a message from the
artistic and managing directors
Thank you for joining us for the New England premiere of Straight White Men by Young Jean Lee. We’re pleased to kick off another exciting season with this thoughtprovoking recent Broadway hit! With a keen eye that uncannily observes the contemporary conundrum of her subjects, Lee brings a sharply comedic wit to her ruthless depiction of the iconic American father/son story. With this season’s theme, AWAKENING, New Rep is focusing on plays that shed light on new perspectives. We hope that these plays will inspire and engage our audiences as New Rep continues to be a place where the vital ideas of our time can be discussed freely and openly. We invite you to join us as our season continues with David Meyers’ compelling historical drama We Will Not Be Silent, a timely new work about the rise and cost of resistance to Hitler by a group of young German students. Later in the year, we’re happy to continue our holiday tradition of providing a powerful production of a terrific musical that has something to offer many generations of theatregoers. 1776 is just that musical. New Rep’s production will embrace this acclaimed work by telling the American “origin story” with a cast that represents the spectrum of 21st century America. Thank you again for visiting us today. And please do share your experience with friends and family. During this time of increasing demand for media coverage, all of our cultural organizations require word of mouth from our patrons to promote the cause of maintaining a vibrant arts landscape. We look forward to seeing you again soon as we continue our journey of discovering different awakenings.
Jim Petosa Artistic Director
TOP: THE CAST OF MAN OF LA MANCHA
Harriet Sheets Managing Director
ANDREW BRILLIANT / BRILLIANT PICTURES. 2PHOTO: 01 8-2019 seaso n
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n e w re p e r t o r y t h e a t re
in residence at the Mosesian Center for the Arts
Jim Petosa Artistic Director
321 ARSENAL ST, WATERTOWN
Harriet Sheets Managing Director
presents
STRAIGHT WHITE MEN BY
YOUNG JEAN LEE
DIRECTED BY ELAINE
SCENIC DESIGNER
VAAN HOGUE
COSTUME DESIGNER
AFSOON PAJOUFAR
LIGHTING DESIGNER
CHELSEA KERL
SOUND DESIGNER
AJA JACKSON STAGE MANAGER
LEE SCHUNA
BECCA FREIFELD*
cast (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
DEV BLAIR Person in Charge SHELLEY BOLMAN* Matt KEN CHEESEMAN* Ed MICHAEL KAYE* Drew DENNIS TRAINOR JR.* Jake
There will be no intermission. STRAIGHT WHITE MEN was co-commissioned by the Public Theater, the Wexner Center for the Arts at The Ohio State University, Center Theatre Group, Steirischer Herbst Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, and Les spectacles vivants du Centre Pompidou. It was produced by Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company (Young Jean Lee, Artistic Director; Aaron Rosenblum, Producing Director). STRAIGHT WHITE MEN is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. * member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States The video and/or audio recording of this performance by any means whatsoever is strictly prohibited.
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ADDITIONAL PRODUCTION STAFF ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Adam DRAMATURG Annie MOVEMENT Yo-EL
Coursey
Cassell
MASTER ELECTRICIAN PROPS MANAGER
SEASON SPONSORS
Kassim
Katie Hoolsema
Alec Long
TECHNICAL COORDINATOR Nathan SOUND ENGINEER Lee
Lee
Schuna
REHEARSAL PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Kristina Furey SPECIAL THANKS
PERFORMANCE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Laura Danek
Berklee College Of Music
SCENERY
Wooden Kiwi Productions – Peter Colao and Richard Wood, Partners
Commander’s Mansion
UNDERSTUDIES
David Nolan Rich David Picariello
H OM E is where your story begins. Annie Danielson
Elissa Rogovin REALTOR®
Cell: 617.620.2440 826 Boylston Street • Chestnut Hill • MA 02467 erogovin@HammondRE.com • ElissaRogovin.myhammondagent.com www.HammondRE.com Serving Boston and the surrounding comunities
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note s fro m the direc tor:
Elaine Vaan Hogue Playwright Young Jean Lee was asked how Straight White Men has changed her. This is Lee’s response: “With Straight White Men, it’s really prevented me from feeling totally self-righteous as an Asian female. I mean, ‘I’m a woman of color! I can scapegoat the straight white guy! I’m not a person of privilege! I’m doing great things for the world just by totally selfishly pursuing what I want, because I’m making the world more diverse!’ A straight white guy can’t do that. He can’t say, ‘I’m making the world a more diverse place by doing whatever I want’—there are expectations on him that require him to do something. So working on this show has sort of forced me to confront my own hypocrisy and challenge my sense of how committed I am to social justice—how big a hypocrite I am.” Perhaps the experience of Straight White Men will ask each of you to confront or question something in yourself, whether it is identity, privilege, or your own hypocrisy. This is a play that entertains while it also confronts and challenges. What questions might you ask as you leave the theatre after the performance? How might you be transformed? What can we, as a community, learn about ourselves? I welcome the opportunity and hope you will too.
Elaine Vaan Hogue
o Your gift is y
ur voice—
lly. u f r e w o p k s pea
New Repertory Theatre appreciates your patronage and is honored to be your theatre of choice in the Greater Boston region. You can help us continue to produce compelling and thought-provoking productions with a gift to our annual fund. Your gift will ensure that we remain at the forefront of cuttingedge theatre. To make your gift, please go to newrep.org/donate or call 617-923-7060 x8212. Thank you for your support!
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note s on
straight white men BY RUTH SPACK
The pre-show music, curtain speech, and transitions are an important part of this play. They should create a sense that the show is under the control of people who are not straight white men. - Young Jean Lee “DE S T R OY THE AUDIENC E”
If you find the loud opening music for Straight White Men unsettling, you are not alone! Wherever the play is produced, some audience members become distraught or even hostile, especially when their request to stop the noise is denied. Young Jean Lee added the music for a specific purpose. The play had its New York premiere at The Public Theater with a more conservative, wealthier audience than Lee was accustomed to, and so the avant-garde playwright sought to create a space that would allow her audience to feel they belonged. It worked. “Many of my friends didn’t even notice the pre-show environment until afterward,” Lee told an interviewer. “They said, ‘What? It wasn’t loud at all.’” The motto of Lee’s own experimental theater company (2003-2016) was “Destroy the Audience”: Get past their defenses against uncomfortable subjects and provoke them to confront difficult questions by keeping them disoriented—and laughing. Y OU NG JEAN LEE: EARLY L I FE A ND E DUCATION
Young Jean Lee was born in South Korea in 1974 and moved to the United States at the age of two. As one of the only Asian American children in the white community of Pullman, Washington, she became isolated 6
in the face of unremitting racism: “I almost wasn’t considered human. I didn’t get to be in that category.” At UC Berkeley, Lee was surprised to see so many Asian students on campus and amazed that “nobody was making fun of them.” After graduating as an English major, Lee entered Berkeley’s PhD program to become a Shakespeare professor, but she “really hated grad school” because of its emphasis on theory. A therapist asked her to answer off the top of her head, “What do you want to do with your life?” Much to her surprise, Lee blurted out, “I want to be a playwright.” She discovered she’d been studying plays all this time because she had unconsciously always wanted to write them. FR O M EX PE RI M E N TA L T O N ATUR AL I ST I C W RI T I N G
Lee initially experienced writer’s block when she entered Brooklyn College’s playwriting program, run by Mac Wellman. As a way to help silence Lee’s inner critic, Wellman advised her to write the worst possible play she could imagine. Lee says she began with a “pretentious, horrible idea,” created “really annoying” characters, and restarted scenes in the middle when she got bored, without discarding anything. The result ultimately became The Appeal (2004), staged by the Soho Repertory and directed by Lee herself. Since then, Lee’s experimental plays about racial and gender identity have been bizarrely constructed and flamboyantly offensive. In contrast, Straight White Men, her tenth play, is a naturalistic drama with a traditional three-act structure. Lee chose this theatrical form because it has historically been used to present straight white males as “default humans” and their narratives as “universal,” a viewpoint she aims to disrupt.
n e w re p e r t o r y t h e a t re
CR E ATIN G STRAIGHT WH I TE M EN
At the beginning of the creative process, Lee typically asks herself, “What’s the last play in the world I would ever want to write? What is really hard to do?” as a way to expand the way she views the world. A perfect example of this, Lee’s initial inspiration for Straight White Men was born out of these questions. Normally, after she chooses a theme, Lee casts her shows and writes the initial draft in response to conversations with the performers and her dramaturg, Mike Farry. During rehearsals, the scripts are developed collaboratively, with everyone in the room shouting out solutions to textual and structural problems. But her customary writing process couldn’t work with Straight White Men. At the show’s first workshop at Brown University, the straight white male actors were more reserved in discussing their identity than the diverse casts she normally worked with. They had not spent their lives experiencing straight white maleness as an identity. For many of them, “straight white men” meant only jocks. To gain a fuller understanding of ingrained behaviors and speech patterns, Lee interviewed dozens of heterosexual white men. She also opened the conversation to college students of diverse identities and backgrounds, who readily found fault with straight white men. Lee asked them to list what they wished the men would do to generate more goodwill. Among the answers:
I want a straight white man to sit down and shut up. I want him to take a back seat, to take a supporting role. I don’t want him to be aggressive. I want him to be passive and sit there and take it. I want him to listen. I don’t want him taking the head role or the biggest job or to be going after the biggest stuff. I want him in a supporting role to me. C R EATI N G S T RA I G H T W H I T E M E N
But when Lee penned a character who fulfilled these specifications, she was stunned to discover the workshop participants viewed him as a loser. That revelation would figure prominently in her development of the character Matt and the characters of his family, who are appalled at his lack of ambition. For Young Jean Lee, Straight White Men is “an exploration of shifting social dynamics,” and she wants audiences to get caught in a bind: “a disjunction between the desire for social justice and the desire for things to stay the same.” Matt, she says, is a litmus test. Is this the kind of man we want? Or do we wish he’d align himself with the traditional patriarchal structure? What do we want anyone to do? What do we value, really?
P RODUCTION HIST O RY
Straight White Men began in April 2013 as a workshop at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and had its first full production in 2014 at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio, with Young Jean Lee as director. That same year Lee directed the play in Graz, Austria and Paris, France and a revised version at The Public in New York. Between December 2015 and July 2018, the play was produced in Germany, Canada, Greece, Australia and at several theaters across the United States. Straight White Men had its Broadway premiere at the Helen Hayes Theater on July 23, 2018. Young Jean Lee is the first Asian American woman to have a play produced on Broadway.
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meet the artists DEV BLAIR (Person in Charge) returns to
New Repertory Theatre after performing in excerpts of Baltimore and Good for Boston University Summer Orientation. They were last seen in Wig Out! (Company One Theatre) and have developed new work with both Fresh Ink Theatre and Company One Theatre. They are a senior BFA Theatre Arts major at the Boston University School of Theatre and recent participant in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Art’s 3rd annual Undergraduate Playwrights’ Workshop. They are originally from Orlando, Florida and currently reside in Allston. After Straight White Men, Dev will continue work with the Haus of Blair performance collective to produce a collaborative mixtape in the fall, and move on to work on their thesis in the spring. SHELLEY BOLMAN* (Matt) returns to
New Repertory Theatre after appearing in Freud’s Last Session, Opus, and Tartuffe. Other area credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Commonwealth Shakespeare); Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse); Three Sisters and Playboy of the Western World (Wellesley Repertory Theatre); Pinocchio and The Wizard of Oz (Wheelock Family Theatre); The Woman in Black and Billy Bishop Goes to War (Gloucester Stage Company); The Temperamentals (Lyric Stage); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Better Off Dead and Almost Maine (The Village Theatre Project); and Miss Holmes, A Christmas Story, and And Then There Were None (Greater Boston Stage Company). Regional credits include Trumpery and Opus (Olney Theatre Center); Dial M for Murder and Bedroom Farce (Barnstormers Theatre); and Dracula and Inherit the Wind (Oldcastle Theatre). Mr. Bolman earned his BA from Vassar College and a Master’s in Education 8
from Emerson College. He is also the Artistic Director of Theatre Espresso, a theater education company that performs interactive historical dramas about issues of social justice and the law in US history. KEN CHEESEMAN* (Ed) returns to New
Repertory Theatre after performing in Blackberry Winter, The King of Second Avenue, Bakersfield Mist, and Race. Local credits include: Choice, Ether Dome, Prelude to a Kiss, All My Sons, and A Civil War Christmas (Huntington Theatre Company); We Won’t Pay, We Won’t Pay, Doctor’s Dilemma, Othello, Three Farces and a Funeral, and The Merchant of Venice (American Repertory Theater); Marvin’s Room and One for the Money (Trinity Rep). Off-Broadway credits include The Master Builder (Brooklyn Academy of Music); Measure for Measure and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New York Shakespeare Festival); King Lear (La MaMa); and Amphitryon, Scapin, The Cherry Orchard, and Dr. Faustus (Classic Stage Company). Regional credits include The Misanthrope (Long Wharf Theatre); Scapin (Yale Repertory Theatre); Travels with My Aunt and The Cherry Orchard (Baltimore’s Center Stage). Feature film roles include Joy, Shutter Island, Mystic River, Leaves of Grass, Malice, and Next Stop Wonderland and TV guest appearances on Monk, Law and Order, and Olive Kitteridge (HBO). Mr. Cheeseman is a Senior Artist in residence at Emerson College. MICHAEL KAYE* (Drew) returns to New
Repertory Theatre after performing in Lonely Planet, Good, Broken Glass, The Elephant Man, Amadeus, Opus, House With No Walls, and Silence. He also appeared in Good Off-Broadway at PTP/NYC. Other area credits include Mothers and Sons and Clybourne n e w re p e r t o r y t h e a t re
Park (SpeakEasy Stage Company); Uncle Jack, Monster, The Glass Menagerie, and Good (Boston Center for American Performance); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Book of Days (Lyric Stage Company); and various productions at Huntington Theatre Company and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Mr. Kaye serves as Assistant Professor of Acting at Boston University School of Theatre, where he earned both his BFA in Acting and MFA and Theatre Education. Born in Chicago, he now lives in Sandwich, NH. DENNIS TRAINOR JR* (Jake) returns to
New Repertory Theatre after performing in Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Local credits include In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play (SpeakEasy Stage); The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (Gloucester Stage); The Pain and the Itch (Company One); The Rainmaker (Foothills Theatre); November (Lyric Stage); and The Sea Gull (The Publick). Mr. Trainor was a founding co-Artistic Director of the New York-based Rude Mechanicals Theater Company. He is the Producer-Director-Writer-Narrator of two documentaries: American Autumn, and Legalize Democracy as well as the former host of the nationally syndicated news and politics TV program Acronym TV. Mr. Trainor earned his MFA in Acting at The American Conservatory Theater and he is currently on the faculty at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Up next: Mr. Trainor’s one-man show, Manifest Destiny’s Child, is now in development. Originally from New York, he currently lives in Groton, MA. dennistrainorjr.com YOUNG JEAN LEE (Playwright) is a writer,
director, and filmmaker who has been called “the most adventurous downtown playwright of her generation” by the New York Times and “one of the best experimental playwrights in America” by Time Out New York. She has written and directed ten shows in New York with Young Jean Lee’s Theater Company and toured her work to over 2 01 8-2019 seaso n
thirty cities around the world. Her plays have been published by Dramatists Play Service, Theatre Communications Group, and Samuel French. She is currently under commission from Lincoln Center Theater and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and has written a screenplay commission for Plan B/Paramount Pictures. Her first short film, “Here Come the Girls,” was presented at the Locarno International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and BAMcinemaFest. In 2013, she released her debut album, “We’re Gonna Die,” with her band, Future Wife. Lee is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two OBIE Awards, a Prize in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a PEN Literary Award, a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Doris Duke Artist Residency, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant, and the ZKB Patronage Prize of the Zürcher Theater Spektakel. She has also received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Rockefeller MAP Fund, the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Creative Capital, the Greenwall Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Arts Presenters/ Ford Foundation Creative Capacity Grant, the Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, and the New England Foundation for the Arts National Theater Project Award. ELAINE VAAN HOGUE (Director) returns
to New Repertory Theatre after directing Oleanna, Baltimore, The Amish Project, Imagining Madoff (Elliot Norton nominee for Outstanding Production), The Kite Runner, and co-curating the inaugural Next Rep Black Box Festival in 2014. Regional directing credits include The Tempest (Arts After Hours); After Orlando—A Theatre Action and A Disappearing Number (Central Square Theatre); Metamorphosis (Boston Center for American Performance); Walking the Volcano (BCAP/BPT); Crave (Nora Theatre Company); Thin Air: Tales from a Revolution (UMKC); Infinity’s House
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(Majestic Theatre); Fen (New Theatre); The Labyrinth of Desire, The Penelopiad, Execution of Justice, Lizzie Stranton, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Angels in America, Three Sisters, Pains of Youth, Polaroid Stories, Marisol, and many others (Boston University). As an actor she has appeared in Dark Room (Bridge Repertory Theatre); Mrs. Packard (Bridge Repertory Theatre/ Playhouse Creatures); The Journey (BCAP/ InMotion Theatre); Friends of Armenia (Faneuil Hall); The Road to Mecca (BCAP); Creation: Mythic Weavings (MagdalenaUSA); When Jennie Goes Marching (Olney Theatre Center). She is a fervent member of The Magdalena Project, an international network of women in contemporary theatre and has been a participant in several international cyberformances collaborating in We Have a Situation (Rio de Janeiro), All the Better to See You With (Odin Teatret), MagFest KISS (Amsterdam), trans-hack-feminist UpStage Jam (Eclectic Tech Carnival). Upcoming projects include Runaways (BU Booth Theatre) and collaborating in the creation of a new play in which she will play the visionary human rights activist, Julia Ward Howe. Ms. Vaan Hogue serves as Program Head of Theatre Arts at BU. Originally from Los Angeles, she resides in Central Massachusetts. BECCA FREIFELD* (Stage Manager) returns
to New Repertory Theatre after serving as Stage Manager for Two Jews Walk into a War and Oleanna, Performance & Tour Stage Manager for Thurgood, Assistant Stage Manager for Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, and Good, and Production Assistant on Freud’s Last Session, The Testament of Mary, The Snow Queen, A Number, Broken Glass, Scenes From an Adultery, The King of Second Avenue, and Closer Than Ever. Area stage management credits include Dancing at Lughnasa (Gloucester Stage Co.); Every Brilliant Thing (SpeakEasy Stage Company); Barbecue (Lyric Stage Company of Boston); Shoes On, Shoes Off (Brandeis Department of Theater Arts); and Romeo & Juliet and
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Evil Dead: the Musical (Arts After Hours), among others. Up next, Ms. Freifeld will stage manage the world-premiere production of Slow Food at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. AFSOON PAJOUFAR (Scenic Designer) returns to New Repertory Theatre after designing Ripe Frenzy (co-produced with Boston Center for American Performance). Boston area credits include Cabaret, ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Boston University). Film credits include Ruined, Zoya, Remembering the Pentagons, and Nar. She received a BA in Painting from the Azad Art and Architecture University of Tehran and is currently pursuing an MFA in Scenic Design at Boston University. Upcoming projects include Heartland and Still Standing (New Repertory Theatre) and My Station in Life (Gloucester Stage Company). Originally from Tehran, Iran, Ms. Pajoufar currently resides in Allston. afsoonpajoufar.com CHELSEA KERL (Costume Designer) returns to New Repertory Theatre after designing The Little Prince, Assassins, and Tongue of a Bird. Recent Boston area credits include Dark Room (Bridge Repertory Theatre), Madame Defarge (Gloucester Stage Company), The Women Who Mapped the Stars (The Nora Theatre Company), Familiar (American Repertory Theatre Institute), The Liar (Wellesley Repertory Theatre), Grand Concourse (SpeakEasy Stage Company), and Warrior Class (Lyric Stage Company of Boston). She received an MFA in Costume Design from Boston University, and she holds BAs in both Theatre and English from the University of Maryland. Ms. Kerl is currently the costume shop manager, resident costume designer, and costume design professor at Wellesley College. She is originally from Holmdel, NJ and now lives in Medford. Upcoming projects include Dream a Little Dream (Brandeis University) and It’s a Wonderful Life (Greater Boston Stage Company). chelseakerl.com
n e w re p e r t o r y t h e a t re
LEE SCHUNA (Sound Designer) returns
to New Repertory Theatre after designing Two Jews Walk Into a War, Lonely Planet, Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act, and Fiddler on the Roof, and serving as Sound Engineer on multiple productions and events. Lee is a transmasculine freelance sound designer, composer, music producer, and graduate of the Music Industry program at Northeastern University. Credits include Hype Man, Peerless, Really, and The T Party (Company One); Every Brilliant Thing, Grand Concourse, and Significant Other (SpeakEasy Stage Company); Fires in the Mirror and The King Stag (Tufts University); and The Women Who Mapped The Stars (The Nora Theatre Company). He is currently working on experimental electronic music to be released on his pet record label at Human Nature Records. He currently resides in Roxbury. humannaturerecords.com AJA M. JACKSON (Lighting Designer)
makes her New Repertory theatre debut. Recent regional credits include Hear Word! (American Repertory Theatre), The Last Wife (WAM Theatre), and Wit (Calderwood Pavilion). Other credits include the Midwest tour of What The Wind Taught Me and The Biomorphic Dance Festival in NYC. Previously she worked as a Stage Manager with the Denver Center Theatre Company and in Production Management with The Santa Fe Opera. Ms. Jackson holds an MFA in Lighting Design from Boston University, a BFA in Lighting Design from the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, and a BA in Dance Performance from the Johnny Carson School of Music. JIM PETOSA (Artistic Director) joined New
Repertory Theatre as an award-winning theatre artist, educator, and leader in 2012. He has served as Director of the School of Theatre, College of Fine Arts, at Boston University since 2002, and Artistic Director of Maryland’s Olney Theatre Center for the Arts and its National Players educational 2 01 8-2019 seaso n
touring company (1994-2012). While at Boston University, he established the Boston Center for American Performance (BCAP), the professional production extension of the Boston University School of Theatre, in 2008. Throughout the Northeast, Mr. Petosa has directed for numerous institutions, including The Bakelite Masterpiece, Statements After An Arrest Under the Immorality Act, Lonely Planet, Ideation (IRNE Nomination), The Gift Horse, Brecht on Brecht, Good, Freud’s Last Session, The Testament of Mary, Broken Glass, Assassins, On the Verge, The Elephant Man (IRNE Nomination), Amadeus, Three Viewings, The Last Five Years, and Opus at New Rep. In Boston, his work was nominated for two IRNE awards for A Question of Mercy (BCAP). He has served as one of three artistic leaders for the Potomac Theatre Project (PTP/NYC) since 1987. In Maryland, his work earned over 25 Helen Hayes Award nominations as well as the award for outstanding direction of a musical for Jacques Brel is Alive and Well… His production of Look! We Have Come Through! was nominated for the Charles MacArthur Award for outstanding new play, and he earned the Montgomery County Executive’s Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Award for Outstanding Artist/Scholar. A member of Actors’ Equity Association, Mr. Petosa has served on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for StageSource. Originally from New Jersey, he was educated at The Catholic University of America and resides in Quincy. HARRIET SHEETS (Managing Director) joined
New Repertory Theatre in 2000. During her tenure, Ms. Sheets has successfully managed the theatre’s increasing operational budget, and moved the company from Newton Highlands to the Arsenal Center for the Arts, now Mosesian Center for the Arts. Ms. Sheets is treasurer of the Producers’ Association of New England Area Theatres (NEAT). Prior to working at New Rep, she was the General Manager at Merrimack Repertory Theatre, where she worked for nine years. Ms. Sheets began her career as an Actors’ Equity Association Stage Manager, working at North
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Shore Music Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, Opera Company of Boston, and others. Originally from Arizona, she holds a BFA from Arizona State University and resides in Methuen.
* member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION (AEA), founded in 1913, AEA represents more than 51,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. actorsequity.org
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n e w re p e r t o r y t h e a t re
about
new rep
mission
New Repertory Theatre produces plays that speak powerfully to the vital ideas of our time. w h at w e d o :
• Through the passion and electricity of live theater performed to the highest standards of
excellence, New Rep seeks to spark community conversations on crucial contemporary issues.
• Our work expands and challenges the human spirit of both artists and audiences. We
present world premieres, contemporary plays and classic works in several intimate settings. Our productions are designed to be accessible to all. We are committed to education and enrichment for learners of all ages, with a special dedication to the creation of innovative in-school programming and outreach to underserved audiences. We embrace theater as the basis for enduring connections with our community and as a springboard for meaningful civic engagement.
• New Rep is an active advocate for the arts and a major voice in the national dialogue defining the role of theater in our culture.
New Repertory Theatre is the award-winning, professional theatre company in residence at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. For over 30 years, New Rep has been a leader of self-produced theatre in greater Boston, producing contemporary and classic dramas, comedies, and musicals in both the 340-seat MainStage Theater and the 90-seat BlackBox Theater. Annually, New Rep serves over 40,000 patrons, including 2,000 season subscribers. In addition to its season of productions, New Rep produces Next Voices, a program dedicated to developing new plays by our Next Voices Playwriting Fellows. Under its Lifelong Enrichment Arts Programs (LEAP), New Rep also produces its Classic Repertory Company, Page To Stage, Insider Experiences, and Spotlight Symposium Series. New Repertory Theatre, Inc. is a not-for-profit theatre company operating under a New England Area Theatres (NEAT) contract with Actors’ Equity Association and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. New Repertory Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications Group, a national service organization for non-profit professional theaters; StageSource, the Alliance of Theatre Artists and Producers; ArtsBoston; the Producer’s Association of New England Area Theatres (NEAT); New England Theatre Conference; VSA Arts-Massachusetts, a service and support organization promoting accessibility; Theatre Arts Marketing Alliance (TAMA); Boston Arts Marketing Alliance (BAMA); National New Play Network (NNPN); and Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences and Humanities.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
ADVISORY COUNCIL
A.W. (Chip) Phinney III TREASURER Jon Harris CLERK Ruth Budd
Andrew Brilliant, Gregory E. Bulger, Judi Cantor, Marcy Crary, Diane DiCarlo, Richard Dix, Jane Feigenson, C. Nancy Fisher, Christopher Flynn, Ralph Fuccillo, Joan Gallos, Virginia Inglis, Farida Kathawalla, B.J. Krintzman, Ted Kurland, Paul Levine, Michael McCay, Fred Miller, Peter Nessen, Daniel S. Newton, Carlos Ridruejo, Mary Rivet, Dan Salera, Phyllis Strimling, Richard Walker, Curtis Whitney
CHAIR
Lillian Sober Ain, Donald Giller, Miriam Gillitt, David Kluchman, Shari Malyn, Matt McGuirk, Anita Meiklejohn, Laurie H. Nash, Pamela Taylor, Jo Trompet
ARTISTIC AND PRODUCTION
Jim Petosa ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE Leila Ghaemi ARTISTIC FELLOW Elena Morris PRODUCTION MANAGER Hannah Huling EDUCATION ASSOCIATE Sarah Morrisette ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
ADMINISTRATION MANAGING DIRECTOR Harriet
Sheets Dearborn MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATE Zack Page GENERAL MANAGER Alexis
DEVELOPMENT
Jillian Levine Mark W. Soucy
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER GRANT WRITER
BOX OFFICE BOX OFFICE MANAGER Angelica
Potter
BOX OFFICE ASSOCIATES
Serena Cates, Katie Grindeland, Sarah Morrisette, Sarah Spinella Sarah Vandewalle HOUSE MANAGERS
Serena Cates, Katie Grindeland, Rose Mancuso, Sarah Spinella Coriana Hunt Swartz LEGAL COUNSELOR Stanley B. Kay ACCOUNTANT Eliott Morra, CPA IT SUPPORT Mark W. Soucy, NCGIT
CLASSIC REPERTORY COMPANY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Karen Coyle Aylward, Kimo Carter, Jonathan Garlick, Clay Hopper, Lisa Stott
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MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Jaclyn
Dentino
CREATIVE SERVICES & MARKETING ASSOCIATE
Emily DeCarolis GROUP SALES ASSOCIATE Jan GRAPHIC DESIGN Caridossa PHOTOGRAPHERS
Nargi Design
Andew Brilliant / Brilliant Pictures, Christopher McKenzie VIDEOGRAPHER Robert Greim AMBASSADORS
Lloyd David, Scotty Hart, Virginia Inglis, Elissa Rogovin, Diane Smith
CLASSIC REPERTORY COMPANY
Clay Hopper Katey Christianson COMPANY Nick Chieffo, Willa Eigo, Josh Gluck, Riley Fox Hillyer, Willow Lautenberg, David Picariello, Jane Reagan, Elena Toppo DIRECTOR
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
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ne w rep
donors & partners
c o r p o r at e pa r t n e r s h i p p r o g r a m
For more information on our new Corporate Partnership Program, please visit newrep.org/corporate-sponsors SEASO N SPO N SO R S
The following list represents in-kind contributions and cash gifts made between 4/1/2017
and 8/24/2018. CORPORATE DONORS A Thoughtful Move Amazon.com The Arsenal Project Artemis Yoga ArtsBoston athenahealth Boston University Broadway in Boston Capaldi Limited Partnership Eastern Bank Fastachi Hammond Real Estate igive.com J. Stallone Realty Group Keller Williams Realty Massachusetts General Hospital NCGIT R L Tennant Insurance Residence Inn by Marriott- Boston/Watertown Sotheby’s Realty Stewart International Travel Sun Bug Solar The Village Bank Watertown Savings Bank WGBH MATCHING GIFTS AT&T Blue Cross Blue Shield Covidien Fiduciary Trust ExxonMobil Foundation Gartner Google IBM Matching Gifts Program SalesForce Foundation Sanofi Foundation of North America FOUNDATION SUPPORT Esther B. Kahn Foundation Foundation for MetroWest
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The Fuller Foundation GHR Foundation Gregory E. Bulger Foundation The Marshall Home Fund Mass Humanities National New Play Network Richard & Susan Smith Family Foundation Roy A. Hunt Foundation The Shubert Foundation The Solomon Foundation Watertown Community Foundation GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Boxford Cultural Council Brookline Commission for the Arts Burlington Cultural Council Cambridge Arts Council Carver Cultural Council Dedham Cultural Council Framingham Cultural Council Granby Cultural Council Marlborough Cultural Council Massachusetts Cultural Council MASSCreative Milford Cultural Council National Endowment for the Arts Shrewsbury Cultural Council Sudbury Cultural Council Waltham Cultural Council Watertown Commission on Disability Watertown Cultural Council
Commander’s Mansion Fastachi Irving House La Casa de Pedro Legit Band MEM Tea Imports Moldova Restaurant NCGIT Not Your Average Joe’s Premier Bartending & Beverage Service Red Lentil Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurant Season to Taste Sensational Foods Solomon’s Collection & Fine Rugs Spindler Confections The Spirited Gourmet Stanley B. KayStellina Restaurant Stockyard Restaurant Strip T’s Terry O’Reilly’s Vantage Graphics Vicki Lee’s WGBH
IN-KIND Boston University Brilliant Pictures, Inc. Capaldi Limited Partnership Caridossa Catering with Distinction
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individual donors Thank you to all of our individual contributors! Space does not permit us to list gifts under $50, but we are grateful to all of our generous supporters. The following list represents contributions and cash gifts between 4/1/2017 and 8/24/2018. Producing Partners $25,000-$49,999 Lillian Sober Ain Marcy Crary & Tim Hall Miriam Gillitt Platinum Production Partners $10,000-$24,999 Jim Petosa Joy & A.W. (Chip) Phinney Vincent Piccirilli & Anita Meiklejohn William & Helen Pounds Production Partners $5,000-$7,499 Anonymous (1) Holly Crary Donald Fulton Nan & Bill Harris Wendy Liebow & Scott Burson Chris Meyer & Mary Rivet Founders’ Society $2,500-$4,999 Stephen & Lisa Breit Ruth Budd & John Ehrenfeld Gregory Bulger & Richard Dix Lee & Amy Ellsworth Carol & Mitchell Fischman C. Nancy Fisher Delia Flynn Joan Gallos & Lee Bolman Jonathan Harris Chris & David Kluchman BJ Krintzman Shari Malyn & Jon Abbott Dorothy Mohr Laurie Nash Harriet Sheets Pamela Taylor Jo Trompet Leadership Society $1,500-$2,499 Anonymous (2) David & Sandy Bakalar Christopher Flynn & Daniel Newton Annette Furst & Jim Miller Don & Pamela Giller John & Sheila Hicinbothem Paul & Elizabeth Kastner Michael McCay & Dan Salera Neal & Lynne Miller Duncan Spelman & Elizabeth Grady Arlene Weintraub Angels’ Society $1,000-$1,499 Anonymous (1) Cindy Aber
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Marty Ahrens & Gary M. Madison Mark & Carolyn Ain Betsy Ansin Michael Broad & Grace Massey Ann Buxbaum Jane Capaldi Iris Feldman Jonathan & Lauren Garlick Garth & Lindsay Greimann John B. Hawes & Emily Barclay Jonathan Hecht & Lora Sabin Brian & Robin Hicks Larry Manchester & Kathleen O’Connor Chris McKown & Abigail Johnson Timothy & Deborah Moore Jerry & Myrna Olderman Nancy Raphael Glenn Rosen & Ann Dannenberg Donald & Abby Rosenfeld Ann Ross Maria Saiz & Athelia Tilson Edward & Nancy Stavis Daniel Wagner Richard C. Walker III Barbara Wands Phillip & Tamar Warburg Benefactors’ Society $500-$999 Anonymous (2) John & Mary Antes Henry & Sue Bass John & Kathleen Bradley Bill & Maria Brisk Mary Jo Campbell Jane & Christopher Carlson Laura & Mike Dreese Ralph Fuccillo & Paul Newman Erika Geetter & David Siegel Rona Hamada Virginia Inglis James Kamitses Farida Kathawalla George Kinder & Kathy Lubar Edgar Knudson & Louis Mula Ted & Ann Kurland Susie & Chuck Longfield Walt & R. Eldridge Meissner John Neale Daniel Newton & Christopher Flynn Lowell Partridge Robert & Jackie Pascucci Jeff Poulos & Brad Peloquin Suzanne Priebatsch R. Lynn Rardin & Lynne A. O’Connell Nancy A. Risser Mary Rivet & Christopher Meyer
Arnold & Linda Roth Chuck Schwager & Jan Durgin Stephen & Peg Senturia Joseph Shrand Peter Smith & Donna J. Coletti Christoph Wald & Ute Gfrerer Nancy Richmond Winsten Directors $250-$499 Anonymous (2) Deb Antonelli Barbara Apstein Fred & Judith Becker Kathleen Beckman & Theodore Postol Richard Berger & Ellen Glanz Donald & Ellen Bloch Francine Brasseur Robert Brustein & Doreen Beinart Renee Burns Ronald & Elizabeth Campbell Judi Taylor Cantor Chester & Carol Cekala Judith Chasin Cary Coen Priscilla Cogan & CW Duncan Steven & Arlene Cohen Lloyd David Graham Davies & Jean Walsh Michael & Beth Davis Donald Dearborn Owen Doyle Myriel Eykamp Harold & Susan Farkas Glenda & Robert Fishman Ernestine Gianelly John C. Goodman & Virginia Jordan Barbara & Steven Grossman Michael & Sharon Haselkorn Carolyn Hebsgaard Susan Hepler Carole Hirsch Douglas Huber & Sallie Craig Anton Kris Julianne Lindsay Will & Anastasia Lyman Lindsay McNair Eileen McNeely & Jeff Nadherny Patricia Meaney Richard S. Milsten, Esq. Lee Nadler Leslie Nelken Linda & Barry Nelson Jeff Poulos & Brad Peloquin Suzanne Priebatsch Ellen Perrin David & Donna Podolsky Barbara Poplack Peter & Ulrike Rettig
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Sharon Rich & Nancy Reed Peter & Sandra Roby Serge & Tanya Savard Cynthia Sickler Ellen Simons Barbara Spivak & Peter Loewinthal Martha Stearns Phyllis Strimling Herman & Joan Suit Judith A. Thomson Evelyn & Joel Umlas Denise Wernikoff Curtis Whitney Julianne Yazbek Players $150-$249 Anonymous (2) Joel Abrams Edward Boesel Melissa & Lisa Caten Eric & Pam Diamond Vesna Dimitrijevic Glenn Edelson Lee & Inge Thorn Engler Richard & Katherine Floyd Richard & Nancy Fryberger Nancy Galluccio Anita B. Garlick Walter Gilbert Mark & Janet Gottesman Malcolm & Susan Green Eva Guinan Scotty Hart Peter E. Haydu Edward & Pamela Hoffer Jeffrey Hughes & Nancy Stauffer Israeli Stage Company Martin & Phyllis J. Kornguth David J. Kovacs & Alisa Marshall Paras Patel Patricia Robinson & Henry Finch Stanley & Rhoda Sakowitz Daniel Sheingold Harvey & Rita Simon Peter & Florence Vanderwarker Jean Walsh Jane & Larry Wilcox Friends $50-$149 Anonymous (7) Beverly Abegg Phllis Adams Jane Adolph & Bill Poznik Josh & Rachelle Ain Arthur Anderson & Sharon Sisskind Colin Anderson Fred & Mary Baker David Baxter Eva Benda Robert Berk Freya Bernstein Stuart Bernstein Susan Bernstein Priscilla Biondi Elizabeth Bjorkman Lorraine Bossi Linda Braun
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Monique Brown Tamar Brown Michelle Brownlee Judi Burten & Kevin Soll Victor Calcaterra & Mary Scanlon Tayler Capaldi Deborah Carr Maureen Coffin Donna Cohen Jacqueline Colby Dorothy & Richard Cole Roxann Cooke Donald Coppack James W. & Linda Crawford Bonnie Creditor Bonnie Creinin Harold Crowley Milagros Cruz Mary Cummings Jeffrey DaRocha-Boyle Amanda Davenport Barry David Frances Davis Marjorie & Bruce Davis Susan DeMarco Karen DiGiovanni Arthur & Nicky Dimattia Gail Doherty Virginia Dushame Marilyn Eichner Kathleen Engel & Jim Rebitzer Jerome Facher Chris Farrow-Noble Edith Fenton Deborah Flannery Jean Flatley McGuire Carol A. Flynn & Anna Yoder John Foote & Kristin Rupert Harold & Carol Forbes David & Gita Foster Nancy H. & Richard Fryberger Frank V. Gages Jesse Garlick Sharon Gates Barbara Gawlick Charles & Richard Gazarian Susan Getman Nyla Gislason Georgia Glick Leon & Phyllis Goldman Donald Goldstein Daniel B. Green & Susan Skelley Kiki & Jim Gross Marvin & Joanne Grossman Audrey Haas Marilyn Hamburger Bobbi Hamill Sylvia Hammerman Jay Hanflig Marie Hannon Ilana Hardesty & John Emery David Harris Susan Haule Charles & Natasha Haverty Lauren Heier Ann R. & Philip B. Heymann Marie Hobart
Andrew Holden Philip Horwitz Elisabeth Howe Mary A. Hubbard Judith Hurwitz Henry & Martha Jacoby Carol J. Jenson & Steven P. Willner Fred Johnson David Jones Jeffrey & Judith Kalla Ellen L. & Robert S. Kaplan Fern Kaplan Susan S. Kaplan Eva Karger Stanley B. & Joanne Kay Stuart & Ellen Kazin Carolyn Keller William & Rheta C. Keylor E. Patricia Killory Louise Kittredge Richard & Ronnie Klein Ronna & Thomas Klein Irving & Ann Kofsky Naomi Krasner Allen & Jeanne Krieger Susan G. Krinsky Maureen Kruskal Joan Lancourt Ksenia Lanin Richard & Irene Laursen Virginia Leavy Robert & Helen Lebowitz Sigrid Lindo Cheryl Lindsay Brooke & Paul Lipsitt Natasha Lisman Leonta Longman & Pauline Rosco Laura & Ery Magasanik Richard & Candace Mandel Margaret & George Mansfield Deena Marlette Grace Marzynski Charlo Maurer William & Jo McConaghy Jerome Medalie & Beth Lowd Rachel Mele & Jeffrey Scherz Karole Mendelsohn Karen Miller Lindsay Miller & Peter Ambler Lois Miller Debra Minard Martha Minow Kati Mitchell Rick & Lynne Montross Viola Morse Eileen Murray Danielle Naugler Nancy Nugent Sean O’Brien Jim O’Hare Judy Paradis Lisa Parker Diane F. Paulson Melissa Payne James Pazzanese Martin Perfit Roy & Jean Perkinson
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Burt & Roberta Perlmutter Deborah Peterson, Susan Falkoff, & Janet Jameson Dr. Ian C. Pilarczyk Anne Marie Plasse P.J. Plauger Thomas & Elena Powers Joseph Pranevich Bruce Price Charles & Frances Przyjemski John Quatrale Iftekhar Rahman Alice Ain Rich Carlos & Alisa Ridruejo Ilyse D. Robbins & Glen Mohr Anita W. Robboy Elissa Rogovin Janet Rosen Mona & Phil Rosen Ken & Janet Rosenfield Robert & Pauline Rothenberg Peggy Rothschild Mary Scanlon & Victor Calcaterra John & Lily Schlafer Nancy Schรถn Liliane Schor Ruth T. Segaloff Lolly Selenkow Robert Shapiro John & Linda Sheehan
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Sheila & Harry Shulman Effie Shumaker Evelyn Shumsky Phyllis Shycon Nancy Sizer Susan Skelley & Daniel B. Green Carole Slattery Gary & Elizabeth Smith Shelby Smither Rachael Solem Marvin Sparrow Becky Squier & Herb Lin Leslie Stacks Joe Stallone Nancy Stauffer & Jeffrey Hughes Bobbie & Bob Steinbach Susan Stott Jean Stringham Mary Sullivan Eileen Sviokla Roberta & Jim Swenson Paul A. Syrakos Denise Takvorian Martin & Carol Thrope Cristina Todesco Eva Travers Mark & Janis Urbanek Elaine Vaan Hogue Darshna Varia Vicki Vogt
Kathleen & Ted Wade Ajay Wakhloo David Warnock Samuel Warton Bonnie Waters Alice & Rick Weber Christopher Weikart Deborah & Scott Weiss Ellen Westheimer David & Sharon White Barbara & Tom Williams Robert Willis Roswitha Winsor Lina Yablonovsky Karen Zander Robert Zaret & Jean Holmblad Geraldine Zetzel
n e w re p e r t o r y t h e a t re
classic repertory company
GEORGE ORWELL’S
animal farm
TOURING SEP/2018 - MAY/2019: To book now or learn more, call 617-923-7060 x8207or email education@newrep.org
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S
a midsummer night’s dream
HAND-SELECTED, HAND-ROASTED, HAND ‘EM OVER ARTISANAL NUTS, FINE CHOCOLATES, & GIFTS
Boston • Watertown • Wellesley www.fastachi.com
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audience
information
B OX OF FICE IN FORMATI O N
The New Rep Box Office is open Tuesday - Saturday from noon until 5pm. On performance days, the window opens 2 hours prior to curtain and stays open until fifteen minutes after the last performance begins. For the most up to date hours, please visit newrep.org or call the Box Office at 617-923-8487. A C C E S S IBILITY
Patrons requiring accessible seating should inform the Box Office staff when ordering tickets. The building is equipped with wheelchair-accessible restrooms on each floor. The MainStage Theater is equipped with a Tele-Coil Loop System. Patrons with hearing aids and cochlear implants can set their devices to “T-Coil” to take advantage of the assistive listening system. Patrons wishing for assistive listening devices may pick up a headset from the Box Office upon arrival at the theater. Patrons wishing to use large-print or Braille programs can pick one up from the Box Office upon arrival. Patrons who will be bringing guide dogs to the theater should advise the Box Office staff when ordering tickets. PA RKING
There is a free parking garage on the Arsenal campus, directly across from the Mosesian Center. The parking garage has handicap accessible parking and an elevator on each level. Please do not park in “15 minute” or “30 minute” spaces, or any space designated for a particular company when attending a performance. CH I LDREN
Babes-in-arms are not permitted in the theater during performances. New Rep encourages the introduction of young audiences to the theatre. Children under 14 years of age are required to have a parent or guardian present with them in the theater during the performance. Some shows may contain strong language and/or mature themes; patrons may request additional information when purchasing tickets. P H OT OGRAPHY & RECO R D I N G
All photography, videotaping, and audio recording are strictly prohibited inside the theater. LAT E C OM ERS
All latecomers will be seated at the discretion of management in the most accessible seats, in order to minimize distractions.
Your message to New Rep audiences could be here! Promote your business, applaud your favorite actors, recall your fondest New Rep memory, honor or memorialize someone special—the choice is yours! For more information, email advertising@newrep.org!
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peterfuller.com | 617-924-1747 20 Coolidge Ave, Watertown 02472
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