Written by Liv Dunbar, Dalissa Duran, Amoy Gill, Jordan Mayo, Meraly Morales, Hailey Petrus, Elena Reyes, and Kyora Wallace
Directed By Ron Russell
Cast (in order of appearance):
Al Slack: Anthony Vaughn Merchant
Javi Huerta: Xavier Pacheco
Petra Benoit-Kiil: Liv Dunbar
Penelope Stockmann: Margaret Ivey
Tasha Stockmann: Melissa Friedman
Codi Benoit-Kiil: Sarin Monae West
Morten Kiil: James Wallert
Production Stage Manager: Molly Minor Eustis
Sets by Chika Shimizu
Lights by Daisy Long
Costumes by Betsy Rugg-Hinds
Projections by Cinthia Chen
Sound by Ron Russell
Video Supervisor: Qixin Zhang
Assistant Director: Dalissa Duran
Script Supervisor: Liv Dunbar
Assistant Costume Designer: Khaliek Bethune
Sound Engineer: Osaro Ogedengbe
Master Electrian: Preston Shelsta
Producer: NYFA’s NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theatre
Producer: Bill Martin
Script Development Sponsored by NBC Universal
An Actor’s Equity/Theatre for Young Audiences Production
BIOS
Liv Dunbar (Petra Benoit-Kiil/Playwright/Script Supervisor) is an Epic alum, teaching artist and board member, who’s been working with Epic Theatre Ensemble since 2015. She graduated from Smith College in 2023 with a bachelors in theatre and archaeology. She’s been involved in multiple Smith productions, such as Stoop Pigeons, Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, and Poof!. After her ungrad career, she returned to Epic, where she’s helped craft shows like FixED and now Enemies as a writer and actor. Liv plans on furthering her craft in playwriting and directing and hopes to create a show surrounding ancestral veneration and Caribbean history.
Melissa Friedman (Tasha Stockmann) is Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Epic Theatre Ensemble. She is an actor, director, producer, teaching artist, and mentor with Epic. Epic acting credits include: The World Premieres of The Winning Side and A More Perfect Union, the NY Premieres of Hannah and Martin, Einstein’s Gift, Habitat and A Hard Heart, as well as Macbeth, Born with Teeth, Measure for Measure, Othello, Time and the Conways, Little Eyolf, Pillars of Society (in Norway), and Mend by Dominique Morisseau. Film/Tv credits include “Santa Smokes”, “All The Atheists Say Amen” & “American Novel”. Directing credits include over 20 Shakespeare Remix Productions. On behalf of Epic, Melissa received the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award for the Remix program from First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House. She co-wrote Epic’s Citizen Artist Curriculum Guide and has taught arts integration residencies in ELA, History and Science classrooms at Epic’s partner Public High Schools. Melissa is a mentor with the Arthur Miller Foundation and a city-wide Professional Development facilitator with the NYC Department of Education’s Theatre Program. Melissa received her BA from Oberlin College and is an improviser trained with the Upright Citizens Brigade and a classically trained actor with an MFA from the Old Globe /University of San Diego.
Margaret Ivey (Penelope Stockmann) is delighted to be working with Epic, where she is a teaching artist and was last seen in Measure For Measure. Her Off-Broadway credits include The Misanthrope (Molière in the Park), Season 10 of The Fire This Time Festival, and workshops with Roundabout, MTC, and Ensemble Studio Theater. Favorite regional roles include Perdita in The Winter’s Tale (Alley Theatre), Jane Eyre in Jane Eyre (Cincinnati Playhouse and Milwaukee Rep), Zoe in The Niceties (Contemporary American Theatre Festival), Anabella/Pamela/Margaret in The 39 Steps (Merrimack Repertory Theatre) and Agnès in The House That Will Not Stand (Horizon Theater). TV/Film credits include “The Blacklist,” “Madam Secretary,” and “Prodigal Son.” She trained at the University of Southern California, the British American Drama Academy, and the American Theatre Wing’s SpringboardNYC Program. Margaret is also a teaching artist with Theatre For A New Audience. www.margaretivey.com.
Anthony Vaughn Merchant (Al Slack) is an Actor, Director, Teaching Artist, and Fight Choreographer. Anthony has been seen on many stages across New York, from centuries old classical works to brand new devised pieces and everything in between. On screen they can be found on Netflix, HBO and HULU in shows like “Crashing”, “Happy” and “Luke Cage”. Anthony’s vocal work has also extended to the voice over and podcast world where he was part of the Indie Series Award Nominated “Visionaries Audio Drama,” as well as “Goddess” and even a guest spot on the “Block Talk” podcast. As a teaching artist with Epic, Bam and the Public Theatre. Anthony loves bringing stories and using the craft of story telling to make learning more tangible and connected to the people in the room.
Xavier Pacheco (Javi Huerta) Xavier has been an actor his entire life. He went to a performing arts high school where he graduated as Valedictorian of his class. In 2013, he won the English-Speaking-Union National Shakespeare Competition. That summer he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and played a lead role in a Public Works’ production of Shakespeare in the Park, at only 16 years old. Xavier went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre at Muhlenberg College. In 2022, he received his Master of Fine Arts from NYU Tisch Graduate Acting Program,
where he was also the youngest in his class. Credits include: MCC: Bees & Honey. The Public Theater: Richard III. Public Works: The Tempest. NYU Graduate Acting: Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, Romeo & Juliet. Epic Theatre Ensemble: Hamlet & Ophelia, Much Ado About Nothing. New York Classical Theatre: The Winter’s Tale.
James Wallert (Morten Kiil) is a Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Epic Theatre Ensemble. James is an actor, writer, director, producer, and educator. As an actor with Epic, James has appeared Off-Broadway in Richard III, Measure for Measure, Othello, Dispatches from (A)mended America, Macbeth, Mahida’s Extra Key to Heaven, A Hard Heart, Widowers’ Houses, Einstein’s Gift, Hannah and Martin, Little Eyolf, Habitat, and Time and the Conways. TV and Film credits include The Snakes (HBO), Time of Your Life (FOX), Future States (ITV), Romeo & Juliet, The Traumatist, and Ambition’s Debt. In 2015, James received a Smithsonian Fellowship at the National Air and Space Museum to research his play The Winning Side. He has directed touring productions of Laundry City, Building Blocks, Default, Nothing About Us, Between the Lines, FixED or You Do Not Exist, and Why Teach for Epic’s youth Ensemble as well as Macbeth, Henry VI, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Henry IV, and Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare Remix program (winner of the 2009 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award). MFA- Acting, Old Globe/University of San Diego; BA- Theatre, University of Kansas. He is the author of Citizen Artists: a Guide to Helping Young People Make Plays that Change the World (Routledge Press).
Sarin Monae West (Codi Benoit-Kiil) is so thrilled for this Epic debut! After falling in love with Epic in 2018, Sarin has been proud of, and grateful for, the opportunity to teach, play, and grow in this fantastic community. Thank you for being part of this amazing experiment! @sarinmonae for more about what’s next!
Ron Russell (Director/Sound) is a Co-Founder and Executive Director of Epic Theatre Ensemble. MFA-Directing, LSU; BA-Neuroscience, Oberlin College. Ron has directed extensively in NYC including 19 Off-Broadway productions (11 for Epic), and countless stagings of student work through Epic’s REMIX program; highlights include directing award-winning productions of J.B. Priestley’s Time and the Conways and Kate Fodor’s Hannah and Martin, Shaw’s Widower’s Houses in a new adaptation he co-wrote with Godfrey Simmons, Jr., an Epic NEXT touring show called OVERDRIVE, and James Wallert’s The Winning Side. Ron is also extremely proud of he and Epic’s collaboration with solo creator Nilaja Sun, whose No Child… and Pike St. have toured the world, with Ron doing sound design for both as well as directing Pike St. As an educator and arts education administrator, Ron has served over 50,000 NYC public school students at over 80 schools. Epic’s work with these youth has been recognized by the White House, the National Endowment for the Arts, an OBIE Award, the International Ibsen Award, the Municipal Arts Society, and several New York City mayors.
Molly Minor Eustis (Production Stage Manager) This is Molly’s 8th show with Epic Theatre Ensemble, including: The Winning Side, Nilaja Sun’s Pike St., Measure For Measure, and over 20 productions with Epic’s Shakespeare Remix after-school program. Other New York productions include The Play That Goes Wrong (New World Stages); Between Riverside and Crazy, Bluebird, and Dusk Rings a Bell (Atlantic); Orlando (Classic Stage); The Language of Trees, Old Acquaintance (Roundabout); The Insurgents (LAByrinth); Telephone (Foundry); Colin Quinn: Unconstitutional (Cherry Lane & tour); Najla Said’s Palestine (NYTW/Twilight); Dan Hoyle’s The Real Americans and Tings Dey Happen; Hell House (Les Freres Corbusier). B.A., College of Charleston; M.F.A., Columbia University; New Orleans native.
Chika Shimizu (Sets) is a New York based scenic designer. REGIONAL: Pacific Overtures (Signature Theatre, DC), The Great Wave (Berkeley Rep), Sanctuary City (Pasadena Playhouse), RENT (Paper Mill Playhouse), Moriarty (Cleveland Playhouse), Somewhere (Geva Theatre), The Great Leap (Portland Center Stage), Vietgone, Tiger Style! (TheatreSquared), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Yale Rep, CT Critics Circle Award Nom). OFF-BROADWAY: Bite Me (WP Theatre), Belfast Girls (Irish Rep), The Naturalists (The Pond Theatre Company), The Winning Side (Epic Theatre Ensemble), Awake (The Barrow Group), Salesman之死(Yangtze Repertory Theatre). INSTALLATION: Another Dream, Un(re)solved AR installation (Ado Ato Pictures, 2022 SXSW Innovation Award, Emmy Award, Currently On Tour). MFA from Yale School of Drama. chikashimizu.com
Daisy Long (Lights) is a lighting designer for theater, opera, concert and dance. Originally from Cambridge, MA, she now lives in New York City. New York credits include: The Shed, Keen Company, BAM, Atlantic, The Barrow Group Primary Stages, Abingdon Theater Company, Mason Holdings, HERE Arts Center, LaMaMa, NYU, AMERINDA, TADA! Youth Theater (National Youth Arts Award for Outstanding Lighting for The Perfect Monster), Manhattan School of Music. Regional credits include: Everyman Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, the Alliance, Speakeasy Stage Company (IRNE Award for Best Lighting for The Scottsboro Boys), Kitchen Theatre Company, Yale, Connecticut College, Middlebury, Smith, Interlochen. She is the lighting director for Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana, a Roundabout teaching artist, and a USA 829 member. She also writes gentle fantasy stories about farming, teaching and tavern-keeping under the name “James Falcon”.
Betsy Rugg-Hinds (Costumes) most recently worked with Epic as the Costume Designer for The Winning Side. Betsy also works as Director, Wardrobe for RWS Global, with designs for Step One Dance Company. Past credits include The Drowsy Chaperone, The Peterborough Players. In Tandem, and Musicology, Step One Dance Company.
Cinthia Chen (Projections) is an interdisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn and Taiwan. She has created and developed original work through Theater Mitu, Mabou Mines, Fault Line Theater, Target Margin Theater, Corkscrew Theater Festival, and Asian American Arts Alliance. She is an adjunct artist at Theater Mitu and co-facilitates their Hybrid Arts Lab fellowship. Cinthia also works as a video and projections designer and was recognized at La MaMa’s Design Fest 2020 and USITT Prague Quadrennial 2023. Recent projects include: Salesman之死 (Connelly Theater), The Healing Shipment (La Mama), Where Are You? (Mabou Mines), Specially Processed American Me (Dixon Place), Matilda the Musical (Buskirk-Chumley Theater), and american (tele)visions (NYTW, asst. designer). www.cinthiachen.com
Qixin Zhang (Video Supervisor) is a media artist and engineer, seamlessly blending art and technology to create transformative experiences. With a diverse cultural background encompassing both east and west influences, her work reflects a harmonious fusion of creative perspectives. Qixin’s art bridges dimensions, utilizing media in innovative ways to captivate audiences and inspire connections. Guided by empathy and a passion for cultural exchange, they strive to leave an indelible mark on the world through their imaginative and unseen creations. Carnegie Mellon University, 2023, MFA. Website: ultrablack.xyz | @ultrablacki
Dalíssa Duran (Playwright/Assistant Director) is a full time employee for Epic Theatre Ensemble, as an Alumni Producing Manager, teaching artist, and mentor. They were a part of the eight Epic Alums that wrote Enemies, and are now the assistant director. They also AD in productions such as Antigone, and 21 Chump Street in undergrad. Directed See Me and Novaturient plays written by Epic high-schoolers for the I am Epic Playwriting festival. Currently Dalíssa is leading multiple in school residences and an afterschool Remix in a middle school! They are first-generation, and tries to lead their life and teachings through social justice and art.
Khaliek Bethune (Assistant Costume Designer) is a New York City-based fashion stylist and alum of the Fashion Institute of Technology. As a stylist, Khaliek hopes to utilize the power of wardrobe as a creative outlet to showcase self-expression, social activism, and inclusivity in the entertainment industry.
Amoy Gill (Playwright) is a filmmaker and photographer from Brooklyn, New York. They received their Bachelors Degree in Film Studies and Africana Studies from Muhlenberg College in 2020. Amoy works as a Film educator for middle and high school students in Pennsylvania and New York City. They thrive in spaces where they are helping students develop their own artistic styles and find their voices through social justice and art. They are a 2023 Artist2Artist fellow. Amoy also works as the alumni program manager for Epic Theatre Ensemble.
Kyora Wallace (Playwright) is a playwright and actress from the Bronx and has worked with Epic for almost 10 years. She works for Epic part-time and a teaching artist is currently the lead writer, co-director and a cast member of First Degree Burns.
Actors’ Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional Actors and Stage Managers. Equity fosters the art of live theatre as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, improving working conditions and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. #EquityWorks
The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre (Producer) provides grants to encourage and support the creation of digital, film, music, and live or online theatre content that reflects the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women. The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre (“Women’s Fund”), administered by the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in partnership with the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), is a signature initiative that addresses the underrepresentation of women in the entertainment industry. The Fund provides grants to encourage and support the creation of content that reflects the voices and perspectives of all who identify as women.
Bill Martin (Producer) co-produces and underwrites plays and movies, winning Best Feature Film in the American Black Film Festival in 2017 with Devin Haqq’s Ambition’s Debt. Jocelyn Ajami’s Queen of the Gypsies won Best Dance in Film at New York’s Lincoln Center Festival. Mustafa Kaymak’s Green won in the category of Best Short Film at the 2019 Sundance Festival. Oliver McGoldrick’s Keeners will enter Sundance and other film festivals in 2024. Bill is also producing White 9, with Nilou Safinya and Heather Raffo, a film on the origins of the Independent Living movement, scheduled for release in August, 2024, the 50th anniversary of Stavros ILC. Representative plays Bill has supported in development, and/or produced include: Nilaja Sun’s 2007 Obie-Award-winning No Child… and Sarah Ruhl’s 2010 award winning Passion Play (both Epic Theatre Ensemble, NYC); Mona Mansour’s Vagrant Trilogy (MOSAIC Theatre, Washington, DC, 2017); in co-production with the Smithsonian Institute, James Wallert’s 2018 The Winning Side (Epic); DRUID Theatre’s Richard III (Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival,
2019); Einat Weizman and Dareen Tatour’s I, Dareen, T (USA Premiere, 2022); and the 2023 film version of Heather Raffo’s play, 9 Parts of Desire.
Plays Bill has written and had staged include: The Alchemist of Jerusalem – Mosaic Theatre Company at the Washington, DC Kennedy Center’s 2018 Page to Stage Festival; Jimmy Crow Plays Golf One Day – New York’s LARK Theatre, 2018; The Investor – produced on Zoom during the first Covid 19 epidemic by the EPIC Theatre Ensemble, March, 2021; El Jefe, featured
at the Colorado New Play Festival, June, 2022, and Martin X, performed in New York’s SIGNATURE-Theatre: (CNP Festival) March, 2023. In December of 2023, along with the actor Jessica Hecht, Bill was honored with the En Garde Arts Change Agent Award. A dramatic reading of scenes from Bill’s novel, What Bears Dream was featured at the award ceremony. Bill has served on a number of boards. Bill and his wife Kumi live in Boston, Massachusetts.
Thanks to our INSTITUTIONAL FUNDERS:
Arthur Miller Foundation
Axe-Houghton Foundation
Bloomberg LLC
Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation
Ichigo Foundation
Isak and Rose Weinman Foundation (in memoriam, Donna Hardiman)
JM Kaplan Fund
Leon Lowenstein Foundation
Meringoff Family Foundation
Michael Tuch Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
New York Foundation on the Arts
New York Life/Aim High
New York State Council on the Arts
NYC City Council
NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
Pinkerton Foundation
The Heckscher Foundation for Children
Venturous Theatre Fund
Wayfarer Foundation
West Harlem Development Corporation
William T. Grant Foundation
And our OVATION SOCIETY, including our BOARD OF DIRECTORS (B):
Adrienne and Reed Auerbach
AJ and Jane Schwartz
Andrea Bonime-Blanc (B)
Carole and Richard Friedman
Dan Arnall (B)
David Miner
David Smith (B)
David Strathairn
Elena Reyes (B)
Emily Lansbury (Donna Hardiman Scholarship)
Ina and Larry Gurman
Janel Callon
Jeanne Sakata
Jennifer Strauss
Jordin Ruderman and Kevin Shand
Joyce and Len Berkman
Julie Rose and Alan Kanders
Kate Fodor
Katherine Bradford
Kathleen Chalfant
Katie Gerdes
Keith Josef Adkins
Liv Dunbar (B)
Margaret Holman (B)
Mark Kollar (B)
Michael Thomas (B)
P. Seth Bauer and Elysa Marden
Pablo Velez (B)
Paula Sauder
Peggy and Tom Russell
Rob Mitchell and Jose de la Cuesta
Sam Waterston
Sarah Winkler and Simon Leopold
Sophia McGee (B)
Stephanie Braxton
Sue Lehmann
SuEllen Woelk
Susan Kelechi Watson
Suzanne Schaaf (Donna Hardiman Scholarship)
William Martin