HOLD ME Program

HOLD ME IN THE WATER

From the Playwright: Ryan J. Haddad “Do you want me to show you how I start something new?”

I’m sitting in a circle at Fordham University, a guest artist in Daniel Alexander Jones’ solo performance class. There’s time left at the end of my discussion with Daniel’s students, so I prime them for two offerings: “One is funny. And one is romantic.”

My method is not to prepare, but just to talk. Tell a new story to new people, and be sure to record it because you never know what’s going to come out. Who knows what I might say that I might not have had the audacity to write down? Sure, it will be unpolished, unvarnished, probably messy, but by the end of my off-the-cuff monologue, I’ll have documented some stab at new material. No need to reckon with a blank page.

“Everything I’m about to tell you just happened,” I say. “So it’s all very fresh. I haven’t shared this with anyone. Except my five best friends.”

I press the red “record” dot on my phone and hope for the best. If I’m not at least mildly entertaining, these undergrads will think I’m a fraud.

I start with the funny one. It’s funny. They laugh. Thank goodness!!!

Next, the romantic one. They become invested immediately. These are young, hopeful, idealistic college kids. I am less young (still young!) but equally hopeful and idealistic.

says, “Sometimes you don’t have to change a word.”

Many words have changed, I promise you.

But the essence of that recording — the impulse, the optimism — is at the core of the play you’ll watch tonight.

I gravitate toward, and keep as close collaborators, directors who excel at dramaturgy. Jordan Fein did it brilliantly with Dark Disabled Stories. I began developing Hold Me in the Water with the wonderful Laura Savia, who has directed my first play, Hi, Are You Single?, since 2015.

I envisioned this play as a companion to that one, and Laura understood the DNA of our earlier work. She shepherded Hold Me through two workshops, and when she had to leave the project for other professional obligations, I turned to the fabulous Danny Sharron, who has been with the play ever since.

Danny is like a brother to me. He is brilliant, he is kind, he is warm, he is insightful. This is our second significant collaboration, and the first to be produced. To be perfectly honest, Danny lived everything that would become Hold Me in the Water with me in real time, part of the close circle of friends getting the play-by-play before we made the play. He actually featured prominently in the “funny” story I told at Fordham that afternoon, a digression we both ultimately decided does not belong in the final script.

Let’s just say he coached me on… bedroom preparedness.

As I gathered my belongings to leave Daniel’s class, he said, “Wait, Ryan, let me walk you out.”

In the hallway, out of earshot of his students, Daniel had a lesson to teach me.

I’d warned them that these events were recent, but when I reveal that the latest “chapter” of this story took place only three nights ago? They gasp. And then squeal. And then scream.

“Listen to me carefully. Whatever happens next, however the relationship ends or doesn’t end, that story is yours. It’s yours.

The story, and the experience. Never forget that.”

I conclude and save the voice note. The students are freaking out with giddy glee. Then the great Daniel Alexander Jones turns to them — while somehow also looking me straight in the eye — and

I’m honored to share it with you tonight.

Thank you for coming.

From Alison Kopit, Access Dramaturg Hold Me in the Water is a subtler show than some of Ryan’s previous work. In the rehearsal room, we’ve sometimes used the word “elegant” to describe it. Whereas Ryan has often worked in vignettes, Hold Me is a single narrative arc, beginning to end. And because creative access works in concert with the personality of a play, we found an elegant tone for access to match its flow.

In his most recent work, Dark Disabled Stories, access was loud and gregarious; it was funny, transparent, and crisp.

Dickie Hearts and Alejandra Ospina each provided their own components of access as characters in the show, as part of their performances. That said, we didn’t want the audience to think of that model of access as instructive. And so, in this show, we do not emulate that same aesthetic.

Instead, we demonstrate another possibility – a different way of illuminating how access can go hand-in-hand with experimentation and creativity. We understood Dark Disabled Stories as a proof of concept — not a blueprint — of how to explore integrated access dramaturgically.

So now, with Ryan on stage on his own, we’re taking another swing.

Here, Ryan imagines a world where disabled people, in the audience and on the stage, have an array of choices. We have continued our exploration of open access — access that is not an opt-in or opt-out, but rather a shared experience for everyone — through captioning and audio description and relaxed performance at every show. And we hope the increased availability of ASL-interpreted performances and masked performances gives more opportunities to facilitate the kinds of experiences that each person needs and desires. We continue reaching for a world where choices — and access — are abundant, and where more of us belong.

And access goes beyond the audience.

Access — as concept, as spark, as magicmaker — is baked into the themes of

Hold Me in the Water in a way that it is so essential to the core of the work that you might not notice it sometimes. Similarly, when access is baked into a relationship, the quiet power of it can blow us away and make us retroactively feel a void as we reflect on past experiences.

In disability culture, we often talk about access intimacy, as coined and described

by Mia Mingus in her 2011 essay Access Intimacy: The Missing Link. Mingus writes: “Access intimacy is that elusive, hardto-describe feeling when someone else ‘gets’ your access needs. The kind of eerie comfort that your disabled self feels with someone on a purely access level.”

It can be so rare to find relationships where our needs are met naturally with expansiveness and care; where we don’t feel like a burden; where we might relax into a deep sense of safety.

In the story you will experience, Ryan has deftly shown us one way this quiet power — elusive and hard-to-describe — can manifest in seductive and complex ways.

Themes of access move through this piece as musical score, as the fog rolling in, and — yes — like water.

We hope you let yourself get swept away by the romance and buried in the granularity of this story. Notice what you relate to, and where the limits of your lived experience stop you from relating personally to the story Ryan tells. This is not a universal love story, but it is also not singular. As you recognize which parts resonate with you, also consider the aspects of tonight’s story that do not — Ryan exquisitely leads us to the chasm between our own experiences, and those beyond what we have lived. As Ryan tells his textured love story, he shows us what’s possible as a way of believing in more to come.

Playwrights Horizons Playwrights Horizons is a writer’s theater committed to the advancement of bold and visionary playwrights through the development and production of daring new work and the education of future theatermakers. Adam Greenfield has served as Artistic Director since 2020; Casey York became Managing Director in 2024. In a city rich with cultural offerings, Playwrights Horizons’ 53-year-old mission is unique among theaters of its size; the organization has distinguished itself by a steadfast commitment to centering the voice of the playwright. It’s a mission that is always timely, and one that’s necessary in the ongoing evolution of theater in this country. By expanding the U.S. theater canon with a wider range of voices, Playwrights Horizons aims to be a home for the exploration of playwriting and an anti-racist center of curiosity, dialogue, and artistic risk.

Playwrights Horizons offers a season of productions annually on their two stages. Each production is a world, U.S., or New York premiere. Additionally, writers are supported in every stage of their growth through the New Works Lab, a commissions program (supporting several of today’s most imaginative playwrights each year), and Almanac (a literary magazine about the theatrical art form). Much like Playwrights Horizons’ work, their audience is risk-taking and adventurous; and the organization is committed to strengthening their engagement and feeding their curiosity through all of its programming, onsite and online.

Playwrights Horizons believes that playwrights are the great storytellers of our time, offering essential contributions to civic discourse and illuminating life’s paradoxes. And they believe in the singularity of each writer’s voice, valuing the broad, eclectic spectrum and diversity of U.S. writers.

Playwrights Horizons The Judy Theater Artistic Director

Managing Director

Adam Greenfield

Casey York

HOLD ME IN THE WATER presents the world premiere of

Written and performed by

Ryan J. Haddad

Playwrights Horizons Theater School Playwrights Horizons is also an undergraduate theater program that offers an innovative four-year multidisciplinary training program that is consistently ranked as one of the best undergraduate training studios in the country. Recognizing the diverse needs and ambitions of the 21st-century theater artist, Playwrights Horizons Theater School is the only undergraduate studio training actors, directors, designers, choreographers, playwrights, and creators of devised work in a single setting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Our collaborative program is dedicated to the principle that each student is a whole artist to be nurtured, challenged, and celebrated.

Our Commitment Playwrights Horizons commits to anti-racism in building a more just future for everyone — particularly those from historically oppressed communities, including the Lenape nation, whose land is home to our work. We acknowledge that the U.S. theater is born of a country founded on white supremacy and anti-Blackness, and we are dedicated to uprooting these and all systems of oppression. This work is ongoing and benefits our programming, staff, audiences, faculty, students, board, donors, and partners. We invite you to engage in this with us. As we expand the U.S. theater canon, we aim to make Playwrights Horizons a theater that is an anti-racist center of ideas, dialogue, curiosity, and a liberated imagination.

To learn further, please head to phnyc.org/anti-racism. Playwrights Horizons crafted its Land Acknowledgment in collaboration with The Lenape Center, and we continually strive to align our actions with these words. In order to activate and build upon this statement, we encourage artists and staff who work with us to engage with local Indigenous cultural activities around New York City. Click here to learn more about events happening soon.

Scenic Design

Costume Design

Props

Access Dramaturg

dots

Matt Carlin

Lighting Design

Cha See

Beth Goldenberg

Alison Kopit

Vocal Coach

Gigi Buffington

Sound Design

Tosin Olufolabi

Production Stage Manager

Alyssa K. Howard

Press Representative

Blake Zidell & Associates

General Manager

Noah Silva

Associate Artistic Director

Natasha Sinha

Directed by

Danny Sharron Hold Me in the Water has received generous support from the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation and the Ruthmary S. Westfall Foundation.

Hold Me in the Water was commissioned and developed by Noor Theatre.

Developed with support from The Ground Floor at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, CA

About the Artists

RYAN J. HADDAD (Writer and performer) is an actor and playwright. He made his Off-Broadway playwriting debut at The Public Theater with a sold-out, extended run of Dark Disabled Stories, co-produced

by The Bushwick Starr. The production earned him the Obie Award for Best New American Play, along with Lucille Lortel, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle nominations. Additional stage credits include his autobiographical solo play Hi, Are You Single? (Woolly Mammoth/IAMA, Helen Hayes nomination), La Cage aux Folles (Pasadena Playhouse), american (tele)visions (NYTW/Theater Mitu, Lortel nomination), The Watering Hole (Signature), and his cabaret Falling for Make Believe (Joe’s Pub/Under the Radar). TV: “A Murder at the End of the World” (Hulu) and “The Politician” (Netflix). Haddad received the Drama Desk’s 2023 Sam Norkin OffBroadway Award, Vineyard Theatre’s 2021 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, and a 2020 Disability Futures Fellowship. His writing has been published in the New York Times, Out Magazine, and Alice Wong’s anthology Disability Intimacy. He is an alum of The Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group and a former Queer|Art Performance and Playwriting Fellow, under the mentorship of Moe Angelos. @ryanjhaddad DANNY SHARRON (Director) is a theater director with a focus on developing new plays and musicals. Playwrights debut.

Broadway: Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (Associate Director), Dear Evan Hansen (Associate Director; also West End, Toronto, and 1st Nat’l Tour). Regional: The Model American (Williamstown), [title of show] (Big Sky Theater). He has developed work with Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, NYTW, Roundabout, MTC, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown, Woolly Mammoth, and New York Stage and Film, among others. Danny is a current TV/Film Directing Fellow with The Drama League.

He is also a recipient of NYTW’s 2050 Fellowship, Williamstown’s Bill Foeller Fellowship, The Drama League’s New York Fellowship & Next Stage Directing

Residency, and is an alumnus of the Ars Nova Director’s Troupe. NYTW Usual Suspect. SDC member. Proud husband and father. www.dannysharron.com dots (Scenic Designer) is a multidisciplinary design collective. Hailing from Colombia, South Africa and Japan, we are Santiago Orjuela-Laverde, Andrew Moerdyk, and Kimie Nishikawa.

As collaborators, we believe that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Broadway: Floyd Collins; Romeo + Juliet; Appropriate (Tony, Drama Desk, OCC nominations); An Enemy of the People (Tony nomination); The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window; Oh, Mary!. Other: Dark Disabled Stories by Ryan J. Haddad.

Obie Award for Sustained Achievement. designbydots.com BETH GOLDENBERG (Costume Designer).

Playwrights debut. NYC: Songs of Resistance: Brundibar & Der Kaiser Von Atlantis (On Site Opera & Defiant Requiem Foundation at Carnegie Hall), The Mother of Us All (NY Philharmonic, Metropolitan Museum of Art & Juilliard), Circus: Wandering City (BAM Next Wave), Lady M (Heartbeat Opera). Regional: Sunday in the Park with George, Macbeth (Glimmerglass Festival), Lucidity (Seattle Opera & On Site Opera), Data (Arena Stage), Indecent (Seattle Rep). Education: MFA, NYU. www.bethgoldenberg.com.

CHA SEE (Lighting Designer) is an Obie Award-winning lighting designer from Manila, Philippines. Playwrights Horizons: In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot (with Breaking the Binary Theatre), Wet Brain (with MCC; Obie Special Citations, Lortel nomination for Outstanding Lighting Design), What to Send Up When It Goes Down (with BAM, also at A.R.T. and the Public Theater). Other highlights include Oh, Mary! (Lyceum Theatre); Babbitt (La Jolla Playhouse); JORDANS (Public Theater); Is It Thursday Yet? (La Jolla, PAC NYC); You Will Get Sick (Roundabout), On That Day in Amsterdam (Drama Desk and Lortel Nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design), The Seagull/Woodstock, NY, and one in two (The New Group); Sorry for Your Loss, The Fever, and Lucy (Audible Theater); soft (MCC). MFA, NYU Tisch.

TOSIN OLUFOLABI (Sound Designer) Playwrights debut. Off-Broadway: The Great Privation (Soho Rep). Dirty Laundry, Bite Me (WP Theater). Stargazers (Page 73). Regional: The Thanksgiving Play (Steppenwolf Theatre). Gloria, There’s Always the Hudson, Hi, Are You Single?

Incendiary, The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes (Woolly Mammoth). Ain’t No Mo, Life is a Dream (Baltimore Center Stage). The Sound Inside, The Chinese Lady, Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Everyman Theater), and more.

Special thanks to my family and friends.

James, Evanston Salt Costs Climbing, Camp Siegfried, On Sugarland, Dying City, Mary Page Marlow. BROADWAY: Good Night and Good Luck, John Proctor is the Villain, Cult of Love, Eureka Day, Romeo + Juliet, Job, Stereophonic, The Outsiders, Mother Play, Prayer for the French Republic, Grey House, Between Riverside and Crazy, The Minutes, Cost Of Living, Slave Play (Remount), Pass Over, Linda Vista, Straight White Men; Eight Seasons at Steppenwolf; one season Royal Shakespeare Company. www.gigibuffington.com

MATT CARLIN (Props). Matt has been the Props Supervisor at Playwrights Horizons since 2022. Broadway: Home (Roundabout), Stereophonic (Original Props). Select Off-Broadway credits include Teeth (New World Stages), Walden (2ST), Buena Vista Social Club, A Simulacrum (Atlantic), The Comeuppance (Signature) and american (tele)visions (NYTW). He received his B.F.A. from Pace University. @mattcarliin

ALYSSA K. HOWARD (Production Stage Manager). Playwrights: If Pretty Hurts…. OffBroadway (selected): SUMO, Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi + The Public), Safety Not Guaranteed (BAM), What Became of Us, The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Company), Poor Yella Rednecks, Golden Shield (MTC), Lady M (Heartbeat Opera), Public Obscenities, Wolf Play (Soho Rep), Once Upon A (korean) Time (Ma-Yi Theater), for colored girls…

(The Public), Glass Guignol (Mabou Mines).

Regional (selected): Berkeley Rep, Northern Stage. Education: MFA Yale School of Drama, BA Williams. IG: @shiningatthetop.

ALISON KOPIT (Access Dramaturg).

Playwrights debut. Access Dramaturgy credits include Off-Broadway: Ryan J. Haddad’s Dark Disabled Stories (presented

by The Public Theater, co-produced by The Bushwick Starr), Dan Fishback’s Dan Fishback is Alive, Unwell and Living in his Apartment (Joe’s Pub, produced by The Season). Regional: Maggie Bridger’s Radiate (Steppenwolf Theatre). TV: “The Real Dance” (Cast Member; dir. Nora Sharp and Grace McCants). Kopit co-authored Introducing Access Dramaturgy, published on HowlRound Theater Commons, with Maggie Bridger and Ann Marie Dorr in 2024. She co-directs the Pay Rate for Access Workers Now (PRAWN) project and consultancy with Madison Zalopany. She consults and collaborates with artists and cultural spaces curious about integrating access into their creative process.

Obie Award: Michael Feingold Award for Dramaturgy; PhD Disability Studies: University of Illinois at Chicago. www. alisonkopit.com; @troglodyke.

GIGI BUFFINGTON (Vocal Coach) Playwrights: In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot, Stereophonic, Corsicana, Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Catch as Catch Can, Downstate, The Thin Place, Noura. OffBroadway: Liberation, Walden, Jonah, King

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS is a writer’s theater committed to the advancement of bold and visionary playwrights, through the development and production of daring new work and the education of future theatermakers. Adam Greenfield has served as Artistic Director since 2020; Casey York became Managing Director in 2024. In a city rich with cultural offerings, Playwrights Horizons’ 53-year-old mission is unique among theaters of its size; the organization has distinguished itself by a steadfast commitment to centering the voice of the playwright. It’s a mission that is always timely, and one that’s necessary in the ongoing evolution of theater in this country. By expanding the U.S. theater canon with a wider range of voices, Playwrights Horizons aims to be a home for the exploration of playwriting and an anti-racist center of curiosity, dialogue, and artistic risk.

Playwrights Horizons Staff

PLAYWRIGHTS DOWNTOWN ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR.................. EVA ROSA-FERRERA

OPENING NIGHT: APRIL 21, 2025

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR........ ADAM GREENFIELD MANAGING DIRECTOR...............CASEY YORK GENERAL MANAGER....................NOAH SILVA Executive Assistant and Board Liaison................................Nia Abdullah Company Manager.............................. Noa Saunders General Management Fellow............ James Noonan ARTISTIC STAFF ASSOCIATE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR....................... NATASHA SINHA Literary Director.......................................Lizzie Stern Director of Artistic Development....Karl Baker Olson Artistic Assistant.......................................Emily Zhou Artistic Fellow................................... Olivia O’Connor Script Readers..................Noah Ezell, Philip Kenner, Alex Oleksy, Nemuna Ceesay, Kim Golding, Divinia Shorter, Awoye Timpo CASTING DIRECTORS.....ALAINE ALLDAFFER, LISA DONADIO Con Edison Casting Fellow...................Kirina Petkun DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT.......... BENJAMIN WEISMAN Associate Director of Development.... Susan Ferziger Individual Giving Manager.......... Madeline Clouston Individual Giving Associate.............. Mihika Miranda Individual Giving Associate........ Victoria Ungvarsky Institutional Giving Manager................Clara Cowley Development Assistant................ Nathan Rtishchev DIRECTOR OF MARKETING.................ROCHELLE TORRES Associate Director of Marketing............ Jordan Best Marketing Manager....................................Libby Carr Interim Box Office Manager.............Michelle Dastur Lead Box Office Associate............................Kyr Siegel Box Office Associate..........................Gabrielle Lavoie Marketing Fellow................................... Kara Hadden Accessibility Coordinator................Martha Bennett GENERAL PRESS REPRESENTATIVE................

BLAKE ZIDELL & ASSOCIATES DIRECTOR OF FINANCE.............. YI-CHEN LAI Senior Finance Manager........................... Suzen Bria Accounting Associate................... Angelica Gallardo DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES................LAUREN BURCHERI Administrative and Office Coordinator....................... Derresha Webb Data Operations and Analytics Manager...................... Anthony Merced DIRECTOR OF EQUITY & INCLUSION................... HECTOR RIVERA Community Engagement Coordinator .......Ky Dates

PRODUCTION STAFF PRODUCTION MANAGER.............JAY JANICKI Technical Director......................Andrew Riedemann Assistant Technical Director..............Justus Herrera Costume Shop Manager................... Michael Graller Props Supervisor......................................Matt Carlin Production Coordinator.....................Carol Almonte Building Manager............................Gustavo Naranjo Stage Management Fellows...................... Molly Pair, Mackenzie Seewagen ARTISTIC ADVISORY COUNCIL Daniel Aukin, Sivan Battat, Alana Raquel Bowers, Catherine Coray, Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas, Madeleine George, Christine Toy Johnson, Francis Jue, Jenny Koons, Todd London, David Mendizábal, Deepa Purohit, Heather Raffo, Amanda Spooner, Awoye Timpo, Jason Veasey

PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS THEATER SCHOOL DIRECTOR............................. NICOLE WEE Manager of Academic Affairs.................Kenny Wang Manager of Student Productions.......Leslie N. Ivery Production Coordinator ................... Ryan Courtney FACULTY LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE Area Head, Acting........................... Jedadiah Schultz Area Head, Playwrighting...................... Max Reuben Lead Seminar Teacher........................Emily Hartford Committee........ Marika Kent, Atticus Orsborn, Dina Vovsi STUDIOS@440 Facilities Coordinator............................... Fusy Perez Lead Studio Associate.......................James Wyrwicz Lead Technical Supervisor............... Liam D. O’Brien Studio Operations Associate..................Angel Rivas Studio Associates........................................................

Kevin Kong, Rebecca McCray, Lane Pigford, Choice Plasencia, Adante Power, Rebecca Samuelson, Destini Stewart

COMMISSIONED ARTISTS Doris Duke Charitable Foundation/Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Commissions David Adjmi, Dave Harris, Lucas Hnath, Deborah Stein Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Commissions Kate Attwell, Christopher Chen, Heather Christian, Mia Chung Kate and Seymour Weingarten Commissions César Alvarez, Kate Cortesi, Emily Feldman, Dylan Guerra, Ianne Fields Stewart Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Program for Commissioning Women in the Performing Arts Sheila Callaghan, Danai Gurira, Aleshea Harris, Antoinette Nwandu Amal Commission Mona Mansour Jody Falco and Jeffrey Steinman Commissions for Emerging Playwrights Brittany K. Allen; John J. Caswell, Jr.; Julia Izumi; Vera Starbard (Tlingit/Dena’ina) M.E.W. Commissions David Adjmi Peter Shaffer Commission Agnes Borinsky, Jordan E. Cooper, Phillip Howze, Mara Nelson-Greenberg Pinnacle Commission, co-commissioned with South Coast Repertory Theatre Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

SPECIAL SERVICES Legal Counsel.................................. Farber Law, LLC; Andrew Farber, Esq Communications Consultant...... Ted Stephens III / The Numad Group, Brendan Whipple, Tony Cotte Accountants......................Lutz & Carr/Shari Ferrara Insurance............................Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. of New York, Inc./AliceFay Prine Architect....................... Mitchell Kurtz Architect, PC Telephone Services................................ RingCentral Computer Systems...................Lansend/Ashwin Pai Website Design........................................Made Media CRM Software............................... Tessitura Network Closed Captioning.........................................GalaPro Digital Advertising............... Allied Global Marketing Telemarketing..................................................SMART, Strategic Marketing for the Arts Custodial Services............Impressive Cleaning Inc. Concessions.................................. Sweet Hospitality Security Services............... Elite Investigations, LLC Accessibility Assistants..................... Ruby Locklear, Erin Rosenfeld, Peter Royston Relaxed Performance Consultant.......... Becca Yuré Audio Describer and Touch Tour Consultant................ Andrea Miskow ASL-Interpretation Consultant................ SignNexus

RESIDENT THEATER COMPANY Clubbed Thumb

Leigh Silverman, Michael Greif, Rebecca Frecknall, Maria Goyanes, Kate Moore Heaney, Johanna Pfaelzer, David Mendizábal, Rachel Silverman, Aaron Malkin, Matthew Wise, Maggie Bridger, Ann Marie Dorr, Jenni Lawson, Olivia Haney, Amaia Astorr, Aspen Narain, Grace Smith

STAFF FOR HOLD ME IN THE WATER Company Manager.............................. Noa Saunders Associate Production Manager..... Conor McCarthy Production Stage Manager...........Alyssa K. Howard Stage Management Fellow.....Mackenzie Seewagen Assistant Director...............Maya Quetzali Gonzalez Assistant Costume Designer............Elizabeth Clark Associate Lighting Designer.....................Jiahao Qiu Associate Sound Designer....................... Alex Brock Light Board Operator.............................Alyssa Paulo Props Assistant: .................................David Callahan Wardrobe Supervisor / Stitcher....... Sydney Howell Audio Supervisor................................Kevin Novinsky Production Electrician........................ Riley Allsop Assistant Production Electrician...........Em Stripling Electricians.......................................Graham Darnell, Jess Dunn, Olivia Grasso, Amara McNeill, Vincent Randazzo, Michael Richards, Will Rossiter, Cait Simonton Automation Operator................................. Mike Weir Audio Crew................Kevin Novinsky, Mark Mainolfi, Feliciano Tencos-Garcia Projector Technician............................. Robert Feffer Costume Shop Assistant.................... Miriam Cortes Carpenters .....................Ryan LoPresti, Kya Naugle, Emily Tabler, Dulfy Trinidad Sound Board Operator......Feliciano Tencos-Garcia Programmer...............................................Bev Fremin Director of Interpreting..................... Andrew Morrill ASL Interpreters.............Carllee James, J’Da Damas Artwork Design........................................ Jordan Best House Managers............. Ashley Burton, Ryan Juda, Jodie Liebowitz, Aingea Venuto

AUTHOR’S THANKS

Laura Savia , Dr. Ed Kahn, Tim Miller, Daniel Alexander Jones, Diana Oh, Alexandria Wailes, Perel, Mia Mingus, Simi Linton, Max Posner, Noor Theatre, Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Long Wharf Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Emma Feiwel, Raj Raghavan, Elizabeth Sharpe-Levine, Jack Phillips Moore, Jesse Cameron Alick

SPECIAL THANKS

WARNING: The photographing or sound recording of any performance or the possession of any device for such photographing or sound recording inside this theater, without the written permission of the management, is prohibited by law. Violators may be punished by ejection and violations may render the offender liable for money damages. FIRE NOTICE: The exit indicated by a red light and sign nearest to the seat you occupy is the shortest route to the street. In the event of fire or other emergency please do not run – WALK TO THAT EXIT. Thoughtless persons annoy patrons and endanger the safety of others by lighting matches or smoking in prohibited areas during the performances and intermissions. This violates a city ordinance and is punishable by law. FIRE COMMISSIONER

CREDITS

The actors and stage managers employed in this production are members of actors’ equity association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

SPECIAL FUNDING

The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

The set was built in the Playwrights Horizons Scenery Shop.

This production received generous support from 21st Century ILGWU Heritage Fund and Kamil R. Shields. Season productions are supported, in part, by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, The Rea Charitable Trust, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 is the union representing scenic, costume, lighting, sound and projection designers in Live Performance.

“Playwrights Horizons is the most exciting place in the country for new playwriting.”

Deadline

pulitzer prize winners

notbale productions

Michael R. Jackson A Strange Loop

Jordan Harrison The Antiquities, Log Cabin, Marjorie Prime, Maple and Vine

Sanaz Toossi Wish You Were Here

John J. Caswell, Jr. Wet Brain

Kia Corthron Breath, Boom

Taylor Mac Hir

Kenneth Lonergan Lobby Hero

Heidi Schreck Grand Concourse Sylvia Khoury Selling Kabul

Anne Washburn Mr. Burns, a post-electric play

Gina Gionfriddo Rapture, Blister, Burn

Jaclyn Backhaus Wives, Men On Boats

Lisa D’Amour Detroit

Doug Wright I Am My Own Wife

Tori Sampson If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka

Kirsten Greenidge Milk Like Sugar

Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine Sunday in the Park with George

Craig Lucas I Was Most Alive with You

Wendy Wasserstein The Heidi Chronicles

Dan LeFranc Rancho Viejo, The Big Meal

Alfred Uhry Driving Miss Daisy

Sarah Ruhl For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, Stage Kiss, Dead Man’s Cell Phone

Bruce Norris Clybourne Park

Photo of Stereophonic

by Chelcie Parry. A Strange Loop, Downstate, Wish You Were Here, Mr. Burns, The Whale by Joan Marcus.

Bruce Norris Downstate

Annie Baker Circle Mirror Transformation

Larissa FastHorse The Thanksgiving Play

Mia Chung Catch as Catch Can Will Arbery Corsicana, Heroes of the Fourth Turning

Max Posner The Treasurer

Melissa James Gibson This Madeleine George The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence

Doug Wright, Scott Frankel, & Michael Korie Grey Gardens

Richard Greenberg, Scott Frankel, & Michael Korie Far From Heaven

Lynn Nottage Fabulation

Amy Herzog The Great God Pan, After the Revolution

Richard Nelson & Shaun Davey James Joyce’s The Dead Richard Nelson Goodnight Children Everywhere

Robert O’Hara Bootycandy

David Adjmi, Will Butler Stereophonic

Annie Baker The Flick

Samuel D. Hunter The Whale

Lucas Hnath The Thin Place, The Christians

Michael R. Jackson, Anna K. Jacobs Teeth

Milo Cramer School Pictures

Adam Bock A Life, A Small Fire

David Greenspan Go Back to Where You Are, She Stoops to Comedy

Kirsten Childs Bella: An American Tall Tale, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin Christopher Durang Miss Witherspoon, Betty’s Summer Vacation, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You Jeanine Tesori & Brian Crawley Violet Adam Guettel & Tina Landau Floyd Collins Stephen Sondheim & John Weidman Assassins William Finn March of the Falsettos, Falsettoland

Playwrights Horizons Family of Donors

Playwrights Horizons is a writer’s theater dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers and lyricists, and to the production of their new work. The theater offers careerlong advocacy and artistic and technical resources to artists. As an audience member, you are an important part of our mission and of our proud 53-year tradition. We would like to thank all of the individuals and institutions in both the public and private sectors whose donations help to sustain our annual programs and productions. For more information about making a donation, visit phnyc.org/give.

Board of Trustees Sam Gonzalez Chairman Retired Corporate Executive

Larissa FastHorse Vice Chairman Writer

Alex Levy Vice Chairman President, A.H. Levy & Co.

Mark Birkhead Treasurer Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase

Juliet Moser Secretary Literary and Theatrical Enthusiast

Judith O. Rubin Board Chair Emeritus

André Bishop Artistic Director, Lincoln Center Theater

Michael R. Jackson Playwright and ComposerLyricist

Evan Coles Director and Producer

Robert W. Jones Co-Founder, Antares Technologies

John Rose Senior Advisor and Senior Partner Emeritus, Boston Consulting Group

Bryce L. Friedman Partner, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra Producer Ethan Geto Principal, Geto & de Milly, Inc. Fell Gray Head of Brand and Creative, Arizent Adam Greenfield Artistic Director, Playwrights Horizons Kelly G. Griffin Head of Creative and Content Strategy, Warner Music Group Film and TV Eric M. Gural Co-Chief Executive Officer, GFP Real Estate

Shveta Kakar Partner, Fox Rothschild Katrina E. McCann Senior Counsel, Proskauer Rose LLP Juliet Moser Literary and Theatrical Enthusiast Robert Moss Founder, Playwrights Horizons Mark Musico Partner, Susman Godfrey LLP Mitra O’Neill Partner, Walden Macht & Haran LLP Alan Poul Executive Producer/Director, Boku Films

Nick Russo Vice President of Sales Marketing, Raptive Tim Sanford Former Artistic Director, Playwrights Horizons Dana M. Seshens Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP Candice Cook Simmons Chief Strategy Officer, Candarah Media Sean Walsh Media & Entertainment Executive Steven Weinstock President & CEO, Truly Original Rachel Wilder Freelance Writer Casey York Managing Director, Playwrights Horizons Jide Zeitlin

supporters of Playwrights Horizons receive many benefits, Institutional Institutional such as complimentary tickets, discounts for their employees, and public recognition. For more information about how your company can support Support

Playwrights Horizons, please contact Susan Ferziger, Associate Director of Development, at sferziger@phnyc.org or 212 564 1235 ×3142.

$25,000+ Birnam Oak Advisors Bloomberg Philanthropies Bondi Foundation Centerview Partners Charina Foundation Citi Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation The Ford Foundation Howard Gilman Foundation Goldman Sachs Jerome L. Greene Foundation Fund in The New York Community Trust The Heyday Foundation The Marc Haas Foundation Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation MacMillan Family Foundation Richenthal Foundation The Scherman Foundation Sir Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation The Shubert Foundation The SHS Foundation The Spingold Foundation Seth Sprague Educational and Charitable Foundation Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust Stereophonic Live on Broadway Tiger Baron Foundation Tishman Speyer Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Venturous Theater Fund, a fund of Tides Foundation RuthMary S. Westfall Foundation

$10,000–$24,999 21st Century ILGWU Heritage Fund Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation The Theodore H. Barth Foundation, Inc. The Carter Fund Con Edison Frederic R. Coudert Foundation Joseph and John Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc. Marta Heflin Foundation The Hyde and Watson Foundation Carl Jacobs Foundation Jerome Foundation Ralph and Ricky Lauren Family Foundation A.H. Levy & Co. JP Morgan Chase Foundation Terrence McNally Foundation Morgan Stanley Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Proskauer The Rea Charitable Trust S&P Global Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Adolph and Ruth Schnurmacher Foundation The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund Travelers Wilke Family Foundation $2,500–$9,999 ATG Entertainment Consigli Construction Co., Inc. The Barbara Bell Cumming Charitable Trust Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation

Nancy Friday Foundation Green Curtain Productions Bertha and Isaac Liberman Foundation The Liman Foundation Lucille Lortel Foundation Marvel The New York Community Trust NYSCA/TDF TAP Plus PricewaterhouseCoopers Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation The Jerome Robbins Foundation The Rosenthal Family Foundation/Nancy Stephens and Rick Rosenthal Sweet Hospitality Group Taconic Capital Advisors L.P. $500–$2,499 Actors’ Equity Foundation The Betsy and Alan Cohn Foundation, Inc. Lutz & Carr CPAs LLP Rodgers and Hammerstein Foundation William Morris Endeavor

Playwrights Horizons is a recipient of support from The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Government Support National Endowment for the Arts New York City Department of Cultural Affairs New York City Council at the request of Speaker Adrienne Adams and Council Members Erik Bottcher and Carlina Rivera New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature

Matching Gifts Many companies have matching gift programs that enable our donors to double their donations. Please check with your company to see if they match gifts. For more information about matching gifts, please contact waystogive@phnyc.org.

FreeWill

Playwrights Horizons has partnered with FreeWill to offer a free, legal will service. In less than 20 minutes, you can write or update your legal will, for free. Secure your future and support the next generation of new voices in the American theater. Visit www.freewill.com/playwrightshorizons to learn more. Include a bequest to Playwrights Horizons and join the Legacy Circle today.

Individual Support Individual supporters of Playwrights Horizons receive exclusive benefits ranging from complimentary tickets to intimate dinners and cocktail parties with artists, staff, and Board members. For more information about how you can support Playwrights Horizons, please contact Benjamin Weisman, Development Director, at bweisman@phnyc.org or 212 564 1235 ×3145. $25,000+ Anonymous (3) Salman & Vienn Al-Rashid Roger Altman & Jurate Kazickas Svante Bergstrom Mark Birkhead Robyn Coles Angela M. Crossman & Bryce L. Friedman Jill & Chuck Crovitz The Darnell-Moser Charitable Fund Katherine Farley & Jerry I. Speyer Mark T. Gallogly & Elizabeth B. Strickler Fell & Charles Gray Tom Healy & Fred P. Hochberg Robert W. Jones Alex Levy Katrina McCann Richard & Ronay Menschel Mark Musico Mitra O’Neill Alan Paul James & Gretchen Rubin Judith O. & Robert E. Rubin Dan Safin Dana Seshens & Robert Kresberg Nancy & Roger L. Strong, Jr. Sean Walsh & Henry Tisch Steven Weinstock $10,000–$24,999 Seth Ard Mark & Lillian Banchik David Caplan & Karen Wagner Joan Cohen Glenn & Eva Dubin Larissa Fasthorse Elizabeth Gigli Carson & Joe Gleberman Laurie Goldberger & Leslie Kogod Mark Gordon Eric & Nancy Gural Lisa Kentgen Erin Laber Gina Leonetti Chien Cho Liu Lili Lynton & Michael Ryan Kamil R. Shields Ann M. Stack Stereophonic on Broadway Jason Weinberg The Wilder Family Bruce Nathan Wilpon $7,000–$9,999 Ruth & Robi Blumenstein James Gleick & Cynthia Crossen Carole Pesner Barbara Raho Joanne & Daniel C. Smith $4,500–$6,999 James Alefantis

Jeremy Blocker Frank & Deenie Brosens Charles Cahn Rob Cordell Jane M. & Howard D. Epstein Betsy & Andrew Fippinger Tony & Jane Ford-Hutchinson Lori & Edward Forstein Friedman Family Foundation Michael Froman & Nancy Goodman Jane Hartley & Ralph Schlosstein Risa Heller Rory Jones Judith & Douglas Krupp Lee Ann Laimbeer Christopher & Cathay Lawrence Bruce Lovett Nina B. Matis Stephen & Carolyn McCandless Kathleen O’Grady Lisa & Jonathan Pruzan Jennifer Scully & Rick Lerner Lois Smith Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund $2,500–$4,499 Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez Anonymous (2) Eric Bennett Maurice Bensmihen Elaine S. Bernstein Caryn & Jonathan Bilzin John & Jill G. Bishop Angela & Jacob Buchdahl Helaine & Paul Cantor Catherine Carmody Robert W. Davenport David desJardins & Nancy Blachman Richard Feiner & Annette Stover Hazel & Russel Fershleiser James W. & Virginia M. Giddens Sam Gonzalez Tara & Clifford Harris Maxine Isaacs David I. Karabell & Paula A. Moss Justin Kirk Michael Kramer & Christine Harper Erin Laber Linda & Paul Lee Neal Manne & Nancy McGregor Alan Mark & Jeffrey Fraenkel Jill Hunter Matichak Scott C. McDonald Victoria Meakin Niclas Nagler & David Alberto Alvarez John Orberg PRG Shawn Rabin Nancy Roistacher & Wayne P. Merkelson Elizabeth Rose

William Rosen Nicholas P. Russo Natalie Scott Barbara Siegler Joanne Smith Carlo Steinman Arun Subramanian Joseph Tippett Carol & Robert Walport Marjorie Weingarten Catherine Weingarten $1,000–$2,499 Anonymous (4) Andrew D. Austin & Michael R. Sonberg Julia Bator Jennifer Baumgardner Monica Bernheim William & Lori Bernstein Andre Bishop Daniel & Estrellita Brodsky Maggie & Don Buchwald Ann L. & Lawrence B. Buttenwieser Linda & Arthur Carter Jonathan L. Cohen Lynn & John Collins Betty Ann Cook Kim & Stan Corfman Elaine Crowley & John Kuehn Connie & Yves de Balmann Mitch Draizin Mariana Elder Ray Endreny Emily Erstling Laura Fant Sharon Fay Julie Flanagan Robert Fleischer Matthew Gabbard Patricia Gannon-Lovier & Lester Lovier Jill A. Garland & Andy Loose Ethan Geto & Michele de Milly Bruce Geismar Robert Gender Kiki & David Gindler Jill Leslie Goldman Deborah Grant & Serge Tanjga Christine Griffin David & Cynthia Harrison Andy Hartman Nancy Heller & Holly Gewandter William H. Hill Sara Hinkle Katherine Humpstone & Jeremy Koch Kelly Fowler Hunter Sally Huxley Stephen H. Jaffe & Jane Gilbert Helaine Kaplan Amy L. Katz & Irving Scher Robert J. Katz Marian & Robert Klein

Shveta Kurtz Laura S. Langford Patty Laxton & Fred Kaufman Vicki Gold Levi Jane Macan Gina MacArthur Marlene Marko & Loren Skeist Eric & Isabelle Mayer Diane Max Ann Miner Lowell & Sandra Mintz James & Terri Muren Asha & DV Nayak Jane Macan Amy B. McIntosh & Jeffrey Toobin David Moore Rosemary Newman Tom O’Connor

Lawrence O’Donnell Edward P. Osborne Carol Ostrow Ellen Ozur & Stuart Brown Michael & Gabrielle Palitz Lori & Lee Parks Susan & Richard Pasternak Carl & Zelie Pforzheimer Dr. Robert A. Press Jim Provost Cornelia Ravenal Richard Ravitch & Kathleen Doyle Jessica Resler Dawn Rosso Jon & Cochleen Sands Meredith Schade Karen & Charles Schader Gordon Shearer

Eileen Silvers & Rick Bronstein Candice Cook Simmons, Esq. Harry Simmons Ian Slater Alec Stais & Elissa Burke Theodore Stephens Jennifer Tas Adam Turkel Maria Vecchiotti Craig & Rebecca Waldman Susan Wallace Mordechai Winter Charles White Lynne Whitman & Dan Solender Francis H. Williams Kevin Williams

Generation PH Gen PH is a community of theatergoers ages 45 and under who attend Playwrights Horizons productions; mingle with artists and artistic staff at exclusive parties; and see theater in a new way by talking to writers about the development of their plays. Plus, a portion of each membership is a tax-deductible contribution that directly supports these amazing artists and their new work. For more information, go to phnyc.org/genph LEADERSHIP COMMITTEE Katrina E. McCann, Co-Chair Nick Russo, Co-Chair

Eugene Brodach Betsy Fippinger Bryan McCaffrey Carlo Steinman

Aleksandra Szczepanowska Carol Walport Elizabeth Wu Jason Wu

BEST FRIEND ($700+) Anonymous Anirudh Balan Eric Bennett Eugene Brodach Bryan McCaffrey Lauren DeGeorge Emily Erstling Matt Freeman & Adam Rosen Matthew Gabbard Mark Gabbay Andy Hartman Taena Kim Nick & Martin LaSpina Sammy Lopez Deborah McCandless Katrina E. McCann Courtney J. Mitchell Nicholas P. Russo Sara States Carol & Robert Walport Alexandra C. Wood

Henri Benaim Nicolas Capparelli Hector Camacho Madeline Cook Adam Downer and Jenny Feng Brett East Christopher Fox Cara Kantrowitz Robert Laqui Noa Naaman Jessie Pitluk & Jacob Trussell Andrew Rasmussen Jenna Ready Varsha Sinha Esinam Sogah Danielle Zarbin & Kate Bussert

Joseph Hetterly Claire Hodgdon Samantha Kamelhar Charles Kessler Brittany Kressler Mitchell Krieger Will Kurach Jocelin Lee Cara Lonergan Matt Loomis Lauren Luo Katherine Matthews Daniel Miles Kate Napalkova Laura Napoli Eliana Oliva John O’Malley Amy Pan Tyler Richard Jacob Romanoski & Jeffrey Bobick Amy Rosenbaum Robert Rosenberg Noah Rosenblum Alan Roy Domenica Salame Leah Shapiro Gregory Stern Regina Stuzin Yash Varma John Vaszari Matthew Wright Kenneth Ross Yelsey Laura Zlatos

DEVOTED FRIEND ($400–$699) Anonymous Louis Blachman Jameelah Calhoun Matt Freeman and Adam Rosen Mac Ingram Trevor Kokal and Naoki Sasamoto Gina Napolitano Lindsay Pizzi GOOD FRIEND ($200–$399) Anthony Beltran

NEW FRIEND ($100–$199) Zach Aaronson Taylor S. Adamson Andrew Alkon Mary Angelo Rudy Bamenga Christopher Basile Jonah Baum Paige Blansfield Erica Blumrosen Qianna Brooks Adam Chasen Edward and Emily Delman Lydia DiLalla Mary DuBard Tyler Forni Joe Gery Swapna Ghanta Rebecca & Andrew Heller

STARTING MAY 30! A meta-theatrical satire offering a central provocation: What if queer people dared to imagine a future monarch having a life that resembled their own?

PRINCE FAGGOT Written by

Jordan Tannahill Directed by

Shayok Misha Chowdhury “Tannahill possesses a powerful artistic voice that reflects where we come from, who we are, and who we may become.”

Governor General’s Literary Award, 2018

A co-production with Soho Rep