Red Bike Program Guide

RED BIKE is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Ave of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.trwplays.com

Creative Team Director

Alana Dietze Scenic/Props Design Tori Morones

Costume Design Angela Aylas

Associate Scenic/Props Design Ryan Stiegmann Lighting Design Martha Carter and the Advanced Lighting Class

Sound Design Nick Johnson

Hair & Makeup Design Tianti Mhonae Company Manager Drew Olvey

Graduate Production Manager Amanda Anderson

Stage Manager Heidy Reyes Serbellon

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

A Note from the Chair I am delighted to welcome you to CalRep for our third show of the Spring 2025 Season: Red Bike by Caridad Svich. This lyrical play explores themes of class, change, and the dreams of youth through poetic scenes. It reflects on the complexities of growing up in contemporary America and is a timely piece that speaks to the enduring necessity for community.

We are honored to welcome back director Alana Dietze, a regular collaborator with CalREP, she recently directed Dry Land and Our Dear Dead Drug Lord to critical and audience acclaim.

Following Red Bike, our CalRep season concludes with Alice in Slasherland by Qui Nguyen, a wildly fun and darkly comic horror adventure. We invite you to join us for this production as we celebrate this season’s theme “laughing together,” celebrating diverse voices through comedy.

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

In a time when gathering together feels more essential than ever, we are grateful to share this experience with you. Thank you for supporting live theatre and for being part of CalRep. Now, sit back, turn off your phone, and enjoy the show!

Warmly, Ezra LeBank Artistic Director Theatre Arts Department Chair

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

A Note from the Director Is there any feeling more free than coasting down a hill on your bike with nothing around you but the wind and the trees and the sunshine? This play is about that feeling, and also about what happens when that feeling is interrupted.

It is about the moment when something from the “real world” intrudes on the joy and abandon of childhood and awakens us to the only constant: change. Finally, it’s about the quest to live a good and meaningful life despite the distractions of material “stuff,” the monsters who threaten our safety and the persistent transformation of this world we call home. In Red Bike our speaker often addresses the audience directly - needing their story to be witnessed by you, the watchers. In this world, time is malleable. The story we tell happened in the past, but is also happening in this moment, in the room in which you sit. We invite you to be present, to participate, to receive and to come along for the ride.

Thank you for being here!

Alana Dietze, Director Red Bike CalRep

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Cast Kyle Matsuda Kyle Matsuda is excited to perform his final performance at CSULB in Red Bike. He is so blessed to have this last opportunity and wouldn’t be here without his friends and family's support! Some of his past credits include Frantic Assembly, An Evening at the Beach, and Night of Student Work.

Nicholas Mayer as “Ensemble”

Kyle Matsuda as “Ensemble”

Nicholas Mayer Nicholas Mayer is a senior general theater major and is pleased to be performing in another mainstage at CSULB. Past CSULB credits include Mischa (Ride the Cyclone) and Officer Lockstock (Urinetown).

Much love to cast, crew, and of course 222!

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Cast

Abby Lane as “Ensemble”

Abby Lane Abby Lane is a first year theatre performance major and is thrilled to be apart of her first Cal Rep show! Some of her past roles are Donna (Mamma Mia), #25 (The Wolves), Mrs. Trunchbull (Matilda).

She cannot wait for audiences to see this amazing show!

Victoria Martins Victoria is a senior theatre performance major and they are so excited to finish their time at CSULB with Red Bike. Their most recent credits are Ms. Pennywise (Urinetown) and Scratchy (Mr. Burns a Post-Electric Play).

Thanks to the team!

Victoria Martins as “Ensemble”

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Cast

Alberto Alonso as “Ensemble”

Alberto Alonso Alberto Alonso is a graduating International Student and is thrilled to close his CSULB era with Red Bike. Past credits include Quill (Fledgling), Kid Noa (A Labour of Love), and Lord of the Underworld (Love, Eurydice) and more. Many thanks to the cast and crew for this project!

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Crew Assistant Director Blossom Tanaka Assistant Stage Manager Izaiah Espinoza

Assistant Costume Designer Celeste Ontiveros

Lighting Design Team Apollo Artry Kayci Baylon Marshall Davis Di Herrera Julia Juarez Noah Lyons

Lighting Design Team (cont.)

Jacob Magadan Zoey Martin Ryan Meissner Angelica Mondragon Lily Than Zishan Wan

Production Assistants Rozhina Rostampour Kailee Young

Programmers Apollo Artry Aiden Vice

Costume Crew Miguel Avila Jack Barnes Camille Baruch Niko Flores Ellia Kabba Marlene Morales Lee Rodriquez Tavia Williams

Light & Sound Crew Anabelle Gastelo Nadia Ghanem Jazmine Martinez Ellie Montenegro Scenic Crew Kai Fitzer Richard Khau Janani Nair Branden Zepeda

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Study Guide

RED BIKE by Caridad Svich is a play about being a child and growing up in small town America. It explores what it is like to find where you stand in a divided country.

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Red Bike Primarily following an 11-year-old who is riding their red bicycle through their hometown, Red Bike provides a peek at the inner thoughts of a child on the precipice of adulthood.

They are becoming deeply aware of their environment and reflecting on the changes unfolding in their community.

These thoughts often touch on deeper societal issues like economic inequality and the changing nature of one’s home.

The play explores themes of childhood dreams, societal pressures, and coming-of-age in a declining economic setting. At its core, Red Bike captures the essence of what it feels like to be young, dreaming of a broader world while riding a red bike.

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Meet the Playwright: Caridad Svich (They/Them)

Svich is a prominent voice in contemporary theater, with a focus on diverse stories and voices.

Of Cuban heritage, much of their work reflects their Latinx background, while also engaging with broader social and political issues. They are an accomplished and prolific American playwright, translator, and lyricist, known for thier innovative and often poetic works that explore themes of identity, culture, and the human experience.

Svich has written numerous plays, which often address themes such as displacement, immigration, and the complexities of cultural identity. Notable works include The House of the Spirits (an adaptation of Isabel Allende's novel), The Way of Water, Red Bike, and Iphigenia...a rave fable.

They have received several awards for thier contributions to theater, including an OBIE Award for Best New American Play in 2012 for The House of the Spirits. Svich is also a recipient of the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency for Playwrights. Thier plays have been performed at theaters around the world, and they have been a vocal advocate for the global theater community.

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

What Inspired Caridad Svich

Red Bike Published in 2018, Red Bike was inspired by Caridad Svich’s reflections on how young people grow up in difficult times. The play is about a memory of having a bike that made the protagonist dream of a bigger world.

Creating a play with a child as a narrator was a departure for Svich, and one they embraced as a means of articulating the moment in life when an individual reaches the crossroads between innocence and awareness. “There is this awakening that happens around age 11 or 12, when children are working on identity and where they are positioned in the world,” Caridad said.

Red Bike has been performed about two dozen times since it received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere in 2019. Several Zoom productions were produced during COVID.

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Red Bike at CALREP

an interview with director Alana Dietze,

Click here to view the full Interview

”Red Bike is about that moment that everybody experiences at some point in your childhood where everything changes.”

-Alana Dietze Director’s interview CalRep Feb 2025

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Student Discussion Questions

What themes did you gather from Red Bike, and how were they expressed by the playwright? How did the actors help to express and shape the themes?

Do you think there is a narrative to follow in this show? If so how is it told? What are some of the ways the script and staging help to tie the words into a story?

What genre of theatre do you think Red Bike falls into? (comedy, tragedy, satire, farce, melodrama, ect.)

Does the play accurately portray childhood dreams, societal pressures, and the coming-of-age for you?

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Student Discussion (Deeper Dive)

How does the narrator reflect the pressures of growing up and dealing with change? Does she grow or change by the end of the play?

How do characters "perform" their roles, and what does this say about the intersection of 11-year-old on the precipice of adulthood, and the inner thoughts of a child?

In what ways do we know the narrator is becoming deeply aware of their environment and reflecting on the changes unfolding in their community?

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Student Discussion (Deepest Dive)

In what ways do we know the narrator is becoming deeply aware of their environment and reflecting on the changes unfolding in their community?

What are the narrator’s thoughts on deeper societal issues like living in one’s own skin, economic inequality, and the nature of home?

For you did Red Bike capture the essence of what it felt like to be young, dreaming of a broader world?

How would you change it?

Do you think the ending suggests, is there any real development? Why or why not?

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Parking Information Parking for the Players Theater is available adjacent to the Theater Arts building in lot E8.

E8 parking is available Mon-Fri after 5:30pm, on weekends parking is available all day.

To park at E8, one must have a CSULB Parking pass, purchase timed parking, or purchase a daily pass for $15 from the kiosk.

Players Theater

E8 Lot

More Parking Information

CSULB Campus Map

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Theater Etiquette Reminders WE DO NOT OPERATE LIKE A MOVIE THEATER. YOU ARE A PART OF THE SHOW. YOUR THEATER ETIQUETTE IS A PART OF THE SHOW, EVERYONE IS ABLE TO SEE EVERYONE. LATE SEATING IS NOT PERMITTED: Patrons are not guaranteed seats unless they are on time and have a purchased ticket in hand. The show will start without you, no matter the reason you are late! As house managers we are trained to operate as a professional theater, and professional theaters do not allow late seating.

Walk-up Tickets and Waitlists: Any remaining tickets will be sold at the production's box office, which opens one hour before curtain. Sold-out performances begin waitlists one hour before curtain. You must arrive in person to put your name on a waitlist.

Food & Drink are not allowed in the theater: Patrons will be asked to finish their consumables before entering the theater.

Skateboards & Scooters are not allowed in the theater.

House Managers can direct you to a place for you us to hold your items during the show.

Content Advisory This show is recommended for Ages 11+.

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Class Passport Find Clues, Help PerLac, Win Prizes

All students, faculty, and staff are invited to play CalRep’s NEWEST Scavenger Hunt Visit the Game Website

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

Land Acknowledgement CSULB is located on the sacred site of Puvungna. We acknowledge that we are on the land of the Tongva/Gabrieleño and the Acjachemen/Juaneño Nations who have lived and continue to live here.

We recognize the Tongva and Acjachemen Nations and their spiritual connection as the first stewards and the traditional caretakers of this land.

We thank them for their strength, perserverance, and resistance. We pay our respects to the Ancestors, Elders, and our relatives, past, present, and emerging.

To learn how you can help, please visit: www.csulb.edu/puvungna

About CALREP CALREP is the producing arm of the Theatre Arts Department at CSULB. Over the past three decades, CALREP has a history of creating new work, devised theatre and adaptations of classics.

Meet the CalRep Team

Visit our Website

For any questions about our Program Guide info please email: cota-calrep@csulb.edu.

CALREP TEAM Department Chair Ezra LeBank MFA Theatre Management Faculty Jeff Janisheski Megan Wanlass Managing Director Meg Imamoto Production Manager Ashley Boehne Ehlers Technical Director Robert Waltz Master Carpenter Mitchell Domingo Scenic Student Assistants Saul Diaz Bledar Gashi Ellie Montenegro Tori Morones Arianna Echavarria Jesse Robles Costume Shop Manager Lalena Hutton Costume Shop Cutter/Draper Denise Barry Costume Shop Stitchers Vivian Mullvihill Saba Nabaeighahroudi Kelsi Haverkroft Toia Taylor Abigail Alva Mikayla McCulley Master Electrician Jasmine Flores Lighting Student Assistants/Hang & Focus Crew Apollo Artry Mya Baldwin Saul Diaz Kaison Edwards Sonia Giansiracusa Julia Juarez Kaitlyn Madrid Melissa Mejia-Rodriguez Deshawn Mims

Lighting Student Assistants (cont.)

Quinn O'Kelly Sean Ryder Elizabeth Sanchez Noah Stein Aiden Vice Austin Willis-Roberts Mike Zavala Media & Sound Engineer David Goyette Box Office Manager Randall Belyea Box Office Student Assistants Ashley Holguin Vincent Monastrial William Runnels Charli Southall Katie Tran Fiscal and Personnel Analyst Katie Speer Safety Technical Supervisor Tony Martinez Theatre Arts Graduate Advisor Josh Nathan Theatre Arts Academic Advisor Adriane Howze Videographer Nick Neira Production Photographer Cynthia Price Graduate General Manager Claire Pearson Management Graduate Students Amanda Anderson Perla Barajas Paula Eagleman Drew Olvey Chaunsa Oyos Claire Pearson The Bob Williamson

Faculty Gayle Baizer Chris Bange Jody Berger Trevor Biship-Gillespie Ashley Boehne Ehlers Josh Breeding Collin Bressie Erin Caron Andrea Caban Martha Carter Adrian Centeno Bonnie Dolan Alana Dietze Ramy Electreby Sharna Fabiano Michelle Gibbs Rebecca Guzzi Rich Hutchman Jeff Janisheski Nipper Knapp Ezra LeBank Bradley Lock Patricia Loughrey Emily MacDonald Josh Nathan Hugh O'Gorman Robert Prior Jen Richardson Tyler Seiple Medina Senghore Anna Steers Tom Trudgeon Sarah Underwood Megan Wanlass David Ward Jessica Woollen

Red Bike BY Caridad Svich

RED BIKE is presented through special arrangement with TRW PLAYS 1180 Ave of the Americas, Suite 640, New York, NY 10036. www.trwplays.com

Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.