NERVOUS/SYSTEM Joseph V

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Adam E. Max, BAM Board Chair

William I. Campbell and Nora Ann Wallace, BAM Board Vice Chairs

Katy Clark, President NERVOUS/SYSTEM Joseph V. Melillo, Executive Producer

Andrew Schneider & Company

DATES: DEC 12—15 at 7:30pm Season Sponsor:

LOCATION: BAM Fisher (Fishman Space) This production is made possible with support from the Joseph V. Melillo Fund for RUN TIME: Approx 1hr 20min Artistic Innovation no intermission Major support for theater at BAM provided by: The Achelis and Bodman Foundation The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. The Francena T. Harrison Foundation Trust The SHS Foundation The Shubert Foundation, Inc.

#BAMNextWave BAM Fisher NERVOUS/SYSTEM Andrew Schneider & Company ABOUT NERVOUS/ SYSTEM Written, Directed & Designed by Performed by Andrew Schneider T.L. Thompson (Pollster) In our rehearsal room in Gowanus, The road has not been easy, nor without Lindsay Head sometimes we say things like, “theater mistakes. What remains constant is Associate director/ Antonio Irizarry is just humans telling stories about our belief in the importance of this Community accountability coordinator Kedian Keohan each other to ourselves in order to be journey, the resilience of humans, and Alicia ayo Ohs Peter Musante better at being human.” That’s a simple the understanding that it is our mistakes Ashley Marie Ortiz concept, but the making of the theater and what we do or do not learn from Associate lighting designer Jamie Roach is complex. The work is technological them, that will make us better at telling Chu-hsuan Chang and precise. The practice is rigorous. stories and ultimately—better at being and The machine of the show can be human. Associate sound designer Kate Athol daunting for those inside of it and the Sadah Espii Proctor Chelsea Barker logistics can distract us from our original —Alicia ayo Ohs and Andrew Schneider John Gutierrez intentions. To carry our belief in human Sound engineer Cecilia Lynn-Jacobs growth further than just a concept while Duncan Woodbury Talia Paulette Oliveras writing a play or staging an idea, we Kendall Cafaro (understudy) must remind ourselves to come back Directing assistant to the question: what makes us better Kedian Keohan humans? Theater is made to be an Commissioned by LUMBERYARD empathy machine, and we ask this Stage manager Contemporary Performing Arts Center question not as cogs in a wheel, but as Marisa Blankier living beings who learn from each other. NERVOUS/SYSTEM is commissioned Production manager and developed in part by BAM for the This has manifested in steps towards Tim McEvoy 2018 Next Wave Festival, Live Arts building an explicit dialogue around Bard at the Richard B. Fisher Center racial equity in our artistic process. Producers for the Performing Arts at Bard College, We’ve been honored to begin this Lucy Jackson and the MIT Center for Art, Science & work with the People’s Institute for Miranda Wright Technology. Survival and Beyond, and continue the discussion as a company around Early content development by NERVOUS/SYSTEM received significant community accountability. We believe Lindsay Head development support from that starting with undoing racism, a Kedian Keohan LUMBERYARD Contemporary conversation so often laden with shame Peter Musante Performing Arts and the LUMBERYARD and blame, pushes us to our growing Alicia ayo Ohs residency program. edge and expands the potential for Ashley Marie Ortiz dialogue across areas of accessibility Jamie Roach Additional development support and equality. provided by Harbourfront Centre. NERVOUS/SYSTEM was made possible with funding by the New England NERVOUS/SYSTEM is produced Foundation for the Arts’ National with and managed by Los Angeles Theater Project, with lead funding from Performance Practice/ The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and PerformancePractice.org. additional support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. dancer). Other NYC credits include Up LINDSAY HEAD KEDIAN KEOHAN and Away (Lincoln Center Education, Performer Directing assistant/Performer one-on-one experience director); Martha Clarke’s Angel Reapers; a canary torsi’s Who’s Lindsay Head graduated from the Uni- Kedian Keohan is a director and theater- The People to Come (Trusty Sidekick versity of Florida with a BFA in dance maker. They are co-founder of the the- Theater Company, Park Ave Armory); in 2014. NERVOUS/SYSTEM, is her ater company Church of the Millennials, and Blue Man Group. As lead artist in second collaboration with Andrew which is is currently in residence at the creation of original work, Musante’s Who Schneider, her first being AFTER at the Ars Nova as part of Makers Lab 2018, projects have been presented by Incu- 2018 Under the Radar festival at The and whose series AMERIKA! has been bator Arts Project (St. Mark’s Church), ANDREW SCHNEIDER Public. She is currently touring with presented at Brooklyn Arts Exchange, BLDG92/Brooklyn Navy Yard, and The Creator/Director/Designer Faye Driscoll’s Thank You For Ars Nova’s ANT FEST, and IRT Theater. Brick. This December he is produc- Coming: PLAY, which had its NY Their original performance piece DAD ing the UP CLOSE Festival for family Andrew Schneider is an OBIE award- premiere at the 2016 BAM Next Wave DANCE!, created with Keenan Hurley, audiences at the New Ohio. He received winning, Drama Desk-nominated Festival. When she’s not in rehearsal has been presented by Feast Perfor- his MFA from Brooklyn College’s performer, writer, and interactive/elec- she can be found rock climbing, sleep- mance Series, the Playwriting Collec- performance and interactive media arts tronics artist creating original works for ing, or trying to hang out with your dog. tive, and at JACK. They recently worked program. petermusante.com theater, video, and installation since yeslikeyourhead.com. with director Jordan Fein on Singlet 2003. Based in Brooklyn, Schneider (Bushwick Starr) and as the assistant creates and performs original perfor- director for Rags Parkland Sings Songs ALICIA AYO OHS mance works, builds interactive elec- ANTONIO IRIZARRY of the Future (Ars Nova). Selected per- Associate director/Community tronic art works and installations, and Performer formance credits include Stephanie accountability coordinator/Performer was a Wooster Group company member Saywell’s Underbelly; Eric Marlin’s Pas- (video/performer) from 2007—14. Antonio Irizarry is an artist from the toral Play; Amanda Palmer’s Bed Show Alicia ayo Ohs is a performer, educa- Bronx. Irizarry specializes in ensemble- (The Kitchen, directed by Geoff Sobelle); tor, and community organizer. She Rooted at the intersection of perfor- generated performance work. He has Ashley Tata’s Guard; Bad News by is a founding member of Movement mance and technology, Schneider’s been a collaborator to Geoff Sobelle’s JoAnne Akalaitis (workshop); Erin Research’s Artists of Color Council and work critically investigates our over- HOME (NWF 2017); Church of the Markey’s A Ride on the Irish Cream; teaches leadership development and dependence on being perpetually con- Millennials’ AMERIKA! series; and Julia and John Heginbotham and Amy yoga in schools, non-profits, and pri- nected in an always-on world. Duray and Lukas Pappenfusskline’s Trompetter’s Fantasque. Keohan is a vately. She is lead performer and a core Bottom Feeder. Irizarry graduated from core collaborator, performer, and en- collaborator in Andrew Scheider’s Schneider’s original performance work Bard College in 2016 with a degree in semble co-director for Andrew Schnei- AFTER (The Public Theater). As a in NYC includes AFTER (2018, Under theater and performance and makes der’s AFTER. dancer, Ohs has performed internation- the Radar festival); YOUARENOWHERE his living somewhere between acting ally and throughout the US in Faye (2015, The Invisible Dog, OBIE award gigs, sound design, helping friends Driscoll’s Thank You for Coming: At- and 2016, 3LD, Drama Desk nomina- move, and “are you gonna eat that?” PETER MUSANTE tendance (Dancespace) and Play (NWF tion); DANCE/FIELD (2014, Dance He believes that live performance has Performer 2016) and with Sally Silvers, Sondra Roulette); TIDAL (2013, River to River the power to give shape to a collective Loring, and others. Ohs is a graduate of festival); and WOW+FLUTTER (2010, identity. He is invested in shaping com- Peter Musante creates interdisciplin- NYU Tisch (Experimental Theatre Wing) The Chocolate Factory) among others. munities around love, diligence, and ac- ary performances with a diverse group and lives in Brooklyn with her pitbull andrewjs.com countability. He is honored and grateful of artists. Previous works with Andrew mix. aliciaohs.com to be a part of NERVOUS/SYSTEM. Schneider include AFTER (Ensemble co-director/scenic coordinator/performer), YOUARENOWHERE (Co- creator/performer), and FIELD (treadmill drama.” A graduate of NYU and Circle ASHLEY MARIE ORTIZ In The Square, Roach also works as CHU-HSUAN CHANG TIM MCEVOY Performer a teaching artist with Disney, Lincoln Associate lighting designer Production manager Center, Roundabout, NYTW, and The Ashley Marie Ortiz is a NY-based actor/ New Victory Theater. jamieroach.com Chu-hsuan Chang is a Los Angeles- Tim McEvoy is a production manager artist. Credits include Scissoring based lighting artist working in theater, and technical director based in western (INTAR); AFTER (Under the Radar dance, music performance, and Massachusetts. For years he has festival at The Public); The Fire This T.L. THOMPSON installation. As a lighting designer, worked at the Massachusetts Museum Time Festival, Meet Me At the Founda- Performer (Pollster) Chang’s notable collaborations include of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) as tion (Lincoln Center Education); The Janie Geiser’s puppetry production a member of the performing arts depart- Prizefighter of P.S. 217 (The New T.L. Thompson is a Brooklyn-based Fugitive Time (On Edge Festival, ment. In his role there he has brought Victory Theater New Works Lab); performer. Select theater credits include Automata); Maria Hassabi’s live the work of Laurie Anderson, David Malefactions and Patience, Fortitude, Person in charge STRAIGHT WHITE performance installation PLASTIC Byrne, and Lucinda Childs to the stage. and Other Antidepressants (LATC); MEN (Second Stage Theater); AFTER (Hammer Museum); performing artist McEvoy currently serves as technical Marfa Lights (INTAR); and A Beautiful (Public Theater); Will Scarlett in Marian Takao Tamaguchi’s Touch of Others director for Mount Holyoke College’s Star (Triad Stage). Ortiz is a member of or The True Tale of Robin Hood (New (One Archive, REDCAT); theater director dance department, where he has UNIT52 and Barefoot Theatre Compa- Ohio Theater); Tailgate Lesbian in Tay- Becca Wolff’s The Antigone Project worked to bring American Ballet ny, a teaching artist for the Park Avenue lor Mac’s 24 Decade History of Popular (Getty Villa); choreographer Meryl Theatre, Bebe Miller, Bill T. Jones, and Armory and Opening Act, and the Music (St. Ann’s Warehouse); and Murman’s The Lipstick (CAC). His several student and faculty works to associate producer of Symphonics Live, Messiah in The Messiah Complex (BRIC latest works include The White Album the stage. McEvoy is delighted to be a a monthly show at the Bowery Poetry Arts Media). Podcasts include Bishop in (August Wilson Center and NWF 2018); part of Andrew Schneider’s NERVOUS/ Club which promotes generosity, love, Adventures in New America (Welcome Sorry, Atlantis: Eden’s Achin’ Organ SYSTEM. and creativity through the continual ex- to Night Vale Network). And soon to be Seeks Revenge (The Machine Project); ploration of humanity through perform- released, Colonel in Clown Zero with and The Other Side (Gramercy Studio). ing and visual arts. She is also a proud Nicole Hill and Connor Sampson. Film Chang has also worked with Lars Jan SADAH ESPII PROCTOR volunteer at The 52nd Street Project. work includes Flu$h (Wrex, directed on The Institute of Memory (REDCAT, Associate sound designer by Heather Acs, premiered at OutFest TBA Festival, Under the Radar festival, LA and NewFest NY 2018); Separa- Divine Comedy festival, On the Board, Sadah Espii Proctor designs sound and JAMIE ROACH tion/Celebration (directed by Amanda ICA Boston, YBCA) and Slow-Moving visuals for theater, immersive experi- Performer Madde), and Friday Afternoon (directed Luminaries (Art Basel Miami Beach). In ences, and virtual reality. She began by Paige Campbell). Thompson is also a addition to lighting, Chang’s passions composing for spatial audio through Jamie Roach is an actor and play- NY Neo Futurist. include puppeteering, model-making, her alma mater, Virginia Tech’s Linux wright. Select acting collaborations and lighting instrument design. Laptop Orchestra. Since then, her work include AFTER (2018 Under the Radar chuhsuanchang.com has been supported by JACK, Con Artist festival); The Christians (House Choir, Collective, Bushwick Art Studios, NEW Playwrights’ Horizons); Anansi (New INC, Fresh Ground Pepper, and the World Stages); Beneath the Gavel European binaural consortium BINCI. (Feinstein’s/54 Below); and Pagliacci She served as spatial sound designer on (clown/acrobat, Metropolitan Opera). As Wi-Moto Nyoka’s play El Otro Lado Del a playwright, Roach has had four plays Destino, and is developing her original produced, including Secret to a Healthy spatial composition Preface of a Gray. Relationship at Barrington Stage Com- Proctor is a graduate of Virginia Tech’s pany, and featured in Play/Date, the theater program and Brooklyn College’s long-running immersive show heralded MFA in performance and interactive in The New York Times as “thoughtful media arts. sadahespiiproctor. festivals in the UK. Line producing DUNCAN WOODBURY includes Oh My Sweet Land (PlayCo). Special Thanks! Sound engineer Tour producing includes Our Carnal Hearts for Rachel Mars, Okwui Okpok- ADI, all at Bard College and the Richard Duncan Woodbury is a Los Angeles- wasili’s Poor People’s TV Room, and B. Fisher Center, the Bard ensemble, based electronic musician and sound RoosevElvis for the TEAM. Jackson is a Maria Bauman-Morales, Chris DeTora, engineer applying a lifetime obsession 2018—20 WP Lab Fellow. Jacy Barber, Meredith Boggia, Nathalie with music towards a multitude of Bonjour, Brittany Coyne, Angel Favorite, projects. Woodbury is president and Erika Foley, Meghann Garmany, founder of Lower Grand Records and PERFORMANCE PRACTICE.ORG Ian Garrett, Melanie George, Chief Operating Officer of 4th Street Producer/Manager Brynn Gilchrist, Caleb Hammons, Bridge. He creates original music all at Harbourfront Toronto, Jesse under the moniker Mayacamas (Lower PerformancePractice.org is the national Heffler, Josh Higgason, Keenan Hurley, Grand). Performance engineering credits touring extension of Los Angeles Perfor- Melana Lloyd, all at Lumberyard and include Live Arts Exchange Festival (Los mance Practice, a non-profit organiza- the Lumberyard local ensemble, Angeles Performance Practice, 2015, tion devoted to the production and pre- Nina Macintosh, Zoë Macintosh, 2017—18); The White Album (2018 sentation of contemporary performance Bobby McElver, Joe Melillo and all the NWF); Holoscenes and The Institute of by artists whose work advances and BAM staff, Shlomit Oren, Rachael Memory (TIMe) (Lars Jan/Early Morning challenges multi-disciplinary artistic Robinson, all at MIT, Vincent Roca, Opera, 2017—18); Group Therapy practices. Founded by Miranda Wright Tyler Shaw, Becca Smith, (Poor Dog Group, 2018); and ANTHEM in 2010, its mission is to support a Payton Smith, Linden Tailor, (Milka Djordjevich, 2017). Woodbury unique and diverse constellation of Milta Vega-Cardona, Josephine graduated from California Institute of the artists and audiences through the active Pu-Sheng Wang, Meredith Watson, Arts with a BFA in music technology in creation and presentation of ground- Jason Wells, Susan Wilson, 2011. breaking experiences that use innovative Shewit Zerai, and Ali Zinman approaches to collaboration, technology, and social engagement. Anchored LUCY JACKSON in Los Angeles, its artists and projects Producer have national and global reach.

Lucy Jackson is an independent performing arts producer. Productions include Seagullmachine (Ellen Stewart Theatre, La MaMa ETC); HOME/SICK (Odyssey Theatre, LA and JACK, Brooklyn) and I Will Look Forward to This Later (New Ohio, NY) for The Assembly Theater Company; Heather Christian’s Animal Wisdom (Bush- wick Starr); Cuddles by Joseph Wilde (Ovalhouse, London & 59E59, NY); Mudlarks by Vickie Donoghue (HighTide, Theatre503, and Bush BAM®, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Next Wave®, and Teknopolis® are trademarks of Brooklyn Academy Theatre, London), and projects at the of Music, Inc. © Brooklyn Academy of Music, Inc. Edinburgh Fringe, VAULT, and Latitude (2018). Photo: Alicia ayo Ohs and Andrew Schneider, by Andrew Schneider Give the gift of

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