Produced by Special Arrangement with Profile Theatre Josh Hecht, Artistic Director
Presents The Profile Theatre Production Of
MLIMA’S TALE By Lynn Nottage Directed by Reginald L. Douglas (An Audio Play)
April 12 – May 8, 2021 (CAST) Keith Randolph Smith (as Mlima) Treasure Lunan (as Ensemble 1) Ithica Tell (as Ensemble 2) Delphon ‘DJ' Curtis Jr. (as Ensemble 3) Sound Designer: Elisheba Ittoop Composer: Jenn Mundia Sound Engineer: Robert AK Gonyo Dialect Consultant: Stephanie Gaslin Line Producer: Jamie M. Rea Stage Manager: Maya Bourgeois Directed by Reginald L. Douglas
SEASON SPONSORS
CAST Mlima…………………….……………………………………………………………………………..…Keith Randolph Smith Ensemble 1……………………………………………………………………………………………………….Treasure Lunan Ensemble 2…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Ithica Tell Ensemble 3……………………………………………………………………………………………..Delphon “DJ” Curtis Jr. PRODUCTION TEAM Director…..………………….…………………………………….……………………………………...…Reginald L. Douglas Stage Manager..……………………………………………………………………………………..……….….Maya Bourgeois Sound Designer..................................………………………………………………………………………….Elisheba Ittoop Composer…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….....Jenn Mundia Dialect Consultant…………………………………………………………………………………………....Stephanie Gaslin Sound Engineer…………………………………………………………………………………………….Robert A. K. Gonyo Line Producer…………………………………………………………………………………………………………Jamie M. Rea ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Executive Artistic Director……………………………………………………………………….Teresa Coleman Wash Director of Education………………………………………………………………………………………….Tiffany Jackson Executive Assistant……..…………………………………………………………………………...…Samantha Anderson Bookkeeping/Accounting………………………………………………………………………………..Brittney Kennedy House Manager……………………………………………………………………………………………....Daylan Dickerson BOARD OF DIRECTORS Emma Rodgers, Chairman Rhonda Turner, Vice Chair Chuck Chambers, Secretary Gary Walker, Treasurer/Finance Chair Frances Broadus Frankie Garcia III Michael Baughman Ruth Cantrell Quodesia Johnson Scott Daneman Vicky Daneman
ABOUT THE CAST KEITH RANDOLPH SMITH’s (Mlima) credits include: Broadway: Jitney ; Fences ; King Hedley II ; The Piano Lesson ; American Psycho ; Come Back Little Sheba. Off-Broadway: Lockdown (Rattlestick); Paradise Blue (Signature); Holiday Heart (MTC); The Revolving Cycles (Playwrights Realm); Tamburlaine (TFANA); Intimacy (New Group) Regional: Sunset Baby (City Theatre); A Human Being of a Sort (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Our Town (Miami New Drama); Water by the Spoonful (Old Globe); How To Catch Creation (Goodman). Film/TV: Malcolm X ; Girl Six ; Path to Paradise ; The Warrior Class ; Dead Dogs Lie ; The Good Wife ; Law and Order ; I’ll Fly Away ; NY Undercover. TREASURE LUNANA (Ensemble 1) [they/them] is a Black, queer, gender variant performer whose work aims to focus on those intersections and how they affect their movements through the world. Recent performance credits include Weighted Bodies (Risk/Reward), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Portland Center Stage), School Girls: Or, the African Mean Girl Play (Portland Center Stage) and The Most Massive Woman Wins (Deep End Theatre).
ITHICA TELL (Ensemble 2) was last seen playing voice 6/Mrs. Alexander in The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night-time and Yitzhak in Hedwig and the Angry Inch at PCS. Ithica’s Portland resume includes; Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar (StreetScenes), and Wanda in Crowns (Portland Playhouse), Ithica deftly portrayed Othello in Othello (Post5 Theatre), and delighted audiences in a one night only performance as Mitch Mahoney in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Anonymous Theatre), Stretching her wings with Chain Reaction Theatre, Ithica learned a show in German to play Ursula in Bon Temps Roulette. (Bremer Shakespeare Company, Germany). DELPHON “DJ” CURTIS JR. (Ensemble 3) graduated from William Peace University with a B.F.A. in musical theater. Regional credits include David Lee’s adaptation of Lerner and Lowe’s Camelot with The Old Creamery Theatre and Great Plains Theatre, the title role in The Wiz with Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre, and Simon in Ruined at Burning Coal Theatre Company. Local credits: The title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Voice 3 in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time with PCS, A Christmas Carol and Crowns at Portland Playhouse, and Sides: The Musical at Portland Playhouse and the Fertile Ground Festival.
ABOU
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION STAFF REGINALD L. DOUGLAS (Director) is a director, producer, and advocate dedicated to creating new work and supporting new voices, and the Associate Artistic Director at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. His passion and acumen for both new play development and re-investigating the classics have led him to theaters across the country, including directing work at Eugene O’Neill Center, TheaterWorks Hartford, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Everyman Theatre, Weston Playhouse, Pittsburgh CLO, Arizona Theatre Company, Theatre Squared, Playwrights Center, Profile Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Kennedy Center, NNPN Showcase at B Street Theatre, McCarter, Florida Rep, Luna Stage, Harlem Stage, Wild Project, Signature Center, Drama League, The Lark, New York Theatre Workshop, where he was an inaugural 2050 Directing Fellow, and City Theatre in Pittsburgh, where he served as the Artistic Producer from 2015-2020
ELISHEBA ITTOOP (Sound Designer) has produced podcasts and written music for StoryCorps, CNN, Audible, WGBH, WFMT, Wonder Media, Pinna, Three Uncanny Four, and others. Her sound designs and original music for theater have been heard at The Kennedy Center, The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, and many others across the country. She has created sound installations for the Bonnaroo Music Festival and the Okeechobee Music Festival. Elisheba has an MFA in Sound Design from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and a BFA in Theater from New York University. www.elishebaittoop.com JENN MUNDIA (Composer) is a Kenyan-American artist with a southern upbringing, currently performing under the pseudonym, “Esabalu.” As a graduate of Berklee College of Music, Jenn found herself working on the production and engineering side of the business right out of school but found her way back to stages throughout New York (Saturday Night Live w/ Kacey Musgraves, Jimmy Fallon w/ Bastille and Wallows, Seth Meyers, and more). It has been a pleasure to work on Mlima’s Tale and reach out to her family for references and inspiration. Check out jennmundia.com for more updates. STEPHANIE GASLIN (Dialect Consultant) is a dialect/voice coach and actor, born and raised in NE Portland. Her mission is to help support strengths each actor brings to their performance while serving the play and the director’s vision. Previous dialect/voice work include; Portland Center Stage, Artists Repertory Theatre, Clackamas Repertory Theatre, Jewish Theatre Collective, CoHo, Portland Playhouse. She’s a founding company member of Third Rail Repertory Theatre. Recently, she coached on the film set of “First Cow”. She holds a BA in Theatre and M.F.A. in Acting from Ohio U and M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from PSU. ROBERT A. K. GONYO (Sound Engineer) is a theatre director, actor, voiceover artist, podcaster, musician, and tour-guide residing in Woodside, Queens, NY. An aficionado of radio plays, Robert is the host (in the guise of “Professor Mortimer,” his tour-guide alter-ego with Haunted Manhattan) and producer of Apparitions, a podcast of new radio horror. He produced Co-Op Theatre East’s long-running Radio COTE series of new plays on social themes. Robert is the host and producer of Go See A Show! , a podcast chronicling independent theatre in New York. Recently, he mixed and mastered the episodes of Profile Theatre’s series, Claudia, A Viral Love Story. MAYA BOURGEOIS (Stage Manager) is an artist, educator, and athlete that can be found backstage, in the classroom, on the basketball court. Some of her favorite recent theatre projects include stage managing for the Fertile Ground Festival at Echo Theater Company and the world premiere of Devilfish at Perseverance Theatre in Alaska. Maya is thrilled to be making her Profile Theatre debut with Mlima’s Tale.
JAMIE M. REA’s (Line Production) favorite local credits include Kristine in A Doll’s House (Drammy award, Best Supporting Actress), Anna (Drammy Finalist, Best Actress) in The Snowstorm (CoHo & Many Hats Productions), Mary Shelley in Bloody Poetry (NW Classical Theatre Co), Claire Zachanassian in The Visit (Broken Toy Piano), Andromache in Trojan Women (Classic Greek Theatre of Oregon), Lucienne in A Flea In Her Ear (OTAS Award-Best Supporting Actress) & Hannah in Arcadia (OTAS finalist-Best Actress) (Lakewood Theatre Co), Gabriella in References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot , Guard in Lorca in a Green Dress (Miracle Theatre) and Elvira in Blithe Spirit (Wilcox Stage Co).
JANICE RABIAN (Costume Designer) has designed for theatre, dance, and film. Mlima's Tale is her first experience with radio plays, a rare treat for a costume designer! Her recent credits include Lavadeira (a short film), Men On Boats, and Hamlet through the SMU's Meadows School of the Arts. Her designs have been seen in Dallas, Washington DC, and Philadelphia. She graduates in May from Southern Methodist University's Stage Design program with a Masters in Fine Arts. She's passionate about storytelling and coffee. www.janicerabian.com JOSH HECHT (Artistic Director, Profile Theater) is the Artistic Director of Profile Theatre where he recently directed The Baltimore Waltz and Indecent (co-production with Artists Repertory Theatre) by Paula Vogel, the rotating repertory productions of Lisa Kron’s Well and Anna Deavere Smith’s Let Me Down Easy , Lisa Kron’s In The Wake , the concert staging of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 and the rotating repertory productions of Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Water by the Spoonful and The Happiest Song Plays Last . Other Portland productions include Teenage Dick at Artists Repertory Theatre. He is a Drama Desk Award-winning director whose productions have been seen in New York at MCC Theater, The Cherry Lane, The Duke on 42nd Street, New World Stages, The Daryl Roth Theatre, Culture Project, regionally at The Guthrie Theater, the Berkshire Theatre Group, the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Signature Theatre (DC), Theatre Squared and internationally at the Dublin Arts Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and elsewhere. His collaboration with Ping Chong and Company was commissioned by and premiered at The Kennedy Center before touring the northeast. His writing has received the support of the Jerome Foundation. He’s developed new plays at The O’Neill, NYSAF, The Playwrights Center, The New Harmony Project, JAW/PCS, GPTC, and at theaters around the country. He is formerly the Director of Playwright Development at MCC Theater and the Director of New Play Development at WET. He’s served on the faculty of the New School for Drama MFA Directing program, the Fordham University MFA Playwriting program, Purchase College SUNY’s BFA Dramatic Writing program and has been a guest artist at The Juilliard School, NYU’s Dramatic Writing MFA, Carnegie Mellon’s MFA Playwriting, University of Minnesota’s BFA Acting program and others. TERESA COLEMAN WASH (Executive Producer) is a producer, writer, and founding artistic director for the Bishop Arts Theatre Center whose mission is to cultivate a diverse and vibrant arts community while creating opportunities for local and emerging artists through performance and education. Wash is a National Arts Strategies and Public Voices fellow having studied at Harvard Business School. She holds an MA in Arts Management from Goucher College and a BBA in Business Administration from Albany State University. She is the 2019 recipient of the Theater Communications Group’s prestigious Peter Zeisler Memorial Award for artistic integrity and ingenuity and in 2018, she received the National Guild for Community Arts Education’s Milestone Award and the Dallas Business Council for the Arts’ Obelisk Award in the category of Visionary Nonprofit Arts Leader. Mrs. Wash has also earned several Irma P. Hall Awards including the 2020 Irma P. Hall Theatrical Excellence Medal. Teresa was elected to the Dramatists Guild of America Council in 2017 where she also served on the steering committee.
ABOUT PROFILE THEATRE MISSION: To produce a season of first-class productions and community engagement activities centered around a Season-long Featured Writer whose vision broadens our perspective on our world and deepens our collective compassion.
PROFILE THEATRE’S HISTORY Founded in 1997 by Jane Unger, Profile Theatre has always centered a season around a single writer, spending much of its first fifteen years exploring the work of some of the 20th Centuries most important masters and bringing many of them to Portland to develop work. Profile’s second Artistic Director, Adriana Baer, led the theater from 2012-2015. Adriana was interested in exploring the writers we would come to think of as our “21st Century Masters,” contemporary writers investigating the most pressing concerns of our time. Josh Hecht became Artistic Director in 2017. His commitment to new work and robust community engagement has led to new commissions in 2018-2019, an expanded play-development residency for our Featured Writer and our Community Profile Program that uses the practice of writing and story-telling as a means of community-building. Over the past four years, Community Profile has built lasting community with military vets and their families, people living with chronic illness or caring for someone who does, the LGBTQIA+ community, and this year with Black Womxn. Over the past twenty-three years Profile’s Featured Writers have won 13 Pulitzer Prizes (plus 4 finalists), 21 Tony Awards (plus 9 nominations), 21 Drama Desk Awards, 27 Obie Awards and 5 MacArthur “Genius” Awards. In 2010, Profile Theatre was awarded an inaugural “New National Theatre Company” Award from the American Theatre Wing designed to bring national attention to “the most inspiring and innovative theatre companies on our national landscape.” More recently, Profile has twice been recognized by Advanced Gender Equity in the Arts (AGE) for its leadership in equity, diversity and inclusion.
BISHOP ARTS THEATRE CENTER ANGELS The Bishop Arts Theatre Center is successful because we are supported by the generosity of private foundations, major corporations, public sector granting agencies, a resourceful group of board members, and individuals who are committed to sustaining our organization. We rely heavily on the support of our donors and welcome you to become a partner too. Founder Level ($25,000 and above) American Airlines Bloomberg Philanthropies City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture Dallas Independent School District Dallas Tourism Public Improvement District Embrey Family Foundation Harold Simmons Foundation Texas Women’s Foundation Producer Level ($5,000 – $24,999) Anthony & Doris Borino Antioch Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church Big Thought Chris and Leana Baxley-Johnson Communities Foundation of Texas Dr. Lew Blackburn Holloway Family Foundation Houston First Humanities Texas Image 360 Arlington Katherine C. Carmody Charitable Trust Lee McKinney Myron & Betty Kimball M.R. and Evelyn Hudson Foundation National Endowment for the Arts National Endowment for the Humanities Schuler Shook Theatre Planners TACA (The Arts Community Alliance) Texas Capital Bank Texas Commission on the Arts The Boston Foundation Fay Slover Fund (The Art Connection) The Shubert Foundation Tom & Kim Miller Playwright Level ($1,000 – $4,999) A.J. Productions Anthony Maniche Andrew & Annalisa Mena
Bert and Pam Maxwell Brenda & Tony Campagna Cara Mia Theatre Carolyn Grant Chuck Chambers Dallas Arts District Foundation Dallas Works: Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program Dan & Carol Donovan David & Frida Lozano Dick & Jan Lindberg Dr. Melody & Robert Morgan Doug Wright Emma & Mederick Rodgers Forrest and Barbara Tennon Frances Broadus Gary and Brenda Walker Gordon & Rosemary Haggett In Memory of Nik Hobson Jack & Carol Hagler Jack & Jill of America Jermaine Simpson Jessica Jeffrey Joni & David Strickland Linda & Lowell Waite Lisa K. Simmons Mr. Cooper Mr. & Mrs. Frank Bell Neiman Marcus Nneka Egbuniwe Oak Cliff Lions Club Pam and Lee Slater Pat & Pete Schenkel Peggy Logue RedLee SCS Reed and Holly Cheesborough Renee Hobson Rhonda Turner Rodman and Monique Goode Ronald Baksa RSF Social Finance
Samuel Marsh Scott & Vicky Daneman Steven Frawley Sybil M. Wilkes Tammi Abney Teresa & Al Wash Texas Mezzanine Fund Tim Trussell Tomas Soto and Jay Murter Victor E. Salvino Warren & Mary Kuh Wayne & Suzanne Braddick William Rogers Director Level ($500 – $999) Alice Zaccerello Barbara Hawkins Cathy Lauer Cheryl Johnson Christopher Turner Chrystin and Lonnie Pleasants Curtis Ransom CW Whitaker Darrell Harris Deepika Ramesh Donna Garrett Dr. Elba Garcia & Domingo Garcia Gayle Halperin Gwyn & Wilson Mason Heritage Oak Cliff James Warner Joanna Alexander John & Yvette Broocks Lee DeGrande Lisa Evans, Evans Engraving Lloyd Lowe, Sr. Mayela, Jose, Mark, & Andrew Calvillo Michelle Gibbens Pamela & Reginald Gates Quodesia D. Johnson Ronald & Cathy Peace Scott Chase Scot Hart & David Lee Kelting Susan Falvo Sybil Hawkins Sylvia & Calvin Reynolds Temple Shalom Brotherhood Terrance Brooks Boykin
William Rodgers Yolanda Carroll Zeronda Smith Thespian Level ($100 – $499) Adam Adolfo Adrian Douglas Alijah Wash Allen Gaines Alondra Tipps Alton and Renee Campbell Alvin Walker Amy Davis Amy Osofsky Andrew Lewis Anina Moore Ann Toliver Arthur Hartman Artist Frank Frazier Audrey Butler Audrey Jones Augustine Jalomo Barak Epstein Barb & Joe Butto Barbara Sullivan Bernard & Tina Clark Beverly & Paul Lapier Bill Shafer Bobbie Edmonds Brandon Wilhelm Britt Bilberry Bruce DuBose & Katherine Candace Rodgers Owens Carmen Pace Catalina Garcia Cathy Bennett Cathy Hurst Charles Kneeland Charles Ledbetter Charlie Tupper, Jr. Cheryl Brown Cheryl Franklin Cheryl E. William Connie Marks Cora Bowie Davies Cordell Adams Crystal George Curt G. Stiles
Dale Wheeler Dana Davis Danielle Maggio Darryl Baker Deborah & Mark Mason Dexter MetCalfe Diana Pollak Diane Hosey Dirk Gill Donald Burney Donna Miller Dorona Fortner Dorothy McRae Dr. Durie Royal Coleman Dr. Frank Garcia Dr. Lisa & Mr. Keith Kennedy Eric Brandenburg Erica & Stan Dorsett Etheleen Lengyon Frank Harrison Gay J. Revi Gene Danser George Coleman Giles Davidson Gisela Stern Balsey Gloria Houston Jelks Gloria Sosa Gordon Hager Henrilyn Hayes Fennell Henry Clayton Herman Russell Ian Bjorklund Ignacio Antonio Garcia-Galvez In Loving Memory of Gary Wilkerson, Sr Irene & Leonard Ellis Iris D. Thomas James Johnson Prothro James Matthews James White James & Ann Hambleton Janet Harris Jay Nelson Jeff Hurst Jewel Smay Jiaan Powers Jim and Deborah Nugent Joanna St. Angelo Joe Alcantar
Jonathan Norton Jonathon White Juaria Sanders Julie Rafkind Justin Locklear Karen Goins Karen & Lo Robinson Katheryn S. Page Katrina Henderson Ken Carter Kenda North Kim and Larry Ross Laquida Rodgers Larry & Kate Hochberg Lashawn Hill Laura & Douglas Dunsavase Lelah Moseley Lew Blackburn, Sr. Lisa Robertson Lisa Ryan Lois Daneman Lois Lilly Loretta Davis Lou Michaels & John S. Davies Lydia Mackay Lynn Barrett Marie Holliday Marjorie Hayes Mark Thompson Mary Sue Davis Mary A Segova Matthew D. & Susan Cooper Mattye & Nathan Jones Mavis Lloyd Meca Anderson Mecheall Williams Michael Holifield Michael Vogel Mike Matthews Misha Williamson Mr. & Mrs. Terry Brown Nancy Engle Neil Emmons Nicole Hodge Omar Narvaez Paige McDaniel Patricia Thorstens White Pau Pau James
Ravern Anderson Raymond Whitley Rhonda White Richard and Nancy Wallace Rob Thompson Robert Bailes Robert Cook Robin Godfrey Rodney Turmon Roland Tec Ron Oliver Ron White Ronald Talley Sandra T. Smith Scott & Laura Bowers Sergio Garcia Shahid Aziz Sharon Boston Sharon Williams Shelia Cheatham-Martin Sherel Riley
Sherry Peel Shinita V. Hishaw Simone Jeanes Sonya Coleman Stella Allen Steve Moiles Susan J. Mann Teresa Grant Terrance Brooks Boykin Todd London Toni & Rudy Garcia Tracy McDaniel Trina DasGupta Vernon Young Vicki Newsom W. Paul Coates Waymon O. Ross, Sr. Wendi Sutton Wendy Habicht William and Elyria Lee Zarenda Elliot Donations as of February 23, 2021.