Yale Cabaret 54 - CONSTELLATIONS Program

A note from the Cab I haven’t been to the theater in-person in almost 18 months. I’m sure it is likely true for most of the audience members here tonight too. We first started the process of re-opening Yale Cabaret back in May when the possibility seemed… well… impossible!

We spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to “get it right” and stick the landing, so to speak. But during the process, it became clear that doing it together was more important than doing it perfectly. It’s taken many people to get us here. Our special thanks to Yale Cabaret’s staff, board, and company of Artistic Associates; Anna Glover and the Associate Safety Advisors; the School of Drama’s Deans, Operations team, and Business Office staff; our fellow DGSD students; and our families.

In many ways, coming back together has felt completely natural. During the first day of tech, we remarked how quickly our bodies fell into the rhythm of the dark room – calling cues, hanging lights, eating many sugary treats to keep us going. We are so grateful to have this team, the wonderful folks working on Constellations, to be the first production of Yale Cabaret’s 54th season. They have met the work with eagerness, joy, grace, and a willingness to jump into the unknown with us. Constellations feels very timely for this moment and for this re-opening. Nick Payne’s intimate piece explores love, loss, and the inescapability of time – concepts many of us have been grappling with during the pandemic. To quote Marianne from the play: “We have all the time we’ve always had… There’s not going to be any more or less of it.”

Thank you for exploring with us. Welcome Back.

- Sarah Ashley Cain, Artistic Director

A note from the show team Imagine the night sky.

Shades of different colors.

Dark blue, deep navy, or smoky black.

There may be the moon.

But we watch the stars.

Those seemingly aimless lights.

Let your mind float from one flicker to another.

Draw lines to connect them.

The sky becomes the canvas of your wandering mind.

Be it meaningless dots or beautiful constellations.

You dwell on them, and they dwell in you.

- Jisun Kim, Dramaturg

CONSTELLATIONS

- xx

Written by Nick Payne

Proposed and performed by Sarah Lyddan and Reed Northrup CREATIVE TEAM Co-Director Co-Director Scenic Designer Costume & Projections Designer Sound Designer Lighting Designer Assist. Lighting Designer Dramaturg Technical Director Producer Stage Manager

Alexandra Maurice Maal Imani West Emmie Finckel Meg Powers Bryn Scharenberg Alary Sutherland* Christina Dragen-Dima* Jisun Kim Abby Enstminger* Sarah Ashley Cain Andrew Petrick

CAST Marianne Sarah Lyddan Roland Reed Northrup ASL Performer Andrew Morrill Special Thanks: Shawn Boyle, Laura Copenhaver, Erica Fae, Anna Glover, Jennifer Gonsalves, Stan Mathabane, The National Theatre of the Deaf - Connecticut (NTD-CT), Hannah Tran, Eric Walker, and Tamilla Woodard.

Content Transparency: Strong language, depictions of abuse, conversations about suicide, death, and grief.

CONSTELLATIONS is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Originally produced on Broadway by the Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove, Executive Producer, and The Royal Court Theatre by special arrangement with Ambassador Theatre Group and Dodgers on December 16, 2014.

*Yale Cabaret Debut

Mission 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.

Values

Land Acknowledgement

Build Community

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.

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.

Leadership Team Artistic Director Sarah Ashley Cain Associate Artistic Director Abigail C. Onwunali

Managing Director Sarah Scafidi

Associate Managing Director Allison Delaney

Production Manager Joe Chiang

Collaborators Accessibility Coordinator Rebecca Satzberg

Cabaret Assistant Natalie King

Website Designer Laura Copenhaver

Graphic Designer Mikayla Johnson

Queen of Tarts at Yale Cabaret Dana Cesnik Doyle

Videographer Andre Griffith

Artistic Associates Community Engagement Kayodè Soyemi

Lighting Riva Fairhall

Costumes Kitty Cassetti Directing James Fleming Dramaturgy Nicholas Orvis

Projections Hannah Tran Scenic Marcelo Martínez García

New Work Danielle Stagger

Sound Bryn Scharenberg

Performance Cooper Bruhns Isuri Wijesundara

Stage Management Brandon Lovejoy

Producing Natalie King

Inclusivity Jacob Santos

Technical Direction Cam Camden

Board of Directors Matthew Suttor, Chair Benjamin Benne Samanta Yunuen Cubias

Kelvin Dinkins, Jr. 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 bringing virtual performance to a world-wide audience when the pandemic forced the theater doors to close. 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 2021 and beyond.

Cabaret Partners Matthew Suttor

Enthusiasts Pamela Jordan

Show Sponsors Joan Channick and Ruth Hein Schmitt Latiana “LT” Gourzong Paul Walsh

Contributors Laura J. Kirk Jane Lee Frances Osugi Janani Rajashekar Chantal Rodriguez Bobby Wiens

Advocates Katherine & Chava Burgueño

What’s Next #4 (formerly Untitled Prison Play) Written & Directed by Abigail C. Onwunali October 14 – 16 Four cells. Four women. Four spirits awaiting the day of their deaths. There isn’t much in here. Not much light. Not much air. But they have each other. This village they have built, within these icy walls, is the food that keeps their souls alive. Until the day of judgment, they live. They MUST live.

Penis Inspection Day Written & Directed by Matthew DeCostanza Proposed by Stephen Marks & Meg Powers October 28 – 30 In an expansive and omnivorous send-up of the western theatrical canon (that cannibalizes and reuses Shakespeare, Moliere, Schiller, Wilde, Wedekind, Brecht and so many others) join the students of Shallow Fen Preparatory Academy as they prepare for a new semester– not only one of maths and grammar, but of trickery and deception as well.

Giving Levels Honorary Season Producers $7,500+ • Invitation for two to a technical rehearsal and exclusive dinner with Cabaret leadership and artists (in-person, pending COVID restrictions) • Plus, all the perks below Season Sponsors $5,000-$7,499 • Recognition in the footer of our website • 28 total comp tickets or virtual access links (pending COVID restrictions) • Plus, all the perks below Champions $2,500-$4,999 • Dinner with the Artistic Director and Managing Directors (in-person, pending COVID restrictions) • Highlighted recognition in the lobby • 1 additional Cabaret 54 T-shirt (2 total) • 14 total comp tickets or virtual access links (pending COVID restrictions) • Plus, all the perks below Partners $1,000-$2,499 • Recognition in all pre-show curtain speeches and in the lobby • Advance access to Dragaret tickets (inperson, pending COVID restrictions) • 8 total comp tickets or virtual access links (pending COVID restrictions) • Plus, all the perks below

Show Sponsors $500-$999 • Recognition during your show’s curtain speech and in the lobby • 1 Cabaret 54 T-Shirt • 4 comp tickets or virtual access links (pending COVID restrictions) • Plus, all the perks below Enthusiasts $250-$499 • Personalized thank you video from the Artistic Directors and Managing Director • Plus, all the perks below Supporters $100-$249 • Invitation to all Yale Cabaret donor parties throughout the season • 1 Cabaret 54 Face Mask • Plus, all the perks below Advocates $50-$99 • Listing in Cabaret program • Plus, all the perks below Contributors <$50 • Listing on the Cabaret website

The unique art created at Yale Cabaret is made possible by the generous support of our donors. Your contribution will go directly towards supporting the work of the Cabaret and its artists as we explore this new paradigm together.

For more information, please visit our website, or call Managing Director Sarah Scafidi at 203-432-8338.

217 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06511 (203) 432-1566 || yalecabaret.org