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GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE GIL CATES THEATER
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR MATT SHAKMAN
WELCOME TO THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE Photo by Jeff Lorch
THERE IS NO BETTER PLACE TO PRODUCE THE NICETIES THAN HERE, in the shadow of UCLA, where the very questions of the play are no doubt discussed daily. College campuses across the nation are wrestling with how they can create safe spaces for students to learn while putting their own institutional histories and objectives under the microscope. And this collegiate debate and dialogue is a microcosm of what is happening in the world beyond. So think of The Niceties as a laboratory—one that tackles this fraught dynamic with dexterity and incisive wit, dancing on the head of a pin, never coming down on one side more strongly than the other. You may think you know what side you’re on but this play has the power to change your mind. Or at least to let you see from another set of eyes for a few moments. I am thrilled to welcome back Kimberly Senior, who has helmed an engaging, bold collision of two stunning characters brought to brilliant life by Lisa Banes and Jordan Boatman. The design team has created a perfectly cramped arena for this colossal debate. All of this works because of playwright Eleanor Burgess’ incredible sense of balance while navigating a thorny and complex set of issues. Her voice is astonishing. That all of these powerful theater artists are women is worth noting and celebrating. Thank you for supporting the Geffen and tonight’s production of The Niceties. I look forward to seeing you at the next one! Matt Shakman Artistic Director
2 PLAYBILL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Howard Tenenbaum CHAIR
Patricia Kiernan Applegate
Bruce M. Ramer
Beth Behrs
Victoria Mann Simms
Dr. Gene D. Block
Andy Spahn
Kevin Bright
Steven Spielberg
Harold A. Brown
Steve Tisch
Gil Cates Jr.
Dr. Charles E. Young
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
FOUNDING CHAIRMAN
2019/2020 SEASON
CHAIRMAN EMERITUS
Mary Ann Cloyd Merle Dandridge
IN MEMORIAM
Dr. Brad Edgerton
Gilbert Cates
Mark Fleischer Sue Fleishman Patricia L. Glaser Adi Greenberg
Marcia Israel-Curley Audrey Skirball Kenis Charles Kenis
VICE CHAIR
Karl Malden
Arthur Greenberg
Jerry Perenchio
Martha Henderson
Edie Wasserman
CHAIR EMERITUS
Loretta Everett Kaufman
Lew Wasserman
Jason Delane Lee
LEGAL COUNSEL
Carla Malden
Peter Rosen
Barry Meyer
Latham & Watkins LLP
Holly Rice Pamela Robinson
ADVISORY BOARD
Linda Bernstein Rubin
CHAIR EMERITUS
GIL CATES THEATER
FOUNDER
SKINTIGHT SEPT 3 – OCT 6, 2019
MACBETH NOV 5 – DEC 8, 2019
KEY LARGO FEB 4 – MAR 8, 2020
BERNHARDT/HAMLET APR 7 – MAY 10, 2020
Miranda Tollman
Teri Schwartz
CHAIR
REVENGE SONG
Matt Shakman
Stephanie Carson
A Vampire Cowboys Creation JUN 16 – JUL 19, 2020
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Richard Sherman Fred Specktor Lorraine Spurge Cynthia P. Stafford Kimberly Steward Marc Weinstock
FOUNDING TRUSTEES
Lori Collins Ellyce R. Cooper Debra Davis Ann Gianopulos Priscila Giraldo Natasha Gross
WITCH
Kirsten Hansen
AUG 20 – SEPT 29, 2019
Eric Heer Laura Kennedy
Kirsten Combs
Wendy Kurtzman
Robert A. Daly
Yvonne Lee
David Geffen
Hannah Linkenhoker
Herbert M. Gelfand
Tiffany Mayberry
CHAIRMAN EMERITUS
Quincy Jones Jeffrey Katzenberg Glorya Kaufman Ginny Mancini Frank G. Mancuso
AUDREY SKIRBALL KENIS THEATER
John McCrite Danny Passman Jessica Queller
THE THANKSGIVING PLAY OCT 22 – DEC 1, 2019
THE ENIGMATIST MAY 5 – JUN 14, 2020 One additional Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater production to be announced.
Eric Rollins Allen Shay
CHAIRMAN EMERITUS
John Sonego
Ron Meyer
Kevyn Wynn
Jerry Moss
Laurie Ziegler
geffenplayhouse.org 310.208.2028 GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 3
THE GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE PRODUCTION OF
WRITTEN BY
Eleanor Burgess DIRECTED BY
Kimberly Senior SCENIC DESIGNER
COSTUME DESIGNER
Cameron Anderson
Kara Harmon
LIGHTING DESIGNER
ORIGINAL MUSIC & SOUND DESIGN BY
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
D.M. Wood
Elisheba Ittoop
Ross Jackson
Leia Crawford
CASTING DIRECTOR
Alaine Alldaffer, CSA
OPENING NIGHT WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2019 The world premiere of The Niceties was co-produced in the 2018-2019 season by the Huntington Theatre Company (Peter DuBois, Artistic Director and Michael Maso, Managing Director), Boston, MA; Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director and Barry Grove, Executive Producer), New York, NY; and McCarter Theatre Center (Emily Mann, Artistic Director/Resident Playwright and Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director), Princeton, NJ. Originally developed at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in July 2017, under the leadership of Ed Herendeen, Producing Director and Peggy McKowen, Associate Producing Director. Developed in part at Portland Stage Company, Anita Stewart, Executive & Artistic Director. The Niceties is presented by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS CIRCLE MEMBERS
Laurie & Bill Benenson • Martha Henderson • Pamela Robinson Hollander & Robert Hollander Loretta Everett Kaufman & Victor Kaufman • Linda Bernstein Rubin & Tony Rubin Kimberly Steward & Josh Godfrey • Miranda & Brett Tollman 4 PLAYBILL
CAST OF CHARACTERS (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Janine Bosko ................................................................................ Lisa Banes* Zoe Reed .......................................................................... Jordan Boatman* *Indicates member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
SETTING An elite university in the Northeast.
TIME Act I: Late March, 2016. Act II: Three weeks later.
RUNNING TIME 1 hour and 50 minutes. There will be one 15 minute intermission.
PLEASE NOTE There is no photography or filming of any kind allowed in the theater. Please turn off all electronic devices, including cell phones. Thank you!
OPENING NIGHT SPONSORS GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 5
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES
LISA BANES (Janine Bosko) Broadway: Rumors, High Society, Arcadia, Accent on Youth, Present Laughter. Off-Broadway: Look Back in Anger (Theatre World Award), A Call From the East, My Sister in this House (Obie Award), Three Sisters, Antigone, Isn’t it Romantic (Drama Desk nomination), Emily, Fighting International Fat, Ten by Tennessee, The Alice Complex, Go Back to Where You Are, The Niceties. Film: Gone Girl, A Cure for Wellness, The Hotel New Hampshire, Marie, Young Guns, Cocktail, Dragonfly, The Jackal, Pumpkin, Without Limits, Freedom Writers. Acres of television includes the series The Trials of Rosie O’Neil, Girls Club, Son of the Beach. Recurring roles include China Beach, Six Feet Under, King of Queens, Royal Pains, Masters of Sex, Nashville. Graduate of the Juilliard School and alumna of The Acting Company.
JORDAN BOATMAN (Zoe Reed) Jordan Boatman is a 2018 graduate of the University of North 6 PLAYBILL
Carolina School of the Arts and recently appeared in Hulu’s The Path. She originated the role of Zoe in The Niceties at Huntington Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club and McCarter Theatre Center. Some of her favorite past roles include Berniece in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson and Emilia from Shakespeare’s Othello. lnstagram: @jordanknolveree
ELEANOR BURGESS (Playwright) Eleanor Burgess’s work has been produced at Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company, the Alliance Theatre, the Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company and Centenary Stage, and developed with The New Group, New York Theatre Workshop, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Alley Theatre, Writers Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Salt Lake Acting Company, the Hermitage Artists Retreat, the Lark Play Development Center and the Kennedy Center/NNPN MFA Playwrights Workshop. She’s a current member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages and has previously been a member of the Page 73 writers’ group Interstate 73, The Civilians’ R&D Group and New York Theatre Workshop’s 2050 Fellowship. She’s currently writing for HBO’s upcoming
series Perry Mason. Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, she studied history at Yale College and Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.
KIMBERLY SENIOR (Director) Kimberly Senior returns to the Geffen where she previously directed Sex with Strangers. She also directed the Broadway premiere of Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced, which she previously directed Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater (LCT3), Goodman Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Rep and Mark Taper Forum. Off-Broadway: The Niceties (Manhattan Theatre Club), Career Suicide (produced by Judd Apatow), Sakina’s Restaurant (Audible), Discord (Primary Stages), Engagements (Second Stage Theater), The Who and the What (LCT3). Regional: Photograph 51 (South Coast Repertory); Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); The Niceties (Huntington Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center); Disgraced, Rapture, Blister, Burn and Support Group for Men (Goodman Theatre); Buried Child, The Scene, Marjorie Prime, The Diary of Anne Frank, Hedda Gabler, The Letters (Writers Theatre); Sheltered (Alliance Theatre); Want and The North Plan (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Other Than Honorable (Geva Theatre Cen-
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES ter); among others. Television: Chris Gethard: Career Suicide (HBO). Senior is the recipient of the 2016 Special Non-Equity Jeff Award, 2016 Alan Schneider Award (TCG) and 2018 Einhorn Award (Primary Stages). CAMERON ANDERSON (Scenic Designer) Cameron is an internationally-acclaimed scenic designer and has designed extensively at the world’s leading theater and opera companies. She recently designed The Niceties (Manhattan Theater Club, Huntington Theatre Company, McCarter Theatre Center), West Side Story for Norway’s Kilden Performing Arts Center and for The Vancouver Opera and Simon Boccanegra for Argentina’s Teatro Colon. Selected Off-Broadway credits include: Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, New Georges, LAByrinth Theater Company, Naked Angels, Ars Nova, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Les Freres Corbusier. Regional credits include: Trinity Rep, Two River Theater Company, South Coast Repertory and Shakespeare & Company. Selected opera credits include: The Glimmerglass Festival, The Seattle Opera, The San Francisco Opera, Opera Saratoga, Central City Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, OnSite Opera, Indianapolis Opera, Gotham Chamber Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Indiana University Opera and The New England Conservatory. Upcoming projects include Byhalia, Mississippi (Kennedy Center), Yerma and Sweat (Huntington Theatre Company), Emmeline (Opera Tulsa) and La Fille Du Regiment (Opera Saratoga). www.cameronanderson.net
KARA HARMON (Costume Designer) Regional: Goodnight, Tyler (The Alliance Theatre); The Color Purple (Portland Center Stage); Black Odyssey, Ragtime and The Mountaintop (Trinity Rep); The Wiz! (Ford’s Theatre, Helen Hayes nom.); We, the Invisibles (Actors Theatre, Humana Festival); A Raisin in the Sun (Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage); Nina Simone: Four Women (Arena Stage); A Guide for the Homesick (Huntington Theatre Company); In the Heights (Geva Theatre Center); Native Gardens (Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage); Barbecue (Geffen Playhouse, NAACP Best Costume Design Award); Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy of Errors (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Dot (Vineyard Theatre). Assistant costume design for television: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), Daredevil (Netflix), Boardwalk Empire (HBO). Training: NYU Tisch. D.M. WOOD (Lighting Designer) D.M. Wood is an international lighting designer for opera and theatre. Upcoming designs include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nevill Holt Opera). Designs include the co-design of The Twilight Zone (The Ambassadors Theatre, London West End), Berenice (Royal Opera House, Linbury), Les Enfants Terribles (Opera Omaha), the U.S. premiere of 4.48 Psychosis (Prototype Festival, New York City), James Bond Symphony (Orchestre National de Lyon), Star Wars en Concert (Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier), The Niceties (McCarter Theatre
Center, Manhattan Theatre Club and Huntington Theatre Company), the world premiere of Mamzer Bastard (Royal Opera House, Hackney Empire) and the world premiere of 4.48 Psychosis (Royal Opera House, Lyric Hammersmith). Ms. Wood received the U.K.’s 2012 Knight of Illumination Opera Award for her design of Suor Angelica (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden). Her lighting design for The Slapstick Tragedy of Fatty Arbunkle (Merrimack Repertory Theatre) is nominated for a 2019 Irne Award. ELISHEBA ITTOOP (Original Music & Sound Design) Her designs and original music have been heard at MCC, American Repertory Theater, The Kennedy Center, Guthrie Theater, Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, National Gallery of Art, Soho Rep, Huntington Theatre Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Two River Theater, Women’s Project, Triad Stage, Woolly Mammoth, Arena Stage, Alliance Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Playhouse, LaMaMa, 59E59, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Okeechobee Music Festival and the Center for Puppetry Arts. Elisheba was a resident sound designer at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center for the 2010 and 2011 National Playwrights Conferences, the recipient of the Kenan Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the winner of the 2008 USITT Rising Star Award. Education: NYU, North Carolina School of the Arts. www.elishebaittoop.com GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 7
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES ROSS JACKSON (Production Stage Manager) Ross Jackson is excited to continue his work with the Geffen Playhouse! Proudly hailing from New Orleans, LA, Ross is now based in Los Angeles. Recent Geffen credits: Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole, A Christmas Carol, The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona, Skeleton Crew, Sell/Buy/ Date, Ironbound and A Funny Thing Happened... Other credits: Five Guys Named Moe (Ebony Repertory Theater); The Tempest and Deferred Action (Dallas Theater Center); The Crucible and A Lesson Before Dying (Clarence Brown Theatre); Aladdin and His Winter Wish and Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight (Lythgoe Family Panto); Nickel Mines (New York Musical Theatre Festival); The Lady Onstage, Orlando and True West (Profile Theater) and several productions with the University of California, Irvine, from which he holds his Master of Fine Arts in Stage Management. Proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. Love to Mom, Tom and Megan. LEIA CRAWFORD (Assistant Stage Manager) Regional: Steel Magnolias, The Mountaintop, Judgment at Nuremberg, Dracula (L.A. Theatre Works National Tour); Massoud: The Lion of Panjshir (CTG Workshop), Neva (CTG Reading); Murder for Two, Switzerland, The Gospel According to…, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Play Dead and Ruined (Geffen Playhouse); Future Thinking, The Whale, The Motherf*cker with the Hat, The Importance of Being Earnest, A Little Night Music and 8 PLAYBILL
An Italian Straw Hat (South Coast Repertory); For Piano and Harpo (Falcon Theater). Dance: Incubation, Four Seasons, LACDC10 and Youth (Los Angeles Contemporary Dance Company). Other theater credits: What Goes Around (Kaiser Permanente Educational Theater), Ojai Playwrights Conference 2014-2016, Story Pirates, Antaeus Theatre Company, Shakespeare Center LA and Redcat. Film festivals: AFI, TCM, AIF and LA Independent. Film: Diani & Devine Meet the Apocalypse. YouTube: Princess Rap Battle 4: Cinderella vs. Belle, Princess Rap Battle 5: Maleficent vs. Daenerys, Princess Rap Battle 6: Katniss vs. Hermione. Love to F, B and LL. ALAINE ALLDAFFER, CSA (Casting Director) Alaine is also the casting director for Playwrights Horizons, where her credits include Grey Gardens (also for Broadway), Clybourne Park (also for Broadway), Circle Mirror Transformation (Drama Desk and Obie Awards for Best Ensemble and an Artios Award for casting) and The Flick (Playwright Horizons and The Barrow Street Theater). Television credits include The Knights of Prosperity (a.k.a. Let’s Rob Mick Jagger) for ABC. Associate credits include Ed for NBC and Monk for USA. Ms. Alldaffer has also cast productions for Arena Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others. She credits Lisa Donadio as her associate casting director.
MATT SHAKMAN (Artistic Director) Matt Shakman has directed three highly acclaimed productions for the Geffen Playhouse: the West Coast premiere of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People, the world premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher’s new adaptation of Wait Until Dark and Joshua Harmon’s Bad Jews. His theatrical work has also been seen at Primary Stages in New York and South Coast Repertory. Matt founded and was the artistic director of the Black Dahlia Theatre in Los Angeles, which was named “one of a dozen young American companies you need to know” by American Theatre magazine and “Best Small Theatre” by Los Angeles magazine. Under his leadership, the Black Dahlia garnered numerous Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and LA Stage Alliance nominations and awards. In 2011, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle awarded him the Milton Katselas Award for Career Achievement in Direction. Matt is also well-regarded for his achievements in television and film. He is a director and producer for FX’s long-running show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and has directed episodes of Game of Thrones (DGA nomination), Mad Men, Fargo and The Good Wife. His feature film debut, Cut Bank, starring John Malkovich, Billy Bob Thornton and Bruce Dern, premiered at the Toronto Inter-
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES national and Los Angeles Film Festivals and was released by A24. Shakman is a graduate of Yale University and holds a B.A. in History of Art and Theater.
GIL CATES, JR. (Executive Director) As Executive Director, Gil Cates, Jr. leads the Geffen Playhouse in its mission to inform, entertain and inspire diverse audiences with live theater of the highest caliber—both within and beyond the non-profit theater’s walls. He has proudly served on the Geffen Playhouse
Board since 2012. Gil’s theater credits include the award-winning Names (Matrix Theatre Company) starring Dixie Carter and Greg Mullavey, Three Sisters and David Mamet’s A Life in the Theatre (both at Syracuse Stage). Gil’s film credits include The Surface (starring Sean Astin and Geffen Playhouse alumnus Chris Mulkey), Jobs (starring Ashton Kutcher, Josh Gad, Dermot Mulroney, as well as Geffen Playhouse alumni Matthew Modine and Ron Eldard) and the 2011 feature film Lucky (starring Colin Hanks, Ari Graynor, Ann-Margret and Golden Globe winner Jeffrey Tambor). In addition, Gil produced and directed the critically acclaimed Life After Tomorrow, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, which premiered on Showtime. His other films include Deal (starring Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison and Charles Durning) and The
Mesmerist (starring Geffen Playhouse alumnus Neil Patrick Harris). Gil’s television directorial debut was an episode of the NBC comedy Joey, starring Emmy winner Matt LeBlanc. He studied at the National Theatre Institute in Waterford, Connecticut, and holds a B.F.A. in Drama from Syracuse University.
REGINA MILLER (Chief Development Officer) Regina Miller has advised non-profit institutions, foundations and corporations on strategy, analysis and fund-
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PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHIES raising. She has consulted for Array Alliance, The Entertainment Industry Foundation, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project and Kershaw’s Challenge, among others. Prior to the Geffen, Regina worked for the Simon Wiesenthal Center/ Museum of Tolerance, where she produced an innovative human rights exhibition that traveled to 14 international destinations around Europe, Asia and the U.S. She also served as the Director of Part-
nerships for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, where she led strategic planning and development while executing policies that advanced the organization’s visibility and growth. Additionally, Regina has a strong passion for teaching. After graduating from University of North Carolina School of the Arts, she taught in preschools and kindergartens in New York. From the age of 13, Regina worked as a professional dancer on Broadway as well as with a
number of prominent modern dance ensembles. Fusing two of her interests, she created a highly successful program that incorporated dance therapy and creative movement into an early childhood curriculum as well as writing and producing a television show based on this concept. In addition to being a published author and photographer with Tallfellow Press and Prometheus Books, Regina has taught and lectured at numerous schools in New York, Los Angeles and abroad.
THE NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM Supporting artists is central to the mission of the Geffen Playhouse, and play commissions are a cornerstone of that support. To commission a playwright to write a play means making a commitment to their voice, craft and vision, with the hope of sharing the fruits of their work on our stage. The Geffen Playhouse’s New Play Development Program is made possible, in large part, through the leadership and generosity of donations from: The Edgerton Foundation, The Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Fay & Frank Mancuso, Sandra Krause & William Fitzgerald, Hilary & Jack Angelo and Mary Bianco, The MOCA Foundation. We are proud to have the following artists under commission: Rachel Bonds Colman Domingo Michael Golamco Meghan Kennedy Matthew Lopez Martyna Majok
Michael Mitnick Jiehae Park John Pollono Zoe Sarnak Robert Schenkkan Erika Sheffer
Jen Silverman Qui Nguyen & Vampire Cowboys David Wiener Lauren Yee Anna Ziegler
For more information on this program, please visit geffenplayhouse.org/newplays.
THE WRITERS’ ROOM A group for Los Angeles-based playwrights, The Writers’ Room is a product of the Geffen’s deep commitment to supporting new plays and specifically to fostering bold, relevant work by the vibrant artistic community of this city. During this one-year residency, playwright members gather monthly at the Geffen to share their work and receive feedback from their peers and the Geffen’s artistic staff, culminating in a play reading series. The Writers’ Room is made possible through the generous support of Patricia Kiernan Applegate. Angelica Chéri Dipika Guha
Chelsea Marcantel Brian Otaño
Liza Powel O’Brien Matt Schatz
For more information on this program, please visit geffenplayhouse.org/thewritersroom. 10 PLAYBILL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
GEFFEN AT A GLANCE
PRODUCTION STAFF FOR THE NICETIES Associate Lighting Designer Natali Arco Associate Sound Designer Jonathan Burke Assistant Scenic Designer Grace Laubacher Assistant Lighting Designer Becky Heisler McCarthy Stage Crew Alex Norkus Wardrobe Supervisor Liz Rose Sound Board Operator Austin Taylor Light Board Operator Thomas Crosby Directing Intern Aya Saleh
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Lighting Equipment provided by Kinetic Lighting, Inc. Sound Equipment provided by Jon Sound Inc. Production Photographer T. Charles Erickson Production Photographer Jeff Lorch Media Filming Ramon Garcia Key Art Jeff Lorch SPECIAL THANKS UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television Scene, Prop, Sound and Costume Shops; London Cleaners
UCLA SCHOOL OF THEATER, FILM AND TELEVISION Geffen Playhouse is affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles, specifically the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. Geffen Playhouse values its role as an important educational resource by providing students with master classes, workshops and internships. Students are also able to work and learn from distinguished visiting Geffen artists such as Alan Ayckbourn, Jon Robin Baitz, Annette Bening, Ed Harris, David Ives, Neil LaBute, David Mamet, Donald Margulies, Terrence McNally, John Rando and Kathleen Turner in areas of directing, playwriting, acting, design, dramaturgy, management and production. Geffen Playhouse also draws upon the distinguished experts in the university to enhance the theater’s programs and research.
RECORDING NOTICE The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production or distributing recordings on any medium, including the Internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit: www.samuelfrench.com/whitepaper.
This theater operates under agreement between the League of Resident Theaters and Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
Geffen Playhouse 10886 Le Conte Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90024 Administrative Offices ................. 310.208.6500 Mon – Fri ................................. 10:00 am – 6:00 pm Box Office Phone Line ................. 310.208.5454 Daily ............................................ 7:00 am – 6:00 pm Audiences Services ...................... 310.208.2028 Daily .......................................... 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm Please visit geffenplayhouse.org for hours, parking and more information.
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Daily .......................................... 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm During the run of a show, the window will be open until curtain. Please note: the Box Office window is unable to process exchanges and future sales one hour prior to curtain time on any performance day.
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Geffen Playhouse is fully committed to ensuring a satisfying theater experience for our patrons with special needs or disabilities. Please contact the Box Office or an usher to discuss your needs. Partial support for open captioning provided by Theatre Development Fund.
AT THE THEATER LATE SEATING Should you arrive late to the theater or vacate your seat during the performance, please expect to be held in the lobby until an appropriate pause in the action on stage. To minimize disturbance to other patrons, you may be seated in the first available location by the house staff even if it is different from your assigned seat. Be advised that some productions or circumstances may not allow for late or return seating.
NO PHOTOGRAPHY There is no photography or filming of any kind allowed in the theater. Please turn off all electronic devices, including cell phones.
This theater operates under agreement between the League of Resident Theaters and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union. The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT theaters are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.
GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 11
Idina Menzel in Skintight SEPT 3 – OCT 6, 2019
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Macbeth NOV 5 – DEC 8, 2019
Qui Nguyen’s Revenge Song JUN 16 – JUL 19, 2020
Simon Helberg in Witch AUG 20 – SEPT 29, 2019
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Andy Garcia in Key Largo FEB 4 – MAR 8, 2020
Theresa Rebeck’s Bernhardt/Hamlet APR 7 – MAY 10, 2020
Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play OCT 22 – DEC 1, 2019
David Kwong’s The Enigmatist MAY 5 – JUN 14, 2020
2019/2020 SEASON
PACKAGES START AT $150 310.208.2028 geffenplayhouse.org
PICK A SIDE. THEN CHANGE YOUR MIND.
How Eleanor Burgess finds balance in The Niceties Photo by Julián Juaquin
BECAUSE NEITHER HAD THE PLEASURE of being the production dramaturg on The Niceties, Associate Artistic Director Amy Levinson and Manager of New Play Development Rachel Wiegardt-Egel both jumped at the chance to sit down with playwright Eleanor Burgess. We encourage you to read the full interview online at blog.geffenplayhouse.org. Amy Levinson: What inspired you to write the play? Eleanor Burgess: This play grew out of an incident that happened at Yale in 2015. Some administrators sent an email to students prior to Halloween advising them that wearing fellow students’ identities as costumes is insensitive and often inappropriate. Then a lecturer in the psychology department sent an email to students stating that the email from the administration was, in fact, inappropriate. Her argument was that the whole point of college is that you should be figuring out for yourself the right way to interact with people—which came across as “I don’t care if students wear blackface.” The initial disagree14 PLAYBILL
ment exploded into a much larger conversation about what kind of experience students of color were having at this elite school. I did my undergrad at Yale and all of my friends were talking about this and processing our own experiences, and I realized that any discussion we tried to have was a total failure. My friends—who are lovely people who want to do good in the world and are usually nuanced thinkers—resorted to over-simplifying and saying academic freedom is important and therefore these students are coddled and spoiled brats OR these concerns are real and academic freedom is a distraction and perpetuates white supremacy. Everyone picked one side or the other and couldn’t talk to each other. These opposing views coalesced into these two characters. Rachel Wiegardt-Egel: What are some of the reasons you decided to keep the play a two-hander? EB: I never thought about there being anyone else. To me, the characters are real people with distinct personalities and circumstances, but the play is also metaphorical in that it’s white America and
black America locked in a room together trying to agree about what America is. Kimberly Senior [director of The Niceties] and I also discussed that there has to be potential for these two women to have a connection—and they do in fact have a connection. In some ways, this is a mother/ daughter play, a mentor/mentee play. Because it’s just the two of them, they can be incredibly open with each other. There is something in the other person that they connect to, and it seemed that bringing another person into the mix would break the alchemical connection between these two women. AL: You just touched on the importance of the balance in the relationship between these two women and the same could be said about the balance of the arguments they are bringing forth. In your writing process, how did you figure out if you, in fact, achieved balance within the arguments? EB: I’ve been lucky to have a long road with this play. And from West Virginia to Portland, Maine, to Boston, New York, New Jersey and now to Los Angeles, we’ve been able to have full productions in each place. That’s a luxury for a playwright because you are learning with the audience. You can see when one of the characters is losing the sympathy of the audience, or when they’ve gone too far, or if they haven’t made their case effectively enough. I also always had to explore what one of the characters could say to make their own argument more convincing. Anytime I wrote a speech that I knew clinched an argument, I immediately needed to craft a response that was different but equally valid and real. Neither of the characters is simple or thoughtless and they have reasons to feel what they feel. In a lot of plays about race, there’s a tendency to make one of the characters the virtuous angel, and I think that’s really unfair. Making sure that both of them are flawed people who sometimes go too far was important to me as well. RW: We’ve been talking a lot about balance, and I’m fascinated by the balance between the academic setting and the way it serves as a microcosm for a much larger conversation that’s happening nationally. How did you approach the micro and the macro of the piece?
EB: This is one of the places where working with Kimberly Senior has been such a gift—she always had her eye on the fact that there have to be stakes in a way that helps the actors ground the work. Kimberly being so attentive to that freed me up to discuss these huge ideas because she was always going to keep it real, intimate and personal. The challenge of the play is making it clear that the ideas are personal. The ideas do have stakes—this isn’t a debate play. The way that Janine thinks America works is central to her sense of self as an immigrant, as a female professor who has worked her way up in a time of great change, as someone who has staked her reputation on understanding how the world works. To be told your understanding of the Constitution is wrong is to be told that what your family believes is wrong. It’s completely personal. It’s the same way for Zoe. She is a talented person who should feel like she’s inheriting the world, but she literally doesn’t know where to put herself or who to trust. In the world of academia—and it’s a world I’ve spent a lot of time in—people’s ideas are the core of who they are. So if those ideas are suddenly invalidated, it is as though the person is being invalidated. AL: How have responses differed among the different audiences? EB: What I love about this play is that the audience is an active participant. The play feels different every night. I think that’s what theater is all about. It’s shaped by the exact day on which it’s being performed. We saw the play on the night of the midterm elections and during the Kavanaugh hearings—what’s going on in the world shapes it. I think that’s wonderful because there’s no right way to respond to the play. People can take away any number of reactions and they are all correct. It’s right to be angry, it’s right to be challenged, it’s right to be excited, it’s right to feel catharsis, it’s right to feel defensive, it’s right to feel thoughtful, determined... The play is a communal event where people will have different reactions and you learn from each other as you listen. The play is designed to allow its meaning to change over time and I love that. To read more about The Niceties, please visit blog.geffenplayhouse.org. GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 15
BACKSTAGE at the GEFFEN Sunday, May 19, 2019
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ARTISTIC Amy Levinson Associate Artistic Director Daniel Ionazzi Producer Phyllis Schuringa Artistic Associate / Casting Director Young Ji Artistic Coordinator / Company Manager Rachel Wiegardt-Egel Manager of New Play Development
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Celia Rivera Community Engagement Coordinator Brian Majestic Veterans Project Coordinator
Sue Fleishman Communications Consultant
FRONT OF HOUSE Jeni Pearsons Director of Special Events Mel Yonzon Front of House Manager Amy Farkas Lead Concierge Isaac Jay, Anya Pryjmak, Madison Shamoun, Dennis Woullard House Managers
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Kailey Bray, Ryan Brophy, Jada Harris, Elza Hofeld, Lucy Houlihan, Otniel Henig, Hunter Lowden, Olivia Lowe, Austin Merrill, Keith Mitchell, Sidne Phillips, Brandon Root, Chuck Soo-Hoo, Charmee Taylor, Adam Turney, Isaac Vaughn, Robin Vega Ushers
Patrick Brown Director of Marketing
Rob Mersola Bar Manager & Mixologist
Zenon Dmytryk Director of Communications
Adam Carr Bar Captain
Peter Banachowski Senior Accountant & Financial Analyst
Karen Gutierrez Director of Advertising & Audience Development
Manuel Mayorga Weekend Bar Manager
Nova George Staff Accountant & Payroll Specialist
Brian Dunning Director of Content & Creative
Clay Dzygun Office Coordinator
Zack Hamra Associate Director of Audience Services & Ticketing
Rich Gilles Properties Master James Grabowski House Sound Supervisor Ramine Ameli Lighting & Projection Supervisor Liz Rose Wardrobe Supervisor
ADMINISTRATION Behnaz Ataee Chief Financial Officer
Marguerite Harris Receptionist
DEVELOPMENT Regina Miller Chief Development Officer Ellen Catania Senior Vice President of Development Jessica Brusilow Rollins Director of Education Partnerships & Donor Relations
Darien Battle, Ramy El-Etreby, David Guerra, Michael McClain, Robert Paterno, Carissa Pinckney, Tara Ricasa, Celia Rivera, Jessica Winward Teaching Artists
Kevin O’Brien Marketing Manager
Skylar Adams, Brenda Davidson, Sarah Drescher, Ryan Turner Bartenders/Event Staff
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Karim Bouzzit System Administrator
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT
Ramon Garcia Video Producer
Miguel del Castillo Facility Manager
Kristina Leach Social Media Associate
Mario Santillan-Perez Custodial
Wendell Pascual Production Artist
Juan Carlos Umaña Cleaning Custodial
Janice Bernal Box Office Manager
Camerina Martinez Cleaning Custodial
Geffen Playhouse is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. This project was also funded in part by the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles. Geffen Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater company, is proudly affiliated with the University of California at Los Angeles.
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