Yale Cabaret 54: BLANK (2021)

Yale Cabaret in association with Aurora Nova Productions and Boat Rocker Entertainment presents

by Nassim Soleimanpour

cabaret______

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A note from the Cab It’s a particularly busy time at the David Gefen School of Drama. We have six diferent shows in some form of production – from budgeting to rehearsals to tech to performances – going on this weekend. That leaves very few students available to come make art at the Cabaret.

Kayodè approached me with the idea of doing White Rabbit Red Rabbit by Nassim Soleimanpour, a show that called for no director, no rehearsal, and very limited design. An elegant solution to our problem! And a very well-regarded experimental theater piece. Well…it turns out that Yale Cabaret did this show in 2012! Some of you may have seen it!

When I started digging into this idea, I found out about Soleimanpour’s newer show BLANK and got my hands on a script. I won’t tell you much about it…what fun would that be? It was written several years ago, before the pandemic, but it hit me hard now with how much I missed this form of collaborative storytelling. The last three shows have seen big, beautiful designs.

I’m excited to try a diferent type of show for Cab 4. How do we still tell a story when all those things are stripped away? The performers and the audience are asked to take a leap of faith. To create together. To maybe fail at it. I’m can’t wait to see how you all fll in the blanks.

- Sarah Ashley Cain, Artistic Director

A note from the show team As one of the actors in this production, I don’t know anything about this play except I’m not supposed to know anything about it. You shouldn’t either. Nassim Soleimanpour requires it to be this way. His play White Rabbit Red Rabbit premiered the experimental concept and, I’ve heard, BLANK is the follow up taken “to new extremes.” I don’t really know what that means… but it’s exciting to engage in this kind of work as we return to the same space. It’s amazing (or frightening) to be thrown into something without the privilege of time and study. Much of that feeling I equate to the early months of the pandemic. Even then, I found a generous amount of imagination and engagement that I believe is essential to live theater. A note I’ve often received in my training is, “You know too much!” Emphasizing that lack of discovery is detrimental to truth and an honest experience. Soleimanpour’s work not only requires a comfortability in the unknowable, it also invites the audience in using the unknowable to create together. He calls it the “theatre machine.” There are so many opportunities in creating something in this way. And so, I urge you and the artists involved to take the opportunity to let go of ideas and the attachments to knowing. So far, technology has been useful in keeping us together, but for less than 70 minutes, put down your phones, don’t share or look this show up. We’re back in the same space, breathing together in an honest quest for truth.

- Kayodè Soyemi, Co-Producer & Performer

Yale Cabaret in association with Aurora Nova Productions and Boat Rocker Entertainment presents

BLANK

by Nassim Soleimanpour CREATIVE TEAM Playwright Nassim Soleimanpour Producers Sarah Ashley Cain & Kayodè Soyemi

PERFORMERS Nov. 4 at 8pm Nov. 4 at 11pm Nov. 5 at 8pm Nov. 5 at 11pm Nov. 6 at 10pm

Doug Robinson* Stefani Kuo* Danielle Stagger* Anthony Holiday Kayodè Soyemi

Special Thanks: Cam Camden and Dominick Pinto Content Transparency: This show relies heavily on audience participation, making every performance unique. *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 Gefen 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 Paugusset, 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 afliated have benefted 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 sacrifce, and we must acknowledge the ongoing violence inficted on Black and brown people and the resulting impact and generational trauma still felt today.

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

Managing Director Sarah Scafdi

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 Grifth

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 Gefen 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 ($1,000-$2,499) Santino Blumetti Ann Judd & Bennett Pudlin Matthew Suttor Cliford Lee Warner

Advocates ($50-$99) Katherine & Chava Burgueño Mercedes Eugenia Matthew Sonnenfeld Jessica Wolf

Show Sponsors ($500-$999) Nina R. Adams & Dr. Moreson Kaplan Joan Channick & Ruth Hein Schmitt Latiana “LT” Gourzong Andrew D. Hamingson & Sarah A. McLellan Bill & Sharon Reynolds Paul Walsh

Contributors ($1-$49) Vanessa Bittner Barbara Cain Christopher Fottrell Carl Holvick Fran Karliner Laura J. Kirk Jane Lee Malcolm Alexis Maurice Christy Meyer Frances Osugi Janani Rajashekar Chantal Rodriguez Tori C. Rysz Joan Stukes-Maurice Johnathan Terry Bobby Weins

Enthusiasts ($250-$499) Pamela Jordan Supporters ($100-$249) Shaminda Amarakoon Bonnie L. Kramm Edwin Martin

Thank You To Our Sponsors!

$8 crafted drinks during late night happy hour!

What’s Next

BIG Announcemenents Coming Soon for back-to-back December productions!

Cab 5: December 2 - 5 Cab 6: December 9 - 11

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

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