by Jane MartinNovember 5-15, 2009 • Center Square Theatre

Designated a Center of Excellence in the Fine and Performing Arts by the Oregon University System

by Noël CowardNovember 12-22, 2009Center Stage Theatre

Looking Ahead to Creating SpaceWelcome to another great year of theater at SOU!

As the new Director of the Department of Performing

Arts, this is my first “Creating Space” note for

Theatre Arts and I would first like to take a little

time to acknowledge the work of my predecessor,

Chris Sackett. I have been at SOU a little over two

months now and it’s become clear to me that I have big shoes to fill.

The fact that SOU’s Theatre Arts program is the largest and one of the

most respected undergraduate programs of its kind in the western United

States is no accident. In actuality, it is in large part due to Chris’s steady

guidance and diligent stewardship of the program over the last several years

and I’m very grateful to Chris for having done all he has for the department.

I also want to take a moment to mention just how impressive the entire

theatre faculty is and how wonderful it is for me to be working with such

a talented, dedicated group of educators and artists. To observe this fine

faculty teach, train and mold the gifted young people who come to this

University to learn Theatre Arts is an inspiration for me.

And as audience members for our productions, you too are teachers

playing an active role in the students’ education. Your applause, laughter,

tears, comments, criticism and encouragement are a crucial part of the

educational process for these young actors, designers, stage managers and

technicians. Without you, it simply wouldn’t be “Live Theatre,” so the role

you play is essential to everything we do.

For the foreseeable future, I will be continuing with the “Creating

Space” theme for these notes because that is precisely what we are still

doing. The State of Oregon has recently appropriated 5.5 million dollars

toward the renovation of the Theatre Arts Building, which is great news,

but we still need to raise a matching amount in order to bring our expansion

project to fruition. Therefore, you will be hearing reports from me in the

future about the progress we are making toward our goal.

Each and every one of us plays a vital role in the educational process

of our students and I am sincerely grateful to you for your ideas, your

continued patronage, your generous financial support and your vital

presence at our productions. It’s what makes “Live Theatre” so incredible.

Thanks,

Noel Koran1

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Faculty

Noel Koran ...................................Director, Department of Performing Arts

Alan Armstrong ................................................................ Emeritus Faculty

Jim Giancarlo ........................................................ Musical Theatre Faculty

Craig Hudson ................................................................... Emeritus Faculty

David Kelly.........................................................................Adjunct Faculty

Laurie Kurutz .............................................. Costume Construction Faculty

Eric Levin .....................................................Director of Theatre Education

Dale Luciano ....................................................................Directing Faculty

Maggie McClellan ..........................................Voice and Movement Faculty

Sean O’Skea ............................................................. Scenic Design Faculty

Deborah Rosenberg ................................................Costume Design Faculty

Chris Sackett ......................................... Sound and Lighting Design Faculty

Ezra Severin .....................................................Technical Direction Faculty

Dennis Smith ........................................................................Acting Faculty

Don Weingust ................................Director, Center for Shakespeare Studies

StaffChristi Courian ......................................................Administrative Assistant

Brooke Friendly ...................... Director, Ashland Center for Theatre Studies

Su Grossmann .......................................................Administrative Assistant

Jane Hickinbotham ................................................Staff Technical Manager

Department of Performing Arts/Theatre Arts

THEATRE POLICIES

Please turn off your cellular phone, pager, beeper and wrist watch

alarm before entering theatre. No cameras or recorders in the theatre.

No food or drink in the theatre.

Children under six years of age not admitted except to children’s show.

Late seating is not guaranteed and latecomers may not be admitted to

the theatre. When appropriate, latecomers will be seated in the rear of the

theatre and may take their regular seats at intermission. No late seating in

the Center Square Theatre.

No smoking anywhere in the Theatre Arts Building.

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Length:

Two hours and thirty minutes with two ten-minute intermissions

Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

Director: Dale LucianoAssistant Director: Curtis GoodmanCostume Designer: Caitlin Bedford

Scenic Designer: Andy ZehrungLighting Designer: Kristin Lake*Sound Designer: Robert Erickson

*This student has undertaken this assignment as the culminating creative project to satisfy the thesis requirement for their Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.

Special thanks to:

David Kelly

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival scene shop for their donation of building materials

by Noël Coward

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CHARLES ................................................Jonathan W. Dyrud

RUTH ............................................... Jordan Leigh Wakefield*

ELVIRA .......................................................Monique Barbee*

MADAME ARCATI ....................................Mallory Wedding

DR. BRADMAN .............................................. Richard Heller

MRS. BRADMAN ......................................... Danielle Chaves

EDITH ...............................................................Rachel Seeley

DAPHNE ........................................................Tamara Burgess

Cast

*These students have undertaken this assignment as the culminating creative project to satisfy the thesis requirement for their Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.

Blithe Spirit includes herbal cigarette and cigar smoking.

TIME: The 1940s.

SETTING: The entire play takes place in the living room

of the Condomines’ comfortable country house

in Kent, England.

Act One:

Scene 1: Eight o’clock on a summer evening.

Scene 2: After dinner, the same evening.

Act Two:

Scene 1: 9:30 a.m., the next morning.

Scene 2: Late, the following afternoon

Scene 3: Evening, several days later.

Act Three:

Scene 1: Evening, a few days later.

Scene 2: 5:00 a.m. the next day.

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Stage Manager ..................................................................... Jamie Thomas

Assistant Stage Manager .......................................................Robert Chikar

Technical Director................................................................... Ezra Severin

Assistant Technical Director .................................................Sunshine Bucy

Production Assistant ..........................................................Veronica Sherry

Assistant Costume Designer ....................................................Natalie Scott

Assistant Light Designer ...............................................Maya Michele Fein

Musical Assistant and Consultant ............................................. Elsa Bishop

Master Carpenter .............................................................Corynne Haslach

Assistant Master Carpenter .................................................. Stephen Purdy

Carpenters ........................... Gavin Douglas, Shayne Lancaster, Peter Lang,

..............Devin McCanna, Alex Meyer, Jordan Mortimore, Mariko Thomas

Paint Charge .......................................................................... Ryan Nicolai

Properties Master ................................................................Bridget Carlson

Makeup Supervisor .........................................................Spencer Hamilton

Makeup Crew ................................................Alison Hough, Kelsey Meyer,

...............................................................Emily Sarantakis, Gabrielle Smith

Wardrobe Supervisor ........................................................... Katelyn Annis

Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor ...........................................Rebecca Denley

Wardrobe Crew .... Sarah Coset, Kiova Staley, Hanna Wisner, Jordan Zwick

Master Electrician .....................................................Pam Merten-Hindorff

Lighting ............................... Garrett Alden, Kimberly Fain, Danielle Hicks,

.............. Tyler Kubat, Sol Mallory-McCarty, Kevin Novotny, Neil Peterson,

..............Nick Rementeria, Caitlin Seaton, Nicholas Walker, Joseph Wegner

Follow Spots ................................................Cymry Reardon, Jacob Horvat

Sound Engineer ................................................................... Aaron Postma

Sound Run ......................................................................... Rachel Stewart

Run Crew ...........................Nicole Dibala, Kameron Fort, Blaine Johnston,

............................Martin Kerns, Jasmine Lane, Carlos Lopez, Jacob Schatz

Blithe Spirit Production Crew

8

Director’s NotesWhy are we producing Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit (subtitled “An

Improbable Farce”) at SOU in November 2009? Well, it’s funny. Just about

everybody needs a good laugh right now. I am also enchanted by how

personal, how direct an extension of his world-famous wit and charm,

how autobiographical, Blithe Spirit is. He’s present throughout and expresses

himself vigorously. Be prepared to meet Noel Coward.

Coward originally wrote Blithe Spirit to bolster British morale and cheer

wartime London audiences in 1941. It ran for 2,000 performances! Coward

realized that making people laugh was the most meaningful contribution he

could make to the war effort. During harsh times, Coward wrote something

to make people laugh. (He also moved them with his singular, brave

performance as Captain Kiness in the 1942 film In Which We Serve.) Coward pursued his own life thusly, as a work of art characterized by a

ceaseless utterance of trenchant witticisms and incisive observations that

made Noel Coward the most famous persona in the world. (No, I am not

exaggerating.)

The title itself, Blithe Spirit, may be a reference to Elvira’s devil-may-

care abandon, but it also evokes Coward’s joyously ironic perspective on

life’s severest travails. In Blithe Spirit, he is the shrewdest of playwrights in

cloaking a somewhat unsettling rumination on the convoluted maze of

marriage in the witty, brittle and often acerbic exchanges of his self-absorbed

but fully human characters. He was vastly amused by the zany impossibility

of man/woman relationships.

At the exhibit, Star Quality: The World of Noel Coward, at San Francisco’s

Museum of Design and Performance this past summer, I was reminded of

the expansive range of his work as playwright, songwriter, poet, director,

and a figure who played a large role in defining the notion of what it means

to possess “star quality” in the twentieth century. (“I don’t know what it is,”

Coward quipped, “but I’ve got it.”) And it was impossible not to notice how

paramount a role Coward played in shaping the very notion of erudite wit

and effortless sophistication associated with the best British humor.

To the dedicated faculty and tireless students who have helped to make

this production a reality, I extend thanks, appreciation, admiration and

respect.

—Dale Luciano

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About the PlaywrightNoel Coward was “born into a world that took light music seriously,” as he

put it, and remained dedicated to things of fanciful spirit for the rest of his life.

Born in Teddington, England in 1899, he was inducted into the world of music

and the stage by his mother Violet, who had a passionate love of theater, and his

father, Arthur, who played and sold pianos. Coward shot up to stardom in 1924

with the debut of his play The Vortex, in which he played the leading role of a

young cocaine addict with a nymphomaniac mother. The play was so successful

that he gained much professional recognition and soon had many hits running

on the stages of London. He became very popular as a playwright who acted in

his own plays; he also took roles in other plays and was a celebrated actor on the

stage and screen. In addition to his successes with acting and playwriting, Coward

wrote and performed many songs over the course of his lifetime. Throughout

his life he cultivated many relationships with public figures, including Gertrude

Lawrence, Marlene Dietrich, Prince George, Duke of Kent, and his long-time

partner, George Payne.

During the war years of the 1940s, audiences loved his bright portrayals

of high society, and indeed needed them as an escape from the hardships of life

during and after wartime. Europe was in chaos during his formative years and

audiences reveled in the freedom and flights of fancy explored in Coward’s works.

He used his fame as a performer and writer during World War II, as a British

Secret Service agent touring the United States with the hope of garnering support

for Britain in the war effort. Blithe Spirit (1941) is perhaps his most enduring work

from these years; with 1,997 consecutive runs it broke the box office records for

a West End comedy. His early plays were revived during the 1960s and 1970s;

theaters in England and the United States produced many of his works, including

the ever-popular Hay Fever (1924), Private Lives (1930), and Present Laughter (1939).

Coward was a highly successful singer/songwriter whose credits include

“Mad Dogs and Englishmen” and “I Went to a Marvelous Party.” He also starred

in many films, including Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Our Man in Havana

(1959) and his last film role, The Italian Job (1969).

Coward was knighted in 1969 and in 1970 received a Tony Lifetime

Achievement Award, “for multiple and immortal contributions to the theater.”

Noel Coward died on March 26, 1973 in Jamaica, having brought much more

laughter into the world. His plays are still popular today, filled with humor, farce,

satire and many wacky characters with a zest for life.

—Emily Caldwell, Dramaturg

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11

Monique Barbée (Elvira) is a senior at SOU and is originally from Grants

Pass, Ore. Her previous SOU credits include Isabelle in Ring Round the Moon,

Alcyone and Atalanta in Metamorphoses, and Hope Cladwell in Urinetown.

Other theatre credits include Mrs. Squires in the Oregon Shakespeare

Festival production of The Music Man.

Caitlin A. Bedford (Costume Designer) is a senior at SOU and originally

from Juneau, Alaska. Previous SOU positions include Costume Designer for

Icarus, Assistant Costume Designer for Anna in the Tropics, Draper for Ring Round the Moon, and Draper for Many Moons.

Sunshine S. Bucy (Assistant Technical Director) is a junior transfer at SOU

and originally from Clinton, Ark. Previous SOU credits include Assistant

Master Carpenter for Love’s Labor’s Lost. In December, he will appear as

Major Shelley in The Secret Garden at the Camelot Theatre.

Danielle Chaves (Mrs. Bradman) is a junior at SOU and originally from

Lake Oswego, Ore. Previous SOU credits include Penny Pennywise in

Urinetown, Mother in Ring Round the Moon, and Conchita in Anna in the Tropics. Credits at other theatres include Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!

Jonathan W. Dyrud (Charles) is a senior at SOU and is originally from

Klamath Falls, Ore. Previous SOU roles include Berowne in Love’s Labor’s Lost, Mr. Fitzwarren and Caliph in Dick Whittington and His Amazing Cat, Romainville in Ring Round the Moon, and Janek in Hunting Cockroaches. Other

theatrical roles include understudy for A Servant of Two Masters, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and Macbeth at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Kristin Lake (Lighting Designer) is a senior at SOU and is originally from

Kaiwa-Kona, Hawaii. Previous SOU credits include Assistant Lighting

Designer for Many Moons, Hunting Cockroaches, and Ring Round the Moon,

Blithe Spirit Student Actors and Artists

continued on page 12

Blithe Spirit DirectorDale Luciano teaches directing and the history of dramatic literature

in Western and world culture in the Theatre Arts program in SOU’s

Department of Performing Arts. He has directed a production for

SOU every year since 1985, including the 2009 production of William

Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labor’s Lost.” Dale will become emeritus faculty at

the end of this academic year and is looking forward to continuing to teach

part-time at SOU.

12

and Lighting Designer for Dick Whittington and His Amazing Cat. Other

positions include Lighting Designer for the Aloha Performing Arts

Company for their Original Play Festival seasons XII and XIV, as well

as several Aloha Teen Theater productions.

Ryan Nicolai (Paint Charge) is a senior at SOU and originally from

Beaverton, Ore. Previous SOU credits include Scenic Designer for Icarus, Assistant Scenic Designer for Urinetown, Hunting Cockroaches, and Ring Round the Moon, as well as Paint Charge for Arcadia, Swimming in the Shallows, and Anna in the Tropics.

Jamie L. Thomas (Stage Manager) is a senior at SOU and originally from

Coos Bay, Ore. Previous SOU credits include Stage Manager for Women of War, Assistant Stage Manager for Icarus and Swimming in the Shallows, and

Props Master for Dick Whittington and His Amazing Cat. Other credits include

Stage Manager for Shakespeare in Hollywood and Lend Me a Tenor at the

Camelot Theatre.

Jordan Leigh Wakefield (Ruth) is a senior at SOU and originally from

Seattle, Wash. Previous SOU credits include Dianna Messerschmann in

Ring Round the Moon, Anka in Hunting Cockroaches, and Kassandra in Women of War. Other theatre credits include Ensemble in the Oregon Shakespeare

Festival production of Henry VIII.

Andrew Zehrung (Scenic Designer) in a senior originally from Boise, Idaho.

His previous SOU credits include Scenic Designer for An Enemy of the People, Assistant Scenic Designer for Urinetown and Metamorphoses, Assistant

Lighting Designer for Dick Whittington and His Amazing Cat and Love’s Labor’s Lost, and Master Electrician for Swimming in the Shallows and Arcadia.

Blithe Spirit Student Bios (cont.)

on stage at SOUon stage at SOUJohnny Johnson

Book and lyrics by Paul Green, music by Kurt WeillFebruary 11-28, 2010

Wild Oats by John O’Keeffe

May 13-23, 2010

The Story of Opal by Gale Childs Daly

February 12-28, 2010

Eurydice by Sarah Ruhl

May 13-23, 2010

13

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Production Manager .............................................................. Chris SackettAssociate Production Manager ................................................ Sean O’SkeaTechnical Director................................................................... Ezra SeverinCostume Shop Supervisor .....................................................Laurie KurutzCostume Crafts Supervisor ........................................... Deborah RosenbergAssistant Production Manager ............................................ Tamara BurgessStage Manager– Directing Projects ......................................... Karen KuranAssistant Stage Manager – Directing Projects. ........................ Kacey SafferyProduction Assistant – Directing Projects ........................ Katherine OgilvieAssistant Costume Shop Supervisors .... Amanda Daly, Hannah StellmacherDraper .......................................................... Amy Rogers, Kelsey WilliamsFirst Hand ..............................................Zachary Centers, Susie Gabumpa, ........................................................Amy Mazzaferro, Hannah WagenblastCostume Crafts ........................................... Irene Vipperman, Jessie WeigelHaircutter ...........................................................................Bradly SosinskiStitcher ..........................Nicholas Altishin, Katherine Behrens, Erik Brown, ....................... Brenna Duffitt, Beverly Poole, Corey Porter, Stephanie Ross, .................................................................Callie Segotta, Hannah SwensonProp Crew .......................... Megan Breedlove, Leah Forrest, Samuel Fuller, .....................................................Kevin Goss, Ellen Hufft, Erin O’Connor, ................................... Bunny Spady, Vaughn Swanson, Rebekah WhittakerPaint Crew .... John Brandenburg, Amelia Bransky, Kayla Bush, Blair Fraser, .............Hannah Gassaway, Amanda Hatheway, Erika Hidalgo, Sean Kirby, ........Teresa Lascala, Mari Nakamitsu, Leah Sanginiti, Leona Schrader-Dee, ..................................Steven Skaletsky, Shadee Vossoughi, Andrew YabroffSound Shop Manager. ........................................................ Steven Sagert IISound Maintenance ..........................Nicholas Andelin, Heath Koerschgen, ........................................................................ Jenny Rader, Cullen WrightLight Shop Supervisor ...............................................................Kyle MillerLight Shop Assistants ................................ Tim Homsley, Zachary Lathrop, .................................................. Sean Minor, Rachel Stewart, Kevin YoungDigital Light System .....................................Ryan Callahan, Steven Coney, ...................................................................Timothy Duryea, Sarah MartinHouse Managers ................................. Meryn MacDougall, Jorge PaniaguaUshers ...........Chelsea Acker, Clinton Clark, Justin Cowan, Levi Goodman, ....Nikolas Horaites, Anna Micco, Jenny Rader, Ross Stuart, Alyssa RhoneyHouse Managers, Music Recital Hall ........Kryssa Bush, Elisabeth CampbellBox Office Staff .....................Mario Cambern, Rob Chikar, Grey McClure, ....................................... Jorge Paniagua, Danielle Pecoff, Jeremiah PylandConcessions .......................................Haley Songchild, Brandon McCowanPublicity Assistants ............................ Mario Cambern, Elisabeth Campbell

Production Crew - Both Shows

continued on page 16

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Publicity Assistants, cont. ................................. Rob Chikar, Jorge PaniaguaGala Crew ......... Sonia Cuellar, Holly Edwards, Jeffrey Hayes, Joanna OrtizLobby Display ................Erin Cunningham, Jacob Feller, Margaret Frevele, ....................... Elizabeth Gartin-Kessler, Gina Patterson, Amber TempletonPlaybill Dramaturg ..............................................................Emily CaldwellArchivist .......................................................................... William MeulinkPhoto Documentation ........................................................... Isaac Kosydar Photo Documentation/Production Photos ................................Darek RileyDepartment Historian ...........................................................Gregory LandVideo Documentation ................................ Robert Hastings, Grey McClureShop Steward .............................................................................. Cody BallKey Wrangler ....................................................................Mario CambernSpecial Projects – Costume Stock ....................... Katherine Nowacki (lead), .................................................. Ariana Graham-Heuer, Ashley Reverman, .............................................................Crystal Rundall, Alexandra RundleSpecial Projects – Drapers and Stitchers .............................. Rose Blackford, .................................... Molly Braithwaite, Rachael Jones, Sereena Ojakian, ............................................. Sonia Paauwe, Danielle Pecoff, Natalie SharpSpecial Projects .......................Elsa Bishop, Joshua Bowen, Ariel Dengrove, .................. Nick Johnson, Kolio Kolev, Zachary Myers, Nicholas Radford, .............................. Samantha Schireson, Joshua Simpson, Katie Wilkinson

Production Crew - Both Shows, cont.

17

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18

By Jane Martin

Director: Scott KaiserAssistant Director: Olivia ToddScenic Designer: Daniel Haskett

Costume Designer: Deborah RosenbergLighting Designer: Catherine E. Ridenour

Sound Designer: Chris Sackett

Scene:

Various locations in New York and San Antonio in the present

Length:

Two hours and ten minutes with one ten-minute intermission

Produced by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc.

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Cast(in order of appearance)

T-ANNE / ANNOUNCER / GATE MANAGER ..............................................Erin Claxton

LISABETTE ...............................................Lauryn Hochberg

CASEY ............................................................. Robyn Pucay

HOLLY .............................................................Katie Torcom

KATE ...........................................................Hannah Grenfell

RALPH / BEN / JACKEY ..................................Elsbeth Poe

JOBY ........................................................... Briawna Jackson

ANDWYNETH / JOE BOB ........................... Ashleigh Bragg

WIKEWITCH .................................................. Tara Watkins

DON BLOUNT ............................................... Maire Murphy

Special thanks to:

Southern Oregon University Symphonic Band,

under the direction of Dr. Cynthia Hutton

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival scene shop

for their donation of building materials

20

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21

Stage Manager ......................................................... Kimberlee Freimoeller

Assistant Stage Manager ........................................................ Katie Pitman

Technical Director................................................................... Ezra Severin

Production Assistant .......................................................... Amanda Stucke

Assistant Scenic Designer ............................................ Roxanne Miftahittin

Assistant Costume Designer ............................................... Morgana Spake

Assistant Lighting Designer ................................................... Maria Buzard

Assistant Sound Designer .................................................... Adam Johnson

Master Carpenter ............................................................... Shayne Hanson

Assistant Master Carpenter ..................................................... Colin Green

Carpentry ....................................................Cameron Addison, Jake Haigh

Paint Charge ........................................................................Victoria Miller

Prop Master ...................................................................... Gabe Behrmann

Wardrobe Supervisor ........................................................... Meagan Kirby

Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor .......................................... Jeremiah Pyland

Wardrobe Crew ................................... Katherine Adcox, Katie Kammerer,

.....................................................................Aislyn Marshall, Linda Zwick

Master Electrician ..................................................................Mijo Fletcher

Light Crew .....................Christopher Cook, Cory Davison, David Demuth,

.............................. Julia Gaskill, Brandon McCowan, Kathryn McFarland,

...................................................Naomi Nagler, Marc Oliver, Heaven Reed

Sound Engineer ................................................................... Graham Jones

Sound Run ............................................................................ Colin Wright

Run Crew ..................Colleen Biller, Anthony Kupsick, Mahlea Rasmussen

Anton in Show Business Production Crew

22

Director’s NotesLook!—the cast list just went up on the callboard, and once again,

you’ll be playing the part of The Audience.

Now, I know what you’re thinking—another play about theatre people?

Haven’t we done enough of that? I mean, let’s see…just off the top of my

head, there’s Noises Off, The Royal Family, The Dresser, Room Service, Enter Laughing, Light Up the Sky, Six Characters in Search of an Author, A Life in the Theatre…and then there’s the musicals, like Showboat, Kiss Me Kate, A Chorus Line, The Producers…and then there’s the plays-within-plays,

as in Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Love’s Labor’s Lost. I mean,

can’t playwrights think of anything else to write about but themselves?

Okay, point taken. But admit it—people love to see plays about theatre

people. Just as they can’t get enough TV shows about detectives, doctors, and

lawyers, they can’t get enough plays about actors, directors, and producers.

And if you think about it, why not? Is there a better metaphor for life

than theatre? Of course not! Because, just as in a play, our lives are cast with

lovers, fools, rivals, sidekicks, critics, idealists, cynics, defenders, hypocrites,

sages, and imposters. And, just as in a play, the stories of our lives are filled

with hope and despair, valor and fear, trust and betrayal, sacrifice and

selfishness, clarity and delusion, cleverness and stupidity, triumph and loss.

So, let me give you a quick note before you go on. While you’re

watching Holly, Casey, and Lisabette striving, despite all odds, to stage

Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, remember, you’re really just watching

yourself, taking your entrances and exits, making the best of your given

circumstances, pursuing your scene objectives, overcoming strong obstacles,

struggling to have your acts unfold in meaningful ways, hoping to achieve

your super-objectives before the final curtain falls. Got it? Okay then—

Places, please, ladies and gentlemen! Break a leg, everybody!

—Scott Kaiser

23

About the PlaywrightSo...who is Jane Martin? She is perhaps “America’s best known unknown

playwright.” No one knows where she was born, where she lives now, what

else she has done in her life. With all the awards she has won, she has never

once come forward to receive her honors. Jon Jory, retired artistic director of

the Actors Theater of Louisville, has acted as her spokesman, accepting awards

and dodging rumors on her behalf. Many people feel Jory is most likely “Ms.

Martin.” He produced almost all of her plays while he was artistic director at

the Actors Theater, with Anton in Show Business opening the season he retired.

Still others speculate that the plays are a collaboration between Jon Jory and his

wife, Marcia Dixey. So...could this be a play about women playing women’s and

men’s roles, written by a woman that could be a man or a man and a woman?

Presumably, Jane Martin is a successful playwright from Kentucky. She has

written over ten full-length plays, six one acts and many short plays. Martin

first gained national attention from her piece Talking With, a collection of

monologues that premiered at the Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana

Festival of New American Plays in 1982. Talking With went on to win the Best

Foreign Play of the Year Award in Germany. Since 1982, most of her plays

have debuted at the Actors Theater of Louisville.

Throughout her career, Jane Martin has won many awards and honors

for her plays. Keely and Du premiered in 1993 at the Humana Festival and was

nominated for the Pulitzer Prize; it also won the American Theater Critics

Association for Best New Play in 1996. Two other Martin plays that have won

the Best New Play Award: Jack and Jill (in 1997) and Anton in Show Business (in

2001). Other credits include: Vital Signs, Mr. Bundy, Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage, Flags, and Cementville. Her most recent work, Sez She (2006), is the sequel

of monologues to Vital Signs.Martin’s plays, whether dramatic or comedic, explore diverse contemporary

subjects, including abortion, relationships, child molestation, the military,

gender relations, and show business. Anton in Show Business satirizes the lives of

six characters involved in the theater, bringing both the people and the business

into critical perspective. The women play all the parts, including the male roles;

Martin exposes us right from the beginning to the gender inequality in the

industry, as well as exploring the crazy personalities involved in the world of

theater. And whoever she turns out to be, Martin’s work has already set her in a

league of her own.

—Emily Caldwell, Dramaturg

24

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Gabe Behrmann (Properties Master) is a sophomore at SOU, originally

from Canby, Ore. Previous credits include Tony in You Can’t Take It With You, Otto Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank, and Stage Manager for You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at the Alpenrose Dairy Opera House.

Ashleigh Estelle Bragg (Joe Bob/Andwyneth) is a senior transfer at SOU,

originally from Bakersfield, Calif. Previous SOU credits include Madame

Desmortes in Ring Round the Moon. Credits at other theatres include a female

swing in Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Death and a King’s Horsemen; Agatha

in Guys and Dolls and the rose seller in Oliver at the Pacific Conservatory of

the Performing Arts; and the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet for Blue Monkey

Theatre Company in Portland.

Erin Claxton (T-Anne/Announcer/Gate Manager) is a senior at SOU,

originally from Billings, Mont. Previous SOU credits include Jaquenetta in

Love’s Labor’s Lost, the Cook in Dick Whittington and His Amazing Cat, Soupy

Sue in Urinetown, and Princess Rhyme in The Phantom Tollbooth. Other

credits include Diane in The Typographers Dream, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Brutus in Julius Caesar, and Wendy Joe in Footloose – The Musical at

Ventura Theatre.

Kim Freimoeller (Stage Manager) is a senior at SOU, originally from

Portland, Ore. Previous SOU credits include Stage Manager for Jack and Jill, Assistant Stage Manager for Dick Whittington and His Amazing Cat, and

Ring Round the Moon, Production Assistant for Many Moons, and Old Man/

Messenger in Women of War.

Lauryn Hochberg (Lisabette) is a junior at SOU, originally from Seattle,

Wash. Previous SOU credits include Kelsey Stockman in An Enemy of the People. Credits at other theatres include Amanda Wingfield in The Glass

continued on page 26

Anton in Show Business Student Actors and Artists

Anton in Show Business Guest DirectorScott Kaiser is the Director of Company Development and Head of

Voice and Text at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He previously directed

Twelfth Night, Ghosts, and The Philadelphia Story at SOU. He co-directed and

adapted Henry VI, Part One and Henry VI, Parts Two and Three for the Oregon

Shakespeare Festival.

26

Menagerie at Student I.D. Productions in Seattle; the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Muriel in Animal Farm at Youth Theatre

Northwest; and Iris in Sweet Nothing and Girl/Narrator in Rowing to America

at the Live Girls! Theatre.

Elsbeth Poe (Ben/Ralph/Jackey) is a sophomore at SOU, originally from

Davis, Calif. Previous SOU credits include the roles of Worker in Anna in the Tropics and the Maid in Ring Round the Moon. Credits at other theaters

include Flo in Picnic, Mrs. Keller in The Miracle Worker, and Mrs. Bradman

in Blithe Spirit at Natomas Charter School; and Shun Te in The Good Person of Szechwan and Sympathy the Learned in Arabian Nights at the ACME

Theater Company.

Robyn Pucay (Casey) is a junior transfer at SOU, originally from Anchorage,

Alaska. Her previous SOU credits include Worker in Anna in the Tropics. Credits at other theatres include Chava in Fiddler on the Roof, Consuela in He Who Gets Slapped, Karen in The Children’s Hour, and Melissa in How Many to Tango? at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Catherine E. Ridenour (Lighting Designer) is a senior at SOU and

originally from Saint Helen, Ore. Her previous SOU credits include Master

Electrician for Hunting Cockroaches and Anna in the Tropics, and Assistant

Stage Manager for Love’s Labor’s Lost. Other credits include Lighting

Designer for two of Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Midnight Projects: The Changeling and Dutchmen.

Olivia Todd (Assistant Director) is a junior at SOU and originally

from Renton, Wash. Previous SOU credits include Stage Manager for

Metamorphoses, Assistant Stage Manager for Anna in the Tropics and Hotel Paradiso, and Production Assistant for The Philadelphia Story. Other credits

include Stage Manager for Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris at

the Los Altos Theatre.

Katie Torcom (Holly) is a sophomore at SOU and originally from Chicago,

Ill. Previous theatre credits include Rizzo in Grease, Marjorie in The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, Claire in Rumors, and Yukionna in In a Grove at

Redmond High School.

Anton in Show Business Student Bios, cont.

27

Thank You! The faculty, staff and students of the Department of Performing Arts:

Theatre Arts acknowledge the generosity of the following individuals, who

have made donations to the Theatre Arts Building Fund, Scholarship and

Operating funds since 2007.

Anonymous

Susan Ball

Anne Decker

Anitah Draimon

Richard L Hay Trust

Laurie Kurutz

Corby Palacios

Don and Phyllis Reynolds

Platinum

Judie Bartell

Candice and Russ Chapman

Richard L. Hay

Charles and Betty Howe

John W. Mitchell Trust

Robert Miller and Doris Segner

Oregon Shakespeare Festival

Heriberto and Frances Petschek

Sandi and Jim Risser

Joan T. Spear

Robert and Janice Staver

Building Fund Donors

Theatre Department Donors

continued on page 28

Gold Lou Ann Auble

Brenda H. Barca

Dr. and Mrs. John Burns

Anne F. Decker

Frank and Eleanor Marzocco

Jim McConville

Michael and Diana Quirk

Bill Sipfle and Kate Cleland-Sipfle

Arthur and Audrey Sochor

Donna Torcom

Dawn Trimble

Ruedi and Emilie Vest

Barry and Shirley Vitcov

Chris Sackett and Brooke Friendly

Peter and Janet Schmitz

Treasa Sprague

Robert and Janice Staver

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Thomas

Kim and Scott Wakefield

Wisnia Transcription Services

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Theatre Department Donors, cont.SilverDona Affolter

John I. Alexander

John and Carrey Alden

Lou Ann and Carmon Auble

Fran Aversa

Brenda H. Barca

Jan Craigie

Burt Eikleberry

John Engelhardt

Judith Faulkner

Marlene and John Henselman

Dennis Hitch

Ed and Sheila Hungerford

John and Kay Johnson

Thomas and Patrice Kane

Saundra and Edward Kice

Philip Lang

Irving Lubliner

Sharon L. Nelson and Charles Meek

Mary Ojakian

Bill and Shirley Patton

Marie and Bill Radke

Peggy Rubin

Robert and Joyce Stevens

Randall Stothers

Janice and Ronald Waitt

BronzeS.C. and Rhoda Abrahams

Susan C. Ball

Ed and Maureen Battistella

Gloria Buffington

Ron and Carol Cochran

Christi Courian and Larry Osborne

Bronze, cont. John Cowles

Clark and Carol Custodio

Darlene Fenwick

Margery Goodman

Michael and Helen Halderman

Mary E. Holland

Carole and Alan Horobin

IBM Corporation Matching Grants

Program

Dave and Ollie Johnson

Bob and Mary Ann Jones

Ahna Lich and Leo Nemzek

Doris Mannion

Barbara and Tom Mathieson

Edith Montgomery

Blair and Carol Moody

Dick and Marty Moore

Frank Moore

Ted Mularz

Richard and Rochelle Newman

Mack Purcell

Gail Richter

Barbara and Harvey Roth

Susan Roudebush and Keith Massie

Dr. Susan Rust

Jenifer Skiles

Lloyd and Joanne Sorensen

Douglas and Diana Spence

Marshall and Miriam Umpleby

Julie Wade

Jerry and Nancy Wisnia

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