Furlough’s Paradise, Yale Repertory Theatre 2026

YALEREP.ORG

Yale Repertory Theatre, the internationally celebrated professional theater in residence at David Geffen School of Drama, has championed new work since 1966, producing well over 100 premieres—including two Pulitzer Prize winners and four other nominated finalists—by emerging and established playwrights. Seventeen Yale Rep productions have advanced to Broadway, garnering more than 40 Tony Award nominations and ten Tony Awards. Yale Rep is also the recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Established in 2008, Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre has distinguished itself as one of the nation’s most robust and innovative new play programs. To date, the Binger Center has supported the work of more than 70 commissioned artists and underwritten the world premieres and subsequent productions of more than 30 new plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theaters across the country.

MISSION

David Geffen School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre train and advance leaders in the practice of every theatrical discipline, making art to inspire joy, empathy, and understanding in the world.

VALUES

Artistry

We expand knowledge to nurture creativity and imaginative expression embracing the complexity of the human spirit.

Belonging

We put people first, centering wellbeing, inclusion, and equity for theatermakers and audiences through anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices.

Collaboration

We build our collective work on a foundation of mutual respect, prizing the contributions and accomplishments of the individual and of the team.

Discovery

We wrestle with compelling issues of our time. Energized by curiosity, invention, bravery, and humor, we challenge ourselves to risk and learn from failure and vulnerability.

Yale acknowledges that indigenous peoples and nations, including Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, and the Quinnipiac and other Algonquian speaking peoples, have stewarded through generations the lands and waterways of what is now the state of Connecticut. We honor and respect the enduring relationship that exists between these peoples and nations and this land.

We also acknowledge the legacy of slavery in our region and the enslaved African people whose labor was exploited for generations to help establish the business of Yale University as well as the economy of Connecticut and the United States.

A hotel for the campus community: simply inspired and thoughtful by design.

A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Welcome to Yale Repertory Theatre and today’s performance of Furlough’s Paradise!

I am delighted to introduce (or reintroduce) you to a.k. payne, a graduate of both Yale College and David Geffen School of Drama, where they wrote this play and saw it performed for the first time as part of the Geffen School’s annual Carlotta Festival. Joining her for this production is director abigail jean-baptiste, who was recently honored with an Obie Award for her direction of Chiaroscuro by Aishah Rahman.

A hallmark of Yale Rep’s 60-year history is our commitment to developing and producing new works by playwrights of consequence. With this new staging of Furlough’s Paradise, a.k. payne joins the ranks of celebrated writers including David Adjmi, Christina Anderson, Marcus Gardley, Amy Herzog, Rolin Jones, Susan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, and August Wilson, whose plays have been presented here near the start of their remarkable careers.

The recipient of the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the oldest and largest prize honoring women+ writing for the English-speaking theater, Furlough’s Paradise is both breathtakingly theatrical and a stirring embodiment of the contemporary spirit of abolition in our country. Ours is one of three productions this poetic and urgent new play is receiving this spring: it will also be seen at Geva Theatre in Rochester, New York, and Denver’s Curious Theatre Company. I am honored to share it with you in New Haven, and deeply grateful to our team of artists, artisans, and managers who have given it such memorable life.

Furlough’s Paradise is the 121st play or musical presented in our mainstage seasons in my 24-year career as Yale Rep’s artistic director. I am profoundly fortunate to have had my dream job for almost a quarter of a century: you, our audience, have given meaning and support to our work, and your curiosity and generosity are felt in the auditorium at every single performance. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for going on so many journeys with us.

I am beyond thrilled to welcome my successor, Artistic Director Designate, Evan Yionoulis, back to Yale. Evan is a long-time beloved colleague and friend: no one is better positioned than she to continue the finest traditions of our theater while uplifting our aspirations and standards.

As always, I’m eager to hear your thoughts about this production and any part of your experience at Yale Rep. My email address is james.bundy@yale.edu.

Gratefully yours,

James Bundy

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE

James Bundy, Artistic Director | Florie Seery, Managing Director

PRESENTS

Furlough’s PARADISE

By a.k. payne

Directed

by abigail jean-baptiste

Scenic Designer

Anthony Robles

Costume Designer

Rea J. Brown

Lighting Designer

Alan C. Edwards

Original Music and Sound Design

Constant Dzah

Projection Designer

Wiktor Freifeld

Hair and Wig Designer

Nikiya Mathis

Choreographer

Ogemdi Ude

Production Dramaturg

Ashley M. Thomas

Technical Director

Shannon Dodson

Fight and Intimacy Director

Kelsey Rainwater

Vocal and Dialect Coach

Julie Foh

Casting Director Calleri Jensen Davis

Stage Manager ty ruwe

The world premiere of Furlough’s Paradise was produced by Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia. Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses, Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors; Mike Schleifer, Managing Director.

Production support for Furlough’s Paradise is provided by Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre.

Furlough’s Paradise is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. concordtheatricals.com

Yale Repertory Theatre gratefully acknowledges our 2025–26 season funders:

Funding has been provided by the Connecticut State Legislature and is administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development, Office of the Arts.

CAROL L. SIROT

SEASON SPONSOR:

Cast in alphabetical order

Mina ..................................................................................................................... Tiffany McLarty

Sade ...................................................................................................................Lauren F. Walker

Understudies

Sade ................................................................................................ Brittany Antoinette Davis

Mina .................................................................................................................Mik/ayla Johnson

Dance Captain .............................................................................. Brittany Antoinette Davis

Assistant Stage Manager ..................................................................... Rethabile Headbush

Setting

Place: A Great Migration City Time: 2017

Furlough’s Paradise is performed without an intermission.

Content and Atmospheric Guidance

This production includes profanity and racially charged language. It also includes discussions about death and grieving, anti-Black racism, and imprisonment.

This production contains bright lights, loud sounds, and haze.

Recording and Photo Policy

The videotaping or making of electronic or other audio and/or visual recordings of this production and distributing recordings or streams in any medium, including the internet, is strictly prohibited, a violation of the author(s)’s rights and actionable under United States copyright law. For more information, please visit: concordtheatricals.com/resources/protecting-artists

Abolition: Imagining a Kind of Paradise

Critical Resistance1 defines prison industrial complex (PIC) abolition as a political vision with the goal of eliminating imprisonment, policing, and surveillance and creating lasting alternatives to punishment and imprisonment.

a.k. payne gave copies of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination (2002) by Robin D.G. Kelley to a few of us who were involved in the early iteration of her budding theatre ensemble, Dwellers Play Collective. Together we studied Kelley’s words about being Black and liberated in the world. That was back in 2021, when we were still so fractured; our understanding of health, community, justice, and access was in shards. Even then, a.k. had long been a student of their ancestors’ practices of liberation and justice. Now, these subsequent five years have revealed how much we need to be in our own practices of liberation.

When we consider the untenable conditions of prison: the poor quality of food, the lack of human rights and access to basic health care, the socio-emotional isolation, the gruesome physical labor, the physical abuse at the hands of officers, etc. (it’s almost as though the list doesn’t want to end), we are moved to imagine a better world to deal with society’s “unwantables.” We are moved to reinstate care and love into our communities and break down the structures that would punish crimes of poverty and violence with even larger state-sanctioned crimes of poverty and violence.

Back in 2023, I was the dramaturg for Furlough’s Paradise when it premiered in the Carlotta Festival of New Plays as a.k.’s thesis production. Today, between the current geo-political climate and revisiting this work, I have found myself in a new book club with different friends. We’re reading We Do This ’Til We Free Us (2021) by Mariame Kaba. One of my favorite sections is when Kaba offers:

Changing everything might sound daunting, but it also means there are many places to start, infinite opportunities to collaborate, and endless imaginative interventions and experiments to create. Let’s begin our abolitionist journey not with the question “What do we have now, and how we can make it better?” Instead, let’s ask, “What can we imagine for ourselves and the world?” If we do that, then boundless possibilities of a more just world await us.

From raising money for local initiatives, to volunteering at community agencies, there’s plenty of work to be done, and if that’s too daunting, you can simply start by picking up a different book and turning the page. Pick up a book from the list, and join us in dreaming up a new world where we can all be free.

—Ashley M. Thomas, Production Dramaturg

1. Critical Resistance is a foundational abolitionist collective formed in the Bay Area, California, in 1997.

Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture by Angela Y. Davis (2004)

Abolition. Feminism. Now. by Angela Y. Davis, Gina Dent, Erica Miners, and Beth Richie (2002)

Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation by Ruth Wilson Gilmore (2022)

Abolition Now!: Ten Years of Strategy and Struggle Against the Prison Industrial Complex by CR10 Publications Collective (2008)

Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (2003)

Blood in my Eye by George L. Jackson (2001)

A Critical Theory of Police Power: The Fabrication of the Social Order by Mark Neocleous

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale (2017)

Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California by Ruth Wilson Gilmore (2007)

Invisible No More: Police Violence Against Black Women and Women of Color by Andrea Ritchie (2017)

The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove: An Analysis of the U.S. Police by the Center for Research on Criminal Justice (1977)

Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba (2023)

On Property: Policing, Prisons, and the Call for Abolition by Rinaldo Walcott (2021)

Policing a Class Society: The Experience of American Cities, 1865–1915 by Sidney L. Harris (2017)

Prison by Any Other Name: The Harmful Consequences of Popular Reforms by Maya Schenwar & Victoria Law (2010)

Prison Land Mapping Carceral Power Across Neoliberal America by Brett Story (2019)

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools by Monique W. Morris (2015)

We Do This ’Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba (2021)

do you remember the last day of our childhoods?

Like a song with a repeated refrain, this unspoken question echoes in Furlough’s Paradise. In rehearsal, a.k. payne often says language is not all encompassing. We share a look or breath, a connection, a scent. A sound. The sonic landscape that payne composes for the play roots Sade and Mina in their present while also branching into their childhoods.

The music of their childhood is composed of the crunching of Cookie Crisp. The symphony of The Little Mermaid blending with LaShonda’s hum as she braids Sade’s hair. Edward blasting Louis Armstrong’s jazz on the front porch amid the roaring of dirt bikes. The indistinguishable chattering of reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and The Proud Family. The cacophony of Sade and Mina’s parents arguing in the Golden Corral. The soft thump of pillows crashing as the cousins build a fort at Nana’s. Moments when the cousins are Black girls in the world. Moments when they can just be.

Black girlhood is woven into memory. It exists in communal perpetuity. Reminiscing about Black girlhood with others unlocks moments we ourselves may have forgotten.

Black girlhood is liberation.

But with this girlhood comes a dissonance. Because while we never forget it, “Black girlhood is summer. It arrives quick and dies just as fast,” says Britt Julious in her essay “Notes on Summer (Or, Black Girlhood Is a Thing).”

And Sade and Mina’s weekend—and our evening—resembles Julious’s described ephemerality. Just as soon as the cousins find each other, a distant knock threatens their imminent separation. do you remember the last day of our childhoods?

no but i think we were thirteen and i think it felt a lot like this.

CAST

in alphabetical order

Biographies are submitted by the artists and edited for common house style by Yale Rep.

Tiffany McLarty*

(Mina) is a Bronx-born actor, artist, and public speaker. A former member of a World Championship Speech and Debate team at WKU, she holds an M.F.A. in acting from Columbia University. Deeply committed to the power of storytelling as a vehicle for social advocacy, Tiffany uses her work to inspire, challenge, and spark meaningful change within communities. She is honored and excited to be making her theater debut and grateful to be joining the incredible Yale Rep family. She extends heartfelt gratitude to her mentors at Columbia SOA and to her chosen family who have supported and uplifted her along the way. Above all, she gives thanks to God for His continued guidance and grace.

Lauren F. Walker*

(Sade) is a New York–based actor, director, and multidisciplinary artist who recently earned her M.F.A. in acting from David Geffen School of Drama, where she received the Herschel Williams Prize for excellence in acting. Lauren is passionate about collaborative storytelling that embraces both the healing and complexities of the human experience. Her recent directing credits include The Royale at Yale Cabaret. Recent acting credits include cullud wattah (The Public Theater),

That Damn Michael Che (HBO), Bad Monkey (Apple TV+), and Eden (Yale Rep). Lauren would like to dedicate her performance to her beloved Grandmother, Jane Walker, and good friend, Malik James. Her two rainbows in the sky whose love echoes beyond all time and space. Stay connected with Lauren at Laurenfwalker.com and @lovevolvz.

UNDERSTUDIES

Brittany Antoinette Davis (understudy for Sade/Dance Captain) is a first-year actor at David Geffen School of Drama. Her credits include the world premiere of Push Party (The Hearth), A Raisin in the Sun (Bristol Riverside), Torn Asunder (Luna Stage), The Glass Menagerie (Rep Stage). Brittany would like to thank her family for the infinite support. She obtained a B.F.A. in acting from Howard University and is honored to be a vessel for storytelling. @brittanyadaviss

Mik/ayla Johnson she/him (understudy for Mina) is a gender/ queer Black actor, playwright, and graphic designer from San Antonio, Texas. She holds a B.A. in theater studies and ethnicity, race, and migration from Yale University. He was last seen as a featured performer in Rosetint

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

Community Theatre’s Love Notes: A Valentine’s Cabaret and as Addapearle in The Wiz (Yale College). Mik is thrilled to join the company of Furlough’s Paradise and deeply grateful for the opportunity to enter this story with this group of people.

CREATIVE TEAM

in alphabetical order

Rea J. Brown they/them (Costume Designer) is a recent M.F.A. graduate of David Geffen School of Drama, where their credits include rent free and Cleansed. They received their B.A. in theater and performance studies and visual arts from the University of Chicago (2022). Recent design credits include In Motion (Muhlenberg College); Four, Can of Worms (Juilliard); El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom (Long Wharf); We F*cked Up (Yale Cabaret); Rasheeda Speaking (Shattered Globe Theatre); WHITE (Definition Theater). Assistant credits include The Bahkkai (Queens College), Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles (Yale Rep), Macbeth (Geffen School), The Snow Queen (The House Theater), America V 2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of the American Negro (Definition Theater). Rea would like to thank and dedicate this work to Ma, Dad, and Jamie. Thank you for holding onto my dreams with me.

Calleri Jensen Davis (Casting Director) is a creative casting partnership among James Calleri, Erica Jensen, and Paul Davis of over 20 years. They began their collaboration with Yale Rep in 2023 with Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles and the ripple, the wave that carried

me home. Broadway credits: The Piano Lesson, Topdog/Underdog, for colored girls..., Thoughts of a Colored Man, Burn This, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Of Mice and Men, Venus in Fur, A Raisin in the Sun, 33 Variations. Television: Love Life, Queens, Dickinson, and The Path, to name a few.

Shannon Dodson she/her (Technical Director) Originally from upstate New York, Shannon is a third-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama, where she has held positions on several shows including Hedda Gabler (associate production manager), Notes on Killing… (assistant technical director), and the Langston Hughes Festival of New Work (properties manager). Shannon also served as the technical director for Yale Summer Cabaret’s 2024 season. Outside of her work at Yale, she has served as the safety coordinator for Santa Fe Opera, the fly captain for the Glimmerglass Festival, and as flyman for the national tour of Elf the Musical in 2022.

Constant Dzah (Original Music and Sound Design) is a passionate sound designer born and raised in Ghana, West Africa. He has a B.F.A. in drama theater art and is currently a third-year M.F.A. candidate in design at David Geffen School of Drama, where his credits include Les Liaisons Dangereuses, You Can Tell a Tree by its Fruit, and Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Other work includes falcon girls by Hilary Bettis (Yale Rep), Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner by Jasmine Lee-Jones (Yale Cabaret), and heaven is something to keep you warm by Kandace James (Yale Summer

CREATIVE TEAM

Cabaret). Fun fact: he loves cooking. Yay! He also loves to listen to music, make music, and spend quality time with friends.

Alan C. Edwards (Lighting Designer) Work includes the world premieres of Harry Clarke (The Vineyard), Kill Move Paradise (National Black Theatre), Gatsby: An American Myth (A.R.T.), How Shakespeare Saved My Life (Berkeley Rep), and My Joy Is Heavy (NYTW). His regional design work includes Appropriate (Old Globe), Pipeline and Skeleton Crew (Actors Theatre of Louisville), and Paradise Blue (Geffen Playhouse). Additional credits include productions of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (Signature and A.R.T.), Smith’s Fires in the Mirror (Signature), Twelfth Night and Memnon (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Bluebird Memories featuring rap artist Common (Audible Theatre), and Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge by Greig Sargeant and Elevator Repair Service. Edwards has been honored with awards and nominations for the Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, Elliott Norton, and Henry Hewes Awards. His work in dance includes Where We Dwell and Chasing Magic by tap-dancer Ayodele Casel, In the Same Tongue by Dianne McIntyre, and Lifted choreographed by Christopher Rudd for American Ballet Theatre. On Broadway he was the associate to lighting designer Jennifer Tipton on The Testament of Mary. He is a graduate of David Geffen School of Drama, where he is also an Assistant Professor of Design.

Julie Foh she/her (Vocal Coach) is a voice, text, and dialect coach and Associate Professor Adjunct of acting at David Geffen School of Drama. Previous coaching credits include Spunk, falcon girls, Escaped Alone, and the ripple,

the wave that carried me home (Yale Rep); Death of a Salesman, The Cottage, Hurricane Diane, Romeo and Juliet, All My Sons, The Winter’s Tale (Hartford Stage); Dial M for Murder (Drury Lane Theatre); The Woman in Black (Weston Theater Company); A View from the Bridge (Long Wharf Theatre); Julius Caesar, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, The Tempest, The Winter’s Tale, Measure for Measure, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Coriolanus (Next Chapter Podcasts); Frankenstein, A Christmas Carol, Sense and Sensibility, As You Like It, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, A Man for All Seasons, And a Nightingale Sang, The Caretaker, A Child’s Christmas in Wales (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); Belfast Girls (Irish Rep); Mlima’s Tale (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Westport Country Playhouse); Ride the Cyclone: The Musical, Sleuth (McCarter Theatre Center); Wolverine: The Lost Trail (Marvel podcast); As You Like It, King Charles III (Colorado Shakespeare Festival); Sherwood (Cleveland Play House); Pygmalion (BEDLAM); Familiar (Woolly Mammoth); Trans Scripts, Cardenio (American Repertory Theater); The Tallest Tree in the Forest (Tectonic Theater Project); and others. She is an Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework, a Master Teacher of KnightThompson Speechwork, and co-author of Experiencing Speech: A Skills-Based, Panlingual Approach to Actor Training

Wiktor Freifeld (Projection Designer) is a third-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama and is an interdisciplinary artist and designer. His work spans exhibition design, projection for stage, and new media. Using abstract forms, he creates narrative projects that provide meaningful sensory experiences.

Rethabile Headbush (Assistant Stage Manager) is a third-year stage manager at David Geffen School of Drama. Raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Rethabile has a background and passion for devised and interdisciplinary theater. Credits include Steve Carter’s Eden (assistant stage manager) directed by Brandon J. Dirden at Yale Rep; Aleshea Harris’s Is God Is; Surrey Houlker’s Hot Breakfast at Paul Bunyan Inn & Suites in the Beautiful City of Farville, USA; comfort ifeoma catchy’s You Can Tell a Tree by its Fruit. Further assistant stage management credits at the School include Jordan E. Cooper’s Ain’t No Mo’, Sarah Kane’s Cleansed, and Danielle Stagger’s new play rent free. OffBroadway: RCI Theatricals Management Fellow for Mario Correa’s new play N/A directed by Diane Paulus. Further credits include The Centre for the Less Good Idea’s SEASON 9 Programme, artsINSIDEOUT (ArtsIgnite) program, and D’haus’s Urgent Interactions Youth International Congress (Market Theatre Laboratory).

abigail jean-baptiste any/all pronouns (Director) is an Obie Awardwinning generative artist born and based in New York City. Guided by questions around Blackness, isolation, and kinship, their storytelling uses nonlinear language and repeatable gestures in a search to build radically nonsensical ways of being. Recent directing credits include Chiaroscuro: a light and dark skin comedy by Aishah Rahman (NBT/The Flea), Ti-Jean and His Brothers by Derek Walcott (Princeton University), King James by Rajiv Joseph (Northern Stage), and Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés (Atlantic Theater/NYU). abigail has developed work with Playwrights

Horizons, New Georges, JACK, The Playwrights Realm, National Black Theatre, Soho Rep, The Bushwick Starr, Roundabout, Mercury Store, and Northern Stage (BOLD Circle). abigail is a Lilly Award Winner and was named a Powerhouse Women+ Director by Playbill in 2020. B.A., Princeton University.

Nikiya Mathis (Hair and Wig Designer) made Broadway history as the first wig designer to receive a special Tony Award for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh. She is also a classically trained actress, with an M.F.A. from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Television and film roles include recurring as N’kiyah Franklin in Power Book 3: Raising Kanan (STARZ), Candy in Snowfall (FX), The Blacklist, Chicago Med, BrainDead, New Amsterdam, Blue Bloods, The Night Of, and others. She has originated roles in worldpremiere Off-Broadway plays including Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother/ Sister Plays, Dominique Morrisseau’s Skeleton Crew, and Kirsten Greenidge’s Milk Like Sugar. Broadway design credits include CATS: The Jellicle Ball, Liberation, Purpose, Home, The Heart of Rock and Roll, Once Upon a One More Time, Death of a Salesman, Topdog/ Underdog, and Chicken & Biscuits. OffBroadway: Goddess: The Musical, Lights Out, Liberation & Primary Trust; CATS: The Jellicle Ball, This Land Was Made, A Raisin in the Sun, Nollywood Dreams, The Cotillion, Stew, and more. She has also designed wigs for actresses including Phylicia Rashad and Danai Gurira. Her recent work can be seen on this season of The Gilded Age. Obie Award, Kathleen Perkins Behind the Curtain Award from Black Women on Broadway, Henry Hewes, and Drama Desk awards. Nakiya teaches hair/wig

CREATIVE TEAM

design masterclasses for universities and organizations including NYU Tisch Graduate Costume Design, Yale, Princeton, and the Denver Center, among others.

a.k. payne (Playwright) is a playwright and theatermaker with roots in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their plays love on and engage Black lives and languages beyond the confines of linear time to find/remember stories that might create conditions for our collective liberation(s). They hold a B.A. in English and African-American Studies from Yale College and an M.F.A. in playwriting under Tarell Alvin McCraney from David Geffen School of Drama at Yale (formerly known as Yale School of Drama). Their work has been a finalist for the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award. She is a three-time finalist and the 2025 winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the largest and oldest international award for women+ writers. She is currently a resident artist/ fellow with National Black Theatre’s I AM SOUL Playwrights Residency and Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Foundation). They are a proud graduate of Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts; grandchild of the Great Migration; descendant of union members, a music teacher and a carpenter; an nb/genderqueer abolitionist who loves to swim & gather people; and of a great lineage of Black women storytellers and living-room archivists; all of which deeply informs, uplifts and amplifies their work as a playwright, community organizer and spacemaker.

Kelsey Rainwater (Fight and Intimacy Director) Kelsey’s work was most recently seen in Antigone (This Play I Read In High School) at The Public

Theater. Broadway: Liberation, The Last Five Years, and Hell’s Kitchen. OffBroadway: Liberation (Roundabout), Saturday Church (New York Theater Workshop), Walden (Second Stage), Jordans, Goddess, Sally and Tom, White Noise (The Public); Regional: Two Trains Running, Laughs in Spanish, Hot Wing King (Hartford Stage); In the Southern Breeze (Rattlestick), Blues for an Alabama Sky (Keen Company); Hedda Gabler, Spunk, Notes on Killing..., The Inspector, Wish You Were Here, Between Two Knees, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, and the ripple, the wave that carried me home (Yale Rep). Film and television: Baby Ruby, The Green Veil, The Artist She is a Lecturer in acting at David Geffen School of Drama, co-teaches stage combat and intimacy, and is a Resident Fight and Intimacy Director for Yale Rep.

Anthony Robles (Scenic Designer) is a scenic designer whose work gestures toward simplicity and discovers what is essential to create visual poetry on stage. In 2025, he designed the set for the world premiere of Inebria Me, an experimental opera by San Cha at Performance Space New York. In March 2026, he designed the set for Apologiae 4 & 5 by Efthimis Filippou, directed by Andreas Andreou at Yale Cabaret. His upcoming work includes projection design for the world premiere of Ofrenda at Austin Opera, composed by Jorge Sosa and directed by John De Los Santos. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Anthony earned his B.A. from the USC School of cinematic arts in film and television production. He is currently a third-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama.

ty ruwe* they/he (Stage Manager) is a third-year M.F.A. candidate at David Geffen School of Drama, where their credits include Silence/The Village, Pearl’s Beauty Salon, and Hamlet, princesa de Dinamarca, as well as The Aughts, seven methods of killing kylie jenner, and Witch at Yale Cabaret. Other credits include Memnon (Classical Theatre of Harlem); Macbeth in Stride, Spunk (Yale Rep); The Pirates of Penzance (Cape Repertory Theatre); Fairview (Speakeasy Stage Company); and Ada and the Engine (Central Square Theater). ty received his B.A. in psychology from Smith College.

Ashley M. Thomas (Production Dramaturg). If June Ambrose and James Baldwin had a baby, it’d be Ashley M. Thomas (she/her(s)/herself). Born and bred in Harlem, New York, Ashley is a writer and dramaturg whose work—spanning plays, poems, creative criticism, and short stories—centers on Black life from the mundane to the surreal. She’s dramaturged classical works, plays in development, and solo shows through organizations such as Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and National Queer Theatre. Ashley’s writing has been in publications such as Broadway News, Jabberwock Review, and 3Views Theater. She’s a proud alumna of the First Wave Urban Arts Scholarship at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she graduated with her Bachelor of Social Work. She also holds an M.F.A. in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism from David Geffen School of Drama, where she is currently a D.F.A. candidate. Ashley enjoys well-designed concert merch and is a proud godmother of a fiery Aries toddler.

Ogemdi Ude (Choreographer) is a dance and theater artist and educator based in Brooklyn. Her performance work focuses on Black femme legacies and futures, grief, and memory. Her work has been presented at Kampnagel, New York Live Arts, The Kitchen, Gibney, Harlem Stage, Danspace Project, Abrons Arts Center, BRIC, ISSUE Project Room, and Recess Art. She is a 2026 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists recipient, 2025 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Choreography, and 2025 Princess Grace Honoraria in Choreography, and 2025–28 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow. In January, 2022 she appeared on the cover of Dance magazine for their annual “25 to Watch” issue.

Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, TamsWitmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Tom Kitt, Ken Ludwig, Marlow & Moss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anaïs Mitchell, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder, and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording, and first-class production. Follow us @concordshows.

For This Production

artistic

Assistant Director

Parker Essex Hardy

Assistant Scenic Designer

Hyojung Kim

Assistant Costume Designer

Zhimeng Liu

Associate Lighting Designer

Max Doolittle

Assistant Lighting Designer

Gib Gibney

Assistant Projection Designer

Dwight Bellisimo

Associate Sound Designer and Engineer

LT Taylor

Assistant Dramaturg

Layla Williams

Assistant Hair Design and Supervisor

Janera Rose

Costume Shop Assistant

Bryant Heatherly

production

Associate Production Manager

Chloe Waters

Assistant Technical Directors

Ella Egan, Daniel Haussler, Meredith Wilcox

Assistant Properties Manager

Cat Slanski

Production Electrician

Jacob DeSousa

Projection Engineer

Sean Blue

Projection Programmer

Christian Killada

Projection Content Creator

Nate Britton

Production Projection Supervisor

Md Fadzil “Fed” Hanafi Md Saad

Run Crew

Emma Alderman, Bekka Broyles, Caleb Krieg, Jolie Ouyang, Mireya

Sánchez-Maes

Run Crew Swing

Nat King Taylor

Understudy Rehearsal Stage Managers

Ángela Sofía Caro

Miranda Vasquez administration

Associate Managing Director

Kavya Shetty

Assistant Managing Directors

Jocelyn Lopez-Hagmann, Kay Nilest

Management Assistants

Roberto Di Donato, Chanel Johnson, Ebonee Johnson, My Le, Maya Simon

Company Manager

Raekwon Fuller

Assistant Company Managers

My Le

Rhayna Poulin

Kiara Rivera

House Managers

Quinn O’Connor

Maya Simon

Production Photographer

Joan Marcus

Poster Art and Design

Paul Evan Jeffrey/Passage Design

media credits

“Naima” written by John Coltrane. Published by Jowcol Music.

The Proud Family footage courtesy of Disney.

“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” Words and Music by Willard C. Smith, Jeffrey Townes © Universal Music–Z Tunes, LLC on behalf of itself and Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince Publishing C (ASCAP) / 100% interest for the territory. Not for broadcast transmission. All rights reserved.

“Tipsy” (instrumental version) by Jerrell C. Jones. ©2004 EMI April Music Inc. Hood Hop Music, Tarpo Music Publishing and Unknown Publisher(s). All Rights on behalf of EMI April Music Inc. Hood Hop Music, and Tarpo Music Publishing administered by Sony Music Publishing (US) LLC, 1005 17th Avenue South, Suite 800, Nashville, TN 37212. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Territory: World

special thanks

SPE C TRA

Lauren Anderson, Rana Bates, Diane Brown, Camille Covington, Jayla Dyas, Grails, Enroue Halfkenny, Elsa Holahan, Destany Langfield, Julie Mountcastle, New Haven Free Public Library, Possible Futures Books, Zelda Roland, Emilia Thornton, Tracy Westmoreland, Yale Prison Education Initiative

Neighborhood Bookspace & Beloved Community

318 Edgewood Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511

join our mailing list to hear about our season announcement!

Yale Repertory Theatre and David Geffen School of Drama

Artistic Director/ Elizabeth Parker Ware Dean

James Bundy

Managing Director/ Associate Dean

Florie Seery

Associate Artistic Director, Director of New Play Programs/Associate Dean

Chantal Rodriguez

General Manager/ Assistant Dean

Carla L. Jackson

Assistant Dean of Student Life

Nancy Yao

Academic Programs

Chair, Acting Program

Tamilla Woodard

Associate Chair, Acting Program

Grace Zandarski

Co-Chair, Design Program and Head of Set Design Concentration

Riccardo Hernández

Co-Chair, Design Program and Head of Costume Design Concentration

Toni-Leslie James

Head of Sound Design Concentration

Jill BC Du Boff

Head of Projection Design Concentration

Wendall K. Harrington

Head of Lighting Design Concentration

Donald Holder

Chair, Directing Program

Liz Diamond

Associate Chair, Directing Program

Yura Kordonsky

Chair, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Program

Catherine Sheehy

Associate Chair, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Program

Kimberly Jannarone

Co-Chairs, Playwriting Program

Anne Erbe

Marcus Gardley

Chair, Stage Management Program

Narda E. Alcorn

Associate Chair, Stage Management Program

James Mountcastle

Chair, Technical Design and Production Program

Shaminda Amarakoon

Associate Chair, Technical Design and Production Program

Jennifer McClure

Chair, Theater Management Program

Joshua Borenstein

ARTISTIC

Yale Rep

Resident Artists

Playwright in Residence

Tarell Alvin McCraney

Resident Directors

Lileana Blain-Cruz

Liz Diamond

Tamilla Woodard

Dramaturgy Advisor

Amy Boratko

Resident Dramaturg

Catherine Sheehy

Set Design Advisor

Riccardo Hernández

Resident Set Designer

Michael Yeargan

Costume Design Advisors

Oana Botez

Ilona Somogyi

Resident Costume Designer

Toni-Leslie James

Lighting Design Advisors

Alan C. Edwards

Donald Holder

Projection Design Advisors

Shawn Lovell-Boyle

Joey Moro

Sound Design Advisor

Jill BC Du Boff

Voice and Text Advisor

Grace Zandarski

Resident Fight and Intimacy Directors

Kelsey Rainwater

Michael Rossmy

Stage Management Advisor

Narda E. Alcorn

Associate Artists 52nd Street Project, Kama Ginkas, Mark Lamos, MTYZ Theatre/Moscow New Generation Theatre, Bill Rauch, Sarah Ruhl, Henrietta Yanovskaya

Artistic Administration

Production Stage Manager

James Mountcastle

Yale Rep Senior Artistic Producer

Amy Boratko

Yale Rep Associate Producer

Kay Perdue Meadows

Education and Community Programs Manager

Elizabeth Nearing

Yale Rep Artistic Fellow

Hannah Fennell Gellman

Yale Rep Artistic Coordinator

Mithra Seyedi

Yale Rep Casting

James Calleri

Erica Jensen

Paul Davis

Editor, Theater magazine

Tom Sellar

Managing Editor, Theater magazine

Gabrielle Hoyt

Senior Associate Editor, David Geffen School of Drama

Alumni Magazine

Catherine Sheehy

Senior Executive Assistant to the Artistic Director/Dean

Grace O’Brien

Senior Administrative Assistant to the Dean/Artistic Director and Artistic Offices

Avery Amacher

Senior Administrative Assistant for Directing, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Playwriting, Stage Management programs, and Theater magazine

Laurie Coppola

Senior Administrative Assistant, Design Program

Kate Begley Baker

Senior Administrative Assistant, Acting Program

Krista DeVellis

Library Services

Erin Carney

PRODUCTION

Production Management Director of Production

Shaminda Amarakoon

Production Manager

Jonathan Reed

Production Manager for Studio Projects and Special Events

C. Nikki Mills

Senior Administrative Assistant to Production, Theater Safety, and the Technical Design and Production Program

Rachel Zwick

Scenery

Technical Director for Yale Rep and Fall Protection Program Administrator

Neil Mulligan

Technical Directors for David Geffen School of Drama

Latiana “LT” Gourzong

Matt Welander

Electro Mechanical

Laboratory Supervisor

Spencer Hrdy

Metal Shop Foreperson

Matt Gaffney

Wood Shop Foreperson

Ryan Gardner

Lead Carpenters

Doug Kester

Kat McCarthey

Sharon Reinhart

Abigail “Galleon” Richard

Carpentry Interns

Kai Hancock

Red Wehrmann

Painting

Scenic Charge

Mikah Berky

Lead Scenic Artists

Lia Akkerhuis

Nathan Jasunas

Paint Intern

Michaela Meyer

Properties

Properties Supervisor

Jennifer McClure

Associate Properties

Supervisor

Katie Pulling

Properties Craftsperson

Steve Lopez

Properties Associate

Zach Faber

Properties Stock Manager

Mark Dionne

Properties Interns

Lee Donegan

Susan Gibbs

Costumes

Costume Shop Manager

Christine Szczepanski

Senior Drapers

Susan Aziz

Clarissa Wylie Youngberg

Mary Zihal

Senior First Hands

Deborah Bloch

Patricia Van Horn

First Hand

Maria Teodosio

Costume Project Coordinator

Linda Kelley-Dodd

Costume Stock Manager

Jamie Farkas

Costume Technology Intern

Eli Oremland

Electrics

Lighting Supervisor

Donald W. Titus

Senior House Electricians

Price Foster

Linda-Cristal Young

Electricians

Ben Njus

Aspen Rogers

Alex Zinovenko

Electrics Interns

Toni Carton

Gabriel Landes

Sound

Sound Supervisor

Mike Backhaus

Lead Sound Engineer

Mariah Keener

Sound Interns

Jay Korter

Skylar Linker

Projections

Projection Supervisor

Anja Powell

Lead Projection Technician

Solomon Sheffield

Projection Interns

Naomi Rodriguez

Sarah Webb

Stage Operations

Stage Carpenter

Janet Cunningham

Lead Wardrobe Supervisor

Elizabeth Bolster

Lead Properties Runner

William Ordynowicz

Yale Repertory Theatre and David Geffen School of Drama

Light Board Programmer

Sabrina Idom

Lead Front of House

Mix Engineer

Keirsten Lamora

ADMINISTRATION

General Management

Associate Managing Directors

Joy (Xiaoyue) Chen

Victoria McNaughton

Kavya Shetty

Iyanna Huffington Whitney

Assistant Managing Director

Jocelyn Lopez-Hagmann

Management Assistants

Roberto Di Donato

Ebonee Johnson

Development & Alumni Affairs

Senior Director of Development and Alumni Affairs and Editor, David Geffen School of Drama Alumni Magazine

Deborah S. Berman

Deputy Director of Operations for Development and Alumni Affairs

Susan C. Clark

Senior Associate Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

Scott Bartelson

Associate Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

Claudia Campos

Assistant Director of Development and Alumni Affairs

Gavin D. Pak

Alumni Affairs Officer and Senior Writer

Cayenne Douglass

Senior Administrative

Assistant to Development and Alumni Affairs

Jennifer E. Alzona

Development and Alumni Affairs Assistant

My Le

Finance, Human Resources, and Digital Technology

Director of Finance and Business Administration/Lead Administrator

Nicola Blake

Human Resources Business Partner

Trinh DiNoto

Manager, Staff and Faculty Affairs

Malaika Green El Hamel

Director of Theater and Information Technology

Eric Lin

Director, Yale Tessitura Consortium, and Web Technology

Janna J. Ellis

Manager, Business Operations

Martha O. Boateng

Business Office Analyst

Shainn Reaves

Digital Communications Associate

Kenneth Murray

Business Office Specialist

Moriah Clarke

Interim Business Office Specialist

Toyin Mary Kakulu

Senior Administrative Assistant for the Business Office, Digital Technology, Operations, and Tessitura

Sadartha DiNello

Digital Technology Associates

Edison Dule

Garry Heyward

Database Application

Consultants

Ben Silvert

Erich Bolton

Financial Aid, Admissions, and Student Services

Director of Financial Aid

Andre Massiah

Registrar/Admissions

Administrator

Ariel Yan

Non-Clinical Counselor

Krista Dobson

Senior Administrative Assistant to Financial Aid and Registrar/Admissions

Administrator

Laura Torino

Marketing, Communications, and Audience Services

Director of Marketing

Daniel Cress

Director of Communications

Steven Padla

Senior Associate Director of Marketing and Communications

Caitlin Griffin

Senior Administrative

Assistant to Marketing and Communications

Mishelle Raza

Marketing and Communications Assistant

Jenn London

General Press Representative

Blake Zidell & Associates

Publications Manager and Program Designer

Marguerite Elliott

Director of Audience Services

Laura Kirk

Assistant Director of Audience Services

Shane Quinn

Subscriptions Coordinator

Tracy Baldini

Audience Services Associate

Molly Leona

Customer Service and Safety Officers

Teo Baldwin

Ralph Black, Jr. Kevin Delaney

Box Office Assistants

Pilar Bylinsky, Emma Fusco, Sawan Garde, Aaron Magloire, Yusra Mohamed, Naomie Mbabazi, Diana Shyshkova, Elliot Valentine

Accessibility Assistants

Abigail Murphy

Prentiss Patrick-Carter

Ushers

Mia Bauer, Maura Bozeman, Alex Brooks, Logan Carr, Jackie Cook, Kelvin Esselfie, Anna Forbes, Isaac Kozukhin, Nat Lopez, Kristin Loughry, Bonnie Moeller, Sarah

Ramos-Gonzalez, Eric Regis, William Romain, Jonathan Singleton, Nicole Stack, Kane Trundle, Julia Weston, Larsson Youngberg

Theater Safety and Occupational Health Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health

Anna Glover

Assistant Director of Theater Safety

Kelly O’Loughlin

Associate Safety Advisor

Mae Mironer

OPERATIONS

Director of Facility Operations

Nadir Balan

Associate Director of Operations

Aleks Landolfi

Operations Assistant Devon Reaves

Facilities Area Manager

Joey Adcock

Arts and Graduate Studies Superintendents

Jennifer Draughn

Francisco Eduardo Pimentel

Custodial Team Leaders

Andrew Mastriano

Sherry Stanley

Facility Stewards

Ronald Douglas

Marcia Riley

Custodians

Leo Torres, Sulema Hamilton, Rodney Heard, Jessica Hernandez, Cassandra Hobby, Wendy Jerez, Melloney Lucas, Shanna Ramos, Johnny Stanley, Jerome Sonia

Yale Repertory Theatre and David Geffen School of Drama are supported by the work of over 150 faculty members.

For a complete faculty listing by program and department, please visit drama.yale.edu/about-us

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

The Scenic, Costume, Lighting, and Sound Designers in LORT are represented by United Artists Local USA-829, IATSE.

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

ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES

May 9 at 2PM

Touch Tour (at 1PM)

Prior to this performance, patrons who are blind or have low vision touch fabric samples, rehearsal props, and building materials to understand better what comprises the production design.

Audio Description

Pre-show description begins at 1:45PM

A live narration of the play’s action, sets, and costumes for patrons who are blind or have low vision.

May 9 at 8PM

American Sign Language

An ASL-interpreted performance for patrons who are deaf or have hearing loss.

May 16 at 2PM

Open Captioning

A digital display of the play’s dialogue as it’s spoken for patrons who are deaf or have hearing loss.

Free listening devices, headsets, and neck loops, and sensory items as well as Braille and large print programs are available at the concierge desk in the theater lobby.

Yale Repertory Theatre gratefully acknowledges the Carol L. Sirot Foundation for underwriting the assistive listening systems in our theaters.

For more information about our accessibility services or to provide feedback about your experience, contact Laura Kirk, Director of Audience Services: 203.432.1234 or laura.kirk@yale.edu.

c2 is pleased to be the official Open Captioning Provider of Yale Rep.

ACCESSIBILITY TEAM

Cheyenne Atkins (ASL Interpreter) is a professional American Sign Language interpreter, consultant, and organizational leader based in Baltimore, Maryland. She serves as President of NAOBI-DC, where she advances mentorship, advocacy, and professional development for Black interpreters. She is the founder of CIA Interpreting & Consulting, LLC, providing interpreting services, strategic consulting, and mentoring for interpreters preparing for their national certification exams. Cheyenne also supports recent Interpreter Training Program graduates, working to close the gap between school and the workforce with the goal of increasing Black representation in the field of interpreting. Grounded in excellence and equity, she is passionate about building sustainable systems that support both interpreters and the communities they serve. Outside of work, she enjoys traveling, long walks, attending cultural events, and dancing.

Michelle Banks (ASL Coach), a native of Washington, D.C., is an award-winning actress, writer, director, and producer. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Visionaries of the Creative Arts (VOCA). She is the 2022 recipient of the D.C. area Black Deaf Advocates Award for Outstanding Achievements in Theater for Deaf BIPOC Artists and the 2017 recipient of Gallaudet University’s Laurent Clerc Award for her contribution to theater. Acting credits include Girlfriends, Soul Food, Compensation (film), The C.A. Lyons Project (Alliance Theatre), Reflections of a Black Deaf Woman (one- woman show), and Big River (Mark Taper Forum, Ford Theater). Directing: Camellia For Camille (Deaf Spotlight’s Short Play Festival), Trash (JACK, IRT); ISM and ISM II (Atlas Performing Arts Center); and A

Raisin in the Sun (Gallaudet University, Atlas Performing Arts Center). Michelle also served as Director of Artistic Sign Language (DASL) for The Music Man (Olney) and for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf (Broadway).

Rorri Burton (ASL Interpreter) is a multiple-certified, community-raised interpreter who hails from Chicago, where she began learning American Sign Language at an early age. After graduating college with her degree in Deaf Education, she taught in school districts around the country for ten years, before beginning a career as a full time ASL Interpreter. Sixteen years and five cities later, Rorri has interpreted in a variety of settings, including video relay service, vacation cruises, televised press conferences, Hollywood film sets, operating rooms, court rooms, awards shows, and Broadway stages, among others. She is the founder and director of Pro Bono ASL, a group of Black, Latiné, Indigenous, MENA, Asian and Pacific Islander interpreters, who are providing culturally relevant and professional interpreting services around the country, for a wide range of industries and entities.

David Chu/c2inc-caption coalition (Open Captioner) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit consultant and the leading provider of professional Live Performance Captioning (sm) for theatrical and cultural presentations. c2 members hold the distinction of being the very first to caption live theater (the Paper Mill Playhouse, NJ), the first to debut on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and have introduced open captioning in prestigious theaters across the country and in London. Captioning in theater has gained momentum and acceptance by theatergoers since its debut in 1996. It

ACCESSIBILITY TEAM

addresses the needs of a far larger audience of hard of hearing and deaf people, which includes those who do not use sign language, are late deafened, not self-identified with hearing loss, and those who simply might have missed a punch line.

Dierdre Patterson (Audio Describer) In Deirdre’s former life, she was a radio talk show producer and announcer with her own weekend jazz show. She is currently the box office manager and group sales coordinator for the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Connecticut. She is also a multi award-winning playwright and screenwriter with thirteen screenplays and seven stage plays under her pen, three of which are in her book, Ladies and Whores: Three Two Act Plays. Dierdre also audio described Zora Neale Hurston’s Spunk at Yale Rep earlier this season.

YOUTH PROGRAMS

WILL POWER! is Yale Rep’s annual educational initiative, designed to bring middle and high school students to see live theater. Since our 2003–04 season, WILL POWER! has served more than 20,000 Connecticut students and educators. This season we will offer programming centered on Zora Neale Hurston’s Spunk and Furlough’s Paradise by a.k. payne to New Haven Public Schools students and educators. In previous seasons, the program has included early school-time matinees, free or heavily subsidized tickets, study guides, and post-performance discussions with actors and members of the creative teams. WILL POWER! is committed to giving teachers curricular support through free workshops and professional development about the content and themes of the plays.

THE DWIGHT/EDGEWOOD PROJECT (D/EP) is a community outreach program of Yale Repertory Theatre and David Geffen School of Drama. Created in 1995 by theater management student Ricardo Morris (’97), D/EP pairs middle school students from New Haven schools with students from the Geffen School, who serve as mentors in an intensive four-week playwriting program.

Modeled after the 52nd Street Project, students learn the basics of Playmaking, spend a weekend away at a writing retreat to complete their plays, and return for a rehearsal and tech process. The process culminates in two evenings of fully produced performances open to the public. Through its values of community care, joy, curiosity, empowerment, and equity, D/EP has helped to develop over 200 original plays written by young people from the Dwight and Edgewood neighborhoods of New Haven.

In 2024, D/EP hosted a conference and reunion in celebration of the legacy of the D/EP Project Coordinator Emalie A. Mayo. In 2025, D/EP celebrated its 30th anniversary season.

Yale Rep’s youth programs are supported by The Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, NewAlliance Foundation, and the Esme Usdan Community Youth Fund

Furlough’s PARADISE EVENTS!

SATURDAY, APRIL 25 AT 8PM

MONDAY, APRIL 27 AT 8PM

Post-Show Discussion

Join us downstairs in the August Wilson Lounge following the performance for a conversation about the show with Yale Rep artistic staff.

MONDAY, APRIL 27, 5–6:30PM

Yale Rep @ NHFPL

Stetson Branch Library, 197 Dixwell Avenue

Please join us for a conversation with playwright a.k. payne and production dramaturg Ashley M. Thomas about the play, its themes, and a.k.’s body of work. Free and open to all. Light refreshments served.

FRIDAY, MAY 1 AT 8PM

Family Reunion Night

Join us after the performance for a talk back with company members, as we uplift the creation of chosen families and honoring ancestors.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 6 AT 1PM

Pre-Show Reception and Conversation

Please join us for refreshments downstairs in the August Wilson Lounge, where members of the creative team will hold a discussion about the play at 1:20PM.

SATURDAY, MAY 9 AT 2PM

Talk Back

Join us after the performance for a conversation about the play and its themes with members of the company.

FRIDAY, MAY 15 AT 8PM

Spanish-Language Captioning

La presentación del 15 de mayo será subtitulada en español. This performance will be open-captioned in Spanish.

All events are subject to change. Additional details at yalerep.org

DAVID GEFFEN SCHOOL OF DRAMA BOARD

OF ADVISORS

Julie Turaj YC ’94, Chair

Jeremy Smith ’76, East Coast Vice Chair

John Badham ’63, YC ’61, West Coast Vice Chair

Nina Adams MS ’69, NUR ’77

Rudy Aragon LAW ’79

Amy Aquino ’86

Pun Bandhu ’01

John B. Beinecke YC ’69

Sonja Berggren Special Research Fellow ’13

Frances Black ’09

Carmine Boccuzzi YC ’90, LAW ’94

Lynne Bolton

Lois Chiles

Edgar M. Cullman III ’02, YC ’97

Michael David ’68

Wendy Davies Special Research Fellow ‘21

Sasha Emerson ’84

Lily Fan YC ’01, LAW ’04

Terry Fitzpatrick ’83

Marc Flanagan ’70

Anita Pamintuan Fusco YC ’90

David Alan Grier ’81

Sally Horchow YC ’92

Ellen Iseman YC ’76

David G. Johnson YC ’78

Sarah Long ’92, YC ’85

Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger ’86

Brian Mann ’79

Drew McCoy

David Milch YC ’66

Jennifer Harrison Newman ’11

Richard Ostreicher ’79

Carol Ostrow ’80

Maulik Pancholy ’03

Daphne Rubin-Vega

Tracy Chutorian Semler YC ’86

Michael Sheehan ’76

Anna Deavere Smith HON ’14

Woody Taft YC ’92

Andrew Tisdale

Edward Trach ’58

Esme Usdan YC ’77

Courtney B. Vance ’86

Donald Ware YC ’71

Shana C. Waterman YC ’94, LAW ’00

Kim Williams

Henry Winkler ’70

Amanda Wallace Woods ’03

Thank you to the generous contributors to David Geffen School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre

LEADERSHIP SOCIETY

($50,000+)

Anand S. Ahuja and Sonam A. Kapoor

Americana Arts Foundation

Anonymous

Sallie Baldwin

Ed Barlow

John B. Beinecke

Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver

Lois Chiles

Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development

The Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation

Estate of William J. Evans, Jr*

Barbara Franke

Anita Pamintuan Fusco and Dino Fusco

David Geffen Foundation

The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation

Steve Grecco

Estate of Elizabeth Rhodes Holloway*

David G. Johnson

Sarah Long

Sharon and Jim Lowe

Estate of Robert D. Mitchell*

Brian Ong

Talia Shire Schwartzman

Tracy Chutorian Semler

The Shubert Foundation

Jeremy Smith

Stephen Timbers

Edward Trach

Julie Turaj and Rob Pohly

Esme Usdan

Donald Ware

GUARANTORS

($25,000–$49,999)

The Roy Cockrum Foundation

Wendy Davies

Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger and Mark Hollinger

Estate of Harriet Koch*

Neil Mazzella

David and Leni Moore

Family Foundation

The Sir Peter Shaffer

Charitable Foundation

Woody Taft

BENEFACTORS

($10,000–$24,999)

Nina Adams and Moreson Kaplan

Americans for the Arts

Rudy and Jeanne Aragon

Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation

Pun Bandhu

Carmine Boccuzzi and Bernard Lumpkin

Lynne and Roger Bolton

James and Deborah Burrows Foundation

Lily Fan

Ruth and Charles Grannick Jr. Fund at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Mabel Burchard Fischer Grant Foundation

Burry Fredrik Foundation

Rolin Jones

Lucille Lortel Foundation

Tarell Alvin McCraney

Richard Ostreicher

Michael and Riki Sheehan

Carol L. Sirot

Trust for Mutual Understanding

PATRONS

($5,000–$9,999)

Eugene G. & Margaret M. Blackford Memorial Fund for the Blind, Bank of America, N.A.,Trustee

Santino Blumetti

Joan Channick

Michael S. David

Terry Fitzpatrick

Marcus Gardley

Howard Gilman Foundation

Sally Horchow

Rocco Landesman

Tien-Tsung Ma

James Munson

Jason Najjoum

NewAlliance Foundation

Carol Ostrow

Marshall B. Williams*

Amanda Wallace Woods

PRODUCER’S CIRCLE

($2,500–$4,999) Anonymous

John Badham

Nancy Bynum

Ian Calderon

Francis Carling

Bob and Priscilla Dannies

Deborah Freedman and Ben Ledbetter

Will Gaines

Fred Gorelick and Cheryl MacLachlan

Lane Heard

Ellen Iseman

JANA Foundation

Ann Judd and Bennett Pudlin

Fran Kumin

The Ethel & Abe Lapides Foundation

Pam and Jeff Rank

Bill and Sharon Reynolds

Abby Roth and R. Lee Stump

Daphne Rubin-Vega and Thomas Costanzo

Rosalie Stemer and Stuart Feldman

Nancy Yao

DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE

($1,000–$2,499)

Actors’ Equity Foundation

Bruce Altman and Darcy McGraw

Debby Applegate and Bruce Tulgan

Paula Armbruster

John Lee Beatty

Karen BedrosianRichardson

Deborah S. Berman

Frances Black

Dorothy and Jim Bridgeman

Andrew Brolin

Rea Brown

James Bundy and Anne Tofflemire

Jonathan Busky and Galen Sherwin

Anne and Guido Calabresi

Enrico Colantoni

Bill Conner

Ramon Delgado

Deeksha Gaur

Melanie Ginter

Eric M. Glover

Betty and Joshua Goldberg

Naomi Grabel

Rob Greenberg

Barry and Maggie Grove

Mark Haber and Chiyo Moriuchi

William Halbert

Judy Hansen

Andy Hamingson

Jane Head

Don Holder

James Guerry Hood

Pam Jordan

Elizabeth Kaiden

Fran Kumin

Charles Letts

George Lindsay, Jr.

Jennifer Lindstrom

Linda Lorimer and Charley Ellis

Ed Martenson

John McAndrew

Maulik Pancholy

F. Richard Pappas

Amy Povich

Kathy Priest

Ben Sammler

Mark Schmitt and Holly Yeager

Florie Seery

Anne Seiwerath

Shekar Shetty

Slotznick Family Fund, a charitable fund of The Foundation for Enhancing Communities

Sandra Stein and Harvey Kliman

Mark Stevens

Shepard and Marlene Stone

Leo Surach

Anne Trites

Courtney B. Vance

Carol Waaser

Chris Wall, Daniel Schmitt, Henry Schmitt, and William Schmitt

Carolyn Seely Wiener

Kim Williams

PARTNERS

($500–$999)

Donna Alexander

Shaminda and Carole Amarakoon

Michael Barker and Heidi Hanson

Richard and Alice Baxter

Ashley Bishop

Josh Borenstein

Tom Broecker

Eleanor J. Burgess

Claudia Campos

Joy Carlin

Peter Chance

Sarah Bartlo Chaplin

Bill Connington

Daniel Cooperman and Mariel Harris

Sean Cullen

Elwood and Catherine Davis

Rick Davis

Robert Dealy

Kelvin Dinkins, Jr.

Caitlin Dutkiewicz

Sasha Emerson

Peter Entin

Jon and Karen Farley

Barbara and Richard Feldman

Adam Frank

LT Gourzong

Regina Guggenheim

The Raul Yanes and Sara Hazelwood Foundation

Bruce Katzman

Alan Kibbe

Kenneth Lewis

Matthew H. Lewis

Katie Liberman and Eric Gershman

Eric Lin

Chih-Lung Liu

Brian Mann

Ann and Bill Mesnard

Pamela and Donald Michaelis

Kathryn Milano

Meg Miroshnik

Melissa Mizell

Alice Moore

Chiyo Moriuchi

Merle and Arthur Nacht

Jennifer Harrison Newman

Victoria Nolan and Clark Crolius

Barbara and William Nordhaus

Janet Oetinger

Arthur Oliner

Dw Phineas Perkins

Louise Perkins and Jeff Glans

Joel Polis

Jeffrey Powell and Adalgisa Caccone

Alec Purves

Neil Qui

Faye and Asghar

Rastegar

Karen Bedrosian Richardson

Chantal Rodriguez

Cynthia Santos-DeCure

Anne Seiwerath

Lorraine Siggins

Matthew Sonnenfeld

Paul Spadone

Kyle Stamm

James Steerman

Neal Ann Stephens

Stephen Strawbridge

David Sword

Tides Foundation

John Turturro and Katherine Borowitz

Emma Wang

Vera Wells

Paul Whitaker

Robert Wildman

Walton Wilson

Steven Wolff

Judith and Guy Yale

Steve Zuckerman

INVESTORS

($250–$499)

Narda E. Alcorn

Trent Anderson and Leandro Zaneti

Stephen and Judith August

Alexander Bagnall

Johannes Boeckmann

Susan Brady and Mark Loeffler

Donald and Mary Brown

Ashley Bryant

Cathy and Steve Carlson

Aurélia Cohen

Ellen Cohen and Steven Fraade

Claire A. Criscuolo

Caitlin Crombleholme

Jane Crum

Dennis Dorn

Liz Diamond

Laura Eckelman

Susan S. Ellis

Deborah and Henry Fernandez

Marsha Finley

Marc Flanagan

David Freeman

Shelley Geballe

Michael Gross

Babo Harrison

Jennifer Hershey

Nicholas Hormann

Abby Kenigsberg

Alan Kibbe

Mitchell Kurtz

Marie Landry and Peter Aronson

Irene Lewis

Silje Lier

Chip Long

Suzanne Cryer Luke and Greg Luke

Jonathan Marks*

Thomas G. Masse and James M. Perlotto, MD

David Muse

Stephen Newman in memory of Ruth Hunt

Newman

Thank you to the generous contributors to David Geffen School

Claudia Nielsen

Ankit Pandy

Bruce Payne and Jack Thomas

Michael Posnick

Jon and Sarah Reed

Steve Robman

Nan Ross

Suzanne Sato

Kenneth Schlesinger

Paul Selfa

James Sinclair and Sylvia Van Sinderen

Sy Sussman

Matthew Tanico

Douglas Taylor

Katherine Touart

Richard Trousdell

Hannah Wasileski

Shana C. Waterman

Harold Wolpert

Yale-China Association

Yi Zhao

FRIENDS

($100–$249)

Emika Abe

Melinda Agsten

Michael Albano

Sarah Albertson

Alyssa Anderson-Kuntz

Michael Annand

Anonymous

David Armstrong

William Armstrong

The Arts Council of Greater New Haven

Angelina Avallone

Nancy and John Babington

Katalin Baltimore

Dani Barlow

Warren Bass

William and Donna Batsford

Elana Bildner

Mark Bly

Amy Brewer

Amy Bowers

Linda Broker

Arvin Brown

Stephen and Nancy Brown

Thomas Bruce

Stephen Bundy

Barbara Bzdyra

Michael Cadden

Kathryn Calnan

Katherine Campbell

H. Lloyd Carbaugh

Juliette Carrillo

Sami Joan Casler

Kwan Chi Chan

Ji-Youn Chang

Robert Channick

Walter Chon

Cynthia Clair

Susan Clark

Geoffrey Cohen

Leland Cole-Chu

Michael Connair

Shoshana Cooper

Ellen Cordes and Harry

Haskell

Rachel and Matt Cornish

Stephanie Covington

Alama Cuervo

Scott Cummings

John Cunningham*

Campbell Dalglish

Brett Dalton

Eric Dana

Dr. and Mrs. Alan

Davidson

Sheldon Deckelbaum

Sarah and Ted DeLong

Connie and Peter

Dickinson

Derek DiGregorio

Kathleen Dimmick

Melinda DiVicino

John Duran

Laura Eckelman

Fran Egler

Robert Einenkel

Nancy Reeder

El Bouhali

Janann Eldredge

Sandra Elgee

Janna Ellis

David Epstein

Dustin Eshenroder

Laura Esposito

Frank and Ellen Estes

Dan and Elizabeth Esty

Femi Euba

Connie Evans

Michael Fain

Shelli Farhadian

Ann Farris

Richard Feleppa

Mary-Christy Fisher

Mark Fitzpatrick

Sarah Fornia

Hugh Fortmiller

Walter Frankenberger

Richard Freeman

Richard Fuhrman

David Gainey

Don and Margery

Galluzzi

Tobe Gerard

Barry Gladue

Martin and Carole

Goldberg

Donna Golden

Melissa Goldman

Charles Grammer

Hannah Grannemann

Alyssa B. Greenwald

Anne Gregerson

John Guare

Annabel Guevara

Dr. James L. Hadler

Alexander Hammond

Ann Hanley

John Harnagel

Michael Haymes

Ethan Heard

Peter Hefferan

Kevin Henderson

Stephen Hendrickson

Jeffrey Herrmann

Christoper Higgins

Emily B. Hill

Allison Hoffman

Nadine Honigberg

Betsy Hoos

Kathleen Houle

David Howson

Melissa Huber

Theresa Hudak

Evelyn Huffman

Charles Hughes

Derek Hunt

Jennifer Ito

Carla L. Jackson

Lee A. Jacobus

Tracey Jaeger

Chris Jaehnig

Eliot and Lois

Jameson

Kimberly Jannarone

Gareth Jenkins

Elizabeth Johnson

Jean Jones

Martha Jurczak

Jay Keene

Barnet Kellman

Jim Kenny

Peter Young Hoon Kim

Eugene Kimball

Natalie King

Lawrence Klein

George Klug

Glenn Knapp

Chloe Knight

Steve Koernig

David Kriebs

Susan Laity

Gabriela Lee

Sheree Levine

Elizabeth Lewis

Malia Lewis

Martha Lidji Lazar

Erik Lier

Annie Lin

Fred Lindauer

Sam Linden

Mark Linn-Baker

Jerry Lodynsky

Robert H. Long II

Judith Loughry

Everett Lunning

Nancy F. Lyon

Wendy MacLeod

Maite and ‘B’ito

Trui Malten

Edwin Martin

Sarah Masotta

Maria E. Matasar-Padilla

Marya Mazor

Robert McCaw

Mark McCullough*

Mary McCutcheon

Phyllis McGrath

Helen McSweeney

James Meisner and Marilyn Lord

Jonathan Miller

Michele Millham

Lawrence Mirkin

Belina Mizrahi

Richard Mone

Sherry Mordecai

Frederick More

Michele Moriuchi

David Morgan

Leora Morris

Donna Moss

Gwyneth Muller

Jan O’ Malley

James Naughton

Leah Ogawa

Jennifer B. Oliver

Richard Olson

Jacob G. Padrón

Joey Parnes

Lisa Rigsby Peterson

Michael Petrillo

Brenda Planck

Alan Plattus

Helen Pospisil

William Purves

Sarah Rafferty

Mohamed A. Ramy

Barbara Reid

Michael Reiner

Deborah J. Reissman

Rachel Resnick

Lisa Richardson

Carolynn Richer

Felicia Riffelmacher

Joan Robbins

Katherine Roberts

Nathan Roberts

Peter S. Roberts

Lori Robishaw

Naomi Rogers

Robin Rose

Robert Rosenheck

Russ Rosensweig

*deceased

of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre

Joseph Ross

Marcia and Bob Safirstein

Robert Sandberg

Sallie Sanders

Christopher Sanderson

Peggy Sasso

Arven Saunders

Joel Schechter

Rita Scheeler

Jennifer Schwartz

Alexander Scribner

Patrick Seeley

Tom Sellar

Subrata K. Sen

Sandra Shaner

Jeremy Shapira

David Shavrick

Catherine Sheehy

Kavya Shetty

Graham Shiels

Anonymous (3)

Nina Adams and Moreson Kaplan

Amy Aquino and Drew McCoy

Rudy Aragon

John Badham

Pun Bandhu

Frances and Ed Barlow

John B. Beinecke

Sonja Berggren and Patrick Seaver

Frances Black and Matthew Strauss

Carmine Boccuzzi and Bernard Lumpkin

Reginald Brown and Tiffeny Sanchez

James Bundy and Anne Tofflemire

Nancy Bynum

Lois Chiles

Gilbert and Ruth Small

Mary Smith

Teresa Snider-Stein

Helena L. Sokoloff

Suzanne Solensky and Jay Rozgonyi

Ilona K. Somogyi

Mikayla Stanley

Howard Steinman

John Stevens

Susan Stevens

Mark Sullivan

Douglas Taber

Jean and Yeshvant

Talati

Jane Savitt Tennen

Patrice Thomas

Benjamin Thoron

Patti Thorp

David F. Toser

David and Lisa Totman

Michael David and Lauren Mitchell

Wendy Davies

Scott Delman

Michael Diamond* and Amy Miller

Estate of Nicholas Diggs*

Estate of Richard Diggs*

Sasha Emerson

Lily Fan

Terry Fitzpatrick

Barbara Franke

Anita Pamintuan Fusco and Dino Fusco

David Marshall Grant

Gilder Foundation

The Hastings and Barcone Trust

Lane Heard and Margaret Bauer

Julie Trager

Russell L. Treyz

Shira Turner

Carrie Van Hallgren

Ariana Venturi

Adam Versenyi

Mary Vitelli and Mickey Schaller

John Waldes

Jaylene Wallace

Martin Walsh

Paul Walsh

Erik Walstad

David Ward

Linda Warner and Peter C. Perdue

Steven Waxler

Jonathan Wemette

Dr. Robert White

Alexandra Witchel

Richard Whittington

Cheryl Henson

Sally Horchow

Ellen Iseman

David G. Johnson

David H. Johnson

Rolin Jones

Jane Kaczmarek

James and Sharon Lowe

Cathy MacNeil-Hollinger and Mark Hollinger

Brian Mann

Lara Meiland-Shaw

Jennifer Harrison

Newman

Brian Ong

Richard Ostreicher

The Prospect Hill Foundation

Daphne Rubin-Vega and Thomas Costanzo

W.C. Wilson

Christopher Yurkovsky and Deborah McArthur

John and Pat Zandy

Liza Zenni

Yuhan Zhang

Jennifer Zoga

GIFTS IN KIND

Disney Theatrical Group

ETC Lighting

EMPLOYER

MATCHING GIFTS

The Benevity Community Impact Fund

The Prospect Hill Foundation

Julie Turaj and Rob Pohly

Tracy Chutorian Semler

Michael and Riki

Sheehan

Jeremy Smith

Woody Taft

Andrew and Nesrin

Tisdale

Ed Trach

Esme Usdan

Donald Ware

Shana C. Waterman

Amanda Wallace Woods and Eric Wasserstrom

Dr. Jessica WeiserMcCarthy and Timothy McCarthy

Henry Winkler

*deceased