MARIN THEATRE PRESENTS
by Kat Sandler
OCT 10 – NOV 3
“Baba Yaga’s House” by artist Jessi Sprocket. Photo: Luc Asbury
Directed by Barbara Damashek
FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Welcome to Marin Theatre’s 2024-2025 season! With a fresh name and a new look, we’re turning the page to begin the next chapter in the story of this storied institution. We’ve curated a robust slate of fascinating plays to delight, surprise, and inspire you.
The new Marin Theatre takes inspiration from the pioneers and stewards of this organization, who showed a passion for this local treasure. It looks forward into a future where new ideas and ways of presenting will cement our place in the cultural heart of southern Marin and the greater Bay Area. The current staff and board believe in our renewed mission to “transform lives through shared artistic experiences,” and together with me, we are working to imagine how the plays, events, and art we present will deliver on that promise.
We are dedicated to offering the highest quality work for a discerning audience who we hope will be our best ambassadors. So tell the world, and keep coming back. Without you the theatre is just a room. Together, we can make it into anything.
Lance Gardner | Executive Artistic Director
YAGA was commissioned and first produced by Tarragon Theatre, Richard Rose Artistic Director, in September, 2019.
YAGA is staged by arrangement with Emma Laird, GGA, www.ggagency.ca.
YAGA
BY KAT SANDLER
DIRECTED BY BARBARA DAMASHEK°
CAST
Woman A Julia McNeal*
Woman B Rachel Clausen*
Man Adam KuveNiemann*
CREATIVE TEAM
Scenic Design Ca rlos Aceves
Costume Design Meg Neville+
Lighting Design Kurt Landisman+
Sound Design Matt Stines
Stage Manager Penny Pendleton*
SHOW STAFF
Music by Barbara Damashek
Intimacy Choreographer Natalie Greene
Fight Choreographer Dave Maier
Production Assistant Trevor Williams
Props Lead Lia m Rudisill
Wardrobe Supervisor Daria Perkova
Lighting Programmer & Board Operator Mary Blake-Booth
Scenic Charge Artist Stephanie Jucker
Painter Josh Patterson, Kip Westerfield
Electricians Robb Benson, Mimi Daniel, Gabriel Dumapias, Skylar Evans, Sam Fehr, Joey Foisy, Nemo, Olivia Prink, Ismael Armando Ramos, Brenton Wirth
MARIN THEATRE STAFF
Executive Artistic Director La nce Gardner
Director of Production Jessica Marchesi
Education Director Ja ckie Katz
General Manager Nich ole Gantshar
Box Office Manager Jules Simons
Literary Manager & Casting Director Laura Steele
Technical Director Jeff Klein
Costume Shop Manager Daria Perkova
ATD/Props Lead Lia m Rudisill
Development & Administrative Coordinator Kelsey Sloan
Lighting Supervisor Marshall
Audio Engineer Fiona Sharkey
Grants Manager Nina O’Keefe
Marketing Partner Ca rla Befera
Patron Services Manager Ca rolyn Doyle
Front of House Leads Victoria Davis, Bridget Novak, Perry Parsons
Front of House Associates Jo Jewell, Arianna Orleans, Sunny Orleans, Serena Palmer, Cynthia Whitman
BIOGRAPHIES
Kat Sandler (Playwright) is an awardwinning Canadian screenwriter, playwright, director and the artistic director of Theatre Brouhaha in Toronto. She has staged 17 of her original plays including Yaga (Tarragon Theatre) and the simultaneous double bill of The Party and The Candidate (The Citadel Theatre), where the same cast raced back and forth between two theatres to perform in two simultaneous political farces. Her theatre/tv hybrid Late Night, produced with Moses Znaimer, recently aired on VisionTV. Her play Mustard (Tarragon Theatre) won the Dora Mavor Award for Best New Play; Bang Bang and Yaga were both nominated for the same award. She won the Austin Film Festival’s inaugural Fiction Podcast Award for How To Build a Fire, and has been nominated for Sterling Awards, the Carol Bolt Award, and the Cayle Chernin Award. Kat attended the Canadian Film Centre and eOne’s inaugural Adaptation Lab. She has written for Netflix’s Kim’s Convenience, and written fiction podcasts for The Koffler Centre, CBC’s PlayMe and TwoUp’s Limetown. She has various film and television projects in development with eOne, TB Content, Scythia Films, Stellar Citizens and the Donaldson Company.
Barbara Damashek° (Director – she/ her) is excited to be working with Lance Gardner and his team on Yaga. A long-time, East Bay resident her work is familiar to most bay area theater audiences. Recent local work Includes, 1984, The Children, Creditors, A Number, Splendour, The Lyons, American Buffalo, Fat Pig and Private Jokes Public Spaces at Aurora Theatre Company. Plus a staged reading of Bad Roads by Natalya Vorozhbyt for the Ukrainian Worldwide Playreading Relief Initiative. An award winning director, she has worked at many leading regional theaters including A.C.T., Berkeley Rep, South Coast Repertory Theatre, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory, The Mark Taper Forum, the Denver Center, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and at International Theater Festivals and the Little Globe Theater in Kirovohrad, Ukraine. She has taught at many of the nation’s leading theater conservatories and is Professor Emerita at San Francisco State University.
Ms. Damashek is best known nationally as the Director, Composer-Lyricist and Co-Author of Quilters which received six Tony Nominations in 1985 including three for Ms. Damashek for Best Direction, Best Original Score and (with co-author Molly Newman) Best Book of a Musical.
Rachel Clausen* (Woman B, she/ her) is full of joy to be making her Marin Theatre debut! Favorite regional: Fun Home (Alison Bechdel) with YMTC, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Jane Bingley) with Pioneer Theater Company, Love’s Labour’s Lost (Princess of France) with Elm Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania) with Camden Shakespeare, and USA (Isadora Duncan) with Breadloaf Acting Ensemble. BA in Theater/English from Muhlenberg College, and MFA in Acting from Brown/Trinity Repertory Company. Rachel also works in mental health as a Provisional Registered Drama Therapist. She is indebted to her supportive friends and family, especially her fiancé, Eric, and their dog, Jamie! @rccolaaaaaaa
Adam KuveNieman* (Man, he/him) was last seen at Marin Theatre in Oslo. Other credits include A Christmas Carol (American Conservatory Theater), Sweat (Center Repertory Company), The Tempest (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival), Before the Sword (New Conservatory Theatre Center), and understudying Angels in America (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). He has also been seen at Oakland Theater Project, SF Playhouse, Z
Space, Shotgun Players, Curtain Theatre and more. To learn more about Adam’s theatrical work, or to listen to one of the podcasts that he hosts, check out www. AdamKuveNiemann.com. Sending all the love to Panayiota, Kate and JJ!
Julia McNeal* (Woman A, she/ her) is thrilled to be back at Marin Theatre where she began her Bay Area theater career 20 years ago. Local credits include: Big Data and Top Girls (American Conservatory Theater), Dana H. (U/S) (Berkeley Rep); The Eva Trilogy, Fred’s Diner, A Lie of the Mind (Magic Theatre); The Events (Shotgun Players); Roulette (SF Playhouse); PlayGround (Company Member); Visions of Kerouac (Marin Theatre). In New York, she helped found the Obie-Award winning Cucaracha Theatre, and in Los Angeles, the Echo Theater Company. Film/TV: The Unbelievable Truth; Flesh and Bone; Law & Order; Law & Order: SVU. McNeal is the author/creator of Five Ways In to Character. fivewaysin.com
Carlos Aceves + (Scenic Designer – he/him) is a Bay Area-based designer and theatre maker whose practice centers on new works and social justice theatre. Selected designs credits include:
Displaced, Crowded Fire Theatre; Returning to Haifa, Golden Thread; PrEP Play or Blue Parachute, New Conservatory Theatre Center; Dream Hou$e, Shotgun Players; Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, West Edge Opera; Cyrano, Aurora Theatre Company; Bees and Honey, Marin Theatre, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shotgun Players. Carlos-Antonio expresses his sincere gratitude to the creative and production team of Yaga for their unwavering dedication and tireless efforts. Visit: CarlosDesignsSets.myportfolio.com
Meg Neville+ (Costume Designer – she/her) is a professional costume designer who works nationally in theater, dance and opera. Local credits include Marin Theatre, Berkeley Rep, ACT, Z space, Joe Goode, Cal Shakes, The Magic, UC Berkeley. She and her husband Chris Wanger and their three children, dog, and cat call Mill Valley home. She sometimes identifies as a poker playing yaga.
Kurt Landisman+ (Lighting Designer – he/him) is happy to return to Marin Theatre where he last lit Two Trains Running. Previous Designs at Marin include the awardwinning Lighting Designs for Anne Boleyn, Choir Boy, Seven Guitars and Wilder, Wilder, Wilder.
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
Matt Stines (Sound Designer –no preference) is a San Franciscobased human whose work was last heard at Marin Theatre with The Beauty Queen of Leenane in 2013. More recent: Who’s-Dead McCarthy at Word for Word and 1984 at Aurora Theatre, also helmed by Barbara Damashek. Over the last 15 years this person has made noise on many local stages, has presented work nationally and internationally, and has taught theatre sound at San Francisco State (BA, 2009), St Mary’s College, and Sonoma State. SF Chronicle has once dubbed this person’s work “a mess.” This person plays in several bandsfullgrownmin; S T A I N S; Spleens; The World Sinks Except Japan. mikestains.com
Penny Pendleton* (Stage Manager, – she/her) has been honored to have managed the stage for Ted Neeley in Jesus Christ Superstar (Egyptian Theatre), Lauren Graham in Unscripted (Curran Theatre),
Neil deGrasse Tyson in Astronomy Bizarre (Orpheum Theatre), Nigella Lawson (Sydney Goldstein Theatre), and many others. Production League Credits: Oklahoma! (North American Tour) and A Christmas Carol (Golden Gate Theatre). Regional Credits include: San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theater, CenterREP, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, PCPA Theatrefest, Presidio Theatre, Salt Lake Acting Company, and the Sting & Honey Company.
Natalie Greene (Intimacy Coordinator – she/ her) is an artist and educator working in dance, theater, consent and community engagement. Choreography and intimacy work at Aurora Theatre, Cal Shakes, Center Rep, Custom Made, Portland Center Stage, Shotgun Players, Stanford University. Previously Artistic Director of the award-winning devised theater ensemble Mugwumpin, currently Director of Education & Community Programs at A.C.T. She's thrilled to be working with this wonderful, witchy cast & crew in her Marin Theater debut.
Kimily Conkle (Dialect Coach)
Kimily coached Sovereignty for Marin Theatre in 2019 and over 100 shows for other companies
including TheatreWorks, San Jose Stage, Sierra Repertory Theatre, CenterRep, Sacramento Theatre Company, Mountain Play, Ross Valley Players, Broadway by the Bay, Los Altos Stage, Hillbarn Theatre, Foothill Music Theatre, South Bay Musical Theatre, and Stanford University. She was a Theatre Arts faculty member at Foothill College and received her training from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, American Conservatory Theater, and Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. Kimily is a member of Actors’ Equity (AEA), Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA), and holds a BS from Georgia Tech.
Dave Maier (Fight Choreographer -he/him) is an award-winning fight director with over 300 professional credits. Previous Marin Theatre productions include Othello, The Convert, Peerless, Shakespeare In Love, and Wink. He is in residence at San Francisco Opera, Marin Shakespeare Theatre, and Oakland Theatre Project. Recent credits include Private Lives (ACT), The Handmaid’s Tale (SF Opera), The Untime (Marin Shakespeare Theatre), and As You Like It (Cal Shakes). Dave is also an instructor of theatrical combat, who teaches classes at Studio ACT, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, SF Conservatory of Music, UC Santa Cruz, and Dueling Arts San Francisco.
MARIN THEATRE DONORS
Marin Theatre acknowledges the generous support of the following individuals, foundations and corporations whose contributions make our extraordinary theatre productions and education programs possible in the past year. To join our family of contributors, receive sponsorship information or if you have questions about your gift, please contact development@marintheatre.org
$50,000 plus
Christopher B. & Jeannie Meg Smith • Vickie Soulier
$25,000 to $49,999
Gerald Cahill & Kathleen King • Estate of James Lilienthal
$10,000 to $24,999
Anonymous (2) • Suzanne Cross • Wendy Feng & Michael Wall • Ken & Vera Meislin
$5,000 to $9,999
Anonymous • Franklin Amster • Lynne Carmichael • John & Shelley Chesley • Kipp Delbyck • Thomas W. Edwards & Rebecca Parlette-Edwards • Jill & Steven Fugaro • Melanie Maier • Matthew Purdon & Liz Sklar • Bob & Paula Reynolds • Kathy Roberts & Aaron Loeb • Betty & Jack Schafer • Penny Wright
$1,000 to $4 ,999
Anonymous • Drs. Paul & Geraldine Alpert • Laura Scher & Ian Altman & The Barn Road Foundation • Helen & Thomas Anawalt • Lois Kelly Ashley • Mary Jane Baird • Sean & Faith Bricmont • Josh Brier & Grace Alexander • The Brown Ortiz-Aragon Family Fund • Ron Clyman & Francoise Mauray • Gatian Cunningham • Stephanie A. Douglass • Steve Dow & Tom Parrish • David Elliot • Theresa Ellis • Judith & Philip Erdberg • Danny Field & Gary Robinson • Jeff Freedman & Marie Boylan • David Catania & Diana Gay-Catania • David Gelfand & Ellen Daniell • Margot Golding • Gerry Goldsholle • Karen Gottlieb • Michelle & Normand Groleau • Lauren Gunderson & Nathan Wolfe • Hilary Honore • Chris Hurwitz • Elisabeth & Howard Jaffe • Barbara & Jim Kautz • Kelley Family Charitable Fund • Bill Kissinger • Harriet & Tom Kostic • Paulette Lueke • Scott
MARIN THEATRE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Josh Rafner President
Penny Wright Vice President
Barbara Roberts Treasurer
William Maushardt Secretary
Suzanne Cross
Naima Dean
Kipp Delbyck
Wendy Feng
Daniel Johnson
Jennifer McEvoy
Danielle O’Hare
Matthew Purdon
Stacy Scott
MacLeod & Linda Kislingbury • Nelson & Julia Ishiyama & Terrie McDonald • Stephanie Moulton-Peters & Roger Peters • Connie Oclassen • Kathryn Olson • Bob & Donys Powell • Janice M. Prochaska, PhD • Gordon Radley • Joshua Rafner • Richard & Nancy Robbins • Barbara & Eric Roberts • Kurt Schindler • Diana & Richard Shore • John Simpson • Susan & Joel Sklar • Steven Sockolov & Susan Snyder • Joe & Diane Stemach • Nina Madrid Stricker • Will & Leslie Thompson • Underwood Family Charitable Foundation • Bob & Diane Wagner • Irene Yen
$500 to $999
Anonymous (2) • Janet Bamberger • Joan Beavin • Carl & Fumiko Bielefeldt • Bromley Carson Fund • Noel Butler • Dr. Paula Campbell • Stephen & Sharon Edelman • Steve Gensler • Jason Griesbach • Linda Groah • Charles Hanes • Tracy & Brian Haughton • Karen Haydock • Larry & Rebekah Helzel • Brian & Jocelyn Herndon • Karen Hirsch & Jim Condit • Carolyn Hodge • Denmo Ibrahim • Fritz & Karen Kieckhefer • Jim Kirsner • Susan Kolb • Purple Lady/Barbara J. Meislin Fund • Mary & Stephen Mizroch • Jan & Craig O’Brien • John S. Osterweis Philanthropic Fund • Diane Parish • Suzanna Pollak • Marianne & Steven Porter
• Mark & Tobi Rubin • Diane & Ed Ryken • Jack Sherwood • Marsha Silberstein • Stephanie Splane • Richard & Jean Stenquist • Sherri Tull • Elizabeth Ury • Elizabeth Werter & Henry Trevor • Susan York
$100 to $499
Anonymous (20) • Joveena Alleyne & Halifu Prince • Joseph D. & Gail P. Anguilo • Joanne Appel • Annelies Atchley • Susan Aumiller • Susan Baker • J. Peter Bardwick • Geri Barsotti • Laura Barton • Robert & Barbara Baum • Robert & Irene Belknap • Michele & David Benjamin • Robert & Wendy Bergman • Gail V. Bernstein • Linden Berry • Louis Bialy • Steve Bischoff • Felix Braendel • Amy & Mark Brokering • Holly & Bruce Williams • John & Deborah Buehler • Margaret Burke
• Gabriella Calicchio & Michael Janes • Robert Camm • Ceatro Group • Steven & Karin Chase • Stephen & Betsy Clark • Diane & William Clarke • Sharon Coleman
• Cheryl Coles • Mill Valley Market • Christina Crow • Robert Crowell • Melissa Crowell • Betsey & John Cutler • Sheila Moore • Larry & Margaret Davis • Ralph & Debra Deadwyler • Pamela Dernham • James T. Diamond Jr. • Teresa Dobbins
• Joe Faimali & Donita Decker • Leland & Susan Faust • Jeffrey Fikes • Betsy Foy
• Paula Fracchia • Lynne-Marie Frame • Wendy P. Friefeld • Lilly Fu • David Gast • Helene & Lewis Gibbs • Carey Gister • Bruce & Linda Goldman • Michelle Green • Patricia Oji Haas • Paul & Janet Heineken • Susan Hendrie-Marais • Stacy
Hering Astor • Terry & Larry Hill • Jennifer Hochschild • Miriam Hodge • William Hoehler • Mark & Roberta Hoffman • Lori & Mark Horne • Karen Houston • Kip & Sara Howard • Stanley Hutter • Cheryl & Jeffrey Hylton • Insperity Services
• Elizabeth Jameson • Nick Javaras • Janet Johns • William & Sally Johnson • Julie Kaufman • Susan Keener • Rose Adams Kelly • Barbara Kerr • Erin Kidwell • Robert Knox • David Lakes • Monica & Peter Lange • Barbara Laraia • Jon Larson
• Kate Lauer • Kay Law • Douglas Lawrence • Andrew Lazarus • Gretchen Leavitt
• Judy Leet • David Lesnini • Jennifer S. Lindsay • Suz Lipman • Susan Logan
• Jacqueline Lopez-Wyman • Cheryl Cahill & Laurence Lyons • Lynn MacDonald • Lynn Mason • Celso Mattos • Carole Mauss • Robert McDowell • Consuelo McHugh • Margaret McHugh • Kay & Steve McNamara • Dr. Kurt Menning • RP Meux & MK McCormick • David W. Miller • Kimberley Milstead • Everett & Julia Moore • Margaret Moster • Emil Mouhanna • Chris & Bonnie Mumford • Laura S. Murra • Ruth & Steve Nash • K. O’Mohundro & N. Handelman • Judith L. O’Rourke
DECEMBER 12-15 | TICKETS ON SALE SOON
• Katy Olds • Vivian Olsen • Tony Origlio & Kip Vanderbilt • Marta Osterloh & Tony Curtiss • Thomas Owen • Barbara Paschke & David Volpendesta • Rebecca Pauling • Sara Pearson • Lynn Perry • James & Joy Phoenix • Stephen Piatek • Hal & Mary Plimpton • Rod Ponath • Jack & Jessica Powell • Mark & Jill Powell • Russell & Joan Pratt • Paul Preuss • Laurence Pulgram & Kelli Murray • Mary Lou Ragghianti • Barbara & Dr. Joel Renbaum • Katherine Revoir • Susan Reynolds • Helen Rogers • Julianne Z. Rohmaller • Ellen Rothman & Ed Koplowitz • Sylvia & Paul Roye • Sandra Ruliffson • Judith & Mark Sachs • Angelo & Kimberly Salarpi • Alan & Wendy Schaevitz • Ruth Schoenbach • Laura & Michael Scott • Carol & Rand Selig • David A. Shapiro, M.D. & Sharon Wheatley • Douglas & Carole Sheft • Alice Shelton • Robert Sicular • Sabrina Sinton • Dorothy Slattery • Andrew Smith & Brian Savard • Barbara Smith • Shelagh Smith • Joel & Carol Solomon Family Fund • Deborah Spanier • Kate & Richard Stacy • Lynnette Stallworth • Drs. Shayna & Elliott Stein • Ken & Dana Stokes • Bill Streett • Donald Suttles • Carol Svetcov • Candace Swimmer & Phil Rosenthal • Beverly Tanner & Jerry Herman • Lisa Taylor • Susan Terris • Cynthia Thomas • Kathryn Thyret • Beatrice Tocher • Mimi Towle • Norman & Carol Traeger • Gilda R. Turitz • Diane & Bob Wagner • Mark Waite • Ann Wang • Meredith J. Watts • Paul Werner • Janet & William Whitmer • Delene Wolf • Laura Zimmerman
CORPORATIONS • FOUNDATIONS • GOVERNMENT
MARIN THEATRE PARTNERS | $50,000+
The Shubert Foundation • William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
VIP PRODUCER | $15,000-$49,999
Buck Family Fund • California Arts Council • Kimball Foundation • National Endowment for the Arts • Stacy Scott Fine Cateringº The Bernard Osher Foundation
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER | $10,000-$14,999
Clay Foundation, Koret Foundation • MOJOº • National New Play Network • The John Brockway Hungtington Fund
PREMIERE PRODUCER | $5,000-$9,999
3 Badge Beveragesº • August Sebastiani • Garry & Joanne Brooks •Marin Cultural Association • Tow Foundation
PRODUCER | $1,000–$4,999
Clyman Family Foundation • County of Marin • Marin Charitable Association • Mill Valley Market • Mill Valley Flowers º In-Kind Donation
TRIBUTE GIFTS
In honor of The Smith Family (Akron, Ohio) - Barbara Smith, Joveena Alleyne and Halifu Prince • In honor of Wendy Feng - Jolie Feng • In honor of Free Palestine - Denmo Ibrahim • In honor of Jan Koprowski - Paul Koprowski • In honor of Walther and Judith Miller - David Miller • In honor of Our son, David Everett Moore - Everett and Julia Moore • In honor of Colton Creath - Creath Family • In honor of Melanie Maier - Susan Terris • In honor of Matthew PurdonCeatro Group
MEMORIAL
GIFTS
In Memory of Myra Levenson - Gerry Goldsholle • In Memory of Marilyn Angela McCarthy - Kathy Lavezzo
THE LEGACY GIVING SOCIETY OF MARIN THEATRE
To join the esteemed list below and make a legacy gift to Marin Theatre please contact to Executive Artistic Director Lance Gardner at lance@marintheatre.org. With gift planning, you can provide long-lasting support for a vibrant theatre community while reducing the taxation burden on your loved ones.
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 • James Lilienthal‡ • 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 Majoy ‡ Deceased
• Article Gifting: Share paywall-free articles with others