HOMEFREE WRITTEN BY Lisa Loomer DIRECTED BY Michael Matthews* PRODUCERS Andre Barron, Donna Simone Johnson, Kevin Shipp ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Laura Steinroeder SET DESIGN/PROJECTIONS JR Bruce LIGHTING DESIGN Luke Moyer COSTUME DESIGN Michele Young PROPMASTER Michael Ohara SOUND DESIGN David B. Marling STAGE MANAGER Maurie Gonzalez ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Emma Pauly PUBLICIST David Elzer ONLINE MARKETING Corryn Cummins * Homefree was originally developed by the Denver Center Theatre Company, a division of theDenver Center for the Performing Arts; Kent Thompson, Producing Artistic Director. It was also an official selection of the Road Theatre Company’s Summer Playwrights Festival 5, July 2014. Scott Alan Smith, Festival Director. This project is supported in part by grants from The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission. The Road Theatre Company is a subsidiary of The Other Side of the Hill Productions, Inc., a 501-C3 Non-Profit Corp. head_a1 A NOTE FROM THE ARTISTICHEAD_A2 DIRECTORS Deartext Road block. Friends Old and New: Tostyles our Road vary. audience family, we say a very loud and hearty WELCOME to the 25th season. It’s been a long and successful road from the com- pany’s origins in a Van Nuys warehouse to 2015, with a company of over 125 strong, two beautiful theatres to program, and both our city of North Hollywood and our audiences continually growing. We also offer the warmest welcome to playwright Lisa Loomer and thanks for her faith in the Road to present this world premiere of her beautiful Homefree and the wonderful collaborative work of Director Michael Matthews, our design- ers, cast and crew. All of this is not possible without you. Your support of the Road has reached record heights this past year and we appreciate it, as well as continued support from the City and County of Los Angeles. Thank you, and please continue to give what you can. This year’s road trip is going to take you to some fascinating and chal- lenging places, like an every-changing, volatile Detroit, to see how people with differences learn to talk to each other in Steven Simoncic’s power- ful Broken Fences. You will meet some very funny, offbeat and touching citizens of our own city of Angels in Julie Marie Myatt’s look at the world of Los Angeles birdwatchers, Birder. And then some great surprises in this world of shepherding new plays from the ranks of our Summer Playwrights Festival, which this year saw an outstanding number of great possibilities for you to explore. These announcements are coming soon, and we look forward to sharing them with you. So make sure your seat belt is on, pack a few snacks and join us on this “most dangerous of missions.” Welcome to Road 25! Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director Sam Anderson, Artistic Director AWARDS & ACCOLADES Over two decades ago a group of theatre artists came together to form The Other Side of the Hill Productions, Inc. a.k.a. The Road Theatre Company. A non-profit corporation that produces theatre under the Actors’ Equity Association 99-Seat Plan. The Road Theatre Company has amassed an impressive list of awards throughout its 25-year history: • 2 Stage Raw - Recommended/Top 10 Production • 8 Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Awards • 15 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards • 11 L.A. Weekly Awards • 39 Back Stage West Garland Critics Citations Awards • 5 Robby Awards • 67 Valley Theatre League Artistic Director Achievement Awards • 14 “Critic’s Choice”- Los Angeles Times • 17 “Pick of the Week/Recommended/Go”- L.A. Weekly • 17 “Critic’s Pick”- Back Stage West Additionally, The Road Theatre Company has received a spe- cial commendation from Council member Tom LaBonge and the City of Los Angeles for providing 24 years of theatre excel- lence in Council District 4; the Back Stage West Landmark Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre; the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Margaret Harford Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre and was recently cited as “one of the Best Companies of the Decade” by LA Weekly. For a complete list of our history of award-winning plays, visit RoadTheatre.org. R3 the COMPANY Sam Anderson Keelia Flinn Scott Key Albie Selznick Steve Apostolina Arielle Fodor Ivy Khan Kevin Shipp Chelsea Averil Aaron Fors Carlyle King Danvir Singh Alan Aymie Mia Fraboni Melissa Kite Alex Smith Deana Barone Kris Frost Kent Klineman Scott Alan Smith Andre Barron Laura Gardner Tom Knickerbocker Elizabeth Southard Rob Beddall Taylor Gilbert Elizabeth Knowelden Hannah Sturges Al Bernstein Michelle Gillette Jeff LeBeau Ben Theobald Courtney Buchan Carole Goldman Barret Lewis Amy Tolsky Cody Bushee Zeljka “Z” Gortinski Andrew Manardo Joey Vahedi Jennice Butler John Gowans Yani Marin Gwen Van Dam Anna Carini Jayme Grant David B. Marling Kieren van den Blink Janet Chamberlain Cynthia Gravinese Brianna McClellan Michael Thomas-Visgar Blaire Chandler Lina Green Chuck McCollum Geoffrey Wade Lisa Cirrincione Don Grigware Kevin McCorkle Miles Warner Brian M. Cole Burt Grinstead TJ McNeill Allan Wasserman Joshua Wolf Coleman Chet Grissom Stephanie Michels Lila Waters Hallie Cooper Kyle Hall Deidre Moore Deverill Weekes Mark Costello Helen Harwell Zachary Mooren Bryna Weiss John Cragen Ann Hearn Desma Murphy Jessica Wierzba Todd Curran Patricia Herd Tom Musgrave Blake Young-Fountain Meagan Daine Richard Herd Jessica Noboa Bettina Zacar Philip D’Amore Liz Herron Lockne O’Brien Ken Zavayna Kathy Bell Denton Lorianne Hill Justin Okin Bernie Zilinskas Tony DeCarlo Richard Hoyt-Miller Laurie Okin Susan Diol Ann Hu Paris Perrault Whitney Dylan Kara Hume Patrick Rieger Stephanie Erb Kate Huffman Coronado Romero Dirk Etchison Suzanne Hunt Donald Russell Adam Farabee Barry Jenner Elizabeth Sampson Aaron Fentress Carl J. Johnson June Sanders Gina Ferranti Darryl Johnson Julia Sanford Jennifer Finch Donna Simone Johnson Judith Scarpone Tom Fiscella Connor Kelly-Eiding Hilary Schwartz ARTISTIC STAFF Taylor Gilbert, Artistic Director/Founder Sam Anderson, Artistic Director Scott Alan Smith, Associate Artistic Director Meagan Daine, Administrator Darryl Johnson & Kevin Shipp, Technical Directors ARTISTIC BOARD CORPORATE BOARD Andre Barron Steven L. Boortz, Esq Marian Lawrence Chet Grissom Ian Bryce Heather Moses Carlyle King Cara Eisenberg Stuart Spence Taylor Gilbert Judith Vida-Spence about the ARTISTIC DIRECTORS Taylor Gilbert (Founder/ Artistic Director) Taylor recently played Juliana Smithton in the acclaimed pro- duction The Other Place by Sharr White at The Road. She is celebrating her 25th season as Founder and Artistic Director of The Road Theatre Company. Producing cred- its include more than 60 critically acclaimed productions for The Road Theatre Company. Directing credits include the award-winning In The Name of the People, Mooncalf, My Last Confession, The Chisholm Trail Went through Here and Slumber Party. As Co-Director (with Ken Sawyer): Hitler’s Head, Homefires. Awards: As a Producer, over 130 regional theatre awards, including: the Margaret Harford Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre, the 2002 Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award (Best Production of a Small Play) for The Woman in Black and 2010 Certificate of Commendation from the City of Los Angeles for contributing 20 years of award-winning theatre to the community. For complete list visit: www.RoadTheatre.org. Sam Anderson (Artistic Director) Sam is the artis- tic director of The Road Theatre Company, a position he shares with founder Taylor Gilbert. Road Theatre Acting credits include: The Other Place, The Bird and Mr.Banks (Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Award – Best Actor), Napoli Millionaria(Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Award – Best Actor) and Madagascar. Rogue Machine: Blackbird (Los Angeles Drama Critics’ Circle Award – Best Actor, LA Weekly Award - Best Duo Performance). Road directing credits include Clete Keith’s The Different Shades of Hugh, Theresa Rebeck’s The Water’s Edge, Stacy Sims’ As White As O, and Shove by Mark Eisman (LA Weekly Directing Nomination.) Film & Television audiences know him from 35 years of per- formances, including his recent recurring turn as the evil Lee Paxton on Justified, Bernard on Lost, Dr. Kaysen on E.R. (SAG Award, Best Ensenble), Holland Manners on Angel and the films Water for Elephants, Forrest Gump, La Bamba, Frankie Go Boom, Breaking the Girls and the recently release horror thriller from Fox, Devil’s Due. Upcoming Sam stars in Modern Love and the A&E pilot, Damien due in 2016. Sam holds an MA in American Lit/Creative Writing, as well as his theatre degrees. He teaches a professional acting class combining scene study, improv, monologues and audition technique. He is also a graduate of The Grantsmanship Institute and studied Horticulture at Descanso Gardens. He is most proud of his 22-year old twin theatre gradu- ates, Elizabeth and Ben. MISSION STATEMENT • Develop New Work for the Stage that is relevant and entertaining while fostering emerging artists, introducing new voices and innovative ideas to the world of theatre. • Establish a broader audience base and deepen their commitment to theatre by presenting main-stage productions, outreach programs, post- show talk-back sessions and offering free weekly Road Signs Reading Series events. • Allow our stages and performance areas to serve as a physical space in which to imagine, create, refine and produce work not only for The Road Theatre but to also share with our creative colleagues to foster a creative, supportive arts community. Author Notes for Homefree -- I often start a play with a question, something that’s bugging me. In the case of Homefree, it was “Who are these kids? And why the hell are they on the street?” If you go to this beautiful theater in Ashland, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, you have to pass them by. And I wondered, what if you walked by them on the way to the theater… and then encountered them in the theater? Near Ashland, is the town of Medford and they are as different as two towns can be.