The night before a funeral, family members gather in a single hotel room in New Mexico, shuffling sleeping arrangements, dealing with absent family members, and preparing for their uncertain futures. A play about the moments you decide how much you will give to someone you owe nothing to. Straight from its world premiere production at South Coast Rep, Curve of Departure returns the playwright and director of The Wolfe Twins to Studio.
Runtime: This performance will run approximately 80 minutes with no intermission.
Curve of Departure is generously underwritten
by David and Jean Heilman Grier.
Rachel Bonds’ plays have been developed or produced by South Coast Rep, Ars Nova, Manhattan Theatre Club, McCarter Theatre, Roundabout Underground, Atlantic Theater Company, Studio Theatre, New Georges, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and New York Stage & Film, among others. Her plays include: Curve of Departure (South Coast Rep, Studio Theatre); Five Mile Lake (South Coast Rep, McCarter, Weissberger Award); The Wolfe Twins (Studio Theatre); Swimmers (Marin Theatre Co., Sky Cooper Prize); Sundown, Yellow Moon (Ars Nova/WP); Alma (Atlantic Theatre Company commission); At the Old Place (La Jolla); Michael & Edie (NY Times Critic's Pick, 2010); Winter Games (Actors Theatre of Louisville, Heideman Award); and Anniversary (EST, Sam French OOB Festival Winner). She is an Alumna of the EST’s Youngblood, Ars Nova’s Play Group and SPACE on Ryder Farm’s Working Farm Writers’ Group. She was the 2016 Tow Foundation Playwright in Residence at Ars Nova. Current commissions include The Geffen and McCarter. Bonds is a graduate of Brown University.
(As of September 2017)
Mike Donahue previously directed Rachel Bonds’ Curve of Departure and The Wolfe Twins (world premiere) at Studio. New York credits include the world premieres of Matthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride (MCC, The Geffen and Denver Center, Joe A. Callaway Award, Outer Critics Circle Nomination, Ovation Award Nomination); Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage (MCC, Woolly Mammoth), The Moors (Playwrights Realm–NYC premiere), Phoebe in Winter (Clubbed Thumb), and The Hunters (Cherry Lane Mentor Project); Jordan Seavey’s Homos, Or Everyone In America (Labyrinth); and Ethan Lipton’s Red-Handed Otter (Playwrights Realm). Regionally, he’s directed the world premieres of Jen Silverman’s The Roommate (Humana, Williamstown, Long Wharf); Rachel Bonds’ Curve of Departure (South Coast Rep) and Swimmers (Marin); and Matthew Lopez’s Zoey’s Perfect Wedding and Lauren Feldman’s Grace, or The Art of Climbing (Denver Center). Mike is a recipient of a Fulbright to Berlin, the Drama League Fall Fellowship, The Boris Sagal Fellowship at Williamstown, and was the Artistic Director of the Yale Summer Cabaret for two seasons. Mike is a graduate of Harvard University and the Yale School of Drama.
(As of January 2019)
Justin Weaks returns to Studio Theatre after appearing in Curve of Departure during the 2017-2018 season. He was most recently seen in Fences at Ford’s Theatre. Selected local credits include BLKS, Gloria, and Describe the Night at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Long Way Down at The Kennedy Center; Gem of the Ocean at Round House Theatre; The Christians at Theater J; Word Becomes Flesh and Still Life With Rocket at Theater Alliance; and Charm at Mosaic Theater Company. Additional regional and New York credits include work with Ensemble Studio Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shakespeare & Company, and Barter Theatre. Justin received a Helen Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor and Ensemble (Word Becomes Flesh at Theater Alliance) as well as three additional nominations. He is a teaching artist in the DMV area and a company member of the Woolly Mammoth Theater Company. He holds a BA in Theatre from Greensboro College.
(As of November 2019)
Ora Jones makes her Studio Theatre debut. Broadway credits include Matilda the Musical (also first national tour) and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Regional credits include Ah, Wilderness, Animal Crackers, Proof, The Beard of Avon, and A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre; Pericles, Henry VIII, Sunday in the Park with George, The Madness of George III, Twelfth Night, and A Flea in Her Ear at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; the world premiere of Rasheeda Speaking at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble; the world premiere of My Kind of Town at TimeLine Theatre; Our Town at Writers Theatre; and Execution of Justice at About Face Theatre. She is an ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where some of her credits include The Wheel, Three Sisters, The Brother/Sister Plays, The Unmentionables, The Violet Hour, The Crucible, and Morningstar. Some film and television credits include Betrayal, Chicago Fire, Were the World Mine, and Stranger than Fiction.
(As of November 2017)
Peter Van Wagner makes his Studio Theatre debut. New York credits include A Thousand Clowns at Roundabout, Letters From Cuba at Signature Theatre, The Notebook at Second Stage, and The Chimes at The Public Theater. Regional credits include The White Snake, After The Revolution, and Ah, Wilderness at Baltimore Centerstage; The Cherry Orchard at Yale Repertory; Huckleberry Finn at the Goodman; and Mrs. Warren’s Profession at Alliance Theatre. Films include The Post, Annie, Tower Heist, and Arthur. He has guest starred on Boardwalk Empire, Law & Order, The Good Wife, and Rescue Me. Mr. Van Wagner received a SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble in Boardwalk Empire.
(As of November 2017)
Sebastian Arboleda makes his Studio Theatre debut in Curve of Departure. Recent credits include Blood Wedding, The Oresteia, and Amy and the Orphans at the Yale School of Drama and Lemon Boots at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Sebastian is a recent graduate of the Yale School of Drama.
(As of November 2017)
Manna-Symone Middlebrooks is Studio's Artistic Apprentice this season. Her directing credits include Assistant Director for Studio's productions of Translations, The Wolves, Curve of Departure, and Skeleton Crew; Broken Glass at Theater J; Scarred for Life at American University; and The Ruiners: A Modern Romance at Keegan Theatre. Ms. Middlebrooks holds a BA in Theatre Arts and Literature from American University and is an alumna of The British American Drama Academy.
(As of April 2018)
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)
Scott Zielinski has created designs for over 300 productions of theatre, dance, and opera throughout the world. He has worked extensively in New York and at regional theaters throughout the U.S. including Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre, and previously at Studio Theatre. Internationally he has designed in Adelaide, Amsterdam, Avignon, Berlin, Bregenz, Edinburgh, Fukuoka, Gennevilliers, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Linz, Ljubljana, London, Lyon, Melbourne, Orleans, Oslo, Ottawa, Paris, Reykjavik, Rouen, St. Gallen, Seoul, Shanghai, Shizuoka, Singapore, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Vienna, Vilnius, and Zurich.
(As of November 2017)
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)
Corinne Williams recently was the stage manager for The Effect. Her international credits include the Australian tour of The Beast with the Ambassador Theatre Group as well as Straight White Men and Last Man Standing with the Melbourne Theatre Company. Regional credits include Schoolhouse Rock Live!, Driving Miss Daisy, and Annie at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre; Shear Madness, Next to Normal, and Annie Get Your Gun with the Heritage Theatre Festival; and Frankenstein at the Village Playhouse. While studying in Cardiff, she completed a placement on Bakkhai at the Almedia Theatre. Other educational credits include The Endless Ocean at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and Dancing at Lughnasa, The Who's Tommy, and Spring Awakening at the College of Charleston. Ms. Williams holds an MA in Stage and Event Management at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
(As of November 2017)
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)
Roc Lee is a DC-based composer and sound designer. Credits include The Price, The Year of Magical Thinking, and Mother Courage at Arena Stage (Helen Hayes Award nomination); Charm, Hooded: Or Being Black for Dummies, and Ulysses On Bottles at Mosaic Theater Company; Annie, Thurgood, Fickle Fancy Farce, and Dial M for Murder at Olney Theatre Center; Love & Information at Forum Theatre; Our Town at Faction of Fools; Hello My Name Is... with the Welders at Rhizome DC; and Seneca El Raton de Biblioteca and In the Heights at GALA Hispanic Theater. Mr. Lee holds a Master of Music in Stage Music Composition from Catholic University of America.
(As of November 2017)
Lauren Helpern recently designed Curve of Departure at South Coast Rep. Broadway credits include Voices in the Dark. Off Broadway credits include 4000 Miles (Lortel Award) and Disgraced at LCT3, BUG at Barrow Street Theatre (Obie Award), Bad Jews at Roundabout Theatre Company, and The Model Apartment at Primary Stages. Regional credits include Chapter Two at Arizona Theatre Company, A Funny Thing…Memorial Sloan-Kettering… at the Geffen Playhouse, At the Old Place at La Jolla Playhouse, and The Aeneid at NYU/Abu Dhabi. Ms. Helpern has designed around the country from the Huntington Stage Company to Anchorage Opera. Her production design for Janice Gunter: Ghost Hunter can currently be seen on Facebook.
(As of November 2017)
