A NOTE FROM THE CAB LEADERSHIP We’re happy to welcome you back to our theater for another original work! Join us as we enter Moonie’s world, following along her journey as she grapples with dating, relationships, familial expectations of motherhood and life. Yale Cabaret welcomes Stefani back after her show more more more was produced here in 2022. We’re excited she has chosen us again as her artistic home. And we hope you, our dear patrons, continue to come back as we continue to build a season of exploration, experimentation, and pushing boundaries. Out of the box and into our Sandbox! — Doaa, Kyle, & Annabel
A NOTE FROM THE LEAD ARTISTS I’m in my thirties, and Stefani, the writer and performer of the show, is approaching thirty. Like Moonie in the play. Some of our friends have gotten married and started families, while some of us are considering freezing our eggs. What does it mean to continue our lineage, anyway? As Stefani and I were creating this show together, we enjoyed talking about our Asian mothers and their concerns for us—how they always want the best for us, how they sometimes have very different ideas of what a “happy life” should be, and how deeply we care about each other, against all odds, and beyond words. Perhaps this show is a love letter to all Asian mothers and their daughters, an exploration of how we navigate the intensity of love we have for each other, the unfathomable fear of losing each other, and the deep wish for the other to have a happy life, whatever happiness means to each of us. And perhaps most crucially, that we are still here for each other. — Jisun Kim
SPECIAL THANKS Sammy Zeisel
Sarah Lo
Doug Robinson
Omid Akbari
KIMKIM
Barbie Wu
Sarah Saifi
Alex Theisen
Cam Waitkun
Yun Wu
Steph Lo
Twaha Abdul Majeed
Aholibama Castañeda González
MOONIE By: Stefani Kuo
PRODUCTION TEAM Director
Jisun Kim Producer, Assistant Director
Ramona Li
Scenic Designer
Costume Designer
Lighting Designer
Lighting Designer
Suzu Sakai
M.L. Roberts
Theo DuBois
Yung Hung Sung Assistant Projection Designer
Ke Xu
Dramaturg
Projection Designer
Ein Kim
Sound Designer
Ankit Pandey
Kino Alvarez*
Stage Manager
Technical Director
Charlie Lovejoy
Leo Surach
CAST Stefani Kuo
SHOW SPONSORS L.T. Gourzong & Joan Channick
CONTENT ADVISORY
This production includes explicit language; detailed descriptions of intercourse; mentions of dead bodies, genitalia and bodily fluids; and themes surrounding death of family members. *Yale Cabaret Debut
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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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.
LEADERSHIP TEAM Co-Artistic Director
Co-Artistic Director
Doaa Ouf
Managing Director
Kyle Stamm
Annabel Guevara
COLLABORATORS Assoc. Managing Director
Anne Ciarlone
Graphic Designer
Cab Assistant
Claudia Campos
Production Manager
Michelle Foley
Twaha Abdul Majeed
Restaurant Partner
The Anchor Spa
ADVISORY BOARD Acting
Costume Design
Directing
Grayson Richmond
Caroline Tyson
Alexis Kulani Woodard
Dramaturgy
Lighting Design
Playwriting
Karoline Vielemeyer
David DeCarolis
Doug Robinson
Projection Design
Scenic Design
Kim Zhou
Sound Design
Joe Krempetz
Stage Managment
Technical Design
Theatre Management
John Horzen
Colleen Rooney
Leo Surach
Natalie King
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Chair
Wendy Davies Eric M. Glover
L.T. Gourzong
Linda-Cristal Young
Samanta Cubias
Gabrielle Hoyt
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!
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
Show Sponsor ($500 - $999)
Partner ($1,000 - $2,499)
Nina Adams & Moreson Kaplan Joan Channick Lynn Doucette-Stamm Bennett Pudlin & Ann Judd R. Lee Stump & Abigail Roth Enthusiast ($250 - $499)
L.T. Gourzong The Mooney Basile Family Bill & Sharon Reynolds Paul Walsh
James Bundy & Anne Tofflemire Ramiro Daniel Diaz Pamela Jordan Chantal Rodriguez Florie Seery Josh Taylor
Supporter ($100 - $249)
Advocate ($50 - $99)
Donald & Mary Brown Jerry Lodynsky Christine E Wall
Alicia Guevara Casey Grambo & Nathaniel Gagnon Carla L. Jackson In Honor of Edgar Melgar
DONATE NOW!
THANKS TO OUR TECH WEEK SPONSORS
WHAT’S NEXT ANNOUNCING SEASON 56 FESTIVAL TITLED
THEATRE CAMP November 30th - December 2nd
Tickets On Sale November 9th SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR NEXT FEW SHOWS
December 14th - 16th
January 11th - 13th
GET YOUR SEASON PASS TODAY Flex passes can be used throughout the season to attend any Cabaret Season 56 production (excluding CAB 5 & CAB 9). See our website for more information.
YALE CABARET 217 PARK STREET | 203.432.1566 YALECABARET.ORG