Yale Cabaret 54: #4 (2021)

A note from the Cab

When Abigail shared the first draft of Act 1 of what was then the Untitled Prison Play, I knew that we needed to see it realized at the Cabaret. The characters of Mimi, Marisol, Jaz, and Morgan were so fully formed even before the script was finished. They felt like living, breathing people coming out of the page, and I had to know what fate awaited these women. Abigail’s play explores the humanness of people who are often stripped of their humanity by the carceral system - their love, laughter, friendships, resilience, fear, sadness, pain, and anger.

In the note below, the show team provides some shocking context for the current death row statistics in America. The conditions have been made even more dire by rampant COVID outbreaks in U.S. jails. If I may offer one more resource: Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis explores the ways in which the exploitative prison industrial complex disproportionately affects Black and brown people and ultimately has little effect on crime.

She calls for an end to this system with prison abolition.

Thank you to the #4 cast and creative team for bringing this piece to life with such tenderness, thoughtfulness, and beauty, and for giving voice to women who might otherwise be silenced.

- Sarah Ashley Cain, Artistic Director

A note from the show team

As of April 21, 2021, there were 2,504 people facing death sentences in the United States.

Currently over half of those inmates have been on death row for over eighteen years, and while conditions vary state to state and prison to prison, it’s not unusual for death row inmates to spend 23 hours a day isolated in their cells.1 And that one hour a day is by no means guaranteed. It’s a phenomenon referred to by the ACLU as “a death before dying,”2 with those sentenced to death in the United States facing two punishments—first life awaiting death, and then eventually execution.

For the 51 women currently on death row, the experience is perhaps even more isolating.

Many of the women on death row have experienced lifetimes of abuse, including sexual assault and domestic violence. This does not end in prison, where the majority of corrections officers are men.3 Because death row inmates are held separately from other prisoners and there are so few women facing death sentences, the isolation these women face can be essentially the same as constant solitary confinement. The opportunities for community and for comfort are few and far between.

And yet, these women will find a way.

- Lily Haje, Dramaturg

1 https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/death-row/death-row-time-on-death-row 2 https://www.aclu.org/issues/prisoners-rights/solitary-confinement/death-dying 3 https://www.aclu.org/report/forgotten-population-look-death-row-united-states-through-experiences-women

- xx

#4

Written and Directed by Abigail C. Onwunali CREATIVE TEAM Playwright & Director Assistant Director Scenic Designer Costume Designer Lighting Designer Associate Lighting Designer Sound Designer Dramaturg Producer Technical Director Stage Manager

Abigail C. Onwunali Thomas Pang KIMKIM* Risa Ando* Yichen Zhou* David DeCarolis* Evdoxia Ragkou Lily Haje Annabel Guevara Shaoqian Lu Natalie King

CAST Mimi Jaz Marisol Morgan Voice Over

Shimali De Silva Alexandra Maurice Maia Novi Madeline Seidman Patrick Ball, Malachi Beasley, & Abigail C. Onwunali

Special Thanks: Laura Copenhaver, John Horzen, Joe Krempetz, Cynthia Santos-DeCure, Bryn Scharenberg, and Hyejin Son. Content Transparency: Strong language, topics of incarceration, violence, abuse, death and some sexual references.

*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 A.J. Roy

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 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 2021 and beyond.

Partners Matthew Suttor Show Sponsors Joan Channick and Ruth Hein Schmitt Latiana “LT” Gourzong Paul Walsh Enthusiasts Pamela Jordan Supporters Shaminda Amarakoon Bonnie L. Kramm Advocates Katherine & Chava Burgueño Matthew Sonnenfeld Jessica Wolf

Contributors Vanessa Bittner Barbara Cain Mercedes Eugenia Carl Holvick Laura J. Kirk Jane Lee Christy Meyer Frances Osugi Janani Rajashekar William & Sharon Reynolds Chantal Rodriguez Johnathan Terry Bobby Wiens

What’s Next 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