August Wilson's Two Trains Running

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY

NATIVE LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Marin Theatre Company acknowledges our theatre and administrative offices are located on the ancestral, occupied, and unceded land of the Coast Miwok peoples. We recognize we currently benefit from living and working on their traditional homelands, and affirm their sovereign rights as first peoples. We are committed to learning and to strengthening our relationships with members of our local community, and to work toward dismantling the harmful effects of white supremacy and colonization. We acknowledge the Coast Miwok as the original caretakers of this land. We pay our respects to the Coast Miwok community and their elders both past and present, as well as future generations.

The Coast Miwok, from the areas of Novato, Marshall, Tomales, San Rafael, Petaluma and Bodega, are members of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, a community which includes the Southern Pomo peoples from the Sebastopol area.

We pledge to build relationships with sovereign tribal nations and to never cease ongoing learning, to ensure Marin Theatre Company becomes a more inclusive and welcoming space.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

2 Letter from Managing Director and CEO

4 Cast, Creative & Production Teams of August Wilsonʼs Two Trains Running 6 From the Publications Dramaturg: August Wilson, “Theatreʼs Poet of Black America” 8 A History Lesson: The American Century Cycle of August Wilson 10 Black Liberation and Black Freedom: The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements 13 Groups of the Black Liberation and Black Freedom Movement: A Selection 14 America’s Soundtrack: Music of the 1960s 16 The Art of Numbers Running: An African American Underground Economy 17

Resources to learn more about August Wilson 18

Bios of the Cast, Creative & Producing Teams 25

Special Thanks for August Wilson’s Two Trains Running 26 Marin Theatre Company Staff, Advisory Board, Box Office Information 27

Marin Theatre Company Individual Donors, Foundation Support, Gifts, Production Underwriters

Letter from Managing Director and CEO

This production marks the fifth Marin Theatre Company production of August Wilson plays, and every production brings with it the thrill and wonder of Wilson’s words and worlds under the lights. We’re invited this time to Memphis’ restaurant and transported to 1969, a time of soulful expression and racial reckoning, with the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power breaking through the mainstream conversations.

The unique gift of Wilson’s that makes him the perfect playwright for our second show of the season is the undeniable electricity of truth that rapidly bolts between characters in dialogue, relationships, and circumstances, with such a charge we feel its power in our audience seats. We’ve curated our season to grip our community and draw us closer together through stories that awaken our empathy and laughter with such harmony that they breed hope. I can’t imagine a list of playwrights with this gift that wouldn’t include August Wilson.

Wilson’s plays center Black stories and legacy, specifically, archiving the truth in history through the poetry of staged fiction. We hold the responsibility of ensuring that our plays reflect our community. Black families will see themselves, their uncles, fathers, siblings, and friends reflected and represented in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running, and may even recognize some of Pittsburgh’s dilemmas as similar challenges in their own grandparents and parents’ journeys. That is our role as arts leaders at Marin Theatre Company, to tell stories that are at once specific and universal, and to produce plays that are not only contemporary, but also timeless and telling.

Though a Black playwright with intentional storytelling for Black history, August Wilson still captivates audiences in a universal sense, gripping the human race at large. The beauty and truth of the play also reveals similarities with experiences in other cultures, folks who may also see themselves reflected in the characters gathered at Memphis’ place as they fight for work, love, and justice. August Wilson’s Two Trains Running holds particular significance for all of us as we re-enter a world post-shutdown that has been irreversibly altered, with communities feeling the impact on business and a changing landscape, wondering what our next move could be, should be, and what waits for us on the other side. Allowing ourselves to witness the challenges of the many characters who enter through the doors of the restaurant allows us to feel less alone with our own.

Thank you for joining us at the restaurant. We hope your dreams and questions are awakened and you feel that electric charge of theatre that tells a truth so deep we all can see ourselves in the story. We’re only a quarter into our season, there’s still a chance for you to join us for Justice: A New Musical, Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, and our new play festival that goes up this June! I hope you’re moved to subscribe to the season so we can travel these worlds together.

Welcome!

Meredith Suttles, Managing Director and CEO

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Wendy Feng Chair

Matthew Purdon Vice-Chair

John Chesley Secretary

Kathryn Olson Treasurer

Robert Reynolds Assistant Treasurer

Naima Dean

Kipp Delbyck

Doug Frazier

Denmo Ibrahim

Jennifer McEvoy

Vera Meislin

Christian Mills

Josh Rafner

Barbara Roberts

Stacy Scott

Tara Sullivan

Penny Wright

°

CAST OF CHARACTERS (in order of appearance)

MEMPHIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lamont Thompson* WOLF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kenny Scott

RISA Sam Jackson* HOLLOWAY Michael J. Asberry* STERLING Eddie Ewell* HAMBONE Michael Wayne Rice* WEST Khary L. Moye*

CREATIVE TEAM

Scenic Designer Stephen C. Jones+ Costume Designer ......................................... Alice Ruiz Lighting Designer Kurt Landisman+ Sound Designer / Composer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gregory Robinson+ Publications Dramaturg Khalid Y. Long Dialect Coach .............................................. Cherie Corinne Rice Intimacy Coach Jeunée Simon Props Designer ............................................ Liam Rudisill Assistant Scenic Designer Priscilla Rodriguez Assistant Costumes Designer ................................ Daria Perkova Stage Manager Christina Hogan* Stage Manager (December 12–18, 2022) ...................... Nick Carvalho* Assistant Stage Manager Jo Davita Ortiz*

August Wilson’s Two Trains Running is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Originally Produced on Broadway by Yale Repertory Theatre (Stan Wojewodski, Jr., Artistic Director), Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre (Gordon Davidson, Artistic/Producing Director), Herb Alpert/Margot Lion, Scott Rudin/Paramount Pictures, and Jujamcyn Theaters (James H. Binger, Chairman; Rocco Landesman, President; Paul Libin, Producing Director; Jack Viertel, Creative Director); produced in association with Huntington Theatre Company (Peter Altman, Producing Director; Michael Maso, Managing Director), Seattle Repertory Theatre and Old Globe Theatre (Jack O’Brien, Artistic Director; Thomas Hall, Managing Director). Originally mounted by Yale Repertory Theatre (Lloyd Richards, Artistic Director; Benjamin Mordecai, Managing Director).

SETTING

It is Pittsburgh, 1969. The action of the play takes place in a restaurant across the street from West’s Funeral Home and Lutz’s Meat Market. It is a small restaurant with three stools, a counter, a pay phone, and a booth against one wall. The menu is printed on a blackboard behind the counter. There will be one 15-minute intermission.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Director of Production Haley Miller

Technical Director, COVID Safety Manager ............... Jeff Klein

Assistant Technical Director / Props Lead Liam Rudisill Costume Shop Manager, Wardrobe Lead ................ Daria Perkova Lead Electrician / Lights Programmer Krys Swan

Q Lab Programmer ................................... Camille Rassweiler Wigs Rental

Cherelle Guyton, MBA, C Stylez U, LLC Carpenter ........................................... Miguel Wacher Scenic Charge Stephanie P Jucker Electricians ..........................................

Jacob Nagel, Benjamin Miller, Brittany Mellerson, Arashi Veronica Cesana, Mary Blake Booth Scenic Painters Sarah Gendler, Nathaniel Bice, Neil Ballard, Kristen Augustyn Properties Assistants Miguel Wacher, Sarah Gendler Board Operator Arashi Veronica Cesana Deck Crew Emma Burgess

° The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association. This theater operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Assoc., the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

+ The scenic, lighting and sound designers in this LORT Theatre are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Please remember to turn off all cell phones or other devices that could make noise and be distracting to the cast and people around you Photographs and recordings of any kind are strictly prohibited

We ask that patrons please wear masks covering your nose and mouth at all times while in our building to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus

THE VIDEOTAPING OR MAKING OF ELECTRONIC OR OTHER AUDIO AND/OR VISUAL RECORDINGS OF THIS PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTING RECORDINGS OR STREAMS IN ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING THE INTERNET, IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, A VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR(S)’S RIGHTS AND ACTIONABLE UNDER UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT: https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists

August Wilson, “Theatre’s Poet of Black America”

Let’s begin with a few earned titles and monikers: Playwright. Historian. Preserver of culture. And as New York Times Theatre critic Charles Isherwood once called him, “Theatre’s Poet of Black America.” Known as the playwright that put 100 years of African American history on the stage, no other playwright has achieved what August Wilson has accomplished with his ten plays that make up The American Century Cycle.

August Wilson came from humble beginnings. He was born Frederick August Kittel, Jr. on April 27, 1945, in a twobedroom flat in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The fourth of six children, Wilson was the first son born to a German immigrant baker and pastry cook, Frederick August Kittel, Sr. (known as Fritz), and an African American cleaning woman, Daisy Wilson.

One of the only Black students in grade school, Wilson faced racial discrimination daily at Central Catholic High School. In an interview with Christopher Bigsby, Wilson recalls his first encounter with blatant racism, stating, “I suspect my first raw encounter with racism was when I was fourteen. Every day when I went to school, there was a note on my desk saying, “Go home, nigger.” After constant battles with his classmates, Wilson left Central Catholic High School and floated around several schools until enrolling in Gladstone High. Although only in the 9th grade, Wilson’s high I.Q. allowed him to enroll in 10th-grade courses. It was an incident at the new school, however, that would ultimately change Wilson’s life forever. Upon submitting a written report on French military leader and emperor Napoleon, Wilson’s teacher accused him of plagiarism and failed him on the assignment. At the age of 15, Wilson left the school and never returned.

Wilson found solace in books in the local libraries – where he spent his days as he did not inform his mother that he dropped out of school. Wilson consumed the works of Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, and Richard Wright. Additionally, Wilson spent his time in several community gathering spaces in the neighborhood, such as barbershops and restaurants, including Eddie’s Restaurant – which inspired the setting of Two Trains Running. The stories Wilson heard, the dialects and rhythmic voices of the people in these

Photo court. of August Wilson Legacy LLC.

community spaces served as Wilson’s training for playwriting. Wilson eventually moved out of his mother’s home and, in 1965, changed his name from Freddie Kittel to August Wilson – taking his mother’s last name to honor her sacrifice and dedication and the Black heritage she embodied. This moment was the birthing of August Wilson, the poet. August Wilson was deeply influenced by the Black Power Movement of the 1960s. Wilson considered himself a black nationalist and a cultural nationalist. Wilson was enamored with the writings of Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Ed Bullins, Ishmael Reed, and Malcolm X. Wilson stated, “the Black Power movement of the ‘60s was a reality; it was the kiln in which I was fired and has much to do with the person I am today and the ideas and attitudes that I carry as part of my consciousness.” These years not only witnessed Wilson emerge as a poet, publishing in a variety of periodicals, including Black Lines, the Negro Digest, and Black World, but Wilson began his career in theatre. In addition to penning a few early plays, Wilson co-founded Pittsburgh’s Black Horizons Theatre with fellow playwright Rob Penny.

Although a poet at heart, Wilson turned to playwriting and wrote several plays in the late 1960s and 1970s. In 1981, St. Paul’s Penumbra Theatre staged his first play, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills, a satirical western adapted from a series of his poems. His big break, however, came after submitting Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom to the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. The play was accepted in 1982. Wilson attended the playwriting workshop at the O’Neill center and would go on to be mentored by Lloyd Richards. Richards, who was the first Black director on Broadway with the 1959 production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, became Wilson’s most supportive director, thus taking the helm for several of his Broadway premieres, including Fences (1987), The Piano Lesson (1990), and Two Trains Running (1992).

August Wilson died on October 2, 2005, of liver cancer. And yet, through his work, his legacy remains. It has been argued that Wilson is comparable to William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Lorraine Hansberry, Arthur Miller, James Baldwin, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, and Toni Morrison. With two Pulitzer Prizes, a Tony Award, several New York Drama Critics Circle awards, and a host of other awards, accolades, and the first Black American to have a Broadway theatre named in his honor, August Wilson is undoubtedly one of the world’s most distinguished figures of arts and letters.

Photo court. of August Wilson Legacy LLC.

A History Lesson: The American Century Cycle of August Wilson

August Wilson described his cycle of 10 plays as his effort to craft a 400-year autobiography of the African American experience. When Wilson began his playwriting career, he did not initially set out to write 10 plays that chronicle the African American experience. However, after the third or fourth play, Wilson realized that each of the plays he’d written thus far was set in a different decade of the twentieth century. Accordingly, Wilson set out to chart the joys and complexities of Black life in America. The plays are as follows:

The 1900s - Gem of the Ocean (2003)

The 1910s - Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1986)

The 1920s - Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1984)

The 1930s - The Piano Lesson (1987)

The 1940s - Seven Guitars (1995)

The 1950s - Fences (1985)

The 1960s - Two Trains Running (1990)

The 1970s - Jitney (1982)

The 1980s - King Hedley II (1999)

The 1990s - Radio Golf (2005)

Undeniably, August Wilson was fascinated with the history of Black Americans. Yet, the lack of being formally educated about Black history piqued his curiosity. Wilson once stated that he was “encouraged by the fact that in all [his] reading of history, seldom, if ever, was the black experience in America given any weight, seldom were they admitted to the larger playing field of cause and effect.” (August Wilson, “Characters Behind History Teach Wilson About Plays,” The New York

MTC’s Gem of the Ocean (2016). (L-R): Juney Smith, Namir Smallwood, David Everett Moore, and Margo Hall. (Photo by Kevin Berne)

MTC’s Fences (2014). (L-R): Carl Lumbly, Margo Hall, and Steven Anthony Jones. (Photo by Ed Smith)

MTC’s Seven Guitars (2011). (L-R): Tobie Windham, Omoze Idehenre, Margo Hall, L. Peter Callender, Marc Damon Johnson, and Shinelle Azoroh. (Photo by Kevin Berne)

Times, April 12, 1992.) August Wilson committed himself to use the theatrical stage as a repository for Black American history. Wilson says, “Since I was not a historian but a writer of fiction, I saw as my task the invention of characters.” Accordingly, through his characters, Wilson laid claim to a past this is too often forgotten, thus filling the gaps in historical records by using his artistic license to mesh facts with a fictional imagination.

Wilson’s engagement with history is prominent in Two Trains Running – the 1960s play. However, Wilson does not directly address the historical events of the 1960s. Instead, these events hover over the play as a backdrop, thus informing the actions and motivations of the characters. The history that hovers over the play includes the legacies of leaders of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, namely Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. It also hints at the death of Robert Kennedy, the beginning of gentrification and displacement within Black communities, and the fallout from the Vietnam War. When asked why he kept these historical events of the 1960s off the stage, Wilson responded with the following:

The play does not speak to the so-called red-lettered events of the sixties, because at the time all of that was going on – the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and all the anti-war administrations, go to work every day, you still had to pay your rent, you still had to put food on the table . And those events, while they may have somehow affected the character of society as a whole, didn’t reach the average person who was concerned with simply living And so in Two Trains I was more concerned with those people and what they were doing and how they were dealing with it, than I was writing a “sixties” play . (Quoted in, “The Historical Perspective: An Interview with August Wilson,” Richard Pettengill, August Wilson: A Casebook, edited by Marilyn Elkins.)

Wilson peoples his plays with everyday folks –those whose lives fluctuate between what is happening nationally and regionally. Although Wilson puts fictional stories on the stage, as in Two Trains Running, it is evident that these stories are inspired – and perhaps haunted – by real history.

Spring Way, 1964 - Collage by Romare Bearden, recreating an alley near his grandmother’s Pittsburgh boardinghouse. (Smithsonian American Art Museum)

Black Liberation and Black Freedom: The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements

Struggling for equal rights and opportunities since the creation of the American nation, Black Americans created various Black Nationalist and separatist organizations to promote “self-determination, self-respect, and self-defense for black America by calling for broad political and social experimentation with black liberation and political autonomy.” Typically, 20th-century iterations of these movements are encapsulated under the following umbrella terms: the Black Liberation Movement and the Black Freedom Movement . Regardless of their ideologies and practices, embedded within these movements were philosophies of Black consciousness that advocated Black collective pride, uplift, and social change. Recognizing Black global oppression, several of the movements crossed international borders, such as the Republic of New Afrika (founded in 1968) and the Congress of African People (founded in 1970). Nonetheless, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Power Movement were perhaps the most formidable movements.

It can be argued that the following events were catalyzing moments for the Civil Rights Movement : Brown vs . Board of Education (1954), the slaying of Emmet Till (1955), the arrest of Rosa Parks and the commencing of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955), the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), the Little Rock Nine (1957), the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (1963), and the Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March (1965). Led by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , the Civil Rights Movement ushered in a series of

MLK and Malcolm X after King’s press conference at the U.S. Capitol about the Senate debate on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Photo by Marion S. Trikosko)

In 1963, people marched for equal rights, integrated schools, decent housing, and an end to bias. (U.S. News & World Report Magazine Photograph Collection)

critical legislative victories through non-violent protests and judicial challenges. These include the Civil Rights of 1964 , which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and the Civil Rights of 1965, also known as the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. However, the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and 1960s was not monolithic. By 1968 Black populations throughout the United States, particularly in the urban U.S. North and West, were disillusioned by the slow pace of social change and economic opportunities. Thus, the manifestations of urban rebellion gave rise to a variety of

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a press conference in Gracie Mansion in July 1964. (New York World-Telegram and The Sun, Photo by Dick DeMarsico)

Civil rights leaders march on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC, August 28, 1963. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in front row, second from right. (National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) / United States Information Agency photo)

sub-Black Liberation Movements , such as the Black Panther Party, the Black Liberation Army, and the Black Arts Movement . As a result, young Black Americans shifted the methodologies of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement from nonviolent boycotts into direct action civil obedience. Although the term “Black Power” had entered the Black conscious lexicon during the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement, the mantra, which carried connotations of self-defense and Black nationalist separatism, did not appear until the mid-to the late 1960s. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) eventually rejected the non-violent tactics of the Civil Rights Movement, adopting the ideologies of Black militancy. Malcolm X was one of the leaders promoting Black Power across the country. Extending the fight for civil and human rights, Malcolm X and other members of the Black Power Movement announced a radical, cultural nationalist creed that attempted to eradicate outmoded laws and policies that affected Black social uplift. According to historian Peniel Joseph, “Black Power activists fought for community control of schools, Black Studies programs at colleges and universities, welfare rights, prison reform, and jobs and racial justice for the poor.” Considered a cultural and political revolutionary movement for the Black underclass, some of the visual imagery most associated with the Black Power Movement includes clenched fists, dashikis, and afros. Moreover, famous Black artists, such as singers James Brown and Aretha Franklin, coined anthems and phrases such as “Say it loud, I’m Black, and I’m proud” and “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.,” respectively, promoting selfreliance and spreading the message that “Black is Beautiful.” In sum, the historical record demonstrates throughout the mid20th century that Black Americans executed various approaches and philosophies – all equally integral – toward the common goal of Black liberation.

Malcolm X at Queens Court in 1964. (New York WorldTelegram and The Sun, Photo by Herman Hiller)

Groups of the Black Liberation and Black Freedom Movement: A Selection

• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), 1909

• The National Urban League (NUL), 1909

• University Negro Improvement Association – African Communities League, 1914

• The Nation of Islam, 1930

• National Council of Negro Women, 1935

• Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), 1942

• The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), 1957

• Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), 1960

• Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), 1963

• Deacons for Defense and Justice, 1964

• Organization for Afro-American Unity (OAAU), 1964

• Black Panther Party Self-Defense (BPP), 1966

• Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), 1968

• The League of Revolutionary Black Workers, 1969

• The MOVE Organization, 1972

• The African Liberation Support Committee, 1972

• Black Women’s United Front, 1974

America’s Soundtrack: Music of the 1960s

The 1960s witnessed the emergence of several popular musical styles and genres. Black and white artists used music to address issues related to the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. With musicians such as Bob Dylan and Joan Baez and their acoustic folk music, music was more than entertainment; it was a clarion call for social justice and human rights. The various interpretations of rock and roll, however, led the charts. Bands, including The Beach Boys and The Beatles, were known for their softer rock music. Janis Joplin hit the charts with her psychedelic rock, while Jimi Hendrix was celebrated for his contribution to acid rock. But the defining music of the 1960s originated with Detroit, Michigan’s Motown Records. A wordplay on its original location, Motor Town, Motown Records was founded by Berry Gordy in 1959. With chart-topping hits by Black artists who were popular among Black and white audiences, Motown originated a catalog of sound that became known as the “Sound of Young America.” Motown Records would not have been Motown Records without its hitmakers. Some of today’s most considerable musical talents received their start at Motown, such as Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, and Stevie Wonder. Christened the “Prince of Motown,” Marvin Gaye was at the top of the list with hit records that blended sultry soul with pop rhythm. Like many artists, Marvin grew up singing in the church as his father was a preacher in Washington, D.C. Gospel music served as the undertone to Gaye’s music, whether it be the songs he wrote or the tunes crooned in concert. Gaye helped define the Motown sound with songs such as “How Sweet It Is” and his rendition of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” further complemented by duets with Diana Ross, Tammi Terrell, Kim Weston, and Mary Wells.

Cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1968 LP Album In the Groove, (later retitled I Heard It Through the Grapevine after that recording’s success), his first solo studio album in two years since his successful duets with artists such as Tammi Terrell and Kim Weston. (Tamla Records, fair use)

Cover of the 1962 Album: Meet The Supremes (Motown Records, fair use)

Although Aretha Franklin never signed with Motown Records, she was undoubtedly a reigning voice of the 1960s. The year was 1964. Aretha Franklin had just finished performing at Chicago’s Regal Theater – a performance venue synonymous with New York’s Apollo Theater. D.J. and promoter Pervis Spann called Franklin back to the stage, placed a crown on her head, and dubbed her “The Queen of Soul.” Trained in the gospel music tradition and a pioneer of R&B and pop music, Franklin’s six-decade-long career, however, spilled outside of the mainstream music scene and into the winds of the Civil Rights Movement as well as the burgeoning Feminist Movement. For instance, her 1967 rearrangement of the Otis Redding tune, “Respect,” became an anthem of empowerment for Black people and women of all races.

Aretha Franklin, circa July 1967, from a trade ad for Franklin’s single “Baby I Love You”. (Photo Credit: Atlantic Records, public domain)

Stevie Wonder during rehearsal for the Dutch Television and Radio organization TROS-TV on Oct 30, 1967. (Dutch National Archives, Photo credit: Jack de Nijs for Anefo, public domain)

Photo of singer and songwriter Otis Redding, circa 1967. (Photo Credit: Stax Records, public domain)

The Art of Numbers Running: An African American Underground Economy

At the top of the mid-twentieth century, specifically in the 1920s and 1930s, African Americans established several creative ways to support themselves economically. For example, some held rent parties, some took in boarders, some participated in sex work, and others engaged in an illegal underground lottery known as “policy” or “numbers.” The basic concept for this underground economy was that players would pick a set of three-digit numbers and attempt to match them with the winning number. Winning numbers were selected by either mysterious policy operators, published numbers from the New York Stock Exchange, or bank clearing totals. Numbers was an alternative way for impoverished communities, especially Black communities, to gain financial stability, thus supplying them with everyday needs such as clothing, food, and housing. Many African Americans were fortunate enough to win a cumbersome amount of money. They would, in turn, purchase a home, invest in a bar or small grocery store, or initiate a numbers game in their neighborhood. This underground economy also provided employment opportunities for African Americans. As illustrated by the character Wolf in Two Trains Running, people created jobs by becoming a “numbers runner/collector” – recording the threedigit bet and paying out the money if someone wins. Although the numbers game today (now typically referred to as the lottery) has variations for the wager, the most common bet, as observed in Two Trains Running, was a “straight” bet or a “box/boxed” bet. The straight bet means that a person will win only if the numbers drawn are an identical match (also known as an exact order). For example, if someone makes a wager for “572,” they win only if the number is drawn precisely the same way: “572.” However, if someone makes a boxed wager, and the same three numbers are drawn in any order, they are declared a winner, albeit the payout is lower than a straight bet.

Kenny Scott as WOLF with Michael J. Asberry as HOLLOWAY, Lamont Thompson as MEMPHIS in a Tech Rehearsal Run. Scenic Design by Stephen C. Jones, Costumes by Alice Ruiz, Lights by Kurt Landisman, Props by Liam Rudisill. (Photo by Nakissa Etemad)

To learn more about August Wilson, check out the following resources:

August Wilson: Completing the Twentieth Century Cycle, edited by Alan Nadel.

August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand, PBS American Masters series.

Conversations with August Wilson, edited by Jackson R. Bryer and Mary C. Hartig.

May All your Fences have Gates: Essays on the Drama of August Wilson, edited by Alan Nadel.

The Cambridge Companion to August Wilson, edited by Christopher Bigsby.

The Dramatic Vision of August Wilson, by Sandra G. Shannon.

The Past as Present in the Drama of August Wilson, by Harry J. Elam, Jr.

Steven Anthony Jones in MTC’s How I Learned What I Learned (2019). (Photo by Kevin Berne)

LAMONT THOMPSON*

(he/him – Memphis) could not be more thrilled to be returning to the Bay Area. His last production here was the original run of Black Odyssey at Cal Shakes in 2017. Lamont began his acting career in Atlanta with Jomandi Theatre Inc., attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and has crisscrossed the country working for theatres large and small: The San Diego Rep, The Milwaukee Rep, The Indiana Rep, Penumbra, Mixed Blood, First Stage Milwaukee, The Robey Theatre. Lamont has also spent two decades working in television. His most recent and notable credits include The Resident, The Upshaws, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Miracle Workers, 68 Whiskey, Snowfall and NCIS Los Angeles Lamont could not be more humbled and honored to be playing his favorite character in his favorite August Wilson play. In his own words: “ I saw the Broadway premiere of this show in 1992 when I was in drama school and vowed that one day I would do this show and play Memphis. I only took thirty years but here we are!” My performance is dedicated to all those who “put their shoulder to freedom” whether their backs held up or not, and Miss Nadia who inspires me every day to put happiness at the center of my choices.

KENNY SCOTT (he/him – Wolf) is an actor based in Oakland, California. He attended Morgan State University and was a member of the Laney College Fusion

Theatre Project (Más, The Late Wedding, and In The Wound). Recent credits include staged readings with Magic Theatre, Golden Thread, Cutting Ball Theater, BAPF, and Lorraine Hansberry. Full productions with Quantum Dragon Theatre (Ageless), The New Conservatory Theatre Center (Mystery of Love and Sex), The Forum (Sarafael), Idiot String (Port Stories), Crowded Fire (SUBVERiTas, Inked Baby), Z Space (The Institute for Counterfeit Memory) and Cal Shakes (Lear). A company member with the Oakland Theater Project (Hamlet, Mother Courage) as well as Shotgun Players (The Claim, The Light). He is excited to be making his MTC Debut!

SAM JACKSON* (she/they – Risa) is a San Francisco-based actor, vocalist and teaching artist. Her works include film, commercial & stage acting as well as live & recorded vocal performance. While forever a student of her craft, she began her deep work at SFSU where she received her BA in Theatre performance. Her most recent stage acting credits include: Cal Shake’s Lear (Cordelia/Comic), Aurora’s The Incrementalists (Raz/Marteen), Aurora’s Father/Daughter (Miranda/Risa), Shotgun Player’s Vinegar Tom (Ellen), Aurora’s Exit Strategy (Sadie), Shotgun Player’s Kings (Sydney Millsap). She is also a company member of Nice Tan Comedy, a queer WOC led sketch comedy group whose work can be found on a screen near you! Jackson would like to send her deepest gratitude to her family (blood & chosen) for their love, support, and moments of sanity in this ever wild life. �� IG: @little_miss_sj

MICHAEL J.

ASBERRY*

(he/him – Holloway) returns to the MTC Stage where he previously appeared in the production of Fences Michael was most recently seen onstage in Lear at the California Shakespeare Theater. Regional and National Theatre credits include Aurora Theatre Company; Sacramento Theatre Company; Orlando Shakes (Orlando, FL); San Francisco Shakespeare Festival; San Francisco Mime Troupe; American Conservatory Theater; Center REPertory Company; Capital Stage; Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland, OR); Lorraine Hansberry Theatre; TheatreWorks; African American Shakespeare Company and the 6th Street Playhouse. Film credits include: FreeByrd; San Andreas; Chasing Rodriguez, Mr Incredible and Pals and the upcoming, A Stolen Christmas. Television credits: Chance; Trauma, and Nash Bridges. Michael has recorded voiceover spots for Pixar Animation/ Clorox, Pine Sol and Sweetos, and appears in the video games Watchdogs 2 and Battlefield Vietnam. Michael is currently featured in a television commercial for Toyota. Eternal Thanks and Praises to my Ancestors, my Family and my Friends.

EDDIE EWELL* (he/ him – Sterling) hails from Detroit, Michigan. He began acting in the Bay Area and recently completed his MFA at American Conservatory Theater. He has been blessed to work on some wonderful projects, including Ti Jean and His Brothers (Mi Jean), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon/ Demetrius), and Wintertime (Francois) at A.C.T.; We Are Proud to Present… (Actor 2) at San Jose Stage; Kill Move Paradise (Isa) at Shotgun Players; The Welkin (Frederick Poppy) and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Matthias of Galilee)

with ARC/ Remote Theater; To Saints and Stars (Ken) with Playwrights Foundation; VS (Tye) with TheatreFirst; Jitney (Youngblood) at African-American Shakespeare Co.; Pass Over (Moses) at Marin Theatre Company; and most recently Gem of the Ocean (Citizen Barlow) at TheatreWorks. To God be the glory.

MICHAEL WAYNE RICE* (Hambone) A graduate of the University of Missouri – Kansas City, with an M.F.A. in Acting and Directing, Michael has taught acting at University of Missouri, University of the Pacific, and University of San Francisco. He has acted in over 30 productions in Missouri, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and has been with Shakespeare & Performing Arts Regional Company, SPARC (formerly known as Livermore Shakespeare Festival), since 2004 as an actor/teaching artist/director. Favorite SPARC roles include Trigorin in The Seagull, Cloten in Cymbeline, and Jaques in As You Like It. He played Martin Luther King Jr, in The Mountaintop, a Theatre Bay Area Editor’s pick, Theatre Bay Area Recommended Production, SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle “Go See” Pick 2016, and as Best Production by the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominee. This is his first time working at MTC, and the journey has been fantastic.

KHARY L. MOYE* (he/him –West) is thrilled to be making his Marin Theatre Company debut! He was last seen in The Lorraine Hansberry production of Intimate Apparel He also starred in the world premiere of Hieroglyph with SF Playhouse. Other productions include the Audio Drama The Flats with Aurora Theatre Company, Toni Stone with A.C.T. , A Streetcar Named Desire with African American Shakespeare Company,

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

and Six Degrees of Separation at Custom Made Theatre Company. Film/Television credits include The Dave Chappelle Show and Sense 8. He is beyond grateful to be back on stage speaking August Wilson’s words! Thank you to all his loved ones who have supported him during these Covid filled times and thank YOU the audience members for supporting us!

CREATIVE TEAM

AUGUST WILSON (he/ him – Playwright) (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) authored Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African-Americans, decadeby-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. His plays have been produced at regional theatres across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Mr. Wilson’s works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987); and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as eight New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and Radio Golf Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s early works included the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming and the musical satire Black Bart

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association

and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Award, 2003 Heinz Award, was awarded a 1999 National Humanities Medal by the President of the United States, and received numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theatre located at 245 West 52nd Street - The August Wilson Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero.

DAWN MONIQUE WILLIAMS (she/her – Director) is the Associate Artistic Director at Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, CA. Recent directing credits include the world premieres of Marcus Gardley’s Lear (Cal Shakes) and The Incrementalist by Cleavon Smith (Aurora); Une Tempête by Aimé Césaire (American Shakespeare Center), Beehive: The 60’s Musical (CenterREP), Lauren Gunderson’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie (TheatreSquared), Sweet Water Taste (Orlando Shakespeare Theatre), Letters to Kamala (American Stage Company), Earthrise (Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Bull in a China Shop (Aurora), The Secretaries (Profile Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Chautauqua

Theatre), August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson (Le Petit), Lynn Nottage’s By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Douglas Morrisson and UNCO), and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Town Hall); audio versions of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye adapted by Lydia R. Diamond (Aurora) and Lynn Nottage’s Las Meninas (Profile Theatre). Dawn’s awards include the 2022 Pfaelzer Award, a Princess Grace Theatre Fellowship, a TCG Leadership U Residency Grant, and a Drama League Directing Fellowship. She holds an MA in Dramatic Literature and an MFA in Directing. Dawn is a proud member of SDC.

STEPHEN C. JONES (Scenic Designer) is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829- Lighting and Scenic Designer. Selected Regional Theatre and Off-Broadway design credits include: Utah Shakespeare Festival (UT), Orlando Shakespeare Theatre (FL), The Dressmaker’s Secret (Off-Broadway), Jodie’s Body (Off Broadway) Simon Studios (off Broadway),Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CO), Portland Stage Company (ME), Sacramento Ballet (CA), Alley Theatre (TX), B Street Theatre (CA), Capital Stage Theatre Company (CA), Sting and Honey (UT), American Stage Theatre (FL) HalfMoon Theatre (NY). Publishing credits include serving as Contributing Researcher for a book on world scenography, Technical Editor for a book on computer aided drafting, and a Contributing Writer for an upcoming book about praxisbased approaches to training young artists. Stephen conducts regular webinars on design and drafting techniques, speaks at national conferences such as Lighting Dimensions International (LDI), United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT), Vectorworks Design Summit, and the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. He has been highlighted in Live Design Magazine for the creativity of his design process using 3D software.

ALICE RUIZ (she/her –Costume Designer) Over the years, Alice has been a freelance Costume Designer, Assistant Costume Designer, Costume Mentor, and Theatrical Dresser throughout the SF Bay Area. She’s happy to be returning to MTC after Costume Designing Pass Over earlier this year. Other recent credits include Dream Hou$e at Shotgun Players (Berkeley) and Book of Sand (a fairytale) at Oakland Theater Project. She is grateful to everyone in a seat supporting the arts making their way back to the stage! You can view her other work at www. aliceruizdesign.com.

KURT LANDISMAN (he/ him – Lighting Designer) is happy to return to Marin Theatre Company with this production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running helmed by Dawn Monique Williams. Previous Designs at MTC include the following award-winning Lighting Designs for Anne Boleyn, Choir Boy, Seven Guitars, and Wilder, Wilder, Wilder. Mr. Landisman’s designs have spanned the Bay Area over way too many decades to count, and have garnered 22 Bay Area Critics Circle Awards. His designs have also been seen across the U.S., as well as internationally in Japan, Singapore, and China. kurtlandisman.com

GREGORY ROBINSON (Sound Designer / Composer) is a United Scenic Artists Local USA 829, IATSE Member and ‘An Artist That Paints With Sound’. His sound effects, sound design, music, production sound recording, post-production mixing, and recordings have been featured in local, regional, and national radio and television

advertising, short films, documentaries, corporate video, and theatre. His work has been featured in an Emmy-award winning documentary, and he has been recognized by the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle, with a Sound Design ‘Excellence in Theatre Award’ for Water By The Spoonful, and a nomination for Proof. Gregory recently designed for the Syracuse Stage Company’s production of Salt/City/Blues. Other select Sound Design credits include Jazz at MTC, Calligraphy, The Mountaintop, The Pitmen Painters, Snow Falling On Cedars, Time Stands Still, Living Out, You Can’t Take It With You, An American Daughter, Be Aggressive, and Present Laughter

KHALID Y. LONG, PHD (he/ him – Publications Dramaturg) is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies and the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Georgia. Khalid has published scholarly essays in The Black Theatre Review (tBTR), Continuum: The Journal of African Diaspora Drama, Theatre and Performance, the Journal of American Drama and Theatre, and the Routledge Companion to African American Theatre and Performance. A freelance dramaturg, Khalid’s dramaturgy credits include (select listing): Feeding Beatrice by Kirsten Greenidge, Forward Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin; Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring, Court Theatre, Chicago, IL; Relentless by Tyla Abercrumbie, TimeLine Theatre, Chicago, IL (World Premiere); Sweat by Lynn Nottage, Paramount Theatre, Aurora, IL; Mom, How Did you Meet the Beatles? by Adrienne Kennedy and Adam Kennedy, Forward Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin; Kill Move Paradise by James Ijames. REP Stage, Howard County, Maryland; Milk Like Sugar by Kirsten Greenidge. Mosaic Theatre, Washington, D.C.

CHERIE CORINNE RICE (she/her – Dialect Coach) Credits include The Wedding Band (TFANA), Lobby Hero (Capital Rep), Three Musketeers (Cleveland Playhouse), The Bluest Eye, Our Daughters Like Pillars, Skeleton Crew (Huntington), I Am My Own Wife (Long Wharf), Breath and Imagination (Lyric Stage Co), House of Joy (Cal Shakes), Song of the Northwoods, Rapture Season, Bernarda’s Daughters, Evil Eye (Audible.com). MFA, Brown University/Trinity Rep; BA Theater & Performance, UC Berkeley. Current Head of Voice and Speech, Waterwell Drama, NYC. Past teaching appointments include NYU Tisch MFA, Rutgers MGSA, and Columbia MFA.

JEUNÉE SIMON (she/ her – Intimacy Coach) is an actor, director, and intimacy director in the Bay Area. She is dedicated to creating braver spaces where artists can be vulnerable and play. Recent intimacy direction credits include: Lear (California Shakespeare Theater), The Code (A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory), Coming Soon (Z Space), Boys Go to Jupiter (Word for Word), Circle Mirror Transformation (Custom Made Theatre Co.), Little Shop of Horrors (Berkeley Playhouse), and more. Simon is a proud recipient of the 2017 RHE Artistic Fellowship for acting and is a 2019 Directing Apprentice with PlayGround.

LIAM RUDISILL (he/him –Props Designer) is a carpenter and props maker who has been working with Marin Theatre Company since moving to the Bay Area in 2014. He’s excited to be back at full capacity as Assistant Technical Director and Props Lead for the company this season. Recent design credits include Boys Go to Jupiter (Word for Word at Z Space), The Sound Inside (MTC), Pass Over (MTC), Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (MTC), and Dunsinane (MTC).

CHRISTINA HOGAN* (she/ her – Stage Manager) returns to Marin Theatre Company after working on Pass Over, Georgiana and Kitty, Brilliant Mind, The Catastrophist, Mother of the Maid, and The Wolves. Her other theatre credits include Fefu and her Friends, Gloria, Top Girls, Edward Albee’s Seascape, Men on Boats, and Hamlet (American Conservatory Theater); Sanctuary City and It Can’t Happen Here (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); Lear (Cal Shakes); In Old Age, The Baltimore Waltz, runboyrun, and And I and Silence (Magic Theatre); and Ripped (Z Space). Hogan has a BA in theater arts from Saint Mary’s College of California.

NICK CARVALHO* (he/him –Stage Manager: Dec 12-18) is excited to stage manage his second production with Marin Theatre Company, following Dunsinane. His recent credits include the world premiere of Monument, or Four Sisters (a sloth play) (Magic Theatre), The Cherry Orchard and Cinderella: A Fairytale (Town Hall Theatre), as well as Head Over Heels, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Book of Will, Seussical: The Musical, and Our Lady of 121st Street (Diablo Valley College). Nick

earned two Associates degrees from Diablo Valley College in 2021 and has served as the Stage Management Advisor since 2021. He was awarded three certificates of merit in stage management from KCACTF for his work on Our Lady of 121st Street, Seussical: The Musical, and The Book of Will. Nick is also the Assistant Technical Director and a Production Supervisor at El Campanil Theatre. Nick’s upcoming project with MTC will be Justice: A New Musical .

JO DAVITA ORTIZ* (they/ them – Assistant Stage Manager) is the assistant stage manager and has been stage managing for 5 years at an academic, community, and regional level. Their favorite part about stage management is bringing the shows together from pre-production through closing. Credits include School of Rock, Funny Girl, All the Great Books [Abridged], The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged], The Agitators, and Crumbs From the Table of Joy

DARIA PERKOVA (she/they – Assistant Costume Designer / Costume Shop Manager / Wardrobe Lead) is a Bay Area native costume designer. She has designed, stitched and run wardrobe for many theatres around the Bay. Her most recent design works include Anton Chekov’s Uncle Vanya at Chabot College, and How Black Mother’s Say I Love You at Theatre Rhinoceros. She is the Costume Shop Manager and Wardrobe Lead here at Marin Theatre Company. *Member

JASSON MINADAKIS

(he/him – Artistic Director) is in his 17th season as artistic director of Marin Theatre Company, where he has directed Dunsinane, The Sound Inside, The Catastrophist, Mother of the Maid, Sovereignty, Oslo, Shakespeare In Love, Thomas and Sally, Guards at the Taj, August: Osage County, The Invisible Hand, Anne Boleyn, The Convert, The Whale, Failure: A Love Story, the world premiere of Lasso of Truth, The Whipping Man (San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Awards for Best Production and Best Acting Ensemble), Waiting for Godot, Othello: the Moor of Venice, The Glass Menagerie, Edward Albee’s Tiny Alice, the world premiere of Libby Appel’s adaptation of Chekhov’s Seagull, Happy Now?, Equivocation (SFBATCC Award, Best Director), the world premiere of Sunlight, Lydia, The Seafarer, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, A Streetcar Named Desire, said Saïd, Love Song, and The Subject Tonight is Love As artistic director of Actor’s Express Theatre Company, he directed The Pillowman, Bug, The Love Song of J Robert Oppenheimer, Echoes of Another Man, Killer Joe, Burn This, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, Blue/Orange, and Bel Canto. As producing artistic director of Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, he directed Jesus Hopped the ’A’ Train, Chagrin Falls (2002 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Best Production), and numerous others, including 19 productions of Shakespeare. Regional credits include The Whipping Man at Virginia Stage Company, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Hamlet at Georgia Shakespeare, Copenhagen at Playhouse on the Square (2003 Ostrander Theatre Award for Best Dramatic Production), and Bedroom Farce at Wayside Theatre. He is a Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

MEREDITH SUTTLES

(she/her—Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer) joined Marin Theatre Company as its new Managing Director in April of 2021. Meredith is an arts leader with an extensive background in creative and performing arts in the areas of development, management, strategic planning, fundraising, and performance. She has held senior leadership roles at TheaterWorksUSA, Soho Repertory Theatre, Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and the New York City Opera. Meredith is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and former EmcArts: Arts Leaders as Cultural Innovators (ALACI) Fellow. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., a Steering Committee Member of the Black Theatre Commons and currently serves on the Board of Directors of vibe Theater Experience (Brooklyn, NY). As a visionary leader known for her ability to win community support, develop key coalitions and build strong relationships with a shared sense of purpose, she is passionate about devising meaningful ways to address and further the goals of MTC.

NAKISSA ETEMAD (she/ her—Associate Artistic Director, Producer) is the Associate Artistic Director of Marin Theatre Company (MTC) and an Iranian American dramaturg and producer, and French translator specializing in new BIPOC plays and musicals for 30 years. She is a Resident Artist of Golden Thread Productions, Regional VP Metro Bay Area for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), and a member of MENA Theater Makers Alliance and the Anti-Oppression Task

Force of LMDA. Recent MTC credits include Producer for The Catastrophist, Brilliant Mind, Hotter Than Egypt, and Casting Director for Georgiana and Kitty and MTC shows for the past two seasons. She selected, produced and dramaturged the world premiere coproduction at MTC and A Contemporary Theatre Seattle of Yussef El Guindi’s Hotter Than Egypt, which she also dramaturged at the 2020 Colorado New Play Summit. Other recent dramaturgy includes Heather Raffo’s Noura (MTC/ Golden Thread), Marcus Gardley’s Play On Shakespeare commission of Lear (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), and world premiere productions with Betty Shamieh, Marcus Gardley, Lauren Yee, Marisela Treviño Orta, Margo Hall, Torange Yeghiazarian, Naomi Wallace, Arthur Miller, Tom Stoppard, Chay Yew, Polly Pen, Luis Valdez, Culture Clash, Edit Villarreal, Rick Najera, Heather McDonald, Julie Hebert, and Octavio Solis. She is a frequent collaborator on Golden Thread’s ReOrient Festivals of Short Plays and Bay Area Playwrights Festivals. Former Dramaturg and Literary Manager of The Wilma Theater, San Jose Rep, and San Diego Repertory Theatre and Exec. VP Freelance of LMDA, Nakissa received the 2015 Elliott Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy for The Lark’s four-city premieres of Gardley’s the road weeps, the well runs dry

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY

Company is the Bay Area’s premier mid-sized theatre and the leading professional theatre in the North Bay. MTC is committed to the development and production of new plays, with a comprehensive New Play Program that includes productions of world premieres, readings, and workshops by the nation’s diverse emerging and established playwrights. MTC’s numerous education programs serve more than 4,500 students from over 40 Bay Area schools each year. MTC envisions theatre as a vital space for sharing diverse stories to build a more just and equitable world. MTC is dedicated to inspiring conversation, learning and action to build more inclusive communities. We do this by providing a sustainable home for developing the work of diverse American playwrights and producing innovative theatrical experiences. MTC was founded in 1966 and is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

SPECIAL THANKS

Oroad Azarbeygui

Jill Green and the Props Department at Berkeley Repertory Theatre Martine Kei Green-Rogers Kimberly Hughes & Steve Moazed The Speakeasy SF

Artistic Director

Jasson Minadakis (he/him) Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer Meredith Suttles (she/her) Associate Artistic Director Nakissa Etemad (she/her) NNPN Producer in Residence Richard A. Mosqueda+ (he/she/they)

Interim General Manager Nichole Gantshar (she/her) Director of Production Haley Miller (she/they) Technical Director Jeff Klein (he/him/they)

Assistant Technical Director & Props Lead Liam Rudisill (he/him) Costume Shop Manager & Wardrobe Lead .......................... Daria Perkova (she/they) Lead Electrician ....................................................... Krys Swan (he/him) Box Office Manager ............................................... Lindsey Abbott (she/her) Grant Writer ........................................................ Nina O’Keefe (she/her) Education Coordinators & Teaching Artists Daniel Duque-Estrada (he/him) Euan Ashley (he/him) Special Events Coordinator Zphyna Caldwell (she/her) Marketing Partner RachelMedia.org Communications Partner Prismatic Communications Development Partner Donorly Front of House team

Zphyna Caldwell (she/her), Janet Friedman (she/her), Kahlil Gray (he/him), Casey Herrman (he/him), Laura Odeh (she/her), Perry Parsons (they/them), Carol Price (she/her), Sue Urquhart (she/her), Jenise Walter (she/her) +Supported by the National New Play Network Producers in Residence program

Melanie Maier

Peter Maier

Tina McArthur Iris Metz Kiki Pescatello

Andrew Poutiatine

Ivan Poutiatine Chris Raker

Laura Scott Dana Shapiro Gary Shapiro

Christopher B. Smith Kathleen Taylor

Jennifer Yang Weeden Phillip Woodward

Marin Theatre Company acknowledges the generous support of the following individuals, foundations and corporations whose contributions make our extraordinary theatre productions and education programs possible. To join our family of contributors, receive sponsorship information or if you have questions about your gift, please contact the Development Department at development@marintheatre.org or 415.322.6035. The following gifts were received between June 1, 2021 and November 22, 2022.

PARTNER CIRCLE

$25,000+

John & Shelley Chesley

Gerald Cahill & Kathleen King

Peter & Melanie Maier, The John Brockway Hungtington Fund

Matthew Purdon & Liz Sklar

Robert J. and Paula B. Reynolds Fund

Christopher B. & Jeannie Meg Smith

Fred and Kathleen Taylor Charitable Fund

PRODUCER’S CIRCLE

$5,000–$24,999

Franklin Amster

Cheryl & Rick Brandon

Lynne Carmichael

Suzanne & Mark Darley

Thomas W. Edwards & Rebecca Parlette-Edwards David Catania & Diana Gay-Catania Barbara & Jim Kautz

Andrew F. and Ann B. Mathieson Fund

Kenneth and Vera Meislin

Barbara Morrison

Kathryn E. Olson Kiki Pescatello

Ivan Poutiatine

Betty & Jack Schafer

Susan and Joel Sklar

Michael Wall and Wendy Feng

PREMIERE SOCIETY CIRCLE

$1,000–$4,999

Anonymous

Helen & Thomas Anawalt

Lois & Tom Ashley

Mary Jane Baird

Joan Beavin

Susan & Bill Beech

Janet Brown

Nancy & Gary Carlston

Robert K and Barbara Straus Family Foundation, Inc. Dr. Leslie Chatham & Sunny St. Pierre

Ron Clyman and Francoise Mauray

Gatian’s Fund

Kipp Delbyck

Judith + Philip Erdberg Virginia & William Felch Jr Jeff Freedman & Marie Boylan Amy + Mort Friedkin

Jill + Steven Fugaro Susan and Dennis Gilardi David Goldman

Gerry Goldsholle and Myra Levenson

Kenneth & Joan Gosliner Karen Gottlieb

Michelle and Normand Groleau Peggy and Marc Hayman Bill & Vanessa Higgins Susan and Russ Holdstein Mark and Lori Horne Coreen & Mark Jamison William Kissinger Dirk & Madeleine Langeveld

Kathleen and John Leones

Scott MacLeod and Linda Kislingbury Lynn and Jeff Magill

Marymor Family Fund

Christine and Steve Maxwell

Margot Melcon and Jon Wolanske

Stephanie Moulton-Peters + Roger Peters

Barton + Barbara O’Brien

Rebecca Parlette-Edwards and Tom Edwards

Priscilla Pittiglio

Robert and Donys Powell

Gordon Radley

Hector Richards

Richard + Nancy Robbins

Mr. Eric Roberts

Ken Ross and Jean Bee Chan

Tobi and Mark Rubin

Thomas and Jill Sampson

Laura Scher and Ian Altman and the Barn Road Foundation

Kurt Schindler

Eric Schwartz and Magda Wesslund

Diana & Richard Shore

Vickie Soulier

Stephanie Splane Nina Madrid Stricker

Tara J. Sullivan

Stephen Symonds

Beverly Tanner and Jerry Herman Dr. Samuel Test

Diane and Bob Wagner

Elizabeth Werter and Henry Trevor Vic Woo & Phil Brewer

Penny Wright Susan York Charitable Fund

FRIENDS OF MTC CIRCLE

CONTRIBUTOR | $500–$999

Anonymous

Paul F. and Geraldine Alpert

Robert Anderson & Lois Stevens

Marilyn Angelo

Robert Bailey

Janet Bamberger

Robert and Barbara Baum

Michele and David Benjamin

Stephen Bischoff

Adrian + Daniel Blumberg

Joan & Nick Boodrookas

Bromley Carson Fund

William Cain

The Leo J. and Celia Carlin Fund

Pat & Amanda Conran

Stephanie Douglass

John Eichhorst + Jennifer Blackman

Larry Fahn

Steve Gensler

Karen Haydock

Brian and Jocelyn Herndon Howard and Elisabeth Jaffe

Niemasik Kaufman Family Fund

Susan Kolb

Harriet and Tom Kostic, Kostic Family Fund

Judy Leash & David Madfes

David Madfes and Judith Leash Diane Martin

Tina McArthur and Richard Rubenstein

Carol Mimura & Jeremy Thorner

Mary & Stephen Mizroch

John S. Osterweis Philanthropic Fund

Suzanna G. Pollak

Marianne and Steven Porter Russell & Joan Pratt

Drs. Janice and James Prochaska

Angelo and Kimberly Salarpi Valerie Stoll Schwimmer Marsha Silberstein

John Simpson Shelagh Smith Martha and Jonathan Smolen Valerie Sopher Stolyavitch Fund

Beverly Thorman Trabea Ltd

Daniel Stein and Diane Tucker Suzanne L. Zimmerman Charitable Fund

FRIEND | $100–$499

Anonymous (13) May Allam Chris Andersson Susan Angel

Joseph D. and Gail P. Anguilo Ellen Arenson Stacy Astor Alison Aubrejuan

Mr. & Mrs. Fabio and Ann Aversa Nancy Barash

The Bardwicks Frank & Lee Battat Andria F. Benner Judith Berling Teena Berman and Owen Hart Linden Berry Brad & Robyn Bilfelt Catherine Bille

Annette Blanchard and John Hewitt Nancy & Stacy Bloom Little Fawn Boland

Robert Bowen Jack and Ute Brandon Cheryl and Rick Brandon Lori and Bob Brandon George and Cindy Brown

The Buehler Family Patricia Burbank Margaret Burke

Patrick Cahill

Robert P. Camm Charitable Fund

Chris Carter

Heidi H. Cary Steven + Karin Chase Ann and Rick Clarke

Diane & William Clarke

Barbara Gay + Richard Cohn

Christina Crow

Betsey & John Cutler

Ralph and Debra Deadwyler

Nicky Scott and Melinda Derish

Ernest & Debra Dibenedetto

Molly & Brett Dick

Tom Diettrich

Louise Dockstader

Dr. Donald Dodelson

Stephanie A. Douglass Tammy Edmonson

Kerry Weiner & Andy Elkind

Ms. Jane Elkins

Patricia Ernsberger Sasha Faulkner

Pam Feagles Mardi Finegan

Eileen and Andrew Fisher

Betsy Foy

Christie Fraser Karen Fry Gail Gallagher

David Gast

Rita and Kent Gershengorn

Gail and Mervin Giacomini

Helene + Lewis Gibbs

Margot Golding

Edward Granger

Mark Green

Gini and Gordon Griffin

Linda Groah

Kris Malone Grossman & Ed Grossman

Anita Hagopian

Robert Hall

Tracy & Brian Haughton

Karen Haydock

Gillian A. Hayward Donation Fund

Rebekah Helzel

Cathryn Hilliard

Karen Hirsch & Jim Condit

Adrienne Hirt and Jeffrey Rodman

Mim Hodge

Heidi Hofer

Mark and Roberta Hoffman

Matt and Robin Hoffman

Joanne Howard Cheryl & Jeffrey Hylton

Dabney Ingram

Lori Ingram

Marilyn Jackson

Elisabeth & Howard Jaffe

Elaine James

Mia James

Janet Johns

Sheila-Merrle Johnson Duane Johnson

Will Johnson

Diana & Ted Jorgensen Breton Kaiser-Shinn Gee Kampmeyer

Muriel Kaplan

Barbara Kerr

Kenneth King Monica Lange

Nancy Lange

Sheri & Jerome Langer

Barbara Laraia Kate Lauer

Harriet Lazer

Sharon Leach

Gretchen Leavitt

Warren and Barbara Levinson

Patricia Liddle

Elliott Liff

Sarah Lind Charitable Fund George Lindfelt Nanette Londeree

David and Carolyn Long Jacqueline Lopez-Wyman

Lisa Lund Fund

Diane Lynch

Lynn MacDonald Mary Malaspina Myrna R Margolin

Jason Marks

Albert Martin & Diana Richmond John & Cindy McCauley Andy and Jane McClure Steve & Kay McNamara Kay and Steve McNamara

Purple Lady/Barbara Meislin Fund

Paul Melcon

Dr. Kurt Menning

Mary-Ann Milford Don + Barbara Miller David W. Miller

Christian Mills + Carolina Dangord Lee Minadakis

Everett and Julia Moore

Susan Morris

Barry & Jane Moss Margaret Moster Chris & Bonnie Mumford Riyan Mustaq Devan and Elizabeth Nielsen Jan & Craig O’Brien

Constance O’Connor

Judith L. O’Rourke

Betty Obata

Connie Oclassen

Vivian Olsen

K. O’Mohundro + N. Handelman

Marta A. Osterloh

Nancy Otto

Diane Parish

Barbara Paschke + David Volpendesta

David Pasta Ms. Rebecca Pauling Joyce Pavlovsky

Lynn Perry Charles & Linda Philipps

Stephen Piatek Mariana Poutiatine Cotten Jack & Jessica Powell

Lynn Prime

The Laurence Pulgram and Kelli Murray Charitable Fund

Dr. and Mrs. Joel Renbaum

Susan Reynolds Gary Robinson + Danny Field

Julianne Rohmaller

Marit Roman Mel & Ruth Ronick

Benjamin + Barbara Rooks

Mr. & Mrs. Hank Rose

Susan Rosin & Brian Bock

Francoise Rothstein April H. Rox

Mr. & Mrs. William Ryan Diane & Ed Ryken Maxine & Edward Sattizahn

Thomas Trent & Laurel Schaefer-Trent Alan + Wendy Schaevitz Ruth Schoenbach and Lynn Eden Laura & Michael Scott Michael and Jane Scurich

Kate Sears

Holly Seerley, MFT

Carol and Randolph Selig Family Philanthropic Fund Terry Seligman

Judy Shaper

David A Shapiro, MD & Sharon L Wheatley Julie & Jeff Sherman

Robin Silver, MD George and Cindy Brown Neil Sitzman Dr. Dorothy Slattery Judy and Greg Smith Lauren & Jason Snell Susan Snyder

Steve Sockolov & Susan Snyder

Joel and Carol Solomon Family Fund Ms. Tracy Solomon

Deborah Spanier and Ronald Fishman Melanie Sperling Louis & Bonnie Spiesberger

Renee Marler and Timothy Standing Drs. Shayna & Elliott Stein Dr. Elliot Steinberg Richard and Jean Stenquist Ken & Dana Stokes

Gretchen and Grover Stone Daniel & Maureen Stuempfig Svetcov Family Fund

Philip Rosenthal and Candace Swimmer Lisa Rogers Taylor Marian & Roger Taylor Susan Terris

Kathryn Thyret Beatrice Tocher Mark Toney Mr. Norman and Dr. Carol Traeger Mary Van Voorhees

Connie Vandament Nancy Warfield Kenneth & Ellen Weber Laura Werlin Paul Werner

Valerie Westen Wilder Family Charitable Trust Linda Wilford Susan J Wittenberg Carolyn and Fred Wood Sandra Yoffie Michelle Young Anna Zara Ms. Dara Zandanel

MTC PARTNER | $50,000+

Support for our playwright in residence, Lauren Gunderson, ] is provided by a National Playwright Residency Program grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Clay Foundation West • Marin Community Foundation Melody Wireless Infrastructure • The Shubert Foundation William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

SEASON PARTNER | $25,000+ The Bernard Osher Foundation

VIP PRODUCER | $15,000+

California Arts Council • Haughton Family Charitable Fund • John Brockway Huntington Fund National Endowment for the Arts • The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation Stacy Scott Fine Cateringº

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | $10,000+ Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund Venturous Theater Fund, a fund of the Tides Foundation

PREMIERE PRODUCER | $5,000+

3 Badge Beveragesº • August Sebastiani • Acqua Hotelº Brooks Note Wineryº • Garry + Joanne Brooks Marin Cultural Association • Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust The Tournesol Project • The Tow Foundation

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER | $3,000+

Carol Selig, Selig Floral Designº • County of Marin Mill Valley Outdoor Art Club

PRODUCER | $1,000-2,999

Body Kineticsº • Compass Marin Charitable Association Mill Valley Market • National Philanthropic Trust OSKA Mill Valley • The Rock Foundation Whistlestopº

ºIn-Kind Donation

MTC TOMORROW

THE LEGACY GIVING SOCIETY OF MARIN THEATRE COMPANY

Linden + Carl Berry‡ • Jack Bissinger‡ Dave + Bobbie Chapman • John + Shelley Chesley

Sheldon Doing + Steve DeHart • Fred Drexler‡ • Thomas W. Edwards + Rebecca Parlette Edwards Joseph + Antonia Friedman • Brian + Tracy Haughton • Sandra Hess • Shirley Loube‡ • Melanie Maier Gladys Perez-Mendez‡ • Ivan + Lochiel Poutiatine‡ • Leigh + Ivy Robinson‡ • Gage Schubert • Beverly Tanner Fred + Kathleen Taylor • Nancy Thomson‡ • Phil Woodward + Connie Majoyy ‡Deceased

MEMORIAL GIFTS

IN MEMORY OF CARL G. BERRY Linden Berry

IN MEMORY OF VIVIENN FOSMAN

Purple Lady/Barbara J. Meislin Fund

IN MEMORY OF GLORIA GUTH David Pasta

IN MEMORY OF HENRY HIGGINS Bill & Vanessa Higgins

TRIBUTE GIFTS

IN HONOR OF CHERYL BRANDON Lori and Bob Brandon

IN HONOR OF JIM CONDIT Karen Hirsch

IN HONOR OF MARY GRANGER Edward Granger

IN HONOR OF JIM HORAN Mardi Finegan

IN HONOR OF JIM HORAN Matt and Robin Hoffman

IN HONOR OF JIM HORAN Mary Malaspina

IN MEMORY OF CARY JAMES Elaine James

IN MEMORY OF PETER MAIER Terry & Larry Hill

IN MEMORY OF CATHY TEAGUE Nanette Londeree

IN HONOR OF MELANIE MAIER Judy Camp

IN HONOR OF OUR SON, DAVID EVERETT MOORE Everett and Julia Moore

IN HONOR OF THE REYNOLDS FAMILY Jean Ihle

IN HONOR OF CARRIE SCHOENBACH Ruth Schoenbach and Lynn Eden

IN HONOR OF TARA SULLIVAN AND MOLLY HORAN, AND IN MEMORY OF JIM HORAN Stephen Symonds

IN HONOR OF TARA SULLIVAN Gail Gallagher

MTC PRODUCTION UNDERWRITERS

Marin Theatre Company’s 56th Season and this production of August Wilson’s Two Trains Running is generously underwritten by the following:

PARTNER CIRCLE

MTC SUSTAINER

Terry Berkemeier + Lori Lerner Gage Schubert Christopher B. + Jeannie Meg Smith

MTC PARTNER

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Marin Community Foundation

Melody Wireless Infrastructure Buffington Miller, Clay Foundation-West Bob + Paula Reynolds The Shubert Foundation William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

SEASON PARTNER

The Bernard Osher Foundation David Catania + Diana Gay-Catania John + Shelley Chesley

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Foundation

Barbara + Jim Kautz Kathy King + Gerald Cahill Vera + Ken Meislin Fred + Kathleen Taylor Vickie Soulier

PRODUCER CIRCLE

VIP PRODUCER

Lynn Brinton + Dan Cohn California Art Council

Suzanne + Mark Darley Tracy + Brian Haughton Haughton Family Charitable Fund Kimball Foundation

Gene + Neil Barth

Gerry Goldsholle + Myra Levenson

Kimberly Hughes + Steve Moazed Koret Foundation

The Marymor Family Fund

Peter + Melanie Maier, The John Brockway Hungtington Fund

Ivan Poutiatine

Matthew Purdon

The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation Stacy Scott Fine Cateringº

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Foundation

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Kiki Pescatello

Michael + Jean Strunsky, Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund Paul + Sandy Zuber