IRT Program: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin by Indiana Repertory Theatre

2021-2022 SEASON

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UPPERSTAGE THEATRE | APRIL 20 – MAY 15

IRTLIVE.COM | 317.635.5252

Original artwork by Kyle Ragsdale

Community Engagement That’s Built to Last Building a better future together The spirit of giving is strong at OneAmerica®. A community leader since our inception, we proudly support organizations, like the Indiana Repertory Theatre, that make a difference. OneAmerica is pleased to have further extended our support of the IRT. Our community commitment focuses on strategically investing in education; workforce development; community safety, wellness and success; and community vibrancy.

Visit OneAmerica.com to learn more about our involvement with local nonprofits.

C-34420 08/18/21

Proud supporter of the Indiana Repertory Theatre

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PrintingPartners.net • 317.635.2282

A STANDING OVATION TO ARTISTIC EXPRESSION

ONEAMERICA | 2021-2022 SEASON SPONSOR

OneAmerica is proud to support IRT, with our relationship among the longest running sponsorships in theater nationwide. As one of Central Indiana’s champions of imagination, innovation and inspiration, we sincerely hope you enjoy their 2021-2022 season.

—Scott Davison, chairman, president and CEO OneAmerica, 2021-2022 season sponsor

Through its community outreach efforts, the Navient Community Fund supports organizations and programs that address the root causes which limit financial success for all Americans. The Navient Community Fund is proud to support the Indiana Repertory Theatre as the Education Partner for the 2021-2022 Season. Navient is a leading provider of asset management and business processing solutions to education, healthcare, and government clients at the federal, state, and local levels. Millions of Americans rely on financial support to further their education and improve their lives. We work hard each day to help our customers navigate financial challenges and achieve their goals. We at Navient have a deep appreciation for the arts and for the hard work, passion, and emotion that go into them, as well as the positive influences the arts have on individuals and their communities. Our employees in central Indiana are proud to support our community through amazing programs like those offered by IRT. Enjoy the show.

OUR MISSION & VISION

CONTENTS

MISSION Live theatre connects us to meaningful issues in our lives and has the power to shape the human experience. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.

3.................................................Mission & Values 4..................Land & Building Acknowledgment 5..................................................................Profile 7.....................................................................IDEA 8.........................................................Leadership 12...................................................................Staff 14............................................Board of Directors 24....................The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin 37...................................................Company Bios 42.............Interview: Stephanie Soohyuh Park 45...................................................Donor Listing

VISION The Indiana Repertory Theatre will be a life-long destination of choice for an everexpanding audience of all ages and backgrounds seeking enjoyable and meaningful experiences. Using theatre as a springboard for both personal reflection and community discussion, our productions and programs will inspire our neighbors to learn about themselves and others. As an arts leader in the state of Indiana, the IRT's goal is to make Indiana a dynamic home of cultural expression, economic vitality, and a diverse, informed, and engaged citizenry.

AS AN INSTITUTION, WE VALUE... SUSTAINING A PROFESSIONAL, CREATIVE ATMOSPHERE The professional production of plays that provide insight and celebrate human relationships through the unique vision of the playwright • Professional artists of the highest quality working on our stages in an environment that allows them to grow and thrive • Our leadership role in fostering a creative environment where arts, education, corporate, civic, and cultural organizations collaborate to benefit our community. PRUDENT STEWARDSHIP OF OUR RESOURCES Our public-benefit status, where the focus is on artistic integrity, affordable ticket prices that allow all segments of our community to attend, and community service • Fiscal responsibility and financial security based on achieving a balanced budget • Growing our endowment fund as a resource for future development and to ensure institutional longevity. INCLUSIVENESS The production of plays from a broad range of dramatic literature addressing diverse communities • The involvement of all segments of our community in our activities • Using theatre arts as a primary tool to bring meaning into the lives of our youth, making creativity a component of their education • The employment of artists and staff that celebrates the diversity of the United States.

REVIEWS! FACEBOOK/TWITTER: @irtlive EMAIL: reviews@irtlive.com

CONTACT US IRTLIVE.COM TICKET OFFICE: 317.635.5252 ADMIN OFFICES: 317.635.5277 140 W. Washington Street Indianapolis, IN 46204

PHOTO POLICY Photography of the set without actors and with proper credit to the scenic and lighting designers is permitted. Due to union agreements, photography, video, and audio recording are not permitted during the performance. The videotaping of productions is a violation of United States Copyright Law and an actionable Federal Offense.

HERITAGE AND TRADITION Our role as Indiana’s premiere theatre for more than 40 years, recognized by the 107th Indiana General Assembly in 1991 as “Indiana’s Theatre Laureate.” • The historic Indiana Theatre as our home, as a cultural landmark, and as a significant contributor to a vital downtown • Our national, state, and local reputation for 40+ years of quality creative work and educational programming • Our board, staff, volunteers, artists, audiences, and donors as essential partners in fulfilling our mission.

2021 | 2022

ACKNOWLEDGING THE LAND Every community owes its existence and vitality to generations from around the world who contributed their hopes, dreams and energy to making the history that led to this moment. Some were brought here or removed from here against their will, some were drawn to leave their distant homes in hope of a better life, and some have lived on this land for more generations than can be counted. Acknowledgment of the land which the IRT now occupies is critical to building mutual respect and connection across all barriers of heritage. We want to acknowledge that what we now call Indiana is on the ancestral lands of many indigenous peoples including the Miami, Piankashaw, Wea, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Delaware, and Shawnee. We pay respects to their elders past and present. Please take a moment to consider the many legacies of displacement, migration, violence, and settlement that bring us together here today. This land acknowledgment was created in collaboration with Scott Shoemaker, PhD (Miami Tribe of Oklahoma). Portions of this acknowledgment come from the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture (usdac.us).

ACKNOWLEDGING OUR BUILDING’S HISTORY The Indiana Repertory Theatre moved to its current site on Washington Street in 1980, renovating and reopening a building that had been shuttered for nearly a decade. The historic Indiana Theatre was built in 1927, a time when the shameful practice of racial segregation was the standard in movie theatres and public buildings across the United States. The Indiana Theatre building was originally segregated and at some point in its history this practice ceased. Many Indiana residents and their families’ heritage stories recall being treated as less than equal citizens in this building, with some even being barred from entering. We cannot erase this history. We honor and respect all those who have faced discrimination and harm in this building. We strive every day to make the IRT a place that welcomes all people.

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE PROFILE HISTORY Since the Indiana Repertory Theatre was founded in 1971, it has grown into one of the leading regional theatres in the country, as well as one of the top-flight cultural institutions in the city and state. In 1991 Indiana’s General Assembly designated the IRT as “Theatre Laureate” of the state of Indiana. The IRT’s national reputation has been confirmed by prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund, the Theatre Communications Group–Pew Charitable Trusts, the Shubert Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation; and by a Joyce Award from the Joyce Foundation. The IRT remains the largest fully professional resident not-forprofit theatre in the state, providing more than 100,000 live professional theatre experiences in a typical season. The Theatre regularly serves thousands of students from more than half of Indiana’s 92 counties. A staff of year-round employees creates six productions exclusively for Indiana audiences. Actors, directors, and designers are members of professional stage unions. The IRT’s history has been enacted in two historic downtown theatres. The Athenaeum Turners Building housed the company’s first eight seasons. Since 1980 the IRT has occupied the 1927 Indiana Theatre, which was renovated to contain three performance spaces (OneAmerica Mainstage, Upperstage, and Cabaret) and work spaces, reviving this historic downtown entertainment site. To keep ticket prices and services affordable for the entire community, the IRT operates as a not-for-profit organization, deriving more than 50% of its operating income from contributions. The Theatre is generously supported by foundations, corporations, and individuals, an investment which recognizes the IRT’s mission-based commitment to serving Central Indiana with top-quality theatrical fare.

PROGRAMS The OneAmerica Season includes six productions from classical to contemporary, including the INclusion Series. Young Playwrights in Process The IRT offers Young Playwrights in Process (YPiP), a playwriting contest and workshop for Indiana middle and high school students. Community Gathering Place Located in a beautiful historic landmark, the IRT offers a wide variety of unique and adaptable spaces for family, business, and community gatherings of all types. Call Marissa Klingler at 317.916.4872 for more information. Opportunities The IRT depends on the generous donation of time and energy by volunteer ushers; call 317.916.4872 to learn how you can become involved. Meet the Artists Virtual pre-show chats offer audiences unique insights into each production. Student Matinees The IRT continues a long-time commitment to student audiences with school-day student matinee performances of all IRT productions. These performances are augmented with educational activities and curriculum support materials. This season A Christmas Carol, Fahrenheit 451, The Reclamation of Madison Hemings, and The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin offer opportunities for student attendance. Educational Programs The IRT has a long-time commitment to student audiences. This season, we are sharing five of our six productions with students virtually. If you are interested in bringing IRT to your students through streaming productions, or hosting a virtual workshop with an artist, please email education@irtlive.com. Auxiliary services include study guides.

Support in the Wings At Faegre Drinker, community takes center stage. We’re proud to stand with the IRT in honoring the resiliency of our city and reimagining the way forward.

Corteva Agriscience is on a mission to help nourish the world.

KEEP GROWING.

ANSWERING THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION: WHAT’S FOR DINNER?

INCLUSION, DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND ACCESS (IDEA)

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE: WELCOMING THE WHOLE COMMUNITY We strive to celebrate and serve the diverse people and cultures that make up our whole community. The IRT is committed to providing access for all; to creating and maintaining an antiracist theatre that is inclusive, safe, and respectful. Whether you have been coming for years or are here for the first time—welcome to your Theatre!

VALUES • Our community thrives when diverse voices and peoples gather to make, watch, and support theatre. • It is our responsibility as a community resource to open our doors wide, welcoming all to our high-quality, relevant art. • We must acknowledge our history of privilege as a predominantly White institution in order to effectively support dismantling systems of oppression. • In order to be an antiracist and inclusive organization we must seek knowledge and understanding to identify discriminatory practices and increase cultural awareness in collaboration with, and learning directly from, BIPOC, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex (LGBTQI+), functionally diverse, and other historically excluded communities.

COMMITMENTS • We will represent and engage the diverse people, cultures, and communities of central Indiana. • We will employ more people of color and foster an inclusive culture of artists, staff, board, and vendors. • We will deepen our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) training for all board and staff. • We will be accessible to all audiences inviting those who have been unheard or unseen in the past, including people with disabilities, BIPOC, LGBTQI+, and under-resourced communities. If you would like to read more about our Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) work, go to irtlive.com/about/idea. Katie Bradley, Andrew May, and Gavin Lawerance in the IRT’s 2020 production of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Photo by Zach Rosing.

MARGOT LACY ECCLES WAS A LEADING PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORTER OF THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES. THE INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE CHERISHES ITS HISTORY WITH MRS. ECCLES AS A SUBSCRIBER, BOARD MEMBER, DONOR AND CHAMPION OF OUR ORGANIZATION IN BOTH ITS EDUCATIONAL AND ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP. IN RECOGNITION OF MRS. ECCLES’S LEGACY AS BENEFACTOR AND ADVISOR, THE INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE IS PROUD TO HAVE NAMED ITS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR POSITION THE MARGOT LACY ECCLES ARTISTIC DIRECTOR.

LEADERSHIP: JANET ALLEN

Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director

Creating world-class professional theatre for Central Indiana audiences of all ages has remained a career-long passion for Janet Allen. She began at the IRT in 1980 as the theatre’s first literary manager–dramaturg. After four years in New York City, she returned to serve ten years as associate artistic director. Named the IRT’s fourth artistic director in 1996, she is now in her 26th season in that role. In January 2020, she was named the Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director. During Janet’s tenure, the IRT has significantly diversified its services to both adults and children, expanded its new play development programs, solidified its reputation as a top-flight regional theatre dedicated to diverse programming and production quality. Janet’s passion for nurturing playwrights has led to a fruitful relationship with James Still, the IRT’s playwright-in-residence for 24 years, and the creation and production of 16 new works—the Indiana Series— that examine Hoosier and Midwestern sensibilities (seven of them by James Still). Her collaboration with playwrights has brought the theatre prestigious grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Joyce Foundation, and the Doris Duke Foundation, as well as numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Janet’s leadership skills and community service have been recognized by the Network of Women in Business–IBJ’s “Influential Women in Business” Award, a Distinguished Hoosier Award conferred by Governor Frank O’Bannon, Girls Inc.’s Touchstone Award for Arts Leadership, and the Indiana Commission on Women’s “Keeper of the Light” Torchbearer Award. She is a proud alumna of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership program (Class XIX) and was a 2013-2014 Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. She is a member of two honorary gatherings in the America Theatre: the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center, and the National Theatre Conference. In 2017 she was named an Indiana Living Legend by the Indiana Historical Society. Janet is a member of the Indianapolis Woman’s Club, the Gathering, and Congregation Beth-El Zedeck. She serves on the board of Summit Performance, a small professional theatre company that produces work by and about women. She lives in an historic house built in 1855 in the Chatham Arch neighborhood with her husband, Joel Grynheim, and a lovely canine mutt. They enjoy following the adventures of their three adult children and their new grandchild, who are thriving on various continents.

Among the memorable productions she has directed on the IRT’s stages are The Glass Menagerie (1999), Ah! Wilderness (2002), The Drawer Boy (2004), James Still’s The House That Jack Built (2012 & 2021), To Kill a Mockingbird (2016), Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2008 & 2017), The Diary of Anne Frank (2011 & 2018), Morning After Grace (2020), and Cyrano (2021.) Constance Macy and David Shih in the IRT’s 2021 production of The House That Jack Built. Photo by Zach Rosing.

LEADERSHIP: SUZANNE SWEENEY Managing Director

Suzanne is a 23-year veteran of the IRT and is proud to work alongside her mentor and friend, Janet Allen, as co-CEO of the Theatre. Suzanne oversees all of the administrative functions of the organization, including marketing, fundraising, ticket office, house management, finance, human resources, information technology, and building operations. During her tenure, the Theatre has secured a long-term lease for the building with the City of Indianapolis and renovated the Upperstage Lobby and restrooms. In June 2020 the Theatre surpassed its $18.5 million goal for its Front and Center campaign, raising $20 million. Suzanne was elected Treasurer of the League of Resident Theatres, a nationwide association of regional theatres, and she serves as a member of their board of directors.

In 2021 and 2016, she was honored to serve as a panelist for Shakespeare in American Communities in cooperation with Arts Midwest. Suzanne is active in the community, having been the treasurer of Irish Fest for nine years, a member of the board of directors and treasurer of the Day Nursery Association (now Early Learning Indiana) for three years, and a past treasurer of IndyFringe. Suzanne is an alumna of the College of William & Mary (undergraduate) and Indiana University (M.B.A.). She started her career as a CPA; prior to coming to Indianapolis, she worked in finance for more than 10 years, living in such varied locales as Washington, DC; Dallas, Texas; Frankfurt, Germany; Honolulu, Hawaii; and even working for three months in Auckland, New Zealand (where, yes, she went bungee jumping). She is a proud alumna of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Program (Class XXXI). Suzanne lives in Fall Creek Place with her 18-year-old son, Jackson, and their foxhound rescue dog, Gertie, and spends some of her downtime in Palatine, Illinois, with her partner, Todd Wiencek.

Top: Michael Stewart Allen and Jamaal McCray in the IRT’s 2021 production of N0. 6 Bottom: Celeste M. Cooper and Mary Williamson in the IRT’s 2021 production of Mrs. Harrison. Photos by Zach Rosing.

AS PART OF THE FRONT & CENTER CAMPAIGN, SARAH & JOHN LECHLEITER HAVE GIVEN A GIFT TO THE IRT IN HONOR OF JAMES STILL’S LONG-TIME RELATIONSHIP WITH THE IRT, CREATING THE JAMES STILL PLAYWRIGHT-IN-RESIDENCE FUND, WHICH PROVIDES FUTURE SUPPORT FOR THE PLAYWRIGHT-IN-RESIDENCE AS WELL AS THE CREATION OF NEW WORK FOR THE IRT. Distinguished Play Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education, and his work has been produced throughout the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

LEADERSHIP: JAMES STILL Playwright-in-Residence

During his 24 years as Playwright-in-Residence, IRT audiences have seen all three plays in James’s The Jack Plays trilogy (The House That Jack Built, Appoggiatura, and Miranda), as well as Looking Over the President’s Shoulder; And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank; Amber Waves; The Little Choo-Choo That Thinks She Can; April 4, 1968: Before We Forgot How to Dream; I Love to Eat: Cooking with James Beard; The Velveteen Rabbit; The Heavens Are Hung in Black; Interpreting William; Iron Kisses; The Gentleman from Indiana; Searching for Eden; He Held Me Grand, and The Secret History of the Future. James has directed many productions at the IRT, including Twelve Angry Men, A Doll’s House Part 2, The Originalist, Dial “M” for Murder, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Red, Other Desert Cities, God of Carnage, Becky’s New Car, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, The Immigrant, and Dinner with Friends. This season he directed A Christmas Carol.

The Jack Plays is the 2020 winner for drama of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award. Also in 2020 James wrote the short film A City of Stories commissioned by the New Harmony Project. Current projects include his new plays The Cratchits (in America) commissioned by the IRT, his adaptation of the classic Black Beauty, (A) New World, Dinosaur(s), and new play commissions with Prison Performing Arts (St. Louis) and American Blues (Chicago). He has recently written dozens of short new plays that are being performed on digital platforms across the country. James also works in television and film and has been nominated for five Emmys and a Television Critics Association Award; he has twice been a finalist for the Humanitas Prize. He was a producer and head writer for the TLC series PAZ, the head writer for Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear, and writer for the Bill Cosby series Little Bill. He wrote The Little Bear Movie and The Miffy Movie as well as the feature film The Velocity of Gary. James grew up in Kansas and lives in Los Angeles.

James is a member of the National Theatre Conference in New York, and a Kennedy Center inductee of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. Other honors include the Todd McNerney New Play Prize from the Spoleto Festival, William Inge Festival’s Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, and the Orlin Corey Medallion from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America. His plays have been nominated four times for the Pulitzer Prize, and have been developed at Robert Redford’s Sundance, the New Harmony Project, Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Colorado New Play Summit, the Lark, Launch Pad at UC–Santa Barbara, Telluride Playwright’s Festival, New Visions/ New Voices, and Fresh Ink. Three of his plays have received the 10

The cast of the IRT’s 2021 production of The House That Jack Built. Photo by Zach Rosing.

organization in addressing historical inequities and ensuring that the company’s work reflected the diversity of the local community. Prior to his role at CTC, Ben spent five years in California’s Bay Area, dividing his time between Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Bay Area Children’s Theatre. In his native Minnesota, Ben was honored to serve on the education staff of Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation’s leading African American theatre, where he helped to expand their education and outreach offerings. His proudest accomplishments during his four years with the company include growing the nationally recognized Summer Institute for Activist Artists into a threeyear multidisciplinary social justice theatre training program, developing a multigenerational quilting circle, and helping to create and facilitate a racial equity training program through the company’s RACE workshop series.

LEADERSHIP: BENJAMIN HANNA Associate Artistic Director

Ben holds a degree in theatre arts from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He grew up on a small rural farm and fell in love with theatre at the age of eleven. He continues to create for his favorite audience: his five nieces and nephews.

Ben is a director, educator, and community engagement specialist whose passion for multigenerational theatre has influenced his work across the country. In all of his myriad roles, Ben is guided by the belief that access to high-quality theatre helps build creative, empathetic people and healthy communities. Ben is thrilled to be in his fifth season at Indiana Repertory Theatre, where he has directed Tuesdays with Morrie, This Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol (twice), The Little Choo-Choo That Thinks She Can, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!,” and The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. This season he directed The Book Club Play and Fahrenheit 451. As associate artistic director, Ben manages casting both locally and nationally, helps guide education and community programming, and connects IRT to new artists and ideas. Dedicated to eradicating systems of oppression, he is an advocate for creating and maintaining an anti-racist culture that breaks down historical barriers of access to the theatre. Along with Sarah Bellamy, IRT’s Equity Consultant, he guides IRT’s work to develop thoughtful, sustainable Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access initiatives. Ben is the recipient of a Theatre Communications Group Leadership University Award funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The award supported his artistic mentorship at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, the nation’s largest theatre for young audiences. During his tenure at CTC, Ben directed in-house productions and took shows across the globe, as far afield as South Africa; he played a key role in fundraising, management, education, and strategic planning processes; and he helped guide the Henry Woronicz in the IRT’s 2021 production of Tuesdays with Morrie. Photo by Zach Rosing.

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Janet Allen Managing Director Suzanne Sweeney ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

Office Administrator Ariana Fisher ARTISTIC

Production Manager Malia Argüello Associate Artistic Director Benjamin Hanna Company Manager Hillary Martin Resident Dramaturg Richard J Roberts General Manager Jane Robison Playwright-in-Residence James Still COSTUME SHOP

Draper Erica Anderson Costume Shop Manager Guy Clark Wardrobe Supervisor Isabella Garza Stitcher Rebecca Reyes DEVELOPMENT

Development Systems Brady Clark Institutional Giving Manager Eric J. Olson Individual Giving Manager Kay Swank-Herzog Director of Development Jennifer Turner EDUCATION

Education Coordinator Anna E. Barnett

ELECTRICS

PROPERTIES SHOP

Assistant Master Electrician Kayla Brown Electrician Kathryn Burke Master Electrician Beth A. Nuzum

Properties Manager Geoffrey Ehrendreich Properties Carpenter Madelaine Foster Properties Artisan Abigail Stuckey

FINANCE

SCENE SHOP

Director of Finance Jeffrey Bledsoe Payroll & Benefits Specialist Jen Carpenter Business Manager Will Turpin-Doty

Carpenters WonJun Brendon Choi Nick Kilgore Technical Director Chris Fretts Master Carpenter David Sherrill Automation Carpenter Hal Wenk

MARKETING

Marketing Communications Manager Kerry Barmann Director of Marketing & Sales Danielle M. Dove Graphic Designer Noelani Langille Associate Director of Marketing Elizabeth Petermann

SOUND & VIDEO

Audio/Video Engineer John Chung Audio Engineer Brittany Hayth Resident Sound Designer Todd Mack Reischman

PAINT SHOP STAGE MANAGEMENT Charge Scenic Artist Claire Dana Production Stage Manager Scenic Artist Nathan Garrison Jim Schumacher Stage Manager Erin Robson-Smith PATRON SERVICES Assistant Stage Manager Becky Roeber Building Services Eric Argyelan Production Assistants Andrea Haskett Housekeeping Jalen Jones Dave Dunaway House Manager TELESERVICES Marissa Klingler Ticket Office Manager Group Sales & Teleservices Manager Judy Lombardo Doug Sims Assistant Ticket Office Manager Eric Wilburn Customer Service Representatives Geneva Denney-Moore Ashlee Lancaster Courtney Plummer Kim Reeves Tessitura Administrator Molly Wible Sweets

Opposite: Ryan Artzberger, Melisa Pereyra, and Jeb Burris in the IRT’s 2021 production of Cyrano. Photo by Zach Rosing.

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF PART-TIME STAFF AND ASSOCIATES ASL INTERPRETERS Tara Parchman Robin Reid AUDIO DESCRIBER John Simmons FINANCE ASSOCIATES

External Auditors Crowe Horwath LLP Legal Counsel Heather Moore PAINT SHOP

Scenic Painter Drew Newlin PATRON SERVICES

Assistant House Managers Pat Bebee Grace Branam Stacy Brown Preston Dildine Christine Gordon Marilyn Hatcher Sarah James Jacob Lang Alicia McClendon Dianna Mosedale Jade Perry Jeff Pigeon Phoebe Rodgers Kathy Sax Karen Sipes Leila Spicklemire Sam Stucky Katy Thompson Bartenders Jade Perry Cheryl Statzer Tina Weaver PRODUCTION Lee Edmundson

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS CHAIR

TREASURER

VICE CHAIR & CHAIR ELECT

SECRETARY

Mark Shaffer KPMG LLP

After one of the most challenging years in our history, we are very excited to welcome you in person to the Indiana Repertory Theatre! Great theatre sparks conversations, thoughtful questions, and ideas that reflect on and enlighten our lives, workplaces, and communities. Whether you’ve been part of the IRT family for years or are a first-time visitor, we are glad you are with us! I am very grateful for the hard work, dedication, and adaptability of our staff, bringing theatre to our audience in these extraordinary times. We are blessed with amazing leadership and talent. I also want to give a special thank you to all our patrons and partners for their loyal and tireless support, ensuring the IRT’s future for generations to come. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank you for joining us this season—one which will inspire and entertain.

– Mark E. Shaffer, IRT Board Chair

Andrew Michie OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc.

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

Nadine Givens* PNC Wealth Management

Detra Mills The Basement

MEMBERS Tammara D. Avant American Electric Power Allison Barkel LifeOmic IRT Offscript Advisory Council Liaison Kathryn Beiser Eli Lilly & Company Keith A. Bice Dentons Bingham Greenebaum LLP Amy Burke Lacy School of Business Butler University Michael P. Dinius Noble Consulting Services, Inc. Laurie Dippold KAR Auction Services, Inc. Dan Emerson* Indianapolis Colts Troy D. Farmer BKD CPAs & Advisors Ashley Garry Roche Diagnostics Ron Gifford RDG Strategies LLC

Bruce Glor J.P. Morgan Julian Harrell Faegre Drinker Mike Harrington Eli Lilly & Company, Retired Michael N. Heaton Katz Sapper & Miller Holt Hedrick Calumet Specialty Products Partners, L.P. Brenda Horn Ice Miller LLP, Retired Rebecca Hutton Leadership Indianapolis Lauren James TechPoint Elisha Modisett Kemp Corteva Agriscience Jill Lacy The Lacy Foundation Alan Mills Barnes & Thornburg LLP Michael Moriarty Frost Brown Todd, Retired

Brian Payne Central Indiana Community Foundation Peter Racher Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP Susan O. Ringo Community Volunteer Myra C. Selby Ice Miller LLP Darshan Shah BioCrossroads Mike Simmons Jupiter Peak, LLC Shelly Smith Ernst & Young LLP Sue Smith Community Volunteer Amy Waggoner Salesforce L. Alan Whaley Ice Miller LLP, Retired Heather Wilson Frost Brown Todd LLC

BOARD EMERITUS Robert Anker* Rollin Dick Berkley Duck* Dale Duncan* James W. Freeman Michael Lee Gradison* (in memoriam) Margie Herald (in memoriam) David Klapper David Kleinman*

* Past Board Chairs

Joy Kleinmaier American Specialty Health

Sarah Lechleiter E. Kirk McKinney Jr. (in memoriam) Richard O. Morris* (in memoriam) Jane Schlegel* Wayne Schmidt Jerry Semler* Jack Shaw* William E. Smith III* Eugene R. Tempel*

Original artwork by Kyle Ragsdale

2021 | 2022

UP NEXT: AN OFF-BROADWAY HIT!

MAY 10 - JUNE 5

strong and sassy

Before it was a movie, this pop culture favorite was an offBroadway hit. With sharp, witty banter and memorable one-liners, six women from all walks of life celebrate the everyday joys and tears of small-town living while gathered at their favorite hair salon. When tragedy strikes, the play reveals the steely bonds of compassion and love that hold true friends together.

BUY NOW! | IRTLIVE.COM | 317.635.5252

THEATER DANCE VISUAL LITERARY MUSIC FILM POETRY/ SPOKEN WORD

crafting a

CREATIVE COMEBACK Reconnect with your favorite Indy arts & culture experiences and discover new ones. Everything’s happening at

IndyArtsGuide.org 16

Kay Bae, Algae & Wildflowers, 2020 Banner artwork at Meridian and Washington streets

THAT OLD CAR GETTING YOU DOWN? Then donate it to the IRT

MORE INFORMATION: KSWANKHERZOG@IRTLIVE.COM | 317.916.4830 The cast of the IRT’s 2020 production of The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963. Photo by Zach Rosing.

THE REPERTORY SOCIETY Exclusive Access and Support

Theatre is about community, coming together to share stories, allowing us to laugh together, cry together, and experience perspectives both familiar and new. CONTINUING OUR MISSION WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF OUR DONORS.

YOUR GENEROSITY TRANSFORMS THE COMMUNITY BY: Providing an evening of laughter and entertainment with friends Illuminating bold new perspectives Enlightening young minds Bringing our community together, one story at a time Become a member of our Repertory Society and be part of what makes our city a great artistic community. Donors giving $1,500 or more each season will join this exclusive group and gain access to a slate of benefits created to extend your access to our art and enhance your theatergoing experience. REPERTORY SOCIETY BENEFITS INCLUDE: Exclusive Special Events, Discounts on single tickets purchased, VIP Ticket Concierge, and much more! Jennifer Johansen, Aaron Kirby, Constance Macy and David Shih in the IRT’s 2021 production of The House That Jack Built. Photo by Zach Rosing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO JOIN THE REPERTORY SOCIETY

Contact Kay Swank-Herzog, Individual Giving Manager: kswankherzog@irtlive.com | 317.916.4830

08-10

INDIA N A

arts4u

CELEBRATE THE ARTS

Arts and creativity make us stronger – as individuals, families, communities, and as a state. Make your license plate purchase count. Purchasing an Arts Trust License Plate contributes to an established endowment and, along with funds from the Indiana General Assembly, supports arts projects across the state.

www.arts.in.gov Pictured Arts Trust License Plate Project: Early Learning Indiana, Marion County

EQUITY IS JUSTICE. EQUITY IS ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY. EQUITY BENEFITS US ALL.

OUR MISSION:

to mobilize people, ideas and investments to make this a community where all individuals have equitable opportunity to reach their full potential—no matter place, race or identity.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT TO BUILD A STRONGER COMMUNITY FOR ALL BECOME AN EQUITY PARTNER

Learn more at CICF.org/equity

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The arts make us think, make us feel, and make us wonder. And being able to support the Indiana Repertory Theatre’s INclusion series this season makes us proud.

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SUMMER YOUTH WORKSHOPS: BRING THEATRE TO LIFE AT THE IRT!

Summer Youth Workshops are now available for actors age 8-15. We welcome students both new to theatre and those with experience that want to take their skills to the next level. For more information about Summer Youth Workshops and how to register: irtlive.com/summeryouthworkshops

More Education needs? Please contact our Education Coordinator, Anna Barnett | abarnett@irtlive.com | 317.916.4841 2323

REVIEWS!

Share your review on social media by tagging us at @IRTLIVE, using #IRTLIVE or by emailing REVIEWS@IRTLIVE.COM PHOTO CREDIT (SET ONLY):

UPPERSTAGE THEATRE APRIL 20 – MAY 15

ARTISTIC

Director________________________ JAKI BRADLEY Scenic Designer___________________________ WILSON CHIN Costume Designer___________________________ YAO CHEN Lighting Designer____________________________ CHA SEE Sound Design & Composition ________________ BROKEN CHORD Projections Designer_______________________ REUBEN LUCAS Dramaturg__________________________ RICHARD J ROBERTS Stage Manager______________________ ERIN ROBSON-SMITH Casting _____________________________ TBD CASTING CO. MARGARET DUNN, CSA STEPHANIE YANKWITT, CSA

ARTS PARTNERS

m a k i n g t h e a rts h a p p e n

SCENIC DESIGNER: Wilson Chin LIGHTING DESIGNER: Cha See SEASON SPONSOR

SEASON PARTNER

INCLUSION SERIES LEAD PARTNER

INCLUSION SERIES ASSOCIATE SPONSOR

CORPORATE PARTNER

PRODUCTION PARTNER

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS SPONSOR

JANET ALLEN

Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director

SUZANNE SWEENEY Managing Director

THE CAST Sheila_______________________________ ALLISON BUCK Harry_________________________________ DAVID SHIH Laura_________________________________ ANNE BATES Boss _____________________________ SAM ENCARNACION Poet________________________________ LINDEN TAILOR Interrogator________________________ SAM ENCARNACION Yuet________________________ STEPHENIE SOOHYUN PARK Immigration Officer______________________ LINDEN TAILOR Susan_______________________ STEPHENIE SOOHYUN PARK

SETTING A garage, a small apartment, a restaurant kitchen, a ship, a detention center, a courtroom.… Between 1939 and 1970.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Permission granted by Abrams Artists Agency, 275 Seventh Avenue, 26th Floor, New York, NY 10001. All inquiries concerning rights to the play shall be addressed to the above or to max.grossman@abramsartistsagency.com. Wig Design and Creation: Becky Scott Assistant to the Director: Jamie Anderson Understudies: Ian Cruz & Tracy Herring Assistant Set Designers: Chen-Wei Liao and Riw Rakkulchon

Actors and stage managers in this production who are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. The director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union. Scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local 829, IATSE. Photography and recording are forbidden in the Theatre. The videotaping of this production is a violation of United States Copyright Law and an actionable Federal Offense. Left: Original artwork by Kyle Ragsdale

RESONANCE BY JANET ALLEN, MARGOT LACY ECCLES ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

We are pleased to finally bring Jessica Huang’s beautiful play, The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin, to the Upperstage and to our audiences. It was originally set to open in March 2020 and was deep into rehearsal when the pandemic hit and we had to sadly send the artists home. We had no idea that it would take two years to bring them back. Jessica’s play introduces us to a family caught up in a little-known segment of American immigration history, the years of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). This was the first time in American history that immigrants were legally barred from entering the United States because of their specific race (and class). While Huang’s work explores deeply a particular Midwestern family impacted by this immigration crisis in the years from 1939 to 1970, the resonances to today’s immigration issues regarding recently targeted groups—the “Muslim ban” and the situation at our Mexican border—are part of the larger impact of the play. The hate speech about the “Chinese flu” that was fomented during the pandemic, and the violence it has unleashed on Asian Americans, also horrifically illustrates how quickly Americans can jump into xenophobia. In a program similar to IRT’s Indiana Series exploring culture in Indiana, the Minnesota History Theatre commissioned Jessica to explore a component of Minnesota race and culture. She interviewed members of “real life” Harry’s family and learned about Asian-American families like them. The resulting play is not a realistic, linear telling of the story, but a strikingly theatrical mixture of past and present, of myth and reality, of ghosts and ancestors, of colliding memories that capture the disorienting feeling of moving from one culture to another. The style of the play is an intrinsic part of the content of the play, creating a very visceral experience for audiences as well as characters. This play movingly illuminates the power of theatre to bring history to light through witnessing the struggles of the people who live it—a key value of our INclusion series. Part of the everyday life of many people of color in our country is experiencing marginalization and real hostility in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” We are particularly pleased to be creating the second full production of this magical play. We invite audiences of all cultural and racial backgrounds to share Harry and his family’s experiences, and to consider deeply how we as individuals and communities can strive for greater understanding and acceptance.

REMEMBERING & FORGETTING BY JAKI BRADLEY, DIRECTOR

In a note at the beginning of The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams writes, “The scene is memory and is therefore non-realistic. Memory takes a lot of poetic license. It omits some details; others are exaggerated, according to the emotional value of the articles it touches, for memory is seated predominantly in the heart. The interior is therefore rather dim and poetic.”

The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin is at once a memory play and a forgetting play. It’s a play about a man who buries details of his past to make his present more bearable. For me, it’s also a play about the dueling heart of the American dream—who is allowed to pursue it and under what circumstances. While this story is specific to one man and his particular path to this country, the story of immigration—of struggle, success, and the deep hope that your children grow up in a more peaceful, bountiful world than the one you live in—is as American as apple pie (which is, of course, not actually American). I was bowled over the first time I read this play. The first time Jessica Huang and I spoke about it, we talked for hours, about the ideas in the show and much, much more. I was struck by the style: lyrical, poetic, its own kind of magical realism; and the content: a deeply humane portrait of a father and a daughter, and a country. I didn’t realize at first that the story was based on a real person, and seeing the photos and writings from the actual people made it feel even more special. This cast started this journey in March 2020, and we nearly made it to tech before the production had to be canceled due to COVID. Now the play feels more relevant than ever, and to be able to return to this play with the same performers is an enormous gift. Telling this story requires a lot of brilliant collaborators. With the designers, we worked together to create a theatrical event that could leap through time and space, jumping from decade to decade and city to city the way this story (and our memories) do. And with the actors, we created a room that was equal parts rigorous—studying the history and details—and playful, to support the spirit of Jessica’s writing. It’s an enormous honor to share this work with the audiences at IRT. In the theatre, the final collaborator is the audience. Your presence, your reactions, and your questions are what make the live event of theatre feel so singular. So thank you for being a collaborator, and now a part of Harry Chin’s story. Both pages: Chin family photos courtesy of Sheila Chin Morris.

REALITY & MAGIC

The writing is beautifully poetic, so I knew I wanted to create a world that is full of metaphoric iconography that evokes feelings of travel, displacement, and loss. We took objects that symbolize these emotions, and made them large or multiplied as part of the set design. It’s also a play that moves fluidly and

instantly between time and place, so there is a simplicity and openness to the set that allows for theatrical transformation. A simple gesture from an actor, or a subtle (or not so subtle) shift in lights and projections can snap us into a different time and place more poetically and instantaneously than a scenic move.

A haunting through time, a psychological portrait, a dream-like quality; expressionism, abstraction, surrealism—these ideas presented in early design discussions influenced the projection design. The story is a theatrical puzzle that is told in a disjointed space where time is slippery. The projection design aims to follow

the sense of a dream-like world by mostly avoiding literal imagery. Instead, the design tries to enhance the disorienting nature of the script with emotionally based content that may be undefinable. Most of the content is chosen for texture, color, and other abstract qualities that enhance the inherent mystery of the story.

Above: Preliminary rendering by scenic designer Wilson Chin.

YAO CHEN | COSTUME DESIGNER This play is absolutely my passion project of the year. Speaking as a firstgeneration Chinese immigrant, this is my first time to come across a convincing story that depicts the life of Chinese immigration in a poetic and honest way. Harry reminds me of the past generation of Chinese: hardworking, solid, quiet, and not good at emotional communication in general. For them, life is daily responsibility and commitment as a worker and a parent. I think it is my job to dress them in a realistic way: austere, simple, and far away from glamor. Yet the poetic and dreaming quality of the story also inspires me to add an imaginative touch to the garments. The scenic world presents the idea of cracking beautifully, and I have tried to echo this concept through costume as well, especially in the finale.

Above: Costume renderings by designer Yao Chen for Harry, Susan, & Sheila.

THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT The California Gold Rush of 1848 attracted a significant number of Chinese to immigrate to the United States. Even greater numbers came in the 1860s to work on the Transcontinental Railroad. Others moved to cities such as San Francisco, where they took low-wage jobs, often in restaurants and laundries. As the U.S. economy declined after the Civil War, labor and government leaders began to blame Chinese “coolies” (laborers) for depressed wage levels. Public opinion began to demonize Chinese immigrants, and a series of ever more restrictive laws were placed on Chinese labor, behavior, and even living conditions. In 1882, the federal government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned all immigration of “skilled 30

and unskilled laborers” from China for a period of 10 years. The act was renewed in 1892 for another ten years and then in 1902 indefinitely. The Immigration Act of 1924, which included the Asian Exclusion Act and the National Origins Act, banned immigration from East Asia entirely. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first time in history when a particular ethnic group was banned from entering the United States on the premise that it endangered the good working order of the nation. Provisions of the act also banned Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens, thus making permanent aliens of those who were already here. Further restrictions forced Chinese Americans into urban conclaves called Chinatowns. Like other immigrants,

BY RICHARD J ROBERTS, RESIDENT DRAMATURG

many Chinese men who had immigrated here eventually hoped to bring their families to join them. With the passage of the act, they were faced with a choice: return to China to stay, or never see their families again. The Chinese Exclusion Act was finally repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act. World War II had made China and the United States allies against Japan, and Congress wanted to create an image of fairness and justice. The Magnuson Act permitted Chinese nationals already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens and stop hiding from the threat of deportation. While the Magnuson Act overturned the Chinese Exclusion Act, it restricted the national quota of Chinese immigrants to only 105 per year. The passage of

the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 finally ended these restrictions. In recent years in the United States, patriotism—love for one’s country—has become hopelessly entangled with nationalism— promotion of one’s own country to the detriment of other countries. Xenophobia has been on the rise; but during the pandemic, there has been a particularly sharp rise in anti-Asian violence. A recent poll found that one in six Asian Americans experienced race-based violence in 2021—a tenfold increase from previous years. Such statistics are a harsh reminder that, even though the Chinese Exclusion Act is no longer the law of the land, the racism that it represents is still very much among us.

PAPER FAMILIES

BY RICHARD J ROBERTS, RESIDENT DRAMATURG

The Chinese Exclusion Act, banning immigration of Chinese laborers, allowed exceptions for merchants, diplomats, students, teachers, and children of American citizens. In 1906, when the San Francisco earthquake destroyed thousands of public records, a new opportunity for citizenship arose: Chinese men who were already in the United States could claim that they had been born in the United States. Thus, any children they had left behind in China would be eligible to become United States citizens, for which they would receive an immigration document. These documents could then be used for their actual children, or sold to friends, neighbors, or strangers. This process allowed men who had no blood relations in the United States to find a way to enter the country. In an attempt to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act, in 1910 the Immigration and Naturalization Service established Immigration Stations on the West Coast. Since official records were often nonexistent, an interrogation process was created to determine if potential immigrants were actually related to U.S. citizens as claimed. A typical interrogation process lasted two to three weeks, but some immigrants were interrogated for months. Questions included details of the immigrant’s home and village as well as specific knowledge of his or her relations. Each immigrant who purchased a “paper family” received a personal manual that included hundreds of such details. They 32

spent months in advance committing these details to memory. Witnesses—usually other “family” members living in the United States—would be called in to corroborate these answers. Any deviation between testimonies would prolong questioning or throw the entire case into doubt. This situation not only put the applicant at risk of deportation, but also those in the “family” as well. These detention centers were in operation until the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943. During and after World War II, the U.S. government scrutinized immigrants of various ethnic groups whose politics were considered suspect. Many paper sons feared that their fraudulent documentations would be exposed and that they would be deported back to China. New legislation broadened immigration from Asia and gave paper sons a chance to tell the truth about who they were and restore their real names in “confessional” programs. But many chose to stick with their adopted names for fear of retribution, and took their true names to their graves. Some refused to teach their children their native language and shunned elements of Chinese culture such as food and religious rituals. Many paper sons never told their descendants about their past, leaving them with confusion and disconnecting them from their family history.

THE CHINESE CONFESSION PROGRAM

BY RICHARD J ROBERTS, RESIDENT DRAMATURG

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service established the Chinese Confession Program in 1956. It sought confessions of illegal entry from U.S. citizens and residents of Chinese origin, with the (somewhat misleading) offer of legalizing the confessor’s status in exchange. The program was partly motivated by concerns in the United States about the rise of communism in China and the role that Chinese-Americans might play in facilitating it, as well as the danger of communist Chinese entering the United States illegally. Although the program was described as an amnesty program whereby people could obtain legal status by confessing their immigration violations, there was very little change to the actual immigration laws. The program’s primary benefit to those who confessed was that if they were eligible for a statutory remedy, their past illegal entry or misrepresentation of status would not bar them from having their paperwork processed.

confessor could implicate a large number of other people, and therefore increase the risk of deportation for all these others. The program resulted in 13,895 confessions, far less than the number of people suspected of having entered illegally. (The 1950 Census listed a total of 117,629 Chinese in the United States.) Since confessions by neighbors could implicate a person and cause him or her to be deported, the program created fear and distrust in many Chinese-American communities. As a result of the confessions, 22,083 people were exposed. The Chinese Confession Program was ended in 1966, shortly after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Bill Ong Hing, a professor of law at the University of San Francisco, wrote in 2015: “The ‘confession program’ for Chinese in the 1950s was mostly a fraud perpetrated on our community, but we need not repeat that fraud for undocumented immigrants today. Let’s be honest, and treat them with the respect they deserve.”

Although confessing to the authorities offered (temporary) immunity from prosecution and deportation, the confessor had to surrender his or her passport and thus be vulnerable to deportation. Confessors needed to provide full details of their blood families as well as paper families. This meant that a single

ONE MAN’S DOUBLE LIFE PLAYWRIGHT JESSICA HUANG BY RUTHIE FIERBERG History Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota, operates on a mission to produce theatrical works that examine the true stories and real people of Minnesota, unearthing stories we otherwise would never hear of—stories like Harry Chin’s. During the enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act—a 60-year period when the United States banned immigration of Chinese laborers, and prejudiced Americans forced Chinese Americans out of their communities— Chin entered the United States via forged papers. Known as a “paper son,” Chin experienced a violent detention and interrogation that led him to a double life of secrecy once freed. Playwright Jessica Huang discovered Chin’s past at the Minnesota Historical Society while seeking a subject for a History Theatre commission. “I knew that I really wanted to write about the Chinese Exclusion Era because it was a period of history that I never studied in school,” says Huang. “But as I’ve grown to hear about how it had an enormous impact that was decades long, it felt like a missing piece of my understanding and the understanding of our collective history.” When she stumbled upon Chin’s testimony, she discovered her foundation. She reached out to Sheila, Harry’s daughter, and the play—while grounded in the way “this political action impacted their personal lives”—morphed into a story about fathers and daughters. Set in 1970, the play opens on the anniversary of the death of Sheila’s mother, Laura, who returns as a ghost to visit Sheila and Harry. “Somebody once described my work as ‘the supernatural in the everyday,’ and I think that I sort of exist inside of that realm naturally as a person,” says Huang, who is of Jewish and Chinese heritage. “Benevolent visitations or hauntings from my ancestors—those are things that I feel like I have a familiarity with. In my world view there is a place for ghostly presences.” But Huang’s piece is a spiritual ghost story. “There’s a line in the play that says, ‘haunting is helping.’ Sometimes that’s a painful thing when we have to reckon with the things that haunt us, whether they’re literal ghosts or more figurative; but when we unpack and reveal and come to terms with the things that have happened to us, that’s when we can start to heal from them.”

The current climate is ripe for this drama that unearths another time of racism and xenophobia in American history—as Broadway’s Allegiance did when it dramatized the story of the Japanese internment camps—and calls upon audiences to confront issues of immigration and nationalism and their consequences. Huang reworked the play after a developmental reading in New York prior to its IRT production. Revisiting the work allowed Huang to merge the intuitive writing style of her early career with the technique she’s honed through subsequent experience. The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin reveals a piece of American history that, while it haunts us, can also heal. —Special thanks to Playbill.com for permission to reprint this article.

OVATION SOCIETY: BRINGING JOY TO THE NEXT GENERATION! The IRT has produced professional, world-class theatre in Indianapolis for nearly 50 years. You can play a vital role in supporting the next 50 years by making a legacy gift to the Theatre. From a simple bequest to charitable trusts, there are a variety of ways you can include the IRT in your estate plans. Our staff will work with you and your financial advisor, tax professional or family attorney to determine how a planned gift can assist you in meeting your financial and charitable goals. Include the IRT in your estate plans, and help bring joy to the next generation, through our continued world-class stories that invite our community to reflect on our collective history and journeys that make up this vibrant place we call home. Please let us know if you have already included the IRT in your plan so that we can recognize you for your generosity in the Ovation Society!

LEARN MORE: IRTLIVE.COM/LEGACY | jturner@irtlive.com | 317.916.4835 35

Robert Elliott, Janyce Caraballo, and Milicent Wright in the IRT’s 2019 production of You Can’t Take It With You. Photo by Zach Rosing.

STUDENTS FROM ACROSS INDIANA WILL EXPERIENCE LIVE THEATRE FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, BRINGING THEIR CLASSROOMS TO LIFE. Thanks to the Alan and Linda Cohen Education Fund, students are able to attend IRT performances. Help us continue to give students the experiences they deserve by donating to the Cohen Education Fund today. “Without the assistance, our students would not have been able to have this experience. We read this book in class. Students loved the story and learning about the characters. However, the play brought these characters to life.” -An Indiana Teacher and her students regarding The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963

Xavier Adams in the IRT’s 2020 production of The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963. Photo by Zach Rosing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SUPPORTING STUDENT MATINEES, CONTACT: KAY SWANK-HERZOG: KSWANKHERZOG@IRTLIVE.COM | 317.916.4830

THE COMPANY ANNE BATES | LAURA Anne is delighted to make her IRT debut. Off-Broadway credits include Dan Cody’s Yacht (Manhattan Theatre Club), The Effect (Barrow Street/National Theatre of London), founding member of F.A.B. WOMEN theatre group at the Barrow Group Theatre, Icebound and Alison’s House (Metropolitan Playhouse), Discord (Culture Project), and Tartuffe and The Tempest (Acting Company). Other credits include Elizabeth of England in Mary Stuart (Pioneer Theatre), Thousand Pines (Connecticut Critics Circle Nominee, Westport Country Playhouse), Sex with Strangers (Cardinal Stage), Long Division (Best Supporting Actor Nominee, Abingdon Theatre), A Delicate Balance (Dramaworks), The Unexpected Guest (Fulton Theatre), Proof (Red Door/Barrow Group), Othello (Houston Shakespeare Festival), Dysteria (Atlantic Studio), and Alibi in the special effect and animated live stream show Alibi (Gene Frankel). Film: Stella, The Collective (Audience Choice Award), Paul Sorvino’s King Lear. TV: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, New Amsterdam, God Friended Me, Law & Order: SVU, Sneaky Pete, Us & Them, Unforgettable, 30 Rock. A resident of New York City, Anne is a Juilliard Drama graduate and a member of AEA and SAG.

ALLISON BUCK | SHEILA Allison is grateful to be back at IRT working on this special show. A New York native, she has worked with Ensemble Studio Theater, New Georges, HERE Arts, Clubbed Thumb, the Vampire Cowboys, the Lark, the Atlantic, and the Flea. Regional credits include the McCarter Theatre Center and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Allison holds a B.A. from Cornell University. @allisonlbuck

SAM ENCARNACION | BOSS & INTERROGATOR Sam’s credits include The Bandaged Place (New York Stage & Film), Peter and the Starcatcher (Virginia Stage Company), and Skin Deep Skin Tight (Precariat Productions). Other credits include Long Way Go Down (Harold Clurman Lab), The Brothers Size ( Syracuse Stage and South African tour), and Topdog/Underdog (Peoples Theater Lab). TV credits include Law & Order: SVU and Jessica Jones. Sam is an alumnus of the conservatory at the Stella Adler Studio.

STEPHENIE SOOHYUN PARK | YUET & SUSAN Stephenie has appeared at the IRT in two seasons of A Christmas Carol. Memorable past productions include the world premiere of King of the Yees (Goodman/Kirk Douglas), The Wheel (Steppenwolf Theatre), and The White Snake (Goodman/Guthrie/Old Globe). Her TV and film credits include Chicago Med, Patriot, Boss, Chicago Fire, Empire, and Coyote. She holds degrees from the Wharton School and Harvard Law, and in addition to being an actor, she is an attorney, legal operations consultant, and mother of two. See our interview with Stephenie on page 42.

THE COMPANY DAVID SHIH | HARRY Dave appeared in the IRT’s streamed production of The House That Jack Built. Other theatre credits include Gnit at Theatre for a New Audience; The Great Wave at Berkeley Rep; Henry VI: Shakespeare’s Trilogy in Two Parts, Awake and Sing!, and [veil widow conspiracy] with NAATCO; KPOP at Ars Nova; Somebody’s Daughter at Second Stage; Tiger Style! at La Jolla Playhouse; Bike America at Ma-Yi Theatre; and Crane Story with Playwrights Realm. Television credits include Hunters, Billions, City on a Hill, Iron Fist, The Path, Blindspot, Elementary, Madam Secretary, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Mozart in the Jungle, and Law & Order: SVU. Film credits include Alberto and the Concrete Jungle, Mr. Sushi, All the Little Things We Kill, Eighth Grade, Fan Girl, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Saving Face. Dave is a critically acclaimed audiobook narrator. He is the voice of Eddie Toh in the hit video game Grand Theft Auto V. He also works with Only Make Believe performing for children in hospitals and care facilities.

LINDEN TAILOR | POET & IMMIGRATION OFFICER Linden is grateful to make his IRT debut, finishing what was started 2 years ago. NY Theatre: King Lear (New York Classical Theatre). Select Regional Theatre: America in One Room (Florida Studio Theatre), The Great Leap (Denver Center/Seattle Repertory Theatre), The Foreigner (Hangar Theatre), The White Snake (Baltimore Center Stage), Tokyo Fish Story (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley). TV credits: Billions, Extrapolations, Law & Order: SVU, Madam Secretary, Shades of Blue, The Detour, Odd Mom Out, and Happyish. He earned his B.F.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University and his M.F.A. at University of Florida. lindentailor.net

JESSICA HUANG | PLAYWRIGHT Jessica is a playwright, book writer, and lyricist based in New York, from Minnesota. Her plays include The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (History Theatre, New York Stage and Film Powerhouse Season, Barry and Bernice Stavis Award, Kilroy’s List), Mother of Exiles (NNPN Annual Showcase, Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award, Kendeda Prize Finalist), Transmissions in Advance of the Second Great Dying (EMOS Prize), and Purple Cloud (Theater Mu, CAATA). Her audioplay Song of the Northwoods is available on Audible. She is currently working on commissions with Manhattan Theatre Club, Timeline Theater, Theater Masters, History Theatre, and Theater Mu, and is developing an original TV show with Warner Bros. Television. Jessica was the inaugural 4 Seasons Resident Playwright, and has received awards from the Jerome Foundation, the Dramatists Guild, and the Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation. She has developed work at the Hermitage, Hedgebrook, New York Stage and Film, the MacDowell Colony, Space on Ryder Farm, and Tofte Lake Center, among many others. She is a three-time Playwrights’ Center fellow, and has been a member of Ars Nova Play Group, Civilians R&D Group, Two River Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group, and Page 73’s Interstate 73. She is a graduate of the Playwrights Program at Juilliard.

JAKI BRADLEY | DIRECTOR Jaki is a director for theatre, TV, and film. Recent theatre projects include White Noise (Berkeley Rep); Radio Island and Good Men Wanted (New York Stage and Film); House Plant and 1969: The Second Man (New York Theater Workshop: Next Door); Mama Metallica (Denver Center); and Playing Hot (Ars Nova). Jaki has developed and presented work with the Public, Williamstown, Soho Rep, Clubbed Thumb, the O’Neill, and Arena Stage. She has been a member of the Civilians R&D Group; an artist-in-residence at Ars Nova; a Drama League artist-in-residence and TV/Film Fellow; a member of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Williamstown Directing Corps, and Lincoln Center Director’s Lab; and a U.S. Fulbright Scholar. In TV and film, she has written for Netflix, FX, and Paramount, and is in development with her feature directorial debut. jakibradley.com

WILSON CHIN | SCENIC DESIGNER At the IRT, Wilson has designed Bad Dates. Broadway credits include Pass Over (Lortel Award nomination) and Next Fall. Off Broadway credits include Cost of Living and By the Water (Manhattan Theatre Club); Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi/Public); A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet (DR2); Space Dogs (MCC); Wild Goose Dreams (Public/La Jolla Playhouse); The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons); Sakina’s Restaurant (Audible/Minetta Lane); and Informed Consent (Primary Stages). Opera designs include Lucia di Lammermoor (Lyric Opera of Chicago), and Eine Florentinische Tragödie and Gianni Schicchi (Canadian Opera Company, Dora Mavor Moore Award). Film and television work includes Pass Over (dir. Spike Lee) and Blindspot (NBC). Wilson is an Eastern Region Board member of Local USA 829. Instagram: @wilsonchindesign

YAO CHEN | COSTUME DESIGNER Yao Chen is thrilled to be back to IRT after designing The House That Jack Built and The Diary of Anne Frank. She is a costume designer and illustrator with international design credits. Her designs have been seen in the United States, China, the Caribbean, and Costa Rica. She has been an active collaborator with Seattle Children’s Theatre; Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; Berkshire Theatre Group; Trinity Repertory Company; Merrimack Repertory Theatre; New Repertory Theatre; Contemporary American Theatre Festival; Orlando Repertory Theatre; Orlando Shakespeare Theatre; Don Gong Theatre in Beijing, China; Expresso Theatre in San Jose, Costa Rica; and Cayman Culture Foundation, Cayman Island. Her design for Ti Jean and His Brother in Taipei, Taiwan, was a finalist in the World Stage Design Exhibition 2017. yao-chen.com

CHA SEE | LIGHTING DESIGNER Cha’s Off-Broadway credits include The Fever (Audible Theatre); one in two (Signature Theatre); What to Send Up When It Goes Down (ART/NY, NE Region Tour: Woolly Mammoth, a.r.t. Boston). Other New York shows include The Alchemist (Red Bull Theatre); The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (Cherry Lane); Mondo Tragic (National Black Theatre); Cute Activist (Bushwick Starr); The Triumphant (Target Margin Theatre); Nora (The Juilliard School); SKINNAMARINK and House Plant (NYTW Next Door); Then They Forgot about the Rest (Intar); In the Penal Colony (NYTW Next Door); Still Asking for It (Joe’s Pub); and The Antelope Party (Wild Project). Regional credits include Change Agent (Arena Stage); The Great Leap (Portland Center Stage); EVERYBODY (Play Makers Rep); Marisol (Trinity Rep); On the Grounds of Belonging (Long Wharf Theatre); America V2.1 (Barrington Stage); Yasmina’s Necklace (Premiere Stages); and Legacy Land (Kansas City Rep). Cha earned her M.F.A at NYU Tisch. seelightingdesign.com | seelightingfoundation.com | @seethruuu

THE COMPANY BROKEN CHORD | SOUND DESIGN & COMPOSITION Broken Chord’s Broadway credits include The Parisian Woman and Eclipsed. Off-Broadway credits include The Lying Lesson at the Atlantic; OZET at IAP; Bull in a China Shop at LCT3; When We Were Young and Unafraid at MTC; The Good Negro and Party People at the Public; Toni Stone at Roundabout Theatre Company; and Appropriate at Signature. Regional credits include Change Agent at Arena Stage; Angels in America at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Ruined at Berkeley Rep; Hair at Dallas Theater Center; Make Believe at Hartford Stage; Top Girls at Huntington Theatre; UniSon at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Macbeth and The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company; and These Paper Bullets! at Yale Rep. brokenchord.us

REUBEN LUCAS | PROJECTIONS DESIGNER At the IRT, Reuben has designed scenery and projections for The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, scenery for Every Brilliant Thing and The Originalist, and projections for Pipeline. His designs have been seen onstage at the Denver Center Theatre Company, National Theatre Conservatory, Theatre Aspen, Indiana Festival Theatre, Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre, Curious Theatre Company, and others. He is the head of the graduate scenic design program at Indiana University in Bloomington. Before Indiana University, he was a Chicago-based freelance associate scenic and exhibit designer on museum and theatre projects at various national companies. Additionally, he served as the resident scenic design associate at the Denver Center Theatre Company for four years. Reuben received his M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829.

RICHARD J ROBERTS | DRAMATURG This is Richard’s 32nd season with the IRT, and his 24th as resident dramaturg. He has also been a dramaturg for the New Harmony Project, Write Now, and the Hotchner Playwriting Festival. He has directed IRT productions of A Christmas Carol (four times), Bridge & Tunnel, The Night Watcher, Neat, Pretty Fire, The Cay, The Giver, The Power of One, and Twelfth Night. Other directing credits include Actors Theatre of Indiana, the Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Edyvean Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Butler University, University of Indianapolis, and Anderson University. Most recently he directed Pippin at Marian University. Richard studied music at DePauw University and theatre at Indiana University and has been awarded a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

ERIN ROBSON-SMITH | STAGE MANAGER Since moving to Indianapolis in 2013, Erin has had the pleasure of working with IRT and its incredible staff. Favorite productions include A Christmas Carol, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, Pipeline, Romeo and Juliet, The Cay, Finding Home, and And Then They Came for Me at IRT; The Hotel Nepenthe and Vino Veritas at the Phoenix Theatre; Sometimes a Great Notion, How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found, and Frost/Nixon at Portland Center Stage; and Metamorphoses, Frozen, and Retreat from Moscow at Artists Repertory Theatre. Erin spent the summers of 2008 and 2009 working with the JAW Festival at Portland Center Stage.

THANK YOU 2021-2022 SEASON ARTIST ENGAGEMENT SUPPORTERS

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE USING THEIR GIFTS NOT ONLY TO SUPPORT THE IRT, BUT ALSO TO RECOGNIZE AND CELEBRATE THE FOLLOWING ARTISTS WHO MAKE THE STORIES WE TELL POSSIBLE.

BOB & TONI BADER SEASON SUPPORTERS OF JANET ALLEN

SUSAN & CHARLIE GOLDEN

SEASON SUPPORTERS OF ROB JOHANSEN

GARY DENNEY & LOUISE BAKKER

LEAD INDIVIDUAL PRODUCTION SUPPORT, FAHRENHEIT 451

MIKE & JUDY HARRINGTON

SEASON SUPPORTERS OF BEN HANNA

MIKE & LIZ SIMMONS SEASON SUPPORTERS OF INCLUSION SERIES

MICHAEL DINIUS & JEANNIE REGAN-DINIUS SEASON SUPPORTERS OF SUZANNE SWEENEY

SARAH & JOHN LECHLEITER

SEASON SUPPORTERS OF JAMES STILL

DAVID P. WHITMAN & DONNA L. REYNOLDS SEASON SUPPORTERS OF COSTUME & PROP SHOPS

ACTOR STEPHENIE SOOHYUN PARK STEPHENIE SOOHYUN PARK HAS APPEARED IN TWO EDITIONS OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL, AND NOW SHE APPEARS IN THE PAPER DREAMS OF HARRY CHIN. HERE, STEPHENIE TALKS ABOUT HER UNIQUE AND FASCINATING JOURNEY TO BECOMING AN ACTOR.

HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTERESTED IN THEATRE? I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. I went to a magnet school that was based strictly on IQ; there was no balancing for gender or race or income or anything. My class had 7 girls and 21 boys. So when one girl decided it would be cool to be in the play, all of the girls wanted to be in the play. I played the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland. I had wanted to be Alice, and I didn’t recognize that my part was much cooler. I did theatre all through school; then I stopped in college. I went to the Wharton School for undergrad, which is a very hard-core finance school. You go to the Wharton School to become a master of the universe, to make a lot of money. I thought I wanted to be an investment banker, or a venture capitalist, or something. I was so wrong! Anyway, I happened to be in the financial district when September 11 happened. I saw a lot of things … it was very traumatic. I decided that I didn’t know how to live a life where I wasn’t sure if I was going to live the next day. To try to

figure that out, I went into the Peace Corps. I worked in Benin, teaching small entrepreneurs accounting and marketing. And on the side I got a grant to do an AIDS education day, which got me really interested in human rights work. So I went to law school to become an international human rights lawyer—which I found out later doesn’t precisely exist in the way that most law students think it does. My first summer in law school I went to work for this fantastic NGO in Jakarta. One day, one of my coworkers showed up at work and said, “I’ve been working on trying to change a law for the last five years, and they turned down my final proposal.” And I thought, I don’t think I can pour five years of myself into something and not have anything to show for it. So I became a corporate lawyer like everybody else and paid off my loans. I was a bankruptcy lawyer at the height of the bankruptcy crisis. I worked

6 to 7 days a week, 8 am to 10 pm at least, most days, and I was just exhausted. When I got married, I took a honeymoon. It was the first vacation that I’d ever taken at the firm, and people were giving me a lot of heartache for it. I was talking to a paralegal, and she said, “Steph, you’re always talking about starting a restaurant. The Top Chef people are doing this reality TV show and you get to win a restaurant. You should totally do it.” And I thought, that’s ridiculous. And then the night before I left for my honeymoon, people were just pouring work on me, and I was so mad. So I made a tape that was all of a minute and a half. It was me lying on a couch, and I said, “This is my restaurant idea: I want to do healthy food that’s not soups or salads. You can get it within fixed calorie ranges. Thanks.” That was basically my video. And then they called me, and I thought, you’re not going to end up on this show, but how much would you hate yourself if you don’t just try. And I ended up being on the show and coming in fourth. It was really stressful and I was kind of embarrassed about it. I’m still a little embarrassed about it! I decided I wanted to go back to everything I remembered loving in my life before. I had paid back all of my law school loans, and I thought, I’m just going to take a break, figure things out, and then go back to practice at a smaller firm. I worked at a restaurant, I traveled a little bit. I have a friend who runs a chorus that sings for the New York Pops, so I got to sing at Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday concert, which was very cool. During my first year of law school, I had auditioned for some student films. One of them was for Damien Chezelle, who years later directed La La Land and Whiplash and First Man. I thought, wow, I love film. So now I decided to take an acting class. The teacher kept asking me, “What are you going to do with this?” And I said, “I’m just here for fun.” After the last class, he said to me, “I will get you an agent. I think this is your new career.” So I met with the agent, and he said they wanted to represent me, and I said, “Look, I’m already old. I have no experience. Are you sure this is a good idea?” And he said, “Well, we want to take a chance on you, so we would really like it if you would take a chance on us.” I thought that I would probably do it for a year or two and then stop. And it’s been nine years now. I still do some lawyering on the side. I get contracted out sometimes with firms, and I do consulting through a startup in California, so I do remote work with them.

WHY DID YOU MOVE TO INDIANAPOLIS? My husband’s dream job was to be an assistant United States attorney for the government. Two weeks after our second child was born he said, “I got the job, and we’re going to move as soon as I get my federal clearance.” And I said, “OK!”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PAPER DREAMS OF HARRY CHIN? I’m so excited for Paper Dreams. I love new work. And I think there is a renaissance in Asian American theatre right now. That means so much to me as an Asian person who didn’t ever see myself growing up. I think I was in my twenties when I first saw an Asian person on stage playing something that was not some stereotype, but a fully realized Asian character on stage, played by an Asian actor. It just gave me this feeling of—oh my god this is possible, oh my god people want to watch this, oh my god I’m not alone. And Paper Dreams is part of the building of canon of Asian American theatre. I think it’s interesting to see the mixed family in the play. As someone who has children who are hapa—half Asian—I worry. I don’t know what growing up is going to be like for them, because I know it hasn’t always been easy for the people I know who are my age and mixed ethnicity. At one point in the play, Laura, Sheila’s mom, says that she doesn’t want Sheila speaking Chinese. And even though I’m 100% Korean, I never learned the language growing up, because the thinking then was that we want to assimilate, we don’t want to stand out, we don’t need anything else separating us from everyone else. So in many ways the play speaks deeply to who I was growing up. It also has a connection beyond that, to the generation before, and what it was like for them to come over, and the difficulties they faced, but also the things they left behind, which is something I never heard about that much. And it’s just deeply theatrical.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT FINALLY GETTING TO PERFORM THE SHOW AFTER A TWO-YEAR COVID HIATUS? I think it’s a real gift to come back to any show a second time, because you can take an even deeper dive. During the pandemic, there has been a very large rise in violence against Asian people. I have friends who won’t go out at night any more, or who are afraid to walk home alone. I have wished that we were able to share this show, in order to humanize the Asian immigrant experience. I think that’s the missing element: some people don’t see Asian people as fully human. Throughout history, humans have tended to have an in group and an out group. Often, I think that when people hear someone who speaks with an accent, they relegate them to the outside group: somebody who should be less cared about. So I think that it’s really wonderful to have a show whose main character is a person with an accent, and to see that his accent does not make him less of a person. It does not make his human experience less or his accomplishments less. It shows how difficult it is to jump to a place where you are not a native, and that to find a life there is a difficult and brave thing.

the arts enhance everyone’s point of view. The largest locally-owned national bank is proud to be a major supporter of the Arts.

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THE SUPPORTING CAST

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS WHAT IF YOU SAW ONLY HALF THE PLAY? Ticket revenue covers just half of what it costs to produce world-class professional theatre at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The IRT gratefully acknowledges the remarkable support we receive from our generous and committed donors whose contributions ensure that the show does go on!

ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $1,500+ | JULY 1, 2021 - MARCH 20, 2022

PLAYWRIGHT CIRCLE Darcy K. Burthay Charitable Fund, $10,000+ a Donor-Advised Fund of the U.S. Charitable Gift Trust Bob & Toni Bader Rollie & Cheri Dick David & Jackie Barrett Drs. Cherryl & Shelly Friedman AJ & Erin Bir Dr. Gregory Gaich & Ms. Erin Fulton Scott & Lorraine Davison Nadine & Alvin Givens Gary Denney & Louise Bakker Derek & Elizabeth Hammond Michael Dinius & Jeannie Regan-Dinius Ann Hinson Nancy & Berkley Duck Bill & Nancy Hunt Dan & Ginny Emerson Phil & Colleen Kenney David & Ann Frick Steve & Bev Koepper Tom & Jenny Froehle John & Laura Ludwig Susan & Charlie Golden Kathryn Maeglin Mike & Judy Harrington Dod & Laura Michael David & Betty Klapper David & Robin Miner Jill & Peter Lacy Mr. & Mrs. Kimball Morris Sarah & John Lechleiter Carl Nelson & Loui Lord Nelson Bill & Susie Macias Mr. Stephen Owen Sr. & David & Leslie Morgan Dr. Cheryl Torok Owen Jackie Nytes & Patrick O’Brien Jill Panetta & Leo Bianchi Mel & Joan Perelman Ben Pecar & Leslie Thompson Sue & Bill Ringo Noel & Mary Phillips* Mary Frances Rubly & Jerry Hummer Drs. Eric Schultze & Marcia Kolvitz Wayne & Susan Schmidt Marguerite K. Shepard, M.D. Simmons Family Foundation, Cynthia & William Smith III a fund of CICF The Michael L. Smith and Susan L. Smith Cheryl Gruber Waldman Family Fund, a fund of Hamilton County David P. Whitman & Donna L. Reynolds Community Foundation John & Kathy Vahle DIRECTOR CIRCLE Lainie Veenstra $5,000 - $9,999 James & Linda Wesley A.J. Allen Dr. Christian Wolf & Elaine Holden-Wolf Susie & Joel Blum

ARTIST CIRCLE $3,000 - $4,999 Don Anderson Dan Bradburn & Jane Robison Dick & Brenda Freije Charles Goad & James Kincannon Christopher & Sheila Gramling Donald & Teri Hecht Tom & Nora Hiatt Brenda Horn Pegg & Mike Kennedy David Kleiman & Susan Jacobs John & Susan Kline Kevin Krulewitch & Rosanne Ammirati* Douglas and Detra Mills Giving Fund Dr. Christine Phillips & Mr. Michael Phillips N. Clay & Amy McConkey Robbins Jerry & Rosie Semler Mark & Gerri Shaffer Joe & Jill Tanner Gene & Mary Tempel Jeff & Benita Thomasson Lynne & Alex Timmermans Dorothy Webb Carol Weiss Bob & Dana Wilson The Winner Family

THE SUPPORTING CAST

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS

ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $1,500+ | JULY 1, 2021 - MARCH 20, 2022

PATRON CIRCLE $1,500 - $2,999 Janet Allen & Joel Grynheim Anonymous Trudy W. Banta Sarah C. Barney Frank & Katrina Basile Ray & Kathy Brinkmeyer Thomas & Victoria Broadie Amy Burke Sherry A. Butler David & Judith Chadwick Steve & Kim Chatham Alan & Linda Cohen Don & Dolly Craft Daniel & Catherine Cunningham Frank & Norah Deane Dr. Gregory Dedinsky & Dr. Cherri Hobgood Ann & Kenneth Dee Dr. Brian Dillman & Erin Hedges* Laurie Dippold* Paul & Glenda Drew Craig & Marsha Dunkin Troy D. Farmer Drs. Richard & Rebecca Feldman Barrie & Gary R. Fisch Joan M. FitzGibbon Mary L. Forster, M.D. Edward & Elizabeth Frazier Jim & Julie Freeman Brian & Lorene Furrer Future Keys Foundation Garth & Christine Gathers Robert & Christy Gauss Mr. Jim Gawne* Dorothea & Philip Genetos Kathy & Gene Gentili Robert Giannini Ron & Kathy Gifford 46

Bruce Glor Walter & Janet Gross Bill & Phyllis Groth Chad & Kelli Grothen Ricardo & Beatriz Guimarães Mary & Gary Gustafson Lisa Harris, M.D.* Michael N. Heaton Holt Hedrick William & Patricia Hirsch Randy & Becky Horton Drs. Meredith & Kathleen Hull Rebecca Hutton The Indianapolis Fellows Fund, a fund of The Indianapolis Foundation Lauren James Patrick & Barbara James Tom & Kathy Jenkins Daniel T. Jensen & Steven Follis Andrew & Brianna Johnson Mrs. Janet Johnson Denny & Judi Jones Elisha & Reed Kemp Max Kime Joy Kleinmaier Dr. Michael & Molly Kraus Kurt & Judy Kroenke Dr. & Mrs. Alan Ladd Ed & Ann Ledford Dan & Martha Lehman Margaret Lehtinen & Lawrence Mark Joe & Deborah Loughrey Barbara MacDougall Donald & Ruth Ann MacPherson Kellie McCarthy Mike & Pat McCrory Sharon E. Merriman Andrew & Amy Michie Michael D. Moriarty

The Blake Lee and Carolyn Lytle Neubauer Charitable Fund, a fund of Hamilton County Community Foundation Dr. Ayesha Nichols & Troy Nichols Rob & Sara Norris Steve & Debbie Oldham Dr. Joseph M. Overhage & Dr. Mary R. Brunner Larry & Louise Paxton The Payne Family Foundation, a fund of CICF Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth A. Peterson Dr. & Mrs. Lee Phipps Gail & William Plater Bob & Kathi Postlethwait Phil & Joyce Probst Scott & Susan Putney Peter Racher & Sarah Binford Michael & Melissa Rawlings Peter & Karen Reist Ken & Debra Renkens Karen & Dick Ristine Chip & Jane Rutledge Paula F. Santa Jane W. Schlegel Alice Schloss Donor Advised Fund, a fund of Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis Tim & Karen Seiler Mike & Holly Semler Jack & Karen Shaw Michael Skehan Linda & Carl Smith Edward & Susann Stahl Jim & Cheryl Strain Kathryn Godwin Stuart, DDS Kay Swank-Herzog & Robert Herzog Suzanne Sweeney & Todd Wiencek

ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $1,500+ | JULY 1, 2021 - MARCH 20, 2022

Jonathan T. Tempel John & Deborah Thornburgh Jennifer C. Turner Bill & Jana Varanka Jennifer & Gary Vigran Amy Waggoner

Dr. Rosalind Webb Emily A. West Alan & Elizabeth Whaley Cliff Williams Heather Wilson

John & Margaret Wilson Frederick & Jacquelyn Winters William Witchger, II & Kimberly Witchger John & Linda Zimmermann

ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300 - $1,499 | JULY 1, 2021 - MARCH 20, 2022

DRAMA GUILD $750 - $1,499 David & Mary Allen Bob & Pat Anker Anonymous Andrea Best Mr. & Mrs. Joseph B. Black III Charlie & Cary Boswell Paul & Renee Cacchillo Brady Clark CNO Financial Group Mr. & Mrs. Michael R & Rochelle F Cohen Daniel P. Corrigan Susan M. Cross Daniel’s Vineyard Sherry Faris Priscilla Gerde Phylis & Paul Gesellchen Richard & Sharon Gilmor Emily F. (Cramer) Hancock* Andrea Hatch & Rich Dionne Dennis & Amy Haworth Kurt & Charlene Heinzman Aldy & Natinne Keene John Krauss & Marnie Maxwell David H. Moore, M.D. & M. Kristine Beckwith, M.D. John & Carolyn Mutz

Ann Marie Ogden & Brian Murphy Paul Pickett & William A. Powell Roger & Anna Radue Lamar & Margaret Jean Richcreek Aleatha Romig, NY Times Bestselling Author Judy Roudebush Sallie Rowland Richard & Christine Scales Thomas & Teresa Sharp Lee Shevitz Stephen J. Shideler Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund Spence Family Vision Fund Ed & Jane Stephenson The Ruth E. Stilwell Endowment Fund, a fund of CICF Karen J. Weyrauch Philip & Shandon Whistler THEATRE GUILD $300-$749 John & Eileen Ahrens* The Todd A. Andritsch Family Fund Anonymous (4) Jon & Laura Baugh Mark K. Bear Constance C. Beardsley* Donald & Carla Bennett

Pamela J. Bennett Dan & Barb Bickel Jesse L. & Carolynne Bobbitt Barbara & Christopher Bodem* Joseph & Louise Boling Karry K. Book & John P. Hansberry III Stuart & Patricia Breslin Charles W. Brown & Louise Tetrick David & Beverly Butler Vince & Robyn Caponi Allen B. Carter & Patricia Hester Clarence & Carol Casazza Robert Cedoz John Champley & Julie Keck Jeff & Jeni Christoffersen Jerry & Carol Collins Norma & Carl Crabiel Shane and Andrea Crouch* Karen Dace* Fr. Clem Davis* Paul & Carol DeCoursey* Steve & Mary DeVoe Eric Diters Rosemary Dorsa Bob & Patricia Edwards Nikki Eller Drs. Eric Farmer & Tate Trujillo & Christopher Scott*

THE SUPPORTING CAST

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS DONOR GUILDS CONT. ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300 - $1,499 | JULY 1, 2021 - MARCH 20, 2022

Margie Ferguson* Arthur Field IV Roger & Susan Frick Peter Furno & Pamela Steed Phyllis & Ed Gabovitch Dr. Paul & Danielle Galley Gamma Nu Chapter of Psi Iota Xi Richard Goehring & Kevin Petsche Thecla Gossett Howard & Linnea Green John & Mary Ann Grogan Greg Grossart Ron & Ellie Hackler Diane Hall Mr. & Mrs. David & Jeanne Hamernik Don & Carolyn Hardman Don & Elizabeth Harmon Mark & Laurie Hartman David & Tish Haskett Tony & Amy Hatton Steve & Kathy Heath Catherine Herber The Steven Herker Charitable Fund, a donor-advised fund Sandra Hester-Steele Tim & Jennifer Holihen Greg & Pat Jacoby Dr. & Mrs. Louis Janeira Dave & Donna Kaiser Sunah C Kim Dorantes* Jay & Carole Kirkpatrick Betsy & Ted Kleinmaier Rachel Barrett Knight & Jacob Knight* Steven & Mary Koch* Michelle Korin* Mary & Rick Kortokrax Shirley M. & Heather Kulwin Kathy & David Lentz Katie Lenz

Andra Liepa Charitable Fund, a fund of The Indianapolis Foundation Carlos & Eleanor Lopez Linda Lough* Mark Magee* Michael R. & Sue Maine Lyle & Deborah Mannweiler Dr. & Mrs. Peter Marcus* William McNiece R. Keith & Marion Michael Rev. Mary Ann Moman* James & Valerie (Purcell) Monn Jay & Tammy Morris Lauren Morris Jim & Judi Mowry Terry & Lew Mumford Steven & Pat Mundy John & Beth Murphy Sharon & Dan Murphy* Susan & Jim Naus Dr. LeeAnne M. Nazer The Ostergaard Family Merrell & Barbara Owen Mr. & Mrs. Robert M. & Kelli DeMott Park Judy & Sidney Pellissier Steve & Paula Pletcher Davie & Dorian Poole Greg Pugh & Jill Woerner Debbie Rawlings Flora Reichanadter Douglas Paul Reichl Richard & Diane Rhodes Richard & Ann Riegner Rev. Robert & Dr. Rita Schilling John Shearin* Dr. Jill Shedd* Vicky Sherman, M.D. Randy & Linda Shields Lillian Smith*

Kimberly Sorg-Graves Luke Stark* David & Lori Starr Gregg & Judy Summerville SunWarrior Solar Nela Swinehart* Dr. Tim & Tina Tanselle Steve & Barb Tegarden* Garrett & Elaine Thiel Mary Ann Thiel The Lori Thompson & Ben Downing Charitable Fund Donald & Shirley Trapp Dr. James & Linda Trippi Robert & Barbetta True* Barbara S. Tully* Norma B. Wallman A. Donald & Jeanette Wiles Angie & Andy Wilkinson Prof. Gail F. Williamson Carleigh & Joel Wilson John & Judy Wilson Patricia Johnson & Michael Wilson Reba Boyd Wooden* Robina Zink Family Charitable Fund Zionsville Physical Therapy* Chuck & Ruth Ann Zwolle

*Denotes sustaining members

IN MEMORY OF JEAN WIBLE | With our love – Molly & Christopher Sweets

The Ovation Society is an exclusive program that recognizes donors that have made a legacy gift to the IRT. The IRT truly appreciates those individuals whose gift will ensure that the Theatre can continue to provide meaningful and inspirational experiences for future generations of Hoosiers. Gary Addison Janet Allen & Joel Grynheim Bob & Pat Anker Frank & Katrina Basile Charlie & Cary Boswell Ron & Julia Carpenter John R. Carr (in memoriam) John & Mary Challman Sergej R. Cotton Mr. & Mrs. Thomas E. Dapp Nancy Davis & Robert Robinson Rollie & Cheri Dick Nancy & Berkley Duck Dale & Karen Duncan Jim & Julie Freeman Meg Gammage-Tucker David A. & Dee Garrett (in memoriam)

Michael Gradison (in memoriam) Emily F. (Cramer) Hancock Bruce Hetrick & Cheri O’Neill Tom & Nora Hiatt Bill & Nancy Hunt David Kleiman & Susan Jacobs Frank & Jacqueline La Vista Andra Liepa Charitable Fund, a fund of The Indianapolis Foundation Barbara MacDougall Donald & Ruth Ann MacPherson Stuart L. Main (in memoriam) Michael R. & Sue Maine Megan McKinney Sharon R. Merriman David & Leslie Morgan Michael D. Moriarty

Richard & Lila Morris Mutter Marines--Jim & Carol Deena J. Nystrom Marcia O’Brien (in memoriam) George & Olive Rhodes (in memoriam) Jane W. Schlegel Michael Skehan Michael Suit (in memoriam) Gene & Mary Tempel Jeff & Benita Thomasson Christopher J. Tolzmann Alan & Elizabeth Whaley John & Margaret Wilson

ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300+ | JULY 1, 2021 - MARCH 20, 2022

CORPORATE

FOUNDATION

Barnes & Thornburg LLP Barnes Dennig Corteva Agriscience Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath Frost Brown Todd Katz, Sapper & Miller, LLP KPMG LLP Navient Community Fund OneAmerica Financial Partners Oxford Financial Group, Ltd. PNC Printing Partners

The Ackerman Family Foundation Actors’ Equity Foundation, Inc. Elba L. & Gene Portteus Branigin Foundation, Inc. The Jerry L. and Barbara J. Burris Foundation Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation Christel DeHaan Family Foundation The Margot L. Eccles Arts & Culture Fund, a fund of CICF The Glick Family Foundation

Lacy Foundation Lilly Endowment, Inc. Nicholas H. Noyes Jr. Memorial Foundation, Inc. The Penrod Society The Shubert Foundation GOVERNMENT Arts Council of Indianapolis Indiana Arts Commission

THE SUPPORTING CAST

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS IN-KIND/TRADE GIFTS ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300+ | JULY 1, 2021 - MARCH 20, 2022

National Institute of Fitness & Sport

Thank you to the following individuals and organizations whose contributions and support helped make the 2022 Celebrity Radio Show another fabulous night to raise money to support the plays and programs of the IRT. 500 Festival Inc. Frank Alan & Donna Eide Janet Allen & Joel Grynheim Anonymous Tammara D. Porter Avant & Jesse Avant Bar Bosco Kerry Barmann Photography Kit Barmann Bazbeaux Pizza Elizabeth Belange Matt & Desma Belsaas Jason & Karen Berty Big Woods Speedway Elizabeth Binford Jeffrey Bledsoe Michael Bluem Susie & Joel Blum Barbara & Christopher Bodem Dan Bradburn & Jane Robison Stacy Brake Ceceily Brickley Andrew Bridge John & Catherine Bridge Roger & Janet Brinkman Neal Brown Brown County Music Center Sarah Browning Amy Burke Butler University Mary Ann Carter Photography Central Indiana Community 50

Foundation Central Indiana Land Trust Cliff Chapman Cheese Desert’s Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Climb Time Indy ComedySportz Jessica Contos Kate Copeland Don & Dolly Craft Daniel & Catherine Cunningham Claire Dana & Chris Fretts Dance Kaleidoscope Allan & Joanna Day Martin Dezelan Michael Dinius & Jeannie Regan-Dinius Laurie Dippold Collette Duvalle Easley Winery Hillary Egan Geoffrey Ehrendreich Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians & Western Art Ellis Mechanical, Inc. Zachary Elrod Dan & Ginny Emerson Rebecca Engle Ernst & Young Joe Everhart & Ken Ramsay Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath Troy D. Farmer Drs. Richard & Rebecca Feldman

Brian Ferris Tom Fields Foundry Provisions Dick & Brenda Freije French Lick Springs Hotel Donald & Gina Frey Tom & Jenny Froehle Frost Brown Todd Dr. Gregory Gaich & Ms. Erin Fulton Ashley Garry Mr. Jim Gawne Gentspa at the Hilton Indy Bruce Glor Lindsay & Greg Gotwald Graeter’s Ice Cream Sabrina Greene Laurie Gutmann Christine M. Hansen Mike & Judy Harrington Steve Hazelbaker Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County Heartland Film Michael N. Heaton Donald & Teri Hecht Holt Hedrick Sotiris Hiji-Avgoustis Douglas Hodge Glenn E. Hoge Holiday World Splashin’ SAFARI Brenda S. Horn David Hudson

Lori Hudson Rebecca Hutton Ice Miller LLP Illinois Street Food Emporium India Garden Indiana Beach Amusement & Water Park Indiana Landmark Indiana Medical History Museum Indiana State Museum Indianapolis City Market Catacombs Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Fellows Fund, a fund of The Indianapolis Foundation Indianapolis Indians Indianapolis Zoo Indy Parks Invoke Studio IUPUI Office of Community Engagement Lauren James Suzanne Jannetta Java House Jet Linx Aviation Andrew & Brianna Johnson Blake Johnson James Johnson Just Pop In Katz, Sapper & Miller, LLP Elisha & Reed Kemp Kendra Scott Eric Kilbride Linda Kirby Joy Kleinmaier Kathryn Koehler KPMG LLP Lacy Foundation Sarah & John Lechleiter Ed & Ann Ledford Lilly Endowment, Inc. Brent Marty Mark McAlister Catherine McCann McGowan Insurance Group Keelin McNally Katie Meares Kristina Moorhead

Heidi Muller Nora Spitznogle Carl Nelson & Loui Lord Nelson STAR Financial Group Jackie Nytes & Patrick O’Brien Robert Summers Joel & Mary O’Brien Sun King Brewery Co. Patrick O’Brien Kay Swank-Herzog & Robert Herzog Offscript Advisory Council Joe & Jill Tanner OneAmerica Financial Partners Gene & Mary Tempel Ellen Pactor Thompson Thrift Development Nickolas & Tracy Pappas Tinker Coffee Company Parlor Public House Topgolf Rita Patel Total Wine & More Lauren James Tim Trostle Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth A. Peterson Jeradon Viehweg Ryan Peterson Stephan Viehweg Petite G Jewelers Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library Greg Petrowich MaCharri Vorndran-jones & Tony Jones Phoenix Theatre, Inc. Amy Waggoner Plews Shadley Racher & Braun Cheryl Gruber Waldman George & Christine Plews Kavanaugh Ward Printing Partners Amy C. Warner Rebecca Quintana Madison Weintraut Peter Racher & Sarah Binford Darla Werner Tommy Reddicks James & Linda Wesley Red’s Classic Barber Shop Co. Mindy Westrick Brown Paul Reis Alan & Elizabeth Whaley Sue & Bill Ringo David P. Whitman & Donna L. Reynolds Kassie Ritman Thomas Whittaker Riverside Rentals Brian & Susan Brock Williams Roberts Camera Cliff Williams Megan Robertson Jerry & Sandy Williams Amy Romig Bob Wood Ian Rupert Sandra Zeckel Tim Salamandyk Joseph Zielinski & Rev. Bethany Lowery Wayne & Susan Schmidt The Secret Ingredient Mark & Gerri Shaffer Marguerite K. Shepard, M.D. Mark E. Sherer DDS General Dentistry Simmons Family Foundation, a fund of CICF Sky Zone Indy South Trampoline Park Julie Slavens The Michael L. Smith and Susan L. Smith Family Fund, a fund of Hamilton County Community Foundation Tawn Parent Spicklemire 51

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IRT Program: The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin

Articles inside

Mission & Values

Interview: Stephanie Soohyuh Park

Staff

Board of Directors