Yale Cabaret: WE FUCKED UP [A gameshow]

A NOTE FROM THE CAB LEADERSHIP

Welcome back to Yale Cabaret for the first show of Season 56 Sandbox. Our programming for this season focuses on what happens when people say “What if we did this?”. We’re excited about the risks artists take when they are given the space to ask questions, experiment with new ideas, and discover things about themselves and their craft in the process. And our first show “We Fucked Up: A Gameshow”, does just that.

In a world where we’re often asked to be correct and avoid making mistakes, this show puts a fun twist on the humanity of it all. The contestants in this show are forced to adapt to a new set of rules much like we do as life introduces new challenges. We hope this show and our season will expand your view on what theater can be. Please join us as we laugh, cry, and dream up a season of theater without boundaries at Yale Cabaret.

Out of the box and into our Sandbox.

— Doaa, Kyle, & Annabel

A NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER

When I look back at the incredible journey that We Fucked Up: A Gameshow has been, the first thing that comes to mind is diced onions. I think of this because John Horzen, the creator and director of WFU, and I were volunteering at the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, chopping onions for that night’s dinner, when he told me about a live game show that he proposed for the opening show of Yale Cabaret’s 56th season. He barely finished his pitch when I asked how I could be involved.

After three months, dozens of writing sessions, 30ish hours of filming, and countless hours of video editing, we crafted the one-of-a-kind production you’re seeing today! Our writers used their brilliant imaginations to develop a game sequence that is equally silly and smart; the designers transformed this basement into a live studio audience experience; and our performers have trusted us all and themselves to truly let loose and play. This entire group is genius. I hope their intelligence and passion is clear from the first “Prize Task” to the “Final Fuck Up.”

We hope this show reminds you to celebrate all the wins in your life that seem small or ridiculous or unimportant. I, for one, am still celebrating the fact that I diced onions with John in July. Enjoy the show!

— Maya Louise Shed

SPECIAL THANKS

WE FUCKED UP: A GAMESHOW

PRODUCTION TEAM

Producer

Maya Louise Shed*

Set Designer

Kim Zhou

Sound Designer

Joe Krempetz

Video Assistant

Wiktor Freifeld*

Assistant Lighting Designer

Celia Chen*

Creator/Director/Video Designer

John Horzen

Costume Designer Rea Brown*

Lighting Designer

Kyle Stamm

Christian Killada Composer

Interaction Designer

Samantha Wolf

Video Assistant

Ke Xu*

Technical Director

Leo Surach

Stage Manager

Chloe Liu Run Crew

Video Assistant

Ein Kim

Props Supervisor

Steph Burke

Claudia Campos*

CAST

Maya Louise Shed* Assistant Edoardo Benzoni*

Host

Contestant

Minjae Kim*

Contestant Andrew Aaron Valdez

SHOW SPONSOR

Wendy Davies

Contestant

Shyama Iyer

Contestant

Rebeca Robles

*Yale Cabaret Debut

Created by John Horzen, Anna Horzen*, Lucas Iverson, Shefali Das*, Joe Krempetz, and David DeCarolis

MISSION STATEMENT

Sandbox by definition, is “a shallow box in the ground partly filled with sand for children to play in”. We hope to create a similar sense of curiosity and playfulness, allowing artists to access creativity only possible when given the opportunity to dig and unearth treasures within themselves. Our season will focus on performance arts as a whole, not just script-based plays or musicals, it’s open to ALL. We aim to look at collaborators as they are, without limiting them to the role they hold within the DGSD community. We believe in a theater without labels, where artists are not limited by the hats they wear, but by the experience they bring into the room with them. As a collective, we will create theater that continues to reshape our ever-changing view on the world.

OUR SANDBOX IS...

A Celebration of Ideas: A place where no ideas are bad ideas

Experimental: A space to try, fail, learn, and grow as a community

A Resource: A pool of combined knowledge and artistry

An Outlet: Magnifying unheard voices and underrepresented stories

A Continuum: An application of skills learned

Our Sandbox is a place where you can make your wildest dreams come true.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The state of Connecticut and Yale University occupy the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, Quinnipiac, and other Algonquian speaking peoples. We honor and respect their continued relationship with and stewardship of this land, and we acknowledge that Yale University, Yale Cabaret, and those affiliated have benefited from the oppression of these Nations.

LABOR ACKNOWLEGDMENT

Yale University does not exist independently from the centuries of forced labor and economic extraction of enslaved people, primarily of African descent, on which this country was built. We are indebted to their labor and their unwilling sacrifice, and we must acknowledge the ongoing violence inflicted on Black and brown people and the resulting impact and generational trauma still felt today.

Co-Artistic Director

Doaa Ouf

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Co-Artistic Director

Kyle Stamm

Managing Director

Annabel Guevara

COLLABORATORS

Assoc. Managing Director

Anne Ciarlone

Graphic Designer

Michelle Foley

Cab Assistant

Kavya Shetty

Production Manager

Twaha Abdul Majeed

Cab Assistant

Mithra Seyedi

Restaurant Partner

The Anchor Spa

ADVISORY BOARD

Acting

Grayson Richmond

Dramaturgy

Karoline Vielmeyer

Projection Design

John Horzen

Stage Managment

Colleen Rooney

Costume Design

Caroline Tyson

Lighting Design

David DeCarolis

Scenic Design

Kim Zhou

Technical Design

Leo Surach

Directing

Alexis Kulani Woodard

Playwriting

Doug Robinson

Sound Design

Joe Krempetz

Theatre Management

Natalie King

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chair

Wendy Davies

Linda-Cristal Young

Eric M. Glover

L.T. Gourzong

Samanta Cubias LAW

ABOUT THE CAB

In 1968, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale students established a basement performance venue in the former home of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at 217 Park Street. Envisioned as an alternative outlet for drama school students’ creativity and experimentation, Yale Cabaret became a forum for our expanded New Haven communities, whom we invite to gather around food, drink, conversation, fellowship, and artistry.

Since its founding, the Cabaret has remained in continuous operation, including pivoting to virtual performance during the 2020/21 season. The Cab has produced hundreds of plays, old and new, alongside musicals and musical revues, comedy shows, dance, performance art, and genre-defying performance.

Our supporters have made this storied history happen. With their partnership, we continue this tradition into 2024 and beyond.

JOIN US FOR DINNER

The Anchor Spa at Yale Cabaret will be offering a dinner service for our 8pm Thursday through Saturday performances accepting orders from 6:30pm to 7:30pm.

at Yale Cabaret

The Anchor Spa boasts a pan-Caribbean menu and an outstanding cocktail program that represents a voyage around the world, including some unique international spirits rarely sampled in the U.S. From picking herbs a la minute from their garden to brewing up syrups and roasting their designer garnishes, The Anchor Spa applies the highest level of craft bartending principles in the pursuit of fun like no one else.

Chef Kendall Thigpen welcomes you back!

JOIN US AT THE BAR

Yale Cabaret will have a bar open 30 minutes before all performances including at intermission and after the show. You can find a range of alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, and snacks for sale at the bar!

OUR SUPPORTERS

Yale Cabaret is DGSD’s student-run theater and operates with the support of our generous donors. Your donation goes a long way to support the many artists that work in our theater. Please consider making a donation today and help us create in our Sandbox!

Champion ($2,500 - $4,999)

Wendy Davies

Partner ($1,000 - $2,400)

Joan Channick

Lynn Doucette-Stamm

Bennett Pudlin & Ann Judd

Show Sponsor ($500 - $999)

L.T. Gourzong

Enthusiast ($250 - $499)

Pamela Jordan

Florie Seery

R Lee Stump

Supporter ($100 - $249)

Donald & Mary Brown

Jerry Lodynsky

Christine E Wall

Advocate ($50 - $99)

Alicia Guevara

In Honor of Edgar Melgar

THANKS TO OUR TECH WEEK SPONSORS

THE RASA JAR

October 5th - October 7th

By: Shyama Iyer

“The Rasa Jar” is a performance cycle that explores human emotion. Through a unique blend of Indian and American music theater, it takes you through the colorful and visceral sensations of Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, Loss, Awe, Pride, and Love.

ROMEO AND YOU-LIET

October 19th - October 21st

By: Andrew Aaron Valdez

In “Romeo and You-liet”, step into Verona’s age-old feud and steer the fate of the star-crossed lovers in this interactive retelling. Every choice we make rebuilds Shakespeare’s iconic tale into something simultaneously recognizable and uniquely yours.

UNTITLED 1999

October 26th - October 28th

By: Stefani Kuo

Born and bred in the city of Donkey Kong, Moon is 19, in love for the first time, and dreams of becoming her city’s first female forensic investigator. And she is hell-bent on solving an infamous unsolved murder in her hometown. But as she gives us a tour of the evidence she’s collected in her Hello Kitty-littered bedroom, things start to go wrong with her boyfriend Man, and she is forced to ask herself, what would she choose if it came down to it: love or her hometown?

SEASON 56 FESTIVAL

November 30th - December 2nd