Backwards Forwards Back - Playbill

by Jacqueline Goldfinger March 20 - April 7, 2024 Directed by Logan Black

THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM

FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR UNICORN THEATRE THIS SEASON HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY:

Opening Night: Saturday, March 23, 2024 UNICORN THEATRE PRESENTS

Directed by Logan Black THE CAST Soldier

Chioma Anyanwu*

PRODUCTION TEAM Stage Manager Scenic Designer Lighting Designer Sound Designer Projection Designer Lead Electrician Sound Board Operator

Tanya Brown* Kelli Harrod Scott Olney David Kiehl Jerry Mañan Taylor Jene Sullivan Eric Lugenbeel

* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association

SETTING Today | VR Therapy Studio IMPORTANT NOTES There wil be no intermission.

The Soldier will be using the aisles throughout the performance.

BACKWARDS FORWARDS BACK contains adult language, and loud noises.

PRODUCTION SPONSORS

BACKWARDS FORWARDS BACK is produced at Unicorn Theatre as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Other Partner Theaters are Urbanite Theatre (Sarasota, FL) and Centenary Stage Company (Hackettstown, NJ). For more information, please visit nnpn.org.

3828 MAIN STREET | KANSAS CITY, MO 64111 | (816) 531-7529 | UNICORNTHEATRE.ORG

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT Jacqueline Goldfinger (PLAYWRIGHT) is a playwright-librettist who writes funny things into serious things and serious things into funny things. Her plays have been produced by The Kennedy Center, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Court Theatre (New Zealand), Redtwist Theatre, École nationale de théâtre (Canada), Capital Stage, Urbanite Theatre, Theatre Exile, Unicorn Theatre, Vortex Rep, Perseverance Theatre, among others. Her opera, choral and art song libretti have been performed at Sydney Opera House (Australia), Opera Columbus, Resonance Works, BBC Radio 3 (UK), Voces8 (UK), Oberlin Opera, Chor Leoni (Canada), Choirs of Pembroke College/Anna Lapwood (UK), Chiesa di Ognissanti (Italy), San Diego Opera/Without Walls Festival, Decameron Opera Coalition, Mendelssohn Choruses around the U.S., and others. Learn more: www.jacquelinegoldfinger.com

ABOUT NNPN National New Play Network is an alliance of professional theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays. NNPN envisions a robust, equitable, and inclusive new play ecology that reflects a broad range of aesthetics, and strives to pioneer, implement, and disseminate ideas and programs that revolutionize the way theaters and audiences encounter new work.

Since its founding in 1998, National New Play Network has grown into a vital force for new work in the American theater, serving over 130 Member Theaters as well as artists and audiences around the world. NNPN’s National Showcase of New Plays, initially presented in 2002, was the Network’s first program aimed at creating a new play pipeline that spanned the US. In 2004, NNPN launched the pilot of what has become its paradigm-shifting Rolling World Premiere program.

As NNPN’s membership, funding, and programmatic offerings have grown, innovations including season-long Residencies within Member Theaters for rising administrative leaders, two annual Commissions, and a dedicated fund for theatermakers working to develop new plays across institutions emerged. The New Play Exchange®, launched in 2015, is the world’s largest online library of scripts by living writers, and features unprecedented opportunities for direct connection among playwrights, readers, and producers. NNPN’s current Strategic Plan centers its commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. The Network’s dedication to new plays remains the center of its work, but the future NNPN envisions is one that is robust, inclusive, and equitable for all theater-makers and audience members. nnpn.org | newplayexchange.org

THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM Cynthia Levin (PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) is in her 45th season with the Unicorn. This will be her final season with the Theatre! Cynthia started at the Unicorn in 1979 as an actor, stage manager, designer and director. In 1983, she was offered the position of Artistic Director, which was to become the role of a

THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM lifetime. Since that time, she has worked on over 300 productions. Most recently Cynthia directed Refuge, Our Black Death and Bernhardt/Hamlet. Some of the other productions she has directed here are Bond, Vietgone, Chesapeake, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert: The Musical (co-directed with Missy Koonce), Eclipsed, Hand to God, Heathers: The Musical (again, with Missy), The Oldest Boy, Women Playing Hamlet (world premiere), Bad Jews, Grounded, Venus in Fur, My Name is Asher Lev, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Soul Collector (world premiere), Hungry (world premiere), Red, Two Jews Walk Into A War…, Distracted, Green Whales (world premiere), Miss Witherspoon, My First Time, The Clean House, Mauritius, 9 Parts of Desire, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Bat Boy: The Musical and additionally the world premieres of rightnextto me (both at the Unicorn and Geva Theatre Center, Rochester, NY), How His Bride Came to Abraham, Light:Damage, Mercy Killing, Innocent Thoughts and Jack and Jill. At Coterie Theatre, she has directed Number the Stars, And Then They Came for Me, Frankenstein, Gatherings in Graveyards (I and II), Valley Song and To Kill A Mockingbird. At the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., she directed readings of Our Black Death, Occupants, In The Belly Of The Whale, The Friendship Of Her Thighs, The Last Pair Of Earlies, Tigers Be Still and White Devil and Loving Mother for the MFA Playwright’s Workshop. Cynthia is a graduate of Park University which also awarded her an Honorary Doctorate in 2002. She is a founding board member of the National New Play Network, an organization dedicated to the development and production of new works. She has been honored with the Pinnacle Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Human Rights Campaign Equality Award and most recently the Kathryn V. Lamkey Award from the Actors’ Equity Association for her ongoing commitment to inclusion and diversity.

She shares her home with Dublin, the 11 month old Golden Retriever rescue and the spirits of Dodger and Zia. Logan Black (DIRECTOR) Is thrilled to be working with the Unicorn again on such a magical story. This Logan’s debut as a director at Unicorn Theatre. His acting credits include Refuge, A Doll’s House Part 2, Bond, An Octoroon and Seminar (Unicorn Theatre). Spiders Web, The Pests, King Lear, and Journey’s End (KCAT).

A Christmas Carol, Our Town (KC Rep); Measure for Measure (Confluence Theatre).

Regional credits include: Much Ado About Nothing, To Kill A Mockingbird (Colorado Shakespeare) Hamlet, The School for Scandal (Riverside Theatre). He is the founder of the Confluence Theatre Company, and resident fight choreographer for the Unicorn. He has an MFA in Acting & Directing from UMKC and is a proud Actors Equity Member.

Chioma Anyanwu (NYA) is thrilled to be back at Unicorn Theatre to work with this team on Backwards Forwards Back. Some of her previous Unicorn productions include Pipeline, Red Bike, The Revolutionists, The Wolves, Men on Boats, Heathers, BlackTop Sky, The Mountaintop, Ruined, and Hungry. Thank you to the Unicorn Theatre and this creative team for the massive support!

THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM Tanya Brown (STAGE MANAGER) is in her 18th season with Unicorn Theatre.

Some of her all-time favorites have been The Revolutionists, Venus in Fur, Hand to God, Cock, Stupid F##king Bird, and Priscilla Queen of the Desert.

Kelli Harrod (SCENIC DESIGNER) is delighted to be back designing at the Unicorn Theatre! Some of her past designs at the Unicorn include Bond, Refuge, Pipeline, and Informed Consent. Other recent shows include Freaky Friday (New Theatre Resturant), Something Rotten, Midsummer Nights Dream (White Theatre at the J), Little Women, A Doll’s House, Blithe Spirit (KCAT), and Only One Day A Year, Akeelah and the Bee, SpongeBob the Musical, (Coterie Theatre). Some of her upcoming designs are Julius Caesar with HASF and Anastasia with Theatre in the Park. kelliharrod.com, @setdes.kel Scott Olney (LIGHTING DESIGNER) is excited to be a part of his first season designing at Unicorn Theatre. He has designed for various companies in Kansas City and Wichita over the last few years including Kansas City Kansas Community College (Ride The Cyclone - Projection Design), Music Theatre Kansas City (Beauty and the Beast - Lighting Design) and Crown Arts Collaborative (Rent - Lighting Design). When not designing shows, Scott works in the Sales and Service department at A to Z Theatrical as well as doing freelance video production work.

He would like to thank his wife Anna, his parents, Mark and Pam, as well as the rest of his family for their love and support of all his endeavors.

David Kiehl (SOUND DESIGNER) is excited to be back at the Unicorn where he has worked as sound designer for over 100 productions. Previous Unicorn productions date back to 1997 and include Sylvia, The Laramie Project, and Proof; more recently: Tiny Beautiful Things, Toni Stone, The Sound Inside, and Clyde’s, Marys Seacole, and Lungs. You may have heard his work around town at KCAT (Smart People, The Pests), the Living Room (Milking Christmas, Nocturne) and over 120 productions at the Coterie (Charlie Brown Christmas, Electric Poe, and Doctor Doolittle).

Jerry Mañan (PROJECTIONS DESIGNER) is an acting, and film graduate from Avila University. Since graduating he has had the privilege of being a part of Kansas City’s theatre scene, on and off the stage. Past projection designs include: Lifespan of a Fact, and Bond at The Unicorn Theatre; Four Children at Kansas City Actors Theatre; and Silent Sky, and The Diary of Anne Frank at Avila University. He received technical recognition at KCACTF for his projection work on The Diary of Anne Frank.

He currently works as the graphic designer for The Jewish Community Center, and continues to work on film in his free time. Jerry is a company member of Kansas City Actors Theatre.

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By Shelly Verden & Sarah Crawford Directed by Sarah Crawford

May 8 – June 2, 2024 World Premiere

The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships… is just an ambitious young girl named Helen with big dreams. So, what happens when what you want and who you think you are do not fit the expectations of those in charge of your fate? This is a contemporary look at Helen of Troy that feels strikingly like the world we live in right now.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

STAFF

President

Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin Director of Finance Jason Kralicek Director of Marketing Nathan Gwartney Director of Development Skylar Pappenfort Production Manager Taylor Jene Sullivan Technical Director Andy Peveler Box Office Manager Michael LeDesma Social Media Coordinator Josh Grinlinton Production Stage Manager Tanya Brown Front of House Staff Todd Becker, Cheryl Benge,

Sally Everhart

Vice President

Kirsty Melville

Treasurer

Michael Nonbello Secretary

Meredith Webster Carol Gee Cynthia Levin Annie Swartz Amy Wright

Anthony Beyer, Christopher Carlson, Megan Forbes, Paula Fry, Andrew Gosling, Daniel Harkins, Imani Lewis, Tshombe Locke, Ethan Platt, Emma Post, Anna Sell, & Rosie Thomas Photography Cynthia Levin

UNICORN THEATRE’S MISSION Unicorn Theatre enhances the Kansas City community by developing and producing high-quality, thought-provoking plays that have never been seen in the region. We illuminate social issues by shining a light on diversity and inclusive stories which include race, religion and gender identity. Unicorn creates opportunities for the advancement of emerging and established actors, directors, playwrights, designers, technicians and administrative staff.

VISION STATEMENT By producing provocative new plays Unicorn Theatre fosters the next generation of great American writers and artists, creating innovative and intimate theatrical experiences that transcend the ordinary. We inspire the community to think and feel deeply; to see the world in new and different ways. Unicorn strives to be one of the preeminent homes for new plays in the country.

AFFILIATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS Unicorn Theatre is a constituent of Actors’ Equity Association; Theatre Communications Group, Inc.; The National New Play Network; Missouri Citizens for the Arts; The Downtown Council; Main Street Development Corporation; Nonprofit Connect; Urban Core Group; and The Kansas City Convention and Visitors Bureau.