You, Nero
Illustration by Ruth Marten
By resident playwright
Amy Freed
Directed by Nicholas Martin
Who's Who
CAST (in alphabetical order)
KASEY MAHAFFY (Fabiolo) previously appeared at South Coast Rep and Berkeley Rep in You, Nero. Other credits include Crimes of the Heart, An Italian Straw Hat, and Taking Steps at South Coast Rep; The Violet Hour at Ensemble Theatre; Metamorphoses at Pioneer Theatre; Little Women at K.C. Rep; The Miracle Worker and Assassins at Berkshire Theatre; Tartuffe and Much Ado About Nothing at Sonnet Rep; The Merchant of Venice at Portland Center Stage; Life Is a Dream and Trip to Bountiful at OSF; The Laramie Project, The Last Night of Ballyhoo, The Winter’s Tale and The Servant of Two Masters at Pacific Conservatory. Film/TV credits include Oceans 13, Law & Order: L.A., Nathan vs. Nurture (pilot), Castle, Bones, ER, Medium, Crossing Jordan, and Veronica Mars. Back
JEFF McCARTHY (Scribonius). Broadway: Chicago, Pirate Queen, Urinetown, Side Show, Beauty and the Beast, Smile, Zorba, Pirates of Penzance. Off-Broadway: Southern Comfort, Sympathetic Magic, Dream True, On the 20th Century. Regional: Fox on the Fairway (Signature); You, Nero (Berkeley); The Price, Front Page (Long Wharf); Sweeney Todd, Follies (Barrington); Beggar’s Opera (Santa Fe Opera); Bed and Sofa (Wilma); Arms and the Man (Huntington); Bedroom Farce (Center Stage); Misanthrope (Guthrie); Buried Child, Pantegleize (ACT); Henry IV (Indiana Rep); Sunday in the Park (Seattle Rep); A Lie of the Mind (Denver Center). TV: The Good Wife, Schweitzer (title role), Love Monkey. Film: Starting Out in the Evening, Consent, RoboCop 2, Eve of Destruction, Rapid Fire, Cliffhanger. Jeff is the voice of the great Chuck Jones’ creation Michigan J. Frog. Back
LAURENCE O’DWYER (Burrus) recently appeared at Arena in Trouble in Mind and The Fantasticks (Helen Hayes Award). He is an associate artist at CenterStage, where he’s been in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Importance of Being Earnest, ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Matchmaker, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, Trouble in Mind, and many others. Regional: Cherry Orchard, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Goodman); Trouble in Mind (Yale); Don Juan (Shakespeare); Don Juan, As You Like It (Old Globe); A Christmas Carol, Temptation (Dallas Theatre Center); Changes of Heart, Mirandolina, The Game of Love and Chance (McCarter); Changes of Heart (Berkeley); Changes of Heart (Taper); A Quarrel of Sparrows (Court, Drama-Logue Award). Former chair of Bennington College’s drama dept. Awards: Baltimore Magazine’s Best Actor in 2009 Best of Baltimore. Back
NANCY ROBINETTE (Agrippina) most recently appeared at Arena Stage in Death of a Salesman, Well, and Christmas Carol 1941. She has also been seen recently at Studio Theatre in The New Electric Ballroom, Souvenir and Frozen; The Carpetbagger’s Children at Ford’s Theatre; Twelfth Night and Heir Apparent at Shakespeare Theatre; and at Woolly Mammoth some time ago in Amy Freed’s Freedomland. She has appeared at Old Globe, Paper Mill, Williamstown, New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout, and McCarter theaters. TV includes Louie and Homicide. Films: Serial Mom, Soldier Jack, The Hunley and The Day Lincoln Was Shot. Back
DANNY SCHEIE (Nero) comes to the Arena after creating the role at South Coast Rep and Berkeley Rep, where he appeared in Cloud Nine and the world premiere of Fêtes de la Nuit. Other credits include Restoration Comedy at Old Globe and California Shakespeare, where he also played Bottom, Feste, Mercutio, and Dogberry among others over eight seasons. This year he played Valère in La Bête at Asolo Rep and in the world premiere of Bob in ATL’s Humana Festival. Other theaters include Trinity Rep, Yale Rep, Two River, Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within, Zephyr and, in San Francisco: Magic, Aurora, Marin, TheatreWorks, San Jose Rep, Campo Santo, Theater Rhinoceros and 14 seasons at Shakespeare Santa Cruz (three as artistic director). He holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley. Back
SUSANNAH SCHULMAN (Poppaea) is thrilled to return to Arena Stage after participating in the Albee Festival this past spring. Theater credits include Yale Repertory Theatre, Roundabout Theatre, Hudson Stage Company, Huntington Theatre, Geva Theatre, Syracuse Stage, South Coast Repertory, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Marin Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre, Zephyr Theatre, Barbican Theatre (David Edgar’s Continental Divide), and the national tour of Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Back
JOHN C. VENNEMA (Seneca) last appeared at Arena in A Time to Kill. He originated the role of Tom in the Broadway production of Arthur Miller’s The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. Originally from Houston, John graduated from Princeton and attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He has also been seen on Broadway in Bells Are Ringing (Encores), The Royal Family, Otherwise Engaged, The Elephant Man, and Racing Demon (dir. Richard Eyre). Off-Broadway: The Cripple of Inishmaan (Drama Desk Award), House and Garden, The Illusion, and Later Life. Film: Love Comes Lately, Marci X, The Producers, City Hall, Subway Stories, Sabrina, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Kiss of Death, Basketball Diaries and Separate but Equal. Back
CREATIVE TEAM
AMY FREED (Playwright) is the author of Restoration Comedy, The Beard of Avon, Freedomland, Safe in Hell, The Psychic Life of Savages and other plays. Her work has been produced at South Coast Rep, NYTW, Seattle Rep, ACT, Yale Rep, California Shakespeare, Berkeley Rep, Goodman, Playwrights Horizons, Woolly Mammoth and other theaters. Her latest play, Right to the Top, had its first reading at Pacific Playwrights Festival in April 2010. Amy has won the Joseph Kesselring Award, Charles MacArthur Playwriting Award, several L.A. Drama Critics Circle awards and was a Pulitzer finalist for Freedomland. She is artist-in-residence in Stanford Univ.’s drama dept., has been playwright-in-residence at South Coast Rep, and was playwright-in-residence at Old Globe Theater. Back
NICHOLAS MARTIN (Director). Broadway: Present Laughter, The Rehearsal, Butley, Match, Hedda Gabler. Off-Broadway: You Never Can Tell, Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them (Public); Saturn Returns, The New Century, Observe the Sons of Ulster (Drama Desk nom), The Time of the Cuckoo, Chaucer in Rome (Lincoln Center); Fully Committed (Vineyard; Cherry Lane); Full Gallop (MTC; West Side Arts; London); Betty’s Summer Vacation (Obie Award, Drama Desk nom), Sophistry (Playwrights Horizons); Bosoms and Neglect (Signature). Regional: The House of Blue Leaves, Dead End (Center Theatre Group), and many more. Mr. Martin was formerly artistic director of Huntington Theatre in Boston and Williamstown Theatre Festival, where his credits include Knickerbocker, She Loves Me, The Corn Is Green, Where’s Charley?, Camino Real and The Royal Family, among others. Back
JAMES NOONE (Set Designer) has designed many Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including Come Back Little Sheba, A Bronx Tale, Jekyll and Hyde, Three Tall Women, Full Gallop, and Fully Committed at MTC, Lincoln Center, Playwrights Horizons and numerous other companies. His regional credits include Guthrie Theater, CTG, Pittsburgh Public, Huntington, Long Wharf, Shakespeare Theatre Company, and Chicago Shakespeare, among others. His opera credits include work at Washington National Opera, Glimmerglass, N.Y. City Opera, L.A. Opera, and Canadian Opera. He has also designed many national tours, as well as Sweeney Todd, Candide, Passion, and Camelot for PBS. Back
GABRIEL BERRY (Costume Designer) costume designs for Arena Stage include Dance of Death, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, An American Daughter and Black No More. Recent credits include King Lear for New York’s Public Theater, She Stoops to Conquer for Williamstown Theater Festival, and The Coward for Lincoln Center 3. Upcoming projects include Food and Fadwa at New York Theater Workshop, The Total Bent for New York’s Public Theater, and Ainadamar for Teatro Real in Madrid. Back
MATTHEW RICHARDS (Lighting Designer) recently designed Graceland (Lincoln Center), Whisper House (Old Globe), The Rivalry (Ford’s), and Dinner with Friends (Westport). Other designs include What’s That Smell and Port Authority (Atlantic), Elegies (Barrington), Sleuth (Bay St.), Hay Fever (CenterStage), The Clean House (Cleveland Play House), Rabbit Hole (Geffen), Animal Crackers (Goodman), Third (Huntington), Grace (MCC), Geometry of Fire and A Steady Rain (NYS&F), The Women and The Violet Hour (Old Globe), Grey Gardens (Philadelphia Theatre Co.), Romeo and Juliet (PlayMakers Rep), The Drunken City and Pen (Playwrights Horizons), A Small Melodramatic Story (Public/LAByrinth), Woman Before a Glass (Rep of St. Louis), Len, Asleep in Vinyl (Second Stage), Dog in the Manger (Shakespeare Theatre Co.), Romeo and Juliet (Williamstown), Don Giovanni (Wolf Trap). Back
DREW LEVY (Sound Designer). Broadway: Importance of Being Earnest, Present Laughter. Off-Broadway: Why Torture Is Wrong, Emergence-SEE!, Rainbow Kiss, Dutchman (Audelco nom), Mistakes Madeline Made. Regional: She Stoops to Conquer, Our Town, A Funny Thing Happened, Quartermaine’s Terms, She Loves Me, Corn Is Green, Crimes of the Heart (Williamstown); The Circle (Westport); Jacques Brel (Two River); She Stoops to Conquer (McCarter); Pirates!, Corn Is Green, She Loves Me, Present Laughter, Cherry Orchard, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Sisters Rosensweig, Burn This, and Sonia Flew (world premiere, Huntington); Shipwrecked! (Long Wharf). Associate credits: Rock of Ages, That Championship Season, Women on the Verge, Everyday Rapture (Drama Desk nom), The 39 Steps (Tony), South Pacific, Cymbeline, Happiness, Apple Tree, Adding Machine, and Metropolitan Opera’s 125th anniversary gala. Back
MARK BENNETT (Original Music). Broadway (partial listing): A Steady Rain, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Coast of Utopia (Drama Desk Award, Hewes Award), Henry IV, Golda’s Balcony, The Goat (dir. David Esbjornson). Off-Broadway: Why Torture Is Wrong, Antony and Cleopatra (dir. Vanessa Redgrave), and nine other Shakespeare productions for the Public Theater; Valhalla, Mad Forest, My Children! My Africa!, L’Illusion (New York Theatre Workshop). Twelve Drama Desk noms; Obie Award for Sustained Excellence; Bessie, Garland and Ovation awards. Back
COOKIE JORDAN (Hair, Wig, and Makeup Designer). Broadway: Motherfucker with the Hat, Lombardi, Fela!, Miracle Worker, A View from the Bridge, South Pacific. Off-Broadway: King Lear (Public), Neighbors (Public). Other: The Wiz (Dallas Theater Center), Fela! (Nigeria; National Theater, London), Cunning Little Vixen, Le Grand Macabre (New York Philharmonic), Liberty Smith (Ford’s Theater), Dirty Dancing (national tour), Disney’s High School Musical (national tour). Back
ALAINE ALLDAFFER (N.Y. Casting) cast every tongue confess at Arena Stage. Other theater credits include Grey Gardens, This, Clybourne Park and Circle, Mirror, Transformation (Artios Award) for Playwrights Horizons, Present Laughter (Artios Award) for Roundabout, as well as projects at Long Wharf, Soho Rep, ACT, Seattle Rep, Berkeley Rep, Williamstown Festival, and Actors Theater of Louisville’s Humana Festival. She casts for Huntington Theatre in Boston and The Women’s Project in New York. TV credits include Knights of Prosperity (ABC), Ed (NBC) and Monk (USA). Lisa Donadio is associate casting director. Back
JENNA HENDERSON (Stage Manager) is delighted to be back after stage managing the remount of Oklahoma! At Arena Stage she was the assistant stage manager for Ruined, Oklahoma! 2010, The Light in the Piazza, Stick Fly, and Legacy of Light and stage manager for R. Buckminster Fuller. Other Washington credits include: The Comedy of Errors (Folger Theatre); The Little Dog Laughed (Signature Theatre); Shining City and My Children! My Africa! (Studio Theatre); Night Must Fall, The Heiress, and The Underpants (Olney Theatre Center). Proud member of Actors’ Equity. Back
CHRISTI B. SPANN (Asst. Stage Manager) recently moved to D.C. from Denver, where she stage managed for 12 seasons with Denver Center Theatre Company. She worked various summers with Great River Shakespeare Festival, Lizard Head Theatre Company, and UCCS TheatreWorks. Christi holds a B.A. from University of Richmond. Back
