The land occupied by Salem State University is part of Naumkeag, a traditional and ancestral homeland of the Pawtucket band of the Massachusett. We acknowledge the genocide and forced removal of the people of Naumkeag and their kin and we recognize the ongoing colonization and dispossession of Indigenous homelands. We respect and honor the Massachusett tribe and the many Indigenous Peoples who continue to care for the land upon which we gather. We recognize our own responsibility to this land we occupy. We commit to continuously learning and sharing its history and that of the Massachusett and other Indigenous People who have been and remain here. We commit to develop and implement initiatives that work toward repairing the injustices continuously being committed on the Indigenous People of this land. We commit to making our own environmental impact on this land as sustainable as possible. We commit to a renewed and ongoing engagement with the Massachusett and all Indigenous People in and around Salem State.
To learn more about Salem State’s Land Acknowledgement please visit salemstate.edu/LandAcknowledgement.
THEATRE
The Salem State University Theatre and Speech Communication department presents
EVERYBODY
by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Director
Julie Kiernan
Voice and Text Director
Ginger Eckert
Costume Designer Ryan Goodwin
Lighting Designer
Alecia DiCicco
Scenic Designer
Topher Morris
Sound Designer
Esme Allen
Props Manager
Starr Cousins
Stage Manager
Sydney Hamre
World Premiere produced by Signature Theatre, New York City (Paige Evans, Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director; James Houghton, Founder)
EVERYBODY is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)
Presented in conjunction with the SSU Center for Creative and Performing Arts
CHAIRPERSON LETTER
Dear Friends of the Theatre,
As we open the curtain on a new season, we are proud to present a lineup of plays that challenge, provoke, and stir the soul: Everybody, Mad Forest, The Further We Go, and Sweeney Todd . These works span continents, styles, and centuries—but each one speaks powerfully to what it means to be human in uncertain times.
We begin with Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins—a bold, modern riff on the 15th-century morality play Everyma n. In this playful, unpredictable meditation on mortality and meaning, actors draw roles by lottery each night, reminding us that death is the great equalizer, and that our time here is never guaranteed. It’s a deeply moving, often funny exploration of life’s biggest question: What really matters in the end?
Next, we enter the haunted terrain of Mad Forest, Caryl Churchill’s fragmented and poetic vision of Romania before, during, and after the 1989 revolution. This is a play about political upheaval, personal betrayal, and the ways in which truth can become as fractured as a society in turmoil. Churchill’s kaleidoscopic style captures the fear and confusion of a world changing too fast to comprehend—a story that feels chillingly relevant today.
We continue with The Further We Go: Three One Act Plays by C.A. Holmes, the Senior BFA Playwrighting and Directing Thesis Projects. The author states, “These plays ask the collective question: How far are we willing to go… for love, for lust, for creation, for destruction, for our sanity, or for each other?”
We close the season with the darkly thrilling Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street . With a score by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, this tale of revenge, madness, and meat pies is as operatic as it is intimate.
Beneath its gothic surface lies a razor-sharp critique of injustice and a searing portrait of what happens when pain festers without remedy. It's a macabre masterpiece that leaves audiences breathless and humming.
Together, these four works ask us to confront death, revolution, and vengeance—not to frighten us, but to awaken us. They call us to see our neighbors more clearly, to hold on to empathy amidst chaos and to find grace in even the darkest of stories.
Thank you for joining us for this unforgettable season. We look forward to seeing you at the theater.
Warmly,
Topher Morris
Chairperson, Theatre and Speech Communication
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
The play Everybody employs a metatheatrical play structure, meaning it challenges realism, breaking the fourth wall by addressing the audience directly, exposing theatricality, and using comedic effects to create space for the audience to access and engage with difficult content. What is the difficult content of Everybody, you ask? Death. (Sorry, not sorry.)
Upon reading Everybody, I was instantly reminded of the following passage by Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk and philosopher: “The life of a human being is fleeting. The exhaled breath never waits for the inhaled one. Even dew before the wind is hardly a sufficient metaphor. It is the way of the world that whether one is wise or foolish, old or young, one never knows what will happen to one from one moment to the next. Therefore I should first of all learn about death, and then about other thing s.”
The Importance of the Moment of Death, July 14, 1278
Welcome to the world of Everybody, where you will witness an overtly theatrical exploration into what might happen to each of us when we are thrust into the liminal space between life and death.
Why are we born? Is there a purpose?
I have long believed the Buddhist sentiment above that if I want to understand life, I must first study death.
I am grateful to the team of creative theatre artists who collaboratively brought this production to life. We present to you, our audience, a 90-minute opportunity to begin, continue, or question your own study of death. Which—spoiler alert—is a study on living life.
Julie Kiernan Director
Nichiren Daishonin. “The Importance of the Moment of Death.”
Writings of Nichiren Daishonin Volume II, letter 297, page 759. Accessible online Soka Gakkai Nichiren Buddhism Library, www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/297. Accessed 24 Sept. 2025.
DRAMATURG’S LETTER
Everyman, the 15th century morality play from which Everybody is derived, delivered a theatrical doctrine reminding medieval audiences that it would be their “Good Deeds” that would follow them to the grave and lead to their salvation under God. The purpose of morality plays was to subject audiences to these types of Christian ideals and morals through allegorical personification of human nature. Everyman pushes the idea that humans are fundamentally the same, being equally moral and prone to sin by their nature, in search of a divine grace to guide their path to redemption. This sameness is underscored by the inevitability of death as an end we will all meet.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, a playwright known for his anthropological works that confront race, religion, and broader systemic truths within our society, reevaluates this concept through a secular lens. This viewpoint is well-suited to our society of plural belief systems. Everybody simultaneously takes on all religions and none. The sole appearance of “God” within the play portrays an anachronistic caricature of a non-specific higher power using death to carry out his will. This “God” functions as a symbol of the human tendency to create explanations in order to avoid confronting our own fears and our own unknowns. Jacobs-Jenkins urges the audience to step outside of a sacred mindset and, in classic morality-play fashion, take an opportunity to delve into an introspective journey through confronting the human condition.
Everybody utilizes a repeated triptych structure, in which the play cycles through three distinct types of scenes: There are dreamlike scenes in which Everybody confronts the personified abstractions (concepts like Friendship, Kinship, and Stuff) that they would like to follow them to the grave; there are chorus scenes, in which Everybody enters a state of meta-introspection, grappling with life’s purpose and the fear and uncertainty surrounding death; and there are real-world scenes between Everybody and the A, B, C, and D characters that provide an outside perspective into Everybody’s state and the effect it has on others, calling into question the morality of how they have lived their individual life. This cyclical framework is reminiscent of the cycles seen throughout various religions, an example being the Wheel of Life. The Wheel of Life is implemented in several religions, such as Buddhism and Eastern-Orthodox. Pictured to the left is a fresco painting of a Wheel of Life found in the Church of Nativity in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. A god-like figure stands at the center. To the left of the figure is a newborn at the beginning of its life, and to the left is an aging man clinging to the figure at the end of his life. The painting depicts the cycle of life into death and the concept of beginning the same way as you end, in a state of vulnerability and dependence. This cycle is very reminiscent of the structure JacobsJenkins uses in Everybody.
Jacobs-Jenkins implements a “Lottery” system in Everybody, which emphasizes the idea of death coming for all, regardless of identity, background, or belief. However, he simultaneously deconstructs the idea of a broken-down singular self as presented in Everyman by introducing fragmented moments within the ‘real world’ that are outside of the dreamlike state Everybody commonly exists in. These real-world glimpses occur during the scenes taking place in darkness, and in this state of invisibility, discuss the individual self in opposition to a collective self, highlighting the importance of acknowledging identity, particularly racial identity, when attempting to conceptualize human commonality. Though death comes to all eventually, Jacobs-Jenkins makes clear that the lived experiences leading up to death and the ways that they are shaped by privilege and systemic oppression are vastly different. This is a nonnegotiable truth of life that cannot be overlooked in an attempt to reduce the human experience into a universal narrative.
Jacobs-Jenkins additionally includes a scene featuring “La Danse Macabre,” which is a cultural reference and call back to the era of Everyman. La Danse Macabre, a French term meaning “The Dance of Death,” is a form of art created during the Memento Mori period. Memento Mori, a Latin phrase meaning “Remember you must die,” represents the era of the late Middle Ages following the Black Plague, which killed a third of Europe's population. La Danse Macabre is a genre of artwork that depicts skeletons or corpses dancing alongside the living, leading them towards a grave or the afterlife. The above collection of paintings, Dance of Death by Hans Holbein the Younger, contains three works, Gentleman, New-Married Lady, and Pedlar. Each painting depicts a skeleton coming to a member of a different social class, urging them to follow and welcoming them to death regardless of if they are ready and willing to join. This genre of paintings was made to remind audiences of death as a great equalizer, and JacobsJenkins chose to include it in Everybody for that very reason.
In Everyman, it is only Good Deeds that follow the protagonist to their grave in an ultimate godly redemption. Jacobs-Jenkins takes this original concept of all humans being equally moral and prone to sin, but strips away the divine intervention, reminding us that at our core, it is our own selves who decide how we live our lives. Jacobs-Jenkins invites the audience to consider what “Good Deeds” truly means in a time where there is no single set of morals, no singular identity, and no certainty what lies beyond death. Is it truly only our proclivity towards goodness that matters? What about the consequences of harm we’ve caused? Consider how we’ve lived our lives and why, and what type of legacy might follow us when our time comes.
Gia Meola ’28
SCENES
TIME: Now
PLACE: A Liminal Space
SCENES:
I. Here Beginneth a Treatise on How Someone or Something—God? —Sendeth Death to Summon Every Creature to Come and Account for Their Lives in the World, Presented in the Manner of a Morality Play
II. The Summoning
III. “And That’s When I Woke Up…”
IV. A Chorus
V. Friendship
VI. “This is a Dream?”
VII. A Chorus
VIII. Family
IX. “I’m Sorry I Just Have to Say Something”
X. A Chorus
XI. Stuff
XII. “You Know What? Fuck You!”
XIII. La Danse Macabre
XIV. The Journey
The play runs approximately ninety minutes, with no intermission.
CONTENT WARNING: This production includes four scenes in near-complete darkness; actors in the aisles and audience seating; a scene described as “light and sound spectacular” which includes strobe and flashing lights with sound and dance; atmospheric haze and fog; and partial nudity.
Out of courtesy to your fellow audience members and the actors onstage, please turn off all electronic devices and do not text or take photos during the performance. Please note that archival photos of this production will be available through the theatre and speech communication office.
No food or beverages are allowed in the theatre. Salem State is a tobacco free campus. Thank you.
CAST
Everybody* .................................................... Abi Martin and Samson Willcox
Somebodies*
Sara Gluck, Lillie-Marie LeClair, Gia Meola, Cameron Nye, Casey Williams, Raya Young
Usher/God/Understanding James Bridges
Death Meghan Nealon
Girl/Time ........................................................................................... Ava Hawco
Love ........................................................................................... Cayley Drigotas
A and Usher/God/Understanding u/s .................................. Joshua Marcena
B and Death u/s .............................................................................. Carl Durham
C and Love u/s ................................................................................ Maddy Alter
D and Girl/Time u/s ..................................................................... Elias Woodard
*CASTING NOTE: The roles of Everybody and Somebody will rotate each performance. Each show will feature one actor in the role of Everybody and four actors in the roles of Somebody. These four Somebody actors will collectively portray nine different character roles: Friendship, Cousin, Kinship, Stuff, Strength, Beauty, Mind, Senses, and Evil. The distribution of these roles will vary nightly, with each Somebody actor taking on multiple parts. No two performances will feature the same combination of actors or role assignments. Specific casting information will be available at each performance.
SPECIAL THANKS
A special thank you to media and communication chair Amy Smith and technologist Danielle Crogan for their assistance and usage of Studio 148, their multimedia studio, to record the voiceovers for God and Everybody used in this production.
Salem State is grateful for the support provided by the Dembowski Family Theatre Endowment and Bernard and Sophia Gordon and the Gordon Foundation in making this production possible.
PRODUCTION PERSONNEL
Assistant Director ............................................................................. Alex McGuigan
Assistant Stage Managers ....................... Abigail Belliveau and Kenzie Lamonda
Assistant Costume Designer ............................................................. Robin Provost
Dramaturg ................................................................................................... Gia Meola
Dance Macabre Choreographer and Dance Captain. ........................ Maddy Alter
Cast Mentors ............................................................ Sara Gluck and Cameron Nye
Wardrobe Run Crew Av Acevedo, Oliver Dunn, Percy Jones, Zooey Lill, and Lily Marino
Technical Director ..................................................................................... Stu Grieve
Assistant Technical Director ................................................................. Tim O’Toole
Scenic Build Crew .............Christian Barrios, Emma Bettencourt, Queue Borden, Anne Brower, Veronica Callahan, Hannah Castillo, Molly Corvino, Lauren Donahue, Oliver Dunn, Carl Durham, Stefani Galeano, Victoria Garcia-De Pena, Devin Haley, Sydney Hamre, Nick Houle, Millicent Koromah, Shea Lowney, Charlie Marrero, Alex McGuiggan, Deklan Nelson, Max Ocampo, Ashton Ouellette, Gee Rodi, Xan Salamon, Nicholas Soares, Summer St. Onge, Charlie Tarricone, Jayden Theodat, and Teagan Wholley
Scenic Paint Charges Hannah Castillo and Logan Koosa
Scenic Run Crew Kylie Lodge and Icho Weigold
Faculty Props Manager Stacey Horne-Harper
Props Run Crew Liam Hannon and Amanda Seidler
Master Electrician Tim O’Toole
Electrics Crew
Francis Doza, Victoria Garcia-De Pena, Nick Houle, Emrys Jordan, Lorelai Krisko, Shea Lowney, Deklan Nelson, Hannah Rose, and Teagan Wholley
Light Board Operator .......................................................................... Emrys Jordan
Sound Computer Operator ...................................................... Isaac Saenz Ruiloba
CAST
Maddy Alter (C, Love u/s) is a senior currently pursuing her Bachelor of Arts in musical theatre. This is her first role with the Salem State theatre department. Previous credits include St. Jimmy ( American Idiot ), Jamie/Brinley (The Family Man), Perdita (The Winter’s Tale), and Little Sally (Urinetown). Awards: Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 1 Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship nominee (2018, 2021), KCACTF Region 1 Maltby Musical Theatre nominee (2022).
James Bridges (Usher/God/Understanding) is a junior pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre performance. This is his third role at Salem State University. Favorite credits include Prior Walter/Man in the Park ( Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches), Tom Snout/Bard Boy (Something Rotten! ), Tom Wingfield (The Glass Menagerie), Pippin (Pippin), Jack Kelly (Newsies), and Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance). Awards: Kennedy Center American College Theatre Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship nominee (2025).
Cayley Drigotas (Love) is a junior pursuing her Bachelor of Arts degree in performance. This is her first mainstage role at Salem State University! Previous credits include Debra Worthington (The Plot, Like Gravy, Thickens), Debbie (Groundhog Day ), and Chiffon (Little Shop of Horrors).
Carl Durham (B, Death u/s) is a senior pursuing his Bachelor of Arts degree in performance. His previous acting credits include Ensemble ( American Idiot ), Cafe Worker/Fans (Latte Love), Connor (Family Facade), Percy/Jett (Latte Love Pt.1), Ralph (Psalms of Deepwood ); Justin (Disgruntled ), Beggar 3/Swing (The Ghost Sonata), and Billy (Hollow Bones: A Parrot Play ). Other Salem State credits include Sound Computer Operator (2025 Wright to Perform Showcase); Stage Manager (2024 Veteran’s 10-Minute Play Festival ), Assistant Director (2024 First Year Lab); Assistant Stage Manager ( Antigone, Something Rotten! ); Co-Dramaturg (The Ghost Sonata); and scenic build crew (Small Mouth Sounds).
Sara Gluck (Somebody) is a junior pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre performance. This is her fifth role at Salem State University, after previously playing Rosalind ( As You Like It ), Harper Pitt ( Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches), Ensemble/Portia u/s (Something Rotten! ), and Nina (Hearts Like Fists). Other select credits include The Baker's Wife (Into the Woods), Tess Moffat (Blue Stockings), and Jesus (Jesus Christ Superstar ). Awards: TAMY Awards Best. Featured Actress (2022 and 2023), and Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Region 1 Irene Ryan winner (2025).
Ava Irene Hawco (Girl/Time) is a sophomore working towards her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in performance. She has previously worked with Salem State University as the Betty 1/ Betty 2 Swing (Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties). Her favorite past roles include Gayle ( Almost, Maine) and Cast Swing (The Family Man).
Lillie-Marie LeClair (Somebody) is a sophomore pursuing their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in performance. This is her first mainstage role at Salem State University. Previous credits include Mathilde McKenna (What’s Past is Prologue), Deputy Governor Danforth (The Crucible), Lana (Unsound Effects), and Announcer/ Mr. Fitzpatrick (The Skin of Our Teeth).
Joshua Marcena (A, Usher/God/Understanding u/s) is a sophomore pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre performance. This is his second role at Salem State University. Previous credits include Mr. Lies/Belize u/s ( Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches).
Abi Martin (Everybody) is a sophomore pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre performance. Recent Salem State Theatre credits include Whatsername ( American Idiot ) and Harper/Angel/Hannah u/s ( Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches). Other recent credits include Agatha (Guys & Dolls), Monica Reed (Present Laughter ), and Regina George (Mean Girls). She also received two acting awards from The Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild for the role of Irene Synkova (I Never Saw Another Butterfly ).
Gia Meola (Somebody, Dramaturg) is a sophomore pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre performance. Her favorite previous credits include Sophie Sheridan (Mamma Mia), Daughter (The Trail to Oregon), Mary Warren (The Crucible), and Grandmother Tzeitel (Fiddler on the Roof ).
Meghan Nealon (Death) is a junior pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in performance and education. Some of her past roles include Mrs. Bradman (Blithe Spirit ), Yvette (Clue! On stage) and Urleen (Footloose).
Cameron Nye (Somebody) is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theater performance. Previous Salem State credits include Duke Frederick ( As You Like It ), Nick Bottom (Something Rotten! ), and Prior/Louis/Joe/Roy Swing ( Angels in America, Part 1: Millenium Approaches). Other credits include Sampson/Friar John/ Ensemble (Romeo and Juliet ), Grandpa/Cletus Jones/ Choreographer (The Trail to Oregon) and Dmitry ( Anastasia). Awards: 2025 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Musical Theatre Scholarship Auditions Region 1 Finalist and 2025 MTSA “Past Chairs Award”.
Samson Willcox (Everybody) is a junior pursuing their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre performance and Bachelor of Science degree in biology. Previous credits include Meg (The Actor's Nightmare), Betty 4 (Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties), and Harry (Puffs).
Casey Williams (Somebody) is a Junior pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre performance. This is her fourth role at Salem State University. Previous credits include Celia u/s ( As You Like It ), Angel Ensemble ( Angels in America, Part One: Millenium Approaches), and Sheri ( American Hero).
Elias Woodard (D, Girl/Time u/s) is a senior pursuing their Bachelor of Arts degree in performance. This is their third roll at Salem State University; other credits include The Milkmaid (The Ghost Sonata), and Merlin (Hollow Bones: A Parrot Play ).
Raya Young (Somebody) is a junior pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theater performance. This will be her fourth production at Salem State. Some of her previous credits include Celia ( As You Like It ), Henrietta Leavitt (Silent Sky ), Emily/Melissa (Roe), Bridget Bishop (Cry Innocent ), and Viola (Twelfth Night ). Awards include “Best Scene Partner” at Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival-Region One (2025).
CREATIVE TEAM AND PRODUCTION STAFF
Esme Allen (Sound Designer) (she/hers) is a Boston-based actor, educator, and designer. Boston-area acting credits include Hurricane Diane (Huntington Theatre); Gloucester Blue, North Shore Fish (Gloucester Stage Company); Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Cherry Orchard, Middletown and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); Muckrakers, Elephant Man and Amadeus (New Repertory Theatre), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Greater Boston Stage Co.); Dog Paddle (Bridge Repertory Theater) and Coriolanus (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company). Television credits include The Good Wife (CBS). She earned her MFA in Acting from The California Institute of the Arts. She is a Resident Acting Company Member with the Actors’ Shakespeare Project and teaches at Salem State University and Wheelock Family Theatre at BU.
Abigail Belliveau (Assistant Stage Manager) is a sophomore pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in directing. This is her first time as an Assistant Stage Manager at Salem State University.
Starr Cousins (Props Manager) is a junior pursuing their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in theatre design. Previous Salem State University design credits include Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches and As You Like It .
Ginger Eckert (Voice and Text Director) is the Voice and Speech specialist in the performance faculty, bringing her experience as a professional actor and vocal coach for stage and film to Salem State University. 15+ years as core faculty in professional actor-training programs: Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University, SUNY/Purchase BFA program, Brown University/ Trinity Rep MFA, NYU/Tisch at Atlantic Acting School & Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, and Uta Hagen’s HB Studio. She has performed with The Public Theater, Kennedy Center, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theater Company, LaMama, Clubbed Thumb, in indie films, audiobooks, and more. Professional voice and dialect coaching includes two seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Showtime’s Brotherhood series, New York Theater Workshop, Ripe Time, Making Books Sing, River Rep New York. Certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and proud member of VASTA/The Voice & Speech Trainers Association. MFA in Acting, Brown University/Trinity Rep. BA in Literature, American University. Ginger enters teaching as an actor and interrogator, who is also learning and creating. Her teaching features all the sounds and vocal dynamics of global languages, with the goal to arrive at communication that is honest, expansive, inclusive, and culturally sustaining for each person. Gratitude always to her supportive family and to her mentors, Thom Jones, Francine Zerfas, and Ronni Stewart.
Ryan Goodwin (Costume Designer) is a New England-based costume designer with over a decade of experience in theatre, film, and opera. He has held various costuming positions with companies such as Boston Lyric Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, The Lyric Stage Company, Netflix, and Paramount. Currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Salem State University, Ryan brings both technical expertise and artistic vision to his work. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre design with a concentration in costuming from Salem State University and later received his Master of Fine Arts in costume design from Boston University.
Sydney Hamre (Stage Management) is a transfer student pursuing her BFA in stage management. This is her first time stage managing a show at Salem State University. Previous Salem State credits include Assistant Stage Manager for Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches and Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties
Stacey Horne-Harper (Faculty Props Master) is a graduate of the University of Delaware Professional Theatre Training Program. She spent seven years as the properties carpenter at the American Repertory Theater. She would like to thank her family for all their incredible support.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a Brooklyn-based playwright, producer, Tony Award® winner, and two-time Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist. Recent theatre credits include Appropriate (2024 Tony Award® winner for Best Revival of a Play; 2014 Obie Award, Best New American Play, Signature Theatre), The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre), Girls (Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), An Octoroon (2014 Obie Award, Best New American Play; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience), and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He currently teaches at Yale University and serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council and on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Honors include a USA Artists fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MacArthur fellowship, the WindhamCampbell Prize for Drama, and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award.
Julie Kiernan (Director) is an associate professor of theatre and speech communication at Salem State University. As a Fulbright Scholar, she traveled to Sofia, Bulgaria, in the Spring 2024 semester to teach and direct theatre at New Bulgarian University. In 2016, she received Salem State University’s Distinguished Teaching Award. She is the artistic director of SSU’s annual National 10-minute Veterans’ Playwriting Contest and Festival (7th annual 2025). She directs regularly for the department Collective Rage (2025), Antigone (2023), First Year Lab (2022), Orlando (2021), and Top Girls (2019). She teaches performance and oral communication courses.
In addition to her work within the department, she serves as SSU Faculty Fellow for Global Engagement (2018 -2022 and 2024-2026) and Faculty COIL Coordinator (2020-23). In this capacity, she trained 30 faculty in COIL (collaborative online international learning) pedagogy. This work received the 2021 AASCU Excellence and Innovation Award for International Education and a 2021 IDEAS grant from the U.S. State Department.
Before joining Salem State, Kiernan received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from the University of California, Irvine, and was a professional actress in Los Angeles. She has traveled internationally as an actress, a study abroad faculty leader, a presenter, and a consultant. Kiernan’s TED Talk, “Setting the Stage for Human Connection,” focuses on her theatre education research. Her other research interests include feminist theatre, contemplative pedagogy, value-creation education, and building intercultural competence.
Kenzie Lamonda (Assistant Stage Manager) is a sophomore education major with a minor in theatre arts. Recent credits include being an assistant for Footloose (Hopkinton Center for the Arts); Agatha in Guys and Dolls , Ensemble in Grease, and Ensemble in Mamma Mia (Millbury Jr. Sr. High School).
Alex McGuigan (Assistant Director) is a senior pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts in directing. His favorite credits include Assistant Director (Everybody ) and Assistant Stage Manager (Silent Sky ) at Salem State University; and Ensemble (Bat Boy: The Musical ) and Ziggy (Young Frankenstein) at Weston Drama Workshop.
Topher Morris (Scenic Designer) is the chairperson of the Salem State theatre and speech communication department. During his time at Salem State, he has served as a Technical Director, Sound Designer, and Scenic Designer and is a Professor of Design and Technology. He has worked for American Players Theatre, Santa Fe Opera and Tibbits Opera House. He earned his MFA in Technical Production for Theatre from the Professional Theatre Training Program (PTTP) at The University of Delaware. He is an ETCP certified Theatrical Rigger and a proud Veteran of the Armed Services.
Robin Provost (Assistant Costume Designer) is a junior in the Bachelor of Arts technical theater program, pursuing his passion for costume design. Previous Salem State University credits include Assistant to the Costume Designer (Silent Sky ), and Hair and Makeup (Ghost Sonata). Other credits include Costume Designer (Speed Date), Costume/Makeup Designer (Shrek the Musical ), and Assistant Costume Designer (Once Upon a Mattress).
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Director, Center for Creative and Performing Arts .......................Karen Gahagan
Theatre Office Assistants ................................ James Bridges and Elias Woodard
Theatre House Manager ................................................................ Adelaide Majeski
Box Office Managers ........................................ Benito Pedreira and Lucia Smarra
Ushers ................. Jessica Cote, Lauren Donahue, Anaiah Ellcock, Lorelai Krisko, Brendan Leane, Jack Newton, Adam Pettazzoni, and Steve Wakadilo
THEATRE AND SPEECH COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT
Full-Time Faculty
Esme Allen
Ginger Eckert
Ali Filipovich
Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin
Ryan Goodwin
Michael M. Harvey
Julie Kiernan
Christopher Morris, Chairperson
Peter Sampieri
Staff
Stuart Grieve
Adelaide Majeski
Ashley Preston O’Toole
Tim O’Toole
Anna Splitz
Visiting Lecturers
Brianne Beatrice
Sara Conlon
Seán Dixon-Gumm
Brad Goren-Wilson
Stacey Horne-Harper
Alex Jacobs
Margaret McFadden
Peyton Pugmire
Rachel Rose Roberts
Allen Vietzke
Samantha Weisberg
Faculty Emeriti
Celena Sky April
William Cunningham
James J. Fallon
Myrna Finn
David Allen George
Thomas J. Hallahan
Elizabeth Hart
Jane Hillier-Walkowiak
Vera Sheppard
Whitney L. White
Patricia Zaido
The Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, part of the Rubenstein Arts Access Program, is generously funded by David M. Rubenstein .
Special Thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting the John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts’ Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
Additional support is provided by The Honorable Stuart Bernstein and Wilma E. Bernstein; and the Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation.
Kennedy Center education and related artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of the National Committee for the Performing Arts.
This production is entered in the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF). The aims of this national theater education program are to identify and promote quality in college-level theater production. To this end, each production entered is eligible for a response by a regional KCACTF representative, and selected students and faculty are invited to participate in KCACTF programs involving scholarships, internships, grants and awards for actors, directors, dramaturgs, playwrights, designers, stage managers and critics at both the regional and national levels.
Productions entered on the Participating level are eligible for invitation to the KCACTF regional festival and may also be considered for national awards recognizing outstanding achievement in production, design, direction and performance.
Last year more than 1,500 productions were entered in the KCACTF involving more than 200,000 students nationwide. By entering this production, our theater department is sharing in the KCACTF goals to recognize, reward, and celebrate the exemplary work produced in college and university theaters across the nation.
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___Check enclosed payable to: SSU Foundation/Arts Please restrict my gift to (circle one): General Art Creative Writing Dance Music Theatre
Mail gifts to:
Karen Gahagan, director Center for the Arts
352 Lafayette Street Salem, MA 01970
Give online at: participate.salemstate.edu/give Select “other” and note CCPA and the arts discipline you wish to support.
FALL 2025 UPCOMING EVENTS
salemstate.edu/arts
Art + Design Faculty Showcase: Pretty Good So Far
October 13 – November 7
Winfisky Gallery, Ellison Campus Center
Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
October 17-19 / October 24-26
Callan Studio Theatre salemstatetickets.com
Contemporary Dance Masterclass with Sasha Peterson
November 6, 10:50 am – 12:05 pm
O’Keefe Complex – Dance Studio 303
Veterans 10-Minute Play Festival
November 7 – 9
Sophia Gordon Center Rehearsal Room salemstatetickets.com
University Chamber Orchestra
November 20, 7:30 pm
Recital Hall
Visit salemstate.edu/arts for information about upcoming arts events.
Visit salemstate.edu/arts for information about these and other arts events
This campus event is open and accessible to all members of the campus community.
This campus event is open and accessible to all members of the campus community. For accommodations and access information, visit salemstate.edu/access or email access@salemstate.edu..
For accommodations and access information, visit salemstate.edu/access or email access@salemstate.edu.
