FLORIDA REPERTORY THEATRE
Director
2022-2023 SEASON
HISTORIC ARCADE THEATRE • FORT MYERS RIVER DISTRICT PRESENTS
GRAND SPONSORS LEE MOORE & DEE WHITED
with MAJOR SUPPORT FROM PLAYWRIGHT’S CIRCLE SPONSORS DARLENE & VAL ARNOLD NETWORKING SPONSOR NAOMI BLOOM
ALL EVENTS IN THE HISTORIC ARCADE THEATRE
SEE MONSTERS OF THE DEEP by Mark Shanahan
THURS, MAY 4 | 7PM
TROUBLE
(at the Vista View Mobile Home Estates) by Audrey Cefaly
FRI, MAY 5 | 7PM
Sponsored by Dr. Gail D. McClure
ONE-SHOT by Andrew Rosendorf
SAT, MAY 6 | 2PM
LONG LAYOVER by Michelle Tyrene Johnson
SAT, MAY 6 | 7PM
Sponsored by Lee Moore & Dee Whited
MOUNTAIN MAMAS by Daryl Lisa Fazio
SUN, MAY 7 | 4PM
Sponsored by Judy Weiner
PLAYWRIGHTS PANEL
SUN, MAY 7 | 6:30PM
Sponsored by Dr. Susan B Herbel
There will be a talk-back following each reading with the playwright, director, and actors. Please stay and be part of the discussion
2022-23 GRAND SEASON SPONSORS
This
the
entire season sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and the Florida Council on Arts and Culture. Florida Repertory Theatre is a fully professional non-profit LOA/LORT Theatre company on contract with
Actors’ Equity Association that proudly employs members of the national theatrical labor unions.
Fort
Community
GREG LONGENHAGEN, Producing Artistic Director • JOHN MARTIN, Executive
Myers
Redevelopment Agency
SEE MONSTERS OF THE DEEP WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY MARK SHANAHAN**
From a concept by Mark Shanahan and Steve Pacek
There are such things as monsters. Aren’t there? August, 1937. A strange creature has been spotted swimming in the waters off Massachusetts. Are the local fishermen’s reports to be believed? And what of the giant footprints recently found on the shore? Determined to confront his fear of the unknown, a young man from Brooklyn journeys to a small island off the coast of New England to learn the truth about the mysterious and elusive beast. Instead, his quest provides more questions than answers, a roller coaster ride filled with impenetrable mystery, enchanting characters, the thrill of romance...and the adventure of a lifetime.
CAST
(in order of appearance)
Morton................................................................................................................Seth Robert Patterson*† Tony Sarg and everyone else....................................................................................Jason Parrish*†
Stage Manager: Ruth E. Kramer* Stage Directions Read by Chase Brackett
MARK SHANAHAN is the author A Sherlock Carol (nominated Best Play by The Off-Broadway Alliance, 2022, playing annually in New York and London) and his adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, premiering this summer at the Tony Award winning Alley Theatre. Other writing credits include the Off-Broadway and regional hit comedy, The Dingdong (Florida Rep production, 2016), A Merry Little Christmas Carol (Florida Rep production, 2018), and The Chronology Protection Case (adaptation, Edgar Award nominee), and co-author with Gibson Frasier of the short film Kill Me (Adirondack Film Festival.) Mark is the writer and creator of the acclaimed, White Heron Radio Theatre (NPR’s WNCK, Spotify, iTunes and other major audio platforms), featuring original radio drama of the supernatural performed by renowned Broadway and Hollywood actors. As a director, Mark’s work has been seen on the New York and London stage as well as The Alley, Virginia Stage, Irish Rep, Mile Square Theatre, White Heron Theatre, George Street Playhouse, Theatre Squared, Florida Rep, Weston Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Penguin Rep, The Fulton, Merrimack Rep, Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Cape Playhouse and others. At Florida Rep, Mark has directed The Hound of The Baskervilles, Around The World In 80 Days, How The Other Half Loves, and A Christmas Carol. As a performer, Mark has appeared in Broadway’s The 39 Steps and Philadelphia, Here I Come! and Off-Broadway in Tryst, Small World, The Shaugraun, Checkers, As Bees in Honey Drown, and more. He has performed on numerous regional stages including The Alley, The Pioneer, The Fulton, The Kennedy Center, The Denver Centre, Hartford Theatreworks, White Heron and others. Mark is the resident director of The White Heron Theatre and curator of the Script in Hand Series at The Westport Country Playhouse. He is a graduate of Brown University (BA) and Fordham University (MA), and teaches at New York’s Jen Waldman Studio. mark-shanahan.net.
Mark Shanahan returns to PlayLab after the 2015 reading of The Dingdong, which made its regional premiere at Florida Rep in 2016. His adaptation of A Christmas Carol premiered at Florida Rep in 2018. His 2020 virtual PlayLab offering, A Sherlock Carol, will have its regional premiere at Florida Rep next fall!
MAY 4 | 7PM
*Member of Actors Equity Association **Member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society +Member of Florida Rep's Ensemble of Artists
TROUBLE (at the Vista View Mobile Home Estates)
BY AUDREY CEFALY
Directed by Benny Sato Ambush**
Sponsored by Dr. Gail D. McClure
An electrifying new play from the author of Alabaster and Maytag Virgin! In small-town Alabama, ex-mill worker, Euba, desperately does not want the birthday party her mother insists on throwing for her. On the eve of the celebration with their mutual friends, underlying tensions erupt to the surface in this surprising and compassionate dramedy of generational scars and the complex relationship between mothers and daughters.
CAST
(in order of appearance)
Raven....................................................................................................................................Gerrie Benzing*†
Euba........................................................................................................................... Carolyn Messina*†
Bernie...........................................................................................................................................Nan Barnett*†
Yoyo.....................................................................................................................................................Rita Cole*†
Fin........................................................................................................................................Rachel Burttram*†
Lila...........................................................................................................................................Sarah Brackett*†
Stage Manager & Stage Directions
Read by Brendan Powers*†
AUDREY CEFALY (Maytag Virgin, The Gulf, Alabaster, The Last Wide Open, Love is a Blue Tick Hound ) is an alumna of the Playwrights’ Arena cohort at Arena Stage, a recipient of the Walter E. Dakin Fellowship from the Sewanee Writers Conference, and a Dramatist Guild Foundation Traveling Master. Her plays have been produced across the country at theaters such as Cincinnati Playhouse, Florida Studio, Florida Rep, City Theatre, Penobscot Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, Merrimack Rep, Signature Theatre, Barter Theatre, and Vermont Stage. Her play The Gulf won the Lammy Award for LGBTQ Drama, and her Pulitzernominated Alabaster is just completing a 10-city Rolling World Premiere, the largest in National New Play Network history.
Audrey Cefaly returns to PlayLab after the 2018 reading of Alabaster, which began its 11-theatre National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at Florida Rep in 2019/2020.
MAY 5 | 7PM
of Actors Equity
*Member
Association **Member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society +Member of Florida Rep's Ensemble of Artists
LONG LAYOVER BY MICHELLE TYRENE JOHNSON
Directed by Karen Stephens
Sponsored by Lee Moore & Dee Whited
Lorraine is a single black woman at a crossroads. Unhappy with her life in Dallas, big decisions weigh her down. Kelly, her therapist, wants Lorraine to picture herself in her safe space when she’s in a therapy session. Oddly for Lorraine, her safe-space is an airport waiting room. Facing a layoff, Lorraine has the chance to start over – should she move to Africa with her boyfriend…or Amsterdam to start a new career in cosmetics…or back to Memphis to care for her aging father? Long Layover is a powerful and inventive play about a woman trying to figure out what she wants, what she’s become, and how to step into power, happiness, forgiveness, and love.
CAST
(in order of appearance)
Lorraine.........................................................................................................................Monique Caldwell*†
Kelly.........................................................................................................................................Patricia Idlette*†
Amy/Dr. Goren.........................................................................................................Brianna McVaugh*†
Moussa/Samuel............................................................................................................Frank Oakley III*†
Joey/Jabir.......................................................................................................................Kevin Craig West*†
Stage Manager: Ciarán McCarthy*
Stage Directions Read by Sanda Dixon
MICHELLE TYRENE JOHNSON is a public radio journalist, author, and former attorney from the Greater Kansas City, Missouri area who now lives in Louisville, Kentucky. As an award-winning playwright, Johnson’s plays have been staged nationally, including in California, Texas, Illinois, Nevada, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Utah. Several of her plays, such as Wiccans in the Hood, The Negro Whisperer, Trading Races: From Rodney King to Paula Deen, Echoes of Octavia, and The Green Book Wine Club Train Trip have been in New York City festivals and readings. Her play Only One Day A Year was chosen for the Kennedy Center’s 2020 New Vision/New Voices Festival and received an award from the National Endowment for the Arts for its World Premiere at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. Johnson received her MFA in Writing, with a focus on playwriting, from Spalding University in May 2022.
MAY 6 | 7PM
*Member of Actors Equity Association
**Member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society
+Member of Florida Rep's Ensemble of Artists
MOUNTAIN MAMAS
BY DARYL LISA FAZIO
Directed by Margaret Ledford
Sponsored by Judy Weiner
A moving and humor-filled portrait of three generations of women miners in coal country. Patsy Armstrong is a coal miner. Just like her daddy, Earl. And just like her mother, Wanda, who was one of the first women ever hired underground in a union mine – who’s still there at 60 years old. Patsy’s back in mother and daddy’s house after a mining accident that left her unable to move or communicate. When the family gets news about the settlement from Patsy’s accident, Livvy (her bright 18-year old daughter) jumps into the fray. And Patsy, now forced to listen and observe more than she ever did as a healthy person, is plagued by nightmares and revelations she’s able to share only with us. In this story of resilience and redemption, it doesn’t take long for Patsy to realize she has to learn a new way of being if she’s gonna save her entire world.
CAST
(in order of appearance)
Patsy...................................................................................................................................Daryl Lisa Fazio*†
Earl........................................................................................................................... David Breitbarth*†
Wanda.............................................................................................................................Dianne Summers*†
Livvy.............................................................................................................................................Tatum Bates*†
Stage Manager: Ruth E. Kramer*
Stage Directions Read by Arielle Conrad
DARYL LISA FAZIO is a writer, actor, and graphic designer for theatre based in Atlanta, GA. Off-Broadway: POPart: the Musical (New York Musical Theatre Festival) and Greyhounds. Regional Productions: Safety Net (Theatrical Outfit world premiere, Penobscot Theatre), The Flower Room (Actor’s Express world premiere, Florida Rep PlayLab Reading, Emory University commission), Split in Three (Aurora Theatre; Florida Rep world premiere), and Freed Spirits (Horizon Theatre commission and world premiere). Awards & Workshops: Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Barter Theatre Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights, Florida Rep PlayLab, O’Neill Finalist and Semi-Finalist; Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist and SemiFinalist; Alliance Theatre Reiser Artists Lab Residency; Official Selection, National Alliance of Musical Theatre; New York Musical Theatre Festival Next Link Selection. Daryl is also a professional actor and recently released her novel manuscript as a serial podcast called Pearl River Remains which she also performed. BA Theatre: Northwestern University; MFA Graphic Design: University of Memphis. www.darylsplays.com
Daryl Lisa Fazio’s Split in Three was read in the inaugural PlayLab, and went on to have its world premiere at Florida Rep in 2015. This is Fazio’s fifth PlayLab appearance after The Flower Room (2017), Safety Net (2019), and acting in Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster & giving the keynote address in 2018.
MAY 7 | 4PM
*Member of Actors Equity Association **Member of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society +Member of Florida Rep's Ensemble of Artists
PLAY READING COMMITTEE
The 2023 PlayLab readings were chosen from a pool of 75 plays submitted by playwrights and agents from across the country. The reading committee made up of current & former staff, guest artists, and even Florida Rep patron donors read and evaluated each with care and expertise. Please join us in giving this group of readers a round of applause.
Rachel Berkhouse
Naomi Bloom
Viki Boyle
Jane & Bob Breisch
Bruce & Janet Bunch
Chris Clavelli
Stephanie Davis
Emily Eason
Maureen Heffernan
Bethany Mansfield
Kylie Gray Mask
Lee Moore & Dee Whited
Renee Pesci
Shannon Graves Rossi
Lauren Sale
Reva Shaffer
Gerritt VanderMeer
Shelley Wilson
Kate Young
PLAYLAB STAFF
JASON PARRISH
Festival Director
JENNIFER WOODFORD
Festival Stage Manager
SAM CRABTREE
Festival Production Assistant
JOY RESTER
Festival Company Manager
DYLAN CATANIA
Assistant to the Festival Director
SPECIAL THANKS
Lee County Alliance for the Arts
Charles Clark
Greg Longenhagen
Katie Lowe
Carolyn Messina
Deb Jonsson & Joe Dafeldecker
Jennifer Denike & Emily Yorgey
FLORIDA PROFESSIONAL THEATRES ASSOCIATION (FPTA) is a statewide organization of professional theatre companies and theatre professionals interested in the development and promotion of professional theatre throughout Florida. Florida Repertory Theatre is a proud FPTA member theatre.
Florida Repertory Theatre is a member of THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP (TCG), the national organization for the American Theatre.
TICKETS
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION (AEA) was founded in 1913 as the first of the American Actor unions. Equity’s mission is to advance, promote and foster the art of theatre as an essential component of our society. Today, Equity represents more than 40,000 actors, singers, dancers and stage managers working in hundreds of theatres across the United States. Equity members are dedicated to working in the theatre as a profession, upholding the highest artistic standards. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions and provides a wide range of benefits including health and pension plans for its members. Through its agreement with Equity, this theatre has committed to the fair treatment of the actors and stage managers employed in this production. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. For more information, visit www. actorsequity.org.
Florida Repertory Theatre is a proud Associate Member of the NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK
BOARD OF DIRECTORS & FLORIDA REP STAFF
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Janice Danzig, Chair
Naomi Bloom, Vice Chair
Dinah Bloomhall
Alexandra Bremner
Shavon Chester
Doris Colgate
Fay C. Gronski, Secretary
Arthur Zupko, Treasurer
Marc Collins
David M. Fritz
R. Marc Laviolette
Greg Longenhagen
ADVISORY BOARD
Sunny Lubner
John Martin
Martin McLaughlin
Marlene Moulton
Don Abbott • Liz Abbott • Suzanne Boy • Don Gurule • Melinda Isley • Jan Klein
Jane Lane • R. Marc Laviolette • Darrel Lieze-Adams • Greg Longenhagen • Donna Lovejoy
Clive Lubner • John Martin • Jeff McCullers
STAFF
ARTISTIC & EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
Executive Director............................................John Martin
Producing Artistic Director........Greg Longenhagen
Associate Artistic Director.......................Jason Parrish
Executive Assistant............................Dianne Summers
ADMINISTRATION
Finance Director.................................................Scott Osler
Business Manager............................................Kelly Colton
Company Manager............................................Joy Rester
Director of Operations...........................Juan Santiago
Asst. Operations Manager...........................Blanca Solis
Box Office Manager................................Gerrie Benzing
Front of House Associates....Rick Aschenbrenner, Samantha Calderon, Renae Corvi, Joanne Friedman, Angel Harris, Jennifer Manekin, Lori McKenzie, Beverly Morgan, Yamil Ocasio, Lee Slattery, Donna VanDuiven
DEVELOPMENT & FUNDRAISING
Development Director..........................Jennifer Denike
Development Associate............................Emily Yorgey
MARKETING
Marketing Director............................Deborah Jonsson
Digital Media Specialist....................Joe Dafeldecker
Social Media Specialist.......................Stephanie Davis
EDUCATION
Education Director.............................Monique Caldwell
Asst. Education Director...............................Emily Turtle
Touring & Outreach Manager...........Isabella Cintron
PRODUCTION
Production Manager/Safety Officer Charles Clark
Associate Production Manager Naomi Bates
Interim Technical Director......................Miranda White
Production Shop Foreman......................Liam Fisher
Resident Director...........................................Chris Clavelli
Master Electrician..............................................Joel Zishuk
Asst. Master Electrician.................................Tyler Evans
Carpenter........................................................Shellie Raleigh
Sound Engineer..................................................Katie Lowe
Costume Shop Manager..................Stephanie Hawks
Asst. Costume Shop Manager..............Briar Edwards
Wardrobe Supervisor...........Anthony “Tony” Toney
Scenic Charge...............................Julie Beth McCracken
Scenic Artist...................................................London Dailey
Properties Manager...............................Jesseca Terhaar
Properties Artist.................................................Lily Munroe
2022-2023 INTERN COMPANY
Acting Company......................................Chase Brackett, Sarah Brackett, Arielle Conrad, Sam Crabtree, Brianna McVaugh, Seth Patterson
Production................Mae Burrus, Matthew Hakesley, Emma Sabulsky, Dillon Sheehan, Erija Wayman-Murdock
Company Management.............................Gabby Farve
Stage Management....DJ Kelly, Jennifer Woodford
Costumes.......................Sam Bogan, Eleanor Boozer
Properties.......................................................John O’Shields
Contains strong language, adult situations, & brief nudity.
