2021-2022 SEASON
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WORLD PREMIERE | ONEAMERICA MAINSTAGE | MARCH 23 – APRIL 16
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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.
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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 22..........The Reclamation of Madison Hemings 39..................................................Company Bios 44................................Interview: Charles Smith 48...................................................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.
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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
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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.
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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, 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.
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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.
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KEEP GROWING.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
ELECTRICS
Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Janet Allen Managing Director Suzanne Sweeney
Assistant Master Electrician Kayla Brown Electrician Kathryn Burke Master Electrician Beth A. Nuzum
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
FINANCE Director of Finance Jeffrey Bledsoe Payroll & Benefits Specialist Jen Carpenter Business Manager Will Turpin-Doty MARKETING
Customer Service Representatives Geneva Denney-Moore Ashlee Lancaster Courtney Plummer Kim Reeves Tessitura Administrator Molly Wible Sweets PROPERTIES SHOP
Properties Manager Geoffrey Ehrendreich Properties Carpenter Madelaine Foster Properties Artisan Abigail Stuckey SCENE SHOP
Marketing Communications Manager Kerry Barmann Director of Marketing & Sales Danielle M. Dove Graphic Designer Noelani Langille Associate Director of Marketing Elizabeth Petermann
Carpenters WonJun Brendon Choi Nick Kilgore Technical Director Chris Fretts Master Carpenter David Sherrill Automation Carpenter Hal Wenk
PAINT SHOP
SOUND & VIDEO
Scenic Artist Audio/Video Engineer Draper Brigitte Bechtel John Chung Erica Anderson Charge Scenic Artist Audio Engineer Costume Shop Manager Claire Dana Brittany Hath Guy Clark Scenic Artist Resident Sound Designer Wardrobe Supervisor & Jenny Knott Todd Mack Reischman Production Assistant Scenic Painter Isabella Garza Drew Newlin STAGE MANAGEMENT Scenic Artist DEVELOPMENT Resident Stage Manager Jim Schumacher Nathan Garrison Development Systems Assistant Stage Manager Brady Clark PATRON SERVICES Becky Roeber Institutional Giving Manager Building Services Eric J. Olson Eric Argyelan TELESERVICES Individual Giving Manager Housekeeping Kay Swank-Herzog Group Sales & Teleservices Manager Dave Dunaway Doug Sims Director of Development Ebony Twyman Jennifer Turner House Manager Marissa Klingler EDUCATION Ticket Office Manager Judy Lombardo Education Coordinator Anna E. Barnett Assistant Ticket Office Manager Eric Wilburn
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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 Sara Geis FINANCE ASSOCIATES
External Auditors Crowe Horwath LLP Legal Counsel Heather Moore PATRON SERVICES
Assistant House Managers Pat Bebee Grace Branam Stacy Brown Nancy Carlson Preston Dildine Marilyn Hatcher Sarah James Barbara Janiak Jacob Lang Alicia McClendon Gail McDermott-Bowler 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
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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 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 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
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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*
2021 | 2022
Original artwork by Kyle Ragsdale
EXPERIENCE OUR UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS
As a thank you for attending the first production of our INclusion Series, please enjoy this special ticket offer. Use code DREAMS15 and receive $15 off in-person tickets for The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin. This offer expires 4/16. Offer valid on individual tickets priced $40 and higher.
APRIL 20 - MAY 15
MAY 10 - JUNE 5
a surreal journey through past & present
strong and sassy
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THEATER DANCE VISUAL LITERARY MUSIC FILM POETRY/ SPOKEN WORD
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CREATIVE COMEBACK Reconnect with your favorite Indy arts & culture experiences and discover new ones. Everything’s happening at
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Kay Bae, Algae & Wildflowers, 2020 Banner artwork at Meridian and Washington streets
Tim & Julie’s Another Fine Mess 2901 E. 10th St
Specializing in Architectural Salvage and Antiques. We’ve got Doors, Windows, Sinks, Tubs, Hardware, Tools, Collectibles, Home Decor, you name it, we’ve probably got it!
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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
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INDIA N A
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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
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REVIEWS!
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ONEAMERICA MAINSTAGE MARCH 23 – APRIL 16
ARTISTIC
Playwright_____________________ CHARLES SMITH Director_______________________ RON OJ PARSON Scenic Designer__________________________ SHAUN MOTLEY Costume Designer___________________ DANA REBECCA WOODS Lighting Designer_______________________ JARED GOODING Composer & Sound Designer_______________CHRISTOPHER KRIZ Projections Designer_________________________ MIKE TUTAJ Assistant to the Director_________________ ANSLEY VALENTINE Guest Dramaturg_________________________ TANYA PALMER Resident Dramaturg____________________ RICHARD J ROBERTS Stage Manager_______________________ NATHAN GARRISON Assistant Stage Manager____________________ BECKY ROEBER
SCENIC DESIGNER: Shaun Motley LIGHTING DESIGNER: Jared Gooding SEASON SPONSOR
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ARTS PARTNERS COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS SPONSOR m a k i n g t h e a rts h a p p e n
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JANET ALLEN
Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director
SUZANNE SWEENEY Managing Director
Original artwork by Tasha Beckwith
THE CAST Israel Jefferson_____________________________________________________ DAVID ALAN ANDERSON Former enslaved footman to Thomas Jefferson
Madison Hemings__________________________________________________ BRIAN ANTHONY WILSON Son of Sally Hemings & Thomas Jefferson
SETTING Monticello, Virginia. Four days in mid-November, 1866.
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME: 2 hours, including a 15-minute intermission
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Reclamation of Madison Hemings is copyright 2022, all rights reserved. The play is produced by arrangement with Charles Smith and the Barbara Hogenson Agency, Inc. The Reclamation of Madison Hemings was commissioned by the Goodman Theatre, Robert Falls, Artistic Director, and Roche Schulfer, Executive Director. Incidental Choreography: Nicholas Owens Understudy for Israel Jefferson and Madison Hemings: Ansley Valentine
Actors and stage managers in this production 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. The scenic, costume, and lighting designers 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. 23
RE-EXAMINING HISTORY BY JANET ALLEN, MARGOT LACY ECCLES ARTISTIC DIRECTOR History teaches us—or at least it can, if we remember it, examine it, and refuse to bury or whitewash it. And history is not monolithic or immutable: it benefits from being examined from multiple viewpoints over time. We all now accept that there is no “definitive” biography of any famous figure: historians in every generation need to reexamine the past, unearthing variant viewpoints on a particular event or person. Those who did not have the privilege to tell a story at the time it occurred still have important and startling views, if those views can be brought to light. And science is continuously offering historians new ways to explore the past. Creative writers know all this: playwrights and fiction writers find deep wells of meaning in examining the past. Think of the many stirring pieces of historical fiction that hold sway for readers, sparking historical discussion. Shakespeare was a master of exploring and illuminating English history, in part as a way to get around the political conditions of his time that made it dangerous to criticize the current monarchy. American playwrights today may have freer rein in directly criticizing our current political conditions. Certainly, the many conflicting views of how race has shaped American history make the insight made possible by an historical lens particularly resonant: if we aren’t able to agree on the lessons of the 24
present, maybe we can still learn from unexplored moments of our past. This is exactly what Charles Smith brings us in The Reclamation of Madison Hemings. This is the fourth play we have produced by Charles Smith, and the fourth where Charles mines history to tell us something about our current times. The three previous plays we commissioned; all three use history as a lens for contemporary debate. Les Trois Dumas (produced in 1998) took us to 19th century France for an encounter with three generations of the Dumas family, the middle generation of whom was the great French novelist Alexandre Dumas père, author of The Three Musketeers. What is not widely known, and was the springboard of the play, is that the Dumas family was of Haitian-African descent, and their racial identity played a significant role in their social and financial status. In 2002, we commissioned Charles’s adaptation of Theodore Dreiser’s remarkable 1900 novel Sister Carrie, a book that shatters the American dream. Young, female Carrie yearns to escape smalltown America to flourish in the city, which she does at great cost to her moral compass and soul. Our third commission from Charles, produced in 2011, was one of the most searing contributions to our Indiana Series, The Gospel According to James. This play focuses on an horrific act of race murder in
Above: Monticello in the 1800s, perhaps around the time the play takes place.
Marion, Indiana, in 1930, and its sole survivor, James Cameron. Now The Reclamation of Madison Hemings follows in these steps. While it was commissioned by our sister theatre in Chicago, the Goodman Theatre, we have the great good fortune to be producing the world premiere. In the past few years, the increase of publically documented racial violence has thrown a harsh spotlight, impossible to ignore, on racial inequity in the United States. Thus, the necessity and urgency to explore the shameful and long-lasting legacy of slavery has moved to the foreground of cultural conversation. Groundbreaking historical writing has moved to the forefront of American debate: Nicole Hannah-Jones’s The 1619 Project, as well Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, are only two of the provocative studies of systemic racism in America published in the past three years. These works and many others, as well as a bombardment of tragic racial events, have ignited and supported a racial and social justice movement like this country hasn’t seen since the 1960s. Americans, sadly, struggle to make progress and learn, in large part because we do not grasp—or care, perhaps, to grasp—the extent of systemic racism in this country. As a White artist, I have searched for work that invites artists and audiences into this debate, where artistry and content are balanced to encourage illumination, reckoning, and conversation. I feel very fortunate to have found this play, from a playwright with whom we have a long history, that asks us to deeply consider questions of racial inequity as witnessed through the lens of history—and most specifically, how that history continues to impact our way of life today. History continues to ask us: Who is being remembered? How has privilege impacted who writes the story? Part of Charles’s inspiration for this play comes from two nearly forgotten historic documents: both were published by the Pike County (Ohio) Republican in 1873, in a column prejudicially titled “Life Among the Lowly.” They are two memoirs by the two real-life characters in the play, Madison Hemings and Israel Jefferson. Both share first-hand, intimate recollections of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States: Israel’s from the perspective of an enslaved person, growing up and serving in Jefferson’s household; Madison’s from the perspective of his son by Sally Hemings, another enslaved person in Jefferson’s household. For more than 100 years, historians (principally White men) debunked these two pieces of writing as fabrication. In 1998, DNA testing showed scientists (and historians) that in fact, Madison Hemings was a direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson. Only since then has “history” been revised to “verify” that these two memoirs (particularly Hemings’s) could, in fact, be true.
This is ripe opportunity for dramatic exploration. The Reclamation of Madison Hemings is set in the fall of 1866, in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, and takes place at Monticello, formerly Jefferson’s plantation and forced labor site, now deserted and in serious decline. While the play has an important historical setting that is in many ways different from our time, it focuses on issues that feel very immediate today: How does slavery’s long and violent shadow across this country continue to define race relations? How have Black people in this country been continuously robbed of their past? What defines family and identity, and how, when a race has had its history obliterated, do its survivors claim identity? How do we bury our dead, and how, in doing so, do we celebrate or denigrate our ancestors? How do our names define us and compel us to honor the names of those lost to us? While Thomas Jefferson had been dead for 40 years at the time the play takes place, his shadow looms large between these two men. It looms just as large for us today as we must reckon both with his identity as a businessman whose fortune was made by generations of enslaved people, and with the associated hypocrisy of his most famous statement: “all men are created equal.”
The Reclamation of Madison Hemings is one of the rare gifts of the COVID era: we made the time to find this magnificent play, and we are grateful to many people for bringing it our way. A big thanks to Tanya Palmer, our guest dramaturg on the production, who brought the play to my attention. Also, deep thanks to Charles Smith for entrusting this first production to us. Thanks to director Ron OJ Parson, the amazing design team, and the brilliant cast for making a striking production of this searing and soaring play. And as always, infinite thanks to our staff for working on a new play in the time of COVID—not an easy feat. Mentioned throughout this program are several books that have truly inspired us as we’ve worked on this play. While Sally Hemings, her children, and the many enslaved families of Monticello were once left largely undocumented in the historic account, there is now growing exploration and recognition of the major role they played in making Jefferson’s life as an ambassador, President, and founder of the University of Virginia possible. Their story is hugely compelling. In Charles’s play, these two men who served him not by choice, and their families and fellow enslaved people, spring fully, vividly, and heartbreakingly to life, taking their rightful place in history for the first time onstage.
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AN UNTOLD STORY BY RON OJ PARSON, DIRECTOR The Reclamation of Madison Hemings. What a journey it has been for this play. I am truly honored to be working with Charles Smith and the Indiana Repertory Theatre on this world premiere production. Since the theatre world has been rocked by the pandemic as the rest of the world has, we have been waiting to bring this remarkable story to the stage, and thank you to IRT for allowing that to come to fruition. In my career I have had the luxury of doing plays that educate and entertain, and Reclamation does both. Many people know the story of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson to a certain extent, but not many people know of the lives of her children with the third President of the United States. Charles Smith’s plays often explore life as it exists and has existed in the story of “American” history, something I have always admired about his writing. Again, I am truly honored to be here and now with The Reclamation of Madison Hemings.
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Above: A digital re-creation of Monticello in 1816, when Madison and Israel would have been enslaved there.
NAMES BY CHARLES SMITH, PLAYWRIGHT
A few years ago, I visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Informally known as the Lynching Museum, the Memorial consists of more than 800 coffin-shaped oxidized steel markers engraved with the names of more than 4,400 Black Americans who were publicly tortured and murdered in the United States between 1877 and 1950. Before then, I had visited the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana, once a forced labor camp that is now a museum with an exclusive focus on the lives of the enslaved. On the grounds of the Whitney stands a granite Wall of Honor with the names of more than 350 enslaved people who lived and died working there, as well as a Field of Angels monument bearing the names of 2,200 enslaved children who died in the surrounding St. John the Baptist Parish between the 1820s and 1860s. Mindful of the 3,000 names inscribed on the 9-11 Memorial in New York and the 58,000 names of servicemen engraved on Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, I became fascinated by how the listing of names has the power to keep past events present and vital. These memorials displaying the names of those slain serve to humanize individuals by opening a doorway into their lives while simultaneously shining a light on the mistakes we have made as a society. Above: The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.
The Reclamation of Madison Hemings was envisioned as, and commissioned to be, a two-person play about Madison Hemings and Israel Gillette Jefferson, two men who were enslaved at Thomas Jefferson’s forced labor camp, Monticello. When I started researching the lives of these men, I came across the names of hundreds of other enslaved people who lived and died building and maintaining Monticello. The stories of these individuals were conspicuously absent from the historical information offered upon my first visit to the home of the author of the Declaration of Independence. Through continued research, I discovered names and glimpses into the lives of the others who had been enslaved on that hallowed ground. I felt a deep obligation to acknowledge and embrace the lives of these people who had been ignored by others for decades. However, my assignment was to write a two-person play. Faced with this quandary, I thought of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, and the Whitney, the Vietnam Memorial, and others like them, and became determined to translate the power of these granite and steel memorials into an ephemeral flesh and blood performance for the stage. The Reclamation of Madison Hemings is the result of that effort.
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A DIFFERENT VIEW
I think this show is very timely as we come out of lockdown. With the pause that we were all able to take, we were able to address issues of race and its history in America. A show that presents a different view of one of our country’s heroes feels very apt right now. I think it’s very important for us to be able to recognize all aspects of the people that we tend to venerate and applaud. We’re seeing it today as celebrities are held accountable for their actions, and we should be doing the same thing to historical figures as well.
Creating the musical language of a play always leads me down multiple paths. As I read the play for the first time I’ll start to hear things intuitively—texture, a pallete, an overall feeling. I’ll think about storytelling long before I ever get specific about instrumentation, melody, or harmony. For The Reclamation of Madison Hemings, director Ron OJ Parson and I discussed using a cinematic approach to the classical music of the era: from the intimacy of a string quartet and a few wind instruments to the infinite horizon of a lush string section. But it isn’t until I can watch the actors inhabit the characters during a rehearsal that I really begin writing in earnest. Then the music is tailored to their performance, to their arc, similar to scoring a film.
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Above: Scenic model by designer Shaun Motley.
The Reclamation of Madison Hemings is a beautifully written script about journeys and what we carry with us: from Ohio to Virginia, from slavery to freedom, from childhood to adulthood, from father to son; as well as the meaning of family. Through the layers of clothing Madison and Israel wear to keep warm on their trip, I am trying to bring into focus what these journeys represent to the two men and how they make themselves whole by the end of the show.
Above: Costume renderings for Israel (left) and Madison (right) by designer Dana Rebecca Woods.
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THE LEGACIES OF MADISON HEMINGS AND ISRAEL JEFFERSON BY TANYA PALMER, GUEST DRAMATURG In an 1873 interview with a local Ohio newspaper, the Pike County Republican, Israel Gillette Jefferson, who had been born into slavery on Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello plantation, recalled a conversation that he had overheard in 1824 between the former President and his French guest, the revolutionary war hero Marquis de Lafayette: “Lafayette remarked that he thought that the slaves ought to be free; that no man could rightly hold ownership in his brother man; that he gave his best services to and spent his money in behalf of the Americans freely because he felt that they were fighting for a great and noble principle—the freedom of mankind; that instead of all being free, a portion were held in bondage (which seemed to grieve his noble heart); that it would be mutually beneficial to masters and slaves if the latter were educated, and so on. Mr. Jefferson replied that he thought the time would come when the slaves would be free, but did not indicate when or in what manner they would get their freedom. He seemed to think that the time had not then arrived.” This exchange gets at the heart of what can be so confounding for those reflecting on Thomas Jefferson’s legacy, and by extension the legacy of the founding national principles he helped to articulate as the primary author of The Declaration of Independence. The man who wrote “We hold these truths 30
to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,” was the same man who enslaved more than 600 human beings over the course of his lifetime. But as historian Annette GordonReed argues in “Engaging Jefferson: Blacks and the Founding Father,” it is perhaps because of, rather than in spite of, these contradictions that “of all the Revolutionary founders, Thomas Jefferson has figured the most prominently in Blacks’ attempts to constitute themselves as Americans. His life, in public and private, has long served as a vehicle for analyzing and critiquing the central dilemma at the heart of American democracy: the desire to create a society based on liberty and equality runs counter to the desire to maintain White supremacy…. The contradictions that make Jefferson seem problematic and frustrating—a figure of mystery to some Whites—make him more accessible to Blacks, who find his conflicted nature a perfect reflection of the America they know: a place where high-minded ideals clash with the reality of racial ambivalence. As this combination daily informs Black lives, Jefferson could seem no more bizarre than America itself. He is utterly predictable and familiar—the foremost exemplar of the true America spirit and psyche.” Beyond the dissonance between his stated ideals in the Declaration of Independence and his active and ongoing
Above: A re-creation of Sally Hemings’s slave cabin was opened at Monticello in 2018.
participation in chattel slavery, Jefferson wrote frequently in both private letters and in his one published work, Notes on the State of Virginia, about slavery as a “moral depravity.” But he also made clear that he believed Black people were inferior to Whites, and he wrote forcefully against miscegenation, saying that Blacks needed to be removed “beyond the reach of mixture.” And yet, as a 1998 DNA study made irrefutably clear, he also fathered seven children with the enslaved Sally Hemings, five of whom lived to adulthood. One of those children, James Madison Hemings, known as Madison, is brought to vivid life in Charles Smith’s new play, The Reclamation of Madison Hemings, as is the man who shared his memories of Jefferson’s conversation with the Marquis de Lafayette: Israel Gillette Jefferson. Like Israel, Madison was born into slavery at Monticello, and strikingly, both men also lived out their final days as free men and property-holding farmers in Southern Ohio. As boys and young men, they likely worked alongside one another both in the main house and in the nailery and woodshop along Mulberry Row, the center of Monticello’s agricultural industry. But while they shared many experiences, their paths diverged in subtle and overt ways, in part because of the blood connection that linked Madison Hemings to Jefferson. Both Israel and Madison came from families with longstanding connections to Jefferson and his wife Martha. Edward Gillette, Israel’s father, was a farm laborer who was inherited by Jefferson from his father’s estate, while Israel’s mother, Jane, came to Monticello as part of the estate of John Wayles, Jefferson’s father-in-law. Jane and Edward had twelve children, all of whom lived to adulthood. The Hemings family also arrived on Jefferson’s plantation as part of the estate of John Wayles, but they held a unique place at Monticello that pre-dated Jefferson taking Sally Hemings as his “concubine”—the word that Madison Hemings himself used in an interview with the Pike County Republican published in the same series that featured the recollections of Israel Jefferson. Sally’s mother, Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings, had ten children when she arrived in Monticello in 1774, a year after John Wayles’s death—six of whom, including Sally, were purported to be fathered by Wayles himself, making them half-siblings to Jefferson’s wife, Martha. In her exhaustive Pulitzer Prize–winning history, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family, Annette Gordon-Reed describes the ways Jefferson maintained control of the Hemingses while also singling out certain members of the family for “special treatment,” arguably because of their status as blood relations. Of the only seven enslaved people that Jefferson
legally emancipated—two during his lifetime, five after his death—all were members of the extended Hemings family. Madison and his brother Eston were among the five who were emancipated in Jefferson’s will. Madison left Monticello following Jefferson’s death in 1826, first living with his mother Sally in Charlottesville until her death in 1835, then traveling to Ohio with his wife Mary, a free woman of color, eventually settling on a 60-acre farm with their nine children. For Israel Gillette—and countless other men, women and children enslaved at Monticello (including many of the extended Hemings family)—Jefferson’s death, and the fact that he died deeply in debt, represented a cataclysm that tore them away from family and the only home they had ever known. As Israel recalled fifty years later, “all the rest of us were sold from the auction block.” Israel’s parents Edward and Jane were sold, as were nine of the Gillette children and twelve grandchildren—dispersing the family in at least ten different directions. Israel was sold to Thomas Gilmer, who went on to become a congressman and briefly Secretary of the Navy. Israel and his first wife, Mary Ann Colter, had four children together, but because both parents were enslaved, the fates of their children were beyond their control and took what he called “the usual course” of the enslaved. “I do not know where they are now,” he reported in his interview with the Pike County Republican, “if living.” After Mary Ann’s death, Israel vowed never again to marry a woman in bondage. His second wife, Elizabeth Farrows Randolph, was a seamstress and a free woman of color. It was Elizabeth who helped him raise the $500 necessary to secure his freedom. In 1844, while Madison Hemings was plying his trade as a carpenter and joiner, building buildings in Waverly, Ohio, Israel Gillette appeared in a Virginia courthouse to obtain a document that would officially recognize his new status of freedom. He recounted the story in 1873, describing how the clerk of the court asked him by what surname he chose to be known. “I hesitated,” he recalled, and the clerk suggested that it should be Jefferson, because “I was born at Monticello and had been a good and faithful servant to Thomas Jefferson…. I consented to adopt the surname of Jefferson, and have been known by it ever since.” That same year, nearly two decades after Madison Hemings had left Monticello as a free man, Israel Gillette Jefferson traveled west with his wife Elizabeth to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was finally able to embrace his new identity as a free man. “When I came to Ohio, I considered myself wholly free,” he explained. “And not till then.” By the time the Civil War started, Madison Hemings and Israel Gillette Jefferson were living within ten miles of each 31
other on their own farms in Pike County in Southern Ohio. Once again their paths had converged, now in the Appalachian hills near Pee Pee Settlement, a predominantly African American community first settled by formerly enslaved men and women from Virginia. In their two interviews with the Pike County Republican, both Madison and Israel affirm that Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings’s children, and both men talk matter-of-factly about Jefferson’s dual roles as statesman and slaveholder. For these two men, who began life together on the same plantation and whose divergent paths out of slavery eventually brought them together again—this time by choice—the confounding hypocrisy that separated the ideals Jefferson espoused in public from his actions in his private life was undoubtedly one of many other contradictions, broken promises, and double standards they faced as African American men living in America. That their recollections survive as two of only three existing first-person accounts from Monticello’s enslaved population is a great gift and lasting legacy. It is through their words that we understand more about the lives of the many individuals and extended families—from the Gillettes and the Hemingses to the Herns and the Colberts and many more—who lived and labored at Monticello.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed, 2008 “Engaging Jefferson: Blacks and the Founding Father” by Annette Gordon-Reed, in The William and Mary Quarterly, January 2000
Those Who Labor for My Happiness: Slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello by Lucia Stanton, 2012 “The Memoirs of Madison Hemings,” Pike County (Ohio) Republican, March 13, 1873 “The Memoirs of Israel Jefferson,” Pike County (Ohio) Republican, December 25, 1873
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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 3333
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 ofThe 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
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A HEMINGS FAMILY TREE represents an unmarried union represents a married union
ELIZABETH (BETTY) HEMINGS (1735-1807)
5 other children
This listing focuses on family members who are prominently featured in the play.
JOHN WAYLES (1715-1773)
SARAH (SALLY) HEMINGS (1773-1835)
MARTHA EPPES (1721-1748)
THOMAS JEFFERSON (1743-1826)
MARTHA WAYLES (1721-1748)
3 other BEVERLEY HARRIET MADISON ESTON children HEMINGS HEMINGS HEMINGS HEMINGS (1798-1822+) (1801-1822+) (1805-1877) (1808-1856)
MARTHA MARY JEFFERSON JEFFERSON (1772-1836) (1778-1804)
3 other children
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A HEMINGS & JEFFERSON FAMILY TIMELINE 1735: Elizabeth Hemings is born, the daughter of an enslaved African woman and an English Sea Captain. She is purchased by Francis Eppes,
1761:
1748: Martha Eppes Wayles gives birth to a daughter, Martha. The mother dies five days later.
an early Virginia colonist.
After the death of his third wife, John Wayles takes the enslaved Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings as his “concubine.” According to several sources he was the father of six of her twelve children.
1700s 1746: John Wayles, a wealthy lawyer and slave trader, marries Martha Eppes. Her father, Francis Eppes, gives the couple the enslaved woman Elizabeth (Betty) Hemings as part
of Martha’s wedding settlement.
1757:
1772:
Thomas Jefferson, the eldest son of Virginia Martha Wayles marries “gentleman” Peter Jefferson, inherits his father’s Thomas Jefferson. property in Albemarle County, including the mountain that he would call Monticello. He also gains legal title to approximately thirty human beings from his father’s estate.
1773: Sally Hemings, the youngest child of John Wayles and Elizabeth Hemings, is born. _____
1782: Martha Wayles Jefferson dies four months after giving birth to a fifth daughter. It is said that on her death bed she asked Jefferson to promise he would not remarry so that her daughters would not be raised by another woman. He agrees to her request.
1784:
John Wayles dies, leaving both substantial property and debt to his heirs. In addition to inheriting a vast amount of property, Thomas Jefferson gains legal title to 135 human beings who had been enslaved on the Wayles estate, including
the Hemings family, who arrive at Monticello in 1774.
1776:
The Confederation Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson as Minister to France.
Thomas Jefferson is the principal author of the Declaration of Independence.
1787: Jefferson’s youngest daughter, Maria, accompanied by 14-year-old Sally Hemings, arrives in Paris. In an 1873 interview with the Pike County Republican, Sally’s son Madison describes his mother’s time in Paris, stating that while there she became “Mr. Jefferson’s concubine” and was pregnant with his child. Jefferson wanted Sally to return to Virginia with him, but knowing that she could secure her freedom if she remained in France, she refused until Jefferson “promised her extraordinary privileges, and made a solemn pledge that her children would be freed at the age of twenty-one.”
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1790: Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson’s first child is born. According to Madison Hemings, it lived “but a short time.”
1796: Jefferson is elected Vice President, John Adams is elected President.
1789:
1793:
Jefferson is appointed as Secretary of State in the administration of George Washington and returns to the United States (along with Sally Hemings).
Jefferson resigns as Secretary of State and returns to Monticello.
1800:
1822:
Israel Gillette is born to Jane and Edward Gillette, enslaved people at Monticello. He is one of twelve children. _____
Jefferson is President.
1808: 1804: Jefferson is re-elected President.
Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson’s youngest son, Eston, is born.
Beverly and Harriet Hemings, Jefferson and Hemings’s two eldest living children, leave Monticello and “pass” into the White world.
1800s 1809:
1802:
1805:
Richmond journalist James Callender makes the accusation that Thomas Jefferson has “for many years past kept, as his concubine, one of his own slaves,” Sally Hemings. The story is soon picked up by Federalist presses around the country.
Madison Hemings, son of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, is born at Monticello.
James Madison is inaugurated as President and Jefferson returns to Monticello. He never leaves Virginia again.
1836:
1826:
Madison and his wife Mary Hemings, a free woman of color, and their daughter Sarah move to Pike County in southern Ohio. Madison builds several buildings in the town of Waverly. Over the next 10 years, Mary gives birth to eight more children, all of whom survive into adulthood.
On July 4, Thomas Jefferson dies at the age of 83. His estate is over $100,000 in debt—approximately 2 million dollars today. According to the terms of Thomas Jefferson’s will, five men enslaved at Monticello are freed, including Madison and Eston Hemings. Sally Hemings is not officially granted her freedom, but she leaves Monticello and lives in Charlottesville with her two freed sons.
1834: For $2,700, Uriah Levy purchases Monticello: a dilapidated house and 218 acres of overgrown fields. He hires a caretaker, Joel Wheeler, to oversee the property.
1827:
1835: Sally Hemings dies. The location of her grave is unknown.
More than 130 enslaved people are sold away from their families and their home on Monticello. Israel Gillette is purchased by Thomas Walker Gilmer.
1838: Eston Hemings and his wife Julia, a free woman of color, move to Chillicothe in Southern Ohio, where Eston leads a very successful dance band. _____ Israel Gillette marries Elizabeth Farrows Randolph, a seamstress and a free woman of color who will help him raise the money to purchase his freedom.
1844: Israel Gillette obtains a document that officially recognizes his freedom, while changing his name to Jefferson. He and his wife Elizabeth, and her two living children, move to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Israel works as a waiter in a private home, and later on a steamboat.
1858: Israel Gillette Jefferson and his wife Elizabeth now live on a farm in Pebble township in Southern Ohio, near where Madison and Mary Hemings have settled.
1841:
1852:
1861:
Israel Gillette negotiates with Thomas Gilmer to purchase his freedom. They agree upon the sum of $500, his purchase price in 1827.
Eston Hemings, his wife Julia, and their three children leave Ohio for Wisconsin, where they change their surname to Jefferson and henceforth “pass” as White people.
Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated President and the Civil War begins.
1866:
The events of this play take place. As author and historian Lucia Stanton 1862: writes in Those Who Labor for My Happiness, Israel Gillette Jefferson returned Uriah Levy dies, naming the federal government as several times to Monticello, probably to visit family members. His last visit administrator of Monticello. The Confederate army was in 1866, and at that time he saw Thomas Jefferson Randolph—who was seizes the property and sells it to another owner. still paying off his grandfather’s debts and had been stripped by the war 1865: During the war years, caretaker Joel Wheeler of all but his land and “one old blind mule.” Recalling this encounter seven As the Civil War ends, Madison charges groups to use the Monticello house and years later, Israel said “I then realized more than ever before, the great Hemings and his family are now living grounds for parties, picnics, and other activities, changes which time brings about in the affairs and circumstances of life.” on a 66-acre farm in Ross County, Ohio. doing little to discourage souvenir-taking.
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TIMELINE BIBLIOGRAPHY The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed “Jefferson’s Monticello finally gives Sally Hemings her place in presidential history” by Phillip Kennicott, The Washington Post, June 13, 2018 “Thomas Jefferson Papers: 1606 to 1827,” The Library of Congress
Those Who Labor for My Happiness: Slavery at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello by Lucia Stanton, 2012 Monticello.org
THAT OLD CAR GETTING YOU DOWN? Then donate it to the IRT
Yes, we will sell it at auction and proceeds will benefit the Theatre. You can qualify for a tax deduction for your generous gift! We also accept donations for: Boats | Farm Equipment | Lawn Mowers | Motorcycles | Motor Homes | And More!
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.
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THE COMPANY DAVID ALAN ANDERSON | ISRAEL JEFFERSON IRT audiences have seen David in Looking Over the President’s Shoulder, Fences, What I Learned in Paris, Julius Caesar, The Whipping Man, Radio Golf, The Mountaintop, A Christmas Carol, and many others. His most recent work includes two seasons with the Shaw Festival in Canada. In Chicago, he has been seen at Victory Gardens, Lyric Opera, Writers Theatre, and Court Theatre. Other regional credits include the American Players Theatre; Guthrie Theater; CenterStage; Denver Theatre Center; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Asolo Repertory; the Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Lake Tahoe Shakespeare festivals; Penumbra Theatre, where he is a company member; and many more. Directing credits include The Color of Justice and Most Valuable Player on the IRT UpperStage and Two Trains Running and Topdog/Underdog at the Phoenix Theatre. Television credits include two seasons on The Chi, Shameless (both on Showtime), and Chicago PD (NBC). He is a recipient of The Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, sponsored by the Ten Chimneys Foundation, where he worked with Alan Alda. He received a Creative Renewal Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis, and was honored by the Circle City Links and the Center for Leadership Development for his achievements in the arts.
BRIAN ANTHONY WILSON | MADISON HEMINGS Brian is thrilled to be back at the IRT, where he appeared in Intimate Apparel in 2006. Recent theatre credits include King Lear opposite André De Shields at St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, Jitney at the Nashville Shakespeare Festival, Looking Over the President’s Shoulder at Act II Playhouse, Gem of the Ocean at the Arden (Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Play), and the solo play Thurgood at the Olney Theatre Center in Maryland. Selected film and TV credits include Manodrome, Glass, Oceans 8, Creed, Limitless, Keeping the Faith, Rounders, The Postman, Interview with a Vampire, Manifest, Servant, Mare of Easttown, FBI: Most Wanted, Dispatches from Elsewhere (recurring), Wu-Tang: An American Saga (recurring), Siren, Bloodline, Gotham, Blue Bloods, The Sopranos, and The Wire (recurring). CHARLES SMITH | PLAYWRIGHT Charles’s plays Sister Carrie, Les Trois Dumas, and The Gospel According to James were commissioned and produced by Indiana Repertory Theatre. Other work includes Objects in the Mirror, produced by the Goodman Theatre, and Black Star Line, commissioned and produced by the Goodman. His plays Knock Me a Kiss, Jelly Belly, Takunda, Freefall, Cane, Free Man of Color, The Sutherland, and Denmark received world premiere productions at Victory Gardens in Chicago. Freefall, Knock Me a Kiss, and Free Man of Color were also produced off-Broadway. His play Pudd’nhead Wilson, commissioned and produced by the Acting Company, enjoyed a 22-city national tour before being produced off-Broadway. Charles’s work has also been produced by New Federal Theatre, Penumbra, Crossroads Theatre Company, Penguin Repertory Theatre, Ujima Theatre Company, the Colony Theatre, St. Louis Black Rep, Robey Theater Company, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Jubilee Theatre, Ensemble Theatre in Houston, Berkeley Repertory Theater, the HBO New Writers Project, the International Children’s Theater Festival in Seattle, and the National Black Theatre Festival. Charles is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Ohio University, and one of the founding members of the Playwrights Ensemble at the Tony Award-winning Victory Gardens Theatre. He has taught playwriting at Northwestern University and the Prague Summer Program in Creative Writing in the Czech Republic, and for the Center for Dramatic Art in Groznjan, Croatia. Charles is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
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THE COMPANY RON OJ PARSON | DIRECTOR Ron makes his IRT debut with this production. His directing credits include Jiréh Breon Holder’s Too Heavy for Your Pocket, Brett Neveu’s To Catch a Fish, Dominique Morisseau’s Paradise Blue and Sunset Baby, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, and the world premiere of Tyla Abercrumbie’s Relentless. Ron has directed more than 30 August Wilson productions around the country. He is a native of Buffalo, New York, and a graduate of the University of Michigan’s professional theatre program. He is the co-founder and former artistic director of Onyx Theatre Ensemble of Chicago. He is a resident artist at Chicago’s Court Theatre, a company member of Timeline Theatre, and an associate artist with Teatro Vista and at Writers Theatre. Since moving to Chicago from New York in 1994, he has worked as both an actor and director. His Chicago credits include work with the Chicago Theatre Company, Victory Gardens, the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Dramatists, Northlight, Court, Black Ensemble Theatre, Congo Square, Northlight Theatre, Urban Theatre Company, City Lit Theater, ETA Creative Arts, and Writers Theatre. Regionally, he has directed shows at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Studio Arena Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory, South Coast Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse, Geva Theatre, Virginia Stage, Roundabout Theatre, Wilshire Theatre, the Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore CenterStage, St. Louis Black Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, Signature Theatre (New York), Kansas City Rep, and Portland Stage, among others. In Canada, he directed the world premiere of Palmer Park by Joanna McClelland Glass at the Stratford Festival. He is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. “This production is dedicated to the memory Paul Carter Harrison.” ronojparson.com
SHAUN MOTLEY | SCENIC DESIGNER Shaun is thrilled to be making his debut at Indiana Repertory Theatre. His credits include Fences at American Players Theatre; Red Riding Hood, Jitney, Top Dog/Under Dog, and Fences at South Coast Rep; Three Sisters at Lower Depth Theater; Two Trains Running at Geva Theater; Po Boy Tango at East West Players; Leading Ladies at Perseverance Theatre; The Seagull at Chance Theatre; Pipeline at Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Shining City at Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles; Home and Zooman and the Sign at Signature Theater in New York; and Lady Day and Cuttin’ Up at Arena Stage. TV and film credits include The Wall, College Bowl, and Little Big Shots on NBC; Card Sharks, Press Your Luck, and Family Food Fight on ABC; Spin the Wheel on FOX; Love Is Blind on Netflix; Real Husbands of Hollywood on BET; and Let’s Make a Deal on CBS.
DANA REBECCA WOODS | COSTUME DESIGNER Dana has spent her career designing costumes and involved with the craft of costumes for regional theatres, television, and film. She is currently designing What I Learned in Paris for South Coast Repertory. Other theatre designs include Intimate Apparel, Under Normal Circumstances, In the Red and Brown Water, Pipeline, The Color Purple, Blues in the Night, Shout Sister Shout, Stop Kiss, Above the Fold, Fences, and Jitney. Film and TV designs include Go for Sisters, The Line (The Mechanic), Watch over Me, and Ethnically Ambiguous. Dana has taught at UCF and UCLA and lectured at LA Trade Tech College. Her memberships include United Scenic Artists, Costume Designers Guild (where she is co-chair of the Diversity Committee), and Motion Picture Costumers.
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JARED GOODING | LIGHTING DESIGNER Based in Chicago, Jared is excited to be working with IRT for the first time. His credits include Writers Theater, Briston Riverside Theater, Florentine Opera Company, First Stage Theater, DePaul University, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Victory Gardens, Timeline Theater, Madison Children’s Theater, University of Illinois Chicago Theatre, University of Indiana Northwest, Remy Bumpo Theater, Strawdog Theater, the Hypocrites, Definition Theater, Windy City Playhouse, Sideshow Theatre, Jackalope Theatre, First Floor Theater, About Face Theatre, MPAACT, and Pegasus Theatre. He was the lighting assistant for The Wiz Live on NBC, and associate designer for Lookingglass Theater’s tour of Lookingglass Alice in Miami and Denver. He spends weekends as a professional DJ. goodingdesigns.com
CHRISTOPHER KRIZ | COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER Christopher is an award-winning composer and sound designer based in Chicago. He is pleased to make his IRT debut. Chicago credits include the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Court Theatre, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Second City, Writers Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Victory Gardens, Timeline Theatre, First Folio Theatre, Shattered Globe Theatre, the Gift Theatre, and many others. Regional credits include Seattle Rep, Kansas City Rep, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montana Shakespeare, Theatre Squared, and many summer seasons at Peninsula Players. A winner of 5 Joseph Jefferson Awards with a total of 22 nominations, Kriz is a proud member of United Scenic Artists 829. christopherkriz.com
MIKE TUTAJ | PROJECTIONS DESIGNER At the IRT, Mike has designed projections for The Book Club Play, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Mountaintop. Based in Chicago, his designs have been seen and heard on the stages of the Goodman, Steppenwolf, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Second City, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, Writers’ Theatre, the Court Theatre, TimeLine, American Theater Company, Paramount Theatre, the Hypocrites, and many more. Off-Broadway credits include MCC Theater, p73, EnGarde Arts, and the York Theatre. Regional credits include the Alliance Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, South Coast Rep, Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Virginia Stage, Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, and Theatre Squared.
ANSLEY VALENTINE | ASSISTANT TO THE DIRECTOR Ansley holds an M.F.A. in directing from Indiana University. He is currently a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and Actors Equity Association (AEA). Some of his favorite productions include Les Misérables, The Colored Museum, Twelfth Night, and many new plays. Ansley is also a graduate of the Arts Midwest Minorities in Arts Administration Fellowship, a program funded by the Ford Foundation to increase minority representation in leadership roles at American not-for-profit organizations. His many awards include a Kennedy Center Gold Medallion. He is excited to be working with IRT again. He last appeared on the OneAmerica Mainstage in You Can’t Take It With You.
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THE COMPANY TANYA PALMER | GUEST DRAMATURG Tanya is the assistant dean and executive artistic director in the School of Communication at Northwestern University. From 2019 to 2021 she was an associate professor in the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance at Indiana University, where she led the M.F.A. program in Dramaturgy. Prior to joining the faculty at Indiana University, she served as the producer and director of new play development at the Goodman Theatre and led the theatre’s new play programs for 14 seasons. She curated and produced New Stages, the theatre’s annual new play festival, and served as the production dramaturg on a number of world premieres including Dana H. by Lucas Hnath, directed by Les Waters; The Happiest Song Plays Last by Quiara Hudes, directed by Eddie Torres; and the Pulitzer Prize–winning Ruined by Lynn Nottage, directed by Kate Whoriskey. From 2000 to 2005 she served as the director of new play development at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she led the reading and selection process for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she holds an M.F.A. in playwriting from York University in Toronto, and an M.A. in English and creative writing from Concordia University in Montreal.
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. This season he directs 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.
NATHAN GARRISON | STAGE MANAGER This is Nathan’s 26th season at the IRT. He has also worked with Center Stage in Baltimore, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Brown County Playhouse; and he is a company member with the Indianapolis Shakespeare Company.
BECKY ROEBER | ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Becky hails from the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania where they attended East Stroudsburg University for musical theatre and technical theatre. This is their fifth season at Indiana Repertory Theatre; they joined Actor’s Equity Association with this season’s production of A Christmas Carol. They also serve as production manager for Summer Stock Stage and as production stage manager for Eclipse productions. “I am grateful to be producing beautiful productions with this talented company during these trying times.” 42
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
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PLAYWRIGHT
CHARLES SMITH THE IRT HAS PREVIOUSLY COMMISSIONED AND PRODUCED THREE PLAYS BY CHARLES SMITH: LES TROIS DUMAS, SISTER CARRIE, AND THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAMES. THE RECLAMATION OF MADISON HEMINGS, COMMISSIONED BY THE GOODMAN THEATRE, IS CHARLES’S FOURTH WORLD PREMIERE AT THE IRT.
HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INTERESTED IN WRITING? use a library. I would literally walk in, and see the first row, and start I was born and raised on Chicago’s South Side. I’m very proud of that. I read a Claude Brown novel, Manchild in the Promised Land, when I was in fifth grade. It was extraordinary: it spoke to my life, it spoke to my neighborhood and everybody I knew, I recognized people in that novel. What made it so extraordinary was that in the Chicago Public School System at that time, we weren’t reading anything like that. We were reading Shane, we were reading Lassie Come Home; for me, those books were like reading about people on a different planet. We were told that if we got caught reading Manchild in the Promised Land, we would be suspended. It was banned. The novel was contraband: we were passing it around, and everybody knew who had it. I read it, and it was great, and I became very interested in story. The school system’s idea of story, I was not interested in, because of how we were treated. It wasn’t really about learning. It was about do this and be this way, versus an exploration of how we were thinking. I can remember asking questions in class, and the teacher saying, “That’s a stupid question. What are you talking about?” So the school system and I didn’t get along, and I left when I was a sophomore. I was still trying to read, but I didn’t know how to
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reading titles. I didn’t know it was separated in sections, and I would just stumble around until I found something that was interesting. I was working in the Chicago factories, and then I went into the Army. As we were shipping out for South Korea, there was a table, and there were Bibles and other books. I picked up The Iliad, and it blew my mind. I thought, this is just like Manchild in the Promised Land—exactly like it. Even though it’s not set in Harlem—the epic quality, the size, the scope, what was going on, the challenges—for me, it was exactly like Manchild in the Promised Land. While I was in Korea, they were offering a class on The Iliad, and I thought, man, I’ve got to take this, because I’ve got to find other stuff like this. But they wouldn’t let me take it because I was a high school drop-out and it was a college course. So I took the GED and I passed it. I got into that course, I took Shakespeare, I took Chaucer. When I got out of the Army, I thought, well maybe school is for me. I went to the community college to continue my exploration of Shakespeare and Chaucer. I discovered that from where I was now, the stuff they were offering was very elementary. So I took a theatre course, and the professor asked me if I could act. I said “I don’t know, I’ve never been in a play. I have never seen a play.” He put me in The Runner Stumbles: I was the jailor. I had two lines,
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and I could never remember both of them at the same time. But I would sit backstage and I would watch, and it blew my mind. I thought, this story is just like the stories that interest me. But this theatre thing! I wanted to be a novelist. I would write a short story, and I would give it to someone, and they would go away. And I would wonder if they were reading it. And maybe I would see them later, and maybe we would talk about it. But this theatre thing! You get to work with other artists, and you come together to tell a story, and you get to be with the people experiencing the story at the same time. I said, this is spectacular! I started writing plays—backstage, during that two-week run. The professor asked me what I was doing, and I showed him my plays, my stack of stories. He said, “You should be in Iowa at the Playwrights Workshop.” I had been around the world in the Army—Korea, Germany—but I didn’t know that Iowa was the next state over. He put me in a car and he drove me there. I got accepted in the graduate program, but I didn’t have an undergraduate degree. A counselor looked over my transcript, all the courses I had takin in the Army, and he said, “If you take a language and a science, you can get a B.A.” I didn’t really know what that meant, but over the summer I took the classes and got my B.A., and in the fall I was in the M.F.A. playwriting program at the University of Iowa.
you.” I’ve worked with other artistic directors who are more … lofty. Janet is there as part of the work, as one of us. She’s part of the process as a peer, shoulder to shoulder instead of standing apart.
WHAT DRAWS YOU TO WRITING? One of the things I love about writing is the careful expression. I have found myself in situations … for example, with academics. I have taught in universities for 32 years. I am a “Distinguished Professor,” whatever that means. But I don’t really consider myself an academic. I should, but I don’t. A lot of them are very cool-headed and methodical. I am not. I say things, and then I leave the meeting, and I think, man, I could have handled that better. Writing gives me a chance to take a step back and examine what I’m thinking and what I really believe. Studs Terkel told this story about interviewing a woman, and afterwards he played the interview back for her. She said, “I never knew I felt that way.” It wasn’t until he played the interview back that she discovered something about herself. When I write, I discover something about who I am, about my identity as a human being, how I view the world. It also gives me the chance to carefully construct my thoughts, and be precise. It puts me in communication with the world; it puts me in communication with everything else that’s going on in the world.
WHAT WAS YOUR CAREER PATH? I had some plays done in Chicago while I was in grad school. Really bad plays. When I got my degree, I came back to Chicago. I did an internship at Victory Gardens, and then over ten years I had I don’t know how many titles. I was an intern, I was an artistic associate, I was literary manager, I was script czar, and I ended up playwright in residence. Meanwhile my scripts were getting produced. I was teaching classes at Victory Gardens, and Northwestern University asked me to teach a class. And it was OK. I taught another one. Then they offered me a one-year contract, and I said, “I’m not interested. I don’t think it will work.” I was still burned by my experience with the Chicago Public School System. “You’re not going to like what I’m going to say, which is that everything you’ve taught them is bullshit.” And that seemed to excite them! So I taught at Northwestern for seven years, and then I taught at Ohio University for 25 years.
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THE IRT? They treat their artists well. Janet really listens. She doesn’t dictate. She says, “What are you doing? What do you need? I’m here for
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THE SUPPORTING CAST
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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 Shane & 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* Margie Ferguson* Arthur Field IV Roger & Susan Frick Peter Furno & Pamela Steed Phyllis & Ed Gabovitch Gamma Nu Chapter of Psi Iota Xi
DONOR GUILDS CONT. ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300 - $1,499 | JULY 1, 2021 - FEBRUARY 13, 2022
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* 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 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 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
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THE SUPPORTING CAST
INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS
IN MEMORY OF GLORIA DORSON | Marci Reddick IN MEMORY OF ROBERT NEAL | Janet Allen & Joel Grynheim, Susan & Kerry Ashe, The Chappell Family (co-worker at IRT), Michael Dinius & Jeannie Regan-Dinius, Joel Ericson, Christine & Rich Fogel, Tricia Hern, Carol Y. Kellogg, Grace & Jordan Meier, Lauren Morris, Joanie Neal, Sally Neal, Ellen Neal Packard, Lynne Perkins-Socey, Jerry Raab, Christopher J. Tolzmann, and Milicent Wright IN HONOR OF LYNN WEBSTER | Jane E. Halterman IN MEMORY OF JEAN WIBLE | With our love – Molly & Christopher Sweets
OVATION SOCIETY 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)
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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
CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300+ | JULY 1, 2021 - FEBRUARY 13, 2022
CORPORATE
FOUNDATION
Barnes Dennig Barnes & Thornburg LLP 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 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
IN-KIND/TRADE GIFTS ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300+ | JULY 1, 2021 - FEBRUARY 13, 2022
National Institute of Fitness & Sport
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