Cock Program

COCK WRITTEN BY MIKE BARTLETT DIRECTED BY DAVID MUSE

ABOUT STUDIO THEATRE Studio Theatre is Washington’s premier venue for contemporary theatre, “where local audiences will find today’s edgiest playwrights” (Variety). One of the most respected midsized theatres in the country, Studio Theatre produces exceptional contemporary drama in deliberately intimate spaces. Drawing inspiration from great ensembles—where people work together with a spirit of generosity and professional rigor—Studio brings characteristic thoughtfulness and daring to its work onstage and off, through its new work incubator and engagement, education, and workforce training initiatives. Now in its 42nd season, Studio looks to honor its history through encouraging a creative culture in which artistry and boldness stem from inclusion, training, stewardship, and the collaborative spirit of the rehearsal room. Every year, Studio serves over 66,000 people, including more than 400 youth and young adults through engagement and education initiatives.

Throughout Studio’s four decades, the quality of our work has been recognized by sustained community support, as well as 398 nominations and 72 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in professional theatre.

FRIENDS, This “welcome to our season” note is odd in every way. It’s March rather than September. This program is digital. This production, and the rest of the season, is virtual. We are a theatre company whose special character revolves around being especially close to one another and to the stage, so this season I’m welcoming you to something especially unfamiliar for all of us.

But I’m thrilled that you’re here. For many of the staff and artists involved in making this production, this was our first time gathering together in a room to do some version of what we do in a year, so we’re especially grateful to be able to share our work with you.

Cock is an exercise in theatrical distillation and minimalism, meant to be staged without scenery or props.

One of its central conventions is that characters don’t literally need to enact what their speech suggests. This play allows for sex without touching and the spirit of spatial proximity from actors standing 20 feet apart—it’s almost as if Mike Bartlett wrote it for an era of social distancing!

Mike’s formal inventiveness is one of the things that most impresses me about him. His stylistic range is striking; he does abstract minimalism, proscenium-style realism, large cast epics, radio dramas, film adaptations for the stage, stage adaptations for film, and for good measure, a modern Shakespearean history play written in iambic pentameter about Prince Charles and family (which, given recent news of the royals, was absurdly prescient). But some signatures run throughout his work. Two of the biggest: palpably confident writing and a preoccupation with competitiveness and game-playing.

Perhaps none of his plays illustrates that latter characteristic as well as Cock. Inspired by cockfights he witnessed in Mexico, this play is a fast-paced battle with the highest possible stakes, unencumbered by furniture or scene shifts. And luckily for us, it’s written with a showman’s delight for disagreement, speed, and surprise.

I directed an in-person version of this play seven years ago, and was keen to do it again, in part because I had a notion that cameras would invite some different ways in and allow this to feel like a new production rather than a remount.

I think I was right about that.

Thank you for joining and supporting Studio during this truly unique season. I hope that we manage to capture some of our Studio spirit and stream it to your screen.

DAVID MUSE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

S T U D I O

T H E A T R E

cock

WRITTEN BY MIKE BARTLETT DIRECTED BY DAVID MUSE

P R E S E N T S

DIRECTOR OF VIDEO WES CULWELL LIGHTING DESIGNER COLIN K. BILLS SOUND CUE DESIGNER JAMES BIGBEE GARVER TEXT AND DIALECT COACH ELIZABETH FORTE ALMAN

DAVID MUSE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR REBECCA ENDE LICHTENBERG MANAGING DIRECTOR Produced Off Broadway

by Stuart Thompson, Jean Doumanian, Royal Court Theatre, William Berlind, Scott Delman, Dena Hammerstein, Jon B. Platt, Scott Rudin, Ted Snowdon, True Love Productions Associate Producers: Kevin Emrick, Patrick Daly COCK is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

COCK was first performed at the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London, on November 13, 2009.

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DRAMATURG ADRIEN-ALICE HANSEL PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER ALLIE ROY* DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION JOSH ESCAJEDA TECHNICAL DIRECTOR JEFFREY MARTIN VIDEO PRODUCTION STUDIIO BOX DC, STUDIIOBOXDC.COM

Cast JOHN RANDY HARRISON* M SCOTT PARKINSON* W KATHRYN TKEL* F ALAN WADE* *Member Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

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NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURG Mike Bartlett’s play Cock finds its main character paralyzed by indecision, in love with two people: his long-term boyfriend and a woman he’s only recently met. John’s lovers are known only as M and W, and from this near-schematic narrative structure—one man, two partners— Bartlett crafts a lacerating and disarmingly honest look at the ways desire (and choice) can complicate our sense of who we know ourselves to be.

The play’s title takes on various connotations over the course of the play, referring to the sexual organ, the word’s colloquial British implication of someone who can’t get anything right, as well as to the peck-peck-peck combat that ensues over the course of the play’s short bouts.

Bartlett is unsparing when it comes to throwing his characters into combat. His mode is stunningly raw, distilled to its essentials: The play unfolds on a set without furniture or props, its characters armed only with open space and language—sudden thrusts of fragmented thought, parries of desperation and contradiction. With language both forthright and bruising, these characters are masters of sizing up their opponents and going for the kill, like the eponymous fighting game birds that Bartlett modeled them on. The play’s theatrical mode leaves the characters without anywhere to hide, magnifying the vulnerability and brutality of their exchanges. And for Studio’s first foray into theatre-on-film, Bartlett’s play has a kind of stripped-down theatricality that resonates beyond the screen.

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More than a meditation on sexuality or identity politics, Cock is an examination of the vertiginous and seemingly provisional nature of identity itself. It’s not that John is tentative about choosing a partner, exactly.

It’s that he can’t begin to think about the choice when he feels like such a different person with each of his lovers.

The play is unflinching, even brutal at times, but is also funny and surprisingly tender, sympathetic to the ridiculous things people will do for love, the infuriation of handing your heart to someone else, and the difficulty of living in a world that promises limitless ways to be happy.

ADRIEN-ALICE HANSEL DRAMATURG

playwright

MIKE BARTLETT’s (playwright) television

credits include Life (Drama Republic/BBC), Press (Lookout Point/BBC), Trauma (ITV), King Charles III (Drama Republic/BBC), Doctor Foster (Drama Republic/BBC), and The Town (Big Talk Productions). His plays for the theatre include Vassa, Albion, and Game at the Almeida Theatre; Wild at Hampstead Theatre and Chariots of Fire at Hampstead Theatre and the West End; Snowflake at Arts at the Old Fire Station; King Charles III, which started at the Almeida before heading to the West End and Broadway; An Intervention with Paines Plough and on the West End; Bull, which played at Sheffield Theatres, Off Broadway, and at the Young Vic; Medea, co-produced by Headlong Theatre, Glasgow Citizens, Watford Palace Theatre, and Warwick Arts Centre; 13 at the National Theatre as well as Earthquakes in London (co-produced with Headlong Theatre); Love, Love, Love co-produced by Paines Plough, Theatre Royal Plymouth, and the Royal Court Theatre before running on Broadway with Roundabout Theatre Company; Cock, Contractions, and My Child also at the Royal Court Theatre; Decade with Headlong Theatre (co-writer); and Artefacts co-produced by The Bush Theatre and Nabokov. Directing credits include Medea, co-produced by Headlong Theatre, Glasgow Citizens, Watford Palace Theatre, and Warwick Arts Centre; and Honest at Theatre Royal Northampton.

Awards include Best New Drama at the 2016 National Television Awards, Best Drama Series at the 2016 Broadcast Awards, and Outstanding Newcomer for British Television Writing at the British Screenwriting Awards for Doctor Foster; Olivier Awards for Best New Play for King Charles III, and Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for Bull and Cock; and Best New Play at the Theatre Awards UK for Love, Love, Love. Mike has been nominated for three BAFTAS: Best Single Drama for King Charles III in 2017, Best Mini-Series for Doctor Foster in 2015, and Breakthrough Talent for The Town in 2012.

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actors

RANDY HARRISON (John) previously appeared at Studio Theatre in The Habit of Art. He made his Broadway debut as Boq in Wicked and more recently starred as the Emcee in Roundabout Theatre Company’s national tour of Cabaret. Off Broadway credits include Harbor at Primary Stages; Craig Lucas’ The Singing Forest at The Public Theater, developed at New York Stage and Film; Antony and Cleopatra at Theatre for a New Audience; and Edward the Second at Red Bull Theater. Regional credits include Angels in America: Parts 1 and 2 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; Sunday in the Park with George and The Glass Menagerie at the Guthrie Theater; POP! at Yale Repertory Theatre; Red at George Street Playhouse and Cleveland Play House; Twelfth Night at Shakespeare Theatre Company; and Amadeus, The Who’s Tommy, Waiting for Godot, and Ghosts at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Randy’s film credits include Bang Bang You’re Dead, Such Good People, and Gayby. His television credits include Harry in USA Network’s Mr. Robot and Justin Taylor on five seasons of Showtime’s Queer as Folk.

SCOTT PARKINSON (M) returns to Studio to reprise his Helen Hayes-nominated performance in Cock. He also appeared at Studio in An Iliad. He was in The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center Theater and the national tour of The 39 Steps, as well as several Off Broadway productions, including an appearance as the Stage Manager in David Cromer’s Our Town. His regional theatre work includes appearances at Shakespeare Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, The Old Globe, The Mark Taper Forum at Center Theatre Group, La Jolla Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Northlight, TimeLine Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Hartford Stage, and 16 productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater. He has also appeared numerous times at the Writers Theatre, where his stage adaptation of E.M. Forster’s Maurice debuts later this season, directed by David Cromer. Scott has been nominated for five Jeff Awards and won for his performance in Rose Rage.

On Instagram at @thelegitscottparkinson.

KATHRYN TKEL (W) has appeared in Washington, DC area productions of The Wanderers at Theater J; An Octoroon at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Sense and Sensibility and Timon of Athens at Folger Theatre; Jefferson’s Garden, The Guard, and Death of a Salesman at Ford’s Theatre; A Doll’s House, Part 2, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley at Round House Theatre; Fickle: A Fancy French Farce at Olney Theatre Center; Promised Land at Mosaic Theater Company; The 39 Steps, Venus in Fur, and Hunting and Gathering at Rep Stage; and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at Everyman Theatre. Her other regional credits include Henry IV, Part 1 at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival; Amadeus at North Coast Repertory Theatre; Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Cyrano de Bergerac at Perseverance Theatre; Romeo and Juliet at Arizona Theatre Company; Secret Order and Legacy of Light at San Jose Rep; and The Story and Den of Thieves at San Francisco Playhouse. She can also be seen in the film Harriet. She received her MFA from The Academy for Classical Acting. kathryntkel.com.

ALAN WADE (F) previously appeared at Studio in Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, Imagine Drowning, and as Mr. Pendleton in Choir Boy, a role he reprised for San Francisco’s Marin Theatre Company. Off Broadway he appeared in Scenes from an Execution at Atlantic Theater Company.

Regionally, he performed his one-man show I: From the Prose of Samuel Beckett at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater. In the DC/Baltimore area, he was a company member at Baltimore Center Stage, and has appeared at Olney Theatre Center (where he has also directed), Arena Stage, MetroStage, Washington Stage Guild, and Potomac Theatre Project (Helen Hayes nomination). His film and television credits include The Pelican Brief, Major League II, House of Cards, Homicide, A Man Called Hawk, and Robert F. Kennedy and His Times. He is Emeritus Professor of Theatre, The George Washington University, and has lectured in the UK and China. He earned his PhD from Northwestern University. alan-wade.com.

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PRODUCTION DAVID MUSE (Director) See bio, page 16.

WES CULWELL (Director of Video) is an award-winning producer and director. He founded Studiio Box Creative in 2012 and has been committed to creating visibility around social justice issues as well as establishing Studiio Box as a premier creative agency in the greater Washington, DC area. Wes has spent more than 20 years in production, including nine years producing for networks such as NBC, Bravo, Oxygen, VH1, TLC, and National Geographic. During this challenging year for the arts, Wes has focused his energies on assisting theatrical companies to bring their visions to the digital screen. He received a BA in Drama from the University of California, Irvine and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. studiioboxdc.com.

COLIN K. BILLS (Lighting Designer) (he/ him/his) returns to Studio, where he designed the stage productions of Cock, as well as An Iliad, Lungs, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Year of Magical Thinking, Stoop Stories, Radio Golf, Contractions, POP!, That Face, Autobahn, The Death of Meyerhold, Tommy, Four, and Bat Boy. He is a Company Member and Board Member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where he has designed over 50 productions, including the recent streaming production of Hi, Are You Single?, and is a member of the company’s EDI Working Group. He was a founding member of the devised theatre troupe dog & pony dc, serving as director, writer, actor, and designer for a dozen new works, including A Killing Game and Beertown.

Colin is the recipient of a Princess Grace Award and three Helen Hayes Awards. He has taught design at Howard University and is a graduate of Dartmouth College.

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JAMES BIGBEE GARVER’S (Sound Cue Design) previous designs for Studio include the 2014 production of Cock, as well as The Hard Problem, Mary-Kate Olsen is in Love, Moth, Skin Tight, 2-2 Tango, Contractions, Lungs, and assistant design for the Enda Walsh Festival (2011). In Washington, DC, his work has been heard at Signature Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Folger Theatre, Round House Theatre, Theater J, Chamber Dance Project, and Georgetown University, among others. His Off Broadway credits include work at Theatre Row, Ballet Hispanico at The Apollo Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, PS-122, Harkness Dance Center at the 92nd Street Y, Joyce SoHo, Japan Society, and Robert Wilson’s The Watermill Center. His installation and sound artwork have been on view at three Smithsonian museums (the Hirshhorn, National Museum of American History, and National Museum of Natural History), Lincoln Center’s Dance on Camera Festival, and the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. www.bigbee.org.

ELIZABETH FORTE ALMAN (Text and Dialect Coach) returns to Studio after last coaching Cloud 9 and The Hard Problem. A voice, speech, text, and dialect coach in the Washington, DC area for 20 years, she has coached productions at The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Rep Stage, and Everyman Theatre. She is the founder and CEO of Spiel, a corporate training, private coaching, and executive development consulting firm. She currently teaches in the School of Theater at George Mason University and has taught at University of Maryland, Catholic University, the Academy of Classical Acting, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a Shakespeare’s Globe Fellow, a Cosmos Club Scholar, and an Associate Teacher of

Fitzmaurice Voicework®. Elizabeth holds a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland, an MFA from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival/ University of Alabama Professional Actor Training Program, and a BA from Illinois State University. spielllc.com.

Grand Hotel, The Scottsboro Boys, West Side Story, and Elmer Gantry at Signature Theatre; the world premiere of After the War as well as When January Feels Like Summer and Ulysses on Bottles at Mosaic Theater Company; and The Originalist at Arena Stage.

ADRIEN-ALICE HANSEL (Dramaturg) is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of I Hate it Here, Queen of Basel, The Remains, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Animal, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of Cry It Out, Translations, Curve of Departure, The Effect, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, 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 is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of 10 editions of plays through Studio.

Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

LÜCIÉN REUBENS (Production Assistant) is a queer actor, technician, activist, art maker, and creator. Studio’s production of Cock is their first time serving as production assistant. They have worked on lights for Doubt and Pipeline at Studio and The Bodyguard at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, and worked in sound for A Sign of Rain at Studio, Disney’s Newsies at Arena Stage, and Arbat’s Bremenskie Muzikanty at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre. They began working in professional theatre at Olney Theatre Center, assisting with lighting for the regional premieres of Elf the Musical, Once, Matilda, and Tiger Style!, as well as the North American premieres of Labour of Love, Oil, and Mary Stuart. Lücién graduated with a BFA in Theater from Colgate University. On Instagram and Twitter at @livinpoetry.

ALLIE ROY (Production Stage Manager) returns after stage managing Studio’s first audio play, Kings. Her other Studio credits include Admissions, If I Forget, Translations, Curve of Departure, Straight White Men, Murder Ballad, Silence! The Musical, and the world premiere of Animal for the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. Regional credits include West Side Story in concert with the National Symphony Orchestra and Love, Factually at The Kennedy Center; the world premieres of Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing and Diner as well as A Chorus Line,

ANNABEL HEACOCK (Assistant Director) is a director, writer, performer, deviser, and recent Northwestern University graduate with degrees in Theatre and Sociology.

Select Northwestern directing credits include an immersive production of The Visit, The Donkey Show, Carrie the Musical, and Crisis Resolution in the Middle East for the annual Agnes Nixon Playwriting Festival. Assistant directing credits include The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls and Twelfth Night. While at Northwestern, Annabel served as the Artistic Director of WAVE Productions, a self-supporting, not-for-profit student theatre company. She also coordinated the annual Director’s Festival, helping young artists develop their craft and direct a fully produced one-act play.

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PRODUCTION STAFF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ANNABEL HEACOCK PRODUCTION ASSISTANT LÜCIÉN REUBENS For additional members of the production staff, see the full staff listing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the US labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans.

Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions.

Equity is governed by its own members through an elected Council, representing principal actors, chorus actors and stage managers living in three regions: Eastern, Central, and Western. Members at large participate in Equity’s governance through a system of regional Boards and Committees. Equity has 28 designated area liaison cities with over 100 members each.

Dramatists Play Service, Inc. Notice ©2020. This Video recording was produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service and Mike Bartlett. All rights reserved. This performance is authorized for noncommercial use only. By accepting this license, you agree not to authorize or permit the Video to be recorded, copied, distributed, broadcast, telecast or otherwise exploited, in whole or in part, in any media now known or hereafter developed.

WARNING: Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures, Audio & Videotapes or Audio & Videodiscs. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and may constitute a felony with a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000.00 fine.

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sponsors

Studio Theatre’s 2020–2021 season is made possible through the generosity of our Season Sponsors.

This dynamic group of individuals understands the value of producing powerful contemporary work in intimate spaces and invests in Studio’s innovative projects and initiatives. We are grateful for their generosity and investment in Studio.

2020-2021 SEASON SPONSORS SUSAN AND DIXON BUTLER DR. MARK EPSTEIN AND AMORETTA HOEBER DAVID AND JEAN HEILMAN GRIER ARLENE AND ROBERT KOGOD JUDGE ALBERT LAUBER AND PROF. CRAIG HOFFMAN JOAN AND DAVID MAXWELL TERESA AND DAN SCHWARTZ STEVE AND LINDA SKALET BOBBI AND RALPH TERKOWITZ AMY WEINBERG AND NORBERT HORNSTEIN COCK

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“About six scenes into the play, I realized that it was like a

COCKFIGHT and I was getting really irritated with the main character; in Britain if someone’s really irritating you like that, you think ‘Oh, he’s a complete cock.’

A lot of the titles of my plays are nouns, because they’re objects in the world—they’re not thematic, they’re just like fine art, just a thing. But also Cock is funny, and that’s good for a title. ” —Mike Bartlett, on the title of his play

*Photo by Tania Miranda, courtesy of DailyMail.com 12

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DEFINITIONS OF COCK From its humble roots as Old English onomatopoeia, the title of this play has been co-opted in English slang to mean everything from “male chicken” to “male member.” Here are a few meanings Mike Bartlett might have had in mind:

ALL A-COCK (adjective): Unsatisfactory, mixed up. “I can’t find anything on my mess of a desk! Everything’s all a-cock!”

COCK ABOUT (verb): To fool around. Cocks are known for cocking about.

COCK A SNOOT (verb): To openly show contempt or disrespect, from the action of placing one’s hand in front of the face with the thumb touching the nose and with the fingers spread. When his teacher wasn’t looking, Billy, a chronic cock, cocked a snoot.

COCKUP (noun or verb): Blunder, mess up, or botch. Because she’d been cocking about instead of planning the evening, she completely cocked up their anniversary.

COCK (noun): A friend or fellow; alternatively, a stupid person.

“My best friend is both a cock and a cock.”

COCK (noun): Nonsense. “Your excuse for being a cock earlier is total cock.”

COCK (noun): A male chicken; rooster. “That ’s quite a cock you’ve got there.”

COCK (noun; slang: vulgar): The male sex organ. “That ’s quite a cock you’ve got there.”

—Erin Washburn

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IN THE MOMENT

2020 – 2021 DIGITAL SEASON

COMING UP THIS SEASON!

UNTIL THE FLOOD WRITTEN BY DAEL ORLANDERSMITH DIRECTED BY REGINALD L. DOUGLAS APRIL 16 – MAY 9

2.5 MINUTE RIDE WRITTEN BY LISA KRON DIRECTED BY JOANIE SCHULTZ APRIL 30 – MAY 23

FLOW WRITTEN BY WILL POWER DIRECTED BY PSALMAYENE 24 MAY 21 – JUNE 13

TENDER AGE A NEW PLAY BY GEORGE BRANT DIRECTED BY HENRY GODINEZ JULY 2 – 25

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STUDIOTHEATRE.ORG /SUBSCRIBE 202.332.3300

leadership

DAVID MUSE (Artistic Director) is in his eleventh season as Artistic Director of Studio Theatre, where he has directed The Children, The Remains, The Effect, The Father, Constellations, Chimerica, Murder Ballad, Belleville, Cock, Tribes, The Real Thing, An Iliad, Dirt, Bachelorette, The Habit of Art, Venus in Fur, Circle Mirror Transformation, reasons to be pretty, Blackbird, Frozen, and The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. Previously, he was Associate Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, where he has directed nine productions, including Richard III, Henry V, Coriolanus, and King Charles III (a co-production with American Conservatory Theater and Seattle Rep).

Other directing projects include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at Arena Stage, The Bluest Eye at Theatre Alliance, and Patrick Page’s Swansong at the New York Summer Play Festival. He has helped to develop new work at numerous theatres, including New York Theatre Workshop, Geva Theatre Center, Arena Stage, New Dramatists, and The Kennedy Center.

David has taught acting and directing at Georgetown, Yale, and the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy of Classical Acting. A nine-time Helen Hayes Award nominee for Outstanding Direction, he is a recipient of the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist and the National Theatre Conference Emerging Artist Award. David is a graduate of Yale University and the Yale School of Drama.

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REBECCA ENDE LICHTENBERG (Managing Director) is in her third season as Managing Director of Studio Theatre.

She served as the Managing Director of Theater J for eight seasons, during which time she led the theatre through an Artistic Director transition and was instrumental in growing income by 29 percent. Prior to that, she worked in arts marketing at Sitar Arts Center, Theater J, and Ford’s Theatre. She currently serves as the Chair of the Adjudication Committee for theatreWashington. She previously served as the President of the Board of Forum Theatre and as a Helen Hayes Judge. She holds an MA in Arts Administration from Columbia University, a Certificate in Budgeting and Finance from Georgetown University, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Non-Profit Management program.

Amy Weinberg CHAIR Jinny Goldstein VICE CHAIR Robert B. Batarla TREASURER Hal Jones SECRETARY Marc Albert Jeremías Alvarez Susan L. Butler CHAIR EMERITUS Karen Doyne Dr. Mark Epstein Mark W. Foster Navroz Gandhi Susan L. Gordon Jean Heilman Grier Martin Klepper Albert G. Lauber Stanley J. Marcuss Renee Matalon Herb Milstein Larry Naake CHAIR EMERITUS Nike Opadiran Jamie C. Pate Katy Kunzer Rosenzweig Teresa Schwartz Luz Blancas Sevak Steven A. Skalet Bobbi Terkowitz CHAIR EMERITUS Terry Theologides Robert Tracy Jonathan Tycko

EX-OFFICIO David Muse Rebecca Ende Lichtenberg

trustees

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

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anti-racism

STUDIO’S COMMITMENT TO ANTI-RACISM We are a theatre whose work engages with provocative ideas and challenging content. We ask our artists to explore that content bravely and boldly, working in deep and meaningful collaboration with each other. And we strive to share our work with a truly wide audience, inviting them to contend with the past, reflect on the present, and envision the future.

The successful realization of our work requires that artists feel supported, that audiences feel truly welcome, and that staff work in an environment that affirms them actively. None of that is possible without an active and ongoing commitment to create a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community. We believe that being “not racist” doesn’t go far enough to achieve those ends—for our institution and field to flourish, we must be anti-racist and work proactively to dismantle barriers that have excluded people from joyful participation in our art form.

Read about Studio’s commitment to anti-racism at STUDIOTHEATRE.ORG/ABOUT/VALUES.

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JOIN THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE The Artistic Director’s Circle is a dynamic group of individuals who support the artistic vision of Studio Theatre. Members understand the value of producing powerful contemporary work in intimate spaces and invest in Studio’s innovative projects and initiatives.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE MEMBERS RECEIVE • Invitation to four Inside Looks, Studio’s artist engagement events • Access to Inside the Rehearsal Room, a digital guide to select performances • Recognition in Program • Invitation to all Virtual Opening Night events • Full Access to Subscription Season programming • Signed Script from the season’s new play, Tender Age • Invitation to Exclusive First Rehearsal Welcome Events • Invitation to Exclusive Artistic Director’s Circle Annual Events • The opportunity to customize additional artistic engagements with Studio’s artists and leadership

With a gift of $15,000 and above, we invite you to invest in the making of the art on our stages and become a member today!

For more information on the Artistic Director’s Circle and how you can support a production at Studio, please contact Bianca Beckham, Director of Development, at 202.919.3717 or at bbeckham@studiotheatre.org.

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thank you

Without the generosity of our dedicated supporters, Studio Theatre could not continue to bring the best of contemporary theatre to our nation’s capital. This list represents fund contributions of $600 or more. *In Memoriam

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE Anonymous The Adler Family Fund Susan and Dixon Butler Trudy H. Clark Bruce A. Cohen Sheryl and Rick Donaldson Dr. Mark Epstein and Amoretta Hoeber Hope and Mark Foster The Galena-Yorktown Foundation Jinny and Michael Goldstein Susan L. Gordon John and Meg Hauge David and Jean Heilman Grier Judy and Steve* Hopkins Sari Hornstein Hal Jones and Anne-Lise Auclair-Jones Arlene and Robert Kogod Judge Albert Lauber and Prof. Craig Hoffman Stanley and Rosemary Marcuss Joan and David Maxwell Nancy and Herbert Milstein Teresa and Dan Schwartz Steve and Linda Skalet Bobbi and Ralph Terkowitz Mark Tushnet and Elizabeth Alexander Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein

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AFICIONADO Robert Batarla Karen Doyne Navroz and Perinaaz Gandhi Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Garner, Jr. Wendy and William Garner George Wasserman Family Foundation John Horman Lynne and Joseph Horning Rick Kasten Arlene and Martin Klepper The Kristina And William Catto Foundation Kathleen Kunzer Rosenzweig and Paul Rosenzweig The Lewis Butler Foundation Renee R. Matalon and Stephen H. Marcus Virginia A. McArthur and E.C. Michael Higgins Larry and Joan Naake Jamie Pate Carl and Margaret Pfeiffer Laura and Gerald Rosberg Terry Theologides and Deb Rodriguez Robert Tracy and Martha Gross Jonathan and Joan Tycko Marvin F. Weissberg Margot and Paul* Zimmerman

CONNOISSEUR Anonymous (2) Marc Albert and Stephen Tschida Carolyn Alper* Jeremias Alvarez Aron Family Foundation Linda Arvin and Daniel Hitchcock 22

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thank you

OVATION CIRCLE

Alan Asay and Mary Sturtevant Peter Bieger and Demian Gaiteri The Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia Charmaine and Albert Horvath Irving Rosenzweig Foundation of the Jewish Communal Fund Helen and David Kenney Patricia and John Koskinen Kovler Foundation-Judy and Peter Kovler Barry Kropf The Lois and Richard England Family Morningstar Philanthropic Fund Zell Murphy and Mark Wasson Nike Opadiran Mr. Craig Pascal and Mr. Victor Shargai* Timothy Price Rosenzweig-Kunzer Charitable Fund Amit Sevak and Luz Blancas Sevak Joshua Stiefel Alan and Irene Wurtzel Judy and Leo Zickler

BELIEVER Anonymous Dr. Stewart Aledort and Dr. Sheila Rogovin Patricia Alper Cohn and David Cohn Beech Street Foundation Jeffrey Bauman and Linda Fienberg Nan Beckley Don and Nancy Bliss Cory and Rachel Capps

John Chester and Betty Shepard Rise and Carl Cole Miriam Cutler and Paul Salditt Margery Doppelt and Larry Rothman George M. Ferris Gerard Fiala Burton Gerber William and Laraine Glidden John G. Guffey Frona Hall Donald E. Hesse and Jerrilyn Andrews Linda Lurie Hirsch William Logan Hopkins* Paula and Edward Hughes Jewish Communal Fund John Keator and Virginia Sullivan Michael Klein and Joan Fabry Pat Lark (“Poppy”) and Lutz Prager Leon Fund of the Community Foundation of greater Richmond Herb and Dianne Lerner Wendy Luke Mark and Carol Hyman Fund Dan and Karen Mayers Melissa and Todd McCracken Kelly and Mike McCrann Morrissette Family Foundation Louisa and William Newlin Melanie and Larry Nussdorf Michael and Penelope Pollard Bruce Rashbaum Lola C. Reinsch Steve and Ilene Rosenthal Stephen A. Saltzburg and Susan Lee Joan Searby Linda and Stanley Sher David and Peggy Shiffrin Elaine and English Showalter

Daniel and Irene Simpkins Aimee Smart and Sheffy Gordon Ed and Andy Smith Patricia Smith Spoor Family Fund Ed Starr and Marilyn Marcosson Carolyn Wheeler Annette and Colin Young

OPEN CIRCLE ENTHUSIAST Scott Douglas Bellard Nancy Chasen and Don Spero Mona and Mark Elliot Rich Gottwald and James Harden The Jones/Simmons Charitable Gift Fund Wan J. Kim and Sarah E. Whitesell Brian and Judy Madden Shawn C. Helm and J. Thomas Marchitto Wallis E. McClain Nancy S. Olson Steven M. Rosenberg and Stewart C. Low III The Honorable Carol Schwartz Benjamin and Meredith Wallace

ADVOCATE Anonymous (5) Dean Amel and Terry Savela Allyson Baker and David Kligerman R. Joseph Barton Jason and Nichole Bassingthwaite Joe and Sue Bredekamp

Yolanda and Francis Bruno Family Fund Jessica Case Helen Chason Karen and Dean Cooper Richard and Janet Dante Mary Patricia Davis Leon and Miriam Ellsworth Ellen and Fred Ende Victor Fazio and Kathy Sawyer The G.A. Files Foundation Charles Floto Chris Gattuso Amy C. Gilbert and Steven Newpol Matt Gobrush and Gari Lister Susan Goldman Sally W. and Stephen W. Gresham Gail Gulliksen Joan Haffey Bonnie Hammerschlag Margaret Freeston Hennessey Richard and Pamela Hinds Martin and Bonnie Hurwitz Thomas Joseph Robert L. Kimmins Lauren Kogod and David Smiley Leslie Kogod Stuart Kogod and Denise Garone Dr. and Mrs. William Kramer The Lafer Family Foundation Vinca and David LaFleur Robert Lanman and Debra Bergoffen Chad Lash and Caryn Wagner Janet Lewis Paul and Patricia Maenner Manny And Ruthy Cohen Foundation Sherry Marts and Larry Haller Lou Mazawey COCK

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Barbara and Al McConaghan Jeffrey Menick Mary M. Miller and Dennis Farley Jane Molloy The Mufson Family Foundation Carl and Undine Nash Sherry and Lou Nevins Martha Newman Henry Otto and Judy Whalley Stan Peabody Arnold and Diane Polinger Julie Rios Drs. Irene Roth and Vicken Poochikian Lynn Rothberg Carole and Barry Rubin Linda and William Rule Frank Sammartino and Ellen Starbird John and Ann Skeele Carl Wayne Smith Grant P. and Sharon R. Thompson Richard Tucker Scully and Lee A Kimball James Turner Ann Tutwiler Steve Verna Eric R. and Laura M. Wagner Elisse Walter and Ronald Stern Elizabeth B. White Jack and Sue Whitelaw Jeffrey Wilder Bernard and Ellen Young

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION, AND GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Anonymous

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S T U D I O T H E AT R E

The Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Dimick Foundation Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc. Fannie Mae Fivesquares Development The Goodcoin Foundation IBM Corporation IBM Matching Grants Program The Jacob and Charlotte Lehrman Foundation JBG SMITH The Mandy and David Team, Compass Real Estate Martha Washington StrausHarry H. Straus Foundation The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc. Milton and Dorothy Sarnoff Raymond Foundation The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program and the US Commission of Fine Arts National Endowment for the Arts The Nora Roberts Foundation Paul M. Angell Family Foundation Share Fund The Shubert Foundation Steele Foundation, LLC Tenleytown Trash Weissberg Foundation William S. Abell Foundation, Inc.

BENEFIT SUPPORT Theo Adamstein - TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Marc Albert and Stephen Tschida Aron Family Foundation Susan and Dixon Butler Trudy H. Clark Liz and Tim Cullen Dr. Mark Epstein and Amoretta Hoeber Wendy and William Garner Bennett Goldberg and Danielle Ellis Jinny and Michael Goldstein Susan L. Gordon John and Gail Harmon John and Meg Hauge Hal Jones and Anne-Lise Auclair-Jones Kay Kendall and Jack Davies Katy Kunzer Rosenzweig and Paul Rosenzweig Virginia A. McArthur and E.C. Michael Higgins Larry and Joan Naake Carl and Undine Nash Craig Pascal Bob and Nina Randolph Teresa and Dan Schwartz Bobbi and Ralph Terkowitz Terry Theogolides and Deb Rodriguez Robert Tracy and Martha Gross Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein

COVID-19 RELIEF FUND Anonymous Victoria Bor and David DuGoff Donna and Donna Boxer

Susan and Dixon Butler Emily Carton Tito Cordella Laura Coyle Carol and Joseph Danks Richard and Janet Dante Helen Darling Andrea Denivoff Brian Doyle Jack Fearnsides and Margaret Jenny Anne and Marc Feinberg Martha Fisher Elizabeth Ford Lawrence Franks and Ellen Berelson Navroz and Perinaaz Gandhi Jinny and Michael Goldstein Susan L. Gordon Government of The District Of Columbia John G. Guffey Samuel and Barbara Halpern David and Jean Heilman Grier John and Meg Hauge Sari Hornstein Hal Jones and Anne-Lise Auclair-Jones William and Josie Jordan Andrew Joskow and Lisa Sockett Hans and Helen Kaper Kathleen Kunzer Rosenzweig and Paul Rosenzweig Stephanie Lawson Jodie Levin-Epstein Marc Levy B. Thomas Mansbach Renee R. Matalon and Stephen H. Marcus Joan and David Maxwell Janet Minkler Ken and Margaret Muse Larry and Joan Naake Jamie Pate

Arnold and Diane Polinger Susan and Firoze Rao Teresa and Dan Schwartz Share Fund Steve and Linda Skalet Aimee Smart and Sheffy Gordon Bobbi and Ralph Terkowitz Kevin Tidemann Jonathan and Joan Tycko Yoshine and Kazuko Uchimura Eric R. and Laura M. Wagner Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein

This list represents contributions made to special events, special initiatives, and the annual fund received by February 2, 2021. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this listing.

For more information, please contact the Development Office at 202.919.3712.

IN-KIND SUPPORT

Balance Gym Birch and Barley B.Lin Catering Churchkey DC Rentals Eco Caters Provisions Catering

COMMUNITY PARTNERS DC Public Library Duke Ellington School of the Arts Howard University Department of Theatre Arts Joe’s Movement Emporium Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church N Street Village St. Luke Episcopal Church Team Rayceen Us Helping Us Whitman-Walker Health

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FOR 40 YEARS,

STUDIO THEATRE HAS BEEN A NEIGHBORHOOD ANCHOR IN WASHINGTON, DC...

From our early years as a one-stage space in a former hot dog cart warehouse to our current multi-theatre complex on what is now one of Washington’s liveliest corridors, Studio is proud of our community and committed to adding to its vibrancy.

To deliver on this promise, it’s time to change. To move us forward, we created the $20 million Open Studio campaign—a comprehensive, three-pronged strategy to prepare us for the future by investing deeply in artistic innovation, opening our doors to the community, and sustaining our Theatre as a neighborhood landmark.

CONSTRUCTION WILL BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF 2021.

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S T U D I O T H E AT R E

1. ARTISTIC INNOVATION As our most versatile space, Stage 4 has been home to some of Studio’s most dynamic projects. We will translate this excitement to the first floor by transforming the Metheny Theatre into a state-of-the-art, fully flexible space capable of immersive productions.

2. COMMUNITY CONNECTION Renovations will create more welcoming public gathering spaces throughout the building, including a first floor café with outdoor seating. The Box Office will be relocated to right inside our 14th Street entrance to be more patron-friendly.

Updates to the façade of our building will clearly express who we are and reflect the creativity of our work.

3. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY Open Studio will invest in the long-term sustainability of our biggest asset—our building—by updating critical systems and infrastructure, some of which haven’t been modernized in over 15 years. A new HVAC system and fixtures will lessen our environmental footprint and decrease expenses on utilities, while optimizing their performance in our intimate theatres and throughout the building.

Be a part of Studio’s transformational change. Become a Friend of the Campaign and be recognized permanently on our donor wall with a fully tax-deductible contribution of $5,000. Join us as a Supporter for $1,000.

More information about Open Studio and giving opportunities is available at WWW.OPENSTUDIOCAMPAIGN.ORG COCK

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OPEN STUDIO DONORS PILLARS OF THE CAMPAIGN Marc Albert and Stephen Tschida Susan and Dixon Butler Events DC Sari Hornstein Arlene and Bob Kogod Judge Albert Lauber and Professor Craig Hoffman The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Teresa and Dan Schwartz Share Fund Amy Weinberg and Norbert Hornstein

SPONSORS OF THE CAMPAIGN Esthy and James Adler Peter Bieger and Demian Gaiteri Trudy H. Clark Hope and Mark Foster Navroz and Perinaaz Gandhi Susan L. Gordon Jinny and Michael Goldstein David and Jean Heilman Grier Judy and Steve Hopkins Hal Jones and Anne-Lise Auclair-Jones Arlene and Martin Klepper in honor of Sylvia Jacobson Kathleen Kunzer Rosenzweig and Paul Rosenzweig Stanley and Rosemary Marcuss Virginia A. McArthur and E.C. Michael Higgins Nancy and Herbert Milstein Larry and Joan Naake Craig Pascal and Victor Shargai* Steve and Linda Skalet Ed Starr and Marilyn Marcosson Steve and Suzanne Swendiman 28

S T U D I O T H E AT R E

Bobbi and Ralph Terkowitz Mark Tushnet and Elizabeth Alexander Robert Tracy and Martha Gross Alan and Irene Wurtzel

FRIENDS OF THE CAMPAIGN Jeremias Alvarez Rob Batarla Dr. Mark Epstein and Amoretta Hoeber Charles Floto John and Meg Hauge JM Zell Partners, LTD Rick Kasten Barry Kropf Renee R. Matalon and Stephen H. Marcus Elvi Moore Carl and Undine Nash Jamie Pate Amit Sevak and Luz Blancas Sevak Jerry and Patti Sowalsky Terry Theologides and Deb Rodriguez Jonathan and Joan Tycko Bruce and Margareta Yarwood

LEADERSHIP

Artistic Director David Muse Managing Director Rebecca Ende Lichtenberg Director Of Development Bianca Beckham Director Of Production Josh Escajeda General Manager Kathryn Huey Director Of Marketing And Communications Hilary Judis

ARTISTIC

Associate Artistic Director Reginald L. Douglas Literary Director Adrien-Alice Hansel Directing Apprentice Annabel Heacock Producing And Community Engagement Apprentice Jada Boggs Doris Duke Artist In Residence Psalmayene 24 Studio Cabinet Brian MacDevitt, Duncan Macmillan, Natsu Onoda Power, Joanie Schultz, Serge Seiden, Tom Story, Holly Twyford

Readers Circle Charles Linton, Manna-Symone Middlebrooks, Mekala Sridhar

PRODUCTION

Assistant Production Manager And Company Manager Kelsey Sapp Technical Director Jeffery Martin Master Carpenter Eric McMorris Costume Shop Manager Brandee Mathies Lighting And Sound Supervisor Lance Lewis Electrics Apprentice Zavar Blackledge Sound And Projections Apprentice Delaney Bray Technical Direction Apprentice Clarissa Messer Company Management And Production Apprentice Logan McDonald

DEVELOPMENT

Individual Giving Manager Monica Jilling Development Operations Manager Tobias Franzén Grants Coordinator Sarah Cooke Development Apprentice Annie Schoonover

GENERAL MANAGEMENT Senior Facilities Manager Kieran Kelly

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Associate Director Of Marketing And Communications Mike Fila Marketing Associate Emily Ames Multimedia Designer Jeremy Hunter Marketing And Communications Apprentice Elissa Loch Marketing Multimedia Apprentice Catherine Dionne Ashley Website Design Jixaw

AUDIENCE SERVICES

Manager Of Sales And Tessitura Operations Michelle Blau Manager Of Audiences Services And Experience Calvin Roberts Lead Box Office Associate Gabby Wolfe

staff

Commissioned Artists Brittany K. Allen, Kimberly Belflower, David Cale, Staceyann Chin, Carl Cofield, Sarah DeLappe, Erika Dickerson-Despenza, James Fritz, Ike Holter, James Ijames, Marti Lyons, Kate Mulvaney, Lila Neugebauer, Liliana Padilla, Steph Paul, Eric Ruffin, Anne Washburn

Finance Manager Amanda Acker Capital Projects Manager Ryan-Patrick McLaughlin Business Apprentice Talya Shatzky Arts Administration Apprentice Tyler Hayes McMahon

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UNTIL THE FLOOD BY DAEL ORLANDERSMITH DIRECTED BY REGINALD L. DOUGLAS

APRIL 16 – MAY 9

“an urgent moral inquest.”

THE NEW YORK TIMES

When Michael Brown was shot by a police officer in Ferguson in 2014, the outrage and protests that followed were a wake-up call to some and exhaustingly familiar to others.

Dael Orlandersmith draws from dozens of interviews, using one specific catalyst to look at the ongoing pain of a litany of Black deaths at the hands of police. A solo play reimagined with a cross-generational ensemble of Black women, celebrating the resolve for justice that remains as urgent today as it was seven years ago.