The Living Ones Playbill

In Memoriam:

James O. Barnhill, Professor Emeritus

James Orris Barnhill, born on May 23, 1922 and died October 16, 2021. Born in Sumner, Mississippi, a son of the late Reverend James A. and Louise (Sullivan) Barnhill, and brother of the late Joseph M. Barnhill. He was a Providence resident for over 60 years.

He was educated at Mississippi College, Yale University (B.A. 1947), and New York University (M.A. 1949) before returning to Yale for School of Drama (M.F.A. 1954). He taught for one year at Dubuque University in Iowa and started as an Instructor at Brown University in Providence in 1954, where he became an Assistant Professor of English in 1958 and Professor in 1975. He was appointed Professor of Theater Arts in 1978 and was one of the founding members of Brown’s Theatre, Speech, and Dance Depart ment, serving as its first Chairperson and facilitating the founding of the Rites and Reason Theatre of the Africana Studies Department. He remained active with the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies after his retirement in 1987.

He was instrumental in setting up Brown’s joint programs with Tougaloo College in Jackson, MS and taught there in 1979-1980 and 1984-1985. He was also a Fulbright Professor of English at Calicut University, Baroda, Gujarat, India in 1983-84, taught at RI School of Design 1986-1994, and taught at the University of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan from 1995 to 1997.

During WWII, he was in the US Navy in the Pacific Theatre and was the Executive Officer of a landing craft participating in the Okinawa campaign and in the Occupation of Japan.

In Providence, he was one of the founders of Trinity Square Repertory Theatre, working for 3 seasons with the company and serving in a variety of positions, including stage manager and actor. During his time at Brown, he directed over 200 plays and at RISD he started a cabaret with Visiting Professor Szymon Bojko and Agnieszka Taborska from Poland.

At Brown, Barnhill had many students who became well-known actors and theatre practitioners, including James Naughton, Kate Burton, Aunjanue Ellis, Jobeth Williams, Laura Linney, John Lee Beatty, Richard Foreman, and many others.

Don B. Wilmeth, Professor Emeritus Don B. Wilmeth (Ph.D., U. of Illinois, 1964), born in Houston, Texas, in 1939, was an Asa Messer Professor Emeritus and Emeritus Professor of Theatre and of English, Brown University, retiring in 2003 after thirty-six years there, sixteen as chair of the theatre department. He was the author, editor, coeditor, or series editor of over four dozen books, including the award-winning three-volume Cambridge History of American Theatre, which has been issued in a paperback edition. In 2007 he completed a new edition of the Cambridge Guide to American Theatre.In addition to Brown, he taught at Smith College, Tufts University, and Trinity University (Texas), and was a distinguished speaker at various universities and pro fessional meetings, including the Universities of Indiana, Washington, and Wisconsin, and the Mid-American Theatre Conference where he served as respondent. He is considered a pioneer in the serious study of American popular entertainment and an established authority on the history of American theatre and drama. A former president of the American Soci ety for Theatre Research and dean emeritus of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, Don Wilmeth served as vice president of the International Shaw Society, hosting an international Bernard Shaw conference at Brown, June 2006. He was the recipient of career and research recognitions from the New England Theatre Conference, the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, the Society for Theatre Research (UK), the American Society for Theatre Research, and the Theatre Library Associa tion. ATHE also honored him for his work as an editor. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Wilmeth was an actor and director, and an ardent collector of theatre and entertainment ephem era and memorabilia, as well as books on the history of the theatre (over 5,000). He was a proud member of the local (Keene) Hourglass Readers. He mounted exhibits drawn from his collection at Franklin Pierce University as well as one at the Cheshire County (NH) Historical Society. During the Brown University commencement in 2008 he received the William Williams Award, the most presti gious honor given by the Brown University Library.

present

December 8 - 11, 2022

The Brown University Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies’ 2022-2023 production season is generously supported by the Kathryn and Gilbert Miller Theatre Arts Endowment, the Ben Brown Memorial Fund, the Irene Lewisohn and Alice Lewisohn Crowley Endowment, the Julie Adams Strandberg Fund for Dance at Brown, the Sue E. Perlmutter Fund for Dance, the New Plays Festival En dowment, and a bequest from the estate of TAPS Emeritus Professor James O. Barnhill.

Cast

In 2017... ALLISON............................................................Sofia Tazi '26 SOLEA...................................................Lucid Clairvoyant '24 LEVI....................................David Sánchez Herrera '23 RISD THEO...............................................Jason Tristan Brown '23 In 2056... VAL.................................................................Kira Bierly '23.5 WILL.......................................................................Lex Tin '23

Run Crew

Sophia Wotman '26, Jordan Gracia '24, Tyshon Hattori-Lindsey '26, J Banson '26

Special Thanks

Brian Mertes, Melissa Kievman, Trinity Repertory Company Professor Kate Schapira, Professor Baylor Fox-Kemper, Matt Zrebski, Amir Tamaddon, Will Benjamin, and Inherited Podcast: Jules Bradley & Georgia Wright.

Playwright's Note

One week before the 2022 Brazilian presidential election, anthropologist Carlos Fausto told my class: "We may have no hope." He described how President Jair Bolsonaro's disregard for environmental regulation has pushed the Amazon rainforest to a tipping point — past which it will no longer be able to provide desperately needed support to life on this planet. Dr. Fausto stressed that this tipping will not happen at one time, on a later day. It is happening now.

The Living Ones grew from two seeds: my grief after the 2017 Eagle Creek fire burned near my home in Oregon, and my desire to tell the stories of queer people with as much mythical power as Tony Kushner did in Angels in America. It also grew into an effort to depict the climate crisis not as a single annihilating event but as an ongoing process, inextricable from the choices we make day-to-day.

One week after Carlos Fausto visited our class, Brazilians chose to vote Bolsonaro out of office. This choice will not single-handedly save the planet, as no single choice can. But I believe life on this planet resembles the forests that keep it alive, and that our choices plant seeds that grow beyond our understanding.

Theater also grows from dense, forest-like ecosystems, and The Living Ones could not exist without any one of the people who have shaped it. I am endlessly grateful to every collaborator, friend, and mentor who helped this wild and unruly play bloom into what it is today.

Finally, thank you for being here. Your presence in this ecosystem allows our work to grow beyond us, into something new. And if I have any hope for the future, it is in the unshakeable human urge to imagine — to face destruction, and keep creating.

Directors' Note

Maxime: On September 9, 2020, I woke to a small slice of apocalypse: morning light turned murky, hellscape-red by smoke and airborne ash from wildfires blazing across my home state of California. By December, 4.2 million acres had burned — five times the area of Rhode Island. That experience of fire haunts me as much as it haunts this play: the dull realization that the end times are already here, and now we have to figure out how to continue living in them. But The Living Ones suggests: even in the end times, we can still discover new beginnings — ways to heal, mend, and regrow.

Navaiya: As an east-coaster, the scariest aspect of the climate crisis has not been fire, but water. In summer 2021, I worked with Groundwork Hudson Valley to plant saplings along the Saw Mill River to prevent it from flooding the adjacent highway. Just weeks later, those saplings were swallowed by a flash flood, the entire highway erased by an ocean. When the climate crisis seems insurmountable and no human effort seems worthwhile, we may ask, "Did this all matter?" And through all its love and loss, healing and pain, joy and sorrow, The Living Ones replies, "Yes."

Together: Sustainability was a core goal for our show: to re-envision what theater can look like, with both environmentally-sustainable design and a physically and emotionally-sustainable rehearsal process — prioritizing the journey over the product. We want to thank everyone who helped bring this story to life: the dramaturgs and designers for crafting the details of this world, our mentors for helping us grow, the actors for their enthusiastic commitment, Madeleine for entrusting us with this story, and you — for joining us on this journey. We hope you find the same wondrous connection in it as we have.

A Note on the Land Acknowledgement

The Living Ones considers issues of homeland, land loss, and climate change. The play takes place in the Pacific Northwest. But this performance of it takes place here – in Providence, Rhode Island, on unceded Narragansett land. When you exit the theater, you will find resources about the Narragansett people and their past and recent history of colonial land loss. My collaborators and I invite you to spend some time in the lobby after the performance in reflection on your relationship to and the history of the land you move through.

Thank you to the Tomaquag Museum for the resources in the lobby, which are also freely available on their website.

We encourage you to plan a visit to The Tomaquag Museum to learn more about The Narragansett people and their lifeways.

Tomaquagmuseum.org

–Madeleine Adriance and the team of The Living Ones

Sock & Buskin

Sock & Buskin (S&B) is the board that selects and produces the mainstage theatre season for the Brown University Theatre. It is a partnership between undergraduate students, faculty, and staff.

Then...

Founded in 1901 by Thomas Crosby, a professor in the Brown University Department of English, Sock & Buskin has maintained an unbroken string of performance seasons since being established.

Originally founded as an all-male organization, Sock & Buskin became a co-educational group in 1927 when it merged with an all-female theatre troupe from nearby Pembroke College.

Now...

Sock & Buskin is comprised of 13 students and a number of faculty and staff members. The student board meets twice a week during the academic year. In addition to conducting production business, the board discusses 1-3 plays or projects each week for consideration in the following year’s season.

Discussions are open to the public. Discussion notes for each play, as well as a meeting and reading schedule (and lots more information) can be found at sockandbuskin.org.

Sock & Buskin Board Members

Hailey Young '23, Josie Miller '24, Madeleine Adriance '23.5, Ari Cleveland '25, Navaiya Williams '25, Faith Hardy '23, Ellie Leibner '24, Teniayo-Ola Macaulay '25, Ryan Jones '24, Tabitha Grandolfo '25, Lydia Riess '24, Marielle Buxbaum '24, Barbara Reo, Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald, Patricia Ybarra, Sarah dAngelo, Connie Crawford, Alexander Haynes, Brianne Shaw, Lisa D'Amour, Julia Jarcho, Tim Hett

Please take a moment to note the fire exits. There is an exit at each corner of the theatre. Use of recording devices, cameras, and cell phones is not permitted. As a courtesy to patrons and performers, please silence all electronic devices. The video taping or other video or audio recording of this production by any individual not expressly directed to do so by Brown University is strictly prohibited. All or portions of Brown University events and their participants may be captured by photography or video and used for news or Brown promotional purposes.

Department Staff

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Barbara Reo

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/ LIGHTING DESIGNER: Tim Hett

ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Max Ramirez

SOUND DESIGNER / ENGINEER / A/V COORDINATOR: Alex Eizenberg

ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Jessie Jing '22.5

JOHN STREET STUDIO TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Alex Haynes

JOHN STREET STUDIO ASSISTANTS: Noah Medina '23.5 Josephine Miller '24, Cleo Petty '23.5, Navaiya Williams '25

COSTUME SHOP MANAGER: Ron Cesario

COSTUME SHOP COORDINATOR: Fran Romasco

COSTUME SHOP ASSISTANTS: Abigail Bachenberg '23 Evangeline Bilger '23, Glory Lee '23, Ines Sawiris '24 Kayla Walford '26, Charlotte Knutsen '26

DEPARTMENT MANAGER: Chris Redihan STUDENT AFFAIRS MANAGER: Jo Bynum

EVENTS AND FACILITIES MANAGER: Alex Nurkin

CUSTODIAN: Achim C Tah

COMMUNICATIONS & AUDIENCE SERVICES MANAGER: Brianne Shaw

MARKETING ASSISTANT: Aizhaneya Carter '23 MFA

FRONT OF HOUSE AND ASSISTANTS: Grace Martin '26, Alex Pelsor '24, Owen Ryan '23, Jania Vandevoorde '25

Department Faculty

Michelle Bach-Coulibaly

Senior Lecturer

Constance Crawford Adjunct Lecturer

Sarah dAngelo Assistant Professor, DUS

Lisa D’Amour Visiting Assistant Professor, Interim Head of Playwriting

J Dellecave Assistant Professor of the Practice

Nancy Dunbar Senior Lecturer Emerita

John Emigh Professor Emeritus

Becky Gibel Adjunct Lecturer

Spencer Golub Professor Emeritus

Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald Lecturer

Leon Hilton Assistant Professor

Avery Willis Hoffman Professor of the Practice

Julia Jarcho Associate Professor, Head of Playwriting

Melissa Kievman Artistic Producer of Writing is Live Festival, Adjunct Lecturer

Lowry Marshall Professor Emerita

Kym Moore Professor

Iván Ramos Assistant Professor

Stacey Karen Robinson Adjunct Lecturer

Patricia Seto-Weiss Assistant Professor of the Practice

Sydney Skybetter Senior Lecturer

Deborah Salem Smith Adjunct Lecturer

Julie Adams Strandberg Distinguished Senior Lecturer Emerita

Barbara Tannenbaum Distinguished Senior Lecturer

Elmo Terry-Morgan Associate Professor

Paula Vogel Professor Emerita

Richard Waterhouse Adjunct Lecturer

Patricia Ybarra Professor, DGS

Department Staff

Jo Bynum Student Affairs Manager

Ron Cesario Costume Shop Manager, Lecturer

Alexander Eizenberg Sound Designer, Audio-& Video Engineer

Alex Haynes John Street Studio Technical Director, Lecturer

Timothy Hett Technical Director, Lighting Designer, Lecturer

Alex Nurkin Academic Events and Facilities Manager

Max Ramirez Associate Technical Director

Chris Redihan Academic Department Manager

Barbara Reo Production Director, Stage Manager, Lecturer

Fran Romasco Costume Shop Coordinator

Brianne Shaw Communications and Audience Services Manager

Laura Stokes Performing Arts Librarian, University Library

Brown/Trinity Program Faculty

Shura Baryshnikov

Head of Movement, DGS, Assistant Professor of the Practice

Angela Brazil Associate Professor of the Practice, Director of MFA Programs

Rachel Christopher Assistant Professor of the Practice

Grant Chapman Adjunct Lecturer, Voice & Speech

Curt Columbus Artistic Director of Trinity Rep, Professor of the Practice

Brian Mertes Head of Directing, Professor of the Practice, Sophia Skiles Head of Acting, Associate Professor of the Practice

Brown/ Trinity Program Staff

Jeremy Chiang Technical Director

Michael Cline Technical Supervisor

Anne Harrigan Production Manager

Sammi Haskell Program Coordinator

Jill Jann MFA Academic Coordinator

Jayna Brown Chair, Professor