UTNT (UT New Theatre) 2020

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(UTNT) UT NEW THEATRE SCHEDULE

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4

Not Omaha Lab Theatre

7:30pm

Bog Butter

WIN 2.180

THURSDAY, MARCH 5

Toros

7:30pm

WIN 1.134

A Fistful of Trespassing

Lab Theatre

Tjipetir: A Search History

WIN 2.180

FRIDAY, MARCH 6

7:30pm

Sow and Suckling

Tjipetir: A Search History

Lab Theatre WIN 2.180

SATURDAY, MARCH 7

11:00am

The Book of Orpah WIN 1.134

2:00pm

Sow and Suckling Lab Theatre

5:00pm

Bog Butter WIN 2.180

7:30pm

A Fistful of Trespassing

Lab Theatre

SUNDAY, MARCH 8

11:00am

rain falls special on me WIN 1.134

2:00pm

Not Omaha Lab Theatre

Bog Butter WIN 2.180 5:00pm

Toros

WIN 1.134

7:30pm

Tjipetir: A Search History

WIN 2.180

WEDNESDAY. MARCH 11

A Fistful of Trespassing

7:30pm

Toros

Lab Theatre

WIN 1.134

THURSDAY, MARCH 12

Sow and Suckling Lab Theatre

7:30pm

Bog Butter

WIN 2.180

FRIDAY, MARCH 13

7:30pm

Not Omaha Lab Theatre

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Wa ller C

San Jacin E. 24th St.

Blvd.

F. LOREN WINSHIP BUILDING WIN 2.180 BIP

Atrium Lobby

WIN 1.134

(downstairs)

E. 23rd St.

DeLo

San Ja c

into Bl

vd.

Circle

ek Cre

Lab Theatre

San Jacinto

(upstairs)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sow and Suckling DAN C AF F REY

BY

pg. 6

Tjipetir: A Search History BY

I . B . HO P K I N S pg. 10

A Fistful of Trespassing BY

M I N G HAO T U pg. 14

Bog Butter

BY

C EC EL I A RAK ER pg. 18

Not Omaha

BY

PAU L W I L L I AM K RUSE pg. 22

Toros

BY

DAN N Y T EJ ERA pg. 26

rain falls special on me BY

L AN E M I C HAEL STA NLE Y pg. 29

The Book of Orpah BY

J ESS S HO EM AK ER pg. 29

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NOTE FROM THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTORS It is an honor to present these new works, written by third-year soon-to-be graduating M.F.A. in Playwriting candidates. You are the very first audience to see these tremendous plays, and we are thrilled you are here.

Now in its 13th iteration, UTNT has consistently served as a launchpad for The University of Texas at Austin’s graduate and undergraduate theatre artists; artists who are continuing to change the American Theatre landscape and influence hearts and minds around the world.

We’ve been fortunate this year to have eight galvanizing writers - Dan Caffrey, I.B. Hopkins, Paul Kruse, Cecelia Raker, Jess Shoemaker, Lane Michael Stanley, Daniel Tejera and Minghao Tu - each with wildly diverse aesthetic ambitions.

More than any other year, their scripts called for unique production concepts, development processes and presentation styles. Given the scope and purpose of their works, we decided to program the plays in a festival format with three shows in rep in the Lab Theatre, two shows in rep in the Acting Studio (WIN 2.180) and three readings in WIN 1.134.

The plays you are about to experience have never existed before and are the products of insight, collaboration, craft, dedication and visions for how we share stories in this changing world.

UTNT stands for UT New Theatre. Today is day one. As we say in theatre, thank you for being in the room… thank you for being the first!

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.

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Sow and Suckling

by Dan Caffrey Directed by Liz Fisher March 6, 12 at 7:30 p.m.

March 7 at 2:00 p.m.

Lab Theatre F. Loren Winship Building

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

Lowell Bartholomee – Sound Designer • Delena Bradley – Scenic Designer Dan Caffrey – Playwright • Sara Chaney – Lighting Designer • Liz Engelman – Dramaturg Liz Fisher – Director • Libby Jantz – Lighting Designer • Adam Miller-Batteau – Fight Director Adam Noble – Intimacy Director • Courtney Thomas – Stage Manager David Tolin – Technical Director • Lindsey Rae – Costume Designer

CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Roger ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Kareem Badr RJ ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Tanner Hudson Doreen ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Susan Myburgh Poppy ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Cat Palacios Jack ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Zac Thomas Ralph ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Michael Williams

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CREATIVE Lowell Bartholomee (Sound Designer) is an Austin-based actor, playwright and maker of sound and video designs. His work has been heard and/or seen in productions from Capital T, Hyde Park Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Street Corner Arts, Penfold Theatre Company and other companies locally and nationwide.

On stage, he was most recently seen in Tiny Beautiful Things (Austin Playhouse) and Heartland (Vortex Rep). He is a company member of Rude Mechs and Hyde Park Theatre.

Delena Bradley (Scenic Designer) is a third-year M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume design. She joins The University of Texas at Austin from Chicago, Illinois where she designed costumes and scenery for theatre and film. Recent credits include production and costume design for Addict Named Hal (upcoming film by Lane Michael Stanley), installation design for the Creek Monster Habitat (Creek Show, 2019), scenic design for Everybody (PPP Graduate Student Alliance), costume design for 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019) and Giullio Cesare (Chicago Summer Opera). Bradley graduated from Ball State University in 2012.

Dan Caffrey (Playwright) is a third-year M.F.A. in Playwriting candidate at The University of Texas at Austin. He has been an O’Neill finalist and semi-finalist, an artist-in-residence at Tofte Lake Center, an M.F.A. Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and his work has been published by Smith & Kraus. Recent credits include Matawan (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2018), directed by Lane Michael Stanley.

He also plays music under the name Methodist Hospital and co-hosts The Losers’ Club: A Stephen King Podcast. dancaffreywrites.com Sara Chaney (Lighting Designer) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in lighting design at The University of Texas at Austin. Chaney spent the past summer interning with New York Stage & Film Company honing her skills as an electrician (Poughkeepsie, New York).

Recent design credits include Hamlettes (2019),

Collective Repression (2019) and Land of Opportunity (2019). Chaney has also assisted on multiple mainstage productions for Texas Theatre and Dance including Spring Awakening (2019), Dance Repertory Theatre’s Fall for Dance (2019), Dance Repertory Theatre’s Fortitude (2019) and The Women of _______ (a song not song) (2019).

Liz Engelman (Dramaturg) teaches in the Playwriting and Directing Area in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. She has been involved with UTNT as dramaturg and/or co-curator along with Steven Dietz for the past six years, and has been a faculty co-producer of The Cohen New Works Festival.

When Engelman isn’t at UT, she serves as the director of Tofte Lake Center, an artist retreat center located in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

Liz Fisher (Director) is a freelance director based in Austin, Texas. Directing credits work with Fusebox Festival, Street Corner Arts, Penfold Theatre Company, Shrewd Productions, Austin Shakespeare, Whirligig Productions, Mary Baldwin University, St. Edward’s University, Southwestern University and University of Arkansas, among others. She is a recipient of the Princess Grace Award in Theatre, the SDC National Directing Award (Kennedy Center) and a Eugene O’Neill Theater Center fellowship. She is an SDC Associate Member and received her M.F.A. from Texas State University.

Libby Jantz (Lighting Designer) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology. She has a background in both lighting design and electrician work.

Recent collegiate design credits include All Happy Families Are The Same (Round About Players, 2019), Critical Failures (Take The Wheel Productions, 2019) and multiple projects with The Cohen New Works Festival (2019).

Adam Miller-Batteau (Fight Director) is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and has choreographed fights 7

CREATIVE for over a decade, staging violence in over 100 productions. Recently, Miller-Batteau has begun expanding his fight direction to intimacy direction and choreography. Recent fight and intimacy credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include ENRON, The Crucible, Anon(ymous) Matawan, The Merchant of Venice and Little Women, the Broadway Musical; Trio and A Delicate Ship (Filagree Theater Company); Starmites, Animal Farm and Cyrano (McCallum Theater); and Richard III (Mosaic Youth Theater). Selected directing credits: Greater Tuna, Peter and the Starcatcher and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Georgetown Palace Theater); Twelfth Night, Macbeth, She Kills Monsters and Tartuffe (Stagedoor Manor).

Adam Noble (Intimacy Director) is a movement specialist with acting, directing, movement coaching, intimacy, choreography and fight direction credits in the worlds of theatre, film and opera. He serves as Head of the B.F.A. Acting program at the University of Houston and Studio Movement Instructor for the Houston Grand Opera. Noble is a fight director with the Society of American Fight Directors, an intimacy director with Intimacy Directors & Coordinators and a proud member of both Actors Equity Association and Stage Directors and Choreographers. He teaches movement both nationally and internationally and has choreographed the physicality, violence and intimacy for well over 200 stage and film productions.

Courtney Thomas (Stage Manager) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin. She has been part of the stage management team for several productions at UT including 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs), Evolution and Three Shitty Sons (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2019), and has done dramaturgical work for the Cohen New Works Festival. She is currently interning with Fusebox 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.

Lindsey Rae (Costume Designer) is a secondyear M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume design at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include several pieces with the dance area as well as involvement with The Cohen New Works Festival (2019) and directors’ studio projects.

CAST Kareem Badr (Roger) is an actor, improviser and teacher based out of Austin, Texas. Recent stage credits include “Nazrullah” in the Rolling World Premiere of Heartland (in both Austin and West Orange, NJ), “The Actor” in The Woman In Black and “Brigham Young” in For Time and Eternity. He is a co-owner of The Hideout Theatre and performs and teaches internationally with his improv troupe PGraph.

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Tanner Hudson (RJ) is a third-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. He has experience in acting, directing and writing. Recent acting credits at UT Austin include 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019) and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (2018). Hudson has also written and directed work presented as part of Cohen New Works Festival (2019).

CAST

Kareem Badr

Tanner Hudson

Susan Myburgh

Cat Palacios

Zac Thomas

Michael Williams

Susan Myburgh (Doreen) is an Austin-based actor by way of Chicago, Illinois. Recent theatre credits include Dance Nation, The Secretary (Theatre en Bloc), Significant Other (Jarrott Productions) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Festival). Myburgh has also appeared as Anna’s Nurse on Chicago Fire and you can see her in Yellow Rose, to be released

by Sony Pictures later this year. She is represented by Collier Talent. susanmyburgh.com Cat Palacios (Poppy) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process also pursuing a certificate in Japanese. Recent credits include 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019), Chickens in the Yard (Vortex Rep), The Women of __ (a song not song) (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019) and the role of “Lester Stilwell” in Matawan (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2018), in addition to several other projects.

Zac Thomas (Jack) hails from Butte, Montana and studied acting at the University of Montana. He is an acting company member with Hyde Park Theatre and Austin Playhouse.

Recent credits include “Elias” in John (Hyde Park Theater), “Ned” in Small Mouth Sounds (Capital T Theatre), “Joe” in Waiting for Lefty (Street Corner Arts) and “Brick” in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (Austin Shakespeare). He also works as a designer and technical director and is the founder of Rabbit Rung Design.

Michael Williams (Ralph) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process. Recent credits include Maelstrom (Texas University Theatre Guild, 2018), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Creative Arts + Theatre, 2018) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Texas University Theatre Guild, 2019).

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Tjipetir: A Search History

by I.B. Hopkins Directed by Jess Shoemaker March 5-6, 8, 13 at 7:30 p.m

Acting Studio (WIN 2.180) F. Loren Winship Building

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

Liz Engelman – Dramaturg • Robert Fisher – Sound Designer • Natalie George – Lighting Designer Aydin Haleftiras – Stage Manager • David Hernandez – Technical Director I.B. Hopkins – Playwright • Lisa Laratta – Scenic Designer and Costume Designer Jess Shoemaker – Director

CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Tour Guide/Dr. Tromp de Haas �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Alex Armbrüster The Etymologist ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Grace Featherston The Kapitanleutnant �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Manuela Guerra The Sub-Sub Librarian ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Aamer Husain Charles Ensemble ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Hannah Kelly Charles Ensemble ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Indya McKnight Charles Ensemble ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Andrea Nuñez The Receiver of the Wreck ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Nelson Nwachukuu The Cable Layer �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Mika O’Dwyer Charles ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Jadzia Padilla Charles Ensemble ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Montserrat Santibanez

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CREATIVE Liz Engelman (Dramaturg) teaches in the Playwriting and Directing Area in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. She has been involved with UTNT as dramaturg and/or co-curator along with Steven Dietz for the past six years, and has been a faculty co-producer of The Cohen New Works Festival.

When Engelman isn’t at UT, she serves as the director of Tofte Lake Center, an artist retreat center located in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

Robert Fisher (Sound Designer) is a musician and performer in Austin with Rude Mechs and Hyde Park Theatre. Fisher has co-created, designed and/or performed with the Rude Mechs since 2000, including Field Guide, Requiem for Tesla, Fixing Timon of Athens, and Now Now Oh Now. For Hyde Park Theatre, Fisher recently designed for the regional premieres of Wakey Wakey, The Wolves, The Moors and John and he last appeared in The Hunchback Variations.

Natalie George (Lighting Designer) enjoys making magic with light, producing unwieldy events in out-of-the-way spaces and exploring conversation through performance.

She was instrumental in the growth of the Fusebox Festival, working as the festival producer for 10 years until 2014, when she left to found Natalie George Productions.

George was chosen as the “Best Out-There Producer-Designer” in the Austin Chronicle’s Best of 2017. nataliegeorgeproductions.com Aydin Haleftiras (Stage Manager) is a firstyear B.A in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management. Tjipetir: A Search History is the second show that he has worked on with Texas Theatre and Dance, but it is the first show he has stage managed.

I.B. Hopkins (Playwright) is a third-year M.F.A. in Playwriting candidate at The University of Texas at Austin from Gainesville, Georgia. He writes about obsession, empire collapse, unruly time and the analog magic that knits us all together.

His plays and musicals have been performed in Atlanta, New York, Savannah and Austin.

Lisa Laratta (Scenic Designer and Costume Designer) received her B.F.A. in Toronto, Ontario and her M.F.A. in Design and Technology from The University of Texas at Austin and has been in Austin, Texas ever since. Laratta creates vast, detailed worlds for stage and screen using architecture, furniture, fabric, string, found objects, light and paint. Some of the projects she has designed for include Plano, Poor Herman and Baal (paper chairs) and Now Now Oh Now and Stop Hitting Yourself (Rude Mechs).

Jess Shoemaker (Director) is a director/playwright currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Directing.

Last semester, Shoemaker directed 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) for The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Theatre and Dance. This will be her third year directing for UTNT (UT New Theatre). Previous directing credits include Flora Circular (2019) and Loverboy (2018). Professional credits include Venus is Fur (Great River Shakespeare Festival) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Grandstreet Theatre). Before coming to graduate school and falling madly in love with new work, Shoemaker spent 10 years acting, coaching and teaching classical text. Her own plays have enjoyed extended runs in Chicago and Los Angeles.

David Hernandez (Technical Director) is a fourth-year UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (PPP Graduate Student Alliance, 2018), The Cohen New Works Festival (2019) and the Collaborative Escape Room Project (Texas Applied Arts, 2019).

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CAST

Alex Armbrüster

Grace Featherston

Manuela Guerra

Ameer Husain

Hannah Kelly

Indya McKnight

Andrea Nuñez

Nelson Nwachukwu

Mika O’Dwyer

Jadzia Padilla 12

Montserrat Santibanez

CAST Alex Armbrüster (Tour Guide/Dr. Tromp De Haas) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major and ASL minor. She most recently puppeteered for & Medea and played “Bobbi” in All Happy Families Are The Same.

Grace Featherston (The Etymologist) is a firstyear UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include Critical Failures (Take The Wheel Productions).

Manuela Guerra (Kapitanleutnant) is pursuing a B.A. in Theatre and Dance and a B.S. in Journalism. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include ENRON (2018), Loverboy (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2018), Luna (2017) and oUr rooTs as part of The Cohen New Works Festival (2019).

Aamer Husain (The Sub-Sub Librarian) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major from Plano, Texas. Before coming to The University of Texas at Austin, he attended Collin College, where he learned from Gail Cronauer and was a part of the school’s theatre productions.

Hannah Kelly (Charles Ensemble) is a secondyear UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. She has prior experience in acting, directing, stage management and competitive dance. Her recent work includes stage management for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Circle Theatre, 2019), direction of 39 Inside (Cohen New Works Festival, 2019) and the role of “Mrs. Oates” in The Spiral Staircase (Alpha Psi Omega, 2018).

Indya McKnight (Charles Ensemble) is a second-year UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin from San Antonio, Texas. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include her role in DOPE FIT! as a part of The Cohen New Works Festival (2019), in addition to other projects.

Andrea Nuñez (Charles Ensemble) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. Previous credits include The Wonder of the World and All Happy Families Are The Same (Roundabout Players).

Nelson Nwachukwu (The Receiver of Wreck) 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. He has experience in both stage and film. Recent projects include a student-directed play called Critical Failures along with an upcoming short film entitled Music To Die To. Mika O’Dwyer (The Cable Layer) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. She enjoys singing, dancing and acting. This is her first mainstage production with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Jadzia Padilla (Charles) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. She worked on the Wardrobe Crew for 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019) and she performs with K-Beat, a Kpop dance organization at UT. Montserrat Santibanez (Charles Ensemble) is a second-year double major pursuing a B.A. in Theatre and Dance with an emphasis in performer’s process also pursuing a degree in international relations and global studies with an emphasis in Latin America and human security at The University of Texas at Austin. She is an actor, dancer and singer with a passion for human rights and social justice. Recent credits at Texas Theatre and Dance include Matawan, Noises and Voices: A Recollection of Ghost Stories, The Sacrament of Matrimony and S.E.E.D.

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A Fistful of Trespassing

by Minghao Tu Directed by Anna Skidis-Vargas March 5, 7, 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Lab Theatre F. Loren Winship Building

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

Lowell Bartholomee – Sound Designer • Callie Blackstock – Stage Manager Delena Bradley – Scenic Designer • Liz Engelman – Dramaturg • John Erickson – Projection Designer Andy Grapko – Intimacy Director • Libby Jantz – Lighting Designer Adam Miller-Batteau – Fight Director • Court Rogers – Costume Designer Anna Skidis Vargas – Director • David Tolin – Technical Director • Minghao Tu – Playwright

CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Guy/Blondie ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Sultan Abboushi Mee ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Ashley Bowen Captain/Talk Show Host �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Elizabeth George Ann/Girl ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Danielle Kane Commander Sky/Chief ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Cielo Ortiz Mover �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Attia Rasul Mover ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Elijah Rodriguez Clint/John �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Oscar Salinas Liberty ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Nathan Tran Mover ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Kobe Williams

CREATIVE Lowell Bartholomee (Sound Designer) is an Austin-based actor, playwright and maker of sound and video designs. His work has been heard and/or seen in productions from Capital T, Hyde Park Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Street Corner Arts, Penfold Theatre Company and other companies local and nationwide.

Onstage, he was most recently seen in Tiny Beautiful Things at Austin Playhouse and Heartland at Vortex Rep. He is a company member of Rude Mechs and Hyde Park Theatre.

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Callie Blackstock (Stage Manager) is a secondyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include The Hero Twins: Blood Race, 30 Floods (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2018) and Matawan, as well as Lloronx as part of The Cohen New Works Festival (2019).

CREATIVE Delena Bradley (Scenic Designer) is a third-year M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume design. She joins The University of Texas at Austin from Chicago, Illinois where she designed costumes and scenery for theatre and film. Recent credits include production and costume design for Addict Named Hal (upcoming film by Lane Michael Stanley), installation design for the Creek Monster Habitat (Creek Show, 2019), scenic design for Everybody (PPP Graduate Student Alliance), costume design for 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) (Texas Theatre and Dance) and Giullio Cesare (Chicago Summer Opera). Bradley graduated from Ball State University in 2012.

Liz Engelman (Dramaturg) teaches in the Playwriting and Directing Area in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. She has been involved with UTNT as dramaturg and/or co-curator along with Steven Dietz for the past six years, and has been a faculty co-producer of The Cohen New Works Festival.

When Engelman isn’t at UT, she serves as the director of Tofte Lake Center, an artist retreat center located in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

John Erickson (Projection Designer) is a first-year M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in integrated media for live performance. Projection design credits include Less than 50% (59 E 59), The Reality Plays (The Flamboyan), The Bridgette Hobbes Connection (Tisch School of the Arts) and Winners (Ensemble Theatre). Associate Design credits include Be More Chill (Broadway), 50 Song Memoir (International Tour), Josephine (Asolo Rep) and Soul: The Stax Musical (CenterStage Theatre). jericksondesign.com Andy Grapko (Intimacy Director) is a lecturer and graduate coordinator for the Department of Theatre and Dance. She earned her Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an M.A. with a focus in directing from Miami University in Ohio. A director for over 20 years with a significant movement background, she is a Stage Directors and Cho-

reographers Society Associate and a member of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators. She has also done intimacy training through Intimacy Director’s International.

Libby Jantz (Lighting Designer) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in design and technology. She has a background in both lighting design and electrician work.

Recent collegiate design credits include All Happy Families Are The Same (Round About Players, 2019), Critical Failures (Take The Wheel Productions, 2019) and multiple projects with The Cohen New Works Festival (2019).

Adam Miller-Batteau (Fight Director) is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and has choreographed fights for over a decade, staging violence in over 100 productions. Recently, Miller-Batteau has begun expanding his fight direction to intimacy direction and choreography. Recent fight and intimacy credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include ENRON, The Crucible, Anon(ymous) Matawan, The Merchant of Venice and Little Women the Broadway Musical; Trio and A Delicate Ship (Filagree Theater Company); Starmites, Animal Farm and Cyrano (McCallum Theater); and Richard III (Mosaic Youth Theater). Selected directing credits: Greater Tuna, Peter and the Starcatcher and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Georgetown Palace Theater); Twelfth Night, Macbeth, She Kills Monsters and Tartuffe (Stagedoor Manor).

Court Rogers (Costume Designer) is a first-year M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume design. Recent design credits include work on multiple pieces for Dance Repertory Theatre’s Fall For Dance (2019).

Anna Skidis Vargas (Director) is a director and play-maker who subverts stereotypes through myth, spirituality and humor. She works primarily in devising and developing new work, with a focus on Latinx and mixed identity stories. She is 15

CREATIVE the founding artistic director of Theatre Nuevo in Saint Louis, and is currently an M.F.A. in Directing candidate at The University of Texas at Austin, where she directed Spring Awakening (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019), Lloronx (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2019) and 30 Floods (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2019). skidisvargas.com 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.

Minghao Tu (Playwright) is a M.F.A. in Playwriting candidate at the Michener Center for Writers at The University of Texas at Austin. His plays have been developed, presented and produced at Voyage Theater Company, Tofte Lake Center, New York Public Library, Alchemical Theatre Lab, Ground Floor Theatre and Lucky Chaos Productions. His work has been featured on The Steppenwolf Theatre’s THE MIX and on the alternate list at Ucross Foundation. He has been a semifinalist at PlayPenn and American Shakespeare Center and he is a member of the Dramatists Guild and the Playwrights Center.

CAST Sultan Abboushi (Guy/Blondie) is a fourthyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process. On campus, he has performed as “Deputy” in The Crucible, “ Banquo” in Macbeth, “Big Stone” in Eurydice, “Lorenzo” in The Merchant of Venice, “Chorus” in 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) and “Cassius/Angelo” in Tales of the Globe. Other credits include the role of “Longaville” in Love Labour’s Lost, “Ensemble” in Julius Caesar, “Bertram” in All’s Well That Ends Well and “Michael” in Arden of Faversham.

Ashley Bowen (Mee), originally from Dallas, Texas, is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process also pursuing B.A. in Government at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include the roles of “The Town” in 30 Floods (UTNT 16

(UT New Theatre), 2019) and “Gertrude” in 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs). She was also seen as “Shadow Clara” in The Battlefields of Clara Barton workshop (ZACH Theatre).

Elizabeth George (Captain/Talk Show Host) is a third-year B.F.A in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include the role of “Ophelia” in 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) and “Sam” in Land of Opportunity (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2019). Upon graduation, she plans to move to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

Danielle Kane (Ann/Girl) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process also pursuing a degree in public relations at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include “Ensemble” in Spring Awakening,

CAST

Sultan Abboushi

Ashley Bowen

Elizabeth George

Danielle Kane

Cielo Ortiz

Attia Rasul

Elijah Rodriguez

Oscar Salinas

Nathan Tran

Kobe Williams

“Strauss” in Flowers for Algernon, “Louisa” in The Fantasticks and “Campbell” in Bring It On: The Musical. She also performs with the UT a cappella group, The Ransom Notes.

Cielo Ortiz (Commander Sky/Chief) 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. Originally from Houston, Texas, she plans to further develop and diversify her skills as a theatre-maker through her studies and work.

This is her first mainstage production with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Attia Rasul (Mover) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major (Honors) also pursuing minors in business administration and radio-television-film. Recent credits include All Happy Families Are The Same, Skin of Our Teeth, Fade, The Spiral Staircase, Book of Liz, Midnight in Malaya and 55th and 9th, A Musical.

Elijah Rodriguez (Mover) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process. Upon graduating in

2022, he plans to move to New York City to pursue a career as a performance artist.

Oscar Salinas (Clint John) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits with Texas Theatre and Dance’s include “Ernst” in Spring Awakening, “ Dr. Perry” in The Spiral Staircase (Alpha Psi Omega), “Grant” in Gay Bootcamp and “God” in A Snake in the Grass (Cohen New Works Festival, 2019).

Nathan Tran (Liberty Vale) is a second-year UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. He is from Plano, Texas, which is where he began his background in theatre.

Recent credits include “Georg” in Spring Awakening (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019).

Kobe Williams (Mover) is a first-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. He has an extensive background in acting and physical acting. This is his first performance with Texas Theatre and Dance.

17

Bog Butter

by Cecelia Raker Directed by Khristián Mendez Aguirre March 4, 12 at 7:30 p.m.

March 7 at 5:00 p.m.

March 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Acting Studio (WIN 2.180) F. Loren Winship Building

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

Khristián Mendez Aguirre – Director • Liz Engelman – Dramaturg David Hernandez – Technical Director • Robert Fisher – Sound Designer Stephanie Fisher – Costume Designer and Scenic Designer • Natalie George – Lighting Designer David Hernandez – Technical Director • Adam Miller-Batteau – Fight Director Julio Muñoz – Stage Manager • Cecelia Raker – Playwright

CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Future Daughter �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Amaya Armstrong B ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Adara Felix Mother ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Lana Lesley Past Daughter ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Bella Ray A �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Juleeanne Villareal

18

CREATIVE Khristián Méndez Aguirre (Director) is a relentless theatre-maker and arts-based researcher from Guatemala City. He’s a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent directing and producing credits include a zero-waste production of Anne Washburn’s Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play (recipient of two B. Iden Payne Awards), the Austin premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Everybody, Ariana Reines’ Telephone and Adam R. Burnett’s Mammoth. khristianmendez.com Liz Engelman (Dramaturg) teaches in the Playwriting and Directing Area in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. She has been involved with UTNT as dramaturg and/or co-curator along with Steven Dietz for the past six years, and has been a faculty co-producer of The Cohen New Works Festival.

When Engelman isn’t at UT, she serves as the director of Tofte Lake Center, an artist retreat center located in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

Robert Fisher (Sound Designer) is a musician and performer in Austin with Rude Mechs and Hyde Park Theatre. Fisher has co-created, designed and/or performed with the Rude Mechs since 2000, including Field Guide, Requiem for Tesla, Fixing Timon of Athens, and Now Now Oh Now. For Hyde Park Theatre, Fisher recently designed for the regional premieres of Wakey Wakey, The Wolves, The Moors and John and he last appeared in The Hunchback Variations.

Stephanie Fisher (Costume Designer and Scenic Designer) is a third-year M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume design at The University of Texas at Austin. She earned her B.A. in Theatre from Baldwin Wallace University. Fisher has designed costumes for Spring Awakening, Matawan (B. Iden Payne Award nominee), Mammoth (B. Iden Payne Award nominee), Good Country (Cohen New Works Festival 2019) and Dance Repertory Theatre (Transcendence, Fortitude and Fall For Dance, 2017). Her thesis work examines how designers combine imagination with research and

respect to illuminate cultural stories on stage.

Natalie George (Lighting Designer) enjoys making magic with light, producing unwieldy events in out-of-the-way spaces and exploring conversation through performance.

She was instrumental in the growth of the Fusebox Festival, working as the festival producer for 10 years until 2014, when she left to found Natalie George Productions.

George was chosen as the “Best Out-There Producer-Designer” in the Austin Chronicle’s Best of 2017. nataliegeorgeproductions.com David Hernandez (Technical Director) is a fourth-year UTeach Theatre major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (PPP Graduate Student Alliance, 2018), The Cohen New Works Festival (2019) and the Collaborative Escape Room Project (Texas Applied Arts, 2019).

Adam Miller-Batteau (Fight Director) is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and has choreographed fights for over a decade, staging violence in over 100 productions. Recently, Miller-Batteau has begun expanding his fight direction to intimacy direction and choreography. Recent fight and intimacy credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include ENRON, The Crucible, Anon(ymous) Matawan, The Merchant of Venice and Little Women the Broadway Musical; Trio and A Delicate Ship (Filagree Theater Company); Starmites, Animal Farm and Cyrano (McCallum Theater); and Richard III (Mosaic Youth Theater). Selected directing credits: Greater Tuna, Peter and the Starcatcher and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Georgetown Palace Theater); Twelfth Night, Macbeth, She Kills Monsters and Tartuffe (Stagedoor Manor).

Julio Muñoz (Stage Manager) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin. His recent credits with Texas Theatre 19

CREATIVE and Dance include stage management for Tales from the Globe and assistant stage management for Dance Repertory Theatre’s Fortitude.

received the 2019 and 2018 Kennedy Center Darrel Ayers TYA Award, 2016 Princess Grace Award (runner up) and placement on the 2016 Kilroys List (honorable mention). Her plays have been performed at Fresh Ink Theatre, Cohesion Theatre, Venus Theatre, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, the ART Loeb Experimental Theater.

She is an M.F.A. in Playwriting candidate at the Michener Center for Writers at The University of Texas at Austin. ceceliaraker.weebly.com

Cecelia Raker (Playwright) is a playwright and librettist from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Current projects include an interactive challah-baking solo piece, a YA novel, a binary-busting mermaid adventure and one of the first opera roles ever written for a trans singer. Her work has

CAST Amaya Armstrong (Future Daughter) is a thirdyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. Upon graduating, she plans to pursue an acting career in film and television. This is her first performance with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Adara Felix (B) is a second-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 as “Helen” in The Spiral Staircase (Alpha Psi Omega), “Owen” in Gay Bootcamp (Cohen New Works Festival, 2019) and “Martha” in Spring Awakening (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019).

Lana Lesley (Mother) is a co-producing artistic director for Rude Mechs. Lesley has created, produced and/or performed in over 30 original Rude Mechs productions, including Field Guide (Yale Repertory Theatre), Stop Hitting Yourself (Lincoln Center Theatre), Now Now Oh Now (Duke University), I’ve Never Been So Happy (Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre) and The Method Gun. Lesley co-created Grageriart’s Design for Everyone with Peter Stopschinski and her graphic novel, rude mechs’ Lipstick Traces, was published June 2019.

20

Bella Ray (Past Daughter) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major at The University of Texas at Austin. Previous credits include “Mr(s).

Smith” in The Bald Soprano and “Felicity” in Land of Opportunity (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2019).

Juleeane Villarreal (A) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent acting roles include “Louisa Vansant” in Matawan (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2018) and “Adult Woman” in Spring Awakening (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019).

Upon graduation, Villarreal plans to pursue a career in film and theatre.

CAST

Amaya Armstrong

Adara Felix

Bella Ray

Lana Lesley

Juleeane Villarreal

21

Not Omaha

by Paul William Kruse Directed by Lane Michael Stanley March 4, 13 at 7:30 p.m.

March 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Lab Theatre F. Loren Winship Building

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

Lowell Bartholemee – Sound Designer • Delena Bradley – Scenic Designer • Libby Carr – Dramaturg Sara Chaney – Lighting Designer • Liz Engelman – Dramaturg • Harold Horsley – Costume Designer Paul William Kruse – Playwright • Adam Miller-Batteau – Fight Director Adam Noble – Intimacy Director • Lindsey Ollinger – Stage Manager Logan Smith – Projection Designer • David Tolin – Technical Director Lane Michael Stanley – Director

CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Shay �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������David Alvarez Sarah ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Katrina Gaedcke Jesse �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Phoebe Osbourne Impossible Forever ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Sophia Savellos Priscilla ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Victoria Schulze Henry ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Roberto Soto Peter �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Augustus Wheeler

22

CREATIVE Lowell Bartholomee (Sound Designer) is an Austin-based actor, playwright and maker of sound and video designs. His work has been heard and/or seen in productions from Capital T, Hyde Park Theatre, ZACH Theatre, Street Corner Arts, Penfold Theatre Company and other companies local and nationwide.

Onstage, he was most recently seen in Tiny Beautiful Things at Austin Playhouse and Heartland at Vortex Rep. He is a company member of Rude Mechs and Hyde Park Theatre.

Delena Bradley (Scenic Designer) is a third-year M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume design. She joins The University of Texas at Austin from Chicago, Illinois where she designed costumes and scenery for theatre and film. Recent credits include production and costume design for Addict Named Hal (upcoming film by Lane Michael Stanley), installation design for the Creek Monster Habitat (Creek Show, 2019), scenic design for Everybody (PPP Graduate Student Alliance), costume design for 12 Ophelias (a play with broken songs) (Texas Theatre and Dance) and Giullio Cesare (Chicago Summer Opera). Bradley graduated from Ball State University in 2012.

Libby Carr (Dramaturg) is a playwright and theatre-maker from Houston, Texas. Recent work includes what do you know about ghosts?, a movement piece created in collaboration with Mackenzie Lawrence (Fall For Dance, 2019). Their plays and movement pieces have also been featured at Revolve: A Movement Display, Ground Floor Theatre, The Cohen New Works Festival (2019), and Express Yourself Arts in Madison, Wisconsin.

Sara Chaney (Lighting Designer) is a thirdyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in lighting design at The University of Texas at Austin. Chaney spent the past summer interning with New York Stage and Film Company, honing her skills as an electrician (Poughkeepsie, New York). Recent design credits include Hamlettes (2019), Collective Repression (2019) and Land of Opportunity

(2019). Chaney has also assisted on multiple main-stage productions for Texas Theatre and Dance, including Spring Awakening (2019), Dance Repertory Theatre’s Fall for Dance (2019), Dance Repertory Theatre’s Fortitude (2019) and The Women of _______ (a song not song) (2019).

Liz Engelman (Dramaturg) teaches in the Playwriting and Directing Area in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. She has been involved with UTNT as dramaturg and/or co-curator along with Steven Dietz for the past six years, and has been a faculty co-producer of The Cohen New Works Festival.

When Engelman isn’t at UT, she serves as the director of Tofte Lake Center, an artist retreat center located in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

Harold Horsley (Costume Designer) is a M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in costume design at The University of Texas at Austin. Horsley strives to work in diverse workspaces that launch anti-racism, equal opportunity and intersectional feminism in theatre, film and television. Recent production credits include Fall for Dance (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019), Next to Normal and For Colored Girls Who have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf.

Paul William Kruse (Playwright) is a playwright, film/video maker and teaching artist from western Wisconsin. His work flows from his Queer identity, Catholic roots and ever-evolving experience of family. Kruse is a founding member of Hatch Arts Collective in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Here at The University of Texas at Austin, Kruse is pursuing an M.F.A. in Playwriting. paulwkruse.com Adam Miller-Batteau (Fight Director) is a lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. He is a certified teacher with the Society of American Fight Directors and has choreographed fights for over a decade, staging violence in over 100 productions. Recently, Miller-Batteau has begun expanding his fight direction to intimacy di23

CREATIVE Logan Smith (Projection Designer) is an M.F.A. in Design and Technology candidate with a focus in integrated media for live performance at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance. He has had the opportunity to work on projects including Spring Awakening and The Tiny Banger that both deeply utilized media, computer graphics and projections to assist in the storytelling of each performance.

rection and choreography. Recent fight and intimacy credits with Texas Theatre and Dance include ENRON, The Crucible, Anon(ymous) Matawan, The Merchant of Venice and Little Women the Broadway Musical; Trio and A Delicate Ship (Filagree Theater Company); Starmites, Animal Farm and Cyrano (McCallum Theater); and Richard III (Mosaic Youth Theater). Selected directing credits: Greater Tuna, Peter and the Starcatcher and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Georgetown Palace Theater); Twelfth Night, Macbeth, She Kills Monsters and Tartuffe (Stagedoor Manor).

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.

Adam Noble (Intimacy Director) is a movement specialist with acting, directing, movement coaching, intimacy, choreography and fight direction credits in the worlds of theatre, film and opera. He serves as Head of the B.F.A. Acting program at the University of Houston and Studio Movement Instructor for the Houston Grand Opera. Noble is a fight director with the Society of American Fight Directors, an intimacy director with Intimacy Directors & Coordinators and a proud member of both Actors Equity Association and Stage Directors and Choreographers. He teaches movement both nationally and internationally and has choreographed the physicality, violence and intimacy for well over 200 stage and film productions.

Lindsey Ollinger (Stage Manager) is a fourthyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in stage management at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent stage management credits include Crime and Punishment (Penfold Theatre) and the premiere of A Snake in the Grass (The Cohen New Works Festival, 2019).

Lane Michael Stanley (Director) is a director, playwright, filmmaker and producer. Stanley has won “Best Director” from Baltimore City Paper and received the Mayor’s Individual Artist Award.

Their plays have been produced by 18 theaters, including The Barter Theater, Kitchen Dog Theater and Island City Stage. At The University of Texas at Austin, they directed MotherWitch by Travis Tate (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2018) and Matawan by Dan Caffrey (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2018) and served as the student producer for The 2019 Cohen New Works Festival. lanemichaelstanley.com / addictnamedhal.com

CAST David Alvarez (Shay) is a B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process and is expected to graduate May 2020.

He transferred from South Texas College in McAllen, Texas his junior year. He was previously 24

seen in Noises and Voices: A Collection of Ghost Stories at The Cohen New Works Festival (2019).

Katrina Gaedcke (Sarah) is a second-year B.F.A. in Acting major at The University of Texas at

CAST

David Alvarez

Katrina Gaedcke

Victoria Schulze

Phoebe Osbourne

Roberto Soto

Austin. She spent her first year accumulating film credits via projects within the UT’s RadioTelevision-Film department. This is her first production with Texas Theatre and Dance.

Phoebe OsBourne (Jesse) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process. Along with acting, she also has a background in dance and technical theatre. Recent projects at The University of Texas at Austin include The Hero Twins: Blood Race, Creek Monster Habitat, 39 Inside, Somos La Mezcla and oUr rooTs. Sophia Savellos (Impossible Forever) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major. Recent acting credits include Critical Failures (Take the Wheel Productions) and Uncle Vanya (University Theatre Guild).

Victoria Schulze (Priscilla) is a third-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process and theatre for youth and communities at The University

Sophia Savellos

Augustus Wheeler

of Texas at Austin. Recent performances include “Somebody” in Everybody and “Shark Ensemble” in Matawan (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2018) as well as several projects as part of The Cohen New Works Festival (2019).

Roberto Soto (Henry) is a second-year B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in playwriting and directing (Honors) at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include 30 Floods (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2019), The Twenty-Fifth Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Tecatos. When not acting, Soto is writing (A Pregnant Pause and The American) and leading the team at SAFILM-San Antonio Film Festival.

Augustus Wheeler (Peter) is a sophomore B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process at The University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include Flora Circular (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2019) and All Happy Families Are The Same (Round About Players, 2019).

25

Toros

by Danny Tejera Directed by Mike Steele STAGED READING March 5, 11 at 7:30 p.m.

March 8 at 5:00 p.m.

WIN 1.134 F. Loren Winship Building

THEATREDANCE.UTEXAS.EDU

Arjon Bashiri - Stage Manager • Liz Engelman – Dramaturg • Michelle Habeck – Lighting Designer Mike Steele – Director • Danny Tejera – Playwright

CAST (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER) Stage Directions/Offstage Voices ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Mahagany Adair Juan ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������Jeffrey Gan Andrea �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Sarah Knight Toro ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� Zack Martin Tica/John ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Robert Pierson

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CREATIVE Arjon Bashiri (Stage Manager) is a fourthyear B.A. in Theatre and Dance major with an emphasis in performer’s process expected to graduate this May. After graduation, he plans to pursue a career in acting.

Liz Engelman (Dramaturg) teaches in the Playwriting and Directing Area in the Department of Theatre and Dance at The University of Texas at Austin. She has been involved with UTNT as dramaturg and/or co-curator along with Steven Dietz for the past six years, and has been a faculty co-producer of The Cohen New Works Festival.

When Engelman isn’t at UT, she serves as the director of Tofte Lake Center, an artist retreat center located in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota.

Michelle Habeck (Lighting Designer) has designed work that can be seen nationally in the nation’s most celebrated theatres. She designs for stage, architecture and exhibits. She enjoys collaborating on new work, lifting new voices and preparing new artists for the professional practice. Habeck is an Experiential Learning Ambassador and a Provost Teaching Fellow on faculty at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Theatre and Dance and Department of Arts and Entertainment Technology.

Mike Steele (Director) is a director, writer and performer from Chicago, Illinois. He is a company member with Trap Door Theatre where he recently directed The Killer by Eugene Ionesco, Sad Happy Sucker by Lee Kirk and founded the Trap Open Incubator Series. With Trap Door, Steele also toured Poland, Romania, Hungary and The Republic of Moldova performing in John Doe (adapted from The Madman and The Nun

by Witkacy) and Occidental Express by Matei Visniec. He was the founding artistic director of The Island Theatre where he produced, wrote and directed plays and original, immersive events around Chicago. His writing and original devised pieces have also been developed and performed at Links Hall, The Defibrillator Gallery, Collaboraction, Trap Door and Tricklock Theatre. Steele holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from Southern Methodist University and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. in Directing from The University of Texas at Austin. SteeleMike.com Danny Tejera (Playwright) is a writer and actor from Madrid. He’s worked on shows at Signature, Rattlestick, New York Musical Festival, NYC Fringe and Corkscrew Theater Festival.

Tejera is an alumnus of the O’Neill’s National Theater Institute and has worked for New Dramatists and The New York Times. He holds a B.A. from Columbia and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. at The University of Texas at Austin.

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CAST

Mahagany Adair

Jeffrey Gan

Mahagany Adair (Stage Directions/Offstage Voices) is a B.F.A in Acting major at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a sophomore with growing experience in acting.

Jeffrey Gan (Juan) is a performer, dramaturg and Ph.D. student in the Performance as Public Practice program at the University of Texas at Austin. Recent credits include “Evil� in Everybody (The New Materialists) and lead artist on Midnight in Malaya (Cohen New Works Festival). As a dramaturg, his credits include (Re)current Unrest (Charles O Anderson/Dance Theatre X), Queen of the Night (Salvage Vanguard Theater,) and Spring Awakening (Texas Theatre and Dance, 2019).

Sarah Knight (Andrea) is a fourth-year Humanities Major (Honors) studying Social Anthropology and Transmedia Studio Art. Her practice

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Sarah Knight

Robert Pierson

centers around identity performance and spans performance, movement, pedagogy, digital art and film. Her involvement with theatre at The University of Texas at Austin began last spring with The Cohen New Works Festival.

Robert Pierson (Tica/John) is an educator, actor, director and musician. His recent stage work includes It Is Magic, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia and The Strangerer (Capiital T Theatre), Catalina de Erauso and Hillcountry Underbelly (paper chairs), The Bigot (UTNT (UT New Theatre), 2017), The Hotel Vanya (Natalie George Productions), Bright Now Beyond and Pinkolandia (Salvage Vanguard Theater) and The B. Beaver Animation (Rude Mechs). Pierson teaches theatre at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired where he has directed productions for over 20 years.

We believe in and support the “slasher” artist: the writer/director/performer/entrepreneur theatre maker. Many of our playwrights are directors and many of our directors are playwrights. This year in particular, we have two accomplished graduating directors who are also prolific and produced playwrights. To celebrate the many hats they wear, it is with great pleasure that we include a reading of each of their plays as part of this extraordinary graduating cohort of slashers!

rain falls special on me

by Lane Michael Stanley Directed by Andrea Hart READING March 8 at 11:00 a.m.

WIN 1.134 F. Loren Winship Building

When it rains in Austin, Texas, the best place to stay dry through the night is behind the theater. Weather and circumstance bring together Milky, Snake, Miss Candace, Motor, Mac and Julie – all of whom are on the street for different reasons, here now to navigate their relationships, dreams and, often, survival.

The Book of Orpah

by Jess Shoemaker Directed by Andrea Hart READING March 7 at 11:00 a.m.

WIN 1.134 F. Loren Winship Building

“In the days when the judges rules, there was a famine in the land.” – Ruth 1:1 The Book of Orpah is a rich poem-play that traces the love of three women across their collective history, grappling with the impact of generational trauma, the nature of God and whether it is possible to reach one another across boundaries.

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CREW PRODUCTION MANAGER SKYLER TATEN ASSISTANT ARTISTIC PRODUCER RACHEL ASTON WARREN ASSISTANT DIRECTORS EMILY GARCIA (SOW AND SUCKLING) ALEX PASSANISSI (NOT OMAHA) LAUREN GOMEZ (TJIPETIR: A SEARCH HISTORY) SAVANNA COLE (A FISTFUL OF TRESSPASSING) ALFRED CHOU (A FISTFULL OF TRESPASSING) ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS LEAH BENAIM (NOT OMAHA) CAROLYN CULLEN (SOW AND SUCKLING) MIA GOMEZ-REYES (A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING) SYLVIA HANSEN (BOG BUTTER) JACOB JOSEPHI (TJIPETIR: A SEARCH HISTORY) ASSISTANT SCENIC DESIGNER SYDNY DEMEYER ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNERS AUSTIN ALVAREZ CAMRYN PATTERSON JANE PALACIOS JAMES HOAG ASSISTANT LIGHTING DESIGNERS LEAH BENAIM (TJIPETIR: A SEARCH HISTORY) POLLYANAA OHAIR (BOG BUTTER) COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TEAM ALEXANDRIA ARMBRUSTER ELIZABETH CARR RYAN CRUZ KACI PELIAS MCKENNA RICHARDS ARIANE STIER AVERY VALDES SCENIC STUDIO SUPERVISOR J.E. JOHNSON SCENIC ART SUPERVISOR KAREN MANESS ASSOCIATE SCENIC STUDIO SUPERVISOR JASON HUERTA MASTER CARPENTER HANK SCHWEMMER

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ASSISTANT CHARGE SCENIC ARTISTS ASHTON MURPHY MAGGIE ARMENDARITZ GRADUATE PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS ASHLEIGH BULLARD CHRIS CONARD

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS ALY REDLAND MADISON SHERIDAN PRODUCTION LEADS ZOE BIHAN DANIEL GELD SARAH GOMEZ ANAPAULA GUAJARDO DAVID HERNANDEZ ISABELLA HOLLIS TAYLOR JONES JAKE JOSEPHI JUAN LEYVA JULIO MUÑOZ ALEX PASSANISI BISHOP PEARSALL CHRISTIAN SCHELLER MADISON SHERIDAN HERNY WHEATLEY-RUTNER PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS DAVID ALVAREZ DORIAN ARRIAGA ARJON BASHIRI MAKAILE BISHOP AVERY BROKKS NAVAJI DAVID NAVA LEXI DISIMONE WILL GRESKOVICH ANTHONY LOPEZ LIZZIE MCELROY JAMES PRAEGER FERN RODRIGUEZ NICK SALDIVAR RAQUEL SCHMIDT KENNEDY THOMPSON SCENIC ART CLASS AUSTIN ALVAREZ (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) CLIFFORD BUNN STEPHANIE FISHER DAVID HERNANDEZ ISABELLA HOLLIS (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) MIKAELA KELAREK (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) ROXOLANA KRYWONOS (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) JUAN LEYVA (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF

TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) JULIO MUÑOZ (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) CHRISTIAN SCHELLER (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) JESSICA SELL HAILEY ROBERTS (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, BOG BUTTER, NOT OMAHA) FRANSISCO URIBE PROP SHOP SUPERVISOR REBECCA SWITZER ASSOCIATE PROP SHOP SUPERVISOR CAROLYN ALLINGHAM HARDIN PROP MASTER CAROLYN ALLINGHAM HARDIN (NOT OMAHA) MORGAN RIDDLE (A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING) REBECCA SWITZER (BOG BUTTER, TJIPETIR: A SEARCH HISTORY, THE BOOK OF ORPAH, RAIN FALLS SPECIAL ON ME) TAYLOR TRAVIS (SOW AND SUCKLING) HSIAOWEI CHEN (TOROS) PROP SHOP ASSISTANT MORGAN RIDDLE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT TAYLOR TRAVIS TEACHING ASSISTANT HSIAOWEI CHEN PROP STOCK MANAGER INDIRA RAMPERSAD PROPS CONSTRUCTION CREW GILBERTO BELTRAN GRACE FEATHERSTONE GISSELLE FREEMAN KAYLA JOHNSON HAZEL KENT NADIA CASTELLANOS LUGE QUALEE MARSHALL CARMEN MARTINEZ JAVIER RODRIGUEZ COSTUME PRODUCTION DIRECTOR NANETTE ACOSTA COSTUME SHOP ASSOCIATE MANAGERS DARCY WEBERG DESIREE HUMPHRIES

DRAPERS SARAH ALDRIDGE POUA YANG SARAH BARBOUR FIRST HANDS ANNIE ULRICH HSIAOWEI CHEN EMMA CRAIG AURORA KENYON DELENA BRADLEY STEPHANIE FISHER SAMANTHA GASHETTE STITCHERS MELISSA WONG-SIMPSON AUSTIN ALVAREZ ADVANCED COSTUME PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES TEACHING ASSISTANT SAMANTHA COLE COSTUME PRODUCTION CREW AMAYA COLEMAN ADARA FELIX GUINVERE GOVEA MADELYN MARTINEZ ALEXANDRA MCCOY CELINA NDIBWAMI SEBASTIAN OJEDA ALEXANDRIA PASSANISI HALEY ROBERTS OSCAR SALINAS JULIE WEBB JIMIN YU MORGAN CO FAITH MITCHELL WARDROBE SUPERVISOR ROXANNE ROHMANN STAGE CHIEF SAHIL BHUTANI (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, NOT OMAHA) WARDROBE CREW CHIEFS JANE PALACIOS JEREMEY CANALES WARDROBE CREW REBECCA CARRILLO (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, NOT OMAHA) LEXIE NELSON (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, NOT OMAHA) ISABELLA MAO (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, NOT OMAHA) MIA BELLA CASTILLO (TJIPETIR: A SEARCH HISTORY, BOG BUTTER) COSTUME CRAFTS ARTISAN TANYA OLALDE

CREW COSTUME CRAFTS ASSISTANTS LINDSEY RAE ALEXANDRIA MCCOY COSTUME SHOP OFFICE ASSISTANT JAMES HOAG COSTUME STOCK SUPERVISOR DESIREE HUMPHRIES COSTUME STOCK ASSISTANTS CAMRYN PATTERSON CHANNING MILLER 324P LIGHTING FACULTY SUPERVISOR SADIE LANGENKAMP SENIOR LIGHTING TECHNICIANS KENDRA WILEY AUSTIN SHIRLEY WILLIAM RIOS AMBER WHATLEY RON COLLINS NINGMO LIU

TEXAS THEATRE AND DANCE LIGHTING CREW DAVID ALVAREZ ASHLEY BOWEN JACOB EAKER DANIEL GELD LUIS GONZALES SAVANNAH GONÁLES VIDA JARRELL WILLIAM NWOBUM ELEANOR WALTER LIGHT BOARD OPERATORS JACOB EAKER (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, NOT OMAHA) JENNA WEATHERBIE (TJIPETIR: A SEARCH HISTORY, BOG BUTTER) AUDIO SUPERVISORS MIKE MALAK (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, NOT OMAHA) ASHLEIGH TAYLOR (TJIPETIR: A SEARCH HISTORY, BOG BUTTER) AUDIO BOARD OPERATOR EMILY WATSON MEDIA SHOP SUPERVISOR EARNEST MAZIQUE

MEDIA GRADUATE ASSISTANTS ZOEY CROW JOHN ERICKSON LOGAN SMITH MEDIA SHOP CREW PEDRO CASTANEDA ELIZABETH GEORGE KEILA GONZALEZ WILLIAM HAHN TANNER HUDSON DANIELLE KANE NEAL LAUBACH ANDREW MOE CARLEIGH NEWLAND MEDIA OPERATOR HEAVEN WILBURN (SOW AND SUCKLING, A FISTFUL OF TRESPASSING, NOT OMAHA) STAGE MANAGEMENT ADVISOR RUSTY CLOYES DIRECTING ADVISORS ALEXANDRA BASSIAKOU SHAW KIRK LYNN KJ SANCHEZ PATRICK SHAW

COSTUME DESIGN ADVISOR MARA BLUMENFELD COSTUME TECHNOLOGY ADVISOR JAMES GLAVAN LIGHTING DESIGN ADVISOR MICHELLE HABECK INTEGRATED MEDIA DESIGN ADVISOR SVEN ORTEL SCENIC DESIGN ADVISOR WILLIAM BLOODGOOD SOUND DESIGN ADVISORS CAROLINA PEREZ BEN TRUPPIN-BROWN DRAMATURGY/COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ADVISORS LIZ ENGELMAN ACADEMIC PRODUCTION MANAGER JEFF GRAPKO PHOTOGRAPHER LAWRENCE PEART GRAPHIC DESIGNER JEFF GRAY

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