Clyde's - Playbill

Cynthia Levin

Tanya Brown

Damron Russel Armstrong

Cecilia Ananya

L. Roi Hawkins

Zach Sudbury

Freddy Acevedo

Jenise Cook

By Lynn Nottage

Directed by Damron Russel Armstrong

THE CAST

Cecilia Ananya* L. Roi Hawkins*

Zach Sudbury * Freddy Acevedo* Jenise Cook

PRODUCTION TEAM

Stage Manager Scenic Designer

Co-Lighting Designer

Co-Lighting Designer + Lead Electrician Sound Designer Costume Designer Props Designer Production Assistant Sound Board Operator

Clyde Montrellous Jason Rafael Letitia CLYDE’S

Tanya Brown* Gary Mosby

Em Swenson Taylor Sullivan David Kiehl

Arwen White Eric Palmquist Michael LeDesma Eric Lugenbeel

* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lynn Nottage (PLAYWRIGHT) Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prizewinning play Ruined has received an Obie, the Lucille Lortel Award, New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Play (Manhattan Theatre Club, Goodman Theatre). Other plays include Intimate Apparel (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play; Roundabout Theatre, Centerstage, South Coast Repertory); Fabulation, Or The ReEducation Of Undine (Obie Award; Playwrights Horizons, London’s Tricycle Theatre); Crumbs From The Table Of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers, and Poof! Nottage is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the National Black Theatre Festival’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama, and the 2005 Guggenheim Grant for Playwriting, as well as fellowships from the Lucille Lortel Foundation, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists, and New York Foundation for the Arts. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, an alumna of New Dramatists and a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is a visiting lecturer. www.lynnnottage.net

THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM

Cynthia Levin (PRODUCING

is in her 44th season with the Unicorn. Over the years she has served as a director, actor, designer or producer for over 300 productions. Most recently Cynthia directed 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 Zia (the beagle), Dodger (the cat) and the spirit of the big red dog, Sylvia.

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR)

Damron Russel Armstrong (DIRECTOR) is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City and is a producer/director/actor who spent his formative years right here in Kansas City. He has worked on most of the stages Kansas City has to offer. He’s been a familiar fixture at Unicorn Theatre, The Coterie Theatre, Theatre for Young America, The American Heartland Theatre, The Living Room Theatre, Chestnut Fine Arts Center, New Theatre Restaurant, and Kansas City Actors Theatre. After graduating from Ruskin High School, Damron sought to further his education in New York, where he received the best education of life. The practical application of that knowledge is working on the professional stage. He has performed nationally in A Raisin in the Sun (Arizona Theatre Co.); The Full Monty (Show Palace, FL); Children of Eden (Papermill Playhouse NJ); and Dreamgirls (The Palace, NH) - just to name a few. As a director, his credits also range from local to international, including Three Guys Naked from the Waist Down...A Comedy (TANSTAAFL, KC); Assassins (The Barn, KS); and Red Hot and Jazz (Piza Festival, Guatemala).

Cecilia Ananya (CLYDE) is ecstatic to be returning to the Unicorn Theatre in Clyde’s. An MFA graduate from UMKC, in association with The MIssouri Rep, she began her acting here, in her hometown of Kansas City, where she’s performed at Unicorn Theatre in Jar The Floor as Lola, Sarah in Mud, River, Stone, and Cynthia in Sweat, The Coterie Theatre in Of Mice and Men as Curley’s Wife & Lorraine Hansberry in To Be Young, Gifted & Black, amongst various other roles, and Dr. Ross in the World Premiere of Begetters at KC Melting Pot Theatre. She has worked in film, television, Off Broadway and with some of the nation’s most prestigious Regional Theatres, including The Classical Theatre of Harlem (Caligula, Madea & Trojan Women) and New Jersey Shakespeare Festival (Camino Royale, As You Like It). Her favorite roles include; Titania  in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tamora in Titus Andronicus, Lady In Red in For Colored Girls, Lou Bessie in Old Settler, Linda in Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie?, Beneatha and Ruth in A Raisin In The Sun (and wants to play Mama one day). Cecilia thanks the powers that be for the opportunity. When she’s not acting, Ms. Ananya is also an educator, community organizer, consultant and “artivist” Residing in Kansas City and Detroit, MI, she enjoys creating community to advance equity and justice. A special thank you to PSP for love, always, in all ways.

L. Roi Hawkins (MONTRELOUS) is honored to once again be on the Unicorn stage to help tell this amazing story. Recent credits include Toni Stone, The Humans, Informed Consent, Betrayal of the Black Jesus (Unicorn Theatre), Of Mice and Men, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (The Kansas City Repertory Theatre), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, A Wrinkle in Time, & too many more to list LOL (Theatre for Young America), How I Learned What I Learned, Honky, A Soldier’s Play, Stick Fly (Black Rep of KC). Thanks for coming on this journey with Us.

Zach Sudbury (JASON) Kansas City theatre: Claudio, Much Ado About Nothing (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival); Jonathan/Miranda, Casa

CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM

Valentina (Spinning Tree Theatre); u/s Sam/Harry/Bill, Mamma Mia (New Theatre). Other Regional Theatre: Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Pioneer Memorial Theatre); Race and The Boys Next Door (Citizen’s Bank Theatre); The Good Doctor (Pennsylvania Centre Stage). He has an MFA from Penn State University and is a member of AEA.

Freddy Acevedo (RAFAEL) is a Chicano theatre artist and fire starter. He is excited to make his on-stage Unicorn debut to help share this important story. Freddy believes in the power of theatre and empowering our communities. Con gozo y fe! Recent work: KCRep (Twelfth Night, Ghost Light 2022), Theatre for Young America (Dolores Huerta: Crusader for Workers), Heart of America Shakespeare Festival (Romeo & Juliet). Freddy’s original work, La Intrevista, was a recipient of Theatre Community Fund’s inaugural Crescendo Award for local, BIPOC writers. Education: UMKC: MFA Acting, TAMUCC: BA Theatre, Labyrinth Theater Company: Intensive Ensemble ’20. Insta: @freddyacevedo

Jenise Cook (LETITIA) is an Actor, Choreographer, and Intimacy Director from Detroit, MI. She holds an MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Missouri - Kansas City.  She has spent time acting and choreographing (movement and intimacy) in Georgia (Aurora Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, Georgia Gwinnett College), South Carolina (Glow Lyric Theatre), and Kansas City (Unicorn Theatre, Coterie Theatre, Fishtank Theatre, UMKC, KU, KCREP). Jenise was also a puppeteer on the UK children’s series Moon and Me (produced by Andrew Davenport). She is currently the Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre Performance at the University of Central Missouri.

Tanya Brown (STAGE MANAGER) is in her 17th 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 (Unicorn Theatre).

Gary Mosby (SCENIC DESIGNER) is delighted to be back at Unicorn Theatre, working on these beautiful plays with this wonderful team. Gary is the Coordinator of Theatre at Kansas City Kansas Community College, where he teaches most of the theatre technology classes, including 2 levels of stagecraft and 2 levels of lighting and stage management and also designs the scenery and lighting for the department productions. Gary is proud to be a part of the Kansas City theatre community and enjoys collaborating with many area companies. He has recently joined the Board for KC Public theatre who was awarded the 2022 ArtsKc arts organization of the year. “My favorite part of theatre and teaching is collaboration, sharing ideas and experiences”. You can see photos of more of Gary’s work at gmosby.com.

Em Swenson (CO-LIGHTING DESIGNER) Recently at Unicorn Theatre, Em was the lighting designer for The Inheritance, Parts 1 & 2, scenic designer for The Lifespan of a Fact, Babel, Who’s Your Baghdaddy, Nomad Motel, The Effect and The Revolutionists; lighting designer for Sweat and Chesapeake; and projection

THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM

designer for A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Bond. Em recently earned a Master of Public Administration degree at UMKC, and has since become the Director of Development for Unicorn Theatre.

Taylor Jene Sullivan (CO-LIGHTING DESIGNER & LEAD ELECTRICIAN) is excited to step back into lighting design and work alongside Co-Designer Em Swenson. Taylor has worked as an Electrician at Unicorn Theatre beginning with the 20162017 season. Other Unicorn shows include How to Use a Knife, Priscilla Queen of the Dessert: The Musical (Assistant Lighting Designer), Sweat, Who’s Your Baghdaddy, Bernhardt/Hamlet (Production Assistant), The Effect, and Bernhard/Hamlet (Lead Electrician). Currently, Taylor serves as Unicorn Theatre’s Production Manager and Lead Electrician.

David Kiehl (SOUND DESIGNER) is excited to be back at the Unicorn where he has worked as sound designer for over 50 productions. Previous Unicorn designs date back to 1997 and include Sylvia, The Laramie Project, and Proof; more recently they include The Sound Inside, Toni Stone, Tiny Beautiful Things, Pipeline, The Lifespan of a Fact, & Kill Move Paradise. You may have heard his work around town in The Pests, ‘night, Mother (KCAT ), Nocturne, Milking Christmas (Living Room Theatre), and over 100 productions at The Coterie including SpongeBob The Musical, Electric Poe, and Puffs.

Arwen White (COSTUME DESIGNER) is a Kansas City-based costume designer and founder of Juste Jaquet Designs, a creative studio for costume design and fine art. She has designed theatrically throughout the city on productions including Wicked Creatures (Confluence Theatre), Something Rotten!, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan (The White Theatre), The Sound Inside, Toni Stone, Tiny Beautiful Things, Our Black Death, Lifespan of a Fact, Who’s Your Baghdaddy…, The Revolutionists, Sweat, The Mountaintop, My Name is Asher Lev (Unicorn Theatre), Chainsaw (Living Room Theatre), Gruesome Playground Injuries (Fishtank Theatre). She is an Entertainment Contractor for Norwegian Cruise Line, stitching for Burn the Floor, Paradie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Band on the Run. A Teaching Artist throughout Kansas City she is loving the opportunity to help young artists grow and explore through theatre and design. arwenjwhite.com, @arwenjwhite

Eric Palmquist (PROPS DESIGNER) is a graduate of the University of Kansas theatre program and a founding member of Terra Femina Collective. Recent work includes The Sound Inside, Toni Stone,The Inheritance Parts 1 & 2, Tiny Beautiful Things, Our Black Death, Dance Nation, Pipeline, The Lifespan of a Fact, American Son, Babel, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Who’s Your Baghdaddy, The Revolutionists, The Humans (Unicorn Theatre), Caroline, or Change, Every Brilliant Thing, Billy Elliot (Spinning Tree), and A Moon for the Misbegotten (KCAT). An AEA member, he was last seen in Viper (Terra Femina) and Nomad Motel (Unicorn Theatre), and has performed with the Coterie, the Living Room Theatre, Equity Actors Reader Theatre, the MET, and the Buffalo Room.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President

Sally Everhart

Vice President

Kirsty Melville

Treasurer

Winnie Dunn

Secretary

Meredith Webster

Kevin Gabriel Carol Gee

Cynthia Levin

Michael Nonbello Kimberly Stern Amy Wright Suzanne Wheeler

STAFF

Producing Artistic Director Cynthia Levin

Director of Finance Jason Kralicek

Director of Marketing Nathan Gwartney

Director of Development Em Swenson

Production Manager Taylor Jene Sullivan

Technical Director Andy Peveler

Box Office Manager Sarah Cooper

Social Media Coordinator Anna Sell

Production Stage Manager Tanya Brown

Production Stage Manager Cheryl Benge, Anthony Beyer, Christopher Carlson, D’Anthony Casey, Megan Forbes, Paula Fry, Caitlin Hahn, Daniel Harkins, Imani Lewis, Tshombe Locke, Ethan Platt, Anna Sell,Em Swenson, 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.