David Rice Kate Danziger Executive Director Managing Director

By Dean Monti Adapted by David Rice

Directed by Morgan Manasa

Original Music & Sound Designer – Christopher Kriz°, USA Video Producer – Mike Alongi Stage Manager – Amy Creuziger°, AEA

The 2020 – 2021 Season is Sponsored by Alan & Susan Becker

This program was made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council (a state agency). Additional Support Provided by the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; Hinsdale Bank & Trust. Capacity-building support has been provided by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago.

Cast (In order of Appearance)

Mel August Forman Hubert Landree Fleming*

* Denotes a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers. ° Denotes First Folio Artistic Associate.

SETTING Mel and Hubert’s Home

The use of any recording devices during this performance is strictly prohibited by copyright laws.

First Folio Theatre is a member of the League of Chicago Theaters and Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre. First Folio Theatre is a professional theatre employing members of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

As the premier non-profit professional theatre in the western suburbs, First Folio’s mission is to present intimate productions of classical and contemporary works. By making our home in residence at Mayslake Peabody Estate, we create a unique theatrical experience that enriches the community.

STATEMENT OF VALUES

We believe that theater is for everyone. We believe that theater must reflect and amplify diverse perspectives. We believe that equity, diversity, and inclusion make us better storytellers. We believe in supporting the creation and development of new work. We believe in developing that contributions and leadership of female-identifying and non-binary artists. We believe in amplifying the voices and experiences of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and LGBTQIA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual) artists and leaders. We believe in the necessity of an ongoing assessment of our progress as an organization.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First Folio Theatre acknowledges with respect that we gather on the traditional and ancestral homelands of Native nations including the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi.

First Folio Theatre is in residence at the Mayslake Peabody Estate, which stands on the northern border of the Indian Boundary Line, a 20-by-70-mile strip of land that stretched from Lake Michigan southwest, to the Illinois River near present-day Ottawa, Illinois. The line was a part of the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis between the U.S. government and members of the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes, known as the Council of Three Fires.

The U.S. government viewed treaties like this as a way to acquire, own and sell the land, thereby exploiting differing concepts of ownership. Native nations, by contrast, often viewed such treaties as temporary permissions to access land in their territories.

During the early 1800s, the U.S. government shifted treaties with Native nations from peace and alliance to land cessions and removal. Generations of indigenous peoples displaced from this area now live in Kansas and Oklahoma.

We pay respect to those upon whose ancestral lands we gather and invite our artists and patrons to consider the legacies of violence, migration, settlement and displacement that brought us here today, and the stories of those who were here before us. CAST

LANDREE FLEMING (SHE/HER) (Mel) is thrilled to make her First Folio (digital) debut! She was most recently seen as Frenchy in Grease (Marriott Theatre). Select Chicago theatre credits include Kira in Xanadu (American Theatre Company), Penny in Hairspray (Paramount Theatre), and Ira Glass in the staged reading of Wait, Wait Don’t Kill Me! (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). In addition to working with the theatres above, she has performed with Drury Lane Theatre, Griffin Theatre, Theatre at the Center, Circle Theatre and Adventure Stage Chicago. TV credits: NBC’s Chicago PD and Chicago Med. She is a cast member of the highly rated Dungeons and Dragons comedy fiction podcast Encounter Party! and is represented by Gray Talent. Love to August and many, many thanks to everyone involved!

AUGUST FORMAN (THEY/THEM) (Hubert) is an actor, playwright, voiceover artist, and educator. Chicago credits include Tiny Beautiful Things (Victory Gardens Theater), Rutherford and Son (TimeLine Theatre), The Fair Maid of the West (Oak Park Festival Theatre), Elizabeth Rex (Oak Park Festival Theatre), The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Babes With Blades), and Twelfth Night (Midsommer Flight). August received a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Supporting Actor for their work as Gina in Broken Nose Theatre’s production of Girl in the Red Corner. Outside of Chicago, August appeared in A Kind of Weather and Plot Points in our Sexual Development at Diversionary Theatre in San Diego, California. They are a Core Ensemble Member and Facilitator with Imagination Theater, a touring company addressing social issues with young people. They are also an Artistic Associate with Oak Park Festival Theatre and an Ensemble Member with Broken Nose Theatre. As a playwright, their plays have premiered throughout the country. August is represented by Gray Talent Agency.

PRODUCTION STAFF

DEAN MONTI (Playwright) started writing at age two, but nothing really legible until age five. Since then, his work has appeared in several literary journals including The Eclectic Literary Forum, Ellipsis, and Empty Mirror. His critically-acclaimed comic novel, The Sweep of the Second Hand, was published by Penguin Random House. He is also the author of several plays and has had works staged in Chicago (by Alison C. Vesely) and elsewhere. He taught creative writing at Columbia College and College of DuPage. He completed his MFA in Creative Writing at Queens University in Charlotte and has since written five more novels and several short stories. He has also been an association journalist for 22 years and has interviewed everyone from Colin Powell and James Carville to Jerry (The Beaver) Mathers and Cyndi Lauper. He lives in Glen Ellyn with his wife Julie and their two cats.

MORGAN MANASA (Director) a graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts and Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University, has been a theatremaker in Chicago for the past 20 years. Morgan is an ensemble member of Babes With Blades Theatre Company where she’s been seen in their all-female production of Henry V (Fluellen) and Witch Slap (Goody Blunt). Morgan has directed a handful of one acts and 10 minute play festivals, but made her mainstage directorial debut with Arthur M. Jolly’s The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Jeff Recommended) with BWBTC. Most recently she directed In The Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) with Idle Muse Theatre Ensemble. Thank you for supporting live theatre! www.morganmanasa.com

DAVID RICE (Executive Artistic Director and Adaptor) is Co-Founder (with his late wife Alison C. Vesely) of First Folio Theatre, where he has produced over 70 productions which have earned 40 Jeff Nominations and 6 Jeff Awards. He is also a playwright specializing in adaptations, whose works include Shrew’d!, Captain Blood, Cymbeline: A Musical Folk Tale (Jeff Awards – Original Adaptation and Original Music), The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story (Jeff Nomination – Original Adaptation), and The Castle of Otranto. Onstage at First Folio he has been seen as Sandor Turai in Rough Crossing, H.C. Curry in The Rainmaker, and Knuckles McCann in Jeeves Takes a Bow, amongst others. David has worked at numerous Chicago theaters in the last four decades, including the Paramount, Marriott’s Lincolnshire, Briar Street, and Candlelight. Trivia lovers may be interested to know that David was a four-time winner on Jeopardy! David is a proud member of both the Dramatists Guild and Actors Equity Association.

KATE DANZIGER (Managing Director) has been with First Folio in her current capacity since February 2017. She has been connected to First Folio Theatre since 2005, when she was hired as the assistant stage manager for The Taming of the Shrew. She became First Folio’s resident AEA stage manager and an Artistic Associate and worked on 17 shows as part of the stage management team, before taking a hiatus from theater. Prior to becoming First Folio’s Managing Director she was the Administration and Event Manager for the Skokie Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Kate holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is the proud mom of two little boys.

MELANIE KELLER (Associate Artistic Director) First Folio directing credits include All Childish Things, Mary’s Wedding, Silent Sky, The Guys and The Amish Project. As an actor, Melanie has appeared in over twelve productions at First Folio including The Turn of the Screw, Salvage, Private Lives and Blithe Spirit. Other directing credits include The Drowning Girls at Signal Ensemble, and productions at Oak Park Festival Theatre, Shakespeare Project of Chicago, Irish Theatre of Chicago, Fraud and Phony, WildClaw and Chicago Dramatists. Acting credits with Signal Ensemble include East of Berlin and The Russian Play (Jeff Award for Best Actress), The Weir (Jeff Nomination for Best Supporting Actress), She Stoops to Conquer and Much Ado About Nothing. Additional acting work includes Lady Macbeth at Oak Park Festival Theatre, seasons at the Stratford Festival of Canada, Lakeside Shakespeare, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, and productions at the Goodman, Northlight, Peninsula Players, Chicago Shakespeare, Shakespeare Project of Chicago, Waterfront Playhouse of Key West, Artists’ Ensemble and Strawdog Theatre, among others. She has appeared on Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and in the short film UberEx.

MIKE ALONGI (Video Producer) joins First Folio for his first production. While he has no formal background in theater, Mike is credited with producing, editing, and acting (minor role) in the 2019 short “I’m Not a Bad Person” and he co-wrote the upcoming web series “Reaper, inc.”

CHRISTOPHER KRIZ (Original Music and Sound Designer) is an award-winning composer and sound designer based in Chicago, and is an Artistic Associate at First Folio. Winner of 4 Joseph Jefferson Awards with a total of 19 nominations, Kriz's recent First Folio designs include Jeeves Saves the Day, Sherlock’s Last Case, The Firestorm, Mary's Wedding (Jeff Award), Silent Sky, The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe, as well as composing the score for the original musical Shrew'd. Chicago: Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Remy Bumppo, Victory Gardens, Timeline, The Gift Theatre, American Blues, and dozens of others. Regional: Seattle Repertory Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and many summer seasons at Peninsula Players. Kriz is a proud member of United Scenic Artists 829. To hear more of his work, please visit christopherkriz.com.

AMY CREUZIGER (Stage Manager) returns to First Folio after serving as stage manager for Women in Jeopardy, Jeeves At Sea, and Captain Blood. Other Illinois credits include several productions with Artists’ Ensemble, and New American Theater in Rockford. Amy spent her early career stage managing, and directing in Minneapolis & St. Paul including productions with The Ordway, and Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. She has been a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association since 1999. She currently directs the theater productions at Rochelle Township High School where she has served as the Theater Arts Director since 2010.

ARTISTIC ASSOCIATES Lydia Berger Gray Heather Chrisler Diana Coates Amy Creuziger Kate Danziger Joe Foust Michael F. Goldberg Christian Gray Ricky Harbecke Elsa Hiltner Shelley Strasser Wendy A. Huber Michael Keefe Melanie Keller Christopher Kriz Rachel Lambert Michael McNamara Angela Weber Miller Hayley Rice René Ruelas Nick Sandys Cassy Schillo Skyler Schrempp Sarah West Joseph Zettelmaier

FIRST FOLIO THEATRE STAFF Executive Artistic Director – David Rice Managing Director – Kate Danziger Associate Artistic Director – Melanie Keller Advising Artistic Consultant – Hayley Rice Box Office and Marketing Associate – Alison Reeger Cook Tech Coordinator – Ricky Harbecke Summer Interns – Ciara Kenney, Jaaggruth Kandakala, Anish Khot Press Representative – The Heron Agency Web Master – Sara Gorsky

FIRST FOLIO BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chairman – Larry Krupp Secretary – Patricia Noska Trustees – Alan Becker, Susan Becker, Ellen Callahan, Barbara Disko, Elizabeth Krainc, Brian McKillip, David Rice