Welcome to Almost (nearly) Fucking Finally—the first commedia dell’arte performance at the School since 2019! We’ve got masks, we’ve made a whole lot of lists, and we’ve put them together in ways that will delight, shock, and entertain you. I was supposed to work on the 4YAP back in 2020, when it was still a 3YAP. The sudden arrival sent us all indoors and out of (physical) touch with other human beings for well over a year. It was (still is!) a time of confinement, closure, and stillness. Personally, physically, spiritually, cosmetologically. All of which makes commedia dell’arte stick out like a sore thumb—or any number of other
ALMOST FUCKING FINALLY NEARLY
¬
of a global pandemic threw a wrench into that plan, as I’m sure you’re aware. And that event
awkward and unruly body parts. There’s a persistent current of anarchism, of boundary-breaking, in these masks (the commedia ones, not the N95s). Something about this form feels so open and unencumbered: free, joyful, spontaneous. Alive. It might seem like a silly thing we’re doing. Singing songs, playing games, putting on a show. After all, the world is, in a lot of places, literally on fire! Add to that the resurgence of far-right autocracies, growing corporate hegemonies in all areas of our lives, the vicious personal violence of the internet, the relentless curtailment of our rights and attacks on our most vulnerable by the government, an ongoing pandemic, the decay (and deliberate sabotage) of our democratic processes, and a general lack of human contact (intimate comfort, if you know what I mean) and it all starts to feel absurd. Why go to drama school at all?! The obvious answer is to get into one of those Marvel movies. We all need some fantasy right now, and then you’d be able to live through the coming Water Wars in relative comfort and privilege! But sometimes that vision just seems hollow. Sure, you can trade the canned tuna you stockpiled for the loyalty of your subjects—but we’re all equal in the face of eternity, right? You have to laugh. But when we laugh…here we are right now: anxious, fearful, tender, yearning humans. A moment of communion. All of us urgently and wonderfully alive.
Besides which, laughter, they say, lengthens life. With any luck, this show will get you a good couple of years, Water Wars be damned. You’re welcome, America. —Nicholas Orvis, Production Dramaturg
STUDIO SERIES PRODUCTIONS | 2021–22 SEASON
APRIL 28–30, 2022
Production
DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE
Associate Safety Advisors
James Bundy, Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean Florie Seery, Associate Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Assistant Dean
Jacob Santos Eric Walker
PRESENTS
Crew
Associate Production Manager
Sky Pang
Almost (nearly) Fucking Finally by Christopher
Bayes and the Company directed by Christopher Bayes
Kyle Artone Theo Dubois Doug Robinson
Administration Associate Managing Director
Emma Rose Perrin
Creative Team
Company
Assistant Managing Director
in alphabetical order
Chloe Knight
Music Director
Sarah Lyddan
Jake Hurwitz
Michael Joseph McQuilken Assistant Music Director
Matthew Elijah Webb
Alexandra Maurice Reed Northrup
Management Assistant House Manager
Natalie King
Production Photographer
Maia Novi
Leigh Busby
Nicholas Orvis
Julian Sanchez
Stage Manager
Adam Siddiqui Shaukat
David Geffen School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.
Dramaturg
Kevin Jinghong Zhu
Jackeline Torres Cortés Matthew Elijah Webb Jessy Yates
Setting Now
Almost (nearly) Fucking Finally is performed without an intermission.
This production is supported by The Benjamin Mordecai III Production Fund.
Special Thanks: Ellen Lange, Beth McGuire, Mary Lou Rosato, Tamilla Woodard, Krista DeVellis, Rob Chikar, Nikki Mills, Annie Piper, Cosmo Bayes, E Bayes, Chris Bayes, Michael McQuilken, Adina Verson, Zelda Verson-McQuilken, the Shaukat family, Eloise, the Frisky Biscuits, Evan’s 111, the Honeybrown Gang, the Acting Class of 2022 (a.k.a. the Savages) FRONT: Masks of the Commedia Dell’Arte: Capitan Babbeo e Cucuba (18th century CE), Scala Archives, Carnevale Collection.
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 and continuing relationship that exists between these peoples and nations and this land. The Studio Series Productions are designed to be learning experiences that complement classroom work, providing a medium for students at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale to combine their individual talents and energies toward the staging of collaboratively created works. Your attendance meaningfully completes this process. THE BENJAMIN MORDECAI III PRODUCTION FUND, established by a graduate of the School, honors the memory of the Tony Award-winning producer who served as Managing Director of Yale Repertory Theatre, 1982–93, and as Associate Dean and Chair of the Theater Management Program from 1993 until his death in 2005. All patrons must wear masks at all times while inside the theater. Our staff, backstage crew, and artists (when not performing on stage) will also be masked at all times. The taking of photographs or the use of recording devices of any kind in the theater without the written permission of the management is prohibited.
APRIL 28–30, 2022
Production
DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE
Associate Safety Advisors
James Bundy, Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean Florie Seery, Associate Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Assistant Dean
Jacob Santos Eric Walker
PRESENTS
Crew
Associate Production Manager
Sky Pang
Almost (nearly) Fucking Finally by Christopher
Bayes and the Company directed by Christopher Bayes
Kyle Artone Theo Dubois Doug Robinson
Administration Associate Managing Director
Emma Rose Perrin
Creative Team
Company
Assistant Managing Director
in alphabetical order
Chloe Knight
Music Director
Sarah Lyddan
Jake Hurwitz
Michael Joseph McQuilken Assistant Music Director
Matthew Elijah Webb
Alexandra Maurice Reed Northrup
Management Assistant House Manager
Natalie King
Production Photographer
Maia Novi
Leigh Busby
Nicholas Orvis
Julian Sanchez
Stage Manager
Adam Siddiqui Shaukat
David Geffen School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.
Dramaturg
Kevin Jinghong Zhu
Jackeline Torres Cortés Matthew Elijah Webb Jessy Yates
Setting Now
Almost (nearly) Fucking Finally is performed without an intermission.
This production is supported by The Benjamin Mordecai III Production Fund.
Special Thanks: Ellen Lange, Beth McGuire, Mary Lou Rosato, Tamilla Woodard, Krista DeVellis, Rob Chikar, Nikki Mills, Annie Piper, Cosmo Bayes, E Bayes, Chris Bayes, Michael McQuilken, Adina Verson, Zelda Verson-McQuilken, the Shaukat family, Eloise, the Frisky Biscuits, Evan’s 111, the Honeybrown Gang, the Acting Class of 2022 (a.k.a. the Savages) FRONT: Masks of the Commedia Dell’Arte: Capitan Babbeo e Cucuba (18th century CE), Scala Archives, Carnevale Collection.
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 and continuing relationship that exists between these peoples and nations and this land. The Studio Series Productions are designed to be learning experiences that complement classroom work, providing a medium for students at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale to combine their individual talents and energies toward the staging of collaboratively created works. Your attendance meaningfully completes this process. THE BENJAMIN MORDECAI III PRODUCTION FUND, established by a graduate of the School, honors the memory of the Tony Award-winning producer who served as Managing Director of Yale Repertory Theatre, 1982–93, and as Associate Dean and Chair of the Theater Management Program from 1993 until his death in 2005. All patrons must wear masks at all times while inside the theater. Our staff, backstage crew, and artists (when not performing on stage) will also be masked at all times. The taking of photographs or the use of recording devices of any kind in the theater without the written permission of the management is prohibited.
Welcome to Almost (nearly) Fucking Finally—the first commedia dell’arte performance at the School since 2019! We’ve got masks, we’ve made a whole lot of lists, and we’ve put them together in ways that will delight, shock, and entertain you. I was supposed to work on the 4YAP back in 2020, when it was still a 3YAP. The sudden arrival sent us all indoors and out of (physical) touch with other human beings for well over a year. It was (still is!) a time of confinement, closure, and stillness. Personally, physically, spiritually, cosmetologically. All of which makes commedia dell’arte stick out like a sore thumb—or any number of other
ALMOST FUCKING FINALLY NEARLY
¬
of a global pandemic threw a wrench into that plan, as I’m sure you’re aware. And that event
awkward and unruly body parts. There’s a persistent current of anarchism, of boundary-breaking, in these masks (the commedia ones, not the N95s). Something about this form feels so open and unencumbered: free, joyful, spontaneous. Alive. It might seem like a silly thing we’re doing. Singing songs, playing games, putting on a show. After all, the world is, in a lot of places, literally on fire! Add to that the resurgence of far-right autocracies, growing corporate hegemonies in all areas of our lives, the vicious personal violence of the internet, the relentless curtailment of our rights and attacks on our most vulnerable by the government, an ongoing pandemic, the decay (and deliberate sabotage) of our democratic processes, and a general lack of human contact (intimate comfort, if you know what I mean) and it all starts to feel absurd. Why go to drama school at all?! The obvious answer is to get into one of those Marvel movies. We all need some fantasy right now, and then you’d be able to live through the coming Water Wars in relative comfort and privilege! But sometimes that vision just seems hollow. Sure, you can trade the canned tuna you stockpiled for the loyalty of your subjects—but we’re all equal in the face of eternity, right? You have to laugh. But when we laugh…here we are right now: anxious, fearful, tender, yearning humans. A moment of communion. All of us urgently and wonderfully alive.
Besides which, laughter, they say, lengthens life. With any luck, this show will get you a good couple of years, Water Wars be damned. You’re welcome, America. —Nicholas Orvis, Production Dramaturg
STUDIO SERIES PRODUCTIONS | 2021–22 SEASON