The Hipp unplugged:
A Staged Reading Series
WITCH by Jen Silverman Directed by Nick Bublitz Nov. 18-19 at 7:30 p.m.
“Witch” is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., Produced by specialaarrangement with Playscripts, Inc. (www.playscripts.com) Concord Theatricals Company.
The Hipp unplugged:
A Staged Reading Series
WITCH by Jen Silverman Directed by Nick Bublitz Stage Manager Nicole Mooradian
Actors’ Equity Association Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, 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. #EquityWorks
Hippodrome programs are sponsored in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Florida Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs and the Florida Council on Arts & Culture; Visit Gainesville Alachua County, and by the City of Gainesville, Dept. of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Affairs. Playbill by Deanna Natour. Please do not use the entrances and exits during the performance. The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
WITCH by Jen Silverman Directed by Nick Bublitz
The cast Elizabeth Sawyer...………....Virginia Marie Martinez Scratch...………………………….....… Keifer MacDonald Sir Arthur Banks..……………….…… Charlie Mitchell^ Cuddy Banks...………………...….………. Trevor Spence Frank Thorney...…………........………… James Dennis Winnifred...…...……………….....…………. Nina Dramer *Appearing through an Agreement between the Hippodrome Theatre and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. ^ Member of the Hippodrome Theatre’s company of actors.
“Witch” is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc., a Concord Theatricals Company “WITCH” was commissioned by Writers Theatre through the Literary Development Initiative, with the generous support of David and Mary Winton Green, and the World Premiere was presented at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL; Michael Halberstam, Artistic Director, Kathryn M. Lipuma, Executive Director.
WHO’S WHO AT THE HIPP Stephanie Lynge (Artistic Director) is an accomplished
actor, director, producer, teacher and coach. Stephanie has enjoyed a career of more than 27 years in professional theater and education. Since 2013 she has worked on more than 40 productions at the Hippodrome either as an actor, director, choreographer, or dramaturg. She was seen on stage this season in The Wolves and Let The Right One In. Her other acting credits include performances in New York City on Broadway and Off Broadway at Lincoln Center, BAM, Jean Cocteau Rep, and the York Theater Workshop. Regional theaters include Freefall, Goodspeed Opera House, Sacramento Music Circus, Pasadena Playhouse, Rep Theater of St. Louis, Flat Rock Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Seaside Music Theater, as well as several National Tours. Directing credits include the Hippodrome’s Every Christmas Story Ever Told, The Legend of Georgia McBride, and The Ultimate Christmas Show as well as plays at the 45th Street Theater (NYC), New York Musical Theater Festival, and the University of Florida. Stephanie has served as a Visiting professor at Indiana University, and an Adjunct professor at New Jersey City University and University of Florida. After receiving her BA in Musical Theater from Indiana University, Stephanie lived and worked as an actor in New York City for over 20 years. Stephanie holds a Master of Fine Arts in acting from University of Florida and is a proud member of Actors Equity Association since 1996.
Nicole Daenzer (Managing Director) is excited to be leading the Hippodrome’s administrative team, after spending six years as the director of finance and operations. Prior to her time at the Hippodrome, she lived in San Francisco, where she worked in financial planning and earned her degree in classical languages and literatures. aut inveniam viam aut faciam.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jen Silverman (Author) is a New York-based writer. Born in the U.S., she was raised across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Jen’s theatre work includes: Collective Rage: A Play In 5 Betties (world premiere at Woolly Mammoth, New York premiere with MCC, London premiere at the Southwark Playhouse, New York Times Critic’s Pick); The Roommate (Humana Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Steppenwolf directed by Phylicia Rashad, Long Wharf, South Coast Repertory Theatre, among others); The Moors (world premiere at Yale Rep, New York premiere with The Playwrights Realm, finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Award); Dangerous House (Williamstown Theatre Festival; originally InterAct Theatre in an earlier iteration); and WITCH (commissioned and premiered by Writers Theatre, Chicago). Her plays have been published or produced internationally in the UK, Germany, Australia, Spain, and Shanghai. Jen is a member of New Dramatists, an affiliated artist with The Playwrights Center, New Georges, and SPACE on Ryder Farm, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Playpenn, The Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, and the Royal Court in London among other places. She’s a two-time MacDowell fellow, recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Fellowship, the Yale Drama Series Award, the Helen Merrill Award, and a Lilly Award. She was the 2016-2017 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Jen’s collection of interlinked stories, The Island Dwellers, was just published by Random House. Her first novel is forthcoming with them. Jen also writes for TV and film, most recently on Netflix’s Tales of the City. Education: Brown, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.
WHO’S WHO IN WITCH Nick Bublitz (Director) Nick Bublitz is an actor, director, teaching artist and producer who recently graduated with his MFA from the University of Florida. Most recently, he has been hard at working producing PlayFest, an annual new play festival, at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre where he also directed Up the Ladder, Down the Slide by David Valdes. Nick was last seen on stage at the Hipp in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Keifer MacDonald (Scratch) Keifer is a Canadian actor and a 3rd year MFA Acting Candidate at UF. Previous roles include Aimwell (The Beaux’ Stratagem), Charles Kean (Red Velvet), Actor 1/White Man (We Are Proud to Present...). He is excited to work with such an entertaining story. “Thanks to friends and family. Enjoy the show!”
Trevor Spence (Cuddy Banks) Trevor is a 3rd year BFA Acting student at the University of Florida. Recent UF credits include We Are Proud... (Actor 3/Another White Man), Biloxi Blues (Arnold), and Rough Magic (Shylock). Trevor would like to thank the cast for this wonderful experience and his family for love and support.
WHO’S WHO IN WITCH Charlie Mitchell^ (Sir Arthur Banks) Charlie Mitchell is an associate professor of theatre at the University of Florida where he as directed Luna Gale, Sketchy People, Metamorphoses, Hobson’s Choice, Urinetown, A Piece of My Heart, You Can’t Take It With You, The Grapes of Wrath, and In the Blood. For three years, he was an artistic associate with the award-winning Chesapeake Shakespeare Company and has worked as an actor for a variety of theatres in New York City, Chicago, and Baltimore. At the Hippodrome, he co-directed Avenue Q and wrote and directed The Snow Queen and The Report. As a company member, he has performed in Let the Right One In (Avila/Halmburg), The Legend of Georgia McBride (Eddie), The Tempest (Gonzalo), Mr. Burns (Sam/Homer), Peter and the Starcatcher (Alf), Hand to God (Pastor Greg), and Hamlet (Polonius/Gravedigger). James Dennis (Frank Thorney) James is happy to be back at the Hippodrome. The play is great, the cast is great, what more is there to say. Enjoy the show!
Nina Dramer (Winnifred) Currently in her second year as an M.F.A. actor at the University of Florida, Nina is probably definitely stressing out over at least 4 different papers at this very moment. Previous roles include Helena (THE ROVER), Masha (THREE SISTERS), and Beatrice (MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING) and a recent reading of THOSE TWO ARE DEFINITELY GETTING MURDERED).
DIRECTORS NOTES My fascination with this play stems from the playwright’s skill of blurring the lines of classical and contemporary to create an imagined reality all her own. This brand-new play flips the script on the classic Faustian myth: An ambitious man selling his soul to the devil for instant gratification. Faust is now Elizabeth, and the Devil is a handsome young man who is used to getting his way. WITCH, inspired by the Jacobean drama The Witch of Edmonton by Rowley, Dekker, and Ford, comedically deconstructs the politics of gender and the destructive nature of fragile masculinity. Deals with the devil happen all the time— especially in governmental and judicial matters, and this play is very much about the tension that everyone feels between following rules and making the ruthless power grab regardless of consequence. At what point do you become tempted by the devil? Enjoy the show! Nick Bublitz (Director)
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