Class of 2020 program

DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE CELEBRATES

THE CLASS OF 2020

Saturday, May 14, 2022 University Theatre

Ceremony James Bundy, Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean Florie Seery, Associate Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Assistant Dean Anna Glover, Faculty Marshal Ariel Yan, Registrar

Welcome Land Acknowledgment Yale University acknowledges that Indigenous peoples and nations, including Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, and the Quinnipiac and other Algonquian speaking peoples, have stewarded through generations the lands and waterways of what is now the state of Connecticut. We honor and respect the enduring relationship that exists between these peoples and nations and this land.

Remarks Celebrating the Class of 2020 Closing Remarks Reception Please join the class for a reception immediately following this ceremony at the Shubert Theater, 247 College Street, New Haven.

A very special thanks to David Chu of c2 inc. for providing today’s live captioning.

Class of 2020 Technical Internship Perry Keller Adago

James Thomas McLoughlin

Tiago Jose Rodrigues

Jenna Lauren Carroll Joseph Krempetz

Kathrine Ford Pulling

Cameron Waitkun

Erin Sims

Certificate in Drama Gregory Victor Georges

Juliana Aidén Martinez

Zoe Mann

John Evans Reese IV

Master of Fine Arts Evan Christian Anderson

Robert L. Hart

Ilia Paulino

Alicia Joann Austin

April Monique Hickman

David Patrick Phelps

Lucia Eve Bacqué

Evan Gregory Hill

Christopher Audley Puglisi

Stephanie Julie Bahniuk

Carl Joseph Holvick

Danilo Rocha Gambini

Zachry Jason Bailey

Hao-En Hu

Dario Sanchez

Danielle Lynette Barlow

Tatsuya Ito

Rajiv Shah

Julia Faith Bates

Jonathan C. Jolly

Emily B. Sorensen

Liam David Bellman-Sharpe

Benjamin Tirado Jones

Dakota Sylvan Stipp

Brandon Edward Burton

Sarah Rafaele Karl

Erin McKee Sullivan

Madeline Blaire Charne

Manu Heywot Kumasi

Samantha Tirrell

Emma Elizabeth Deane

Matthew Harry Lewis

Jaime Francisco Totti

Noah Asa Diaz

Doireann Mac Mahon

Michael Jon VanAartsen

Margaret Eden Douglas

Alexander Lawrence

Alex Noel Vermillion

Logan Ellis

McCargar

Caitlin Elizabeth Volz

Samantha Rose Else

John McGlone IV

Adrienne Suzanne Wells

Christopher Henry Evans

Ciara Monique McMillian

Jonathan Willis West

Fabiola Syvel Feliciano-

Alexandra Erin McNamara

Devin Macneal White

Batista

Martin Montaner Valdivieso

Emily Duncan Wilson

Elsa Rinde GibsonBraden

Gwyneth Muller

Irene Yaro Yarashevich

Margaret Elizabeth

Anula Shirish Navlekar

Katherine Yen

Laurie Eileen Ortega-Murphy

Yunzhu Zeng

Burns Gray Lily Guerin

Doctor of Fine Arts Byongsok Chon

Elizabeth Rebecca Pauley

Prizes Awarded in 2020 The ASCAP Cole Porter Prize is awarded to students of David Geffen School of Drama for excellence in writing. Awarded to Noah Asa Diaz.

The Edward C. Cole Memorial Award is sponsored by the Technical Design

and Production Class of 1983 to commemorate the contributions of Edward C. Cole to the profession of technical theater. The recipients of this award, selected by their classmates in the graduating class of the Technical Design and Production department, best exemplify the ingenuity, creativity, craftsmanship, and dedication to the art of theater that are the hallmarks of the theater technician. Awarded to Irene Yaro Yarashevich.

The Carol Finch Dye Prize, funded by Charles Finch in memory of his sister Carol Finch Dye ’59, is awarded to a graduating Acting student in recognition of artistry and commitment. Awarded to Ciara Monique McMillian.

The John W. Gassner Memorial Prize is awarded for the best critical essay,

article, or review by a student published in, or submitted to, Theater magazine.

Awarded to Rebecca Ann Adelsheim.

The Bert Gruver Memorial Prize is awarded to students of David Geffen

School of Drama for excellence in stage management. Awarded to Samantha Tirrell.

The Allen M. and Hildred L. Harvey Prize, established by Jean L. Harvey to recognize superior work and writing by Technical Design and Production students, is awarded to the student author of the best article in Technical Brief and/or the best Technical Design and Production research thesis. Awarded to Rosalie Bochansky.

The Morris J. Kaplan Prize is given to the graduating theater management

student who most exhibits the integrity, commitment, and selfless dedication to high standards in the profession of nonprofit theater management that characterized Morris Kaplan’s twenty-year career as founding counsel to the League of Resident Theaters. Awarded to Caitlin Elizabeth Volz.

The Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize, established by Lily P. Kaufman in memory of her husband, Julian Kaufman, a 1954 alumnus of the Directing department who, through teaching at the secondary and university levels, touched the lives of countless young people, is awarded to a graduating directing student who has demonstrated talent in the chosen field of endeavor.

Awarded to Logan Ellis.

The Jay Keene and Jean Griffin-Keene Prize is awarded to a student

of David Geffen School of Drama who is studying costume design. Awarded to Stephanie Julie Bahniuk.

The Leo Lerman Graduate Fellowship in Design, given by friends of the late Mr. Lerman and the Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, Inc., is awarded to students of costume design for the purpose of enabling them to study internationally upon their graduation from David Geffen School of Drama.

Awarded to April Monique Hickman.

The Dexter Wood Luke Memorial Prize, established by Jane Kaczmarek ’82, is awarded to graduating students whose sense of curiosity and sense of joy have enriched the lives of their colleagues at David Geffen School of Drama.

Awarded to Laurie Eileen Ortega-Murphy.

The Donald and Zorka Oenslager Travel Fellowship, established in

1996 through an estate gift from Zorka Oenslager, is awarded to design students who wish to study internationally upon graduation. Awarded to Elsa Rinde GibsonBraden and Alexander Lawrence Bertrand McCargar.

The Pierre-André Salim Prize is awarded to graduating students whose

artistry, professionalism, collaborative energy, and commitment to the community have inspired their colleagues, and who show distinct promise of raising the standard of practice in the field. Awarded to Zachry Jason Bailey.

The Bronislaw (Ben) Sammler Mentorship Award, established by the

Class of 2000, honors graduating Technical Design and Production students who, through action, attitude, or inspiration, have motivated their fellow classmates.

The honorees are selected by the first- and second-year Technical Design and Production students. Awarded to Irene Yaro Yarashevich.

Prizes Awarded in 2020 The Frieda Shaw, Dr. Diana Mason OBE, and Denise Suttor Prize for Sound Design is awarded to graduating students in Sound Design to

recognize distinctive breadth of achievement, artistry, and leadership. Awarded to Liam David Bellman-Sharpe.

The Oliver Thorndike Acting Award, established by Mrs. Nathaniel S. Simpkins, Jr., and supplemented by gifts from her son, Nathaniel Simpkins III, in memory of Oliver Thorndike Simpkins, whose stage name was Oliver Thorndike, is awarded annually to actors at David Geffen School of Drama who best exemplify the spirit of fellowship, cooperation, and devotion to the theater that characterized Mr. Thorndike. Awarded to John Evans Reese IV. The George C. White Prize is awarded annually to a graduating student at David Geffen School of Drama whose work at David Geffen School of Drama most closely demonstrates the distinctive qualities of George C. White, including appreciation for the value of arts throughout the world, curiosity about the people and events shaping our cultural heritage, respect for creative production management, and congeniality toward colleagues. Awarded to Danielle Lynette Barlow.

The Herschel Williams Prize, established by Mr. Williams, who was a member of the first class accepted in Drama at Yale, is awarded to acting students with outstanding ability. Awarded to Brandon Edward Burton.

History of the School Yale University founded a Department of Drama in the School of Fine Arts in 1924 through the generosity of Edward S. Harkness, B.A. 1897.

In 1925, while the University Theatre was under construction, the first class of students was enrolled. George Pierce Baker, the foremost teacher of playwriting in America, joined the faculty to serve as the first chair of the department, and the first Master of Fine Arts in Drama was conferred in 1931.

In 1955, by vote of the Yale Corporation, the department was organized as a separate professional school, Yale School of Drama, offering the degrees of Master of Fine Arts, Doctor of Fine Arts, and Certificate in Drama (for those students who complete the three-year program without having the normally prerequisite bachelor’s degree).

The School is now David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University in celebration of a $150 million gift made by the David Geffen Foundation in 2021 to support tuition remission for all degree and certificate students in perpetuity.

Iconography of the School Shield

The shield of David Geffen School of Drama, designed by Theodore Sizer, incorporates the gold spear from William Shakespeare’s coat of arms on a gray background with gold footlights and a red stage curtain drawn back by three decorative gold buttons and a gold tassel.

Mace

The David Geffen School of Drama mace, designed by Ming Cho Lee, is an interpretation of the comedy and tragedy masks that are established symbols of theater—tangible representations of the act of taking on a character.

As the central idea of his design, Professor Lee foregrounded the elevated emotional value of these icons to highlight theater’s eloquence in expressing the range of human experience.

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