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 Check out Shaun's work as Lead Props. This one was a lot of fun! 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.
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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. Check out some of Shaun's work as Lead Props in this West Coast Premiere: 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 Watch Shaun perform in a reading of DIE ALREADY by Michael Mizerany on Monday, 5/23 @ 7:305/22/2022 MESSAGE FROM HOST, MICHAEL MIZERANY:
Yes, I am turning 59! Also, the play I just premiered, A TWISTED BARGAIN (also the first play in my Thrillogy Series), will be touring to Los Angeles in the fall. Join us not only for birthday shenanigans (and cake), but also for a play reading. DIE ALREADY!, a new gay slasher comedy, is the third play in my Thrillogy Series. In lieu of gifts, we are asking attendees for a donation of $25 per person in support of THE TWISTED BARGAIN performances in Los Angeles. You can't attend? You can still make a donation in celebration of my birthday!!! A homage to every horror film ever made where the killer just won’t stay dead, DIE ALREADY! tells the bloody tale of a one night stand gone horribly, horribly wrong. Featuring performances by Brian Braddock, Sidney Franklin, Christopher Miller, Stephen Simpson, and Shaun Tuazon. Kay Marian McNellen will read stage directions. Please be advised that DIE ALREADY! contains profanity, sexual dialogue and graphic descriptions of violence, murder, mayhem and quite a few laughs. The fifth grade talent show is approaching, and everyone is abuzz at Baldwin Elementary. Winston wants to win the talent show with his cheerleading routine to prove to others that he’s more than the unfriendly “Fishboy” nickname they call him. Introverted artist Gina wants nothing to do with the talent show, and she knows that the overzealous (and generally unpleasant) twin sensations, Randy and Brandy, are probably going to win it all anyway. But with the persistence of Elliott, the school’s new kid and resident rebel, these unlikely friends form Hoopla, a dazzling hula hooping trio, and help each other navigate through the pressures of being a kid. A fun play for the whole family! Cast:
Jaeonnie Davis-Crawford* Gina Jaeonnie Davis-Crawford (she/her) is a San Diego actor and director. She graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in general theatre arts. Credits include: Safa’s Story (Imagine/Blindspot Collective), kNOw MORE (PLNU’s Center for Justice and Reconciliation), Connecting Flights (Blindspot Collective), Blackademics (Trinity Theatre Company, reading), The Two Musketeers (Trinity Theatre Company), Julius Caesar (San Diego State University) and The Trojan Incident (Dir. Tug Watson). Jaeonnie is also an artistic associate of Patchwork Theatre Company. Shaun Tuazon* Winston Shaun Tuazon (he/they) is an actor, designer, and donut enthusiast originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. Some favorite credits: Vietgone, House of Joy (San Diego Rep.); #SuperShinySara (La Jolla Playhouse); Mamma Mia (East West Players); The Emperor's Nightingale (Lewis Family Playhouse); In the Heights (Cabrillo Music Theatre); Girlfriend (Craig Noel Award Nom.), Dooley, Altar Boyz (Diversionary Theatre); RENT, Joseph...Dreamcoat (SDMT); Deconstruction of a Drag Queen (Craig Noel Award Nom.); Zanna, Don’t! (SD Premiere), The 25th Annual...Spelling Bee (Intrepid Theatre); as well as productions/readings with The Old Globe, Lamb's Players, New Village Arts, Cygnet Theatre, Breakthrough Workshop, Ion and more. BA in Theatre Arts, SDSU. ShaunTuazon.com #ShaunsDonuts Joy Yvonne Jones* Sylvie/Brandy/Ellen Originally from Houston, Texas Joy Yvonne Jones attended The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and went on to study at the University of Minnesota in the Guthrie Theatre BFA Actor Training Program in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joy is a recipient of the San Diego Critic Circle Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play for her performance of Saartjie Baartman in Voyeurs de Venus at Moxie Theatre. Her most recent credits include Cherise Howard in Flex at The Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Isabelle in Ring Round the Moon at Lambs Players Theatre, Zuzu in Dance Nation and Jane in Kate Hamil’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. She is an accomplished playwright and poet as well as the President of the San Diego Black Artist Collective. Joy is a creative hurricane working on the revolution at the speed of inspiration with her baby boy Leo James on her hip. Alexis Park* Elliot Alexis Park is a Los Angeles based actress and voice over artist! She is also the founder and co-artistic director of Recover Me, an International Mental Health Awareness Film Festival. Some of her favorite credits include: the staged reading of Laughs in Spanish (Amigos Del Rep, Latinx New Play Festival), UN (TuYo Theatre) and Julius Caesar (San Diego State University). Her voice can be heard as Rita in the english dub of the Netflix Original Series, Summertime: Season 2! BA Theatre Performance, San Diego State University Austyn Myers* Big Win/Randy I am so honored to be returning to theatre, playing Randy and Big Win in this production of Hoopla! Broadway: Lesmiserables. T.V. / Film; Meet Dave, Team Spitz, Moon Rocks and Lighter Fluid. Regional: Kingdom City (La Jolla Playhouse); October Sky, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Lost in Yonkers, The First Wives Club (The Old Globe); Lost in Yonkers, Newsies (McCoy Rigby Entertainment); Secret Garden (Lambs Players); Spring Awakening, Peter and the Starcatcher, Secret Garden (Barnstage Theatre)
Catch Shaun Tuazon and the wonderful cast of (trans)formada as part of Amigos del Rep's 2021 LATINX NEW PLAY FESTIVAL!
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