Welcome to PlayMakers… and welcome to Primary Trust! 

I fell in love with this play when I first read it. Besides being exquisitely written, disarmingly theatrical, and emotionally complex, it is also a generous and deeply kind play, qualities I am grateful for in the chaos of our current moment.  At PlayMakers, we are committed to telling stories that entertain and care for our community, and Primary Trust reflects that commitment with great tenderness and intention. 

At our first rehearsal, director NJ Agwuna asked the company, “what happens when grief feels unfinished? When it lingers quietly, shaping routines, relationships, and the ways we seek safety?” For many people experiencing loss or long-term trauma like Kenneth, the central character in this story, familiarity becomes a refuge. In playwright Eboni Booth’s Pulitzer Prize-winning conception, that refuge takes form as “play.”   

This production has been built by our marvelous artists and artisans around that act of playing. Inspired by model trains and miniature golf villages, set and costume designer Lex Liang and the creative team have crafted a play world that comes to life entirely through Kenneth’s point of view. The talented cast, led by Nate John Mark, now in his third year of the Professional Actor Training Program, are called upon to navigate this emotional, imaginative space, orbiting one another and playing their part in Kenneth’s healing journey.  

With NJ winningly at the helm, every corner of our company has come together to tell this story with honesty, imagination and virtuosity. I hope you fall for this play as I did… and then I invite you back in March for something a little less gentle: an explosively powerful telling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This certainly is a season of theatre that MOVES. 

Thanks for shaking the trees with us. Take good care of each other. 

Warmly, 

Vivienne

Table of Contents

Letter from Vivienne

Support PlayMakers

About the Author

Program Notes

Who We Are

Title Page

Actor Bios

Creative Team Bios

PlayMakers Staff

Friends of PlayMakers

Corporate and Foundation Partners

Desktop Computer Version of playbill available here

A new year has arrived, and already tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow seem to be flying by! As the season continues to unfold, we find ourselves deeply moved—by the stories on our stage, by the artists who bring them to life, and by the audiences who gather with us.

There is still so much ahead. Three remarkable productions remain, each offering its own kind of magic. We will experience the urgency and resonance of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize–winning play, be reminded of the enduring power and poetry of Shakespeare, and then turn toward a cherished Southern classic—a fitting and celebratory beginning to our 50th Anniversary.

These works invite us to reflect, to laugh, to feel, and to see ourselves and our world anew. Live theatre continues to matter—especially in moments when time feels like it’s moving just a little too fast.

As we look ahead, we do so with gratitude and anticipation. Thank you for being part of this journey, for supporting the art, and for sharing these moments with us. We hope you’ll stay through the season’s final curtain call and beyond, and we warmly invite you to celebrate with us at the PlayMakers Ball on May 2nd—an evening sure to be one to remember.

Peace,

Jackie Tanner, Chair

PlayMakers Advisory Council

Jackie Tanner, Chair

Marie Andreasen, Andrea Bates, Betsy Blackwell, Patrick Brennan, Deborah Gerhardt, Susan Gross, Amy Guskiewicz, C. Hawkins, Zach Howell, Lillian Jenks, Duncan Lascelles, Stuart Lascelles, Robert Long, emeritus, Graig Meyer, Julie Morris, Paula Noell, Jodi Patalano, Diane Robertson, Wyndham Robertson, Haley Swindal, Jennifer Werner, Ford Worthy, Mike Wiley

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

About the Author

Eboni Booth is a writer and actor from New York City. Her play Paris had its premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company. Eboni is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and a recipient of a Steinberg Playwright Award, a Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, and a John Gassner award. She is a graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program and the University of Vermont. Eboni Booth was awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Primary Trust.

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | General Information | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

Program Notes

Right On Time

By Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dramaturg

Eboni Booth was born and raised in the Bronx, and she loved theatre. When she was in elementary school, she auditioned for Lehman College’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and was immediately hooked! She continued performing throughout middle school and attended LaGuardia, a performing arts high school. Her passion for theatre continued through college and she pivoted from acting to playwriting at the Juilliard School. 

Booth’s expertise as both a playwright and an actor shine through her writing, especially in her characters and dialogue. The characters she creates are multi-layered and complex. They feel authentic and intimately familiar. Her dialogue is sharp, witty, and humorous. In an interview with Roundabout Theatre Company, Booth credited her acting teacher, Tony Greco, as the final mentor who helped clarify the type of work she wants to create:

“… I find myself trying to smoke out what feels real, what feels true, what feels like it reminds me of something that I’ve encountered myself.”

At first glance, Primary Trust appears deceptively simple, but Booth has crafted an exquisitely layered story about friendship, survival, and healing. Set in the mid-1990s, the play follows Kenneth, a mid-30s Black man who grew up in foster care and, despite many obstacles, has managed to build a peaceful life for himself in the fictional town of Cranberry, New York. All is well and manageable until a sudden change disrupts his life and forces him to rebuild. As the story unfolds, Kenneth’s world slowly expands through subtle acts of kindness and small acts of courage. 

In the play, Kenneth’s life is anchored by routine. He visits the same bar and orders the same drink. He has even worked the same job for two decades. These rituals are not arbitrary. They are well-chosen, essential coping mechanisms that offer Kenneth a sense of safety, protection, and reliability in a world that has not always been kind. Like many writers, In an interview with Stage West Theatre, Booth shares that writing Primary Trust mirrored part of her own life:

“I think writing Primary Trust was my way to better understand moments in my life where I felt very alone and very sad and often very drunk. Times when I wanted to connect with people but wasn’t completely sure how to go about it.”

Booth skillfully captures both Kenneth and the world around him with remarkable care and nuance. The secondary characters in Primary Trust are central to Kenneth’s growth. They help him face his past and embrace his new life. In that same interview, Booth explained that her inspiration for Primary Trust was drawn from her experiences working in the food industry.

“I worked at places where we had some people who came in every night of the week, every day of the year. I had a curiosity about their lives. I think I’m drawn to stories of loneliness and people who are trying to do battle, however quietly, with the feeling of being isolated.” 

We are excited to bring Primary Trust to you. Kenneth’s journey reminds us that hope and meaningful change often begin quietly, in small, everyday interactions. This is a message that feels especially timely and important today. We are honored to share it with you and to hold space for the possibility that, even in the most ordinary places, connections can be made and transformation can take root.

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

Primary Trust

by Eboni Booth

Directed by NJ Agwuna

Scenic & Costume Designer
Lex Liang

Lighting Designer
Eric Norbury

Sound Designer & Composer
Alex Thompson

Vocal Coach
Tia James

Dramaturg
Jacqueline E. Lawton

Stage Manager
Aspen Blake Jackson

Assistant Stage Manager
Sarah Smiley

January 28 – February 15, 2026

Primary Trust is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.  www.concordtheatricals.com

Primary Trustwas developed at the 2021 Ojai Playwrights Conference: Robert Egan, Artistic Director/Producer. Developed By Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago, Illinois. Ken-Matt Martin, Artistic Director, Roxanna Conner, Acting Managing Director, as part of IGNITE CHICAGO Festival of New Plays 2021. Originally Produced in New York City by Roundabout Theatre Company At the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre / Laura Pels Theatre On May, 4th, 2023

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 copywright law. For more information, please visit:

https://concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists

The Professional Theatre of the Department of Dramatic Art Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Chair, Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director Produced in association with the College of Arts and Sciences The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | General Information | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

Actor Bios

in Order of Apperance

Kenneth: Nate John Mark
Bert: Samuel Ray Gates*
Corrina/Wally’s Waiter/Bank Customers Rasool Jahan*
Clay/Sam/Le Pousselet Bartender: Jeffrey Blair Cornell*
Musician: Alex Thompson

Stage Managers: Sarah Smiley*, Aspen Blake Jackson*

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

UNDERSTUDIES

Understudies never substitute for listed players unless a specific announcement is made for the appearance at the time of performance.

KENNETH: Trevele Morgan 

BERT: Adam Moskowitz 

CORRINA: Delaney Jackson

CLAY/SAM: Douglas S. Hall* 

Setting: Cranberry, New York

Time Period: 1990’s

Primary Trust will be performed with no intermission.

---

This production is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Nilan Johnson 

Nilan passed away suddenly on January 4th. He was a 2014 alumnus of our Professional Actor Training Program who graced PlayMakers’ stage in Metamorphoses, Assassins, A Raisin in the Sun, Clybourne Park, Imaginary Invalid, Henry IV & V, and The Parchman Hour. He went on to build an incredibly rich and wide-ranging career as a writer, director and performer. Nilan deeply impacted the Triangle arts community while he was here as well as thousands of artists in his time in NYC and through his role as Associate Artistic Director of The Drama League in NYC. Above and beyond all this, it is the compassionate, insightful man, full of integrity and love, that will continue to leave a lasting mark on all of us who got to know and work with Nilan. Gone way too soon. May he rest in peace.

Nate John Mark

Kenneth

PlayMakers: Company member in their third year of UNC’s Professional Actor Training Program with the Department of Dramatic Art. You Can’t Take It With You, King James (PlayMakers Mobile), Death of a Salesman, The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Fat Ham, Much Ado About Nothing. Stupid F**king Bird, The Lifespan Of A Fact (PlayMakers/DDA Ground Floor).

Regional: Party People (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Nollywood Dreams ( Open Book Theatre); Head Over Heels (Ringwald Theatre); Taming of the Shrew (Idaho Shakespeare Festival); Othello (The Acting Company/NY); 12th Night (Shakespeare in Detroit). 

• Instagram

---

Samuel Ray Gates

Bert

PlayMakers: Company member since 2017. Death of a Salesman, Fat Ham, Clyde’s, How I Learned What I Learned, Julius Caesar, Life of Galileo, Skeleton Crew, Leaving Eden, Dot.

Regional: Fairview (Woolly Mammoth Theater Company); All the Way (Theatre Squared); Between Riverside and Crazy (American Conservatory Theater); Alabama Story (Pioneer Theatre Company); Satchel Paige and the Kansas City Swing (Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse); The Muscles in our Toes (Labyrinth Theater Company); Clybourne Park (Cincinnati Playhouse); Trinity River Plays (Dallas Theater Center, Goodman Theatre); In the Red and Brown Water (McCarter Theatre Center); Electra (Classical Theatre of Harlem).

Film: November Criminals, Wolves, Two Night Stand, Queen City, The Men Who Stare at Goats.

Television: “Kidnapped by a Killer: The Heather Robinson Story” (2025), “Our Kind of People,” “The Good Fight,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” “Person of Interest,” “Veep,” “Mozart in the Jungle,” “The Blacklist,” “House of Cards,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Unforgettable,” “Kings,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Rescue Me,” “The Staircase,” “DopeSick”.

Education: MFA, American Conservatory Theatre.

---

Rasool Jahan

Corrina/Wally’s Waiter/Bank Customers

PlayMakers: Silver Bell Sparkle Dash in The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones, Tedra in Fat Ham, Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing, Laertes/Player Queen in Hamlet, Mrs. Weston in Emma, Shelly in Dot, Esther in Intimate Apparel, Jory in Disgraced, MiMi Real in The Parchman Hour. She was also the Stage Manager of A Good Boy and the Assistant Director for Count at PRC2.

Regional: Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (WriteAct Rep); Vivian Bearing, Ph.D. in Wit (Justice Theatre Project).

TV/Film: Hallmark’s A Nashville Christmas Carol, “The Resident,” “House of Cards,” “Cold Mountain,” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer” with Jennifer Love Hewitt. She can also be seen on Hulu’s limited-series, “Class of 09’” with Brian Tyree Henry and Kate Mara.

Education/Other: Rasool is a proud graduate of North Carolina’s oldest HBCU. Rasool lives in Durham, serves on the Social Justice Board, Hidden Voices.

---

Jeffrey Blair Cornell

Clay/Sam/Le Pousselet Bartender

PlayMakers: Jeff is celebrating his 31st consecutive season acting with PlayMakers. Recently:You Can’t Take It With You, A Good Boy (with Hidden Voices), Little Shop of Horrors, Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, Murder on the Orient Express, Much Ado About Nothing, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Ragtime, How I Learned to Drive, She Loves Me, Bewilderness. Some favorites: My Fair Lady, The Tempest, Private Lives, Doubt, Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, The Illusion, Angels in America, Vanya, Sonya, Masha and Spike, Cabaret.

New York: Two by Two, Down to Earth, Serious Business.

Regional: Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Paper Mill Playhouse, Geva Theatre Center, among others.

Education/Other: Carbonell Award nominations for Best Actor – Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and Falsettoland (Caldwell Theatre – FL). Studied at HB Studios in New York with Uta Hagen, Austin Pendleton, and Elizabeth Wilson and received his MFA from the PATP/UNC-Chapel Hill. Recently retired from UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art, he currently serves as Visiting Lecturer. 

---

Alex Thompsom

Musician

See Creative Team Bio

---

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

NJ Agwuna

Director

PlayMakers: Ragtime (Associate Director).

Broadway: Clyde’s (AD), Moulin Rouge (AD)

Off-Broadway/New York: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (AD), The Sustain (Theatre NOW) Reformer by Rachel Haron (Colt Couer),  And She Became Rain by Nathan Yungerberg & Lawrence El Greco ( Joe’s Pub),  House of McQueen (The Mansion at Hudson Yards, Fight & Intimacy Director), OriGen Story by Nina Ki (Clubbed Thumb Winterworks), Don’t Tell Them I’m a Prince (Waterwell),  7 Minutes by Sefano Mesini (HERE Arts, AD),  Love All by Anna Deavere Smith (NY Workshop Associate Director), I am Trying to Understand You by Yuri Yamada  (Japan Society), Boys Don’t Look at Boys by Jeremy O’Brian (NYSAF), The Woman’s Party by Rinne B. Groff  (AD, Clubbed Thumb), Only Human, Till: A Musical, Tempest, Julius Caesar, One For the Road, Lysistrata (New School of Drama); Hyacinth in the Mountains (14th St Y); Endangered (Eco-Friendly Musical); what she found (FRIGID); Love and Information, FlipFlap and His Master, Then She Fell and Sleep No More.

West End/International: Moulin Rouge National Tour (AD), Freedom Train (TWUSA National Tour); Someone Dies at the End (Edinburg); Dracula: John Harkers Letters.

Regional: L’incoronazione di Poppea (West Edge), Bulrusher by Eisa Davis & Nat Stookey (Opera Premiere, West Edge Opera), Blanks by Gethsemane Herron (Playwrights Center, Fire This Time Festival & White River Junction, VT), Supa Dupa Kid (Barrington Stage Company), The Lover by Harold Pinter at the New Ohio, Garbage (Maine Fringe & FRIGID); Blanks (Fire This Time Festival & White River Junction, VT); Only Human (OCU). Film: The Regulars by Melba Silway + Tessa Greenberg (IC), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (1st PA)

Television: “A Small Light” (NatGeoTV and Disney+, shadow director), “Daredevil” (Season 1 & 2), “Jessica Jones” (Season 1 & 2).

Education/Awards/Other: Binghamton University (BA), Columbia University (MFA), DramaLeague Fellow, Outstanding Directing at NYMF, SDC Associate, Best Drama / Choreography for “what she found” at FRIGID, Teaching Artist with Tectonic Theatre Project. SCDF Barbara Whitman Award, New Georges Jam, Directing Fellow Clubbed Thumb.

---

Lex Liang

Scenic & Costume Designer

PlayMakers: Confederates, Emma.

Off-Broadway: 60+ productions.

Selected Regional: Alliance Theatre, The Asolo, Cleveland Play House, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Dallas Theatre Center, Denver Center, The Goodman, The Guthrie, La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, and many others.

Other: Founder and owner of LDC Design Associates, an experiential event and production company in NYC.  Recent projects/clients include Ubuntu Pathways: Fight For Good, Operation Smile’s 35th Anniversary Gala, Absolut Vodka, Invesco, The Tony Awards Gala, and BCBG’s 30-Year Retrospective.  www.lexliang.com

---

Eric Norbury

Lighting Designer

PlayMakers: Debut.

Off-Broadway: As Time Goes By (Out of the Box Theatrics), Hong Kong Mississippi (La MaMa ETC), Dodi & Diana (Colt Coeur), Only Human: A Musical (Theatre St. Clement’s).

Regional: Richard II (Colorado Shakespeare Festival), A Bronx Tale, Footloose, Jersey Boys (Argyle Theatre), Anastasia (Carbonell Nomination), Parade, Frozen, Something Rotten! (Slow Burn Theatre Co.), The Prom (WPPAC), The Drowsy Chaperone (SSMT), Blue (Seattle Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Dutch National Opera). LaMaMa ETC, BAM, NYTW, Playwrights Horizons, Barrington Stage Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Washington National Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Seán Curran Dance Company, Nimbus Dance, De Funes Dance, Second Avenue Dance Company and many others.

Education/Awards/Other: MFA NYU/Tisch, 2025 Carbonell Award Finalist for Outstanding Lighting Design, Play or Musical – Anastasia (Slow BurnTheatre Company), Colt Coeur Company Member.

www.ericnorburylighting.com   

• Instagram

---

Alex Thompson

Sound Designer & Composer

PlayMakers: Little Shop of Horrors (Music Director). She Loves Me, My Fair Lady, Sweeney Todd, Into The Woods (Associate Music Director). Ragtime (Keyboard 2).The Drowsy Chaperone (SYC Music Director 2023), The Prom (SYC Music Director 2024).

Off-Broadway/New York: All Hallows Eve(Connelly Theatre).

Regional: Selected Credits: Kinky Boots (Norwegian Creative). Perfectly Imperfect (Marigny Opera House, New Orleans LA); A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, The Color Purple, West Side Story, Godspell, The Wiz, Working, Hairspray (Hope Repertory Theatre); The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Connecticut Repertory Theatre); Assassins (Pallas Theatre Collective, Washington D.C.).

Education/Awards/Other: Wilde Award winner for Best Music Direction, “The Color Purple” (Hope Repertory Theatre), 1st Runner-up for BroadwayWorld’s 2022 Regional Award for Best Music Direction & Orchestra Performance for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Hope Repertory Theatre). Former accompanist for UNC’s Music and Theatre departments. Co-producer, mixer/engineer and arranger/pianist, “Growing Up” (the debut EP from Broadway’s Mia Pinero, PlayMakers alum)

• Instagram

---

Tia James

Vocal Coach

PlayMakers: Company member since 2018. Actor: The Royale, Confederates, Much Ado About Nothing, Clyde’s, Hamlet, Blues for an Alabama Sky, A Wrinkle in Time, Julius Caesar, Native Son. Vocal coaching includes The Wolves, A Good Boy, Little Shop of Horrors, Death of a Salesman, The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones, Misery, They Do Not Know Harlem, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Stick Fly, Ragtime, How I Learned to Drive, Life of Galileo, Bewilderness, She Loves Me, Skeleton Crew, Sherwood, Jump, Your Healing is Killing Me. Director: Crumbs from the Table of Joy, How I Learned What I Learned, As You Like It, Macbeth (PlayMakers Mobile), and Constellations (PlayMakers Ground Floor).

Broadway: The Merchant of Venice.

Off-Broadway / New York: The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare in the Park).

Regional: Much Ado About Nothing (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); Richard III (Allentown Shakespeare); Loving and Loving (Stella Adler Studios); Much Ado About Nothing (Two River Theatre); Civilization [All You Can Eat] (Woolly Mammoth Theater).

Television: “Nurse Jackie,” “Treme.”

Teaching / Coaching / Directing: The Color Purple (Raleigh Little Theatre); By the Way, Meet Vera Stark  (The College of William and Mary), Pride and Prejudice (Montclair State University); UNC-Chapel Hill, NYU Graduate Acting, NYU Dance, Atlantic Acting School, Montclair University.

Education / Awards: MFA NYU Tisch Graduate Acting Program, BFA Virginia Commonwealth University; Miller Voice Method Teacher Certification. Recipient of the 2014 NYU Graduate Acting Diversity Mentorship Scholarship, 2003 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship winner for Best Actor; 2019 Michael Chekhov/Zelda Fichandler Scholarship.

---

Jacqueline E. Lawton

Dramaturg

PlayMakers: Company member since 2015 and associate professor in the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Regional Dramaturgy: Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival of New American Plays, Arden Theater, Arena Stage, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Ensemble Studio Theater, Ford’s Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Horizons Theater, Interact Theatre, Kennedy Center VSA Program, Rorschach Theatre, Round House Theatre, the Stratford Festival, Theater J, Virginia Stage Company and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

Broadway Dramaturgy: Good Night, Oscar (Belasco Theatre).

Playwright: Anna K; Behold, a Negress; Blackbirds; Blood-bound and Tongue-tied; Deep Belly Beautiful; The Devil’s Sweet Water; Diola; Edges of Time; Freedom Hill; The Hampton Years; Hotel Berry, Intelligence; The Inferior Sex; Love Brothers Serenade; Mad Breed; Noms de Guerre; So Goes We; and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Education/ Affiliations: MFA in Playwriting, University of Texas at Austin; James A. Michener Fellow. TCG Young Leaders of Color, National New Play Network (NNPN), Arena Stage’s Playwrights’ Arena, Center Stage’s Playwrights’ Collective, and the Dramatist Guild of America.

---

Aspen Blake Jackson

Stage Manager

PlayMakers: The Wolves, Confederates, The Shot, The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Murder on the Orient Express, Much Ado About Nothing, Clyde’s, They Do Not Know Harlem, Native Gardens. Pippin, The Prom, The Drowsy Chaperone, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Summer Youth Conservatory).

Aspen is delighted to be returning for her fourth season with PlayMakers Repertory Company. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Vocal Performance and Dramatic Arts.

---

Sarah Smiley

Assistant Stage Manager

This is Sarah’s 14th season with PlayMakers, since first joining the company in 2005. She has worked professionally for over 30 years in the entertainment and theatrical industries, in theme parks and road houses in eight states and the U.K. She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and has been active in USITT and the Stage Managers’ Association.  She received her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa.

---

Roark

Production Technical Director

Roark is a graduate student in their third year of UNC’s Technical Production MFA Program with the Department of Dramatic Art, serving as the Production Technical Director for Primary Trust as their thesis project.

PlayMakers: Little Shop of Horrors (ATD), Death of a Salesman (ATD).

Regional: Richard II, The Tempest (ATD) (The Colorado Shakespeare Festival)  Timon of Athens, Coriolanus, The Sound of Music, Clue, Trouble in Mind (ATD) (The Utah Shakespeare Festival).

Education: BFA in Theatre (Technical Production Concentration) from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

UP NEXT

By William Shakespeare

Directed By Tracy Bersley

March 4-22, 2026

It’s a thrilling tale of ambition, betrayal, and madness. Follow the tragic downfall of a Scottish general driven by prophecy, paranoia, and power. Blood spills and loyalty falters in this timeless Shakespearean masterpiece. Beware: power comes at a deadly price. Learn more.

---

Our Mission

PlayMakers Repertory Company is North Carolina’s premier professional theatre company, proudly in residence on the dynamic campus of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. Our mission is to produce relevant, courageous work that tells stories from and for a multiplicity of perspectives.  We believe that theatre can have a transformational impact on individuals and entire communities, and we are committed to making our work accessible to all. PlayMakers also serves as the professional laboratory for UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of Dramatic Art, nurturing future generations of artists and audiences.

---

PlayMakers is…

(American Theatre Magazine), PlayMakers Repertory Company is North Carolina’s premier professional theatre company, proudly in residence on the dynamic campus of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. The professional company was founded in 1976, growing out of a storied 100-year tradition of playmaking at Carolina. 

“One of America’s Best Regional Theatres”

At the very heart of the PlayMakers experience is one of the nation’s last remaining resident theatre companies, made up of accomplished performers, directors, designers, artisans, and technicians, and supported by exceptional graduate students in UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art. Our company works side by side with guest artists from all over the world and our alumni include Pulitzer Prize, Tony®, Emmy®, and Grammy Award® winners. 

Creating Tomorrow’s Classics, Today

Producing Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch is continuing PlayMakers’ tradition of producing vibrantly reimagined classics, large-scale musical theatre, and significant contemporary work, but is also broadening the company’s reach to become a home for new play development and a true hub of social and civic discourse in the region. Her first seven seasons have already given life to twelve important new American plays.  

A Hub of Engagement

PlayMakers seeks to provoke thought, stimulate discussion, and push the boundaries of the theatrical form in everything we do. Whether through our intimate @PLAY series, our mainstage offerings or our virtual line-up, we look for opportunities for direct, dynamic engagement between audiences, artists, and thinkers. We also offer a host of unique engagement opportunities designed to enrich our audience’s experience of the live arts.    

Theatre for the People

PlayMakers Mobile is an initiative that seeks to contribute positively to the civic and social life of our region by taking world-class theatre out of our building and into the community. We create a streamlined production of a play and take it to schools, transitional housing facilities, and long-term treatment facilities around the Greater Triangle area. And best of all, it’s all free of charge. 

Passing the Torch

PlayMakers’ award-winning Summer Youth Conservatory is the only professionally supported training program of its kind in the region. The Theatre Quest program provides camps to area middle school and high school students, while the Theatre Intensive and TheatreTech programs allow Triangle high schoolers to apprentice directly with professional directors, choreographers, musical directors, and technicians, culminating in a professional quality production on the PlayMakers mainstage for the whole community to enjoy.  

Eliminating Barriers

With a commitment to eliminating barriers for attendance, PlayMakers offers All Access performances for our patrons living with disabilities. We also offer accessible $20 tickets for all performances and ticket prices are reduced to just $10 for UNC students. For more information, please contact prcboxoffice@unc.edu.

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | General Information | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

---

PlayMakers’ 2024/25 Season is Made Possible in Part by Grants from

Foundation Support

Joan H. Gillings Foundation, Frey Foundation, Robertson Foundation, The Educational Foundation of America, Highland Vineyard Foundation, The Shelby Family Foundation, Rao Family Foundation, T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable Giving

Additional Funding for Guest Artists is Provided by

Jeffrey Hayden Guest Lectureship Fund, Robert Boyer and Margaret Boyer Fund, Louise Lamont Fund, Emeriti Professors Charles and Shirley Weiss Fund

Corporate Council

Craven Allen Gallery & House of Frames, Larry’s Coffee, Mediterranean Deli, Bakery, and Catering, Metal Supermarkets Raleigh, Pineapple Sol Catering, Pinsieline Properties LLC, University Florists, Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, Lanza’s, Top Of The Hill.

Associates

Glasshalfull

---

PlayMakers Repertory Company is a program of the Department of Dramatic Art, The College of Arts and Sciences, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, recognizes PlayMakers as a professional theatre organization and provides grant assistance to this organization from funds appropriated by the North Carolina General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. PlayMakers is a beneficiary of the Elizabeth Price Kenan Endowment and the Lillian Hughes Prince Endowment.

---

PlayMakers Repertory Company is a Member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre.

---

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

---

The scenic, costume, lighting and sound designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.

---

The Director and Choreographer are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.

---

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | General Information | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

---

For this Production

Administration

Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director

Artistic

Jeff Aguiar, Director of Engagement
Bridgette Bagley, Assistant to Producing Artistic Director
Tracy Bersley, Movement Coach/Choreographer
Chelsea James, Associate Producer
Tia James, Vocal Coach
Gregory Kable, Dramaturg
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dramaturg
Mark Perry, Dramaturg
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Vocal Coach
Adam Versényi, Dramaturg
Anna Brooke Keisler, Artistic Asistant Work Study

Management

Lisa Geeslin, Accountant
Charisse Holloway, Admin Support Specialist.
Amy Evans, General Manager
Zoë Lord, Company Manager
Maura J. Murphy, Director of Operations
Selima Ahmed, Rachna Singh, Work Studies

External Relations

Tina CoyneSmith, Director of External Relations
Lenore Field, Special Events Coordinator
Anna Fletcher, Assistant Director of Annual Giving

Marketing & Audience Services

TJ Carr, Graphic Designer and Marketing Associate
Alex James, Audience Services Associate
Salem Jones, Audience Services Associate
Hannah LaMarlowe, Marketing Specialist
Ava Lytle, Audience Services Associate
Thomas Porter, Box Office Manager
Rosalie Preston, Director of Marketing & Sales
Alicia Norman, Sophie Taylor: Student House Managers
Micah Kennel: Student Box Office Manager.
Spenser Brenton, Albert Carlson, Maggie Thornton, Student Assistants
Charlie Bagwell, Christopher Bailey, Lynlee Collins, Ella Flaim, Lindsey Kanipe, Talise Koonce, Alex Lankford, An Thanh Nguyen, Leah Page, Kas Perez, Divae Scott, Mira Teague, Box Office and Front of House Work Studies

Department of Dramatic Art

Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Chair and Associate Professor

FACULTY

Judy Adamson, Professor Emerita 
Vivienne Benesch, Professor of the Practice
Tracy Bersley, Associate Professor
Pamela Bond, Assistant Professor
James Bray, Teaching Assistant Professor
Jan Chambers, Professor
McKay Coble, Professor
Jeffrey Blair Cornell, Professor Emeritus
Ray Dooley, Professor Emeritus
Samuel Ray Gates, Associate Professor
Julia Gibson, Professor
Douglas Hall, Associate Professor
David Hammond, Professor Emeritus
Rachel Hynes, Teaching Assistant Professor
Letitia James, Assistant Professor 
Gregory Kable, Teaching Professor
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Professor
Matthew Mallard, Lecturer
Triffin Morris, Professor of the Practice
David Navalinsky, Professor
Bobbi Owen, Distinguished Professor Emerita
Laura Pates, Assistant Professor
Kathy Perkins, Professor Emerita
Mark Perry, Teaching Associate Professor
Rachel E. Pollock, Lecturer
Bonnie Raphael, Professor Emerita
Michael Rolleri, Professor
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Assistant Professor
Aubrey Snowden, Teaching Assistant Professor
Craig Turner, Professor Emeritus
Adam Versényi, Professor 
Tao Wang, Assistant Professor

Administration

Weston Barker, Program Specialist
Lucas Branch, KTC Technical Director
Jocelyn Chatman, Costume Inventory Specialist
Lisa Geeslin, Accounting Technician
Taylor McDaniel, Student Services Manager
Kevin Pendergast, Assistant to the Head of the Technical Production MFA Program
Karen Rolleri, Business Coordinator
Sarah Tackett, Director of Business Administration

---

Production

Michael Rolleri, Production Manager

Costumes

Jocelyn Chatman, Costume Shop Manager
Matthew Mallard, Assistant Costume Director
Triffin Morris, Costume Director
Janis Nordeen, Wardrobe Supervisor
Rachel Pollock, Costume Craftsperson
Jillian Gregory, Kris Kingsolver Jessica Land, Bailey Mae Doran, Mackenzie Privett, Francis Werth, Costume Production Graduate Students
Ellie Steever, First Hand/Stitcher
Katherine Craig, Theo Kendrick, Ellis Vanderburg, Costume Shop Work Studies
Saturn Brundick, Ellison Brown, Costume Shop Undergraduate Assistants
Natasha Harm, Wardrobe Assistant Work Study
Ava Kennel, Costume Stock Work Study
Maya Tilson, COSTAR Historic Costume Collection Assistant  Work Study

Lighting

Benjamin Bosch, Electrics Supervisor
Maize Aubin, Production Swing for Lighting & Sound
Pezhi Li (Kimi), Undergrad Assistant

Props

Eden Clementine, Swing Scenic Artist/Props Artisan
Sam Gainer, Props Artisan
Lauren Reinhartsen, Properties Supervisor
Evan Wilker, Props Undergraduate Assistant
Ava Casey, Work Studies

Stage Management

Aspen Blake Jackson, Stage Manager
Sarah Smiley, Stage Manager
Kayla Jordan, Production Assistant

Sound

Nick Rodgers, Sound Supervisor
Jayden Alexander Peszko, Work Studies

Scenic

Brandon “Bruce” Hearrell, Shop Supervisor
Laura Pates, Technical Director
Rachel Van Namen, Associate Technical Director
Diane Zimmerman, Scenic Charge Artist
Benjamin Fink, Roark, Gibson Cameron, Josh Zietak, Technical Production Graduate Students

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | General Information | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation

---

BE OUR MVP

We’re running a playbook filled with reimagined classics, bold new voices, and blockbuster favorites. At PlayMakers you’ll see champions: our acclaimed resident company brings their A Game to every performance alongside guest artists who boast Pulitzer, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Awards.

But unlike athletes with sponsorship deals, our players don’t have big contracts. With ticket sales covering just under 40% of expenses, we rely on you to keep the magic of theatre alive in the Triangle.

When you give to the PlayMakers Fund, you support: 

• Our championship team—the PlayMakers resident company
• Award-winning guest artists from across the globe
• Sets, lighting, sound, and costumes—Broadway-quality made here 
• New work commissions that amplify multiple voices 
• K–12 student matinees and the Summer Youth Conservatory

When you support PlayMakers, you’re not just cheering from the sidelines—you’re making the winning play. Be part of the team that makes it all possible.

Be Our MVP Today!

Donate

Friends of PlayMakers

Director’s Circle ($10,000+)

Andrea H. and E. William Bates II 

Lelia E. Blackwell and John D. Watson Jr. 

Cindy K. and Thomas J. Cook 

The Farley Fisher Gift Fund 

Druscilla French 

Frey Foundation 

David G. Frey* 

Judith Campbell Frey 

Joanne and Peter Garrett 

Deborah and Michael Gerhardt 

Joan H. Gillings*

Joan H. Gillings Foundation 

Cynthia Strickland Graham 

Susan G. and Dustin J. Gross 

Garrett G. Hall and Zachary W. Howell 

Monie T. and T. Chandler Hardwick III 

Elizabeth P. Kenan* 

Thomas S. Kenan III 

Sharon E. Lawrence and Thomas C. Apostle

Sylvia Mills 

Wyndham G. Robertson 

Robertson Foundation 

Coleman D. Ross 

Shubert Foundation 

Alan H. Weinhouse 

Allison L. and Ford S. Worthy 

Angel ($5,000–9,999)

American Endowment Foundation

Munroe and Rebecca T. Cobey 

Dorothy L. Heninger 

Duncan and Stuart Lascelles

The Educational Foundation of America 

National Philanthropic Trust 

Paula D. Noell and Palmer T. Page 

The Persian Carpet

Robert A. and Tobi Schwartzman

Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund

Ken G. Smith 

Bonnie C. and James R. Yankaskas  

Investor ($2,500–4,999)

Alicia Allred

Deirdre M. and W. R. Arnold II

Andrew V. and Katherine B. Asaro

Eleanor O. and Edmund S. Burke Jr.* 

Jennifer D. Cannizzaro 

Cheray Z. Duchin 

Susan E. Hartley 

Susan J. Kelly 

Brian and Moyra Kileff 

Kimberley B. Kwok 

Winston C. Liao 

Linda A. and Paul D. Naylor 

Jodi D. and Louis Patalano IV 

Amy A. and Nicholas W. Penwarden 

Pinsieline Properties LLC

Phillip A. Rhodes 

Carol B. Smithwick 

Jacqueline and James E. Tanner

Page to Stage ($1,500–2,499)

David A. and Judith L. Adamson 

Mary Altpeter 

Iris and Keith Archuleta  

Vivienne Benesch 

Steven A. Benezra

Patricia C. Beyle

Fiona Brady and Carl Mehling

Linda L. and Cliff R. Butler Jr. 

Emerald HPC International

John P. and Phyllis J. Evans

Diane G. and John M. Formy-Duval Jr. 

David J. Howell 

Joanna T. and Hugon J. Karwowski 

Catherine M. Kuhn and Glenn J. Tortorici 

Karen Levine and Andrew B. Sisson 

Catherine O’Connell 

Ten Feet Carolina Metals, Inc.

Ariana Pancaldo and Michael K. Salemi

Amanda G. and Malchus L. Watlington 

Riley and Wendy Waugh 

George Weinhouse 

Marlene and Roger D. Werner 

Sara M. and Sidney P. Wright

Partner ($1,000–1,499)

Howard and Penny Aldrich

Marie and Michael Andreasen 

Jeremy D. Arkin and Marian G. Fragola 

Bruce M. and Dianne H. Birch 

Carolyn S. and Jackson D. Breaks II 

Margaret L. Brown and Jack C. Knight Jr. 

Joan Clendenin 

Virginia F. and Willis E. Cockrell III 

Janet B. and James W. Dean Jr. 

Alexander M. and Georgia C. Donaldson 

H. Shelton Earp III 

Carolyn and John M. Falletta 

Alison M. Friedman 

Kausik Gangopadhyay 

Kathleen G. and Burton B. Goldstein Jr. 

Dana R. and Robert S. Greenwood 

Julia S. and William H. Grumbles Jr. 

Elizabeth O. and Eric K. Gutt 

Rosemary E. Hoban and Stephen G. Tell

Johnson & Johnson HQ 

Shirley M. and Thomas A. Kunkel 

Anand S. Lagoo and Sandhya Lago-Deenadayalan 

Margaret Link-Weil and Michael L. Weil 

Carolyn C. Maness

Ann P. McCracken

Holly B. and Ross E. McKinney 

Abigail T. Panter and George Huba 

Bettina Patterson 

Charles T. and Suzanne S. Plambeck 

Marilyn J. and Lunsford R. Preyer Jr. 

David E. Price 

Carole L. Shelby 

Jenn K. and Kyle H. Smith 

William and Ellen Stewart 

The Shelby Family Foundation 

Dannie Thiessen

Roger A. Van Der Horst 

Denise and J. S. Vanderwoude 

Derek M. and Louise M. Winstanly 

David A. and Heather G. Yeowell 

Alan J. Young 

Miriam H. and Thomas C. Zietlow

Backer ($500–999)

Susan M. and Richard E. Allison Jr. 

Evelyn Barrow 

Adam C. Beck 

John W. Becton and Nancy B. Tannenbaum 

Shulamit L. and Stephen A. Bernard 

Stephen S. Birdsall 

Jerri L. Bland 

Gregory W. and Lisa F. Brown

Keith W. Burridge and Patricia Saling 

Alisha G. Byrd 

Linda S. and Philip L. Carl 

Anne and Bayard Collins 

Kristin B. and Roy A. Cooper III 

Britta Couris 

David A. Crews and Elizabeth A. Eagle 

David A. Doll 

Linda W. and Jaroslav T. Folda III

W. Patrick Gale and Carrie Donley

Michael R. Freedberg and Elaine W. Mangrum 

Arthur and Ruth Gerber 

Eve B. Goldschmidt 

Dede W. Hall 

Cheryl L. and Toby H. Harrell 

C. Hawkins

David L. and Leslie H. Henson 

Ann E. Holloman 

Laura L. Kline and David T. Robinson 

William W. Kohr 

Cheryl L. and Morton D. Malkin

Mike Maness and Lois Knauff 

Bruce and Marlee Margulies 

Connie and Edward McCraw 

James C. and Susan D. Moeser

Herbert and Jeanne Miller 

Anne C. and Frederick M. Morris III 

Stephen Nelson and Peter R. Vitale

David and Elizabeth Nuechterlein 

Vivian Olkin and Sim B. Sitkin  

Eugenea and Mark Pollock 

Glenn M. and Jodi L. Preminger 

M. Vikram and Susan J. Rao 

Lucy O. and Sidney C. Smith Jr. 

Edward M. and Laurel D. Strong

Timothy and Judy Taft 

T. Rowe Price Charitable Giving 

Carol B. Uphoff

* indicates deceased 

The above list represents patrons who have made gifts to PlayMakers between July 1, 2024 and December 1, 2025.

A heartfelt thanks to the Friends of PlayMakers whose generosity makes it possible to produce world-class theatre here in Chapel Hill.  For more information about supporting PlayMakers, or to request request a correction to the listing above, please contact Tina CoyneSmith, director of external relations, at 919.962.4846 or tc@unc.edu.

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | General Information | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners

---

Patron Spotlight

Allison and Ford Worthy

One of us recently asked the other: “What do you think our return on investment is from supporting PlayMakers?” Well, that’s impossible to calculate, but we know it’s high – very high. We’ve been PlayMakers subscribers together for nearly 30 years. (And before that, Ford first subscribed as a UNC sophomore in 1975.) The stories we’ve seen told on the PlayMakers stage have entertained us, moved us, provoked and unsettled us, inspired us, thrilled us, and sometimes frustrated us. Some performances have stayed with us long after we’ve left the Paul Green Theatre for the night. There was a powerful drama from 10 years ago – Disgraced, about faith and prejudice and identity – that we’ll never forget. There was last season’s joyful musical about the blood-sucking Venus flytrap that we laugh out loud about every time we glimpse the especially scary, monster-like tree right outside our house. Best of all, when we take our seats in the PlayMakers audience, we get to share the experience with other members of our community. Watching a PlayMakers production just wouldn’t be the same without watching it with the rest of you. That’s another reason we value PlayMakers – and why we’re so committed to supporting it.

---

Jump to: Letter from Viv | Support PlayMakers | Program Notes | Who We Are | Title Page | About the Author | Actor Bios | Creative Team Bios | PlayMakers Staff | Friends of PlayMakers | Corporate and Foundation Partners