Program: The Acting Company in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Great Expectations by Wortham Center for the Performing Arts

WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Written by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Directed by MICHELLE ATHENS Jan 23

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

By NIKKI MASSOUD

From the novel by CHARLES DICKENS

Directed by DEVIN BRAIN

Jan 24

Craig Allen & Julie Cowden

Dr. Alan & Suzanne Escovitz

Jerry McAninch

THE ACTING COMPANY presents

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

By Nikki Massoud

From the novel by Charles Dickens Directed by Devin Brain°

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Michelle Athens

CAST

(in alphabetical order)

Magwitch, Jaggers, others, Great Expectations Michael Stewart Allen* Theseus, Titania, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Herbert Pocket, Miss Sally Pocket, others, Great Expectations Mallory Avnet* Helena, Starveling, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Estella, Biddy, others, u/s Miss Havisham, Great Expectations Madeleine Barker* Hermia, Snout, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Drummle, Compeyson, Orlick, others, Great Expectations Christian Frost* Demetrius, Quince, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Pip, Great Expectations

Sam Im* Lysander, Flute, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Miss Havisham, Mrs. Joe, others, Great Expectations Angie Janas* Hippolyta, Oberon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Ensemble, Great Expectations Shunté Lofton* Bottom, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Pumblechook, Miss Camilla Pocket, others, Great Expectations Pauli Pontrelli* Puck, Philostrate, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Joe, Matthew, others, Great Expectations George Anthony Richardson* Egeus, Snug, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Repertory Company Understudies Devan Kelty* Krista Grevas Kleo Mitrokostas

CREATIVE TEAM

Scenic Design Tanya Orellana†

Costume Design, Great Expectations Valérie Thérèse Bart†

Lighting Design Alan C. Edwards†

Sound Design Sharath Patel†

Composer Lindsay Jones†

Props Lead Alex Choate

Voice & Text Coach Duane Boutté

Choreographer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream Christina McCarthy

Fight and Movement Choreographer, Intimacy Coordinator Eli Lynn

Dramaturg, Great Expectations Kristin Leahey

Associate Director Kate Pitt

Staff Director Irvin Mason, Jr.

Casting Director Claire Yenson, CSA

Assistant Casting Director Dorie Magowan

Production Stage Manager Jessica Forella*

Assistant Stage Manager Liz Hetzel

The Acting Company’s national tour of Great Expectations and A Midsummer Night’s Dream received its first performances at Rubicon Theatre Company of Ventura, California in December 2025.

°The Director is a member of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.

†Designers represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA 829 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees

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

REPERTORY DESIGN AND PRODUCTION STAFF

Production Manager Neal Goleta

Production Manager Kevin Pendergast

Company Manager, Rep Understudy Kleo Mitrokostas

Associate Scenic Designer Danielle DeLaFuente

Associate Sound Designer Joshua Nguyen

Associate Props Lead Ying-Syuan Zeng

Associate Costume Designer, Great Expectations Charlie Ko

Associate Costume Designer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream CK Zaki

Associate Lighting Designer Conor Mulligan†

Technical Director Chris Grainer

Wardrobe Supervisor, Rep Understudy Krista Grevas

Lighting Supervisor, Rep Understudy Devan Kelty

Sound Supervisor Elena Martin

Tour Lighting Drafter Jessica Neill

People, Culture, & Belonging Consultant Ann James

Production Assistant Mya Piccione

Production Assistant Taylor Bray

Key Art Illustration Anne Benjamin

THE ACTING COMPANY STAFF

Producing Artistic Director Devin Brain

Executive Director of Institutional Advancement Hillary Cohen

General Manager Shelley Little

Development Associate Natalya Ribovich

FROM THE ACTING COMPANY’S PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

The Acting Company has a tradition of over fifty years of producing repertory. Each season, we produce two (or more) plays that are presented alongside each other and share a single cast. It is a fiendishly difficult task involving the triangulation of casting, design, and theme. It also demands the actors hold two different plays in their heads. In this season, we have ensemble members that are playing more than eight characters between the two productions. A difficult thing, but so very, very worthwhile.

It is the perfect way to experience the virtuosic brilliance of an ensemble. We watch an actress play a hyper-aggressive working class woman and a near-insane wealthy recluse in one play and a warrior queen in the other. The actors must use every trick of voice, body, costume, and language to conjure all of these different identities for an audience.

This process is all the more exciting when the titles feel like mirrors to each other. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is, simply put, one of my favorite plays. It has everything: beautiful language, moving lovers, spectacular faeries, and hilarious mechanicals. It is a story that, beneath its humor, asks us important questions about how love can define our lives. I have laughed until I cried watching a 50-year-old British Clown kill himself as Pyramus and I have fallen out of a chair watching a middle school girl do the same moment. This is a crowd pleaser by any measure.

Great Expectations will, I think, surprise folks. So often when we think of Dickens we imagine filthy cobblestone streets, the hacking coughs of Victorian chimney sweeps, the clink of coins, and the gaunt faces of the hungry. He was a writer who managed to master his period’s version of Primetime TV (the serialized novel) as both a political act and as thrilling entertainment. Great Expectations is no exception. This story has EVERYTHING: orphans striving to find their place in the world, beautiful heiresses, violent criminals with hearts of gold, and just maybe a strain of true love. Bridgerton has nothing on Dickens. That’s what I love in both these stories. I know that they will make you laugh and touch your heart. Despite being filled with danger, these plays are stories of hope. They will leave you energized and longing for more. At the same time, they ask eternal questions about social mobility, love, identity, power, and all the other things that make growing up so difficult. That is their power: they entertain us, even as they bring us face to face with ourselves.

I hope you all get to enjoy both of these productions!

Devin Brain

The Acting Company

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Acting Company’s 2025 National Tour is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the Axe-Houghton Foundation; Corymore Foundation; The Howard Gilman Foundation; the Holborn Foundation; the Jewish Federation of Cleveland; The Kean Foundation; The Kovner Foundation; the Lucille Lortel Foundation; Microsoft; the Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund; the Nancy Friday Foundation; the Rona Jaffe Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; The Strong-Cuevas Foundation; The Robertson Foundation; the Wilson/Reinhorn Family Trust; and many generous individual donors to whom we are ever grateful. The Acting Company respectfully acknowledges the indelible memories of Anne L. Bernstein (1948-2021), Louanna O. Carlin (1937-2021), Carol Crowley (1930-2023), Jill Edelson (1933-2020), John N. Gilbert, Jr. (1938-2023), Kirby S. Graham (1932-2021), Edgar Lansbury (1930-2024), and Marian Seldes (1928-2014).

SPECIAL THANKS

Rubicon Theatre Company (Karyl Lynn Burns, Co-Founder/Producing Artistic Director, and J. Scott Lapp, Producing Artistic Director)

Additional Production Staff: Olivia Fletcher, Morgan Grant, Sarah Hasson, Lauren Hingle, Erin Johnson, George Reichard

CUNY Cultural Corps Production Assistants Blanka Kohajda and Rhianna Selman

Tour Booking: Alliance Artist Management

Audited Financial Statements: Lutz and Carr, CPAs LLP

Legal Representation: Jason Baruch, Sendroff & Baruch, LLP

Tour Transit by: Lamoille Valley Transportation, Inc., Clark Transfer, Confirmed Freight

WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Scene Shop: Opera Southwest

Sound and Lighting equipment provided by: PRG Broadway LLC and Christie Lites

Costume Rentals and Builds: Jennifer Love Costumes, Binghamton University Costume Department, John Brandon Baird, Olivia Dilworth, Jana Kucera, Emilee McVey-Lee, and Ariel Thomke

The Producers wish to thank Goodspeed Musicals Costume Collection & Rental for its assistance in this production.

ABOUT THE ACTING COMPANY

Co-founded in 1972 by legendary performer-producers John Houseman and Margot Harley with the first graduating class of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School, The Acting Company has helped launch the careers of nearly 500 actors, including Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Rainn Wilson, Frances Conroy, Harriet Harris, Jeffrey Wright, Hamish Linklater, Jesse L. Martin, Roslyn Ruff, and Kelley Curran. We have performed for over four million people in 48 States, 10 foreign countries, on and Off-Broadway, and at leading regional theaters including ACT and the Guthrie. Among many accolades, the Company received the 2003 Tony Award for Excellence in the Theater, and won the 2019 Audelco Award for Best Play for its production of Nambi E. Kelley’s Native Son directed by Seret Scott. The Acting Company brings professional productions and education programs to thousands of audience members in diverse communities throughout the United States each year. Annually, over 20,000 audience members see a Company production and nearly 2,000 students here in New York City benefit from the Company’s award-winning arts-in-education curriculum.

CAST

Michael Stewart Allen (Magwitch, Jaggers, others & Theseus, Titania) is happy to be back with The Acting Company. Previous TAC credits: Iago in Othello, Caliban in The Tempest, Speed in Two Gentlemen of Verona and Starbuck in Moby Dick Rehearsed. Recent credits: Clown in 39 Step at Indiana Rep and Syracuse Stage. Henry Condell in The Book of Will at The Shakespeare Theatre NJ, Emanuel in The Lehman Trilogy at Phoenix Theatre Company, Lucky in Waiting for Godot at The STNJ, the title role in Macbeth at Oklahoma Shakespeare, both Antipholi in The Comedy of Errors and Richard Burbage in Book of Will at Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Other credits include: The first Broadway National and International tour of War Horse with The National Theater of Great Britain. Two seasons as a company member at the Old Globe. He has been a company member at The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey for over 20 years and performed in theaters in New York City and all across the country including The Kennedy Center, Syracuse Stage, The Acting Company, Arkansas Rep, Delaware Rep, The Folger Theater, Playmakers Rep, Florida Studio Theater, Florida Rep, Phoenix Theater Company, The Human Race Theater, Contemporary American Theater Company, Shaker Bridge Theater, and the OK, IL, PA, and NC Shakespeare Festivals. Film/TV: Law And Order, Summer House, The Blacklist, Billions, Admiral Rickover, and Cold Mountain. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and proud member of Actor’s Equity and SAG/AFTRA unions. www.michaelstewartallen.com

Mallory Avnet (Herbert Pocket, Miss Sally Pocket, others, u/s Estella, Biddy & Helena, Starveling) is so thrilled to be a part of this repertory season with this wonderful team. Originally from Philly, Mallory now resides in NYC. Most recently, Mallory performed in the US premiere of Nora: A Doll’s House at Hedgerow Theatre. She is a proud graduate of The University of Michigan where she obtained her BFA,

as well as NYU Grad Acting, where she received her MFA. NYU Credits include: Major Barbara, The Office Plays, and The Hypochondriac.

Madeleine Barker (Estella, Biddy, others, u/s Miss Havisham/Mrs. Joe & Hermia, Snout) is an actor, movement choreographer and educator. She is thrilled to be making her debut with The Acting Company! Some selected credits include: Off-Broadway: The Meeting: The Interpreter (St. Clements Theatre), Gregorian (The WAT Project at Soho Rep The WalkerSpace). Regional: Sisters (World Premier at Northern Stage), Pride and Prejudice as Lizzy Bennet (Arkansas Rep), Pride and Prejudice as Mary/ Miss Bingley (Hartford Stage), Intimate Apparel (North Coast Rep), The Inferior Sex, A Christmas Carol (Trinity Repertory Company); Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (The Wilbury Theatre); Grease (Ogunquit Playhouse, John W. Engeman Theater); South Pacific (Riverside Theatre, Moonlight Amphitheater Productions), Jane Eyre (World premier adaptation with Counter Balance Theatre), Merchant of Venice (The New Swan) Film: Goodnight Death, Still Light, Start Breaking My Heart Education: MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep. Much gratitude and love to Mom, Dad and Alfie.

Christian Frost (Drummle, Compeyson, Orlick, others & Demetrius, Quince) is absolutely delighted to be a part of this terrific company of artists. Originally a South Florida native, Christian now happily resides in NYC. Recently, Christian has been seen at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey as a staple company member for the past seven seasons. Past productions include: The Importance of Being Earnest, Sense and Sensibility, As You Like It, A Midwinter Night’s Dream, And A Nightingale Sang…, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, The Metromaniacs, and Romeo and Juliet. Other regional credits: The Horn in the West, The Odyssey, Theodore Thudd (SAHA Theatricals). Training: BFA – Elon University. For Fi.

Sam Im (Pip & Lysander, Flute) is a New York based actor and proud Baltimoron. Most recently seen on stage as “Husband” in Machinal at New York City Center. Grad school credits include The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon), The Oresteia (Agamemnon) and The Cherry Orchard (Trofimov). He would like to thank his friends and family for putting up with the bits—and he would like to especially thank Amber and his managers for letting him go on tour. BFA: NYU (ETW, ITW). MFA: Juilliard

Angie Janas (Miss Havisham, Mrs. Joe, others & Hippolyta, Oberon) Off-Broadway: Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Macbeth, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (The Acting Company), and Stuffed (Westside Theatre). Select regional credits: Sense and Sensibility, Murder on the Orient Express, The Play That Goes Wrong and Pride and Prejudice (Syracuse Stage), The Glass Menagerie (Barrington Stage Company), The Lion in Winter (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis), Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Labor’s Lost, The Three Musketeers and King Lear (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), In Game or Real and The Winter’s Tale (Guthrie Theater), Noises Off, Steel Magnolias, The Revolutionists and The Merchant of Venice (Gulfshore Playhouse). Angie is a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program. For Barry. www.angiejanas.com

Shunté Lofton (Ensemble & Bottom) is elated to be joining The Acting Company! Previous credits include five seasons with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival where she played Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Cordelia in King Lear, Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Constance in King John. She also worked at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia, where she performed in 22 productions. Some of her favorite credits include Ophelia in Hamlet, Princess of France in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Celia in As You Like It, and Lady Anne in Richard III. Her selected regional credits include Opal in Fat Ham, Jane in Pride and Prejudice (Cleveland Play House),

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Perdita in The Winter’s Tale (4th Wall Theatre Company), Esther in Intimate Apparel (University of Houston) and Anya in The Cherry Orchard (Classical Theatre Company). She received her MFA from the Case Western Reserve University / Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity. She is represented by Dani Super Management.

Pauli Pontrelli (Pumblechook, Sally Wemick, others & Puck, Philostrate) (they/them) is a ColombianAmerican performer and artist based in NYC. Theater credits include The Trees (Playwrights Horizons), This Clement World (St. Ann’s Warehouse), House of Dance (Half Straddle, Kyoto Experiment, Zürcher Theater Spektakel), The Visitor (The Public, Original Cast Recording), Look Upon Our Lowliness (The Movement Theatre Company), Dom Juan (Fisher Center/Bard Summerscape), Tiny Beautiful Things (Long Wharf), The Aliens (Chester Theatre Company), the Cowardly Lion in drag for The Wizard of Oz starring Drag Race superstar Rosé (Geva Theatre), and Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival. Film: Fry Day. TV: Instinct (CBS). Choreography: marie, it’s time (minor theater/HERE Arts Center). Performance: Echo Chamber for Frieze New York/Artists Space. Pauli is a Lyme disease survivor and advocates for national Lyme legislation through Project Lyme and the Center for Lyme Action. MFA: NYU Grad Acting. @pauli.amorous

George Anthony Richardson (Joe, Matthew, others & Egeus, Snug) is a New York-based actor, director, and writer originally from Merced, California. A graduate of The Juilliard School’s Drama Division (Group 50), his stage credits include Topdog/Underdog (*Broadway* and Palm Beach Dramaworks), King James (TheaterWorks Hartford), Blue Door, and Cardboard Piano (Juilliard). He made his OffBroadway directing debut at 59E59 Theaters in 2022. A 2021 finalist for the Warner Bros. Television Actors Showcase, Richardson also writes and creates film; his short Inhuman Tethers was nominated for Best Short Film at the Big Apple Film Festival.

CREATIVE TEAM

Nikki Massoud (Playwright, Great Expectations) is an Iranian-Canadian-American writer and performer. She is honored to be collaborating with The Acting Company as a writer for the first time. She is a recent 2050 Fellow at NYTW and a Roundabout Underground Resident Playwright. She is a commissioned playwright with Noor Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, and The Acting Company and has recently developed work with The Ground Floor/Berkeley Rep and Fault Line Theatre. Her recent acting credits include television roles on Life and Beth (Hulu) and Love Life (HBO Max) and roles at the Guthrie Theater and the Goodman Theatre. Nikki is the Audie Award-winning narrator of over 80 audiobooks, available on Audible. Education: Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA, Georgetown University and BADA.

Devin Brain (The Acting Company Producing Artistic Director and Director, Great Expectations) has held increasingly significant roles at The Acting Company since starting as Staff Repertory Director during our 2012-2013 season. In his own artistic practice, Devin is a freelance stage director specializing in contemporary productions of classical texts, as well as original work. Select recent productions include: The Comedy of Errors, Hamlet, Othello, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, You / Emma by Paz Pardo (an adaptation of Madame Bovary), Exposure by Laura Zlatos (an exploration of the life and work of Francesca Woodman), Bones in the Basket (on original adaptation of Russian Fairy Tales), Middletown by Will Eno, Breath of Kings (his adaptation of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V), Blacktop Sky by Christina Anderson, and The Droll (or, a play about the END of theatre) by Meg Miroshnik. He holds an MFA in Directing from the Yale School of Drama where he also served as Artistic Director of the Yale Cabaret.

Tanya Orellana (Scenic Designer) designs performance spaces for theatre, opera, and immersive experiences. Select credits: Littleboy/Littleman (Geffen Playhouse), Don’t Eat The Mangos (The Huntington), What Became of Us (Atlantic Stage 2), Mexico Premiere: Angels in America (UNAM), Derecho (La Jolla Playhouse); Mother Road (Berkeley Rep); As You Like It (Oregon Shakes) Fefu and her Friends, Big Data, Private Lives (ACT); Where Did We Sit on the Bus (Denver Center), For The People (Guthrie Theatre); Stew, One of the Good Ones (Pasadena Playhouse), Alma (The Kirk Douglas). Tanya is engaged in a long term collaboration with Virginia Grise; Rasgos Asiáticos—a traveling scenic installation using sound, light, and objects to conjure narratives of immigration and migration in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. MFA (CalArts). 2016 Princess Grace Fabergé Theatre Award. tanyaorellana.com

Valérie Thérèse Bart (Costume Designer, Great Expectations) TAC: Macbeth. Regional Theater: Jane Eyre (Alley Theater); Into The Woods, Dial M for Murder (Guthrie); It’s Christmas, Carol!* (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Birthday Candles (scenic, Cincinnati Playhouse); The Song of Summer* (Trinity Repertory); Vietgone (Alley Theatre, Denver Center); The Great Leap* (Denver Center / Seattle Repertory); POP!* (scenic, Yale Repertory) Off-Broadway: Poor Yella Rednecks* (Manhattan Theatre Club / South Coast Repertory); Something Clean* (Roundabout); Wives* (Playwrights Horizons); Little Women† (Primary Stages, †NYC premiere); Vanity Fair* (Pearl Theatre) Opera: The Big Swim* (Houston Grand Opera/Asia Society of Texas); A Thousand Acres* (Des Moines Metro Opera); Fidelio, Butterfly+ (Heartbeat Opera, +Adaptation of Madama Butterfly); Rigoletto (Minnesota Opera); Vinkensport/ Rocking Horse Winner** (Opera Saratoga, **US Premiere), Listen, Wilhelmina!* (costume/scenic, Wolf Trap Opera); She, After* (costume/scenic, Urban Arias) Other: For You, Paige* (TikTok musical); Tina Packer’s Women of Will (costume/scenic, natl/intl tour) valeriebart.com *denotes world premiere

Alan C. Edwards (Lighting Designer) is a lighting designer for live performance whose work includes the world premieres of Kill Move Paradise (National Black Theatre, Drama Desk nomination), The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall (Signature NYC), and Sally & Tom by Suzan-Lori Parks (The Guthrie and The Public). Other New York, Regional, and International work includes: Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, and Fires in the Mirror (Signature NYC); Twelfth Night, Seize The King, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Memnon (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Bluebird Memories featuring rap-artist Common (Audible Theatre); Syncing Ink (@ The Apollo); Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge by Greig Sargeant and Elevator Repair Service (The Public); Beautiful-The Carol King Musical (Asolo Rep); and new musical Calling Us Home (Shy Music – South Africa). In 2017, he designed the world premiere of Harry Clarke at the Vineyard Theatre, which garnered that season’s Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Lighting Design. After remounting the production in 2023 at Berkeley Rep, the show transferred to London’s West End where it played to rave reviews. In 2024, Alan had the honor of designing the world premiere of Gatsby: An American Myth at the American Repertory Theatre, directed by Rachel Chavkin. The highly-anticipated, sold-out run, which garnered critical and popular success, received the awards for Outstanding Scenic and Lighting Design, among many others. Alan is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama where he is also an assistant professor of lighting design. www.alancedwards.com

Sharath Patel (Sound Design) (he/him) works nationally and internationally focusing on experimental, commercial, academic, political, and socially conscious theatre. Recent designs: American Rep, The Alley Theatre, The Alliance Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Alabama Shakes, TheatreSquared, Dallas Theater Center, Portland Center Stage, TheatreWorks of Silicon Valley, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Artists Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Virginia Theatre Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, California Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Playhouse, Theatrical Outfit, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Tantrum Theatre Company, Marin Theatre Company, Virginia Theatre Festival,

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The Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Arena Stage, Hypokrit Theatre Company, Virginia Stage Company, Geffen Playhouse, East West Players, CompanyONE. Education: MFA Yale School of Drama, BFA Ohio University. Affiliations: USA829 IATSE, Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, Arts Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, Resident Artists at Artists Rep. Website: sharathpatel.com

Lindsay Jones (Composer) Broadway: Slave Play (Tony Award nominations for Best Score and Best Sound Design of a Play), The Nap, Bronx Bombers and A Time to Kill. Off-Broadway: Privacy (The Public Theater), Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Feeding the Dragon (Primary Stages), Top Secret (New York Theatre Workshop) and many others. Regional: Guthrie, Goodman, Arena Stage, Old Globe, Chicago Shakespeare, Steppenwolf, and many others. International: Noel Coward (London/West End), Royal Shakespeare Company (England), Stratford Festival (Canada), and many others. Audio dramas: Disney, Marvel, DC, Penguin/Random House, Audible, Next Chapter Podcasts. Film/TV scoring: HBO Films’ A Note of Triumph (2006 Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject) and over 30 other films. Awards: Webby, Signal (3), Ambies, Joseph Jefferson (7), Ovation (2), LA Drama Critics Circle. He is the co-chair of Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association, and teaches Music History at the University Of North Carolina School Of The Arts. www.lindsayjones.com

Alex Choate (Props Lead) has worked in Film, TV, and Theatre for the past 23 years, and has worked for Marvel, Disney, DC, Cirque Du Soleil, and more. He now finds himself the Technical Theatre Teacher at Santa Susana High School, the model program for the state of California. Helping the next generation of technicians and designers create the world they wish to see, while elevating what they feel is possible.

Duane Boutté’s (Voice & Text Coach) first NY job was touring in The Acting Company’s ‘91-’92 A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other acting credits include the original Broadway company of Parade, the 1994 Tony winning revival of Carousel, and landmark films Stonewall (1996), and Brother to Brother He trained at UCLA and the National Theatre Conservatory, has taught at Illinois State University (ISU), Brooklyn College, The New School, and National Theatre Institute. He’s coached productions and workshops for The Acting Company, Woodward Shakespeare Festival, Ramapo College, and ISU. In his private studio, he’s helped prepare actors for roles on Broadway and nationwide. Directing credits include Neil LaBute’s Appomattox (world premiere), Home (Rep Stage), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Worcester Shakespeare), The Winter’s Tale, Othello, Fences, Stalag 17, Everybody, Cabaret, and more. Among his favorite roles performed are “Mercutio” (OSF), “Bayard Rustin” (Public Theater, Berkeley Rep), “Dracula” (Bannerman Island), and “Orestes” (inaugurating Berkeley Rep’s RODA Theatre).

Christina McCarthy (Choreographer, A Midsummer Night’s Dream) (she/they) is Director of Performance at UC Santa Barbara in the Department of Theater and Dance where they teach contemporary dance technique, choreography, digital editing for dance on film and puppet design and construction. Their creative work is situated at the intersection of theater and dance in physical storytelling. Recent collaborations include Macbeth with Orlando Shakes and Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3 for the York, UK International Shakespeare Festival with director Irwin Appel. In 2025 at UC Santa Barbara, they worked as choreographer and intimacy coordinator for Strange Birds with director Risa Brainin, andThe Threepenny Opera with director Annie Torsiglieri. As a movement consultant, they worked with director Pesha Rudnick on acts of faith for Local Theater Company in Boulder, CO. in 2024. They collaborate regularly with State Street Ballet, creating large scale puppets for various productions.

Eli Lynn (Fight and Movement Choreographer, Intimacy Coordinator) (they/them) is an inescapably queer actor, award-winning fight director, and IDC certified Intimacy Director. Recent FD/ID work includes The Comeuppance (Wilma/Woolly Mammoth), Little Shop of Horrors, Peter Panto, Raisin in the Sun

(People’s Light), The Play That Goes Wrong (1812 Productions/PA Shakespeare Festival), and feature film Scabs (Tommy Butler). Their work has been seen at numerous regional theatres, including The Wilma, Arden Theatre, PA Shakespeare Festival, People’s Light, InterAct Theatre, Theatre Exile, Philadelphia Theatre Co., and Philadelphia Artists Collective, among many others. They also choreograph and teach workshops at regional universities, including UPenn, Princeton, Temple, Rutgers (Camden), Villanova, and Arcadia. They have studied stage combat for over 15 years and are a certified Advanced Actor Combatant with five international organizations. They are also an Artistic Associate at Philadelphia Artists’ Collective. Love always to V. Eli-Lynn.com. @EverInMotley.

Kristin Leahey, Ph.D. (Dramaturg, Great Expectations) is an Assistant Professor at Boston University and the Associate Artistic Director of Women’s Project Theater. She dramaturgs and produces nationally and internationally. Leahey has several book and article projects in publication. She recently completed a Fulbright with Ireland’s national Theatre: The Abbey.

Kate Pitt (Associate Director) Associate and assistant directing credits include: Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V at the Guthrie Theater (dir. Joe Haj), Dig with Primary Stages (dir. Theresa Rebeck), King Lear with Shakespeare Theatre Company (dir. Simon Godwin), Romeo and Juliet (dir. Leah C. Gardiner) and The Three Musketeers (dir. Kent Gash) with The Acting Company, and The Way of the World with Folger Theatre (dir. Theresa Rebeck). Recently directed Henry V at MIT. Dramaturgy: American Apollo with Des Moines Metro Opera, Resident Dramaturg for the Vanguard Initiative at Chicago Opera Theater, Resident Artist at American Lyric Theater. Other: The Comedy of Hamlet! (a prequel) with the Reduced Shakespeare Company and Stick-Figure Hamlet with the comic “Good Tickle Brain.” Essays and comedy with The Arden Shakespeare, SDC Journal, and McSweeney’s, four years producing public programs at the Folger Shakespeare Library. Wingspace Theatrical Design member, SDC Associate. B.A., Yale. www.katepitt.com / shakespearenews.com.

Irvin Mason Jr. (Staff Director) is a director, actor, poet, and teaching artist born and raised in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. His work intersects expressive movement, live music, emerging technology, and Afro-Caribbean traditions to breathe new life to physical storytelling. Irvin seeks to direct work that leaves a residue—unapologetic work that dismantles the traditional foundations of theater and creates space for new voices to tell their own stories. Irvin is the proud, current recipient of the 20242026 Drama League Stage Directing Fellowship. He has recently assisted on the new work development of plays and musicals at the Playwrights Center and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor. His recent directing credits include: Ain’t Misbehavin (Gallery-Players), Stuck (Chain Theatre), and Pipeline (Gallery-Players). Assistant Directing: Gospel According to Heather (AMAS, dir. Rachel Klein). In 2023, Irvin served as a directing observer to Schele Williams on the Broadway revival of The Wiz. He was the SDCF directing shadow on Little Shop of Horrors (dir. Maggie Burrows) and Rent (dir. Lili-Anne Brown) at the MUNY. He was also the directing observer on Pup! A Chew Story (NAMT). @iirvinmason | irvinmasonjr.com.

Jessica Forella (Production Stage Manager) (she/her) is delighted to be joining The Acting Company on tour this season. Favorite past credits include: Shelter, NONE: A Practical Breviary (NYSAF); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Malvolio (The Classical Theatre of Harlem); Twelfth Night, Richard III (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Fun Home, Mies Julie (Victory Gardens Theater); The Polar Express (Rail Events Productions); The Hound of the Baskervilles, James and the Giant Peach (TheatreHikes); Numbers Nerds (CPA Theatricals); Million Dollar Quartet (Barter Theatre); Burn the Floor (Norwegian Cruise Lines); The Hunchback of Notre Dame (RWCMD); A Small Oak Tree Runs Red (Congo Square Theatre); and Sondheim on Sondheim (Porchlight Music Theatre).

WORTHAM CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS 2025/26 SEASON

Liz Hetzel (Assistant Stage Manager) is an NYC-based stage manager, director, and artistic collaborator who seeks to create work grounded in themes of humanity, connection, and identity. With a passion for Shakespeare and Classics, Liz is overjoyed to join The Acting Company for their 2025-2026 Tour. Recent credits: 24 Hour Plays: Nationals (SM), Kowalski (AGT, APM), Romeo & Juliet (938collective, Dir.), Designs for Living (938collective/Boyzwithapple, PSM), Troilus and Cressida (Prague Shakespeare Company, AD), and Macbeth (Vassar College, Dir.). BA, Vassar College.

Anigiduwagi Land Acknowledgement

The Wortham Center acknowledges that we are on the ancestral land of the Anigiduwagi, more commonly known as the Cherokee (ᏣᎳᎩᎠᏰᎵ).

EXPERIENCE MORE THEATRE AT WORTHAM

JANE LYNCH & KATE FLANNERY: The Trouble with Angels

Part cabaret. Part stand-up. All sass.

MAR 3

ALL THINGS EQUAL: The Life & Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

A witty portrait of the “Notorious RBG”