Writing is Live 2024

Page 1


Chair

Jayna Brown Chair, Professor

Department Faculty

Deidra Braz Visiting Assistant Professor of the Practice

Ali Kenner Brodsky Adjunct Lecturer

Kate Burton Professor of the Practice of the Arts

Michelle Bach-Coulibaly Senior Lecturer

Constance Crawford Adjunct Lecturer

Sarah dAngelo Assistant Professor, DUS

J Dellecave Assistant Professor of the Practice

Nancy Dunbar Senior Lecturer Emerita

Clifton Dutton Adjunct Lecturer

John Emigh Professor Emeritus

Rebecca 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

Aileen Wen McGroddy Writing is Live Festival Creative Producer, Adjunct Lecturer

Kym Moore Professor

Talley Murphy Visiting Assistant Professor

Iván Ramos Assistant Professor

Patricia Seto-Weiss Assistant Professor of the Practice, Head of Dance

Sydney Skybetter Associate Professor

Deborah Salem Smith Adjunct Lecturer

Julie Adams Strandberg Distinguished Senior Lecturer Emerita

Barbara Tannenbaum Distinguished Senior Lecturer

Elmo Terry-Morgan Associate Professor Emeritus

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, Lecturer

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 Director of MFA Programs

Associate Professor of the Practice,

Rachel Christopher Assistant Professor of the Practice

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 Production Coordinator

Jill Jann MFA Academic Coordinator

May 1 - 5, 2024

Leeds Theatre

Ashamu Dance Studio

83 Waterman Street Providence RI 02912

- THESIS PRODUCTIONS -

Cold War Choir Practice

by Ro Reddick ‘24 MFA

directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy ‘22 MFA

5/1 8PM | 5/3 8PM | 5/4 1PM | 5/5 8PM

Leeds Theatre Scourge by Harley Elias ‘24 MFA directed by Brian Mertes

5/2 8PM | 5/3 1PM | 5/4 8PM |5/5 1PM

Leeds Theatre

- STAGED READINGS -

Money Shot

by Dhari Noel ‘25 MFA directed by Josephine Miller ‘24

5/2 5PM | 5/4 5PM | 5/5 8:30PM

Ashamu Dance Studio Sky Rats

written and directed by Kathy Ng ‘25 MFA

5/3 4PM | 5/4 8:30PM | 5/5 5PM

Ashamu Dance Studio

- READINGSParadiso

by Jimmy Fay ‘26 MFA co-directed by Beckett Warzer PhD candidate & Jimmy Fay ‘26 MFA

5/4 11AM | 5/5 2PM

Ashamu Dance Studio

Grandmother/Bathtub by Brian Dang ‘26 MFA directed by Talley Murphy ‘23 PhD

5/4 2PM | 5/5 11AM

Ashamu Dance Studio undergrad underground

5/4 8:30PM

Ashamu Dance Studio

Excerpts from: Rocks and Geodes by Lydia Riess ‘24 Summer, Capsizing by Irene Zhiyi Chen ‘25

Sisters of the Sublime by Cosima Gardey ‘24

Welcome to the theater. We’re glad you’re here.

The trees in Providence are gorgeous right now. The weather is finally getting warm and wet instead of cold and wet, and at least one rabbit is running around outside Lyman Hall. These are also times of horror and relentless systemic collusion in horror. That was also true before, but today (as before) we are moving around in the horror in new and particular ways. One of the ways we can keep moving (or refusing to move as directed) is to keep making things that help us LIVE with how the world feels to us. That remind us: even though we know a lot about how bad things are, there are still also things we don’t know. There are still mysteries. There are still surprises, reasons to open our eyes in the morning and look, reasons to inhale and exhale. Glamour can flash forth in the strangest places. So can humor. So can love.

In that spirit, here’s six new plays-in-progress by some of the strangest and funniest writers I know, in cahoots with a dream team of collaborators: the actors from the Brown/Trinity MFA program, remarkable undergrad, grad student, and faculty artists, brilliant guest directors and designers, and our inimitable TAPS production staff. And you!

Thanks for spending some of your springtime here with us.

Festival Staff

Head of MFA Playwriting............................................. Julia Jarcho

Creative Producer..................... Aileen Wen McGroddy ‘22 MFA

Production Director / Producer............................... Barbara Reo

Festival Designer/Scenic Artist..............................................................

Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald

Audience Services & Communications Manager.......................... Brianne Shaw

Technical Director/Lighting Designer............................ Tim Hett

Sound Designer/ AV Engineer.............................. Alex Eizenberg

Alexander Movement Consultant......................... Barbara Casey

Festival Sound Operator....................................... Jemima Alabi ‘24

Props Supervisor............................................................... Alex Haynes

Associate Technical Director.................................... Max Ramirez

Costume Shop Manager............................................... Ron Cesario

Costume Coordinator................................................. Fran Romasco

Professor of the Practice & Head of Directing for Brown/ Trinity Programs...............................................................Brian Mertes

Associate Professor of the Practice & Head of Acting for Brown/Trinity Programs............................................... Sophia Skiles

Festival Support:

Students from TAPS 0300 Introduction to Acting & Directing

Special Thanks

Writing is Live is made possible through support from an endowed fund for the Adele Kellenberg Seaver ’49 Professorship in Literary Arts, the Ben Brown Memorial Fund and the Kathryn and Gilbert Miller Theatre Arts Endowment.

Cold War Choir Practice

Cast:

Meek: Tay Bass ‘25 MFA

Puddin: Allison Jones ‘25 MFA

Clay: Austyn Williamson ‘25 MFA

Virgie: Layan Elwazani ‘25 MFA

Smooch: Quinn West ‘26 MFA

Familiar Face: Evie Dumont ‘26 MFA

Very Good Friend (V.O.): Daniel Shtivelberg ‘26 MFA

The Choir: Hayley Gasbarro ‘24

The Choir: Gillian Gordon ‘26

The Choir: Lottie Doughty ‘26

The Choir: Marina Benson ‘24

The Choir: Ellie Leibner ‘24

Crew:

Musical Director/Musician: Nick Pulito

Set Designer: Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald

Costume Designer: Christine Mok ‘13 PHD

Lighting Designer: Tim Hett

Sound Designer: Alex Eizenberg

Props Designer: Abby Shindell ‘25

Dramaturg: Lisa Kron

Stage Manager: Hunter Stephenson ‘26

Assistant Director: Rosalyn Tavarez ‘25 MFA

Assistant Costume Designer: Jessie Darrell Jarbadan

Assistant Stage Manager: Sydney Meza ‘26

Russian Dialogue Consultant: Sofia Verba, PhD Candidate

Musician: Beni Brosh

Musician: Claire Robertson ‘27

Run Time: Approximately 110 minutes

Content Warning: This production contains offensive language, coercion, violent imagery, references to nuclear war, children singing, and the use of theatrical weapons.

Sensory Warning: This production features sudden loud noises, flashing lights, and a disco ball.

Special Thanks: Dmitry Shtivelberg, Eli Schultz, Meara Levezow, Seayoung Yim, Stacey Karen Robinson, Julia Jarcho, the MFA Playwrights, Melissa Kievman, Marc Reddick, Eric Richardson, Karen Richardson, mom and Aunt Jeanette.

Ro Reddick (she/her) is a queer Black MFA playwright at Brown University. Her plays have been read/developed at The Ground Floor, Bushwick Starr Reading Series, and Williamstown Theatre Festival (NYC Reading). They include: Throwback Island (O’ Neill Finalist), ROBAMA (O’ Neill Semifinalist), Cold War Choir Practice, Miss Black Syracuse, and The History of Black People… Fellowships + fun stuff: Venturous Fellowship Nomination, Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow, La Mama Umbria Playwright Retreat, Miranda Theatre Company Grant, BAI Songwriting Workshop. Degrees: BFA in Acting from Ithaca College, MBA from NYU (which she has no intention of using).

Aileen Wen McGroddy is a Chinese- and Irish-American theatre director, educator, and producer of live events. Currently, she is a co-artistic director of TUTA Theatre Chicago and Creative Producer for the Writing is Live Festival. She is in the Roundabout Directors Group, has been a 2050 Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, and the BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage. MFA Directing from Brown-Trinity. Previously in Writing is Live: Throwback Island by Ronica Reddick, On The Y-Axis by Lucas Baisch, Akira Kurosawa Explains His Movies and Yogurt by Julia Izumi. Past work includes: A Christmas Carol (Trinity Rep); The Late Wedding, The Dumb Waiter, Summer and Smoke, and The Tempest (Brown-Trinity); The Chinese Lady (Kitchen Theatre and Geva Theatre Center); Sense and Sensibility (Northern Stage); Airness (Breckenridge Backstage Theatre); Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (Adelphi); The Glass Menagerie, Or,, Dani Girl (Winnipesaukee Playhouse); Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical and The Snowy Day (Emerald City Theatre); Montauciel Takes Flight (Lifeline Theatre); Ulysses (The Plagiarists); A Hero’s Journey, The Hunting of the Snark, Robin Hood, and The Pied Piper (The Forks & Hope Ensemble); The Whiskey Radio Hour, Wake: A Folk Opera, Kodachrome Telephone and Sign of Rain (The Whiskey Rebellion). She has directed readings for New York Theatre Workshop, The Bushwick Starr, Clubbed Thumb, NY Classical Theatre, The Yale Drama Prize, Northern Stage, and Babes with Blades.

Scourge by Harley Elias ‘24 MFA

directed

Cast:

Katsuto Sakogashira ‘25 MFA

Erin Lockett ‘26 MFA

Jessie March ‘26 MFA

Daniel Shtivelberg ‘26 MFA

David Bertoldi ‘25 MFA

Crew:

Set Designer: Renee Surprenant Fitzgerald

Costume Designer: Christine Mok ‘13 PHD

Lighting Designer: Tim Hett

Sound Designer: Alex Eizenberg

Props Designer: Ford Rowe ‘24

Dramaturg: David Adjmi

Stage Manager: Sophia Decherney ‘25

Musician/Composer: Florence Wallis ‘22 MFA

Musician: Jake Sokolov-Gonzalez ‘25 PhD

Choreographer: Henry Nwaru

Assistant Director: Madeleine Adriance ‘24

Assistant Costume Designer: Jessie Darrell Jarbadan

Assistant Stage Manager: Ellie Chang ‘27

Clowning Consultant: Mycah Hogan

Special Thanks: Julia Jarcho, Chris Ceraso, David Adjmi, Lisa D’Amour, Stacey Karen Robinson, Ariella Azoulay, Shahzad

Bashir, Elias Muhanna, Susan Einbinder, Melissa Kievman, Barbara Casey, Gabriel Rocha, Thalia Field, this incredible cast and crew, and a fantastic Playwright’s Apprentice: Zach Susini.

Run Time: Approximately 1 hour 45 minutes

Content Warning: This production contains death, violence, illness, Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, PTSD, a depiction of choking, and descriptions of torture.

Sensory Warning: This production features sudden loud noises, bright lights, and sudden light changes.

Harley Elias is a playwright, librettist, and performer from New York City. Recent plays include The Museum Plays (Miami New Drama), The Handless King (World Premiere July ’24, Amphibian Stage), Thug Play (Resonance Ensemble), The Pardon (Brown University), and 47 Years of Marriage (Samuel French OOB). His work has been supported by residencies at Banff Centre, where he was recently librettist-in-residence for Opera in the 21st Century, the Sewanee Writers Conference, a Fulbright Grant to India in Playwriting, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Resonance Ensemble, and Sparkfest at Amphibian Stage. He is the winner of the Wild Imaginings New Play Award, the Samuel French OOB Award, a Young Playwrights Award, and his Play #3 is published by Samuel French. He was. He is currently under commission from Miami New Drama and Theater J. As an actor he has performed in several Broadway shows and national tours. BA/MA History, Stanford. MFA Playwriting, Brown ’24.

Brian Mertes has directed many world premieres, including David Greenspan’s The Myopia for the Foundry Theater at the Atlantic and Jose Rivera’s Massacre at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater in NYC and De Profundis with Jim Findlay at Playmakers Rep. He has developed new work at Ensemble Studio Theater, Manhattan Class Company, Naked Angels, Manhattan Theater Club, The Public, PS 122, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Playwrights Center Minneapolis, New Dramatists, Ars Nova, PlayPenn, and BACA. Mertes has directed numerous projects at Juilliard where he created a multimedia theater work based on Sam Shepard’s Paris, Texas with alt-country rocker, Jim White. Brian has directed for ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, garnering three Emmy and three DGA nominations, and an Emmy for directing. He is Co-Artistic Director of the Chekhov Project in Rockland County, NY, beginning in 2003- working on all of Anton Chekhov’s plays, Seagull, resulting in a feature film I am a Seagull, 2017, Three Sisters in current development, Cherry Orchard also in development, Uncle Vanya and many of the short plays. Head of the Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Directing Program, and an Associate Director at Trinity Rep, where he directed Steel Magnolias, Clybourne Park, Crime and Punishment, A Lie of the Mind, The Glass Menagerie, Appropriate, and Marisol. He has taught directing for both Columbia and NYU film programs and has been a guest director at North Carolina School of the Arts, SUNY Purchase, NYU Grad, UT Austin, and Yale.

Money Shot

Cast:

Tae: Jintao Yue ‘26

Brit: Didi Archibong ‘26

Sambo: Mathieu Myrick ‘ 26 MFA

POV: Justin Ekstrom ‘24.5

POV: Abram Blau ‘26 MFA

POV: Daniel Quinter ‘24

Maximus: Justin Mitchell ‘26 MFA

Rex: Rashaun Bertrand ‘27

Aura: Mack Ford ‘25

Crew:

Stage Manager: Maison Teixeira ‘27

Dramaturg: JD Stokely, PhD Candidate

Intimacy/Violence Coordinator: Kai Tshikosi ‘23 MFA

Run Time: Approximately 80 minutes

Content Warning: This production contains graphic sexual language, ableist language, racist language and imagery, sexist language and imagery, transphobic language and imagery, descriptions of sexual coercion, pornography, eroticism, bodily fluids, objectification, capitalist dehumanization, historical trauma and interrupted euphoria.

Dhari Noel (he/him/they/them/Dhari) is a Queer Black-CaribbeanHarlemite playwright/performer/educator. Dhari’s writing often explores the incoherence of race, the failures of gender, and inherited ways of being. As a teacher, Dhari uses storytelling, social justice, and interdisciplinary studies, all in an effort to examine systems of power.

Readings and performances of Dhari’s work have been lucky to find generous support at several artistic homes. Recent plays include: Penguin Sex With Mr. Morgan (ANTfest @ Ars Nova, Brown University); Man Made, Spirit Junkie (Cherry Picking/The Wild Project); Sweet Mess, Exorcism for The DEI Practitioner, The Women Who Dance… (Cherry Picking); Introduce Yourself, and Keep The Orange (ECFS).

Dhari performs in Dhari’s own pieces and has had the pleasure of collaborating with many dear friends. Recent performances include Penguin Sex With Mr. Morgan (ANTfest @ Ars Nova, Brown University); Man Made, Spirit Junkie (Cherry Picking, The Wild Project); Black Exhibition (Bushwick Starr); In The Penal Colony (Next Door @NYTW); The Essential Ella Maythorne (Dixon Place); Telegraph Bois (ANTfest @Ars Nova).

In the summer of 2023, Dhari was a Tennessee Williams Scholar at Sewanee Writers Conference and an Emerging LGBTQ Voices fellow at Lambda Literary’s writing retreat. Dhari’s graduate studies are supported by an Adele Kellenberg Seaver 1949 Fellowship in Creative Writing. Dhari received a BA in Sociology from Columbia University and is currently pursuing an MFA in Playwriting at Brown University. Dhari is adjusting but misses the Harlem noises. www.dharinoel.com

Josephine Miller is a senior undergraduate at Brown University concentrating in Theatre Arts with a focus on directing. Josie’s most recent directorial work includes The Thin Place, psychopsychotic, or everyone at yale is a goddamn sociopath!, The Pharm House, and Do You Feel Anger? Brown/Trinity credits include Alabaster, One Flea Spare, and Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play. Josie has had the pleasure of working at theatres in New York and Atlanta such as Clubbed Thumb, Actor’s Express Theatre Company, and Horizon Theatre Company. Josie is working to complete a Theatre Arts and Performance Studies honors thesis on the convergence of women’s issues, body horror, and satire in new plays.

Sky Rats

written & directed by Kathy

‘25 MFA

Cast:

Tiff: Lily Kops ‘26 MFA

Eddie: Henry Nwaru ‘26 MFA

Bonespants: Sijie Yan ‘27

Nonna: Jesús I. Valles ‘23 MFA

Hatman: Anirudh Narsipur ‘24

Clara: Elizabeth Edwards ‘25

Pigeon/Rat Ensemble: Brian Dang ‘26 MFA

Pigeon/Rat Ensemble: Jimmy Fay ‘26 MFA

Pigeon/Rat Ensemble: Chang He PhD

Pigeon/Rat Ensemble: Huyen Le ‘27

Crew:

Assistant Director: Huyen Le ‘27

Stage Manager: Astrid McMahon ‘25

Dramaturg: Eli Nixon ‘18 MFA

Run Time: Approximately 90 minutes

Content Warning: This production contains substance abuse and suggestions of violence and gore.

Kathy Ng (she/they) writes plays and makes crafts. I was born in Hong Kong. I’d say my stuff attempts to create stretchy//spiky playing spaces for human-adjacent beings. I like the idea of theater as a construction site for new, alien languages. Recent works include bacon sausage veggie noodles (Clubbed Thumb Reading Series) and happy life (O’Neill Finalist ‘21, The Hearth). I made my NYC debut in the summer of 2022, when happy life received its world premiere production at Walker Space. The production was called “porous but sticky” - New York Times and “a kinky, violent, tentacle-porno masterpiece”- Stagebuddy. I am a New Georges Affiliated Artist and an alum of Clubbed Thumb’s Early-Career Writers’ Group. BA from Brown in Writing for Performance. I currently live in Providence, a home-like place, where I’m back at Brown and pursuing my MFA in playwriting.

Website (warning, work in progress): https://kingyam. hotglue.me/

Paradiso

by Jimmy Fay ‘26 MFA

co-directed by Beckett Warzer PhD candidate and Jimmy Fay ‘26 MFA

Cast:

Dad: Ro Reddick ‘24 MFA

Son: J.L. Zhang ‘24

Ghost 2: Mathieu Myrick ‘26 MFA

Ghost 1: Abram Blau ‘26 MFA

Stage Directions: Dhari Noel ‘25 MFA

Crew:

Stage Manager: Sophia Decherney ‘25

Assistant Director: Dhari Noel ‘25 MFA

Dramaturg: Shannon Constantine ‘29 PhD

Run Time: Approximately 65 minutes

Content Warning: This production contains death, grief, substance abuse (alcoholism,) transphobia, childbirth, mention of suicide, and a brief suggestion of physical abuse.

Jimmy Fay (they/them) is an MFA candidate at Brown. They are a poet, playwright, director and performer based in Brooklyn, NY and Providence, RI. Most recently, they directed a production of Twelfth Night set in a queer bar featuring an all queer/trans* cast with support from the Mellon Foundation, with whom they were a Public Humanities fellow during the 2021-2022 season. Their plays have been performed at Hunter College, the Davenport Theater, Chain Theater, the Producer’s Club and others. Their films have played multiple international film festivals, including the Los Angeles International Film Festival and the Portland Film Festival. They are also the author of the chapbook THE GOD SIZD HOLE, published by SLAB press. Select other poetry publications include Panoplyzine, GASHER Journal, Leak Magazine and Sinister Wisdom. They have held residences with Arts on Site and Beam Center on Governors Island. By day, they are an educator and public historian at Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery and a member of Close Friends Collective, a queer history collective based in New York. They write about queer history and queer future.

Beckett Warzer is a PhD candidate in Performance Studies at Brown studying psychoanalysis on the left, and a trans fag.

Grandmother/Bathtub

Cast:

Lucia Aremu ‘26 MFA

Kayla Bennett ‘26 MFA

Crew:

Assistant Director: Marielle Buxbaum ‘24

Stage Manager: Sophie Rockwell ‘26

Dramaturg: Shannon Constantine ‘29 PhD

Run Time: Approximately 75 minutes

Content Warning: This production contains references to suicide and elder abuse.

Sensory Warning: This production features loud sounds, including an Amber Alert.

Brian Dang (they/them) is a Vietnamese/Chinese poet/ playwright based in Seattle, WA & Providence, RI. Brian is a proud resident playwright at Parley (Seattle), a 2021 Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and 2023 Lambda Fellow. Their work interrogates and explodes the presence of structures, systems, cycles, and myths in the domestic. Their plays are a mixture of devised and scripted narratives that tend to the present moment of the characters, exploring what it means to be “overdetermined by history” (Billy-Ray Belcourt). Their plays include This time (Undermain Fund for New Work ‘22, O’Neill Finalist ‘22, Many Voices Fellowship Semi-Finalist ‘22) and a white haunting (Princess Grace Fellowship Finalist ‘21, MAP Theatre). For Brian, writing is an act of envisioning an eventual communing, an opportunity to freeze time as we know it, and a reaching for joy. They are an MFA candidate at Brown. Website: brianeatswords.com

Talley Murphy is a stage director, video artist, and performance studies scholar. They have directed new and classical works for the stage and in non-traditional spaces in NY, DC, Providence, in rural New England, and online; across disciplines, Talley’s work emphasizes devised movement and multimedia design. At Fullscreen Blackbox, Talley has created digital performances to imagine our non/ virtual futures as part of partnerships with NY-area housing and immigration organizations. Talley has a PhD from Brown in Theatre and Performance Studies. talleymurphy. com / fullscreenblackbox.com

Summer, Capsizing

Cast:

Yiwen: Lizi Zhang ’24

Kenneth: Jintao Yue ’26

Anna: Yingshen Zhang ’26

Tia : Xinyu (Kelly) Yan ’24

Jerry: Gary Zheng ’24

Lemon: Autumn Qiu ’25

Stage Directions: Danny Xu ’23, PhD ’29

Content Warning: This production contains homophobia and transphobia.

Rocks and Geodes

Cast:

Right Girl/Diana: Alden Forbes ‘24

Left Girl/Lisa: Olivia Bendich ‘25

The Boy/Paula: Josephine Miller ‘24

Stage Directions: Hyungjin Lee ‘24

Content Warning:

This production contains sexism and allusions to death

Sisters of the Sublime

by Cosima Gardey ‘24

Cast:

Callie Rabinovitz ‘24

Claire Thompson ‘24

Alden Forbes ‘24

Mia Lane ‘24

Content Warning:

This production contains sexual content, and discussions of sexual assault, child grooming, and molestation.

Irene Zhiyi Chen ‘25 makes theatre that dives into inbetween spaces with powerful tenderness, searching for belonging in relation to migration and multilingual experiences. Irene’s primary interests are theatre education, playwriting, sound and projections design, and intimacy choreography. Irene also loves partnered dancing, cats, and other squishy things.

Lydia Riess ‘24 (she/her) is a writer, actor, and director for film and theater born and raised in New York City. She uses observations of the people around her to create work that explores the complexities and contradictions present in all of us, hoping to foster confrontation with the self and empathy for others. She writes and performs with Brown’s sketch comedy group, Out of Bounds, and her former plays include Scorpions Don’t Bite (Providence Fringe Festival), RUFUS (Something on the Green), and The Ikea Play (The National Theater Institute).

Cosima Gardey (she/her) is a theatre writer, director and actor originally from London. She appreciates the sensorial and sensual aspects of medieval christian art, finding both a deep sense of wonder and humour in its imagery. She likes to think and write about human desire in all its forms.

In Memoriam

Lowry Marshall, a beloved Professor, mentor, and a leading figure in the world of theatre passed away on October 8th at the age of 79. Her life was marked by a profound dedication to the arts, education, the theatrical community, and her family.

Lowry was born on May 20th 1944. From her youth onward, she became an active participant in democracy, civic duties, and volunteerism. No one quite took life by the reins like she did. Her first stage role was as Sally Cato McDougal in Auntie Mame at Dock Street Theatre. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Theatre from the University of South Carolina in 1966. She later completed her Master’s in Theatre (Directing) at the same institution in 1975. She earned an MFA from The Asolo Conservatory of The Florida State University, in 1981.

Throughout her career, Lowry made a name for herself as an accomplished director, writer, and educator. She tirelessly shared her knowledge and insights with students at Brown University, where she served as a dedicated Professor in the Department of Theatre, Speech, and Dance, now Theatre Arts & Performance Studies. Her commitment to her students and the art of theatre left an indelible mark on educational and artistic communities, helping to create Brown University’s Playwright’s Summer Festival, as well as being a co-founder of the Brown/RISD/Trinity Consortium MFA. These institutions produced works that would go on to win Tony, Drama Desk, and Pulitzer Awards in drama and more

Lowry’s passion for the theatre extended beyond the classroom. She co-authored and directed numerous

acclaimed theatrical productions, including Filler Up and Waiting for the Termite Man, which garnered praise not only in the United States but also on international stages. Her work with Deb Filler in Filler Up took them from New York City to Sydney, Australia, and across various venues in Canada, Berlin, and New Zealand. Lowry’s commitment to storytelling and performance was evident in her projects, such as Lisa Kron’s 2.5 Minute Ride, The Musical Winter’s Tale, and The Dark Lady Project . Her dedication to the art of theatre extended to her contributions as a dramaturg, dialect coach, and a casting consultant. Lowry was not only an artist but also a scholar and teacher, delivering lectures, workshops, and panel discussions. She shared her expertise with the theatre community and aspiring artists, inspiring them to reach new heights in their craft. She was given the Pell Award for Excellence in Performing Arts in 2013.

During the last four years of her life, Lowry lived with Stage 4 cancer, showing remarkable resilience in the face of a terminal diagnosis. She loved spending time with family and friends, and is survived by her two sons, Taylor and Logan, who were an extreme source of pride, daughter-in-law, and five grandchildren

Lowry Marshall’s legacy is felt not only in her artistic achievements but in the thousands of lives she touched and the minds she enriched. Her influence on the world of theatre and education will continue to resonate for generations to come.

Department Staff

PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Barbara Reo

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR/ LIGHTING DESIGNER: Tim Hett

TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS: Rowan Cookman, Tylar Jahumpa, Abigail Wang

STUDENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANTS: Adnan Aldabbagh ‘25 Ari Cleveland '25, Sophia Decherney '25, Sierra Riley '24, Ford Rowe ‘24 Lizzy Steeves '25, Olivia Sydnia St Bernadette Taylor '26

ASSOCIATE TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Max Ramirez

SOUND DESIGNER, AUDIO & VIDEO ENGINEER: Alex Eizenberg

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT ASSISTANT: Sophie Rockwell '26

JOHN STREET STUDIO TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Alex Haynes

JOHN STREET TECHNICAL DESIGN ASSISTANTS:

Dante Cavaz '24, Josephine Miller '24, Cleo Petty '23.5, Chloe Rombaut-Enriquez 27, Preston Rossi '27, Abby Schindell '25, Sofia Tazi '26

COSTUME SHOP MANAGER: Ron Cesario

COSTUME SHOP COORDINATOR: Fran Romasco

COSTUME SHOP ASSISTANTS: Evangeline Bilger '23, Charlotte Knutsen '26, Beatriz Plum Luard '26, Sky Robinson '25, Kayla Walford '26

DEPARTMENT MANAGER: Chris Redihan

STUDENT AFFAIRS MANAGER: Jo Bynum

ADMINISTRATIVE/MARKETING ASSISTANT: Dri de Faria '26

EVENTS AND FACILITIES MANAGER: Alex Nurkin

BECKER PERFORMING ARTS LIBRARY STUDENT LIBRARIANS: Marielle Buxbaum '24, Maureen Klaiber '27

CUSTODIAN: Achim C Tah

COMMUNICATIONS & AUDIENCE SERVICES MANAGER: Brianne Shaw

AUDIENCE SERVICES COORDINATOR: Anna Trachtman

FRONT OF HOUSE AND BOX OFFICE ASSISTANTS: Maya Kelly '27, Tyrone Killebrew II '24, Grace Martin '26,

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