the Ondine program guide

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WE PLAYERS
We Players presents site-integrated
performance events that transform
public spaces into realms of participatory
theatre. We bring communities together,
reclaiming local spaces for public
discourse and civic celebration through
art. Extending the transformative
powers of performance beyond the
stage, we invite our collaborators and
audience to engage fully and awaken
to the spectacular world around us.
Our multi-modal projects awaken the
senses, explore site history and ecology,
and reflect upon core themes. Project
history includes: King Fool, a two-person
adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear
focused around themes of death and
dying, loss, grief, and healing; Macbeth
at Fort Point, a full sensory immersion
into Macbeth’s Scotland as it collides
with Civil War era and modern day San
Francisco; Twelfth Night, or What You
Will at Hyde Street Pier, where love ran
amuck in a bustling seaport town; The
Odyssey on Angel Island State Park, an
all-day, island-wide adventure; The
Odyssey on the historic schooner Alma,
performed while sailing on the San
Francisco Bay; the Alcatraz Symposium
on Justice & Freedom, including visual
art exhibitions, panel discussions, and
a new dance theatre piece for the
Alcatraz Cell House; Hamlet on Alcatraz,
island-wide; and Iphigenia and Other
Daughters on the Alcatraz dock landing.
WePlayers.org
GOLDEN GATE
NATIONAL RECREATION AREA
The National Park
Service preserves
unimpaired the natural
and cultural resources
and values of the
national park system
for the enjoyment,
education, and inspiration of this and
future generations. The Park Service
cooperates with partners to extend the
benefits of natural and cultural resource
conservation and outdoor recreation
throughout this country and the world.
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Golden Gate National Recreation
Area (GGNRA) chronicles two
hundred years of history, from the
Native American culture, the Spanish
Empire frontier and the Mexican
Republic, to maritime history, the
California Gold Rush, the evolution of
American coastal fortifications, and
the growth of urban San Francisco.
nps.gov/goga
THE SUTRO DISTRICT
Lands End. The vast Pacific crashes
below, prevailing winds sculpt the rocks
and flag the trees, and seasonal fog
enshrouds the landscape in mystery.
Here - where native coastal vegetation
provides materials and shelter, a spring
fed creek runs down the hillside into
Naiad Cove, and the coastal ecology
teams with nutrition - the Yelamu Ohlone
tribe lived at Lands End in seasonal
settlements for well over 1,500 years.
Under Mexican rule, this dramatic
coastline was part of a large land grant
called Rancho Punta de Lobos.
During the last two decades of the
nineteenth century, the Point Lobos
area grew from a sparsely developed
and exclusive scenic retreat into a dayuse, recreational complex serving both
local residents and tourists. Adolph
Sutro, a German-born engineer who
made his fortune in the late 1860s
and 1870s through the design and
construction of a massive tunnel that
drained and ventilated the flooded
shafts of the Comstock Lode silver
mines in Nevada, was the driving
force behind this transformation that
contributed to the changing character
of San Francisco during this period.
Sutro strongly believed that all San
Franciscans, rich or poor, should take
advantage of the beauty of Lands
End. Between Sutro’s 1881 purchase
of the property and his death in 1898,
he developed the gardens at Sutro
Heights, oversaw the construction
of the massive Sutro Baths, rebuilt
the Cliff House as a chateau-style
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palace, and instituted an inexpensive
passenger railroad service linking
downtown with the Point Lobos area.
Sutro’s Cliff House burnt down, and
the Sutro Baths and Sutro Heights Park
were never economical to maintain.
The Sutro family and future owners
struggled to maintain operations, and
during the deconstruction of Sutro Baths
in 1966, the developer’s plans were
foiled by arson. Today, we are blessed
to have a quaint neighborhood park,
modern ruins and the rugged coastal
trail maintained by the Golden Gate
National Recreation Area for all to enjoy.
CO-DIRECTOR NOTES
Once upon a time…
Imagine you are opening a giant and ornate
story book, you are about to encounter a
new and delicious world. The frontispiece is
a sprawling watercolor featuring dramatic
cliffs, windswept trees, and the crashing
froth of waves on giant rocks on which
hordes of sea birds perch. The picture
comes to life, you’re standing at Land’s End
in San Francisco above the ruins of the
former Sutro Baths, with the vast Pacific
stretching endlessly to the west. You follow
the fisherman and the flag bearer, who
lead you into the heart of the story….
Welcome to Ondine at Sutro!
The pairing of play and place is central to
all We Players productions. With Ondine at
Sutro, we immerse ourselves in a passionate
and elemental play at a site where the
forces of nature are profound, visceral,
and omnipresent. While the cultural and
historical significance of the site has been
present for us throughout the creative
process, and has influenced aesthetic and
design choices as well as our telling of the
story, above all it is the natural environment
that dominates and drives our experience
of building and telling this tale. Here, the
power and unknowable depths of the
ocean mirrors the ubiquitous presence and
potency of the water throughout the play.
At the heart of it, Ondine is a love story. A
story of true love, forbidden love, timeless
love - the unbridled force and magnificence
of such a love, and the impossibility of
human reason to curtail it. The love story of
Hans and Ondine is a proxy too for mans
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relationship with nature - the impassive and
all powerful forces that we mere mortals
must strive to come into balance with.
It’s been an immense joy to live and
breathe a fairy tale existence in such an
enchanted and spectacular environment.
But this is no two-dimensional tale, but
rather is elevated by Giraudoux’s language,
the sublime and ever-inspiring Ondine
herself, and the deeply human themes of
love and loss, and the crests and hollows
of messy human relationships. Thus, it is
at once a straightforward fable, complete
with the archetypal characters of fairy
tales, and simultaneously a complicated
tangle of human illusions, confusions,
and manipulations. Ondine uplifts us,
in her we encounter unflagging honesty
and clarity; she is a direct current of love.
And her spirit in the play inspires us in
the face of exhaustion and overwhelm.
Admittedly, working in complete exposure
to the unrelenting elements for 8-10
hours a day is a strain on our bodies
and our energy. But it is also profoundly
rewarding - whales breach off stage at Pt.
Lobos, hummingbirds perch delicately on
branches at the Sutro Heights parapet,
and hawks soar close above our heads
on the sprawling lawns of the park.
We hope that you will open your senses,
let go of reality, and join us inside the fairy
tale. Look and listen closely for surprises,
natural and staged, throughout the journey.
With love, so much love,
Ava and Carly
ONDINE
AT
SUTRO
by Jean Giraudoux • adapted by Maurice Valency
Directed by Carly Cioffi and Ava Roy
COMPANY
Mikka Bonel - Ondine Chorus, Matho
Jennie Brick - Eugenie, Judge
Lauren D. Chavez – Producer
Carly Cioffi – Director
Liz Dal Bon - Production Assistant
Gabriel DeLeon - Courtier, Scribner, Production Assistant, Dramaturg
Stacy Davis - Production Assistant
Briana Dickinson - Ondine Chorus, Bird
Julie Douglas - Ondine Chorus, Salammbo
Dan Flapper - Superintendent, Horse, Executioner
Patrick Gillespie - Platform Designer
Charlie Gurke - Composer, Music Director, Saxophone
Merrill Gruver - Production Assistant
Mary Devi Hadsell - Ondine Dancer, Assistant Stage Manager
Claire Haider - Ondine Dancer
Jack Halton - Auguste, Judge
Elaine Ivy Harris - Bertha
Amy Marie Haven - Production Manager
Angie Heile - Ondine Dancer
Megan Hillard - Set and Properties Designer, Production Assistant
Joan Howard - Platform Carpenter
Henry Hung - Trumpet
Brooke Jennings - Costume Designer
Nathaniel Justiniano - Lord Chamberlain, Fisherman
Britt Lauer - Stage Manager
Nick Medina - King, Walter
Olive Mitra - The Old One/ The Illusionist
Areyla Moss-Maguire - Ondine Chorus, Dog
Patrick Malabuyo - Trombone
Lauren Matley - House Manager
Libby Oberlin - Ondine Chorus, Venus, Violante
Aaron William Priskorn – Trumpet
Becky Robinson-Leviton - Ondine Chorus, Angelique
Ava Roy - Director, Producer, Ondine
Kaia Rose - Ondine Dancer
Jocelyn Shratter - Production Assistant
Eitan Spiegel – Sousaphone
Benjamin Stowe - Hans Von Wittenstein Zu Wittenstein
Ruth Tringham - Production Assistant
Eli Wirtschafter - Bertram, Violin
Photography by Lauren Matley and Miller Oberlin
Videography by Toni Tru and Chris Howell
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ABOUT THE CAST & CREW
PRODUCTION INTERNS
Eliza Abbe, Lilli Fore
AUDIENCE GUIDES
Monica Herbert - Lead Audience Guide
Ginger Burenin, Jennifer Castillo, Shashi Jain, Alan Olejniczak, Carmen Patron and more! thank you all!
SPECIAL THANKS
Eric & Molly Baumhoff, Kate Bickert, Anthony Chavez & Jessica Hunter, Brian Cooper & Stacey
Plaskett, Cedrick Cabansag, Claire Dietrich Ranna, George Durgerian, Robin Goldman, Theresa Griggs,
Angie Heile, Lindsay Joost, Yakuta Poonawalla, Kate Smith, Gwen Sobolewski, Dana Taylor, Tonya
Marie of Gypsy Cat Studios, Thomas Trono, the staff at The Lookout and The Cliffhouse, and Steve &
the rest of the Park Police.
Poster art by Joseph Hren
Program by Rick Abruzzo and Joseph Hren
“Ondine” is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH, INC.
Mikka Bonel - (Ondine Chorus, Matho)
is truly honored to be a part of such a
magical adventure - performing with
We Players for the first time! Mikka
is a performer, dancer, singer and
theater creator. She has a passion for
experimental, site specific theater that
really gets the blood pumping. Most
recently she has been working with
Ragged Wing Ensemble and she was
also honored with a TBA award for best
Featured Actress for her performance in
Everybody Here Says Hello (produced by
Wiley West). She is currently researching
and experimenting with her own
creation (to be produced by Ragged
Wing Ensemble) and has just received
her yoga teaching certificate! Mikka
would like to dedicate her performance
in this show to her husband/partner/
best friend/shmoopaloo for his
unwavering devotion and support.
Jennie Brick - (Eugenie, Judge) In 2013
and 2014 Jennie performed with We
Players as Captain Lennox in Macbeth at
Fort Point, guiding many of you through
the treacherous terrain of Scotland.
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Some of Jennie’s favorite roles include
Mattie Fae in August: Osage County
(TBA Award nominee), Liz in The Book
of Liz, Luella in Why Torture is Wrong,
Mama in ‘night, Mother, and Silda in
Other Desert Cities. Earlier this year she
originated the role of Sandy in Hilarity,
a new play by Allison Page as part of
Diva Fest. Upcoming roles for Jennie are
Yente in Berkeley Playhouse’s Fiddler on
the Roof and Antonio in TheatreFirst’s
Much Ado About Nothing. Jennie
has performed with Bay Area theatre
companies including Shotgun Players,
Contra Costa Civic Theatre, DivaFest
at the Exit, Playwrights’ Center of SF,
Custom Made Theatre, 3 Girls Squared,
and Town Hall Theatre. Working with
Ondine’s incredibly talented cast, crew,
and designers has been a fairy tale come
true! By day Jennie is a voice-actor and a
non-profit finance guru. Love and thanks
to B as always. www.jenniebrick.com
Lauren D. Chavez - (Producer) Lauren
is passionate about deep listening,
re-membering wisdom in our bodies,
playing outside, and fostering healthy
relationships with all things. She has a
BA in Architecture and Urban Design
with a dance minor, and a MS in Civil
and Environmental Engineering, both
from Stanford University. She also
has a permaculture design credential
and training in primitive skills, nature
awareness, advanced connective
practices, and various massage
modalities. After almost a decade of
friendship and creative collaboration,
Lauren teamed up with Ava in 2009
to establish We Players as a nonprofit
institution. She has forged strong
strategic partnerships with the National
Park Service and California State Parks
and her management, communication,
and producing skills have shaped We
Players as a respected organization
ever more capable of fulfilling its lofty
mission of connecting people with place
through site-integrated theatre. Lauren
leads We Players’ Aesthetic Education
Program, distilling and sharing the
core exercises of our practice with
youth around the Bay Area. She thanks
the living waters for inspiration, our
movers for embodying creativity and
staying flexible throughout the process,
our rock star production team, John
Hadden, Mr. Matthew, Ant & Jess, family,
community, and sweet silly Elena Claire.
Carly Cioffi - (Director) Carly is an actor,
director, producer, and teacher. She
currently teaches Acting in American
Conservatory Theater’s Studio A.C.T.
program. She has also previously worked
at A.C.T. as both Artistic Associate and
Associate Director of the Conservatory.
She has taught both acting and devising
theater at the pre-college programs at
Boston University and the Olney Theatre
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Center in Maryland and has been a guest
instructor at Yale University, University
of Massachusetts Amherst, Dartmouth
College, Bowdoin College, College of
the Holy Cross, and Ohio University.
Carly earned her BFA in Theater Arts
from Boston University and her MFA
in Classical Acting from the Academy
for Classical Acting at the Shakespeare
Theater/George Washington University
in Washington D.C. As an actor she
has performed with Shakespeare Santa
Cruz, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Marin
Theatre Company, the Magic Theatre,
American Conservatory Theater, San
Francisco Playhouse, LaMaMa ETC,
and Olney Theatre Center, as well
as with CollaborationTown and We
Players. As a director and assistant
director, she has worked with Naked
Angels, CollaborationTown, A.C.T., the
Huntington Theatre Company, and
Olney Theatre Center. Her translation/
adaptation of Georges Feydeau’s La Dame
de chez Maxim was commissioned and
performed by A.C.T.’s Master of Fine Arts
Program in 2014. She was the recipient of
the Dean Scholar Award and the Daisette
Hay-McElvey Award for Theatrical
Collaboration at Boston University.
Liz Dal Bon - (Production Assistant)
Liz works in many places around the
Bay Area including the Exploratorium
and Headman Sound Systems.
She is stupendously excited to
be working at Sutro Baths. She
has made a lot of memories here
and can’t wait to make more!
ABOUT THE CAST & CREW (CONTINUED)
Gabriel DeLeon - (Courtier, Scribner,
Production Assistant, Dramaturg) Gabriel
is a recent graduate with a BA in Theatre
Studies from Yale University as part
of the Class of 2014. Fresh to the West
Coast, the Bay Area, and especially to
We Players, he has performed primarily
in undergraduate, experimental, and
repertory spaces in New York and
New England, most notably as Alceste
in Moliere’s The Misanthrope and
Azdak in Caucasian Chalk Circle in
faculty-directed school productions
and Tuzenbach in Three Sisters (Highly
Impractical Theatre) and part of Robert
Woodruff’s ensemble for In A Year
with 13 Moons (Yale Rep), based on
the Fassbinder film. He’s excited to get
back to school and pursue an MFA in
2016, but in the meantime is an ecstatic
student of the sea and the sun.
Briana Dickinson - (Ondine Chorus,
Bird) Briana is in her third season with
We Players. Her initial roles with the
company were played off-stage, as part
of the production crew in 2013 and as
stage manager in 2014, for We Players’
successive productions of Macbeth at Fort
Point. Participating in the Ondine Chorus
marks her first role played on stage with
the company doing what is her first and
foremost beloved art form: dance! Briana
believes dance to be the material language
of consciousness, and choreography
and performance as poetry. As a
contemporary dancer, she moves beyond
the traditional boundaries of a classical
ballet background to explore the living
conversation between body, earth, and
cultural ecology through site-integrated
multi-modal performance and theater.
She is a graduate of Tamalpa Institute,
and facilitator of movement-based
expressive arts therapy. She has studied
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and performed with world-celebrated
dance choreographers and companies in
the Bay Area and throughout the country.
Her intrigue with the human body,
variation, ritual, performance, place and
relationship led her to receive academic
degrees in cultural anthropology
and transformative leadership.
Julie Douglas - (Ondine Chorus,
Salammbo) Julie is a Bay Area actor,
deviser, teacher, and clown. She holds a
B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University
of California at Santa Cruz and an MFA
in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre
from Dell’Arte International School of
Physical Theatre. Julie most recently
performed with SF Shakes on Tour in a
five person As You Like It as Touchstone,
The Dukes and Dennis. With We Players
she was last seen being weird as a
witch in Macbeth at Fort Point (2013 &
2014) and previously running around
Angel Island in the Odyssey as Athena,
Circe, and Breezy the Wind Kid. Julie
has also performed with Hatch Festival
of Devised Performance, One Minute
Play Festival, SF Olympians Festival,
Shotgun Players, ClownZero (hospital
clown), and in various clown cabarets.
Before getting her MFA and moving back
to the Bay she lived and made theatre
in Chicago as a company member of
The Moving Dock Theatre Company
and performing with various Chicago
companies. Julie would like to dedicate
this performance to the Sea and all her
inhabitants, known and mythical. Thank
you for the inspiration and beauty. Sorry
about global warming and all the plastic.
Dan Flapper - (Superintendent,
Horse, Executioner) This is Dan’s first
performance with We Players. Previous
Bay Area appearances include roles with
Santa Cruz Shakespeare Company, A.C.T.
and Campo Santo. He is a faculty member
at American Conservatory Theater’s
Studio A.C.T. program where he teaches
Acting, Shakespeare, and Combat. Dan
holds an MFA in Classical Acting from the
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s program
at the George Washington University.
Charlie Gurke - (Composer, Music
Director, Musician) 2015 marks Charlie’s
5th year as music director for We
Players, a collaboration that began
with Hamlet on Alcatraz in 2010. A
saxophonist and composer adept in
many styles, he can be heard performing
with some of the Bay Area’s best jazz
and latin musicians, including the
Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, Jazz
Mafia, Edgardo Cambon, and the Pacific
Mambo Orchestra, to name a few. He is
on faculty at Laney College in Oakland,
where he directs the jazz ensembles,
teaches theory, and jazz history. Charlie
recently was awarded “best musical
score” by Theatre Bay Area for his
original score for We Players’ Macbeth
at Fort Point. www.gurkestra.com
Mary Devi Hadsell - (Ondine Dancer,
Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to
be making her We Players debut. She
graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts
degree in acting from the University of
Miami in May 2014. She has appeared
in Metamorphoses with the Adrienne
Arsht Center in Miami, FL as well as
The Velveteen Rabbit and Hair: The
American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
with Serenbe Playhouse in Atlanta, GA.
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Claire Haider - (Ondine Dancer) Claire
is thrilled to be working with We Players
for the very first time. A Bay transplant
from Southern California, Claire was
most recently seen in As You Like It (San
Francisco Shakespeare Festival) as an
alternate for Silvius/Jacques/Charles/
Oliver for Shakespeare on Tour. Her
other past credits include: Agnes in
Agnes of God (Elite Theatre Company),
Jessica in The Merchant of Venice
(Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare
Company), Banquo/Hecate in Macbeth
(Ojai Shakespeare Festival), Emily in
Our Town (Ojai ACT), and Antigone in
Anouilh’s Antigone (SENGA Classical
Theatre Company). She has trained in an
internship with the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival and had private coaching with
Lisa Wolpe. In addition to acting, she
is a teaching artist with San Francisco
Shakespeare Festival and also teaches
American Sign Language to high school
students at a preparatory school.
Jack Halton - (Auguste, Judge) Jack has
extensive ‘on site’ experience, having
appeared in Gulf of The Farallones “Car
Dances” a synchronized auto ballet
and multi media event in huge parking
lot in SoMa, Antenna Theatre’s “On
Sight” about the Gate 5 conflict while
operating a bunraku puppet of Alan
Watts, his own Ghost Scenes Of Hamlet
at the empty Espirit Warehouse in
Dogpatch and at a Marin Headlands
artillery battery, and doing short
Beckett plays on a fold out stage in the
alleys of Chinatown. His “Sisyphus”,
where he pushed a prop boulder up
Nob Hill , won a TBA CA$H Grant
and awards at the SF Fringe Festival.
He appeared in Hamlet on Alcatraz
with We Players as Polonius (2010) and
Banquo in Macbeth at Fort Point (2014).
ABOUT THE CAST & CREW (CONTINUED)
Elaine Ivy Harris - (Bertha) Elaine is
thrilled to be in California working with
We Players for the first time. A special
thanks to Ava and Carly for sharing this
world with her. NY credits: Comedy of
Errors (Accidental Shakespeare), Will
(Manhattan Rep), The Cherry Orchard
(Nicu’s Spoon Theater), Separate Tables
(Out of the Box Theatre). Regional
credits include: Three Sisters, Ways
to Survive the World (Williamstown
Theatre Festival), En Route (Chicago
Shakespeare Theatre), The Crucible
(Infamous Commonwealth), The Diary
of Anne Frank (Metropolis Performing
Arts Center). She holds an MFA in
Classical Acting from The Shakespeare
Theatre Company’s Academy for
Classical Acting. www.elaineivy.com
spending her time doing more important
or fulfilling work. She is thrilled to be
joining the ranks of We Players as the
Production Manager for Ondine at Sutro.
Amy Marie Haven - (Production
Manager) has a diverse theater background
with a focus on directing, acting, and
community building. She received her
BA from UC Santa Cruz in 2007 where
she studied Literature and Theater. Based
in the Bay Area, Amy has directed for
and acted with many award-winning
local companies including: Cal Shakes,
Shakespeare Santa Cruz, The Quixote
Project, Alter Theater, Sleepwalkers
Theatre (voted best theatre company of
2009, SF weekly) and 142 Throckmorton.
Her international theatre experience
includes: Theatre of Heart and Four
Larks Theater in Melbourne, Australia,
as well as San Jeronimo Bilingual School
in Cofradia, Honduras. Amy Marie is a
Co-Founder of TomorrowYouth Repertory
in Alameda, CA where she is the director
of mainstage programming. She is also the
Head of Drama at Marin Horizons Middle
School in Mill Valley. Amy Marie has
been directing children’s musical theatre
since 2009 and believes she couldn’t be
Megan Hillard - (Properties Designer,
Production Assistant) Megan has
collaborated with We Players for three
years, working her way up to Properties
Master. She seems to work with theatre
companies that either do site specific
plays or outdoor productions. This year
she has built props for The Balcony at
the Old Mint with The Collected Works,
and last fall she built the props and
painted the stage for O’ Best Beloved
by Silly String Theatre Company. When
she’s not building props you can find
her traveling around Hayes Valley
and Lower Haight selling craft beer
for her day job. She’s living the life.
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Angie Heile - (Ondine Dancer) Angie
Heile is a Bay-Area-based dancer,
designer, and raconteur. She loves
rainbows and hates when people leave
sponges in the sink without squeezing
them out. Her spirit animal is the
nudibranch, also known as the sea slug.
She believes that living by the ocean with
a lot of people is the way to go. When
her plans are complete, she will avail
herself of a personal bard and traverse
the earth with her beloved housemates in
a flying ship that smells like cinnamon.
Henry Hung - (Trumpet) Henry is
a GRAMMY award winning multiinstrumentalist, arranger, and composer
who has toured internationally and
throughout the US, performing music that
spans a spectrum of styles, including pop
music with David Byrne, Thao Nguyen,
and TV on the Radio, to hip hop with
Deltron 3030 and Souls of Mischief, jazz
with Stanley Clarke, Jimmy Cobb, the
Woody Hermann Orchestra, to AfroCuban music with the GRAMMY award
winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra.
Locally he can be found performing
with many creative Bay Area groups,
most notably his own group the Klaxon
Mutant Allstars. Henry has composed
and arranged music for the documentary
Lids and the short films, LookBoth Ways,
Seduction, and Pick Me Up, and has
premiered new work with Hope Mohr
Dance at ODC. Henry is also an active
educator in the San Francisco Bay Area,
where he is currently an adjunct professor
at San Francisco State University and
Berkeley City College. He also teaches
at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco
School of the Arts, the Piedmont School
District, the Waldorf School (SF), LickWelmerding School, the Stanford Jazz
Workshop, and the Head Royce School
in Oakland. www.henryhungmusic.com
Brooke Jennings - (Costume Designer)
is ecstatic to make her We Players
debut with this beautiful and moving
production of Ondine. A graduate of
UC Santa Cruz’s Theater Arts Masters
Program, Brooke works as a Costume
Designer throughout the Bay Area, most
recently working with Magic Theater:
assistant designer, A Lie of the Mind
(2015), Bad Jews (2014), Custom Made
Theater Company: Grey Gardens the
Musical (2015), How The World Began
(2015), Late: A Cowboy Song (2015), The
Crucible (2014), Jewel Theater: Saint
Joan (2014), Pump Boys and Dinettes
(2014), Arcadia (2013), Geography of a
Horse Dreamer (2012), Virago Theatre:
Crooked (2015), Ransom, TX (2014/15),
Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (2014),
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Coma (2014), and OnTheHouse Theater:
Melancholy Play (2014), Ubu Rex (2013).
Brooke received a 2014 Theater Bay Area
Award nomination for Best Costume
Design for her work on Custom Made
Theater’s The Crucible, written by Arthur
Miller, directed by Stuart Bousel.
Nathaniel Justiniano - (Lord
Chamberlain, Fisherman) Nathaniel is
an award-winning actor/creator, director
and teacher, as well as the founder of
Naked Empire Bouffon Company. As a
performer in San Francisco he was most
recently seen in Cutting Ball Theater’s
Ubu Roi directed by Yury Urnov, We
Players’ own Macbeth at Fort Point and
The Odyssey on Angel Island, and The
Thrillpeddlers’ long-running hit Pearls
Over Shanghai. He has co-created
and performed in multiple criticallyacclaimed productions with his company.
Under his direction, Naked Empire’s
most recent work, a satire about avoiding
death toured the US and Canada,
winning the San Francisco Best of the
Fringe Award, the Vancouver/Plank
Magazine Talk of the Fringe Award, a
nomination for Vancouver’s Georgia
Straight Critic’s Pick Award, and was an
Official Selection of the Toronto Festival
of Clowns. He teaches and directs a wide
range of performance-based skills and
styles including physical theater, clown,
bouffon, the grotesque, playwriting,
screenwriting, comedy, improvisation,
and acting. He has taught at UC Berkeley,
Solano City College, Sacramento City
College, Kinetic Arts Center, and is
currently on the faculty of the Clown
Conservatory. He holds a BFA in Theatre
Performance from Chapman University
and an MFA in Ensemble-Based Physical
Theatre from Dell’Arte International.
ABOUT THE CAST & CREW (CONTINUED)
Britt Lauer - (Stage Manager) This is
Britt’s first collaboration with We Players,
and she couldn’t be more pleased to be
working with such a supportive and
creative group of people! When not
traversing the grounds of Sutro Baths,
Britt is a performer and teacher. She’s a
proud member of Center Rep’s Young Rep
Training Program faculty and has loved
spending the past six summers with a
group of extraordinary young people. Britt
holds a BA in Theatre with an emphasis
in acting from Willamette University and
a Semester Credential from the London
Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
Recent Credits Include: Creep, Camp
Evil (Awesome Theatre), Christmas
Carol (Center Rep), QED (Indra’s Net).
Patrick Malabuyo - (Trombone) Patrick is
a San Francisco Bay Area born and bred
musician. Being the son of a professional
classical vocalist Jojo B. Malabuyo,
Patrick grew up with constant exposure
to music and the arts. Patrick picked up
the trombone at age twelve and studied
as well as performed throughout school
to the present day in the Bay Area music
scene. Patrick currently plays in the
Electric Squeezbox Orchestra led by Erik
Jekabson and freelances as a trombonist
and composer/arranger for various
bands, churches, shows and studio work.
Lauren Matley - (House Manager)
Since she was three years old, Lauren
has been dancing, singing and working
behind the scenes in theatre. Lauren
graduated in 2009 from UC Berkeley
with a degree in anthropology and
continues to study the performing arts of
many different cultures and traditions.
Lauren is a professional photographer
and is passionate about capturing the
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perfect moment in her event, travel and
theater photography. Lauren’s journey
with We Players began in 2010 when she
served as a volunteer audience guide for
Hamlet on Alcatraz. Since then, Lauren
has been involved with We Players as a
volunteer, House Manager and Special
Events Coordinator. Lauren is thrilled to
support your experience with We Players.
Nick Medina - (King, Walter) Nick is
pleased to join the ranks of We Players.
You may have caught him as Belinksy
in the Coast of Utopia trilogy, as Sir
Andrew in Twelfth Night, Stephano
in The Tempest, or as Inga, the blonde
flight attendant in Golden Dragon.
He is a Shotgun Players company
member, and hosts a monthly variety
show at Piano Fight. You can catch
Henry IV part One, his directorial
debut, this summer in Berkeley’s John
Hinkel Park with the Free Theater.
Olive Mitra - (The Old One/The
Illusionist) Olive is a spectre. A versatile
Bay Area musician, composer and
performer, Olive is usually in your
peripheral vision, a haunting mustachioed
figure you feel like you’ve seen before,
but can’t place until days later. Olive
works with Shotgun Players, California
Shakespeare Theater, Douglas Morrison
Theater and others as a composer and
Music Director, and has acted with San
Francisco Playhouse, Shotgun Players and
now with We Players. Olive is the bassist,
singer and band leader of the Eggplant
Casino, the finest Afro-Latin-DiscoCabaret ensemble in North America, and
bassist and improv singer/ rapper with
The Freeze. During the day, Olive works
at San Francisco State University teaching
Ethics and Engineering and working as
a freelance jack-of-all-trades. Olive is
very excited to work with We Players and
spend some magical time outside before
returning to his normal routine of lurking
in dark places with fancy cocktails.
Areyla Moss-Maguire - (Ondine Chorus,
Dog) Areyla is thrilled to join We Players
for the first time in this extraordinary
whimsical journey of Ondine! Originally
from the beautiful wine country of
Sebastopol, Areyla began performing
early with garage renditions of Disney
films for the neighbors. Evolving quickly
into living room fashion shows and then
children’s circus and performing arts with
Wavy Gravy at Camp Winnarainbow.
She went on to earn her B.A. in Theater
Arts at UC Santa Cruz, focusing mainly
on dance and choreography. Wanderlust
led her to Europe where Areyla
completed her graduate work in Jacques
Lecoq Physical Theater in Barcelona,
Spain. While in Spain, she worked as a
choreographer, dancer, and clown and
had her heart stolen by swing dance. She
followed Lindy Hop north to Sweden,
where she danced extensively, and then
settled in Copenhagen, Denmark to train
and work full time in contemporary
dance, while teaching the Charleston,
Jazz and Lindy. After teaching Physical
Theater, Mime and Mask at Copenhagen
Film and Theater School, Areyla has
returned stateside between performances
abroad to join We Players at the majestic
Sutro Baths for this spectacular ride!
She is very happy to be dancing along
the cliffs of her homeland again!
Libby Oberlin - (Ondine Chorus, Venus,
Violante) Libby last collaborated with
We Players as Penelope/the Siren in the
epic adventure: The Odyssey on Angel
Island. Recently, Libby played Jane in
Sonoma Stage Works’ production of
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Tennessee Williams’ Mooney’s Kid Don’t
Cry and is next playing Catherine in their
production of Proof, opening in August.
Libby’s comedic chops were on display
in the film Laid Off, an official selection
of the Cannes Independent Film Festival
and winner of Best Feature Comedy in
the Garden State Film festival. She spent
10 years performing and training in New
York City, favorite roles include the Nurse
in Romeo and Juliet at Soho Rep, Faith
in Kindertransport at The Provincetown
Playhouse, and tons of mediocre, but
fun off-Broadway plays. Libby gained
invaluable east coast training experiences
at Shakespeare & Company, Upright
Citizens Brigade Theater, HB Studios,
and Serious Play. Libby holds a Master’s
Degree in Educational Theater from NYU
and a Bachelor’s Degree in Theater Arts
from Hofstra University. Libby is Owner
& Education Director of The Theater
School, an educational theater company
committed to guiding young people
toward authentic self-expression, safe
emotional intelligence, and meaningful
shared discovery (www.thetheaterschool.
com). Endless awe, love, and appreciation
to Miller and our little Maeve.
Aaron William Priskorn - (Trumpet)
Aaron has played trumpet for more
than two decades, exploring many
genres of music while staying true to his
classically-trained roots. Because of his
unique sound, he is often sought after as
a guest artist and collaborator for many
various events/productions throughout
the SF Bay area. Aaron performs and
records with the rock band Melvoy and
is also a founder member of ‘Lip Service’
brass trio and 9 piece brass band ‘Sisu
BrassLand’. He also composes/performs/
music directs with Rapid Descent Theatre
Company. Aaron holds degrees from
ABOUT THE CAST & CREW (CONTINUED)
Mannes College of Music (BM) and the
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
(MM) and also teaches privately in SF.
Becky Robinson-Leviton - (Ondine
Chorus, Angelique) In 2011 Becky
graduated Cum Laude from California
State University, Long Beach with a
B.A. in Dance. While she was there,
she was the recipient of the 2008
ArtsBridge Scholarship and two CSULB
Dance Department Scholarships for
2007 and 2008. She began her career
as an apprentice with the Nannette
Brodie Dance Theatre before moving
to San Francisco, where she’s had
the great pleasure of performing at
Dance Mission Theater, ODC Theater,
KUST-STOFF Arts, and The Garage.
Becky currently performs with Colin
Epstein, Kinetech Arts, and We
Players, in addition to being the inhouse Stage Manager for the Jewish
Community Center of San Francisco.
Kaia Rose - (Ondine Dancer) Kaia began
dancing at a young age, experimenting
with many dance styles. The Bay Area
has been her home for the past 7 years
and she is very excited to participate in
her first, large scale dance production.
Kaia is immensely grateful for her
friends and family, who have supported
her throughout her journey. Big love.
Ava Roy - (Director, Producer, Ondine)
Ava has been staging large-scale
site-integrated events since she was
very small. In the early days, the cast
and crew involved her two gangs of
imaginary friends and grand battles
staged throughout the grassy fields and
quiet forests of western Massachusetts.
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These days, she gets to play with real
people - truly gifted and generous artists
- in some of the most dramatic and
gorgeous settings in the Bay Area. For
twenty years she has been performing
Shakespeare, including the roles of Juliet,
Olivia, Henry V, Mercutio, Feste, Viola,
Lady Macbeth, Cordelia, and Lear’s fool.
This time round, it’s a joy to play the
water spirit Ondine in this sea-inspired
production at Sutro Baths. Since founding
We Players in 2000, Ava Roy has served
the company as director/producer and
as a performer. She is an alumna of
Stanford University where she earned
her BA in a self-designed major: Ritual
and Performance in Aesthetic Education,
2003. Since 2008, Ava has pioneered
unique partnerships with both the
National Park Service and the California
State Park system, creating large-scale
performances at park sites throughout the
Bay Area. Her unique style of interactive,
site-integrated performance aims to
highlight the historical and natural
treasures of the local landscape and
encourage new ways of experiencing
and appreciating these places.
Eitan Spiegel - (Sousaphone) Eitan is
a low brass player who was born and
raised in San Francisco. He is very
excited to play sousaphone (tuba) in
We Players’ production of Ondine. He
is currently a senior at Ruth Asawa
School of the Arts and is about to
attend the University of Southern
California as a performance major.
Benjamin Stowe - (Hans Von Wittenstein
Zu Wittenstein) - Benjamin is very
proud and humbled that this is his
fourth production with We Players. You
may have seen him in other We Players
productions including Macbeth at Fort
Point, Twelfth Night on Hyde Street
pier, and Hamlet on Alcatraz. Other
credits include The Glass Menagerie
with 6th Street Theater, The Lion in
Winter with Spreckles Performing
Arts Center, The Loin and The Fox
with Central Works, and Romeo and
Juliet with Lake Tahoe Shakespeare
festival. He has also performed with
several North Bay Theaters in All the
Great Sports (Abridged), The Three
Musketeers, A Long Days Journey into
Night, Hamlet, Moonlight and Magnolias,
American Buffalo, Welcome Home
Jenny Sutter, Equus, The Baltimore
Waltz, Noises Off, and All My Sons.
17
Eli Wirtschafter - (Bertram, Violin) Eli
has been caught acting while armed with
a music instrument on many stages and
non-stages, including the Ashby Stage
(Our Town and Sea of Reeds, Shotgun
Players), John Hinkel Park (Road to
Hades, Shotgun Players), the Durham
Theater (Woody Guthrie’s American
Song at UC Berkeley), the Julia Morgan
Theater (Fiddler on the Roof, YMTC),
and on a chain hoist in a factory, flying
over the audience, with his theater/
music troupe RADIX. He loves multidimensional, multi-sensory experiences,
and he’s delighted to perform with We
Players. Eli is 66% water. radixtroupe.com
DRAMATURGY
In the flood of hapless love stories and
interminable farces the Western world
has produced it may be a daunting task
to fish out one little play known as
Ondine. Like its writer Jean Giraudoux,
Ondine has found its memory often
blotted out by time. Yet, history always
has its own mysterious means of
soaking into the ground and rooting
its legacy in unexpected places, and
Ondine’s provenance is no exception.
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux was born into
quaint French provinciality in a small
town called Bellac. Forever enamored
with its natural and bucolic graces, he
was forced to leave with a father who
engineered roads and collected taxes,
before ultimately landing in boarding
school. Thirty years later, after an
established career as both a veteran of
World War I and a diplomat with the
French Foreign Service, Giraudoux
finished his eleventh play: Ondine.
It was 1938, in the autumn of his life
and the upswing of his reign as a
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playwright. The play was an instant
hit, even lauded as “one of the most
beautiful plays we can imagine ever
seeing” by critics who markedly hated
his previous stabs at literature.
The American theatrical circuit has
only produced Giraudoux and Maurice
Valency’s adaptation a handful of times,
notably first premiering on Broadway
in 1954. We Players is honored to
reintroduce theatrical audiences to
this rarely performed gem. Though this
exact work may be unknown to most,
it is certainly a familiar tale. We would
bet the sea you’ve come across Ariel,
also known as The Little Mermaid, at
least once in your lifetime. Both Hans
Christen Anderson’s original 1837 tale,
Disney’s 1989 film, and our Ondine ripple
from a similar source: a late 14th century
tale Chronique de Melusine written
by poet-composer Jean D’Arras for the
enjoyment and political education of
a French duchess’ children. In D’Arras’
telling, Melusine is a water nymph found
by and enamored with a knight-errant.
She consents to marrying him, but only
on the condition that he never see her on
Saturdays. Over time, suspicion gets the
better of him, and he comes upon her on
a Saturday and discovers her in a bath
with a long mermaid tail. Humiliated,
she runs away never to return. If none
of this sounds familiar, you’ve probably
been holding onto it unknowingly: your
iconic mermaid from the Starbucks
cup is, in fact, this same Melusine.
Centuries after Chronique de Melusine,
the Swiss-German scholar and alchemist
Paracelsus essentialized the concept
of the elementals: chaotic spirits that
possess air, water, earth, and fire.
Following his research in the realms of
animism and anthropomorphism, he
names each element’s soul: gnome for
earth; sylph for air; salamander for fire;
and undine for water. Undine comes from
unda, or wave, and means little wave:
and yet, fictions fascination with this
freshly minted spirit creates a big splash.
In the early 19th century, French-German
Baron Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte
Fouqué, wrote a novella which sent the
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world into a flurry: Undine. This 1811
retelling of the Melusine myth provides a
deeper tragedy for this mortal-immortal
entanglement: adultery. Undine was
translated, adapted and included in
libraries across the Western world: artists
were possessed to sketch flowing figures,
composers were throttled to churn out
librettos and operas, and 100 years hence,
our French diplomat and playwright
decided to dip his toe into the pool.
On site at Sutro Baths, we situate our
retelling with feet on two timeless shores,
the sands of the Middle Ages and the
ruins of Adolph Sutro’s estate. Today, We
Players works in homage to the purity
of our myths and our waters and in
deference to our impending droughts and
amnesias. And so we urge you, as you
pad back to the land of men, before that
next double-flush or hour-long shower,
to please remember the mermaids.
- Gabriel DeLeon
SOIL TO STUDIO TO SITE
We Players’ Aesthetic Education
Program (AEP) aims to share our
core practices, inspire creativity in
young people, and inform community
dialogue about the history, ecology, and
resonant themes of our project sites.
Our partnership with Sasha Duerr’s
Soil to Studio class at California College
of the Arts achieved all of these goals,
while significantly contributing to the
costume design of Ondine at Sutro.
We were introduced to Sasha through
our connections at CCA; We Players has
offered a handful of AEP programs through
the college since 2011, ranging from oneoff lectures to a series of outside-expert
workshops, to our Visual Arts Director
co-teaching a course whose final projects
were site-integrated art installations on
Angel Island. Sasha Duerr is an artist
and educator who works with organic
dyes and fibers, focusing on the creative
reuse of materials, and reviving placebased recipes. She is a faculty member in
Textiles at the California College of the
Arts, where she develops curriculum in
Slow Fashion, Slow Textiles and Social
Practice. Sparks were flying during our
first conversation about using natural
plant dyes for the fabrics of our Ondines…
the resulting silks are marvelous, and
achieve costume designer Brooke
Jenning’s vision for the character(s).
For our first workshop session, we shared
an inspiring morning in and around Sutro
Baths: awakening our senses with an
extensive meditation; exploring the space
with varying intentions; sampling the pH
of the waters from the spring, the baths, the
catch basin, and the Pacific; and discussing
20
the creative inspiration for the siteintegrated theatre project, and the colors
and textures that would be appropriate
for the students’ textiles project.
Sasha supported her students in
researching coastal plants that could
yield varieties of blues and greys. And
we partnered with the Golden Gate
National Parks Conservancy to pick
samples of these plants from Lands End
(see p. 27). The students picked some
of the Indigo they had grown in their
school garden, and we all met at Ocean
Beach - harvest in hand, for a morning
of salt water-dye bath experiments.
The materials used included ice plant,
brome, sour grass, mallow, cypress cones,
eucalyptus bark, charcoal and iron/ rust.
The students continued their work
back at the CCA textile studio, dying
over 200 yards of material. They
passed off sensuous organic ombres
just before their spring break, as
Brooke prepared to cut her patterns.
Many thanks to everyone who
supported this inspiring collaboration!
About the Costumes
As discussions about the relationship
between the historical, cultural, and
environmental elements of performing
ONDINE in the Sutro District flowed
between our production team, it became
unequivocally clear that the Ondine
characters were our direct link to the
natural elements surrounding our
performance. Within the context of
the original fairy tale, the Ondine’s are
water spirits comparable to mermaids or
nymphs. The visual of a mermaid onstage
would not do Girardoux’s play nor the site
justice, but rather create a kitsch fantasy
of nature. Focusing on the relationships
between the water, the earth, the life that
cyclically grows and dies, provided a more
appropriate arc for our Ondines, and
echoes the history of the Sutro Baths as a
21
key influence for the performance. Thus
taking inspiration from the flourishing and
unique landscape in and around the baths,
the concept for the Ondines’ costumes
grew directly out of the color pallets of
the rich sand and stone, contrasted with
the constant sterling glare of the ocean.
These textures and colors were realized
through Sasha’s Soil to Studio class,
where we were able to create natural
dyes from the native Sutro plant life.
Just as the Ondine’s create a link to the
local landscape, the rest of the characters
help demonstrate the varying relationships
we have with nature, from the fisherman
and washerwoman as salt of the earth
archetypes to the courtiers frivolously
taking advantage of the natural beauty
around them through furs, feathers,
and scoffs at the natural world.
- Brooke Jennings
NOTES ON THE MUSIC
Welcome to the musical world of Ondine
at Sutro! The heyday of Sutro Baths,
around the turn of the century, was an
exciting time in the world of music and
one that melds particularly well with
the world of Giraudoux’s Ondine. In
classical music, the era of romanticism
was entering its latest phase, in which
composers were exploring the limits of
conventional tonality. The impressionist
movement was in full swing, exemplified
by the French composers Claude
Debussy and Maurice Ravel, both of
whom would write piano works based
on the Ondine myth. Opera was at it’s
height of popularity in the western
world. Giuseppe Verdi would write his
last opera and Giacomo Puccini was
at the pinnacle of his career. Here,
at home in the US of A, ragtime was
the popular dance music of the day, a
22
mix of European form and harmony,
and African American syncopation.
Tune in to the score of Ondine at Sutro
and listen for inspirations and influences
of these various musical traditions.
* Charlie Gurke won TBA’s Award for Best
Original Score, for his composition for
We Players’ Macbeth at Fort Point, 2014 *
FROM THE COMPANY DIRECTORS
Before our opening ceremony with our
cast and crew on March 8, before the first
production meeting in mid January, we
had already invested well over a year in
detailed planning and permitting with the
National Park Service. And before that,
we each had love affairs and built strong
relationships with both play and place.
Giraudoux’s Ondine explores our
human relationship with nature, and the
elemental forces play center stage in our
production. We are continually learning so
much from the ever-present, constantly
rhythmic and changing water. Throughout,
it has been a blessed process. Rehearsals
were kissed by the sun and unseasonably
warm days with light wind. The fog
rolled in on the morning of our first day
of tech, and provided the missing link
to a major inspiration for costumes and
story-shaping. The sun broke through once
again for our first public performances,
and on the night of our first preview,
three coyotes passed within 10 yards
of the handful of crew finishing pack
up and production notes. We take the
mercurial weather patterns and wildlife
encounters as happy omens, as visitations
23
from the trickster storyteller muse.
While the love story between Ondine
and Hans is primary, there are many
other layers to Giraudoux’s play. We
further explore our human relationship
with nature in our Aesthetic Education
Programs (see “Our Costumes” feature)
and our visual art exhibitions at San
Francisco Maritime National Historical
Park throughout 2015. And we invite
you to join us for an inter-religious,
all-traditions ritual honoring and
praying for the health of our waters,
in the Sutro Baths on June 20th.
We Players strives to connect people
with their local landscapes through
site-integrated theatre. We welcome
your participation and support as we
shape and share our art throughout
the Bay Area and beyond.
Health and happiness to all!
- Lauren Chavez and Ava Roy
2015 CONTRIBUTORS LIST
$10,000 +
Timothy Jordan
Adam & Rebecca Elegant
Richard Kalish
The Wallace Alexander Gerbode
Foundation
Linda Khym
Rivka Gordon & Donnell
Vannoppen
Peter & Ruth Laibson
Peter & Natasha Hopkinson
Dana & Lloyd Taylor
Michael Miller
Howard Levitt
Kathryn Murrell
Fred Lonsdale
Miller & Elizabeth Oberlin
Dylan Lundy
James Robinson
Milon Mackey
Alisa Mallari Tu
Marc Meyer
Anonymous
$5,000 +
Paul Haahr & Susan Karp
Wm. Thomas Lockard & Alix
Marduel
Anonymous
$2,500 +
Drew Baglino & Lacy Caruthers
Fleishhacker Foundation
Google, Inc.
Leah Molinari-Jones
$250 +
Gordon Murray
Keith Pituley
Karen Musalo
David Anderman
Jeannette & Roger Pennington
John Danner & Nancy
Pietrafesa
Stephanie Rudd
Douglas & Gail Dolton
Doris Myers & Gary Downing
Richard & Sandra Holden
Jay Gardner
$1,000 +
Come Lague & Charlene Li
Michael & Lisa Nash
Blue Mudbhary
David & Jean Bullard
Sam & Stephanie Parker
Kerry Francis Deloitte
Benjamin & Roberta Rose
Julian S. Eldridge
M. Scot & Catherine Sherman
Kenneth Krechmer & Elaine
Baskin
Nicholas Sher
Stewart Mott Foundation
Tom Virsik
Alan Olejniczak
Fred & Kathleen Taylor
Paul Epstein & Jennifer Traub
Sophia Kingman
Charles & Jane Long
Christopher Van Dyke
$100 +
Zellerbach Family Foundation
Jasvir Nagra
Richard & Victoria Zitrin
Donald Archer & Noreen Lee
Axelson
$500 +
Vicki Bell
Stephen Beck & Jane Baxter
John Carnahan
Amy & Pam Brees
Linda L. Chavez
Maureen Gannon
James Davidson
Tracy & Brian Haughton
Debbie Degutis
24
Harriet Moss
Shane Byrne
Sandra Spence
Ruth E Tringham
N. Vite
Kimberly Walesh
Lily Chih-Yuan Yang
In Kind Contributors
9 Catering, Adventure Cat,
American Conservatory
Theatre, Arizmendi Bakery,
Bar Tartine, Blanc Boutique,
Castello di Amorosa,
Copperfield’s Books, Costco,
Cotton Sheep, Cupcake
Karma, Dark Gardens, Far
West Fungi, Farley’s West,
Field of Greens, Fruit Tree,
Lagunitas Brewing Company,
La Med Noe, Ma Cherie et
Moi, Marin Theatre Company,
Marin Sun Farms, Mellows,
OCSC Sailing, Osmosis Day
Spa Sanctuary, Panorama
Bakery, Portobello Hats, The
Episcopal Church of Saint
John the Evangelist, Safeway,
Spring Hill Jersey Cheese,
Trader Joe’s, Urban Ore,
Workshop
SUPPORT WE
We are ever humbled by the reality that ticket sales do not cover the costs of creating siteintegrated theatre. We are committed to paying our artists and crew for their good work, while
continuing to develop and refine our programming that connects people with place through full
sensory aesthetic experiences.
We need your help to continue doing this work that elicits praise from press, enthusiasm from
audience, and deep joy in collaborators. We need your help to thrive.
Please support We Players by making a tax-deductible contribution today.
WePlayers.org/support
We Players
1462 14th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
OTHER AVENUES
A Worker-Owned Grocery Cooperative
3930 Judah @ 44th • 415.661.7475
25
AESTHETIC EDUCATION PROGRAM
We Players crafts unique workshop
experiences and shares exercises
honed over almost 15 years of siteintegrated performance, in an effort to
engage and train the creative problem
solvers of the next generation.
The pillars of We Players’ Aesthetic
Education Program (AEP) are unique
in their focus on creativity, critical
observation and problem-solving.
We Players currently offers 90–180
minute workshops on school grounds
or at our project sites (see p. 24–25 to
read about one of our AEP programs
for Ondine at Sutro). We are expert at
adapting to the needs of a particular
group and space. As our company grows,
we are investing in our teaching artists,
via in-house workshops and trainings
with outside experts. We plan to scale up
our AEP program over the next five years,
training more and more teaching artists
and investing in curriculum development
while expanding our programming.
If you are interested in supporting
We Players AEP, or are an educator
who would like to collaborate, please
write to [email protected].
26
THREE PILLARS of the
AESTHETIC EDUCATION
PROGRAM
SENSORY
AWARENESS
ACTIVATED
STORYTELLING
HEALTHY &
COLLABORATIVE
RELATIONSHIPS
COME AGAIN
Water, water, everywhere...
Volunteer at Lands End
Throughout the two year process of
developing Ondine at Sutro, reports
of potable water scarcity around the
world, the drought here in California,
and forecasts of the effects of global
warming have been in the news daily.
Creating site-integrated art by the
water at Sutro and at San Francisco
Maritime National Historical Park has
reinforced our attention to the precious
nature of this elemental resource.
Add your vital contribution to our
Parks and our community.
Join We Players and local faith and
community leaders for an inter-religious,
all-traditions ritual to honor the lifeblood of our planet and pray for the
health and happiness of our waters.
Saturday, June 20th 2015
More details forthcoming
WePlayers.org/upcoming
27
We Players is thankful to collaborate
with The Golden Gate National Parks
Conservancy for Ondine at Sutro!
Join our team in saying thanks to this
great organization and honoring this
spectacular place by volunteering for
an afternoon! The Parks Conservancy
offers ongoing park stewardship
throughout the year; this latespring/
summer season we will be weeding
invasive plants at Lands End.
Saturdays 5/9 or 5/30
1-4pm
Meet at the Lands End trailhead
RSVP is not required, but encouraged:
[email protected].
MARITIME LABORATORY
As part of We Players’ five year
cooperative agreement with San
Francisco Maritime National Historical
Park (the first partnership of it’s kind in
the nation!), we are collaborating with
a wide range of artists, creating work
from diverse vantage points in a variety
of media as an exercise in exploring the
many layers of story within the site.
The extended venue of San Francisco
Maritime NHP, including the Maritime
Museum building, Municipal Pier,
Hyde Street Pier, the historic vessels,
Victorian Park, and Aquatic Park and
lagoon serves as a laboratory for We
Players’ experiments in site-integrated
programming, 2012-2017. Projects
include the generation of new theatre
works inspired by classical literature
and Greek mythology, music concerts,
dance, staged readings, visual art exhibits,
conversations, parties, and workshops.
This long-term residency allows us to
deepen and further stretch our practice.
We look forward to sharing a wide
variety of experiences with you in 2015!
28
A New Deal: Continuing the Legacy
of Maritime Art in the Park
On display through June 17, 2015
Throughout the Maritime Museum, 900
Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94109
In the spirit of the Maritime Museum’s
history as a site of artistic engagement,
We Players has invited eight Bay Area
artists to produce site-specific works that
engage maritime history, ecology, and the
heritage of the museum. Artists Torreya
Cummings, Alicia Escott, Matt Gordon,
Justin Hurty, Monica Lundy, Raphael
Noz, Brandon Walls Olsen and Wafaa
Yasin are all displaying works. Curated
by Visual Arts Director Patrick Gillespie.
Join the artists and We Players for
a panel discussion at the Presidio
Dialogues on Thursday, May 28.
This free event will take place at the
Presidio Officer’s Club from 7-8pm.
Reservations at http://www.
presidioofficersclub.com
Canciones del Mar: Songs of the Sea
Vessels for Improvisation
Saturday, July 18, 2015
Saturday, October 25, 2015
Nautical music aboard historic
tall ship Balclutha
Live music and dance
improvisation aboard the historic
ships at Hyde Street Pier
Back by popular demand, We Players
presents a new selection of Latin sea
music songs curated by Music Director,
Charlie Gurke. Three of the Bay Area’s
most exciting vocalists perform an
intimate concert, singing songs about the
sea, boats, love, and life, drawn from the
folkloric and popular music traditions of
Latin America and the Caribbean.
Featuring ROVA Saxophone Quartet &
inkBoat dancers. We Players is thrilled
to offer this unique program for the
third year in a row. Performers with
decades of collective improvisation
experience, engage with the historic
ships, the elements and one another.
CD Release!
WePlayers.org/upcoming
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HEROS AND MONSTERS
Heroes and Monsters live among us.
Join We Players this fall to
encounter them up close.
Inspired by the ancient epic Beowulf,
performers Ava Roy and Nathaniel
Justiniano co-create an original piece
of site-integrated physical theater. Ava
brings her expertise in integrating story,
language, movement, and music into
immersive, site-specific experiences.
Natty is the founding Artistic Director
of Naked Empire Bouffon Company
and brings his expertise in devising
physical, image-rich, and grotesque
theatre that highlights society’s
blind spots. Fall 2015 performances
will mark phase one of a multi-year
exploration and development process.
Offered through our Presenting
Series, the project will occur in a
soon-to-be-announced historical
site, and is also designed for intimate
performances in private homes.
If you would like to host an evening of
theatre in or around your home, please
write to [email protected].
WE PLAYERS WISH LIST
• Mac Book Pros, iPads, iPhones
• Frequent flier miles
• Large residence or mixed-use
warehouse space near BART
• Local produce and artisanal fine foods
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