TOPDOG/UNDERDOG Program

BY SUZAN-LORI PARKS

DIRECTED BY JAMIL JUDE

2024-2025 SEASON 2024-2025 SEASON

POWERFUL AND HEARTFELT DRAMA

SOJOURNERS

BY MFONISO UDOFIA

DIRECTED BY VALERIE CURTIS-NEWTON

HYSTERICAL HOLIDAY MUSICAL

From ROUND HOUSE’S LEADERSHIP

MUSIC BY AARON KENNY

BOOK & LYRICS BY ROB BERLINER

BOOK & ORIGINAL CONCEPT BY HARRISON BRYAN

DIRECTED AND CHOREOGRAPHED BY MARLO HUNTER

EXHILARATING EXPLORATION OF DEMOCRACY BY HEIDI SCHRECK

DIRECTED BY MORGAN GOULD

BAD BOOKS

BY SHARYN ROTHSTEIN

DIRECTED BY RYAN RILETTE

FEATURING

KATE EASTWOOD NORRIS AND HOLLY TWYFORD

HE ORIGINAL 2001 PRODUCTION OF TOPDOG/UNDERDOG WAS A watershed moment for the American theatre. The play earned Suzan-Lori Parks a Pulitzer Prize for Drama (the first in the category for a Black woman), as well as a stack of other accolades, including a Tony nomination for Best Play. In the years since, its reputation has only grown—most notably, in 2018, The New York Times named it the best American play since Angels in America premiered 25 years before. In an industry in which every Pulitzer and Tony award are subject to endless second-guessing, it is telling that nobody argued with that declaration.

On the surface, Topdog/Underdog is a straightforward play about two brothers and the recognizable push-pull of their sibling relationship. But it is also a play about inheritance, the cyclical nature of history, and how race and class constrain our choices. Parks's beautiful text echoes the repetition and innovation of the best jazz musicians and is filled with the rich poetry of vernacular language, and she's stacked it with endless layers of meaning, from the quotidian to the profound. And it is that range of experience—meeting all her audiences wherever they may be—that so excites us to have her work on our stage.

Directing our production is the phenomenal Jamil Jude, Artistic Director of Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, the leading theatre in America dedicated to amplifying the voices of Black playwrights. Jamil has assembled an amazing team of artists to help bring his vision for Topdog/Underdog to life, including two of the best actors in the DMV who we’re thrilled to welcome back to Round House: Resident Artist Ro Boddie, who was most recently seen here in Mountaintop, August Wilson’s Radio Golf, and Tempest, and Yao Dogbe, who recently starred in our production of Nollywood Dreams. This dream team of artists has cooked up a barnburner of a production that we are certain will keep you on the edge of your seat. We hope you love it as much as we do!

We also hope that you'll join us for our powerful 2024-2025 Season. Featuring two world premieres, three New York hits, and workshops of four new plays in development during our fourth annual National Capital New Play Festival, subscriptions are already going fast. You can find more information about all of the shows in the season at RoundHouseTheatre.org/Subscribe2024.

RYAN RILETTE

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

ED ZAKRESKI MANAGING DIRECTOR

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE EXTENDS ITS DEEP GRATITUDE TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS

OF TOPDOG/UNDERDOG

The 2023-2024 Season is sponsored by LINDA RAVDIN AND DON SHAPERO

Topdog/Underdog has become a hallmark of American theatre for good reason—its sharp satire and dark humor speaks to a uniquely modern approach to the American dream, complicated by sibling dynamics, personal identity, and a desperate attempt to build your own place in the world. This is truly a powerhouse play, and we’re honored to be a part of Round House’s take on this modern classic.”

—DAN KAPLAN AND KAY RICHMAN

We are thrilled to support this remarkable production of Topdog/ Underdog . This acclaimed play and these wonderful artists provide the perfect conclusion to the thought-provoking and heartfelt 20232024 Season at Round House.”

—MITCH AND HEIDI DUPLER

CREATIVE TEAM

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE

RYAN RILETTE , Artistic Director, and ED ZAKRESKI , Managing Director

MAY 29 – JUNE 23, 2024

To become a sponsor for an upcoming Round House Theatre production, please contact Michael Barret Jones, Director of Development, at 240.670.8795 or MJones@RoundHouseTheatre.org.

BY SUZAN-LORI PARKS

DIRECTED BY JAMIL

JUDE

Scenic Designer . . . . . MEGHAN RAHAM

Costume Designer . . . . DANIELLE PRESTON

Lighting Designer . . . . XAVIER PIERCE

Sound Designer NICK HERNANDEZ

Properties Coordinator CHELSEA DEAN

Fight Choreographer . . . . CASEY KALEBA

Card Manipulation Consultant . . . RYAN PHILLIPS

Casting Director . . . . . SARAH COONEY

Dramaturg . . . . . . NAYSAN MOJGANI

Assistant Sound Designer DELANEY BRAY

Production Stage Manager CHE WERNSMAN*

Topdog/Underdog is sponsored by Mitch & Heidi Dupler and Dan Kaplan & Kay Richman. The 2023-2024 Season is sponsored by Linda Ravdin and Don Shapero.

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York

Produced on Broadway by Carole Shorenstein Hays, Waxman/Williams Entertainment, Bob Boyett, Freddy De Mann, Susan Dietz, Ina Meibach, Scott Nederlander, Ira Pittelman, Hits Magazine, Kelpie Arts, Rick Steiner/Frederic H. Mayerson, The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival.

Original New York production by The Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, George C. Wolfe, Producer.

JOIN THE INNER CIRCLE

INNER CIRCLE

CAST (in order of appearance)

Booth . . . . . . . YAO DOGBE*

Lincoln . . . . . . RO BODDIE*

UNDERSTUDY

Booth/Lincoln . . . . . MONUAZE MASON

PRODUCTION

Production Assistant/Wardrobe Head SAVANNAH GOMEZ

Light Board Operator KRISTOP ROSARIO

Sound Board Operator DELANEY BRAY

Light Board Programmer . . . CAIT FOSTER Carpenters . . . . . . JACK MOXLEY, ELLEN MITCHELL, GERARDO SORIANO

Painter . . . . . . MEGAN HOLDEN Electricians . . . . . . ZAVAR BLACKLEDGE, SYDNEY BRONOUGH, ESTHER HWANG, MIN JOO KIM, SARAH MACKOWSKI, KRISTOP ROSARIO, NICOLE TRANTUM, SARAH VELKOVICH

Topdog/Underdog runs approximately 2 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES with one intermission.

FULL STAFF LISTING on page 29

*As indicated, Actors and Stage Managers are members of Actors' Equity Association, The Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

The Scenic, Costume, and Lighting Designers of this production are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the IATSE.

The Cast and Stage Manager are members of Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”). Founded in 1913, Equity is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. #EquityWorks

The Director and Fight Choreographer are members of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.

BIOS

CAST

RO BODDIE (Lincoln) is a Resident Artist at Round House, where he previously appeared in The Mountaintop, August Wilson’s Radio Golf, The Tempest , and A Boy and His Soul. Select DC credits Tempestuous Elements at Arena Stage and Pipeline at Studio Theatre. Off-Broadway credits include Socrates at the Public Theater and Seize the King at Classical Theatre of Harlem. Select Windfall at Bay Street Theater; A Play is a Poem at Mark Taper at La Jolla Playhouse; and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at Baltimore Center Stage. Television credits include Godfather of Harlem , Run the World, Person of Interest . Ro is an alum of University of the North Carolina School of the Arts. Instagram: roboddieart

YAO DOGBE (Booth) is happy to be making his return to Round House Theatre. Previous Round House credits include Nollywood Dreams and Ohio State Murders . Off-Broadway credits include The Doctor at Park Avenue Armory and Nollywood Dreams at MCC Theater. Tour credits include Othello and Love's Labour's Lost with Montana Shakespeare in the Parks and Prince Caspian: The Chronicles of Narnia and A Christmas Carol with Hampstead Stage Company. Regional credits include Richard III, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, and at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Fly at Capital Repertory Theatre; Intimate at Northlight Theatre; Routes at Remy Bumppo Theatre Company; King Lear at Shakespeare Theatre Company; and Cymbeline at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. Yao is a first-generation Ghanaian American actor and an activist for African cultural and dialectical authenticity, on stage and film, for the African diaspora. Other credits include an Autozone commercial, Everett D. Mitchell documentary, and Homebound web series. Education: MFA Acting, University of Houston; BFA Fine Arts/Graphic Design, Norfolk State University. @yaonation

UNDERSTUDY

MONUAZE MASON (Lincoln and Booth Understudy) is an actor from San Diego, California. This is Monuaze’s first time working with Round House Theatre and he’s thrilled to be on board! Previous DC-area credits include the role of Laertes in Hamlet at Folger Theatre (2023) and the role of Troy Maxon in Fences at Olney Theatre Center (2022). In addition, he’s a model in Los Angeles in which he worked for Playboy, Ray-Ban, and Faculty Polish, among others.

CREATIVE TEAM

SUZAN-LORI PARKS (Playwright) is a multi-awardwinning American writer and the first African-American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Topdog/Underdog , which recently enjoyed its 20th anniversary Broadway revival. The production won both the 2023 Tony Award (Best Revival of a Play) and the Outer Critics Circle Award. Just last year, in 2023, Parks also had three new works which all received world premieres: at the Guthrie Theater in (Steinberg New Play Award finalist); at Joe’s Pub in New York (winner of the Drama Desk Award for Best Music in a Play); and at the Public Theatre, Parks’s world-premiered a musical adaptation of the 1972 film The Harder They Come (winner: Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New OffBroadway Musical).

Parks’s other notable works for theatre include: The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical), Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical , White Noise, The Book of Grace , In the Blood, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, The America Play , Father Comes Home From The Wars (Parts 1 ,2, &3) , and Fucking A . Parks’s marathon writing “diary play” 365 Days/365 Plays — her first project in which she wrote a play a day for an entire year—was produced at more than 700 theatres worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theatre history. A MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, Parks’s novel Getting Mother’s Body is published by Random House. She also writes extensively for the screen—most recently, as the scriptwriter for the film The United States vs. Billie Holiday and as the showrunner/ executive producer/head writer for the television show Genius: Aretha . In 2023, Parks was named among “TIME Magazine’s 100.” Other notable accolades and awards include the prestigious Gish Prize for Excellence in the Arts and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She is also a recipient of a LilaWallace—Reader’s Digest Award, a CalArts/Herb Alpert Award in the Arts, and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship. In November 2022, Parks was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. She is Writer in Residence of the Public Theater, a professor at New York University, and an alumna of New Dramatists and of Mount Holyoke College, where she studied creative writing with James Baldwin, who encouraged Parks to begin writing for the theatre. In her spare time, Parks also writes songs and fronts her band Sula and The Joyful Noise.

JAMIL JUDE (Director) is a highly accomplished director, producer, playwright, and dramaturg focusing on bringing socially relevant art to the community. Jamil is the Artistic Director at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company in Atlanta, Georgia, where he previously served as Associate Artistic Director. Additionally, he is the Co-Founder of The New Griots Festival, which is dedicated to celebrating, advocating, and advancing the careers of emerging Black artists in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area in Minnesota. Prior to joining the staff at True Colors, Jamil served as the Artistic Programming Associate at Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, a Producer in Residence at Minneapolis’ Mixed Blood Theatre, and

a New Play Producing Fellow at Arena Stage in Washington, DC, and co-founded the Colored People’s Theatre. Among his many awards, Jamil has been named the recipient of the Turn The Spotlight Fellowship (2018/19), Andrew W. Mellon/TCG Leadership U Fellowship (2015/17), Nautilus Music Theater Management Fellowship (2014/15), NNPN Producer Residency (2011/12; 2012/13), Jerome Foundation/The Playwrights’ Center Many Voices Mentorship (2013/14) and the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship at Arena Stage (2009/10; 2010/11). Jamil received his Bachelor of Arts from Colgate University.

MEGHAN RAHAM (Scenic Designer) is a Resident Artist at Round House, where previous credits include A Jumping-Off Point, Radio Golf, “ Master Harold”…and the Boys, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Night Alive, and Fool for Love . DC credits include My Lord, What a Night and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Ford’s, JQA at Arena Stage, Daphne’s Dive and Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes at Signature, District Merchants, Romeo and Juliet, and The Conference of the Birds at Folger, Pike St. and She The People at Woolly Mammoth, The Aliens and Red Speedo at Studio Theatre, and Life Sucks at Theatre J. OffBroadway credits include CLAY (Lincoln Center/ LCT3). Regional design credits include productions at Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Center Theatre Group, Barrington Stage, and Kansas City Repertory Theatres.

DANIELLE PRESTON (Costume Designer) New York credits include Where Words Once Were at Lincoln Center. DC area credits include The Sensational Sea Minkettes at Woolly Mammoth Theatre; Penelope and Passing Strange at Signature Theatre; Fat Ham , At The Wedding , and Clyde’s at Studio Theatre; Long Way Down Musical , A Nice Indian Boy , and The Joy That Carries You at Olney Theatre Center; and Agreste (Drylands) (2024 Helen Hayes Nomination) at Spooky Action Theatre. Regional credits include Blues for An Alabama Sky at Barrington Stage Company; Locomotion at Hangar Theatre; Schoolgirls; Or The African Mean Girls Play and The Realness at Children’s Theater Company; Quamino’s Map at Chicago Opera Theater; and B.R.O.K.E.N. Code B.I.R.D. Switching at Berkshire Theatre Group. Education: University of North Carolina School of the Arts, M.F.A. in Costume Design. Proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. daniellepreston.com Instagram: @danielleprestondesign

XAVIER PIERCE (Lighting Designer) Professional credits include Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Public Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, Long Wharf Theatre, The Alley Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Saint Louis Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Arden Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Co, Playmakers Rep, Westport Country Playhouse, Theatre Works, Asolo Theatre, Alliance Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, George Street Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, Two River Theatre Company, Olney Theatre Center, Intiman Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, Triad Stage, Charlotte Children’s Theatre, and Crossroads Theatre. Xavier Pierce is a graduate of New York University Tisch School of the Arts MFA in Design Stage and Film.

NICK HERNANDEZ (Sound Designer) is ecstatic to return to Round House after previously sound designing Nollywood Dreams and The Mountaintop . Recent theatre Credits include: Monumental Travesties at Mosaic Theater Company; Metamorphoses at

Folger Theatre; The Day You Begin and Look Both Ways at the Kennedy Center; Fences at Ford's Theater; Word Becomes Flesh at Theater Alliance (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Production); Havana Hop & All the Way Live (with sibling Paige Hernandez); Oyeme: The Beautiful and The Hip-Hop Children's Trilogy (with playwright Psalmayene 24) at Imagination Stage; and Stomping Grounds at Glimmerglas s . Additional credits include music production for Hot 97 FM, Netflix, Smithsonian Associates, Words Beats & Life, Inc, and DC Public Libraries.

CHELSEA DEAN (Properties Coordinator) Her previous Round House prop master/coordinator credits include Next to Normal , Radio Golf, Nollywood Dreams , and The Great Leap . Other DC area and regional credits include: Nancy (Props Designer) at Mosaic Theater Company; The Winter’s Tale , Our Verse in Time to Come, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Props Designer) at Folger Shakespeare Library; Espejos: Clean (Props Designer) at Studio Theatre; Jardin Salvaje (Props Designer) at GALA Hispanic Theatre; Beastgirl and Show Way (Props Master/Designer) at The Kennedy Center; Les Mamelles de Tiresias (Props Artisan) at John Hopkins Peabody Institute; Doctor Faustus (Associate Costume Designer), Mamma Mia! (Props Master/Designer), and Mud (Costume Designer) at Salisbury University. Chelsea is also Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Fultontown Theatre Company, the resident theatre ensemble at Salisbury University. Instagram: @chelsea.maker.of.theatre @fultontowntheatre

CASEY KALEBA (Fight Choreographer) returns to Round House Theatre for Topdog/Underdog , where he has staged more than a dozen shows including Girlhood (Teen Performance Company), Nine Night , Quixote Nuevo , The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time , Angels in America , and The Night Alive . DC credits include Fences , Ragtime , and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Ford’s Theatre; Il Trovatore , Turandot , and Elektra with the Washington National Opera; King of the Yees , Blackbeard , and Billy Elliot with Signature Theatre; and Singing in the Rain , Mary Stuart , and Sweeney Todd with Olney Theatre Center. Recent work includes Hamlet at the Guthrie Theatre and The Play That Goes Wrong at Northern Stage. Casey is a four-time Helen Hayes nominee for Choreography and coordinates the stage combat training program through Round House Theatre’s education wing. ToothandClawCombat.com

RYAN PHILLIPS (Card Manipulation Consultant) returns to Round House Theatre as the Cards Manipulation Consultant for Topdog/Underdog . Previous Round House credits: Magic Coordinator and Ariel understudy for The Tempest , Cards Consultant for The Seafarer , Magic Coordinator for The Mountaintop , Effects Consultant for it’s not a trip it’s a journey . DC credits: Magic Crew for Mindplay at Arena Stage, Magic Consultant for This Much I Know at Theater J, Illusions Consultant for Fat Ham at Studio Theatre, and Magic Consultant for The Consul at Washington National Opera at The Kennedy Center. Regional: Associate Illusion Designer for Ride (U.S Premiere) at The Old Globe Theatre. Ryan is the Resident Magician at the Mayflower Hotel performing weekly public shows in The Magic Duel. Upcoming: Ryan will debut a new one man show at D.C’s Capital Fringe Festival. Ryanphillipsmagic.com @magicbyryan

SARAH COONEY (Casting Director) is Round House Theatre’s Casting Director & Associate Producer. In the DC area, Sarah has cast for The Kennedy Center’s Broadway Center Stage series, Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Studio Theatre,

Olney Theatre Center, and Rep Stage. As a Casting Director with NYC’s Binder Casting, Sarah cast for The Lion King Broadway and National Touring productions and the Encores! series at New York City Center. Other Regional casting credits include Hartford Stage, Seattle Rep, Drury Lane Theatre, Weston Playhouse, McCarter Theatre, ACT of Connecticut, and others. Film and TV casting credits include Crashing (HBO), The Big Sick (Apatow Productions), Kevin Can Wait (CBS), and Clipped (HGTV). Sarah taught at West Virginia University and is a New York University alum.

NAYSAN MOJGANI (Dramaturg) is Round House Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director, in which capacity he serves as in-house dramaturg and leads Round House Theatre’s new work program. As a theatre scholar, director, and dramaturg, Naysan has worked on new and classic work with theatres around the country, including Arena Stage (where he served as Literary Manager), La Jolla Playhouse, MOXIE, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Theatre Squared, Malashock Dance, and Signature Theatre, and has taught at UC San Diego and George Mason University. Naysan holds a PhD in Theatre & Drama from UC San Diego, and a BA from Carleton College.

CHE WERNSMAN (Production Stage Manager) is thankful for her eighth season as Resident Stage Manager at Round House! Some of her favorite Round House credits include: Ink ; On the Far End ; The Tempest ; Nine Night; “We declare you a terrorist…” ; A Boy and His Soul ; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time ; Handbagged (OffBroadway - 59E59, Bethesda); Oslo; Gem of the Ocean ; Small Mouth Sounds ; The Book of Will ; and A Prayer for Owen Meany . Che has worked as an AEA Stage Manager in the DC/ Baltimore region for over two decades, with shows at The Kennedy Center, Folger Theatre, Imagination Stage, The National, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Theatre J, Studio, Everyman, Rep Stage, Center Stage, and Olney Theatre Center. Che has a Bachelor of Science from Virginia Tech.

FURTHER CONVERSATION

At Round House, we always hope that our productions are the beginning of a discussion for audiences; as our mission states, we aim to create experiences that “INSPIRE EMPATHY AND DEMAND CONVERSATION.”

To that end, we’re trying something new this season. If you’re able to stick around in the lobby after the performance, you’ll find some questions on the tables and at the bar to help spark further conversation. Grab a drink or snack from the 4th Wall Café and use these questions to continue the discussion with your companions and fellow playgoers!

If you have to leave immediately, we’ll also be including a couple questions in our post-show email, or you can start with these questions below. Either way, we hope you enjoy the show and that the stunning performances on stage are only the beginning of your experience.

 Whose story is this? Is one of the brothers the protagonist and one the antagonist?

 What expectations do you have when you see the characters are named Lincoln and Booth? How does that impact your experience of the play?

BY MARY ZIMMERMAN DIRECTED BY PSALMAYENE 24

FOLLOW THE MONEY CARD

HOW TO WIN AT THREE-CARD MONTE

TOPDOG/UNDERDOG OPENS WITH A MAN PRACTICING THREEcard monte, and the patter and rhythm of the fast-paced card scam weave throughout the entire play. No small wonder, as a random encounter with a streetside game of monte was part of Suzan-Lori Parks’s inspiration to write the play. But what is three-card monte?

Other than the name, it has no relation to the original card game monte (also known as mountebank), popular in Spain and Mexico in the 18th and 19th centuries. Con artists of the time borrowed the name to give their scam an air of legitimacy and class. But make no mistake: it is a scam, not a fair game (or even a gamble), and you will lose your money. And people lose big money to three-card monte. George DeVol, a 19th-century conman who worked riverboats in the 1850s, recorded winning over a million dollars in four years (which is over $10 million today), and New York hustlers in the late ‘80s are reported to have earned up to $100,000 a year.

Not unlike the shell game (in which the player is tasked with finding a ball under three moving shells or cups), three-card monte involves three cards—two of one color and a third of the other color. The dealer will show the odd “money card” (in the play, Lincoln and Booth use the two of spades and the two of hearts respectively) to the player, and then rapidly and repeatedly rearrange them. If the player can successfully track the money card, then they will win the bet. Obviously, the dealer won’t let that happen.

The most obvious tool in the dealer’s belt is simply manipulating the cards. Even at the superficial level, the obvious challenge of the game is in the rapid movement of the cards, requiring some level of attention and skill to follow the supposed money card. Additionally, the dealer will use sleight of hand to swap the cards so that even a focused player will believe they are still tracking the original target.

Additionally, professional monte sharks will work with a crew: as termed in the play, in addition to the dealer, a crew will include the lookout, the side, and the stick—the latter two being plants in the crowd to demonstrate that the game can be won and to egg on the victim. While the dealer lures the crowd in with charming patter, the lookouts keep a watch for the authorities, ready to call out for the crew to close up shop at a moment’s notice and run. Once spectators have gathered, a side will place a bet and—guided by code words

“NO MATTER HOW CERTAIN A MARK IS THAT THEY CAN BEAT THE SYSTEM, THE DEALER ALWAYS WINS—IN FACT, THE MORE CERTAIN THEY ARE, THE MORE CERTAIN IT IS THAT THEY WILL LOSE.”

in the dealer’s commentary—pick the money card. When an unsuspecting mark steps up to play, the dealer and stick begin an intricate dance of providing easy wins and encouraging larger bets, until they wring every last cent from their target.

The last major tool used by these crews—and what elevates monte to a true con—is the victim’s own willingness to cheat the cheaters. Either through “happenstance” or an overt act by the stick, the money card will get marked (a bent corner, a stray ink blot, etc), making it easier to follow. Like a devil on their shoulder, a stick will make sure the mark notices the sudden advantage and encourage them to exploit it as much as they can. The dealer will then surreptitiously unbend the corner or erase the ink and similarly mark a different card, so that the would-be cheater confidently moves in for the kill, intending to rip off the innocent street-side entrepreneur, only to find themselves staring at the wrong card.

No matter how certain a mark is that they can beat the system, the dealer always wins—in fact, the more certain they are, the more certain it is that they

ELEMENTS OF SUZAN-LORI PARKS

BY NAYSAN MOJGANI | DRAMATURG

Suzan-Lori Parks is one of the GREAT WRITERS OF OUR TIME . Her FEARLESS EXPERIMENTATION , her refusal to be confined by any categories or boundaries, her DAZZLING LINGUISTIC PROWESS, and her JOYOUS EMBRACE OF THE STRUGGLE have made her an inspiration and ROLE MODEL FOR COUNTLESS OTHER ARTISTS . Her great subject is freedom, a freedom exemplified in her forms and her content. […] she is writing with a BOLDNESS AND ORIGINALITY THAT AMAZES .”

F ALL THE ATTRIBUTES THAT MAKE HER “ONE OF” THE GREATEST living playwrights, it is Suzan-Lori Parks’s range that is most-cited. There is perhaps no playwright who better understands and demonstrates the intimate interdependence of form and content; her style is consistently inconsistent, seamlessly moving between genre and tone and structure to serve the specifics of each play. There are, however, echoes and fascinations that resonate across her work. Most significant is her treatment of history and the past. As a Black woman who generally writes about Black folks and women, her plays are always in conversation with historical and contemporary structures of power. But she also shows us the ways in which history and time more broadly repeat and reinscribe themselves. In her “Elements of Style” essay (in which she shares some tips on how to read and produce her plays), she suggests that “Time has a circular shape. Could Time be tricky like the world once was—looking flat from our place on it—and through looking at things beyond the world we found it round?” Later in the essay, she defines history as “time that won’t quit.” History is neither an event that occurred in the past nor a structure that continues to influence the present (although it is also those things), but an ongoing presence in her plays that characters continuously grapple with.

One of the ways Parks weaves this notion into her work is through repetition. Inspired by similar notions in jazz, she describes this as “repetition and revision,” or “Rep & Rev,” in which words or lines or physical gestures are returned to and recreated over and over again, but with slight differences: repeated but revised.

We can even see this concept play out across her work. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is a particular historical moment that Parks is drawn to. In her 1993 play, The America Play , Parks creates “The Foundling Father,” a Black gravedigger and Lincoln impersonator who charges customers to reenact the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, getting shot in the head over and over again, repeating the original event but revising it with his Black body and different weapons and different perpetrators. Then, in Topdog/Underdog , she revisits that notion, giving us these two brothers, Booth and Lincoln, with Lincoln having a similar job to the Foundling Father, wearing a Lincoln costume and being assassinated by tourists at the boardwalk. The idea is the same, but the details and context and depth are different, leading to a different experience for the audience. Revisiting and rephrasing, even within her own work. Rep & rev.

In her “Elements of Style” essay, Suzan-Lori Parks offers “the equations of some plays,” offering tongue-in-cheek “graphs” of a few of her plays See below for a few examples .

—Oskar Eustis, Public Theater Artistic Director

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE?

The STREET 70 LEGACY SOCIETY commemorates Round House Theatre’s original name as part of the Montgomery County Department of Recreation and recognizes those who have generously chosen to include Round House in their estate plans. This can be as simple as making a gift to Round House in a will or naming us as a beneficiary in a qualified retirement plan or life insurance policy.

If you’re interested in joining the Street 70 Legacy Society, or if Round House is already a part of your estate plans, please contact Michael Barret Jones , Director of Development, at 240.670.8795 or MJones@RoundHouseTheatre.org .

Thank you to the following STREET 70 LEGACY SOCIETY members who have generously included Round House Theatre in their estate plans.

RACHEL H.M. ABRAHAM

NAN BECKLEY

DON AND JAN BOARDMAN

DIANE BOEHR

JAMES BURKS AND BETTE PAPPAS

MARTY* AND BELLE NEGRIN DAVIS

KENNETH B. DREYFUSS

LAURA FORMAN AND RICHARD BENDER

HELENE FREEMAN

STEVEN GARRON

ANN AND FRANK* GILBERT

SUSAN GILBERT AND RON SCHECHTER

JAY AND ROBIN HAMMER

ROBERT E. HEBDA

LINDA LURIE HIRSCH

ELAINE E. JOOST

CHERYL C. KAGAN

RENEE KLISH

DANA AND RAY KOCH

SETH AND BARBARA KOCH

BRUCE AND ANN LANE

DARRELL LEMKE AND MARYELLEN TRAUTMAN

SCOTT AND PAULA MOORE

GERI OLSON

SALLY J. PATTERSON

LINDA RAVDIN AND DON SHAPERO

HENRY SCHALIZKI*

MARK AND MERRILL SHUGOLL

PAMELA AND JOHN SPEARS

VALERIE AND JOHN WHEELER

*in memoriam

For more information on making a legacy gift to Round House, please visit RoundHouseTheatre.org/PlannedGiving

HOUSE RULES

At Round House, “Theatre For Everyone” isn’t just a statement. It’s our mission and an organizational value. It means that everyone—patrons, artists, staff, students, trustees, and volunteers—is invited to fully participate and deserves to be treated with respect. This is our promise to you…and we ask you to help us uphold these values and expectations in all of your interactions with Round House.

We believe that…

• All are welcome here, and each person is empowered and encouraged to fully engage with our work.

• Everyone is a human being, equally deserving of respect.

• Theatre is an “empathy gym,” and building that muscle is what each of us is here to do.

• Anti-racism—the intentional and conscious effort to combat racial prejudice and systemic and structural racism—is an ongoing and active practice, and we must all stand against oppression and marginalization of all kinds.

• Discomfort is often productive, but cruelty never is.

We invite you to…

• Assume positive intent and expect the same assumption in return.

• Enjoy our art with your whole self—laugh, clap, cry, have reactions!—and embrace your fellow audience members’ reactions in turn. Remember that your experience is shared with the rest of the audience.

• Make a deliberate effort to confront your own biases, and partner with us to help make Round House a welcoming space for everyone. We’re all learning!

• Help us create a positive community and a culture of collaboration.

We will not tolerate…

• Insulting or discriminatory speech towards anyone.

• Unwanted invasion of another person’s physical space.

• Abusive or harassing behavior.

• Ignoring or talking over staff who are trying to assist you.

• Creating a hostile environment for fellow audience members, students, artists, or staff.

• Disrespect of or damage to our theatre or other facilities.

WE ARE GLAD YOU’RE HERE! Thank you for being a part of the Round House community as we work together to truly be a Theatre For Everyone.

If you witness or experience behavior that violates the values and expectations outlined above, please alert our staff. Round House will take action to protect our community, with consequences up to and including removal from Round House activities.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

RYAN RILETTE (Artistic Director) is in his twelfth season as Artistic Director of Round House Theatre. During his tenure, he has produced six of the highest grossing seasons in the theatre’s history. His productions have received 81 Helen Hayes Awards nominations and 21 Helen Hayes Awards. Ryan created the theatre’s Equal Play commissioning program, Resident Artist program, Fair Play pay scale for artists, and Free Play ticketing program. For Round House, he has acted in Ink and Uncle Vanya and directed The Seafarer , “We declare you a terrorist...” , Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up , Homebound , The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time , Oslo , Small Mouth Sounds , “Master Harold”...and the Boys , The Book of Will , Angels in America: Perestroika , The Night Alive , Fool for Love , This , and How to Write a New Book for the Bible . He has also acted and directed at theaters in New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans, and has acted in a handful of TV shows and films, including In The Electric Mist and Elvis . Prior to joining Round House, Ryan served as Producing Director of Marin Theatre Company, Producing Artistic Director of Southern Rep Theatre, and co-founder and Artistic Director of Rude Mechanicals Theatre Company. He is the former Board President of the National New Play Network.

ED ZAKRESKI (Managing Director) is in his eighth season as Managing Director of Round House Theatre. He has produced the five best-selling shows in Round House history, led the theatre’s $12+ million Full Circle campaign, and oversaw the complete renovation of its Bethesda theatre. He has been an executive leader and fundraiser in DC area nonprofit arts organizations for more than 25 years, raising more than $120 million. Prior to joining Round House, Ed spent 12 years as Chief Development Officer at Shakespeare Theatre Company where he completed the $75 million capital campaign to build Sidney Harman Hall and produced its $3 million opening gala. From 1998-2005, Ed worked in Development at the Kennedy Center, ultimately overseeing a 22-member team raising more than $11 million annually. Ed holds a degree in Arts Management from American University and frequently presents and leads workshops about management and fundraising for nonprofit arts organizations.

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In our ongoing efforts to learn more and strengthen our relationships with members of our local community, and to work towards dismantling the harmful effects of white supremacy and colonization, Round House acknowledges that our theatre, administrative offices, education center, and production shop are located on unceded land cared for by native tribes including the Piscataway peoples. We pay our respects to the Piscataway community and their elders both past and present, as well as future generations.

We also acknowledge that, as the world experiences the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us are using the internet and other technologies that are not as readily available or accessible in present day indigenous communities.

We pledge to do the work necessary to build relationships with sovereign tribal nations, to ensure that Round House becomes a more inclusive space, and to never cease ongoing learning.

Learn more about the Piscataway tribe: PiscatawayConoyTribe.com

Support indigenous rights organizations on a national or global level:

Native American Rights Fund: NARF.org

Cultural Survival: CulturalSurvival.org

Indigenous Environmental Network: IENEarth.org

WHAT IS A LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT?

A land acknowledgment is a formal statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous peoples as the traditional stewards of a given geographic area. We share ours as part of Round House’s ongoing efforts toward equity and anti-racism.

ROUND HOUSE ANNUAL DONORS

List is current as of April 25, 2024.

WE GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGE the following donors who support the work of Round House Theatre through Annual Fund, Gala, and Theatre for Everyone contributions These gifts help Round House continue to be a theatre for everyone and enrich our community through bold, outstanding theatrical and educational experiences that inspire empathy and demand conversation

To learn more about the ways to support Round House, donor benefits, or to make a gift, visit RoundHouseTheatre.org/Support or call the Development Department at 240.641.5352.

LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

DIAMOND CIRCLE

SHARE FUND

Heidi and Mitch Dupler

Jay and Robin Hammer

Linda Ravdin and Don Shapero

Montgomery County Government

PLATINUM CIRCLE

Michael Beriss and Jean Carlson

Lorraine and Doug Bibby

Clare Evans

Bonnie and Alan Hammerschlag

Maureen and Michael McMurphy and the Patrick Michael McMurphy Memorial Foundation

Michael and Ilana Heintz

The Rowny Foundation

John and Val Wheeler

Judy and Leo Zickler

GOLD CIRCLE

Nan Beckley

Cathy S. Bernard

James Burks and Bette Pappas

Lynn and Bill Choquette

The GPS Fund

Susan and Timothy Gibson

Leslie Grizzard and Joe Hale

Mindy A. Hecker

Daniel Kaplan and Kay Richman

The Sheldon and Audrey Katz Foundation

Ann and Neil Kerwin

Maryland State Department of Education

Montgomery County Public Schools

Susan and Bill Reinsch

David and Sherry Smith

Jay Sushelsky and Noreen Marcus

SILVER CIRCLE

Walter A. Bloedorn Foundation

Stephanie deSibour and Marc Miller

Pam and Richard Feinstein

Rafael Hernandez and Laura Roulet-Hernandez

Nancy and Robert Kopp

Joy A. Lewis

Don McMinn and Harv Lester

Linda Ryan

Dian and Steve Seidel

Nina Weisbroth and Larry Culleen

WorkSource Montgomery

Arronson Foundation

BRONZE CIRCLE

Celia and Keith Arnaud

Elaine Kotell Binder and Richard Binder

Don and Nancy Bliss

Ellen and Jon Bortz

Dallas Morse Coors Foundation for the Performing Arts

Richard and Ginger Dietrich

The Dimick Foundation

E&B Family Trust

Jim Eisner

Laura Forman and Richard Bender

Nikki Gettinger

Susan Gilbert & Ron Schechter in honor of Timothy Douglas

Susie and Michael Gelman

Alan* and Hedda Gnaizda

The Greene-Milstein Family Foundation

John and Meg Hauge

Robert E. Hebda

Jeff and Rose Heintz

Robbins and Giles Hopkins

Sari Hornstein

Reba and Mark Immergut

Rick Kasten

Debra Kraft and Rob Liberatore

Richard and Paola Kulp

Carol Jean Light

Chris and Kathleen Matthews

Janice McCall

Susan Freeman McGee

John and Marie McKeon

Philip* & Lynn Metzger

Alan Miller and Susan O'Hara

O'Hagan Family Charitable Fund

Richard and Meka Parker

The Morgan Fund at Seattle Foundation

Barbara Selter

Mark and Merrill Shugoll

The Sulica Fund

William Tompkins, Jr. and Dana Brewington

Richard and Susan Westin

Anne* and Robert Yerman

Bernard and Ellen Young

COPPER CIRCLE

Marla and Bobby Baker, BakerMerine Family Foundation

Ellen Berman

Wendy and Eben Block

Don and Jan Boardman

Hope Eastman and Allen Childs

City of Rockville

William Davis and Jane Hodges

Judy Duberrier

Jean and Paul Dudek

Susan Dweck

Bunny R. Dwin

Victoria Heisler Edouard

Gilbert and Rona Eisner

Burton and Anne Fishman

Carole and Robert Fontenrose

Ann and Frank* Gilbert

Susan and Peter Greif

Ann Greer

Edward Grossman and Rochelle Stanfield

Adam and Erin Heintz

Paul Henderson

Connie Heller

Linda Lurie Hirsch

John Horman

Michele Jawando

Clifford Johnson and Margaret Roper

Renee Klish

Veena Kutler and James Cannistra

Dana and Ray Koch

Ellen Kohn

Barry Kropf

Ann and Bruce Lane

Marion Ein Lewin and Stuart Eizenstat

Malcolm Lewis Russell-Einhorn

B. Thomas Mansbach

Ed Starr and Marilyn Marcosson

Alan and Amy Meltzer

Scott and Paula Moore

Carl and Undine Nash

Michael and Penelope Pollard

Evelyn Sandground and Bill Perkins

William and Ellen Sandler

Linda Schwartz

Amy Selco and Kevin Keeley

Victor Shargai* and Craig Pascal

Elaine and English Showalter

Linda and Steve Skalet

Michael L. Burke and Carl W. Smith

Pamela and John Spears

Leslie and Howard Stein

Riley Temple

Sheila and Oliver Wilcox

Lynda and Joseph Zengerle

INNER CIRCLE

SUSTAINERS

Guido Adelfio and Maryanne Fiorita

Clement and Sandra Alpert Designated Endowment Fund

Daniel and Nancy Balz

Marian Block

Irene and Joseph Bromberg

Susan and Dixon Butler

John and Valerie Cuddy

Christopher and Carol Sue Fromboluti

Ellen G. Miles in honor of Neil Richard Greene

Lana Halpern

Susan Hoffmann

Jane Holmes

Howard and Ella Iams

Fleishhacker Foundation - in honor of Mitch and Heidi Dupler

Barbara and Alan* McConagha

MetroBethesda Rotary Foundation Inc.

Joann Moser and Nicholas Berkoff

Martha Newman

Roger and Maureen Parkinson

Denise and Craig Pernick

Anne & Henry Reich Family Foundation, Lee G. Rubenstein, co-President

William and Eveline Roberts

Lee and Deborah Rogers

Janet Rosenbaum

Robin Sherman

Laurie Sloss and Peter Lowet

Patti and Jerry Sowalsky

Michael and Andrea Steele

Kathy and Bob Wenger

Roger Williams and Ginger Macomber

BENEFACTOR

Rachel H.M. Abraham

David and Satoko Ackerman

Anonymous

Kate and Stephen Baldwin

Pamela and Barry Bass

Jeff Bauman and Linda Feinberg/ Beech Street Foundation

Harvey Maisel and Andrea Boyarsky-Maisel

Jane* and Fred Cantor

Belle Davis

Sarah and Josh Eastright

Kenny Emson

Adaeze Enekwechi

Lois Fishman

Daryl Flatté and Richard David

Arlene Friedlander

Lisa Gappa-Norris

Janet Garber and Kris Keydel

Karen Garnett and Dan Hudson

Ellen and Michael Gold

Susan Gordon

Margaret Hennessey

Belinda Kane

John Keator and Virginia Sullivan

Margaret Kenny

Chaz and Jane Kerschner

John and Rachel King

Megan Klose and Frank Burdette

Daniel Korengold and Martha Dippell

Mimi Kress

Isiah and Catherine Leggett

Lipstein Family Foundation

Kathi Loughlin

Sharon and Jim Lowe

Joseph Lowell* and Veronica Fellerath-Lowell

Larry and Linda Matlack

Doug and Mary Beth McDaniel

Jeff Menick

Robert K. Musil and Caryn McTighe Musil

Elissa and Bill Oshinsky

Patricia Payne

Mark and Teresa Plotkin

David and Gayle Roehm

Cynthia Rohrbeck and Philip Wirtz

Jay P. Siegel and Mona Sarfaty

Rochelle S. Steinberg

Richard Steiner

Page and Amy Stull

Susan and John Sturc

Lucinda and Stephen Swartz

Mr. Leslie C. Taylor

Grant P. and Sharon R. Thompson

Marna Tucker and Lawrence Baskir

Richard and Elisabeth Waugaman

Carolyn L. Wheeler

Ed and Judy Zakreski

Ellie Zartman

ADVOCATES

Jeremy Brosowsky and Beth Tritter

Sharon Brown

Joan Bullmer

Jeffrey Butvinik

Hugh Camitta

Rosemary Chalk and Michael Stoto

Richard Cleva

Richard Dagen

Karen Deasy

Eileen and Paul DeMarco

Katherine DeWitt

John Driscoll

Bill and Donna Eacho

Jonathan Fellner

Dr. Helene Freeman

Donna and Bruce Genderson

Jack Giraudo and Christine Colby Giraudo

Jane and Jeff Griffith

Brigid Haragan

James Heegeman

Bonnie and Harold Himmelman

Susan Houston

Thomas and Ann Humphrey

Andrew Isen

Rachel Jaffe

Larry* and Sue Jeweler

Elaine Economides Joost

Michael and Jean Kaliner

Michael Kampen and Rachael Schroeder

Veronica Kannan

James Kanski

Shelley Klein and Cathy Bendor

Monica Knorr

Katherine Krents

Willis T. Lansford

Beverly Lehrer

Lerch, Early, & Brewer

Sharon Light and Gidon van Emden

Maura and Eric Lightfoot

Bruce MacLaury

Mary Maguire

Heidi and Bill Maloni

Winton Matthews, Jr.

Rick McUmber and Melanie Folstad

Janet Mitchell

Douglas Murphy

Joan Naake

Jill Nelson

Geri Olson

Jim and Joan Palmer

Stan Peabody

Geraldine Fogel Pilzer

Beverly Purdue

Barbara Rapaport

Barbara Rhoden

Michelle and KenYatta Rogers

Steven M. Rosenberg and Stewart C. Low III

Sheryl Rosenthal and Marty Bell

Suzanne Shapiro

James and Ann Sherman

Stuart Sirkin and Arlene Farber Sirkin

Judith Sparrow

David Stevens

Tom Strikwerda and Donna Stienstra

Stephanie and Johnny Shuchart

Debby Vivari

Virginia Weil

Lyric Winik

ASSOCIATES

Actors' Equity Foundation, Inc.

Janet Airis

Dr. Robert Angerer and Dr. Pamela McInnes

Donald Adams and Ellen Maland

John Allnutt

Anonymous

Naomi and David Balto

Ellen S. Berelson and Lawrence Franks

Kenneth Berman

Rachel Bethe

Gary and Linda Bittner

Edie and David Blitzstein

Linda Blumberg and Stephen Turow

Amy Bogdon and Robert Kornfeld

Allyson Butler

Lucinda Calahan

James Christian

Edward Cowan

Frith Crandall

Richard Dagen

Yumiko Decarli

MATCHING GIFT COMPANIES

Bank of America

Eli Lilly and Company

Synchrony Financial

Truist Financial Corporation

Ian and Caroline DeWaal

Linda and Joseph Dominic

Bill Dorsey

Peggy Dugan

John Farrell

Jonathan Golub and Shari Davidson

Mark Grayson

Ann Greer

Betsy Grossman

Wilbur and Rita Hadden

Fred and Lucia Hill

Larry Hothem

Susan and Paul Hyman

Michael Joy and Deborah Fischer

Vivian Keller

Gail Kern Paster

Alan King

Roger and Gail Klein

Andrea Klores

The Koff Family

Michael Kolakowski

Sara and Stephen Kraskin

Herb and Dianne Lerner

Ann Hutchison Lung

Dorothea Lyas

Judy and Brian Madden

Lory Manning

John and Liza Marshall

Marian Masson

Anna McGowan

Patricia McMahon

Jacob Melamed

Howard Menaker and Patrick Gossett

Ryan Merkel

Carol Mermey and Erik Lichtenberg

Bruce Miller

Round House Theatre is supported in part by

Joanna Miller and Lachlan Bell

Nancy Mills

Tish Mills

Janice Mitnick

Rita Mullin

John Murphy

Bill and Louisa Newlin

Aloysius Ordu

John and Margie Orrick

Mary Padgett

James and Cheryl Painter

Beth Palys

Jeanne Pim

Judy Racoosin

Bo and Andrea Razak

Everett Redmond

Sharon Rennert

Judy Riggs

Steve Roberts

Naomi Robin and Gerald Gleason

Jane Rostov

James and Emily Rowan

Marnie S. Shaul

Mark and Susan Schneider

Cora Simpson

Catherine Stocker

Sheila Taube

Sally Tedrow

Jacqui Watson

Trisha Wells

Walter Wentz

George and Patti White

Mier and Cathy Wolf

William and Charlene Zellmer

Marc Zwillinger

IN KIND DONORS

Doyle Printing & Offset Co.

Bonnie and Alan Hammerschlag

Limelight Insights by Shugoll

M Studio Salon Bethesda

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

Provisions Catering

Susan Gage Caterers

Zeke’s Coffee

funding from the Montgomery County government, the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and the Maryland State Arts Council.

We make every effort to provide accurate acknowledgment for our contributors. If your name is misspelled or omitted, please accept our apologies and contact the Development Department at 240.641.5352 or Development@RoundHouseTheatre.org. *In memoriam +Denotes Business Council Member

DIRECTORY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Jay Hammer, President

Amy Selco, Vice President

Joy Lewis, Secretary

Michele Jawando, Assistant Secretary

Leslie Grizzard, Treasurer

Michael Heintz, Assistant Treasurer

Douglas Bibby

Ro Boddie

Stephanie deSibour

Mitchell S. Duple r

Clare Evans

Susan Gibson

David Hantman

Rafael Hernandez

Daniel Kaplan

Neil Kerwin

John King

Nancy Kopp

Veena Kutler

Michael Mael

EMERITUS TRUSTEES COUNCIL

Linda Ravdin, Chair

Laura Forman, Vice Chair

Michael Beriss

Cathy S. Bernard

Elaine Binder

Donald Boardman

Mitch S. Dupler

Bunny Dwin

Maboud Ebrahimzadeh

Ann Gilbert

Susan D. Gilbert

Bonnie Hammerschlag

Reba Immergut

Peter Jablow

Bruce Lane

Susan F. McGee

STAFF

LEADERSHIP

Artistic Director: Ryan Rilette

Managing Director: Ed Zakreski

ADMINISTRATION

General Manager: Tim Conley

Associate General Manager: Carter Rice*

Facilities Manager: Liz Sena

Executive Assistant & Board Liaison: Amy Benson

ARTISTIC

Associate Artistic DIrector:

Naysan Mojgani

Casting Director & Associate

Producer: Sarah Cooney*

AUDIENCE SERVICES

Associate Director of Sales & Audience Services:

Brian Andrade

Audience Services Manager:

Mason Catharini

Kathleen Matthews

Mary Kathryn Nagle

Meka Parker

Ryan Rilette*

Ruchi Sharma

Mark Shugoll

Michael Steele

Nina Weisbroth

Ed Zakreski*

Judy Zickle r

*Ex-officio | Life Trustee

Sasha Olinick

David Smith

Rochelle S. Steinberg

Riley K. Temple

Kathy Wenger

Mier Wolf

Judy Zickler

Patron Experience And Rentals Manager:

Zoe Harr

Box Office Associates & House Managers:

Helen Aberger

Kellie Adamski

Oscar Adema

Nessa Amherst

KT Aylesworth

Mercedes Blankenship

Rachel Borczuch

Lila Cooper

Autumn Delahoussaye

Marquita Dill

Carrie Edick

Josie Filaski

Caitlin Frazier

Colin Hauck

Bailey Howard

Bella Lerch

Tabitha Littlefield

Nicolas Lopez

Hannah Manwiller

Olivia Martin

Tamisha Ottley

Dylan Parham

Denisse Peñaflor

Jessica Rampulla

Nashira Rawls

DeDe Smith

Phillippos Sourvinos

Lacey Talero

Wesley Waterton

FOURTH WALL BAR & CAFÉ

Bar/Café Staff:

John Crawford

Ayana Graham

Jen McClendon

Ellen Mitchell

Kara Sparling

Dyana Svoboda

DEVELOPMENT

Director of Development:

Michael Barret Jones

Associate Director of Development:

Katelyn Maurer

Development Operations

Manager: Patrick Joy

Development Associate:

Natalie Cumming

EDUCATION

Director of Education:

Danisha Crosby

Education Program

Manager:

Emily Lettau

Education Patrons Services

Manager: Dillon Mitcham

Lead Teaching Artists: Ian Anthony Coleman

Kelsey Hall

Faculty:

Sean Baldwin

Madlynn Bard

Ian Anthony Coleman Lila Cooper

Kevin Corbett

Anna DiGiovanni

Emi Erickson

Jordan Essex

Scean Flowers

Deven Ferrer

Dominique Fuller

Rose Hahn

Kelsey Hall

Darren Jenkins-Johnston

Emma Lou Joy

Casey Kaleba

Victoria Keith

Sean Laraway

Emily Lettau

Gracie Luna

JJ Kaczynski

Mary Rose Madan

Diana Metzger

Benjamin Pallansch

Julie Pesak

Erin Pipes

Julia Rudgers

David Singleton

Dani Stoller

Elle Sullivan

Xander Toti

Jacob Traver

Che Wernsman

MARKETING

& COMMUNICATIONS

Director of Marketing & Communications:

Hannah Gr ove-DeJarnett

Associate Director of Marketing & Communications:

Megan Behm

Public Relations Manager:

Alexandria Moreland*

Graphic Designer: Ken

PRODUCTION

Production Manager: Jesse Aasheim

Assistant Production

Manager/Company Manager:

Technical Director: Matt

Assistant Technical Director:

Lighting Supervisor: Chris

OUR VALUES

Audio/Visual Superviso

Delaney Bray

Costume Shop Manager:

Taylor S. Payne

Scenic Charge:

Jenny

Lead Carpenter:

Shaun

Staff Carpenter: Colin

Resident Stage Manager: Che Wernsman

 THEATRE FOR EVERYONE

ARTISTIC AMBITION

COMMUNITY  EMPATHY

INTEGRITY

ROUND HOUSE THEATRE is one of the leading professional theatres in the Washington, DC, area, producing a season of new plays, modern classics, and musicals for more than 55,000 patrons each year at our 352-seat theatre in Bethesda. Round House has been nominated for more than 213 Helen Hayes Awards and has won more than 42, including four “Outstanding Resident Play” Awards, the “Outstanding Resident Musical Award,” and the Charles MacArthur Award for Original New Play in 2016. Round House’s lifelong learning and education programs serve more than 5,000 students each year at its Education Center in Silver Spring and in schools throughout Montgomery County. Cornerstone programs include Free Play , which provides free tickets to teens and college students; the year-round Teen Performance Company, which culminates in the student-produced Sarah Metzger Memorial Play; Summer Camp for students in grades K-12; and a full slate of classes for adults and youth.

Accessibility Staff