IRT Program: PNC presen"NO. 6"

2020-2021 SEASON

Original artwork by Tasha Beckwith

NO. 6

by T.J. Young

STREAMING MARCH 11 – APRIL 4, 2021 | IRTLIVE.COM | 317.635.5252 SHARE YOUR REVIEW & TAG US ON SOCIAL MEDIA @IRTLIVE!

Community Engagement That’s Built to Last Building a better future together The spirit of giving is strong at OneAmerica®. A community leader since our inception, we proudly support organizations, like the Indiana Repertory Theatre, that make a difference. OneAmerica is pleased to have further extended our support of the IRT. Our community commitment focuses on strategically investing in education; workforce development; community safety, wellness and success; and community vibrancy.

Visit OneAmerica.com to learn more about our involvement with local nonprofits.

Life Insurance | Retirement | Employee Benefits © 2020 OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Origami model by Brian K. Webb

PROUD SPONSOR OF THE IRT SINCE 1997

At Printing Partners, we look at the bigger picture.

To us, print is more than simply putting ink on paper.

It’s the act of transforming your thoughts, feelings and hard work into something tangible. Similarly, organizations like the Indiana Repertory Theatre aren’t just organizations, but educational journeys to a broadened mindset and an open heart.

And we’re proud to support it.

Offset & Digital Printing • Packaging • Games & Puzzles • Plastic Substrate Printing Mailing Services • Publishing • Signage • Promotional Products • Apparel • Marketing

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APPLAUSE TO A TRUE COMMUNITY CHAMPION ONEAMERICA | 2020-2021 SEASON SPONSOR OneAmerica is proud to support the IRT as one of Central Indiana’s most vibrant institutions. Our relationship reflects one of the longest running sponsorships in professional theater nationwide, and we’re pleased to have further extended our partnership support during these unprecedented times. Enjoy the 2020-2021 season!

—Scott Davison, OneAmerica chairman, president and CEO

Through its community outreach efforts, the Navient Foundation supports organizations and programs that address the root causes which limit financial success for all Americans. The Navient Foundation is proud to support the Indiana Repertory Theatre as the Education Partner for the 2020-2021 Season.

Navient is a leading provider of asset management and business processing solutions to education, healthcare, and government clients at the federal, state, and local levels. Millions of Americans rely on financial support to further their education and improve their lives. We work hard each day to help our customers navigate financial challenges and achieve their goals.

We at Navient have a deep appreciation for the arts and for the hard work, passion, and emotion that go into them, as well as the positive influences the arts have on individuals and their communities. Our employees in central Indiana are proud to support our community through amazing programs like those offered by IRT. Enjoy the show.

OUR MISSION & VISION MISSION

Live theatre connects us to meaningful issues in our lives and has the power to shape the human experience. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.

VISION

The Indiana Repertory Theatre will be a life-long destination of choice for an ever-expanding audience of all ages and backgrounds seeking enjoyable and meaningful experiences. Using theatre as a springboard for both personal reflection and community discussion, our productions and programs will inspire our neighbors to learn about themselves and others. As an arts leader in the state of Indiana, the IRT's goal is to make Indiana a dynamic home of cultural expression, economic vitality, and a diverse, informed, and engaged citizenry.

AS AN INSTITUTION, WE VALUE...

SUSTAINING A PROFESSIONAL, CREATIVE ATMOSPHERE

• The professional production of plays that provide insight and celebrate human relationships through the unique vision of the playwright • Professional artists of the highest quality working on our stages in an environment that allows them to grow and thrive • Our leadership role in fostering a creative environment where arts, education, corporate, civic, and cultural organizations collaborate to benefit our community PRUDENT STEWARDSHIP OF OUR RESOURCES

• Our public-benefit status, where the focus is on artistic integrity, affordable ticket prices that allow all segments of our community to attend, and community service • Fiscal responsibility and financial security based on achieving a balanced budget • Growing our endowment fund as a resource for future development and to ensure institutional longevity.

INCLUSIVENESS

• The production of plays from a broad range of dramatic literature addressing diverse communities • The involvement of all segments of our community in our activities • Using theatre arts as a primary tool to bring meaning into the lives of our youth, making creativity a component of their education • The employment of artists and staff that celebrates the diversity of the United States

CONTENTS 3............................ Mission & Values 5 �������������������������������������������� Profile 6.....................................Leadership 10 ��������������������������������������������� Staff 12........................Board of Directors 20 ������������������������������������������� NO. 6 29............................. Company Bios 34....................................Interview: Milicent Wright 36...............................Donor Listing

REVIEWS! FACEBOOK/TWITTER: @irtlive EMAIL: reviews@irtlive.com

CONTACT US IRTLIVE.COM TICKET OFFICE: 317.635.5252 ADMIN OFFICE: 317.635.5277 140 W. Washington Street Indianapolis, IN 46204

VIDEO POLICY The video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

HERITAGE AND TRADITION

• Our role as Indiana’s premiere theatre for more than 40 years, recognized by the 107th Indiana General Assembly in 1991 as “Indiana’s Theatre Laureate” • The historic Indiana Theatre as our home, as a cultural landmark, and as a significant contributor to a vital downtown • Our national, state, and local reputation for 40+ years of quality creative work and educational programming • Our board, staff, volunteers, artists, audiences, and donors as essential partners in fulfilling our mission.

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The arts are the glue that holds a community together.

“They’re a key component of our quality of life, and this plate helps me tell that story to everyone I pass by on a daily basis.”

Photography: Courtney Remley Arts Trust License Plate Project: MidZoomers Night Dream, Marion County

www.in.gov/bmv

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE PROFILE HISTORY Since the Indiana Repertory Theatre was founded in 1971, it has grown into one of the leading regional theatres in the country, as well as one of the top-flight cultural institutions in the city and state. In 1991 Indiana’s General Assembly designated the IRT as “Theatre Laureate” of the state of Indiana. The IRT’s national reputation has been confirmed by prestigious grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace–Reader’s Digest Fund, the Theatre Communications Group–Pew Charitable Trusts, the Shubert Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation; and by a Joyce Award from the Joyce Foundation.

The IRT remains the largest fully professional resident not-forprofit theatre in the state. Last season, with a shorter production calendar due to the pandemic, we provided more than 85,000 live professional theatre experiences for audiences. These experiences included 34,000 students and teachers from 51 of Indiana’s 92 counties, making the IRT one of the most youth oriented professional theatres in the country. This season, as we find new methods to offer theatre within safety guidelines, a staff of 40 seasonal and year-round employees creates six productions for streaming audiences in Indiana and beyond.

Actors, directors, and designers are members of professional stage unions.

The IRT’s history has been enacted in two historic downtown theatres. The Athenaeum Turners Building housed the company’s first eight seasons. Since 1980 the IRT has occupied the 1927 Indiana Theatre, which was renovated to contain three performance spaces (OneAmerica Mainstage, Upperstage, and Cabaret) and work spaces, reviving this historic downtown entertainment site.

To keep ticket prices and services affordable for the entire community, the IRT operates as a not-for-profit organization, deriving more than 50% of its operating income from contributions. The Theatre is generously supported by foundations, corporations, and individuals, an investment which recognizes the IRT’s mission-based commitment to serving central Indiana with top-quality theatrical fare.

PROGRAMS This year the OneAmerica Season includes six productions from classical to contemporary, including the INclusion Series, which has lead support from the Margot L. Eccles Arts & Culture Fund.

Young Playwrights in Process The IRT offers Young Playwrights in Process (YPiP), a playwriting contest and workshop for Indiana middle and high school students.

Educational Programs The IRT has a long-time commitment to student audiences. This season, we are sharing our six productions with students virtually. If you are interested in bringing IRT to your students through streaming productions, or hosting a virtual workshop with an artist, please email education@irtlive.com. Auxiliary services include study guides.

Meet the Artists Virtual pre-show chats offer audiences unique insights into each production.

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IN HONOR OF FORMER IRT BOARD MEMBER AND COMMUNITY PHILANTHROPIST MARGOT LACY ECCLES, IRT’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR POSITION HAS BEEN NAMED THE MARGOT LACY ECCLES ARTISTIC DIRECTOR. ESTABLISHED BY M. E. AND KATIE ECCLES, THIS GENEROUS GIFT NAMES AND ENDOWS THE IRT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR POSITION IN PERPETUITY. THIS GIFT WAS MADE TO HONOR BOTH THE LEGACY OF MARGOT ECCLES AND JANET ALLEN’S SIGNIFICANT TENURE AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AS WELL AS THEIR LONGTIME FRIENDSHIP.

LEADERSHIP: JANET ALLEN

Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director

Among the memorable productions she has directed on the IRT’s stages are The Glass Menagerie (1999), Ah! Wilderness (2002), The Drawer Boy (2004), James Still’s The House That Jack Built (2012), To Kill a Mockingbird (2016), Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2008 & 2017), The Diary of Anne Frank (2011 & 2018) and Morning After Grace (2020).

Creating world-class professional theatre for central Indiana audiences of all ages has remained a career-long passion for Janet Allen. She began at the IRT in 1980 as the Theatre’s Janet’s leadership skills and community service have been first literary manager—dramaturg. After four years in New recognized by the Network of Women in Business–IBJ’s York City, she returned to serve ten years as associate artistic “Influential Women in Business” Award, a Distinguished director. Named the IRT’s fourth artistic director in 1996, she Hoosier Award conferred by Governor Frank O’Bannon, is now in her 25th season in that role. In January 2020, she Girls Inc.’s Touchstone Award for Arts Leadership, and the was named the Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director.

Indiana Commission on Women’s “Keeper of the Light” Torchbearer Award. She is a proud alum of the Stanley K. During Janet’s tenure, the IRT has significantly diversified Lacy Leadership program (Class XIX) and was a 2013-14 Arts its services to both adults and children, expanded its new Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Arts Fellow. She play development programs, and solidified its reputation is a member of two honorary gatherings in the America as a top-flight regional theatre dedicated to diverse Theatre: the College of Fellows of the American Theatre programming and production quality. Janet’s passion for at the John F. Kennedy Center, and the National Theatre nurturing playwrights has led to a fruitful relationship with Conference. In 2017 she was named an Indiana Living James Still, the IRT’s playwright-in-residence for 23 years, Legend by the Indiana Historical Society. and the creation and production of 16 new works—the Indiana Series—that examine Hoosier and Midwestern Janet is a member of the Indianapolis Woman’s Club, the sensibilities (seven of them by James Still). Her collaboration Gathering, and Congregation Beth-El Zedeck. She serves with playwrights has brought the Theatre prestigious on the board of Summit Performance, a small professional grants from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Joyce Foundation, theatre company that produces work by and about and the Doris Duke Foundation, as well as numerous grants women. She lives in an historic house built in 1855 in the from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Chatham Arch neighborhood with her husband, Joel Grynheim, and a lovely canine mutt. They enjoy following the adventures of their three adult children, who are thriving on various continents.

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Suzanne serves as a member of the board of directors of the League of Resident Theatres, a nationwide association of regional theatres, and she is the associate treasurer of the organization. In 2016, she was honored to serve as a panelist for Shakespeare in American Communities in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

LEADERSHIP: SUZANNE SWEENEY Managing Director

Suzanne is a 22-year veteran of the IRT and is proud to work alongside her mentor and friend, Janet Allen, as co-CEO of the Theatre. Suzanne oversees all of the administrative functions of the organization, including marketing, fundraising, ticket office, house management, finance, human resources, information technology, and building operations.

During her tenure, the Theatre has secured a long-term lease for the building with the City of Indianapolis and renovated the Upperstage Lobby and restrooms. In June 2020 the Theatre surpassed its $18.5 million goal for its Front and Center campaign, raising $20 million.

Suzanne is active in the community, having been the treasurer of Irish Fest for nine years, a member of the board of directors and treasurer of the Day Nursery Association (now Early Learning Indiana) for three years, and a past treasurer of IndyFringe.

Suzanne is a graduate of the College of William & Mary (undergraduate) and Indiana University (M.B.A.). She started her career as a CPA; prior to coming to Indianapolis, she worked in finance for more than 10 years, living in such varied locales as Washington, DC; Dallas, Texas; Frankfurt, Germany; Honolulu, Hawaii; and even working for three months in Auckland, New Zealand (where, yes, she went bungee jumping). She is a proud alum of the Stanley K. Lacy Leadership Program (Class XXXI). Suzanne lives in Fall Creek Place with her 17-year-old son, Jackson, and their foxhound rescue dog, Gertie, and spends some of her downtime in Palatine, Illinois, with her partner, Todd Wiencek.

Top: DeLanna Studi in the IRT’s 2019 production of And So We Walked: An Artist’s Journey Along the Trail of Tears.

Bottom: The cast of the IRT’s 2020 production of Murder on the Orient Express. Photos by Zach Rosing.

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AS PART OF THE FRONT AND CENTER CAMPAIGN, SARAH & JOHN LECHLEITER GAVE A GIFT TO THE IRT IN HONOR OF JAMES STILL’S LONG-TIME RELATIONSHIP WITH THE IRT, CREATING THE JAMES STILL PLAYWRIGHT-IN-RESIDENCE FUND, WHICH WILL PROVIDE FUTURE SUPPORT FOR THE PLAYWRIGHT-IN-RESIDENCE AS WELL AS THE CREATION OF NEW WORK FOR THE IRT.

LEADERSHIP: JAMES STILL Playwright-in-Residence

During his 23 years as Playwright-in-Residence, IRT audiences have seen all three plays in James’s “Jack Plays” trilogy (The House That Jack Built, Appoggiatura, and Miranda), as well as Looking Over the President’s Shoulder; And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank; Amber Waves; The Little ChooChoo That Thinks She Can; April 4, 1968: Before We Forgot How to Dream; I Love to Eat: Cooking with James Beard; The Velveteen Rabbit; The Heavens Are Hung in Black; Interpreting William; Iron Kisses; The Gentleman from Indiana; Searching for Eden; He Held Me Grand, and The Secret History of the Future. James has directed many productions at the IRT, including Twelve Angry Men, A Doll’s House Part 2, The Originalist, Dial “M” for Murder, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Red, Other Desert Cities, God of Carnage, Becky’s New Car, Rabbit Hole, Doubt, The Immigrant, and Dinner with Friends.

James is a board member of the National Theatre Conference in New York, and a Kennedy Center inductee of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. Other honors include the Todd McNerney New Play Prize from the Spoleto Festival, William Inge Festival’s Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, and the Orlin Corey Medallion from the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America. His plays have been nominated

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four times for the Pulitzer Prize, and have been developed at Robert Redford’s Sundance, the New Harmony Project, Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference, Seven Devils Playwrights Conference, Colorado New Play Summit, the Lark, Launch Pad at UC–Santa Barbara, Telluride Playwright’s Festival, New Visions/New Voices, and Fresh Ink. Three of his plays have received the Distinguished Play Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education, and his work has been produced throughout the United States, Canada, China, Japan, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

“The Jack Plays” is the 2020 winner for drama of the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Authors Award. Also in 2020 James wrote the short film A City of Stories commissioned by the New Harmony Project. Current projects include his new plays The Cratchits (in America) commissioned by the IRT, Joy Waves to You From a Distance, (A) New World, Dinosaur(s), and new play commissions with Prison Performing Arts (St. Louis) and American Blues (Chicago).

He has recently written dozens of short new plays that are being performed on digital platforms across the country.

James also works in television and film and has been nominated for five Emmys and a Television Critics Association Award; he has twice been a finalist for the Humanitas Prize. He was a producer and head writer for the TLC series PAZ, the head writer for Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear, and writer for the Bill Cosby series Little Bill.

He wrote The Little Bear Movie and The Miffy Movie as well as the feature film The Velocity of Gary. James grew up in Kansas and lives in Los Angeles.

his tenure at CTC, Ben directed in-house productions and took shows across the globe, as far afield as South Africa; he played a key role in fundraising, management, education, and strategic planning processes; and he helped guide the organization in addressing historical inequities and ensuring that the company’s work reflected the diversity of the local community. Prior to his role at CTC, Ben spent five years in California’s Bay Area, dividing his time between Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Bay Area Children’s Theatre.

LEADERSHIP: BENJAMIN HANNA Associate Artistic Director

Ben is a director, educator, and community engagement specialist whose passion for multigenerational theatre has influenced his work across the country. In all of his myriad roles, Ben is guided by the belief that access to highquality theatre helps build creative, empathetic people and healthy communities.

Ben is thrilled to be in his fourth season at Indiana Repertory Theatre, where he has directed Tuesdays with Morrie, This Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol (twice), The Little Choo-Choo That Thinks She Can, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!,” and The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. As associate artistic director, Ben manages casting both locally and nationally, helps guide education and community programming, and connects IRT to new artists and ideas. Dedicated to actively breaking down historical barriers of access to the theatre, he is excited about IRT’s work to create thoughtful, sustainable Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives.

In his native Minnesota, Ben was honored to serve on the education staff of Penumbra Theatre Company, the nation’s leading African American theatre, where he helped to expand their education and outreach offerings. His proudest accomplishments during his four years with the company include growing the nationally recognized Summer Institute for Activist Artists into a three-year multidisciplinary social justice theatre training program, developing a multigenerational quilting circle, and helping to create and facilitate a racial equity training program through the company’s RACE workshop series.

Ben holds a degree in theatre arts from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. He grew up on a small rural farm and fell in love with theatre at the age of eleven. He continues to create for his new favorite audience: his five nieces and nephews.

Ben joined the IRT leadership team following the completion of a prestigious 18-month Theatre Communications Group Leadership University Award. This highly competitive grant, administered by TCG and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, supported his artistic associate position at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, the nation’s largest theatre for young audiences. During Frankie Bolda and audience members in the IRT’s 2019-2020 production of The Little Choo-Choo That Thinks She Can. Photo by Zach Rosing.

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INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director​ Janet Allen Managing Director Suzanne Sweeney ARTISTIC & EDUCATION

Production Manager Malia Argüello Associate Artistic Director Benjamin Hanna Company Manager Hillary Martin Resident Dramaturg Richard J Roberts General Manager Jane Robison Playwright-in-Residence James Still COSTUME SHOP

ELECTRICS

Assistant Master Electrician Kayla Brown Master Electrician Beth A. Nuzum FINANCE & HR

Assistant Controller Danette Alles Payroll & Benefits Specialist Jennifer Carpenter MARKETING

Marketing Communications Manager Kerry Barmann Director of Marketing & Sales Danielle M. Dove Graphic Designer Alexis Morin Associate Director of Marketing Elizabeth Petermann PAINT SHOP

Draper Erica Anderson Costume Shop Manager Guy Clark Wardrobe Supervisor Bailey Lewis

Charge Scenic Artist Claire Dana Scenic Artists Z Hakki Jim Schumacher

DEVELOPMENT

PATRON SERVICES

Development Systems Brady Clark Institutional Giving Manager Eric J. Olson Individual Giving Manager Kay Swank-Herzog Director of Development Jennifer Turner

Manager of Public Operations Margaret Lehtinen Building Services Dave Melton Housekeeping Leila Spicklemire Ticket Office Manager Kim Reeves

Tessitura Administrator Molly Wible Sweets Assistant Ticket Office Manager Eric Wilburn PROPERTIES SHOP

Properties Manager Geoffrey Ehrendreich Properties Carpenter Madelaine Foster SCENE SHOP

Carpenters Lee Edmundson Ariana Sarmiento Fielding Technical Director Chris Fretts Master Carpenter David Sherrill Automation Carpenter Hayley Wenk SOUND & VIDEO

Audio Engineer Brittany Hayth Resident Sound Designer Todd Mack Reischman Sound Operator Alexis Sanford STAGE MANAGEMENT

Production Coordinators Nathan Garrison Joel Grynheim Production Assistant Rebecca Roeber TELESERVICES

Group Sales & Teleservices Manager Doug Sims

PART-TIME STAFF & ASSOCIATES ARTISTIC

ELECTRICS

FINANCE

Teaching Artist Milicent Wright

Katie Johnston

Associates Crowe Horwath LLP External Auditors Legal Counsel Heather Moore

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Celebrating the arts and the joy they bring to life every day.

We’re proud to support the Indiana Repertory Theatre in bringing the arts to life in our community.

Visit us online at www.pnc.com

©2020 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. All rights reserved. PNC Bank, National Association. Member FDIC CON PDF 0618-0106

BOARD OF DIRECTORS OFFICERS CHAIR

SECRETARY

VICE CHAIR & CHAIR ELECT

TREASURER

Nadine Givens PNC Wealth Management

It is incredibly gratifying to serve as chair of our Indiana Repertory Theatre.

The IRT is perhaps even more important to our community and its citizens when we cannot physically be together. I have been deeply moved by the hard work and dedication of our staff, bringing theatre to our audience in these extraordinary times. We are blessed with amazing leadership and talent.

I want to give a special thank you to all of our patrons and partners who supported our successful Front and Center capital campaign, raising $20 million. How critical that will be for the future of our IRT, for generations to come!

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I thank you for joining us this season— one which will inspire and entertain.

–Nadine Givens, IRT Board Chair

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Mark Shaffer KPMG LLP

Tammara D. Avant American Electric Power

IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIR

Tom Froehle* Faegre Drinker

Andrew Michie OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc.

MEMBERS Allison Barkel Project Lead the Way IRT Offscript Advisory Council Liaison Keith A. Bice Dentons Bingham Greenebaum Amy Burke Butler University Michael P. Dinius Noble Consulting Services, Inc. Laurie Dippold KAR Global, Inc. Daniel C. Emerson* Indianapolis Colts Troy D. Farmer Fifth Third Bank James W. Freeman OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc., Retired Ron Gifford RDG Strategies LLC Bruce Glor J.P. Morgan Christopher Gramling Eli Lilly and Company Ricardo L. Guimarães Dow AgroSciences, Retired

Julian Harrell Faegre Drinker Mike Harrington Eli Lilly and Company, Retired Michael N. Heaton Katz Sapper & Miller Holt Hedrick Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. Brenda Horn Ice Miller LLP, Retired Rebecca Hutton Leadership Indianapolis Elisha Modisett Kemp Corteva Agriscience Joy Kleinmaier IU Health Jill Lacy The Lacy Foundation Sarah Lechleiter Community Volunteer Alan Mills Barnes & Thornburg LLP Detra Mills Round Room Inc. Michael Moriarty Frost Brown Todd LLC

Brian Payne Central Indiana Community Foundation Lauren Petersen TechPoint Peter Racher Plews Shadley Racher & Braun LLP Peter N. Reist Oxford Financial Group Susan O. Ringo Community Volunteer Myra C. Selby Ice Miller LLP Mike Simmons Jupiter Peak, LLC Shelly Smith Ernst & Young Susan L. Smith Community Volunteer Amy Waggoner Salesforce L. Alan Whaley Ice Miller LLP, Retired Heather Wilson Frost Brown Todd LLC

BOARD EMERITUS Robert Anker* Rollin Dick Berkley Duck* Dale Duncan* Michael Lee Gradison* (in memoriam) Margie Herald

David Klapper David Kleiman* E. Kirk McKinney Jr. (in memoriam) Richard Morris* (in memoriam) Jane Schlegel*

Wayne Schmidt Jerry Semler* Jack Shaw* William E. Smith III* Eugene R. Tempel*

* Past Board Chairs

Support in the Wings At Faegre Drinker, community takes center stage.

We’re proud to stand with the IRT in honoring the resiliency of our city and reimagining the way forward.

faegredrinker.com © 2021 Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. All Rights Reserved.

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ASH & ELM | 10% OFF ALL PURCHASES 2104 E. Washington Street | 317.600.3164

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10 N. Illinois Street | 317.636.7600

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OVATION SOCIETY: READY TO CREATE YOUR OWN LEGACY? The IRT has produced professional, world-class theatre in Indianapolis for nearly 50 years.

You can play a vital role in supporting the next 50 years by making a legacy gift to the Theatre.

Laura T. Fisher and Henry Woronicz in the IRT’s 2020 production of Morning After Grace. Photo by Zach Rosing.

Learn more: irtlive.com/legacy | jturner@irtlive.com | 317.916.4835

EXPLORE ARTS, CULTURE, EVENTS & MORE

INDYARTS.ORG/GUIDE an initiative of

@artscouncilindy Sign up for a weekly, curated list of the city’s best arts and culture events at www.indyarts.org/indyarts-e-news THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS

Shamira Wilson, Lepidoptera (detail), mural / Indianapolis Artsgarden

ART HAPPENS HERE.

OVER 34,000 STUDENTS FROM 51 INDIANA COUNTIES EXPERIENCED LIVE THEATRE AT THE IRT LAST SEASON!

Thanks to the Alan and Linda Cohen Education Fund, thousands of students are able to attend IRT performances. Help us continue to give students the experiences they deserve by donating to the Cohen Education Fund today.

“We greatly appreciate your fund that allowed us to attend the play.”

—An Indiana teacher regarding The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT SUPPORTING STUDENT MATINEES, CONTACT: KAY SWANK-HERZOG: KSWANKHERZOG@IRTLIVE.COM | 317.916.4830

Xavier Adams in the IRT’s 2020 production of The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963. Photo by Zach Rosing.

THE REPERTORY SOCIETY Exclusive Access and Support

Our role at the IRT is to create stories that invite our community to reflect on our collective history, and the journeys that make up this vibrant place we call home.

We also create stories that offer new perspectives, give us time to laugh or maybe shed a tear, or see something about our shared humanity in a new way.

CONTINUING OUR MISSION WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF OUR DONORS. Become a member of our Repertory Society and be part of what makes our city a great artistic community. Donors giving $1,500 or more each season will join this exclusive group and gain access to a slate of benefits created to extend your access to our art and enhance your theatergoing experience.

REPERTORY SOCIETY BENEFITS INCLUDE: Exclusive Special Events, VIP Ticket Concierge, and much much more!

Katie Bradley, Andrew May and Gavin Lawrence in the IRT’s 2020 production of Murder on the Orient Express. Photo by Zach Rosing.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO JOIN THE REPERTORY SOCIETY

Contact Kay Swank-Herzog, Individual Giving Manager: kswankherzog@irtlive.com | 317.916.4830

NO. 6

by T.J. Young STREAMING MARCH 11 – APRIL 4, 2021 ONEAMERICA MAINSTAGE

ARTISTIC

SEASON SPONSOR

Director___________DWANDRA NICKOLE LAMPKIN Scenic Designer_____________________ROB KOHARCHIK Costume Designer__________________ LEVONNE LINDSAY Lighting Designer____________________ XAVIER PIERCE Sound Designer____________________ MATTHEW TIBBS Dramaturg______________________RICHARD J ROBERTS Production Coordinators _____________ NATHAN GARRISON JOEL GRYNHEIM Production Assistant_________________ REBECCA ROEBER

ARTS PARTNERS

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INCLUSION SERIES TITLE SPONSOR

REVIEWS!

Share your reviews on social media by tagging us at @irtlive, using #irtlive, or by emailing reviews@irtlive.com

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COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS SPONSOR m a k i n g t h e a rts h a p p e n

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SEASON PARTNER

THE COMPANY Ella____________________________________MILICENT WRIGHT Felicia__________________________________ LAKESHA LORENE Felix___________________________________ JAMAAL MCCRAY Kelly______________________________ MICHAEL STEWART ALLEN

SETTING April 11 & 12, 2001. Cincinnati, Ohio.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NO. 6 is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com Fight Choreographer: Rob Johansen Special Thanks to Mariel Holt Filmed by arrangement with SAG-AFTRA New Media Agreement.

Scenic, costume, and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local 829, IATSE. The video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

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HOW WILL WE REBUILD EMPATHY?

BY JANET ALLEN, MARGOT LACY ECCLES ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Our decision to produce T.J. Young’s intense family drama NO. 6 is a decision to use our art to reflect deeply on the human impact of racial injustice in our country. The circumstances of the play are based on an actual event—a series of riots that took place in Cincinnati in 2001 as a result of a White police officer killing an unarmed Black youth—but the tragedy is that the events of this play could have occurred surrounding any number of similar events across the country over the past 20 years. Art can help us see under the surface of the news headlines: past the invective and adjectives, past the sensational pictures and footage, past the bylines and statistics, and into the hearts of people who must live through these huge traumas.

While the Anderson family themselves do not suffer the loss of a loved one in this horrific event, the losses of security they sustain, the weight of past loss, and the potent fear of future loss hangs specter-like around every interaction they have in the play. We know that the end of these riots that threaten them do not mean the end of fear, and that this kind of daily fear is not equally felt or acknowledged in this country.

Art can help us open our hearts and minds in ways that news events cannot. News is presented so sensationally these days that too often our reaction is to draw back from the reality, or lean into the adrenaline rush of mere sensation. Neither reaction helps elicit deep empathy.

Given the 24-hour nature of news, we are constantly being buffeted by horror, to the extent that it breeds the opposite of its intended effect: it numbs the soul, frightens the heart, and closes down the mind. We have talked a great deal in this country about a loss of empathy, a malaise that many feel powerless to overcome. Many art forms, but theatre in particular, can stand in this breach and invite us in. Theatre elicits our empathy in layer upon layer of character investigation, without creating villains and heroes, but characters that can be both heroic and selfOriginal artwork by Tasha Beckwith

absorbed, generous and selfish, inspired and frightened, just as in life. At its best, theatre can ask us not to judge— because judging heals nothing—but to acknowledge our cultural inequities and seek to be healers and allies.

We are grateful, particularly in COVID times, to have assembled a team of brave and committed artists to work on this piece: they are both Black and White, and their conversations have been deep, and sometimes painful, as they seek to illuminate the heart of this play in all its intersectionalities and complexities. Leading this team is director Dwandra Lampkin, who IRT audiences have seen deliver luminous acting work in Doubt and To Kill a Mockingbird, who now brings her leadership skills into the rehearsal room to guide this production. A play like this, at a time like this, requires that artists bring their deepest moral and ethical values into their work, and we are blessed to have Dwandra at the front of this conversation, offering up revelations from her own life as a Black woman in our world. The design team, some working virtually, some live, and the actors, from both Indianapolis and New York, are working diligently to bring authentic life and fullness to this intense piece of theatre art, as they explore empathy in many forms.

COVID has only deepened our population’s empathy deficit. Encouraged to isolate from and fear others, we find it more challenging to reach across differences of all kinds and walk in someone else’s shoes. How will we rebuild empathy as a culture? NO. 6 poses us many questions about empathy and forgiveness—even questioning whether forgiveness is possible when the harm to Black families is continuous. Among the deep takeaways of this play is how little has changed since the events of 2001 that this play chronicles. What has changed—we hope— is the understanding that much must be examined and dismantled for these acts of violence to stop. Theatre can give us new eyes to see.

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INJUSTICE FATIGUE

BY DWANDRA NICKOLE LAMPKIN, DIRECTOR

The story that inspired NO. 6 is regretfully, but not surprisingly, familiar. The play is set in 2001 following the murder of 19-year old Timothy Thomas, an unarmed black man in Cincinnati, Ohio. Timothy lost his life at the hands of a policeman who perceived that he was reaching for a gun; but in reality, Timothy was merely pulling up his pants. While this particular story focuses on the events that took place twenty years ago, it eerily resembles what also took place 65 years ago with the lynching of Emmett Till, three years ago with Botham Jean, ten months ago with the senseless murder of Breonna Taylor, and eight months ago with the asphyxiation of George Floyd.

The impact of “injustice fatigue” is permeating, forming a thick cloud of dust—choking its victims, blinding bystanders, and creating an escape hatch for the perpetrators. As artists, we have a responsibility to bring

things to light. It is our job to raise awareness, to provoke conversation—to lean into the pain, but be courageous enough to go against the grain. As we work towards “shifting” our narrative as people of color, it is important that we continue to tell stories that acknowledge our history—the good, the bad, and the ugly. NO. 6 provides us the opportunity to acknowledge the black and brown people who have lost their lives to police brutality, while simultaneously creating a space for us to reflect, re-examine, and recalibrate.

In light of current events, it is my hope that audiences will allow their anger, frustration, and confusion to shape their experience as they bear witness to this play. You must be willing to go through it to get to it.

“As artists, we have a responsibility to bring things to light. It is our job to raise awareness, to provoke conversation—to lean into the pain, but be courageous enough to go against the grain.”

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TOO RELEVANT

BY T.J. YOUNG, PLAYWRIGHT

I wish this play didn’t feel relevant. In all honesty, I wish that this work of drama steeped in historical fact was now an antiquated piece of art that could only live as a way to study a moment in time. A brief moment. Sadly, that isn’t the case. In the past year, we as an American people have been tried and tested on multiple levels. While we were at home, attempting to avoid an illness that has stuck around longer than any of us anticipated, another sickness that has been embedded in the fabric of this country was brought to light.

But this is not the first time these atrocities have been made public.

The thing that pulled me to this story is how it is both about the past and about the time in which I wrote it.

This play was my reaction to the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. In 2014, the nation was at a tipping point. At least that is how it felt.

There were marches held, songs written, news stories, documentaries, think pieces, and yet … it happened again. And again. And again. And it kept happening. It still happens. But why? Why are we stuck in this seemingly endless loop of death and pain?

These are the questions that we keep asking and, I hope, we are trying to get deep and meaningful answers to.

There is a renewed cry for social justice and empathy at a level that feels unprecedented. People across the globe take to streets and cry “never again.” And then it happens again. And again. And again.

This play is still relevant because we have yet to find answers to the questions that are plaguing us. This play doesn’t offer any answers. But it will, I sincerely believe, open us up to have the conversations that are needed to filter out whatever bile is in the waters of our nation.

Even that seems to be a task too Herculean for one simple production. Still, it can serve as a start. Or, better yet, a continuation of conversations I hope everyone is having.

For those of you who see this story and see yourself: know I am hurting, and I cry with you. For those who do not relate: I ask that you open your heart and attempt to.

Let’s not let this be the same as before. Let’s make this play antiquated.

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THE CINCINNATI RIOTS OF 2001 Cincinnati, Ohio, was a center of violence from April 9 to 13, 2001, in response to the police shooting of Timothy Thomas, an unarmed Black 19-year-old. At the time, these four days were the largest urban disturbance in the United States since the 1992 Los Angeles riots after the beating of Rodney King.

According to news reports, in the early morning hours of April 7, Cincinnati police attempted to arrest Thomas for 14 nonviolent misdemeanor counts, mostly traffic violations.

When he ran, a total of ten officers joined in the chase.

At 2:20 a.m., Thomas rounded a corner in a dark alley and surprised Patrolman Stephen Roach, who shot him in the chest at close range. Roach later said he believed Thomas was reaching for a gun in his waistband, but investigation determined that Thomas was trying to pull up his pants. Roach said that Thomas had ignored an order to stop, and that he was not aware that charges against Thomas were non-violent. Thomas was rushed to a hospital but died of his wounds.

Thomas was a resident of Over-the-Rhine, the neighborhood immediately north of Cincinnati’s central business district. At that time the neighborhood was a center of poverty and unemployment. More than one third of the neighborhood was vacant. The array of poverty-associated problems resulted in heightened tensions between African American residents and the Cincinnati Police Department. Between

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1995 and April 2001, fifteen Black males had been killed by Cincinnati police during confrontation or while in custody, including four in the months preceding the riots; during that same time period, no White people were killed. In March 2001, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a civil lawsuit against the police department and city, alleging 30 years of racial profiling.

Two days after the April 7 shooting of Timothy Thomas, an unarmed Black teenager, a group of 200 protesters carrying signs gathered outside Cincinnati City Hall while the city council was in session, demanding public explanation for Thomas’s shooting. The council did not respond. Later that evening, several hundred residents gathered outside the Cincinnati Police District 1 headquarters in Over-the-Rhine and confronted a line of police officers on horseback and in police cruisers. The crowd threw stones and bottles at police, who eventually dispersed the crowd with tear gas, bean bags, and rubber bullets. Ten arrests were made.

On the afternoon of April 10, the unrest resumed following another protest on Fountain Square. After clashes with police, parts of the crowd began to overturn garbage cans, vendor carts, and newspaper boxes, as well as smashing windows and looting stores. Police moved in on horseback or with linked arms and again dispersed the crowd with bean bags, tear gas, and rubber bullets, making 66 arrests.

BY RICHARD J ROBERTS, RESIDENT DRAMATURG

On April 11, many of the damaged downtown businesses resumed normal operations. But at nightfall (when the play NO. 6 begins), another interval of unrest broke out downtown, and more businesses were damaged and looted. A number of White motorists were allegedly pulled from their cars and beaten. That night, police arrested 82 people. On April 12, many downtown businesses did not open, and workers for many others refused to go downtown.

A fourth night of unrest caused further damage.

The morning of April 13, Cincinnati Mayor Charles J. Luken announced a citywide curfew, declared a state of emergency, and brought in 125 Ohio Highway Patrol troopers to assist with policing. In all, 800 people were arrested for violating curfew conditions. The curfew did not extend to the city’s suburbs, prompting some criticism from Cincinnati residents of uneven enforcement of the curfew.

On April 14, the day of Timothy Thomas’s funeral, police kept a helicopter overhead and posted officers two blocks from the service. About 2,000 protesters began a peaceful march downtown following the service. A procession of 30 from the funeral marched to the intersection of Elm and Liberty streets, where a group of seven law enforcement personnel

Preliminary sketch by scenic designer Rob Koharchik.

arrived in patrol cruisers and fired bean bag ammunition into the group, injuring four, including two children. Police contended they were acting under orders to disperse a large crowd blocking the intersection, while witnesses claimed the police did not provide warning and singled out Black members of the group.

These disturbances caused $3.6 million in damage to businesses and another $2 million to the city. A subsequent community boycott of downtown businesses had an estimated adverse impact of $10 million on the area.

Incidents of violent crime rose in the downtown area for several years thereafter, but eventually economic development reached Over-the-Rhine, with rejuvenation of parks and community centers, rehabbing of residential properties, and an influx of restaurants. While some welcomed these changes, others were more critical, particularly long-time neighborhood residents who were displaced by this gentrification. Meanwhile, mistrust of police in Cincinnati—even after retraining programs and altered procedures—remains palpable in Black neighborhoods.

Sources for information in this article include BlackPast.org, MSNBC.com, and Oxford African American Studies Center.

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CINCINNATI, 2001 ROB KOHARCHIK | SCENIC DESIGNER There are two important goals for the set design of NO 6.

First, to create an interior that reflects the individuals who inhabit the space: a protective mother trying to keep her family safe, a young man trying to do the right thing, and

his twin sister who is a very intelligent young scientist.

Second, to create an exterior that aids in the storytelling of what was happening out in the streets of Cincinnati in April 2001.

LEVONNE LINDSAY | COSTUME DESIGNER My constant objective as a Black woman, educator, and designer is to inspire those who feel unseen or undervalued in the theatre industry. My very presence serves as tangible proof that creativity and perseverance can open doorways to practical solutions uplifting those around you. I want students to see the undervalued creative skills they possess can not only provide them with successful careers as theatre artists, but ultimately change

the world. Continuing my own professional and artistic development is instrumental in forging the way for others to follow. It is my responsibility to pave the way for them to break down the barriers that continue to stand in my way.

The revitalization of the arts weighs upon their shoulders.

Let the vision of the future lie only in their capacity for imagination.

MATTHEW TIBBS | SOUND DESIGNER As a resident of Cincinnati, I feel a personal connection to this piece of theatre. The primary area of the protests, Over-the-Rhine, has experienced tremendous growth and revitalization in the years since. Whether Cincinnati policing has progressed since 2001 largely depends on who you ask.

The protests this past summer certainly suggest that there is much work yet to be done.

As Ella and her family experience threats both outside and inside their home, my objectives are to assist with the ebb and flow of tension and to reflect the character of both the family and the setting. Sound design is the one area that shares the air with the words of a play, and as such possesses both a huge responsibility and an exciting opportunity—particularly when paired with a play that does not and cannot provide easy answers.

XAVIER PIERCE | LIGHTING DESIGNER How much longer do African Americans have to sit with the grief of losing loved ones to the hands of the state? How much longer do we need to hear the cries of Black mothers who have to ask the community to put water on the fire of anger? How much longer do we have to see police officers not being held accountable for their murderous actions?

Enough is enough. Let this play serve as a warning for those 28

who think that grace and compassion are panaceas that only Black bodies have access to. Let this play serve as a warning for those who disregard the lives of the oppressed.

Let this play serve as a warning for those who can’t find it in themselves to reconcile American citizenry with the birthright of my ancestors. The fire that burned in 2001 in Cincinnati, Ohio, still burns within me.

THE COMPANY MICHAEL STEWART ALLEN | KELLY Michael appeared as Juror Seven in the IRT’s Twelve Angry Men. He recently played Iago in Othello for the Acting Company in NYC and King Louis XIII in Ken Ludwig’s The Three Musketeers at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Other credits include the first Broadway national and international tours of War Horse with the National Theatre of Great Britain. He spent two seasons as a company member at the Old Globe in King Lear, The Madness of King George, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, Amadeus, and Much Ado about Nothing. He has been a company member at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey for the last 20 years and has performed in theatres in New York and all across the country including the Acting Company, Arkansas Rep, Delaware Rep, the Folger, Playmakers Rep, Florida Studio Theatre, Shaker Bridge Theatre, and the Pennsylvania and North Carolina Shakespeare festivals. Film and TV credits include Billions, The Blacklist, Admiral Rickover, and Cold Mountain. Michael is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a proud member of Actor’s Equity and SAG/AFTRA unions.

LAKESHA LORENE | FELICIA An Indianapolis native, LaKesha is thrilled to make her IRT debut in NO. 6. She divides her work between the stage and regional films and commercials. She is a small business owner with the entertainment production company Loving Life Productions LLC. She was most recently seen on stage in the Fonseca Theatre Company two-person musical The Ballad of Klook and Vinette, and as Ophelia in Hamlet with the Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, where she is a new company member. “I am grateful to God for His faithfulness, to my family for always supporting my dreams, and to Janet Allen and Dwandra Lampkin for trusting me with bringing Felicia to life.”

JAMAAL MCCRAY | FELIX Jamaal is an actor, director, and performance coach. From 2004 to 2008 he studied in the Indiana University Theatre and Drama Program, where he received the David Howe Award. He is co-owner of Ankh Productions. Notable roles include Delaware Washington in American Ma(u)l, the Foundling Father in The America Play, Mark in the superhero-inspired Prowess, and Clay in Dutchman for Monument Theater.

Jamaal is also a writer for theatre and film. He premiered the first installment of his play series Love You Reckless at the IndyFringe in 2018. Two of his plays, The God Barber of 49th Street and Small Boat, were featured in American Lives Theatre’s 2020 Short Play Festival. You can catch Jamaal’s latest projects with Ankh Production on YouTube.

MILICENT WRIGHT | ELLA Milicent’s IRT appearances include You Can’t Take It With You, Romeo and Juliet, Bridge & Tunnel, The Night Watcher, Julius Caesar, Neat, Pretty Fire, The Power of One, As You Like It, Hard Times, 13 seasons of A Christmas Carol, and many more. Other credits include Building the Wall for the Fonseca Theatre Company, where she is a company member; As You Like It for Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, where she is a new company member; Fairfield, Human Rites, and Dontrell Who Kissed the Sea at the Phoenix on Park Avenue; Doubt at Cardinal Stage; and the Human Race Theatre. Milicent enjoyed 17 years as manager of outreach programs at the IRT, where she is currently a teaching artist. She has done youth programming for the Asante Children’s Theatre and Young Audiences of Indiana and taught adult classes for Indianapolis Civic Theatre. Milicent was a 2011 Arts Council of Indianapolis Creative Renewal Fellowship recipient and a 2015 award recipient from the Center for Leadership and Development.

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THE COMPANY T.J. YOUNG | PLAYWRIGHT T.J. Young is a Texas-born playwright and dramaturg based in Pittsburgh, where he serves as co-representative for the Dramatists Guild—Pittsburgh region. His play NO. 6 won the 2017 Harold and Mimi Steinberg Award at the Kennedy Center—American College Theatre Festival. His other plays include Lyon’s Den (2018 Harold and Mimi Steinberg Distinguished Play Winner), Ruby’s Baby Blue (2016 John Cable Short Play Regional Selection, KCACTF), Hell Is Empty (2017 John Cable Short Play Regional Selection, KCACTF), Hallmark (TETA Playfest 10-minute Winner), Cupid, and The Frontlines. His 10-minute plays include Before the Fire (Fade to Black 2018 Festival Selection), Effie, Rock the Cradle, Lilies, and Stuffed.

He is the recipient of the 2017 Ken Ludwig Playwriting Scholarship. He was the 2019 Spotlight Artist of Throughline Theatre Company in Pittsburgh. He received his M.F.A. in dramatic writing from Texas State University. He is a member of subTEXT Solutions Dramaturgy Group and with the groundbreaking Entertainment Engineering Collective.

DWANDRA NICKOLE LAMPKIN | DIRECTOR Dwandra has acted at the IRT in Doubt and To Kill a Mockingbird. She is an associate professor of theatre and director of Multicultural Theatre at Western Michigan University. She earned her M.F.A. from the National Theatre Conservatory. Her directing credits include Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, The Colored Museum by George C. Wolfe, and Almost, Maine by John Cariani. As an actor, some of her television credits include Law & Order, Third Watch, Law & Order: SVU, and the critically acclaimed ABC series Wonderland. Dwandra has also written a one-woman show entitled The Conviction of Lady Lorraine. For booking information, videos, and photos, visit her website www.dwandra.com. She is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA.

ROB KOHARCHIK | SCENIC DESIGNER Rob has designed 60 productions for the IRT, including all four Going Solo Festivals and such shows as Tuesdays with Morrie, This Wonderful Life, Murder on the Orient Express, Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2018 & 2008), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, The Mousetrap, On Golden Pond, The Mountaintop, The Miracle Worker, Crime and Punishment, To Kill a Mockingbird (2009), Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet (2004), and The Turn of the Screw. Rob’s regional credits include the Walnut Street Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Weston Playhouse, Geva Theatre, and American Players Theatre. A 2000 and 2011 Arts Council–Lilly Endowment Creative Renewal Fellow, Rob holds an M.F.A. in set design from Boston University and a B.S. in theatre from Ball State. He teaches theatre design at Butler University.

LEVONNE LINDSAY | COSTUME DESIGNER LeVonne is the costume shop manager and adjunct assistant professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has a B.S. in fashion design from Philadelphia University and an M.F.A. in costume design from the University of Maryland, College Park. She has held academic positions at Stevenson University, James Madison University, and Valdosta State University. She was recipient of the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship at Arena Stage from 2001 to 2003 and resident designer for the African Continuum Theatre in Washington DC from 2002 to 2004. Recent design credits include Kill Move Paradise at Wilma Theater; Sweat at Philadelphia Theatre Company; Ragtime, Gem of the Ocean, and The Bluest Eye at Arden Theater Company; A Hard Time at Pig Iron Theater; White at Theater Horizon; Time Is On Our Side at Simpatico Theater; and Native Gardens and The Hampton Years at Virginia Stage Company.

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XAVIER PIERCE | LIGHTING DESIGNER Xavier has designed Tuesdays with Morrie, This Wonderful Life, The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, and Pipeline at the IRT. Other designs include White Noise at the Public; How to Catch Creation, Othello, and Shakespeare in Love at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Native Gardens, Harvey, and Blithe Spirit at the Guthrie; Smart People and Native Gardens at Arena Stage; The Roommate at Steppenwolf; Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2, and Pride and Prejudice at St. Louis Rep; Nina Simone: Four Women at Seattle Rep; Fun Home at Baltimore Center Stage; Misery at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Noises Off at Syracuse Stage; Fences at Long Wharf Theatre and McCarter Theatre; Peter and the Starcatcher, 4000 Miles, The Mountaintop, and Detroit ‘67 at PlayMakers Rep; Everybody, The Glass Menagerie, black odyssey, and Fences at Cal Shakes; Hamlet and Pippin at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; Othello at America Repertory Theatre; and many more.

MATTHEW TIBBS | SOUND DESIGNER Matthew designed sound for the IRT’s production of The Cay. He teaches sound design and technology at University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. Recent work includes sound designs for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds at Flint Repertory Theatre, Cry It Out at Detroit Public Theatre, and Sex and Education at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. His sound designs have been seen on stages nationally, including New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Salt Lake City, and Portland, Oregon.

Matthew is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and is co-secretary for the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association. He earned his B.A. at George Fox University in 2004 and his M.F.A. at University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music in 2007.

RICHARD J ROBERTS | DRAMATURG This is Richard’s 31st season with the IRT, and his 23rd as resident dramaturg. He has also been a dramaturg for the New Harmony Project, Write Now, and the Hotchner Playwriting Festival. He has directed IRT productions of A Christmas Carol (four times), Bridge & Tunnel, The Night Watcher, Neat, Pretty Fire, The Cay, The Giver, The Power of One, and Twelfth Night. Other directing credits include Actors Theatre of Indiana, the Phoenix Theatre, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Edyvean Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Carmel Symphony Orchestra, Butler University, University of Indianapolis, and Anderson University. Richard studied music at DePauw University and theatre at Indiana University and has been awarded a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

NATHAN GARRISON | PRODUCTION COORDINATOR This is Nathan’s 25th season at the IRT. He has also worked with Center Stage in Baltimore, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and Brown County Playhouse; and he is a company member with the Indianapolis Shakespeare Company.

JOEL GRYNHEIM | PRODUCTION COORDINATOR This is Joel’s 99th production over 31 years at the IRT. He resides in an historic home in downtown Indianapolis, sharing that home and his life with Janet Allen.

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ARTIST SPONSORS Thank you to the following IRT Donors who use their generous gift to recognize and celebrate the artists that bring our stories to life.

MICHAEL DINIUS & JEANNIE REGAN-DINIUS SEASON SPONSORS OF NATHAN GARRISON

DAVID P. WHITMAN & DONNA L. REYNOLDS SPONSORS OF DWANDRA NICKOLE LAMPKIN

DAN & GINNY EMERSON

SPONSORS OF MILICENT WRIGHT

SUE & BILL RINGO

SPONSORS OF JAMAAL MCCRAY

DAVID & JACKIE BARRETT

SPONSORS OF LAKESHA LORENE

DAVID & ANN FRICK

SPONSORS OF MICHAEL STEWART ALLEN

PRODUCTION SPONSORS:

DAN BRADBURN & JANE ROBISON DARCY K. BURTHAY CHARLES GOAD & JAMES KINCANNON ANN HINSON DAVID & ROBIN MINER CARL NELSON & LOUI LORD NELSON MARK & GERRI SHAFFER MARGUERITE K. SHEPARD, M.D. GENE & MARY TEMPEL 32

JOIN US! AN ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP IS A $25 DONATION & LASTS 12 MONTHS FROM PURCHASE DATE! Top-quality theatre, exclusive engagement with IRT artists and artisans, $25 tickets and networking opportunities.

LEARN MORE: IRTLIVE.COM/OFFSCRIPT

MILICENT WRIGHT ACTOR

Milicent Wright has appeared in more than 40 productions at the IRT. In NO. 6, she plays Ella Robins, a mother and a small business owner in Cincinnati during the 2001 riots.

HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN THEATRE? My family was immersed in the arts. I was taken to theatrical events very early in life. When I went to boarding school in Minnesota, we’d read the plays in class and then we’d travel to see them. Seeing The Glass Menagerie at the Guthrie was magical! I wanted to do that. I had good teachers who recognized that I loved it and that I was good at it. And they nurtured that and created opportunities.

Even in seventh grade, my first year, I was the youngest one in the show. I think they were also trying to provide opportunities for me as a person of color to find ways to connect to the school. I look back now, and I recognize the efforts that teachers made to help me not feel like an outsider. And in theatre, I found my people. That’s where I made my friends, that’s who I was comfortable with. You find your group, and walls are broken down.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF BEING A BLACK ARTIST? There are a lot of factors: where you trained, who you know, gender, appearance, abilities, the type of actor you are—we try to fight the types, but types are there—your own personality, your persistence. I was away at boarding 34

school, so I didn’t know about Soul People Rep here in town, so there sat an opportunity that was lost to me.

My biggest explosion, when I got back to Indianapolis, was Ninth Street Phoenix. Bryan Fonseca’s mission, who he was as a person, was to be inclusive. He made opportunities.

It’s also important to note that the IRT was doing this type of work way before we as a community and a nation “woke up” to the outcry for equality. The IRT always took the risk, and risk is a major word for Black theatre artists.

Who’s willing to take the risk on us? What theatres are taking risks in casting? What theatres are doing Black plays? Now BIPOC performers are saying it should not be seen as “risk.” It should be the standard in every arts genre. Sadly, one of the challenges is, people don’t know what to do with us. “Oh, that person is good. But what do we do with them?” I’ve heard that all my life.

In college at IU, I played Dorine in Tartuffe. There I was, the sassy Black maid—the stereotype—but it was a great role for me! A darn good role, and a fun role. We often have to ask ourselves: do we take the role, take the work, or do

we say no because we need to make a statement? Can you only cast me as the maid, the sidekick? At the IRT, as Celia in As You Like It, yes, I was the sidekick to the leading lady, but in the world of the play I was the princess! I had a great time with that. Every time, you have to decide for yourself what’s right. There are challenges and there are opportunities, and sometimes they are the same thing.

HOW DO YOU RELATE TO YOUR CHARACTER, ELLA, IN NO. 6?

Right now, early in rehearsal, I’m struggling. I’ve not played a character like her, or not in a long time. I feel partially like I’m channeling people I know, and experiences I’ve had, and partially I’m trying to grab at something that’s outside of me. It’s a real challenge. And maybe that’s a good thing, you know? I relate to her hardships, her grief. I like that she’s lived in Cleveland and Cincinnati, and I’ve lived in both of those cities, so I feel like I’ve walked the walk.

We’ve both been discriminated against. We both fear for Black men right now. Because she’s raising a Black male, she cannot be blind to it; but being single myself, I think I’ve shut my eyes, and now I’m woke!

She’s got a lot more strength than I do. That is a powerful, strong woman! Dwandra, our director, gave me the word resilience. Ella tells it like it is! And I maybe, sometimes, I am more passive-aggressive than I would like to be. But she doesn’t mince words—with family or acquaintances.

If I met her, I’d want her as a friend. I mean, she’s a Black business owner. Those are risk takers. She’s made an investment in her community. She chose to be there, to be a role model.

She has a lot in common with my mother. Maybe that’s why I’m struggling with the role. When my father became MIA in the Vietnam War, they were already divorced, but then she really became a single parent, like Ella. I look back at my childhood, and I realize that she tried to shield me from certain events. When I was doing The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, we talked about the dangers for a Black family traveling to the South. And I remembered visiting my mother’s relatives in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and wondering as a child why that trip was such a big deal—the packing, the carrying everything you might need with you, the stress. I know why now. So all those layers of what Ella has lived through, I can pull from the

layers of my mom for that. And how Ella’s guided her children, how she’s taught them, and now she has to trust that they will know how to make it through—that’s the same thing my mother did for me.

My family taught me Black American history so I wouldn’t be ashamed, so I could see more of who we are than just the images that are always shown on TV. All of our strengths, all of our accomplishments. There isn’t an area where there aren’t African Americans involved. There isn’t a field where we can’t succeed. Does Ella say to her daughter, no, you can’t be a Black paleontologist? No! In 2001, she is saying, you love it, be it! That’s just like my mother. Your race is not what holds you back THIS IS A PLAY ABOUT SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED 20 YEARS AGO. HOW DOES IT RELATE TO TODAY? It relates too much! This happened in 2001, and to think of all the many events that have happened since then.

But here’s what’s better about today: Now, we are more active. And now, our White comrades are saying with us, it’s enough. Now it’s no longer “their” problem, it’s “our” problem. I think we’re ready, at last, to take the next step.

I know this play is going to make some people uncomfortable, but I hope they will also be able to see the beautiful side of it. The play is perfect for conversation, for dialogue. The play maybe presses some buttons, and may be confrontational, but in between, there’s so much humanity, there’s so much commonality, there’s family and community. It presses us to start asking the hard questions. And that’s not just a racial thing. As an African American woman, I’ve had to start asking myself questions: Why have I let myself off the hook? Why have I not been on top of the issues as opposed to behind them?

This play will make you ask yourself, what would I do if I were in this situation?

Art is a tool for social justice. And I understand, sometimes we just want to be entertained, to escape, and have fun.

I do too! But it’s also important to push ourselves outside our comfort zone. Because I think once you plant certain questions in yourself, they won’t go away. And the more you ruminate on something, the more your answers evolve. And that’s how change happens.

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THE SUPPORTING CAST

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS

WHAT IF YOU SAW ONLY HALF THE PLAY? Ticket revenue covers just half of what it costs to produce world-class professional theatre at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. The IRT gratefully acknowledges the remarkable support we receive from our generous and committed donors whose contributions ensure that the show does go on!

REPERTORY SOCIETY ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $1,500+ | JULY 1, 2020 – FEBRUARY 7, 2021 PLAYWRIGHT CIRCLE $10,000+ Bob & Toni Bader David & Jackie Barrett AJ & Erin Bir Scott & Lorraine Davison Rollie & Cheri Dick Michael Dinius & Jeannie Regan-Dinius Nancy & Berkley Duck Dan & Ginny Emerson David & Ann Frick Tom & Jenny Froehle Susan & Charlie Golden Mike & Judy Harrington David I. & Betty Klapper Sarah & John Lechleiter Bill & Susie Macias David & Leslie Morgan Jackie Nytes & Michael O’Brien Mel & Joan Perelman Sue & Bill Ringo Mary Frances Rubly & Jerry Hummer Wayne & Susan Schmidt Simmons Family Foundation, a Fund of CICF Cheryl & Ray Waldman David P. Whitman & Donna L. Reynolds DIRECTOR CIRCLE $5,000 – $9,999 A.J. Allen & Kathy Maeglin Leo Bianchi & Jill Panetta Susie & Joel Blum Darcy K. Burthay Charitable Fund, a Donor-Advised Fund of the U.S. Charitable Gift Trust Gary Denney & Louise Bakker Dr. Brian Dillman & Erin Hedges* Dick & Brenda Freije Drs. Cherryl & Shelly Friedman

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Nadine & Alvin Givens Tom & Nora Hiatt Ann Hinson Bill & Nancy Hunt The Kenney Family Steve & Bev Koepper John & Laura Ludwig Dod & Laura Michael Mr. & Mrs. Kimball Morris Carl Nelson & Loui Lord Nelson Mr. Stephen Owen Sr. & Dr. Cheryl Torok Owen Ben Pecar & Leslie Thompson Noel & Mary Phillips* In memory of Linda Lantry Drs. Eric Schultze & Marcia Kolvitz Marguerite K. Shepard, M.D. The Michael L. Smith and Susan L. Smith Family Fund, a fund of Hamilton County Community Foundation Ambassador Randall & Deborah Tobias John & Kathy Vahle Lainie Veenstra Dr. Christian Wolf & Elaine Holden-Wolf ARTIST CIRCLE $3,000 – $4,999 Dan Bradburn & Jane Robison Mary Findling & John Hurt Charles Goad & James Kincannon Jeffrey Harrison Donald & Teri Hecht Richard & Elizabeth Holmes Brenda S. Horn Rebecca Hutton The Indianapolis Fellows Fund, a fund of The Indianapolis Foundation David Kleiman & Susan Jacobs John & Susan Kline

Kevin Krulewitch & Rosanne Ammirati* Daniel & Martha Lehman David & Robin Miner Bob & Dale Nagy Dr. & Mrs. Nichols N. Clay & Amy McConkey Robbins Jerry & Rosie Semler Mark & Gerri Shaffer Joe & Jill Tanner Gene & Mary Tempel Jeff & Benita Thomasson James & Linda Wesley Pam & Bill Williams Bob & Dana Wilson PATRON CIRCLE $1,500 – $2,999 Janet Allen & Joel Grynheim Anonymous (2) Tammara D. Porter Avant & Jesse Avant Trudy W. Banta Sarah C. Barney Keith A. & Heather Bice Amy Burke Alan & Linda Cohen Don & Dolly Craft Daniel & Catherine Cunningham Frank & Noreen Deane Dr. Gregory Dedinsky & Dr. Cherri Hobgood Ann & Kenneth Dee Laurie Dippold Paul & Glenda Drew Craig & Marsha Dunkin Troy D. Farmer Drs. Richard & Rebecca Feldman Joan M. FitzGibbon Mary L. Forster, M.D. Jim & Julie Freeman Brian & Lorene Furrer Robert & Carrie Gano Garth & Christine Gathers

Robert & Christy Gauss Mr. Jim Gawne Dorothea & Philip Genetos Kathy & Gene Gentili Robert Giannini Ron & Kathy Gifford Marianne Glick & Mike Woods Bruce Glor Christopher & Sheila Gramling Walter & Janet Gross Bill & Phyllis Groth Ricardo & Beatriz Guimarães Derek & Elizabeth Hammond Julian E. Harrell Lisa Harris, M.D.* Michael N. Heaton William & Patricia Hirsch Randolph & Rebecca Horton Drs. Meredith & Kathleen Hull Nicholas Ide & Audra Baumgartner Tom & Kathy Jenkins Daniel T. Jensen & Steven Follis Denny & Judi Jones Reed & Elisha Kemp Pegg & Mike Kennedy Joy Kleinmaier Molly & Michael Kraus, MD Kurt & Judy Kroenke Jill & Peter Lacy Ed & Ann Ledford Joe & Deborah Loughrey Donald & Ruth Ann MacPherson David McCaskill & Tammie Nelson Mike & Pat McCrory Sharon R. Merriman Andrew & Amy Michie Douglas & Detra Mills Lawren Mills & Brad Rateike Michael D. Moriarty The Blake Lee and Carolyn Lytle Neubauer Charitable Fund, a fund of Hamilton County Community Foundation *Denotes sustaining members

REPERTORY SOCIETY CONTINUED ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $1,500+ | JULY 1, 2020 – FEBRUARY 7, 2021 PATRON CIRCLE, CONTINUED $1,500 – $2,999 Steve & Debbie Oldham Larry & Louise Paxton The Payne Family Foundation, a fund of CICF Lauren Petersen Mr. & Mrs. Kenneth A. Peterson Dr. & Mrs. Lee Phipps Gail & William Plater Bob & Kathi Postlethwait Phil & Joyce Probst

Scott & Susan Putney Peter Racher & Sarah Binford Michael & Melissa Rawlings Peter & Karen Reist Ken & Debra Renkens Karen & Dick Ristine Chip & Jane Rutledge Paula F. Santa Jane W. Schlegel Tom & Barbara Schoellkopf Jack & Karen Shaw Michael Skehan Shelly M. Smith

Edward & Susann Stahl Robert & Barbara Stevens Jim & Cheryl Strain Kathryn Godwin Stuart, DDS Kay Swank-Herzog & Robert Herzog Suzanne Sweeney & Todd Wiencek Jonathan T. Tempel Lynne & Alex Timmermans Jennifer C. Turner Larry & Nancy VanArendonk Bill & Jana Varanka

Jennifer & Gary Vigran Amy Waggoner Carol Weiss Emily A. West Alan & Elizabeth Whaley Cliff & Molly Williams Heather Wilson John & Margaret Wilson James B. Winner Frederick & Jacquelyn Winters William Witchger, II & Kimberly Witchger John & Linda Zimmermann

DONOR GUILDS ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300 – $1,499 | JULY 1, 2020 – FEBRUARY 7, 2021 DRAMA GUILD $750 – $1,499 David & Mary Allen Pat & Bob Anker Anonymous (4) John & Mary Bartley Jesse L. & Carolynne Bobbitt Charlie & Cary Boswell Thomas & Victoria Broadie Sherry A. Butler Paul & Renee Cacchillo Dr. & Mrs. John J. Coleman III Edward & Elizabeth Frazier Elizabeth Hansen Don & Carolyn Hardman Crystal L. Jones M.D. Aldy & Natinne Keene Betsy & Ted Kleinmaier Vally Allen and Charley Koehler James LaMonde* James & Sara Lootens James M. McMechan David H. Moore, M.D. & M. Kristine Beckwith, M.D. John & Carolyn Mutz Rob & Sara Norris Ann Marie L. Ogden Deb & Greg Perkins Roger & Anna Radue Thomas & Jill Ristine Sallie Rowland Richard & Christine Scales Thomas & Teresa Sharp *Denotes sustaining members

Lee Shevitz Rosemarie Springer Ed & Jane Stephenson John & Deborah Thornburgh Philip & Shandon Whistler Carlos Wright* THEATRE GUILD $300 – $749 Allison & Jeff Ackerman John & Eileen Ahrens* Todd Allen Andritsch Anonymous (2) Constance C. Beardsley* Dan & Barb Bickel Mr. & Mrs. J. Burton Black Barbara & Christopher Bodem* Karry K. Book & John P. Hansberry Charles W. Brown & Louise Tetrick Vince & Robyn Caponi Robert Cedoz John Champley & Julie Keck Steve & Kim Chatham Jeff & Jeni Christoffersen Brady Clark Richard Clark Robert & Jennifer Cochrane William & Judy Coleman Jerry & Carol Collins Karen Dace* Fr. Clem Davis* Jeffrey & Barbara Dean Paul & Carol DeCoursey*

Mary & Steve DeVoe Eric Diters Lori Ecker & Ronnie Katz Bob & Patricia Edwards Dr. & Mrs. John & Sheryn Ellis Sherry Faris Drs. Eric Farmer & Tate Trujillo & Christopher Scott* Margie Ferguson* Kerry Foster Eric & Hayley Frandsen Roger & Susan Frick The David T. & E. Jean Fronek Charitable Fund, a fund of Hamilton County Community Foundation Peter Furno & Pamela Steed Phyllis & Ed Gabovitch Mary Lee Gambone & Doug Brooks Gamma Nu Chapter of Psi Iota Xi Priscilla Gerde Phylis & Paul Gesellchen Todd & Jan Gillespie Thecla Gossett Howard & Linnea Green John & Mary Ann Grogan Diane Hall Mr. & Mrs. David J. Hamernik Emily F. (Cramer) Hancock* Don & Elizabeth Harmon David & Tish Haskett Tim & Jennifer Holihen Greg & Patricia Jacoby

Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence Jahnke George & Dianne Kelley* Sunah C Kim Dorantes* Linda L. Kirby Jay & Carole Kirkpatrick Rachel Barrett Knight & Jacob Knight* Steven & Mary Koch* Michelle Korin* Dr. Loretta Kroin Andra Liepa Charitable Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of the U.S. Charitable Gift Trust Jane Lommel Carlos & Eleanor Lopez Linda Lough* Mark Magee* Lyle & Deborah Mannweiler Dr. & Mrs. Peter Marcus* Seth & Marsha McCorkle Donald & P.J. McCullough William McNiece R. Keith & Marion Michael Rev. Mary Ann Moman* Jim & Shantel Morris Jim & Judi Mowry John & Beth Murphy Sharon & Dan Murphy* Susan & Jim Naus Dr. LeeAnne M. Nazer Niels & Kathy Ostergaard Merrell & Barbara Owen Robert M. & Kelli DeMott Park

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THE SUPPORTING CAST

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS

DONOR GUILDS CONTINUED ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300 – $1,499 | JULY 1, 2020 – FEBRUARY 7, 2021 THEATRE GUILD CONTINUED $300 – $749 Beverly Petsel Dixie Platt and Michael Burke The David and Arden Pletzer Endowment Fund, a fund of Hamilton County Community Foundation Davie & Dorian Poole Richard & Diane Rhodes

Richard & Ann Riegner Robert & Cynthia Robinson Elizabeth Russell Alice Schloss Donor Advised Fund, a fund of Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis John Shearin* Dr. Jill Shedd* Lillian Smith* Luke Stark* David & Lori Starr

Dr. Nenetzin Stoeckle* Nela Swinehart* Steve & Barb Tegarden* Garrett & Elaine Thiel Mary Ann Thiel Dr. James & Linda Trippi Robert & Barbetta True* Barbara S. Tully* Ron Walker Bill & Ann Walters Dorothy Webb

Judge Martha Wentworth Rob Whitacre A. Donald & Jeanette Wiles Prof. Gail F. Williamson Reba Boyd Wooden* Brant & Lorene Wright Ms. Robina Zink & Family Charitable Trust Zionsville Physical Therapy*

TRIBUTE GIFTS IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAREST HUSBAND RICHARD W. JUDY Jane Lommel

OVATION SOCIETY The Ovation Society is an exclusive program that recognizes donors that have made a legacy gift to the IRT. The IRT truly appreciates those individuals whose gift will ensure that the Theatre can continue to provide meaningful and inspirational experiences for future generations of Hoosiers.

Gary Addison Janet Allen & Joel Grynheim Pat & Bob Anker Frank & Katrina Basile Charlie & Cary Boswell Ron & Julia Carpenter John R. Carr (in memoriam) John & Mary Challman Sergej R. Cotton Mr & Mrs Thomas & Sue Dapp Nancy Davis & Robert Robinson Rollie & Cheri Dick Nancy & Berkley Duck Dale & Karen Duncan

Jim & Julie Freeman Meg Gammage-Tucker David A. & Dee Garrett (in memoriam) Michael Gradison (in memoriam) Emily F. (Cramer) Hancock Bruce Hetrick & Cheri O’Neill Tom & Nora Hiatt Bill & Nancy Hunt David Kleiman & Susan Jacobs Frank & Jacqueline La Vista Andra Liepa Charitable Fund, a Donor Advised Fund of the U.S. Charitable Gift Trust

Barbara MacDougall Donald & Ruth Ann MacPherson Stuart L. Main (in memoriam) Michael R. & Sue Maine Megan McKinney Sharon R. Merriman David & Leslie Morgan Michael D. Moriarty Richard & Lila Morris Mutter Marines—Jim & Carol Deena J. Nystrom Marcia O’Brien (in memoriam) George & Olive Rhodes (in memoriam)

Jane W. Schlegel Michael Skehan Michael Suit (in memoriam) Gene & Mary Tempel Jeff & Benita Thomasson Christopher J. Tolzmann Alan & Elizabeth Whaley John & Margaret Wilson

THE ALAN AND LINDA COHEN EDUCATION FUND Eli Lilly and Company

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*Denotes sustaining members

CORPORATE, FOUNDATION & GOVERNMENT ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300+ | JULY 1, 2020 – FEBRUARY 7, 2021 CORPORATE AARP Indiana Barnes & Thornburg LLP Corteva Agriscience Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath Navient Community Fund OneAmerica Financial Partners Oxford Financial Group, Ltd. PNC Printing Partners Stifel

FOUNDATION The Ackerman Foundation Elba L. & Gene Portteus Branigin Foundation, Inc. The Jerry L. and Barbara J. Burris Foundation Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation Christel DeHaan Family Foundation The Margot L. Eccles Arts & Culture Fund, a fund of CICF

The Glick Family Foundation Lilly Endowment, Inc. Nicholas H. Noyes Jr. Memorial Foundation The Penrod Society The Shubert Foundation United Way of Central Indiana’s Nonprofit Restart Program

GOVERNMENT Arts Council of Indianapolis Indiana Arts Commission Indiana Arts Commission, with special thanks to the Arts, Cultural & Destination Marketing Organization Grant Program and the Indiana Arts Emergency Relief Fund National Endowment for the Arts

IN-KIND/TRADE ANNUAL CAMPAIGN GIFTS $300+ | JULY 1, 2020 – FEBRUARY 7, 2021 The Basement

FRONT and CENTER Front and Center is a campaign to support the long-term sustainability of the IRT. It is with deep appreciation that we thank the individuals and organizations who have committed a gift to keep the IRT Front and Center!

Michael & Jennifer Abbott A.J. Allen & Kathy Maeglin Janet Allen & Joel Grynheim Dr. Patrick & Danette Alles Pat & Bob Anker Anonymous (6) Susan & Carl Arvin Tammara D. Porter Avant & Jesse Avant Bob & Toni Bader Kay Jett Baker Charles Bantz & Sandra Petronio Allison Barkel Frank & Katrina Basile Mark Bear Gerald & Moira Berg Leo Bianchi & Jill Panetta Susie & Joel Blum Karry Book & John Hansberry Sheila Barton Bosron & Bill Bosron Dan Bradburn & Jane Robison Amy Burke Brady Clark

Mary Beth Claus Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation Alan & Linda Cohen The Cohen Family Foundation, Inc. John & Ulla Connor Sammi Coppedge & Joel Weyrauch Don & Dolly Craft Ethan & Anne Craig Daniel & Catherine Cunningham Mike & Irene Curry Claire Dana & Chris Fretts Brian & Jodie Daugherty Ann & Kenneth Dee Christel DeHaan Family Foundation Gary Denney & Louise Bakker Tom Detmer Mary & Steve DeVoe Rollie & Cheri Dick Michael Dinius & Jeannie Regan-Dinius

Jim & Deana Dinsmore Laurie Dippold Danielle M. Dove Nancy & Berkley Duck Duke Realty Julie Dunigan M.E. & Katie Eccles Geoff Ehrendreich Dan & Ginny Emerson Patricia Fansler Troy Farmer Drs. Richard & Rebecca Feldman Jeff & Chery Ferguson Mr. & Mrs. Mark W. Forde Jim & Julie Freeman David & Ann Frick Drs. Cherryl & Shelly Friedman Tom & Jenny Froehle Jan & Rick Fulmer David A. & Dee Garrett (in memoriam) Kathy & Gene Gentili Ron & Kathy Gifford

Nadine & Alvin Givens Bruce Glor Susan & Charlie Golden Dave & Mary Lou Gotshall Laurie Gutmann Tom Haas Endowment Fund Benjamin Hanna Mike & Judy Harrington Michael N. Heaton Donald & Teri Hecht Holt Hedrick Aaron Henze Ann Hinson William & Patricia Hirsch Lindsey & Tom Horan Brenda S. Horn Jan Hornaday & Brett Brewer Bill & Nancy Hunt Rebecca Hutton The Indianapolis Fellows Fund, a fund of The Indianapolis Foundation

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THE SUPPORTING CAST

INDIANA REPERTORY THEATRE DONORS FRONT and CENTER CONTINUED Front and Center is a campaign to support the long-term sustainability of the IRT. It is with deep appreciation that we thank the individuals and organizations who have committed a gift to keep the IRT Front and Center!

The Indianapolis Foundation, a CICF affiliate Johnson Grossnickle & Associates Jim & Nancy Kean Michael Kirkmeyer David Kleiman & Susan Jacobs John & Susan Kline Gary Knott & Colette Irwin-Knott Steve & Bev Koepper Kurt & Judy Kroenke Jill & Peter Lacy Lacy Foundation Sarah & John Lechleiter Margaret Lehtinen & Dr. Lawrence Mark Elisabeth Lesem Shelby Lewis Hugh & Olga Lilienkamp Lilly Endowment, Inc. Linnea’s Lights, LLC John & Laura Ludwig Bill & Susie Macias Michael R. & Sue Maine Hillary Martin & Rudy Bustamante Vince & Kristy Mathews Lauren McDaniel Andrew & Amy Michie Korea Milledge Amber Mills Lawren Mills & Brad Rateike David & Robin Miner Sidney & Sharon Mishkin

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David & Leslie Morgan Michael D. Moriarty Vicki Murphy Carl Nelson & Loui Lord Nelson Nicholas H. Noyes, Jr. Memorial Foundation, Inc. Jackie Nytes & Michael O’Brien Eric & Suzanne Olson OneAmerica Financial Partners The Payne Family Foundation, a fund of CICF Randy D. Pease Ben Pecar & Leslie Thompson Patricia Pelizzari Mel & Joan Perelman Deb & Greg Perkins Samantha Pezzute Jeff Pigeon Scott & Susan Putney Peter & Karen Reist Tony Ren George & Olive Rhodes (in memoriam) Richard & Diane Rhodes Sue & Bill Ringo The Robert S. and Margot L. Eccles Charitable Fund, a fund of CICF Richard J Roberts Kathy Sax Dale & Teresa Schaeffer Dan & Patty Schipp Maggie Barrett Schlake & Joshua Schlake

Jane W. Schlegel Wayne & Susan Schmidt Nanette Schulte & Matthew Russell Michael & Holly Semler Mark & Gerri Shaffer Jack & Karen Shaw Simmons Family Foundation, a fund of CICF Doug Sims & Amanda Jackson Michael Skehan Joyce & Steve Smidley Kendra & Andrew Smith Sue & Mike Smith Victoria Smith & Scott Wampler Rosemarie Springer Doshia & John Stewart Dan & Diana Sullivan Martin & Lee Summers Richard & Lois Surber Suzanne Sweeney & Todd Wiencek Randy Talley Jay & Barbara Taylor Gene & Mary Tempel Adam Ternet Jeff & Benita Thomasson Gordon & Mary-Anne Thompson Tony & Jane Tietz Steve & Maria Tilmans Miriam Friedman Towles Dr. & Mrs. James Trippi Jennifer C. Turner

John & Kathy Vahle Jennifer & Gary Vigran Amy Waggoner Cheryl & Ray Waldman Dr. Rosalind Webb Carol Weiss Alan & Elizabeth Whaley David P. Whitman & Donna L. Reynolds Heather & Andy Wilson John & Margaret Wilson Terry & Nancy Young Joseph Zielinski & Bethany Lowery

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