TOWN HALL Digital Program

The University of Utah Department of Theatre Presents

By

Caridad Svich Oct. 27 - Nov. 5 PAB Studio 115

The University of Utah Department of Theatre Presents

TOWN HALL

BY CARIDAD SVICH Developed at The Lark, Sheen Center and Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC and National Theatre Institute in Connecticut.

Scenic Co-Designers

Costume Designer

HALEE RASMUSSEN ARIKA SCHOCKMEL

EMMA ASHTON

Lighting Designer

Sound Designer

MICHAEL J. HOREJSI

ELLIOTT MOORE

Prop Designer

Dramaturgy

ARIKA SCHOCKMEL

MARK FOSSEN

Assistant Choreographer

Stage Manager

ELLA HAYS

KENNY COSSON

Director

Producer

LATOYA CAMERON

CHRIS DUVAL

TOWN HALL is produced by special arrangement with the Playwright and Elaine Devlin Literary, Inc., 1115 Broadway, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10010.

COMPANY Alphabetical by Performer CORMAC BWATER TYLER KLINE AVNEET KAUR SANDHU GRIZ SIEBENECK Understudy KATHRYN O'MARA

SETTING The theatre, which is also a meeting hall

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS "ONCE IN A LIFETIME"

By Tina Weymouth, David Byrne, Brian Eno, Jerry Harrison and Chris Frantz Index Music Inc. (ASCAP) and WC Music Corp. (ASCAP) All rights on behalf of itself and Index Music Inc. administered by WC Music Corp.

"DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT" written by Sherman Kelly (1970).

This play is in memory of Annie Castledine.

TOWN HALL is performed without intermission.

Video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

DRAMATURG'S NOTE Caridad Svich, in Her Own Words Speech is action. So, if speech is action, my goal is often, and again, depending on the story world being built and the figures that live within it, to make sure language is charging the energy field of the playing space. Language is sending itself across space and time. Language too is behavior. The language of the body. The implied actions within the spoken line.

"This Thing of Hers," Howlround Theatre Commons

As a playwright, songwriter, editor and translator living between many cultures, including inherited ones, the idea of departure has always been not only an actual or metaphorical basis for writing the work, but also an idea made manifest through the enactment of writing, its performance, and my living of it. Born in the U.S. of Cuban-Argentine-SpanishCroatian parents, I have felt in a strange kind of exile even while growing up as an “American.” This sense of dislocation extends to the fact that as a child and adolescent, I lived in several states: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Florida, North Carolina, Utah, New York, and California, not to mention many cross-country road trips in between. The nomadic strain was thus instilled in me and has become an inevitable part of my writing vision.

Explorations of wanderlust, dispossession, biculturalism, bilingualism, construction of identity, and the many different emotional terrains that can be inhabited onstage form the basis of my plays and other writing projects. Visions of migration (both physical and spiritual) dominate the plays, which have become, in turn, documents of internal diasporas. As a playwright, songwriter, editor and translator living between many cultures, including inherited ones, the idea of departure has always been not only an actual or metaphorical basis for writing the work.

“Visions of Migration," Performance Research

Plays are events in time and space. Plays are music. Word music. Visual music. I’ve always thought of plays as a form of composition—of text and the architecture of the experience of the full-length evening. I started writing plays from a music, poetry and performance background. I’ve refined the vocabulary I use when working practically in the room with actors and director on a play over the years, but the intent has not changed all that much from the earliest days of writing. I still consider the stage a poetic space: paradoxically concrete and spiritual.

“Making Invisible Stories Seen, Heard and Felt," Critical Stages/Scènes critiques

DRAMATURG'S NOTE I have a very particular way of thinking about shape and sound, meaning and affect, white space and no space, and how the score is to be played and/or decoded in performance. But we—all those on the creative team (and by extension, those in the audience)— are all invited to share in the dream-making, because there are very little if any directions in the text as to how to go about finding the vocabulary of the world of the play.

“Caridad Svich’s ‘Town Hall’: Resistance and Change," The Theatre Times

Plays have gestation lives. A play will sit in your unconscious and every once in awhile manifest as if to say “I am here,” but it’s really just waiting for you to figure out what it is and what it could be. The first seeds of [Town Hall] started in 1994 when I worked with the late Annie Castledine in England, and I began to understand something about the breath of theatre, how it enters the audience. Then in 2007, playwright Ellen McLaughlin challenged me; I said that some writing I was doing wasn’t a play because “most plays don’t behave like this.” She said: “You should put that voice in your plays. Why are you hiding it?”

"The 'Us' of Town Hall," Howlround.com

COMPANY & CREATIVE TEAM COMPANY CORMAC BYWATER (Actor) is a sophomore in the ATP and a Utah local. He was born and raised in Salt Lake. Town Hall is Cormac's first show at the University of Utah, and he is very excited to be in it. He would like to thank his parents for supporting him in whatever choices he makes, and his brothers for being there for him.

TYLER KLINE (Actor) is from Saint George, UT and is currently a senior in the Actor Training Program at the University of Utah.

Recent roles include Oliver from As You Like It (2023, Studio 115) and Donnie from Dreamers (2022, The Box Too). He would

like to thank his parents for their support of his artistic and scholastic journeys every step of the way. He is also a proud recipient of the Sterling Scholar awards for Speech & Drama at Dixie high school and the Trustee’s scholarship.

KATHRYN O’MARA (Understudy) is a freshman in the MTP. This is her first show at the U! Previous roles include Beralde in The Imaginary Invalid, Miss Honey in Matilda the Musical and The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods. Kathryn graduated from Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts (SLSPA) and received dance training from Ballet Centre Utah Inc. She would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her in this new adventure!

COMPANY & CREATIVE TEAM AVNEET KAUR SANDHU (Actor) is a sophomore in the ATP and very excited to do her first show as a part of the Department of Theatre. Her previous credits include Crystal in Little Shop of Horrors, Aphra in Children of Eden, Ensemble for Hairspray and Ensemble for Into the Woods.

Previously, she medaled at her Regional Individual Theater Competition and went onto state with a Shakespeare scene! Avneet would like to thank her family and friends who've worked alongside her and helped her grow to where she is now. Enjoy the show!

GRIZ SIEBENECK (Actor) was born and raised in the Salt Lake valley. They are in their fourth year of the Actor Training Program at the U. Griz's university credits include Diana in Somewhere: A Primer for the End of Days (Studio 115), and Shadow/ Martha in Liminal (Studio 115). They would like to thank their family for always being so supportive of their passions.

CREATIVE TEAM LATOYA CAMERON (Director) is an actor, singer, director, and writer. She is the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Dramaturg for the theatre organization Salt Lake Acting Company. As an actor, she has worked at Pioneer Theatre Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Salt Lake Acting Company, Plan-B Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and the New York Musical Theatre Festival, to name a few. As a director, she has directed RENT (Ziegfeld Theater Company); Sankofa, This Journey: Go Back and Get It, a collaboration with Utah Black Artists Collective (UBLAC) and Salt Lake Acting Company; and recently [title of show] at The Grand. As a Change Leader, she raises her voice for Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and other marginalized groups within her community. Latoya is a part of the 2022-23 National Leaders of Color Fellows, where she continues to advocate for inclusion, representation, and equity in the arts. Much gratitude to the Theatre Department, Rob

Scott, and Andra for inviting me to be a part of this season and for all your support.

Special thank you to the cast, crew, and creative team. Full of gratitude for you all.

EMMA ASHTON (Costume Designer) is a senior in the Performing Arts Design Program (costume design emphasis).

Emma’s previous Studio 115 credits include As You Like It (Costume Designer) and Somewhere: A Primer for the End of Days (Set Designer). She has also worked with Youth Theatre at the U as the Costume Designer for Matilda Jr. Recipient of a Theatre Scholarship and the Frank M Whiting Scholarship.

ANNA BIRCH (Assistant Stage Manager) is a junior in the Stage Management Program.

Most recently, Anna was the Assistant Stage Manager for U Theatre’s As You like It (Studio 115) and 9 to 5: The Musical at Utah State University. Her credits include ASM for The Moors at Utah State University and ASM for A Flea In Her Ear at Utah State University. Anna has also worked for Lyric Repertory Company in Logan, Utah. Prior to attending the University of Utah, Anna worked a semester at Walt Disney World in the Disney College Program. She would like to thank her family for their continued support.

KENNY COSSON (Stage Manager) Kenny is in his senior year and is about to graduate with a BFA in Stage Management. Ze started in Southern Utah, being pulled in by zirs drama teacher and a few friends, and found a welcoming place. He has continued, working as 2nd ASM on the New Work Project: Liminal (Studio 115), SM for Nine (MTP Senior Project), 1st ASM for The Old Man and the Old Moon (1st ASM), and now Town Hall.

ELLA HAYS (Assistant Choreographer) is a sophomore in the Musical Theatre Program from Little Rock, Arkansas. She was last seen as Rachel in Air Bird (RDT Theatre) and Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast (LRCA Theatre).

COMPANY & CREATIVE TEAM MICHAEL J. HOREJSI (Lighting Designer) is an Associate Professor (Clinical) in the Performing Arts Design Program in the Department of Theatre at The University of Utah. He has an MFA in Design and Technical Theatre from The University of Minnesota. He has extensive National and International Touring experience with Arena and Theater Shows, as well as sporting spectaculars such as The NBA All Star Jam Session, and The USA Swimming Olympic Trials. Michael has worked as a technician, artisan, and designer for theatres including Oregon Festival of American Music, The Guthrie Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, The Great American History Theatre, and others.

instructors of record for the Scenography Lab courses and helps lead the Theatre Department's work study students, teaching carpentry, welding, rigging, painting, and stage safety. Halee also helps oversee the building and painting of all sets for the Babcock and Studio 115 theatre spaces, helping to realize each set designer’s artistic vision on stage. Halee is also a local set designer, with credits including The Grand Theatre, Lagoon Entertainment, Utah Cultural Arts Center, Salt Lake Shakespeare, U of U Lyric Opera, and Plan B Theatre Company. She is also the resident set designer for The Grand Theatre. Halee is the 2023 recipient of the University of Utah College of Fine Arts Staff Excellence Award.

SIERRA LOERTSCHER (Production Assistant) is a junior and is currently pursuing a BFA in Stage Management. She started working in theatre at Taylorsville High School in the pit orchestra for The Secret Garden, and then backstage as a member of stage tech and stage management in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (SM), Much Ado About Nothing (ASM), and The Addams Family (ASM). Now at the U, she helped this last spring in YTU’s Seussical (Crew) and this summer as ASM for Sandbox Theatre Company’s The Scarlet Pimpernel.

HANNA RICHARDS (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to be working on her second show here at the University of Utah! Hanna is a sophomore in the Stage Management BFA and has been loving her experience with the U’s theater department.

She had the privilege last spring of working on the Studio 115 production of As You Like It as a PA (Production Assistant), and is now making her debut as an ASM on Town Hall.

ELLIOTT MOORE (Sound Designer) is pleased to work on his first show at the University of Utah. Recent credits include sound design for Finding Nemo Jr. and Matilda Jr. with Backstage Performing Arts Utah. Elliott is excited to continue studying sound and lighting as a member of the university's Performing Arts Design Program. He is often seen working as an electrician for the Department of Theatre as part of the U's work study program.

HALEE RASMUSSEN (Scenic Co-Designer) received her BFA in the Performing Arts Design Program from the University of Utah with a double emphasis in technical direction and set design. Halee has been the Assistant Technical Director and Scenic Charge Artist for the U of U Department of Theatre since 2012. She is one of the

ARIKA SCHOCKMEL (Props Designer/Scenic Co-Designer) has worked extensively in scenic design, props, and costume crafts for theatre, television, and film. She is the Prop Manager for the Department of Theatre and works as a prop and costume designer for Plan B Theatre. Regional credits include productions at The Egyptian Theatre, UFOCMT, Grand Teton, Dark Horse, SLAC, Utah Contemporary, Lyric Rep. USU Alum. Member of S.P.M., the Society of Prop Managers. Other projects include stage management, music, event hosting/ emceeing, props for film and television, and the occasional acting gig.

JULIA WITESMAN (Assistant Production Manager) is a junior in the Stage Management Program. Julia is thrilled to be working on Town Hall and excited for the year ahead; she is the Assistant Production Manager for all three departmental

COMPANY & CREATIVE TEAM productions this fall, including The Lightning Thief and The Tempest. Julia has been stage managing for the past six years and loves every minute of it. Recent credits at the U include Cabaret (1st. Assistant Stage Manager), In Pieces (Assistant Production Manager), and The Thanksgiving Play (Stage Manager). Julia is a proud recipient of the Christine Macken Memorial Scholarship.

CARIDAD SVICH (Playwright) has written over 100 plays and translations, and their work has been produced across the US and abroad. Key plays include 12 Ophelias, Iphigenia Crash Land Falls…, Red Bike, and The House of the Spirits (based on Isabel Allende’s novel). Among her honors and recognitions are the Flora Roberts Award (The Dramatists Guild), Obie for Lifetime Achievement, American Theatre Critics Association Primus Prize, Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, two NNPN Rolling World Premieres, and a Harvard/ Radcliffe Institute Fellowship. She has also authored and/or edited several books on theatre, including Toward a Future Theatre (Methuen Drama), Audience Revolution (TCG), and Federico Garcia Lorca: Impossible Theatre (Smith & Kraus). Some of her plays are published by TRW Plays, Broadway Play Publishing, Intellect Books, Seagull Books. She is founder of NoPassport theatre alliance and press, is Drama Editor of Asymptote literary translation journal, is an editor at Contemporary Theatre Review (UK), associate editor at Cambridge University Press’ Elements in Contemporary Performance, and sits on the advisory board of Global Performance Studies. They are also Artistic Director of New Play Development at the Lucille Lortel Theater in New York City. Website: https://caridadsvich.com CHRIS DUVAL (Producer) is a Professor and Interim Chair for the Department of Theatre. Previously, Chris served as an Assistant Professor and the Head of BFA/ MFA Performance at the University of Idaho,

where he directed and taught courses in acting, voice, and movement. He has acted, directed and fight directed throughout the country including at Shakespeare theatres in Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Montana, Idaho, and Orange County, as well as world premieres, contemporary plays, and classics at such theaters as the Denver Theater Center, Dallas Theatre Center, South Coast Repertory and many others. He has also worked as a teacher, actor, and fight director at universities, training programs, and regional theaters across the country.

Chris is a Certified Teacher / Certified Fight Director / Theatrical Firearms Instructor with the Society of American Fight Directors, a Master Instructor / Senior Fight Director of Theatrical Combat with Dueling Arts International, an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voice Work, holds a 2nd degree black belt in Aikido, and is a member of AEA. He is the author of “Stage Combat Arts: an Integrated Approach to Acting, Voice and Text Work + Video,” published by Bloomsbury Methuen in 2016. He received a B.A. in Theatre Arts from California State University, Fullerton and an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of California, Irvine.

PRODUCTION STAFF & ADVISORS Technical Director....................................................................................................................Kyle Becker Assistant Technical Director/ Scenic Charge Artist............................................. Halee Rasmussen Assistant Stage Manager........................................................................................................ Anna Birch Assistant Stage Manager................................................................................................Hanna Richards Production Assistant.....................................................................................................Sierra Loertscher Costume Shop Manager................................................................................... Wendy Schow-Massine Costume Crafts............................................................................................................... Wilson Leibering Production Manager.............................................................................................................. David Knoell Assistant Production Manager.......................................................................................Julia Witesman Dramaturgy Mentor.............................................................................................................. Mark Fossen Sound and Lighting Lead....................................................................................................Aaron Hoenig Stage Management Area Head/Faculty Advisor..................................................... Amber Bielinski Faculty Advisor for Lighting and Media Design...................................................Michael J. Horejsi Faculty Advisor for Sound Design/Audio Supervisor............................................Jennifer Jackson Faculty Advisor for Properties Design......................................................................Arika Schockmel PADP Area Head and Faculty Advisor for Costume Design....................... Brenda Van der Wiel Faculty Advisor for Scenic Design................................................................................. Gage Williams

DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE FACULTY & STAFF Interim Department Chair Christopher DuVal Interim Chair, Professor

Full-Time Faculty Margo Andrews Associate Professor Lecturer Kyle Becker Professor Clinical Gretchen Case Associate Professor, Director Center for Health Ethics, Arts, and Humanitites

Amber Bielinski Associate Professor Clinical, Head of Stage Management Sydney Cheek-O’Donnell, Associate Professor David Eggers Assistant Professor Hugh Hanson Associate Professor Lecturer Alexandra Harbold Assistant Professor, Head of Theatre Studies Michael J. Horejsi Associate Professor Clinical, Director of Lighting/Media Design Jennifer Jackson Associate Professor Clinical, Director of Sound Design

DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE FACULTY & STAFF Kimberly Jew Associate Professor Brian Manternach Associate Professor Clinical David Schmidt Associate Professor Clinical Sarah Shippobotham Professor Tim Slover Professor Robert Scott Smith Assistant Professor, Head of Actor Training, Associate Chair Erin Farrell Speer Assistant Professor Head of Musical Theatre Brenda Van der Wiel Professor, Head of Performing Arts Design Gage Williams Professor

Kelby McIntyre-Martinez Adjunct Associate Professor, Associate Dean for Arts Education and Community Engagement, Head of Theatre Teaching Christine Moore Adjunct Assistant Professor Jamie Baer Peterson Adjunct Assistant Professor Jonas Sappington Adjunct Instructor Shalee Schmidt Adjunct Assistant Professor Michael Shoaf Adjunct Instructor Sam Stone Adjunct Instructor Chandler Vaccaro Adjunct Instructor Matthew Whittaker Adjunct Assistant Professor Marilee Wilson Adjunct Assistant Professor

Part-Time Faculty Emeritus Faculty Jamie Rocha Allan Adjunct Assistant Professor Karen Azenberg Adjunct Instructor, Artistic Director: Pioneer Theatre Company Jacque Bell Adjunct Associate Professor Nathan Brian Adjunct Instructor Ty Burrell Adjunct Assistant Professor Emily Castleton Associate Instructor Zac Curtis Adjunct Instructor Lynn Deboeck Adjunct Associate Professor Nicholas Dunn Adjunct Assistant Professor Jane England Adjunct Assistant Professor Jennifer Erickson Adjunct Assistant Professor Stephen Faulk Adjunct Instructor Mark Fossen Adjunct Assistant Professor Ellie Hanagarne Adjunct Assistant Professor Greg Hatch Adjunct Associate Professor, Theatre Librarian, Director of Creativity and Innovation Services - Marriott Library Irisha Hubbard Adjunct Instructor Stacey Jenson Adjunct Assistant Professor Samijo Kougioulis Adjunct Instructor Adriana Lemke Adjunct Instructor Carolyn Leone Adjunct Instructor Wilson Liebering Adjunct Instructor, Head of Costume Crafts: Pioneer Theatre Company Penelope Marantz-Caywood Adjunct Assistant Professor, Artistic Director: Youth Theatre

Jerry Gardner Associate Professor Emeritus Xan Johnson Professor Emeritus Robert Nelson Professor Emeritus Richard Scharine Professor Emeritus Barbara Smith Associate Professor Lecturer Emeritus Staff Jessica Dudley-Rodriguez Program Manager Colleen Hirst Accountant Aaron Hoenig Sound/Lighting Lead Technician Alex Marshall Music Director Heather Poulsen Scene Shop Supervisor Halee Rasmussen Assistant Technical Director Arika Schockmel Adjunct Instructor, Director of Props Design Wendy Schow-Massine Costume Shop Manager Aaron Swenson Marketing and Communications Coordinator

OUR DONORS SCHOLARSHIPS The Department of Theatre is grateful to our donors for making the following scholarships available to our students: Equity in Theatre Arts Robert Hyde Wilson Scholarship Etta Keith Eskridge Scholarship Victor Jory Scholarship Utahna Meilstrup Theatrical Scholarship Keith M. and Amy L. Engar Scholarship Frank M. Whiting Scholarship Ralph E. and Winnifred S. Margetts Scholarship Marian D. Harrison Scholarship Lee & Audrey Hollaar Technical Scholarship The Barbara M. Bannon Endowed Fund

The Richard T. and Lonna Brown Scholarship Sandi Behnken Scholarship The Christine Macken Memorial Scholarship The John Ballard and Karen Miller Scholarship Libby S. Hunter ATP Scholarship Promising Playwright Award Scholarship Meggie DeSpain Memorial Scholarship Lady Bracknell Scholarship Zelie Pforzheimer Scholarship David E. Jones Memorial Scholarship

SPONSORED IN PART BY FINE ARTS FEES

The Department of Theatre acknowledges and thanks the following donors for their generous support during the fiscal year July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022.

INVESTORS

BENEFACTORS

PATRONS

Sandi Behnken Kenneth and Tina Burton Perry Fine, MD and Susan Fine Audrey Hollaar, JD and Lee Hollaar, PhD St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Newman Center The Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving

Fidelity Investments Marsha Murphey Zelie and Andy Pforzheimer Sarah Shippobotham

Michele Dornan DSquared Foundation Lori Poloni-Staudinger and Reinhold Staudinger

$2,500 and up

$1,000-$2,499

$500-$999

Continued on next page

FRIENDS $200-$499

Barbara Bannon* Ashby Decker and Anne Cullimore Decker Hugh and Leslie Hanson Thomas* and Jennifer Jackson Dylan McCullough Nicholas Cheek-O'Donnell and Sydney Cheek-O'Donnell, PhD

Richard Scharine, PhD and Marilyn Scharine Scharine Family Trust Marianne Seare Michael Seare Robert Smith Robert Smith, MD and Karlyn Smith

FANS

up to $199 Linda Bevins and Earle Bevins, III* Tucker Buehner Todd Bulloch Paul Disario Jeffrey Enquist, JD Don Hale Leslie and Hugh Hanson Michele and Lawrence Holzman Brian Jurena Mark and Cheri Livingston Shawna Melton Mightycause Charitable Foundation

Sue Moock Wilma and Kenneth* Odell Mark and Jamie Peterson Brianne Reed Judy and Ken Ries Vanessa Shannon Aaron Swenson and Nathan Schmitz Julianne Turner Madeline Ussery Nicole Vernon Jason Yu Christopher Zawislak

An asterisk (*) denotes a donor who is deceased.

Our intent is to recognize and thank all of our donors for their support.

If, however, there is an error, please notify the Department of Theatre at 801-581-6448.

For more information on supporting the Department of Theatre, please call 801-581-5773.