MARCH 15 - APRiL 2, 2023
DiRECTED BY BRAD SHAW
FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR UNICORN THEATRE THIS SEASON HAS BEEN PROVIDED BY:
Opening Night: Saturday, March 18, 2023
UNICORN THEATRE PRESENTS
By Jackie Sibblies DruryDirected by Brad Shaw
THE CAST
Mary Merry
Duppy Mary
Mamie
May
Miriam
Teisha Bankston*
Amy Attaway*
Cecilia Ananya*
Jackie Price
Deanna Hurst*
Erin Viets
PRODUCTION TEAM
Stage Manager
Scenic Designer
Lighting Designer
Costume Designer
Sound Designer
Props Designer
Dialect Coach
Fight Choreographer
Lead Electrician
Production Assistant
Sound Board Operator
Tanya Brown*
Bradley Meyer
Zoe Spangler
Arwen White
David Kiehl
Eric Palmquist
Melissa Flaim
Logan Black
Taylor Sullivan
Ashley Champion
Eric Lugenbeel
* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association
Unicorn Theatre has received a grant from the American Association of University Women, Kansas City, Missouri Branch, Nettie Irene Van Der Veer Wagy Fund
MARYS SEACOLE is produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
Produced by LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, New York City, 2019
MARYS SEACOLE was commissioned by The Writer’s Room (Manhattan Theatre Club, Ars Nova)
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Jackie Sibblies Drury (PLAYWRIGHT) Plays include Marys Seacole (Obie Award); Fairview (2019 Pulitzer Prize); Really; Social Creatures; and We Are Proud To Present A Presentation About The Herero Of Namibia, Formerly Known As Southwest Africa, From The German Sudwestafrika, Between The Years 1884–1915. The presenters of her plays include Lincoln Center Theater, Soho Rep., Berkeley Rep, New York City Players & Abrons Arts Center, Victory Gardens, Trinity Rep, Woolly Mammoth, Undermain Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Company One, and Bush Theatre. Drury has developed her work at Sundance, the Bellagio Center, The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, the Soho Rep. Writer/Director LAB, New York Theatre Workshop, the Bushwick Starr, The Lark, and The MacDowell Colony, among others. She has received the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, a Jerome Fellowship at The Lark, a United States Artists Fellowship, a Helen Merrill Playwriting Award, and a Windham–Campbell Literary Prize in Drama.
THE CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM
Cynthia Levin (PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR) 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 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 (codirected 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.
Brad Shaw (DIRECTOR) has been in the Kansas City theater community for decades and has worked in nearly all the Kansas City theaters. Brad has worked on numerous Unicorn productions as actor, set designer/builder, costume designer/ builder, director and choreographer. His most recent Unicorn production was Toni Stone. Brad is elated to be working on this production of Marys Seacole. ENJOY!
Teisha M. Bankston (MARY) is delighted to return to the Unicorn following her appearances in American Son, Informed Consent, Eclipsed, and many other plays over the years. She has also been seen on the stages of other KC theatres, including The Coterie, Kansas City Actors Theatre, KC Rep, and Theatre for Young America. Teisha is featured in the documentary film, Barbara Johns: The Making of an Icon, the host of SciTech Now on KCPT, and has performed with Neil Young in his Kansas City Tour at Starlight, choreographed by Russ Tamblyn. Teisha is a member of Kansas City Actors Theatre Artistic Company and Board of Directors. Teisha extends gratitude and a warm heart to all; enjoy!
Amy Attaway (MERRY) is thrilled to be returning to the Unicorn Theatre in Marys Seacole! Her past Unicorn credits include Project Dawn and The Revolutionists, in which she played Marie Antoinette. Her other KC credits include Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, What Would Crazy Horse Do? (Kansas City Repertory Theatre); Photograph 51, M. Butterfly (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); I’m Not Rappaport, Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Kansas City Actors Theatre); Justice in the Embers, Equus, …Some Girls, Fool For Love (The Living Room Theatre); Hair and Sordid Lives (Mind’s Eye Theatre). Amy wants to thank her husband, family, and reptilian pets for all their love and support!
Cecilia Ananya (DUPPY MARY) is ecstatic to be returning to the Unicorn Theatre in Marys Seacole. 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, Cynthia in Sweat, and most recently Clyde in Clyde’s. 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.
Jackie Price (MAMIE) is excited to be back performing at the Unicorn Theatre in Marys Seacole. Past productions include Pipeline with Unicorn Theatre, Fairview, The Piano Lesson, Mother/Son, Begetters, and Barbecue with KC Melting Pot Theatre, Puffs with The Coterie, Caroline or Change with Spinning Tree Theatre and Memphis with Black Repertory Theatre KC. She received her BFA Musical Theatre degree from the University of Central Missouri and continued her acting training with Tasha Smith Acting Studio.
Deanna Hurst (MAY) After living and working in Los Angeles for many moons, Deanna has returned to Kansas City where she is thrilled and grateful to be performing once again on the Unicorn Stage. She is looking forward to exploring and rediscovering all the beauty and art that is thriving in her hometown. Among her robust and diverse credits in a variety of mediums, KC audiences might best remember Deanna from the first regional run of Forbidden Broadway where she impersonated legends like Barbara Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Lauren Bacall and many others, or from Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Unicorn Theatre, as well as productions at Starlight and the American Heartland Theatre. Deanna’s career includes extensive voiceover work including radio and tv commercials, audiobooks, animation and on-air promos for NBC, FOX and ABC. She has also appeared in several on-camera commercials and television shows. More recently, Deanna rocked the stage around the country and Europe with both her original band and as a guitar player and then lead singer for Sister Skin-‘nerd, “the world’s only allfemale Lynyrd Skynyrd experience.” She is currently recording an album of her original songs.
Erin Viets (MIRIAM) is making her Unicorn Theatre debut with Marys Seacole and she is incredibly grateful! In May 2022, Erin graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a BFA in Acting, a Minor in Philosophy/Religion, and an emphasis in Stage Combat. She moved back home to Kansas City and has not stopped auditioning and teaching with the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival. You may have seen Erin recently in the terrifying productions of Shakesfear (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival) and the Kansas City Horror Play Festival (The Living Room Theatre). Erin would like to thank her family (and dogs), friends, and mentors for their constant love and support, and the beautiful cast/crew of Marys Seacole for being so welcoming and kind. Enjoy the show!
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).
Bradley Meyer (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a freelance theatre designer and professional educator originally from Des Moines, IA. He moved to Kansas City in 2021 from Iowa where he taught Family and Consumer Sciences as well as directed theatre and speech programs at the high school level for five years. A lifelong learner, Bradley holds several degrees and studied scenic design in the grad program at UMKC. He serves on the Artistic Committee for Whim Productions
as the Resident Scenic Designer. Recent Credits; BETHEL PARK FALLS (UMKC), THE SOUND INSIDE (Unicorn Theatre), DO YOU FEEL ANGER? (UMKC). Upcoming designs include; SEUSSICAL (Ruskin High School) & AFTER ALL: 60 YEARS OF CHER (Heartland Men’s Chorus) bradleymeyerdesigns.com
Zoe Spangler (LIGHTING DESIGNER) is a Kansas City, MO based lighting and projections designer. She recently completed her Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Lighting Design and Technology at University of Missouri-Kansas City and now freelance designs for theatre, music, and circus events across the metro. Recent designs include R&H: Unplugged (Music Theatre Heritage), Holiday Circus ADVENTure (Kansas City Aerial Arts), Our True Colors (Cardinalis), and William Shakespeare’s As You Like It (Johnson County Community College). Her full lighting design portfolio can be found online at zmspangler.com. Enjoy the show!
Arwen White (COSTUME DESIGNER) Local: Flood (The KC Rep), The Sound Inside, Clyde’s, Toni Stone, Tiny Beautiful Things, Lifespan of a Fact, Who’s Your Baghdaddy?, The Revolutionists, Sweat (Unicorn Theatre); Sketchbook for Ollie (Lyric Opera); Motherfreakinghood, Gruesome Playground Injuries (Fishtank Theatre); R & H Unplugged (Musical Theatre Heritage); Little Shop of Horrors (Padgett Productions); Something Rotten, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan (The White Theatre); Tommy (Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre); Chainsaw (The Living Room); Tartuffe (Landlocked Opera); Wicked Creatures (Confluence Theatre); the light burns blue (Stage Play). Film: Plot to Kill Jesse James, History Channel. Education: Theater Design and Construction, UMKC. Mrs. White is the founder and lead designer of Juste Jaquet Designs. arwenjwhite.com
David Kiehl (SOUND DESIGNER) is excited to be back at the Unicorn where he has worked as sound designer for over 80 productions. Previous Unicorn productions date back to 1997 and favorites include Sylvia, The Laramie Project, and Proof; more recently they include Tiny Beautiful Things, Toni Stone, The Sound Inside, and Clyde’s. You may have heard his work around town at KCAT (Smart People, The Pests), the Living Room (Milking Christmas, Nocturne) and over 100 productions at the Coterie (Charlie Brown Christmas, Electric Poe, and Akeelah and the Bee).
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 Refuge, Clyde’s, 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 Caitlin Hahn
Social Media Coordinator Anna Sell
Production Stage Manager Tanya Brown
Front of House Staff Cheryl Benge, Anthony Beyer, Christopher Carlson, D’Anthony Casey, Megan Forbes, Paula Fry, 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.
