You for Me for You by VIA MEDIA / BAYSTAGES

YOU FOR ME BY MIA CHUNG

FOR DIRECTED BY M. GRAHAM SMITH

YOU P R O G R A M S | 2 0 1 7. 0 3

FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR It cannot be denied that we find ourselves in a divisive and chaotic time. The words, "now more than ever," resound as the people surge upon this quicksand – mobilizing to protect the rights of the most vulnerable, struggling to respond to the seemingly sudden shift of political power in our national landscape, trying to define fact from fiction.

1695 Eighteenth Street, C101 Annex San Francisco, CA 94107 415.523.0034 info@crowdedfire.org boxoffice@crowdedfire.org crowdedfire.org Mina Morita

artistic director

Tiffany Cothran

managing director

Stephanie Alyson Henderson

production manager

Edith Borrebach

patron services manager

Rio Teixeira intern

I reflect daily on my colleague Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s call to action to the creative sector. Marc posits that our "potency lies in strategically deploying artists to create social connections and palpable inspiration… to normalize a sense of accountability to each other through the public imagination.” In this time of willful ignorance, we must use our human force of creative and critical thought to mine our cultural memory, acknowledge what has and is happening, and come together to interrogate our existence and evolve within it. At Crowded Fire, we believe strongly in the power of narrative to create these opportunities for dialogue, to shift perspectives, and to ultimately provoke action. In 2017, this dialogue boldly begins with Mia Chung's theatrically prismatic play about two devoted sisters torn apart while attempting to cross the border in North Korea. You For Me For You exposes us to the deeply complicated beliefs and self-imposed restrictions we must wrestle with under the pressures of nationalism. It speaks to America’s overly-simplified understanding of the refugee's unique experience, illuminating the layered complexity of immigration and humanizing the refugee's experience of our country through the ears and eyes of the border-crosser – a perspective shift that is rarely explored on the stage. It is my greatest joy to introduce Mia's essential and imaginative voice to the Bay Area in this, her deliberate effort to write the "impossible play." She gifted us with a magical tale, an upside down world, brought to life in the hands of director M. Graham Smith with a brave and talented ensemble and creative team. Let us unfurl our imagination together and celebrate this story. Let us awaken to the scarcity of the refugee’s perspective and honor the strengths represented in our communities. In solidarity,

crowdedfiretheater @crowdedfire crowdedfire cftheater

Mina Morita artistic director

PRODUCTION SPONSORS

CROWDED F I RE T HE AT E R pres e n t s

YOU FOR ME FOR YOU by Mia

JASON MARKS + PEPI ROSS PATRICIA SAKAI + RICHARD SHAPIRO

Chung

CAST

[ IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE ]

Junhee, South Korean Office Worker.................................. Grace Ng Minhee........................................................................... Kathryn Han Doctor, Smuggler, Citizens of the Well...................... Jomar Tagatac* Liz..................................................................... Elissa Beth Stebbins Man from the South.......................................................Julian Green

CREATIVE TEAM

Director............................................................... M. Graham Smithºˆ Assistant Director...............................................................May Liang Dramaturg..........................................................Sarah Rose Leonard Scenic Designer............................................................... Maya Linke Costume Designer.............................................Michelle Mulholland Lighting Designer..................................................... David K H Elliott Sound Designer................................................................ James Ard Props Designer......................................................... Devon LaBelleº Fight Director................................................................Carla Pantoja Dialect Coach................................................................ Lynne Soffer Key Art Designer.......................................................Cheshire Isaacs

PROJECT SUPPORT THE BERNARD OSHER FOUNDATION osherfoundation.org THE DRAMATISTS GUILD FUND dgfund.org RHE CHARITABLE FOUNDATION rhefoundation.org

PRODUCTION TEAM

Stage Manager.......................................................... Adeline Smithº Assistant Stage Manager............................................ Benjamin Shiu Production Manager.......................... Stephanie Alyson Hendersonº Technical Director.......................................................... Beckett Finn Light Board Programmer............................................. Shane Traister Electricians.................................... Dylan Feldman, Quinn Shepherd º Crowded Fire Theater Resident Artist

ˆ Member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

* Member 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: Heather Chung + Ramil Capito, Crowded Fire Resident Artists, Will Dao, Golden Thread Productions, Pak Han, Cheshire Isaacs, Praise Ju, Jane Lee, Katy Lim, Carrie Park, Rio Teixeira, and Adam Tolbert. You For Me For You was originally produced in November of 2012 by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Washington, DC (Howard Shalwitz, Artistic Director, Jeffrey Hermann, Managing Director) and developed in part with the support of the NEA, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, Playwrights Realm, the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, and Inkwell.

Performances:

March 9 to April 1, 2017

Potrero Stage, 1695 Eighteenth Street, San Francisco 94107

The performance runs approximately 100 minutes. There will be no intermission. Please note the location of all exits. Please turn off your cell phones. Photography, videotaping or other recording of this production is strictly prohibited. Please feel free to enjoy your concessions purchases in the theater in a closed container. 2017.03 • BAYSTAGES.COM

Crowded Fire Theater is a resident company of Potrero Stage, operated by PlayGround, and You For Me For You is presented as part of PlayGround’s Potrero Stage Presenting Program. This 99-seat newly refurbished state-of-the-art performance space located in the heart of San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood serves as home to some of the Bay Area’s leading new play developers and producers, including PlayGround, Crowded Fire Theater, Golden Thread Productions, and 3Girls Theatre, among others. Potrero Stage is surrounded by live/work studios. Please show consideration for our neighbors by maintaining quiet when you are outside the building and as you enter and leave. potrerostage.org

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Laura Brueckner Christopher Chen Sonia Fernandez Devon LaBelle Michele Apriña Leavy Amanda Melton Julie McCormick Lawrence Radecker Nican Robinson Lisa Marie Rollins Keiko Shimosato Carreiro M. Graham Smith M. Sohaa Smith Adeline Smith

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Emily Rosenthal, president Tina Brier, vp/secretary Graham Gockley, treasurer Jennifer Devere Brody Steven Collier Kerstin Firmin Sean Fenton Celine Parreñas Shimizu

image: adam tolbert

RESIDENT ARTISTS

Mia Chung (playwright) and M. Graham Smith (director) in rehearsals.

We know little about life in North Korea – especially how ordinary citizens live in the countryside – because the North Korean government has so effectively controlled the flow of information within and across its borders. Communication with the outside world has been effectively silenced since 1953, aside from government-sanctioned visits by political leaders and journalists. The North Korean State has, by and large, curated the imagery that the world has of this country. As a result, there is so much that we, in the outside world, do not know. There is so much that we have no choice but to imagine. What we do know is that the situation in North Korea is dire, especially for its most vulnerable, overlooked people living in the country. We know this from the testimony of those few people who have managed to flee the country. From their stories, we know of the sophistication and effectiveness of the State’s social control. Each refugee story is a miracle of the stubborn human will to survive. We also know that the NK State feeds its citizens with magical tales about its leaders, elevating its first leader, Kim Il Sung, to the status of a god and his progeny and successors to demi-god status. The country is prolific with surreal fictions and fairytales about how and why its people work and live, as well as about the world outside.

PROUD MEMBER OF

So it goes without saying that North Korea is ripe for the imagination. When I sat down to write about my growing fascination with this nation, I made a deliberate choice to employ magic realism as a narrative strategy – rather than attempt to depict the country realistically. North Korea itself employs magic realism in the weaving of its national narrative. Moreover, I believe a selective use of fantasy and miracle indirectly underscores the actual impossibility that North Koreans face if they wish to live differently from their country’s program. That an ailing North Korean woman could (and would) cross her country’s border safely and alone, and start a new life in the West is a highly unrealistic proposition. It happens, but it doesn’t happen often, and never without random, crucial luck or help: something akin to magic.

Mia Chung playwright

BAYSTAGES.COM • 2017.03

image: cheshire isaacs

THE BEAUTY OF VULNERABILITY As of last June, the United Nations estimated that there are 65.3 million forcibly displaced people on Earth, more than any other time, ever. 21.3 million meet the strictest definition of refugee and more than half of those are children. In the face of this overwhelming need, countries around the world have succumbed to fear, demonizing refugees as the cause of instability, economic scarcity, and danger where they are re-settled. Here in the US, current political rhetoric has effectively focused national anger on the neediest and is targeting the few lifelines of hope and possibility that exist for them. The vulnerable among us are more vulnerable than ever. I am grateful to engage with this story precisely now because it upends our assumptions about refugees so beautifully. The play’s strategy unfolds by placing us directly into the twin journeys of refugee sisters, giving us their unfolding path of new, ever more wondrous and resonant adventures, cataloging success after success won through determination and innovation. It’s the story of striving, of discovery, of becoming, of life in transformation. It gives us the story of two women of color, disenfranchised by their country, who make the impossible choice to leave everything they know and leap into the crossing, a place defying the very laws of physics. They leap toward an outcome of absolute uncertainty, without security, and unlike other refugee narratives, this is not a story of their victimhood. What makes their experience so remarkable is their vulnerability. They grow and develop and bloom precisely because of it. Vulnerability is presented as a state of profound self-discovery and actualization. It means, in part, accepting that you are precisely enough to do what must be done. It stands in stark contrast to an outlook that operates out of fear and in response to bullying, nationalism, or even the endless carrots of capitalism’s aspirational materialism. Our culture today tells us that vulnerability is the most shameful, unpleasant state in the world. Elections are predicated on banishing the very sensation. But the play presents the value of Vulnerability in a reversal so subversive we may not even notice at first how beautifully our expectations have been flipped. Our sisters’ vulnerability offers us all a glimpse of what it means to confront our truest self and to discover what makes up our core. In our capitalist world, most stories are made to sell stuff. This story is different. It reveals our vulnerability to be a great gift, the most obvious and fabulous evidence of our humanity and one which can only be attained on a journey.

M. Graham Smith

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ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES JULIAN GREEN (Man from the

South) is proficient in art forms from improv to Shakespeare. Trained at American Conservatory Theater, he has also studied under Patrick Russell, Dan Flapper, Francine Torres, and Nick Gabriel. Recent appearances include Elegba in The Brothers Size at Theatre Rhinoceros, Kristopher in Momma at Twilight at lower bottom players, Keem in the film Thug, and various commercials. Julian has also appeared as Tito in the 3Girls Theatre productions of Low Hanging Fruit and as Sam in Entanglement.

KATHRYN HAN (Minhee) is thrilled

to make her Crowded Fire Theater debut. Favorite credits include Ana Smith in The Book Club Play (Center REPertory Company), Aphra Behn in Or, (Dragon Productions), Christmas Eve in Avenue Q (Los Altos Stage Company), Gemze in Du Barry Was a Lady alongside comedian Bruce Vilanch (42nd Street Moon), and Harper Pitt in Angels in America: Perestroika and Sarah King in Appointment with Death (Foothill Theatre). She studied musical theatre and Shakespeare at American Conservatory Theater and dance at Stanford University. Offstage, she practices internet law and dances Argentine tango.

GRACE NG ( J u n h e e , S o u t h

Korean Office Worker) is thrilled to be making her Crowded Fire Theater debut! Favorite credits include Miranda in Bagyo (TheatreFIRST), Jeannie in Hair (Bay Area Musicals), Estrella in Life is a Dream (Cutting Ball Theater), Chava in Fiddler on the Roof (Berkeley Playhouse), Noreen in Faulted (foolsFURY), and Min Li in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Bay Area Children's Theatre, 2014 TBA Award). Grace holds a BA in theatre arts from San Francisco State University and has trained at New York's Circle in the Square and San Francisco's American 4

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Conservatory Theater. “Sending all the love to Suraj & the fam!” pleased to be back at Crowded Fire Theater! She was most recently seen as part of the Shotgun Players repertory company in both The Village Bike and Caught. Other recent credits include the title character in The Little Prince (Marin Theatre Company), Moretta and Lucetta in The Rover (Shotgun Players), Chorus Lead in Antigone (Cutting Ball Theater), Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Livermore Shakespeare Festival), and Patty in The Secretaries (Crowded Fire Theater). Elissa graduated from Santa Clara University with a BA in theatre and English, and has continued her training with Shakespeare & Company. She is a proud recipient of Theatre Bay Area’s Titan Award, and is a TBA Faces honoree. elissabethstebbins.com

premiere at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in association with MaYi and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts in 2012. Past productions include Company One, Portland Playhouse, and Mu Performing Arts at the Guthrie Theater. The play is published by Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. Mia’s work has been supported by awards, fellowships, and workshops, including the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep’s The Ground Floor, The Civilians’ R&D Group, Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Inkwell, LAByrinth, New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW), Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), Southern Rep, the Stella Adler Studio, and Theatre Communications Group (TCG). She is a member of New Dramatists, a Huntington Playwright Fellow, and an alumni of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab and The Playwrights Realm.

JOMAR TAGATAC * ( D o c t o r,

M. GRAHAM SMITH ˆ (Director) is

ELISSA BETH STEBBINS (Liz) is so

S m u g g l e r, C i t i z e n s o f t h e Well) is excited to make his Crowded Fire Theater debut. Recent roles include Perlita and General Ledesma in Dogeaters (Magic Theatre), Fortunado and Mata in Monstress (The Strand, American Conservatory Theater), Chip in Value Over Replacement (PlayGround), Clarin and understudying Segismundo in Life is a Dream (California Shakespeare Theatre), and Lin Bo in Caught (Shotgun Players). Jomar holds a BA in theatre from San Diego State University and an MFA in acting from American Conservatory Theater.

MIA CHUNG (Playwright) is the

author of You For Me For You, Catch as Catch Can, This Exquisite Corpse, and Skin in the Game. Mia was recently honored with the 2016 Stavis Playwright Award. You For Me For You had its UK premiere at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2015 and its world

a San Francisco-based director, educator, and producer. He is an O’Neill National Directors fellow and a FAIR (Fellowships, Assistantships, Internships, Residencies) fellow at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has directed at HERE Arts Center in New York City, and at San Francisco venues including American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, Central Works, EXIT Theatre, PlayGround, Brava Theater Center, Playwrights Foundation, Cutting Ball Theater, Berkeley Playhouse, Golden Thread Productions, San Francisco Opera, New Conservatory Theatre Center, and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor. He directed the West Coast premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera with Ray of Light Theatre and Truffaldino Says No at Shotgun Players, winning the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle's Excellence in Theatre Award for directing. He is thrilled to return to Crowded Fire where

he directed She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange. Other recent credits include The Lady Onstage (Profile Theatre, Portland, Oregon), The Liar (Edgerton Foundation Fellow, Occidental College, Los Angeles), the world premiere of Christopher Chen’s Home Invasion (6NewPlays), and Deal with the Dragon (Edinburgh Festival Fringe). He teaches actor training programs at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and at Barcelona’s premiere Meisner Technique program in Spain.

JAMES ARD (Sound Designer) is

a local San Francisco designer, noisemaker, mechanic, and theatre vagrant, who composes soundscapes and music for humans, dogs, parrots, and bicycles. Lately, James has been constructing sound for theatre performances around the Bay Area. His sound design work has been heard at the New Conservatory Theatre Center, Z Space, San Francisco Playhouse, Cutting Ball Theater, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, and American Conservatory Theater's Strand Theater, as well as with Golden Thread Productions, Shotgun Players, and Bay Area Children’s Theatre. Recent credits include sound design for Casa Valentina (New Conservatory Theatre Center) and The Most Dangerous Highway in the World (Golden Thread Productions). James is a co-founder of soundplay.media and is currently producing short plays for podcast at barewiretheatre.com.

DAVID K H ELLIOTT (Lighting

Designer) has designed for American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet San José, ODC, Joe Goode Performance Group, Robert Moses’ Kin, and Jess Curtis/Gravity. His work includes designs for California Shakespeare Festival,

Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Teatro Zinzanni, Marin Theatre Company, Keith Terry, Joe Goode, John Fisher, West Wave Dance, and Bandaloop. He is the recipient of the Dancer’s Group Lighting Artists in Dance Award, an Isadora Duncan Award, two Drama-Logue Awards, and Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award. In 2013, he retired after twenty-four years as a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies. This is his first production working with the wonderful team of artists that is Crowded Fire Theater.

DEVON L A BELLE (Properties

Designer) is a multidisciplinary artist with emphasis on vivid visual and special effects components. In eight short seasons she has fueled over one hundred Bay Area productions with the physical artifacts that make them work. Devon is a resident artist with Crowded Fire Theater and a TBA Award recognized properties designer. She is thankful for her continued work with Crowded Fire Theater. "Love to Sam, Jo, and Roscoe." giveherprops.wordpress.com

CHUNG

GREEN

HAN

SARAH ROSE LEONARD

(Dramaturg) is the literary manager at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Prior to moving home to the Bay Area she was the literary associate at Signature Theatre in New York City. While there she also worked as the associate agent at AO International, was a Next Generation Fellow at the Segal Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, was the literary resident at Playwrights Horizons, and the literary associate for Page 73. She has provided dramaturgy for works by Megan Cohen, Sam Shepard, David Henry Hwang, Charles Mee, A.R. Gurney, Kyoung Park, Eliza Bent, and Julián Mesri. Sarah’s curating and producing work includes Smith+Tinker, a collaborative 2017.03 • BAYSTAGES.COM

STEBBINS

TAGATAC

UP NEXT:

A CROWDED FIRE COMMISSION AND WORLD PREMIERE

A TALE OF AUTUMN

September 14 • October 7 Christopher Chen, playwright Mina Morita, director

Inspired by Shakespeare’s Richard III and Macbeth, along with popular “quest-forpower” TV shows Game of Thrones and House of Cards, this new collaboration with Crowded Fire PlaywrightIn-Residence Christopher Chen is a modern day fable about the psychology of a one-time altruistic corporation whose seemingly benign tactics destroy a community over time.

writers group at HERE Arts Center, FEM, an annual event about femininity at JACK, Desorientación, a cross-cultural reading series at Lastarria 90 in Chile, and co-curating the 2014 PRELUDE Festival.

M AY L I A N G ( A s s i s t a n t

Director ) i s de l i g h te d to be working again with the amazing team at Crowded Fire Theater. As a writer and director establishing a career in the Bay Area, her recent credits include directing the reading of Like Me by Victoria Chong Der (Ferocious Lo t u s T h e a t r e C o m p a n y ) , directing as a Directing Fellow for Monday Night PlayGround, and directing for the FlashPlays Community Benefit for Playwrights Foundation at Brava Theater Center. May is currently a film coordinator for the San Francisco Film Commission and Film SF and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with degrees in theatre and performance studies and integrative biology. “Love to Eugene and families.”

LINKE (Scenic Designer) creates magical collaborations including recent designs for The Diary of Anne Frank (Kansas City Repertory Theatre), The Rover, Harry Thaw Hates Everybody, and Heart Shaped Nebula (Shotgun Players), The Letters (Aurora Theatre Company), The Music Man (Berkeley Playhouse), Prelude to a Kiss (Colorado Springs Fine Art Center), The Bereaved, She Rode Horses Like the Stock Exchange, Tr u c k St o p , and T h e 1 0 0 Flowers Project (Crowded Fire Theatre), Sweeney Todd, The Full Monty, Assassins, and Jerry Springer: The Opera (Ray of Light Theatre), Don’t Ask and Salome: Dance For Me (New Conservatory Theatre Center), The Wizard of Oz, Footloose, and Oklahoma! (Musical Theater Works), Ragtime (Youth Musical Theatre Company), 77% M AYA

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(San Francisco Playhouse), and West Side Story, Romeo and Juliet, and Floyd Collins (San Francisco State University). Maya received a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle design award in 2012 for Assassins, and a 2013 design nomination for Sweeney Todd. She holds an MFA in scenic design from San Francisco State University. mayalinke.com

MICHELLE MULHOLLAND

(Costume Designer) is delighted to return to Crowded Fire Theater where she previously designed I Call My Brothers. Other credits include Daniel’s Husband, Harbor and Cock (New Conservatory Theatre Center), The Colored Museum, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and IPH… (African-American Shakespeare Company), The Totalitarians (Z Space), Urge for Going and Night Over Erzinga (Golden Thread Productions), Tenderloin (Cutting Ball Theater), Day of Absence and Almost Nothing (Lorraine Hansberry Theatre), and The Oldest Profession and The Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Brava Theater Center). Michelle is a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle nominee for her work on Boxcar Theatre’s production of Clue in 2011, and has also worked with Teatro Zinzanni, American Conservatory Theater, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She is also managing director of Golden Thread Productions.

C A R L A PA N TOJA ( F i g h t

Director) is a certified stage combat instructor with Dueling Arts International and a founding member of the local chapter, Dueling Arts San Francisco. Some past fight creations for Crowded Fire Theater include last season’s The Shipment, Truck Stop, and Blackademics, and her work here dates back to Forever Never Comes in 2010. Recent local fight credits include Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat and The

Most Dangerous Highway in the World (Golden Thread Productions), The Tempest (California Shakespeare Theater), Romeo and Juliet (San Francisco Shakespeare Festival), and August: Osage County (Contra Costa Civic Theatre). Carla is also a resident artist with San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and a company member of PlayGround. She thanks her family for babysitting her two kids to make this possible!

BENJAMIN SHIU (Assistant

Stage Manager) is a 2016 graduate of San Francisco State University with a BA in drama. He recently worked as the stage manager for Belleville with Custom Made Theatre Co. Previous credits include production assistant on Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat (Golden Thread Productions), stage manager for the reading of The Strangest, assistant stage manager for The Shipment and I Call My Brothers (Crowded Fire Theater), set crew for Chinglish (Palo Alto Players), and front of house management for Crane (Ferocious Lotus). Ben is proud to be working with Crowded Fire Theater again on this production of You For Me For You.

ADELINE SMITH (Stage

Manager) is a scenic artist, properties and set designer, and resident artist with Crowded Fire Theater. In addition to her work here, Adeline has designed props for New Conservatory Theatre Center and has been a scenic painter for multiple productions with Shotgun Players, Aurora Theatre Company, and Musical Theater Workshop. She graduated from San Francisco State University where she studied technical theatre with an emphasis in set and props design. This is her fifth Crowded Fire Theater credit.

LYNNE SOFFER (Dialect Coach) has served as dialect or text

coach on over 235 productions at American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Magic Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Marin Shakespeare Company, the Old Globe, Dallas Theater Center, Arizona Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Denver Center, and seven productions for San Francisco Playhouse. Her film and television credits include Fruitvale Station, Metro, Duets, The Land of Milk and Honey, and America’s Most Wanted. Lynne is also a professional actor, director and teacher of actors. She is the recipient of the 2011 Lucy Jordan Humanitarian Award from Actors’ Equity Association.

EDITH BORREBACH (Director

of Audience Engagement) passionately advocates for social justice-oriented art, particularly where it intersects with the political. In collaboration with Crowded Fire Theater’s leadership team, Edie fosters the sincere inclusion of diverse and varied audiences unique to each production. She aims to magnify CFT’s reputation as an audience-focused institution through creativity and tenacity. Edie has worked in outreach for the Bay Area cultural performing arts nonprofits Golden Thread Productions and Chitresh Das Dance Company, and is currently a producer with Daydream Reels. She joined Crowded Fire Theater in 2015.

ABOUT

CROWDED FIRE “one of the most reliable local stops for high-quality new work by diverse voices” “instrumental in introducing the Bay Area to new writers who push the boundaries of what theatre can be.” -- American Theatre Magazine A COMMITMENT TO NEW PLAYS Crowded Fire is a vital home for fierce new plays compelling in language, vision, and structure. In addition to our mainstage productions, we offer a robust new play development program. The Matchbox @ Crowded Fire actively supports the creation of high quality contemporary theater through commissions, in-house workshops, and an annual free public play reading series. A COMMITMENT TO DIVERSE VOICES We deeply believe in the power of supporting work by a body of playwrights whose plays give visibility to all communities. We are committed to actively participating in the creation of a contemporary theatrical cannon that more accurately reflects the world in which we live.

TIFFANY COTHRAN (Managing

Director) has served as Crowded Fire’s managing director since 2008. She is a hands-on problemsolving manager, focused on maximizing the financial and operational systems of the company while implementing strategic and meaningful growth. Tiffany is passionate about theatre as a catalyst for conversation and social change. Also an arts education advocate, Tiffany previously served as the associate director of education 2017.03 • BAYSTAGES.COM

A COMMITMENT TO ARTISTS Crowded Fire provides a rich home for our ensemble of Resident Artists made up of top Bay Area actors, designers, dramaturgs, technicians, and directors. This ensemble, with its wealth of interests and ideas, as well as the dedication and talent of its members, represents one of the company’s most significant strengths.

and outreach at TheatreWorks. In addition to wearing many hats at CFT, Tiffany also proudly wears her Mom hat. “Everything goes to the theater!” has been uttered more than once by her children. In recognition of this truth, Tiffany thanks Jack, Abby, and Kieran for their sacrifice and support.

S T E P H A N I E A LY S O N HENDERSON ( P r o d u c t i o n

03.30.17 TO 04.29.17 CUSTOMMADE.ORG 533 SUTTER STREET

Manager) has called Crowded Fire home for over five years. She has a bachelor’s degree in theatre and performance studies from the University of California, Berkeley where she started her career in stage management, and has freelanced as a stage manager and production manager throughout the Bay Area for both theatre and dance. Stephanie is interested in challenging, important, thoughtprovoking theatre. She enjoys problem-solving, facilitating, and supporting the brilliant artists and technicians she works with on a daily basis. When not working, you may find her catching Pokemon, singing karaoke, or doing some sort of craft project.

MINA MORITA ( A r t i s t i c

MUSIC & LYRICS BY BOB MERRILL BOOK BY GEORGE ABBOTT DIRECTED BY DAREN A.C. CAROLLO

415.255.8207

42NDSTREETMOON.ORG

Director) previously served as the artistic associate at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and helped found its center for the creation and development of new work, The Ground Floor. She also directed in the Fireworks Festival and served as assistant director to Tony Taccone for Tony Kushner’s The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide... and to Les Waters for Sarah Ruhl’s Tonynominated In the Next Room, or the vibrator play. In 2012, Mina worked with Anna Deavere Smith as the artistic coordinator for On Grace. Mina has directed at Shotgun Players, UC Berkeley,

ACTORS' EQUITY ASSOCIATION

was founded in 1913 and is the US labor union that represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions, and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. actorsequity.org #EquityWorks * Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers. ˆ Member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

All images and/or content provided by Crowded Fire Theater 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 Crowded Fire Theater or VIA MEDIA. Photo credits are included as provided.

MARCH 29 to APRIL 16, 2017

EUREKA THEATRE • 215 JACKSON STREET

and Just Theatre, and has developed work at American Conservatory Theater, Campo Santo, Aurora Theatre Company, and Playwrights Foundation. She will be directing Sisters Matsumoto at Center REPertory Company in April. Mina previously served as president of the board of Shotgun Players and is one of the original founders of Bay Area Children's Theatre. She holds a degree from New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Mina attended the Lincoln Center Director's Lab and received the TBA Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Direction of a Musical in 2014 and was recognized as a Theatre Bay Area 40@40 in 2016 for her impact on Bay Area theatre. In 2015, Mina was honored to share her story on TEDx, and this year, she was chosen as one of the YBCA100, for “asking questions and making provocations that will shape the future of culture.”

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2017 SEASON SPONSORS KARENA FIORENZA INGERSOLL + EMRYS INGERSOLL DUGAN MOORE G. TIPHANE

GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

CFT MEMBERS CFT Memberships are donations that start as low as $25. Members receive fantastic perks from listings in our program to discounted tickets to behind-the-scenes access to our work. Tremendous thanks to our current members!

VISIONARIES [$2,500+] Anonymous • Steven Collier • Karena Fiorenza Ingersoll + Emrys Ingersoll • Dugan Moore Toni Rembe + Arthur Rock • Celine + Dan Shimizu • David Thompson + Luis Tamayo • G. Tiphane

SPONSORS [$1,000+] Tina Brier + David Shapiro • Jennifer Devere Brody • Sean Fenton • Graham Gockley Naomi Janowitz + Andrew Lazarus • Thomas, Susan + Chelsea Looy • Joseph Mallon + Susanne Trowbridge Tiffany Cothran + Kieran Ringgenberg • Jason Marks + Pepi Ross • Patricia Sakai + Richard Shapiro

COMMISSIONERS [$500+] Sandra Hess • Jill Matichak • Emily Rosenthal

INNOVATORS [$250+] Linda Brewer • Alan Brown • Keren Creations • Morgan Forsey • Connie Garrison • Keith Goldstein • Nancy Olson Marjorie Randolph • Elizabeth + Steven Rosenberg • Noelle Vinas + Kevin Vincenti

STRENGTHENERS [$100+] Janice Azebu • Valerie Barth • Jennifer Burden • Denmo Ibrahim + Wesley Cabral • Lisa Callender • Harriet Chessman + Bryan Wolf • Judith Cohen + Malcolm Gissen • Michael Fenton • Kerstin Firmin + Steve Love • Roger Gould + Catherine Wagner • Emory Lee • Miriam Lewis • Jonathan Luskin • George Maguire • Susie Medak • Andrew Meisel + Marilee Talkington • Amanda Melton • Everett + Julia Moore • Phoebe Moyer • Patricia Radecker • Eleanor Reinholdt Ellen Robinson • Emily Rosenthal • Charles Shamieh • Gae + Mel Shulman • Nancy Smith • K.M. Soehnlein Lisa Steindler • Tolbert/Garrison Familia

SUSTAINERS [$25+] Anonymous • Douglas Armstrong • Vivian Auslander • Elizabeth Benedict • Amy Bobeda • Shad Bradbury • Farah Bullara • Patrick Cahill Eugenie Chan • Christopher Clayman • Stardust Doherty • Ellen Dunphy • Elaine Eger • Rebecca Ennals • Rodney Farrow • Allison Fenner John Glazer • Samuel Harrison • Barbara Hebert • Kerry Higuera • Richard Louis James • Jennifer Jordan • Ann Katzburg • Terry Lamb Paul Loper • Cat Luedtke • John Mercer • Amy Mueller • Rose Oser • Emily Rosenthal • Oliver Saria • Judy Schwartz • Susan Shay Jay Siegel • Molly Aaronson-Gelb + Jonathan Spector • Deborah Taylor Barrera • Marjorie Westbrook • JoAnne Winter + Adrian Elfenbaum Tom Toro + Marissa Wolf Listed donations were received from November 2016 to February 2017.

TREMENDOUS THANKS TO OUR CURRENT MEMBERS!

✫✫✫✫✫ FEATURED PRODUCTIONS ✫✫✫✫✫

ISAAC’S EYE | CUSTOM MADE THEATRE CO.

02.16.17 > 03.17.17 | 415.798.2682 | custommade.org

ASSASSINS | BAY AREA MUSCALS

02.16.17 > 03.18.17 | 415.340.2207 | bamsf.org

LOVE SICK | JEWISH CIRCLE THEATRE

02.23.17 > 03.19.17 | 800.838.3006 | lovesickmusical.com

You For Me FOR YOU | CROWDED FIRE THEATER 03.09.17 > 04.01.17 | 415.523.0034 | crowdedfire.org

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE | PEAR THEATRE 03.09.17 > 04.02.17 | 650.254.1148 | thepear.org

Caeneus & Poseidon | DRAGON PRODUCTIONS

03.09.17 > 04.02.17 | 650.493.2006 | dragonproductions.net

THE PRODUCERS | BROADWAY BY THE BAY 03.17.17 > 04.02.17 | 650.579.5565 | bamsf.org

NOISES OFF | SAN FRANCISCO PLAYHOUSE

03.21.17 > 05.13.17 | 415.677.9596 | sfplayhouse.org

BONDAGE | ALTERTHEATER

03.22.17 > 04.17.17 | 415.454.2787 | altertheater.org

FRANKENSTEIN | CITY LIGHTS THEATER COMPANY 03.23.17 > 04.23.17 | 408.295.4200 | cltc.org

NEW GIrL IN TOWN | 42ND STREET MOON

03.29.17 > 04.16.17 | 415.255.8207 | 42ndstmoon.org

PARADISE FOUND | SAN FRANCISCO GAY MEN’S CHORUS 03.31.17 > 04.01.17 | 415.392.4400 | SFGMC.ORG

THE HOUSE OF YES | CUSTOM MADE THEATRE CO. 03.30.17 > 04.29.17 | 415.798.2682 | custommade.org

END OF THE RAINBOW | OMG, I LOVE THAT SHOW!

03.31.17 > 04.23.17 | 925.943.7469 | omgilovethatshow.com

THE MEMORY STICK | SAN JOSE STAGE COMPANY 04.05.17 > 04.30.17 | 408.283.7142 | thestage.org

ADVERTISE @ BAYSTAGES.COM • 415.552.8040