ONE ACT
PROGRAM
LEMONADE
by
Charlotte Westover
Director
Dramaturg
Kyle
Casey
Nick
Mom
Mr. Whittle
Stage Directions
Matt Braaten
Karlie Guilliot
Joshua Gonzalez
Jasmine Norris
Pablo Garcia
Michaela Davison
Nico Diviccaro
Jackson hamilton
Dramaturg Note
The suburbs hold much more than happy families, especially in 1978. While Grease touched the big screen, Darth Vader masks stocked the shelves and the Bee Gees dominated the radio, one family had a crisis of their own. Lemonade by Charlotte Westover of Brigham Young University and directed by Matthew Braaten follows a sibling trio through childhood shenanigans to save their home where a glass of lemonade can both tear apart and bring a family together. In the world of this play, a glass of lemonade serves up a potent metaphor. After the first recipe for lemonade was published in an 1824 magazine titled The Virginia House-wife, it became shared across the country in countless cookbooks. By 1879 lemonade stands began to be set up on street corners around America, representing childhood naivety and entrepreneurship. For many, the drink has become synonymous with American culture itself. Charlotte Westover’s play pulls a conglomeration of stories from her own family history and brings this classic beverage to the center of a dysfunctional household. We invite you to take a long, ice cold sip of the Tippet family.
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Karlie Guilliot (Dramaturg)
without you, without them
by
Morgan Allen
Director
Dramaturg
Curtis
Ani
Vicken
Grandfather
Boy
Young Curtis
Stage Directions
Michael J. Mejia
Sophie David
Ryan Marroquin
Lily Haines
Artorias Bradic
Faran Esmailpour
Donato Cortez
Michael J. Mejia
Dream hudson
Dramaturg Note
Without you, without them by Morgan Allen of Loyola Marymount University tells the story of Curtis, a boy who feels lost within his own family. Morgan wrote the story based on her partner's experience growing up adopted in an Armenian American family. She unpacks the difficult feelings that shaped his upbringing, asking the question, what does it mean to fulfill expectations of yourself — your own, your family’s or your country’s?
We witness Curtis’ relationship to his own identity in his moments of pride, joy, pain, and discomfort.
It was a great privilege to work with director Michael Mejia on without you, without them. Michael and the entire cast welcomed the linguistic challenges with positivity to bring this piece to life. Morgan beautifully highlights the mix of culture, language, and traditions that make up a family’s heritage. I hope this piece prompts you to reflect on your own identities and how you claim them, no matter how complicated those feelings of belonging may be.
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Sophie David, Dramaturg
You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies
by
Johann Choi
Director
Dramaturg
Onesimus
Jake/Dumbass
White Girl
Umma
Harabuji
Doctor
Stage Durections
Kyle Hayes
Tristan Martin
Isaiah Fabella
Peter Valentin
Camrynn Kernan
Jae Lau
Noah Baldwin
Joseph Broadhurst
Kate Checkwood
Dramaturg Note
What is the one thing everyone has or will experience in their lifetime? The answer may be complex and nuanced; love, perhaps. Or triumph. Failure, maybe. But many would argue for a scripture of Buddhism, often taken wildly out of context and uttered in the spirit of bitter nihilism or utter apathy: Life is Suffering.
This sentiment isn’t exclusive to Buddhism by any stretch of the imagination. In You Who Are Getting Obliterated In The Dancing Swarm of Fireflies, playwright Johann Choi of the University of Arizona explores the ways pain is universal, and that it often feels isolating. Relatable experiences should generate communities, but the heart cares little for logic.
Set in a hospital room in 2021, Phoenix, Arizona, while pandemic restrictions are still strictly in place and tensions around the world are high, one man’s life changes forever in more ways than anyone could have initially imagined. Without ever moving an inch, he learns lessons about living in the midst of historic events. For playwright Johann Choi, the journey of the play’s central character mirror his personal experiences, those of his close friends, and those of the many communities he is a part of. Both Johann and his character “One” learned that pain has extreme effects on people. Our playwright knows pain is indiscriminately devastating... but he asks the question: can it be unifying?
Please be advised: this production contains discussion of heavy topics as we explore a few sources of past and modern suffering in the world, including descriptions of World War Two atrocities, suicide, Asian hate and relevant racist violence, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.
-Tristan Martin, dramaturg