The Department of Theatre and Dance is a world-class educational environment that serves as the ultimate creative incubator for the next generation of artists, thinkers and leaders in theatre and performance.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28
7:30pm Once in a Hundred Years Lab Theatre
SATURDAY, MARCH 1
2:00pm These. Are. The. Keystrokes. Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
7:30pm Three Exorcisms Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
SUNDAY, MARCH 2
2:00pm Once in a Hundred Years Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
THURSDAY, MARCH 6
7:30pm These. Are. The. Keystrokes. Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
FRIDAY, MARCH 7
7:30pm Three Exorcisms Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
SATURDAY, MARCH 8
11:00pm Transcendence (Reading) Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
2:00pm Once in a Hundred Years Lab Theatre
7:30pm These. Are. The. Keystrokes. Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
SUNDAY, MARCH 9
11:00pm Then We’ll Rest (Reading) Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
2:00pm Three Exorcisms Lab Theatre
7:30pm Once in a Hundred Years Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
BECOME A SEASON SUBSCRIBER LOCATION, DIRECTIONS, PARKING
A NOTE FROM THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Welcome to UTNT (UT New Theatre), the showcase of new plays written by graduating M.F.A. candidate playwrights. Now in its 18th year, UTNT brings together students from all theatre-making disciplines to develop plays from script to stage. In some ways the event of performance, when the play meets its audience, is the culmination of their creative work. After all, these playwrights wrote to communicate, to express, to share this artwork with others.
In our disposition as theatre makers, however, we know that a performance is also among the most useful stages of the developmental process. Tonight, the creators of this play will learn a great deal astride the fulcrum of artistic intent and audience impact. With each performance, each scene, each moment, they’ll sense the shifts of energy in the piece: what works, what is unexpected and what needs attention. As an audience, you reveal their play and provide invaluable information that will influence the writing, design and acting choices for the next performance and productions ahead. You’ve become a part of this play now. Thank you for your service!
Mostly, though, we hope you enjoy the show and come back to see the full bunch of them. These five plays are gripping, funny and filled with characters full of yearning, wit and surprises. The benefit of producing a festival in rotation is we have more opportunities to think through and talk about plays as a creative community: What are these characters, stories and themes waking up in you? What about the person sitting in the seat next to you? Maybe you could flag down a playwright or a designer to start a conversation about the process. Nurture your curiosity by finding connections. See you at UTNT!
Producing Artistic Director, Alexandra Bassiakou Shaw
UTNT (UT New Theatre) presents newly developed works from playwrights of Texas Theatre and Dance and Michener Center for Writers. Now celebrating its 18th season, this showcase exists as an incubator for new work, with many plays continuing on to be professionally produced across the country.
Layla Isaac– Assistant Costume Designer • Eian Johnson – Assistant Dramaturg
Ana Lara – Scenic Designer • Jacqueline Mai – Assistant Stage Manager
KP Pierce – Lighting and Sound Designer • Ellenor Riley-Condit – Director
Jose Salcido – Production Manager • Aomi Seto – Assistant Stage Manager
Laura Soares – Stage Manager
CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
Treplev/Seagull
Sorin/Human Being
Paulina/Beetle
Nina/Starfish
Medved/Spider
Dorn/Lion
Masha/Goose
Arkadina/Crane
Trigorin/Frog
Yakov/Fish
Adam Flores Jr.
Zoey Gonzales
Emerson Hartman
Eian Johnson
Oyin Ojomo
Diego Rodriguez
Esmeralda Treviño
There will be one 10-minute intermission. The videotaping, photographing or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
Isaiah Jones
Roman Losa
Mackenzie Mann
For over a decade, I’ve wanted to write as well as Chekhov. His plays hold impossible contradictions: his characters are full of longing, but also subtlety; his language sounds familiar, but reveals strange quirks on a closer look, not to mention what’s poetically left unsaid. His four major plays follow similar structures and themes, often featuring a group of assorted family members, friends and employees living or visiting the Russian countryside, searching for their purpose in life, meaningful relationships with others or a way to move forward from the past. I encountered his first major play, The Seagull, as an undergraduate theatre student who, just like Nina in The Seagull, was passionately trying to understand acting and what it meant to me. As a playwright many years later, I returned to The Seagull when given an opportunity to workshop a new play with pre-professional actors and found my younger self staring at my older self. Like Treplev, the anxious writer in The Seagull, I also want to make a truly “new” play—but I’m continually reminded that art is constantly reshaped and reinvented; that nothing is ever new. Adapting and expanding The Seagull embodies this contradiction in a way in which I hope you will also delight. Whatever it is you endeavor to make in this life, I hope this play brings you some kind of connection to impossible questions and a longing to make it better, to see others and to be seen.
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
When was the last time you made something with people you love? Once In A Hundred Years takes the play-within-a-play in the original text of The Seagull and expands on it to ask “What if the actors spent one thousand years trying to make a new play together?” For our company of theatre artists working here at The University of Texas at Austin, the layers of reality and fiction blend. After all, we are also trying to make something together, many of us with love and care bonds already between us that come from years of working alongside each other, some of us seeing if we can form new bonds with people we’ve just met. Every day that we get to imagine this thousand-year timescale, I am reminded that the act of making on our small human timescale is profound. When we choose to navigate the joys and challenges of collaborating, whether to make a family meal or plan an event or pass on a skill, when we create together, we have the power to suspend time. The same way that we hope future generations will physically embody our legacies, so that in a small way if they are here one thousand years from now then we are too, the act of making in our everyday lives provides a tiny kernel of that same immortality. We won’t be here one thousand years from now, but something of us will be if we nurture the good in ourselves and each other. Thank you for witnessing our attempt to live forever. I hope you get to make something with people you love very soon.
A NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURG
Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull is a landmark in theatre history, remaining frequently produced and even more frequently studied as a canonical work of dramatic literature. A stark contrast to the popular melodramas of its time, The Seagull stands as a seminal play in the early modernist, realist and naturalist theatrical movements. In essence, The Seagull redefined conceptualizations of what theatre is and what it can be.
The Seagull was written in 1895 and premiered at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1896. After a rocky premiere, Chekhov nearly abandoned the theatre altogether, until he was approached about putting up a new production of the play at the newly-founded Moscow Art Theatre. This new iteration of The Seagull was to be directed by one of the theatre’s founders: the now-iconic practitioner, Konstantin Stanislavski. Though Chekhov intended for The Seagull to be a comedy, Stanislavski’s interpretation, rooted in psychological realism, portrayed the work as a tragedy. This (mis) interpretation was a resounding success in 1898 and has remained the enduring perspective through countless iterations over the last 127 years.
As the first of Anton Chekhov’s four most iconic works, The Seagull could once be framed as an emblem of a new theatrical form. Like the characters in the play, and in this play that you are about to watch, Chekhov, too, felt his work was misunderstood even after garnering massive critical acclaim. As an adaptation of The Seagull, Once In A Hundred Years returns to some of Chekhov’s original intentions and impulses with his art, questioning once again, after over a century, how to disrupt and reinvent what has come before.
SPECIAL THANKS
Ed Cheetham, Michael Sheehan, Max Mooney, Aaliyah Peterman, Caeleigh O'Connor, Cody Hodgins, Emily Schraer, Grace Adams Ward, Jaedan Sanchez, Julia Kenny, Nate Kolmodin, Angel Hernandez, Angela Mata, Anna Jo Bundy, Chandler Collins, Jay Smith, Joe Adkins, Mayia Paige Keizman, KJ Sanchez, Jenn Kidwell and the Spring 2024 Professional Development Workshop class.
Kelsey Vidic, for providing the skirt for the character “Masha/Goose.”
This production is dedicated to the memory of Mateo Ervin.
Juno Adair (Assistant Scenic Designer) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include co-props designer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Studio Series, 2024) and scenic and props designer for to love and to be loved and everything in between (Studio Series, 2024) and Points of Intersection (2024). Additional credits include props design for Twisted (Speedrun, 2024). (he/they)
Rosy Esquenazi Alkabes (Assistant Director) is a third-year B.F.A. in Theatre Education major also pursuing a minor in arts management and administration. Originally from Panama City, Panama, she has an extensive background in acting and directing. Credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include 9/10 beds (Studio Series, 2022), The Scholarship or Almost is Never Enough (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2023), Bellua (Studio Series, 2023), The Smartest Girl in the World (2023) and most recently, Romeo y Juliet (2024). Other credits include Take the Wheel's Short Play Festival (2022-2024).
Benjamin Barclay (Assistant Lighting and Sound Designer) is a first-year B.F.A. in Theatre Education major. This is his first production with Texas Theatre and Dance. His recent credits include “Joe” in The Shadow Box (Tal Lostracco’s Summer Theatre Camp) and a member of the technical team for Carrie: The Musical (University Theatre Guild). Catch him next making his directorial debut with Into the Woods (University Theatre Guild).
Georgia Beckmann (Dramaturg) is currently pursuing a M.A. in Theatre with a specialization in performance as public practice. Her credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include dramaturgy for Cruising for Emotional Connection (Studio Series, 2024). She is currently serving as the co-chair of the Education, Community Engagement and Dramaturgy Committee for The Cohen New Works Festival. (she/they)
Gabriel Brown (Music Producer and Composer) is pursuing a B.A. in Arts and Entertainment Technologies at The University of Texas at Austin, focusing on music and audio. He has composed music for various dance performances including collaborations with Texas Theatre and Dance. Recent projects include generative audio systems and original compositions for interdisciplinary performances. He is passionate about exploring innovative applications of sound in live and digital contexts.
Hal Cosentino (Playwright) is a M.F.A. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in playwriting. His plays Oh, Buddy and Lineage were finalists for the Eugene O’Neill New Play Conference, and Oh, Buddy will be published in the upcoming Methuen Drama Book of Trans Plays. Previous acting credits include “Coleman” in Very Blue Light (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2023). He and Ellenor Riley-Condit will present Godfriend during the 2025 Cohen New Works Festival. double-text.com.
Aaron Flynn (Costume Designer) has been designing costumes for theatre since 2015. Notable works include Rude Mechs’ Not Every Mountain, Frank Wo/Men Collective’s Rub A Duck and Salvage Vanguard Theater’s Bright Mother: An Invitation Into Being. He enjoys seeing the moment when an actor steps into their costume and fully embodies their character.
Gabriela Hernandez (Assistant Production Manager) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management. Her favorite credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include assistant stage managing for Fall For Dance (2023) and stage managing for Point of Intersection (2024) and CYPHERS (2024). This is her first time working on UTNT (UT New Theatre).
Layla Isaac (Assistant Costume Designer) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology studying costume design at The University of Texas at Austin. Throughout her college career, she has been involved in many productions. Recent costume design credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Fall For Dance (2024), Blood at the Root (Studio Series, 2024), Pretend it's Pretend (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024) and Fall For Dance (2023).
Ana Lara (Scenic Designer) is a fourth-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology. With a diverse background in acting, design and playwriting, she brings a multifaceted approach to her work. Her recent scenic design credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include EMERGE (2023), as well as The Cohen New Works Festival (2023) projects El Corrido de la Soldadera: A Mariachi Musical and The Scholarship or Almost is Never Enough. Additional scenic design credits include La Bohème (Butler Opera Center, 2023).
Jacqueline Mai (Assistant Stage Manager) is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance student with an emphasis in design and production and a focus in stage management. She has experience in many areas of backstage technical work and stage management. Her recent credits include stage managing the UIL OAP State finalist show Ghetto (Katy Theatre, 2024) and assistant stage managing A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2024).
KP Pierce (Lighting and Sound Designer) is a second-year M.F.A. in Theatre (lighting and sound design) candidate. Most recently she has designed sound and lighting for Dance Repertory Theatre’s CYPHERS (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2024). She is currently working with the Butler Opera Center as the lighting designer for Le nozze di Figaro this April.
Ellenor Riley-Condit (Director) is a theatre maker working at the intersection of performance creation and liberatory praxis. Her favorite works with Texas Theatre and Dance include A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (2024), as well as Oh, Buddy and Then We’ll Rest (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2023). She serves as faculty and curriculum coordinator at Powerhouse Theater at Vassar College, where she directed Trojan Women and Marathon. double-text.com (she/her)
Jose Salcido (Production Manager) is a secondyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management. This is his seventh production with Texas Theatre and Dance and his second year with UTNT (UT New Theatre). His credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include assistant stage management for Ride the Cyclone (2023) and Dance Repertory Theatre's Point of Intersection (2024), stage management for Evolution (2024) and assistant production management for UTNT (UT New Theatre) (2024).
Aomi Seto (Assistant Stage Manager) is an exchange student from Japan currently studying at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance. This is her final semester at UT Austin. In Japan, she has primarily worked as an assistant director and stage manager with multiple collegebased musical theatre organizations.
Laura Soares (Stage Manager) is a secondyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management. She has a background in various types of backstage work and stage management. Recent credits include assistant stage management for A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2024) and Romeo y Juliet (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2024).
Eian Johnson
Isaiah Jones
Roman Losa Mackenzie Mann
Adam Flores Jr
Zoey Gonzales Emerson Hartman
Oyin Ojomo
Diego Rodriguez Esmeralda Treviño
CAST
Adam Flores Jr. (Treplev/Seagull) is a third-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. He has an extensive background in acting. Previous credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include “Fred, Ed, & Ned” in A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (2024) and "Marcus" in Choreomaniac 1518 (UTNT (UT New Theater), 2024). This past summer he played various roles at Shakespeare at Winedale as part of the 2024 summer season.
Zoey Gonzales (Sorin/Human Being) is a thirdyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include the roles of “Friar Lawrence” in Romeo y Juliet (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2024), “Henry Roberts” in The When and How (Speedrun Studios, 2024) and “Percy Jackson” in The Lightning Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical (University Theatre Guild, 2023)
Emerson Hartman (Paulina/The Beetle) is a second-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. Previous credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include “Cheesecake” in A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of Great Lakes (2024).
Eian Johnson (Nina/Starfish; Assistant Dramaturg) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in the performer's process at The University of Texas at Austin. Her recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include "Frau Mika" in Choreomaniac 1518 (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024) and “Student/New York Tour Guide” in James and the Giant Peach (2024). Additional credits include “Helena” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare at Winedale).
Isaiah Jones (Medved/Spider) is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process. He has performed in various productions at his hometown for many years before attending The University of Texas at Austin. His recent credits include performances with the student organization
Take the Wheel and Carrie: The Musical with the University Theatre Guild. This is his first production with Texas Theatre and Dance.
Roman Losa (Dorn/Lion) is a first-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. He has an extensive background in theatre performance and has appeared in multiple short films and TV episodes through the Moody College of Communication. This is his first production with Texas Theatre and Dance.
Mackenzie Mann (Masha/Goose) is a secondyear B.F.A. in Acting major also pursuing minors in philosophy and arts management and administration. Previous credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Choreomaniac 1518 (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024), A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of Great Lakes (2024) and Taste Buds: The Adventures of Cake and Broccoli (UTNT (UT New Theatre, 2024). They will be debuting a performance art piece THIS IS CONSENSUAL. as part of The Cohen New Works Festival (2025).
Oyin Ojomo (Arkadina/Crane) is a B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin.
Diego Rodriguez (Trigorin/Frog) is a first-year B.F.A. in Acting major. Recent credits include “Shrek” in Shrek The Musical Jr. and “Red” in The Shawshank Redemption at Meridian World School and “Ralphie” in A Christmas Story at the Georgetown Palace Theatre. Film credits include “Tyler” in Beat and The Adventures of Zobey. (he/him)
Esmeralda Treviño (Yakov/Fish) is a third-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. Her most recent Texas Theatre and Dance credits include “Cherry Pie” in A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (2024). She also performed as “Lady MacDuff” in Macbeth and “Charlotte/Sophia” in Sense and Sensibility as part of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival Acting Internship program.
MARCH 1 AT 2:00 P.M.
MARCH 6 AT 7:30 P.M.
MARCH 8 AT 7:30 P.M.
OSCAR G. BROCKETT THEATRE F. LOREN WINSHIP DRAMA BUILDING
There will be one 15-minute intermission. The videotaping, photographing or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
Haley Prince
Reggie
Khalia Sacko
Donnie
Jay Smith
A NOTE FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT
This play is dedicated to the typists who peck with two (or one) fingers, the typists who look down at the keys to make sure they’re not going anywhere and the typists who make it all look easy.
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Nostalgia has overcome me throughout the process of bringing this story to life with my collaborators. I’ve thought about the predominantly Black community that nurtured me as a child. I’ve thought about the 80’s music, dances, hairstyles and fashion. I’ve thought about my father, an educator and pastor, who provided counsel, resources and alternative options to those boys within our community who were “affiliated.” I’ve thought of those boys and girls who lost all hope because the world had abandoned them and left them to make the best of their circumstances. I’ve thought about the impact of educators like “Touchless,” who encouraged these youth to “dream” again. As you experience this play, I hope you get lost in your thoughts. Think about OUR community and what you can do to help our youth dream. To those who are already doing this critical work… Thank you!
SPECIAL THANKS
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dr. Lisa B. Thompson, Kirk Lynn, Stori Jasper, Bret Anthony Johnston, Alexandra Bassett, Al Garrett, Dawn Burnside, Ya’Ke Smith, Tiffany Nicole, Thaïs Bass- Moore, The Michener Center for Writers and the cast, designers and crew of These. Are. The. Keystrokes.
Juno Adair (Assistant Technical Director) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include co-props designer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Studio Series, 2024) and scenic and props designer for to love and to be loved and everything in between (Studio Series, 2024) and Points of Intersection (2024). Additional credits include props design for Twisted (Speedrun, 2024). (he/they)
Austin Brion (Sound Designer) has been working in the sound, music and film/television industry for 15+ years and is looking forward to working with The University of Texas at Austin to continue to help guide and inspire young sound designers and technicians. Select regional credits include Beautiful, A Carol King Musical; The Lehman Trilogy; The Prom;Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; Head Over Heels and Noises Off, all with ZACH Theatre Composer credits include The Migrant Kitchen.
Alik B. Clay (Assistant Scenic Designer) is a M.F.A. in Theatre (scenic design) candidate at The University of Texas at Austin. Most recently they have worked as an electrician on several projects with Texas Theatre and Dance and served as the media and scenic designer for If/Then at Flagler College.
Violet Clemons (Costume Designer) is a secondyear M.F.A. in Theatre candidate at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a Chicago native and studied costume design at Ball State University, earning her a B.A. in 2019. She has worked around the Chicagoland area in theatre and fashion. Her recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (2024), Pretend it's Pretend (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024) and Points of Intersection (2024).
Manami (Ally) Dolley (Assistant Stage Manager) is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance student with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage manage-
ment. She has experience in many areas of technical theatre and stage management. Her recent credits include an award-winning hair and makeup design (Tivy High School Theatre, 2024) and assistant direction for Shrek the Musical Jr. (Playhouse 2000, 2024).
Oren Ederi (Assistant Director) is a fourth-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major at The University of Texas at Austin. He works both on stage and behind the scenes as a sound and lighting designer, composer, director and playwright. Recent Texas Theatre and Dance credits include portraying “Old Man” in addition to composing and music directing for James and the Giant Peach (2024). He is currently directing his new original musical You Need the Goo!, to be presented as part of The Cohen New Works Festival (2025).
Michelle “Midge” Ferguson (Stage Manager) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management also pursuing a minor in media and entertainment industries. They have stage managed various projects in the Austin area including The Little Mermaid (Summer Stock Austin) and the Texas Theatre and Dance productions of Blood at the Root (Studio Series 2024) and A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (2024). She also worked as a stagehand at the 2024 Kerrville Folk Festival. (they/she)
Sarah Jean Elliott (Lighting Designer) is a recent graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a M.F.A. in Theatre (live design and production). She is the resident lighting designer for Ballet Vero Beach, and her recent work includes m(other) figures (Dance Waterloo, 2025), A Christmas Carol (Barter Theatre, 2024) and Lyric & the Keys (Magik Theatre, 2024). Credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include: Un Intento (An Attempt) and Oxido (Rusty) (Points of Intersection, 2024) and Ride the Cyclone (2023). She also served as co-technical director for The Cohen New Works Festival (2023). (she/her)
CREATIVE
Mikala Gibson (Director) is a M.F.A. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in directing. Her recent theatre directing credits include A Maroon’s Guide to Time and Space (The Catastrophic Theatre) and Blood at the Root (Texas Theatre and Dance Studio Series 2024). Gibson’s theatre acting credits include Flyin’ West (African American Repertory Theatre), Gem of the Ocean (Jubilee Theatre) and The Piano Lesson (The Ensemble Theatre). Gibson’s TV acting credits include recurring roles in Fear the Walking Dead and Netflix's First Kill. (she/her)
Andy Grapko (Intimacy Director) is a lecturer and the resident intimacy director for the Department of Theatre and Dance. Her recent intimacy credits include Jack and Aiden (Ground Floor Theatre), Pipeline (The Alchemy Theatre), La Bohème (Butler Opera Center), Ride the Cyclone (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2023), The Pearl Fishers (Austin Opera), Big Love (Texas State University), Fabulous Monsters (The Public Theatre of San Antonio), as well as TV and film projects Growing Pains, Angel and Walker (The CW). andygrapko.com
Rachel Green (Assistant Costume Designer) is a fourth-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include James and The Giant Peach (2024) and Romeo y Juliet (2024), in addition to working as a costume crafts assistant on various productions. Outside of Austin, she recently worked with the Jim Henson Creature Shop in New York City as a shop assistant.
Gabriela Hernandez (Assistant Production Manager) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management. Her favorite credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include assistant stage managing for Fall For Dance (2023) and stage managing for Point of Intersection (2024) and CYPHERS (2024). This is her first time working on UTNT (UT New Theatre).
Jason Lee Huerta (Technical Director) is the Operations Manager of Fabrication, for Texas
Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin and a lecturer for the Department of Theatre and Dance. He has a M.F.A. in Scenic Technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to coming to Austin, he worked at various theatres including the Goodman Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare, South Texas College and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Huerta currently holds the role of Mentorship Representative for the Technical Production Commission of USITT. (he/him)
Kennedy Mclaggan (Assistant Stage Manager) is a third-year B.F.A. in Theatre Education major at The University of Texas at Austin. She has a background in both tech and acting. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Blood at the Root (Studio Series 2024) (2024) and Bellua (2023). In addition to projects with Take the Wheel productions and the Cohen New Works Festival.
Lisa Laratta (Scenic Designer) received her B.F.A. in Toronto and her M.F.A. in Theatre (live design and production) from The University of Texas at Austin, where she now teaches set design. Laratta is co-artistic director of Austin’s paper chairs. Her set design credits include Plano and Poor Herman (paper chairs), Antigonick, Bright Mother: An Invitation to Being and Decapitations (Salvage Vanguard Theatre) and Heroic Dose and Stop Hitting Yourself (Rude Mechs) as well as Off Broadway shows Montag (SoHo Repertory Theater) and Wolf Play (MCC Theater).
Michael Mobley (Playwright) is a thirdyear Michener Center for Writers' M.F.A. in Writing candidate, with concentrations in playwriting and fiction.
David Olivares (Sound Designer) is a B.S. in Arts and Entertainment Technologies major at The University of Texas at Austin. With extensive experience in music production and sound system operation, he has recently focused on composing for media, including works for short films, dance and theatre.
CREATIVE
Jose Salcido (Production Manager) is a secondyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management. This is his seventh production with Texas Theatre and Dance and his second year with UTNT (UT New Theatre). His credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include assistant stage management for Ride the Cyclone (2023) and Dance Repertory Theatre's Point of Intersection (2024), stage management for Evolution (2024) and assistant production management for UTNT (UT New Theatre) (2024).
Rain Snyder (Assistant Lighting Designer) is a B.F.A. in Theatre Education major at The University of Texas at Austin. She worked recently as the assistant sound designer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Studio Series, 2024). She has experience in acting and technical work in both community and high school theatre. This is her first year at UT Austin.
Alison Vasquez (Voice Coach), M.F.A., is a director, playwright, teatrista and Assistant Professor of Practice specializing in acting and voice at The University of Texas at Austin. She is owner of Claridad Voice, Representation Matters Training and founding executive director of Teatro Audaz San Antonio. alisonvasquezmfa.com
Makayla Adelakun Heavyn Carter
Trevor Gatabaki
Howard Hall
Haley Prince
Khalia Sacko Jay Smith
CAST
Makayla Adelakun (Mahogany) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer's process at The University of Texas at Austin. She has an extensive background in the arts. Recent credits include the roles of "Raylynn" in Blood at the Root (Texas Theatre and Dance Studio Series, 2024) and "Audrey" in Little Shop of Horrors (Klein Forest High School, 2023).
Heavyn Carter (Tati) is a first-year B.F.A. in Acting student at The University of Texas at Austin. Carter has participated in various productions. Some of her favorite credits include Hamlet and Twelfth Night at Smithson Valley High School Theatre.
Trevor Gatabaki (Isaiah) is a third-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. He has a substantial background in acting and performance, with an added passion for music. He was most recently seen on stage as "James" in James and the Giant Peach (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2024) and as "Hamin" in True 2 My Religion (Marygrove Theatre, 2023).
Howard Hall (Touchless) is a comedy veteran with 23 years of experience who continues to entertain audiences from Baton Rouge to Austin, Texas. He’s a featured performer at Skankfest 2024 and a paid regular at Comedy Mothership, Cap City and Creek and Cave. Hall has toured nationally, appeared on Theo Von's “Return of the Rat” tour and Jamie Foxx’s Laffapalooza and works as the Web Design and Development Manager for UT Austin’s University Housing and Dining website. His latest album, Hall Pass, is now streaming.
Haley Prince (Sandra) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process. Prince has an extensive background in theatre. Her notable credits include “Frieda/Darlene” in The Bluest Eye (Columbia College), “Addaperle” in The Wiz (The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts) and “The Mad Hatter” in Alice (Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts), among others. Prince has also had the privilege to work on many student-led projects and productions.
Khalia Sacko (Reggie) is a B.A. Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. He is an actor and vocalist; his first production with Texas Theatre and Dance was Blood at the Root (Studio Series, 2024).
Jay Smith (Donnie) is a fourth-year double majoring in Human Ecology and Theatre and Dance with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. He has notable experience in singing, dancing, acting and playing piano. Smith’s recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include “Jim Cooper” in Address the Body! (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2023) and a member of “The Choreomaniacs,” the dance ensemble in Choreomaniac 1518 (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024).
MARCH 1 AT 7:30 P.M.
MARCH 7 AT 7:30 P.M.
MARCH 9 AT 2:00 P.M.
OSCAR G. BROCKETT THEATRE F. LOREN WINSHIP DRAMA BUILDING
The videotaping, photographing or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
Sitting down to write this note, I tried to transport myself back to the mental state I was in when I started this play. It was the fall of 2020. I was living in my mother’s attic and was painfully single. So, it is perhaps unsurprising that this play takes place in a confined space, the characters are riddled with illness and most everyone is feverishly horny for a man they can barely see.
But what began this piece was actually two sentences I read in Maria Popova’s wonderful book Figuring: “While (Johan) Kepler saw his body as an instrument of scholarship, other bodies around him were being exploited as instruments of superstition. In Graz, he witnessed dramatic exorcisms performed on young women believed to be possessed by demons—grim public spectacles staged by the king and his clergy.”
The imagery of these “grim public spectacles” was the idea that sparked this splay. But now, re-reading that quote for the first time in years, I wonder if it was that first sentence about the inequity between Johan Kepler and many others that ignited this play and has kept me coming back to it for years (why one writes anything is such an elusive thing!). We live in a relentlessly unfair world. It is so unfair that it can, at times, feel like a sickness inside all of us, an obsession in our psyches, or even a demon gnawing away at our hearts. Or at least, it can feel that way to me. How do we endure living in a world of such random chance and such unfair advantage? And how does it isolate us from each other and our souls?
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
The morning of our first rehearsal, I stumbled on a question in the introduction of George Saunders’ A Swim in a Pond in the Rain.
“How can we feel any peace when some people have everything and others have nothing?”
This question is of the deepest restlessness. It asks simply, in this world, how do we possibly sit still? We fragment so much of our time, I think, to forget this question. In Three Exorcisms, time is incessant. Each long hour bleeds into the next giving way to days and then lifetimes spent in the same place with the same illnesses looking at the same water-stained wall while the inequities of existence continue to disconnect us from ourselves and each other.
What I love about Avery’s writing is that, in the face of horrors within and without, people use humor in pursuit of survival. I feel grateful to be working on this play. Thank you for being part of it.
SPECIAL THANKS
Mia Nguyen, Nick Hart, Hannah Read, Alex Bassiakou Shaw, Brenden Beck, Hal Cosentino, Kirk Lynn
Juno Adair (Assistant Technical Director) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include co-props designer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Studio Series, 2024) and scenic and props designer for to love and to be loved and everything in between (Studio Series, 2024) and Points of Intersection (2024). Additional credits include props design for Twisted (Speedrun, 2024). (he/they)
Brittney Barton (Assistant Scenic Designer) is a first-year graduate student with a focus in scenic design. She is from Florida, where she has designed for various productions including 9 to 5: The Musical, Shakespeare In Love and Blithe Spirit (University of West Florida).
Arash Baqipur (Projection Designer) is an M.F.A. in Theatre candidate. Holding an M.A. in Cinema, he explores storytelling through multimedia, space and new technology. His films have had screenings at American Film Institute, Palm Springs International Film Festival, New Orleans Film Festival, and Rhode Island International Film Festival. Credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Fall For Dance (2023 & 2024), Romeo y Juliet (2024) and James and the Giant Peach (2024). Additional credits include Sunset Baby (Signature Theatre, 2024) and Diary of a Tap Dancer (American Repertory Theater, 2024).
Austin Brion (Sound Designer) has been working in the sound, music and film/television industry for 15+ years and is looking forward to working with The University of Texas at Austin to continue to help guide and inspire young sound designers and technicians. Select regional credits include Beautiful, A Carol King Musical; The Lehman Trilogy; The Prom, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812; Head Over Heads and Noises Off, all with ZACH Theatre. Composer credits include The Migrant Kitchen.
Nicole Chacko (Stage Manager) is a secondyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management at The University of Texas
at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include James and the Giant Peach (2024), Cowboy Mouth (Studio Series, 2024), and Pretend it's Pretend (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024).
Caley Chase (Director) directs theatre and live performance. She has directed, developed and assisted work at the The Huntington, Powerhouse Theater, American Repertory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Shakespeare & Company, Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Speakeasy Stage and Breaking & Entering Theatre, among others. She is a third-year M.F.A. in Theatre candidate with a specialization in directing at The University of Texas at Austin. caleychase.com (she/her)
Alik B. Clay (Assistant Scenic Designer) is a M.F.A. in Theatre (scenic design) candidate at The University of Texas at Austin. Most recently they have worked as an electrician on several projects with Texas Theatre and Dance and served as the media and scenic designer for If/Then at Flagler College.
Avery Deutsch (Playwright) is a playwright and actor from New York. She is the winner of Clubbed Thumb’s 2022 Biennial commission, The Hearth’s 2024 Virtual Retreat and a recipient of a 2023-2024 Ensemble Studio Theatre / Sloan Project commission.
Sarah Jean Elliott (Lighting Designer) is a recent graduate of The University of Texas at Austin with a M.F.A. in Theatre (live design and production). She is the resident lighting designer for Ballet Vero Beach, and her recent work includes m(other) figures (Dance Waterloo, 2025), A Christmas Carol (Barter Theatre, 2024) and Lyric & the Keys (Magik Theatre, 2024). Credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include: Un Intento (An Attempt) and Oxido (Rusty) (Points of Intersection, 2024) and Ride the Cyclone (2023). She also served as co-technical director for The Cohen New Works Festival (2023). (she/her)
Gabriela Hernandez (Assistant Production Manager) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and
CREATIVE
technology and a focus in stage management. Her favorite credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include assistant stage managing for Fall For Dance (2023) and stage managing for Point of Intersection (2024) and CYPHERS (2024). This is her first time working on UTNT (UT New Theatre).
Jason Lee Huerta (Technical Director) is the Operations Manager of Fabrication, for Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin and a lecturer for the Department of Theatre and Dance. He has a M.F.A. in Scenic Technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to coming to Austin, he worked at various theatres including the Goodman Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare, South Texas College and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Huerta currently holds the role of Mentorship Representative for the Technical Production Commission of USITT. (he/him)
Alisa Irvin (Assistant Stage Manager) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance.
Lisa Laratta (Scenic Designer) received her B.F.A. in Toronto and her M.F.A. in Theatre (live design and production) from The University of Texas at Austin, where she now teaches set design. Laratta is co-artistic director of Austin’s paper chairs. Her set design credits include Plano and Poor Herman (paper chairs), Antigonick, Bright Mother: An Invitation to Being and Decapitations (Salvage Vanguard Theatre) and Heroic Dose and Stop Hitting Yourself (Rude Mechs) as well as Off Broadway shows Montag (SoHo Repertory Theater) and Wolf Play (MCC Theater).
Allison Normin Johnson (Costume Designer) is a first-year M.F.A. in Theatre candidate at The University of Texas at Austin. She is interested in exploring influences from art history, sustainability and international experiences. She has collaborated with Oregon-based theatres such as CoHo Productions, Corrib Theatre, Milagro Theatre and Portland Center Stage.
Jose Salcido (Production Manager) is a secondyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management. This is his seventh production with Texas Theatre and Dance and his second year with UTNT (UT New Theatre). His credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include assistant stage management for Ride the Cyclone (2023) and Dance Repertory Theatre's Point of Intersection (2024), stage management for Evolution (2024) and assistant production management for UTNT (UT New Theatre) (2024).
Robin Schuler (Assistant Stage Manager) is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology and a focus in stage management. Schuler's favorite stage management credits include The Taxadermist’s Daughter (Wylie High School, 2024), Singin’ in the Rain (Garland Summer Musicals, 2024) and Alice by Heart (CenterStage Theatre Works, 2024).
Rain Snyder (Assistant Lighting Designer) is a B.F.A. in Theatre Education major at The University of Texas at Austin. She worked recently as the assistant sound designer for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Studio Series, 2024). She has experience in acting and technical work in both community and high school theatre. This is her first year at UT Austin.
Hannah Nelson (Assistant Director) is a fourthyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in playwriting and directing. She is interested in the intersections of theatre, collective memory and reconciliation. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include dramaturgy for A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (2024), assistant direction for Choreomaniac 1518 (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024) and stage management for Hamlet (Studio Series, 2023).
Alison Vasquez (Voice Coach), M.F.A., is a director, playwright, teatrista and Assistant Professor of Practice specializing in acting and voice at The University of Texas at Austin. She is owner
of Claridad Voice, Representation Matters Training and founding executive director of Teatro Audaz San Antonio. Alisonvasquezmfa.com
Ella Wetmore (Assistant Costume Designer) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in costume design at The University of Texas at Austin. Her recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Choreomaniac 1518 (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024), James and the Giant Peach (2024) and three dance pieces performed as part of Points of Intersection (2024).
Ella Eavenson
David Gonima
Lana Lesley Carlise Rosa
Ella Eavenson (Hunna) is a first-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include several Radio-TelevisionFilm projects as well as "Fastrada" in Pippin (Casa Mañana Theatre, 2024). (she/her)
David Gonima (The Stable Boy) is a third year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include “Lysander” in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Studio Series, 2024) and “Mischa Bachinski” in Ride the Cyclone (2023), in addition to multiple projects in the Cohen New Works festival. Additional credits include “Scarecrow” in The Wizard of Oz (San Pedro Playhouse).
Lana Lesley (Lady Marguerite) is a co-founder and co-producing artistic director for Rude Mechs. Lesley has co-created, performed in and produced more than 35 plays with Rude Mechs, touring nationally and internationally to venues ranging from Center Theatre Group’s Douglas Theater to SZENE Salzburg to Brisbane’s World Theatre Festival. Lesley’s most recent independent works include ART TRAMP, curated at the intersection of art and the outdoors, and GRAGERIART’S GARAGE ART, a performed detournement of your favorite IKEA catalogue.
Carlise Rosa (Nicole) is a second-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include "Snapdragon" in A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes (2024) and "Frau Thera" in Choreomaniac 1518 (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2024).
READINGS
READING
MARCH 8 AT 11:00 A.M.
OSCAR G. BROCKETT THEATRE
F. LOREN WINSHIP DRAMA BUILDING
We are sick and tired. So you know it’s time to believe us when we are ready to talk. To have our words chopped. To taste our tongues as if tasting honey and eyebrow. We do our best to keep our jobs. We do our best to answer all the calls and stay on top of our friends’ lives. We give up and feel great giving up. So please be quiet. Protract the silence while we find hard ways of making sense of ourselves.
READING
MARCH 9 AT 11:00 A.M.
OSCAR G. BROCKETT THEATRE
F. LOREN WINSHIP DRAMA BUILDING
Penny and Polly are best friends and gymnastics rivals. They like to make up stories and eat donuts in the car. They get in a big fight, grow up, get religious. They’re lonely and in love and still competing over something neither of them can name. Penny gets sad and Polly gets sick. So does a king living elsewhere. Have you read Uncle Vanya? This isn't like that. This is a play about getting lost at sea and seduced by power; about two friends and how each informs the other and about beauty, grief, love and ambition.