Heroes of the Fourth Turning

09/21/22 - 10/30/22

BY WILL ARBERY
LOCATION MEAD THEATRE
DIRECTED BY SIVAN BATTAT

On the edge of the Wyoming wilderness, the last guests linger late into the night at a celebration for the new President of their conservative Catholic college. Reunited after seven years, the friends toss back whiskey and name-check Thomas Aquinas, Hannah Arendt, Steve Bannon, even Bojack Horseman, tracking their distance from each other and the people they thought they’d be by now. Will Arbery’s portrait of white conservatives trying to make sense of where they, and their country, stand is an incisive yet personal look at the intelligence and despair of the Catholic right.   

SHOW INFORMATION

Runtime: 2 hours and 10 minutes with no intermission

Read the program.

In the interest of welcoming people with a wide range of needs and life experiences, Studio offers a bit of information on what you will encounter in the play. Use this information as it is helpful to you.

Environment Warnings: This production of Heroes of the Fourth Turning contains the use of herbal tobacco, a fabricated animal carcass, haze, low lighting, a small amount of vomit, loud noises, and gunshot sound effects. 

The guns onstage in Heroes of the Fourth Turning are props and cannot fire bullets. All gunshot noises are sound effects or a blank fired offstage.

Heroes of the Fourth Turning is generously underwritten by Teresa and Dan Schwartz.

Calendar

March 2024
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Multimedia

The Artists

Cast

U/S JUSTIN

Olev Aleksander

Olev Aleksander is making his Studio Theatre debut. His theatre credits include Murder on the Orient Express at Ogunquit Playhouse, Good Television at Zeitgeist Stage Company, Macbeth at Fab Marquee Productions, Beyond Therapy at Little Fish Theatre, Twelfth Night at Shakespeare by the Sea, and Mister Roberts at The American Century Theater. TV credits include The Blacklist and The Hunter’s Anthology. He has appeared in numerous short films, notably The Fifth Horseman, nominated for a National Student Production Award (Best Drama). Voice-over work includes the popular video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Olev studied with Seth Barrish and Lee Brock at The Barrow Group in New York City and with Howard Fine at the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Los Angeles. olevaleksander.com.

(As of September 2022)

U/S EMILY

Sarah Boess

Sarah Boess (she/her) is an actor, director, and producer. Recent performance credits include Little Things at 11th Hour Theatre Company, Measure for Measure at Brown Box Theatre Project, The Honey Trap at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, and Chicago at The Broadway Theatre of Pitman. Sarah currently serves as the Artistic Director at Sanguine Theatre Company and has worked on producing teams with Manhattan Theatre Club, The Civilians, and Samuel French. She is the co-founder of Tredyffrin Performing Arts, a non-profit arts education program, and currently leads The Civilians’ Investigative Theatre education series. BFA Boston University. Connect with her at SarahBoess.com or on Instagram @Sarah.Boess. 

(As of August 2022) 

U/S KEVIN

Ethan Williams

Ethan Williams is an actor and playwright based in Boston, MA who is making his Studio debut in Heroes of the Fourth Turning. His regional theatre credits include And Your Little Dog Too and Romeo and Juliet at Apollinaire Theatre Company, Power Play at Artists’ Theater of Boston, Red at Unified Theatre Company, and Corpus Christi and Slipping at Richmond Triangle Players. Ethan recently graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Acting. He would like to thank his friends and family for their unconditional support. 

(As of August 2022) 

U/S TERESA

Rebecca Ballinger

Rebecca Ballinger is an actor and comedian. Her past credits include The Outsider and Shakespeare in Love at The Keegan Theatre, A Civil War Christmas and The Member of the Wedding at 1st Stage, Every Christmas Story Ever Told and Beehive at NextStop Theatre Company, as well as Make Way for Ducklings and Fairytales in the Sun at Adventure Theatre MTC. Becca has a BA in Theatre from the University of Maryland. RebeccaBallinger.com. 

(As of August 2022) 

U/S GINA

Liz Weber

Liz Weber’s credits include Company (Joanne) at The Cumberland Summer Theatre, The Music Man (Eulalie Shinn) at The Kennedy Center, William Walton’s Façade (Narrator) at Barns of Rose Hill, Grand Hotel (Russian Ballerina U/S) at Signature Theatre, Helen on Wheels (Helen) and Prepping for Widowhood (Thelma) at Best Medicine Rep Theater Company, and Steel Magnolias (Ouiser) at Kensington Arts Theatre. Liz worked in radio for many years, hosted a radio show called Sunday Showtunes on 99.5FM, and voiced commercials and production for Clear Channel Radio DC area stations. She toured nationally with Music Theatre Associates, garnered a Helen Hayes nomination for Me & My Girl, and is a graduate of the Catholic University of America. 

(As of August 2022) 

Production Team

SET DESIGNER

Yu Shibagaki

Yu Shibagaki is a New York-based set designer originally from Nagoya, Japan. Her recent credits include Sense and Sensibility at American Players Theatre; The Royale at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play at Goodman Theatre; I, Banquo and I, Cinna (the poet) at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Dishwasher Dreams at Hartford Stage and Writers Theatre; Her Honor Jane Byrne at Lookingglass Theatre Company; and more. She is a USA 829 member. Yushibagaki.com 

(As of July 2022) 

COSTUME DESIGNER

Debra Kim Sivigny

Debra Kim Sivigny (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer based in Washington, DC. She was the costume designer for TempOdyssey at Studio Theatre. Her recent designs include scenic design for Sense and Sensibility at Everyman Theatre; Head Over Heels at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma; and Tuesdays with Morrie at Theater J; costume and scenic design for The Royale at Olney Theatre Center and 1st Stage Theater; and costume design for Waiting for Godot at Barrington Stage Company and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at Hangar Theatre. With The Welders, she wrote and designed the set for Hello, My Name Is..., an immersive event about Korean adoptees which was exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019. She is the recipient of a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Set Design and a five-time nominee for the award. Debra is an Assistant Professor of Scenic and Costume Design at George Mason University. debsivigny.com  

(As of July 2022) 

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Amith Chandrashaker

Amith Chandrashaker has worked with The Public Theater, Second Stage, Theatre for a New Audience, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ars Nova, Soho Rep, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Colorado, and The Atlanta Opera. Amith has worked on dance pieces by Alexander Ekman, Liz Gerring, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and Rennie Harris. He is the recipient of a Drama Desk Award and a Henry Hewes Design Award. Amith is an Assistant Professor of Lighting at the University of Maryland. 

(As of July 2022) 

SOUND DESIGNER/ COMPOSER

Sinan Refik Zafar

Sinan Refik Zafar (he/him) was the sound designer for the Broadway and national touring production of What the Constitution Means to Me. Off Broadway, he has worked with MCC Theater, Second Stage, The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Clubbed Thumb, Rattlestick Theater, and The Movement Theatre Company. Work with Regional theatres include The Kennedy Center, Guthrie Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and more. sinanzafar.com 

(As of July 2022) 

PROPS DESIGNER

Deb Thomas

Deb Thomas is a props and set designer for theatre, television, and film. From 2009 to 2019, she was Studio’s Props Director. Studio credits include properties design for John Proctor is the Villain, Pass Over, Love! Valor! Compassion!, Sylvia, and SubUrbia, set design for Terminus, and assistant set design for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Additional credits include properties design for The Till Trilogy, Marys Seacole, Eureka Day, and Milk Like Sugar at Mosaic Theater Company and The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and Freud’s Last Session at Theater J. She was a sculptor and sculpture consultant for TLC’s DC Cupcakes (2010-2013) and a Washington Bureau set designer for TV Tokyo, as well as doing the original set design for Discovery Channel’s Puppy Bowl. Work includes production design for Dolley Madison and art direction for Alexander Hamilton (PBS American Experience), and set and props design for Jamestown: Against All Odds (Discovery Channel's Moments in Time). 

(As of August 2022) 

DIALECT COACH

Jeri Jeannine Marshall

GUITAR COACH

Jaime Ibacache

FIGHT DIRECTOR

Robb Hunter

Robb Hunter has directed movement and violence for many Studio productions including Pass Over, Vietgone, The Effect, Hand to God, Bad Jews, The Motherfucker with the Hat, Reasons to Be Pretty, Invisible Man, Superior Donuts, Red Speedo (Helen Hayes nomination) and The Walworth Farce (Helen Hayes nomination). He has also directed movement/violence for Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Helen Hayes Award for HIR and nomination for An Octoroon), Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Washington National Opera, Ford’s Theatre and many others. He is a member of SDC, AEA, SAG/AFTRA, and is recognized as one of only 20 Fight Masters by the Society of American Fight Directors. He is on faculty at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting, is the Choreographer in Residence at American University and is a teaching artist for the Studio Acting Conservatory. His prop company, Preferred Arms, supplies prop weapons to theatres nationwide. preferredarms.com. 

(As of August 2022) 

DRAMATURG

Adrien-Alice Hansel

Adrien-Alice Hansel (she/her) is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of John Proctor is the Villain, I Hate it Here, Queen of Basel, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses, among others, as well as productions of The Hot Wing King, White Noise, Tender Age, Flow, Until the Flood, 2.5 Minute Ride, Cry It Out, Translations, Curve of Departure, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Hedda Gabler, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Cycle, 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 is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of 11 editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.   

(As of August 2022) 

PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER

Alison McLeod

Alison McLeod (she/her) is a stage manager and activist whose credits include the National Music Theater Conference (Eugene O'Neill Theater Center); Bakkhai (Baltimore Center Stage); How to Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens Theater); Hamlet (Gloucester Stage Company); Djembe! The Show (Apollo Theater, Chicago); Assassins (Flint Repertory Theatre); Julius Caesar (Montana Shakespeare in the Schools); New Stages Festival (2016,  2017) and Twist Your Dickens (Goodman Theatre); and 1984, The Compass, Between Riverside and Crazy, Straight White Men, and BLKS (Steppenwolf Theatre Company).  
 
(As of August 2022) 




CASTING

Taylor Williams, CSA

Taylor Williams (Casting Director) is an Artios Award-winning Casting Director who has cast various productions across the country. Broadway credits include POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive; Slave Play (remount and original, Center Theatre Group, New York Theatre Workshop); Is This A Room and Dana H; and What the Constitution Means to Me (New York Theatre Workshop, Barrow Street, National Tour). Benefit credits include The Great Work Begins featuring scenes from Tony Kushner’s Angels in America for amfAR and Ratatouille: the TikTok Musical for the Actors Fund. Taylor is the resident casting director at Page 73 Productions. Notable productions include On Sugarland, Sanctuary City, and Othello with Daniel Craig at New York Theatre Workshop; Whitney White’s The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! for Fisher Center at Bard and its current national tour; and Aleshea Harris’ Is God Is at Soho Rep. 

(As of August 2022) 

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