UTNT (UT New Theatre): "MotherWitch"

UT NEW THEATRE Curated by Liz Engelman and Steven Dietz

MotherWitch

BY TRAVIS TATE April 12-22, 2018

OSCAR G. BROCKETT THEATRE

MotherWitch

BY TRAVIS TATE DIRECTED BY ALICE STANLEY

APRIL 13, 19 AND 21 AT 7:30 P.M. APRIL 15 AT 2:00 P.M.

OSCAR G. BROCKETT THEATRE F. LOREN WINSHIP BUILDING

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

UTNT (UT New Theatre) is made possible through the generous support of the Michener Center for Writers and the College of Fine Arts’ Department of Theatre and Dance.

THIS PRODUCTION WAS CREATED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE FOLLOWING ARTISTS: Zoe Andersen – Scenic Designer • Briana Barner – Community Engagement Consultant Rodolfo “Rudy Rexx” Canales – Percussionist • Aaron Curry – Associate Lighting Designer Francesca Ghizzoni – Production Manager • Wyatt Laster – Sound Designer Vanessa Lopez – Puppet Designer • Mercedes McCleary – Lighting Designer David Nava – Choreographer • Jessi Rose– Costume Designer • Tiffany Thomas – Dramaturg Catie Tijerina – Stage Manager • David Tolin – Technical Director

CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE) William Kachi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winston Devin Ray Ramirez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Puppeteer Sahil Bhutani . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Puppeteer Cymone Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sherry Khali Sykes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barb Qualee Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Darla

There will be no intermission.

Videography and photography are strictly prohibited.

Conjuring #BlackGirlMagic: A Live Podcast Show Thursday, April 19 immediately following the 7:30 p.m. performance Join the team in a conversation about representation in MotherWitch and in departments across campus.

NOTE FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT This play is born out of the relationship with the most important women in my family; my grandmother, my mother and my sister. This play wouldn’t exist without them. This play is about love and is important to me because it shows the intricate dynamics of familial love, particularly between persons of color, which is often complicated by historical and social contexts. Love is a big, complicated, even cliché, topic, but is something that I believe in 100%.

I love you for seeing this play; for journeying with me and these characters in this new, exciting world I’ve created. Enjoy!

NOTE FROM THE CURATORS In this, the 11th year of UTNT, we celebrate once again the zest and guile of new work and its ability to feed our theatrical art form. The theatre is not a lake, it is a spring; not a finite container, but a living form in motion, filling constantly from below. These plays, by our ascendant third-year M.F.A. playwrights, are a testament to this ongoing theatrical regeneration. Here are plays that seek to delight and disrupt you. Here are intimate stories of great reach and ambition. Here are writers daring to lay claim to wide swaths of our imagination and consciousness.

What’s more, we are fiercely proud that virtually every name in this playbill is that of a student - undergraduate and graduate, from all theatrical disciplines. This diverse array of young artists and scholars are not waiting to inherit the field. Instead, they are overturning it - remaking and reshaping it on their own terms, right here, right now. And as we know, “what starts here ...”

Steven Dietz Liz Engelman Curators, UTNT-18

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CREATIVE Zoe Andersen (Scenic Designer) is a M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in scenic design at The University of Texas at Austin. As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, she designed shadow puppets for Sun and Shadows. Last year, Andersen created and performed the puppetry for Cry Wolf (the Cohen New Works Festival, 2017). She recently worked for Universal Studios, Orlando designing work for Halloween Horror Nights and served as the scenic designer for The Crucible (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2017).

Briana Barner (Community Engagement Consultant) is a native of Chicago, Illinois who made her way to Texas by way of North Carolina where she attended Bennett College, a historically Black women’s college. Barner is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Radio-Television-Film at The University of Texas at Austin where she received her master’s degree in Women’s and Gender Studies. Research interests include representations of Blackness online and in popular culture and podcasts as cultural and digital Black feminisms.

Rodolfo “Rudy Rexx” Canales (Percussionist) started his percussion journey in 1998. Looking for something to compliment his dance passion, he started learning Afro Brazillian and Afro Cuban music. Canales has played professionally in Austin with groups including Grupo Fantasma, Vallejo, Brownout and Timberos del Norte as well as with local dj’s from Pellgrosa DJ Crew.

Picking up varying rythms from numerous countries, Canales loves to share his knowledge with anyone with a passion for Latin/world percussion.

Aaron Curry (Associate Lighting Designer) is a second-year M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate at The University of Texas at Austin.

Recent credits include ENRON, Fall For Dance, Building the Wall (Texas Theatre and Dance) and Little Women (Butler Opera Center). Regional: The Little Prince (assistant, Seattle Children’s Theatre); South Pacific (Arizona Broadway

Theatre); The Danube; The Messenger (Hangar Theatre); Das Barbecü; A Little Night Music; Urinetown, the Musical and The Drowsy Chaperone (The Barnstormers). Member, USITT. aaroncurrydesigns.com Francesca Ghizzoni (Production Manager) is a third-year UTeach Theatre major with a minor in Administration and Arts Management. Ghizzoni has a fierce passion for management of the arts and has previously served as president of the student-produced theatre company, RoundAbout Players; stage manager of El Camino de Hierro (Cohen New Works Festival, 2017) and stage manager in the Austin community for Landscape Mechanical. Her interests include education and dramaturgy. Dramaturgical credits include the Austin productions Dust, Uncastable and The Last Ones Out. Wyatt Laster (Sound Designer) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with a focus in sound design at The University of Texas at Austin. He has recently designed projections for Detached (Ears, Eyes + Feet, 2017), In the Glare and Art of Collaboration (the Cohen New Works Festival, 2017) and served as the audio engineer for The Drowsy Chaperone (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2017).

Vanessa Lopez (Puppet Designer) is a secondyear M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume technology and holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. Lopez is a member of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT) and serves as the costume shop manager for the Texas Shakespeare Festival. In 2018, she will serve as the principal tutu maker for Ballet Idaho’s upcoming production of The Nutcracker. Other professional credits include work as a costumer for Austin Shakespeare Festival, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, The Classic Theatre of San Antonio and wardrobe crew for International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 76 in San Antonio, Texas where she worked on several Broadway tours.

CREATIVE Mercedes Trinidad McCleary (Lighting Designer) is a M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with an focus in lighting design at The University of Texas at Austin. During her time at the university, she has designed work for The Crucible (Fall 2017), Luna (Spring 2017) and last year’s production of UTNT (UT New Theatre).

She has also designed lighting for Butler Opera Center’s production of Cosi Fan Tutte.

Travis Tate (Playwright) is a queer, black playwright, poet and performer from Austin, Texas. Their poetry has appeared in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Underblong and Mr. Ma’am, among others. Their one-person drag show, It’s a Travesty! One Night with Jazzie Mercado! was presented at the Cohen New Works Festival (2017) and at Salvage Vanguard Theatre’s ThreeHeaded Fest in November 2017.

David Nava (Choreographer) has danced with Sarasota Ballet Company, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater and Sarasota Contemporary Company.

Nava has performed works by Andre Prokovsky, Frederick Ashton, Dame Ninette De Valois, John Cranko, Robert North and Sir Peter Wright. Lead and featured roles include Anthony Tutor’s Lilac, George Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15, Matthew Bourne’s Boutique, Peter Darrell’s Othello, Dominic Walsh’s Trilogy and Napolentani, Leymis Wilmot’s In Flight and Aftermath and Elizabeth Bergmann’s When We No Longer Touch.

Tiffany Thomas (Dramaturg) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with a focus in performer’s process. Thomas was recently seen in Anon(ymous) (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2017) and The Bigot (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2017). This is her first production serving as a dramaturg.

Jessi Rose (Costume Designer) is pursuing an M.F.A. in Design and Technology with a focus in costume design at The University of Texas at Austin. Rose received a B.A. in Anthropology before beginning the study of costuming. The universal human practice of dressing the body and communicating through dress fascinates her and fuels her passion for design. Recent design work includes Momentum (Dance Repertory Theatre, Texas Theatre and Dance, 2017), June (film) and Seven, The Documentary (Concordia University).

Alice Stanley (Director) is a playwright and director and the Founder of Cohesion Theatre Company in Baltimore, MD. Stanley has won Best Director from Baltimore City Paper’s Best of Baltimore 2016, The Bad Oracle and DC Metro Theatre Arts, and received the Mayor’s Individual Artist Award. Their full-length play Sally McCoy will be presented at The Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA in October 2018. Stanley is a M.F.A. in Directing candidate at The University of Texas at Austin.

Catie Tijerina (Stage Manager) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin. She recently served as the assistant stage manager for The Drowsy Chaperone (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2017). Tijerina also works as the resident stage manager at Hogg Memorial Auditorium, the production assistant to the academic production manager at Texas Performing Arts and the production intern for SXSW Festival.

David Tolin (Technical Director) was born and raised in Casper, Wyoming. He attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he received his B.A. in Theatre with a concentration in design/technology. In 2006, he interned with Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère (Treasure Island) and served as a stagehand for Desert Entertainment for several concerts, productions and events across Las Vegas. He received his M.F.A. in Scenic Technology from The University of Texas at Austin before teaching at Westlake High School for seven years. Tolin joined the staff of the Department of Theatre and Dance in 2017.

CAST

William Kachi

Devin Ray Ramirez

Sahil Bhutani

Cymone Love

Khali Sykes

Qualee Marshall

CAST William Kachi (Winston) has been performing since middle school. He was recently seen as “Pascal” in Anon(ymous) (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2017) and in various productions as part of the Cohen New Works Festival (2017). He plans to continue to pursue a career in acting upon graduating in 2020.

Devin Ray Ramirez (Puppeteer) is a second-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. He was recently seen as “Boy” in the touring production of Luna (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2017). Upon graduating, Ramirez plans to move to Los Angeles to further pursue the arts.

Sahil Bhutani (Puppeteer) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process also pursuing a degree in business at The University of Texas at Austin. He has a background in acting, stand-up comedy and improv. He has recently been seen in The Merchant of Venice and The Last Ones Out, as well as A Singularity and Bloodthirsty Fiends as part of the Cohen New Works Festival (2017).

Cymone Love (Sherry) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major at The University of Texas at Austin.

She began acting in college in Los Angeles, California. Love performed as “Mama Moja/The Woman That Reminds You” in In the Red and Brown Water (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2016).

Most recently, she has been seen as “Lauren Holmes” in Mamalogues written by professor Lisa B. Thompson and as “Cheryl Andrews” in the short film Protocol, written and directed

by Chris Burfict. After graduating, she plans to study acting at Yale.

Khali Sykes (Barb) is a first-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. She was recently seen in In the Heights and A Christmas Carol and was the assistant to the choreographer for Singin’ in the Rain (ZACH Theatre). This is her first main stage production with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Qualee Marshall (Darla) is a B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. This is her first main stage show with Texas Theatre and Dance.

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.

CREW ASSISTANT DIRECTOR KYLE CORDOVA ASSISTANT SCENIC DESIGNER TUCKER GOODMAN ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNERS AUSTIN ALVAREZ LAYNIE MCCLELLAND ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNER AUSTIN SHIRLEY ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS KIRK BALTZELL DIAMOND RECTOR ASSISTANT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR DARSHAN DESAI SCENIC STUDIO SUPERVISOR J.E. JOHNSON SCENIC ART SUPERVISOR KAREN MANESS ASSOCIATE SCENIC STUDIO SUPERVISOR JASON HUERTA

PROP SHOP SUPERVISOR REBECCA SWITZER ASSISTANT PROP SHOP SUPERVISOR CAROLYN HARDIN PROP MASTER CAROLYN HARDIN PROP SHOP GRADUATE ASSISTANT ZOE ANDERSEN PROP ARTISANS MADELEINE HAYES DI MARTINEZ MORGAN STUART TAYLOR TRAVIS PROP STOCK MANAGER JACKIE PEREZ PROPS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT JACKIE PEREZ PROPS CONSTRUCTION CREW KATIE GARCIA GEORGINA GARZA MORGAN RIDDLE DALYNN GRACE WATSON

MASTER CARPENTER HANK SCHWEMMER

SCENIC OPERATIONS SUPERVISOR LIAM DOLAN-HENDERSON

GRADUATE PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS ZOE ANDERSEN IMAN CORBANI TUCKER GOODMAN ROXY MOJICA

RUN CREW JEREMIAH ABDULLAH LIAM DOLAN-HENDERSON MEREDITH FISLER DAVID NAVA ANNA ROHOVEC

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS SAM HINDERT ALY REDLAND PRODUCTION LEADS JACOB CAIRE CAROL ENDICOTT LIAM DOLAN-HENDERSON JARED WAYNE HORN CHRISTINA JANSEN ASHTON MURPHY REED NEAL BRIAN NGUYEN GOBI-KLA VONAN HENRY WHEATLEY-RUTNER PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS MADELYN CONSOLDANE NATASHA COSME BATISTA DARSHAN DESAI CECILLIA IBARRA JADE JACKSON TAYLOR JONES JUAN LEYVA ERICA RAMIREZ LUKE STODGHILL ASSISTANT SCENIC ART SUPERVISOR KRISTINA TIJERINA SCENIC ART INTERNS JACOB FOSTER ANTONIO SERVIN DYLAN SCHMIDT HAILEY STRADER GUSTAVO ZAMARRIPA

WIG AND MAKEUP SPECIALIST ALLISON LOWERY WARDROBE CREW SUPERVISOR JENNIFER MARGOS COSTUME CRAFTS SUPERVISOR TANYA OLALDE COSTUME CRAFTS ASSISTANTS ALEXANDER GREER MARIKA WYNNE COSTUME SHOP ASSISTANTS SAMANTHA GASHETTE TORI HUSTINGS COSTUME STOCK SUPERVISOR DESIREÉ HUMPHRIES COSTUME STOCK ASSISTANTS CECELIA IBARRA ALFY LINDSEY FIRST HAND VANESSA LOPEZ TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS MASTER ELECTRICIAN MIKELA COWAN

AUDIO PRODUCTION STUDENT CREW WYATT LASTER MILA LUNA MALYSSA QUILES JESSICA SELL AUDIO ENGINEER JAKE STEIN SOUND BOARD OPERATOR MIKAELA KELAREK MEDIA SHOP SUPERVISOR ELIOT FISHER MEDIA GRADUATE ASSISTANTS JESSE EASDON KAIWEN FA ROBERT MALLIN MINGXIANG YA MEDIA SHOP CREW CHRISTIAN COFFEY ADRIAN LOPEZ NEHA SUKUMAR STAGE MANAGEMENT ADVISOR RUSTY CLOYES COSTUME DESIGN ADVISOR SUSAN MICKEY

TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS LIGHTING SUPERVISOR JEFF ELLINGER

COSTUME TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR JAMES GLAVAN LIGHTING DESIGN ADVISOR MICHELLE HABECK

COSTUME PRODUCTION DIRECTOR NANETTE ACOSTA

SENIOR LIGHTING TECHNICIANS AARON CURRY MERCEDES MCCLEARY JIAJING QI AUSTIN SHIRLEY KENDRA WILEY

COSTUME SHOP ASSOCIATE SUPERVISOR DARCY WEBERG

TEXAS THEATRE AND DANCE LIGHTING SUPERVISOR JEANETTE YEW

DRAPERS SARAH ALDRIDGE BETTY CHLYSTEK

TEXAS THEATRE AND DANCE LIGHTING CREW JOSE FIGEROA JENNIFER HERNANDEZ ADRIANA SCAMARDI STEVEN SCHWOPE BRISA SHAW GEORGE VELASQUEZ MAX WESTLUND

1ST HANDS SAMANTHA GASHETTE AARON KUBACAK STITCHERS JENIFER MARGOS ADVANCED COSTUME PRODUCTION CREW TEACHING ASSISTANTS CHUN KANG CHEN LIRIT PENDELL COSTUME PRODUCTION CREW SULTAN ABBOUSHI ANNEMARIE ALANIZ ALAYA BALDERAS-GALLEGO GRACE BOHN DARLESIA CARTER TAIZHA CHRISTENSEN KYLE CORDOVA JENNIFER GOMEZ EMMA HUFF CASSIDY KAYE MORRIS JUDE MARTINEZ HAILEY ROBERTS KINSEY SHACKELFORD

TEXAS PERFORMING ARTS LIGHTING CREW CASEY CANAMAR BEN GALVAN JAKE BRINKS ALEX JEREB ADRIANA LARA MICHAEL LOGUE LIGHT BOARD OPERATOR GEORGE VELASQUEZ AUDIO SUPERVISOR MIKE MALAK ASSOCIATE AUDIO SUPERVISOR KENNY KUYKENDALL

INTEGRATED MEDIA DESIGN ADVISOR SVEN ORTEL SCENIC DESIGN ADVISOR WILLIAM BLOODGOOD SOUND DESIGN ADVISOR CAROLINA PEREZ DRAMATURGY/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ADVISORS MEGAN ALRUTZ ANDREW CARLSON LIZ ENGELMAN ACADEMIC PRODUCTION MANAGER JEFF GRAPKO PHOTOGRAPHER LAWRENCE PEART GRAPHIC DESIGNER JEFF GRAY SPECIAL THANKS FAITH WEAVER THE GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER SAM KERNER