2017-18 Season
Spring 2018
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Dreamers: Aquí y Allá (Here and There)
Devised by THE ENSEMBLE
Directed by Andrea Caban And Julie Granata-Hunicutt
February 16 – 25, 2018
Studio Theatre
A California Repertory Production
The Dreamers are students and adults without legal status who were brought into America by their parents as children. The story of their journeys and their fight to call America home is told in this production devised in collaboration with the California-Mexico Studies Center. Featuring testimonials and interviews from DACA students and community members, these stories of personal struggle invite the question: who gets to dream the American Dream?
The Dreamers continues the Devising Democracy Series: a four-year long endeavor of producing original, devised work that confronts the burning issues of our time. These productions link to other devised works on other CSU and UC campuses – to spark conversation around issues of democracy, action, and activism.
The California-Mexico Studies Center (CMSC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to research, develop, promote, and establish policies and programs between higher educational institutions and cultural organizations that will enhance the teaching, mobility and exchange of faculty, students, and professionals between California and the U.S. with Mexico and other nations in the Western Hemisphere. CMS Center was founded by the California State University Long Beach Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos in 2010 as an extension of the California-Mexico Project that he has led since 1998 at the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies department.
Creative Team
Directed by Andrea Caban and Julie Granata-Hunicutt
Conceived by Andrea Caban
Staged by Julie Granata-Hunicutt
Scenic Design: Paige Bossier
Costume, Hair and Makeup Design: Mai Kaneda
Lighting Design: Nathan Hawkins
Sound Design: Corinne Carrillo
Stage Manager: Sydnie Johnson
Performance Ensemble
Brendan Backman, Natalia Caraballo, Isidro Cortes, Charles Denton, Alejandra Machado, Daniela Naranjo, Leslie Valdez, Jasmine Vang, Jose Vargas, Carolina Xique, and Marc Young
Script Devising Ensemble
Andrea Caban and Julie Granata-Hunicutt with Brendan Backman, Paige Bossier, Natalia Caraballo, Isidro Cortes, Mia D'Kari, Charles Denton, Bonnie Dolan, Jorge Folgar, Nathan Hawkins, Sydnie Johnson, Mai Kaneda, Alejandra Machado, Daniela Naranjo, Saby Ramirez, Leslie Valdez, Jasmine Vang, Jose Vargas, Carolina Xique, and Marc Young
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We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915
By Jackie Sibblies Drury
March 9 – 17, 2018
University Theater
A California Repertory Production
Six actors work to create a presentation about a little-known genocide in Africa. As they seek the story behind the facts, questions emerge: What is the story, exactly? Who are the people inside it? Who gets to tell it? As histories converge and lines get blurry, the artistic exploration gives way to…something else; leaving yet another question: can we ever escape our own story?
Creative Team
Directed by Chris Anthony
Assistant Directors: Jennifer Elrod and Victoria Melkonyan
Choreographer: Aaron Mendelson
Scenic Design: Natalie Morales
Costume Design: Rosario Martinez and Ashley Trutanich
Lighting Design: David Zachacewski
Sound Design: David Goyette
Makeup Design: Clarissa Ramos
Stage Manager: Aliyah Smith
Cast
Actor 6/Black Woman/Another Sarah: Mercedes Cooper
Actor 5/White Woman/Sarah: Camryn Hohneker
Actor 4/Another Black Man: Ramon Edwards
Actor 3/Another White Man: Sean Warren
Actor 2/Black Man: Mark Oliver
Actor 1/White Man: Bryce Maniex
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Antigone X
By Paula Cizmar
Based on the play by Sophocles
March 23 – April 8, 2018
Studio Theatre
A California Repertory Production
Creative Team
Directed by Jeff Janisheski
Choreographed by Francesca Jandasek
Scenic Designer: Xiyu Lin
Costume Designer: Maria Huber
Lighting Designer: Caitlin Eby
Composer and Sound Designer: Yiannis Christofides
Video Designer: Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh
Makeup Designer: Haley Fenninger and Maddie Focht
Stage Manager: Sabrina Loe
Cast
Antigone: Dorthea Darby
Esme: AnnaJane Murphy
Tiresias: Kayla Manuel
Eurydice: Rachel Post
Haemon: Malachi Beasley
Herm: Corduroy Chapman
Zeno: Erin Galloway
Creon: Tom Trudgeon
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End Days
By Deborah Zoe Laufer
April 27 – May 12, 2018
Players Theatre
A California Repertory Production
Creative Team
Directed by Beth Lopes
Assistant Directors: Oscar Bautista and Cory Chapman
Scenic Design: Merve Caydere Dobai
Costume Design: Julie Park
Lighting Design: Szu-Yun Wang
Sound Design: Jeff Polunas
Hair Makeup Design: Keanu Regan and Tiffany Tseng
Stage Manager: Robert Wyllie
Cast
Nelson Steinberg: Matt Avery
Arthur Stein: Chris Bange
Sylvia Stein: Jennifer Richardson
Jesus/Steven Hawking: Charles Denton
Rachel Stein: Tara Coffey
Fall 2017
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Alice's Wonderland
Written and Directed by Ezra LebankStudio Theatre
September 22 – October 1, 2017
Creative Team
Written and Directed by Ezra LeBank
Associate Director: Julie Granata-Hunicutt
Scenic Design: Hongda Zhu
Costume, Makeup and Hair Designer: Amanda Martin
Lighting Design: Kit Baumer
Music by: Don Nichols
Stage Manager: Jewell Zuniga
Cast
Alice: Camryn Hohneker
Narrator/White Rabbit/Eaglet/Duchess: Charles Denton
Narrator/Alice's Reflection/Dodo/Caterpillar/March Hare: Daniela Naranjo
Narrator/Lory/Fish Footman/Mad Hatter: Gaelyn Wilkie
Father/Narrator/Duck/Cheshire Cat/Dormouse: Malik Proctor
Mother/Narrator/Mouse/Queen of Hearts: Patrick Tabari
Swing: Bonnie Dolan
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Machinal
By Sophie Treadwell
October 13 – 21, 2017
University Theatre
Directed by Julianne Just
Scenic Design: Lin Xiyu
Costume Design: Sara Lindsey
Lighting Design: Szu Yun Wang
Sound Design: Chris Porter
Makeup and Hair Design: Tiffany Tseng
Stage Manager: Robert Wyllie
Cast
Helen/Young Woman: April Sigman-Marx
Jones/Husband: Tom Trudgeon
1st Man/Man: Riel Paley
Doctor/2nd Man/Judge: Chris Bange
Mother/Nurse/Court Reporter: Leslie Valdez
Filing Clerk/Bellboy/Boy at Bar/1st Rep: Bryce Maniex
Man/Lawyer for the Defense: Brendan Backman
Stenographer/Woman/Matron: Alejandra Machado
Telephone Girl/Girl/2nd Reporter: Saby Ramirez
Man/Bailiff/Priest: Joshua Kemmling
Adding Clerk/Waiter-Bartender/Prosecutor: Jose Vargas
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WOKE!: A Revolutionary Cabaret
Devised By The Ensemble
November 3 - 12, 2017
Studio Theatre
Creative Team
Directed by: Joanne Gordon
Music by: Jarod Sheahan
Scenic Design: Merve Caydere Dobai
Costume Design: Lesley Su
Lighting Design: Kit Baumer
Sound Design: Kate Fechtig
Choreographer: Brian Moe
Projections Design: Caitlin Eby
Stage Manager: Megan Beretta
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Polaroid Stories
By Naomi Iizuka
November 17 – December 2, 2017
University Theatre
In this contemporary collage of classical mythology and real life stories of street kids, Naomi Iizuka’s Polaroid Stories weaves a world where myth-making and storytelling equip the characters to transform their reality and survive a system that erases and ignores them. Polaroid Stories mixes poetry and profanity to tell a kaleidoscopic tale of young people living on the streets that asks us to contemplate the myths we create about ourselves. Directed by Eric Hoff, recent director at the Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, this production is a visceral and theatrical journey into the underbelly of street youth culture.
Production Information
Creative Team
Directed by Eric Hoff
Scenic Design: Ulyana Chava
Costume Design: Amanda Martin
Lighting Design: David Zahacewski
Sound Design: Corinne Carrillo
Makeup and Hair Design: Amanda Martin and Keanu Regan
Stage Manager: Kenny Nauta
Cast
D (Dionysus): Donge Tucker
Echo: Mia D'Kari
Eurydice: Natalia Caraballo
G (Zeus/Hades): Luis McLean
Narcissus: Jarod Duncan
Orpheus (Tereus): Isidro Cortes
Persephone (Semele): Kayla Manuel
Philomel: Janelee Rodriguez
Skinhead Boy (Oklahoma Boy): Erin Galloway
Skinhead Girl (Neon Girl): Gaelyn Wilkie
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The Voice Bank
Written and Performed By Andrea Caban
A special event in partnership with the ALS Association’s Golden West Chapter
December 10, 2017
Studio Theatre
The Voice Bank tells the story of Terry, a woman who defies her ALS diagnosis to fight for the privilege to keep speaking. Andrea Caban plays both herself and Terry, struggling to manage Terry’s deteriorating speech through voice and accent training. Caban is not only faced with her patient’s adverse medical diagnosis but also the mounting fear that she might lose her own mother. The Voice Bank is a meditation on letting go.
Creative Team
Directed by Amanda McRaven
Scenic Design: Lin Xiyu
Costume Design: Kathryn McGaughey
Sound/Video Design: Matthew Barabasch
Technical Director: Chris Kramer
Stage Manager: Jake Rhodes
Spring 2018
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Dreamers: Aquí y Allá (Here and There)
Devised by THE ENSEMBLE
Directed by Andrea Caban And Julie Granata-Hunicutt
February 16 – 25, 2018
Studio Theatre
A California Repertory Production
The Dreamers are students and adults without legal status who were brought into America by their parents as children. The story of their journeys and their fight to call America home is told in this production devised in collaboration with the California-Mexico Studies Center. Featuring testimonials and interviews from DACA students and community members, these stories of personal struggle invite the question: who gets to dream the American Dream?
The Dreamers continues the Devising Democracy Series: a four-year long endeavor of producing original, devised work that confronts the burning issues of our time. These productions link to other devised works on other CSU and UC campuses – to spark conversation around issues of democracy, action, and activism.
The California-Mexico Studies Center (CMSC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit whose mission is to research, develop, promote, and establish policies and programs between higher educational institutions and cultural organizations that will enhance the teaching, mobility and exchange of faculty, students, and professionals between California and the U.S. with Mexico and other nations in the Western Hemisphere. CMS Center was founded by the California State University Long Beach Professor Armando Vazquez-Ramos in 2010 as an extension of the California-Mexico Project that he has led since 1998 at the CSULB Chicano and Latino Studies department.
Creative Team
Directed by Andrea Caban and Julie Granata-Hunicutt
Conceived by Andrea Caban
Staged by Julie Granata-Hunicutt
Scenic Design: Paige Bossier
Costume, Hair and Makeup Design: Mai Kaneda
Lighting Design: Nathan Hawkins
Sound Design: Corinne Carrillo
Stage Manager: Sydnie Johnson
Performance Ensemble
Brendan Backman, Natalia Caraballo, Isidro Cortes, Charles Denton, Alejandra Machado, Daniela Naranjo, Leslie Valdez, Jasmine Vang, Jose Vargas, Carolina Xique, and Marc Young
Script Devising Ensemble
Andrea Caban and Julie Granata-Hunicutt with Brendan Backman, Paige Bossier, Natalia Caraballo, Isidro Cortes, Mia D'Kari, Charles Denton, Bonnie Dolan, Jorge Folgar, Nathan Hawkins, Sydnie Johnson, Mai Kaneda, Alejandra Machado, Daniela Naranjo, Saby Ramirez, Leslie Valdez, Jasmine Vang, Jose Vargas, Carolina Xique, and Marc Young
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We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South West Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915
By Jackie Sibblies Drury
March 9 – 17, 2018
University Theater
A California Repertory Production
Six actors work to create a presentation about a little-known genocide in Africa. As they seek the story behind the facts, questions emerge: What is the story, exactly? Who are the people inside it? Who gets to tell it? As histories converge and lines get blurry, the artistic exploration gives way to…something else; leaving yet another question: can we ever escape our own story?
Creative Team
Directed by Chris Anthony
Assistant Directors: Jennifer Elrod and Victoria Melkonyan
Choreographer: Aaron Mendelson
Scenic Design: Natalie Morales
Costume Design: Rosario Martinez and Ashley Trutanich
Lighting Design: David Zachacewski
Sound Design: David Goyette
Makeup Design: Clarissa Ramos
Stage Manager: Aliyah Smith
Cast
Actor 6/Black Woman/Another Sarah: Mercedes Cooper
Actor 5/White Woman/Sarah: Camryn Hohneker
Actor 4/Another Black Man: Ramon Edwards
Actor 3/Another White Man: Sean Warren
Actor 2/Black Man: Mark Oliver
Actor 1/White Man: Bryce Maniex
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Antigone X
By Paula Cizmar
Based on the play by Sophocles
March 23 – April 8, 2018
Studio Theatre
A California Repertory Production
Thebes is now a ruin surrounded by refugee camps. Police violence, terrorists, predators, demagogues abound. This contemporary meditation on love, power and war is based on the classic by Sophocles. In this multi-media adaptation, LA-based writer Paula Cizmar poses a question that has lingered for two thousand years: who will dare defy authoritarian rule and follow the higher laws of love and decency?
Creative Team
Directed by Jeff Janisheski
Choreographed by Francesca Jandasek
Scenic Designer: Xiyu Lin
Costume Designer: Maria Huber
Lighting Designer: Caitlin Eby
Composer and Sound Designer: Yiannis Christofides
Video Designer: Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh
Makeup Designer: Haley Fenninger and Maddie Focht
Stage Manager: Sabrina Loe
Cast
Antigone: Dorthea Darby
Esme: AnnaJane Murphy
Tiresias: Kayla Manuel
Eurydice: Rachel Post
Haemon: Malachi Beasley
Herm: Corduroy Chapman
Zeno: Erin Galloway
Creon: Tom Trudgeon
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End Days
By Deborah Zoe Laufer
April 27 – May 12, 2018
Players Theatre
A California Repertory Production
This award-winning play is centered on sixteen-year-old goth atheist Rachel Stein and the wacky universe of people in her orbit: her mother is busily awaiting the Rapture; her father hasn’t changed out of his pajamas since 9/11; her new neighbor is an Elvis impersonator who has a crush on her; on top of all that the Apocalypse is approaching. Will Stephen Hawking be the one to save them all?
Creative Team
Directed by Beth Lopes
Assistant Directors: Oscar Bautista and Cory Chapman
Scenic Design: Merve Caydere Dobai
Costume Design: Julie Park
Lighting Design: Szu-Yun Wang
Sound Design: Jeff Polunas
Hair Makeup Design: Keanu Regan and Tiffany Tseng
Stage Manager: Robert Wyllie
Cast
Nelson Steinberg: Matt Avery
Arthur Stein: Chris Bange
Sylvia Stein: Jennifer Richardson
Jesus/Steven Hawking: Charles Denton
Rachel Stein: Tara Coffey
Performance Ensemble
Brendan Backman, Natalia Caraballo, Isidro Cortes, Charles Denton, Alejandra Machado, Daniela Naranjo, Leslie Valdez, Jasmine Vang, Jose Vargas, Carolina Xique, and Marc Young
