O T T E R B E I N T H E AT R E & D A N C E presents
The 2022 Classroom Project:
Collaboratively Devised in Rehearsal by: Addison Chapman Jenna Davies Nate Dirksen Kora Duvall Luca Fragiotta Jack Giglia Jessie Glover David Graves Emma Rose Johnson Matthew Knerr
John Michael McCall Jessica Noal Taylor Reister Hannah Schmidt Michelle Silva Isaac Steiger Tiffany Stone Anna Wehrmann Emylie Winesette
Director JESSIE GLOVER
Associate Director MICHELLE SILVA (‘22)
Scenic Designer MATTHEW KNERR (‘24)
Costume Creators ADDISON CHAPMAN (‘24) TIFFANY STONE (‘23)
Lighting Director ANNA WEHRMANN (‘23)
Sound Designer JENNA DAVIES (‘24)
Stage Manager LUCA FRAGIOTTA (‘24)
February 3-5, 2022
Campus Center Theatre 100 W. Home St., Westerville
THE ACTING ENSEMBLE Nate Dirksen Kora Duvall Jack Giglia David Graves Emma Rose Johnson
John Michael McCall Jessica Noal Taylor Reister Hannah Schmidt Isaac Steiger
PRODUCTION STAFF Chair, Department of Theatre & Dance..............................................................T.J. Gerckens Managing Director..................................................................................... Elizabeth Saltzgiver Production Manager...........................................................................................Brian Sekinger Scenic & Props Design Advisor...........................................................................Patrick Stone Faculty Technical Director....................................................................................Patrick Stone Costume Design Advisor...................................................................................Rebecca White Costume Shop Supervisor..............................................................................Anna Grywalski Lighting Design Advisor.......................................................................................T.J. Gerckens Sound Design Advisor...............................................................................................Doc Davis Lighting & Sound Supervisor...................................................................................Doc Davis Assistant Stage Manager............................................................................... Emylie Winesette Lead Electrician................................................................................................... Sage Wuertzer House Manager............................................................................................. N. M. Themeleras
PRODUCTION NOTE Bright and flashing lights will be used throughout this performance.
Otterbein University Covid Protocol: Theatre & Dance Performances Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Otterbein University has followed the advice of public health officials to develop protocols in the best interest of the health and safety of our community. This season, Otterbein Theatre & Dance will require all audience, crew, and staff members to be masked regardless of vaccination status. Our fully vaccinated cast of actors will play their roles unmasked, allowing you to enjoy their performances to the fullest extent. This protocol aligns with the athletic season protocols of the Ohio Athletic Conference and NCAA. Additionally, we will socially distance our audience by providing one empty seat between each ticketed party for all Cowan Hall productions. Otterbein has taken great efforts to ensure that the fresh air exchange and circulation in our theatre spaces meets or exceeds COVID recommendations and has installed MERV filtration and Ion purification in our HVAC system to provide maximum safety. Otterbein’s COVID-19 protocols are developed in consultation with Franklin County Public Health and OhioHealth (Otterbein’s campus healthcare provider) and adhere to the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Ohio Department of Health.
DIRECTORS’ NOTES The play you’re watching tonight didn’t exist before rehearsals began on January 4. We’ve engaged in a theatrical exploration, experimentation, and writing process called devising. There are many ways to devise in rehearsal, but loosely, all of them have a few things in common They prioritize the common interests, unique skills, and collective genius of the group They use traditional and nontraditional writing methods - including games, improvisation, physical choreography, and brainstorming - to create a play They incorporate any and all languages of the theatre, from costumes, set, and lighting to puppetry, dance, music, magic, and more They invite people to step in to and out of their ‘assigned roles’ for the production For our process, we started with a short list of questions to explore... Why are travel, movement, and access to transportation so important for us? How can travel shape us? Why are travel stories so central to the stories we tell - from myth, to folklore, to modern art forms? What can happen when we pay attention to our hidden travel stories? ...and spent our first week generating all kinds of responses to those questions. My Associate Director Michelle Silva and I commented that we developed the potential energy in that first week to be the starting point for 40 different, equally interesting plays! As a collaborative ensemble, we had to choose one of those plays and build, shape, and hone it for you. We hope you enjoy. - Jessie Glover, Director Student Theatre Artist is a freeing and confusing title to make art under. As students, the cast and creative team has spent our time at Otterbein toeing the line between creative innovation and ‘learning the ropes,’ as it were, of artmaking. Perfecting the student in Student Theatre Artist is only natural in a University setting, which is why spending the last four weeks on a completely original devised piece has been allimportant in rounding out the artist in each of us. Not only have we each been invited to explore a story from a dramaturgical lens and cross-pollinate with design, character, and story elements of creating this piece, but we have also all had the opportunity to find our strengths in creating theatre. We have learned as an ensemble how to amplify our own strengths in addition to those of our fellow creators to cultivate a dynamic story worth exploring with our audience. Through the devising process, we have been able to intertwine different modes of storytelling that a more typical scripted piece would not usually allow for. A devised project like this one gave each of us a chance to hone our creative voice and strengthen it so that when we do leave Otterbein, it can be confidently as Theatre Artists ready to create meaningful stories in whatever mode we find. - Michelle Silva, Assosciate Director
BIOGRAPHIES
T.J. Gerckens (Chair/Producing Artistic Director, Lighting Advisor) is the lighting design faculty member at Otterbein University, a USA829 Union Lighting Designer, and proud Otterbein alumnus. At Otterbein, he has designed the lighting for Gentleman’s Guide, Into a Lamplit Room, Dance Concert 2020: The Wild Within (with John Diver), Chicago, Oklahoma!, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Diary of Anne Frank, Adding Machine: A Musical, Damn Yankees, Dance 2016: The Goddess, The Crucible, Fiddler on the Roof, Dance 2015: Famously Yours...Forever, Dance 2014: Tell-Tale Poe, and Into the Woods. As a freelance lighting designer, T.J. has been part of the design team for the Tony Award winner and MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Mary Zimmerman for the last 27 years. Most recently, he designed lighting for the new opera Eurydice, by Sarah Ruhl and Matthew Aucoin at the Metropolitan Opera and L.A. Opera, The Music Man at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, The world premiere of The Steadfast Tin Soldier at Chicago’s Lookingglass Theatre, the recent revival of Metamorphoses at the Guthrie Theatre and Berkeley Rep, and Rusalka at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC. Other notable designs include The Odyssey at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Wonderful Town at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Guys & Dolls in L.A., and Treasure Island at the Lookingglass Theatre and Berkeley Rep. His lighting designs have been seen at regional theatres across the United States, on and off Broadway, and at the Metropolitan Opera. Internationally, he has designed in England, Australia, and at the LaScala Opera House in Milan, Italy. He has received numerous awards for his designs including New York’s Drama Desk Award and Lortel Awards for his lighting of Metamorphoses on and off Broadway, Jefferson Awards for The Odyssey and Metamorphoses in Chicago, and an award for “Exemplifying the Art of Collaboration” given to the Zimmerman design team by Entertainment Design Magazine. You can see his designs for Lucia di Lammermoor and La Sonnambula on DVDs released by the Metropolitan Opera. T.J. holds a BFA from Otterbein University and an MFA from Boston University. He is married to set designer, scenic artist, and Otterbein adjunct instructor Stephanie R. Gerckens. Jessie Glover (Director) is a theatre practitioner, historian, teaching artist, curator, and community arts advocate. She holds a PhD in Theatre Historiography from the University of Minnesota. She was a co-founder of Wild Goose Creative, a community arts organization in Columbus that has hosted or incubated thousands of arts events and initiatives since 2006. Notable projects included a theatrical event and fundraiser titled SHINSAI, the Pinchflat bike poster show, an entrepreneur mentorship initiative called She Creates Columbus, and dozens of art exhibitions focusing on Columbus-based artists. She has taught at Otterbein University in Theatre/Dance, Integrative Studies, and Arts Administration since 2011, and has worked with students and student groups to develop research and new theatrical work. Jessie has also taught theatre history and acting at Ohio State University’s Columbus and Marion campuses. In 2014, she produced, provided dramaturgical support for, and co-directed Rachel’s House, a play about women leaving prison. Between 2015 and the March 2020 pandemic shutdown, Jessie led Theatre of Conviction, a company of men making theatre at Marion Correctional Institution as a program of nonprofit organization Healing Broken Circles. With a community of arts advocates, returned citizens, corrections staff members, teaching artists, and funders, Jessie co-founded Ohio Prison Arts Connection to support arts access and arts platforms for justice-impacted Ohioans. Notable projects have included exhibitions at Columbus’s Carnegie Gallery and Loann Crane Gallery as well as Cincinnati’s Wave Pool Gallery; statewide gatherings at Otterbein University and the Wexner Center for the Arts; a pandemic conversation series with artists working at the intersection of the arts and the justice system called Radio OPAC; creative care packages delivered to incarcerated people in all 28 Ohio prisons, and a commissioned fine-art poster series titled Onto Life’s Pages.
BIOGRAPHIES
Michelle Silva (Associate Director) is a senior BA Theatre major with minors in Psychology and Arts Administration, from Dublin, OH. Previous Otterbein credits include small town icons: a revenge play (Director), The Theory of Relativity (Assistant Director), and The Tempest (Dramaturg). Michelle would like to thank her family and friends for all their love and support. She would also like to shoutout her NTI family for getting her through her first devising piece so she could have the best time working on this one! Matt Knerr (Scenic Designer) is a sophomore BFA Design/Technology major from San Francisco CA. Previous Otterbein credits include Into a Lamplit Room (Assistant Scenic Designer), and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Technical Director). Matt would like to thank Anna Kate and Julia Kelley for their support, entertainment and late-night dinners throughout this process! Addison Chapman (Costume Creator) is a junior BFA Design/Technology major from Mount Gilead, OH. Her previous Otterbein credits include The Pajama Game (Draper), The Tempest (Charge Artist and Draper), and A Lie of the Mind (Wardrobe Lead). Addison is excited to further her sewing career and is looking forward to whatever life is holding ahead. Tiffany Stone (Costume Creator) is a junior BFA Design/Technology major from Dallas, TX. Tiffany is a Texan at heart and carries it with her to every state she finds herself working in. She wants to create costumes and wardrobe manage for a variety of theatre. She wants to congratulate and show appreciation to the whole team for making this experience an unforgettable memory. This show has truly been a unique exploration of what happens when the design team and the cast work together to create a play from a few simple ideas. Anna Wehrmann (Lighting Director) is a junior BFA Design/Technology major from Dallas, TX. Previous credits include A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder (Lead Electrician), Into A Lamplit Room (Assistant Lead Electrician), The Tempest (Assistant Charge Artist). Jenna Davies (Sound Designer) is a sophomore BFA Design/Tech major from Durham, NC. Previous credits include Into a Lamplit Room (Sound Board Op), The Theory of Relativity (Sound Board Op) and Festival 2021(Sound Designer). Jenna thanks her family! Luca Fragiotta (Stage Manager) is a sophomore Design/Technology major and Film Studies minor from Lewis Center, OH. Recently, Luca’s biggest projects have included The Pajama Game (Assistant Stage Manager, Carpenter), The Heidi Chronicles (Assistant Technical Director), and As I See It (Lighting Designer). Luca would like to deeply thank his family for their incredible support, and for the travels they shared with him. He would also like to thank every member of the Devising Project team for the wonderful experiences they had in developing this work together, and thank Brian for guidance and freedom to experiment in this process. Luca loved exploring the logistical aspects of the new work and finding methods to help make the team’s ever present creative exploration even more possible. He salutes you for your travels to get here, and invites you to truly enjoy the Land of Ours.
BIOGRAPHIES
Brian Sekinger (Production Manager) joins the Otterbein team this year with experience as an AEA Stage Manager, Line Producer, Consultant, and Educator in the performing arts industry. Brian has a BA in Educational Theatre & English from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and an MFA in Production Technology & Management with a concentration in Stage Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Most recently, he was the Resident Production Stage Manager at Northern Stage and the Production Stage Manager at the New London Barn Playhouse. His passion for new musical development and working with early career Stage Managers has had him jet setting around the country with companies including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Education, Davenport Theatricals, DreamWorks Theatricals, RKO Stage, Musical Theatre Factory, Prospect Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Folger Shakespeare, and many others. Nate Dirksen (Acting Ensemble) is a sophomore BFA Acting major from Barrington, OH. Previous Otterbein credits include Seascape (Leslie) and A War of Wits (Ben Hoover). Nate hopes to continue his work at Otterbein and after graduation move to New York. Kora Duvall (Acting Ensemble) is a junior BFA Acting major and Criminology and Justice Studies minor from Louisville, Kentucky. Previous Otterbein credits include The Tempest (Ensemble, u/s Alonso & Sebastian), the Advanced Directing Project Endgame (Clov), and workshops The Bald Soprano (Mrs. Martin) and Rapture, Blister, Burn (Catherine). Many thanks to her Mom, Dad, Philip and Ava, her friends, and guinea pig for supporting her always. Jack Giglia (Acting Ensemble) is a freshman BFA Acting major from Cincinnati, OH. He would like to thank his family for all of their love, support, and dried fruit. David Graves (Acting Ensemble) is a freshman BFA Acting major from Milford, OH. David would love to thank Jessie Glover, his friends, his family, and his bunny, BunBun, for all of their support and inspiration during this process. Enjoy the show! Emma Rose Johnson (Acting Ensemble) is a sophomore BFA Musical Theatre major from Sarasota, FL. Previous Otterbein credits include A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Ensemble/ Phoebe & Sibella U/S) and Carrie: The Musical at Columbus Immersive Theatre (Frieda/ Sue Snell U/S ). Emma will be playing Wendla in Spring Awakening at Short North Stage this spring! She would like to thank Jessie for including her in this incredible project, her cast mates for being such amazing collaborators, and her besties for always bringing so much love and laughter into her life. John Michael McCall (Acting Ensemble) is a junior BFA Acting major from Marin County, CA. Previous Otterbein credits include The Tempest (Trinculo), A Lie of the Mind (Jake) and The Aliens (Assistant Director). John Michael would love to dedicate this show to his loving family and amazing friends! Jessica Noal (Acting Ensemble) is a BFA Acting major and Dance minor from Lafayette, CA. Previous Otterbein credits include Seascape (Sara). She would like to thank her friends and family for being so supportive! Taylor Reister (Acting Ensemble) is a junior BFA Acting major and Film Studies minor from Sarasota, FL. Previous Otterbein credits include A Lie of the Mind (Sally), The Tempest (Ensemble u/s Stephana and Trinculo) and Enemy of the People (Ensemble). She would like to thank Jessie Glover and the rest of the cast for making this process so enjoyable and so rewarding.
BIOGRAPHIES
Hannah Schmidt (Acting Ensemble) is a junior BFA Musical Theatre major and Dance minor from Bainbridge, OH. Previous Otterbein credits include The Pajama Game (Babe Williams), Into a Lamplit Room (Ensemble) and Dance Concert 2020: The Wild Within (Thorn). Later this semester you can see Hannah in the Ensemble of Something Rotten! She wants to thank her family and friends for all of their support and Jessie Glover for inspiring her so much! Isaac Steiger (Acting Ensemble) is a junior BFA Acting major from Westerville, OH. Previous Otterbein credits include The Tempest (King Alonso) and A Lie of The Mind (Frankie). He would like to thank his family and friends, and the cast and crew of this piece, it has been an amazing process. N.M. Themelaras (House Manager) is a junior BA Theatre major with a English with a concentration in Creative Writing minor from Westerville, OH. Previous Otterbein credits include A Lie of the Mind (House Manager) and The Pajama Game (Assistant Director). N.M. Themelaras is an aspiring playwright and theatre critic and is excited to participate in The Devised Piece. Emylie Winesette (Assistant Stage Manager) is a freshman BA Theatre major with an Education minor from Westerville, OH. Previous Otterbein credits include, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Run Crew) and A Lie of the Mind (Light Board Op). Emylie is so happy to be a member of the Otterbein family! She hopes to one day bring theatre to young children and hopes it changes their lives the way it has changed hers!
HONORARY CAST LIST
Many have generously supported our call for help to keep our production program moving forward, despite the continued obstacles imposed by the ongoing pandemic. Members who give annually at the Director and Producer level are included in the Joanne Van Sant Society.
Thank you for contributing to the education of our students!
Producer ($5,000+) Alan and Christy Coupland Guaranteed Rate Overbrook Clinical Associates Riverside Hearing Services
Director ($1,000-$4,999) Randy C. Adams Kathy Collins & Joe Giglia Martha Dean Kerr & Thomas M. Bay The Columbus Foundation
Benedicta G. Enrile M.D. Douglas R. & Mary Pat Knight Kent D. Stuckey Matt & Laurie Whitnack
Designer ($500-$999) Daniel Bear Jenny Davis David C. & Nancy E. Smith Evans John & Terry Geary
Ron Lykins, Inc. CPAs Al & Louise Minor Brian & Susan Nonno Barbara M. Rupple
Diva ($250-$499) Richard Arendt & Karen Miller Kay Atkinson Ball Margaret & Richard Doone Sandra Freer Ron Lykins Trudy & Michael Mason
Charles & Maruja Paule Jill Pruitt Carolyn & Wes Reeder Paul & Shelia Reiner Douglas R. Smeltz David & Beckey Stamm
Star ($100-$249) Anonymous Connie & Lawrence Ackert Kay F. Ball Fred & Patricia Baum Richard O. & Linda Spicer Beckner Troy A. & Kathleen Bonte Joe Brown Chip Bruchac Michael & Gloria Burns Candyce Canzoneri Barbara Clapham David W. Coffman Mike & Debra Collins Steven R. Crawford John L. & Sharon Davis Brent & Nancy DeVore Margaret English Duffy Mark A. Geary
Jack George Matthew & Eileen Guichard Mindy & Tom Hemmelgarn Lynda Huey Pamela Hill Lorr Richard & Catherine Loveland Darrell & Debra Lowe Missy Maxwell Pearson McWane Bill Miller & Madelon Timmons Jack W. & Peggy Moreland Dennis B. & Marjorie Munger Manuella Mylander Dennis & Sue Ann Norton William Ostrander & Jill Schultz James & Martha Owens Patricia Ryan Elizabeth A. Salt
Judith Mack Salyer LuAnne Shelby Albert & Louise Siegel Alan E. & Linda Smith Betty Lou Stull Richard & Jeanette Robinson Thomas Janice Townsley Fred Vierow David B. & Joyce Shannon Warner Richard & Mary Jo Weaver Wirt & Patricia Whittaker Laura Cean Wilson Norma F. Worley Dr. Elmer “Bud” Yoest Craig & Carol Young
HONORARY CAST LIST Supporting Actor ($50-$99) Dan & Linda Bevan James V. Blazek Marjorie Burnham Sharon Carlson Ted Chaney Julie Cronk Alyce Elbert Peggy Garrison Drs. Craig & Cass Johnson Kathleen Jones Walter & Connie Kobalka
David Lambert Bill LaTaille Rita Longardner Gary & Barbara McKenzie William V. & Harriet L. Merriman Bonnie Moses George Pilcher Clay Cormany & Rebecca Coleman Princehorn Daryl Saunders Dr. Marilyn B. Saveson
Anonymous David & Susan Arnold Frank Barone Benjamin H. & Kay Bennett Judy Biedenharn Barbara Donohue Ramona & James Edman Jeff Endres Lawrence Friedman Edwin A. Geer Cheryl Gooch Eileen Guichard Carmenza Guitierrez Lucy Hadley Vivian Harvey
Alice Heller Kimberly & Bud Hoessly Ron & Mary Armstrong Hooker Margaret & Donald Kadunc Jeff & Gail Kalbus Katherine Kelley Kathleen Kerber Gregory Koltun David Lambert Barbara Limbert Rita Longardner Barbara Glor Martin Evonne McNabb Michelle Norton McNabb Bruce Miller
John A. & Ann L. Sicker Rose Sobel Jane Sprague Glenna Stemen Margaret Strosky Jerry & Karen Squires Michele Wilson Toney James & Carol Waugh Jeff Werner
Extra ($10-$49)
Thank you for your support!
Tracy Nagel James E. Paxton Robert Powell Susan Silbermann Ronald G. & Linda Simpson Karyn Stancy Cathy & Tod Stoessner Jon & Joyce Stonebraker James Tarpoff John & Luann Toth Diane & John Weed Emily & Adam Wilkins Roger L. Wilson Bridget Yurecka
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