MAY 16 - JUNE 12, 2018
co-produced with The Bushwick Starr, in association with un sphinx incompris
by Erin Markey
directed by Jordan Fein
performed by Erin Markey and Emily Davis
With Original Music by Jeff Aaron Bryant and Erin Markey
Choreography and Movement by Chloe Kernaghan
Set Design by Carolyn Mraz
Costume Design by Enver Chakartash with Carter Kidd
Lighting Design by Barbara Samuels
Sound Design by Jeff Aaron Bryant with Keenan Hurley
Assistant Set Designer: Cori Williams
Associate Lighting Designer: Dallas Estes
Production Stage Manager: Kedian Keohan
Assistant Stage Manager: Claire Moodey
Production Manager: Ann Marie Dorr
Scenery Fabricated by The Lab Scenic Studio
The Bushwick Starr Intern: Sydney Tucker
Crew: Gene Lee, Jennifer Leno, Moira McAuliffe, Joseph Pietropaulo, Carlos Ortiz, Adam Wyron, and Ryan Seelig
Produced by un sphinx incompris (David Bruin, Artistic Director; Tessa Jane Lee, Assistant Producer)
BIOS:
ERIN MARKEY (Writer, Performer, and Original Music) is a performer and writer/creator of live performance works, often darkly comedic and driven by original music compositions. They* are an Eliot Norton Award winner and were Artforum's pick for Best Music of 2016. Markey recently completed a 2017 residency at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater and was an artist in residence at Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Corporation of Yaddo (upcoming), and New York Theater Workshop. Her* work has been presented at Abrons Arts Center, PS 122, New Museum, Mass MOCA, MoMA, American Realness Festival, Under The Radar Festival, UCB and frequently at Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. Her shows have toured nationally and internationally to ART (Cambridge, MA), The Yard Theater (London, UK), FringeArts (Philadelphia, PA), Luminato Festival (Toronto, ON), PICA’s TBA Festival (Portland, OR), Fierce Festival (Birmingham, UK), Fusebox Festival (Austin, TX), San Francisco Film Society, and more. Markey recently appeared as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme in Assassins at New York City Center Encores!, is a performing company member of the Obie Award-winning Half Straddle and she co-composed music for Ghost Rings (New York Live Arts, 2016). Markey’s most recent music/theater works include Boner Killer (2017) and A Ride On The Irish Cream (2016). As an actor, Markey has worked with John Cameron Mitchell, Anne Kauffman, Dave Malloy, Young Jean Lee, Paula Pell, Scott Wittman, Michael Friedman, Rachel Chavkin, and Stephen Sondheim.
*Markey prefers both “she/her” and “they/their” pronouns. Both are correct. Their advice is to take a chance on “they” when writing about her.
JORDAN FEIN (Director) is a Brooklyn-based theater and opera director. His work has been produced and developed at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ars Nova, Dixon Place, Curtis Opera Theatre, Opera Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Here Arts Center, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Joe's Pub, American Repertory Theater, Philly Fringe Arts, American Theater Company, Bard College & Incubator Arts Project. Erin Markey's A Ride On The Irish Cream (Abrons Art Center/American Repertory Theatre/Philly Fringe Arts), The Skin of Our Teeth (Bard College), War Lesbian (HarunaLee/Dixon Place), The Dixon Family Album (Williamstown Theatre Festival: Boris Sagal Fellow 2014), Dracula, or The Undead (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The Rake's Progress, The Marriage of Figaro, Rape of Lucretia (Curtis Opera Theatre), Dialogues of the Carmelites (Opera Philadelphia/Curtis). Rags Parkland Sing the Songs of The Future at Ars Nova (Fall 2018) jordanfein.net
EMILY DAVIS (Performer): Recent New York credits include Of Government (Clubbed Thumb), My Old Man (Dixon Place), O, Earth, (The Foundry Theater), When the Tanks Break (Drama League). With Half Straddle (Tina Satter, Artistic Director): Ancient Lives, In the Pony Palace/FOOTBALL, Seagull (Thinking of you), Away Uniform, Nurses in New England, FAMILY. Film: Gwen in Corpus, Almost Family, Ovum, The Easiest Thing.
JEFF AARON BRYANT (Original Music and Sound Design) is a composer/sound designer living in New York. He plays in the band Pollens.
CHLOE KERNAGHAN (Choreographer) is a New York based choreographer and performer. Past works include: On the Rocks Theater's FRED, White Stag Quadrilogy & Wolfert (Dixon Place, dir. Dakota Rose), Erin Markey's A Ride on the Irish Cream (Abron's Art Center & Natn’l tour, dir. Jordan Fein), Birdshit (VW dome at MoMA's PS1, dir James Franco), and many a music video. Chloe is also the co-owner of SKY TING YOGA and teaches public group classes.
CAROLYN MRAZ (Set Design) is a Brooklyn-based theater designer. Favorite recent NYC designs include: Pay No Attention to the Girl (Target Margin), {my lingerie play} (Rattlestick), Beardo (Pipeline), Of Government (Clubbed Thumb), I'll Never Love Again (Bushwick Starr, Hewes nomination), Charlatan (Ars Nova), Spaceman (Loading Dock), andThe Black Crook (Abrons, Hewes nomination). She has also worked with Spoleto Festival USA on Porgy and Bess and Afram ou La Belle Swita. Carolyn is an associated artist of Target Margin Theater in Brooklyn and a company member of A Host of People in Detroit. She is also an educator, working on student shows at universities such as Barnard, Princeton, Smith, Brown, and the University of the Arts. Carolyn is an Oberlin College alum with an MFA in design from NYU/Tisch.
ENVER CHAKARTASH (Costume Design) is a visual artist and costume designer who currently resides between New York and London. His work has been presented throughout the US, Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. With The Wooster Group Enver has designed and created costumes for Early Shaker Spirituals, Early Plays (directed by Richard Maxwell), The B-Side, The Town Hall Affair, The Room, and, most recently, A Pink Chair. In addition Enver is a frequent collaborator with Tina Satter’s Half Straddle. With Half Straddle, credits include costume design for Ghost Rings, Ancient Lives, House of Dance and Seagull (Thinking of You). Enver recently designed costumes for Erin Markey’s Boner Killer, as well as her performance art musical, A Ride On The Irish Cream. For Jim Findlay, Enver designed and created costumes for Electric Lucifer and Dream of the Red Chamber. With Young Jean Lee's Theater Company he designed costumes for Straight White Men, presented at The Public, the film A Meaning Full Life, and designed additional costumes for We’re Gonna Die with David Byrne, presented at Southbank Centre, London. Enver designed costumes for Tony Oursler’s feature film, Imponderable, which was on view at MoMA, New York, between June 2016 and April 2017. He has also collaborated with visual artists Aki Sasamoto, Hunter Reynolds and Sara Greenberger Rafferty in fabricating artworks that have been presented at galleries including MoMA PS1, Participant Inc, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
CARTER KIDD (Costume Design) is thrilled to be working with Erin again on Singlet. Since graduating from The Fashion Institute of Technology in 2015, Carter has designed costumes for various downtown productions with Enver Chakartash (Boner Killer, Rainbow Caverns, Electric Lucifer). In addition to his theater work, he has gained extensive design experience at Proenza Schouler, Alexander Wang, and Michael Kors, and his design work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Big, BIG thanks to Erin Markey, Emily Davis, Enver Chakartash, and, of course, Mom.
BARBARA SAMUELS (Lighting Design) is a New York-based lighting designer and producer. Recent design credits include Dance Nation (Playwrights Horizons), A Quiet Place (Curtis Opera Theater/Opera Philadelphia), Acquanetta (Prototype/Beth Morrison Projects), The Rape of The Sabine Women (Playwrights Realm), Esai’s Table (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), The Terrifying (Julia Jarcho/minor theater), Orange Julius (Rattlestick/P73), Don’t Look Back (PS122COIL/Chocolate Factory), The Rape of Lucretia (Curtis Opera Theater), Caught (The Play Company, Drama League Nominee), O,Earth (The Foundry Theatre, Henry Hewes Design Nom.), A Ride on the Irish Cream (Erin Markey/Jordan Fein), Kate Benson’s Obie Award-winning A Beautiful Day in November on the Greatest of the Great Lakes (New Georges/ WP Theater), and Julia Jarcho’s Obie Award-winning Grimly Handsome. Ongoing collaborations include Lee Sunday Evans, Jordan Fein, Daniel Fish, Shannon Gillen, Julia Jarcho, Melissa Kievman, Portia Krieger, Brian Mertes, Katie Pearl, and Dustin Wills. Barbara has toured nationally and internationally with Vim Vigor Dance. Barbara served as the General Manager of Obie Award-winning 13P and is the Producing Director for Morgan Gould & Friends. Barbara was a 2016 Target Margin Institute Fellow. She holds a B.A. from Fordham University and an M.F.A in Lighting Design from NYU. Proud member of USA Local 829.
KEENAN HURLEY (Sound Design) is a Brooklyn-based writer, theatermaker, and sound designer. Recent sound design credits include Sibyl Kempson’s Sasquatch Rituals at The Kitchen, Church of the Millennials' AMERIKA! Ep. 1 at BAX's Upstart Festival and AMERIKA! Ep. 3 at IRT. He was also the associate sound designer for Caborca's Distant Star at Abrons Arts Center and Bedlam's Pygmalion at The Sheen Center. His original work includes DAD DANCE! (w/ Kedian Keohan at JACK, The Playwriting Collective, FEAST), The Power Broker (w/ Peter McNally at Judson Church) and his solo piece The Man Who Built His House to Heaven (59E59, The Edinburgh Fringe). keenanhurley.com
CORI WILLIAMS (Assistant Set Designer) is a Brooklyn-based artist. She has a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and recently completed her MA in Performance Making at Goldsmiths, University of London.
DALLAS ESTES (Associate Lighting Designer) is a Brooklyn-based lighting and scenic designer. Lighting credits: 59E59, The Gamm Theater, and site-specific works in Brooklyn. Assistant scenic and lighting credits: the Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Public Theater, Opera Philadelphia, The Old Globe Theater, Abrons Arts Center, Trinity Repertory Company, and the Bushwick Starr. Dallas has a BA from Brown University in Theater Arts and Performance Studies, and is an MFA candidate at NYU Tisch Design for Stage and Film.
KEDIAN KEOHAN (Production Stage Manager) is a creator of many sorts and a founding member of the Church of the Millennials.
CLAIRE MOODEY (Assistant Stage Manager) performs, directs, writes, devises, and designs objects for theater. She is interested in how performance may change space, culture, relationships, community. Her most recent work, femme pathos, was seen at The Brick as part of The Exponential Festival. Other recent credits include Daphne (design and performance) at IRT, Forsaken Nation (direction).
ANN MARIE DORR (Production Manager) often works on big-little shows with adventurous and ambitious ideas in downtown and Brooklyn spaces including The Bushwick Starr, Abrons Arts Center, The Brick, The New Ohio, and JACK. Currently participating in the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab 17/18 with Paul Ketchum on a new play We Are Good and Noble Beings. Associated Artist of Target Margin Theater. Production Manager at The Bushwick Starr.
DAVID BRUIN (Producer) is the founding artistic director of un sphinx incompris, a New York-based company devoted to radical artistry in theater and performance. As a dramaturg, he is working on upcoming projects with Lars Jan and Robert Woodruff, and he has previously worked with Liz Diamond, Jesse Rasmussen, Brendan Pelsue, Mary Laws, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Immediate Medium, and Jeff Augustin. He is a doctor of fine arts candidate at Yale School of Drama, where he also serves as the associate editor of Theater magazine. His writing has appeared in Theater, The Brooklyn Rail, TDF Stages, and HowlRound, and he is currently one of the editors on an upcoming book about the Foundry Theatre.
TESSA LEE (Assistant Producer) is a director and creative producer. She has recently worked with New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Prelude Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, and 600 HIGHWAYMEN. Tessa is also the associate editor at 3 Hole Press.
UN SPHINX INCOMPRIS (David Bruin, Artistic Director; Tessa Lee, Assistant Producer) is a New York-based company devoted to radical artistry in theater and performance. Previous projects include Xander Xyst, Dragon: 1 by Jeremy O. Harris (Ars Nova’s ANT Fest 2017). Current projects in development include Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, translated by Nahuel Telleria and directed by Whitney White; John Ford’s Tis Pity She’s a Whore by John Ford, conceived, written, directed by Jesse Rasmussen with music by Katie Capri of Fern Mayo; and Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s I Only Want You to Love Me, adapted and directed by Ashley Tata. unsphinxincompris.org
SPECIAL THANKS:
Daniel Fish, Caleb Hammons, Joanne from Craigslist, NYU, Performance Space New York, Eva Pinney & Tribeca Lighting, and Jørgen Skjærvold
THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS:
Tara Perkins, Tom Scutt, Mark Bruin, Laura Fox, Amy Sedaris, Sarah Bay-Cheng, Maureen McCrane, Jeff Lee, Nunally Kersh, Dee Anne Bruin-Faller, Iris Cushing, Linda Walker and Paul Fein, Caleb Hammons, Katja Blichfeld, Jeff Augustin, Mary Jo Watts, Johnson Henshaw, Katrina Schaffer, Clare Bronowski, Daniel Fish, Ralph and Mary Bruin, Heather Love, John Conlee, Katy Downing, Max Dana, Debra Fein, Gideon Lester, Jamie Weiner, Alexandra Cadena, Tim Zgraggen, Tyler Coates, Jessica Massart, Steven Hammel, Becca Blackwell, Derek Smith, Anna Frenkel, Ethan Weinstock, Taylor Barfield, Todd Shalom, Avery Trunko, Mohammed Razzak, Kate Monaghan Fletcher, Neil Young, Andy Kuncl, Bailey Williams, JJ Lind and Mark Lazarz/Immediate Medium, Jesse Rasmussen, Annie Tippe, Allison Bressi, Mairin Lee, Mark Spano, Christopher Ghaffari, Jacob Gallagher-Ross, Samie Detzer, Whitney Dibo, Ashley Tata, Noel Allain, Ruben Bomse, Guy Yedwab, Rachel Silverman, Alison Kurkul, Emma Katz, Michael Cyril Creighton, M. Zach Bubolo, Sarah Lucie, Jules Skloot, Eleanore Pienta, Monte Resch, Sarah Bishop-Stone, Deepali Gupta, Danielle & Katherine Morgan-Scharhon, Elizabeth Mak, Cheryl Furjanic & Will Sweeney, Corina Copp, Alexis Powell, Holly Pilch, Wills Glasspiegel, Alexander Hadshi, Eric Shethar, Alexander Woodward, Sarah Hughes, Deborah Berman, Nahuel Telleria, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, Rachel Lionheart, Alex Knowlton, Miranda Wright, Phillip Howze, Sam Miller, Brendan Pelsue, Madeline Barasch, Kevin Hourigan, Bridget Balodis, Jibz Cameron, Asa Horvitz, Kelly Kerwin, Matthew Flynn, Karen Stratton, Marisa Wallin, Emilyn Kowaleski, Lars Jan, Sydney Lemmon, Monica Hunken, Ben Sherman, Mia Barron, Patrick McEvoy, Noah Averbach-Katz, Alex Ripp, Kate Hopkins, Zoe Hurwitz, Ashley Chang, Crystal Wei, Tom Costello, Amy Rubin, Kathleen Warnock, Mallery Avidon, Laura Vogel, Bess Rowen, Allison Michael Orenstein, Libby McKnight, Rachel Karp, Steven Conroy, Jackson McKeehan, Michael R. Jackson, Elizabeth Wiet, Jaye Hunt, Jessica D. Kelly, and Patton Hindle
Actors' Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 45,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org
The Bushwick Starr's Mission
The Bushwick Starr is an Obie Award winning not-for-profit theater that presents an annual season of new performance works. We are an organization defined by both our artists and our community, and since 2007, we have grown into a thriving theatrical venue, a vital neighborhood arts center, and a destination for exciting and engaging performance. We provide a springboard for emerging professional artists to make career-defining leaps, and we are a sanctuary where established artists come to experiment and innovate. We are also a neighborhood playhouse, serving our Bushwick, Brooklyn community's diverse artistic needs and impulses.
Our Team
Noel Allain - Co-Founder / Artistic Director
Sue Kessler - Co-Founder / Creative Director
John Del Gaudio - Producing Director
Lauren Miller - Development Director
Jehan O. Young - General Management Associate
Ann Marie Dorr - Production Manager
Jay Maury - Technical Director
Vanessa Felix - Youth + Community Programmer
Modesto Flako Jimenez - Youth + Community Programmer
John Budge - Box Office Manager
Kaitlyn Meade - House Manager
William Burke - Artistic Development Associate/Reading Series Curator
Jillian Walker - Reading Series Curator
Our Board
Matthew Cowherd
Gita Deo
Jeff Griffin
Robin Griffiths
Matthew Harrison
David Herskovits
Oliver Kramer
Tamar Lusztig
Alia McKee - Chair
Keanu Reeves
David Ringer
Rachel Viola
Support the Starr
Join us as a member! Your tax-deductible donation supports our ambitious artists premiering daring performances on our stage, and our Bushwick neighbors in our educational and community programs.
ALL STARR - $1000+ ($84/month) - 2 complimentary tickets to every show; Reserved seats; Coffee with co- founders Noel Allain & Sue Kessler; Invites to Summer Residency showings; Invitations to members-only events and the Starr Gala; Subscription to the Starr e-newsletter; Your name listed in our programs and on the website.
STARR SUSTAINER - $500+ ($42/month) - 2 complimentary tickets to every show; Reserved seats; Invitations to members-only events and the Starr Gala; Subscription to the Starr e-newsletter; Your name listed in our programs and on the website.
STARR SUPPORTER - $250+ ($21/month) - Invitations to members-only events and the Starr Gala; Subscription to the Starr e-newsletter; Your name listed in our programs and on the website.
STARR MEMBER - $100+ ($9/month) - Subscription to the Starr e-newsletter; Your name listed in our programs and on the website.
STARR DONOR - $25+ - Our endless gratitude and your name listed in our programs and on the website.
Our Supporters
Institutional Donors:
A.R.T./New York Creative Space Grant, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Axe-Houghton Foundation; The Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation; Educational Foundation of America; The Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust, The Faro Foundation; The Helen Clay Frick Foundation; Howard Gilman Foundation; The Revada Foundation; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Mental Insight Foundation; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; New York City Department of Youth and Community Development; New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; The Shubert Foundation
Corporate Donors:
100 Bogart; ABS Partners Real Estate LLC; Braven Brewing Company; Bruce Cost Ginger Ale; Chef One; Collegiate Asset Associates; Con Edison; CNN; ExxonMobil Chemical; Frank Brunckhorst Co. LLC; Goldman Sachs; Old Navy; Gap Inc; The Breeze; Waste Management; Workman Publishing Co.
Individual Donors:
ALL STARRS
Anonymous; Jeremy Blocker; Christine & Lance Braunstein; Steve Coats; Matthew Cowherd; Max Dana; Gita Deo; Naomi Gardner; Jeff Griffin; Robin & Alice Griffiths; Matthew Harrison; David Herskovits; Megan Howard & Katie Fitzgerald; Casey & Mary Kemper; Douglas Kennedy; Oliver & Maxandra Kramer; Elizabeth Logan; Betsy Mallow & Jeremy Robbins; Dave Malloy & Eliza Bent; Alia McKee; Estelle Parsons; Paul & Jane Payne; Jason Kemper & Thor Perplies; Rashad Rahman & Tina Ting; David Ringer; John & Suzie Rothman; Mary Salter; Debra Fine & Martin Schneider; Michael Seelbach; Lee Seymour; Andrea Risoli & Jeremy Smith; Jody Falco & Jeffrey Steinman; Adam Sternbergh; Rachel Viola; Ashley & Shawn Woolf
SUSTAINERS
Susan & John Allain; Jessica Almasy & Benjamin Michael Friedstein; Christine & Lance Braunstein; Crystal Campbell; Lauren Glant; Leslye Headland & Rebecca Henderson; Jason Kemper & Thor Perplies; Jamie & Libby King; Dodge Landesman; J.R. Lederer; David Lieberman; Jase Miles-Perez; Carole Miller; Jojo Mu; Tracy Weller & Michael Ranson; Mark Rovner; Lyris Schonholz; Caitlin Simpson; Elizabeth Sorrell; Tony Barkan & Amanda Szeglowski; Samuel French; Andrew Waters & Sam Magill
SUPPORTERS
Anonymous (2); Afruz Amighi; Rachel Chavkin; Ashima Chitre; Denise Dickens; Daniel Emerman; Sara Juli & Chris Ajemian; Sann Knipple; Leslie Koch & Douglas Gray; Richard Kraft; Jill Hunter Matichak; Lee Osman; Lisa Reilly; Carmen Rodriguez; Eliza & Jim Rossman; Aaron Welch
MEMBERS
Anonymous (3); Susan Bernfield & Claude Millman; Elizabeth Caruso; Dave & Cindy Collins; MaryBeth DelGaudio & Barry Walsh; Jason Eagan; Jerome Ellis; Rhoda Farber; Missy Flower; Ashley Gillespie; Aaron Glick; Martin Hoffman; Mark McLaughlin; Deana Murtha & David Buccola; Harvey Neville; Sandra Salmans; Tim Sanford; Risa Shoup & Di Glazer; Deborah Stein & Andy Horwitz; Jaynie & Chad Saunders Tiller; Paloma Young
*As of January 10, 2018