HUMAN MUSEUM

By Miyoko Conley
Directed by Jesca Prudencio

Friday, Dec 1 at 7:00 pm and Sunday, Dec 3 at 3:00 pm
Rao and Padma Makineni Play Development Center (PDC) at La Jolla Playhouse

Set in a future where humans have gone extinct, Human Museum follows a group of robots on Earth that run a museum dedicated to organizing the physical and digital artifacts of human life. On the centenary of human extinction, a sudden radio call upends everything the robots thought they knew about the last days of humanity.  Human Museum explores what we will leave behind when we’re gone, and who will carry on our legacy.

Shaun plays robot 65. Come see what movies like Wall-E, Waterworld, & Independence Day have to do with this utopian future!

Little Amal is the 12 foot puppet of  a 10 year old Syrian refugee child at the heart of The Walk.  She has become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees. 

Between September 7th and November 26th, 2023, Amal is journeying 9,000 miles across the United States and Mexico in one of the largest free public festivals ever created.  40 towns and cities from Boston to San Diego and 7 cities from Tijuana to Tapachula will create 100+ free public events to welcome her.

Since July 2021, Amal has travelled over 6,000 miles to 97 towns and cities in 14 countries and been welcomed by more than a million people on the street, including hundreds of artists and civil society and faith leaders, as well as by tens of millions online. Her journeys are festivals of art and hope that draw attention to the huge numbers of children fleeing war, violence and persecution, each with their own story. Her urgent message to the world is “Don’t forget about us”.​​

​Step outside the lines...

Date: 4 Nov 2023
Local Start Time: 2:00pm
Location: Balboa Park, San Diego, CA


La Jolla Playhouse will take Amal on a joyous adventure in San Diego to celebrate the power of theatre and the city’s rich cultural diversity. In partnership with La Jolla Playhouse’s Without Walls program.

Date: Saturday November 4th
Start time: 2:00pm
Location: Bea Evenson Fountain, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
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It is always free to walk with Amal. To help make a difference The Amal Fund with Choose Love supports displaced children across the world. If you can, please make a donation today: chooselove.org/theamalfund ​

In July of 2022, East West Players (EWP) produced a workshop of On This Side of the World, written by Paulo K. Tiról and directed by Noam Shapiro.

A year later, the heartfelt musical made its way to East West Players' main stage at the David Henry Hwang Theater. The show was extended, proving its impact on the Filipino-American and immigrant community in Los Angeles and beyond, and becoming the highest grossing new musical in EWP’s history. 

Now, for the first time since 2005, EWP is recording an original cast album for On This Side of the World- but we can't do it alone. EWP is committed to completing the project, and has already invested $10,000 into ensuring we rightly compensate the incredible artists involved in the creation of the show. Today, we are humbly asking for your support in raising an additional $5,000 for a total of $15,000 to help us recoup the additional costs that come with recording, mixing, mastering, artists’ royalties, and distributing this very special cast album. 

We're launching this Indiegogo to ask for your support in making this project the best that it can be. As we aim to continue creating impactful work, every dollar counts towards helping us immortalize the magic of Paulo's work.

Please join us on this journey of creating the On This Side of the World Cast Album. Make a tax-deductible contribution today to help us bring a piece of EWP magic straight to you!

Contact: Gavin Pak, (213) 625-7000 x18, gpak@eastwestplayers.org
Peter Goldman (213) 500-8532 p.goldman@dcpublicity.com
For more press and event information: www.eastwestplayers.org
For press photos or interview requests: gpak@eastwestplayers.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE • LOS ANGELES, CA
Cast and Crew Announced for East West Players’ Production of
On This Side of the World
A World Premiere Musical
Produced in Association with FilAm ARTS
Music & Lyrics by Paulo K Tiról
Created with & Directed by Noam Shapiro
Dates: May 11 – June 4, 2023
Opening Night: May 14, 2023 

March 15, 2023, Los Angeles, CA | East West Players (EWP), the nation’s longest-running Asian American theater and the largest producer of Asian American theatrical works presents the world premiere of On This Side of the World. With music & lyrics by Paulo K Tirol and created with & directed by Noam Shapiro, this soaring new musical takes flight at the David Henry Hwang Theater May 11 through June 4, 2023 with opening night on Sunday, May 14.

A woman flies from the Philippines to America with a one-way ticket and a suitcase full of stories. Each story is collected from immigrants who came before her—tales of overseas workers, young lovers, and gossipy church ladies; snapshots of undocumented immigrants, millennial princesses and first-generation Americans. Suspended above the ocean, she replays these stories in her mind as she searches for the courage to embrace her future. This world premiere musical gives voices to Filipino immigrants navigating old lives and new beginnings, eight-thousand miles from home.
“On This Side of the World is one of the most transporting and moving new musicals I have encountered in a long time.  It explores the beautiful ways in which we immigrants contribute to the rich tapestry of what it is to be an Asian American.  We’re proud to be able to premiere the world premiere of this humorous, inventive, and deeply heartfelt new musical in partnership with FilAm ARTS. With this production we hope to pay homage to and honor the countless immigrants before us who took the first, daring steps to leave all that they know behind with just a suitcase and their dreams in hopes of building a better life for themselves and their families.”

Snehal Desai, East West Players Producing Artistic DirectorOn This Side of the World will perform at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo. The David Henry Hwang Theater is located in the Union Center for the Arts, celebrating its 100th anniversary. The historic building was originally dedicated in 1923 as the Union Church before becoming home to three non-profit arts organizations including East West Players as the Union Center for the Arts in 1998.

East West Players produces On This Side of the World in association with FilAm ARTS (The Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture). A special Filipino Community Night with FilAm ARTS performance of On This Side of the World will be held May 13 at 8pm. This special preview night performance will include a pre and post-show reception featuring food and drinks.

“We have been so fortunate to have Paulo K Tiról & Noam Shapiro as part of our FilAm ARTS Pamilya, and are honored to have presented highlights from On This Side of The World two years ago as part of A Love Letter to HiFi. This spring collaboration between East West Players and FilAm ARTS is a testament of our community and cultural partnership. We look forward to seeing you at the theater!” 

​The cast of On This Side of the World comprises:
Steven-Adam Agdeppa* (EWP’s Mamma Mia! & Crazy Talented Asians, The Wallis’ Invincible: The Musical, La Mirada Theatre’s Grease! & In the Heights) 
Zandi De Jesus (Miss Saigon, La Jolla Playhouse’s Most Wanted, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Nat’l Tour) 
Michael C. Palma* (EWP’s Mamma Mia! & Imelda: A New Musical, Cold Tofu Improv) 
Cassie Simone* (La Mirada Theatre’s Hunchback of Notre Dame & RENT, A Noise Within’s Man of La Mancha) 
Andrea Somera (EWP’s Assassins, A Noise Within’s A Christmas Carol) 
Shaun Tuazon* (EWP’s Mamma Mia!, San Diego Rep’s Vietgone, Cabrillo Music Theatre's In the Heights, La Jolla Playhouse's #SuperShinySara & Hoopla!) 
Melvin Biteng (Disney Jr. Live: Costume Palooza Nat’l Tour, Avenue Q, Mamma Mia!) and Justine Rafael (EWP’s Crazy Talented Asians, Paris Las Vegas’ Bat Out Of Hell) understudy this production.

The creative team includes direction by Noam Shapiro, music direction by Jennifer Lin and Marc Macalintal, choreography by Anjanette Maraya-Ramey, orchestration by Ian Miller, scenic design by Yi-Chien Lee, projection design by David Murakami, costume design by Jaymee Ngernwichit, properties design by Glenn Michael Baker, lighting design by Szu-Yun Wang, and stage management by Edward Khris Fernandez*.

Shaun Tuazon serves as Lead Props for the World Premiere of...
THIS MUCH I KNOW
By Jonathan Spector
Directed by Josh Costello 

Runtime: 2 Hours
There will be a 10-minute intermission and a 5-minute intermission.

The writer of Eureka Day returns to Aurora with an explosively theatrical interrogation of agency and culpability. Through his all-too-personal lectures on psychology, Lukesh attempts to unravel a mystery with his wife Natalya at the center. What happened to Natalya? The search for answers will launch us on a time-hopping fugue, weaving together the stories of Stalin's daughter defecting to America, the son of a white supremacist growing to doubt the beliefs he was raised with, and the secret despair of an accidental killer. How do we truly make decisions? How do we change our minds? And what does it mean to be complicit?
​
Jonathan Spector’s writing is “lively, alarming, and entertaining... [Spector is] observant and empathetic.”
— Ben Brantley, NEW YORK TIMES

Read the This Much I Know dramaturgy article here

SINGLE TICKET PRICING:
$75 for Opening Nights
$40 for Previews
All other dates are based on the number of tickets sold, $41–$66. Buy early for the best prices! There will be a $6 processing fee added to each order. 
We also offer Pay-What-You-Can Tickets, $20 Rush Tickets, and other discounts.
Check out our discounts page for more information.

POST-SHOW DISCUSSIONS
Please join us for a discussion of Aurora's production of This Much I Know by Jonathan Spector, hosted after the show on the select days listed below. Discussion host, Dawn Monique Williams, may be joined by the actor, director, community members, and or local storytellers.

Friday, September 9
Tuesday, September 13
Wednesday, September 21
Thursday, September 29

ARTISTS

CAST
Rajesh Bose*
A/Lukesh
Anna Ishida*
B/Natalya
Kenny Toll*
C/Harold

CREATIVE TEAM
Jonathan Spector
Playwright

Josh Costello+
Director

Ulises Alcala**
Costume Designer

James Ard
Sound Designer

Jordan Battle
CDO Consultant

Christian Cagigal
Magic Consultant

Monique Crawford
Directing Fellow

Cheryle Honerlah*
Stage Manager

Maxx Kurzunski
Video/Projection Designer

Sarah Rose Leonard
Dramaturg

Colleen Nicole
Assistant Costume Designer

Tanya Orellana**
Scenic Designer

Lisa Anne Porter
Dialect Coach

Jeff Rowlings**
Lighting Designer

Saluja Siwakoti
Assistant Stage Manager

Shaun Tuazon
Lead Props

Dawn Monique Williams
Intimacy Director

 * Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional  Actors and Stage Managers,
**United Scenic Artists Member, +Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Member


JONATHAN SPECTOR
Jonathan Spector’s award-winning, critically acclaimed play Eureka Day will have its European premiere in September at London’s Old Vic, starring Oscar-winner Helen Hunt. His newest work, Best Available will be part of the Ashland New Play Festival in October.
Jonathan’s plays have been produced across the country and abroad at theaters including Asolo Rep, Aurora Theater, Colt Coeur, Custom Made Theater, InterAct Theater, Mosaic Theater, Mugwumpin, Syracuse Stage, Spreckles Theater, The State Theater of South Australia, and Just Theater, where he was the long-time co-Artistic Director. He has developed work with Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Crowded Fire, New Harmony Project, The Lark, Manhattan Theater Club, PlayPenn, Roundabout, and South Coast Rep, among others.
Honors include the Edgerton Award, Glickman Award, Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award, Theater Bay Area Award, Global Age Prize and Rella Lossy Award. He is a Core Writer at Playwrights Center, and has been a MacDowell Fellow and a Resident Playwright at Playwrights Foundation. Jonathan has received commissions from Roundabout Theater Company, La Jolla Playhouse, Manhattan Theater Club, South Coast Rep and Aurora Theater. He is represented by CAA and Kaplan/Perrone.



JOSH COSTELLO
Josh Costello (Artistic Director & Director) At Aurora and previously as the founding Artistic Director of Impact Theatre and the Artistic Director of Expanded Programs at Marin Theatre Company, Josh has worked to make theatre more accessible for more people, sharing a passion for the visceral experience of live theatre with new audiences and underserved communities. Josh has directed several productions at Aurora, including Exit Strategy, The Importance of Being Earnest, and the world premiere of Eureka Day, which won every Bay Area new play award. His world-premiere production of Aaron Loeb’s Ideation with the San Francisco Playhouse in both SF and NYC won the Glickman Award for best new play in the Bay Area and the Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Direction, and was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick. Other directing work includes My Children! My Africa! at Marin Theatre Company, House of Lucky at Magic Theatre, and his adaptations of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and Aphra Behn’s The Rover. Josh holds a BFA in theatre from Boston University, and an MFA in Directing from the University of Washington, Seattle.


RAJESH BOSE
Rajesh Bose* (A/Lukesh) has performed extensively off-Broadway and throughout the country – favorites include three productions at Bedlam Theatre (Persuasion, The Crucible, and Pygmalion),  Henry VI (National Asian American Theatre Company),  Against The Hillside (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Indian Ink (Roundabout), King Lear (Northern Stage), Oslo (St. Louis Rep), Mary Stuart (Folger Theatre), Guards at the Taj (Capital Stage), Disgraced (Playmakers Rep, Huntington Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre – Connecticut Critics Circle Award, IRNE Nomination),  Invisible Hand (Westport Playhouse, Hartford Theaterworks), and The Who & The What (Gulfshore Playhouse, Hartford Theaterworks).  Rajesh has guest starred on several network television shows, including Bull, Elementary, Damages,  Blue Bloods, and Quantico among others — he appears in the series finale of The Sopranos, and the Academy Award nominated film Frozen River. Rajesh made his professional directing debut earlier this year at Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ, where he directed the East Coast premiere of The Giant Void In My Soul.  Upcoming:  Life of Pi at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA.





ANNA ISHIDA
Anna Ishida (B/Natalya) was last seen at the Aurora as Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Currently based in the Bay Area but also performs on the East Coast - recent credits include: Olga in The Three Sisters (Two River Theater, NJ), The Antelope Party (Dutch Kills, NYC), Shipwreck (Woolly Mammoth, DC), Moby-Dick (American Repertory Theater, MA), Henry VI Parts 1 & 2 (NAATCO, NYC - Drama Desk Nomination: Best Revival), Trigger (Leviathan Lab, NYC), It Can’t Happen Here (Staged & Radio Play @ Berkeley Rep, CA), Mr. Burns: a post-electric play (American Conservatory Theater & The Guthrie, CA/MN), Water by the Spoonful (Theatreworks Silicon Valley, CA), Beowulf—A Thousand Years of Baggage (Shotgun Players/Banana Bag & Bodice: US/UK tours).  Film: I Am a Ghost & Bitter Melon (writer/director/composer: H.P. Mendoza) www.annaishida.com – Thank you all for coming tonight and thank you to mom and papa and my deep Bay Area roots & community.


KENNY TOLL
Kenny Toll is an LA native and a graduate of San Francisco State University. He was last seen at Aurora in The Heir Apparent. He originated the role of Mr. Wickham in Lauren Gunderson's The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley. Most recently he has been seen in Frost/Nixon at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Lobby Hero at Capital Rep in Albany NY, Shakespeare in Love at Marin Theatre Company, and Richard II at Kingsmen Shakespeare in Los Angeles. He is a proud member of AEA.

Shaun Tuazon serves as Lead Props for:
WIVES
West Coast Premiere

By Jaclyn Backhaus
Director Lavina Jadhwani

June 24 – July 24, 2022
Streaming July 19 – July 24

Runtime: 90 minutes
There will be no intermission

SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW

From Hemingway’s widow to a maharani in Rajasthan, from 16th century France to the campus of Oxbridge University today, the Great Men are left behind as their wives claim center stage in this irreverent celebration of female capability and power. Can Catherine de’ Medici, queen to Henri II of France, rise above her rivalry with Henri’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers? Will Hemingway’s death bring his former wives together or drive them apart? Can a pact between a maharaja, his wife, and a witch survive the forces of British imperialism? Can a new student club devoted to witchcraft conjure a spell to manifest a new way of being in the world? Aurora is proud to present the West Coast premiere of this riotous and powerful story by the extraordinary playwright Jaclyn Backhaus.

Shaun Tuazon serves as Properties 

“Winking and exuberant! Jaclyn Backhaus’s Wives is a swift and playful feminist manifesto.”
— Sara Holdren,  NEW YORK MAGAZINE

All shows will be presented live in our space if health conditions allow, otherwise streamed to your home on video. 

Wives Post Show Discussions:
Friday, July 1
Tuesday, July 5
Wednesday, July 13
Thursday, July 21

Please join us for a discussion of Aurora's production of Wives by Jaclyn Backhaus, hosted after the show on the select days above. Discussion host, Dawn Monique Williams, may be joined by the actor, director, community members, and or local storytellers.

ARTISTS

CAST
Anisha Jagannathan
Wife 3

Kunal Prasad*
Man

Rebecca Schweitzer*
Wife 2

Jasmine Sharma
Wife 1


CREATIVE TEAM
Jaclyn Backhaus
Playwright

Lavina Jadhwani
Director

Elton Bradman
Sound Designer

Courtney Flores
Costume Designer

Michael Oesch**
Production Lighting Designer

Srikar Srinath
Preproduction Lighting Designer

Mikiko Uesugi**
Set Designer

Leela Oleszkiewicz
Composer 

Shaun Tuazon 
Lead Props

Ishika Seth
Choreographer

Dawn Monique Williams 
Intimacy Director

Lisa Anne Porter
Dialect Coach
​
Marie Shell*
Stage Manager

 * Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional  Actors and Stage Managers,
**United Scenic Artists Member, + Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Member

Jaclyn Backhaus is a playwright, cofounder of Fresh Ground Pepper, and new member of The Kilroys. Her plays include Men On Boats (New York Times Critics’ Pick, Clubbed Thumb, Playwrights Horizons, published by Dramatists Play Service), India Pale Ale (Manhattan Theatre Club, recipient of the 2018 Horton Foote Prize for Promising New American Play), You Across From Me (co-written with three other writers for the Humana Festival), Folk Wandering (book writer and co-lyricist with 11 composers, Pipeline Theatre Company), and You On the Moors Now (Theater Reconstruction Ensemble), among others. She was the 2016 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Clubbed Thumb and she is currently in residence at Lincoln Center. Backhaus holds a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch, where she now teaches. She hails from Phoenix, Arizona, and currently resides in Ridgewood, Queens with her husband, director Andrew Scoville and their son Ernie.

Lavina Jadhwani (Director) is a Chicago-based director, adaptor, and activist. Her adaptation of A Christmas Carol premiered at the Guthrie in Minneapolis in 2021 and will remain on the boards for years to come. Directing credits include Asolo Rep, the Guthrie, Mixed Blood, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Teatro Vista, and Rasaka Theatre Company, where she served as Artistic Director for seven years. Her critical writing has been featured on HowlRound and Rescripted and is regularly circulated in classrooms across the country.
Lavina serves on the board of the National New Play Network and the Chicago Inclusion Project; she volunteers with Unlock Her Potential, a national mentorship program for women of color. She is a proud alum of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (aka "Hogwarts for Hackers"), where she received the show choir's Bob Fosse Choreography Award and the drama club's "lifetime achievement" award. BFA/MA, Carnegie Mellon; MFA, DePaul University. @lavinajadhwani / www.lavinajadhwani.com. 

Anisha Jagannathan (Wife 3) is an actress, singer, and comedian based in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. She is a USC alum, performs and produces improv and sketch, and was showcased at SF Sketchfest in 2020.  Her recent credits include Lady Mortimer in Henry IV at the Orange County Shakespeare Festival, Kayla in Hollywood Fringe's Production of Best Friend, Shai in FreeForm's Good Trouble, and "Wendy" in Showtime's Shameless.  Her website is anishajag.com.

Kunal Prasad (Man) is an actor, artist, and educator. He studied theatre at the American Repertory Theater and the Moscow Art Theatre and also studied advanced long-form improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC. He is featured in the indie film The Cow, starring Winona Ryder, which premiered at SXSW in Austin and will be in wide release this Fall. Kunal has been seen on stage in Baloney at The Oasis nightclub, A Thousand Splendid Suns at the American Conservatory Theater, and Wisdom from Everything at Local Theater Company in Colorado. Other theater credits include: Taylor Mac: A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (SF Curran), Vignettes on Love (Playground SF), Hedda Gabler (The Cutting Ball Theater), Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat (Golden Thread Productions), and A Dreamplay (The Cutting Ball Theater). He has worked at California Shakespeare Theater, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Magic Theatre, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre.

Rebecca Schweitzer (Wife 2) is thrilled to be back at the Aurora where she was last seen in Bull in a China Shop.  In addition to the Aurora, Rebecca has appeared at Center Rep, SF Playhouse, Marin Theatre Company, PCPA.  Favorite roles include Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, Rapture Blister Burn, Book Club Play, Tigers be Still, Coronado, The Story, Small Tragedy, as well as the world premieres of Love and The First Grade.  Rebecca is a graduate of the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts. Her voice can be heard on various video games (The Walking Dead, Back to the Future, World of Warcraft: Legion, League of Legends, SimsCity, CSI Hard Evidence, CSI Deadly Intent) TV and radio commercials, corporate videos, and reservation lines (CSAA, Disney). This, along with all endeavors, is dedicated to her mother and grandfather whose love and support have been the foundation for her success. She would also like to thank her husband for his unwavering support.

Jasmine Sharma (Wife 1) is a South Asian-American actor/writer/activist, and is elated to be part of THE WIVES. Jasmine has most recently worked with the 24 Hour Plays both as an actor and writer, and has served as Script PA on several Broadway musicals. Recently, Jasmine was named a 2022-2023 Reel Sisters Fellow through GRO UP: A Web Series, which she is involved in both as an actor and writer. She is currently commissioned by Moxie Arts NYC and Jackalope Theatre. Northwestern University - love to Jake, Smollie and Sven. jasminesharma.org | @jasminesharmaa
​