jean Hornewer Anastasia Katinas Jay Kelly Peter & Leighann King James Kinoshita Todd Labinksy John Lahti Mimi & Warren Landsman Mimi Lutwak & Steve Fitzgerald Bridget A. Maile Jacqui Marton Kevin Metke Tiffany Miller Mark & Linda Nordenberg Steve & Kelly Paczolt Steve & Lizanne Phalen Jeffrey & Penny Rappin Steve & Bea Rashid Gabe & Dorit Raviv Lucius Reese Margo & Luke Reese Judith Roettig Janet Schiff & Lynn Boutross Carol Stanley-Robbins Jessica Turner Jill Webb & Neil Gustafson
$99 and under Lisa Albrecht Greg Bach Laura Blegen Gayles Brizona David Rakofsky & Jessica Brown Claire Curley Daisy Danao Caitlin Denker Matt Engle Arnie Flank Sam Franke Janice Goldstein Ann Gallucci Jeffrey Gaule & Elena Carbajal-Gaule Marla Gordon Steve Hickson ICM Properties Inc. / Winik Arnold Kasemsarn Richard Kasemsarn Peter King Robyn l. Kretschy Peter Litton Greg Morelli Paul Martinez Gordon and Nancy Meyer Allen & Marla Morgen Lindsey Pearlman Corey Perry Terry Quinn James Radke Hugh Riley Gay Roberts Martin Ryan Tammy Segovia The Slabers Aaron Smyth Troy Smith Vance Smith Carla Tcruz Kevin Theis Bret Tuomi Frank & Lina Vivo Erica Weiss Anthony Williams