WISH YOU WERE HERE, Yale Repertory Theatre 2023

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SEASO N

A sophisticated, yet relaxed, hotel located in the heart of Yale University’s vibrant Arts Campus 2

Yale acknowledges that

CONTENTS

indigenous peoples

A Note from the Artistic Director..............5

and nations, including

Title Page..........................................................7

Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, and

Cast Page..........................................................8 From Our Dramaturgs...................................9 Woman. Life. Freedom............................... 15 Cast Bios..........................................................16 Understudy Bios........................................... 17

the Quinnipiac and other

Creative Team Bios...................................... 18

Algonquian speaking

For this Production..................................... 24

peoples, have stewarded

Yale Repertory Theatre Staff................... 25

through generations the

Accessibility Services and Team............. 28

lands and waterways of

Youth Programs...........................................30

what is now the state of Connecticut. We honor and respect the enduring

David Geffen School of Drama Board of Advisors..................................... 31 Our Donors..................................................... 31

relationship that exists between these peoples and nations and this land.

We also acknowledge the legacy of slavery in our region and the enslaved African people whose labor was exploited for generations to help establish the business of Yale University as well as the economy of Connecticut and the United States.

MASKING Masks are not required at Yale Repertory Theatre. Of course, audience members who wish to mask up during their attendance are welcome to do so.

FIRE NOTICE Illuminated signs above each door indicate emergency exits. Please check for the nearest exit. In the event of emergency, you will be notified by theater personnel and assisted in the evacuation of the building.

RESTROOMS are located on the lower level of the venue.

Yale Repertory Theatre, the internationally celebrated professional theater in residence at David Geffen School of Drama, has championed new work since 1966, producing well over 100 premieres—including two Pulitzer Prize winners and four other nominated finalists—by emerging and established playwrights. Seventeen Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering more than 40 Tony Award nominations and ten Tony Awards. Yale Rep is also the recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Established in 2008, Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre has distinguished itself as one of the nation’s most robust and innovative new play programs. To date, the Binger Center has supported the work of more than 70 commissioned artists and underwritten the world premieres and subsequent productions of more than 30 new plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theaters across the country.

MISSION

David Geffen School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre train and advance leaders in the practice of every theatrical discipline, making art to inspire joy, empathy, and understanding in the world.

VALUES Artistry

We expand knowledge to nurture creativity and imaginative expression embracing the complexity of the human spirit.

Belonging

We put people first, centering wellbeing, inclusion, and equity for theatermakers and audiences through anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices.

Collaboration

We build our collective work on a foundation of mutual respect, prizing the contributions and accomplishments of the individual and of the team.

Discovery

We wrestle with compelling issues of our time. Energized by curiosity, invention, bravery, and humor, we challenge ourselves to risk and learn from failure and vulnerability.

YALEREP.ORG 4

Alma Martinez and Camila Moreno in a scene from Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles by Luis Alfaro, directed

by Laurie Woolery. Photo © Joan Marcus, 2023.

A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Thank you for being here, and welcome to this performance of Wish You Were Here by Sanaz Toossi, the first production of the 2023–24 Yale Repertory Theatre season—our 58th!

Sanaz, who won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for her play, English, is a writer whose work we have admired for several years—she’s currently at work on a commission for Yale Rep. Last winter, as we planned our programming, we were drawn to Wish You Were Here as a flat-out funny, tough-minded, and poignant rendering of friendships among six women during a period of political revolution and cultural upheaval in Iran.

Even as the forces of history envelop characters, the personal remains a vital center of experience: people still get married, have children, and make other important life decisions during wars and revolutions. At the same time, the joys and sorrows of Iranian history from the 1970s to the 1990s may find resonances in the many cultures that we—a diverse 21st-century audience witnessing the global action of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement—bring to the theater with us.

Certainly, it is widely understood that lasting friendships are a predictor of lifelong happiness; we also know that none of us is perfect, and no friendship lasts without changes and ongoing commitment.

To specify the experiences and images bringing this work to immediate theatrical life, we have been fortunate to work with Sanaz; the director, Sivan Battat, who is an alum of Educational Center for the Arts (ECA) here in New Haven and Wesleyan University; an extraordinary cast; and a creative team who have brought to this production unique creativity and insight. It is a delight to share their originality and brilliant stagecraft with you, and to anticipate how much imagination and heart will be on display for you.

Later this fall, we present the world premiere of The Salvagers by Harrison David Rivers, directed by Mikael Burke (who recently staged Clyde’s at TheaterWorks in Hartford to widespread acclaim). Our spring offerings are Caryl Churchill’s Escaped Alone, directed by award-winning Resident Director Liz Diamond; and The Far Country, Lloyd Suh’s Pulitzer-finalist play, directed by Ralph B. Peña, whose production of Lloyd’s The Chinese Lady wowed audiences at Long Wharf Theatre in 2021.

I hope you will join us again soon. Tickets for all three productions are available now at yalerep.org. And it’s not too late to subscribe to the entire season: you can apply the cost of today’s ticket to a full subscription through November 17! Please call the Box Office at (203) 432-1234 to learn more.

As always, I look forward to hearing what you think about Wish You Were Here or any of your experiences at Yale Rep. The best way to reach me is by email at james.bundy@yale.edu.

Sincerely, James Bundy 5

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OCTOBER 5–28, 2023 YALE REPERTORY THEATRE

James Bundy, Artistic Director | Florie Seery, Managing Director PRESENTS

Sanaz Toossi directed by Sivan Battat by

Scenic Designer

Omid Akbari Costume Designer

T.F. Dubois Lighting Designer

David Anthony-Ken DeCarolis Projection Designer

Sam Skynner Sound Design and Additional Original Music

Mike Winch Hair Designer

Matthew Armentrout Production Dramaturgs

Amy Boratko Hannah Fennell Gellman Technical Director

Shawn Poellet Vocal Coach

Cynthia Santos DeCure Intimacy Director

Kelsey Rainwater

Production support for Wish You Were Here is provided by Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre.

Playwrights Horizons, Inc. New York City produced the World Premiere of Wish You Were Here in 2022.

Wish You Were Here was produced by the Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) in collaboration with Audible, released April 2021.

Wish You Were Here is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.

Wish You Were Here is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. concordtheatricals.com Yale Repertory Theatre gratefully acknowledges Carol L. Sirot for generously funding the 2023–24 season.

Yale Repertory Theatre thanks our 2023–24 season funders:

Casting Director

Calleri Jensen Davis Stage Manager

James Mountcastle

Season Sponsor:

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Cast in alphabetical order Nazanin........................................................................................................... Anita Abdinezhad Rana............................................................................................................... Vaneh Assadourian Salme..................................................................................................................... Bahar Beihaghi New Friend..............................................................................................................Sahar Bibiyan Zari.................................................................................................................... Ava Lalezarzadeh Shideh............................................................................................................. Shadee Vossoughi

Understudy Cast in alphabetical order Rana, second Zari............................................................................... Lucie Solène Allouche Nazanin.....................................................................................................................Sahar Bibiyan Zari......................................................................................................................... Ellena Eshraghi New Friend, Shideh......................................................................................... Naseem Etemad Salme.........................................................................................................................Maria Habeeb Assistant Stage Managers.............................................................................. Colleen Rooney

Ellora Venkat

Time and Place Living rooms in Karaj, Iran, from 1978 to 1991.

Wish You Were Here is performed without an intermission.

Content Guidance This play includes profanity, explicit discussion of sex, and cigarette smoking.

Recording and Photo Policy The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States states copyright law. For more information, please visit: concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists 8

Your childhood best friend might only be a text away, if you’re lucky enough to have a smart phone in your pocket and access to the internet. Or if you’ve lost track of each other, you may be able to play sleuth, aided by Google searches and scouring profiles on social media. Technology has made keeping in touch so much easier, so much cheaper, and made our world seem so much smaller.

Just a few decades ago, connection was more hard-won: a piece of paper carried over continents and oceans, from mailbox to bag to truck to ship to plane to truck to bag to mailbox. A long-distance call was measured in money: a moment spent together in silence over an international call might cost an hour’s labor. You could calculate the per-minute cost of every “I love you.”

Reunion might feel like a miracle, effort matched by serendipity and luck.

For the characters of Sanaz Toossi’s Wish You Were Here, connection was further complicated by rapid-fire societal transformations and seismic shifts in Iran, their home country. These are six women who came of age under the societal reforms of Shah Pahlavi’s 1963 White Revolution. Among other changes, the reforms of the 1960s granted women the right to vote and paved the way for the rapidfire societal change brought on by the oil boom. By the end of the 1970s, people—across political ideologies—rallied against the Shah and the monarchy he stood for. The cycle of protests and violent responses from the monarchy ushered in the 1979 revolution and take-over of the government by Khomeini and his followers, and quickly, the establishment of an Islamic state. The instability of the revolution precipitated Iraq’s invasion of Iran and the seven-year war that followed.

Dramaturgs Hannah Fennell Gellman and Amy Boratko interviewed the company of Wish You Were Here about home and friendship: two interwoven themes. Over cardamom coffees and macarons at New Haven’s Pistachio Cafe 2, these artists shared about homes lost and found, friends held dear and let go. These are just some of the intimate memories they shared.

—Amy Boratko and Hannah Fennell Gellman, Production Dramaturgs

Home is sitting around my gran dmother’s green and cousins. I couch with all t’s loud and ch my aunts aotic, and we’ve Shabbat dinne just finished hav r. We’ re in a fo in od coma, and so ga mebody’s scratc h in g my head.

And when

Meditations on home and friendship by the company of Wish You Were Here

le home is peop of pt e c on c My e in derstand m who can un enian si, and Arm En glish, Far 9 y. simultaneousl

Home is a re hear home is a com sal room. And munity pool w here I was on the swim team. I have had to find h ome in a Pers ian grocery store and with oth er Iranians.

e.

of good e, I think m o and h f o saffron hink t f I o k n e h in h W cle e. I t dance cir matic ric ed into a ll food, aro part u a p e g ettin nt to b g a w ly n y e il d r e. sud ecessa nd danc ht not n ve to go a a h o t that I mig g just goin of but I’m E IS S G O F HO M IN L E E F E TH U CH .

Q UITE TO YO U C AN’T

OMETHING

There’s some quo a bit. Eve own futures, want to get

MY MOM’S COOKING.

God, my mom’s parties were insane. She and her friends just had a blast. I did not party as much as my mom and her friends.

Yes, hom

Black c

I fe el to s like so man ay to a meone , a w And “You do oman m lways h n as n ’ a unha ot beca t have rrying to p ppy. Bu use the to do i a t. ul t brak l the e I’ll be bride’s ” m t e fo r yo ergenc he one u. y

ardamo

m tea.

went lution. And my parents vo Re e th ter af is n Ira so much.

All I know of olution, war, there’s just rev n, tio olu ev e-r pr h: uc through so m but all en after the revolution, be ve ha es liv eir th of y Now a majorit the United volution. We’ve been in Re e th re fo be n Ira is t they talk abou t. How it ’s still all they talk abou at th d an , de ca de a er States for ov y one day. still going to be that wa used to be and how it’s

My Th wh the

My friend is getting married in a few months. She’s the first in our childhood friend group that is getting married. I’ve known her since she was 12 years old. And I remember three years ago, she was talking about this guy. And now she’s getting married to him! She had always wanted to get married in her twenties and wanted to find a guy just like her fiancé. She spoke her intentions and sought after them. I’m really proud of her for finding the things that she’s yearned for.

ething about a wedding that changes the status eryone thinks about their ow n lives and their whether they’re in a partne rship, whether they married.

I remember being in a wedding and there was a family member dancing.

She show ed her back, and she had gotten her period. There was blood, part of her dress had gone up, and you could see a big old pad, and no one did anything! So, I just went behind her and danced with her from behind.

She had to make her way across the whole wedding party to say hi, and I just stood behind her.

BOTH feelings exist when your best friend gets married:

Yeah, I’m happy for you. You found someone you really like. But I’m not in a relationship and want to spend more time with you. And you don’t have as much time now.

used to om m y M tape self on put her cassette p and shi r f riends. he tapes to

of Iranian met plenty e v I’ s. st ti s. ar D TALK and husband IF I COUL many Iranian s e t e iv m w t d no an e s M WHEN I hav TO MY MO and dentist two worlds s y r e M y ER , w s. la r to d YO si SHE WAS UNG rsian ac ar Pe F doctors an d nd an ou ar sh LD HAVE een En gli get to be hquake I WOUURAGED HER TO And now I itches betw t ar sw e e an on y e r k e O ENC d ev ’S ce. I feel li UND. THAT combined, an n g all at on ti FUCK ARO ac t ou D ab N UP AN and talkin g IT. LOOSE my brain. e d si in E FUN. M g O n S HAVE is happeni

y mother is still in a group of her friends from when she was 18 years old. hey are like aunts to me. I would love to be a fly on the wall of their friendships hen they were 18 or 20. To know the things that bothered them, the things ey dreamed about. I would just love to know what life was like for them.

I THINK SOME FRIENDSHIPS ARE FOR A STAGE IN YOUR LIFE. THEY EMBODY A CHAPTER OF YOUR LIFE.

, it’s like you can always She was always in my life or around. In this new era of technologychildh ood. And she was my witness the person from a distance. She was my best friend fromwas Iranian, so she felt like first friend in America when I came to the United States. She hang out all the time. But home. My English was not super developed yet, so we would just us separate. It was horrible. then in high school, our families had a little tiff. And that made

I daydream about being a mom with my best friend all the time. She’s in a really grounded relationship. I think I’m a little jealous that I have less time with her, but I ’m also so happy for her. I’m scared because I’m like “you’re gonna probably marry this guy, and I’m not in a relationship right now. I want to experience the stages together.” I told her that in a hot tub and we made all the other people go away.

Then we started crying together. ce we iends sin fr t s e b friendship en I have be f friendship. Our d n a d n s o frie e same. enty y ear My best remain th s tw e r lu a e v v o. O cause our And just were tw st ron g be patient with me. y r e v s remain d and al and kin arted.

She’s loy e tender-h To this day, I’m immensely On my best friend ’s wedding day, we were helping he r get ready. I was tasked at one poin t to make the bride laugh beca use she was stress ed about something . I was crashing and burning on this. I was trying to crack jokes, but they were all com ing off kind of mean, like I was roastin g her. She was like, “Stop, stop, stop.

You’re not helpin g.” But she was ju st so nervous, and I was nervous, to o.

like “I was in the right and you were in the wrong.” I just want to be like, “Do you see my point now? Or are we still on opposite ends of this argument?”

I had a falling out with a friend. And then several years later, I reached back out and said , “Hey, I really miss you. Can we try? Can we try agai n?” When we met up, I gave her a big hug and imm ediately started crying. I said, “You smell the same.” And she said, “Yeah. Like sunscreen and swe at.” ver 2020, and I’ve ne She had a baby in e of the pandemic. us met the baby–beca eird disconnect w is th .

But there is rried and had kids because she got ma ase of my life than ph I’m in a different she is.

I was always the one who knew everything, maybe because I had the older sister. My friends would ask me about drugs, alcohol, and sex. I was the more rebellious one, but then when they would do these things, I would be the first person they would tell.

J

We could not call each oth weeks a er for nd not h a v e any ill for each feelings other. A nd one d need you ay, say, “ .” And t I hey’ll be I’ll pick t here, an up the p d hone and nothing talk as if has chan ged.

Female friendships are very hard for me. I function differently in those relationships than I do in any other relationship in my life.

I was going to break up with her, which was very sad. It wasn’t like a breakup, but it was like something else. And it was intentional. It felt very intentional on my end.

My best friend is three years younger than me. We met when she was in middle school, and I was in high school.

I don’t necessarily know the moment we became best friends. And don’t know the moment we became one. But it was that she was kind of like my younger sister. She JUST THE was the person that I had my first cigarette with, the SMELL OF PERSIAN FOOD . person with whom I first got drunk. We always called A friend from each other partners. It was partners in crime, partners in theater. And it was a big heartbreak when I moved to the elementary school is my oldest. Currently States. I called her last week, actually, and we talked. still in touch? Yes! I’m And I still send her gifts every year. So, she was wearing stil l friends with her the T-shirt I got her last year. Sometimes it’s like nothing because I have a loyalty has changed, but now in the past year, she’s in Iran seeing thi ng. I’ll hang on tight shit that I’m not seeing. So, she’s changed a lot. as long as I can…until you’re dead to me. But I’ve always stayed in touch with her because she was part of such an intense time in my life.

Her mom was the “cool mom,” so I experienced a lot of firsts with them that I could never MAK experience at home.

JOKE ING JOKE S, L O S. L O Sometimes we’ll be out TS O TS O of touch, but we always F LA F UGHT find our way back.

ER

I hate to be forgotten. Sometimes I call my friends in Iran. Of course, it’s coming from a place of truth but I’m sarcastically saying: “You don’t even think about me anymore.

I’ve been gone so long, but you’ve got your new friends.” One time one of my friends just stopped me and was like “Your presence is so loud. Everywhere we go, we just know you’re not there. So all the memories we talk about, it’s always about you. You are there. And sometimes we just have to move on because it hurts.”

Everyday I would

restart the of my friends, and I had to all to e by od go d sai ly the ial ent When I left Iran, I ess every single day with: all of nt spe I at th ple peo ose th of to start over.” process of friendship. So all ese people again and you have in 15 years. th see to ing go er nev re ou’ ven’t seen sudden it was like, “Y ink of these people that I ha ed. It’s a thing th I ds, ien fr t bes my of ink So, when I th ing that’s end sule frozen in time, not a th cap a collage e lik is ip dsh ien fr t bes Our these best friends gave me a of e On e. oic ch t no , nce sta that ended because of circum ghout middle school. We did this ritual where one of my throu ms. I of different pictures of us There was an exchange of ite it. t kep d an ir ha our of I closest friends cut out pieces A childhood toy. I don’t remember what I gave them, but me. got a necklace someone gave ause I still have those gifts. remember what I received bec D I HAVE RED MY LEGS ONCE, AN GA SU NE MI OF D IEN FR A HO UR .

THAN THEM FOR THAT RE MO E ON ME SO D TE NEVER HA

soccer.

und of so e h T I have My best friend took the pl a v two we ery vivid m sister in my life. She knowace of a e emo k si and through. Things that s me through traveling. MnyIran. My parrey of my last n house sad, things that make me make me togeth sisters and ts were e I r w , to have that kind of know happy. And fr e had friends oand every sinwgere in the so meone , it’s so intimate. ledge about hadiends more in tver. I bonded w le night hat on ith tho in my e s entire

life.

week t

han I

e

Before you flip to the next page or shut the program to immerse yourself in the world of these friends, we invite you to take a moment.

Picture your best friend.

What is the first thing you remember about them?

How did you meet?

When was the last time you spoke to them?

Do you remember that conversation?

What do you think they are doing right now?

Family photographs courtesy of Anita Abdinezhad, Sahar Bibiyan, Ava Lalezarzadeh, and Sanaz Toossi. Farsi passages courtesy of Bahar Beihaghi and Mithra Seyedi.

On September 16, 2022, Mahsa Jina Amini, a twentytwo-year-old Iranian woman, died in a hospital in Tehran after the Iranian police detained her for wearing her hijab improperly. While the Iranian officials stated that she died of a heart attack precipitated by an underlying health condition, many believe that brutality during her arrest was the true cause. Widespread protests erupted throughout Iran and around the globe and catalyzed the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. It is estimated that thousands of protesters have been arrested and hundreds killed by the government regime. The Iranian police temporarily held Mahsa Amini’s father, Amjad Amini, on the one-year anniversary of his daughter’s death.

To learn more about Woman, Life, Freedom and/or to act in solidarity with those fighting gender discrimination and inequality in Iran, visit

womanlifefreedom.today

CAST

in alphabetical order

Anita Abdinezhad* she/her (Nazanin) is an actor and writer elated to be making her Yale Rep debut. Recent theater credits include Broadway: POTUS (Shubert Theatre); Off-Broadway: Persian Pod (Ars Nova), Bismillah (Wild Project), The Welcoming Committee (The Lark); Regional: A Christmas Carol (South Coast Repertory) and Dance Nation (Lenfest Center at Columbia University). Television and film: Girls on the Bus (Max), Evil (CBS/ Paramount+), Ahamed’s Ramadan Diary (Comedy Central), Eradication (Tubi). Playwriting: Three Tall Persian Women (Shakespeare & Company).

Pilot: Fareeda’s Phantasias (Semifinalist Sundance Episodic Lab).

Education: M.F.A., Columbia University, acting. Anita dedicates this to the women in her family and the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. anitaabdinezhad.com | @awni.joon

Vaneh Assadourian (Rana) is thrilled to be making her Yale Rep debut. Vaneh is an actor and voiceover artist born and raised in Tehran, Iran.

Most recently she was seen in the world premiere of A Distinct Society directed

by Giovanna Sardelli at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and Pioneer Theatre Company. Notable collaborations include work with The Geffen Playhouse, The Los Angeles Theatre

Center, Skylight Theatre Company, and The Hammer Museum. A lover of languages, Vaneh is fluent in Farsi and Armenian and speaks conversational German. She holds a B.A. in acting and directing from UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television and is repped by SLJ Management.

Bahar Beihaghi (Salme) trained in Le Coq and The Method. Previous theater credits include Ismene (Greece 2014), Medea (Paris 2016), The Bald Soprano, A Second Birth (New York, 2019), Glimpse (New York, 2021), Woman Life Freedom (New York, 2022), Do You Know What It’s Like To Be Me?, Temptations (New York, 2023). M.F.A. from Actors Studio Drama School. Co-Founder of “Peydah Theater Company.” Born and raised in Tehran, Iran, Bahar enjoys contemporary dance, singing, and kickboxing alongside her passion for Farsi and French. She sends all of her love and gratitude to people of Iran, whom she’d love to represent through her art. Woman Life Freedom!

Sahar Bibiyan* (New Friend, understudy for Nazanin) is making her Yale Rep debut.

Recent theater credit: English (2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Drama; Berkeley Rep, West Coast Premiere). Past theater credits include Haram Iran (Emerging

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

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Artists Theatre) and Veil’d (Astoria Performing Arts Center, World Premiere). Recent film credits include Uncut Gems (A24) directed by Josh and Benny Safdie. Selected television credits include a recurring role in Mr. Robot, Little America, Chicago Justice, and Bull. She is the voice of Dimah in the video game Just Cause 3.

Ava Lalezarzadeh* (Zari) is making her Yale Rep debut.

Off-Broadway: English (Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout, World Premiere; 2023 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Drama, Lucille Lortel Best Play, OBIE Best New Play, Lucille Lortel Nomination for Best Ensemble).

Select credits: series regular in an upcoming series (AppleTV+), Wild Life (HBOMax); New Amsterdam (NBC); upcoming voiceover on a hit animation series (Netflix). As screenwriter and actress, her latest film In the Garden of Tulips (world premiered at Aspen Shortfest, Youth Jury Award), inspired by her mother’s journey of fleeing Iran as a teen during the Iran-Iraq War. Training: UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television; British American Drama Academy; École Philippe Gaulier. She thanks her team, family, and friends!

Shadee Vossoughi* she/her (Shideh) is thrilled to be making her Yale Rep debut. Shadee is an Iranian-American actor, improviser, and writer based in

Chicago, Illinois. Regional theater credits include A Distinct Society (Writers Theatre); Layalina (Goodman Theatre); My Dear Hussein (Silk Road Rising); Deer and the Lovers (First Floor Theater); The Tenth Muse, Romeo and Juliet (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Black History Month Show, Urban Twist, Bob Curry Showcase (The Second City).

Television and film: Redwood Highway, The Bear (FX), The Big Leap (Fox).

Training: B.F.A., Southern Oregon University; NBC Universal Bob Curry Fellowship, The Second City. @shadeev

UNDERSTUDY CAST in alphabetical order

Lucie Solène Allouche* (understudy for Rana, second understudy Zari) is an NYU Tisch alum, where she studied at the Lee Strasberg Institute, Stonestreet Studios, and the Experimental Theater Wing.

She later studied clowning at École Philippe Gaulier. Born in Paris and raised in Brooklyn, she is proud to call NYC her home. Recent television and film credits include Inventing Anna (Netflix), Breaking Fast with a Coca-Cola (SXSW ’23), Re-Election (post-production), and Him (postproduction). She is thrilled to be a part of this incredible company and to help tell this beautiful story. lucieallouche.org

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UNDERSTUDY CAST in alphabetical order

Ellena Eshraghi (understudy for Zari) is an IranianAmerican actor, writer, and filmmaker from Southern California.

She graduated in May 2022 from NYU Tisch with a B.F.A. in drama and dramatic writing. Off-Broadway: HOUND DOG (Ars Nova), Erastes (The Wild Project). Film: Mean Girls: The Musical (Paramount). She recently wrote and acted in the pilot Minor Inconvenience. She is thrilled to be working with Yale Rep this fall and hopes the production inspires the audience to take interest in what’s happening in Iran. Zan, Zendegi, Azadi.

Naseem Etemad she/her (understudy for New Friend, Shideh) is a firstgeneration IranianAmerican who earned her B.A. in theater performance from San Francisco State University. Her credits include several original works rooted in SWANA/ MENA stories and voices, including the world premiere of Hotter Than Egypt (Maha), ACT Theatre/Marin Theatre Co.; Wisdom From Everything (Tamer), Local Theatre Co.; and Veils (Samar), The Pear Theatre. Other/film: Need for Speed Unbound (Youmna), EA Games; Strength and Fortune (Maryam), directed by Eimanne El Zein; Venture Maidens Dungeons & Dragons podcast (Fittonia Silvertale), directed by Celeste Conowitch. Naseem is thrilled

to be making her Yale Rep debut and to be stepping into a character of shared heritage for the first time in her career.

Maria Habeeb* (understudy for Salme) is honored to be working at Yale Rep! She was most recently seen in the Off-Broadway production of The Gospel According to Heather. Other credits include #46 in The Wolves (McCarter Theatre Center) and Woman 1 in Songs for a New World (Village Theatre). Maria has a B.F.A. in musical theater from Syracuse University. Many thanks to Rochel, Mom, Dad, Mikey, and Diego. mariahabeeb.com.

CREATIVE TEAM in alphabetical order

Omid Akbari he/him/his (Scenic Designer) is a scenic designer and costume concept artist. He is currently a fourth-year M.F.A candidate in set design at David Geffen School of Drama, where his recent credits include Dwight/Edgewood Project, Furlough’s Paradise, and Macbeth. He received his bachelor’s degree in set design from the University of Art in Tehran, Iran. He has done many productions in Iran as a set and costume designer and was nominated for the Best Set Designer at the Intentional Theatre Festival in Iran. omidakbari.com

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

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Matthew Armentrout (Hair

Amy Boratko (Production Dramaturg)

Designer) previously worked at Yale Rep on The Brightest Thing in the World, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Today is My Birthday, and Manahatta. Broadway: Birthday Candles, Paradise Square, Flying Over Sunset, and Bernhardt/ Hamlet. Off Broadway: Merrily We Roll Along (Roundabout), Othello (Shakespeare in the Park). Regional: Bliss (The 5th Avenue Theatre), Jitney (National Tour), Paradise Square (Berkeley Repertory Theatre).

is the Senior Artistic Producer at Yale Rep and has previously served as dramaturg on the Yale Rep productions of The Brightest Thing in the World, The Plot, Girls, Cadillac Crew, Good Faith, Field Guide, Mary Jane, Imogen Says Nothing, peerless, Indecent, War, The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, Dear Elizabeth, The Realistic Joneses, Good Goods, Belleville, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Compulsion, Notes from Underground, and Eurydice, among others. Other credits include dramaturging new play workshops at New Dramatists, the Acting Company, and Voice and Vision’s ENVISION Retreat. She is a lecturer at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. B.A., Rice University; M.F.A., David Geffen School of Drama.

Sivan Battat she/they (Director) is originally from Woodbridge, Connecticut, and is a proud alum of ACES Educational Center for the Arts on Audubon Street. Now based in New York City, Sivan is a theater director and cultural organizer and is the Director of New Work Development at Noor Theatre Company. Recent credits include Layalina (world premiere, Goodman Theatre), Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Studio Theatre), Brass Knuckles (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Trouble in Mind (Assistant Director, Broadway). Sivan has developed work with companies including the Roundabout, the Park Avenue Armory, NYTW, Drama League, Atlantic, Ars Nova, National Queer Theatre, New Georges, New York Stage & Film, Cape Cod Theatre Project, Mercury Store, Long Wharf, MCC, and more.

Fellowships: Roundabout Directing Fellow, Drama League Musical Directing Fellow, TCG Rising Leaders of Color. Sivan is thrilled to be returning to New Haven, the city that introduced her first to the power of theater. sivanbattat.com

Calleri Jensen Davis (Casting Director) is a creative casting partnership among James Calleri, Erica Jensen, and Paul Davis of over 20 years. They began their collaboration with Yale Rep last season with Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles and the ripple, the wave that carried me home. Broadway credits: The Piano Lesson, Topdog/Underdog, for colored girls..., Thoughts of a Colored Man, Burn This, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Of Mice and Men, Venus in Fur, A Raisin in the Sun, 33 Variations. Television: Love Life, Queens, Dickinson, and The Path, to name a few. callerijensendavis.com

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CREATIVE TEAM in alphabetical order

David Anthony-Ken DeCarolis (Lighting Designer) is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama, where his credits include littleboy/littleman, Love’s Labor’s Lost, and Next to Normal.

Other design credits include The Hedgehog’s Dilemma (Yale Cabaret) and Form of a Girl Unknown (Salt Lake Acting Company). David has assisted on Saturday’s Voyeur, Three Little Pigs (SLAC); Today is My Birthday, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

(Yale Repertory Theatre); and Seize the King (The Classic Theatre of Harlem). He would like to thank his family for all their support. @thedecarolis daviddecarolislighting.com

Cynthia Santos DeCure she/ her/ella (Vocal Coach) is an actor, voice, and dialect coach. She is an Associate Professor of Acting at David Geffen School of Drama, certified in both Knight-Thompson Speechwork® and as Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework®, specializing in accents, dialects, and culturally inclusive pedagogies.

Some dialect credits: Laughs in Spanish (Denver Center); Queen of Basel (TheaterWorks Hartford); Cymbeline (New York Classical Theatre); Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center, Round House Theatre); Scenes with Cranes (REDCAT); Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, Today is My Birthday, El Huracán (Yale Rep); In the Heights (Phoenix Theater, Chance Theater); The Long Road Today (South Coast Rep); Orange Is the New Black (Netflix); and The 20

Affair (Showtime). Member of SAG/ AFTRA, AEA. She is co-editor of Scenes for Latinx Actors, and Latinx Actor Training (Routledge 2023).

T.F. Dubois (Costume Designer) is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama, where their selected credits include littleboy/ littleman and Marys Seacole, as well as Over Easy and Can the Peruvian Speak? (…) at Yale Cabaret. Other selected credits include Nodus Tollens, A Tender Reflection, and Amuse Bouche at Grace Street Theater; Blue Camp with Rainbow Theatre project; and Sins of the Father with Oxford Comma Productions. tfdubois.com

Hannah Fennell Gellman she/her (Production Dramaturg) is a teaching artist and dramaturg who loves queer stories, movement, and poetry. Her production dramaturgy credits include the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Yale Rep); Wake by Stefani Kuo, Twelfth Night, Hedda Gabler (David Geffen School of Drama); Dr. Ride’s American Beach House and soft apples (Yale Cabaret). She has also collaborated on developing new dance and theater work with ruth tang (The Alcove at the Lortel), Cameron Barnett, Qualia Dance Collective, and BODYSONNET, and worked as an educator at Elm Shakespeare Company, Berkshire Theatre Group, Lookingglass Theatre, and Shakespeare & Company. She holds a B.A. in English from Carleton College and is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at the Geffen School.

James Mountcastle* (Stage Manager) has been at Yale Rep since 2004, where he has stage managed productions of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Girls; An Enemy of the People; Scenes from Court Life, or the whipping boy and his prince; Arcadia; A Streetcar Named Desire; American Night: The Ballad of Juan José; Three Sisters; The Master Builder; Passion Play; Eurydice; and the world premiere of The Clean House.

Broadway credits include Damn Yankees, Jekyll & Hyde, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Boys from Syracuse, The Smell of the Kill, Life (x) 3, and Wonderful Town, as well as A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. National tours include City of Angels, Falsettos, and My Fair Lady.

He was Production Stage Manager for Damn Yankees starring Jerry Lewis for both its national tour and at the Adelphi Theatre in London’s West End. In addition, Mr. Mountcastle has worked at the Kennedy Center, Center Stage in Baltimore, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and elsewhere. M.F.A.: David Geffen School of Drama, 1990.

Shawn Poellet (Technical Director) is a second-year M.F.A candidate in technical design and production, focusing on theatrical automation, at David Geffen School of Drama.

Previously he has served as an assistant technical director for Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles at Yale Rep. Prior to the Geffen School, Shawn served as an Assistant Technical Director/Head Audio Video Engineer at the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing

Arts Center at the University of Northern Iowa.

Kelsey Rainwater (Intimacy Director) is an intimacy coach, fight director, and actress based out of the ancestral lands of the Quinnipiac people. Kelsey’s work was recently seen in the premiere of Sally & Tom at the Guthrie. Some of her other credits include In the Southern Breeze at Rattlestick, The Public Theater’s Measure for Measure and White Noise

by Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Oskar Eustis; the ripple, the wave that carried me home, A Raisin in the Sun (canceled due to COVID-19), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles at Yale Rep; Blues for an Alabama Sky with the Keen Company; and Bess Wohl’s film, Baby Ruby. She is a Lecturer in Acting at David Geffen School of Drama, coteaching stage combat and intimacy, and is a Resident Fight and Intimacy Director for Yale Rep.

Colleen Rooney they/she (Assistant Stage Manager) is a second-year student in the stage management M.F.A. program at David Geffen School of Drama. They hold a B.S. in theater arts and in anthropology from the University of Oregon. Prior to returning to school, they held the position of Production Stage Manager at Oregon Contemporary Theatre in Eugene, Oregon. Recent credits at the Geffen School include Color Boy and WAKE as well as UDO at Yale Cabaret.

Other design and production credits include lighting design for the 2023 Dwight/Edgewood Project, sound

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

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CREATIVE TEAM in alphabetical order

design for Yale Summer Cabaret: Developmental Studio’s The Betrayal Project, and technical direction at Camp Walden in Maine.

Sam Skynner (Projection Designer) is a Canadian designer, educator, and researcher. Sam is a fourth-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama. Her work and research are interdisciplinary with interests spanning film, theater, dance, and installation. Sam was recently awarded a Beinecke Fellowship to conduct independent research on early digitally generated imagery in experimental animation. In 2023, Sam was a studio fellow at Yale CCAM and a teaching fellow at Yale College.

Sam’s most recent theatrical credits include The Winter’s Tale (the Geffen School, projection design); DIANA ROSS DREAM (Dancemakers, lighting design); and Reflections of Native Voices Festival (New York Theatre Workshop and La Mama, video editor).

Sanaz Toossi (Playwright) is an Iranian-American playwright from Orange County, California. Her plays include the critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning English (coproduction Atlantic Theater Company/ Roundabout Theatre Company) and Wish You Were Here (Playwrights Horizons; Williamstown/Audible, released 2021). She is currently under commission at Atlantic Theater Company (Launch commission; Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation grant), Roundabout Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (American Revolutions Cycle), and Yale Rep. In television, Sanaz 22

was recently staffed on Invitation to a Bonfire (AMC); A League of Their Own (Amazon); Five Women (Marielle Heller/Big Beach); and sold an original idea, The Persians, to FX with Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields attached as Executive Producers. Sanaz was the 2019 P73 Playwriting Fellow, a recipient of the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award, the 2022 recipient of the Horton Foote Award and, most recently, the 2023 recipient of the Best New American Play Obie Award.

M.F.A., NYU Tisch.

Ellora Venkat (Assistant Stage Manager) is a stage manager from Los Angeles, California, and secondyear M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama. She obtained her B.A. in theater arts, production, and design from Pepperdine University.

Recent credits include The Sea of Terror (The Hudson); Accommodation (The Odyssey); Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (Yale Rep); Esme, littleboy/ littleman, and Marys Seacole (the Geffen School). Drawn to new-work development, Ellora was the stage and production manager for the musical Elsewhere by Lexi Weakley and the production manager for Americana: A Murder Ballad at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Mike Winch (Sound Design Additional Original Music) is a fourthyear M.F.A. candidate in sound design at David Geffen School of Drama.

He has been a sound designer and composer for the past decade in Washington, D.C. He is a four-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, with a tenured background in Irish fiddle and music technology.

Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, TamsWitmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Tom Kitt, Ken Ludwig, Marlow & Moss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anaïs Mitchell, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson.

We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording, and first-class production.

Follow us @concordshows.

Playwrights Horizons (World Premiere) is a writer’s theater dedicated to the development of contemporary American playwrights and to the production of innovative new work.

In a city rich with cultural offerings, Playwrights Horizons’ 51-year-old mission is unique among theaters of its size; the organization has distinguished itself by a steadfast commitment to centering and advancing the voice of the playwright. At Playwrights Horizons, writers are supported in every stage of their growth through commissions, New Works Lab, Soundstage audio/podcast program, an innovative curriculum at its Theater School and Almanac, the organization’s digital literary magazine.

Playwrights Horizons presents a season of productions annually on their two stages, each of which is a world, American, or New York premiere.

Playwrights has been recognized with numerous awards and honors including seven Pulitzer Prizes, 14 Tony Awards and 50 Obie Awards. phnyc.org

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FOR THIS PRODUCTION ARTISTIC Assistant Director

Leyla Levi

Assistant Scenic Designer

Patrick Blanchard

Assistant Costume Designer

Kristen Taylor

Assistant Lighting Designer

Larry Ortiz

Assistant Sound Designer and Engineer

Tojo Rasedoara

Assistant Projection Designer

Christian Killada

Farsi Language Consultant

Sade Namei

Musician and Consultant

Amir Vahab

Run Crew

Andreas Andreou Emilee Biles Jasmine Brooks Rebecca Flemister Tyler Lahren Xi (Zoey) Lin Destyne Miller YuJung Shen Edoardo Benzoni (swing)

ADMINISTRATION Associate Managing Director

Chloe Knight

Assistant Managing Director

Ramona Li

Management Assistants

Joy Chen Sarah Saifi

Company Manager

Fanny Abib-Rozenberg

PRODUCTION Leo Surach

Iyanna Huffington Whitney Taylor Ybarra

Assistant Technical Directors

House Managers

Assistant Properties Manager

SPECIAL THANKS

Keira Jacobs Matteo Lanzarotta John Simone

Constanza Etchechury López Production Electrician

Nickie Dubick

Projection Engineer

Anja Powell

Projection Programmer

Ein Kim

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Assistant Company Managers

Associate Production Manager

Victoria McNaughton Mithra Seyedi

Oded Battat and Orit Mor; Mohamad Hafez; Erin Kehr, Mariya Sudarska, and the ART prop shop; Maedeh Ojaghloo

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF Artistic Director James Bundy Managing Director Florie Seery Associate Artistic Director, Director of New Play Programs Chantal Rodriguez General Manager Carla L. Jackson

ARTISTIC Resident Artists

Playwright in Residence Tarell Alvin McCraney Resident Directors Lileana Blain-Cruz Liz Diamond Tamilla Woodard Dramaturgy Advisor Amy Boratko Resident Dramaturg Catherine Sheehy Set Design Advisor Riccardo Hernández Resident Set Designer Michael Yeargan Costume Design Advisors Oana Botez Ilona Somogyi Resident Costume Designer Toni-Leslie James

Associate Artists 52nd Street Project, Kama Ginkas, Mark Lamos, MTYZ Theatre/Moscow New Generation Theatre, Bill Rauch, Sarah Ruhl, Henrietta Yanovskaya

Artistic Management Production Stage Manager James Mountcastle Senior Artistic Producer Amy Boratko Associate Producer Kay Perdue Meadows Artistic Fellows Jisun Kim Madeline Pages Casting James Calleri Erica Jensen Paul Davis Senior Administrative Assistant to the Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director Josie Brown Senior Administrative Assistant for Directing, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Playwriting, and Stage Management Laurie Coppola

Scenery

Technical Director for Yale Rep Neil Mulligan Technical Directors for David Geffen School of Drama Latiana “LT” Gourzong Matt Welander Electro Mechanical Laboratory Supervisor Eric Lin Scene Shop Supervisor Eric Sparks Senior Lead Carpenter Matt Gaffney Lead Carpenters Ryan Gardner Doug Kester Kat McCarthey Sharon Reinhart Carpentry Intern Isaac Lau

Painting

Paint Shop Supervisor Ru-Jun Wang Scenic Artists Lia Akkerhuis Nathan Jasunas Paint Interns Nicole Goldstein Laam Tsang

Senior Administrative Assistant for Design Kate Begley Baker

Properties

Projection Design Advisor Shawn Lovell-Boyle

Senior Administrative Assistant for the Acting Program Krista DeVellis

Properties Craftsperson David P. Schrader

Sound Design Advisor Jill BC Du Boff

Library Services Erin Carney

Voice and Text Advisor Grace Zandarski

PRODUCTION Production Management

Lighting Design Advisors Alan C. Edwards Stephen Strawbridge

Resident Fight and Intimacy Directors Kelsey Rainwater Michael Rossmy Stage Management Advisor Narda E. Alcorn

Director of Production Shaminda Amarakoon Production Manager Jonathan Reed Production Manager for Studio Projects and Special Events C. Nikki Mills

Properties Supervisor Jennifer McClure

Properties Associate Zach Faber Properties Stock Manager Mark Dionne Properties Intern Destany Langfield

Costumes

Costume Shop Manager Christine Szczepanski Senior Drapers Clarissa Wylie Youngberg Mary Zihal

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YALE REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF Interim Senior Draper Susan Aziz Senior First Hands Deborah Bloch Patricia Van Horn

Associate Managing Directors Jake Hurwitz Chloe Knight A.J. Roy

Costume Project Coordinator Linda Kelley-Dodd

Assistant Managing Director Ramona Li

Costume Stock Manager Jamie Farkas Additional Costume Staff Monique Fazzone Costume Interns Amani Jaramoga Annie Wang

Electrics

Lighting Supervisor Donald W. Titus Senior House Electricians Jennifer Carlson Linda-Cristal Young

Interim Senior Administrative Assistant to the Managing Director and General Manager Sarah Masotta Management Assistants Joy Chen Sarah Saifi Company Manager Fanny Abib-Rozenberg Assistant Company Managers Iyanna Huffington Whitney Taylor Ybarra

Development and Alumni Affairs

Electricians Katie Brown Alary Sutherland Ryan White

Senior Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Deborah S. Berman

Sound

Deputy Director of Operations for Development and Alumni Affairs Susan C. Clark

Sound Supervisor Mike Backhaus Senior Lead Sound Engineer Stephanie Smith Sound Intern Robert Salerno

Projections

Projection Supervisor Anja Powell

Stage Operations Stage Carpenter Janet Cunningham

Lead Wardrobe Supervisor Elizabeth Bolster Lead Properties Runner William Ordynowicz Light Board Programmers Mark Fortunato Sabrina Idom Front of House Mix Engineer Abe Joyner-Meyers

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ADMINISTRATION General Management

Associate Director of Development Casey Grambo Associate Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Jacob Santos Assistant Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Maya Louise Shed Senior Writer and Development and Alumni Affairs Officer Robert DiGioia Senior Administrative Assistant to Development and Alumni Affairs Jennifer E. Alzona Development Associate Delaney Kelley

Development Assistant Claudia Campos

Finance, Human Resources, and Digital Technology

Director of Finance and Business Administration/Lead Administrator Nicola Blake Finance Consultants Regina Bejnerowicz Katherine D. Burgueño Denise Zaczek Director of Human Resources Trinh DiNoto Director, Yale Tessitura Consortium, and Web Technology Janna J. Ellis Manager, Business Operations Martha Boateng Business Office Analyst Shainn Reaves Digital Communications Associate George Tinari Business Office Specialists Moriah Clarke Karem Orellana-Flores Business Office Assistant Asberry Thomas Digital Technology Associates Edison Dule Garry Heyward Database Application Consultants Ben Silvert Erich Bolton Bo Du

Marketing, Communications, and Audience Services Director of Marketing Daniel Cress

Director of Communications Steven Padla Senior Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Caitlin Griffin

Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Samanta Cubias Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications Andrew Aaron Valdez Senior Administrative Assistant for Marketing and Communications Mishelle Raza—on leave Interim Senior Administrative Assistant for Marketing and Communications Rachel Zwick Marketing and Communications Assistants Sarah Saifi Mithra Seyedi Production Photographer Joan Marcus Art and Design Paul Evan Jeffrey/ Passage Design Videographer David Kane Director of Audience Services Laura Kirk Assistant Director of Audience Services Shane Quinn Subscriptions Coordinator Tracy Baldini

Customer Service and Safety Officers Ralph Black, Jr. Kevin Delaney Ed Jooss

Theater Safety and Occupational Health

Box Office Assistants Pilar Bylinsky Jordi Bertrán Ramírez Emma Fusco Sydney Raine Garick Jordan Graf Daliya Habib Kenneth Murray a.k. payne

Assistant Director of Theater Safety Kelly O’Loughlin

Accessibility Assistant Prentiss Patrick-Carter Ushers Calum Baker Danielys Batista Tracy Bennett Maura Bozeman Logan Carr Josh Ellis Gerson Espinoza Campos Megan Foster Lydia Gompper Celete Kato Şeyma Kaya Di’Jhon McCoy Keenan Miller Bonnie Moeller William Romain Jana Ross Mao Shiotsu Jonathan Singleton Nicole Stack Larsson Youngberg

Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health Anna Glover

Associate Safety Advisors Victoria McNaughton Steph Burke

Operations

Director of Facility Operations Nadir Balan Operations Associate Brandon Fuller Operations Assistant Kelvin Essilfie Arts and Graduate Studies Superintendents Jennifer Draughn Francisco Eduardo Pimentel Custodial Team Leaders Andrew Mastriano Sherry Stanley Facility Stewards Ronald Douglas Marcia Riley Custodians Tylon Frost Willia Grant Cassandra Hobby Melloney Lucas Shanna Ramos Jerome Sonia

Audience Services Associate Molly Leona

Wish You Were Here, October 5–28, 2023.

Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut.

Yale Repertory Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

The Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Designers in LORT are represented by United Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.

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ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES For this production: October 21 at 2PM Audio Description Pre-show description begins at 1:45PM A live narration of the play’s action, sets, and costumes for patrons who are blind or have low vision.

Touch Tour Prior to a performance, patrons who are blind or have low vision touch fabric samples, rehearsal props, and building materials to understand what better comprises the production design.

October 21 at 8PM American Sign Language (ASL) An ASL-interpreted performance for patrons who are deaf or have hearing loss.

October 28 at 2PM Open Captioning A digital display of the play’s dialogue as it’s spoken for patrons who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Assistive listening devices as well as Braille and large print programs are available at the concierge desk in the theater lobby:

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Yale Repertory Theatre gratefully acknowledges the Carol L. Sirot Foundation for underwriting the assistive listening systems in our theaters.

For more about Yale Rep’s accessibility services, please contact Laura Kirk Director of Audience Services at 203.432.1522 or laura.kirk@yale.edu

ACCESSIBILITY TEAM in alphabetical order

Gracy Brown (Audio Describer) is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, and a New Haven-based actor, director, and educator. Elm Shakespeare Company: The Merry Wives of Windsor (Justice Shallow), The Tempest (Sebastian), The Comedy of Errors (Emilia), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Boyet), Romeo and Juliet (Nurse), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Egeus), Pericles (Gower); Long Wharf Theatre: The Good Person of New Haven (Taiwa/Taiwo); Great Lakes Theater Festival: Peter Pan (Adult Wendy); Edinburgh Fringe Festival: A Clockwork Orange (Dr. Brodsky), Fahrenheit 451 (Mildred); Cornerstone Theater Company: An Antigone Story (Ismene); Mark Taper Forum: For Here or to Go? (Luce); Collective Consciousness Theatre: Rasheeda Speaking (Jaclyn); and Claudia in the web series, Ringer$.

Gracy is a proud alumni of Southern Connecticut State University, where she earned a B.A. in theater and is an adjunct faculty member in the theater department. She recently co-directed Out of Bounds, an original play devised by a company of SCSU students. This

production gained national recognition, receiving 14 awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival including the Citizen Artist Award, Special Achievement in Direction by Faculty Artists, and Special Achievement in a Company Generated (Devised) Production. A proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

David Chu/c2inc-caption coalition (Open Captioner) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit consultant and the leading provider of professional Live Performance Captioning (sm) for theatrical and cultural presentations. c2 members hold the distinction of being the very first to caption live theater (the Paper Mill Playhouse, NJ), the first to debut on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and have introduced open captioning in prestigious theaters across the country and in London. Captioning in theater has gained momentum and acceptance by theatergoers since its debut in 1996.

It addresses the needs of a far larger audience of hard of hearing and deaf people, which includes those who do not use sign language, are late deafened, not self-identified with hearing loss, and those who simply might have missed a punch line.

Ardavan Guity (ASL Consultant) Originally from Tehran, Iran, Dr. Ardavan Guity hails from a Deaf family and received his primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Deaf schools. Driven by a passion for raising awareness among Iranian Deaf youth about the richness of their sign language and culture, he served as a delegate to the 2011 World Federation of the Deaf Congress in South Africa. His research interests encompass the development of an Esharani corpus, appropriate Esharani interpretation,

lexical variations, word order, and the ethics of collaborating with signing communities. Dr. Guity has authored two books, Deaf Culture and Language and An Introduction to Sign Language of Iran (Esharani). He is actively involved in supporting Deaf communities in Iran and worldwide, serves as the Director of Deaf Studies at Ohlone College in San Francisco, and is an adjunct professor at Fershtgan University in Iran.

Mona Mehrpor (ASL Consultant) is an Iranian-American Coda who was brought overseas to California by her parents to pursue the American Dream. She began her interpreting career in 2009.

Now residing in central Virginia, she is continuing her journey in the east coast.

She has extensive experience in K-12, post secondary, medical and community work but has began her journey interpreting in the legal realm since joining Project Climb. Prior to that, she went through the Interpreter Preparation Program in Sacramento, California. Mona is also a regional representative for RID’s member section for Deaf Parented Interpreters.

Lettie Nazloo (ASL Interpreter) is an ASL interpreter based in Central Virginia.

She studied at Gallaudet University and is a nationally certified interpreter. She is proud of her many cultural identities, including Persian and Coda (Child of Deaf Adults).

Marissa Rivera she/her (ASL Interpreter) is a mixed-race Child of Deaf Adults. Her father is Puerto Rican and her mother is Western European. She holds an M.A. in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity from St. Catherine University and a B.A. in Communication Studies from Gallaudet University. Marissa is an American Sign Language interpreter based in Connecticut.

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EVENTS!

YOUTH PROGRAMS WILL POWER! is Yale Rep’s

Pre-Show Reception and Conversation Join us before the Wednesday matinee for a conversation about the play with a member of the creative team.

annual educational initiative, designed to bring middle and high school students to see live theater. Since our 2003–04 season, WILL POWER! has served more than 20,000 Connecticut students and educators. In 2024 we will offer programming centered on Lloyd Suh’s The Far Country to New Haven Public Schools students and educators.

In previous seasons, the program has included early school-time matinees, free or heavily subsidized tickets, study guides, and post-performance discussions with actors and members of the creative teams. WILL POWER! is committed to giving teachers curricular support through free workshops and professional development about the content and themes of the plays.

WED OCT 18 at 8PM SAT OCT 21 at 2PM

THE DWIGHT/EDGEWOOD PROJECT (D/EP) is a community

FRI OCT 6 SAT OCT 7 WED OCT 11

Post-Show Conversations Join us in the August Wilson Lounge following the performance for a conversation about the show with a member of Yale Rep’s artistic staff.

WED OCT 18 at 1PM

Talk Backs Join us in the theater after the show for a conversation about the play and its themes with members of the company.

FRI OCT 20 at 3:30–4:45PM Yale Rep @ NHFPL Ives Main Library, 133 Elm Street Writing about Home: A Workshop with Yale Rep A free writing workshop for teens and adults on the themes of home

FRI OCT 27 at 8PM

Spanish Language Captioning La presentación del 27 de octubre será subtitulada en español. This performance will be open-captioned in Spanish.

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All events are subject to change.

engagement program of Yale Rep and David Geffen School of Drama for middle school-aged students from Barnard Environmental Science and Technology Magnet School, a K-8 school located on the edge of the Dwight and Edgewood neighborhoods in New Haven. The students are paired with mentors from the Geffen School to write their own plays. The month-long program begins in late May, culminating in fully produced plays performed by the Yale mentors and presented for the New Haven community in late June.

Yale Rep’s youth programs are supported by The Robert and

Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, NewAlliance Foundation, and Esme Usdan.

DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA BOARD OF ADVISORS John B. Beinecke YC ’69, Chair Jeremy Smith ’76, Vice Chair Nina Adams MS ’69, NUR ’77 Rudy Aragon LAW ’79 Amy Aquino ’86 John Badham ’63, YC ’61 Pun Bandhu ’01 Sonja Berggren Special Research Fellow ’13 Frances Black ’09 Carmine Boccuzzi YC ’90, LAW ’94 Lynne Bolton Kate Burton ’82 James Chen ’08 Lois Chiles Patricia Clarkson ’85 Edgar M. Cullman III ’02, YC ’97

Michael David ’68 Wendy Davies Charles S. (Roc) Dutton ’83 Sasha Emerson ’84 Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04 Terry Fitzpatrick ’83 Marc Flanagan ’70 Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90 David Alan Grier ’81 Sally Horchow YC ’92 Ellen Iseman YC ’76 David G. Johnson YC ’78 Rolin Jones ’04 Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85 Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger ’86 Brian Mann ’79 Drew McCoy David Milch YC ’66

Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11 Richard Ostreicher ’79 Carol Ostrow ’80 Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86 Michael Sheehan ’76 Anna Deavere Smith HON ’14 Andrew Tisdale Edward Trach ’58 Esme Usdan YC ’77 Courtney B. Vance ’86 Donald R. Ware YC ’71 Shana C. Waterman YC ’94, LAW ’00 Kim Williams Henry Winkler ’70 Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

Thank you to the generous contributors to David Geffen School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre LEADERSHIP SOCIETY ($50,000+)

Anonymous John B. Beinecke Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver Lois Chiles Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development Estate of Nicholas Diggs* Estate of Richard Diggs* The Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation Anita Pamintuan Fusco and Dino Fusco David Geffen Foundation David G. Johnson Neil Mazzella Estate of June M. Rosenblatt Talia Shire Schwartzman The Shubert Foundation Jeremy Smith G. Erwin Steward Woody Taft

Stephen Timbers Edward Trach Esme Usdan Donald R. Ware

GUARANTORS ($25,000–$49,999) Rudy Aragon Reginald J. Brown and Tiffeny F. Sanchez Sarah Long National Endowment for the Arts The Sir Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation

BENEFACTORS ($10,000–$24,999)

Nina Adams and Moreson Kaplan Americana Arts Foundation Carmine Boccuzzi and Bernard Lumpkin Lynne and Roger Bolton Estate of James T. Brown*

James and Deborah Burrows Foundation Burry Fredrik Foundation Wendy Davies Michael Diamond* In honor of Neville and Dorothy Etwaroo Mabel Burchard Fischer Grant Foundation Abby Kenigsberg Lucille Lortel Foundation Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger and Mark Hollinger Princess Grace Foundation Tracy Chutorian Semler Michael and Riki Sheehan Carol L. Sirot Trust for Mutual Understanding

PATRONS ($5,000–$9,999)

James Bundy and Anne Tofflemire CT Humanities Michael S. David Terry Fitzpatrick Howard Gilman Foundation Bigelow Greene James Guerry Hood Brian Tyree Henry Sally Horchow Ellen Iseman Rolin Jones Tien-Tsung Ma David and Leni Moore Family Foundation Neil Mulligan James Munson NewAlliance Foundation Carol Ostrow Ben and Laraine Sammler

Chuck Adomanis Pun Bandhu Richard C. Beacham Santino Blumetti

*deceased

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Thank you to the generous contributors to David Geffen School PRODUCER’S CIRCLE ($2,500–$4,999)

Rob Greenberg Sarah Bartlo Chaplin Mark Haber and Chiyo Daniel Cooperman and Moriuchi Mariel Harris William B. Halbert Laura Copenhaver Shaminda and Carole Jane Head Sean Cullen Amarakoon Amy Herzog Robert Dealy Anonymous Dale and Stephen Sasha Emerson Ed Barlow Hoffman Peter Entin Lisa Barlow Suzanne Jackson Betty and Joshua Frances Black Pam Jordan Goldberg Cyndi Brown Fran Kumin Paul Goldberg Ian Calderon The Ethel & Abe Lapides LT Gourzong Joan Channick Foundation Bill and Marcy Grambo Lily Fan Charles Letts Carolyn Gray JANA Foundation Kenneth Lewis Regina Guggenheim Ann Judd and Jennifer Lindstrom Andy Hamingson Bennett Pudlin Brian Mann Judy Hansen Fred Gorelick and Jim and Eileen Mydosh David Henry Hwang Cheryl MacLachlan Stephen Newman in Sanghun Joung Eric Lin memory of Ruth Hunt Harvey Kliman and George Lindsay, Jr. Newman Sandra Stein Tarell Alvin McCraney Barbara and William Corby S. Kummer Leonard Molczadski in Nordhaus Max Leventhal honor of Norman Jacob G. Padrón Chih-Lung Liu Walsh Taylor Ross S. Richards Virginia (Wendy) Riggs Richard Ostreicher Elaine Ring John McAndrew Pam and Jeff Rank Kellen McNally Bill and Sharon Reynolds Russ Rosensweig Traci D. Shed Cathy C. Mock Abby Roth and Barbara Siegler Janice Muirhead R. Lee Stump Slotznick Family Fund, Vicki Nolan and Clark Julie Turaj a charitable fund of Crolius The Foundation for Janet Oetinger DIRECTOR’S Enhancing Arthur Oliner CIRCLE Communities F. Richard Pappas ($1,000–$2,499) Shepard and Marlene Jonathan Pellow Donna Alexander Stone Dw Phineas Perkins Laura and Victor Altshul Estate of William Swan* Louise Perkins and Debby Applegate and Courtney B. Vance Jeff Glans Bruce Tulgan Carol M. Waaser Amy Povich Paula Armbruster Jeffrey Powell and Richard and Alice Baxter Shana C. Waterman George C. White Adalgisa Caccone John Lee Beatty Carolyn Seely Wiener Kathy and George Priest Kate Burton Kim Williams Alec Purves Anne and Guido The Raul Yanes and Sara Faye and Asghar Calabresi Hazelwood Foundation Rastegar James Chen Jon and Sarah Reed Audrey Conrad Anne Renner Bob and Priscilla Dannies PARTNERS ($500–$999) Ted Robb Elwood and Catherine Donna Alexander Howard Rogut Davis ASSA ABLOY Russ Lori Rosensweig Ramon Delgado David J. Berendes Robin Sauerteig Lynn Doucette-Stamm Ashley Bishop Florie Seery Tony Forman John and Suzanne Anna Deavere Smith Will Gaines Bourdeaux Matthew Specter and Jon Farley Joy Carlin Marjan Mashhadi Lindy Lee Gold Lawrence Casey Eric M. Glover

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Dr. and Mrs. Dennis D. Spencer James Steerman Kenneth J. Stein David Sword John Turturro and Katherine Borowitz Paul Walsh Stephanie Waaser Kristan and Nathaniel Wells Vera Wells Steven Wolff Amanda Wallace Woods Robert Zoland

INVESTORS ($250–$499)

Actors’ Equity Foundation Narda E. Alcorn Clayton Austin Alexander Bagnall Michael Bianco Susan Brady and Mark Loeffler James and Dorothy Bridgeman Tom Broecker Mr. and Mrs. Robert Buckholz Michael Cadden Sarah Cain Nicholas Cimmino Daniel Cress Claire A. Criscuolo Janet Cunningham Rick Davis Kem and Phoebe Edwards Michael Fain Richard and Barbara Feldman Deborah and Henry Fernandez David Freeman Richard Fuhrman Randy Fullerton Shaina Graboyes Casey Grambo Ann Hanley Judith Hansen Karen Hansen and Andrew Bundy Jennifer Hershey Chuck Hughes

of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre John Huntington Candace Jackson Chris Jaehnig Edward Kaye Alan Kibbe Mitchell Kurtz Gabriela Lee Irene Lewis Matthew H. Lewis Charles H. Long Thomas G. Masse and James M. Perlotto, MD Pamela and Donald Michaelis David Muse Regina and Thomas Neville Adam O’Byrne Kevin and Margaret O’Halloran Steven Padla Gamal Palmer Michael Parrella Michael Posnick Dr. Michael Rigsby and Prof. Richard Lalli Steve Robman Erin Rocha Chantal Rodriguez Constanza Romero Allen Rosenshine Nan Ross Donald Sanders Suzanne Sato Kenneth Schlesinger Georg Schreiber Paul Selfa Erich Stratmann Matthew Tanico Josh Taylor Deb Trout Lisa Yancey

FRIENDS ($100–$249)

Jessica Adler Michael Albano Sarah Albertson Jeffrey Alexander Glenn Anderson Kaitlyn Anderson Michael Annand Anonymous William Armstrong Nancy Babington

Michael Banta Robert Einenkel Jay B. Keene Dr. Francis A. Baran Nancy Reeder El Bouhali Kiernan Kelly Warren Bass Samantha Else Young H. Kim William and Donna Frank and Ellen Estes Amir Kishon Batsford Femi Euba Lawrence Klein, Ed.D. Michael Baumgarten Connie Evans Fredrica Klemm Richard Beals Teresa Eyring Steve Koernig James Bender Ann Farris Daniel Koetting Vivien Blackford Paul Fiedler and Susan David and Julie Koppel Mark Bly Birke Fiedler Bonnie Kramm Joseph Brennan Terry S. Flagg David Kriebs Amy Brewer and Sarah Fornia Joan Kron David Sacco* Raymond Forton Azan Kung Emiko Brewer Keith Fowler Susan Laity Linda Broker Walter M. Frankenberger III Michael Lassell Arvin Brown Gerald E. Gaab Martha Lidji Lazar Christopher P. Brown Rachana Garg Elizabeth Lewis Donald and Mary Brown Don and Margery Galluzzi Fred Lindauer Stephen and Nancy Brown Leah C. Gardiner Jerry Lodynsky Colin Buckhurst Christopher Geary Robert H. Long II Stephen Bundy Tobe Gerard Everett Lunning Katherine and Chava Barry Gladue Nancy F. Lyon Burgueño Stephen L. Godchaux Andi Lyons Richard Butler Lorraine Golan Peter Malbuisson Susan Byck Carol Goldberg Jonathan Marks Kathryn A. Calnan Susan Goldin Edwin Martin Vincent Cardinal Naomi Grabel Robert McCaw Andrew Carson Charles Grammer Deborah McGraw Sami Joan Casler Hannah Grannemann Bill McGuire Zoe Z. Chance Jason Gray Kathryn Milano King-Fai Chung Stephen R. Grecco Jonathan Miller Nicole Ciomek Greg Guthe Cheryl Mintz Cynthia Clair Julie Haber Marta Moret Susan Clark Dr. James L. Hadler Richard Mone Aaron Copp Marion Hampton Michele Moriuchi Jane Cox Alexander Hammond Beth Morrison Caitlin E. Crombleholme Scott Hansen Jason Najjoum Douglas and Roseline Roberta and Lawrence James Naughton Crowley Harris Tina Navarro Jonathan Daen Michael Haymes Kaye Neale Anne Danenberg James Hazen Jennifer Harrison Timothy Davidson Steve Hendrickson Newman Connie and Peter Thomas Herman Ruth Newman Dickinson Ashton Heyl Jane Nowosadko Derek DiGregorio Elizabeth Holloway* Deb and Ron Nudel Trinh DiNoto Nicholas Hormann Tom O’Connor Melinda DiVicino Kathleen Houle Leah Ogawa Donna Doherty Evelyn Huffman Kendric T. Packer Dennis Dorn Charles Hughes Dr. and Mrs. Michael Megan and Leon Doyon Derek Hunt Parry Samuel Duncan Tatsuya Ito Linda and Peter Perdue John Duran Carla L. Jackson William Peters Ann D’Zmura John W. Jacobsen Linda Polgar Laura Eckelman Eliot and Lois Jameson William Purves Fran Egler Jonathan Kalb Norman Redlich *deceased

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Thank you to the generous contributors to David Geffen School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre Ralph Redpath Deborah J. Reissman Joan Robbins Nathan Roberts Peter S. Roberts Brian Robinson Lori Robishaw Robin Rose Donald Rossler Dr. Robert and Marcia Safirstein Steven Saklad Robert Sandberg Cynthia Santos-DeCure Peggy Sasso Joel Schechter Steven Schmidt Jennifer Schwartz Alexander Scribner

Patrick Seeley Subrata K. Sen Suzanne Sessions Sandra Shaner John K. Sheehan Catherine Sheehy Lorraine Siggins Gilbert and Ruth Small Helena L. Sokoloff Suzanne Solensky and Jay Rozgonyi Aleta Staton Howard Steinman Rosalie Stemer Marcus Stern John Stevens Mark Stevens Marsha Beach Stewart Mark Sullivan

Thomas Sullivan Tucker Sweitzer Bob Tanner Michelle Tattenbaum Douglas Taylor Jane Savitt Tennen Ashley Thomas Patti Thorp David F. Toser Russell L. Treyz Lloyd Tucker Joan Van Ark Pamela Vercillo Elaine Wackerly Adin Walker Christine Wall Jaylene Wallace Erik Walstad David Ward

Joan Waricha Jon West Peter White Dr. Robert White Robert Wildman Walton Wilson Alexandra Witchel Barbara Wohlsen

EMPLOYER MATCHING GIFTS

Ameriprise Financial The Benevity Community Impact Fund Covidien The Prospect Hill Foundation

Gifts to the For Humanity campaign and David Geffen School of Drama New Facility Fund Anonymous (3) Nina Adams and Moreson Kaplan Amy Aquino and Drew McCoy Rudy Aragon John Badham Pun Bandhu Frances and Ed Barlow John B. Beinecke Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver Carmine Boccuzzi and Bernard Lumpkin James Bundy and Anne Tofflemire Lois Chiles

Michael David and Lauren Mitchell Scott Delman Michael Diamond* and Amy Miller Estate of Nicholas Diggs* Estate of Richard Diggs* Lily Fan Terry Fitzpatrick Anita Pamintuan Fusco and Dino Fusco David Marshall Grant Gilder Foundation The Hastings and Barcone Trust Lane Heard and Margaret Bauer

Cheryl Henson Ellen Iseman David G. Johnson Rolin Jones Jane Kaczmarek Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger and Mark Hollinger Brian Mann Jennifer Harrison Newman Richard Ostreicher Julie Turaj and Rob Pohly Tracy Chutorian Semler Michael and Riki Sheehan Frances Black and Matthew Strauss

Andrew and Nesrin Tisdale Ed Trach Esme Usdan Shana C. Waterman Amanda Wallace Woods and Eric Wasserstrom The Prospect Hill Foundation Jeremy Smith Courtney B. Vance Donald and Susan Ware Henry Winkler

*deceased

These lists includes current pledges, gifts, and grants received from July 1, 2022 through September 25, 2023.

MAKE A GIFT! When you make a gift to Yale Rep’s Annual Fund, you

support the creative work on our stage and our education programs in New Haven. For more information, or to make a donation, please call Susan C. Clark, 203.432.1559. You can also give online at yalerep.org/support.

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