The Tasters

NOVEMBER 3-6, 10-12 AT 7:30 P.M. NOVEMBER 6-7, 14 AT 2:00 P.M.

B. IDEN PAYNE THEATRE F. LOREN WINSHIP DRAMA BUILDING

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

Cal Blackstock – Stage Manager • Lina Breining – Composer • Meghan Brown – Playwright Ron Collins – Lighting Designer • Zoey Crow – Scenic and Projection Designer Andy Grapko – Intimacy Director • Harri Horsley – Costume Designer Jason Lee Huerta – Technical Director • Jefrey Levin – Sound Designer and Co-Composer Tobie Minor – Violence Consultant • R.J. Munguia – Dramaturg • Kristen Osborn – Director

CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE) Bianca (she/her). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Vivian Gonzalez Lt. Sawyer (they/them) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Avery Brooks Corrine (she/her) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chloe Whitehead Elyse (she/her) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mahagany Adair The General (he/him) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dominic Gross

Videography and photography is strictly prohibited.

The Department of Theatre and Dance is a world-class educational environment that serves as the ultimate creative incubator for the next generation of artists, thinkers and leaders in theatre and performance.

NOTE FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT I wrote The Tasters because I was hungry.

It wasn’t just a craving for braised paprika chicken, either. It was the end of 2016 and I was hungry for answers about what this country would look like moving forward. I was frantic to get to the bottom of my own culpability — who was I in the context of this culture? Who did I want to be?

Five years later, these questions persist.

This play means a lot to me. It’s taken me to some dark places but always pulls me out into the light.

I don’t know what I would do if I were in Bianca’s position—I don’t know what I would do if I were in any of the characters’ positions. I would like to think that I would be brave, that I would push aside self-interest, that I would do the right thing even if it required great sacrifice.

But I can’t say for sure.

At one point in the play (as a response to Elyse’s political call to action), Bianca asks, “Why do I have to be the one to do it?” and Elyse replies, “Because there’s no one else.” I think about this exchange often.

Because there really isn’t anyone else — there’s no magical someone coming to make everything right.

There’s only us. When they put the plate in front of us, what are we going to do?

I wrote The Tasters because I was hungry. I think I might always be. Maybe you are too. Maybe that hunger is a map. Maybe it can help take us somewhere better. Maybe that hunger is the thing that will shape us, that will push us, that will guide us to being the bravest version of ourselves.

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NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR My first encounter with The Tasters was in 2019, during its world premiere at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago. It lef a taste in my mouth that no palate cleanser could clear. Food metaphors aside (though I love a good food metaphor!), the words of Meghan Brown’s powerful play echoed in my head long afer the curtain had come down and the audience had lef the theatre.

It was with me as I sat at my dinner table, comfortable in my home, raising bite afer bite to my own mouth. I found myself wondering: what are the stakes of my own tastings? When people are dying of starvation in our world right now, when people are being violently oppressed right now, when systems of power are working for the interest of a few at the cost of the many right now, what am I doing? What haven’t I done? What can I do?

Elyse Manning would tell me to put my fork down. To stand up. To take action.

Making this play with this incredible group of humans is a little piece of action. It is a way to start a conversation with you about the power that we each possess to make choices that can shape the world around us. They may be small choices – they may not be visible on a large scale or spark immediate revolutionary change – and that’s ok. This is a play about the power we all hold within ourselves, and the change that can happen when we use that power to come together.

Thank you for joining us on this journey.

Bon appétit.

NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURG

“This play works best when its mythology is its own.” According to playwright Meghan Brown, The Tasters could take place anywhere and any-when. And while this ambiguous setting might make the world seem strange and distant, it also makes it poignant and familiar. What better way to examine our own world than through the lens of the unknown? But how can you understand a world so diferent from our own? And what in the world even is a “Taster?”

The medium of theatre allows us to get extraordinarily close to the world on the stage. Not only are the people on stage characters in their own world, but they’re also people in our world. When we witness both, new perspectives reveal themselves in the space between, uncovering truths about our nonfictional world through fiction. Who are our Tasters? Revolutionaries? Followers? Great Leaders?

They could be you.

CREATIVE Cal Blackstock (Stage Manager) is a fourthyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management. Previous credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include A Fistful of Trespassing (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2020), The Hero Twins: Blood Race (2019), 30 Floods (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2019) and Matawan (2018). Additionally, Blackstock served as the assistant production manager for The Cohen New Works Festival (2021).

Lina Breining (Composer) is an aspiring film composer and a fifh-year music composition and arts and entertainment technologies double major. She has written music for numerous theatre productions including sad women being sad (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2021), Evolution (2019, 2020) and Austin Shakespeare’s youth production of Macbeth (2019), as well as the interactive exhibit Creek Monster Habitat (Creek Show presented

by Waller Creek Conservancy, 2019).

Meghan Brown (Playwright) writes plays about dangerous women. Her work has been produced or developed at Lincoln Center, Victory Gardens Theater, Portland Center Stage, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Getty Villa. Fulllength plays include The Tasters (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, upcoming Milwaukee Repertory Theater), The Pliant Girls (Fugitive Kind, Ovation Award winner for Playwriting of an Original Play), Cowboy Elektra (with Rogue Artists Ensemble, music by Z. Lupetin) and These Girls Have Demons (music by Sarah Taylor Ellis). She is a member of The Writers’ Room at Gefen Playhouse (2020-2021). MeghanBrown.net Ron Collins (Lighting Designer) is a M.F.A. in Theatre (lighting design) candidate and an ETC 2021 Fred Foster Student Mentee. Collins earned his bachelor’s degree in theatre at Middle Tennessee State University. He previously worked as an associate producer for Abel McCallister Abel. His thesis investigates community and performance of LGBTQ nightlife by telling stories through installation. Credits include Wyeth Airlines Flight Thirteen (UTNT (UT New Theatre),

2020), The Hero Twins: Blood Race (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019) and serving as the technical director for The Cohen New Works Festival (2021).

Zoey Crow (Scenic and Projection Designer) is a third-year M.F.A. in Theatre (integrated media for live performance) candidate. Recent Texas Theatre and Dance credits include projection design for Fall For Dance (2019), media design for Year of the Tiger (2021), assistant projection design for 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) (2019) and Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet (2020) and associate media design for (Re)current Unrest (2020).

Andy Grapko (Intimacy Director) is a lecturer and the resident intimacy director for the Department of Theatre and Dance. She’s done intimacy training with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators, Intimacy Directors International and Theatrical Intimacy Education. A Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Associate and member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators, her recent intimacy credits include: rains falls special on me (Ground Floor Theatre) and A Fistful of Trespassing (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2020).

Harri Horsley (Costume Designer) is a third-year M.F.A. in Theatre (costume design) candidate.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Horsley earned a B.F.A. in Theatre Design Technology and Production with a concentration in costume design from Kent State University. Credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Not Omaha (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2020), Fall For Dance (2019) and La Ruta (2020). Horsley recently received the 2020 Black Theatre Network’s Judy Dearing Student Design Award for costume design and was elected the spring 2021 president of the Black Graduate Student Association.

Jason Lee Huerta (Technical Director) is the Operations Manager, Fabrication for Texas Performing Arts at The University of Texas at Austin. He has a M.F.A. in Scenic Technology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Recent credits with

CREATIVE Texas Theatre and Dance include Anon(ymous) (2017) and The Drowsy Chaperone (2017).

Before coming to Austin, he worked at various theatres including Goodman Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, South Texas College and The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Jefrey Levin (Sound Designer and CoComposer) is a composer and sound designer based in Chicago, Illinois. Levin has contributed original music and sound designs to over 150 productions for theatre, immersive experiences, film and video, virtual productions and more. Levin has earned two Joseph Jeferson Awards and twelve nominations in the Sound Design and Original Music categories. He holds a Masters of Music from DePaul University and a Bachelors of Music from Columbia College Chicago.

R.J. Munguia (Dramaturg) is a fourth-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in history, literature and dramaturgy also

pursuing a B.A. in English at The University of Texas at Austin. He has experience in both dramaturgy and acting. Recent dramaturgy credits include Beyond the Wall (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2021). Acting credits include “Malvolio” in Twelfh Night, “Clarence” in Richard III and “Paris” in Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare at Winedale, 2021).

Kristen Osborn (Director) is a director and theatremaker who is passionate about nurturing human connection through live storytelling. Osborn has developed work in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York in a range of productions and roles with companies including the Gefen Playhouse, Daryl Roth Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Northlight Theatre, the Ojai Playwrights Conference and JoyistLA. She is a graduate of UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and a graduate student in the directing area at The University of Texas at Austin. Kristenosborn.com

TICKETS:

JOINTHEDRAMA.ORG

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CAST

Vivian Gonzalez

Avery Brooks

Mahagany Adair

Chloe Whitehead

Dominic Gross

CAST Vivian Gonzalez (Bianca) is from the Rio Grande Valley and is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with honors at The University of Texas at Austin.

Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include La Ruta (2020) and The Women of _____ (a song not song) (2019), as well as a student project entitled The Mírame Monologues.

She will be graduating in December 2021.

Mahagany Adair (Elyse) is a B.F.A. in Acting major also pursuing a minor in arts management and administration at The University of Texas at Austin. She has a background in stage acting, acting for television and film and creating devised work. Recent credits include projects as part of UTNT (UT New Theatre) and several short films.

Avery Brooks (Lt. Sawyer) is a UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. Their background includes acting and vocal performance, as well as technical work. This is their first performance in an acting role with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Dominic Gross (The General) is a B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. This is Gross’ debut performance with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Chloe Whitehead (Corrine) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major at The University of Texas at Austin. She has an extensive background in both theatre and dance. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include Community Garden (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2021).

CREW

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR YUSEF DIXON ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS LAUREN MURAL RYLEE VINES ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER FERNANDA RODRIGUEZ ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER JACOB EAKER ASSISTANT PROJECTION DESIGNER SYDNEY SOUSA ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR DANIEL GELD ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, FABRICATION J.E. JOHNSON ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, FABRICATION KAREN MANESS SENIOR TECHNICAL DIRECTOR SCOTT BUSSEY PROJECT MANAGER, FABRICATION DAVID TOLIN OPERATIONS MANAGER, FABRICATION JASON LEE HUERTA PROPERTIES MANAGER, FABRICATION CAROLYN HARDIN LEAD FABRICATOR HANK SCHWEMMER PROJECT SPECIALIST, FABRICATION ASHTON BENNETT MURPHY GRADUATE PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS EMMA DICKERSON TERE GUERRERO CARDOSO INJI HA HELEN PARK ALEXANDER ROCKEY ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT MADISON SHERIDAN PRODUCTION LEADS TAYLOR LAINE ABS DANIEL GELD MIKAELA KELAREK

PROPERTIES STOCK MANAGER INDIRA RAMPERSAD

COSTUME CONSTRUCTION CREW SUPERVISOR HSIAOWEI CHEN

PROPTERTIES ARTISANS TAYLOR LAINE ABS GRACE FEATHERSTON

COSTUME CONSTRUCTION CREW ANNA ALTAMIRANO AMAYA COLEMAN ESTRELLA MARTINEZ MADELYN MARTINEZ RIGOBERTO MUNGUIA MIKA O’DWYWE JADZIA PADILLA FERNANDA RODRIGUEZ SIMON SALINAS SOPHIA SAVELLOS FRANCES SMITH ROBERTO SOTO ASHLEY SPEIGHT EMILY TORRANCE

FABRICATION PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS PETE GUADALUPE ALMARAZ IV ZOE BIHAN GABBI CLEMENTE BRIDGETTE CLIFFORD SYDNY DEMEYER DAVID HERNANDEZ ISABELLA HOLLIS JAKE JOSEPHI MIKAELA KELAREK MELODY LUNA JONAH MAUGHAN JULIO MUÑOZ NATALIA MARTIN RODEZNO ANDREA NUÑEZ OZ OSBOURNE JAMES PRAEGER RICHARD PRATCHETT SYDNEY ROKAS NICK SALDIVAR MICHAEL WILLIAMS MARTINEZ PAINT CLASS ASHANTI ANTHONY ISABELLE AVENA JILLIAN ROSE HUGHES JULIO C. MARTINEZ TATE PAULSON WILLIAM S PUGH TAYLOR SWEET MAXWELL MIRANDA WEST ANIA J. YEE-BOGUINSKAIA SAMARA ZUCKERBROD COSTUME PRODUCTION DIRECTOR NANETTE ACOSTA COSTUME SHOP PRODUCTION ASSOCIATE DESIREÉ HUMPHRIES COSTUME SHOW MANAGER CHRISTINA MONTGOMERY DRAPERS SARAH BARBOUR EMMA CRAIG EMMA DICKERSON CALIFORNIA THORSON POUA YANG FIRST HANDS EMMA DICKERSON ARIES LIMON CALIFORNIA THORSON LINDSEY THURSTON STITCHERS ARIES LIMON CAMRYN PATTERSON JULIE WEBB

WARDROBE CREW CHIEFS LEAH HUMMEL KATIE MILLER WARDROBE CREW JANNAH COLLINS AIDA HERNANDEZ-REYES TORI HICKS ANDREA ORTA JOYLIN WEI COSTUME CRAFTS ARTISAN TANYA OLALDE COSTUME CRAFTS ASSISTANT HAROLD HORSELY COSTUME SHOP OFFICE ASSISTANT FERNANDA RODRIGUEZ COSTUME STOCK ASSISTANTS MEAGAN BEATTIE REAGAN GERTNER 324P LIGHTING FACULTY SUPERVISOR MICHELLE MANN TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS SUPERVISING ELECTRICIANS SEB BOONE SARAH CANTU SENIOR LIGHTING TECHNICIANS SARAH JEAN ELLIOTT ARI JAMIESON TEXAS THEATRE AND DANCE LIGHTING CREW JONATHAN AMEZCUA DAGOBERTO LOPEZ ISABELLA RAY MONTSERRAT SANTIBÁÑEZ ANDREW SOLIS SIMONE THOMAS

TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS LIGHTING CREW CHARLOTTE BRUMBELOW SARA CHANEY LIBBY JANTZ MATTHEW E. SMITH SHELLY UPHAM LIGHT BOARD OPERATOR GRANT GILKER ASSOCIATE AUDIO SUPERVISOR KENNY KUYKENDALL TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS AUDIO CREW CHEYENNE CHESTER CODY HANCOCK BRYCE RIGGLE ALEX TITSWORTH AUDIO BOARD OPERATOR ESTHER PARK INTEGRATED MEDIA SUPERVISOR EARNEST MAZIQUE MEDIA GRADUATE ASSISTANTS JACKSON COBB ZOEY CROW JOHN ERICKSON HEEKYUNG KIM SYDNEY SOUSA MEDIA SHOP CREW CHRISTIAN COFFEY DEJA CRISTON NICOLE DELAROSA RUSAMA ISLAM CAMILA LLORENTE CIELO ORTIZ NICOLE RUDAKOVA AUGUSTUS WHEELER MEDIA OPERATOR NICOLE RUDAKOVA STAGEHANDS JACKSON FROELICH SEAN RAMIREZ ERIC RAMOS AUTOMATION OPERATOR JAKE WILSON SWING OPERATORS OLIVER AARO FEDOR AGLYAMOV STAGE MANAGEMENT ADVISOR RUSTY CLOYES DIRECTING ADVISOR ALEXANDRA BASSIAKOU SHAW COSTUME DESIGN ADVISOR RAQUEL BARRETO

CREW

COSTUME TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR JAMES GLAVAN LIGHTING DESIGN ADVISOR MICHELLE HABECK INTEGRATED MEDIA DESIGN ADVISOR SVEN ORTEL SCENIC DESIGN ADVISOR JOSAFATH REYNOSO

AUDIO DESIGN ADVISOR PHILLIP OWEN DIRECTOR OF FABRICATION AND ACADEMIC PRODUCTION JEFF GRAPKO PHOTOGRAPHER THOMAS ALLISON GRAPHIC DESIGNER JEFF GRAY

SPECIAL THANKS ROBERT RAMIREZ KJ SANCHEZ ALEXANDRA BASSIAKOU SHAW ANDREA L. HART BRAXTON RAE COURT ROGERS SARAH SLIGHT QUETTA CARPENTER CHRISTIN DAVIS RUSTY CLOYES DEVON DEMAYO

ANNA SKIDIS VARGAS TARA MALLEN TYLER LINK ZOË MALLEN SARAH MARTIN

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