Marin Theatre Company Pass Over Program 2-15-22

WEST COAST POST-BROADWAY PREMIERE

PASS OVER BY

ANTOINETTE CHINONYE NWANDU

FEBRUARY 2–20, 2022

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY NATIVE LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Marin Theatre Company acknowledges that our theatre and administrative offices are located on the ancestral, occupied, and unceded land of the Coast Miwok peoples.

We recognize that 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 towards 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 that Marin Theatre Company becomes a more inclusive and welcoming space.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE COAST MIWOK AND THE FEDERATED INDIANS OF GRATON RANCHERIA: Coast Miwok: Facebook.com/SouthernCoastMiwok.com1 coastmiwokofmarin.org marinmiwok.com

Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria: GratonRancheria.com

Support indigenous rights organizations on a national or global level: IllumiNative Native American Rights Fund Cultural Survival Indigenous Environmental Network

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

From the Managing Director/CEO of Marin Theatre Company

4

Setting, Cast, Creative & Production Teams of Pass Over

6

A Note from the Director, Kevin R. Free

8

Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu: Tramping her Own Exodus to Joy

by Kelundra Smith—American Theatre magazine interview 12

A Letter from Piper Dellums, Drama Therapist & Compassion Consultant

14

Playwright Antoinette Nwandu is Bringing Hope Back to Broadway

by Gloria Oladipo—a Shondaland Interview 18

Reflections on Pass Over from MTC Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis

20

Bios of the Cast, Creative & Production Teams

26

Marin Theatre Company Staff, Advisory Board, Box Office Information

28

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

FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR/CEO OF MARIN THEATRE COMPANY What a joy it is to welcome you to the New Year here at MTC! Joining this vibrant theatre company fulfilled a lifelong dream for me, and I have learned much since arriving in April 2021: that our patrons are engaged, enlightened people for whom compelling theatre is a way of life; that our staff and volunteers are among the hardest-working, passionate people I have ever had the privilege to partner with; and that now more than ever—after more than half a century of producing new plays—MTC is committed to bringing the voices of diverse, thoughtful, groundbreaking playwrights to the stage.

This performance is no exception. Pass Over has thrilled audiences on multiple stages and on film including a triumphant Broadway engagement last autumn. Like the world, this play has undergone significant changes. At MTC, we are thrilled that we are able to present Pass Over to you despite a COVID-forced cancellation of our original engagement back in 2020, and we are delighted to stage the West Coast Premiere of the Broadway version now.

As playwright Dominique Morisseau states in her Rules of Engagement, I invite you to “be an audience member that joins with others and allows a bit of breathing room. Exhale together. Laugh together. Say “amen” should you need to. This is community...”

397 Miller Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941-2885 415.388.5200 | info@marintheatre.org | marintheatre.org Jasson Minadakis Artistic Director Meredith Suttles Managing Director/CEO Nakissa Etemad Associate Artistic Director marintheatrecompany

2

@marintheatreco

marintheatre

We owe our very existence to the faith and support of our patrons. You inspire us to present the best in contemporary American theatre. You have remained faithful even during times f confusion and change. And many of you have supported us with financial gifts, particularly during our 2021 End-of-Year Fundraising Campaign. We are so grateful.

I hope that you will join us again and again!

With gratitude,

Meredith Suttles Managing Director/CEO

SPECIAL THANKS FOR PASS OVER Aldo Billingslea Diana Glazer Margo Hall Kimberly Hughes and Steve Moazed Fred and Kathleen Taylor

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Wendy Feng Co-Chair Barbara Morrison Co-Chair Kathryn Olson Vice President John Chesley Secretary Fred W. Taylor Treasurer

Bethany Byrd-Hill Kipp Delbyck Denmo Ibrahim Vera Meislin Christian Mills

3

Matthew Purdon Robert Reynolds Stacy Scott Penny Wright

WEST COAST POST-BROADWAY PREMIERE OF

PASS OVER

BY

ANTOINETTE CHINONYE NWANDU DIRECTED BY

KEVIN R. FREE

TIME: the (future) present but also 2021 CE but also 1855 CE but also 1440 BCE

PLACE: the river’s edge but also a ghetto street but also a desert city built by slaves (and also the new world to come ((worlds without end))

Pass Over runs 90-minutes with No Intermission

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.

4

CAST OF CHARACTERS Moses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eddie Ewell* Kitch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LeRoy S. Graham III* Mister/Ossifer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian Herndon*

CREATIVE TEAM Assistant Director, Assistant Stage Manager and Fight Captain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tanika Baptiste* Drama Therapist & Compassion Consultant . . . . . Piper Dellums Scenic Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward E. Haynes, Jr. Lighting Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grisel Torres/GG Assistant Lighting Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Di Giorgio+ Costume Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alice Ruiz Asst. Costume Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ashley Corso Sound Designer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher Sauceda Sound Consultant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Ard Props Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Liam Rudisill

PRODUCTION TEAM Interim Director of Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike Post Technical Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeff Klein Stage Manager (Until 2/13) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christina Hogan* Stage Manager (Starting 2/14) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Suenkel* Master Carpenter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Ferrell Master Electrician (Desired Effect). . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cassie Barnes Electricians (Desired Effect). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sahn Cannon, Arashi Cesana, John Di Giorgio, Tyler Hester, Steven Kroger, Michael Lyons, Benjamin Miller, Jasmine Murray, Brenton Wirth, Yelyzaveta Tashkevych Scenic Charge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Katzman Wardrobe Crew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daria Perkova Board Operator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arashi Cesana COVID Compliance Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicole Matthews

Made possible in part by

*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. +John Di Giorgio is by special arrangement with Desired Effect Theatrical Production Company

5

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR,

KEVIN R. FREE

Dear Reader: I used to curate a blog called “Holy Sh*t! I’m Black.” It was a lighthearted look at all of the times in life when Black people realize exactly how different they are from the people with whom they are living, talking or collaborating. The blog was my attempt to use humor to explain my existence. Why don’t I understand why my friend shaves his face in the shower without a mirror? Ohhhhh, right. Right. Because I’m Black.

When I saw the first version of Pass Over at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, way back in the Before Times, my partner and I left the theatre in silence. We passed by patrons expressing outrage and grief, walked down a set of stairs and through the lobby. We walked towards the elevated train, and he broke the silence. He said, “Wow.” I said, “Yeah.” Then he said, “that may have been the best play I’ve seen since… ever.” Then I exhaled. Because I agreed. I was moved and frightened and outraged by this play. It spoke to me through all its layers of grief and dread and anger and even joy, and I was so nervous that my partner, a white man, would not be able to appreciate the play’s protest or its assertion of the truth about

6

black fear. I was so wrong. And when I exhaled after he spoke about the play’s right to life, I realized I had been holding my breath, steeling myself to defend the play and its existence in the same way I have had to steel myself to leave home to be an artistic leader, or you know, just to leave home in this Black body. It was another “Holy Sh*t! I’m Black” moment.

Here we are making this play now during this damned pandemic; this existential threat we are all experiencing, regardless of race. Rehearsing this play while dodging Covid has been quite the metaphor. Covid lurks around the corner, even when we know for sure we will be free from it. If we let down our guard, it sneaks up on us. The minute we think we are free, we are reminded that we are not. We are mystified by Covid. But still, we live with it, we engage with it, we make decisions about it, we change our minds about it, we strategize new ways of dealing with it. We have to, or we won’t survive it, and it seems it’s not leaving us anytime soon.

I found, as I wrote this, that I was trying to justify my experience and this play’s existence to you, dear reader. I assumed you would not be Black; I assumed you were as exhausted as I am by the twin pandemics of Covid-19 and racial injustice. I assumed that I would need to choose my words carefully, so as not to offend you. I wondered, as I imagined seeing the sunrise of understanding on your face, why it was so difficult to write and why I still chose to write it, assuming I’d never see that particular sunrise, until it hit me, again: Holy sh*t. I’m Black.

Dreaming of that Sunrise, Kevin R. Free January 2022

7

ANTOINETTE CHINONYE NWANDU:

TRAMPI N G H ER OWN E XODUS TO JOY

By Kelundra Smith

As a new version of ‘Pass Over’ gets ready to reopen Broadway, its playwright is poised for a fresh chapter. poverty, and police brutality. Walking the streets of New York and seeing a city still scarred, she recognized that the Broadway version of Pass Over needed to be a rallying cry for unity, liberation, and joy—i.e., one in which the character of Moses doesn’t fall to police violence, as in previous drafts, but lives to fight another day.

These days, playwright Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu (she/her) is focused on her peace of mind. After a year living through the tumults of the COVID-19 pandemic and some personal strife, she’s ready to celebrate. And she has plenty reason to: namely, the Broadway debut of her play Pass Over in September (previews begin Aug. 4). Inspired by Samuel Beckett’s existential play Waiting for Godot, Pass Over finds two Black men essentially trapped in a “nowhere place” as they try to pass the time and stay out of the crosshairs of an angry police officer.

American Theatre recently caught up with Nwandu on a busy afternoon as she was getting a manicure between meetings. We spoke about the development of Pass Over, the tradition of the tramp, and her hopes for the future.

Nwandu has been living with the play for the last five years, and it has changed with each staging. It premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2017, in a production captured by director Spike for Prime Video.

A year later the play made its Off-Broadway debut at Lincoln Center Theater, but it wasn’t until the beginning of 2020 that discussions about a Broadway run began.

Then the pandemic shutdown happened, and along with the rest of us, Nwandu watched as the nation roiled in the turmoil of competing pandemics in healthcare,

KELUNDRA SMITH: You’ve been living with this script for a long time. What made you stick with it?

ANTOINETTE NWANDU: The motto I have adopted for this production is: “It’s above me.” I’m staying with it because the divine spirit continues to keep it in my life. If it was up to me, I would have moved on, but the spirit insists that I stay. I think that until I make the play into the version of itself that people need most—my dream is to make

8

of the places I had imagined this show would go up, because Trump had happened.

all three versions of the play, which I’m currently referring to as Pass Over 2017, Pass Over 2018, and Pass Over 2021— available to people after this production is over. Each of the three versions is still going to be necessary for somebody.

After that, [producer] Matt Ross and I had our first conversation Feb. 26, 2020.

On March 6, 2020, I turned 40; that’s an interesting number in the Bible. I’m writing a play about a plague, and we have a plague.

Then, on Jan. 26, 2021, Matt calls me up and says: “Let’s take your play to Broadway.”

Like I said, it’s above me.

KS: People often say that Waiting for Godot is a play about nothing. Do you think you’ve changed that notion?

AN: I think I’ve done an okay job, but I also think that people just don’t understand the play. Waiting for Godot is not a play about nothing. I think of my two characters, Moses and Kitch, in the lineage of the tramp. I’m realizing that I need to do some think pieces and essays, because people are stuck in the idea that Beckett is about nothing. Beckett was writing about the tramp. This is when Charlie Chaplin came about; these were white men who were poor and went to fight in World War I and came back with PTSD. You have all of these poor white men— vagabonds, tramps, people who have been disposed of. What war did my characters come through? The war on drugs. The war that’s been waged on Black people since Nixon and Reagan.

KS: Performances begin in a few weeks.

We don’t know what the Broadway audience will look like when we return, but it may look like it did before the shutdown. Are you grappling with in any way with what it may mean to tell this story in front of an audience that may be mostly white and hence removed from the message?

AN: We are working with REALEMN, which is an all-Black female marketing team. I now have a social media manager who is a Black woman. So we’re going to try to get Black, Asian, and Hispanic people in the audience. As far as the idea that older white people may come in and be removed from the message, I disagree with that quite a bit.

The audience for the message is whoever comes in to receive the message. How is it going to be the new world and I still care about your race or your gender? I grew up in the church. Healing and new life are for everybody.

KS: When Pass Over premiered in Chicago, there was a lot of controversy around the reviews of that production, especially Hedy Weiss’s review. At any point did you think that response could kill the play’s future?

KS: I want to talk about the cost of success, or rather, what success requires. What have you found? What do you need right now?

AN: Yes. Every time I finish a production I think it could be the end. After Chicago, I thought it was done. But Danya Taymor had invited several New York directors to see it in Chicago, and Evan Cabnet [from Lincoln Center] came. Thank God Evan called and convinced me. Lincoln Center was not one

AN: Do you follow me on Instagram? That’s what it’s requiring of me. It’s requiring me

9

to sit still and allow the fuckery to fall away.

When I began the prayer, “Lord, decolonize my life and my mind,” I didn’t know who I was. Whatever this spirit is has seen fit that the thing that I love the most—that has taken most of my energy and focus apart from my work—is no longer in my life. I ain’t got nothing to do with this, and I don’t know if that’s good, bad, or in between. I just know I gotta do this.

what it’s going to be, but I can tell you that it’s a gesture for a new earth. I’m telling everybody: Come and get your life.

KS: What would you like to see happen for Pass Over after Broadway?

AN: I want it to go to Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles, and then I want it to go to the West End and then the whole world. Because the version of the play that we are making now… When you go through a plague and your mind is right, now all I can see is the version where Moses lives.

Black people, BIPOC people, and people of the global majority have seen enough death and violence. Truth be told, if Black bodies are safe, you will be safe too. So now, we’re going to do a version where the Black man lives, and every motherfucker needs to see it. We have mourned enough. This is a time for new life and celebration.

KS: There are religious overtones and undertones about passing over as a path to liberation for the men in the play. Do you feel as if you, as a playwright and a person, have passed over? Where do you feel you are in your own passage?

AN: If I were to be so bold as to track my life arc, not to replicate the life of Moses, but it’s like, if you’re going to write about this person in the Bible for five, six, seven years, maybe your life might start to resemble that person a little bit. I would say that definitely in this rehearsal period, I’m going back up to the mount to get the new tablets, because we have the old ones and we don’t need them. You’ve got to lead the people to the Promised Land. The gesture for the new set—I can’t tell you exactly

“Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu: Tramping Her Own Exodus to Joy” by Kelundra Smith.

Originally appeared at AmericanTheatre.org, 12 July 2021. Used with permission from Theatre Communications Group.

10

11

A Letter From

PIPER DELLUMS Drama Therapist & Compassion Consultant

questioning self, society and the structure of the human psyche.

This most significant invitation to act as Drama Therapist & Compassion Consultant, the intentional eyes and breath of compassion, unveiling, removing, trusting and healing in a creative theatrical setting, has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my many decades of practice in the creative arts, social justice and mental health. Partnering with conscientious visionaries Kevin R. Free and Richard Mosqueda has been more than an honor and a privilege, but a profound and proactive metaphoric journey into the passionate mind of playwright Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu.

We have so many people suffering from mental and emotional illnesses in our time. Many people experience alienation from society, their own families, and even from themselves. In a word, they are disconnected instead of connected.

We’ve been told we are all on our own.

We believe that the ties that bind us have been broken and we don’t know how to put Humpty Dumpty together again. We have been overly reminded of our limitations, our societal and self informed definitions/ identity and individual nature, not our deepest inner connection with each other and reality itself.

This play, Pass Over, its stunning cast, director and team have integrated the layers of historical context, institutionalized racism, debilitating fear as defined by generational trauma, reality and the absurd into a masterpiece of truth, deep personal vulnerability, bonding and of course, brilliant interpretive performances. This show may shock, confuse, awaken, tear open and lift up the spirit-opening doors of both remorse and revelation. You may even leave

We are chased in our lives by the relentless need for something else. “If only” becomes the mantra of discontent. If only the sun were out, if only I could change my circumstance…cross over Jordan... part the proverbial Red Sea. An endless drumbeat calling us to the allure of the ever elusive ease of being and happiness. Catapulted to

12

Each of us have unique and creative ways of feeling discontent. Perhaps we are afraid to stop long enough to see what would arise. We can look at what reinforces that experience. What would we need to release to come to contentment?

this and that, we find ourselves dissatisfied and not understanding why. Each moment that we are deeply steeped in the enough-ness of our experience we touch contentment.

It is a practice we can cultivate. In letting go of waiting for something else to do it, we are fully engaged with what we are actually doing. We spend our lives enduring moments until we get to some other place.

This is the moment. This is the place.

May we treasure and cherish the moments of our life.

May they be a tapestry that wraps us in love.

THIS IS PASS OVER.

13

Playwright Antoinette Nwandu is Bringing Hope Back to Broadway

By Gloria Oladipo

Nwandu talks to Shondaland about her play “Pass Over” and returning to the Great White Way for the first time since Covid shut it down.

14

Recently, Nwandu spoke with Shondaland about the process of getting Pass Over ready for its debut during the pandemic, visions of a better Broadway, and the act of creating for Black audiences (including herself) during this historic moment.

As American theater slowly returns following the wrecking ball of the Covid-19 pandemic, the landscape of live, theatrical performance will look very different. In addition to an increasing amount of virtual performances, the past year’s racial reckoning has forced the art form to engage with its ongoing inequities — whether it’s racism among white theater stakeholders or an ongoing legacy of underpaying and overworking employees. Amid the ongoing changes, the Broadway premiere of Pass Over, a play both written and produced by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu, is a story and a way of theater-making that is desperately needed in this ever-evolving industry.

GLORIA OLADIPO: Just to begin, I’d love to hear how you’re doing and how the creative process is going right now. I know you all are super-close to opening [the play started previews on August 4 and opens on September 12]. What is it like?

ANTOINETTE NWANDU: It’s amazing, it’s groundbreaking, it’s historic. The play is in a really great place, which I’m super-happy about. I think that’s in large part thanks to my collaborators and my creative team, most of whom I’ve been working with for the bulk of this journey. So, I’ve been with a lot of them since Chicago [Pass Over premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre in 2017]. So, we’re in a really great place.

Inspired by Waiting for Godot and the Exodus story from the Bible, Pass Over is a play about two Black men dreaming of the “promised land” and escaping from their street corner. The mounting of Pass Over is historic — it’s the first new production to premiere following Broadway’s Covid shutdown in 2020, and it’s also the first show written by a Black playwright to be shown at the August Wilson Theatre since it was renamed for the venerable writer. For Pass Over’s Broadway debut, a new version of the play will be staged, one that Nwandu says “centers the health, hope, and joy of our audiences, especially Black people.”

This is a really difficult part of the rehearsal process; we’re in technical rehearsal, so this is our first day at the August Wilson Theatre.

It’s a lot of really technical, nitty-gritty, challenging stuff, [but] I’m in good hands, and it feels so great to just be privileged to be able to do something that I know is historic—like, Broadway’s never shut down like this, we’ve never lived through a pandemic before, I’m at the August Wilson Theatre, I’m the first Black playwright to have a play here since the theater became the August Wilson. Before that, James Baldwin, I learned today, had plays here.

August Wilson had several plays premiere here, so the legacy is strong. And I feel really, really, really grateful and blessed and aware.

Nwandu and her fellow producers have also used Pass Over as an opportunity to set a new standard on Broadway: paying their actors above the Equity minimum, providing mental-health-counseling stipends to actors, and distributing affordable, premier seats for underrepresented audience members through community organizations.

15

at the end of the day. I really think it’s just centering on desire as opposed to centering on fear, you know? That’s my after-time mantra. I gotta center on something other than fear because, look, bad shit is going to come. We’ve all lived through it, so it’s like, I want to live. I want to live. Let’s center on desire; let’s center on good things.

GO: With transitioning into in-person rehearsals, what was that process like?

Were there any difficulties, and were there any that surprised you?

AN: Honestly, I would say the opposite. I would say that before I started, I had so much anxiety, because I was just like, “This is crazy. What are we doing?” But then once I actually got back to work, the work itself came very easily, and the work itself has been the saving grace, I think, and the work itself has been how we have been able to put up with all of the irregularity and all of Covid, because the work itself is so good and it feeds us. It just feeds us so much.

So, yeah, I think I would say beforehand I thought it would be harder than it is. I mean, it’s challenging, and it’s daunting just because it’s so much, but emotionally I’m happier than I could’ve imagined.

GO: I love that. Another question that I have is that, earlier on, you talked about how this process has really been aided by the “good hands” you’ve been in, people that have helped you through this process. Something I’ve been really pleased with about Pass Over is all the precautions you’ve taken to care for everyone involved. Things like the mental-health fund for the actors and above-minimum-wage salaries aren’t commonplace yet. What inspired those actions on your part? How do things you’ve implemented with this show reflect what you envision a better future in Broadway to be like?

GO: What did you look forward to the most about being in an in-person space again?

AN: I think what inspired it, honestly, was just my own moral compass. I’m just not the kind of person that says, “Oh well, I hope everybody is safe. I don’t really know, but let’s just try to make some money and do this play.” If the work onstage is about the sanctity of Black life and how precious life is, but then, behind the scenes, I’m cutting corners or I’m not caring about the mental health of the Black people who are playing the [characters]? I don’t know — that’s just really suss to me. That just doesn’t make sense. That’s literally baked into the DNA of the show, so I think that’s one of the things about the kind of work I do.

AN: Can I be completely honest with you? I am really looking forward to flirting [laughs].

I miss flirting with people! I’m a huge flirt, and I miss it. So, I’m like, “Yes, bring it on.

Bring it on. I’m flirting with everybody.”

GO: What about flirting did you miss?

AN: I think the validation. I think the playfulness of it. I’m also newly bi-curious; I’m going through a divorce now, and so I’m allowing myself, or granting myself, the space to totally question everything.

So, I’m interested in, you know, exploring my bi-curious, my bisexual identity. I think it’s a way of learning more about yourself,

16

GO: In general, Covid has really done a number on everyone. We’ve all had to adapt, including audiences. As we hopefully start to transition out of the pandemic, what do you think an audience needs now?

If you do work that is as morally laden as my work is, then I think on a certain level you have to walk the walk. And that’s just sort of the way I’ve approached my career.

Part of my brand is just, if nothing else, I walk the walk. So, the specific ideas, that was a collaboration between my lead producer, Matt Ross, and I. He has experience producing on Broadway, and he has experience in PR for over 15 years in the Broadway theater community. So, he understands the rules and regulations. He understands the way it used to be. He and I were able to come up with our solutions together.

AN: Hope. I think we need hope, and we need a vision. I’ve been thinking about this verse from the Bible, from the Old Testament. It says, “Without a vision, the people perish.” Because if you only see what’s around you, then you think that’s all there could ever be, but you need a vision of something different. And that’s what I’m trying to give audiences with this play, a vision of a world where Black people and Black bodies are safe. I’m trying to give people a vision.

GO: I love the level of access that you’re pioneering and putting forth. One of the things that I’ve been really curious about and a lot of people have been talking about is the ending changing and the decision behind that. What has it been like to envision a new ending, specifically one oriented toward Black joy?

Gloria Oladipo is a freelance writer from Chicago, Illinois. She writes on a variety of topics including cultural criticism, politics, entertainment, health, and more. Previously, she has been published in Teen Vogue, The Guardian, and Bloomberg CityLab, to name a few. Follow her on Twitter @gaoladipo.

AN: Yeah, it was a pretty gnarly process for about a week and a half. Mainly, it was emotional. But I think the dramaturgy of the play is strong, and the dramaturgy of the new ending is very strong, and it wasn’t so much about replacing [the old one] — though I thought it was gonna be a replacement — and really it was just cutting out the part, you know, that last moment of Moses’ joy being stripped away. What if the joy isn’t stripped away? What if the joy is just allowed to continue?

Reprinted with gratitude from www.shondaland.com/inspire/a37236274/ antoinette-nwandu-pass-over-broadway/

17

REFLECTIONS ON PASS OVER from MTC Artistic Director JASSON MINADAKIS I first read Pass Over in 2016. It was devastating. And brilliant. And I picked it up and immediately read it again. There are few times in my career I can remember this happening.

This is one of those plays that changed how I thought about theatre and changed the way I thought about the world. We gave Pass Over our 2017 Sky Cooper New American Play Prize because it was hands down the best play we read that year. It is one of the best plays I have ever read.

And Pass Over has done something that not many other plays have done. It has changed with the times in which it is being performed and exists to date in three distinct versions. The 2015 text was first produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 2017 and from it exploded a Chicagoland, and then a national, conversation about young Black men dying on America’s streets, racism in the American theatre and specifically racism in theatre criticism. Next, Spike Lee filmed that production with some modifications to reflect the country in the wake of the 2016 election, and that 2018 text is preserved for posterity as an Amazon Prime film. Thirdly, in this performance at Marin Theatre Company, you will see the 2021 text which was first performed in August 2021—the play that reopened Broadway.

In crafting this work of art, Antoinette has brought to the stage the American epidemic of Black men being murdered for being Black. In the 2021 version which you are about to see, she portrays the world through the lens of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, America’s ongoing racial reckoning and the world’s slow reopening. I wish it were possible to bring you all three versions in their order of creation. I urge you, after this production, to seek out the filmed version and a production of the original 2015 text.

The scope of Antoinette’s vision of Pass Over cannot be contained within one artistic experience. Thank you for being part of this one. I hope her act of creation changes you. I hope you can take her message and help make change out there in the world.

18

19

BIOS CAST

gratitude became extremely important to Graham during that time. This practice has manifested itself in many positive ways for Graham, one of them being this production of Pass Over. Since graduating, Graham has worked on a few short films and commercials. Past Credits include: A Christmas Carol (Golden Gate Theater); Of Mice and Men (ACT MFA); The Substitution (ACT); Luce (Meadowbrook Theater); The Birds (Cortland Rep); If A Tree Falls (film); The Rest Is History: Alfred L. Cralle (commercial). You can also hear Graham talk about himself in a segment of NPR titled California Graduate On Making It In Theater During A Pandemic. Graham is gleefully anticipating what the future holds.

EDDIE EWELL* (he/him— Moses) hails from Detroit, MI. He began acting in the Bay and recently completed his MFA at A.C.T. He has been blessed to work on some wonderful projects, including: The Welkin with ARC/ Remote Theater, To Saints and Stars with Playwrights Foundation,The Last Days of Judas Iscariot with ARC/ Remote Theater, Ti Jean and His Brothers at A.C.T., Kill Move Paradise at Shotgun Players, Midsummer Night’s Dream at A.C.T., Wintertime at A.C.T., We Are Proud to Present... at San Jose Stage, TheatreFirst’s VS., Jitney at AfricanAmerican Shakespeare Company, and, his first play, Head of Passes at Berkeley Rep. You can see him next in TheatreWorks’s Gem of the Ocean. Eddie gives all glory and honor to God and sends a special shoutout to his family!!

Brian Herndon* (he/ him—Mister, Ossifer) Brian Herndon (he/him/ his) happily returns to MTC, having performed in As Thousands Cheer, The Good German, Failure: A Love Story, Swimmers, Shakespeare in Love and Oslo. He has appeared at theatres across the Bay Area, including TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, City Lights Theater Company, Aurora Theatre, 6th Street Playhouse, Central Works, Center Rep, and the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Favorite roles include Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Mr. Elton in Jane Austen’s Emma, Edward Gant in Edward Gant’s Amazing Feats of Loneliness and Estragon in Waiting for Godot. He studied physical theatre at the Dell’Arte School and holds an MFA from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

LEROY S. GRAHAM III* (he/him—Kitch) is a Brooklyn, NY native actor and is very excited to get back to being on stage. In 2020, Graham graduated from The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) where he received a MFA in Acting. However, graduating in the middle of a pandemic hasn’t been the easiest transition for Graham. With no set plans after leaving grad school, Graham decided to visit his family back in Brooklyn with the hopes of resettling. The practice of

Member of Actors’ Equity Association.

*

20

CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM

Time Festival, where he served as Producing Artistic Director for 5 years, winning an Obie for his work in 2015. He is now the Resident Artistic Director of FRIGID New York (www. frigid.nyc) and was just named Artistic Director of Mile Square Theatre in Hoboken, NJ (www.milesquaretheatre.org). He is also the co-writer and co-producer of the award-winning web series Gemma & The Bear! and the upcoming Beckys Through History (MyCarl.org). As an actor, along with performing in over 100 professional productions (including the world premiere production of WINK at Marin Theatre Company), he became the first AfricanAmerican to play the role of Bellomy in The Fantasticks Off-Broadway. An accomplished voice actor, as well, Kevin is the voice of Kevin from Desert Bluffs on the popular podcast Welcome to Night Vale. He is most proud of his work as an audiobook narrator, having contributed to over 400 projects in the past 20 years, including The Known World by Edward P. Jones; Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage; The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris; A Complicated Love Story Set in Space by Shaun David Hutchinson and all the books in the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.

Twitter/Instagram: @kevinrfree kevinrfree.com

ANTOINETTE CHINONYE NWANDU (she/her— Playwright) is a New York-based writer for stage, TV and film. Her play Pass Over re-opened on Broadway in August 2021 after making its New York debut at LCT3/Lincoln Center in 2018. A filmed version of the 2017 Steppenwolf production—directed by Spike Lee—premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and SXSW and is now streaming on Amazon Prime. Antoinette is a MacDowell Fellow, an Ars Nova Play Group alum, a Dramatists Guild Fellow, and a Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference Literary Fellow. She’s won a Lilly Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, the Whiting Award, the Samuel French Next Step Award, the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, and the Negro Ensemble Company’s Douglas Turner Ward Prize. Furthermore, her work has been supported by the Sundance Theater Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Ignition Fest, the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, Fire This Time, The Movement Theater Company and several others. Antoinette holds an A.B. in English from Harvard, an MSc from The University of Edinburgh, and an MFA from NYU Tisch.

TANIKA BAPTISTE* (she/her/they— Assistant Director, Assistant Stage Manager and Fight Captain) is absolutely elated to work on her second production with Marin Theatre Company. Originally from San Diego, CA she has worked as a director, producer, actor, playwright and vocalist in both the San Francisco Bay Area and SD. Her most recent Bay Area directorial credits include At the Wake of a Dead Drag Queen, Pillow Talk, The Review or How to Eat Your Opposition (Theatre Rhino) and Rachel (SBMT) SD credits: Clybourne Park

KEVIN R. FREE (he/ him—Director) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work as an actor, writer, director, and producer has been showcased and developed in many places, including The Moth Radio Hour; Project Y Theater; Flux Theater Ensemble; the Queerly Festival; The New York Neo-Futurists; and The Fire This

21

(Character Physics) The desTROYers (Old Globe Theatre-Powers New Voices Festival) and Fires in the Mirror which received the Broadway World Award 2021 Best Streaming Play (Trinity Theatre Company) She has performed and/or directed with La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego REP, Berkeley Repertory Theatre’s Ground Floor, Marin Shakespeare Company, The Old Globe, American Conservatory Theatre, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and Diversionary Theatre. This spring she will star as Sappho in The Real Sappho at Cutting Ball Theatre in SF. Love to my family, friends & this incredibly gifted theatre company and team!

the “Survivors Ball” Woman of the year award; and the 2018 INSPIRIQUE Circle of Light recipient with Oprah Winfrey for her dedication to victims and women’s rights international advocacy work. Her mission’s work focuses on human dignities, human trafficking, rape, trauma and sexual abuses, substance, elder and environmental abuse, depression, and grief counseling. Piper Dellums is a powerful inspirational speaker with over 20 years of experience; speaking at social and political activist human rights forums all over the United States, Belarus, American Samoa, Europe, and South, East and West Africa.

PIPER DELLUMS (she/ her—Drama Therapist & Compassion Consultant) is a filmmaker, director, writer, international public and inspirational speaker, host, advocate, author, survivor, and drama, arts and writing therapist specializing in issues of aging, child, domestic and sexual violence, abuse, addiction and trauma. She is the Creative Executive Director of film, video and special events for A Community for Peace and The Foundation for Peaceful Communities focusing on domestic violence, trauma and abuse. Winner of Four 2021 writer/director film awards for her films, “Legacy of Woman”; “About Love” and “Pachamama. She is the Executive Producer of the 2020 John Legend and Taye Da Prince, “Love one another” video campaign; The 2019 ABFF (American Black Film Festival) Best Screenplay RECIPIENT for her feature film, STRIVE, starring Danny Glover; The 2019 Harlem Film Festival “Audience Choice: Award for her producing of STRIVE. Winner best film for her films, “Don’t talk about Jesus”, “The aren’t Party”, “Red Road” and “Dandelions”.

She is the 2019 recipient and keynote of

EDWARD E. HAYNES, JR. (he/him—Scenic Designer) Ed is excited to be retuning to The Marin Theatre Co where he previously Designed Skeleton Crew and How I Learned What I Learned. Regional Credits include: The Geffen Playhouse, The Mark Taper Forum, Ebony Repertory Theatre Co., South Coast Rep., The Kirk Douglas Theatre, East West Players, Pasadena Playhouse, The Hollywood Bowl, Antaeus Theatre, Berkeley Rep., The Intiman Theatre, City Theatre Pittsburgh, Gulfshores Playhouse, The Muny Theatre, The Alliance Theatre, Trinity Rep., The Two River Theatre, The Alley Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and many he can no longer remember.

Television Credits include MTVs Spring Break 2012 & 2011, Hip Hop Harry for the Discovery Kids/TLC Channel, and Culture Clash for Fox TV. Ed is the proud father of twins, Denis and Wesly, and husband to Director Elizabeth Bell-Haynes. edhaynes.carbonmade.com ALICE RUIZ (she/her—Costume Designer) Over the past few years, Alice has been a freelance Costume Designer, Assistant Costume Designer, Costume Mentor, and Theatrical Dresser throughout the SF Bay

22

Area. This is her first time designing at Marin Theatre Company. However, this is her second show back post shutdown due to the pandemic and she is happy to be back to making art for live audiences!

Listing past credits here seems silly given a whole pandemic has happened since then so instead she’ll list her upcoming shows which inclue The Real Sappho at Cutting Ball Theatre (San Francisco) and Dream Hou$e at Shotgun Players (Berkeley). 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 aliceruizdesign.com.

scores. They have come to see the stage as an altar and light design as a guiding ritual towards catharsis. As an artist and healer, the intention is always to safely open the circle for sacred storytelling and to laugh and dance with the ancestral. This practice of art ritual healing is also found in gg’s sound and energy work explorations which you can find at grisel-torres.squarespace.com.

Enjoy this amazing show!

JOHN DI GIORGIO (he/him—Assistant Lighting Designer) has worked in technical theater around the Bay Area for the past 12 years. After training through Diablo Valley College and Summer Repertory Theater, he found his love for the making of theater through many different jobs: carpentry, sound design, lighting design, master carpenter, master electrician, technical director, and designer. He currently works for Desired Effect as well as Poison Apple Productions.

ASHLEY CORSO (she/her—Asst. Costume Designer) is a Bay Area-born costume designer and slow fiber artist. She is most inspired when creating stories through cloth. When designing, assisting, wardrobe supervising and running backstage for quick changes, she’s happy to be surrounded by artists and sharing stories with audiences. Most recently she’s been seen backstage as wardrobe crew of The Magic Lamp at Presidio Theatre and assistant designing Passing Strange at Shotgun Players. Ashleyreneec.com

CHRISTOPHER SAUCEDA (Any and All Pronouns—Sound Designer) Christopher “Saucy” Sauceda is a sound designer, composer, producer and creative in all areas of sound. Chris resides with home company, Campo Santo. Chris has been designing since 2017. You can contact Chris with any creative or business inquiries at sauceda.m.chris@gmail.com

GRISEL TORRES/GG (they/she—Lighting Designer) is a lighting and sound designer, dj, energy and body work practitioner based in Ohlone Chochenyo Territory. GG studied Light Design, Stage Management, and Props Design at SFSU’s School of Theatre and Dance and has been a staff lighting designer, carpenter, production manager and venue manager for various theatre companies in the SF Bay Area since 2013. Currently, she is mainly designing lights and props for live and filmed movement-based works.

During the pandemic, GG has had the time to explore her own style of empatheticintuitive-adaptive improvisational lighting

JAMES ARD (he/him—Sound Consultant) is a San Francisco based designer, noisemaker, and broadcast artist. Recent theatrical Sound Design credits include Exit Strategy, Actually, Dry Powder, The Royale (Aurora Theatre Company), This is Who I Am (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), 9 Parts of Desire (Portland Center Stage), Phantasmagoria, Utopia, Free For All, La Ronde (Cutting Ball Theater) and Time of Change (Joe Goode Performance Group).

23

and Skeleton Crew. Other Stage Management credits include Gloria, Top Girls, Edward Albee’s Seascape, and Men on Boats at American Conservatory Theater; In Old Age, The Baltimore Waltz, runboyrun, And I and Silence, and Any Given Day at Magic Theatre; Ripped and Selkie at Z Space; It Can’t Happen Here at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; and A Raisin in the Sun at California Shakespeare Theater. Christina has a BA in theater arts from Saint Mary’s College of California.

Ard is an occasional Podcast Coordinator for the SF Sketchfest, and Resident Artist with both Golden Thread Productions and Crowded Fire Theater.

CHRISTINA HOGAN* (she/her—Stage Manager) is excited to return to Marin Theatre Company.

Previously she has worked as the Stage Manager at MTC on Brilliant Mind, The Catastrophist,

Member of Actors’ Equity Association.

*

MTC LEADERSHIP

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.

JASSON MINADAKIS (he/him—Artistic Director) is in his 16th season as artistic director of Marin Theatre Company. Directing credits include the world premiere commission of 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

MEREDITH SUTTLES (she/her—Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer) joined Marin Theatre Company as its new Managing Director this April.

Meredith is an arts leader with an extensive background in creative and performing arts in the areas of development, management, strategic planning, fundraising, and

24

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.

Shakespeare Festival), and recent world premiere productions with Marcus Gardley, Lauren Yee, Marisela Treviño Orta, Margo Hall, and Torange Yeghiazarian. Frequent collaborator on Golden Thread’s ReOrient Festivals of Short Plays and Bay Area Playwrights Festivals. Festival Director for the 5th Annual New America Playwrights Fest, featuring new plays by Lynn Nottage, Naomi Iizuka and Polly Pen (San Jose Rep).

Former Dramaturg and Literary Manager of The Wilma Theater, San Jose Rep, and San Diego Repertory Theatre and Exec.

VP Freelance of LMDA. Recipient of 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.

NAKISSA ETEMAD (she/ her—Associate Artistic Director) is an Iranian American dramaturg, producer, and French translator specializing in new BIPOC plays and musicals for over 25 years. Recent MTC credits include Producer for The Catastrophist, Brilliant Mind, and Producer & Casting Director for Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley. Marin Theatre Company’s Associate Artistic Director, she is also a Resident Artist of Golden Thread Productions, Regional VP Metro Bay Area for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas (LMDA), and member of MENA Theater Makers Alliance and Anti-Racism Task Force of LMDA. She is dramaturg for the upcoming MTC co-production with ACT in Seattle of Yussef El Guindi’s Hotter Than Egypt, which she worked on with El Guindi at the 2020 Colorado New Play Summit. Other recent dramaturgy: Heather Raffo’s Noura (MTC/ Golden Thread), Marcus Gardley’s Play on! commission of King Lear (Oregon

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY Marin Theatre Company is the Bay Area’s premier mid-sized theatre and the leading professional theatre in the North Bay, producing a five-show season focused on new American plays. 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.

25

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY STAFF Artistic Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jasson Minadakis (he/him) Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Meredith Suttles (she/her) Associate Artistic Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nakissa Etemad (she/her) NPRP Playwright in Residence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lauren M. Gunderson* (she/her) NNPN Producer in Residence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard A. Mosqueda+ (he/she/they) Interim Director of Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike Post (he/him) Director of Production. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Huddleston (she/her) Technical Director. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeffrey Klein (he/him/they) Interim Director of Marketing & Communications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jo Manley (she/her) Grant Writer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nina O’Keefe (she/her) Education Coordinator & Teaching Artist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Duque-Estrada (he/him) Assistant Box Office Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lindsey Abbott (she/her) Supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s National Playwright Residency Program.

Supported by the National New Play Network Producers in Residence program.

*

+

MTC ADVISORY BOARD Linden Berry Joseph Bodovitz Jerry Cahill David Catania Diana Gay-Catania Bobbie Chapman Doug Ferguson Gerry Goldsholle Brian Golson Gale Gottlieb Gail Harris

Tracy Haughton Peter Jacobi Kimberly Jessup Dirk Langeveld Lori Lerner 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 Tara Sullivan Kathleen Taylor Jennifer Yang Weeden Phillip Woodward

MTC BOX OFFICE 415.388.5208 | boxoffice@marintheatre.org Visit our website to join our email list, learn about our plays, and purchase tickets. marintheatre.org

All images and/or content provided by Marin Theatre Company staff, contractors, and/or creative artists, or are in public domain, unless otherwise credited. Opinions expressed by contractors, contributors, and/or creative artists do not necessarily reflect the views of Marin Theatre Company. Photo credits are included as provided.

26

27

MARIN THEATRE COMPANY INDIVIDUAL DONORS 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 July 1, 2020 and December 1, 2021.

PARTNER CIRCLE

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

MTC SUSTAINER | $100,000+ Terry Berkemeier + Lori Lerner Gage Schubert Christopher B. + Jeannie Meg Smith

PREMIERE PRODUCER | $5,000+ Andrew F. and Ann B. Mathieson Fund Susan + Bill Beech Cheryl + Rick Brandonº Janet Brown Nancy + Gary Carlston Lynne Carmichael Suzanne + Mark Darley Kipp Delbyck Tom Edwards + Rebecca Parlette-Edwards William Jr. + Victoria Felch Wendy Feng + Michael Wall Jill + Steven Fugaro Sandra Hess Dixon Long, The Springcreek Foundation Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust Bill Helvestineº Barbara Morrison Connie Oclassen Kathryn Olson Priscilla Pittiglio Bob + Donys Powell Robin + Rick Rice Robert K And Barbara Straus Family Foundation Joel + Susan Sklar

MTC PARTNER | $50,000+ Buffington Miller, Clay Foundation-West Melody Wireless Infrastructure

SEASON PARTNER | $25,000+ David Catania + Diana Gay-Catania John + Shelley Chesley Lauren Gunderson + Nathan Wolfe Barbara + Jim Kautz Kathy King + Gerald Cahill Vera + Ken Meislin Robert J. + Paula B. Reynolds Fund Fred + Kathleen Taylor

PRODUCER’S CIRCLE VIP PRODUCER | $15,000+ The Bernard Osher Foundation Lynn Brinton + Dan Cohn Tracy + Brian Haughton Peter + Melanie Maier, The John Brockway Hungtington Fund Ivan Poutiatine Matthew Purdon Stacy Scott + Chuck Ciaccoº Vickie Soulier

PREMIERE SOCIETY CIRCLE ASSOCIATE PRODUCER | $3,000+ Aldoº Ms. Gatian Cunningham Susan + Dennis Gilardi Tamisie Honey Arthur + Toni Rembe Rock Rosenberger Family Fund/ Marin Community Foundation

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | $10,000+ Gene + Neil Barth Kimberly Marie Huges Gerry Goldsholle + Myra Levensonº Marymor Family Fund Kiki Pescatello

28

Dr. Samuel Test Diane + Bob Wagner

Stephanie Moulton-Peters + Roger Peters Harry Murphy + Deborah Gilden Norton Belknap Family Fund Nancy + Richard Robbins Chris + Jamie Norlander Diane Paul Mark + Mauree Jane Perry Drs. Janice + James Prochaska Suzanna G. Pollak Michael + Hailey Poutiatine Gordon Radley Thomas + Jill Sampson Eric Schwartz + Magda Wesslund Betty + Jack Schafer Laura + Michael Scott Diana + Richard Shore Dr. P.R. Silver Stollmeyer Family Fund Victoria Talkington Beverly Tanner + Jerry Herman Will + Leslie Thompson Sara Waugh + Micah Chockleyº Vic Woo + Phil Brewer Wendy Wyse Susan York

PRODUCER | $1,000+ Dr. Kedar Adour Franklin Amster + Andree Jansheski Charles M. + Leslie Anderson Tom + Lois Ashley Lee Aubry Mary Jane Baird Joan Beavin Linden Berry John Bissinger Jr. Adrian + Daniel Blumberg Bobbie + Dave Chapman Ann + Rick Clarke Ron Clyman + Francoise Mauray Erin + David Elliott Leida Schoggen + William Farmer Leland + Susan Faust Seth + Alison Ferguson Alex + Niki Fong Jeff C. Freedman + Marie C. Boylan Karen Fry David Goldman Kenneth + Joan Gosliner Gale Gottlieb Michelle + Norm Groleau Anita Hagopian Karen Haydock Susan + Russ Holdstein Coreen + Mark Jamison Bob Kaliski + Linda Nelson Kelley Family Charitable Fund Ken and Jackie Broad Family Fund Drs. Douglas + Carol Kerr Fritz & Karen Kieckhefer William Kissinger Lawrence + Stephanie Krames Duff Kurland + Carol Nusinow Kurland Dirk + Madeleine Langeveld Stephen + Gail Lazarus Judy Leash Cheryl Longinotti + Victoria H. Newton Garrett Loube + Marica Rodgers Scott MacLeod + Linda Kislingbury David Madfes Diane Martin Christine + Steve Maxwell Dr. William + Janet McAllister Tina + Richard McArthur Mary + Steve Mizroch

FRIENDS OF MTC CIRCLE CONTRIBUTOR | $500+ Drs. Paul + Geraldine Alpert Robert Anderson + Lois Stevens Carl + Fumiko Bielefeldt Nick + Joan Boodrookas Jack + Ute Brandon Josh Brier + Grace Alexander Jerry Cahill + Kathy King Bill Cain Kerry Campbell Dr. Paula Campbell Richard + Veronica Charvat Elizabeth Cook Carl Duisberg + Laura Lindskog Steve + Sharon Edelman Judith + Philip Erdberg Ben + Boriana Fackler Larry Fahn Jeff Freedman Linda Graham Mary Ann Griller Robert L Hall Dr. Sheryl Hausman + Jack Maslow

29

Brian + Jocelyn Herndon Lori Horne Grace Hughes + John Levinson Chris Hurwitz Cheryl + Jeffrey Hylton Howard + Elisabeth Jaffe The John L. Levinsohn Fund Sally Jones Muriel B. Kaplan Julie Kaufman + Doug Klein Susan Kolb Harriet + Tom Kostic, Kostic Family Fund The Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund Kathleen + John Leones Peter + Melanie Maier William + Christney McGlashan Nancy + David Medford Debbie Mills Jeff + Sue Mulvihill Bart + Barb O’Brien Tony Origlio + Kip Vanderbilt John S. Osterweis Philanthropic Fund Barbara Paschke + David Volpendesta Susan + Jon Peck Peirce Family Fund Phil Kurjan Fund Joel and Carol Solomon Family Fund Steven + Marianne Porter Russell + Joan Pratt Hector Richards Deborah L. Robbins + Henry Navas Jean B. Chan + Ken Ross Mark + Tobi Rubin Toby + Robert Rubin Laurel Schaefer-Trent + Thomas Trent Ellen + Donald Schell Kurt Schindler Leida Schoggen + William Farmer Valerie Stoll Schwimmer Kate Sears Marsha Silberstein John Simpson Shelagh Smith Martha + Jonathan Smolen Stephanie Splane Lynnette Stallworth Daniel Stein Roger A. Stoll Tara J. Sullivan Mr. Tangri + Ms. Durie, Durie Tangri LLP Kathleen Thompson Henry Trevor and Elizabeth Werter Hugh Vincent Olivia Warneckeº

Trevor Wilder Family Charitable Trust James + Beth Wintersteen Julie + Tony Zanze FRIEND | $100+ Helen + Thomas Anawal Joseph + Gail Angiulo Ellen + Ron Arenson Nina Auerbach Mr. & Mrs. Fabio + Ann Aversa Barbara + Larry Babow Nancy Barash Elaine Baskin Marilyn + David Baum Michele + David Benjamin Robert + Wendy Bergman Frank + Lee Battat Margaret Bettner Erik Bielefeldt Betsy + Dan Bikle Jeanette Binstock Steve Bischoff Mary Lee Blake Annette Blanchard Stacy + Nancy Bloom David + Rosalind Bloom Philanthropic Fund Richard Bottega Bob Bowen + Linda Crouse Felix Braendel Carrie Brandon Bromley Carson Fund Dan + Hongjun Zheng Breiner Helen Bruner Wayne + Marion Bulette Julio Burroughs Marcus + Sara Byruck Meg + Brian Cabezud Roland + Maria Campopiano Karen J. Carmody Martha Cazenave The Charles and Catherine Wilmoth Family Fund Steven + Karin Chase Taisse Cherry + Jay LaBourene John Christman Judith Ciani Diane + William Clarke Richard + Gretchen Coffey Judith Cohen + Malcolm Gissen Richard Cohn + Barbara Gay Jacob Coin Cheryl Coles Angela + Django Colombo

30

Naomi Conroy Arthur + Nancy Costa Mariana Poutiatine Cotten Christina Crow Keith Crowell John + Betsey Cutler Drusilla Davis Claire de Chazal Jacqueline + Vincent de Nevers Ralph + Debra Deadwyler Ronald Denchfield Toni + Alan Denmark Molly + Brett Dick Thomas Dicker Paula Diederich Ferenc + Karen Dobronyi Stephanie Douglass Richard + Patricia Dresel Rama Dunayevich, Autodesk Foundation Stuart + Emily Dvorin Carol Dutton-Hollenberg John Eichhorst + Jennifer Blackman Andrew Elkind + Kerry Weiner Patricia Ernsberger Dave Ewart Joseph Faimali + Dorita Decker David Fain + Fran Anderson Veronica Fauntleroy Dr. Warren Farrell + Elizabeth Dowling Jane + Douglas Ferguson Mitchell Field Cheryl Finley + Barry Neal Wendy Fleisher Jennifer + Pat Forbeck Alan Ford Christie Fraser Steven Frei + Linda Tumey Anna Gale Joan Garrett David Gast Mark + Louise Gaumond Willa Gere Rita + Kent Gershengorn Merv + Gail Giacomini Beryl + Dohn Glitz Margot Golding Conie Goldsmith Dr. Tanya + Herbert Goodman Michael + Laurel Gothelf Edward Granger E. M. Granger Donald + Maryann B. Graulich Mark Green Michelle Green

Mark Greenside Gordon + Gini Griffin Linda Groah Patricia Oji Haas Victoria Hagbom Vera + David Hartford Gillian Hayward Charisse + Michael Heath Paul + Janet Heineken May+ Doug Herr Mike Hill Cathryn Hilliard Rachel + Scott Hines Karen Hirsch + Jim Condit Adrienne Hirt + Jeffrey Rodman William + Susan Hoehler Mark + Roberta Hoffman Hilary Honore Barry Hovis Rachael Hunter Matt Jacobson Auban + Bart Jackson Elaine James Hermia James Mia James Mary + Eddy Janigian Bonnie + Peter Jensen Duane Johnson Sheila-Merle Johnson Janet Josselyn Mike + Cindy Kamm Gee Kampmeyer Karen Rae Emerson Charitable Fund Keegan & Coppin Co. Inc. Yvette Keller Dan Kelly Rose Adams Kelly Tamsin Kendall Barbara Kerr Rich + Ursi Klier Garrett Koehn Dennis + Lynda Kostecki Margaret Kyle Adrienne + Garrett Lawrence Judy + Bob Leet Sue Krenek + Sam Penrose Ken Krich + Nancy Leahong Rebecca J. Kurland Sheri + Jerome Langer Mike + Lori Lapinskas Sharon Leach Gretchen Leavitt

31

Mark Lemyre David Lesnini William + Judith Levinson Warren + Barbara Levinson Elliott Liff Sarah Lind Carolyn + David Long Jacqueline Lopez-Wyman Lisa Lund Kate MacLellan Samara + Tania Malik Ruth + Martin Malkin Myrna Margolin Albert Martin + Diana Richmond Jill Hunter Matichak Nelson + Julia Ishiyama + Terrie McDonald Margaret McHugh Karen McLennan Steve + Patricia McMahon Purple Lady/Barbara J. Meislin Fund Paul Melcon Dr. William + Roni Mentzer Lois + Bob Meredith Maeve Metzger Roberta + Spencer Michels Herbert Miller + Holly Gadsby Julie Montanari Craig Moody Everett + Julia Moore Susan Morris Jerry Mosher Barry + Jane Moss Margaret Moster Chris + Bonnie Mumford Kelli Murray + Laurence Pulgram Jill Myers Ruth K Nash Lisa Nau Gary Nelson + Kellie Magee Robert Newcomer Laurie Nierenberg + Abraham Weil K. O’Mohundro, N. Handelman Lucienne O’Keefe Carole O’Neil Judith L. O’Rourke Marsha Obannon Betty Obata Jack + Gail Osman Nancy Otto John Palmer Amy Palmer David Pasta

Joyce Pavlovsky Henk Peeters + Nancy Parsons Audrey + Bob Pedrin Lynn Perry Stephen Piatek Zdenkka Pisarev Hal + Mary Plimpton Victoria Pollock-Grasso Lawrence + Erica Posner George + Carol Possin Jack + Jessica Powell Robert + Donys Powell Russ and Joni Pratt Sarah C. + Henry Pruden Mary Lou Ragghianti Chris Raker Barbara + Dr. Joel Renbaum Susan Reynolds Eddie Reynolds David Robinson Gary Robinson Donna Lee Robinson Elizabeth Muir Robinson Julianne Rohmaller Phillip Rosenthal Susan Rosin + Brian Bock Alex + Tinka Ross Pepi Ross Ellen Rothman + Ed Koplowitz Francoise Rothstein Marti Roush Dolores + Fred Rudow Mr. + Mrs. William Ryan Diane + Ed Ryken Renee Rymer Angelo + Kimberly Salarpi Jagrit Sandhu Robert W. Sass Maxine Sattizahn Carol Savio Steven + Joanne Saxe Alan + Wendy Schaevitz Sally + Steve Schroeder Betty Scott Michael + Jane Scurich Bill See Rod + Sandy Seeger Holly Seerley, MFT David A. Shapiro, M.D. & Sharon L. Wheatley Carole + Douglas Sheft Julie + Jeff Sherman

32

Claire Simeone + Greg Melcher Jane + Dr. Tom Singer Neil Sitzman Jane + Dan Slack Dorothy Slattery Andrew Smith + Brian Savard Judy + Greg Smith Angelo + Kimberly Salarpi Tracy Solomon Jennifer Sousae Melanie Sperling Timothy Standing Charlene Steen Daniel Stein + Diane Tucker Richard + Jean Stenquist Susie + Britt Stitt Gretchen + Grover Stone Jean + Kurt Stromberg Carol Svetcov Candice Swimmer + Philip Rosenthal Lisa R. Taylor Susan Terris John + Joyce Thomas Kathryn Thyret Beatrice Tocher Suzanne C. Toczyski Evelyn Topper + Allan Jackman Marsha G. Torkelson Trabea Ltd Norman and Carol Traeger Burnett + Marilyn Tregoning

Bruce Tremayne + Mary Diltz Sandra + David Tresan Nora Turner Bob Vaddiparty Connie Vandament Marta Van Loan Mary + Herman Waetjen Amy Walsh Nancy Warfield Anita Watkins Meredith Watts Dorothy Weaver Mr. + Mrs. Thomas A. Weikert Brad Weisert + Kim Zydel Alexis Weiss + Mark Johnson Marjorie Went Paul Werner David + Kay Werdegar Val Westen Sandra Westin Holly + Bruce Williams Joss + Janet Wilson Susan Winegar Sheldon Wolfe Valerie Woods Travis Wright Sandra Yoffie Marisha Zeffer Suzanne Zimmerman ºIn-Kind Donation

FOUNDATION SUPPORT

33

CORPORATIONS | FOUNDATIONS | GOVERNMENT 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 • 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

34

MTC TOMORROW THE LEGACY GIVING SOCIETY OF MARIN THEATRE COMPANY Anonymous (2) • 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 BERRY Linden Berry Gerry Cahill + Kathy King Hendrik + Patty Kopperl Dirk + Madeleine Langeveld Mark + Mauree Jane Perry Laura + Michael Scott Jean + Kurt Stromberg

IN MEMORY OF STEPHANIE GRAY Jill Myers

IN MEMORY OF ALL WHO LOST THEIR LIVES TO COVID-19 Bob Vaddiparty

IN MEMORY OF BARBARA LAVARONI Arthur + Nancy Costa Kathleen Thompson

IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL CURTIS Nancy Barash IN MEMORY OF JACKIE FIELD Mitchell Field

TRIBUTE GIFTS IN HONOR OF SARAH Dave + Bobbie Chapman

IN HONOR OF WENDY FENG Jolie Feng

IN HONOR OF GREAT THEATRE AND ACTORS Cheryl Coles

IN HONOR OF JERRY GEFFNER Carolyn Pines + Judy Schwartz

IN HONOR OF NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE AT HOME Sarah C. + Henry Pruden

IN HONOR OF LAUREN GUNDERSON Jennifer Jenkins Nick Randhawa Janet Cooper

IN HONOR OF FUMIKO BIELEFELDT Erik Bielefeldt

IN HONOR DUFF KURLAND Janet Josselyn

IN HONOR OF RICK + CHERYL BRANDON Molly + Brett Dick Cheryl Finley + Barry Neal

IN HONOR OF KURTZMAN AND LIZ HERTZ Nelson + Julia Ishiyama + Terrie McDonald

IN HONOR OF KATE CORTESI Anonymous

IN HONOR OF TERESA LAW The Tow Foundation Anonymous

IN HONOR OF BRITTANY DEVER Nancy + David Medford

IN HONOR OF JASSON MINADAKIS & THE DEI COMMITTEE Helen Bruner

35

IN HONOR PATRICIA B. MOLVAR Ronald Denchfield

IN HONOR OF KATE ROBINSON Donna Lee Robinson

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

IN HONOR OF STACY SCOTT Molly + Brett Dick

IN HONOR OF PHOEBE MORRIS Richard + Gretchen Coffey

IN HONOR OF VELMA SHANNON Keenan Norris

IN HONOR OF DANNY OSBURN & RACHEL HURADO-OSBURN Barbara Lesch + Michael J. McCaffry

IN HONOR OF MEREDITH SUTTLES Lynnette Stallworth

IN HONOR OF IVAN S. POUTIATINE MTC HONORS Robert Begley Robert + Irene Belknap Linden Berry Kathy King + Jerry Cahill Gabriella Calicchio + Michael Janes Dave + Bobbie Chapman Mariana Poutiatine Cotten Suzanne + Mark Darley Kipp Delbyck Virginia + William Felch Jr. Doug + Jane Ferguson David Catania + Diana Gay-Catania Gerry Goldsholle + Myra Levenson Gale Gottlieb Tracy + Brian Haughton Grace Hughes Dirk + Madeleine Langeveld Melanie + Peter Maier Tina McArthur + Richard Rubenstein Buffington Miller Suzie Pollak Michael + Hailey Poutiatine Christopher Raker Paula + Bob Reynolds Robin + Rick Rice Laura + Michael Scott Stacy Scott + Chuck Ciaccio Brigitte + Bill Smith Fred + Kathleen Taylor James + Beth Wintersteen Susan York

36

MTC PRODUCTION UNDERWRITERS Marin Theatre Company’s 55th Season and this production of Pass Over 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

Lynn Brinton + Dan Cohn California Art Council Suzanne + Mark Darley Tracy + Brian Haughton Haughton Family Charitable Fund Kimball Foundation

VIP PRODUCER 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 Gene + Neil Barth Kiki Pescatello Gerry Goldsholle + Myra Levenson Michael + Jean Strunsky, Ira and Leonore Gershwin Philanthropic Fund Kimberly Hughes + Steve Moazed Paul + Sandy Zuber Koret Foundation The Marymor Family Fund ºIn-Kind Donation

37

marintheatre.org Marin Theatre Company 397 Miller Ave. Mill Valley, CA 94941