FY24 Simona's Search by Hartford Stage

2 0 2 3 — 2 0 2 4 JANUARY 18 – FEBRUARY 11

FROM THE ARTISTIC & MANAGING DIRECTORS Dear Friends of Hartford Stage: Welcome to Hartford Stage and Simona’s Search, a world premiere play by Martín Zimmerman, and our first production of 2024. One of the great thrills of producing a new work is that you, our audience, are the first people to see it, meet these characters, and hear the story that originated in Martín’s mind. In Simona’s Search, questions of family history and parent/child relationships get woven into a whimsical tale — part memory play, part detective story. For Simona, her imagination and memories come into question as she discovers more about her father’s past. Her questions reflect those we often ask ourselves — what is in our nature, and what is due to how we were nurtured? And for parents, what secrets can we keep from our children about our pasts, or do we owe them a full telling of our stories? These questions are often even more relevant to children of immigrants, who as foreigners to their parents’ culture and language may find themselves even more lost in defining their ancestry, identity, and sense of self. We welcome you into the world of Simona’s Search and invite you to follow along the absurdities and revelations of learning who and what we come from. And remember, there is still time to subscribe to the rest of our 60th anniversary season. Extraordinary stories and productions are coming to our stage, and we welcome you to join us in celebration of all that live theater can do. Enjoy the show,

Melia Bensussen Artistic Director

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Cynthia Rider Managing Director

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MELIA BENSUSSEN

CYNTHIA RIDER

Artistic Director

Managing Director

PRESENTS

WORLD PREMIERE By Martín Zimmerman

Directed by Melia Bensussen Choreographer Shura Baryshnikov Scenic Design Yu Shibagaki Costume Design Olivera Gajic Lighting Design Aja M. Jackson Sound Design Aubrey Dube Co-Sound Design & Original Music Lucas Clopton Projection Design Yana Biryukova Casting Alaine Alldaffer Dramaturgy Kristin Leahey Production Stage Manager Nicole Wiegert Assistant Stage Manager Julius Cruz Associate Artistic Director Zoë Golub-Sass Director of Production Bryan T. Holcombe General Manager Emily Van Scoy

JANUARY 18 – FEBRUARY 11, 2024 Simona’s Search was Originally Commissioned by La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, California Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director & Michael S Rosenberg, Managing Director

SEASON SPONSOR

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS

Rick & Beth Costello S I M O N A’ S S E A R C H

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THE CAST

Christopher Bannow

Alejandra Escalante

Al Rodrigo

Simona......................................................................................... Alejandra Escalante Papi and others...........................................................................................Al Rodrigo Jake and others...................................................................... Christopher Bannow

THIS PERFORMANCE RUNS APPROXIMATELY 90 MINUTES WITH NO INTERMISSION. Assistant Director..................................................................Rebecca May Ristow Assistant Costume Designer................................................. Chenoa Albertson Assistant Lighting Designer............................................................. John Holmes Assistant Sound Designer..................................................Lorenzo Sosa Lopez Associate Projection Designer.......................................Tatiana Stolpovskaya Production Assistant.............................................................. Austin Washington

The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. The Scenic, Costume, Lighting and Sound Designers in LORT theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE. The Director and Choregrapher are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

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the legacy of trauma. “I

n sixth grade, our teacher asked us to interview someone who survived the Holocaust,” neuroscientist Daniela Schiller said in an article with The New Yorker. She shared, “So I went home after school. My father was at the kitchen table reading a newspaper, and I asked him to tell me about his memories. He said nothing. I have done this many times since. Always nothing…I grew up wondering which of all the horrifying things we learned about at school the Germans did to him…What was he hiding? Why? How do people even do that?” Schiller’s mission became her scientific exploration, specifically “how emotional memories are formed in the brain.” Schiller studies the connection between memory and fear. This article “Partial Recall: How to Unmake a Memory”–that expands on her research–became the inspiration for Martín Zimmerman’s play Simona’s Search. Scenic design by Yu Shibagaki. Projection design by Yana Biryukova.

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Scenic design by Yu Shibagaki. Projection design by Yana Biryukova.

He creates the character Simona and her father, Papi. Papi has survived unknown traumatic events, and his bright daughter has grown up watching him struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As a young woman, she is developing signs of trauma herself. In Wounds of History: Repair and Resilience in the TransGenerational Transmission of Trauma, scholar and psychoanalyst Rachael Peltz writes: There is no shortage of devastation in today’s world. There will be no shortage of ghostly passages from one generation to the next. We look for any glimmer of light or color amidst the grey newsprint. And sometimes we find it… We all carry history in our bones. But if it remains only in our bones we are more likely doomed to repeat it. Peltz is alluding to the syndrome of ‘transgenerational trauma’: the passing on of traumatic experiences to subsequent generations. She has treated hundreds of patients of every race, nationality, religion, and age. Peltz describes these patients as becoming “timeless repositories of trauma.” Children and/or other members of the next generation will present behavior associated with those of the former, who have been victims of trauma, although they have not directly experienced the trauma themselves. 6

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The children of traumatized caregivers often describe an unresolved silence in the family, with feelings of guilt emerging but no identifiable cause. Many of the children and/or grandchildren are clinically depressed, anxious, possess sleep disorders, express emotions of helplessness, shame, insecurity, and/or repressed anger. Some vis-à-vis reoccurring dreams or nightmares experience the traumatic events themselves, despite having little knowledge of what occurred (Medica Mondiale). They often mythologize about the traumatic experiences of their parents or other affected relatives.

“Is a parent entitled to privacy about certain things in their lives? What is the information that we need to know in order to move confidently through the world and feel like we have a strong sense of ourselves, and a healthy, coherent sense of ourselves? And what is the information that we don’t necessarily need to know? That’s a really thorny question ... that is really exciting to me, from the perspective of a writer, because there’s no right answer to that.” —MARTÍN ZIMMERMAN S I M O N A’ S S E A R C H

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Trauma researcher and author Bessel van der Kolk writes in his bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma: As human beings we belong to an extremely resilient species. Since time immemorial we have rebounded from our relentless wars, countless disasters (both natural and man-made), and the violence and betrayal in our own lives. But traumatic experiences do leave traces, whether on a large scale (on our histories and cultures) or close to home, on our families, with dark secrets being imperceptibly passed down through generations. They also leave traces on our minds and emotions, on our capacity for joy and intimacy, and even on our biology and immune systems. Trauma affects not only those who are directly exposed to it, but also those around them. This seminal text became another inspiration as well as one of the critical sources for playwright Martín Zimmerman in the writing of his play. So many of us, in addition to members of our immediate family and distant relations, have experienced trauma on a personal and sometimes collective scale. And today we have all witnessed the trauma of others, in domestic proximity and in a not-toodistant global vicinity. It’s difficult not to consider both the past (humankind’s vast historical index of violence) and the future (the effects of trauma inflicted today on the next generation). Simona – in her search for her and her father’s historical memory and her employment of science – is working to help others, like herself, to have a more peaceful future. Like Schiller, she is using science to combat the pain and find where the painful memories go.

Works Cited: Peltz, Rachel. “Repetitions of Violence, Antidotes of War.” Wounds of History: Repair and Resilience in the Trans-Generational Transmission of Trauma, edited by Jill Salberg and Sue Grand, Routledge, London, 2016, pp. 103-108. Spector, Michael. “Partial Recall: How to Unmake a Memory.” The New Yorker. May 12, 2014. “Transgenerational trauma – violence shapes us,” Medica Mondiale. Accessed January 1, 2024, bit.ly/SimonaMedicaMondiale. Van der Kolk, A. Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Langara College, 2023.

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FURTHER READING Partial Recall: Can neuroscience help us rewrite our most traumatic memories? By Michael Specter, The New Yorker bit.ly/SimonaNYer

Study finds that fear can travel quickly through generations of mice DNA. By Meeri Kim, The Washington Post bit.ly/SimonaWashingtonPost

Parents’ emotional trauma may change their children’s biology. Studies in mice show how suffering triggers changes in gene expression that last for generations. By Andrew Curry, Science bit.ly/SimonaScience

MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES NAMI (The National Alliance on Mental Illness) provides advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives. To learn more about the Connecticut chapter, visit: namict.org

211 is a free, confidential information and referral service that connects people to essential health and human services 24 hours a day, seven days a week online and over the phone. If you are in need of immediate assistance, call: 2-1-1To learn more, visit: 211ct.org

To find additional mental health services in Connecticut, visit: health.ct.gov/Mental-Health-Help

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS CHRISTOPHER BANNOW Jake and others Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: Oklahoma! (also National Tour), The Elephant Man (also Theater Royal Haymarket, West End). Off-Broadway: Wolf Play (Soho Rep + MCC), The Hairy Ape (Park Avenue Armory), Sleep No More (Punchdrunk), Alamat (Ma-Yi). Regional: Hamlet (Yale Rep), Laura and the Sea (O’Neill Playwrights Conference), A Civil War Christmas (Huntington), The Elephant Man (Williamstown), Hatful of Rain (Berkshire Theater Group), Youth Ink (McCarter). Film: Fidelity, Three Christs, #Screamers, Not Fade Away. Television: The Late Late Show with James Corden. Podcast: Romeo and Juliet (Play On Shakespeare). Education: ACES ECA, Boston University, Yale. Bannow is a 2023 Lucille Lortel Award recipient for Outstanding Ensemble, and is a member of The Pack. IG: @bannnnnnow ALEJANDRA ESCALANTE Simona Hartford Stage: Debut. Off-Broadway: Dying City (Second Stage) Regional: The Cherry Orchard, 2666, Upstairs Concierge, Measure for Measure, Song for the Disappeared (Goodman Theatre); All’s Well that Ends Well, Measure for Measure (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Taming of the Shrew (American Players Theatre); Othello (American Repertory Theater); Sense and Sensibility (Guthrie Theater); The Excavation of Mary Anning, Another Word for Beauty, Fingersmith (New York Stage and Film); Darwin In Malibu (Washington Stage Guild). In six seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival: Measure for Measure, Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, The Tenth Muse, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Wrinkle in Time, The Tempest, Henry IV parts 1 & 2, Othello and Love’s Labor’s Lost. Education: BFA from Boston University. AL RODRIGO Papi and others Hartford Stage: Pericles. Broadway: Open Admissions. Off-Broadway: Blood Wedding (dir. by Melia Bensussen), Death of Garcia Lorca, Don Juan of Seville, La Señorita de Tacna, New York 1937, and others. Regional: Destiny of Desire (The Old Globe), Kiss My Aztec! (La Jolla Playhouse/ Berkeley Rep), The Happiest Song Plays Last (LATC), Marriage of Figaro (Arizona Theatre Co.), La Posada Magica (South Coast Rep), Bandido! (Mark Taper Forum), Romeo and Juliet (Syracuse Stage), and others. Film: Last Rites, The Bird Cage, House of Sand and Fog, The Glass Shield, Brown’s Requiem, The Great White Hype, and others. Television: The Blacklist, NCIS, Jane, Fatal Attraction, Swagger, Truth Be Told, All The Queen’s Men, Mayans,

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS Supernatural, and numerous others. Al also works extensively in voice overs for theatrical, animation and video game projects. For more info, please go to: alrodrigo.com MELIA BENSUSSEN Director / Artistic Director Melia is the sixth artistic director, and the first woman, to lead Hartford Stage. She began her tenure in Hartford in July of 2019, after serving as Chair of Performing Arts at Emerson College in Boston. An Obie-award-winning director and artistic leader, she has directed extensively at leading theatres throughout the country, including productions at the Huntington Theatre Company, Sleeping Weazel, Shakespeare & Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the New York Shakespeare Festival, Manhattan Class Company, Primary Stages, Long Wharf Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, People’s Light and Theatre Company, Bay Street Theatre, and Playwrights Horizons, among others. Raised in Mexico City, Melia is fluent in Spanish and has translated and adapted a variety of texts, including her edition of the Langston Hughes translation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding published by TCG. A graduate of Brown University, she is the recipient of a Drama League Directing Fellowship, and a Princess Grace Directing Fellowship, as well as their top honor, the Statue Award. Melia is the Chair of the Arts Advisory Council for the Princess Grace Foundation and serves as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). MARTÍN ZIMMERMAN Playwright Martín Zimmerman is a bilingual, Latinx playwright and screenwriter whose plays have been produced or developed at The Kennedy Center, Goodman Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse In The Park, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Alley Theatre, Roundabout Underground, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Traverse Theatre, LCT3, New York Theatre Workshop, Victory Gardens Theater, Milwaukee Rep, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, The Playwrights’ Center, Alliance Theatre, A.C.T. (Seattle), PlayPenn, The Theatre @ Boston Court, Primary Stages, Teatro Vista, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Playwrights Foundation, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and Borderlands Theater among others. A recipient of the Terrence McNally New Play Award, Steinberg/

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS ATCA New Play Award Citation, Humanitas Prize New Voices Award, Sky Cooper New American Play Prize, McKnight Advancement Grant, Jerome Fellowship, Carl Djerassi Playwriting Fellowship, Scotsman Fringe First Award, and the National New Play Network’s Smith Prize, Martín was the creator/showrunner of the Spanish-language Netflix series Puerta 7, a writer/producer on Netflix’s Ozark and Apple TV’s Surface, and a staff writer on Netflix’s Narcos. MFA in Playwriting: The University of Texas at Austin. BA in Theater Studies, BS in Economics: Duke University. SHURA BARYSHNIKOV Choreographer Hartford Stage: Pride and Prejudice Regional: The Inferior Sex, Fuente Ovejuna, A Christmas Carol, A Flea in Her Ear, Middletown, Veronica Meadows, Social Creatures, Oklahoma!, The Completely Fictional – Utterly True – Final Strange Tale of Edgar Allan Poe (Trinity Repertory Company); As You Like It (The Gamm Theatre); Dark Room, Salomé, Julius Caesar, The Forgetting Curve (Bridge Repertory Theatre); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Cabaret (The Wilbury Theatre Group); The Telling (FirstWorks) This Love Unbound (Emmanuel Music); Norma, The Handmaid’s Tale (Boston Lyric Opera); Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher (Odyssey Opera). Film: Director of Svadba (Boston Lyric Opera). Professional Positions: Head of Physical Theater for Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs / Assistant Professor of the Practice Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University. Affiliations: Actors’ Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Awards: Svadba - top prize for Artistic Creation in Opera America’s 2023 Digital Excellence in Opera Awards. More at: shurabaryshnikov.com YU SHIBAGAKI Scenic Designer Hartford Stage: Dishwasher Dreams. Off-Broadway: Demons (The Bushwick Starr). Regional: Dishwasher Dreams, Exotic Deadly; or MSG play (The Old Globe), Madama Butterfly (Boston Lyric Opera), Lucy and Charlie’s Honeymoon, Villette, Her Honor Jane Byrne (Lookingglass Theatre), 1919 (Steppenwolf Young Adults), Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Studio Theatre), School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre), I, Banquo, I, Cinna (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), and more. Education: California State University Fullerton, BA; Northwestern University, MFA.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS OLIVERA GAJIC Costume Designer Hartford Stage: Ah, Wilderness! Off-Broadway: God’s Ear (Vineyard Theater). International: Jedermann (Salzburg Festival, Austria). Professional: 250+ productions in U.S. and international theaters (Juilliard School, Trinity Rep, ART, Arden Theater, and more). Film: I am a Seagull (Checkhov Project Company); The Lucille Lake Project. Exhibitions: Prague Quadrennial (2004, 2007, & 2023); Curtain Call: Celebrating a Century of Women Designing for Live Performance (Lincoln Center); Costume at the Turn of the Century (Moscow); Vesuario a Scena (Mexico City); OISTAT Sena (Rabat, Morocco). Awards: 2004 NEA/TCG CDP for Designers; 2010 IT Award for Outstanding Costume Design; 2010 TDF/ Irene Sharaff Young Master Award; Barrymore Award for Outstanding Costume Design; Bessie Award Recipient for Outstanding Visual Design. AJA M. JACKSON Lighting Designer Hartford Stage: Lost In Yonkers, The Art of Burning, Pride and Prejudice. Broadway: Fat Ham (associate). Off-Broadway: A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet, Rock and Roll Man. Regional (selected): Hear Word (American Repertory Theatre / The Public Theater Under the Radar Festival); The Art of Burning (Huntington Theatre Company); A Doll’s House, Harvey, World Goes Round, Behold, A Negress (Everyman Theatre); Fences (Shakespeare and Company); World Goes Round (Olney Theatre); Pimpinone and Ino (Boston Early Music Festival). Associate: Goddess (Berkeley Rep). Dance: Hot Water Over Raised Fists (Modern Connections); Resident Lighting Designer for movement company, HoldTight. Awards: OEAA Outstanding Lighting Design - Kinky Boots (2022). Teaching: Boston University, National Theatre Institute. Proud member of USA 829. ajajacksonlighting.com | IG: @ajamjackson YANA BIRYUKOVA Projection Designer Hartford Stage: Debut. Off-Broadway: Eugene Onegin: In Our Own Words (Krymov Lab); Hart Island (Mason Holdings); The Sabbath Girl (59E59); Moss (Buglisi Dance Theatre); Dropping Gumballs on Luke Wilson (Working Theater); The White Devil (Red Bull Theater); Selkie (Dutch Kills); Dead Are My People (NYTW), Transport (The Irish Rep). National Tours: Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. Regional: Elian (Miami New Drama); Andy Warhol in Iran (Barrington Stage); Yeah Baby (Regional Ensemble Players); I and You (Bristol Riverside Theatre); Mlima’s Tale, Grounded (Westport Country Playhouse); Imogen Says Nothing, Scenes from Court Life (Yale Rep); Don

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS Quixote (Yale Opera); Women Beware Women, Don Juan (Yale School of Drama). Film: Palimpsest: Tales Spun from Sea and Memory (Venice Biennale 2022), LIFT (Paramount), The Karamazovs (The Other Shore). International: John Gabriel Borkman (Tumanishvili Theatre). Education: MFA Theatre Design, Yale School of Drama. Awards: 2020 Connecticut Critics Circle (Outstanding Achievement in Projection). ALAINE ALLDAFFER Casting Hartford Stage: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, Pride and Prejudice, Trouble in Mind, The Art of Burning, The Mousetrap; It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play; Ah, Wilderness!; Quixote Nuevo; Ether Dome. Theatre: Credits include Grey Gardens (for Playwrights Horizons and Broadway); Clybourne Park (Playwrights Horizons and Broadway); Circle Mirror Transformation (Drama Desk and Obie Awards for Best Ensemble and an Artios Award for casting); and The Flick (Playwrights Horizons and The Barrow Street Theater). Regional: Theaters include The Huntington Theatre in Boston, Studio Theater in DC, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Seattle Rep, ACT, Berkeley Rep, People’s Theatre in Philly among others. Television: Credits include The Knights of Prosperity (aka Let’s Rob Mick Jagger) for ABC. Associate credits include Ed for NBC and Monk for USA. KRISTIN LEAHEY Dramaturg Kristin Leahey, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Boston University. She has freelanced as an artist with Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the O’Neill Theater Center, Trinity Repertory Theatre, Primary Stages, Classical Stage Company, Playwrights’ Center, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Guthrie Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, The Kennedy Center, The Old Globe, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Play House, American Theatre Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Ireland’s Galway Arts Festival, Teatro Vista (artistic associate), Steep Theatre (ensemble member), and A Red Orchid Theatre, among others. Her publications include articles in Theatre Topics, Journal of American Drama, and New England Theatre Journal, as well as articles in the anthologies Teaching Performance Practices in Remote and the Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy Anthology. She served as the Literary Manager of Wolly Mammoth Theatre, Literary Director of Seattle Rep, and was a producer with the WP 2020-22 Lab. She is a recipient of a Fulbright and will be in collaboration with the Abbey Theatre.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS NICOLE WIEGERT Production Stage Manager Hartford Stage: The Winter’s Tale, Ah, Wilderness!, Pike St., Detroit ‘67, Henry V, A Lesson from Aloes, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Regional: Goodspeed Opera House, Theaterworks Hartford, Long Wharf Theatre, CT Rep, Kansas City Rep, Mountain Playhouse, Ivoryton Playhouse, Theater by the Sea, First Stage Milwaukee, Renaissance Theatreworks, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Public Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theater. Television: House Hunters, Extreme Cheapskates, Biggest Loser. Other: Love to LC, WW, CW, & DC. JULIUS CRUZ Assistant Stage Manager Hartford Stage: Debut. Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen. National Tours: Dear Evan Hansen. Regional: Zoey’s Perfect Wedding, Secondo, Fun Home, Christmas on the Rocks, Queen of Basel, Rembrandt, Clyde’s (TheaterWorks Hartford), Sound of Music, You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Parallel 45) Education: BA Theater Studies, University of Connecticut (productions include: Antigone, She Kills Monsters, Good Children, Shakespeare in Love).

save the date FOR A DAZZLING CELEBRATION OF 60 YEARS

Saturday, May 11, 2024 AT HARTFORD STAGE 50 CHURCH STREET

GALA COMMITTEE SHARI & MICHAEL CANTOR, CHAIRS Brennden Colbert · Alana Curren · Jennifer DiBella · Dana Greenberg · Emily Harrington · Annie Hildreth · Jackie Iacovazzi · Brittnee Johnson-Colbert · Steven Lewis · Jessica Lister · TJ Noel-Sullivan · Alex Pilon · Esther Pryor · Claire Stermer · Judy Thompson · Joan Trammell · Josye Utick · Nicole Vitrano · Alia Walwyn-James · Patty Willis

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ABOUT HARTFORD STAGE

Hartford Stage has been led by Artistic Director Melia Bensussen and Managing Director Cynthia Rider since the summer of 2019. The theater’s mission is to enlighten, entertain, and educate by creating programming of the highest caliber that has a transformative impact on audiences, the community, and its field. Under Bensussen’s artistic vision, the theater has reimagined classics including Eugene O’Neill’s Ah, Wilderness! which reopened the theater to great acclaim following the pandemic and brought more work celebrating the Latine heritages in the region, including Quixote Nuevo, the virtual American Voices New Play Festival, Kiss My Aztec!, and Espejos: Clean. Hartford Stage has presented various world premieres including the Broadway successes Anastasia and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (winner of four 2014 Tony Awards), and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful (winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama). Hartford Stage’s vast education programs engage students of all ages from across the state through student matinee performances, in-school programs, theatre classes, and youth productions. HartfordStage.org María Gabriela González, Renata Eastlick, Lana Young, and Zoë Kim in Pride and Prejudice (2023). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

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ABOUT HARTFORD STAGE

EQUITY & ANTI-RACISM COMMITMENTS We are working toward greater anti-racism, equity, justice, inclusion, and belonging for all at our theatre. We invite you to join us on this journey. CREATING A CULTURE OF BELONGING & INCLUSION We strive to create a place where all people feel a sense of belonging across the organization. We strive to create a culture where everyone sees themselves, their styles, their culture, and their humanity reflected and appreciated in all the work we do. CONTINUED LEARNING & SKILLSET BUILDING We strive to equip our staff, volunteers, and board with opportunities to strengthen their personal and collective understanding of the inequities and injustices within and outside our organization and build skillsets that bring greater consciousness into every aspect of our work. EQUITABLE & SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS & PRACTICES We strive to build an organization that recognizes the humanity of every member of our staff, board, volunteer, audience, and community and the needs and necessities to live and thrive in the 21st century. Words matter. Actions speak louder.

Learn more at HartfordStage.org

A THANK YOU TO THE PEOPLE WHO FIRST LIVED ON AND CARED FOR THESE LANDS We recognize that our theatre is built on land that was once and still is peopled by indigenous tribes, specifically territory of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Golden Hill Paugussett, and Schaghticoke peoples and their ancestors of these lands: the Wangunk, the Podunk, and the Tunxis. S I M O N A’ S S E A R C H

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ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS Thank you to our donors. We are grateful for the generosity throughout our entire community and recognize all of our supporters on our website at HartfordStage.org/recognition. We are happy to acknowledge here those with leadership contributions in the past 12 months, January 1, 2023 – January 4, 2024.

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DIRECTOR CIRCLE • $50,000+ Anonymous Rick & Beth Costello Estate of Nafe E. Katter Karl Krapek Jack & Donna Sennott PRODUCER CIRCLE • $25,000+ Jill Adams & Bill Knight Don & Marilyn Allan The Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Family Foundation Sue Ann Collins Wes & Chloe Horton David & Janice Klein Sally Speer Judith & William Thompson OVATION SOCIETY • $10,000+ Anonymous Sheryl & Doug Adkins Robert & Francine Goldfarb Arnold C. Greenberg Walter & Dianne Harrison

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ENCORE SOCIETY • $5,000+ Andra Asars David & Sara Carson Alana & Matthew Curren Devon & Thomas Francis Barbara & Matthew Hennessy Drew & Jackie Iacovazzi Konover Koppa Family Fund Katherine J. Lambert Amy & Neal Mandell Tom & Margah Lips Barri Marks Harry Meyer Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh Michael & Colleen Nicastro Douglas H. Robins Rosalie B. Roth Suzanne B. Ruffee

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ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS Bruce & Elisabeth Simons Nelson & Helen Sly Deborah & Jeffrey Steinberg Sally & Allan Taylor Elizabeth & Gerard Vecchio Maggie & Sherwood Willard Elease & Dana Wright The Zachs Family Foundation

IN HONOR OF DAVID & KATHLEEN JIMENEZ

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PATRON SOCIETY • $3,500+ Paul & Joanne Bourdeau Kimberley & Christopher Byrd Marla & John Byrnes Robert L. & Susan G. Fisher Ruth Fitzgerald & Dave Sageman Marilda Gandara & Scott O’Keefe Doris & Ray Guenter Carrie & Johnathan Hammond Bob & Joan Penney Annie Hildreth & Ted Potters Ed & Kelly Lyman Duff Ashmead & Eric Ort Rhonda Tobin & Jeffrey Smith Nicole Vitrano and Art Wallace Jacqueline Werner

Karl Krapek Jr.

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IN HONOR OF MELIA BENSUSSEN

Anonymous

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MEMORIAL GIFTS IN MEMORY OF PETER BLUM

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Anonymous IN MEMORY OF ANNEMARIE HAENDIGES

Brian Haendiges IN MEMORY OF MARGARET MACDONNELL IN MEMORY OF BERNICE POKSAY AND KIM O’NEAL IN MEMORY OF JOHN SENNOTT

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ANNUAL CONTRIBUTORS

INSTITUTIONAL GIVING $200,000+

$10,000+ Cummings & Lockwood* Greater Hartford Arts Council

Raytheon Technologies*

The J. Walton Bissell Foundation, Inc.

The Shubert Foundation

Liberty Bank*

Stanley Black & Decker*

The William & Alice Mortensen Foundation

United States Treasury $100,000+

The Vandeventer Foundation

Burry Fredrik Foundation The Richard P. Garmany Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving The Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation

$5,000+ Allan S. Goodman, Inc. The BFA Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving The Burton & Phyllis Hoffman Foundation

Travelers*

The Charles Nelson Robinson Fund

$50,000+

Grunberg Realty*

Connecticut Judicial Branch

Jana Foundation

The John and Kelly Hartman Foundation

McDonald Family Trust PeoplesBank*

The Katherine K. McLane & Henry R. McLane

The University of Saint Joseph* $2,500+

The Scripps Family Fund for Education and the Arts $25,000+

Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development

Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Family Foundation

Enterprise Rent a Car Foundation Fiducient Advisors*

City of Hartford

The Goodwin Hotel*

Connecticut Humanities

The George A. & Grace L. Long Foundation

The Elizabeth M. Landon & Harriette M. Landon Charitable Foundation Ensworth Charitable Foundation

$1,000+

Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

Alexander M. & Catherine Maus Wright Charitable Foundation

Laurents/Hatcher Foundation

The Foulds Family Foundation

SBM Charitable Foundation, Inc

NewAlliance Foundation

$15,000+ Lucille Lortel Foundation MorningStar Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving

* BUSINESS PARTNERS

Talcott Resolution*

60TH ANNIVERSARY

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2023/2024 SEASON

Become a Hartford Stage BUSINESS PARTNER! JOIN OUR GROWING CLASS OF 2023/2024 PARTNERS! Conning • Cummings & Lockwood • Fiducient Advisors • Grunberg Realty • Liberty Bank • PeoplesBank • Talcott Resolution • Travelers • University of Saint Joseph Becoming a Business Partner is an easy, customizeable way to support Hartford stage. Entertain clients, engage vendors, or reward employees! Your charitable or in-kind contribution will support the artistic, educational, and community programming at Hartford Stage. Select benefits that align best with your priorities, and receive prominent recognition all season-long. All partnerships will be fully customized to meet your needs! Benefit options include: Complimentary Show Tickets Complimentary Gala Tickets Recognition Opportunities Unique Private Event Spaces Fully Catered Events Conversations with Artists Invitations to Special Events

DISCUSS YOUR UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TODAY! Contact Jennifer Levine at jlevine@hartfordstage.org or 860-520-7249.

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What is an Endowment Fund? An Endowment Fund is an investment account for a non-profit organization. The goal of an endowment fund is to exist into perpetuity; to provide support to the organization not only in the present time, but in the future as well. Our Endowment Fund offers a dependable and reliable source of income, which allows us to balance out the unpredictable revenue from ticket sales and charitable contributions.

How does Hartford Stage use its Endowment Fund? Hartford Stage uses an annual draw up to 5% from our endowment to support our artistic programming, our summer education camp, and maintenance to our theater facility.

Why should I donate to the endowment? A gift to the endowment is a gift to the future of Hartford Stage. The larger the endowment, the larger the annual draw, providing much needed stability in our income stream. This ensures that Hartford Stage can continue to entertain, educate, and enlighten audiences for years to come.

How can I donate to Hartford Stage’s Endowment? Make a direct gift through: Cash Donations • Stock Donations Contributions from your IRA or Donor-Advised Funds Joining our Shakespeare Society

To learn more about the Hartford Stage endowment, Shakespeare Society, or to contribute, contact Jennifer Levine at jlevine@hartfordstage.org or 860-520-7249. Nathan Darrow, Jotham Burrello, Omar Robinson, and Jamie Ann Romero in The Winter’s Tale (2023). Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY The Shakespeare Society comprises individuals who have provided for the future of Hartford Stage in their estate plans. Hartford Stage is deeply grateful for their generosity and foresight. Hartford Stage’s Shakespeare Society recognizes those who have made and documented a planned gift. The members of this group help to ensure the legacy of Hartford Stage.

Thank you to all members of our Shakespeare Society: Anonymous (15) Mr. & Mrs. Paul Bourdeau Mrs. Joan Brown Kimberley & Christopher Byrd Marla & John Byrnes Mario R. Cavallo Sue Ann Collins Richard G. Costello Ms. Linda Diana DeConti Mr. Reginald Gregory DeConti Robert L. & Susan G. Fisher Kathy Frederick & Eugene Leach Victoria E. Gallo Helen Ingram David & Janice Klein Joel M. & Naomi Baline Kleinman Katherine J. Lambert Christopher Larsen Tom & Margah Lips Mark & Liisa Livingston Elaine T. Lowengard Judith Meyers & Richard Hersh Ki Miller Arthur & Merle Nacht Judge Jon O. Newman Belle K. Ribicoff Ezra & Chrissie Ripple Prudence P. Robertson Barbara Rubin Carol W. Scoville Donald & Linda Silpe Jennifer Smith Turner & Eric Turner Elsa Suisman Michael Wilson & Jeff Cowie Michael & Ellen Zenke

IN MEMORIAM Hartford Stage fondly remembers these late members of the Shakespeare Society.

Anonymous (6) Margaret Atwood Cynthia Kellogg Barrington Maxwell & Sally Belding Susan R. Block Clifford S. Burdge Edward C. Cape Ruth Cape Anna Clark David Clark James H. Eacott, Jr. Yummy Graulty Dieter & Siegelind Johannes Hugh M. Joseloff & Helen J. Joseloff Nafe E. Katter Janet M. Larsen Joe Marfuggi Mr. & Mrs. Henry R. McLane Mary & Freeman Meyer Tuck Miller Ann Richards George Richards Dr. Russell Robertson Robert K. Schrepf Talcott Stanley Janet S. Suisman Michael Suisman Helen S. Willis Louise W. Willson

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS Jack Sennott, President Elease Wright, Vice President Devon Francis, Treasurer Michael Nicastro, Secretary GOVERNING DIRECTORS Douglas Adkins Don Allan Patti Broad Marla J. Byrnes Shari Cantor Julio Concepción Mark G. Contreras Richard G. Costello Alana Curren Anne D’Alleva John Doran Marilda Lara Gándara Rev. Darrell L. Goodwin Annie Hildreth Nancy P. Hoffman Very Rev. Miguelina Howell Jackie B. Iacovazzi Katherine Lambert Kelly M. Lyman Sibongile Magubane Barri Marks Marge Morrissey Mark Overmyer-Velázquez Andy Pace Esther A. Pryor Tom Richards Rosalie Roth Allan B. Taylor William J. Thompson Rhonda J. Tobin Gerard Vecchio Nicole Vitrano Patty Willis

STAGE ONE Young Professional Board Directors Cordelia Brady Kentavis Brice Brennden D. Colbert Jarrett Eamiello Emily Harrington Brittnee Johnson-Colbert Kaitlyn Keeler Oliver Kochol Kaitlin Librizzi Greidy Miralles TJ Noel-Sullivan Janixia Reyes Kristy Sanandres Claire Stermer Nathan Sykes Alia Walwyn-James LIFE DIRECTORS George L. Estes III Arnold C. Greenberg Walter Harrison Jeffrey S. Hoffman George A. Ingram David M. Klein Roger S. Loeb Belle K. Ribicoff Christina B. Ripple Anne Rudder Linda Fisher Silpe Sherwood Willard HONORARY DIRECTORS David Carson Michael Grunberg Carrie Hammond Barbara Hennessy Amy Leppo Mandell Robert A. Penney Bruce Simons Judith E. Thompson

EMERITUS DIRECTORS Margaret B. Amstutz R. Kelley Bonn Sara Marcy Cole Susan J. Copeland Susan G. Fisher Judith C. Meyers PAST PRESIDENTS Jill Adams Joel B. Alvord Paul L. Bourdeau David W. Clark Jr.+ Sue Ann Collins Ellsworth Davis+ Elliot F. Gerson Thomas J. Groark Jr.+ John W. Huntington+ Walter Harrison David R. Jimenez David M. Klein Edward Lane-Reticker+ Janet Larsen+ Thomas D. Lips Scott McAlister+ Tuck Miller+ Christina B. Ripple Deanna Sue Sucsy Jennifer Smith Turner Peter R. Wilde+ EX OFFICIO DIRECTORS John B. Larson US Representative, First Congressional District of Connecticut Arunan Arulampalam Mayor City of Hartford Melia Bensussen Artistic Director Hartford Stage Cynthia Rider Managing Director Hartford Stage

deceased

60TH ANNIVERSARY

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2023/2024 SEASON

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF LEADERSHIP Melia Bensussen, Artistic Director Position endowed by Janet S. Suisman

Cynthia Rider, Managing Director ADMINISTRATION Emily Van Scoy, General Manager Sara Walnum, Business Manager Scott Bartelson, Director of Internal Communications & Organizational Strategy ARTISTIC Zoë Golub-Sass, Richard P. Garmany Associate Artistic Director DEVELOPMENT Jennifer Levine, Director of Development Evan Kudish, Individual Giving Manager Sierra Vazquez, Annual Fund Manager Shannon Kennedy, Development & Marketing Associate EDUCATION Jennifer Roberts, Director of Education Nina Pinchin, Associate Director of Education Emely Larson, Studio Manager 2023/2024 Teaching Artists Marie Altenor, Thomas Beebe, Jha’Neal Blue, Brandon Couloute, Shelby Demke, Caroline Frederick, Erica LuBonta, Greg Ludovici, Jan Mason, Jessica MacLean, Tori Mooney, Justin Pesce, Erin Rose, Kevin Scott, Heidi Jean Weinrich

Patron Services Lindsey Hoffman, Box Office Manager Corey Welden, Box Office Supervisor Box Office Representatives: Jha’Neal Blue, Christopher Burgos, Eddie Cruz, Lindsey Taft PRODUCTION Bryan T. Holcombe, Director of Production Wesley Schroeder, Assistant Production Manager Leland Ensminger, Facilities Manager Austin Washington, Production Assistant Set Construction & Scenic Art Aaron D. Bleck, Technical Director Jared Wolf, Assistant Technical Director Ian Sweeney, Lead Carpenter Audra Giuliano, Scenic Carpenter Nathalie Schlosser, Charge Scenic Artist Costumes & Wardrobe Alex Meadows, Costume Shop Director Melissa Thurn, Assistant Costume Director Joshua Richardson, Wardrobe Supervisor James Weeden, Draper Jack Trainor, First Hand Props Joe Dotts, Props Manager Alex Ferdman, Assistant Props Manager Lighting Jackie Costabile, Lighting Manager Ethan Sepa, ALDM, Programmer

MARKETING Todd Brandt, Director of Marketing Molly Flanagan, Marketing Associate

Sound Lucas Clopton, Audio/Video Manager Jim Busker, Assistant Audio/Video Manager

House Management Scott McEver, Audience Experience and Front of House Manager Lindsay Abrams, Events Coordinator/ Assistant House Manager Aarron Schuelke, Assistant House Manager Bartenders: Tanya Bermudez, Lexi Blinder, Sam Chiasson, Karen Kudish, Loren Milledge, Kimberly Quinn, Nefris Quiterio, Erica Santa Lucia, Kerry Yerkes Gift Shop Attendants/Event Bartenders: Art Arpin, Paulette Caldwell, John Harbison

Company Management Christopher Rowe, Company Manager FOR THIS PRODUCTION Matt Hennessey, Deck Crew Kathleen Kennan, Scenic Artist Erin Sagnelli, Scenic Artist Michele L. Sansone, Crafts Artisan/Millinery/Stitcher Casey Urso, A2/Video Engineer Michael Commendatore, Projections Programmer Special Thanks Cordelia Brady

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UPCOMING

Secret recipe? Check. Cooking crew? Check. Emergency situation? Uh oh.

By Katori Hall Directed by Christopher D. Betts Joyce C. Willis Fellow underwritten by The Roberts Foundation

FEBRUARY 29 – MARCH 24

Order your tickets today! (860) 527-5151 • HartfordStage.org PRODUCTION SPONSORS

PRODUCER

Sue Ann Collins SEASON SPONSOR

IN ASSOCIATION WITH BALTIMORE CENTER STAGE