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.
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.
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
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.
“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’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 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.
The Judy Theater
HOLD ME IN THE WATER
Written and performed by Ryan J. Haddad
Directed by
Danny Sharron
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
RESIDENT THEATER COMPANY
Clubbed Thumb
PLAYWRIGHTS DOWNTOWN ADMINISTRATIVE
DIRECTOR ................. EVA ROSA-FERRERA
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
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
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
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
CREDITS
The set was built in the Playwrights Horizons Scenery Shop.
SPECIAL FUNDING
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.
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
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.
“Playwrights Horizons is the most exciting place in the country for new playwriting.”
Deadline
pulitzer prize winners
Michael R. Jackson
A Strange Loop
Annie Baker
The Flick
Bruce Norris
Clybourne Park
Doug Wright
I Am My Own Wife
Stephen Sondheim & James Lapine
Sunday in the Park with George
Wendy Wasserstein
The Heidi Chronicles
Alfred Uhry
The Antiquities, Log Cabin, Marjorie Prime, Maple and Vine
Michael R. Jackson, Anna K. Jacobs Teeth
David Adjmi, Will Butler Stereophonic
Milo Cramer School Pictures
John J. Caswell, Jr. Wet Brain
Bruce Norris Downstate
Driving Miss Daisy notbale productions Jordan Harrison
Mia Chung Catch as Catch Can
Will Arbery Corsicana, Heroes of the Fourth Turning
Sanaz Toossi Wish You Were Here
Sylvia Khoury Selling Kabul
Jaclyn Backhaus Wives, Men On Boats
Tori Sampson If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka
Larissa FastHorse
The Thanksgiving Play
Craig Lucas I Was Most Alive with You
Dan LeFranc
Rancho Viejo, The Big Meal
Sarah Ruhl
For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, Stage Kiss, Dead Man’s Cell Phone
Max Posner
The Treasurer
Adam Bock A Life, A Small Fire
Lucas Hnath
The Thin Place, The Christians
Robert O’Hara Bootycandy Taylor Mac Hir
Heidi Schreck Grand Concourse
Anne Washburn
Mr. Burns, a post-electric play
Madeleine George
The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence
Richard Greenberg, Scott Frankel, & Michael Korie
Far From Heaven
Amy Herzog The Great God Pan, After the Revolution
Samuel D. Hunter
The Whale
Gina Gionfriddo Rapture, Blister, Burn
Lisa D’Amour Detroit
Kirsten Greenidge Milk Like Sugar
Annie Baker
Circle Mirror Transformation
Melissa James Gibson This
Doug Wright, Scott Frankel, & Michael Korie
Grey Gardens
Lynn Nottage Fabulation
David Greenspan
Go Back to Where You Are, She Stoops to Comedy
Richard Nelson & Shaun Davey
James Joyce’s The Dead
Richard Nelson Goodnight Children Everywhere
Kia Corthron Breath, Boom
Kenneth Lonergan Lobby Hero
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
Photo of Stereophonic by Chelcie Parry. A Strange Loop, Downstate, Wish You Were Here, Mr. Burns, The Whale by Joan Marcus.
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
Mark Birkhead Treasurer
Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase
André Bishop
Artistic Director, Lincoln Center Theater
Evan Coles Director and Producer
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
Larissa FastHorse Vice Chairman Writer
Juliet Moser Secretary Literary and Theatrical Enthusiast
Michael R. Jackson Playwright and ComposerLyricist
Robert W. Jones Co-Founder, Antares Technologies
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
Alex Levy Vice Chairman President, A.H. Levy & Co.
Judith O. Rubin Board Chair Emeritus
Institutional Support
Institutional supporters of Playwrights Horizons receive many benefits, such as complimentary tickets, discounts for their employees, and public recognition. For more information about how your company can support Playwrights Horizons, please contact Susan Ferziger, Associate Director of Development, at sferziger@phnyc.org or 212 564 1235 ×3142.
John Rose
Senior Advisor and Senior Partner Emeritus, Boston Consulting Group
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
$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
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.
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
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
Generation PH
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
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
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
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
Eugene Brodach
Betsy Fippinger
Bryan McCaffrey
Carlo Steinman
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
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
Aleksandra Szczepanowska
Carol Walport
Elizabeth Wu
Jason Wu
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
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
