Yale Cabaret 10: Felon: An American Washi Tale (2022)

A note from the Cab

Felon: An American Washi Tale’s journey to the Cabaret is over two years in the making! Dwayne and Elise first met with James Bundy, Dean of the David Geffen School of Drama, back in 2019 when they were thinking up the idea of a theatrical version of Dwayne’s book of poems. James then made the introduction to our Cab team last May as we were beginning to plan for our re-opening. Its unusual for the Cabaret to program shows that far in advance of the season, but as soon as we met Dwayne and heard his poetry, we knew that his work needed to be seen and heard here. The piece has since been workshopped at Princeton, performed in prisons, and had a Zoom version, as well. We are excited to see the next chapter in the life of this piece after its time spent with us.

Of course, the play’s journey really began with Dwayne’s teenage years – which you will hear more about from him directly. Dwayne’s show is an honest and poignant testimony on the failures of the criminal justice system, as well as his personal journey through it. We are grateful for Dwayne, Elise, Tyler, and the Freedom Reads team for bringing this show to our audiences and shining a light on an often-overlooked issue.

- Sarah Ashley Cain, Artistic Director

A note from the show team Onstage is a bookshelf which is crafted by New Haven fabricators Shannon and Dan Velázquez of J Joiners. It is a part of a Freedom Library, holding 500-book curated collections being installed in 1,000 prison housing units across the country by Freedom Reads. Founded by Reginald Dwayne Betts in 2020, Freedom Reads is a first-of-its kind organization that empowers people through literature to confront what prison does to the spirit. With the Freedom Library and literary programs that bring literary ambassadors and performances of books like this one into prisons, Freedom Reads supports the efforts of people in prison to imagine new possibilities for their lives. Freedom begins with a book.

Washi is Japanese handmade paper. When Dwayne and Elise first met to talk about creating a solo show based on his book of poems, Felon, Elise was just back from Japan where she has a decade long theatrical collaboration with a Japanese paper artist, Kyoko Ibe, called Recycling: Washi Tales (www.washitales.com). Elise asked about a reference to a papermaker in Dwayne’s first poem, a Persian form of interlocking couplets called “ghazal” that you can hear throughout the show. Dwayne, with professional papermaker Ruth Lingen, made paper from the clothing of his imprisoned friends, whom he had been locked up with and who were still chasing their freedom. The “prison paper” quickly became part of our set, strong, light, collapsible, easy to transport into prisons. So, the coincidence of our shared passion for papermaking set us off on this journey of making Felon: An American Washi Tale, which circulates around the idea of paper and its role in incarceration and transformation.

Felon: An American Washi Tale s

A solo performance by Reginald Dwayne Betts CREATIVE TEAM Writer & Performer Director & Developer Lighting Designer Original Lighting Designer Production Engineer Sound Designer Sound Engineer Stage Art Fabricators Dramaturg Stage Manager Costume Consultant Projections Engineer

Reginald Dwayne Betts* Elise Thoron* Tyler Sperrazza* Jane Cox* Ro Burnett Palmer Hefferan Bryn Scharenberg Kyoke Ibe* Shannon Velázquez* & Dan Velázquez* Taylor Barfield Tyler Sperrazza* Kyle Artone Henry Rodriguez

Special Thanks: Freedom Reads, Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton, Yale Law School, James Bundy, Joseph Mensah, Dean Gerken, Patrick Ball, Sebastián Eddowes Vargas, Eugenio Sáenz Flores, and Luke Bulatowicz “Terese Betts – very little I do in this world is possible without you. I love you.” - Dwayne Content Transparency: The production includes strong language and frank discussions on incarceration, crime, and state-sanctioned violence. *Yale Cabaret Debut

- xx

Mission

Land Acknowledgement

Yale Cabaret is a beautiful experiment of artistry and process. With every season and iteration, we build a home for David Geffen School of Drama at Yale students to imagine, create, and share their stories alongside our many communities.

The state of Connecticut and Yale University occupy the traditional, ancestral, and unceded lands of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, Quinnipiac, and other Algonquian speaking peoples. We honor and respect their continued relationship with and stewardship of this land, and we acknowledge that Yale University, Yale Cabaret, and those affiliated have benefited from the oppression of these Nations.

Values Build Community Community is central to our work at the Cab. We seek to build intentional and nourishing relationships with each other and the communities of Yale, greater New Haven, and beyond.

Keep Experimenting The Cab is the place for students to disrupt their process, take risks, and explore within and beyond their disciplines. Make a mess, try again, re-invent, and grow with us.

Welcome All We aspire to create a more inclusive and welcoming theater across our many diverse identities and backgrounds. You are invited to show up as your full self at the Cab.

Labor Acknowledgement Yale University does not exist independently from the centuries of forced labor and economic extraction of enslaved people, primarily of African descent, on which this country was built. We are indebted to their labor and their unwilling sacrifice, and we must acknowledge the ongoing violence inflicted on Black and brown people and the resulting impact and generational trauma still felt today.

Leadership Team Artistic Director Sarah Ashley Cain

Co-Managing Director Natalie King

Associate Artistic Director Abigail C. Onwunali

Co-Managing Director A.J. Roy

Production Manager Sydney Raine Garick

Collaborators Graphic Designer Mikayla Johnson

Box Office Assistant Bobbin Ramsey

Website Designer Laura Copenhaver

Videographer Andre Griffith

Artistic Associates Community Engagement Kayodè Soyemi

Inclusivity Jacob Santos

Scenic Marcelo Martínez García

Costumes Kitty Cassetti

Lighting Riva Fairhall

Sound Bryn Scharenberg

Directing James Fleming

New Work Danielle Stagger

Stage Management Brandon Lovejoy

Dramaturgy Nicholas Orvis

Performance Cooper Bruhns Isuri Wijesundara

Technical Direction Cam Camden

Projections Hannah Tran

Board of Directors Matthew Suttor, Chair Benjamin Benne Samanta Yunuen Cubias Kelvin Dinkins, Jr.

Libby JollyStone Reed Northrup Linda-Cristal Young

Our Supporters In 1968, David Geffen School of Drama at Yale students established a basement performance venue in the former home of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at 217 Park Street. Envisioned as an alternative outlet for drama school students’ creativity and experimentation, Yale Cabaret became a forum for our expanded New Haven communities, whom we invite to gather around food, drink, conversation, fellowship, and artistry.

Since its founding, the Cabaret has remained in continuous operation, including pivoting to virtual performance during the 2020/21 season. The Cab has produced hundreds of plays, old and new, alongside musicals and musical revues, comedy shows, dance, performance art, and genre-defying performance.

Our supporters have made this storied history happen. With their partnership, we continue this tradition into 2022 and beyond.

Partners ($1,000-$2,499) ActOUT Santino Blumetti Ann Judd & Bennett Pudlin Matthew Suttor R. Lee Stump & Abigail Roth Clifford Lee Warner Show Sponsors ($500-$999) Nina R. Adams & Dr. Moreson Kaplan Joan Channick & Ruth Hein Schmitt Audrey Conrad Kelvin Dinkins, Jr. & Alexis Rodda Latiana “LT” Gourzong Andrew D. Hamingson & Sarah A. McLellan Jim & Eileen Mydosh Bill & Sharon Reynolds Paul Walsh Yale Law School Yaro Yarashevich Grace Zandarski

Enthusiasts ($250-$499) Pamela Jordan Florie Seery James Sinclair & Sylvia Van Sinderen Matthew Tanico Supporters ($100-$249) Shaminda Amarakoon Anne Danenberg Cornelia Evans Jerry & Donna Lodynsky Bonnie L. Kramm Edwin Martin Advocates ($50-$99) Katherine & Chava Burgueño Donna K. Doherty Mercedes Eugenia Matthew Sonnenfeld Rosalie Stemer Jessica Wolf

Thank You To Our Sponsors!

$8 crafted drinks during late night happy hour!

What’s Next the father, the son, and the holy spirit Proposed and written by Matthew Elijah Webb Directed by Alexandra Maurice April 14 - 16 How clean must a son be to experience the full and unconditional love of his family? Of God? To what ends will he go to cleanse his mind, his body, and his spirit of all things impure?

Dragaret 54 Creative produced by Sarah Ashley Cain Presented in partnership with ActOUT April 22: Connecticut performers April 23: School of Drama performers It’s Yale Cabaret’s 54th season, so what better time to pay homage to Studio 54? The annual and acclaimed Dragaret is back in all its glory, high heels, and hairspray. In an ode to the late 1970s and the debauchery of the famed nightclub, come rub elbows with the fabulous Queens and Kings of Connecticut and School of Drag – oops, Drama – students in their sequined best. Meet us under the disco ball!

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