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Up Next

May 4, 2024

with special guest Alice Gerrard

Lamenting the roll-back on women’s rights around the world, folk
singer-songwriter Dawn Landes re-imagines The Liberated Woman’s
Songbook. First published at the height of the Women’s Liberation
Movement, Landes’ smart and playful revision of this work leads us
through a history of women’s activism, from the early 19th century
through to the peak of Women’s Lib in the 1970s. In concert Landes
will be inviting different guest artists to join her and the band as they
embody women from the past. This performance will feature very
special guests Alice Gerrard, Skylar Gudasz, Shana Tucker, Kamara
Thomas, Lizzy Ross, and Mary D Williams.

Learn more about the show here.

Welcome to the last show of our 2023/24 Season and the first world-premiere sprung from PlayMakers recently established New Play Commissions Fund! This fund allows us to cultivate and nurture the next generation of great American plays and playwrights, with a particular emphasis on promoting Southern stories and women’s voices. I couldn’t be more thrilled to share Bekah Brunstetter’s delightful, insightful, and heartwarming new play with you.

We specifically commissioned Bekah to write an adaptation of Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, and what she has crafted couldn’t be more aligned with PlayMakers’ signature “reimagined classics.” If you are familiar with the oldest extant Greek comedy, you will no doubt enjoy its many modern-day parallels. But even if you have no knowledge of the ancient text, there is so much in this play to relate to, commune around, and laugh at! For me, it’s the idea of connection that makes The Game so inspiring. The play offers survival strategies for making the most of both the virtual and real worlds. It’s a reminder of the importance of community and how, despite the many things that separate and distract us from each other, we can’t go it alone.

And connections abound in this production as The Game is a truly homegrown production, showcasing the talent of several UNC alumni. Bekah wrote her first plays outside the theatre doors in the lobby of this building twenty years ago and Megan Ketch, playing Alyssa, was one of the young undergraduate Dramatic Art majors giving voice to those plays. At our first rehearsal, over a dozen people involved in this production—performers, technicians, craftsmen, and administrators— identified themselves as UNC alumni. What a source of great ARTHeel pride!

Thank you for being part of our community and choosing PlayMakers to be part of yours. We have such an exciting season planned for next year, and I can’t wait to connect with you throughout it IRL*.

Now sit forward and enjoy…The Game is on!

Vivienne

Coming Soon: 2024/25 Season

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Hope in the heart of Brooklyn
September 11–29, 2024

Democracy up for debate
October 16–November 3, 2024

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From the North Pole to North Carolina
November 26–December 15, 2024

Attention must be paid
January 29–February 16, 2025

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History isn’t a straight line
March 5–23, 2025

Don’t feed the plants
April 9–27, 2025

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

We are so happy to have you in this space with us. In great PlayMakers style, today’s performance brings the classical and new together. It’s a wonderfully fresh version of an ageless story brought to new life millennia after its premiere. And who better to pen it than one of our own UNC alumni: Emmy-nominated writer of NBC’s This Is Us, Bekah Brunstetter, who recently celebrated her Broadway debut with her adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook.

When we participate in this theatre, we are joining together in reseeding the past and growing from tradition rather than giving up on it entirely. PlayMakers’ roots run strong in the history of our great University and this state, as it strives to tell contemporary stories of community and foster the idea that expression through art allows us to mature, grow and reach for the stars.

I believe that there are some things only the arts can provide, and I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity PlayMakers affords us to witness the arts doing what only the arts can do. We hope you will continue to join us on our journey and support all that we do, both on stage and around the community. Share us on social media, bring your friends, donate – we need and appreciate your support.

Peace,

Jackie Tanner, Chair

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PlayMakers Advisory Council

Jackie Tanner, Chair

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, Jennifer Werner, Mike Wiley

Special Event

January 7–12, 2025

A tour de force by Emmy-nominated actor Sharon Lawrence, inspired by the story of the most powerful woman in journalism. Before her legendary tenure at The Washington Post, where she defied the U. S. government by publishing both the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate story, Katharine Graham was an abused wife. Her resilience set the stage for her transformation into an emblem of power in the media world.

“The Shot is a story for this moment. I hope The Shot empowers women who suffer intimate partner violence, and gives the rest of us a window into an abused woman’s soul.” – Playwright, Robin Gerber

PlayMakers Insider Subscribers: Tickets Included!

Mainstage Subscribers: Subscribe by April 28 to get first access to tickets before the general public!

About the Author

Bekah Brunstetter hails from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and currently lives in Los Angeles. As a TV writer and producer, she has written for Switched at Birth, American Gods, This is Us, and Maid (Netflix, 2021.) She has previously developed content with Bad Robot and Hulu.

As a playwright, her work has been staged and developed by The O’Neill Playwright’s conference, the Atlantic Theater, Portland Center Stage, The Old Globe, the La Jolla Playhouse, Naked Angels, South Coast Repertory, The Echo Theater, and Ojai Playwright’s conference. Her play The Cake has been produced over 100 times worldwide, and ran Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theater Club. She is currently working on Commissions for South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theater Club, and Barrington Stage. She recently made her Broadway debut with a musical adaptation of The Notebook with Ingrid Michaelson. She is an alumni of the CTG Writers Group, Primary Stages Writers Group, Ars Nova Play Group, The Playwright’s Realm, Women’s Project Lab, and the Echo Playwright’s Group. BA UNC-Chapel Hill; MFA in Dramatic Writing from the New School for Drama.

Learn more: www.bekahbrunstetter.com

Program Notes

By Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dramaturg

Bekah Brunstetter is a smart, talented, funny, and determined writer. She tells deeply poignant stories with care, precision, and magic. The worlds of her plays are delicately crafted with vivid imagery, deeply felt passion, and delightful humor. Her characters are richly drawn and feel uncannily familiar. This is her gift as a writer. She’s able to capture the heart and voice of her characters without judgment, which allows them to exist fully and freely on the page and stage.

When speaking about her writing in an interview with Concord Theatricals Publication, Brunstetter explains, “I like to write things that are serious and have depth to them, but then can also become absurd and kind of turn on a dime.” Her plays unfold on the stage much like life in remarkable, surprising, and complex ways. The Game is a perfect example of her craft and unique voice.

With The Game, Brunstetter gives us a modern adaptation of Aristophanes’ anti-war, feminist rising comedy, Lysistrata. First presented in 411 B.C., Lysistrata tells the story of how the women of waring nations join forces to end the violence that surrounds them.

They do so by withholding sex until a peace treaty has been signed. In Brunstetter’s adaptation, the war being waged is with a massively multiplayer online role-playing game and plays out in Alyssa and Homer’s suburban home as it does in millions of homes around the world.

As Homer’s obsession with the video game grows, Alyssa finds herself increasingly alienated from the man she loves and is at a loss for what to do. In her determination to save their marriage, Alyssa gathers a group of disparate women who have also lost their partners to the game. Together the women form an unlikely, but beautiful bond and learn more about themselves than they could have ever imagined. Ultimately, Brunstetter helps us to see that the game is merely a symptom and that it takes great courage to address the problems that threaten our perception of ourselves and our relationships.

At first rehearsal, our director Vivienne Benesch (Producing Artistic
Director, PlayMakers Repertory Company) beautifully shared the
following observation, “We don’t always know what needs to be healed.” I appreciate this meditation because we may know how to fix things on a surface level, but when it comes to mental health, we aren’t always aware of the harm we cause ourselves and each other. However, if we can center care and wellness, and work to be in community with our peers, loved ones, mentors, and neighbors, then we have a better chance of finding out how to love ourselves, support each other, and be accountable for our actions.

By placing the game at the center of Alyssa and Homer’s relationship
troubles, Brunstetter also allows us to examine some of the good that gaming can do. Through Homer, we learn that games can give a sense
of hope and community. Gamers work together to rebuild the world and restore order and justice.

Games allow us to make choices when life sometimes doesn’t give us options. Games also let us try again. Games that are set in dystopian worlds have a lot to teach us about love, care, hope, community, and sustainable practices. There’s a lot to be learned from gaming; if only we can learn to balance the time we spend playing with the life we are meant to be living.

Dramaturgy Fellow Series

On The Game

By Lexi Silva, Dramaturg Associate

Bekah Brunstetter’s The Game is a new play that adapts Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, a Greek play in which the women of Troy reclaim power and influence by withholding sex from their husbands. Brunstetter reframes this story within a contemporary marriage and social landscape to continue a conversation about personal connection and female power.

The Game prompts audiences to consider not only the threads between the classical text and Brunstetter’s contemporary work, but to think critically about connection and community in varying spheres. The tension in the play is not simply related to the differences between men and women, but a greater human need for community and connection in the age of technology, social media and immediate access to information.

The Game also evokes an ongoing history of female resilience and organization: the sex strike, or as American political scientist Gene Sharp terms it in The Methods of Nonviolent Action (1973), ‘Lysistratic nonaction’. Both in Lysistrata and across time, women have historically resorted to withholding sex (and thus, childbearing) from men as a means of reclaiming political influence.

Brunstetter references a handful of these instances in the play, including the organization of women in India advocating for protections for sex workers, the wives and girlfriends of Colombian holding a sex strike against left-wing guerrillas, drug traffickers, and paramilitaries as part of a strategy to achieve a ceasefire, Liberia’s Leymah Gbowee, who mobilized women to withhold sex from their husbands to campaign for an end to her country’s brutal civil war (she went on to win the Nobel Peace prize in 2011), and a reference to actress and activist Alyssa Milano’s calls for a sex strike during the height of the #MeToo movement. As we speak, women in Korea are actively mobilizing in the 4b movement (or, the “Four No’s”) which encourages women to renounce sex with men, child rearing, dating men and marriage with men.

Across time, space and human progress, women continue to resort to Lysistratic nonaction proving that Aristophanes’ scenario is not confined to antiquity, but is a persistent, contemporary issue prevailing under Patriarchy. Though The Game’s primary conflict is a marriage failing seemingly due to video game addiction, Brunstetter shines a light on the resilience and resourcefulness of women who, against all odds, find power in community.

Did I mention that this play is a comedy? Floating above the layers of literary pastiche and social commentary is a joyous levity and snappy dialogue that keeps the play buoyant. Brunstetter tactfully uses her skillfulness with comedic dialogue to drop audiences into a deeper conversation without losing the near-farcical spirit of her source material. Relatable but not reductive, The Game showcases a cast of incredible women helmed by Artistic Director Vivenne Benesch in a play that celebrates the power of sisterhood, friendship, connection and perseverance, taking care to note the messy and complicated bits.

The Game

by Bekah Brunstetter

Directed by Vivienne Benesch

Scenic Designer
Lee Savage

Costume Designer
Pamela A. Bond

Lighting Designer
Carolina Ortiz Herrera

Sound Designer
Kate Marvin

Projection & Media Designer
Tao Wang

Vocal Coach
Gwendolyn Schwinke

Dramaturg
Jacqueline E. Lawton

Stage Manager
Sarah Smiley

Assistant Stage Manager
Aspen Blake Jackson

April 10 – 28, 2024

The Game was commissioned by PlayMakers Repertory Company through the generous support of the New Play Commissions Fund.

Megan Ketch is the recipient of the Jeffrey Hayden Guest Lectureship

The video or audio recording of this performance by any means is strictly prohibited.

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

PROFESSIONAL ACTOR TRAINING PROGRAM

Class of 2026
We invite you to follow and
support our journey. Click here to find out more!

Actor Bios

in Alphabetical Order

Homer: Lucas Dixon*
Cleo: Elizabeth Dye
Rhonda: Kathryn Hunter-Williams*
Alyssa: Megan Ketch*
Myra: Cinny Strickland*
Jen: Sanjana Taskar*

Stage Managers: Sarah Smiley* Aspen Blake Jackson*

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

Time & Place: A house in Troy, NC. Present Day.

The Game will be performed with no intermission

Lucas Dixon

Homer

PlayMakers: Debut

New York: Red Bull Theater, Primary Stages, Upstream Artists Collective, Hudson Valley Shakes.

Regional: Weston Theater Company, Boise Contemporary Theater, Yale Rep, Fresh Produce’d, Theatre Banshee, Vagabond LA, Chautauqua Theater Company, Williamstown Theater Festival, Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Film: Nobody Wants to Shoot a Woman (upcoming), The Report, A Picture of You.

Television: “The Tick,” “Blindspot,” “Z,” “Elementary.” BFA Otterbein University. MFA and Herschel Williams prizewinner, Yale School of Drama. Lifetime member, Actors Studio.

Elizabeth Dye

Cleo

PlayMakers: Company member in their first year of UNC’s Professional Actor Training Program with the Department of Dramatic Art. Much Ado About Nothing. The Taming, Stupid F**king Bird (PlayMakers/DDA Ground Floor).

University: Cabaret, Animal Farm, Three Sisters, Violet, Henry IV Part One (University of Evansville).

Education: BFA Theatre Performance at the University of Evansville.

Kathryn Hunter-Williams

Rhonda

PlayMakers: Company member for 21 seasons. Recent highlights include directing They Do Not Know Harlem, Stick Fly, No Fear & Blues Long Gone, Count, plus acting in Fam Ham, Hamlet, A Wrinkle in Time, The Skin of Our Teeth, Edges of Time, Julius Caesar, Everybody, Life of Galileo, Skeleton Crew, Leaving Eden, Tartuffe, Dot, Intimate Apparel, The Crucible, Trouble in Mind, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, A Raisin in the Sun, Imaginary Invalid, The Parchman Hour, Angels in America, Fences, Doubt, among others.

New York/Regional: Living Stage, The Negro Ensemble Company, Manhattan Class Company, New Dramatists, Archipelago Theater.

Education/Other: BFA, UNC School of the Arts; MFA, UNC-Chapel Hill. Kathryn is chair of the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill and Associate Director of HiddenVoices, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing life-changing stories into a public forum.

Megan Ketch

Alyssa

PlayMakers: Debut

Off-Broadway: Continuity (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Cherry Orchard (Classic Stage Company).

Regional: Cry it Out (Echo Theatre Company, Ovation & Stage Raw Award Nomination); A Hatful of Rain (Berkshire Theatre Festival); Double Indemnity (The Old Globe); One Slight Hitch (Williamstown Theatre Festival); Macbeth (Chautauqua Theater Company).

Film: Remind Me, The Incredible Jessica James, Louder Than Bombs, The Big Wedding.

TV: “The Affair” (Showtime), “Tremors”(Syfy), “Jane the Virgin,” “American Gothic,” “Reckless,” “Under the Dome,” “The Good Wife,” “Blue Bloods,” “A Gifted Man,” “Evil” (CBS) “Gotham” (ABC), and “Glow” (NETFLIX).

Education: BA, UNC-CH. MFA, NYU Grad Acting

www.meganketchstudio.com

Cinny Strickland

Myra

PlayMakers: Debut.

Regional: Based in NC and NYC, Cinny has worked in regional theatres across the country. Locally, Cinny has worked with Triad Stage, the NC Shakespeare Festival, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, Wilmington’s Dog Eat Dog Theatre, the Barter Theatre, and Paper Lantern Theatre Company.

Commercial: Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse, Food Lion, Maitland Smith, SC Electric & Gas, National Outlet of Lexington, Hospice of Greensboro, and Belk’s Department Stores.

Education: She is a graduate of the UNC School of the Arts (BA, Drama) and Princeton University (AB, Politics).

Sanjana Taskar

Jen

PlayMakers: Company member in their third year of UNC’s Professional Actor Training Program. Every Brilliant Thing, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Emma, A Wrinkle in Time, The Skin of Our Teeth. Circle Back, Den of Thieves, Gloria (PlayMakers/DDA Ground Floor).

Regional: You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, Othello, RENT(Scranton Shakespeare Festival) White Pearl (Studio Theatre); Little Women (Virginia Theatre Festival); Three Women Walk Into Bar (Charm City Theatre Festival).

Education/Other: B.F.A. Acting, B.A. Sociology; University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Assistant Faculty member for Theatrical Intimacy Education (TIE).

Class of 2024

PlayMakers is proud to work with the exceptional students of the three MFA programs in UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art. The Professional Actor Training Program (PATP), the Costume Production Program and the Technical Production Program offer three years of advanced training to early career professionals and have each been recognized as top programs in the nation.

The PATP Class of 2024 invites you to follow and support the next step of their journey using the link here.

This spring, we bid farewell to the Class of 2024. Their journey started with us in 2021 as we made a return to live performances after the Covid-19 pandemic. Although we are sad to see them leave, we are immensely proud and excited for the next chapters in their artistic endeavors.

Please join us in saying CONGRATULATIONS to PATP students Hayley Cartee, Heinley Gaspard, Jamar Jones, Saleemah Sharpe, Sanjana Taskar, and Adam Valentine, and MFA Costume Production students Emma Weiss Holyst, Jocelyn Chatman, and Matty Blatt.

Vivienne Benesch

Director

See PlayMakers Leadership Bio.

Lee Savage

Scenic Designer

PlayMakers: Detroit ’67, Love Alone.

Broadway: The Lightning Thief (Longacre Theatre).

New York: Natural Shocks and Collapse (Woman’s Project); Surely Goodness and Mercy (Keen Company); Somebody’s Daughter (Second Stage); Twelfth Night, X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation and Julius Caesar (The Acting Company); The Lightning Thief (Lortel); Imagining the Imaginary Invalid (Mabou Mines); Satchmo at the Waldorf (Westside); Muscles in our Toes, Sunset Baby and Thinner Than Water (Labyrinth); New Golden Age and Rx (Primary Stages); All-American (LCT3), among others.

Regional: American Conservatory Theatre, Alliance, Asolo Rep, Baltimore Centerstage, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Chautauqua Theater Company, Cleveland Play House, Dallas Theater Center, Delaware Theatre Company, Dorset Theatre Festival, Glimmerglass Festival, Goodman, Guthrie, Huntington, Kansas City Rep, Long Wharf, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Merrimack Rep, Old Globe, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Trinity Rep, Two River Theater, Washington National Opera, Weston Playhouse, Wilma and Yale Rep.

Awards: Lee is the recipient of the Helen Hayes Award (Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (nom), Richard III (nom), NAACP Award (Satchmo at the Waldorf), Connecticut Critics Circle Award (The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow), and has received nominations for the Irish Times Theatre Award (A Streetcar Named Desire) and the Suzi Bass Award (Smart Cookie).

Lee is a founding member of Wingspace Theatrical Design. He holds a Master of Fine Arts (Yale School of Drama), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Rhode Island School of Design), and is the Head of Scenic Design at Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts.

www.leesavagedesign.com/

Pamela A. Bond

Costume Designer

PlayMakers: Stick Fly.

Regional: House of George (National Black Theatre Festival); FENCES (Arts Center of Coastal Carolina); White (Bulldog Theatre); Black Nativity (Justice Theatre Project). She also performed in Dance on Widows Row (Agape Theatre).

Education/Other: B.A. in Theatre, a B.S. in Textiles & Apparel, and an M.A. in Textiles & Apparel from North Carolina Central University. Ms. Bond is a member of Alpha Psi Omega Honor Society, Gamma Xi Phi Art Society, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Pamela A. Bond is a native of Durham, North Carolina. Ms. Bond is an Assistant Professor of Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Carolina Ortiz Herrera

Lighting Designer

PlayMakers: Debut

Broadway: Slave Play (with Jiyoun Chang).

Regional: Everything Rises (BAM Fishman Space); The Winter’s Tale, Hedda Gabler (Bedlam Theatre Company); Macbeth (Merrimack Repertory Theatre); The Railroad Children (Northern Stage); 4000 Miles (Westport Country Playhouse); Born with Teeth (Alley Theatre); among others.

Opera & Dance: Florencia en el Amazonas (Shubert Theatre); Trouble in Tahiti (West Side Theatre); The Silent Lyre (Lighten Theatre); The Cunning Little Vixen (Opera Theatre of Yale); among others.

Education: MFA in Design at Yale School of Drama, BA in Theatre at the University of California.

Kate Marvin

Sound Designer

PlayMakers: Misery, The Legend of Georgia McBride, A Wrinkle in Time.

Off-Broadway/New York: Jonah (Roundabout); Vanessa in Bed (Audible Original); Merry Me (New York Theatre Workshop); Big Trip (Krymov Lab, LaMama); The Best We Could (MTC); Wolf Play (MCC/Soho Rep); Heartland (59E59); Fidelio (Heartbeat Opera); Blood Meal (Theater in Quarantine); Wives (Playwrights Horizons); Fruiting Bodies (Ma-Yi); Chimpanzee (HERE Arts Center); Porto (WP Theater).

Regional: McCarter Theatre Center, Berkeley Rep, Two River Theater, Northern Stage, Geva Theatre Center, Guthrie Theater, Alliance Theater, Mark Taper Forum, among others.

Film: The Memory Trade (Handmade Puppet Dreams); Out of Office (NYS Puppet Festival); White Flags (AC Pictures).

Education/Other: Kate is an associate artist with Target Margin Theater. MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Tao Wang

Project & Media Designer

PlayMakers: Misery.

Regional: UrbanArias Keegan Theatre, Hattiloo Theatre – Black Repertory Theatre), Taft Theatre, Corbett Theatre, MainStage Musical Theatre and Dance Company, Stauss Theatre.

Film/Events/ TV/ Shows: “Nanjing, Nanjing,” The Universal Beijing Resort, Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony 2008 and Special Olympics World Games in Shanghai Opening Ceremony, Turandot in Paris, Beijing TV Virtual Reality Interactive Showroom, USITT 2019 National Conference.

Teaching: Assistant Professor and David and Rebecca Pardue Fellow, serving as a Media and Lighting Designer in the Department of Dramatic Arts at UNC, Chapel Hill.

Proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829; NYC and USITT

www.wangtman.com

Gwendolyn Schwinke

Vocal Coach

PlayMakers: Company member in her fifth season. Voice/Dialect Coach: Fat Ham, Much Ado About Nothing, Clyde’s, Emma, Native Gardens, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Yoga Play, Dairyland, Native Son, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, The Skin of Our Teeth, A Wrinkle in Time. Actor: Murder on the Orient Express, Much Ado About Nothing, The Skin of Our Teeth, As You Like It.

International: Voice/Text/Dialect/Somatic Coach: Macbeth, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Roman Daggers, The Winter’s Tale (Prague Shakespeare Company), Company season training (Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble).

New York & Regional: As Voice & Text Coach: Seven seasons with Shakespeare & Company. Oxford Shakespeare Festival, Frank Theatre, Cheap Theatre, Atlantic Stage. Actor: Carlyle Brown & Company, Oxford Shakespeare Festival, Frank Theatre, Red Eye Collaboration, Minnesota Shakespeare Project, Atlantic Stage, Old Creamery Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Playwright: Plays developed and/or produced by Seattle Repertory Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, The Playwrights’ Center, Red Eye Collaboration, Judith Shakespeare Company, Jungle Theatre.

Teaching: David G. Frey Fellow/Assistant Professor of Voice & Speech at UNC-Chapel Hill, Faculty Member at Shakespeare & Company and Prague Shakespeare Company, Designated Linklater Voice Teacher and Teacher Trainer, Guild-certified Feldenkrais Teacher. Voice & Speech Trainers Association Board of Directors.

Jacqueline E. Lawton

Dramaturg

PlayMakers: Company member in her 8th season 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.

Sarah Smiley

Stage Manager

This is Sarah’s 12th Season with PlayMakers since 2005. She has worked with theatres, theme parks, and road houses in eight states and the U.K., including Tampa Playmakers, freeFall Theatre Company, Virginia Stage Company, Busch Gardens Tampa, the Alliance Theatre Company, 7 Stages, Gulfshore Playhouse,
Shadowland Theatre, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff, Wales, and the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. Sarah enjoys her summer months in Charlottesville, VA, serving as Production Manager for the Virginia Theatre Festival, which celebrates its 50th season in 2024. 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.

Aspen Blake Jackson

Assistant Stage Manager

PlayMakers: Much Ado About Nothing, Clyde’s, They Do Not Know Harlem, Native Gardens. The Drowsy Chaperone, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Summer Youth Conservatory). Aspen graduated in May of 2019 with a BA in Vocal Performance and Dramatic Arts from UNC-Chapel Hill. During her undergraduate career, she was stage manager for shows such as Cendrillon, Dido and Aeneas, and The Pillowman. After graduating, Aspen completed an internship with the Walt Disney World Company and she worked as a production assistant for PlayMakers Repertory Company during their 19/20 and 21/22 seasons.

Presents

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PlayMakers Leadership

Vivienne Benesch

Producing Artistic Director

Vivienne is in her eighth full season as a company member and Producing Artistic Director at PlayMakers, where she has helmed productions of Hamlet, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Storyteller, Dairyland, Life of Galileo, Leaving Eden, The May Queen, Three Sisters, Love Alone, RED and In The Next Room. In her eight seasons with the theatre, she is particularly proud to have produced 12 world premieres and launched PlayMakers Mobile, a touring production aimed at reaching under-served audiences around the Triangle.

For 12 seasons, she served as Artistic Director of the renowned Chautauqua Theater Company and Conservatory, presiding over the company’s transformation into one of the country’s best summer theatres and most competitive summer training programs. Vivienne directed both the world premiere of Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles for Detroit Public Theatre and, in 2022, its Broadway production starring Debra Messing. She has also directed for the Folger Shakespeare Theatre (Helen Hayes nomination for best direction 2019), The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Trinity Repertory Company, NY Stage & Film, and Red Bull Theatre, among others. As an actress, Vivienne has worked on and off-Broadway, in film and television, at many of the country’s most celebrated theatres, and received an Obie Award for her performance in Lee Blessing’s Going to St. Ives. Vivienne is a graduate of Brown University and NYU’s Graduate Acting Program.

As an educator, she has directed for and served on the faculty of some of the nation’s foremost actor training programs, including The Juilliard School, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Professional Actor Training Program, Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program, and at her alma mater, NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. She is the 2017 recipient of the Zelda Fichandler Award given by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation.

Jeffrey Meanza

Associate Artistic Director

An actor, director and educator, Jeffrey Meanza has spent the better part of two decades working at two of the country’s most celebrated regional theatres, overseeing the artistic, educational and community engagement efforts of the organizations. As a member of PlayMakers’ resident acting company, he has appeared in Hamlet, Angels in America, Into the Woods, Lisa Kron’s Well, Amadeus, Assassins, and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, among others, and directed Misery, The Legend of Georgia McBride, The Cake, and Guys and Dolls.

From 2015 to 2021, he served as the Guthrie Theater’s associate artistic director, overseeing the theater’s education and community engagement initiatives, the literary team, casting, and the theater’s professional training programs, as well as helping to guide the work on the Guthrie’s three stages. During his tenure, Meanza managed the expansion of educational programming to serve over 35,000 students annually, including creating an artist residency program that put full-time teaching artists in high school classrooms throughout Minnesota. In addition, under his leadership, the Guthrie piloted a new Fellowship program that offers paid training opportunities for emerging leaders to experience work at one of the nation’s leading regional theaters. In 2021, Meanza returned to PlayMakers Repertory Company as Associate Artistic Director, overseeing the theater’s artistic, educational and engagement operations.

He holds an M.F.A in Acting from the Professional Actor Training Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and a B.A. in Theater and Performance Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Michael Rolleri

Production Manager

Michael is in his 37^th season with PlayMakers Repertory Company. He has been Technical Director, Project Manager, Exhibition Technician, and Lighting Designer for industrial shows in the Southeast region, as well as lead carpenter for films, the U.S. Olympic Festival, and scenic studios. He has also been a rigger in the Southeast region and has served on the executive board and as President of IATSE Local 417. Michael is a 30 year Gold Pin member of IATSE. An active member of United States Institute For Theatre Technology (USITT), he is a three-time winner at USITT’s Tech Expo. He is a full Professor/Head of the Technical Production Program at UNC-Chapel Hill and was an instructor at High Point University and Tufts University.

Education: MFA in Design and Technical Production, UNC-Greensboro.

PlayMakers is…

“One of America’s Best Regional Theatres”

(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.

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.

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 at 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 the journey of becoming an anti-racist organization whose work is accessible to all. Inextricably linked to UNC’s Department of Dramatic Art, PlayMakers is devoted to nurturing and training future generations of artists and audiences.

Our Vision

Provoke

Represent

Create

Antiracism Accountability Statement

At the heart of PlayMakers Repertory Company’s mission is the belief that theatre has the power to transform individuals and entire communities. There is no more aspirational or urgent a use of that power than working to dismantle the systems of oppression, white supremacy, and racism that pervade American life and consume the American Theatre. PlayMakers continues to assess and evaluate our own practices in order to embed equitable, antiracist policies into strategic planning, our mission, and our operations.

PlayMakers Repertory Company, and those of us who work here, commit to the following:

To work intentionally to create an antiracist culture in our company.
To continually educate ourselves on the ways in which we can combat racism locally and nationally as we move to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable sense of belonging for every one of our constituents.
To demonstrate our values through action in our policies, practices, and procedures.

Land Acknowledgment

We acknowledge that the Center for Dramatic Art is located on the unceded lands of one or more of Abiayala’s (the Americas’) original sovereign nations, the name(s) of which have not yet been affirmed. The unjust acquisition of these Indigenous lands came about through a history of racism, violence, dispossession, displacement, and erasure of cultures by settlers as part of the larger, land-centered project of settler colonialism.

As we look to the future, may. webuild upon the memories and goodwill of all who walked and labored here before us with truth, integrity, and honor. Learn more: UNC American Indian Center

General Info

PlayMakers Repertory Company is the professional theatre in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

ANNOUNCING OUR 2024/25 SEASON

We’re bringing you stories that will ignite your imagination, tickle your funny bone, and stir your soul as we delve in to explore the many facets of the American Dream. From striking modern classics to a world premiere made just for you, this is a stellar season we can’t wait to share with you!

SEP 11–29, 2024: Crumbs from the Table of Joy by Lynn Nottage

OCT 16–Nov 3, 2024: What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck

NOV 26–DEC 15, 2024: The Christmas Case of Hezekiah Jones by Howard L. Craft and Mike Wiley

JAN 29–FEB 16, 2025: De ath of a Salesman by James Ijames, directed by Jade King Carroll

MAR 5–23, 2025: Confederates by Dominique Morisseau

APR 9–27, 2025: Little Shop of Horrors book & lyrics by Howard Ashman, music by Alan Menken

Learn more about our season subscriptions HERE.

WHAT IF I HAVE TO MISS MY PERFORMANCE DATE?

If you know you will miss a performance date, we can exchange your ticket for you, based on availability. Please exchange your tickets online or call our Box Office at least 48 hours before your scheduled performance, and please be aware that all exchanges are based on availability and a fee or additional cost may apply. Subscribers may exchange their tickets with no additional fee, but additional cost may apply with a change in performance or section.

IS THERE STILL AN OPTION TO WATCH PERFORMANCES ONLINE?

We stream every production we are able to stream in accordance with each show’s licensing agreements. Check the show pages for streaming access dates when they are available.

Streaming access is included in the purchase of your ticket or you may purchase a streaming-only ticket.

ARE YOU STILL HAVING COMMUNITY NIGHT PERFORMANCES?

No. Based on patron feedback, we have changed our seating map to increase the availability of our most affordable tickets for every performance, so that patrons can have as much flexibility as possible in selecting their performances. As we take audience safety very seriously, we will not have General Admission performances this season.

HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH WITH PLAYMAKERS IF I HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?

For the quickest response, please email, prcboxoffice@unc.edu or call 919.962.7529 Tuesday-Friday between 12-5 p.m.

WILL THE BOX OFFICE BE OPEN?

The Box Office is planned to be open Tuesday-Friday, from 12-5 p.m.

SOCIALS

Don’t miss out on news and events. Follow us on all socials to stay connected and see what we do next!

Keith dasilva, private wealth financial advisor and 2023 forbes best-in-state wealth advisors are proud to support playmakers repertory company

The Knott Private Wealth Management Group at Wells Fargo Advisors

PlayMakers’ 2023/24 Season is Made Possible in Part by Grants from

Foundation Support

National Endowment for the Arts, North Carolina Arts Council, The
Shubert Foundation, Fidelity Foundation, Orange County Arts Commission, The Educational Foundation of America

Additional Funding for Guest Artists is Provided by

Robert Boyer and Margaret Boyer Fund, Louise Lamont Fund, Emeriti
Professors Charles and Shirley Weiss Fund

Producing Council

Residence Inn Chapel Hill, Larry’s Coffee

Corporate Council

Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, Knott Private Wealth Management Group at Wells Fargo Advisors

Associates

Linda’s Bar and Grill, Glasshalfull, Infinium Spirits

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.

Administration

Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director

Artistic

Jeff Aguiar, Director of Engagement
Tracy Bersley, Movement Coach/Choreographer
Chelsea James, Producing Assistant
Tia James, Vocal Coach
Gregory Kable, Dramaturg
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Dramaturg
Jeffrey Meanza, Associate Artistic Director
Mark Perry, Dramaturg
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Vocal Coach Lexi Silva, Dramaturgy Fellow
Sarah Tackett, Administrative Operations Associate
Adam Versényi, Dramaturg

Management

Matara Hitchcock, Company Manager
Kate Jones, General Manager
Lisa Geeslin, Accountant
Maura Murphy, Director of Operations
Erica Bass, Alexis R. Steele-Kubuanu, Dani Elliott, Ella Hawn,
Sage Howard, Sarajane Carty, Nathaniel Kareis, Work Studies

Development

Kyle Kostenko, Assistant Director of Annual Giving
Lenore Fields, Special Gala Coordinator

Marketing & Audience Services

Michelle Jewell, Marketing Assistant
Hannah LaMarlowe, Marketing Specialist
Thomas Porter, Box Office Manager
Rosalie Preston, Director of Marketing & Sales
Lauren Van Hemert, Marketing Consultant
Kori Yelverton, Audience Services Associate
Jenna Zottoli, Audience Services Associate
Lucy Albanil-Rangel, Marketing Work Studies

Ava Lytle, Cora Willis, Student House Managers
Ayriana Agard, Swetha Anand, Albert Carlson, Phoenix Chapital, Lynlee Collins, Kali Dao, Tygia Drewhowell, Evan Jeppson, Gali Jones-Valdez, Lindsey Kanipe, Micah Kennel, Alex Lankford, Alicia Norman, Leah Page, Morgan Perry, Asher Pierce, Sophie Taylor, Maggie Thornton, Izzy Twiss, Ava Wells, Ava West, August Williams, Nicholas Williams, Box Office and Front of House Work Studies

Department of Dramatic Art

Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Chair and Associate Professor

FACULTY

Jade Arnold, Visiting Lecturer Milly Barranger, Professor Emerita
Vivienne Benesch, Professor of the Practice
Tracy Bersley, Associate Professor
Pamela Bond, Assistant Professor
Jan Chambers, Professor
McKay Coble, Professor
Jeffrey Blair Cornell, Associate Chair, Teaching Professor
Ray Dooley, Professor Emeritus
Samuel Ray Gates, Assistant Professor
Julia Gibson, Associate Professor Dale Girard, Visiting Professor of the Practice
David Hammond, Professor Emeritus
Letitia James, Assistant Professor
Gregory Kable, Teaching Professor
Jacqueline E. Lawton, Associate Professor
Matthew Mallard, Teaching Assistant Professor
Triffin Morris, Professor of the Practice
David Navalinsky, Professor
Bobbi Owen, Distinguished Professor Emerita
Laura Pates, Teaching Assistant Professor
Kathy Perkins, Professor Emerita
Mark Perry, Teaching Associate Professor
Rachel E. Pollock, Teaching Assistant Professor
Michael Rolleri, Professor
Gwendolyn Schwinke, Assistant Professor
Lexi Silva, Dramaturgy Fellow
Aubrey Snowden, Teaching Assistant Professor
Craig Turner, Professor Emeritus
Adam Versényi, Professor
Tao Wang, Assistant Professor

Administration

Lucas Branch, KTC Technical Director
Victoria Danielik, Program Assistant
Lisa Geeslin, Accounting Technician
Taylor McDaniel, Student Services Manager
Karen Rolleri, Business Coordinator
Jamie Strickland, University Manager

Production

Michael Rolleri, Production Manager

Costumes

Amy Evans, Costume Shop Manager
Marissa Lupkas, Wardrobe Supervisor
Matthew Mallard, Assistant Costume Director
Triffin Morris, Costume Director
Rachel Pollock, Costume Craftsperson
Costume Production Graduate Students:
Matty Blatt, Jocelyn Chatman, Jillian Gregory, Emma Hoylst, Jessica Land, Zachery Morrison, Sally Rath Madeline Gibson, Arcadia Hilton, Undergraduate Assistants
Katherine Craig, Costume Department Assistant
Natasha Harm, Wardrobe Assistant
Georgia Wood, Costume Stock Assistant
Clara “Hock” Hockenberry, Costume Clerical Assistant

Hannah Andrews, Naomi Eckhaus, Susan Newcomer, Ellie Steever, Volunteers

Lighting

Benjamin Bosch, Electrics Supervisor
Nick Rodgers, Production Swing for Lighting & Sound

Xiuping Xiong, Lighting Assistant
Alex Mitropoulos, Work Study

Props

Lauren Reinhartsen, Properties Supervisor
Emma Madison, Props Artisan
Rebecca Xhajanka, Props Artisan

Marissa Romano, Props Undergraduate Assistant
Leah Jarrell, Cami Crocker, Lydia McRoy, Evan Wilker, Work Studies

Stage Management

Aspen Blake Jackson, Stage Manager
Sarah Smiley, Stage Manager
Zoë Lord, Production Assistant

Sound

David Bost, Sound Supervisor
Andrew Fleming, Sound Undergraduate Assistant

Nubia Orellana, Jace Rea, Work Studies

Scenic

Brandon “Bruce” Hearrell, Production Carpenter
Piper Johnson, Production Carpenter
Corrinne LaVergne, Scenic Artist
Laura Pates, Technical Director
Diane Zimmerman, Scenic Charge Artist

Technical Production Graduate Students:
Rachel Van Namen, Joel Ernst, Benjamin Fink, Roark

Kaitlin Mcguire, Kee Meh, Chyna Wiles, Veta “Koa” Torres,
Scenic Painting Work Studies

Beatrice Sangangbayan, Connor Gould, Heather Robinson,
Jake Docherty, Yessenia Estrada-Zerhoudi, Carpentry Work
Studies

PlayMakers’ Resident Acting Company

Jeffrey Blair Cornell
Samuel Ray Gates
Julia Gibson
Kathryn Hunter-Williams
Tia James
Gwendolyn Schwinke

Professional Actor Training Program:

Reez Bailey, Hayley Cartee, Matthew Donahue, Elizabeth Dye, Heinley Gaspard, Jadah Johnson, Jamar Jones, Nate John Mark, Saleemah Sharpe, Sanjana Taskar, Adam Valentine, Megwe Wapimewah

For this Production of The Game

Chelsea James, Assistant Director

Sage Green, Assistant Lighting Designer

Michael Ruiz-del-Vizo, Assistant Scenic Designer

Lexi Silva, Dramaturgy Fellow and Associate Dramaturg

Jadah Johnson, Morgan Parpan, Understudies

Rachel Van Namen, Production Technical Director

Laura Pates, Assistant Technical Director

Roark, Shop Lead

Zachary Morrison, Costume Shop Manager

Jillian Gregory, Jessica Land, Drapers

Sally Rath, First Hand

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A MORE IMPORTANT TIME TO SUPPORT PLAYMAKERS AND THE ARTS

PlayMakers Repertory Company is a nonprofit theatre. We rely on the generosity of our community to continue delivering the Broadway-quality theatre you love. If you believe in the transformative power of theatre as much as we do, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to help theatre thrive.

You can help support and sustain all our work, both on stage and off, by making a tax-deductible gift which enables us to:

Bring innovative, entertaining, and relevant theatre to the Triangle
Serve students across the state through our award-winning educational programs
Engage with our audiences through artist and community conversations
Remain flexible, safe, and better prepared for the future

Every gift, big or small, makes a huge difference!

Ways to Give

Online

Donate

Phone or Email

Kyle Kostenko, Assistant Director of Annual Giving
kostenko@unc.edu

919.445.1282

Mail

Send your check to:
Kyle Kostenko
PlayMakers Repertory Company Development Department
Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art
CB 3235
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3235

PlayMakers is grateful to the members of the Friends of PlayMakers for their generous support. For more information about how to join this dynamic group of supporters, call the Assistant Director of Annual Giving Kyle Kostenko at 919.445.1282 or visit us at playmakersrep.org.

Donate

Friends of PlayMakers

Director’s Circle ($10,000+)

Anonymous
Susan Arrington
Betsy Blackwell and John Watson Jr. *
Munroe and Becky Cobey
David G. Frey ~
Joanne and Peter Garrett
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
The Farley Fisher Gift Fund
Deborah Gerhardt
Joan Gillings ~
The Charles Goren and Hazen Family
Foundation, Trustees Tom and Lisa Hazen
The Estate of Linda K. Griffin Susan and Dustin Gross*
Amy and Kevin Guskiewicz*
Garrett Hall and Zachary Howell*
T. Chandler and Monie Hardwick
Brian Hargrove and David Hyde Pierce
Mrs. Frank H. Kenan ~
Thomas S. Kenan III *
Paula Noell and Palmer Page*
Wyndham Robertson *
Coleman Ross
Schwab Charitable
Shubert Foundation
Ken Smith
T. Rowe Price Charitable
Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program
Alan H. Weinhouse

Angel ($5,000–9,999)

Anonymous
Patrick Brennan and Lillian Jenks*
Linda and Cliff Butler*
Jan and Stephen Capps
Thomas and Holly Carr
Keith DaSilva of the Knott Private Wealth
Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors*
The Educational Foundation of America
Mr. and Mrs. Matt Hapgood
Sumeetha and Tanner Hock
Kim Kwok
Prentice Foundation
John Powell*
Raymond James Charitable Endowment
Fund
Rivers Agency, LLC*
David and Jenny Routh
Jackie Tanner*
Jennifer Werner-Cannizzaro and Thomas
Cannizzaro
Ford and Allison Worthy H. Edward and Phyllis Wright
Jim and Bonnie Yankaskas

Investor ($2,500–4,999)

Richard and Deirdre Arnold ^
Andrew and Katherine Asaro ^
Vivienne Benesch
Charities Aid Foundation of America
Evan and Erin Gwyn
Susan E. Hartley
Carol Hazard and Winston Liao
Stacy and Chris Hovey
Susan J. Kelly
Knack Technologies
Duncan and Stuart Lascelles
D.G. and Harriet Martin
Louis and Jodi Patalano
Nick and Amy Penwarden
Suzanne and Charles Plambeck
Samyr Qureshi
Dr. and Mrs. Edward Smithwick
Roger and Marlene Werner
Louise and Derek Winstanly
Katie Woodbury

Page to Stage ($1,500–2,499)

David and Judy Adamson
Steve Benezra ^
Ed and Eleanor Burke ^
Cindy and Thomas Cook
Dr. Steven Dalton and Mrs. Kymberly
Burkhead-Dalton
John and Diane Formy-Duval
The Rich and Tracy Harris Fund of Triangle
Community Foundation
Hugon Karwowski and Joanna Karwowska ^
Dr. Moyra Kileff and Mr. Brian Kileff
Dr. Catherine Kuhn and Glenn Tortorici
Metal Supermarkets Raleigh
Paul and Linda Naylor
Abigail Panter and George Huba
Jay and Cris Preble
Carole L. Shelby
Dr. William L. Stewart
The Rev. Wendy R. and W. Riley Waugh
Michael Weil and Peggy Link-Weil
Jenny and Julian Wiles

Backer ($500–999)

Anonymous (3)
Elisabeth Allore, in memory of John Allore
Pete and Hannah Andrews
Dr. Thomas C. Apostle and Sharon E. Lawrence-Apostle
Deborah Barrett and Charles Kurzman
Adam C. Beck ^
John W. Becton and Nancy B. Tannenbaum
Shula and Stephen Bernard
Patricia Beyle
Frank Binkowski
Ann and John Campbell
Philip and Linda Carl
Sam and Michelle Crittenden
David Doll
Anne and Alexander Dusek
Bob and Connie Eby
Randi Emerman
Thorsten A. Fjellstedt
Alison Friedman
Windi and Roger Glogowski
James P. Gogan ^
Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Greenwood Elizabeth Grey
Janet and D. Scott Guthmiller
Toby and Cheryl Harrell
C. Hawkins ^
Mr. and Mrs. David L. Henson
Don and Kay Hobart
Michael Maness and Lois Knauff
Anand and Sandhya Lagoo
K.A. and Carol Lawrence
Nelda and Douglas Lay
Karen and Stephen Lyons
Dr. and Mrs. Morton D. Malkin
Ed and Connie McCraw
Amy McEntee
Laurie E. McNeil and Patrick W. Wallace
Jeanne and Herbert Miller
Dr. James C. and Dr. Susan D. Moeser
Betsy and Jefferson Newton
Linda W. Norris
Pat and Mary Norris Oglesby
Lois P. Oliver
David and Mary Ollila
Sarah Owens
Ariana Pancaldo and Michael Salemi
Mark and Eugenea Pollock
Jodi and Glenn Preminger
Elizabeth Raft
Vikram and Susan Rao
Lucy and Sidney Smith
Dr. William W. Smith and Brenda W.
Kirby
Susan Stedman and Charles Higgins Jr.
Tim and Judy Taft

T. Rowe Price Program for Charitable
Giving
U. S. Charitable Gift Trust
Peter Vitale and Stephen Nelson
Wegmans Chapel Hill

^ Sustainers Club Member
* PlayMakers Special Event Supporter
~ Deceased

This list is current as of February 9, 2024. If your name is listed incorrectly or not at all, please contact the PlayMakers Development Office at 919.962.4846. We will ensure you are recognized for your
thoughtful support.

Table of Contents

Up Next

May 4, 2024

Coming Soon: 2024/25 Season

PlayMakers Advisory Council

Special Event

January 7–12, 2025

About the Author

Program Notes

Dramaturgy Fellow Series

On The Game

The Game

by Bekah Brunstetter

Directed by Vivienne Benesch

April 10 – 28, 2024

PROFESSIONAL ACTOR TRAINING PROGRAM

Actor Bios

Lucas Dixon

Homer

Elizabeth Dye

Cleo

Kathryn Hunter-Williams

Rhonda

Megan Ketch

Alyssa

Cinny Strickland

Myra

Sanjana Taskar

Jen

Class of 2024

Vivienne Benesch

Director

Lee Savage

Scenic Designer

Pamela A. Bond

Costume Designer

Carolina Ortiz Herrera

Lighting Designer

Kate Marvin

Sound Designer

Tao Wang

Project & Media Designer

Gwendolyn Schwinke

Vocal Coach

Jacqueline E. Lawton

Dramaturg

Sarah Smiley

Stage Manager

Aspen Blake Jackson

Assistant Stage Manager

Presents

LEARN MORE HERE

PlayMakers Leadership

Vivienne Benesch

Producing Artistic Director

Jeffrey Meanza

Associate Artistic Director

Michael Rolleri

Production Manager

PlayMakers is…

Creating Tomorrow’s Classics, Today

A Hub of Engagement

Theatre for the People

Passing the Torch

Eliminating Barriers

Our Mission

Our Vision

Antiracism Accountability Statement

Land Acknowledgment

General Info

ANNOUNCING OUR 2024/25 SEASON

WHAT IF I HAVE TO MISS MY PERFORMANCE DATE?

IS THERE STILL AN OPTION TO WATCH PERFORMANCES ONLINE?

ARE YOU STILL HAVING COMMUNITY NIGHT PERFORMANCES?

HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH WITH PLAYMAKERS IF I HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?

WILL THE BOX OFFICE BE OPEN?

SOCIALS

Keith dasilva, private wealth financial advisor and 2023 forbes best-in-state wealth advisors are proud to support playmakers repertory company

PlayMakers’ 2023/24 Season is Made Possible in Part by Grants from

Foundation Support