Rose in America by VIA MEDIA / BAYSTAGES

An AlterLab world premiere commission

Rose in America

by Michelle Carter

directed by Regina Fields with dramaturgy by Jayne Wenger

FROM THE DIRECTOR "Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete? Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk with out having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping its dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air. Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared."

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san francisco pride castro street fair sonoma county pride s.f. gay men’s chorus san francisco playhouse broadway by the bay custom made theatre co. city lights theater company berkeley playhouse silicon valley shakespeare and the merchant associations of San Francisco’s

mission, noe valley, castro, bayview, potrero|dogpatch, north beach, soma, south beach-mission bay and inner sunset neighborhoods

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Much like the rose that grew from concrete, this play has risen out of a world that is rife with political disagreement, institutional violence and a thirst for learning. I often say I wish there were more plays about Black activism that don’t have to be about a history of a history with hurt. Michelle cleverly uses humor as sharp as a knife and as smart as the characters in her play to slice to the quick of difficult conversations. Rose In America presents questions like how to be an ally without losing your own voice? What is true activism? What does equity look like? What can we as artists do to facilitate change? These questions are why I think it’s so essential to do this play now. Rose takes place in the fall of 2008, the precipice of great hope for many of us. As the 2016 election nears, it is especially valuable to reflect on the values of education, the arts, and activism, through whatever lens you may be bringing as an audience member. We are in a time of great change, and Rose In America interrogates how to find your place in a movement, a particularly relevant question for our present moment. Thank you so much to Jeanette Harrison, Harrison Moye, Michelle Carter, Ann Brebner and Jayne Wenger. Your support has been invaluable through this process. Special thanks to my parents, Regina and Victor Fields, without whom none of this is possible. Your patronage is appreciated, and I hope you enjoy the show.

Regina Victoria Fields Director

A LTERT HE AT E R prese n t s

by Michelle

Carter

CAST

[ IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE ]

Kemi............................................................................AeJay Mitchell Tisha....................................................................... Nkechi Emeruwa Anthony...................................................................... Dorian Lockett Jack.................................................................. John Patrick Moore ● Wally........................................................................... Charles Dean ●

PRODUCTION TEAM Director........................................................... Regina Victoria Fields Rehearsal Stage Manager......................................... Hande Gokbas Dramaturg................................................................... Jayne Wenger Costume Designer..................................................Alyssa Goldsmith Sound Designer...........................................................Ashley Smiley Composer................................................................. Tony the Scribe Box Office Staff............................................ Laura Millar, Carla Pauli Production Manager...................................................Harrison Moye Producer............................................................... Jeanette Harrison Production Mentor......................................................... Ann Brebner ● Members of Actors’ Equity Association. This theater operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

SPECIAL THANKS: American Conservatory Theater, Tom Adams, the City of San Rafael, Goodwill, Amy Hand, Margot Jones, Norman Kern, Mark Rucker, Michael Scott, West Coast Arts Foundation, United Markets, Jane Winter, the YWCA, and most importantly: YOU, our audience! Rose in America was commissioned by and developed in residency with AlterTheater Ensemble, San Rafael, CA. This production was made possible in part by A.C.T.’s Community Space-Sharing Initiative which provides nocost rehearsal and performance space, production support and professional mentorship to an ever-growing number of arts organizations in the Bay Area. The initiative is generously funded by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation and the San Francisco Neighborhood Arts Collaborative.

PO Box 150659 San Rafael, CA 94901 boxoffice@altertheater.org altertheater.org 415.454.2787

ASSOCIATE ARTISTS Rotimi Agbabiaka Ann Brebner Hugo E. Carbajal Robert Ernst Marvin Greene Jeanette Harrison Craig Jessup Sullivan (Matt) Jones Duca Knezevic Gwen Loeb Will Marchetti Frances Lee McCain Will McCandless ZZ Moor Carla Pauli Cathleen Riddley Patricia Silver Emilie Talbot Danielle Thomsen Justin Warner Jayne Wenger Michael Ray Wisely Ignacio Zulueta

2016/2017 ALTERLAB WRITERS Larissa FastHorse Margo Hall Andrew Saito

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Performance Dates:

June 2 to July 3, 2016 A.C.T. Costume Shop Theater, 1117 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103 (6.02-6.19.16) San Rafael Storefront, 1554 Fourth Street, San Rafael, CA (6.22-7.03.16) The performance runs approximately 1 hour and 55 minutes. There will be one intermission.

Peter Coyote, honorary Sharmila Devarajan Mary Edwards, secretary Jeanette Harrison Bill Papendick, treasurer Laura Falk Scott Jean Taylor, president altertheater @altertheater

Please note the location of all exits. Please turn off your cell phones and other electronic devices. Photography, videotaping or other recording of this production is strictly prohibited. 2016.06 • BAYSTAGES.COM | 1

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ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES CHARLES DEAN (Wally), a veteran ●

Bay Area actor, made his AlterTheater debut as George in The Dead Girl and returned to play the Old Man in Fool for Love. In recent years, he has appeared at Aurora Theatre, as well as San Francisco Playhouse, where he played Alfred Doolittle in their long-running production, My Fair Lady. He was a company member and associate artist at Berkeley Repertory Theatre for nearly twenty years, and he acted in eighty productions including The Tooth of Crime and Long Day’s Journey into Night. In 2008, he was seen on Broadway in a limited run of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas as General Waverly. He has also worked with American Conservatory Theater, the Old Globe (San Diego), Center Stage (Baltimore), the Alley Theatre (Houston), Dallas Theatre Center, Seattle Rep, Milwaukee Rep, the Alliance Theatre (Atlanta) and locally at San Jose Repertory Theatre and California Shakespeare Festival. A recipient of several San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle and Drama-Logue Awards, he was honored in 2014 with the inaugural Charles Dean Award, endowed by the Robinson Family Fund for the Arts and administered by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, honoring and celebrating outstanding work by a Bay Area actor who has dedicated his or her career to Bay Area theatre.

NKECHI EMERUWA (Tisha) is an

actor, singer-songwriter, performance artist, dancer, writer and painter, and is delighted to be in her first production with AlterTheater! Her actor training began with Meisner technique and evolved to include ensemble and physical theatre. Nkechi has performed nationally and internationally in commercials, TV, film and print, and has toured the US with her album Soul Rock Butterfly. Nkechi has enjoyed performing with Theatre Rhinoceros in The Call (Jon Lowe, director) and Walk Like a Man (John Fisher, director), Thrillpeddlers in The Untamed Stage (Russell Blackwood, director), foolsFURY Theatre Company in Baden-Powell Wars (Steven MorganHaskell, director) and Unheard of World (Michelle Haner, director), and Berkeley Playhouse in The BFG (Big 2 | BAYSTAGES.COM • 2016.06

Friendly Giant) (Jon Tracy, director) and Seussical (Kimberly Dooley, director). Before becoming an artist Nkechi earned a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Stanford University and is currently pursuing an MFA in theatre-performance making from California Institute of Integral Studies and the University of Chichester, UK. nkechi.com

DORIAN LOCKETT (Anthony) is

thrilled to be in his first venture with AlterTheater. Dorian is an award-winning actor. Born in Oakland and trained at Chabot College in Hayward, he has been acting all over the Bay Area for fourteen years. You might have seen him in The Grapes of Wrath with the Ubuntu Theater Project in Oakland, and you might want to see him again in Slaughter City with Stanford Repertory Theater. Dorian is very excited that you came to see this wonderful production. Thank you and enjoy.

AEJAY MITCHELL (Kemi) is thrilled

to be making his AlterTheater debut in this world premiere production. A Louisiana native currently based in Oakland, he has performed in Dogfight (San Francisco Playhouse), The Colored Museum, Xtigone and Much Ado About Nothing (African-American Shakespeare Company), The Wiz, The Music Man and Guys and Dolls (Berkeley Playhouse) and Dreamgirls and Cabaret (Broadway By the Bay) amongst others. He is a company member with the African-American Shakespeare Company, Bay Area Musicals, Black Artists Contemporary Cultural Experience and Portrait Makers, an interdisciplinary music and dance collaborative. “Art is activism, simultaneously personal and political, allowing a community of strangers to breathe together, love together, cry together, be angered together... and simply be together. Welcome.”

JOHN PATRICK MOORE (Jack) is ●

thrilled to be a part of Rose in America with AlterTheater. As an artistic associate with Central Works, he has directed or acted in over twelve world premieres including Project Ahab, The Red Virgin, Richard the First, Reduction in Force, Midsummer/4, Shadow Crossing,

The Mysterious Mr. Looney and The Duel. John’s New York credits include Mr. Knightley in Emma (New York Musical Festival), Charles in Edward III (Hope Theatre, Off-Broadway premiere) and King Richard in Richard II and Jacques in As You Like It (Expanded Art’s Free Shakespeare in the Park(ing) Lot). In the Bay Area, he has also appeared in River’s End, Beggar’s Holiday, Me and My Girl and Wonderful Town (Marin Theatre Company), The 13 Hallucinations of Julio Rivera (Magic Theatre), The Boys from Syracuse and By Jupiter (42nd Street Moon), Bingo (Center REPertory Company) and with the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and San Francisco PlayGround. He is a member of Actors' Equity.

MICHELLE CARTER (Playwright) is

a two-time recipient of the PEN Center USA Literary Award in drama. She has also received the Susan Glaspell Award, the Ebell Playwright Prize, the PEN West Award, Backstage West's Garland Award, a Susan Smith Blackburn Prize nomination and a Kesselring Prize nomination. She's held residencies at Berkeley Repertory Theater (Ground Floor), the Donmar Warehouse in London, the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. Her plays have been produced and developed at the Moscow Art Theater, the Donmar Warehouse, Playwrights Horizons / Clubbed Thumb SuperLab, Arcola Theatre, Centenary Stage Company, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Abingdon Theatre, Shotgun Players, Aurora Theatre, Magic Theatre, Symmetry Theatre, Just Theater, AlterTheater, the New York Summer Play Festival and the Grimeborn Opera Festival in London. Music theater and dance theater projects include Dreamspiel: A Ukulele Opera (libretto, lyrics) with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, (Arcola Theatre, London), After All, Part I (Yerba Buena Center for the Arts), The Lucky One, developed at Shotgun Players and Iron Shoes, with Kitka, to be developed at Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor Project this summer. She has published plays with Dramatic Publishing, many short stories and essays, and a novel with Penguin Books.

REGINA VICTORIA FIELDS

(Director) is thrilled to be making her AlterTheater debut with Rose in America. Regina graduated from Santa Clara University cum laude with double majors in theatre arts and religious studies and has also trained at the Gaiety School of Acting and the British American Drama Academy. A multidisciplinary artist who is passionate about community engagement and activism in the arts, she is currently serving as the artistic engagement fellow at California Shakespeare Theater where she will be assistant directing Fences this summer. Previous directing credits include Going to St. Ives with Aluminous Theater Collective and assistant directing Gem of the Ocean and Anne Boleyn at Marin Theater Company. As an actress, she has worked with companies across the Bay Area, including California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the African-American Shakespeare Company. Miss Fields is a firm believer in the power of theatre as a tool of change.

HANDE GOKBAS (Rehearsal

Stage Manager) was born and raised in Turkey and, even as a child, always had a flair for the dramatic. Hande is certain, with the guidance of the Marin Actors' Workshop for the past thirteen years, she has found her true passion and calling in acting. In this production of Rose in America, she plays the role of stage manager for the first time. She also has a degree in behavioral science from College of Marin.

ALYSSA GOLDSMITH (Costume

Designer) studied fashion and textile design at the University of California Davis. During her course of studies, she volunteered at the costume shop and began her own styling business. Since graduating, she has worked in film, music videos, television, theater and dance.

JEANETTE HARRISON (Producer)

has produced seventeen world premiere productions with AlterTheater. She runs the AlterLab playwright residency program and has directed (or co-directed with Ann Brebner) The River Bride by Marisela Treviño Orta (the first AlterLab play to hit the stage at Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Landless by Larissa FastHorse and The Amen Corner by James Baldwin. She also co-wrote the television pilot Feathers and Dots, Dots and Feathers, which received developmental support from CBS Studios and LA SkinsFest.

DEAN

HARRISON MOYE (Production

Manager). Previous AlterTheater credits include lighting designer for The Amen Corner. Originally from the Bay Area, Harrison studied at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, earning a degree in theatrical tech and design. He's happy to be back and working with companies like AlterTheater to bring great theater and experiences to everyone.

EMERUWA

JAYNE WENGER (Dramaturg) is

a director and dramaturg focused on original material. She has developed the emerging work of playwrights nationwide and has been recognized with numerous awards. She is the past artistic director of Bay Area Playwrights Foundation and Women’s Ensemble in New York. Current projects include Bear by Deke Weaver and The Blues is a Woman by Pamela Rose. She is an alumna of Djerassi Resident Artist Program, a guest artist and advisory board member for The Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez (Alaska), and a member of the Dramatists Guild, Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, AlterTheater of San Rafael, and the League of Professional Theater Women.

LOCKETT

MITCHELL

All images and/or content provided by AlterTheater staff, contractors and/ or creative artists unless otherwise credited. Opinions expressed by contractors, contributors and/or creative artists do not necessarily reflect the views of AlterTheater or VIA MEDIA. Photo credits are included as provided.

MOORE

CREATE MORE PLAYS! AlterLab supports three to five writers each year in an ensemble residency program. Our plays and our writers are going on to some of the top theaters in the country: Larissa FastHorse (Landless) has been selected as a Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis as a Core Writer for 2016-2019, and The River Bride by Marisela Treviño Orta is now playing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. AlterLab 2016/2017 writers include: • Margo Hall, the award-winning director-actor and one of four writers of the Glickman Awardwinning The People’s Temple creates a new play. • Larissa FastHorse, whose community engagement plays have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. • Andrew Saito, the Fullbright Scholar and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation resident playwright at Cutting Ball Theater. You can help create the next top American plays! Did you know that it costs $50,000 on average to develop and premiere a new play at AlterTheater? Nearly one-third of that comes from individual donations…from people like you! To encourage your support, a generous donor is offering to match the first $5,000 we raise during the run of Rose in America. Give online at altertheater.org or send your financial gift to: AlterTheater Matching Gift Program, PO Box 150659, San Rafael, CA 94915

FOUNDATION SUPPORT Actors’ Equity Foundation • Hewlett Foundation National Endowment for the Arts • Zellerbach Family Foundation

DONORS Alison C. Fuller • Allan Jackman + Evelyn Topper • Amy + Joel Levine • Anne Murphy Bill Papendick • Charles Belov • Chris + Bonnie Mumford • Cynthia Folkman • Deborah Robbins Doug Ferguson • Elaine McKenna • Elizabeth Benedict • Emilie Talbot • Everett + Julia Moore Greg Brockbank • Howard Brownstein • Jason Sheldrick • Jill Matichak • Jim Wright • Jim Gibbs Joan Capurro • John Christopher Flanagan • Kevin Kraynak • Kim Bromley + David Carson • Laura Scott Leo J. & Celia Carlin Fund • Linda Curtis • Marita + Stevan Olian • Martin + Geri Brownstein Mary Edwards • Meryl Sundove • Michael Morf • Michael Schensul + Meredith Lester Schensul Micheal O'Connor • Michelle Carter • Nan Ayers • Nancy Mattson • Nora Martinis • Patricia Silver Pat Sowers • Patricia Zannini Koch • Phoebe Moyer • Phyllis Thelen • Sandra Francis • Sandy Levitan Tess Giannotti • Tina McArthur • Tina McArthur • Wayne + Marion Bulette • Yolanda Schneeman Please call 415.454.2787 to learn more about donor benefits and opportunities.

COMING UP: THE WORLD PREMIERE OF Bondage by Star Finch

Delve into the twisted world of mixed-race and sexual power dynamics in pre-Emancipation times on a remote Florida coastal plantation. Developed by AlterLab 2015. 4 | BAYSTAGES.COM • 2016.06

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