Mary Jane

In This Program

• For Our Patrons
• From the Artistic Director
• About the Show
• Cast
• Creative Team
• Beyond the Stage: Joy and Grief, Side by Side
• Deepen the Conversation: Return for Appropriate
• Print Edition
• More About Seattle Rep

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Seattle Rep and the Seattle-made premiere of Mary Jane by Amy Herzog, the sixth production of our 2025/26 Season. Mary Jane follows a young mother caring for her chronically ill son, Alex, tracing the relationships, routines, and communities that emerge around caregiving, endurance, and love under sustained pressure.

What makes this play remarkable (and I do consider Mary Jane to be among the great plays of the past decade) is the kind of theatrical magic it conjures. While the subject matter may seem challenging or distressing at first glance, Mary Jane leaves audiences nourished by the generous and affirming nature of human behavior. As Mary Jane cares for Alex, a quiet community of caregivers forms around them. Nurses, neighbors, friends, and strangers show up with humor, skill, patience, and presence. The play reminds us that care is rarely borne alone. Rather than leaving us diminished, the experience draws us closer, reinforcing our shared capacity for empathy and responsibility. We emerge more connected and quietly charged with the possibility of being more attentive, more generous, and more humane.

Mary Jane presents the demands placed on those who provide care and how surrounding systems often fail to support them, revealing the emotional and physical labor that frequently goes unseen. In bearing witness, we engage directly with timely questions about the American healthcare system, access to resources, and the uneven distribution of responsibility. Equally as important is the way the play considers how community forms in response to need, and how bonds are shaped through shared work, vulnerability, and reliance.

Since its premiere, Mary Jane has received wide national recognition, including celebrated Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, regional premieres, and award nominations. The play’s reception reflects the strength and consistency of Amy Herzog’s writing and her standing as one of the most significant American playwrights of her generation. Across original work and adaptations alike, she favors emotional accuracy, as language, structure, and performance carry meaning.

We are thrilled to once again welcome director Allison Narver to Seattle Rep, following last season’s supernatural comedy Blithe Spirit. Narver brings a deeply personal approach to this production, grounded in her own life experience and close collaboration with the actors. She understands that caregiving, even under extraordinary strain, is often sustained by humor, lightness, and moments of shared buoyancy. That understanding is woven throughout the production, which also reflects the depth of talent in Seattle’s theater scene. This cast includes many artists well known to Seattle audiences, whose shared history and trust support the play’s emphasis on relationship and collective experience.

As you experience Mary Jane, we invite you to look ahead to Seattle Rep’s upcoming 2026/27 Season announcement. Our new highly anticipated seven-show lineup celebrates the power of stories to shape who we are—from sharp comedies built on incisive observation to timely dramas, and the world premiere musical for all ages, Freak The Mighty, from the producers of Come From Away.

I hope to see you back soon for the final production of our current season, the incendiary Seattle premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate, beginning April 9 in the Bagley Wright Theater, as well as the return of our fall smash hit, The Play That Goes Wrong, in June.

Until next time,

Dámaso Rodríguez
Artistic Director

Seattle Rep

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Dámaso Rodríguez   |   MANAGING DIRECTOR Jeffrey Herrmann

By Amy Herzog

Directed by Allison Narver

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Mary Jane is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Mary Jane was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop, Jim Nicola, Artistic Director, Jeremy Blocker, Managing Director, September 25, 2017.
Mary Jane was commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre, New Haven, Connecticut, James Bundy, Artistic Director, Victoria Nolan, Managing Director, and received its first public performance on April 28, 2017.

2025/26 Season Sponsor

Leslie Lackey

Producing Partners

Darrel Cowan
Anonymous 

Title Sponsor

Production Sponsor

Institutional Season Sponsor

March 19 – April 19, 2026  |  Leo K. Theater

Thank You to Our Title Sponsor

Microsoft is proud to support Seattle Rep and its efforts to put theater at the heart of public life. By presenting culturally relevant works and centering diverse voices, Seattle Rep creates opportunities for our community to come together, explore different perspectives, and connect with each other.

Arts and cultural organizations like Seattle Rep serve as the heart and soul of our community and directly contribute to the overall quality of life and vitality of the Puget Sound region, the place Microsoft calls home. It is why we are steadfast in our support of arts and culture.

We work to create opportunities that ensure our region flourishes for generations to come. Our partnerships with nonprofits and community-based organizations reflect this commitment. Last year, Microsoft and our employees contributed more than $167 million, volunteered 499,000 hours, and supported more than 5,000 nonprofits across Washington State—efforts that underscore our dedication to giving back.

On behalf of Microsoft and our employees in the Puget Sound area, we thank Seattle Rep for enriching our community.

Enjoy the show!

Jane Broom
Senior Director, Microsoft Philanthropies

We welcome you to take pictures of the set before and after the show.

Share Your Photos 

#MaryJaneSREP
@seattlerep

Photography, recording, and use of cell phones are strictly prohibited during the performance. 

Mission 

Seattle Rep collaborates with extraordinary artists to create productions and programs that reflect and elevate the diverse cultures, perspectives, and life experiences of our region. 

Vision 

Theater at the heart of public life.  

Values 

Artistic Vitality
Sustainability
Generous and Inclusive Practices 

Code of Conduct 

Seattle Rep is committed to being a racially, culturally, and socially just organization. We promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of the work we do, and uphold a safe environment wherein all people are welcome to our space and are treated with respect and dignity.

It is our expectation that all patrons and those affiliated with Seattle Rep will align with this code of conduct and we reserve the right to relocate or remove any person from our theater who disregards this expectation.

Land Acknowledgment 

Seattle Rep acknowledges that we are on the traditional land of the Coast Salish people. We honor with gratitude the land itself and its innumerable stewards, past and present. We recognize Washington’s tribal nations, all of the Tribal signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott, and the urban Native communities who continue to live and thrive in this space. This acknowledgment does not take the place of authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, but serves as a first step in honoring the land we are on and the people and cultures it has nurtured.

Learn more about how Seattle Rep is working to support and build relationships with Native communities.

Emergencies 

In an evacuation, wait for an announcement for further instructions. Ushers will be available for assistance. Familiarize yourself with the exit route nearest your seat.   

Accessibility 

Seattle Rep is committed to accessibility for all and will work with patrons to accommodate requests. We offer a variety of options to help make our performances accessible.

ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES: We offer select English and Spanish Open Captioned, Audio Described, ASL-Interpreted, Sensory-Friendly, and mask-required  performances. Find dates here or contact the Box Office for more information.

HEARING LOOP: Seattle Rep is equipped with hearing loops that transmit sound directly to t-coil enabled hearing devices. There are also receivers and headphones available to borrow at Coat Check. Look for the Hearing Loop signs which indicate coverage at performances, ticket windows, concierge, and concessions.  

WHEELCHAIR SPACES, WIDER SEATS (BAGLEY), TRANSFER SEATS, AND ADDITIONAL SEATING OPTIONS: Please see an Usher or House Manager to see what accessible seating options are available for your performance.  

SENSORY GUIDES & KITS: Scene-by-scene guides of the sensory impact of this show and kits containing headphones, fidgets, sunglasses, and communication cards are available at Coat Check.  

LARGE PRINT & BRAILLE PROGRAMS: Available at Coat Check. 

ALL GENDER RESTROOMS are located on the second floor of the Leo K. Theater and a single-stall restroom is located near the Bagley Wright Theater restrooms on the first floor.  

WELLNESS ROOM is located near the Bagley Wright Theater restrooms on the first floor.  

Contact Us 

BOX OFFICE 
Call 206.443.2222
Text 206.565.2996 

ADMINISTRATIVE
206.443.2210 

Andi Alhadeff

Brianne/Chaya

Andi Alhadeff is a local artist, performer, writer, costume designer, and educator. She is over the moon to return to the Seattle Rep stage this season. Some favorite credits include Prospect Theater Company (Off-Broadway): Jasper in Deadland (Persephone); Regional: The 5th Avenue Theatre: Ragtime (Emma Goldman); Seattle Shakespeare Company: Twelfth Night (Olivia); Seattle Rep: Indecent (Chana), Mother Russia (Katya), Come From Away (Bonnie). Go NU! Thanks to her husband Jesse, who has shown her the grief, humor, and humanity we find when we travel alongside a loved one who is chronically ill.

Anteia DeLaney

Amelia/Kat

Anteia is elated to be making her Seattle Rep debut with the cast of Mary Jane. She received her B.F.A. in 2023 from Cornish College of the Arts. Select theater credits: Village Theatre: The Color Purple (Squeak), Legally Blonde (Ensemble), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Lil Eva/Shirelle), and Hello, Dolly! (Ensemble); ArtsWest: Athena (Mary Wallace); The 5th Avenue Theatre: Spring Awakening (Anna). She hopes the resilience and courage of this show follows you out the door and into the arms of your mother (who probably deserves a hug). @forest.exe, anteiadelaney.com

Brenda Joyner

Mary Jane

Brenda Joyner was last seen at Seattle Rep in The Glass Menagerie. Theater credits include: The Little Foxes (Intiman); Fuselage (Edinburgh Fringe Festival); King John, Bring Down the House (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); King John (Actors Theatre of Louisville); The Snow Queen (Seattle Children’s Theatre); The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet (Seattle Shakespeare Company); The Call (Seattle Public Theater); Blues for Mister Charlie (The Feast); The Realistic Joneses, Festen (New Century Theatre Company); Titus Andronicus (upstart crow collective). For Kory, the epitome of resilience.

Shaunyce Omar

Sherry/Dr. Toros

Shaunyce Omar is excited to be back at Seattle Rep! Past productions: Nina Simone: Four Women, As You Like It, Fannie: The Music & Life of Fannie Lou Hamer, and Shout Sister Shout! Regional: The 5th Avenue Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Intiman, True Colors Theatre, Village Theatre, Ensemble Theatre Houston, Alley Theatre. National Tour: Menopause the Musical. TV/ Film: The Librarians, Last Seen in Idaho, and Portal Runner. Voice Over: “State of Decay: Lifeline” video game. Omar is a teaching artist and Master Sensei of Gospel Music in Japan. TikTok: @shaunyceo, Instagram: @shaunyce

Amy Thone

Ruthie/Tenkei

Amy is excited to be working again at this beautiful theater on this beautiful play. Ms. Thone did her first work in Seattle for this very company as an intern in 1991 (gasp!), performing in Much Ado About Nothing and The House of Blue Leaves. She’s been in 50+ productions of 26 of Shakespeare’s plays, was a founder of the dearly departed New Century Theatre Company, teaches at the University of Washington and Cornish College of the Arts, and profoundly thanks the theater community here for helping her come back from a car crash in 2025.

Amy Herzog

Playwright

Amy Herzog’s plays include Mary Jane (New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award), 4000 Miles (Pulitzer Prize Finalist, Obie Award for Best New American Play), After the Revolution (New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award) and Belleville (Drama Desk Award nominee). She received the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Amy teaches playwriting at the David Geffen School of Drama.

Allison Narver

Director

Allison’s work has been seen at theaters across the country. Regional: Seattle Rep, ACT, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Intiman, The 5th Avenue Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, New Century Theatre Company, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Portland Opera, Portland Center Stage, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, Studio Theatre, City Theatre Company (Pittsburgh), REDCAT. New York: The New Victory Theater, Ars Nova, The Public Theater, Cherry Lane Theatre, New Dramatists, Kirk Theatre, and WP Theater, among many others.

Julia Hayes Welch

Scenic Designer

Julia Hayes Welch (she/her) feels fortunate to be making her Seattle Rep debut with this team of remarkable storytellers. Welch’s designs have graced the stages of The 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Village Theatre, Intiman, and many others listed at jhwelchdesigns.com. When not in the theater, she can be found wrangling her two young children or rock climbing. Much love to W, M & AJ. Childhood cancer and other serious childhood illnesses are devastating to our families and communities. Please donate blood and #fightlikejasper. This one is for Shelby.

Heidi Zamora

Costume Designer

Heidi Zamora is a costume designer whose work has been seen at Seattle Rep (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Great Moment) as well as Seattle Opera (Orphee et Eurydice), Florida Grand Opera, ACT, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Seattle Shakespeare Company. She was nominated for a 2025 Gregory Award for her costume design for CRAVE at Intiman. Heidi was a co-founder and co-artistic director of Washington Ensemble Theatre. She received an M.F.A. in Costume Design from the University of Washington and is currently an instructor at Cornish College of the Arts.

Connie Yun

Lighting Designer

Connie (she/her) is delighted to return to Seattle Rep, where her work was last seen in The Play That Goes Wrong and Blithe Spirit. Other recent local designs include Elf the Musical (The 5th Avenue Theatre), An Enemy of the People (Union Arts Center), Dial M for Murder (Village Theatre), and Tosca (Seattle Opera). Other recent designs include works for Madison Opera, Florentine Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Philadelphia, and Portland Opera. Connie is a member of USA 829 and a mentor with the ETC Fred Foster Mentorship Program. connieyun.com

Sun Hee Kil

Sound Designer

Select credits: Bigfoot; The Porch On Windy Hill; As You Like It, Suffs, The Visitor (The Public Theater); I Can Get It for You Wholesale, A Man of No Importance (Classic Stage Company); N/A (Lincoln Center); The Counterfeit Opera, Marriage of Figaro (Little Island); Fiddler on the Roof, The Sound of Music (Paper Mill Playhouse); Shout Sister Shout! (Ford’s Theatre); Exclusion (Arena Stage); The Heart Sellers (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); Almost Heaven (Weston Playhouse); New Victory Dance (New Victory Theater); CafeIn (Tokyo). Assistant Professor of Sound Design at Purchase College, SUNY. sunheekil.com

Jeffrey K. Hanson

Stage Manager

Jeffrey K. Hanson (he/him) has been a proud member of the Seattle theater community and Actors’ Equity for over 36 years. He has worked extensively as a production stage manager at ACT/Union Arts Center and The 5th Avenue Theatre. He is thrilled to return to Seattle Rep where he has been a stage manager for Laughs in Spanish, Metamorphoses (2024 and 2000), Selling Kabul, True West (1997), The Cider House Rules – Parts I & II, Private Eyes, and All in the Timing. Other Seattle credits include shows at Seattle Children’s Theatre and Intiman.

Joy and Grief, Side by Side

Beyond the Stage

An Interview with Mary Jane Director Allison Narver

By Nicole Bearden
Seattle Rep Communications Manager

Nicole Bearden: What first drew you to this play? What made this an exciting choice for you, in particular, to direct?

Allison Narver: What first drew me to Mary Jane is that its radical playwright, Amy Herzog, has written a play about circumstances that could easily be overwhelming or sentimental, but instead focuses on presence, humor, and the small, human moments that get people through impossible days. I was deeply moved by the way the play honors caregivers—not as saints or martyrs, but as complex, funny, exhausted, generous people.

Many of us have had the experience of caring for someone we deeply love. These experiences, though widely varied, have the potential to transform us profoundly. I had the privilege of caring for my husband before he died of very aggressive cancer, and that experience taught me more about love than anything I’ve ever known. During that time, I was constantly reminded that love is a verb and not just a feeling; caring about someone is different than caring for them. This play embodies that idea as clearly as anything I’ve ever encountered.

As a director, I love stories that ask the audience to lean in rather than sit back. Mary Jane is quiet but not small. It asks us to pay attention to breath, to listening, to what’s not said. That kind of storytelling feels theatrical in a very pure way, and it’s a gift to build a world where compassion and connection are the central dramatic forces.

NB: Mary Jane deals with serious subjects, but the play itself doesn’t fall into the trap of being heavy and sad. As a director, how are you approaching the staging to highlight the hope?

AN: For me, the hope in Mary Jane lives in community and in the present moment. The play doesn’t deny pain, but it also doesn’t allow pain to be the only story in the room. In staging, I’m focusing on warmth, light, and proximity. The spaces feel lived-in and human rather than bleak or clinical, and the actors are almost always in a state of active care—making tea, adjusting a blanket, sharing food, offering a chair.

Rhythm is also crucial. Herzog’s dialogue has an everyday musicality with humor tucked into unexpected places. By honoring that rhythm and allowing the absurd or funny moments to land naturally, we remind the audience that joy and grief often sit side by side. “Hope” in this production isn’t something we paste on top—it emerges from watching people show up for each other again and again.

NB: What has surprised you the most while working on this production? How has it differed from other plays that you have directed?

AN: The dramatic stakes in Mary Jane are internal rather than plot driven. There are no big twists or explosive confrontations. The tension comes from endurance, from uncertainty, from love that doesn’t fix everything but refuses to disappear. That requires a different kind of precision—one rooted in listening and trust rather than spectacle.

I worried at first that the subject matter might just make me feel sad and although the play is deeply moving, the opposite is true. Yes, Mary Jane’s exhausted and often feels overwhelmed, but the play continually returns to the joy she finds in her life with Alex, how much she loves him, how proud she is and how delighted she is by him.

NB: What would you like audiences to know before they see this show?

AN: I’d love audiences to know that they don’t have to brace themselves. While Mary Jane deals with serious realities, it’s also full of warmth, humor, and unexpected lightness. It’s a play about care, about the strangers and near-strangers who carry us when we can’t carry ourselves.

Most of all, it’s an invitation to slow down and be present. If audiences allow themselves to sit with the quiet, I think they’ll leave feeling not drained, but connected—to the characters, to each other, and maybe to people in their own lives whose quiet strength often goes unseen.  

BEHIND THE SCENES

Scenic design is a key element in any directorial vision. Explore our interview with the show’s Scenic Designer Julia Hayes Welch to hear about the inspiration behind the Mary Jane set on Inside Seattle Rep.

Learn more

“A brilliant, blistering, outrageous play with a wicked tongue.”
—The New York Times

Following a celebrated Broadway run—like Mary Jane—this electrifying family drama by Brandon Jacob-Jekins (Purpose, 2025 Pulitzer Prize winner) makes its Seattle premiere this spring, directed by local legend Timothy McCuen Piggee (2024’s Fat Ham).

APRIL 9 – MAY 10 | BAGLEY WRIGHT THEATER 

Appropriate 

By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins 
Directed by Timothy McCuen Piggee 

When the Lafayettes descend upon their late father’s crumbling plantation home for an estate sale, they unearth an appalling secret that pits them against one another. Through a cascading series of revelations, biting humor boils over into bruising conflict, and no one will escape this family gathering unscathed.

Smart and incendiary, Appropriate depicts a Southern family wrestling with a destructive inheritance as they consider the legacy they want to leave for the next generation. Ready for another story that lingers?

You’ve seen a family endure. Now see one unravel. Get your tickets to Appropriate today. 

Print Edition

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