A Voyage Home Nostalgia (from nostos—return home, and algia—longing) is a longing for a home that no longer exists or has never existed.
—Svetlana Boym, cultural theorist, The Future of Nostalgia
New Melville, the fictional shoreline town in New England where Ida Cuttler’s Moe’s a D*ck takes place, is a liminal space in all thinkable ways. For one thing, it’s not the setting for a literal adaptation of the famous tale of the white whale; it’s just where the play washes up against its source of inspiration every so often. Meanwhile the boundless sea gushes onto the harbor’s rusty fishing boats that are remainders from another time. As Ish returns from college to her hometown for Thanksgiving, we are taken on a journey through a rapidly changing cityscape, where local businesses are being incrementally devoured by a burgeoning conglomerate, the WHALES corporation. Amid this unsettled climate, Ish, her bosom friend Quee, and her mother Penelope are in churning waters of their own, all yearning to find a sense of home. On their quests, the characters chase this longing in literal spaces, in their bodies, their hearts and minds, and in each other. The relational, in particular, seems a most dangerous voyage. While Ish and Quee search for a safe harbor in a rekindled friendship that is growing into a passionate bond, Penelope aches to reconnect with her daughter, imploring “Call me, Ishmael” into her phone. This famous opening line of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is one of the many threads Cuttler has artfully woven into the play’s fabric. With its heartfelt exploration of a queer relationship and of Quee’s desire to find a home in a body in transition, the play pierces through the heteronormative baggage of the 19th-century American seafaring tale, whilst setting off on its own voyage. Moe’s a D*ck takes its characters on a tempestuous “Nantucket sleighride,” reminding us that as Nothing exists in itself—there is no laughter without tears, no wisdom without woe, no bliss without sorrow, and no home without longing.
—Karoline Vielemeyer, Production Dramaturg
LANGSTON HUGHES FESTIVAL OF NEW WORK | 2023–24 SEASON
Production
NOVEMBER 6–11, 2023 DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE James Bundy, Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean Florie Seery, Associate Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Carla L. Jackson, Assistant Dean Anne Erbe and Marcus Gardley, Co-Chairs, Playwriting
What I’ve Dared, I’ve Willed; And What I’ve Willed, I’ll Do! -or-
Moe’s a D*ck
Creative Team
Cast
Production Dramaturg
Penelope
Assistant Stage Manager
Rethabile Headbush
Katie Chance
Technical Supervisor
Mara Bredovskis
Properties Manager Production Stage Manager
Charlie Lovejoy Run Crew
Laize Qin Andrew Rincón
Associate Managing Director
Directed by Alexis Kulani Woodard
Charlie Lovejoy
Associate Production Manager
Administration
By Ida Cuttler
Stage Manager
Steph Burke
Lilliana Gonzalez
PRESENTS
Karoline Vielemeyer
Associate Safety Advisor
in alphabetical order Caroline Campos Quee
Messiah Cristine
A.J. Roy
Assistant Managing Director
Ramona Li
Management Assistants
Claudia Campos Victoria McNaughton Sarah Saifi House Manager
Maura Bozeman Production Photographer
Maza Rey
Ish
Chloe Howard
Setting: New Melville, Massachusetts There will be a 10-minute intermission.
Content Guidance: This production contains references to suicide and self-amputation. This production is supported by The Benjamin Mordecai III Production Fund.
David Geffen School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.
Special Thanks
Abraham Rebollo-Trujillo, Mariah Copeland, the mothers who recorded voicemails.
Yale 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. We also acknowledge the legacy of slavery in our region and the enslaved African people whose labor was exploited for generations to help establish the business of Yale University as well as the economy of Connecticut and the United States. The Langston Hughes Festival of New Work 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, 1982–1993, and as Associate Dean and Chair of the Theater Management Program from 1993 until his death in 2005. 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.
Production
NOVEMBER 6–11, 2023 DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA AT YALE James Bundy, Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean Florie Seery, Associate Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Carla L. Jackson, Assistant Dean Anne Erbe and Marcus Gardley, Co-Chairs, Playwriting
What I’ve Dared, I’ve Willed; And What I’ve Willed, I’ll Do! -or-
Moe’s a D*ck
Creative Team
Cast
Production Dramaturg
Penelope
Assistant Stage Manager
Rethabile Headbush
Katie Chance
Technical Supervisor
Mara Bredovskis
Properties Manager Production Stage Manager
Charlie Lovejoy Run Crew
Laize Qin Andrew Rincón
Associate Managing Director
Directed by Alexis Kulani Woodard
Charlie Lovejoy
Associate Production Manager
Administration
By Ida Cuttler
Stage Manager
Steph Burke
Lilliana Gonzalez
PRESENTS
Karoline Vielemeyer
Associate Safety Advisor
in alphabetical order Caroline Campos Quee
Messiah Cristine
A.J. Roy
Assistant Managing Director
Ramona Li
Management Assistants
Claudia Campos Victoria McNaughton Sarah Saifi House Manager
Maura Bozeman Production Photographer
Maza Rey
Ish
Chloe Howard
Setting: New Melville, Massachusetts There will be a 10-minute intermission.
Content Guidance: This production contains references to suicide and self-amputation. This production is supported by The Benjamin Mordecai III Production Fund.
David Geffen School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.
Special Thanks
Abraham Rebollo-Trujillo, Mariah Copeland, the mothers who recorded voicemails.
Yale 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. We also acknowledge the legacy of slavery in our region and the enslaved African people whose labor was exploited for generations to help establish the business of Yale University as well as the economy of Connecticut and the United States. The Langston Hughes Festival of New Work 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, 1982–1993, and as Associate Dean and Chair of the Theater Management Program from 1993 until his death in 2005. 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.
A Voyage Home Nostalgia (from nostos—return home, and algia—longing) is a longing for a home that no longer exists or has never existed.
—Svetlana Boym, cultural theorist, The Future of Nostalgia
New Melville, the fictional shoreline town in New England where Ida Cuttler’s Moe’s a D*ck takes place, is a liminal space in all thinkable ways. For one thing, it’s not the setting for a literal adaptation of the famous tale of the white whale; it’s just where the play washes up against its source of inspiration every so often. Meanwhile the boundless sea gushes onto the harbor’s rusty fishing boats that are remainders from another time. As Ish returns from college to her hometown for Thanksgiving, we are taken on a journey through a rapidly changing cityscape, where local businesses are being incrementally devoured by a burgeoning conglomerate, the WHALES corporation. Amid this unsettled climate, Ish, her bosom friend Quee, and her mother Penelope are in churning waters of their own, all yearning to find a sense of home. On their quests, the characters chase this longing in literal spaces, in their bodies, their hearts and minds, and in each other. The relational, in particular, seems a most dangerous voyage. While Ish and Quee search for a safe harbor in a rekindled friendship that is growing into a passionate bond, Penelope aches to reconnect with her daughter, imploring “Call me, Ishmael” into her phone. This famous opening line of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is one of the many threads Cuttler has artfully woven into the play’s fabric. With its heartfelt exploration of a queer relationship and of Quee’s desire to find a home in a body in transition, the play pierces through the heteronormative baggage of the 19th-century American seafaring tale, whilst setting off on its own voyage. Moe’s a D*ck takes its characters on a tempestuous “Nantucket sleighride,” reminding us that as Nothing exists in itself—there is no laughter without tears, no wisdom without woe, no bliss without sorrow, and no home without longing.
—Karoline Vielemeyer, Production Dramaturg
LANGSTON HUGHES FESTIVAL OF NEW WORK | 2023–24 SEASON