![Clydes 3](/media/atsjdvce/clydes3.jpg?center=0.42666666666666669,0.71333333333333337&mode=crop&quality=70&width=1324&height=646&rnd=133116831839230000)
Clyde’s digital program
Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company present a co-production of
Clyde’s
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Taylor Reynolds
Jan 20–Feb 26, 2023
Peet’s Theatre
This show has no intermission.
We acknowledge that Berkeley Rep sits on the unceded ancestral lands of the Ohlone people.
Discover Clyde’s | Meet the Creative team | Meet the Company
Welcome to Clyde’s, and our first production of 2023.
Making theatre in these times continues to be a rollercoaster of challenges large and small, but it feels entirely worth it when we can welcome artists into our rehearsal studios and theatres (and now apartments!), and to then bring their process together with our deeply engaged audiences. I’m particularly pleased to have Lynn Nottage’s work once again on a Berkeley Rep stage. Many of you saw Berkeley Rep’s production of Lynn’s extraordinary Pulitzer-winning play, Ruined, in 2011. And perhaps you had the opportunity to see her other Pulitzer-winning play Sweat across the bay at American Conservatory Theater in 2018. (If so, do look for the character who makes a repeat appearance here in Clyde’s.)
One of my personal pleasures in producing is the opportunity to engage with the work of an artist over time. To see the way they respond to the changing world, to track the expression of an aesthetic impulse, the impact of different creative partnerships. In short, to observe (and occasionally participate in) the evolution of an artistic imagination. 2022 offered New York audiences the chance at a crash course in the work of Lynn Nottage – at one point there were three productions running simultaneously, including the opera adaptation of her gorgeous play Intimate Apparel, for which Lynn wrote the libretto, the Broadway hit MJ, the Musical, for which Lynn wrote the book, and the world premiere of Clyde’s. A truly unprecedented chance to be plunged into the range of Lynn’s imagination and craft! And while we can’t present a multi-stage/multi-genre offering of Lynn’s works here, I’m delighted that we can bring this recent, lauded play to Bay Area audiences.
Even as it feels that we are in early stages of the current season, the artistic team and I are deep into the process of planning for the 2023/24 season. It’s a complicated dance, as we think about the stories and artists that will resonate for you between 9 and 18 months from now. Then, of course, there are practical issues of budget, artists’ schedules, capacity within our production shops, etc., etc., etc. One of the factors of interest to me is thinking about the relationship between our community – i.e., you – and a group of artists. I love it when you have the opportunity to witness and take part in the arc of an artist’s career. Berkeley Rep audiences have developed this kind of relationship with Emma Rice, John Leguizamo, Sarah Ruhl, and Tony Kushner, among others. It is equally important to me to introduce you to artists with whom I think you will fall in love, to have those artists come to know us as an organization, and as a community, to learn the ways in which we may be uniquely positioned to engage with and support their artistic journeys.
It is such a privilege to be in the presence of directors like Saheem Ali, Taylor Reynolds, and David Mendizábal (who has just joined us as our new associate artistic director!), and writers including Jocelyn Bioh, Martyna Majok, and Jackie Sibblies Drury whose individual and collective impact on the field will be felt for decades to come. So, as we plan seasons, I think about the continuation of artistic relationships, which permit a specific kind of risk-taking, alongside the pleasure and importance of forging connections to new artists, who will bring different perspectives, modes of storytelling, and relationships into our midst.
I look forward to sharing more news of the 2023/24 season with you over the next couple of months. In the meantime, I’m delighted to share this journey of Clyde’s with you, to bask together in the complexity of the world that Lynn has rendered with such warmth and wit. Enjoy!
Warmly,
Johanna Pfaelzer
Artistic Director
A two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Lynn Nottage is one of the most important and influential theatre artists today and a true genius (she received the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship in 2007). Her work has intersected my life at many pivotal moments:
Seventeen years ago, after producing education and community programs, festivals, and a touring production, I had the opportunity to serve as the lead producer of my first professional mainstage theatre production: Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel at San Diego Repertory Theatre. It was a remarkable experience, for which I was honored to receive an NAACP Theatre Award for Best Producer.
Then, while I was the executive director of Trinity Repertory Company many years later, the play we had in rehearsal when the pandemic began was Lynn Nottage’s Sweat. Sadly, that production, like so many, never made it to the stage.
And in the re-opening of Broadway, after relocating to New York City, I had the pleasure of seeing three of Lynn Nottage’s works: the Broadway production of Clyde’s, Intimate Apparel: A New Opera at Lincoln Center Theater, and MJ the Musical, which I happened to see on the day of my first conversation with the Berkeley Rep recruiter.
It is so thrilling that during my first season at Berkeley Rep – in a new year, in my new home – I get to be a part of the team that brings another fantastic Lynn Nottage play to life. I hope you find inspiration in the Clyde’s characters’ embrace of their creativity to rise above their past mistakes and reconnect with the world. A special thank you to Semifreddi’s for donating the palettes for that creativity – a.k.a., the bread for all those sandwiches.
This production kicks off the balance of a season filled with comedy, drama, music, and spectacular theatricality. Next up, get ready to rock with Lauren Yee’s much-anticipated Cambodian Rock Band. Then language and identity collide in Sanaz Toossi’s critically acclaimed English. Our season wraps up with a beautifully suspenseful thriller, Let the Right One In, adapted from the Swedish novel and film by the team that created Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and the directorial return of Tony Taccone for the world premiere of Tony Award winner Ari’el Stachel’s solo show, Out of Character. Subscription packages are still available for the remainder of this season, and we invite you to join us for this great sampling, if you don’t already have your tickets.
While we are only on the second show of this season, Johanna Pfaelzer and her team are already deep in planning a fantastic 2023/24 season for you. The next few months are a very busy period of planning, budgeting, and organizing. As the artistic team puts the finishing touches on the season selection, the administrative and production teams are working out the logistics and budget for the potential season – projecting ticket sales, securing sponsors, preparing the subscription campaign, estimating production costs, negotiating with artists, securing production rights, and identifying community and production partners. This work delicately interplays with the season selection process, as every artistic decision is a financial decision, and every financial decision is an artistic decision. It is a complex puzzle, which forms the foundation for your experience next season. Undoubtedly, next season will take our theatre-making to even greater heights. In April, subscribers will receive their subscription renewal information – your chance to lock in the best seats and prices for the new season in the works. Stay tuned.
I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday season. All of us at Berkeley Rep offer you our best wishes for a healthy, prosperous, and joyful New Year. Thank you for making Berkeley Rep a part of it. We all remain ever grateful for your involvement, support, and patronage.
Enjoy the show,
Tom Parrish
Managing Director
It’s my first production here at Berkeley Repertory Theatre as the new associate artistic director, and it is thrilling to be connecting with you all on this delicious play. It is extra special to be sharing this moment with our director, Taylor Reynolds, a dear friend, collaborator, and an artist whose work I am continually inspired by. Taylor and I worked together for many years as part of the Producing Artistic Leadership Team of the Obie Award-winning The Movement Theatre Company. There, I first saw Taylor’s commitment to creating work that builds connections, inspires empathy, and celebrates the miracles of everyday life. These values align with Lynn Nottage’s hilarious and heartfelt play to capture the truth of a sandwich. A truth bigger than the sum of its ingredients. For a sandwich has the potential to allow one to taste humanity. To have one’s mind, heart, and soul expanded. To connect to others outside of your own lived experiences. Like consuming art or going to the theatre, a sandwich, like a play, can remind us of our relationship to the world.
I love sandwiches – regular sandwiches, open face, wraps, pinwheel, grilled, or stacked sandwiches. I even love ice cream sandwiches. When it comes to sandwiches, I strongly believe that a sandwich is way better when someone else makes it. In fact, psychology agrees. The New York Times once quoted Daniel Kahneman, a well-known psychologist, who explained, “When you make your own sandwich, you anticipate its taste as you’re working on it. And when you think of a particular food for a while, you become less hungry for it later.” Makes sense, right? However, I also believe that my love of sandwiches and the preference of other people making them began, as most things do, with my father.
My father is not a good cook, but when I was young, he would pack lunch for my sisters and me every day for school, and at the heart of our lunches was the sandwich. Simple, understated, never fancy – some deli meat, a light spread of mayo, and two slices of bread tucked away in a Ziploc bag – but they were made with love. Just one bite at lunchtime and I could taste the deep care and consideration that went into making sure my sisters and I were nourished.
Not everyone feels the same about a sandwich. In fact, my partner, who is a phenomenal cook, is not a fan. Something about bread and a waistline. We argue and he says, “I just think my palette likes different flavors.” But think of all the possibilities, anything could be a sandwich!
When we first saw Clyde’s together in New York, I remember this point being verified when the character Montrellous stated, “You know why I love the sandwich, ‘cuz it’s a complete meal that you can hold between your fingers. It’s the most democratic of all foods. Two pieces of bread, and between, you can put anything you want. It invites invention and collaboration.” We laughed and I nudged my partner in the seat next to me delighting in my win, but the profound truth of what Montrellous had said resonated with me deeper.
Sandwiches are like art. They offer the possibility of creation and world building. They invite discourse and disruption. The opportunity to make something delectable or disagreeable. To communicate a feeling, emotion, or truth. What lies between two slices of bread has the same potential energy as what exists between a playwright’s pen and paper. With one’s hands and myriad ingredients, imagination, and experimentation, one can create something that once was not there, offering hope.
For the characters in this play, the opportunity to create and taste hope is essential. It is the fuel that keeps them going. Making sandwiches allows them a space to dream and to connect with their own humanity and the humanity of others. It provides them with the opportunity to build something with their hands and combat the many societal systems that hold them down for the mistakes they made early in life. To Montrellous, Letitia, Rafael, and Jason, making sandwiches becomes a religious ritual, repentance, and a reminder of the depths of being alive.
So, the next time you take a bite of a sandwich, consider the layers of stories and experiences that go into bringing you a meal and know that there are myriad connections and possibilities available when dreaming up the perfect sandwich.
– David Mendizábal
Photo of David Mendizábal by Brandon Nick
By Madeleine Oldham
When future theatre classes look back on the great playwrights of the 2000s, Lynn Nottage’s name will stand out. Her writing captures something essential about our world here and now, while also exuding a timelessness that transcends era. Using warmth and humor, Nottage draws her viewers close, earning their trust and whetting their appetite for more. This creates a container for her stories to range from poignant to harrowing to hilarious and beyond.
Nottage grew up in Brooklyn, the daughter of a schoolteacher and a psychologist. Her parents instilled in her from a very young age the belief that art matters, encouraging her to attend plays and appreciate music. She couldn’t know it at the time, but this early interest in creative arenas would shape her future.
Her natural curiosity about the world around her — why people do the things they do, how people find themselves living particular lives, what’s behind things like harshness or cruelty — infuses her work at every turn. Nottage’s writing centers characters whose stories weren’t familiar to the traditional American theatrical canon, such as Black maids and seamstresses, Congolese civil war survivors, and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Her storytelling also reflects her personal history as an activist. Before her writing career took off, she worked for Amnesty International. She was taught by her parents to embrace service to others, and to incorporate it into all aspects of her life. Underneath everything she writes lies a profound empathy for the human condition, which helps her to create fully imagined, complex, yet highly relatable characters even in the most extreme of circumstances.
Nottage humanizes her villains — so much so that it’s difficult to even identify a “villain” in one of her plays. A character may do something that looks reprehensible, but Nottage rarely lingers there. She deftly illuminates her characters’ motivations, creating environments where decisions have no clear right or wrong. Her plays are profoundly accessible yet do not oversimplify. She avoids pitfalls that can lure a writer into moral pontification, like when events unfold too neatly and tidily. She makes the deceptively difficult job of writing thought-provoking, entertaining plays look easy.
Rightfully, the world has noticed. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama not once, but twice — the only woman to have done so. The first was for Ruined in 2009, which Berkeley Rep produced in 2011; the second for 2017’s Sweat. A MacArthur Genius grant recipient, she also made Time Magazine’s 2019 list of 100 Most Influential People. For someone known primarily as a playwright, this last one perhaps says the most about her.
Not content to limit herself to a single genre, she prickles at the idea of being pigeonholed. In a 2021 New York Times profile she notes, “As I get older, I have this desire to be more free-range, kind of like the world is becoming. Everything’s up for grabs. I’ve been writing plays for the last 20 years. Should I only be seen as a playwright? That’s not the full extent of who I am.”
The full extent of who she is may not know any bounds: there’s no telling what Lynn Nottage will do next, but there’s no doubt that it will be interesting. She is a consummate art-maker, having branched out into opera, film, music, and immersive performance. She speaks freely about her role as a mother in a field that notoriously fails to support working parents. She cooks, thinks deeply, and gives back to her community. As a mentor to many younger playwrights, and an inspiration to her contemporaries, she will no doubt remain a role model for generations to come.
Photo of Lynn Nottage by Lynn Savarese
Sharing a meal. It is an intimate act, a communal activity that can be difficult to replicate on stage. Yet there is nothing quite like it in theatre. On stage, eating – an activity that can feel mundane and standard in our everyday lives – is suddenly heightened. In front of the audience, eating becomes more than mere consumption – it is a moment of shared humanity, of community. And it is magical.
To create this provisional magic, Berkeley Rep’s properties (props) department takes the following into consideration: the words on the page, the director’s vision, food preparation and clean-up, actors’ preferences, food safety, audience perception, costs, and sustainability. In general, discussions regarding consumables are a lengthy process that requires much deliberation and interdepartmental collaboration.
In cases where real consumables cannot be used, properties staff members might decide to replicate the look using a variety of materials, such as plaster, silicon, rubber, and Styrofoam. With some paint and additional modifications, memory foam can resemble French fries and saw dust can turn into tuna fish. Oftentimes, fake consumables are both more cost-efficient and sustainable since they can be cleaned and reused repeatedly. But some situations require real consumables, such as when food is being eaten on stage.
Deciding what consumables work best can be challenging, especially with a play such as Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s. This is due not only to the large quantity of food props needed, but also, given the centrality of food to the narrative, to our understanding of the characters’ perspectives and, furthermore, to the construction of Clyde’s Sandwich Shop kitchen. (And what is a sandwich shop without sandwiches?) As such, the question of food on stage is central to this production and impacts staging, design, and audience interaction.
Cooking on stage poses its own challenges. Some sets include a fully functioning kitchen, but most do not. Questions of sustainability and cost-efficiency also impact decisions about cooking on stage. Berkeley Rep’s new Associate Artistic Director David Mendizábal shared that in their 2020 production of Don’t Eat the Mangos by Ricardo Pérez González at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, the cooking of chuletas, or pork chops, was olfactorily satisfied by cooking seasoned onions on a hot plate. This was much more sustainable and less taxing than cooking real chuletas every night. In addition to experiencing the aromas, audience members might hear the sizzling of oil in a hot pan or hear the stovetop burner being turned on, even when the set kitchen is not functioning. It is no surprise that onstage cooking can require some creative alternatives.
The conversation around consumables in Clyde’s began with the play itself. The properties department, which consists of Properties Supervisor Jill Green, Associate Properties Supervisor Amelia Burke-Holt, Properties Artisan Lisa Mei Ling Fong, and Fellow Kristina Fosmire, created multiple prop lists based on the script, along with a list of foods that might need to be avoided. Properties is responsible for sourcing the food items and/or creating the fake food, so this is an important precursor.
Directorial choices also impact possible consumable options, so a conversation between properties staff members and Clyde’s director, Taylor Reynolds, is needed to ensure everyone is on the same page. This discussion might include questions such as: Do the actors eat the sandwich on stage at the end of this scene? Will the audience get to see the sandwich being made at the start of the act? The director’s responses and vision will shape what ingredients are used.
Aside from the director, props also collaborates with stage management, actors, and stage crew. As actors are the ones dealing directly with the consumables, their dietary restrictions and allergies, in addition to general comfortability and food preferences, will shape potential options. However, it is often stage managers who communicate this information and operate as an intermediary between actors and properties staff members. But who prepares the food once the show starts? Why the stage crew, of course. They are tasked with both prepping the food along with washing any used dishes, sanitizing props, and labeling and storing consumables.
Whether it is the popping sound of popcorn in the microwave, the smell of coffee brewing, or the sight of a freshly baked cake, so much that happens backstage to achieve every onstage culinary moment. And yet, once the seats are filled, the food is there. And that is powerful. How effortlessly it appears, as if by magic. How it can evoke memories and emotions and transport us.
– Maria Arreola
“You know I tried for like two months to get another gig, and Clyde’s the only person who would even look me in the eye.” – Rafael
Deemed the “great equalizer,” prison shatters any chance of a fresh start following release, bringing institutional barriers and significant restrictions on employment for all who are left with the lingering label of “felon.” Jobs that are formally off limits include public positions such as work in the government, the armed forces, teaching, law enforcement, and childcare. Many jobs that require a professional license, such as real estate or insurance, are also restricted, even if that license was obtained prior to conviction. At the federal level, an employer is not allowed to use a prior conviction as a reason not to hire someone, unless the crime relates to the job; however, at the state level, employers are permitted to take an individual’s criminal history into account when making hiring choices. This opens formerly incarcerated people to many disadvantages and discrimination rooted in stigma. After serving time in prison, the characters in Lynn Nottage’s play Clyde’s find themselves in a new type of hell: Clyde’s kitchen. Laments of “how the fuck did we get stuck here?” echo through the play because they know “ain’t nobody gonna hire you except for Clyde.” Thus, our kitchen staff – Montrellous, Letitia, Rafael, and Jason – are forced to endure Clyde’s mercurial wrath or leave and risk falling into the cycle of recidivism.
In some states, including Pennsylvania where Clyde’s takes place, formerly incarcerated people also lose eligibility for student loans, restricting access to education and, subsequently, further limiting job options. In a recent report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the overall employment rate four years after release was roughly 35 percent. For those who did find work, their positions tended to be low-skilled, low-wage jobs such as food service or manufacturing where they make less than 84 cents for every dollar of the U.S. median wage. These low wages make it extremely difficult for an individual to support themselves, especially when considering the fees and fines that often come with life post-incarceration. Currently, most states charge a parole supervision fee – a fee paid by an offender for the duration of their parole ranging from 10 dollars to over 200 a month.
These employment restrictions place formerly incarcerated people at a severe disadvantage that is made worse by denied access to public benefits and assistance programs. Convicted felons are not allowed to apply for federal or state grants, live in public housing, or receive federal cash assistance, SSI, and food stamps. Beyond the influence employment has on the ability to find housing, the ban on public housing and housing policies such as background checks for renters can often lead to homelessness – a 2018 report by the Prison Policy Initiative found that formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general population.
Outside of the challenges of employment and housing, formerly incarcerated people are, depending on the state they live in, typically denied rights around voting, jury duty, the right to bear arms, traveling outside the country, and parental rights. While jury duty, the right to bear arms, and travel are self-explanatory, felons’ rights surrounding custody are murky and dependent on circumstance. A felony does not guarantee a loss in custody of a child but can often be a significant barrier and can result in it. Voting rights vary state by state. In most states, felons regain their voting right denied to them while in prison upon completion of their sentence and parole. A handful of states, including Maine and Vermont, allow felons to vote while in prison, while some states, including Iowa, Kentucky, and Mississippi, do not ensure voting rights will ever be restored.
Roughly two-thirds of the 600,000 people released from prison in America each year are arrested again within three years and more than 50% are reincarcerated. For many, recidivism is rooted in the challenges and struggles felons face in searching for employment and housing while acclimating to a new world. While billions of dollars are invested in the construction of jails and prisons, that investment is unmatched in spaces that offer aid and support to recently released citizens looking to restart their lives.
For Montrellous and Letitia, release from prison came with $75 in gate money, but, depending on the state, the amount can be lower or nonexistent. For those without access to financial resources, this money is a primary tool for getting “back on their feet,” but will not last beyond the first few days of freedom as the cost of basic, immediate necessities tear through the meager offering, only increasing the urgency of employment. While Montrellous, Letitia, Rafael, and Jason find themselves in the more favorable position of having employment, it comes at a cost. Without this job, what will happen to these people who have expressed repeatedly that they have already looked for other work and failed? Will quitting make Jason in violation of his parole and land him back in jail? How will Letitia provide for her daughter? Once again, the promise of freedom that comes with stepping out the door and leaving Clyde’s prison is fated to be short lived as the label of “felon” makes true escape impossible.
For more reading on gate money, voting rights for felons, and life post incarceration, check out:
- Prison Policy Initiative on Employment
- PBS interview on gate money, the changes potentially coming to California, and transition
- Voting rights for felons state by state
- Incarceration trends in California
- The Marshall Project on gate money
- Voters of America on housing insecurity for formerly incarcerated people
– Katie Stevenson
Lynn Nottage is a playwright and a screenwriter, and the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Recent work includes the book for MJ the Musical (Broadway), the libretto for the Intimate Apparel Opera (LCT), and Clyde’s (Broadway, 2ST, Goodman Theatre), and co-curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theatre). Past work includes Sweat; Ruined; the book for The Secret Life of Bees; Mlima’s Tale; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Intimate Apparel; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers; and POOF! She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nottage is a member of the Theater Hall of Fame, and the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship (among other awards). She is also an Associate Professor at Columbia University School of the Arts, and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Taylor Reynolds is a New York-based director from Chicago and one of the producing artistic leaders of Obie-winning The Movement Theatre Company in Harlem. Selected directing credits: La Race (Page 73/Working Theater), Tambo & Bones (Playwrights Horizons/CTG), Man Cave (Page 73), The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, New York Times Critic’s Pick), Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally (Baltimore Center Stage/Playwrights Realm), Plano (Clubbed Thumb, Drama Desk nomination for Best Director), Songs About Trains (Radical Evolution), and Think Before You Holla (creator/deviser). Taylor has also worked as a director, assistant, and collaborator with companies including Keen Company, Ojai Playwrights Conference, MCC, New Georges, MTC, Signature Theatre Company, and The 24 Hour Plays. Taylor is the 2021 LPTW Lucille Lortel Award recipient, a New Georges Affiliated Artist, 2017-2018 Clubbed Thumb Directing Fellow, and Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab alum. Member of SDC.
Previously at Berkeley Rep: Aubergine. Broadway: Cost of Living, Pass Over (Drama Desk and Lortel Award nominations), Next Fall. Off-Broadway: the bandaged place (Roundabout Underground), A Bright New Boise (Signature Theatre), The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons), Space Dogs (MCC, Lortel Award nomination), Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi/Public), Sakina’s Restaurant (Audible). Opera: Lucia di Lammermoor (Lyric Opera of Chicago), Eine Florentinische Tragödie/Gianni Schicchi (Canadian Opera, Dora Award winner). Film/television: Pass Over (dir. Spike Lee), Game Theory with Bomani Jones (HBO), Blindspot (NBC). Eastern Region Board member of Local USA 829. Instagram: @wilsonchindesign
Karen Perry’s last show at Berkeley Rep was School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play. Broadway: Lackawanna Blues. Off Broadway: Raisin in the Sun (New York Shakespeare Festival) and runboyrun and In Old Age (New York Theatre Workshop). Regional: Personality, The Lloyd Price Musical (People’s Light); The Garden (La Jolla Playhouse); My Lord What a Night (Ford’s Theatre); Breath, Boom (Huntington Theatre); Lackawanna Blues (Mark Taper Forum); Mothers (Playwrights Realm); Jazz (Marin Theatre Company); Black Superhero Magic Mama (Geffen Playhouse); Fun Home (Baltimore Center Stage); Steel Magnolias, Hair, Dreamgirls (Dallas Theater Center); Oklahoma! (Houston Ballet at TUTS); Cinderella (Eglevsky Ballet Company); Danai Gurira’s Familiar (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, Seattle Repertory Theatre); Cabin in the Sky (Encores!); Blues for an Alabama Sky (Pasadena Playhouse); Crowns, Stop-Reset, Trinity River Trilogy (Goodman Theatre, STC, Dallas Theater Center/Arena Stage); The Trip to Bountiful, The Fall of Heaven (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); The Brother/Sister Plays (The Public Theater/McCarter Theatre); Having Our Say (McCarter Theatre); A Time to Kill, Resurrection (Arena Stage); Wine in the Wilderness, Oo-Bla-De (Two River); and Sunset Baby and The Lion in Winter (Guthrie). She has designed nine of the 10 August Wilson Century Series plays (she has not yet designed Fences). Television: Gregory Hines Show, Saturday Night Live, and The Brother from Another Planet. Karen received a Lucille Lortel Award, LA Ovations Awards, a CDG Award, an Ace Award, a Hewitt Award, and is an Emmy and Audelco Award nominee and recipient.
Amith’s work has been featured at The Public Theatre, Second Stage, Theatre for a New Audience, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ars Nova, Soho Rep, Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, Steppenwolf Theatre Co., The Atlantic, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Colorado, and The Glimmerglass Festival. New Dance works by Alexander Ekman, Liz Gerring, Benoit Swan-Pouffer, Sidra Bell, and Rennie Harris. Recipient of the Drama Desk and Henry Hewes awards. Assistant Professor of Lighting Design at The University of Maryland’s school for Theatre Dance and Performance Studies.
Aubrey Dube’s previous design credits include Bluest Eye, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Huntington); Paradise Blue, The Thin Place (Gloucester Stage Company); Trayf, Good (New Rep); Queens, Torch Song (Moonbox Productions); Vinegar Tom, Monster, Serious Money, Pentecost (PTP/NYC); Cymbeline, Pilgrims of the Night (Suffolk University); Orlando (Brandeis University); Antipodes, Love and Information, As You Like It, Sensitive Guys (Northeastern University); Big Love, The Imaginary Invalid, In The Next Room, and Man of La Mancha (Middlebury College); A Taste of Honey (Boston Center for American Performance); Delirium, Daddy Issues, The Hothouse (Boston University); Winter People (Boston Playwrights Theatre); Fences (The Umbrella Theatre); and Downtown Crossing, Vietgone (Company One). Aubrey holds an MFA in Sound Design from Boston University. Originally from Botswana, he now lives in Boston and hosts a soccer podcast on YouTube called @footballpowerhour.
Megan is a wig designer and makeup artist from New York City. Growing up watching her mother do her hair and makeup every morning for work is what started her passion. She’s worked with many celebrities on films, TV, and theatre, including Black Super Hero Magic Mama at Geffen Playhouse and Swept Away at Berkeley Rep.
Alaine Alldaffer has cast theatre and television for over 25 years. She has received 12 Artios Award nominations, and 2 wins, for Excellence in Casting. Alaine proudly serves as casting director for Playwrights Horizons, a position she has held for more than two decades, casting over 100 productions throughout her tenure and working with some of the most respected playwrights in the industry including Annie Baker, Bruce Norris, Christopher Durang, Craig Lucas, Sarah Ruhl, Gina Gionfriddo, Lynn Nottage, Richard Nelson, Robert O’Hara and, Theresa Rebeck. In addition to her work with Playwrights Horizons, Alaine also casts regionally for theaters including The Huntington Theatre in Boston, The Alley Theatre in Houston, Arena Stage and Studio Theater in DC, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Seattle Rep, ACT, Berkeley Rep, People’s Light Theatre in Philadelphia, Two Rivers in NJ, The Old Globe San Diego, and Studio Theatre DC.
Leslie is thrilled to be back at Berkeley Rep after most recently stage managing The Good Book, Fairview, An Octoroon, Aubergine, and Head of Passes. She started at Berkeley Rep as the stage management intern in 2003 and has also worked at American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, California Shakespeare Theater, Center Repertory Company, and Santa Cruz Shakespeare. She has traveled with Berkeley Rep productions to the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the New Victory Theater in New York. Her favorite past productions include Angels in America, Aubergine, Bull in a China Shop, House of Joy, Sisters Matsumoto, The Great Leap, Passing Strange, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play).
The Huntington: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Common Ground: Revisited, The Bluest Eye, Hurricane Diane, Yerma. Lyric Stage Company: The Play That Goes Wrong, Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Speakeasy Stage Company: Heroes of the Fourth Turning, BLKS (COVID Safety Manager). New Repertory Theatre: Hair, Oliver!, Trayf, Nixon’s Nixon. Troika Entertainment: Spamilton. Lucas graduated from Ithaca College in 2018 with a BA in Theatre Studies.
Fight Choreography
Zoe Swenson-Graham
Intimacy Coordinator
Maya Herbsman
Assistant Director
Katie Stevenson (Bret C. Harte Artistic Fellow)
Costume Design PA Associate
Amber Kain
Production Assistant
Calvin Friedman (Stage Management Fellow)
Deck Crew
James McGregor (Head Stage Technician) · Siobhán Slater · Emma Walz
Wardrobe Crew
Barbara Blair (Wardrobe Supervisor) · Hannah Chylinski (Wig/Makeup) · Susan Stone (Wig Crew)
Light Board Operator
Desiree Alcocer
Sound Board Operator
Akari Izumi
COVID Safety Manager
Kathleen Parsons
Scene Shop
Adam Clay · Jessica Loney · Carl Martin · Sean Miller · Maggie Wentworth · Zach Wziontka
Scenic Art
Nathaniel Bice · Andy Brown · Julie Ann Brown · Katie Holmes · Neena Holzman · Maya Matthews · Tatiana Ray · Cayla Ray-Perry
Props
Garner Takahashi-Keene · Brittany Watkins · Sofie Miller
Costumes
Breanna Bayba · Kathy Griffith
Electrics
Amy Abad · Nikola Capp · Brittany Cobb · Travis Clark · Tristan Fabiunke · Jack Grable · Jacob Hill · Jason Joo · Caleb Knopp · Charlie Mejia · Matthew Myers · Zoya Nanale · Riley Richardson · Taylor Rivers
Sound
Courtney Jean · Camille Rassweiler
Assistant Production Manager
Florence Gill (Production Management Fellow)
Assistant Company Manager
Emily Zhou (Company Management Fellow)
Medical consultation for Berkeley Rep provided by Agi E. Ban DC, John Carrigg MD, Cindy J. Chang MD, Christina Corey MD, Neil Claveria PT, Patricia I. Commer DPT, Brenton Dowdy DPT, Kathy Fang MD PhD, Steven Fugaro MD, Whitney R. Johnson DDS, Olivia Lang MD, Allen Ling PT, and Christina S. Wilmer OD.
Wesley Guimarães (He/his) is a Brazilian-born actor, filmmaker, and teaching artist. He is a recent graduate of the MFA Program at ACT. This is his debut at Berkeley Rep and a return to his dearly loved theatre community in the Bay Area. His recent credits include The Pliant Girls (ACT), In Love and Warcraft (ACT), and Cymbeline (ACT Out Loud Series). Wesley is a proud member of Center for International Theater Development and the Actors’ Equity Association. His latest film Relief was an official selection at the New York Long Island Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Awards in 2022. This run is dedicated to his wife, Vittoria, and his mother, Maria Ines, the most gifted cook he’s ever known. Follow Wes on Instagram at @ciaowes, and for more information: wesguimaraes.com
Broadway: Trouble in Mind. Off-Broadway: What to Send Up When It Goes Down (Playwrights Horizons). Regional theatre: Confederates, Peter and the Starcatcher (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival); BLKS (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company); How We Got On (The Cleveland Playhouse); Remix 38, The Christians (Humana Festival); The Mountaintop, Our Town (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Her short film Ash Land was an official selection at The Pan African Film Festival and Brooklyn Film Festival. Cyndii was also in the queer edition of the sketch comedy show Who Made the Potato Salad? Training: BFA in Acting, Wright State University; Professional Training Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville. (she/her)
Louis Reyes McWilliams is an actor, writer, and teaching artist. He has previously appeared at Berkeley Rep in Macbeth. Off-Broadway credits include Coriolanus (The Public Theater/Shakespeare in the Park), Anna Karenina: a riff (The Flea), and The War Boys (Columbia Stages). Regional credits include Heroes of the Fourth Turning (Studio Theatre), Teenage Dick (The Huntington, Woolly Mammoth, Pasadena Playhouse), Little Women (Dallas Theater Center, The Old Globe), No Cure (Playwrights’ Center), A Christmas Carol and An Iliad (Trinity Rep), Unknown Soldier (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and A Tale of Two Cities and Jane Eyre (Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble). His writing has been produced and workshopped at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Brown University/Trinity Rep, and Stanford University. He received his BA from Stanford University and his MFA from Brown University/Trinity Rep, where he was the 2019 Richard Kavanaugh Fellow. louismcwilliams.com
April Nixon, Olivier/Adelco/ Ovation Award nominee, is honored to be a part of Clyde’s! April has appeared in many shows from Broadway, national tours, TV, and regionals, such as Damn Yankees (Lola/opp Jerry Lewis); The Dancer’s Life (opp Chita Rivera); Smokey Joe’s Café; 9 to 5; Fosse; The Wiz; Cats; Tommy; Mamma Mia; Sistas; Purlie; Crowns; Sweet Charity; Caroline, or Change; and Dreamgirls, to name a few. April has appeared on Law & Order SVU and CI, The Dave Chappelle Show, The Wire, Malcom X, Man on the Moon, and upcoming Netflix movie The Perfect Find (opp Gabrielle Union) and Two Degrees (opp Carl Gilliard, Vanessa A. Williams, Miguel Nunez, and Tico Wells). April has also had the pleasure of working alongside directors Anna Deavere Smith, Spike Lee, Regina Taylor, Gwen Verdon, Randy Skinner, Walter Bobbie, Sheldon Epps, Jack O’ Brien, Jerry Zaks, Des McAnuff, Jeff Calhoun, Graciela Daniel, Ann Reinking, George Faison, Michael Peters, and just finished a tour of Yemandja opp Grammy winner Anjelique Kidjo! April was also the producer of Two Lost Worlds The Musical starring Nicole Scherzinger! Stay tuned for April’s new web series “BlackStageStories & FindingMyLola’s” on YouTube! Follow April on social media at IG: @maggiehunter51; Facebook: April L Nixon; Twitter: @aprilnixon45. April is a proud member of Actors’ Equity and SAG/AFTRA! Love to my daughter, Samaria Pagge!
Harold was last seen in Corsicana by Will Arbery, directed by Sam Gold at Playwright’s Horizons. Playwrights Horizons: Familiar. Broadway: Impressionism, Serious Money. Other theatre credits: Seven Guitars, directed by Colman Domingo at Actors Theater of Louisville, The Public Theater, The Folger, The Exonerated (national tour), The Actor’s Gang, American Repertory Theater, McCarter Theatre Center, The Goodman, The Kirk Douglas, La MaMa, Premiere Stages, Keen Company, Urban Stages, Triad Stage, The Denver Center, and American Conservatory Theater. Films: Bite Me, The Pelican Brief, Blood In Blood Out, Sudden Death. TV: Recurring roles on The Blacklist, Grand Army, For Life, Orange Is the New Black, and The Temptations. Training: ACT’s professional training program.
Andreá Bellamore is a national actress originally from the soulful city of New Orleans. She is a graduate of the Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts-BFA Acting Conservatory. Her recent theatre credits include: Marianne Angelle in The Revolutionists (Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater), Adriana in A Comedy of Errors and Romeo & Juliet (American Shakespeare Center); national tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Frankenstein, and Our Warrior Chorus (Aquila Theatre); national tour of The Grapes of Wrath, Cymbeline, and Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (American Shakespeare Center); A Christmas Carol (American Shakespeare Center); Julius Caesar and As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe in London); An Octoroon, A Dream Play, Five Times in One Night (Rutgers Theatre Company); Twelfth Night (Stages on the Sound); Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Mile Square Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Classic Theatre of Maryland). She is very excited to be a part of the Berkeley Repertory ensemble and gives all thanks to God, her family, and her husband for all of their consistent love and support! AndreaBellamore.com IG: @andreabellamore
Locally, Max has performed with SF Playhouse, Center Rep, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Co, Word for Word, Ross Valley Players, and The Bay Area Playwrights Foundation. Regional: Come Back Little Sheba (Huntington Theatre, Boston) and A Few Good Men (Alley Theatre, Houston). Off-off Broadway: A Streetcar Named Desire (Precariot Productions). Film/TV: Law & Order: SVU (NBC), What Would You Do (NBC), Blossom (BET+, premieres January 20), Into the Wild Frontier (INSP, starts February 15), Demented Egg Donor (Lifetime), and Freaky Tales (produced by Oakland legend Too $hort, in theaters 2024). Training: NYU BFA.
John R. Lewis is proud to work amongst these incredible artists in service of such smart and engaging work. Recent performance credits include Our Town with Center Repertory Company, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Perspective Theatre Company, The Legend of Georgia McBride and Jungle Book with Marin Theatre Company, The Memory Stick with San Jose Stage, and Cymbeline with the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. He has also directed and performed in readings and workshops all throughout the Bay, and directed the regional premiere of Somewhere with Perspective Theatre Company and the Pear Theatre Company. Lewis is an associate artist with Perspective, a resident artist and corrections educator with Red Ladder Theatre Company, a founding member of City Street Artists, the administrator of the Bay Area Theatre Folks professional Facebook page, a proud 10-year member of the Actors’ Equity Association, and a tireless advocate for balance, safety, and joy within the Bay Area theatre community.
Celebrating 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s theatrical commons and leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community. Committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, The Huntington provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, acts as the host organization for a multi-year residency of The Front Porch Arts Collective, a Black theatre company based in Boston, and serves the local arts community through our operation of The Huntington Calderwood/BCA. Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Managing Director Michael Maso, The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre this fall after its transformational renovation. A storied venue with a bold vision for the future, the renovation and building project will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
The Guthrie Theater (Joseph Haj, Artistic Director) is an American center for theater performance in Minneapolis, Minnesota, celebrating 60 years of artistic excellence during its 2022–2023 Season. Under Haj’s leadership, the Guthrie has continued its dedication to producing a mix of classic and contemporary plays and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. Since its founding in 1963, the theater has set a national standard for excellence in the field and served the people of Minnesota as a vital cultural resource. The Guthrie houses three state-of-the-art stages, production facilities, classrooms, restaurants and dramatic public spaces. guthrietheater.org
Second Stage is a Tony Award-winning theater under the leadership of President and Artistic Director, Carole Rothman, operating three NYC venues dedicated to producing works by living American playwrights. 2ST.com/@2STNYC
* Indicates a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
World Premiere by the Guthrie Theater
Originally commissioned by Joe Dowling and produced by Joseph Haj, Artistic Directors
Broadway Premiere Produced by Second Stage Theatre, New York, 2021
Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Khady Kamara, Executive Director
Affiliations
The director is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc., an independent national labor union. The Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Designers in LORT Theatres are represented by United Scenic Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.
Clyde’s sponsors
Clyde’s is made possible thanks to the generous support of
Season Sponsors
Stephen & Susan Chamberlin
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau
Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller
Jack & Betty Schafer
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
Gail & Arne Wagner
Sponsors
Shelley & Jon Bagg
Jill & Steve Fugaro
Associate Sponsors
Lynne Carmichael
Dugan & Philippe Lamoise
In-kind Sponsors
Donkey & Goat Winery
Picante
Residence Inn by Marriott
Steve is a retired real estate developer, and Susan a retired architect. Their main focus now is the Chamberlin Education Foundation, which focuses on K-12 education issues in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Susan has been a season ticket holder for over 25 years.
Michelle and Bruce have been ardent supporters of Berkeley Rep since 1993, when they moved with two young children in tow to Berkeley. Their favorite evenings at Berkeley Rep were usually the discussion nights, where often friends would join them for an early dinner, an evening of great theatre, followed by a lively discussion with members of the cast. Over the past 30+ years, Michelle and Bruce have recognized Berkeley Rep’s almost singular role in the Bay Area in promoting courageous new works and nurturing innovative, diverse playwrights. According to Michelle and Bruce, “There’s never been a more vital time in our lives when the power of theatre to transform, compel, inspire, and energize has been more necessary.”
Warren and Frances are avid watchers of live theatre, which includes Berkeley Rep and an annual pilgrimage (when COVID allows) to London's West End. Having loved Berkeley Rep for years, they are thrilled to sign on as 2021/22 season sponsors. They are very proud of the cutting edge, exceptional theatre that Berkeley Rep continuously produces. Frances' day job is as Professor of Physics at UC Berkeley and Warren is a Machinist and Welder at 5th Street Machine Arts.
Betty and Jack are proud to support Berkeley Rep. Jack is a sustaining advisor of the Theatre, having served on the board for many years, and is now on the board of San Francisco Opera. He is an emeritus board chair of the San Francisco Art Institute and the Oxbow School. In San Francisco, Betty is involved with Wise Aging, a program for adults addressing the challenges of growing older. She serves on several non-profit boards. They have three daughters and eight grandchildren.
Roger Strauch is chair of The Roda Group. He has served on Berkeley Rep’s Board of Trustees for over twenty years, often as an executive member. Roger is an engineer, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. He has helped build technology companies that have had public stock offerings or have been sold to global industry leaders. Currently, Roger focuses on the development of several enterprises whose products and services will mitigate the negative impact of industry on global climate change and human health. Roger serves on the boards of the Chart Industries (NYSE:GTLS); Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI); Northside Center in Harlem, NYC, a mental health service agency; and UC Berkeley's College of Engineering. He is the leader of the Mosse Art Restitution Project, a major international effort to restitute stolen art from his great step family during the Third Reich. Roger and his wife, Dr. Julie Kulhanjian, a retired pediatric infectious disease physician, have three adult children. Roger and Julie divide their time between Piedmont, CA and Martha’s Vineyard.
Gail has been a Berkeley Rep trustee for 11 years and previously served as board president. She retired from Kaiser in San Leandro where she was a hematologist and oncologist. She is the founder of Tiba Foundation (tibafoundation.org), an organization investing in community healthcare in an underprivileged district of western Kenya, in partnership with Matibabu. Arne is a retired lawyer. In his retirement, he teaches and tutors high school math part-time, and serves as treasurer for Tiba Foundation. Gail and Arne have been attending the Theatre since they were students in 1972.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is the backbone of the Bay Area transit network serving five counties throughout the region. BART’s all-electric trains make it one of the greenest and most energy-efficient transit systems in the world. We encourage our riders to visit bart.gov/welcomeback as the region continues to reopen as we safely welcome you back. To learn more about great destinations and events that are easy to get to on BART (like Berkeley Rep!), visit bart.gov/bartable. At BARTable, you can find discounts, enter sweepstakes offering fantastic prizes, and find unique and exciting things to do just a BART ride away. While you’re there, be sure to sign up for BARTable This Week, a free, weekly email filled with the latest and greatest BARTable fun!
Peet’s Coffee is proud to be the exclusive coffee of Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the namesake of Berkeley Rep’s state-of-the-art Peet’s Theatre. In 1966, Alfred Peet opened his first store on Vine and Walnut in Berkeley and Peet’s has been committed to the community ever since. Supporting Berkeley Rep’s high artistic standards and diverse programming is an extension of this mission. As the pioneer of the craft coffee movement in America, Peet’s is dedicated to smallbatch roasting, superior quality beans, freshness, and a darker roasting style that produces a rich, flavorful cup. Peet’s is locally roasted in the first LEED® Gold certified roaster in the nation.
Shelley is a retired investment professional. Prior to being a financial planner, Shelley was an engineer (one of the first female engineers) at Chevron’s Richmond, CA refinery. Previously she has served as chairman of the board and chief financial officer for PIA. She also served on the board of directors for the Orinda Senior Village, a HUD housing project located in Orinda, California and as treasurer of the City of Orinda. She held a variety of positions in both the technical and business/analytical areas. She lives in Orinda with her husband Jon Bagg. Jon is a retired engineer. He worked at General Electric’s Nuclear Power Division and later worked in different units of Chevron. He finished up his engineering career at a pipeline design company and enjoyed several years working part-time at an independent bookstore. He lives in Orinda with his wife Shelley Bagg.
Jill Fugaro was the co-founder and CEO of Murlin Apparel Group, Inc., the design and manufacturing company of Jill Martin and Maggi brands of better missy sportswear. She is currently a Berkeley Rep sustaining advisor following a decade serving as a trustee on the board of directors and is a Helen Barber Award recipient. Jill is co-vice president of communications for UC Marin Master Gardeners and a past president. She and her golden retriever Kona are one of Marin Humane’s Animal-Assisted Therapy teams working with children and senior communities. Steve Fugaro is a primary care internist practicing in San Francisco affiliated with both CPMC and UCSF. He is chairman of the board of the San Francisco Health Plan and past president of The San Francisco-Marin Medical Society. Steve is the president of the Sausalito Presbyterian Church congregation where Steve and Jill are both trustees and members of the SPC choir.
Berkeley Rep thanks its community of supporters who play a vital role in furthering our mission to create ambitious theatre that entertains and challenges its audiences, provides civic engagement, and inspires people to experience the world in new and surprising ways.
Staff and board
Artistic Director
Johanna Pfaelzer
Managing Director
Tom Parrish
ARTISTIC
Associate Artistic Director
David Mendizábal
Associate Casting Director & Artistic Associate
Karina Fox
Artists Under Commission
Todd Almond
Christina Anderson
Rafael Casal
Daveed Diggs
Dipika Guha
Richard Montoya
Nico Muhly
Lisa Peterson
Sarah Ruhl
Tori Sampson
Jack Thorne
Joe Waechter
PRODUCTION AND COMPANY MANAGEMENT
Director of Production
Audrey Hoo
Associate Production Manager
Kali Grau
Company Manager
Peter Orkiszewski
STAGE OPERATIONS
Stage Supervisor
Julia Englehorn
Associate Stage Supervisor
Gabriel Holman
Head Stage Technician
James McGregor
PROPERTIES
Properties Supervisor
Jillian A. Green
Associate Properties Supervisor
Amelia Burke-Holt
Properties Artisan
Lisa Mei Ling Fong
SCENE SHOP
Co-Technical Directors
Jim Smith
Matt Rohner
Head Carpenter
Read Tuddenham
Scene Shop Supervisor
Patrick Keene
Draftsperson
Grant Vocks
Scenic Carpenters
J Joseph
August Lewallen
SCENIC ART
Charge Scenic Artist
Lisa Lázár
COSTUMES
Costume Director
Maggi Yule
Draper
Star Rabinowitz
Wardrobe Supervisor
Barbara Blair
Resident Design Associate
Kiara Montgomery
ELECTRICS
Lighting Supervisor
Frederick C. Geffken
Associate Lighting Supervisor
Sarina Renteria
Senior Production Electrician
Kenneth Coté
Production Electrician
Desiree Alcocer
SOUND AND VIDEO
Sound and Video Supervisor
Lane Elms
Associate Sound and Video Supervisor
Chase Nichter
Senior Sound Engineer
Angela Don
Sound Engineer
Akari Izumi
ADMINISTRATION
General Manager
Sara Danielsen
Finance Director
Jared Hammond
Associate Managing Director
Sunshine Deffner
Director of Operations
Amanda Williams O’Steen
Executive Assistant
Kate Horton
Associate Finance Director
Katie Riemann
Bookkeeper
Alanna McFall
Payroll Administrator
Jennifer Light
CRM Project Manager
Destiny Askin
Web and Database Specialist
Christina Cone
Director of Human Resources and Diversity
Modesta Tamayo
DEVELOPMENT
Interim Director of Development
Lisa Salomon
Associate Director of Development
Laura Fichtenberg
Philanthropy Officer
Andrew Maguire
Individual Giving Manager
Marcela Chacón
Special Events Manager
Elaina Guyett
Institutional Grants Manager
Kelsey Scott
Interim Institutional Gifts Manager
Cassie Newman
Development Coordinator
Nicky Martinez
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Interim Director of Marketing and Communications
Colleen Flanigan
Associate Director of Marketing
Seth Macari
Interim Director of Public Relations
Kevin Kopjak
Communications and Digital Content Director
Karen McKevitt
Senior Graphic Designer
DC Scarpelli
Video and Multimedia Content Creator
Calvin Ngu
Marketing Associate
Beatriz Hernandez
OPERATIONS
Facilities Director
Mark Morrisette
Facilities Manager
Adam Johnson
Building Engineers
Kevin Pan | Thomas Tran
Building Technician
Jesus Rodriguez
Facilities Assistants
Darrel De La Rosa | Theresa Drumgoole | Wendi Lau | Sophie Li
PATRON SERVICES
Director of Patron Experience
Brian Davis
Front of House Director
Kelly Kelley
Front of House Manager
Phoenyx Butts
Patron Experience Representatives
Lindsay Abbott | Jessica Bates | Alicia Battle | Megan Bedig | Matthew Canter | Jerry Chirip | Maggie Collette | Fillomena Franchina | Nina Gorham | Kimberly Haynie | Monica Herbert | Saguaro Hurtado | Claire Michael | Rafael Moreno | Leigh Nelson | Tuesday Ray | Anna Riggin | Stephen Salmons | James Sant’Andrea | Alana Scott | Debra Selman | Lena Sibony
Subscription Manager
Laurie Barnes
Box Office Manager
Julie Gotsch
Box Office Agents
Gregory Chambers | Oliver Kampman | Mikee Loria | Alanna McFall | Cassidy Milano | Dom Refuerzo | Chris Selland | Christy Spence | Gianna Francesca Vescio
BERKELEY REP SCHOOL OF THEATRE
Director of the School of Theatre
Anthony Jackson
Associate Director
Dylan Russell
Director of Classes and Summer Programs
MaryBeth Cavanaugh
Curriculum and Educational Programs Manager
Si Mon’ Emmett
Classes and Communications Administrator
Ashley Lim
Programs Administrator
Tate Lancaster
2022/23 BERKELEY REP FELLOWSHIPS
Bret C. Harte Artistic Fellow
Katie Stevenson
Company Management Fellow
Emily Zhou
Costumes Fellow
Violet Clemons
Education Fellow
Elizabeth Woolford
Harry Weininger Sound Fellow
Ariana Cardoza
Lighting Fellow
Tiffany Hernandez Alberto
Marketing Fellow
Caroline Mae Woodson
Multimedia Content Fellow
Muriel Steinke
Peter F. Sloss Artistic Fellow
Maria Arreola
Production Management Fellow
Flo Gill
Properties Fellow
Kristina Fosmire
Scenic Art Fellow
Kenzie Bradley
Scenic Construction Fellow
Seraphim Blount
Stage Management Fellow
Calvin Friedman
President
Emily Shanks
Vice Presidents
Chuck Fanning
Bruce Golden
Sudha Pennathur
Treasurer
William T. Espey
Secretary
Scott Haber
Chair, Governance Committee
Anne Nemer Dhanda
Chair, Audit Committee
Steven C. Wolan
Board Members
Edward D. Baker
Susan Chamberlin
David Cox
Christopher Doane
Sandra Eggers
Kerry L. Francis
Steven Goldin
Jonathan C. Logan
Henning Mathew
Juan Oldham
Tom Parrish
Johanna Pfaelzer
Sherry Smith
Gail Wagner
Brian Watt
Past Presidents
Helen C. Barber
A. George Battle
Carole B. Berg
Robert W. Burt
Shih-Tso Chen
Narsai M. David
Thalia Dorwick, PhD
Nicholas M. Graves
Richard F. Hoskins
Jean Knox
Robert M. Oliver
Stewart Owen
Marjorie Randolph
Harlan M. Richter
Richard A. Rubin
Edwin C. Shiver
Roger A. Strauch
Gail Wagner
Martin Zankel
Sustaining Advisors
Rena Bransten
Diana Cohen
Robin Edwards
William Falik
David Fleishhacker
Paul T. Friedman
Jill Fugaro
Karen Galatz
David Hoffman
Richard F. Hoskins
Dugan Lamoise
Sandra R. McCandless
Helen Meyer
Peter Pervere
Marjorie Randolph
Leonard X Rosenberg
Patricia Sakai
Jack Schafer
William Schaff
Richard M. Shapiro
Michael Steinberg
Roger A. Strauch
Jean Z. Strunsky
Michael S. Strunsky
Felicia Woytak
Martin Zankel
Founding Director
Michael W. Leibert
Producing Director, 1968–83