April 9 at 7:30 p.m. (PREVIEW)
April 10, 11, 16, 17, 18 at 7:30 p.m.
April 12, 19 at 2:00 p.m. Oscar G. Brockett Theatre F. Loren Winship Drama Building
Juno Adair – Assistant Technical Director • Makayla Adelakun – Assistant Director
Brittney Barton – Scenic Designer • Devon Boyd – Sound Designer
Alik Clay – Assistant Scenic Designer/Practical Technician
Kay Currier-Graves – Lighting Designer • Mikala Gibson – Director
Andy Grapko – Intimacy Director • Gabriela Hernandez – Stage Manager
Jason Lee Huerta – Technical Director • Allison Normin Johnson – Costume Designer
Luna J – Assistant Projection Designer • Jarell Kearney – Dramaturg
Giulianna Marchese – Dramaturg • Lorine Mokoro – Assistant Costume Designer
Chisom Chantal Obike – Dramaturg • Kallie Pierce – Assistant Lighting Designer
Bella Ruffino – Assistant Director • Sydney Tate – Assistant Director
Analee Tinajero – Assistant Stage Manager • Desne P. Wharton – Projection Designer
“Ain’t No Mo’” Originally Developed and World Premiere Production by The Public Theater, March 2019
Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director Patrick Willingham, Executive Director Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb
Ain’t No Mo’ was created with support from the 2050 Fellowship Program at New York Theatre Workshop and received support from the New York Theatre Workshop annual Usual Suspects summer residency at Dartmouth College.
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.
Chandler Collins
Jordan Hill
Amani Edmond
Heavyn Carter
Maudejanei Omagbemi
Haley Prince
Finn Higginbotham
Isaiah Jones
Durrell Anderson
Ava Grottis
Chiamaka Igwegbu
CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)
Peaches
Passenger 2, Pastor Freeman, Damien, Tony, Johnathan, Clerk Passenger 1, Church Folk, Trisha, Kendra, Marie, Lakeisha Passenger 3, Church Folk, Zamata, Rachonda, Susan, Judah Passenger 4, Church Folk, Woman, Tracy, Katie, Officer Brown Passenger 5, Church Folk, Newswoman, Karen, Black, Blue Voice of Producer
Peaches Understudy
Passenger 2 Understudy
Passenger 1, Passenger 3 Understudy
Passenger 5 Understudy
Meet the cast and creative team behind Ain’t No Mo’ Scan the QR code to view cast and creative team bios.
https://theatredance.utexas.edu/aint-no-mo-cast-and-creative-team
THE VIDEOTAPING OR MAKING OF ELECTRONIC OR OTHER AUDIO AND/OR VISUAL RECORDINGS OF THIS PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTING RECORDINGS OR STREAMS IN ANY MEDIUM, INCLUDING THE INTERNET, IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED, A VIOLATION OF THE AUTHOR(S)’S RIGHTS AND ACTIONABLE UNDER UNITED STATES COPYRIGHT LAW. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT:
https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists
NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
“I find, in being Black, a thing of beauty: a joy, a strength, a secret cup of gladness.” -Ossie Davis
My mama once told me that being Black is a gift from God. Even before I encountered the violence and injustices wielded against me for simply existing, I encountered Black joy! The joy of walking into a sea of Black saints singing and wailing during praise and worship after a hard week of work. The joy of strutting with my Sorors at a D9 step show after being othered by my fellow classmates at my Predominantly White Institution. The joy of line dancing with my cousins and aunties at the annual family reunion after months of the family fighting against sickness, incarceration and unexpected death. Black joy, generated from a collective of Black souls who transcend space and time, is why we are here today. Ain’t No Mo’ invites you to partake in this joy while confronting issues surrounding race, gender and class. It challenges our ideas surrounding the Black community, a vibrant and diverse community that cannot be boxed. With the aptly written stage direction “...you know how we do,” Jordan E. Cooper invites us to explore the many complexities of Blackness and abandon the tendency to indulge in respectability politics, politics that have resulted in both intercommunal and intracommunal harm. AND WE DID! We did it with love and respect. We did it with care. We did it with awareness. We did it with Black Joy.
And for my non-Black folx…Welcome to the cookout!
SPECIAL THANKS
Professor Ya’Ke Smith, Zuberi Smith, Rev. Michael and Carolyn Gibson, Professor Alexandra Bassiakou, Professor Marcus McQuirter, Dawn Burnside and the Carver ATX Foundation, Joe Anderson, Makayla Adelakun, Cidney Anthony, Wynter Winston, Professor Corey Allen, Dr. Lisa B. Thompson, Professor Virginia Grise, Jenny Lavery, Professor Luke Williams, Calvin Walker, Nadine Marissa, Kaia L, Latrice Kelley, the UT Theatre and Dance community, Black Lens, UT Black students, the Austin Black community, UT Black Alumni, the Black Austin LGBTQIA+ community. Ain’t No Mo’ cast and crew, my family and friends, my ancestors, God.
NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURGS
Home. What is it? Where is it? How do we experience it?
These questions are not just philosophical; they echo through the history of Black migration and civic engagement in the United States.
From the Northward surge of the Great Migration that saw masses of African-Americans move to Northern U.S. states in search of broader horizons and financial possibilities to the daily navigation of domestic and public spaces, the search for “home” and the freedom it allows has always been political. Jordan E. Cooper’s Ain’t No Mo’ pushes these questions to satirical and high-stakes lengths, asking “what if the Great Migration became a final, outward flight toward ancestral belonging?”
This production is a living archive–a sharp, non-linear testament to the grit, joy and grief it takes to survive. Unfolding through a series of vignettes, the play makes satirical gestures that draw from the experiences, culture and theatre of Black life. As a result, each vignette becomes a moment of reckoning that unpacks the heavy suitcase of the American past and life to decide what can be carried along and what must be left behind.
At its core, Ain’t No Mo’ explores the possibility of radical self-liberation, asking where true freedom and home can be found. Are they here, on this soil, in this nation, or are they out there and in the act of leaving? This play invites us into this speculative moment of transition, asking us to consider the weight of the luggage we and its characters carry. What is worth saving in the search for home? What is the cost of staying? And what is the price of freedom?
TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS FABRICATION STUDIO
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
KAREN MANESS
PROJECT MANAGER
DAVID TOLIN
FABRICATION TECHNICAL MANAGER
JASON LEE HUERTA
LEAD FABRICATOR
HANK SCHWEMMER
PROPERTIES MANAGER
ASHTON BENNETT MURPHY
CHARGE SCENIC ARTIST
BRIDGETTE CLIFFORD
EMERGING ARTS PROFESSIONAL
– SCENIC ART
JULIA YELVINGTON
EMERGING ARTS PROFESSIONAL – PROPS
LEAH AUSTIN
SENIOR TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
SCOTT BUSSEY
GRADUATE PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
ALIK CLAY
GALA DEMARIN
JOSHUA MARTIN
GUSTAVO HERNANDEZ PINZON
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS
GABI HERNANDEZ
MADISON JACKSON
PRODUCTION LEADS
JUNO ADAIR
VALERIA NUNEZ ESTRADA
FABRICATION STUDENT ASSISTANTS
EVELYN BECERRA
JULIANA BRANDAO
SARAH EWING
ERIN GLASSCOCK
ALISA IRVIN
DYLAN LEBENSFELD
CODIE LIGHTFOOT
MASON OUSLEY
JOSE SALCIDO
ZOE SALDANA
JADEN WEST
314Q/324P FABRICATION PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
CONNOR BURK
SOPHIA CARTER
ANGELENA LEMMERMAN
NATHANIAL MOTES
CARLISE ROSA
JESUS SERRANO
PROP STOCK MANAGERS
JACKI MAI
LAURA SOARES
PROPS ARTISAN TERE GUERRERO
PRODUCTION PROPERTIES MANAGER
LEAH AUSTIN
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
KYLE TREHERN
SCENERY/PROPS CREW
VIVIAN CHAUZA
IMANI MILLER
COSTUME PRODUCTION AND FABRICATION
STUDIO
COSTUME PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
NANETTE ACOSTA
PRODUCTION ASSOCIATES
DESIREÉ HUMPHRIES
JONATHAN WATERS
DRAPERS
SARAH BARBOUR
POUA YANG
FIRST HANDS
JENNIFER BALL EMILY EOFF
ASSISTANT PROJECT MANAGERS
JACOB BENAIM RACHEL GREEN
STUDENT DRAPERS
CALLIE MCDONOUGH RILEY O’SULLIVAN
STUDENT STITCHERS
LAYLA CREAR
ALLISON NORMAN JOHNSON RILEY O’SULLIVAN
AVA SETTOON
COSTUME CRAFTS ARTISAN
TANYA OLALDE
COSTUME CRAFTS ASSISTANTS
VIOLET CLEMMONS
LAYLA ISAAC
STUDIO ASSISTANTS
STELLA GILL
YUHENG JIANG
COSTUME PRODUCTION CREW SUPERVISORS
OLGA SHEVELKINA CALIFORNIA THORSON
COSTUME PRODUCTION CREW
MASYN CARAMELLO
ALICIA CRICHTON-AMAYA
EMMA DODDS
DEE FITZGERALD
AVA GASSEN
STELLA GILL
EMERSON HARTMAN
DAISHA MANOR
ERICKA PUGLIESE
HANNAH THOMAS
MAKEUP, HAIR AND WIG DESIGNER
STEPHANIE WILLIAMS
MAKEUP, HAIR AND WIG ASSISTANT
ANGEL MACIAS
WARDROBE SUPERVISOR
TANIA HERNANDEZ
WARDROBE CREW
GRACE CARNEY
ZOEY GONZALES
ZOE HAMPTON
COSTUME STOCK SUPERVISOR
DESIREÉ HUMPHRIES
COSTUME STOCK ASSISTANTS
AMANDA ROSE GEYER
MICAH MEDELLIN
LIGHTING/SOUND/MEDIA
ACADEMIC PRODUCTION
TECHNOLOGY MANAGER
EARNEST MAZIQUE
ASSISTANT LIGHTING SUPERVISOR
MICHAEL SHANKS
ASSISTANT SUPERVISING ELECTRICIAN
HADDON BRITT
SENIOR LIGHTING TECHNICIAN
PATRICK SCHOEN
324P LIGHTING FACULTY SUPERVISOR
DAVID “SEB” BOONE
324P THEATRE AND DANCE LIGHTING CREW
ABELARDO AGUILAR
MIYA CHAVIS
MAX CHENG
CHANDLER COLLINS
ISABEL DEROUEN
MEERA LASKAR
ANDRE LIRA
ABIGAIL PADILLA
EMERSON WELCH
ABIGAIL WILLIAMS
RAMIRO ZAPATA
TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS LIGHTING CREW
ABELARDO AGUILAR
DOMENICA CALLARO
JOSE CALVILLO
MIYA CHAVIS
PJ JETTON
RILEY KNECHT
BLAKE PERSYN
ERIC RAMIREZ
RAIN SNYDER
LIGHT BOARD OPERATOR
HENRY BORHAM
ASSISTANT AUDIO VIDEO SUPERVISOR
K. ELIOT HAYNES
TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS AUDIO CREW
KALEB AZIZ
CLAIRE MILLET
AUDIO BOARD OPERATOR
CECILIA SPENCE
MEDIA PROGRAMMER
NITSAN SCHARF
MEDIA GRADUATE ASSISTANTS
ARASH BAQIPUR
JOE MORALES
DESNE WHARTON
MEDIA SHOP CREW
ANNA JO BUNDY
SYDNEY-ALIZABETH FRANCIS
LIZZ HAN
THOMAS LUONG
VALERIA MORALES
ETHAN REYES
KHALIA SACKO
RACHEL WRIGHT
CREW SUPERVISOR
AUSTIN SHIRLEY
PRODUCTION ADVISORS
STAGE MANAGEMENT
RUSTY CLOYES
DIRECTING
KJ SANCHEZ
ALEXANDRA BASSIAKOU SHAW
COSTUME DESIGN
RAQUEL BARRETO
COSTUME TECHNOLOGY
DAVID AREVALO
SARAH JAMES
LIGHTING DESIGN
MICHELLE HABECK
INTEGRATED MEDIA FOR LIVE PERFORMANCE
KATE FREER
SCENIC DESIGN
JOSAFATH REYNOSO
SOUND DESIGN
PHILLIP OWEN
DRAMATURGY
MADGE DARLINGTON
ACTING
COREY ALLEN
RESIDENT INTIMACY DIRECTOR
ANDY GRAPKO
DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION
RUSTY CLOYES
TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS DIRECTOR OF FABRICATION AND ACADEMIC PRODUCTION
JEFF GRAPKO
FRONT OF HOUSE MANAGEMENT AND TICKETING
DANA MCLAUGHLIN
LEARN ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE
PR/MARKETING
SYDNEY PATTILLO
KATY WIGGINS
PHOTOGRAPHERS
ESSENTIALS CREATIVE
SARAH A. NAVARRETE
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
MONICA GRIFFIN
MARZENA KRUPA
