In This Program

• A Welcome from the Artistic and Managing Directors
• Theatre Magic in the Classroom
• Three Cheers for a Successful Gala!
• Flying into the Future with OAK
• From Script to Life: How Imagination Shapes Our World
• A Certain Kind of Attention: An Interview with Playwright Jiehae Park
• Show Program
• Print Edition
• More about Berkeley Rep

Theatre Magic in the Classroom

Berkeley Rep’s Story Builders Program
By Ashley Lim, Marketing and Registrations Manager, School of Theatre

Pictured Above: Berkeley Rep Teaching Artist Erolina Kamburova with students at Olinda Elementary School

At Berkeley Rep’s School of Theatre, the power of storytelling thrives in the spark of joy on a child’s face as they learn to harness their creative potential to breathe life into their favorite stories. Berkeley Rep’s In-School Residencies program has been working in classrooms across all nine Bay Area counties for the past 20 years, with a special emphasis on serving students in under-resourced communities to make arts education as accessible as possible. This year alone, we’ve worked with over 1,500 students in grades TK–12 with workshops ranging from improv, acting, stage combat, and Berkeley Rep’s unique in-school residency program: Story Builders.

The concept for the 10-session workshop series is simple: take a story, any story, and involve every student in the class in creating the world of the play. Props are made from construction paper and felted headbands, characters are created so that each child has a part to play, and families are even invited to the classroom for a final showing of their creation. “For many, a lifelong love of art begins in grade school simply by having fun being creative with classmates,” explains Euan Ashley, Berkeley Rep’s In-School Residency and Curriculum Supervisor. “Berkeley Rep’s Story Builders program invites students to work together and create a piece of theatre that is uniquely their own.”

“My favorite part of teaching Story Builders is seeing the creativity it brings out in the students. It’s a very interactive and multi-faceted way to experience theatre, and it’s incredible to watch it open them up and spark a love for it,” adds Berkeley Rep teaching artist, Erolina Kamburova, who embarked on her own theatre journey attending Berkeley Rep programming from a young age. “It reminds me of how transformative theatre was for me growing up—how it gave me a sense of belonging and a voice. Now, as a teaching artist, I’m grateful to pass that experience forward and nurture a space where kids can explore, connect, and express themselves freely.”

As the school year draws to a close for the summer, Berkeley Rep is already looking forward to meeting new students and bringing the magic of theatre-making to classrooms across the Bay Area. Fall workshops are booking now and filling quickly!

Three cheers to an unforgettable night celebrating the arts!

On Saturday, March 29th, Berkeley Rep hosted its biggest party of the year at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. With special performances by Brian Quijada, Nygel D. Robinson, and Madalynn Mathews, and special appearances from Academy Award nominee Colman Domingo, Tony Award-winner Ari’el Stachel, and a virtual Lin-Manuel Miranda and Shaina Taub, Berkeley Rep’s Ovation Gala was a smash hit. Supporters, trustees, and friends of the theatre toasted honoree Eisa Davis as we celebrated her incredible work. A highlight of the night: surprising Eisa with a joyful rendition of “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire – one of her absolute favorite songs.

With the help of our supporters, we raised over $750,000, helping us ensure another wonderful year of Berkeley Rep arts and education programming. A huge thank you to all who made the Ovation Gala such a beautiful event!

Special thanks to Gold Sponsors Robin & Rich Edwards; Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer; Daniel F. Goodman, MD; Marcia Grand; the Strauch Kulhanjian Family; and Gail & Arne Wagner. We also extend our thanks to Silver Sponsors Christopher Doane & Neal Shorstein, MD; Jill & Steve Fugaro; Sudha Pennathur & Ed Messerly; AT&T; District Homes; Peet’s Coffee; and Sutter Health. We are also grateful for our Bronze Sponsors and Hospitality Partners who made the evening possible.

Flying into the Future with OAK

Berkeley Rep is proud to welcome Oakland Airport (OAK) as a new season sponsor. This partnership celebrates our shared commitment to the San Francisco Bay Area and offers opportunities to connect audiences to the arts and travel in meaningful ways. Together, we’re proud to uplift the value of flying the East Bay Way — highlighting the ease, proximity, and efficiency of traveling through OAK, just 20 minutes from Berkeley and a gateway to destinations across the USA, including Hawaii, plus Mexico and El Salvador, too.

We’re thrilled to partner with OAK to bring the creative spirit of the East Bay to more people—both at the theatre and in the terminal—and to spotlight how the arts and travel can broaden horizons by building connection, access, and community.

From Script to Life: How Imagination Shapes Our World

by Peter F. Sloss Artistic Fellow Xiaoyu (Mary) Liu and
Bret C. Harte Artistic Fellow Manon McCollum

Early advertisement for Utopia, Limited.

In the aves, playwright Jiehae Park immerses us in a near-future reality, following characters as they navigate a world both familiar and unsettlingly transformed. This aspect of the piece connects with a long history of playwrights imagining worlds where human ingenuity transcends modern-day limitations. The fact that some of these fictional “what if” scenarios have materialized into tangible events speaks to the power of imagination to shape our collective destiny. Here’s a look at a few plays that uncannily predicted the future.

Utopia, Limited, W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan (1893)

This satirical operetta envisions a South Pacific island, Utopia, seeking to modernize by adopting British corporate and political structures. The operetta was the penultimate collaboration between theatrical titans Gilbert and Sullivan, investigating a government that takes the concept of “running a country like a business” to its disastrous conclusion. Though the play was written as a ripped-from-the-headlines satire of British society and late-stage imperialism, its insights about the imposition of Western society on the Global South and the increasing corporatization of government have prescient parallels to today. As opposed to the operetta’s depiction of citizens becoming businesses, the 2010 Supreme Court ruling “Citizens United” granted personhood to corporations and opened the floodgates to greed and corruption. Likewise, the unchecked influence of multinational corporations in global politics mirrors the operetta’s critique of economic imperialism disguised as governance. The growing trend of privatizing essential public services, from healthcare to infrastructure also echoes Utopia’s flawed experiment in merging commerce with civic duty.

Back to Methuselah, George Bernard Shaw (1921)

Shaw’s play begins in the Garden of Eden and progresses through different time periods, ultimately envisioning a future where humans live for centuries. In the latter parts of the play, set in 3000ce, society has split into two groups: long-lived, highly-evolved people and shorter-lived, “primitive” ones. The long-lived humans have lost interest in politics, war, and the trivial concerns of life. Finally, they evolve past mortality and live indefinitely, achieving Godlike status. We see echoes of that reality in today’s scientific breakthroughs, like Senolytic drugs which work to flush out senescent cells that degrade as we age, potentially slowing the effects of time. A more radical solution to aging is using lab-grown artificial hearts, livers, and lungs to replace our more failure-prone organs as we age. Though still highly experimental, these technologies mean that people may soon have to account for an additional 50 or even 100 years of life, and how that would impact society and the environment.

The Adding Machine, Elmer Rice (1923)

This expressionist drama follows Mr. Zero, a low-level accountant who has worked for 25 years at a grueling, monotonous job. Zero is replaced by a far more efficient automated adding machine, rendering both him and his skillset obsolete. This sends him into existential crisis — he becomes increasingly alienated from his loved ones and eventually murders his boss. He is tried and hanged, but heaven offers no escape. There he is put to work as an accountant and again “fired” and sent back to Earth for his soul to be recycled. It’s a story of alienation and greed, where we see countless parallels to the impending obsolescence of so many jobs due to AI. In fact, a McKinsey report predicts that in the next five years, up to 70% of workers’ tasks will be supplanted by generative AI. The question facing both Zero and today’s workforce is, “can there be a world where a person’s worth is not based on their job, or will automation always be a tool to oppress workers and maximize shareholder value?”

A Number, Caryl Churchill (2002)

A Number is a psychological thriller that explores identity, cloning, and parental responsibility. The character Bernard discovers that he is “B2,” one of several clones created to give his father a second chance at parenting, leading to the dissolution of their family and an eventual murder-suicide. Since the play was published, real-world children have been born with modified DNA. The controversial case of the first genetically-edited babies, born in 2018 under the direction of Chinese scientist He Jiankui, reignited debates about the ethics of genetic modification and human identity. Bioethicists warn that while these technologies offer potential medical breakthroughs, they also raise concerns about consent, unforeseen consequences, and the commodification of human life. Churchill’s play remains eerily relevant as scientific advancement challenges society’s understanding of individuality and agency.

Marjorie Prime, Jordan Harrison (2014)

Marjorie Prime tells the story of an aging woman with memory issues and the AI hologram, or “prime” designed to resemble her husband and guide her through her final years. When she dies, her children create a “prime” of her. The play is an exploration of the blurry line between artificial and human intelligence, and whether it’s possible to have a real relationship with a being created with lines of code. Though it was written only ten years ago, some of the “futuristic” tech in this play now exists, with apps like SeniorTalk and ElliQ providing easy-to-use chatbots for the elderly, promoting mental activity and combating loneliness. We, like Marjorie’s children, are forced to confront whether something is lost when we have real love for “fake” people.

PRIVATE, Mona Pirnot (2022)

Private imagines a dystopian future that is already inching closer to reality. In the world of the play, the government has eliminated the right to privacy, and a married couple must decide whether to hand over all their personal details to a tech company or lose out on a huge employment opportunity. In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission released a report revealing that big tech companies have harvested and sold far more of our private data than previously thought. Earlier this year, failed genealogy company 23andMe received the government’s permission to sell off users’ genetic information to the highest bidder. Private asks an uncomfortable question that we all must grapple with right now: how much is our privacy worth?

A Certain Kind of Attention

Associate Artistic Director/Director of In Dialogue David Mendizábal talks to the aves playwright Jiehae Park

David Mendizábal: What made you want to be a theatre artist?

Jiehae Park: I didn’t speak English when I came to America. Like a lot of immigrant kids, I spent time just trying to figure out what this place is. Who am I? Where do I fit? Being an immigrant kid has an extra layer of adjusting to the language and to the culture. Theatre was always an escape for me. When I was a little kid, I’d go to our basement and put on a Disney soundtrack and dance by myself for hours, and it felt so joyful and safe. So, theatre was a place to feel imaginative, safe and playful for me.

DM: Professionally, you started off performing and transitioned into writing. What motivated the choice and how does your experience as an actor inform your writing?

JP: I think a lot of writers start off as actors because acting feels the most accessible when we are younger. I went to grad school for acting and I was always the least actor-y actor. It became clear to me pretty quickly after graduating that the lifestyle of an actor was not something that felt stable enough or appealing as a long-term life goal, although I did love performing. But mostly what I loved was just being a part of the process. I loved being in rehearsal and figuring things out. And that feels related to writing. For me, trying to figure out big questions is the best part of writing. Because I was an actor for a long time, I have a deep desire to have honest, alive-feeling characters.

DM: What were some of your earliest artistic inspirations — either artists or works that have had an imprint on you and your aesthetic?

JP: When I was growing up, I did what a lot of kids in the suburbs do, which was to get my hands on whatever I could that was available at the public library. I remember getting a book of off-Broadway plays and Christopher Durang’s The Marriage of Bette and Boo was in it, and I was like, “what is this?!” There were plenty of other plays that I read that didn’t register. But once in a while, you come across something that feels like, “oh my gosh, this is for me.”

That play was The Danube by María Irene Fornés. I didn’t know what it was, but it was amazing! That feeling of awe and excitement is what I still respond to as a theatregoer. And that spark of life is certainly something I hope to aspire to in the best moments of my plays. And then, on the other hand, I loved Broadway musicals. I had a double CD of The Phantom of the Opera that I played on a loop and sang along with every part. There was something about the openness and vulnerability of a musical that felt very different from the rest of my life. So, I feel like that downtown art aesthetic and big hearted emotional musical theatre are a big part of what I respond to.

DM: What was the genesis of the aves? How has it evolved through its development process?

JP: To explain the genesis, there’s the practical container story, and a subconscious story. The practical container story is that I went on a silent writing retreat facilitated by playwright Erik Ehn, and I spent the entire time writing a really bad play which was about an old couple in a postapocalyptic world covered in snow. I realized before I left that it was a really bad play, but it was necessary for me to write it. It felt like a mental detox. I think the subconscious questions underneath the play were about aging and relationships over a long period of time, and memory. Being an immigrant is such a big part of my identity. My memory of places and the peculiar distance of them is something that always swirls around in my consciousness.

I’d been reading all these books about the philosophy and science of time for a different project. Around the time I started writing the aves, I lived in Harlem just north of Central Park. I had this tiny little window that looked out onto the north side of Central Park, and I found that there was this guy who was always there every morning. I opened my computer to write, and I just noticed that the same guy was there every day. I watched the seasons change from that little window because he was there. The leaves were green, but then the leaves were falling, and then it was snowy. I think these human questions began to bubble up in my subconscious to make this play.

DM: I heard that this play was also about your family, and that you became a mom during its development. Can you share with us how being a child of immigrants and now being a mother has informed the play?

JP: I didn’t realize that I was pulling threads from my family until I had written it. There are a lot of relationship dynamics in the play that reflect the generation before me. I feel this question in my life, which I think everybody does: if this is a dynamic that I learned, is it something that can be unlearned? To what extent is it beautiful and to what extent is it harmful? What is the potential for change within a relationship and within yourself, regardless of age? I think those two things go hand in hand. You can’t have change in a relationship without change in yourself. So that thread has become clearer to me as I work on it.

I have become a parent, and that changes my relationships, too. In most of my plays, characters don’t talk about parents. In those worlds, characters don’t seem like they have parents or children. I think this is a feeling that is relatable in the world that we live in today. We ask where the adults are, and realize the adults are us. But — oh no! — we’re also children. That’s a quality of, not childishness, but maybe childlikeness in all of the characters in the play. It’s a beautiful thing that they’re searching for themselves.

DM: Design and aesthetics are really important to you as a writer — in fact, a lot is written into the text about how the world should feel. How is your process as a writer shaped by the design process and what is that collaboration like for you and your director?

JP: I knew that the visual and sonic elements of the piece would be so important to the very specific, still, delicate feeling in which I wanted to hold the audience. I really want the audience to feel held by this play. So I tried to have designers be present from the earliest readings. In multiple workshops, we thought through the practicalities of the play and what possibilities there were for it to look and sound very abstract. Not designing for a specific space was very helpful in the play development and for future conversations. For this production, [director] Knud Adams and [scenic designer] Marsha Ginsberg have come up with a beautiful set that looks nothing like the previous iterations, but there is a soulful undercurrent at its core that is tied to an ongoing conversation that Knud and I have been having. Knud’s design eye is so impeccable, so elegant and spare. The thing that lives and breathes for the ephemeral moments in time wouldn’t have been possible without the specific people involved in this design team.

DM: You and Knud have talked a lot about the stillness and the meditative space that you want to hold for the audience. How do you hope an audience will enter the theatre and what advice would you give an audience member who’s about to watch the play?

JP: I have noticed in myself recently a tendency to see a play like I’m consuming a product rather than joining an ancient, ritualistic human experience. But my love of theatre came from a place that is the opposite of that, which is a memory of being a child and going to see something and being like, wow. I cherish the feeling of awe so much when I’m an audience member. So, the hope for the aves experience is to spark a bit of that. How can we create a space where we allow audiences to feel like they can lean in, and be with their own bodies and pay attention in a way that is not asked of them or given to them in everyday life? I certainly don’t feel that gift in everyday life for myself. So, what does it mean to enter a different kind of space and to be in that space for a period of time with another group of people? I believe we’ve all had this feeling in a show where time stopped and we were all breathing together and feeling the same thing. I’m curious about that experience in the container of relative quietness. The play is not complete without the audience, and it asks of them a certain kind of attention that I think is very exciting. 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Johanna Pfaelzer, Artistic Director | Tom Parrish, Managing Director

presents

the aves

Written by
Jiehae Park

Directed by
Knud Adams

Scenic Design
Marsha Ginsberg

Costume Design
Haydee Zelideth

Lighting Design
Masha Tsimring

Sound Design
DJ Potts

Puppet Design & Fabrication
Erik Sanko / Phantom Limb Company
In collaboration with
The Berkeley Rep Props Team

Hair, Wigs, & Makeup Design
Alexander Class

Fight Director
Dani O'Dea

Casting
tbd Casting Co.
Stephanie Yankwitt, Csa
& Nia Smith

Stage Manager
Leslie M. Radin*

Assistant Stage Manager
Sofie Miller*

Director of Marketing and Audience Development
Voleine Amilcar

Associate Producer – New Work
victor cervantes jr. 

General Manager
Sara Danielsen

Director of Production
Audrey Hoo

Director of the School of Theatre
Anthony Jackson 

Director of Finance
Sam Linden

Director of Development
Ari Lipsky

Associate Artistic Director
David Mendizábal 

Director of Human Resources and Diversity
Modesta Tamayo

Director of Operations
Amanda Williams O’Steen

the aves received a reading at the Alley Theatre
Rob Melrose, Artistic Director and Dean R. Gladden, Managing Director

WORLD PREMIERE

SEASON PRESENTING SPONSORS

Anonymous
Stephen & Susan Chamberlin
Yogen & Peggy Dalal
Bruce Golden & Michelle Mercer
Jonathan Logan & John Piane
The Strauch Kulhanjian Family
Gail & Arne Wagner

SEASON SPONSORS

Frances Hellman & Warren Breslau
Wayne Jordan & Quinn Delaney
Gisele & Kenneth F. Miller
Jack & Betty Schafer
Kelli & Steffan Tomlinson

SPONSORS

Rick Hoskins & Lynne Frame

ASSOCIATE SPONSORS

William T. Espey & Margaret Hart Edwards
Rosalind & Sung-Hou Kim
Martin McNair & Margi Cellucci McNair

CAST

(in order of appearance)

Bill Buell*
Old Man

Mia Katigbak*
Old Woman

Laakan McHardy*
Young Woman

Daniel Croix*
Young Man

Eloise Cheves, Roisfn McCarthy
Girl

UNDERSTUDIES

Howard Swain*
Old Man

Mia Tagano*
Old Woman

Nemma Adeni*
Young Woman

Jacob Henrie-Naffaa*
Young Man

Understudies never substitute for listed performers unless a specific announcement or notice is made at the time of appearance.

The actors and stage managers on this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

This theatre operates under agreement with the League of Resident Theatres, Actors’ Equity Association (the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States), the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and United Scenic Artists.

Opening Night: May 7, 2025
Peet's Theatre

the aves WILL BE PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION

For This Production

Assistant Director
Xiaoyu (Mary) Liu (Peter F. Sloss Artistic Fellow)

Assistant Scenic Designers
Michael Bennet Lewis, Kyu Shin

Assistant Costume Designer
Amanda Geyer (Costumes Fellow)

Costume Shopper
Matthew Malone

Assistant Lighting Designer
Renata Taylor-Smith (Electrics Fellow)

Assistant Sound Designers
Mary Klenk, Kaileykielle Hoga (Harry Weininger Sound Fellow)

Puppet Fabrication Support & On-site Modifications
Jack Grable, Katelyn Fitt, Emma Buechner, Amelia Burke Holt (Associate Props Supervisor), Jason Joo (Props Fellow)

Production Assistant
Trinity Wicklund (Stage Management Fellow)

Deck Crew
James McGregor (Head Stage Technician), Isaac Jacobs, Siobhán Slater

Wardrobe Crew
Barbara Blair (Supervisor), Caz Hiro

Lighting Programmer/ Board Op
Des Alcocer 

Sound/A1
Angela Don, Akari Izumi, Rebecca Satzberg

Scenic Fabrication by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Scenic & Paint Shops

Additional Scenery Fabricators
Carl Martin, Maggie Wentworth, Drea Ronquillo, Cameron Edwards, Cassidy Carlson (Scenic Construction Fellow)

Additional Scenic Artists
Caitlyn Brown (Scenic Art Fellow)

Props Fabrication by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Properties Shop

Additional Prop Artisans
Jack Grable, Katelyn Fitt, Sofie Miller, Emma Buechner, Jason Joo (Props Fellow)

Costumes Built by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Costume Shop

Additional Costume Technicians
Chris Weiland, Sophia Gallegos

Lighting Services provided by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Lighting Department

Additional Lighting Technicians
Emma Buechner, Brittany Cobb, A. Chris Hartzell, Jacob Hill, Hannah Linaweaver, Charlie Mejia, Riley Richardson, Taylor Rivers, C. Swan-Streepy, Matthew Sykes

Sound Services provided by Berkeley Repertory Theatre Sound and Video Department

Additional Sound Technicians
Courtney Jean, Camille Rassweiler

Production Manager
Kali Grau

Production Management Assistant
Hannah Lineaweaver

Additional Casting
Karina Fox

Company Manager
Ryan Duncan-Ayala

Assistant Company Manager
Katie Anthony (Company Management Fellow)

Medical Consultation for Berkeley Rep provided by
Mari Bell MPT (UCSF), Ed Blumenstock MD, Charissa Chaban DPT, Cindy J. Chang MD, Christina Corey MD, Neil Claveria PT, Patricia I. Commer DPT, Kathy Fang MD PhD, Steven Fugaro MD, Anjali Gupta MD (Kaiser), Olivia Lang MD (Berkeley Pediatrics), Allen Ling PT, Liz Nguyen DPT, Desiree A. Unsworth DPT, Christina S. Wilmer OD, Eric Yabu DDS, and Katherine C. Yung MD

Bill Buell ^*

Old Man

Broadway credits inc-lude Enemy of the People, Ink, Cyrano, Equus, The History Boys, Inherit the Wind, Urinetown, 42nd Street, Titanic, Tommy, Big River, and Annie.His Off-Broadway credits include Queens Boulevard; Rancho Viejo, Kin, Picasso at the Lapine Agile, and Tumacho. With The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park: Tartuffe, The Winter’s Tale, and Twelfth Night. Film and television include 7 Seconds, Sneaky Pete, God’s Pocket, Across the Universe, Spy Game, Welcome to the Dollhouse, The Love Letter, Requiem for a Dream, Quiz Show, Palindromes, Kinsey, Boardwalk Empire, 30 Rock, Blue Bloods, John Adams, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Law & Order.

Eloise Cheves

Girl

Eloise is thrilled to join the aves at Berkeley Rep for her first major stage outing. She attends the Oakland School for the Arts, with a pathway focus on Production Design and Theater. Eloise takes acting classes at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre and has previously participated in productions at Bay Area Children’s Theater and the Berkeley Playhouse. She loves creating art almost as much as performing on stage – building sculpture, writing her own plays, making costumes, and filming her original works. She’s an animal lover – with a particular penchant for axolotls – and dedicated cat-mom to her cats, Comet and Wolfie.

Daniel Croix ^*

Young Man

Daniel made his professional debut in the New York Times Critic Pick: Kenny Leon’s Much Ado About Nothing, which he booked directly out of SUNY Purchase Conservatory. The historic production was the first entirely African-American cast at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. He then went on to land the lead role in Tyler Perry’s new breakout series The Oval, where he stars as ‘Jason Franklin.’ Daniel can most recently be seen recurring in the latest season of Hulu’s hit show, LOVE, VICTOR and in Apple’s limited series MANHUNT.

Mia Katigbak ^*

Old Woman

Selected NYC theatre: Uncle Vanya (Lincoln Center); Infinite Life (Atlantic Theater; National in London); Henry VI (NAATCO, St. Clair Bayfield Award); Scenes From a Marriage (NYTW); Awake and Sing! (NAATCO, Obie Award). Virtual: What If If Only (Caryl Churchill, US Premiere), Russian Troll Farm. Other NYC: Public Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Transport Group, Ma-Yi, NYTW, New Georges, WP, Soho Rep. Regional: Long Wharf, Yale Rep, Two River Theater, Berkeley Rep, Guthrie. TV: How to Get Away With Murder, The Sinner. USA Fellow; Special Drama Desk Award; Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship for Distinguished Achievement; Actor-Manager & Co-Founder, NAATCO.

Róisín McCarthy

Girl

Róisín is thrilled to be joining the cast of the aves! Recent credits include A Whynot Christmas Carol at American Conservatory Theater (Justice), The Handmaid’s Tale at San Francisco Opera (Gilead Girl), and Mary Poppins at South Bay Musical Theatre (Michael Banks). She trains with American Conservatory Theater’s Young Conservatory. Many thanks to the cast, crew, and creatives, and to her family and friends for their endless support.

Laakan McHardy ^*

Young Woman

Laakan is thrilled to be making her Berkeley Rep debut! Theatre:
Off-Broadway: The Wolves (Lincoln Center Theater); Chains (Mint Theater); Regional: The Tempest (Guthrie Theater), Mac Beth (Seattle Rep); The Many Deaths of Nathan Stubblefield (Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville); Macbeth (ATL); A Christmas Carol (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis). Film/television: Succession (HBO), The Equalizer (CBS), The Other Two (HBO), The Blacklist (NBC), FBI: Most Wanted (CBS), Madam Secretary (CBS), Tommy (CBS), 16 BARS; A Dresser (short). Training: BA, Mount Holyoke College; Professional Training Company at Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Nemma Adeni ^*

U/S Young Woman

Nemma is an actor and writer of Yemeni and Indian heritage whose work spans new plays, festival stages, and bilingual film. She recently played the lead in Memory Lane is a Desert Road (Eight Ball Theater Company, Los Angeles) and performed in Golden Thread’s ReOrient Festival, featured on KQED’s Best Bay Area Theater list. Her screen credits include Witness, supported by the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity. A Princeton-trained computer scientist, Nemma works in six languages and brings a strong command of dialect, improv, fluency with cross-cultural narratives, and expressive physicality rooted in social and traditional dance forms.

Jacob Henrie-Naffaa ^*

U/S Young Man

Jacob could not be more excited to work with Berkeley Rep. Jacob has been performing professionally since the age of seven and has been seen on Bay Area stages ever since. Recent credits include Cabaret (CenterRep), Returning to Haifa (Golden Thread Productions) and In the Heights (CenterRep, Berkeley Playhouse). Jacob also works on-camera, recently appearing in commercials for Jolibee and Samsung, as well as dozens of short films and web series. He’s currently working on his directorial debut short, My Girlfriend Does That Too, which he also wrote, produced and co-starred in, that will be releasing later this year. He’d like to thank his LEGO for their constant support. @henrienaffaa52

Howard Swain ^*

U/S Old Man

Howard moved to the Bay Area in 1976. Over the years he’s worked with A.C.T, Berkeley Rep, San Jose Rep, The Magic, Eureka, Word For Word, TheatreWorks, Aurora, The Jewel, SF Playhouse, and Marin Theatre, as well as the Oregon, Santa Cruz, California, and Marin Shakespeare Festivals. He appeared with New York Theatre Workshop in Rinde Eckert’s Horizon, and performed with the National Tours of Steve Martin’s Picasso At The Lapin Agile and Love, Janis. Television appearances include Nash Bridges and Hill St. Blues, and in such films as Cherry 2000, Miracle Mile, Teknolust, Night of The Scarecrow, and Valley Of The Heart’s Delight.

Mia Tagano ^*

U/S Old Woman

Local credits include Berkeley Rep (Macbeth), A.C.T. (Love and Information), and Cal Shakes (Hamlet and Nicholas Nickleby). Regional credits include Tamburlaine (DC’s Shakespeare Theatre), Tantalus (Denver Center), and Snow Falling on Cedars (Hartford Stage and Portland Center Stage). New York credits include Far East (Lincoln Center), 99 Histories (Cherry Lane Theatre), and Song of Singapore (Capital Repertory). Internationally, Mia toured the UK with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 10-hour Tantalus closing at the Barbican in London. A member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA, Mia can be heard as Aunt Lily in Disney/Pixar’s film, Turning Red.

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