IS GOD IS Program

IS GOD IS

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CONTENTS DEDICATION 4 PLAYWRIGHT’S PERSPECTIVE 6 IN REHEARSAL 12 BIOGRAPHIES 18 SUPPORTERS 24 GENERAL INFORMATION 25

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IN MEMORIAM In May of 2021 the theatre community lost Mekeva McNeil, a significant contributor to the Houston theatre landscape.

As a director and educator, her theatre practice advanced artists and audiences towards a more imaginatively thrilling, holistically creative, and compassionately specific community. Her last project at Rec Room was the critically acclaimed Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu and was thrilled about the potential of Is God Is in our space.

Mekeva’s voice has been present in the rehearsal room and has guided us throughout the process of this production.

This evening’s performance of Is God Is is dedicated to Mekeva McNeil and her awe-inspiring legacy.

Rest in power, peace, and love.

Wednesday Fiver Tickets to Rec Room’s mainstage season are $5 every first Wednesday of the run.

First come, first served. Tickets sell-out.

www.recroomarts.org | 713-344-1291

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HOW HAS MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA IMPACTED YOU? remove stigma. create art.

Join What it’s Like Project for Serenity Under the Stars, an immersion of mental health and the arts - live music, art, nature, and self-expression Aug 6. 2022 Austin, Texas whatitslikeproject.org

What it’s Like Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to removing the stigma of mental illness through art, education and community engagement.

Playwright’s Perspective

an interview with Aleshea Harris originally published at The Royal Court

Aleshea Harris is a playwright, screenwriter, and performer. Her play Is God Is makes its Houston debut at

Rec Room and has won the 2016 Relentless Award, an OBIE Award for playwriting in 2017, the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award in 2019 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Aleshea was awarded a Windham-Campbell Literary Prize and the Mimi Steinberg Playwriting Award in 2020 and the Hermitage Greenfield Prize in 2021. She has performed her own work at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Orlando Fringe Festival, REDCAT, as part of La Fête du Livre at La Comèdie de Saint-Étienne and at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. Harris is a two-time MacDowell Fellow and has enjoyed residencies at Hedgebrook and Djerassi.

What inspired you to write Is God Is? I wanted to write an epic that felt both old and new. I can recall asking myself what a play that took its cues from ancient Greek tragedy might feel like occupied by characters who felt familiar to my cultural context. That was a rich source of inspiration. I also had a strong desire to talk back to cultural pressure for Black women to behave themselves in particular ways. I’m troubled by notions that we gain respect because of our ability to

6 | IS GOD IS

endure the many insidious manifestations of misogynoir. I wanted to write Black women who fought for themselves and each other and I wanted it to be loads of fun. Is God Is is me going scorched earth on respectability politics. They cannot save us. They will not save us. I was also excited to create a story which subverts cultural thirst for Black narrative that centres anti-Blackness as its main concern.

Is God Is collides different concepts and genres, such as the ancient, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk. What was the catalyst for bringing these worlds and styles together?

There was no conscious decision to bring these particular styles together.

When I write, I try very much to remind myself that nothing is off limits. What often emerges is an irreverent mash up of interests. Ancient Greek tragedy, with its sweeping generational drama and body counts felt compelling, especially as I knew I would people the landscape with Black folks. Spaghetti Westerns probably crept in because I live in California and love the desert.

Having it as a backdrop (geographically and psychically) felt rich. There’s great attention given to the rhythms of Black speech in this play, just as in hip-hop.

And both hip-hop and Afropunk (which spring from Black ingenuity in spite of difficult circumstances) represent an emancipatory vision of Blackness as unbound by antiquated, racist ideas.

Each of these sources allowed me to be liberated in the creation of this world and its characters.

Where and how did you develop the play? Did the play change much from the first draft?

I had one reading for which I gathered people I liked and trusted. And at some point, I sent a draft to three critical friends who gave me feedback. It was a blessedly private, quiet, self-led developmental process. A lot has changed since the first draft. In the beginning, I was trying to write an operetta. It didn’t take long for the play to tell me it had other plans.

The world of the play journeys across the Dirty South, LA, The Valley, and California, including the Californian city of Castaic. Do these places hold personal or creative meaning for you?

“Dirty South” refers to a genre of hip hop music born in the American south. Some folks may be familiar with the words, “Dirty South” at the beginning of Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody.” Though “Dirty”

“I’m troubled by notions that we gain respect because of our ability to endure the many insidious manifestations of misogynoir.”

-Aleshea Harris carries a certain connotation, here the term is used as an expression of pride in the south, its creativity and its people. The South is very dear to me as the place where I learned so much about how to be a human and artist. Castaic holds great meaning as a slow, plodding hamlet with golden hills, a lake and hiking trails I’ve spent hours traversing while dreaming up narratives. It holds meaning as the first place I lived in California. I don’t think folks in L.A. consider it a terribly remarkable place, which is some of its charm. It’s basically a truck stop, yes, but I’ve always felt it was unassuming, like it had dark secrets.

How did you use language as a way to structure the play?

I was greatly influenced by Ionesco’s graphic version of The Bald Soprano, also by Suzan-Lori Parks, and also by my mentor, Doug Kearney, who is a visual poet and a librettist. I am really interested in the ways that language impacts on the body of a performer and on the imagination of all of the collaborators. I was really excited about a reader’s experience of this play.

When I wrote this, I didn’t know that it would be as well-received as it has been. I was really interested in when someone sits down to read this play, what is their experience of the play in Continued Rec Room Arts | 7

addition to what will happen if it’s given some bone and some flesh? For example, there’s a moment in a play when there are two characters who are changing the status of another character who had been quite powerful. The language kind of syncs, and the idea is that the language is doing what these two figures are trying to do to the other person, trying to lower them, bring them down. There’s certainly playing with font size. That has to do not only with the volume that the character might be speaking with in that moment, but how big they feel. Certainly there are moments when Anaia, who’s the less

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aggressive of the twins, has the most tiny font because she’s someone who, because of her disfigurement, feels quite small in the world. Those are some of the ways that language is telling its own story, is performing in its own way on the page, and hopefully doing something for the reader, allowing them to have a more visceral experience of the work.

“I am really interested in the ways that language impacts on the body of a performer and on the imagination of all of the collaborators.”

You’ve said previously that you try to use narrative to disrupt and to call out problematic status quos – could you elaborate on that for those who are new to your work?

Problematic status quos: Misogynoir – portmanteau of the words misogyny and noir. It’s the unique intersection of oppression Black women experience.

Anti-Blackness – racism experienced specifically by Black people. Can be perpetuated by anyone.

Narrow perceptions of how Blackness can/should exist in narrative – people seem to think that plays about Black people are only viable if they’re dealing primarily anti-Blackness. This is nonsense and ironically racist. It reflects poverty of imagination where Black people are concerned. Any story we want to tell (including those relating to our oppression) is worthy of examination and engagement.

Respectability politics – (especially as they relate to Black women and girls) the idea that if we behave ourselves according to the dictates of polite (read: White) society, we will be okay. This is nonsense. Dr. MLK was very well-spoken and attired when he was murdered.

Both Is God Is and my other play-pageantritual, What to Send Up When it Goes Down, stare down these ideas and disrupt them through what I hope are unexpected narratives that highlight what is profane about the above. In writing, I try to allow myself the full measure of my humanity by allowing my characters the same.

The play has drawn comparisons to Tarantino’s films, do you look to any cinematic or other cultural influences in your writing?

Oh yes, the deeply problematic Tarantino is often cited as a primary reference for this play. Much closer to my heart and practice are Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, Ntozake Shange, Bong Joon-ho, Maria Irene Fornes, Ionesco and Heiner Müller.

Who are some of your favorite contemporary playwrights and works?

Favorite contemporary playwrights: James Ijames (FAT HAM), Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (GLORIA, NEIGHBORS, APPROPRIATE) debbie tucker green (BORN BAD), Haruna Lee (SUICIDE FOREST), Celine Song (ENDLINGS), Carol Churchill (BLUE HEART, THE SKRIKER, A NUMBER) Rec Room Arts | 9

T A E R T F L E S R YOU TO

“One of Houston’s finest theatre companies.” -Houston Chronicle “A Houston local business you should support.” -Thrillest “One of Houston’s most innovative and surprising companies.” -CultureMap “Shows that resonate with us as modern audiences...Shows that are often just better than what we see elsewhere.” -Houston Press 10 | IS GOD IS

F

THEATRE.

IN REHEARSAL Photography by Emma Bacon

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DIRECTOR’S NOTE At the start of this process, I didn’t know how much Is God Is would be a prescient source material for the current sociopolitical moment in the U.S. I have asked myself: Who is worthy of expressing rage? Who is deserving of retribution? When is vengeance, if ever, righteous?

This is Aleshea Harris’s genius. She has created a new world in which Black women are vulnerable and violent, without judgment. Just a world where this multi-faceted nature exists. She leaves us plenty room to decide for ourselves the answers to the same questions I ask myself. She gives us the freedom to reckon with the power of witnessing this story, knowing that our own judgements and perceptions are the stories we created for ourselves.

As we continue forward in a society that places the inarguable human rights of so many under legislation, I think of Audre Lorde’s essay “The Uses of Anger.” I think of how many of us become fire when we aren’t held. How we burn others with the scars from fires we’ve survived.

It’s not a stretch to say that this world is on fire.

Perhaps, if we try hard enough, we can all become ice packs for each other.

Candice D’Meza Director

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REC ROOM ARTS SALUTES THE SPONSORS OF IS GOD IS

The City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

Dedicated to removing the stigma of mental illness through art, education and community engagement.

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Matt Hune Artistic Director

Stefän Azizi Executive Director

Sophia Watt Associate Artistic Director

Rec Room Arts presents

Obie Award Winner Helen Merrill Playwriting Award Winner Relentless Award Winner Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Finalist

IS GOD IS

by ALESHEA HARRIS directed by CANDICE D’MEZA Featuring

GRANT EASON, KIMBERLY HICKS, REYNA JANELLE, JESSICA T. JOHNSON, COMFORT IFEOMA KATCHY, BRANDON MORGAN, JACKSON SWINTON, and JUSTIN WALKER

PRODUCTION

Scenic Design STEFÄN AZIZI† Costume Design SAIDA CARTER Lighting Design JANESSA HARRIS Sound Design SEAN RAMOS Projection Design NICHOLAS LAM Fight and Intimacy Director AVERY VONN KENYATTA Technical Director BRANDON CHO Master Electrician ANDREW ARCHER Photography TASHA GOREL, SAMUEL HERRERA Production Intern ARYANA GREEN Production Assistant TAFARI HERNDON Assistant Director ROBERT JACKSON Production Stage Manager EMMA BACON

IS GOD IS is presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals Company on behalf of Samuel French. *member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers † member of the Rec Room Arts company Rec Room Arts | 15

COMPANY CAST

(in order of appearance)

Racine Anaia She Chuck Hall Riley Scotch Angie Man

JESSICA T. JOHNSON COMFORT IFEOMA KATCHY KIMBERLY HICKS BRANDON MORGAN* GRANT EASON JACKSON SWINTON REYNA JANELLE JUSTIN WALKER

This play will be presented without an intermission.

Entry and re-entry to the theater after the performance begins is not guaranteed.

As a courtesy to everyone in the theater, please silence all electronics.

To help mitigate the risk of COVID-19 spread, it is recommended that patrons wear a face mask that covers their face and mouth in the theater.

Rec Room Arts is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for nonprofit professional theatre. *member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers 16 | IS GOD IS

CAST

Jessica T. Johnson

Comfort Ifeoma Katchy

Kimberly Hicks

Brandon Morgan

Grant Eason

Jackson Swinton

Reyna Janelle

Justin Walker

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BIOGRAPHIES JESSICA T. JOHNSON (Racine) was born in Houston, TX. Jessica received her MFA in Acting from the University of Central Florida and B.A. in Theater at Texas Southern University. She has worked in regional theaters such as The Orlando Shakespeare Theater, where she has appeared in Aesop’s Fables (Goose / Grasshopper), Apologies to Lorraine Hansberry (You Too August Wilson), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (First Fairy/ Mustardseed). At The Ensemble Theater in Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters (Messenger) and Brer Rabbit (Brer Raccoon). Main Street Theater in The Watsons Go To Birmingham 1963 (Wilona Watson). Amongst her theater career, she works as a videographer, photographer, and director. https://jessicatjohnson35.wixsite.com/mysite COMFORT IFEOMA KATCHY (Anaia) is a playwright/actor rooted in Houston, TX and a member of the Rec Room Writers program.

Acting: Lady in Orange, Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow is Enuf (AMDA NYC); April, Student Body, Frank Winters (Flea Theatre NYC); Writing: How I Learned to Play Tennis (University of Houston) You Can Tell a Tree by its Fruit (Rec Room Arts). School: University of Houston BFA Theatre, Yale MFA Playwriting (c/o 2025).

KIMBERLY HICKS (She) was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in Theater.

There, she had the privilege to act in Dangerous Liaisons, William Shakespeare’s Richard III, Christmas Pageant, and Now This. She worked with The Ensemble Theater in productions such as Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, Knock Me a Kiss, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark, What I Learned in Paris, and Jimmy. She was Juror #5 at Upstage Theater in 12 Angry Women, and was a part of four seasons of Fade to Black’s playwright festivals and The Flow. She was also seen at Company Onstage as Actor 2 in Poe! Poe! Poe!, and at Obsidian Theater as Lady in Red in Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. She was last seen as Quencella in Mildred’s Umbrella’s production of The Mother Project.

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Kimberly would like to thank the Director, Candice D’Meza and Assistant Director, Robert Jackson for the opportunity to tell this amazing story as well as her castmates and crew for this wonderful experience. Most of all, she would like to thank her mother and sister for their never ending love and support BRANDON MORGAN (Chuck Hall) a Houston native, has been a professional actor for nine years. In that time he has been blessed to be involved in over 70 productions. Voted “Best Actor of 2020” and “Best Everywhere We Looked Actor of 2019” by Houston Press. Brandon has worked for many theatres in Houston: Rec Room Arts: Pass Over, The Royale; Stages Repertory Theatre: My Mañana Comes; Houston Grand Opera: Romeo & Juliet; The Alley Theatre: Skeleton Crew; Main Street Theatre: Love and Information; and Ensemble Theatre: Platanos y Collard Greens. Brandon’s only intent is to be as natural as an actor can be. @actoratwork88 #NeverNotWorking GRANT EASON (Riley) is a (very) recent graduate from Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (Kinder HSPVA), and he’s extremely excited to participate Is God Is as his first professional production. Some of his previous credits include Dreamgirls (Jimmy Early), The Color Purple (Mister), Sweeney Todd (Anthony) and FELA! (Ensemble). When he’s not busy learning his lines, he enjoys skateboarding, making music, spending time with friends and long walks on the beach. He would like to thank his family, friends, and girlfriend for always supporting him, and he’s overwhelmingly excited to be a part of this production. He plans on attending The Juilliard School this fall to further study acting.

JACKSON SWINTON (Scotch) is making his professional debut at Rec Room Arts. Jackson will be entering his 3rd year as a theatre student at Kinder HSPVA. Past productions include: Hairspray, A Year With Frog and Toad, and Dreamgirls at Kinder HSPVA; Chicago at HITS Theatre. Jackson enjoys the theatre industry and

BIOGRAPHIES looks forward to continuing his journey.

REYNA JANELLE (Angie) is a multi-faceted actor from Houston, TX who fell in love with the performing arts at a young age. Reyna graduated from University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering and Drexel College of Medicine with a Master of Science in Medical Sciences with plans of becoming a physician. However, she made a career change and began to pursue acting professionally after the passing of her mother to colon cancer. Her professional acting debut was in 2019, and since then she has appeared in several commercial, film, television, and theatrical productions. Her most recent performances on stage include The Lawsons, Forbidden Places, The Contract, The Last Night of Josephine Baker, and The Storm is Here. She has begun to expand her resume by helping produce productions and hopes to begin directing soon. Outside of acting, Reyna is an educator. She enjoys being a fitness coach and trains in stunts and martial arts. She is also a trained dancer and published model. Reyna desires a lifetime career of storytelling and bringing authenticity to humanize every role she undertakes.

Theatre Magazine, and received a rare special commendation from the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The play was subsequently remounted at Woolly Mammoth, A.R.T., BAM and Playwrights Horizons. Her newest play, On Sugarland (directed by Whitney White) premiered at New York Theatre Workshop in the spring of 2022.

Awards: Windham-Campbell Literary Prize, Mimi Steinberg Playwriting Award, Hermitage Greenfield Prize, Horton Foote Playwriting Award, Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Harris is a two-time MacDowell Fellow and has enjoyed residencies at the Hermitage Artist Retreat, Hedgebrook and Djerassi.

JUSTIN WALKER (Man) has appeared in several theater productions in the Houston area, most recently cast as Xavier in the popular play Pipeline

by Dominique Morisseau. He’s also appeared in several seasons in Houston’s Fade to Black Fest most recently as the character Edgar written by Joe Lewis. When he’s not on stage he enjoys reading, playwriting, and spending time with family.

CANDICE D’MEZA (Director) is a multidisciplinary artist, actor, director, writer and experimental filmmaker whose work has been featured in numerous film festivals; press outlets: Houston Press, Houston Chronicle, Playbill, American Theatre Magazine; archived with Rice University; and published in The Acentos Review. She has received grants from the Houston Arts Alliance, Red Bull Arts and has been commissioned by DiverseWorks, Catastrophic Theatre, and the Latinx Playwrights Circle. She is currently an Artist-in-Residence with Black Spatial Relics and a BOLD Ventures Grant Awardee for the creation of theater performance. Her work centers on grief, ritual, liberation, and the Black imagination. She is an advocate, activist, and mother who believes in bringing her kids (and baby) to art working spaces with her. A big huge thank you to her son Tafari for being her production assistant. Love you. Her website is www.candicedmeza.com

ALESHEA HARRIS (Playwright) Is God Is won the 2016 Relentless Award, an Obie Award for playwriting in 2017, the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award in 2019 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. What to Send Up When It Goes Down, a play-pageant-ritual response to anti-blackness, had its critically acclaimed NYC premiere in 2018 (directed by Whitney White and produced by The Movement Theatre Company), was featured in the April 2019 issue of American

ROBERT JACKSON (Asst. Director) is an actor, director, educational strategist, and producer that utilizes theater, film, television and other live media experiences to push the boundaries of storytelling. Robert is a graduate from New York University where he received a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership, Politics, and Advocacy and a BFA in Drama from New Studio on Broadway at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

He has received artist grants from Houston

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BIOGRAPHIES Arts Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts, and Mid-America Arts Alliance. His passion for activism has led him to found and lead several organizations that aim at empowering lowincome and marginalized populations. He is excited and honored to support Is God Is and wants to continue to support the arts in Houston. www.robertdjackson.com STEFÄN AZIZI (Scenic Design/Executive Director) is the Executive Director here at Rec Room Arts. His Rec Room design credits include: Dance Nation, Pass Over, The Children, Woyzeck, The Royale, On the Exhale, Hansel and Gretel (both times), Exit Strategy, and Sender.

Additional scene design credits in Houston: Putnam County Spelling Bee and Sensitive Guys at Stages. He graduated with departmental honors in Scene Design and Technical Direction from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. He is currently a freelance scene designer and a Project Manager for Caspian Enterprises based in Houston,TX. Recently finished The Sanctuary Lofts, a conversion of a Gothic Revival Church(built by the Tellepsen family) into a forty-five unit residential loft. @TheSanctuary_Lofts / @Stefan_Azizi SAIDA CARTER (Costume Design) is a native Houstonian with a mosaic of interests, disciplines, passions that intermingle the spectrum of creative writing, poetry, fashion design, photography, community, women, freedom and education through the arts. A selftaught renegade drawing from various fields to create not only art but an archive of activism.

She is the owner of ERA Vintage (Everyday.

Repurposed. Apparel). It is her antidote to fast fashion, a nostalgic wonderland of unique and one of a kind wearable poetry pieces. Driven by reducing waste and increasing style, she also deconstructs discarded fabrics into timeless pieces, her form of public engagement. Her rai·son d’ê·tre is to create new narratives and imagine new wonderlands through fabric and play. She gets to tell her own story by bridging experimental ideas with a maximalist approach full of funk, couture, art, and street wear in the

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fashion show runways and editorial photography.

JANESSA HARRIS (Lighting Design) is from Houma, LA. She began her professional career as a lighting designer at McLeod Summer Playhouse in Carbondale, IL. She holds a Bachelor from Louisiana State University and a Master of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University in theatre. Rec Room: Is God Is; Stages: Song of Me, Sunrise Coven, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Stages Studio Sessions (SSS) with Raven Troupe, Button’s Sleeping Beauty, SSS with Teresa Zimmerman, and SSS with Anna Maria Morris; HITS Theatre: Descendants the Musical; Main Street Theater: The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963; The Ensemble Theatre: Motown Christmas. Lighting Designer credits include Pinkalicious the Musical, Spring Awakening the Musical, Burn the Floor: Farewell Show, Norwegian Getaway Christmas Show, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Peter and the Starcatcher. #staylit | janessaaharris.com SEAN RAMOS (Sound Design) Off-Broadway: SKIN, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, While You Were Partying, Emojiland, Riddle Of The Trilobites, Only Human; Off-Off-Broadway: Macbeth, Cabaret Northeast; Regional: Theatre Workshop Of Nantucket: We Will Rock You, Meteor Shower, Plaid Tidings, London Suite, Mamma Mia, A Grand Night For Singing, Matilda, Terms Of Endearment, Grease, Miracle On 34th Street; Katonah Classic Stage: Oleanna; ArtistTree Musical Theatre Festival: I Do! I Do!; Southeast Regional: Alley Theatre: Choosing Love Stages: Sunrise Coven, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Fatherland; Film: Vicki, WAIL Rec Room: Is God Is; Audio Drama: This American Wasteland NICHOLAS LAM (Projection Design) is a lighting, scenic, and video designer and recent graduate of Kinder HSPVA. He will attend Northwestern University in the fall. Past designs at HSPVA include Sweeney Todd, Fences, Top Girls, Hairspray, Electra, Once on This Island, The Color Purple, Mary Poppins, and Fela.

He recently assisted on Dance Nation here at

BIOGRAPHIES Rec Room. Many thanks to his family and the company at Rec Room.

AVERY VONN KENYATTA (Fight & Intimacy Director) is a Houston based actor, Intimacy Director, and Fight Choreographer. He has a passion for actor advocacy and is extremely grateful to use his gift of storytelling in multiple ways. He is a certified Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors and has studied with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators.

Avery is thrilled to be back at Rec Room working with this wonderful team! He holds a BFA from Western Michigan University and an MFA from the University of Houston’s Professional Actor Training Program.

BRANDON CHO (Technical Director) is a senior at the University of Houston pursuing his BFA in Stage Production. He is originally a sound designer but has worked in various production roles around Houston. Previous credits at Rec Room include Hurricane Diane and Dance Nation. He is glad to be working with the Rec Room and artistic staff as the Technical Director!

EMMA BACON (Production Stage Manager) is a Senior Stage Manager at the University of Houston and is happy to be back at Rec Room Arts. Recently, Emma assisted on Hurricane Diane at Rec Room. Previous credits include University of Houston’s Holy Ghosts, The Oresteia, Our Lady of 121st Street, 10 Minute Play Festival (2022), Ocean Filibuster; a touring production from A.R.T., and TEATRX’s La Vida Es Cortos festival. Emma is so grateful to her friends and her mom for their continued support, and to all those who support the arts in this time we so desperately need artistic expression.

The Effect (MATCH), Oleanna, The Visit and Creatures of Habit (The Landing Theatre Company), Hedda Gabler (part of Rec Room’s artist residency), Three Sisters (University of Houston- Guest Artist). She has assistant directed for Theresa Rebeck at the Alley Theatre as well as James Bohnen and Bill Brown at the University of Houston. She is an alumni of Barn Arts Residency, the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab and SDCF observership class 2016-2018.

Sophia is a 2019 Drama League Directing Fellow. BFA : The Hartt School. MFA: University of Houston. Sophiawatt.com MATT HUNE (Artistic Director) is co-founder and Artistic Director of Rec Room Arts where he is dedicated to energizing a new generation of theatre artists and audiences. In Rec Room’s short history, Hune and staff have produced plays, opera, dance, and concerts. Before cofounding Rec Room, Hune developed the Living Room Series, where he converted a Montrose living room into a 22-seat black box theater. In addition to Rec Room Arts, he has been involved in the development of The Loring Theatre in Minneapolis. As a director, he has worked on world and regional premieres as well as reimagined classics. He currently was a faculty member in the acting program at Kinder HSPVA for seven years. He has also taught acting in the graduate Opera Studies program at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. He is an alumnus of The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, graduate candidate at Boston University, and a recipient of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts award for Theatre. He is a member of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society).

SOPHIA WATT (Director/Associate Artistic Director) is the associate artistic director at Rec Room Arts and a freelance director in Houston, Texas. Directing credits include: Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Hangar Theatre/ Wedge), Jack and the Beanstalk (Hangar Theater), The Diaries of Adam and Eve (Unity Theatre), The Nest (University of Houston- Guest Artist),

Rec Room Arts | 21

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playwrights

FALL|Starts October 20 “A COMBINATION OF THE JORDAN PEELE MOVIE GET OUT AND THE DELICIOUSLY DYSTOPIAN DANISH DRAMA SERIES KNOWN AS THE RAIN.” -Chicago Tribune

PUT YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER

written by

Ike Holter directed by

Matt Hune

A romantic-comedy/horror/thriller about a first date that spirals into a race against an invading force. This Houston premiere from playwright Ike Holter (Exit Strategy, Sender) explores new beginnings at the end of the world.

SUPPORTERS SUPPORTERS $10,000+ City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance $5,000-$9,000 Dr. Robert Card & Karol Kreymer Vince & Jackie Foster Annette McBride $1,000-4,999 Courtney & Colin Brokaw Julia Fox & Alex Brewer JS Greene Memorial Foundation Caroline & Perryn Leech Mesh by Alex Terrylin Neale Ostdiek Family Salners Family Foundation Suzanne Skie-Azizi Kim Titus Vreni von Arx Watt & Jerry Watt Evan Wildstein & Huda Alsheikh $500-$999 Barbara Bennett Stephanie Carroll Diane Englet Catherine Holste Jillian Jopling Aaron Kohlhepp Chesley Krohn Nan Lefforge & Joe Evans Dena & David Linda Shahin Naghavi Nora Nickel Singleton Family Joyce Baier Steensrud Martha Stein Steven Wachs What It’s Like Project Aimee Woodall Mark & Nancy Wozny $150-$499 Desiree Alejandro R. Scott Allen Sandra Barrash Susan Baum Jared Berry 24 | IS GOD IS

Supporter list updated July 2022.

Every effort is made to keep it accurate and up to date. If you notice any discrepancies, please contact info@recroomhtx.com or our box office.

Deborah Best Bob Singleton & Joe Boyd John Bradshaw Elissa Brown Gwyneth Campbell Jan Cohen Margaret Culbertson Brad Dalton Kelly Dean John Eymann Joyce Fadem Sylvia Fink Marris Goldberg Pamela Hoffer Catherine Holste Kristina Hulten Janis & Paul Jarosz Abby Koenig Leigh Mohney Leslie The Linda Family Henry Liu Marcie Lou Brannon Lloyd Kathy & Gary Marks Sue and John Marsh Jenny Marshall Nicole Kenley-Miller Beverly Parker Eric Bradley & Wanderson Rezende Marti and Billy Rosenberg Jay Solomon Rima & Ryan Soroka Sommer Stash Marty & Bob Stein Leslie & Ten Eyck Swackhamer Todd Waldman Eileen & Richard Westerman $50-$149 Afsaneh Aayani Natasha Azizi Deborah Best Linda Boyko Harriet Choice Carolyn Codwell Alene Coggin Jan Cohen Cook Family Nancy I. Cook

Marc Corman Nancy Douthey Perry Edwards John Eymann Karl Floyd Cece Fowler Elizabeth & Michael Gonzalez Carleen Graham Kara Greenberg and Adam Gross Harold Hardaway Joe Hinojosa Steve Hoffman Mike Jadick Matthew Jamison Thomas Janowski Kenny Kelley Karin Knapp David Lake Sherry LeBlanc-Dehan Casey & Ginger Lucas Jenny Marshall Amy Miller James A. Miller Leigh Mohoney-Leslie Todd Molesky Consuelo Oyervidez Ginger Travis Page Donna Palmer Kendall Toarmina Pang Beverly Parker Stephen Patlan Cynthia Pawlick Lynette Pebernat Janet Phillips Sandra Ramsey Marcia Richards Kathryn Ritcheske Sallie Gordon and Ken Schwenke Bryan Scrivner Cathy Selber David Senior Shawn Sinclair Claudia Soroka Lee Strickland Shelby Strudler Lyndsay Sweeney Emily Todd Jennifer Touchet Brandon Weinbrenner Alice Youngbar

GENERAL INFORMATION Rec Room 100 Jackson Street Houston, TX 77002 Box Office | 713-344-1291 info@recroomhtx.com www.recroomarts.org BOX OFFICE HOURS Box office opens one hour before showtime on performance days.

Non-show days, please email info@recroomhtx.com ACCOMMODATIONS Rec Room provides a range of accommodations to ensure the safety, comfort, and enjoyment of our events and facilities for all audience members.

If you have specific questions, please contact our Administrative Offices at info@recroomhtx.com or call our box office at 713-344-1291.

ACCESSIBLE SEATING Accessible seating is available in the front two rows of the Main Stage Theater. If you need additional assistance or would like to reserve an accessible seat, email info@recroomhtx.com.

CYCLING You may lock your bike on the gate outside Rec Room’s front doors at your own risk. You may also bring your bike inside and a staff member will store your bike indoors depending on availability.

EATING AND DRINKING There is a bar located in the Rec Room lobby that serves a selection of local beer and wine. Patrons are encouraged to arrive early and stay after the performances to take advantage of the bar. Drinks are allowed into the theater.

Food is allowed in the bar and lobby. No food is allowed inside the theater space. There are a range of restaurants in the downtown area for you to choose.

Here are some Rec Room favorites: FRANKS PIZZA | $

MKT BAR | $$

IRMA’S ORIGINAL | $$

NINFA’S | $$

417 Travis Street 713-225-5656

22 N Chenevert Street 713-222-0767

1001 Austin Street 832-360-2222

2704 Navigation Blvd 713-228-1175

JACKSON STREET BBQ | $$ OSSO KRISTALLA | $$ 209 Jackson Street 713-224-2400

1515 Texas Avenue 713-221-6666

WHEELCHAIR STORAGE For guests who wish to transfer to a seat from their wheelchair, we will store your wheelchair in our lobby during the performance. The House Manager will make arrangements to return the wheelchair to you at the end of the performance or any other time of your choosing.

KULTURE | $$

TOUT SUITE | $$

LOCAL FOODS | $$

XOCHI | $$$

PARKING Street parking after 6:00 pm is free. There are paid lots surrounding our building and are open to the public for a fee. Rates vary between lots. Please allow extra time to park during Astros home games.

GREEN ROOM BAR HOURS The lounge is open for your enjoyment on performance days 6:30pm -midnight.

TRANSPORTATION Lyft, Uber, and taxis are always good choices if you plan to drink.

METRORail lines are reasonably close.

RED LINE (12 min walk / 0.6 mile): Use the Preston stop. Walk northeast on Main St. towards Congress Ave. Turn right onto Congress Ave. Turn left (NE) onto Jackson St. Rec Room will be on your left at Franklin St.

701 Avenida De Las Americas 713-357-9697

420 Main Street 713-227-0531

2379, 2001 Commerce St 713-227-8688

1777 Walker Street 713-400-3330

CONTENT ADVISORY We do not offer advisories about subject matter, as sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have any questions about content, age-appropriateness or stage effects (such as strobe lights or theatrical fog) that might have a bearing on patron comfort, please contact info@recroomhtx.com.

CELL PHONES Best when used outside of the theatre. Please respect our audiences and artists by silencing phones during performances.

Rec Room Arts | 25

STAFF

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Evan Wildstein, President Artistic Director.............................................MATT HUNE Abigail Koenig, Vice President Managing Director......................................STEFAN AZIZI Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Treasurer Associate Artistic Director........................SOPHIA WATT Colin Brokaw, Secretary Audience Services Manager..............BRENDA PALESTINA Artist Services Manager...............JONATHAN FLEISSNER Digital Marketing Lead...........INDIGO DEWDROP GHONIMA Line Producer...........................................JAKOB HULTEN Casting Consultant....................................TASHA GOREL Casting Cooridinator....................................NATHAN SHU Artistic Assistant..............................REBECCA LEMBCKE COVID Compliance Officers.....................STEFAN AZIZI,

MATT HUNE, MADISON SUTTON Technical Director.....................................BRANDON CHO Front of House...................................SAVANNAH COYNE, MIA EL YAFI, ANNA GRACE HETHCOX,

OLLIE GRISHABER, ELLIE LINDE,

NIARA SINGLETON Photography..............................................TASHA GOREL, GERARDO VELASQUEZ, SAMUEL HERRERA Video Production................INDIGO DEWDROP GHONIMA Marketing Consultant.........................ANNETTE MCBRIDE Promotions.................................................BRYAN ROSS Company Associate.........................RORY JAMES LEECH Special Events.............................JONATHAN FLEISSNER Development Intern............................DYLAN THIBODEAU Production Intern.....................................ARYANA GREEN Comedy.....................................COMEDY HUB HOUSTON Production Assistant............................TAFARI HERNDON Rehearsal Baby..........................AMARA-NAIMAH D’MEZA Resident Rec Room Writers..........................FI CONNORS, CHRISTIAN GILL, ARTHUR JOLLY, COMFORT KATCHY, ELIZABETH KEEL, PHILIP KERSHAW, ALICIA MOLIVO, SHAWANNA RENEE, JELISA JAY ROBINSON BRENDAN BOURQUE-SHEIL, NICOLE ZIMMERMAN ERIC MOORE GREEN ROOM BAR Bar Management...............................WACHS & HUNE, LLC Bar Manager..................................JONATHAN FLEISSNER SPECIAL SERVICES Insurance..........................HOFFMAN INSURANCE GROUP Box Office....................AUDIENCEVIEW PROFESSIONAL Telephone Services.................................................OOMA Cleaning and Sanitation..............................................COIT Bond Services....................................MCQUAIN AGENCY Banking...............................................BANK OF AMERICA Building Management..........CASPIAN ENTERPRISES, INC. Graphic Design............................PANORAMA FOXTROT Printing.....................................THE DOCUMENT GROUP Catalogue Services..................................................ISSUU

26 | IS GOD IS

This theatre operates under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

#NotInOurHouse

This theatre has adopted the Chicago Theatre Standards, a set of standards and practices for the prevention of harrassment and abuse in theatre.

FIRE NOTICE: The door out of this room will lead to the main exit door indicated by a red lighted EXIT sign. In the event of a fire or other emergency, please walk to that exit.

There is no smoking allowed inside Rec Room.

Latecomers will be seated at the discretion of the House Management.

As a courtesy to the actors and your fellow patrons, please turn off your cell phones before the performance.

The theater reserves the right to refuse admission to patrons who become a distraction to the performers and other audience members.

THE VIDEOTAPING OR MAKING OF ELECTRONIC OR OTHER AUDIO AND/OR VISUAL RECORDINGS OF THIS PRODUCTION OR DISTRIBUTING RECORDINGS ON ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING THE INTERNET, IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, A VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR’S RIGHTS AND ACTIONABLE UNDER UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW. Rec Room Arts is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for nonprofit professional theatre.

Rec Room Arts is supported in part by funding from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance

Arts Reach: The Association Of Arts Management, Marketing & Development Professionals

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Rec Room Arts donors fuel the mission of energizing new audiences for theatre. They are super informed art lovers who support cutting-edge theatre and are among the first to learn about our performances. Rec Room Arts has been the home of some of the most innovative and popular productions in the city and our supporters are the people who are directly responsible for making those shows come to life. Join our family and help shape the future of Houston theatre.

Rec Room Arts is a registered 501(c)(3) organization (EIN 81-5035115) and all contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

CRAFT BEER DRINK LOCAL. DRINK CRAFT.

SUMMER FROST TOWN BREWING

Frost Town Brewing 100 N Jackson St, Houston TX 77002 Tuesday-Thursday 2pm-10pm Friday 2pm-11pm Saturday 11am-11pm Sunday 11am-9pm