MUSICIAN BIOS
Alan Thompson
Keyboard/Sax
See Creative Team Bios.
Christan Sharp
Bass
PlayMakers: Debut. Christian is a formally trained synth, upright and electric bass player from Buffalo, NY. He has performed with various artists such as Rakim, Braxton Cook and has recorded with the likes of Frank McComb and Branford Marsalis. Sharp is also a founding member of the Durham-based, Fusion Jazz band, Zoocrü, and is soon to be releasing their second studio album of original music. With a divine love for composing, arranging, and performing, Sharp aspires to inspire through the lens of music.
Dottie DL Zene
Vocals/Griot
PlayMakers: Debut. Dottie is a producer, an instrumentalist, and is also known for her background vocal arrangements. She was a contestant for season 3 of American Idol and has opened for amazing artists such as Chrisette Michele, Maxell, Common, and Anthony Hamilton to name a few. As an adolescent, she knew that she could heal the world through music, and still stands by that to this current day.
Brandon L. Mitchell
Drummer
PlayMakers: Debut. Brandon is a professional percussionist, and sole proprietor of his craft with 15+ years of experience helping various live performance venues supply entertainment. Specializing in Drumming, Brandon uses his skill to create art and impactful experiences for any audience to enjoy.
@Brandon Mitchell
@the.fource @Diamant_vier
Kathryn Hunter-Williams Director
PlayMakers: Company member for 21 seasons. Recent highlights include directing “Stick Fly,” “No Fear & Blues Long Gone,” “Count,” plus acting in “Hamlet,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “The Skin of Our Teeth,” “Edges of Time,” “Julius Caesar,” “Everybody,” “Life of Galileo,” “Skeleton Crew,” “Leaving Eden,” “Tartuffe,” “Dot,” “Intimate Apparel,” “The Crucible,” “Trouble in Mind,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Imaginary Invalid,” “The Parchman Hour,” “Angels in America,” “Fences,” “Doubt,” among others. New York/Regional: Living Stage, The Negro Ensemble Company, Manhattan Class Company, New Dramatists, Archipelago Theater. Education/Other: BFA, UNC School of the Arts; MFA, UNC-Chapel Hill. Kathryn is chair of the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill and Associate Director of HiddenVoices, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing life-changing stories into a public forum.
Jan Chambers
Scenic & Costume Designer
PlayMakers: Company member for 16 seasons and professor in the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill. Productions include “Yoga Play,” “As You Like It,” “Skin of Our Teeth,” “Julius Caesar,” “Dairyland,” “How I Learned to Drive,” “Skeleton Crew,” “Leaving Eden,” “A Christmas Carol,” “The Cake,” “The May Queen,” “Sweeney Todd,” “4000 Miles,” “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” “The Making of a King: Henry IV & V,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Red,” “Metamorphoses,” “The Tempest,” “Angels in America” and “Nicholas Nickleby,” among others. Regional:
“Hamlet,” “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “Sunday in the Park with George,” “Pericles” (Guthrie Theatre); “Asylum” (Only Child Aerial Theatre at Circus Now International Contemporary Circus Exposure);
“Pericles,” “Hamlet” (Folger Theatre); “Pericles,” “Henry V” (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); “North: A Love Letter,” “The Reckoning,”
“It Had Wings,” “The Narrowing,” “Out of the Blue” (Archipelago Theatre/ Cine). Member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology and of United Scenic Artists, Local 829. janc@email. unc.edu. janchambers.sites.oasis.unc.edu
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CREATIVE TEAM BIOS
Kathy A. Perkins
Lighting Designer
PlayMakers: “Edges of Time,” “Count,” “Mr. Joy,” “Trouble in Mind,” “Surviving Twin,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “Clybourne Park,” “The Parchman Hour”. Broadway: “Trouble in Mind”. Regional: American Conservatory Theatre, Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory, Seattle Repertory, St. Louis Black Repertory, Alliance, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Baltimore Center Stage, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, New Federal Theatre, Mark Taper, Yale Repertory, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and People’s Light. Education: In 2007 she was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. She received her BFA from Howard University and her M.F.A. from the University of Michigan. Other Credits: Kathy is the editor of seven anthologies focusing on women both nationally and internationally, including “Selected Plays: Alice Childress”. She is a senior editor of the “Routledge Companion to African American Theatre and Performance”. Kathy is faculty Emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1995, Kathy co-curated “ONSTAGE: A Century of African American Stage Design” at New York’s Lincoln Center. In 2016 she served as a theatre consultant for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture inaugural exhibition “Taking the Stage”.
Derek A. Graham
Sound Designer
PlayMakers: “Bewilderness,” “Your Healing is Killing Me”. Regional: “I Shall Not Be Moved/Your Negro Tour Guide” (Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Featured at 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe); “Kill Move Paradise,” “Skeleton Crew,” “Wakey, Wakey,” “An Octoroon” (Dobama Theatre); “The Passion of Teresa Rae King,” “A Raisin in the Sun” (Triad Stage). Recent composer credits: “In Every Generation” (TheatreWorks Silicon Valley); “Toni Stone” (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre/Alliance Theatre); “Protocol” (Portland Center Stage); “The Chinese Lady” (Artists Repertory Theatre). Television/Live Stream: Front-of-House Mix Engineer for White House Event with VP Kamala Harris at AJ Fletcher Opera Theater, Jan. 30, 2023. University: “Detroit ’67” (Baldwin Wallace University Theatre). Education: BA in Music at Elizabeth City State University. MFA in Sound Design at Ohio University. Other: Co-Founder of Life by Design Media & Production, LLC. Sound department head at AJ Fletcher Opera Theater (Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts).
@DGrahamSound @DGrahamSound
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Alan Thompson
Composer & Music Director
PlayMakers: Debut. Alan is a saxophonist, keyboardist, songwriter, and electronic wind instrumentalist. He’s had guest appearances on several reputable local news networks, radio stations, and music festivals. Radio/ Other: Alan was previously the host of Morning Jazz on 90.7FM
WNCU. Known as DJ Who4thecru, Alan currently hosts a segment for 91.5HD-2 WUNC Music. Alan has played with several renowned artists including a prominent saxophone riff that was featured on the hit 2018 record “Positivo” a collaboration between Reggaeton superstar J. Balvin and Haitian producer Michael Brun. Education/Training: Alan attended North Carolina Central University where he studied under Saxophonists Ira T. Wiggans and Branford Marsalis. He also received instruction from pianist Joey Calderazzo. Alan believes that being an artist is more than an occupation; it’s a lifestyle that is inherited when oneself embraces liberation.
Joseph Amodei (They/Them)
Projection & Video Designer
They are a new media artist, theater designer, activist, and educator who is thrilled to be back in their hometown of Chapel Hill designing for PlayMakers where they first began their arts career as an undergrad lighting electrician 15 years ago. PlayMakers: Debut. Recent Highlight: Joseph's media design for “the dance floor, the hospital room, and the kitchen table,” a show about archiving queer care across pandemics (New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center, Theater Communications Group’s National Conference, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, National Performance Network) has been selected to represent the USA in the emerging category at the Prague Quadrennial, what USITT calls, “the Olympics of performance design.” Selected Highlights: “To Buy the Sun: The Challenge of Pauli Murray” (Hidden Voices); “Amm(i)gone” (APAP, The Theater Offensive); “Packing and Cracking: Gerrymandering through Gameplay” (The PA Center for Women and Politics, UNC’s Process Series, SFX); “This Emancipation Thing” (RedCat); “The Clothesline Muse” (National Black Theater Festival); and many show at Manbites Dog Theater in Durham, NC. Education: BFA, UNC-Chapel Hill, MFA, Carnegie Mellon. Currently, they are a Professor of Immersive Media at Chatham University, in Pittsburgh, PA.
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Thomas F. DeFrantz
Movement Consultant
PlayMakers: Debut. New York: “On The Town” (George Wolfe, dir.); “Paul Robeson All American” (Ossie Davis, author). Regional: “Rough Crossing” (GeVa Theatre); “Black Eagles” (Karamu House); “Anything Goes,” starring Melba Moore (Montclair Summerfest); “Black Box” (Ford’s Theatre). Other: Directs SLIPPAGE: Performance | Culture | Technology, a research lab that explores emerging technology in live performance applications. Believes in our shared capacity to do better and engage creative spirit for a collective good that is anti-racist, proto-feminist, and queer affirming. slippage.org.
Alejandro Rodriguez
Associate Director
PlayMakers: “Native Gardens”. “Wilder & Wilder” (PlayMakers Mobile). Off-Broadway/Other: As director, “Letters from Cuba” and “Anna in the Tropics” (The Acting Company); As actor, “Ghetto Babylon” (59E59, world premiere, National Latino Playwrights Award); Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas’ “Bird in the Hand” (Theater for the New City); “King Lear” opposite Billy Porter, the title role in a national tour of “Romeo and Juliet” (The Acting Company) among others. Regional: The Kennedy Center, Guthrie Theatre, Denver Center Theater, Baltimore CenterStage, the Humana Festival and The Chekhov Project at Lake Lucille, among several others. Film/TV: “Nurse Jackie” (Showtime), “Dates from Hell” (Discovery ID), and the feature film “Emoticon ;)”. Writing: “In My Body” (Canadian tour, Dora Award Winner for Outstanding Production); “Brackish Water” (Miami Light Project); “Sorry” (LaGuardia Performing Arts Project) Other: Formerly, he served as the Associate Artistic Director for PlayMakers Repertory Company, and as Deputy Executive Director for Arts Ignite (formerly ASTEP). A graduate of Juilliard.
Tia James
Voice Coach
PlayMakers: Company member for three seasons. Actor: “Hamlet,” “Blues for an Alabama Sky,” “A Wrinkle in Time”, “Julius Caesar,” “Native Son.” Vocal coaching includes “Stick Fly”, “Ragtime,” “How I Learned to Drive,” “Life of Galileo,” “Bewilderness,” “She Loves Me,” “Skeleton Crew,” “Sherwood,” “Jump,” “Your Healing is Killing Me.” Director: “How I Learned What I Learned”, “As You Like It,” “Macbeth” (PlayMakers Mobile) and “Constellations” (PlayMakers Ground Floor). Broadway: “The Merchant of
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Venice.” Off-Broadway/New York: “The Winter’s Tale,” “The Merchant of Venice” (Shakespeare in the Park). Regional: "Much Ado About Nothing" (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); “Richard III” (Allentown Shakespeare); “Loving and Loving” (Stella Adler Studios); “Much Ado About Nothing” (Two River Theatre); “Civilization [All You Can Eat]” (Woolly Mammoth Theater). Television: “Nurse Jackie,” “Treme.” Teaching/ Coaching/Directing: UNC-Chapel Hill, NYU Graduate Acting, NYU Dance, Atlantic Acting School, Montclair University. Education/Awards: MFA NYU Tisch Graduate Acting Program, BFA Virginia Commonwealth University; Miller Voice Method Teacher Certification. Recipient of the 2014 NYU Graduate Acting Diversity Mentorship Scholarship, 2003 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship winner for Best Actor; 2019 Michael Chekhov/Zelda Fichandler Scholarship.
Jacqueline E. Lawton
Dramaturg
PlayMakers: Company member in her 8th season and professor in the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill. Regional Dramaturgy: Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays, Arden Theater, Arena Stage, Ensemble Studio Theater, Ford’s Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Horizons Theater, Interact Theatre, Kennedy Center VSA Program, Rorschach Theatre, Round House Theatre, the Stratford Festival, Theater J, Virginia Stage Company and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
Playwright: “Anna K”; “Among These Wild Things”; “Behold, a Negress”; “Blackbirds”; “Blood-bound and Tongue-tied”; “Deep Belly Beautiful”; “The Devil’s Sweet Water”; “Edges of Time”; “Freedom Hill”; “The Hampton Years”; “Intelligence”; “Love Brothers Serenade”; “Mad Breed”; “Noms de Guerre”; “So Goes We”; and “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. Education/ Affiliations: MFA in Playwriting, University of Texas at Austin; James A. Michener Fellow. TCG Young Leaders of Color, National New Play Network (NNPN), Arena Stage’s Playwrights’ Arena, Center Stage’s Playwrights’ Collective and the Dramatist Guild of America.
Aspen Blake Jackson Stage Manager
PlayMakers: “Native Gardens.” “ The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (Summer Youth Conservatory). Aspen graduated in May of 2019 with a BA in Vocal Performance and Dramatic Arts from UNC-Chapel Hill. During her undergraduate career, she was stage manager for shows such as “Cendrillon,” “Dido and Aeneas” and “ The Pillowman.” After graduating, Aspen completed an internship with the Walt Disney World Company
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and she worked as a production assistant for PlayMakers Repertory Company during their 19/20 and 21/22 seasons. Aspen is thrilled to be returning to PlayMakers Repertory Company this season for her debut as Resident Stage Manager.
Sarah Smiley Assistant Stage Manager
After a seven-year hiatus in her home state of Florida, Sarah returns to PlayMakers as resident stage manager, having held that position from 2005 – 2015. In the interim, Sarah has been the resident stage manager at freeFall Theatre in St. Petersburg, FL. She has worked with theatres, theme parks, and road houses in eight states and the U.K., including Tampa PlayMakers, Virginia Stage Company, Busch Gardens Tampa, the Alliance Theatre Company, 7 Stages, Gulfshore Playhouse, Shadowland Theatre, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, Wales, and the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and has been active in USITT and the Stage Managers’ Association. She received her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa.
Vivienne Benesch
Producing Artistic Director
Vivienne is in her seventh full season as a company member and Producing Artistic Director at PlayMakers, where she has helmed productions of "Hamlet," "The Skin of Our Teeth," “The Storyteller,” “Dairyland,” “Life of Galileo,” “Leaving Eden,” “The May Queen,” “Three Sisters,” “Love Alone,” “RED” and “In The Next Room.” In her seven seasons with the theatre, she is particularly proud to have produced 11 world-premieres and launched PlayMakers Mobile, a touring production aimed at reaching underserved audiences around the Triangle. For 12 seasons, she served as Artistic Director of the renowned Chautauqua Theater Company and Conservatory, presiding over the company’s transformation into one of the best summer theatres and most competitive summer training programs in the country. Vivienne directed both the world premiere of Noah Haidle’s “Birthday Candles” for Detroit Public Theatre and, in 2022, its Broadway production starring Debra Messing. She has also directed for the Folger Shakespeare Theatre (Helen Hayes nomination for best direction 2019), The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Trinity Repertory Company, NY Stage & Film, and Red Bull Theatre, among others. As an actress, Vivienne has worked on and off-Broadway, in film and television, at many of the country’s most celebrated theatres, and received an Obie Award for her performance in Lee Blessing’s “Going to St. Ives.” Vivienne is a graduate of Brown University and NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. As an educator, she has directed for and served on the faculty of some of the nation’s foremost actor training programs, including The Juilliard School, UNCChapel Hill’s Professional Actor Training Program, Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program, and at her alma mater, NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. She is the 2017 recipient of the Zelda Fichandler Award given by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation.
Maura Murphy General Manager
Maura is here for her seventh full season, returning after a 23-year hiatus. In that time, she honed her administrative skills at Duke, NCSU and of course, Carolina. She was production stage manager for PlayMakers from 1993-1996 and general manager from 1996-1999. Education: EdD and MS in Higher Education Administration, NCSU; BA in Drama, Muhlenberg College
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PLAYMAKERS LEADERSHIP
Jeffrey Meanza Associate Artistic Director
An actor, director and educator, Jeffrey Meanza has spent the last 15 years working at two of the country’s most celebrated regional theatres overseeing the artistic, educational and community engagement efforts of the organizations. As a member of PlayMakers’ resident acting company, he has appeared in "Angels in America, "Into the Woods," Lisa Kron's "Well," "Amadeus," "Assassins," and "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" among others. Since 2015, he served as the Guthrie Theater’s associate artistic director, overseeing the theater’s education and community engagement initiatives, the literary team, casting, and the theater’s professional training programs, as well as helping to guide the work on the Guthrie’s three stages. During his tenure, Meanza managed the expansion of educational programming to serve over 35,000 students annually, including the creation of an artist residency program that put full-time teaching artists in high school classrooms throughout the state of Minnesota. In addition, under his leadership, the Guthrie piloted a new Fellowship program that offers paid training opportunities for emerging leaders to experience work at one of the nation’s leading regional theaters. In 2021, Meanza returned to PlayMakers Repertory Company as Associate Artistic Director, charged with overseeing the artistic, educational and engagement operations of the theater. He holds an M.F.A in Acting from the Professional Actor Training Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Theater and Performance Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
Michael Rolleri Production Manager
Michael is in his 36th season with PlayMakers Repertory Company. He has been Technical Director, Project Manager, Exhibition Technician, and Lighting Designer for industrial shows in the Southeast region, as well as lead carpenter for films, the U.S. Olympic Festival, and scenic studios. He has also been a rigger in the Southeast region and has served on the executive board and as President of IATSE Local 417. Michael is a 30 year Gold Pin member of IATSE. An active member of United States Institute For Theatre Technology (USITT), he is a three-time winner at USITT's Tech Expo. He is a full Professor/Head of the Technical Production Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and was an instructor at High Point University and Tufts University. Education: MFA in Design and Technical Production, UNC-Greensboro.
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Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art
CB# 3235, UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3235
Box Office: 919.962.7529
Website: www.playmakersrep.org
What Will Shows Look Like This Year?
The 22/23 season features six productions on the Paul Green Theatre stage, which will be transformed into the heart of the Harlem Renaissance, a usurper King’s court in Denmark, a neighborhood backyard battleground, a queen’s playground in Florida, a meddlesome English matchmaker’s drawing room, and, finally, familiar ground in the South for a young man’s journey of creative self-discovery.
Health and Safety
PlayMakers Repertory Company is committed to the safety and well-being of our patrons, artists and staff. We will be following state, industry and University safety guidelines in the 22/23 season.
All patrons are encouraged to wear masks while inside the Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art.
We have increased sanitation measures throughout the building and put some new protocols in place to improve safety including:
• Touch free electronic ticketing
• Hand sanitizers throughout the Center for Dramatic Art
• More frequent cleaning of high-touch surfaces
• HEPA filtration units
Box Office Hours
Tuesday-Friday, 12:00p.m.-5:00p.m. and 90 minutes before each performance.
What If I Have to Miss My Performance Date?
For the safety of all our artists, patrons, and staff, if you feel unwell, please stay home. You may call our Box Office and ask to be reseated for another performance, or request a refund up to 48 hour before your ticketed performance.
GENERAL INFO
facebook.com/playmakersrep playmakersrep.org/blog @playmakersrep instagram.com/playmakersrep
If you know you will miss a performance date, we can exchange your ticket for you, based on availability. Please call our Box Office at least 48 hours before your scheduled performance, and please be aware that all exchanges are based on availability and a fee or additional cost may apply. Subscribers may exchange their tickets with no additional fee, but additional cost may apply with a change in performance or section.
Use of Cell Phones and Other Electronics
Texting and using cell phones, laptops, smart watches, and other devices lightor sound-emitting devices are strictly prohibited during the performance. Please turn all electronic devices to silent, theatre mode, or off during the show.
Cameras or Recording Devices
Taking photographs or videotaping inside the theatre is strictly prohibited during performances. However, before the show, during intermission, and after the show, you are invited to take and share your photos of the stage and scenery.
Parking
There are several paid and free parking options available near PlayMakers. We recommend arriving 30 minutes before the show so that you have time to park and pay (Monday-Thursday evenings only) and find your seat. For more information and an interactive map of nearby parking options, please visit www.playmakersrep.org/parking
Policy on Young Children
As a courtesy to our patrons, it is the policy of PlayMakers not to admit children under the age of 5. All of our shows have content ratings for each production (for example: Rated PG-13). If you are considering bringing your child, please refer to website or contact our Box Office for further information. All patrons, regardless of age, must have a ticket.
Headsets for Hearing Impaired Patrons
Our theatres are equipped with sound systems that amplify the sound from the stage. Patrons who wish to use the system may obtain headsets on a first-come, first-served basis from the coat check. Headsets must be returned immediately after the performance.
Late Seating and Leaving Your Seat During the Show
To minimize disruptions to the actors and other patrons, late seating will be provided at the discretion of the house manager at an appropriate break in the action on stage. Patrons who need to be seated late must be escorted by house staff to seats at the rear entrance of the auditorium, which entails climbing a flight of stairs. Patrons can take their regular seat at intermission.
PlayMakers’ 2022/23 Season is Made Possible in Part by Grants from Foundation Support
National Endowment for the Arts, North Carolina Arts Council, The Shubert Foundation, Fidelity Foundation, Truist Foundation, The Educational Foundation of America
Additional Funding for Guest Artists is Provided by Robert Boyer and Margaret Boyer Fund, Louise Lamont Fund, Emeriti Professors Charles and Shirley Weiss Fund
Producing Council
Mebane Lumber, Residence Inn Chapel Hill, Spoonflower, Larry's Coffee, The Siena Hotel/Il Palio Restaurant
Corporate Council
De Maison Selections, Aloft
Associates
Cambria Suites
36
OUR
PARTNERS
PlayMakers Repertory Company is a program of the Department of Dramatic Art, The College of Arts and Sciences, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, recognizes PlayMakers as a professional theatre organization and provides grant assistance to this organization from funds appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. PlayMakers is a beneficiary of the Elizabeth Price Kenan Endowment and the Lillian Hughes Prince Endowment.
PlayMakers Repertory Company is a Member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre.
This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League Of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
The Director and Choreographer are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
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Administration
Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director
Artistic
Jeff Aguiar, Director of Engagement
Tracy Bersley, Movement Coach/Choreographer
Kathryn Brown, Education & Engagement Coordinator
Chelsea James, Producing Associate
Tia James, Vocal Coach
Gregory Kable, Dramaturg
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dramaturg
Jeffrey Meanza, Associate Artistic Director
Mark Perry, Dramaturg
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Vocal Coach
Adam Versényi, Dramaturg
Administration
Johanna Ashwell, Administration Assistant
Matara Hitchcock, Company Manager
Kate Jones, Associate General Manager
Lisa Geeslin, Accountant
Maura Murphy, General Manager
Elena Holder, Sage Howard, Amy Madrigal, Nijal Morgan, Hannah Richman, Alexis R Steele-Kubuanu, Undergraduate Assistants
Development
Kymberly Burkhead-Dalton, Director of Development
Kyle Kostenko, Assistant Director of Annual Giving
Lenore Fields, Events & Gala Coordinator
Marketing & Audience Services
Hannah LaMarlowe, Marketing Communications Specialist
Thomas Porter, Box Office Manager
Rosalie Preston, Associate Director of Marketing
Lauren Van Hemert, Marketing Consultant
Kori Yelverton, Audience Services Associate
Jenna Zottoli, Audience Services Associate
Connor Sule, Lucy Albanil-Rangel, Marketing Undergraduate Assistants
Albert Carlson, Eli Dietrich, Tygia Drewhowell, Tina Lin, Ava Lytle, Olivia Morse, Alicia Norman, Krystal Rivera, Faith Robisch, Naomi Smith, Katherine Stevens, Lily Vance, Cora Willis, Kevin Zhang, Box Office and Front of House Undergraduate Assistants
Department of Dramatic Art
Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Chair and Associate Professor
Faculty
Milly Barranger, Professor Emerita
Vivienne Benesch, Professor of the Practice
Tracy Bersley, Associate Professor
Jan Chambers, Professor
McKay Coble, Professor
Jeffrey Blair Cornell, Associate Chair, Teaching Prof.
Ray Dooley, Professor Emeritus
Samuel Ray Gates, Assistant Professor
Julia Gibson, Associate Professor
David Hammond, Professor Emeritus
Letitia James, Assistant Professor
Gregory Kable, Teaching Professor
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Associate Professor
Adam Maxfield, Teaching Professor
Triffin Morris, Professor of the Practice
David Navalinsky, Professor
Bobbi Owen, Distinguished Professor Emerita
Laura Pates, Teaching Assistant Professor
Kathy Perkins, Professor Emerita
Mark Perry, Teaching Associate Professor
Rachel E. Pollock, Teaching Assistant Professor
Michael Rolleri, Professor
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Assistant Professor
Aubrey Snowden, Teaching Assistant Professor
Craig Turner, Professor Emeritus
Adam Versényi, Professor
Tao Wang, Assistant Professor
Staff
Lisa Geeslin, Accounting Technician
Taylor McDaniel, Student Services Manager
Karen Rolleri, Business Coordinator
Jamie Strickland, University Manager
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PLAYMAKERS
Production
Michael Rolleri, Production Manager
Costumes
Amy Evans, Costume Shop Manager
Marissa Lupkas, Wardrobe Supervisor
Matthew Mallard, Assistant Costume Director
Triffin Morris, Costume Director
Rachel Pollock, Costume Craftsperson
Costume Production Graduate Students:
Matty Blatt, Jocelyn Chatman, Emma Holyst, Zachary
Morrison, Lou Pires, Sally Rath, Athene Wright
Lighting
Benjamin Bosch, Electrics Supervisor
Props
Emma Anderson, Props Artisan
Lauren Reinhartsen, Properties Supervisor
Lydia McRoy, Undergraduate Assistant
Stage Management
Aspen Jackson, Stage Manager
Sarah Smiley, Stage Manager
Zoe Lord, Production Assistant
Sound
David Bost, Sound Supervisor
Scenic
Anthony Cacchione, Production Carpenter
Adam Maxfield, Technical Director
Laura Pates, Assistant Technical Director
Jessica Secrest, Scenic Charge Artist
Technical Production Graduate Students:
Brock Burton, Joel Ernst, Luke Robinson, Rachel Van
Namen, Garrett Weeda
Will Peele, Undergraduate Assistant-Scene Shop
Danielle Mou, Alex Rhinehalt, Carpenter Work Studies
Faith Wang, Paint Work Studies
Holly Turner, Paint Undergraduate Assistant
PlayMakers’ Resident Acting Company
Jeffrey Blair Cornell
Kathryn Hunter-Williams
Samuel Ray Gates
Tia James
Professional Actor Training Program:
Julia Gibson
Gwendolyn Schwinke
Hayley Cartee, Heinley Gaspard, Jamar Jones, Saleemah Sharpe, Sanjana Taskar, Adam Valentine
For this Production
Erin Teachman, Projection & Video Supervisor
Chyna Wiles, Associate Dramaturg
Camryn Banks, Moving Lights Programmer
Morgann Russell, Sound Engineer
Derrick Beasley, Photographer
NaTasha Thompson, Spark the Arts Coordinator
Garrett Weeda, Production Technical Director
Joel Ernst, Shop Lead
Zachary Morrison, Draper
39 OUR 22/23 COMPANY
By Jacqueline E. Lawton
