Commedia Project, WAIT, NOW...WHAT?!, Yale School of Drama, 2018.

WAIT, NOW...

WHAT?!

Monday, April 9 at 8PM Tuesday, April 10 at 4PM and 8PM Wednesday, April 11 at 4PM The Studio, 217 Park Street

2 0 1 7– 1 8 S E A S O N

APRIL 9–11, 2018 YALE SCHOOL OF DRAMA James Bundy, Dean Victoria Nolan, Deputy Dean Chantal Rodriguez, Associate Dean Kelvin Dinkins, Jr., Assistant Dean

PRESENTS

WAIT, NOW...

WHAT?!

CHRISTOPHER BAYES AND THE COMPANY DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER BAYES

CREATED BY

CREATIVE TEAM

COMPANY

PRODUCTION STAFF

ADMINISTRATION

Associate Production Manager PHILLIP ALEXANDER WORTHINGTON

Associate Managing Director MELISSA ROSE

in alphabetical order

Production Dramaturg ALEX VERMILLION Stage Manager NICOLE MARCONI

BEN ANDERSON STELLA BAKER PATRICIA FA’ASUA SEAN BOYCE JOHNSON

Crew HARRY BEAUREGARD SAYANTEE SAHOO SARAH WOODHAM

Assistant Managing Director and House Manager ARMANDO HUIPE Management Assistant MAKIE GRAY

STEPHANIE MACHADO PATRICK MADDEN FRANCESCA FERNANDEZ McKENZIE SETAREKI WAINIQOLO Yale School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.

SPECIAL THANKS TK

Wait, Now...What!? is performed without an intermission.

PRODUCTION STAFF

ADMINISTRATION

Associate Production Manager PHILLIP ALEXANDER WORTHINGTON

Associate Managing Director MELISSA ROSE

Crew HARRY BEAUREGARD SAYANTEE SAHOO SARAH WOODHAM

Assistant Managing Director and House Manager ARMANDO HUIPE Management Assistant MAKIE GRAY

Yale School of Drama productions are supported by the work of more than 200 faculty and staff members throughout the year.

SPECIAL THANKS TK

Wait, Now...What!? is performed without an intermission.

WAIT, NOW… WHAT?!

What with Fergie’s failed attempt to jazz up the U.S. national anthem, the relentlessly accumulating truly “fake news” on social media platforms, and the entirely unbelievable statements from President Donald Trump, you’ve probably caught yourself on numerous occasions doing a double-take while exclaiming, “Wait, Now… What?!” After seeing tepid U.S. relief efforts in the aftermath of natural disasters, world leaders boasting about having the biggest missiles, and the horrific proliferation of school shootings, you might be screaming.

Or pulling your hair out. Or staring at your screen numbly as an existential crisis arises. Maybe you tried to do something about it, like posting a tweet with a politically relevant #hashtag. And now you’ve come to the theatre to recalibrate and recover. But mind your expectations.

Commedia dell-arte expert Antonio Fava says:

Commedia never squarely confronts the difficult issues, nor does it ignore them.

It deals with them, it manages them. It obtains comic catharsis by showing… everything that is difficult, prohibited, dangerous, and capable of provoking anguish in normal daily life.

Since 2006, the Commedia Project, directed by Christopher Bayes, has been an experimental space to take the temperature of the world, the society we live in, and ourselves. This year’s show is titled Wait, Now… What?! and focuses on daily microtraumas—those that occur in little doses, which affect our ability to move through space and connect with one another. Bayes wants his pick-up commedia troupe to begin in the “messy zones,” asking each of his actors to “plunge into the darkness courageously.” After diving deeply into the pains and pleasures of our country’s current turmoil, 2018’s commedia cast has emerged at the surface with music, dance, and creative expression as a collective with a piece that is designed to bring you joy, sadness, and just a little biting hope, so that the next time you ask yourself, “Wait, now… What?” you might take a minute to listen a little harder, think a little more clearly, and act a bit more quickly.

—ALEX VERMILLION, PRODUCTION DRAMATURG

The Studio Series productions are designed to be learning experiences that complement classroom work, providing a medium for students at Yale School of Drama to combine their individual talents and energies toward the staging of collaboratively created works. Your attendance meaningfully completes this process.