Clockwise, top left (Kleo Mitrokostas, Christopher Leifheit, John Long* Jessica Wagner*, Claudia Schneider* )
In Shirley, Vermont, Marty, an acting teacher, holds an "Adult Creative Drama" class at the local community center. The people who sign up for the class are Schultz, a recently divorced carpenter; Lauren, a reserved high school junior; Teresa, a former actress; and Marty's husband James. Marty takes the "students" through various acting and dramatic exercises; they act like trees, beds and baseball gloves. In one exercise, they act as one another and tell their life stories. As a possible romance begins, each of the group slowly reveal themselves and who they really are.
From Pulitzer Prize Winning Annie Baker comes this Obie Winner for Best New Play
The play runs 90 minutes with no intermission
Recommended ages 13+
Annie Baker (playwright) grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her full-length plays include John (Signature Theatre), The Flick (Playwrights Horizons, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Hull-Warriner Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Obie Award for Playwriting), Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award for Best New American Play, Drama Desk Award nomination for Best New American Play), The Aliens (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Obie Award for Best New American Play), Body Awareness (Atlantic Theater Company, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Play/Emerging Playwright) and an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (Soho Rep, Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival), for which she also designed the costumes. Her plays have been produced at over 150 theaters throughout the US, and have been produced internationally in over a dozen countries. Other recent honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Steinberg Playwriting Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award and the Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library. She is a resident playwright at the Signature Theatre.
Christopher Leifheit (playing James), whose early forays into acting took a long pause until 1997 when he landed a role in Pendragon Theatre's "The Tempest". Since then he has appeared in quite a number of fine productions at the Theatre, most recently last summer's "Lost Lake". This year he looks forward to working with a great cast and Director to bring Annie Baker's fine play to life. Christopher is a retired Land Surveyor and lives in Paul Smiths with his wife Diane, an artist.
John Long* (playing Schultz) is an actor and writer, known for Game Time (2019), Implanted (2021) and FBI: Most Wanted (2020). Various stage credits include working with The Shakespeare Theatre (Washington D.C.), Asolo Rep, Barter Theatre, and Syracuse Stage. Various Off-Broadway credits include work at The Public Theatre and NYSF, New Light Theater Project.
Sarah Norris (director) is Pendragon's current Artistic and Community Engagement Producer. Her work has been seen around the country including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and around the world in Scotland, Australia, England and Ireland. Select producer and production credits include: Playwrights Horizons (I Am My Own Wife, Off-Broadway and Tony Winning Broadway transfer), Disney Theatrical Productions, Bisno Productions (Hughie on Broadway w/ Forest Whitaker; My Report to the World w/ David Strathairn). Recent Producing Credits include: The American Tradition (TimeOut NY Critics Pick; Best of Theater - Slant Magazine; "The gleefully anachronistic show...has a rambunctious punk-rock energy that’s all too rare on our increasingly sanitized stages" - The New Yorker); Hitler's Tasters (featured around the country and Edinburgh, Scotland); Imagining Madoff (featured in This Week in Arts - NY Times; "Engrossing and philosophically lively" - The New Yorker); Breeders ("Both ridiculously and strangely moving!" - Jesse Green, NY Times; TimeOut NY Critics Pick; "An unexpected marvelous new comedy" - Huffington Post). As a theater director, select credits include: Everything is Super Great (TimeOut NY Critics Pick), This Wrestling Place (w/ Executive Producer Ben Folds), Picture Ourselves in Latvia (Best of Theater, The L Magazine), and Hitler's Tasters (Best of the Edinburgh Fringe; featured in the Chicago Tribune, LA Times and the BBC).
Kleo Mitrokostas (playing Laura, she/her) is currently pursuing a B.F.A in Drama at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. In addition to being a performer, she is also a stage manager, producer, and writer. Recent performance credits include The Wolves (NYU Tisch), The Searcher is Lost (Broke People Play Festival), and Sweet Charity (Cotuit Center for the Arts). She would like to thank Pendragon for welcoming her this summer and her family for their support.
Claudia Schneider* (playing Marty). Select Moments: AN ILIAD (PENDRAGON), Michael Aguirre’s JACKSON C FRANK LISTENING PARTY (The Z Theatre), STILL DANCE THE STARS, REX (Company Member of NLTP), Martin Charnin’s WINCHELL (Brooks Atkinson), THE IRISH AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY (Irish Repertory, Wilbur Theater, National), COWGIRLS (Caldwell), SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION (Queens Theatre in the Park) THE SPITFIRE GRILL (Good Theater, AFT), STEEL MAGNOLIAS (TAP), JACKSON HEIGHTS TRILOGY (Theatre 167), A SINGLE WOMAN (Culture Project). Seasons: Forestburgh Playhouse, Monmouth Shakespeare, Skylight Comic Opera, Depot.
Jessica Wagner* (playing Teresa) is delighted to make her Pendragon debut this summer! Favorites include: North American Tour: The Phantom of the Opera (Swing), Off-B’Way/NYC: Hello Again (Young Wife), Li’l Abner (Daisy Mae), International: Ruddygore Revisited (Rose Maybud), Regional: My Fair Lady (Eliza), The Sound of Music (Maria), Bus Stop (Cherie), Avenue Q (Kate/Lucy, Regional Premiere). Originally from Plano, TX, she now resides in Connecticut. BFA: NYU (CAP21). www.jessicawagner.net
*denotes members of Actors Equity Association
Our Production Team:
Janet Bentley is a multidisciplinary film and theatre artist with an MFA from University of Iowa. Selected design/editing: Less Than Or Equal To (Film editing/sound/animation), Candlelight (New Ohio Theatre), Sweeney Todd (regional), Friendly’s Fire (14th Street Y), Everything Is Super Great (NLTP), Life X 3 (NLTP), Brecht: Call and Response (NLTP), (a)loft modulation (american vicarious), The Dancing Mania (HERE Arts Center), Detroit ‘67 (Kingsborough), To Damascus II (Strindberg Rep), The Pillowman (Surfside Playhouse—FL) rolypolyproductions.com
Leo Lei is the Assistant Professor of Lighting and Sound in the School of Stage and Screen at Western Carolina University. He recently designed lighting for The Addams Family, Romeo and Juliet, Heathers, HMS Pinafore. His recent media design for This Ability is seen on Chicago Children's Theatre’s virtual stage, and his recent sound and projection design for Jabari Dreams of Freedom is seen on the stage of New Victory Theatre on Off-Broadway in New York City.
Kent Streed is our Costume and Set Designer with over 30 years of history working at Pendragon.