Rachel has it all: marriage, house, career. So why does she suddenly have this creeping feeling? Did she leave something behind? Or is there something in the walls…? Her husband thinks she needs time; her psychiatrist suggests positive thinking. But then the visions start. Apparitions of doubts, past decisions, future mistakes. Is it time for Xanax? Prozac? Or perhaps she just needs to forget it all, follow her instinct, and kiss a stranger. A darkly comic play about the underside of domesticity, the complexity of the brain in chaos, and the thin line between sinking and survival.
Runtime: Approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes with no intermission.
Environmental Warnings: This production contains herbal cigarette smoke and strobe effect lighting.
Clare Lizzimore is a playwright and an Olivier Award-winning director. Her first play, Mint (2013), was produced at the Royal Court’s Open Court Season and long-listed for the prestigious Bruntwood Prize. Her first radio play was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2014 and her new radio play The Rage will be broadcast in 2016. She is currently under commission with the Royal Court Theatre and the Almeida Theatre.
As a director, she has worked extensively in new writing, and her latest production—Bull by Mike Bartlett—won the 2015 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in An Affiliate Theatre for its production at The Young Vic; it premiered at Sheffield Theatres and also toured to 59E59 in New York. Other recent directing credits include One Day When We Were Young by Nick Payne in the Roundabout Season at Paines Plough at Sheffield Theatres and Shoreditch Town Hall; Lay Down Your Cross by Nick Payne and On the Rocks by Amy Rosenthal at Hampstead Theatre; Pieces of Vincent by David Watson at Arcola Theatre; Faces in the Crowd by Leo Butler at the Royal Court Theatre; War and Peace and Fear and Misery by Mark Ravenhill at the Royal Court Theatre; Jonah and Otto by Robert Holman at the Royal Exchange Theatre; and Tom Fool by Franz Xaver Kroetz at Glasgow Citizens Theatre and the Bush Theatre, which was nominated for four CATS Awards. Ms. Lizzimore’s directing awards include the Channel 4 Theatre Directors Award and the Arts Foundation Theatre Directing Fellowship. She has been resident director at the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, and a staff director at the Royal National Theatre.
(As of September 2015)
Gaye Taylor Upchurch directed at Studio Theatre for the first time in Studio X's Animal. Her Off Broadway productions include Nancy Harris’ Our New Girl (Atlantic Theater Company), Laura Marks’ Bethany (Women’s Project, Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Play), Lucy Thurber’s Stay (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Obie Award for The Hilltown Plays), and Simon Stephens’ Harper Regan (NY Times Top Ten Production 2012) and Bluebird with Simon Russell Beale (Atlantic Theater Company). She recently directed An Iliad which toured at the US Military Academy at West Point (Hudson Valley Shakespeare), and the world premiere of Melissa Ross’ Of Good Stock (South Coast Rep). She has developed new work at New Dramatists, New York Stage & Film, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights’ Center, Lincoln Center Theater’s Directors Lab, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. Ms. Upchurch is an alumna of the Women’s Project Directors Lab, The Drama League, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
(As of September 2015)
Kate Eastwood Norris returns to Studio for The Father after her performance in Animal. Select regional theatre credits include productions at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company where she is a company member, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Folger Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Round House Theatre, The Humana Festival at Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Florida Stage, Two River Theatre, Delaware Theatre, Arden Theatre, Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre, Gulfshore Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, and The Wilma Theatre. Ms. Norris has received two Helen Hayes Awards and Philadelphia's Barrymore Award for her acting. She has an MA in Humanities and the Creative Life from Pacifica Graduate Institute.
(As of April 2017)
Joel David Santner most recently performed as Stephen in Studio X's Animal. His DC credits include As You Like It, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, and Dog in the Manger (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Shakespeare’s R & J (Signature Theatre); Gilgamesh (Constellation Theatre Company); A Commedia Christmas Carol (Faction of Fools); Hamlet (Baltimore Shakespeare Festival); Owl Moon, Burn Your Bookes, and suicide.chat.room (Taffety Punk). He recently directed Hamlet — The First Quarto for Taffety Punk. He is an Associated Artist with Faction of Fools and a Company Member with Taffety Punk Theatre Company. Mr. Santner is also a filmmaker. He directed and produced the feature length film Bare Knuckle, and his short films Mirror Image and Harmony have garnered awards and screenings across the country. He received his training from the Shakespeare Theatre’s Academy for Classical Acting at George Washington University. In January 2016, Mr. Santner will attend USC School for Cinematic Arts for Film Production.
(As of September 2015
Cody Nickell made his Studio Theatre debut as Tom in Studio X's Animal. He was most recently seen in Washington DC in Folger Theatre’s production of Mary Stuart, and has performed at theatres all over the country including Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Portland Center Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Barrington Stage, Two River Theatre, The Wilma Theater, The Arden Theatre, PlayMakers Rep, and San Jose Rep. For three years, Mr. Nickell was the Artistic Associate at Gulfshore Playhouse where he directed and acted in over 12 productions. He is the recipient of the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Actor, and has been nominated three times for The Robert Prosky Award for Outstanding Lead Actor. His work also extends beyond the theatre to films, television, and voiceovers. Mr. Nickell is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama.
(As of September 2015)
Michael Kevin Darnall returns to Studio for Wig Out! after appearing as Dan in Studio X's Animal. Recent credits include Jitney at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park; Ulysses on Bottles at Mosaic Theater Company; Father Comes Home From the Wars at Round House Theatre; Yentl at Theater J; Journey to the West, The Fire and The Rain, and Metamorphoses at Constellation Theatre Company; Savage in Limbo and The Sandstorm at MetroStage; Optimism! (Helen Hayes-nominated Outstanding Ensemble), The Wedding Dress, and Last of the Whyos (Helen Hayes-nominated Outstanding Actor) at Spooky Action Theater (Entangled Artist); and Big Love and Failure: A Love Story (Helen Hayes-nominated Outstanding Supporting Actor, Outstanding Ensemble) at The Hub Theatre (Company Member). His television credits include HBO’s The Wire. Mr. Darnall received his BFA in acting at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts.
(As of July 2017)
Anaïs Killian made her professional acting debut in Studio X's Animal at Studio Theatre. She plays piano, sings in the Montgomery County Public Schools honors chorus and Strathmore Chorus, and dances hip hop. And she has recently started middle school.
(As of September 2015)
Rosemary Regan previously appeared at Studio Theatre in Animal, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Desk Set, Conversations with My Father, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. For Studio 2ndStage, she performed in Terrorism, Mad Forest, Hot Fudge, Terrence McNally: Five Short Plays, and Muzeeka. Other recent local appearances include Middletown (NextStop Theatre), Mary Stuart (Folger Theatre), and Optimism! or Voltaire’s Candide (Spooky Action Theater, Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best Ensemble). She has also appeared at Signature Theatre, Virginia Shakespeare Festival, Theater Alliance, and Solas Nua, among others.
(As of April 2016)
Rachel Hauck's recent work in New York includes Our Lady of Kibeho and And I And Silence (Signature Theatre Company); Grand Concourse, Patron Saint of Sea Monsters, The Call, and Go Back To Where You Are (Playwrights Horizons); Bright Half Life (Women’s Project); To The Bone (Cherry Lane); Stay (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), An Iliad (New York Theatre Workshop, McCarter Theatre Center); Slowgirl (LCT3); Harper Regan and Bluebird (Atlantic Theater Company); Regrets (Manhattan Theatre Club); This Wide Night (Naked Angels, Lortel Nom); Orange, Hat & Grace (Soho Rep, Drama Desk Nom); Beebo Brinker Chronicles (Hourglass, 37 Arts). Recent regional work includes The Good Book (Court Theatre); Chavez Ravine (Center Theatre Group); Into The Woods (Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Annenberg Center); Clybourne Park and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Guthrie Theater); and Assassins (Playmakers Rep). Ms. Hauck designed the national and international tour of Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s production of An Iliad. She has spent 10 years as the resident set designer at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference.
(As of 2015)
Kathleen Geldard returns to Studio Theatre after designing Cry It Out, Curve of Departure, Animal, Choir Boy, Jumpers for Goalposts, Tribes, and Invisible Man. Other recent regional credits include Macbeth at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Misery and Shakespeare in Love at Cincinnati Playhouse; and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime; and Humana Festivals 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Other regional credits include Arena Stage, Portland Center Stage, Huntington Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Signature Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, The Kennedy Center, Round House Theatre, Imagination Stage, and Folger Theatre. She is an artistic associate for Signature Theatre.
(As of January 2019)
Jesse Belsky previously designed P.Y.G. or The Mis-Edumacation of Dorian Belle, The Remains, The Effect, Three Sisters, No Sisters, and Animal at Studio Theatre. Regional credits include The Magic Play at Portland Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, and Actors Theatre of Louisville; Lydia and Rough Crossing at Yale Repertory Theatre; and The Year of Magical Thinking at PlayMakers Repertory Company. DC designs include Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Ford’s Theatre; J.Q.A. and The Year of Magical Thinking at Arena Stage; Oslo, Handbagged and Book of Will at Round House Theatre; The Mystery of Love & Sex at Signature Theatre; Henry IV P1, Winter’s Tale, Sense & Sensibility, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Folger Theatre; Labour of Love, The Invisible Hand and The Magic Play at Olney Theatre Center. Jesse holds a BA from Duke University and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, and he has taught lighting design at Connecticut College and UNC Greensboro.
(As of December 2019)
Jonathan Ezra Rubin returns to Studio Theatre for Constellations after fight directing Animal for Studio X and Mary-Kate Olsen Is in Love for Studio 2ndStage. Choreography credits include Flying V Fights: Heroes & Monsters, The Pirate Laureate and the King of the Sea, Lobster Alice, Flying V Fights: Love is a Battlefield, The Best of Craigslist, and The Pirate Laureate of Port Town at Flying V; Macbeth at the Georgetown Gilbert & Sullivan Society; She Kills Monsters at Marshall High School; Shakes Alive! Tour and Romeo & Juliet at Maryland Shakespeare Company; Hamlet at Lumina Studio Theatre; Klecksography: Haunting Monsters — Wolfman at Rorschach Theatre; and Social Creatures at Single Carrot Theatre. Coming up in June, his choreography will also be seen in LiveArt DC's The Merry Death of Robin Hood, Cohesion Theatre Company's Neverwhere, and Flying V's Matt & Ben. Mr. Rubin is recognized as an Advanced Actor/Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and freelances as a fight choreographer.
(As of February 2016)
Daniel Kluger's recent New York credits include The Village Bike (MCC); Your Mother’s Copy of the Kama Sutra (Playwrights Horizons); The Few, Ode to Joy, and The Correspondent (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); Women or Nothing (Atlantic Theater Company); Nikolai and the Others (Lincoln Center); Somewhere Fun and The North Pool (Vineyard); Tribes and Hit the Wall (Barrow Street Theatre); and The Seagull (Lake Lucille). His regional credits include productions at The Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, Long Wharf, Pig Iron, TheatreWorks, and American Players Theatre.
(As of October 2014)
Adrien-Alice Hansel is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of Queen of Basel, The Remains, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Animal, Laugh, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses as well as productions of Cry It Out,Translations, Curve of Departure, The Effect, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Cloud 9, Hedda Gabler, Constellations, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Plays, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She also served as production dramaturg on roughly 50 new, contemporary, and classic plays there, including premieres by Naomi Wallace, Gina Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn and Rude Mechs, Rinne Groff, The Civilians, Anne Bogart and SITI Company, Jordan Harrison, and John Belluso. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of eight editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of April 2019)
Allie Roy returns to Studio after last stage managing If I Forget. Other Studio credits include Translations, Curve of Departure, Straight White Men, Murder Ballad, Silence! The Musical, and the world premiere of Animal for the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. Regional credits include West Side Story in concert with the NSO as well as Love, Factually at The Kennedy Center; the world premieres of Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing and Diner as well as The Scottsboro Boys, West Side Story, and Elmer Gantry at Signature Theatre; the world premiere of After the War as well as When January Feels Like Summer and Ulysses on Bottles at Mosaic Theater Company; and The Originalist at Arena Stage. Upcoming regional projects include Grand Hotel at Signature Theatre and Describe the Night at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
(As of January 2019)
Paul Lysek joined Studio Theatre for the first time as Assistant Director for Studio X's Animal. As a theatre artist and musician, he has recently worked and performed at The Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, FringeNYC, Capital Fringe Festival, and with Blind Pug Arts Collective. He has assistant directed under Stephen Brotebeck, and served as a music assistant on Broadway’s If/Then. Mr. Lysek is a 2014 graduate of American University where he studied theatre and music history.
(As of September 2015)
