WORLD PREMIERE
BY CLA R E LI Z Z I MO R E
Kate Eastwood Norris
A N IM A L
Members of the Animal team: Stage Manager Allie Roy, Dramaturg Adrien-Alice Hansel, Director Gaye Taylor Upchurch, Actor Kate Eastwood Norris, Playwright Clare Lizzimore, Set Designer Rachel Hauck, and Costume Designer Kathleen Geldard. Photo: Teddy Wolff.
Animal is presented as a part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. In the fall of 2015, more than 50 of the Washington DC region’s professional theaters are banding together and each presenting a world premiere production of a work by one or more female playwrights. The landmark event aims to highlight both the scope of plays being written by women and the range of professional theater being produced in and around the nation’s capital. The Women’s Voices Theater Festival will be the largest collaboration of theater companies working to produce original works by female writers in history.
WELCOME FRIENDS, As I write this note, we’re about two weeks away from Animal’s opening. As it is very much a work in development, I’m not sure what play you’ll be seeing. That’s part of the thrill of new project development, especially when you’re a theatre that believes that plays are found as much in rehearsal and production as at a writer’s desk. What I do know is that Clare Lizzimore, a director who has turned some of her attentions to writing, has a vivid theatrical imagination, a direct and economical writing style that leaves room for a kind of everyday poetry, and a refreshing boldness when it comes to revisions and rewrites. It has been a thrill to watch how her kernel of an idea about a particular brand of physic distress became this meditation on marriage, disconnectedness, the secrets we keep, and the pain that comes from a hard stare at the truths about ourselves. With Animal, we launch Studio X, a purposefully eclectic constellation of innovative projects produced outside of our Main Series. Part of the inspiration for Studio X comes from four years of ‘Lab’ productions — plays that we developed annually, with writers in residence for much or all of the rehearsal process. We present Animal as part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, an unprecedented effort by almost all of DC’s theatre companies to highlight the vibrancy of DC theatre, its growing enthusiasm for producing new work, and the American theatre’s embarrassing track record of producing far too few plays written by women. Studio is proud to participate, and to offer to the world this potent play that reminds us how easy it is in our culture to write a woman off as ‘crazy.’ I’m happy to have you among this play’s first audiences and hope you can feel the thrill that comes from being part of the creation of something new and unique. YOURS,
DAVID MUSE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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MAIN SERIES CHIMERICA
BY LUCY KIRKWOOD DIRECTED BY DAVID MUSE US PREMIERE NOW PLAYING
An epic thriller that tracks two decades of US-China relations as it considers political change, personal responsibility, and lives forever changed by the crosswinds of politics and history.
THE APPLE FAMILY CYCLE
BY RICHARD NELSON DIRECTED BY SERGE SEIDEN OCT 28 – DEC 13, 2015
Over meals and through conversation, the Apples grapple with the changes the years have wrought, both for themselves and for America in the final two plays of Nelson’s cycle.
BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY BY STEPHEN ADLY GUIRGIS DIRECTED BY BRIAN MACDEVITT JAN 13 – FEB 28, 2016
A boisterous and unflinching dark comedy about the thorny nature of belonging, family relationships, and what it means to a call a place home. Winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize.
MOMENT
BY DEIRDRE KINAHAN DIRECTED BY ETHAN MCSWEENY MAR 16 – APR 24, 2016
A long-absent son, an ailing mother, and the long-simmering resentments of two sisters collide in this intimate and explosive family drama.
HEDDA GABLER
BY HENRIK IBSEN IN A NEW VERSION BY MARK O’ROWE DIRECTED BY MATT TORNEY US PREMIERE MAY 11 – JUN 19, 2016 Mark O’Rowe’s stunning contemporary adaptation is a mesmerizing study of power, control, and self-deception, offering a nuanced portrait of one of the most fascinating figures in modern drama.
STUDIOTHEATRE.ORG | 202.332.3300
With a Main Series subscription, patrons can add three Studio X plays for just $99. Additional work will be announced. Contact the Box Office for more information.
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Kate Eastwood Norris.
ANIMAL BY CLARE LIZZIMORE DIRECTED BY GAYE TAYLOR UPCHURCH WO R L D P R E M IE R E
S E P 30 – O C T 25
2015
A darkly comic play about the underside of domesticity, the complexity of the brain in chaos, and the thin line between sinking and survival.
BAD JEWS
BY JOSHUA HARMON DIRECTED BY SERGE SEIDEN DEC 3, 2015 – JAN 3, 2016
Joshua Harmon’s savage comedy about family, faith, and legacy follows three cousins and their verbal battle royale over a family heirloom. The best-selling play in Studio’s history returns for a holiday run.
BY NICK PAYNE DIRECTED BY DAVID MUSE FE B 1 0 – M AR 6
2016
C ONSTELLATIO NS
S Y ION 0 LA PT 22 -P RI $ VE C AT FI BS T SU TAR S
SPECIAL REMOUNT
Theoretical physicist meets beekeeper, but the story branches off from there. An intimate and imaginative romance that plays out the infinite possibilities of a single relationship.
PRESENTS
ANIMAL B Y C L AR E L IZ Z IM OR E WORLD PREMIERE DIRECTOR GAYE TAYLOR UPCHURCH SET DESIGNER RACHEL HAUCK COSTUME DESIGNER KATHLEEN GELDARD LIGHTING DESIGNER JESSE BELSKY SOUND DESIGNER DANIEL KLUGER DRAMATURG ADRIEN-ALICE HANSEL DIALECT COACH NANCY KREBS FIGHT DIRECTOR JONATHAN EZRA RUBIN STAGE MANAGER ALLIE ROY* PRODUCTION MANAGER JOSH ESCAJEDA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR ROB SHEARIN Animal is generously underwritten by David and Jean Heilman Grier, with additional support by Albert Lauber and Craig Hoffman. These supporters are members of Studio Theatre Venture Capitalists, a group of new work enthusiasts who are dedicated to Studio’s commissioning and development programs.
Animal was commissioned by Studio Theatre. Animal is a professional production employing members of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), and United Scenic Artists (USA). Animal is presented by special arrangement with Casarotto Ramsay & Associates. Beginning September 30, 2015 in Stage 4.
CAST Rachel | KATE EASTWOOD NORRIS* Tom | CODY NICKELL* Stephen | JOEL DAVID SANTNER* Dan | MICHAEL KEVIN DARNALL* Older Woman | ROSEMARY REGAN + Little Girl | ANAÏS KILLIAN This performance of Animal will be presented without an intermission. UNDERSTUDIES Rachel | AMY HORAN + Tom and Stephen | MATTHEW SPARACINO + Dan | CALEB ERIKSON + Older Woman | DECLAN CASHMAN + Little Girl | LOTTIE DOUGHTY * Member Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States +Equity Membership Candidate
N OTE A NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURG, ADRIEN-ALICE HANSEL “Have you ever seen an animal bewildered? It’s horrific.” “I’m interested in stories that go untold, in plays that can shine a light on a very dark place,” Clare Lizzimore says, and her work is unafraid to put its characters in peril. Lizzimore’s first play, Mint, followed a man’s alienation and attempts to acclimatize to a changing family during and after his seven-year incarceration. Written in short scenes with language that is both direct and evocative, the play offered a perceptive and unflinching portrait of one family’s turmoil, shame, and fury. With Animal, Lizzimore turns her empathy and ravenous imagination to mental illness. There’s a mystery in the heart of the play — a dark and unknown abyss that the main character, Rachel, circles around. I won’t disclose the play’s secrets here, but Lizzimore has drawn on an actual psychiatric condition to inform the play’s narrative and structure, which mirrors the disorienting experience of a chaotic mind. Rachel is haunted by…something, a presence or event or absence that’s been robbing her of sleep, resilience, and eventually, hope. Armed with a sense of humor and arresting propensity for cruelty (alongside its reliable kickback of self-loathing), she tries to reconstruct her past from available clues — slivers of remembered information, evidence of behavior she can’t recall, night terrors that point to a darkness she cannot name. Following the leaps and elisions of a mind in disarray, Animal alternates between torrents of language, tense scenes of crossed connections, and stretches of anxious stillness as Rachel ricochets from conversations with a husband who struggles to remain understanding, a therapist she charms more than cooperates with, and an intruder with whom she has an uncanny connection. Lizzimore draws on imagery both clinical and primal to fill out Rachel’s world, taking on the language of nightmare, folk tale, and pharmaceutical banalities. Animated by Lizzimore’s unsentimental curiosity, Animal offers a fearless look at the vulnerability and resilience of our animal bodies and expansive minds, each capable of their own breath-taking acts of cloaking and restoration.
PL AY W R I G HT CLARE LIZZIMORE Clare Lizzimore is a playwright and an Olivier Award-winning director. Her first play, Mint (2013), was produced at the Royal Court’s Open Court Season and long-listed for the prestigious Bruntwood Prize. Her first radio play was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014 and her new radio play The Rage will be broadcast in 2016. She is currently under commission with the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre. As a director, she has worked extensively in new writing, and her latest production — Bull by Mike Bartlett — won the 2015 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in An Affiliate Theatre for its production at The Young Vic; it premiered at Sheffield Theatres and also toured to 59E59 in New York. Other recent directing credits include One Day When We Were Young by Nick Payne in the Roundabout Season at Paines Plough at Sheffield Theatres and Shoreditch Town Hall; Lay Down Your Cross by Nick Payne and On the Rocks by Amy Rosenthal at Hampstead Theatre; Pieces of Vincent by David Watson at Arcola Theatre; Faces in the Crowd by Leo Butler at the Royal Court Theatre; War and Peace and Fear and Misery by Mark Ravenhill at the Royal Court Theatre; Jonah and Otto by Robert Holman at the Royal Exchange Theatre; and Tom Fool by Franz Xaver Kroetz at Glasgow Citizens Theatre and the Bush Theatre, which was nominated for four CATS Awards. Ms. Lizzimore’s directing awards include the Channel 4 Theatre Directors Award and the Arts Foundation Theatre Directing Fellowship. She has been resident director at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, and a staff director at the Royal National Theatre.
C AST KATE EASTWOOD NORRIS (Rachel) makes her Studio Theatre debut. DC credits include Arena Stage, Round House Theatre, and numerous roles such as the title role in Mary Stuart at Folger Theatre and Emma in Stupid F***ing Bird at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company where she is a company member. Regionally, Ms. Eastwood Norris’ credits include Berkeley Repertory Theatre, two Humana Festivals at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Portland Center Stage, The Wilma Theater, Arden Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Two Rivers Theatre, Florida Stage, Gulfshore Playhouse, Delaware Theater, PICT Classic Theatre, and the American Shakespeare Center. Ms. Eastwood Norris has received two Helen Hayes Awards and a Barrymore Award for her acting and just completed her Master’s degree in Humanities and the Creative Life with an emphasis in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute. CODY NICKELL (Tom) makes his Studio Theatre debut. He was most recently seen in Washington DC in Folger Theatre’s production of Mary Stuart, and has performed at theatres all over the country including Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Portland Center Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Barrington Stage, Two River Theatre, The Wilma Theater, The Arden Theatre, PlayMakers Rep, and San Jose Rep. For three years, Mr. Nickell was the Artistic Associate at Gulfshore Playhouse where he directed and acted in over 12 productions. He is the recipient of the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, and has been nominated three times for The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. His work also extends beyond the theatre to films, television, and voiceovers. Mr. Nickell is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama. JOEL DAVID SANTNER (Stephen)’s DC credits include As You Like It, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and Dog in the Manger (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Shakespeare’s R & J (Signature Theatre); Gilgamesh (Constellation Theatre Company); A Commedia Christmas Carol (Faction of Fools); Hamlet (Baltimore Shakespeare Festival); Owl Moon, Burn Your Bookes, and suicide.chat.room (Taffety Punk). He recently directed Hamlet — The First Quarto for Taffety Punk. He is an Associated Artist with Faction of Fools and a Company Member with Taffety Punk Theatre Company. Mr. Santner is also a filmmaker. He directed and produced the feature length
film Bare Knuckle, and his short films Mirror Image and Harmony have garnered awards and screenings across the country. He received his training from the Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University. In January 2016, Mr. Santner will attend USC School for Cinematic Arts for Film Production. MICHAEL KEVIN DARNALL (Dan) makes his Studio Theatre debut. Mr. Darnall’s local work includes Yentl (Theater J); The Fire and The Rain and Metamorphoses (Constellation Theatre Company); Savage in Limbo and The Sandstorm (MetroStage); Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide (Helen Hayes nomination, Outstanding Ensemble), The Wedding Dress, and Last of the Whyos (Spooky Action Theater); and Failure: A Love Story (Helen Hayes nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Outstanding Ensemble), and Big Love (The Hub Theatre — company member). His New York credits include Romeo and Juliet (TheatreRats), Beyond Therapy (Bohemian Archaeology), and Arden (Spring Theatreworks). On television, he recurred in HBO’s The Wire. Mr. Darnall will appear in the upcoming productions of Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) at Round House Theatre and Journey to the West at Constellation Theatre Company. He received his training at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts. ROSEMARY REGAN (Mother) previously appeared at Studio Theatre in The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Desk Set, Conversations with My Father, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. For Studio 2ndStage, she performed in Terrorism, Mad Forest, Hot Fudge, Terrence McNally: Five Short Plays, and Muzeeka. Her most recent local appearances were in Mary Stuart (Folger Theatre) and Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide (Spooky Action Theater, Helen Hayes nomination for Best Ensemble). She has also played at Signature Theatre, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, Theater Alliance, and Solas Nua, among others. Her television credits include House of Cards (Season 3, Chapter 37). ANAÏS KILLIAN (Little Girl) makes her professional acting debut at Studio Theatre. She plays piano, sings in the Montgomery County Public Schools honors chorus and Strathmore Chorus, and dances hip hop. And she has recently started middle school.
N EW WORK AT S T UDIO Studio supports new writing from inception to first production: commissioning new work, giving writers time and resources to develop their work, and hosting them in residence during the rehearsal process. This season, Studio inaugurates its new Studio X series with a commissioned play: Clare Lizzimore’s Animal. Artistic Director David Muse came to Studio in 2010 with a vision for building on its history of producing powerful contemporary work by substantially expanding Clare Lizzimore, Gaye Taylor Upchurch, and Kate Eastwood Norris. Photo: Teddy Wolff. its new work production, launching new work onto the international stage. Muse inaugurated the Studio Lab in the 2011– 2012 Season. Studio Lab presented stripped-down productions of world premiere plays, giving playwrights in residence the ability to work in an environment of experimentation, collaboration, and discovery. Additionally, Studio publishes the plays it premieres to broaden the reach of these new works, and launch them onto the international stage. In the last three years, Studio has commissioned work from established and emerging writers, including Stew and Heidi Rodewald, Vivienne Franzmann, Rachel Bonds, Clare Lizzimore, Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, Ike Holter, and Aaron Posner. After four years of developing an audience for Studio’s new work, Muse announced the creation of Studio X, which absorbed the work of Studio Lab into a wider constellation of projects that break new ground in their style or content.
Mary Elizabeth Hamilton
Ike Holter
Aaron Posner
Frank Boyd and Harry A. Winter in Red Speedo by Lucas Hnath. Photo: Teddy Wolff.
Birgit Huppuch and Tom Story in The Wolfe Twins by Rachel Bonds. Photo: Igor Dmitry.
ARTIS TS GAYE TAYLOR UPCHURCH (Director) is directing at the Studio Theatre for the first time. Her Off Broadway productions include Nancy Harris’ Our New Girl (Atlantic Theater Company), Laura Marks’ Bethany (Women’s Project, Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Play), Lucy Thurber’s Stay (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Obie Award for The Hilltown Plays), and Simon Stephens’ Harper Regan (NY Times Top Ten Production 2012) and Bluebird with Simon Russell Beale (Atlantic Theater Company). She recently directed An Iliad which toured at the US Military Academy at West Point (Hudson Valley Shakespeare), and the world premiere of Melissa Ross’ Of Good Stock (South Coast Rep). She has developed new work at New Dramatists, New York Stage & Film, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights’ Center, Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Ms. Upchurch is an alumna of the Women’s Project Directors Lab, The Drama League, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. RACHEL HAUCK (Set Designer)’s recent work in New York includes Our Lady of Kibeho and And I And Silence (Signature Theatre Company); Grand Concourse, Patron Saint of Sea Monsters, The Call, and Go Back To Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons); Bright Half Life (Women’s Project); To The Bone (Cherry Lane); Stay (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), An Iliad (New York Theatre Workshop, McCarter Theatre Center); Slowgirl (LCT3); Harper Regan and Bluebird (Atlantic Theater Company); Regrets (Manhattan Theatre Club); This Wide Night (Naked Angels, Lortel Nom); Orange, Hat & Grace (Soho Rep, Drama Desk nomination); Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Hourglass, 37 Arts). Recent regional work includes The Good Book (Court Theatre); Chavez Ravine (Center Theatre Group); Into The Woods (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Annenberg Center); Clybourne Park and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Guthrie Theater); and Assassins (Playmakers Rep). Ms. Hauck designed the national and international tour of Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s production of An Iliad. She has spent 10 years as the resident set designer at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference. KATHLEEN GELDARD (Costume Designer) designed Jumpers for Goalposts, Choir Boy, Tribes, Invisible Man, and Sucker Punch for Studio Theatre and Frozen, Autobahn, Terrorism, and A Clockwork Orange for Studio 2ndStage. She is an artistic associate of Signature Theatre, where her work includes The Last Five Years, Shakespeare’s R & J, Brother Russia, Sunset Boulevard, Chess, Sweeney Todd, Les Misérables, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and the world premieres of Kid Victory, Really Really, The Boy Detective Fails, The Hollow, Walter Cronkite is Dead, and Sycamore Trees. She has also designed locally for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Imagination Stage, Folger Theatre, Theater J, Olney Theatre Center, Rep Stage, and Everyman Theatre, among others. Regionally, her work has been seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville, La Jolla Playhouse, Huntington Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Center Stage in Baltimore. She has received nominations for the Bay Area Critics Circle Award, an IRNE Award, and a Helen Hayes Award for her work.
JESSE BELSKY (Lighting Designer) joins Studio Theatre for the first time. His designs for Everyman Theatre in Baltimore include Deathtrap, and Blithe Spirit, and later this fall, Outside Mullingar. Other recent credits include The 39 Steps, Pump Boys & Dinettes, Shipwrecked, and Kingdom of Earth (Triad Stage), the world premiers of Lee Breuer’s opera Antigone (Athens, Greece) and his new play Glass Guignol (Provincetown Theater Festival). New York credits include The Body Politic (59E59), the puppet works Lysistrata and The Women of Troy (La Mama Annex), and My Trip Down The Pink Carpet (starring Leslie Jordan). Regional credits include Lydia and Rough Crossing (Yale Repertory Theatre) and The Year of Magical Thinking (Playmakers Rep). Recent dance lighting includes Tommy DeFrantz’s Cane, MOTION Dance Theater (Asheville, NC), and several years with the Duke University Dance Program. Mr. Belsky holds a BA from Duke University and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama. He has taught lighting design at Connecticut College and UNC Greensboro. DANIEL KLUGER (Sound Designer) returns to Studio Theatre after designing The Wolfe Twins by Rachel Bonds last season. He recently orchestrated Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! at Bard SummerScape. New York credits include The Mystery of Love and Sex and Nikolai and the Others (Lincoln Center Theater); Significant Other and The Common Pursuit (Roundabout Theatre Company); Iow@ and Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra (Playwrights Horizons); The Nether, The Village Bike, and Really Really (MCC Theater); I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard and Women or Nothing (Atlantic Theater Company); You Got Older (PAGE73); Somewhere Fun and The North Pool (Vineyard Theatre); Tribes and Hit the Wall (Barrow Street Theatre); and How to Make Friends and then Kill Them, The Few, Ode to Joy, and The Correspondent (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater). Mr. Kluger has worked regionally at The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Pig Iron, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, People’s Light & Theatre, and American Players Theatre. ADRIEN-ALICE HANSEL (Dramaturg) is Studio Theatre’s Literary Director. At Studio, she has dramaturged the world premieres of Laugh, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews, Cock, Moth, Edgar & Annabel, The Apple Family Plays, An Iliad, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She also served as production dramaturg on roughly 50 new, contemporary, and classic plays there, including premieres by Naomi Wallace, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn and Rude Mechs, Rinne Groff, The Civilians, Charles Mee, Anne Bogart and SITI Company, Jordan Harrison, and John Belluso. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of six editions of plays through Studio. Ms. Hansel holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
NANCY KREBS (Dialect Coach) returns to Studio Theatre, where she previously worked on The Habit of Art, The Walworth Farce, and The New Electric Ballroom. Other DC-area credits include Hay Fever, Once on This Island, Angel Street, Witness for the Prosecution, Charlie’s Aunt, Blithe Spirit, Carousel, Lend Me a Tenor, Mornings at Seven, Oliver!, Doubt, and Of Mice and Men at Olney Theatre Center; Tale of Two Cities, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Pride and Prejudice, Cymbeline, The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Our Town, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Sense and Sensibility at Annapolis Shakespeare Company; I Am My Own Wife, A Young Lady of Property, Boeing, Boeing, Home, Yellowman, Or, Barrymore, and Two by Barrie at Rep Stage; The Crucible, Red Herring, My Children! My Africa!, Slow Dance on the Killing Ground, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Watch on the Rhine, Cripple of Inishmaan, Candida, Betrayal, Sight Unseen, Turn of the Screw, I Am My Own Wife, and Our Town at Everyman Theatre. Ms. Krebs is on the faculty of the Baltimore School for the Arts and operates her own voice studio, The Voiceworks. JONATHAN EZRA RUBIN (Fight Director) returns to Studio Theatre after fight directing Mary Kate Olsen Is In Love for Studio 2ndStage last season. Choreography credits include Flying V Fights: Heroes & Monsters, The Pirate Laureate and the King of the Sea, Lobster Alice, Flying V Fights: Love is a Battlefield, The Best of Craigslist, and The Pirate Laureate of Port Town at Flying V; Shakes Alive! Tour, and Romeo & Juliet at Maryland Shakespeare Company; Hamlet at Lumina Studio Theatre; Klecksography: Haunting Monsters — Wolfman at Rorschach Theatre; and Social Creatures at Single Carrot Theatre. Mr. Rubin is recognized as an advanced actor/combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and has been choreographing consistently for the last few years. ALLIE ROY (Stage Manager) returns to Studio Theatre and Stage 4 for a third time this year, having stage managed Murder Ballad and Silence! The Musical this past spring and summer. Ms. Roy recently moved to Washington DC after ten years in Los Angeles. She was the Resident Stage Manager for Cabrillo Music Theatre in Thousand Oaks, CA, where she stage managed over 20 productions, including Legally Blonde: The Musical, The Producers, Grease, 1776, and The Sound of Music. Locally, Ms. Roy assistant stage managed Elmer Gantry and the world premiere of Diner at Signature Theatre. Ms. Roy is a graduate of UCLA’s School of Theatre, Film and Television and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. PAUL LYSEK (Assistant Director) joins Studio Theatre for the first time with Animal. As a theatre artist and musician, he has recently worked and performed at The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, FringeNYC, Capital Fringe Festival, and with Blind Pug Arts Collective. He has assistant directed under Stephen Brotebeck, and served as a music assistant on Broadway’s If/Then. Mr. Lysek is a 2014 graduate of American University where he studied theatre and music history.
ANIM A L S TA F F Assistant Director PAUL LYSEK Assistant Stage Manager CHRISTINE RUTHENBERG-MARSHALL Light Board Operator SEAN PATRICK FORSYTHE Sound Board Operator JESS HOOVER For additional members of the production staff, please see the full staff listing.
ACKNO W L E D G M E N T S Studio Theatre is grateful to Jon and NoraLee Sedmak for their support of Animal. Studio Theatre is grateful to EatWell DC for their continued support of the Fall Benefit — an annual fundraising event dedicated to our continuing commitment to new work. Clare Lizzimore thanks Dr. Chris Hilton, Consultant Psychiatrist; Dr. Barbara Byers; Claire Chambers; Mike Bartlett; Simon Vinnicombe; and Amy Rosenthal. Animal is funded in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Actors’ Equity Association (AEA) was founded in 1913 as the first of the American actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 40,000 actors, singers, dancers, and stage managers working in hundreds of theatres across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theatre as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theatre has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. For more information, visit www.actorsequity.org.
S PO NS O R S P O T L IG H T
David and Jean Heilman Grier with Animal playwright Clare Lizzimore.
What drew you to Studio — specifically our new play initiatives? We have been seeing productions here since about 1992, but we really became involved when David Muse took over as Artistic Director. We had gotten to know David when he was the Associate Artistic Director at the Shakespeare Theatre and he had let us attend rehearsals of his all-male Romeo and Juliet. After seeing four or five rehearsals, we became fascinated with how the creative team developed the story and breathed life into the characters. After David moved to Studio, we supported his production of Venus in Fur, and were able to see some of its rehearsals. Because it was a modern play by a writer who was best known for adapting classical works, it naturally sparked our interest in new play development. What is your favorite production you’ve seen here? The Wolfe Twins. It was a lovely collaboration among the writer Rachel Bonds, director Mike Donahue, and the cast. Rachel and Mike worked very closely to develop and refine Rachel’s original script. At the same time, the cast, led by Tom Story, was a remarkably inventive group and brought tremendous life to the narrative. As we watched them work on the production, we could see the same things that we saw in the rehearsals of Romeo and Juliet seven years earlier.
While The Wolfe Twins was our favorite, we have enjoyed all the new plays: Lungs, Dirt, Red Speedo, and, of course, Venus in Fur. We really appreciate watching artists try to capture and express ideas that reflect our times. What role does Studio Theatre play in the community? As a theatre, Studio takes ideas that might be complex or difficult and makes them easier to understand. It is easier to see a play than to read a lengthy report. Studio has been particularly good at presenting plays with crisp and innovative writing, creative acting, and insightful directing. What would you say to a friend who is considering supporting Studio? That your support will be well used. The theatre has a great artistic staff that produces wonderful performances and a strong management team that make sure that all donations are used efficiently. Tell us about yourself. At base, we’re both writers and consultants. Jean is an attorney involved in international trade. She served as a negotiator for the U.S. Trade Representative but now consults and writes a weekly blog on trade issues. David is a computer scientist and writes for a number of technical periodicals. He served as the President of the professional society for computer and software engineers and is a professor at the George Washington University.
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Anonymous (2) Peter A. Bieger Frederick and Theresa Boyle Jon Danforth and Carol Arthur Lois England Charmaine and Albert Horvath Leonade D. Jones Nancy and Herbert Milstein Bernard Myers Fund for the Performing Arts James Nozar and Adam Unger Jonathan and Madeleine Pitt Lutz Alexander Prager Lola C. Reinsch Sotheby’s International Realty Jerry and Patti Sowalsky Stonesifer/Kinsley Family Fund Hattie M. Strong Foundation The Morningstar Foundation Mark Tushnet and Elizabeth Alexander Jonathan and Joan Tycko
$2,500 – $4,999
Drs. Stewart Aledort and Sheila Rogovin Leonard and Joy Baxt BB&T Bank Amy F. Berger and Glen Nager J. Frank Bernheisel Sue and Joe Bredekamp Capital Bank Capital One, N.A. Dr. Morris J. Chalick Nancy Chasen and Don Spero Susan Clampitt and Jeremy Waletzky Carl and Rise Cole Margery Doppelt and Larry Rothman Mona and Mark Elliot Burton Gerber Frona Hall Kenneth G. Hance, Jr. and Kamer Davis Andrea Hatfield and Buck O’Leary F. Lynn Holec William Hopkins and Richard Anderson Mark and Carol Hyman Fund IBM Anthony and Karen Kamerick Christine and Gene Kilby Jane Lang and Paul Sprenger* Stephen and Maria Lans Susan Lee and Stephen Saltzburg The Jacob & Charlotte Lehrman Foundation B. Thomas Mansbach Wallis E. McClain Carl and Undine Nash Kate Perry and George Dellinger Bob and Nina Randolph Sandy Read and Hugh Hill Rogers & Company PLLC Steve and Ilene Rosenthal Drs. Irene Roth and Vicken Poochikian Linda and Stanley Sher David and Peggy Shiffrin Patricia Smith Sidney Stolz and David Hatfield
Martha Washington StrausHarry H. Straus Foundation The Touma Foundation TrueTheatreGoer, LLC George and Trish Vradenburg Margot and Paul Zimmerman
$1,500 – $2,499
Anonymous Patricia Alper Cohn and David Cohn Jim and Mary Bellor Bruce and Deborah Berman Trudy H. Clark Continental Properties, Ltd. Dimick Foundation Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Warren Gump Karen Kaub Arlene and Martin Klepper Barry Kropf Mark Lewellyn Romana Li and Bruce Bartels Karen and Daniel Mayers Barbara and Al McConagha Carol Rabenhorst Anne & Henry S. Reich Family Foundation Bishop Gene Robinson Joan Searby Richard Seaton and John Berger Susan P. Willens Bruce and Margareta Yarwood
IN-KIND
Ace Beverage Amtrak Aram Designs B Too BakeHouse Barcelona Restaurant and Wine Bar Birch & Barley Bluebird Bakery BodySmith Gym + Studio Cava Mezze CHURCHKEY Cleveland Park Liquors & Fine Wines Colonial Parking Cork Daikaya
Dolcezza Drafting Table EatWell DC Fathom Creative Four Seasons Hotel Washington DC Ghibellina Hank’s Oyster Bar Kingsbury Confections Marvin Restaurant McWilliams Ballard Residential Brokerage Mehri & Skalet Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams New Columbia Distillers Number Nine Policy Restaurant and Lounge Posto Shugoll Research Slipstream Sotto Sweetgreen Teavine/Cider Snap The Fainting Goat Unipark Valet Services YMCA National Capital Zentan For a complete listing of our generous supporters, please visit studiotheatre.org/ support. *In Memoriam This list represents contributions received through September 16, 2015. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this listing. For more information, please contact the Development Office at 202.232.7267
S TU DIO STAF F ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DAVID MUSE
MANAGING DIRECTOR MERIDITH BURKUS
Associate Artistic Director: Matt Torney Artistic Apprentice: Sivan Battat Literary Director: Adrien-Alice Hansel Associate Literary Director: Lauren Halvorsen Director of Design: Debra Booth Commissioned Writers: Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, Ike Holter, and Aaron Posner
Executive Assistant: Mary Grace Short Administrative and Education Assistant: Anderson Wells
Production Manager: Josh Escajeda Associate Production Manager: Chelsea Cranshaw Company Management/ Production Apprentice: Kat Zeringue Resident Stage Manager: Anthony O. Bullock Stage Management Apprentice: Amanda Landis Technical Director: Robert Shearin Carpenter: Bianca Hamp Carpenter: Mason Hurley Carpentry Apprentice: Alex Mathis Scenic Artist: Erich Starke Properties Director: Deborah Thomas Costume Shop Manager: Brandee Mathies Master Electrician/Sound Technician: Adrian Rooney Electrics Apprentice: Sean Patrick Forsythe Sound/Projections Apprentice: Jess Hoover Education Education Manager: Zach Campion Education/Conservatory Apprentice: Thais Menendez Instructors: Joy Zinoman (Director of Curriculum and Teacher Training), Carol Arthur, Nancy Bannon, Diana Bradley, Zach Campion, Kate Davis, Elena Day, Kate Debelack, Denise Diggs, Catherine Eliot, George Fulginiti-Shakar, Julie Garner, Robb Hunter, Nancy Paris, Madeleine Burke Pitt, Roma Rogers, Serge Seiden, Colette Yglesias Silver, Matthew Vaky
General Manager: Elisabeth Bayer Business Apprentice: Clara Blickenstaff Information Technology Director: Nick Torres Facilities Manager: Kieran Kelly Facilities Apprentice: Joe Tomaselli Director of Development: Rodney E. Trapp Manager of Major Gifts: Zack Lynch Manager of Partnerships and Events: Nikki Grizzle Development Services Associate: Tobias Franzén Development Apprentice: Tasmin Swanson Institutional Giving Consultant: Lisa Buchs Marketing and Communications Digital Marketing Manager: Rachael Wilkinson Communications Apprentice: Kendall Helblig Graphic Design Apprentice: Allie Dearie Graphic Designer: Shawn Helm Photographers: Teddy Wolff, Igor Dmitry Director of Ticket Sales and Audience Services: Benjamin DuGoff Box Office Manager: Stephen Notes Subscriptions Manager: Adria Gunter Associate Manager of Ticket Sales and Service: Amy Horan Audience Services Manager: Lynn Coughlin House Managers: Ric Birch, Marley Kabin, Jeff Kirkman III, Quill Nebeker Assistant House Managers: Tori Boutin, Corinne Hayes, Nick Houhoulis, Bridget Woodbury Box Office Staff: Andra Belknap, Warren Freeman, Joseph Graf, Marley Kabin, Yewande Odetoyinbo, Emma Safford
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NEXT IN STUDIO X
Sarah Marshall.
BEGINS OCTOBER 28
THE APPLE FAMILY CYCLE
BY RICHARD NELSON DIRECTED BY SERGE SEIDEN
SORRY & REGULAR SINGING: Presented in rotating repertory
Over meals and through conversation, the Apples grapple with the changes the years have wrought, both for themselves and for America in the final two plays of Nelson’s cycle.
SAVE THE DATE Studio Theatre Annual Gala Friday, April 1, 2016 For more information, contact devo@studiotheatre.org
BY NICK PAYNE DIRECTED BY DAVID MUSE F E B 1 0 – M A R 6
2016
CONSTELLATIONS
NEXT IN THE MAIN SERIES
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Theoretical physicist meets beekeeper, but the story branches off from there. An intimate and imaginative romance that plays out the infinite possibilities of a single relationship. Are you a 20- or 30something theatre lover looking to support the arts and connect with like-minded people? As our Friend with Benefits, your gift affords you unique opportunities and perks through the season. To learn more, visit STUDIOTHEATRE.ORG/FWB And unlike other Friends with Benefits, the only drama here is on the stage.
BOX OFFICE & GROUP SALES 202.332.3300 | STUDIOTHEATRE.ORG
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THE APPLE FAMILY CYCLE:
BY RICHARD NELSON DIRECTED BY SERGE SEIDEN OCT 28 – DEC 13, 2015 Over meals and through conversation, the Apples grapple with the changes the years have wrought, both for themselves and for America in the final two plays of Nelson’s cycle. h ra Sa ll.
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SPECIAL REMOUNT
BAD JEWS
BY JOSHUA HARMON DIRECTED BY SERGE SEIDEN DEC 3, 2015 – JAN 3, 2016 Joshua Harmon’s savage comedy about family, faith, and legacy follows three cousins and their verbal battle royale over a family heirloom. The best-selling play in Studio’s history returns for a holiday run.