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DECEMBER 5TH- 21ST
Factory Series at The Chain Theatre
312 W 36th St. 4th floor
New York, NY
ASSOCIATE PRODUCED BY
Shay McWeeney
Sam Ellameh
Keith & Denise Newnam
"Isn't it amazing how we find each other?"
STAGE MANAGER
Isabel Schwartzberg*
SCENIC DESIGNER
Michael Lewis
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Yichen Zhou
COSTUME DESIGNER
Marianne CD Needell
ASSOCIATE LIGHTING DESIGNER
Eitan Acks
SOUND DESIGNER
Evdoxia Ragkou
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
& CARPENTER
Aaron Plourde
PRODUCTION ELECTRICIAN
Mike Lee
DIALECT COACH
Charley Layton
INTIMACY & FIGHT DIRECTOR
Leanna Gardella
with
Sophia Castuera* Ellie M. Plourde* Eli Mazursky Joe Penczak* Timothy Wagner* Melissa Hurst* Yuka Taga Shah Motia Iliana Guibert*
Run Time: 1 hour and 40 Minutes
No Intermission
CW: loud noises, use of prop gun, explicit language, discussion of sexual assault and self harm, substance abuse, suicide, and other adult themes
This is an Equity Approved Showcase.
*Appearing through an Agreement between this theatre, Making Our Space Theatre Co., and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Actors' Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org
SPECIAL NOTE
Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, produced the world premiere of KIN Off-Broadway in 2011.
CAST
LINDA...........................................................Melissa Hurst*
MAX.................................................................Joe Penczak*
ANNA........................................................Sophia Castuera*
SEAN................................................................Eli Mazursky
KAY...............................................................Iliana Guibert*
HELENA.....................................................Ellie M. Plourde*
SIMON/GIDEON................................................Shah Motia
ADAM........................................................Timothy Wagner*
RACHEL................................................................Yuka Taga
COMPANY
Co-Artistic Director.....................................Ellie M. Plourde
Co-Artistic Director...........................................Eli Mazursky Associate Artistic Director...........................Sophia Castuera
Associate Producer....................................Shay McWeeney
Graphic Designer.........................................Nicole Stewart
Photographer...............................................Eli Percy Photo
SCENES
The action of the play takes place between 2004 and 2011
in various locations in America and Ireland.
Scene 1......................................An office at Columbia University
Scene 2....................................................................Central Park
Scene 3....................................................Sean's apartment, NYC
Scene 4...........................................Columbia University campus
Scene 5......................................Linda's house, Donegal, Ireland
Scene 6.............................................................Kay's house, D.C.
Scene 7...................................................................An art gallery
Scene 8.....................................................A gym, Dublin, Ireland
Scene 9...............................Lecture theater, Columbia University
Scene 10.........................................Acadia National Park, Maine
Scene 11.....................................................Adam's house, Texas
Scene 12.................................................A psychiatric ward, NYC
Scene 13.......................................................A hospital bed, D.C.
Scene 14....................................................North Carolina & NYC
Scene 15......................................................A threshold, Ireland
Scene 16.........................................The woods of North Carolina
Scene 17....................................Linda's house, Donegal, Ireland
Scene 18....................................Linda's house, Donegal, Ireland
Scene 19............................................The cliffs of Donegal & NYC
Scene 20....................................Linda's house, Donegal, Ireland
A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR
What we’re witnessing is the birth of a new family…
Thank you so much for joining us for Making Our Space Theatre Co.’s inaugural production. The performance you’re about to experience marks the culmination of many, many months of hard work growing something new from a seedling company who has until now been focused on producing industry showcases for performers. Founded by actors, Making Our Space aims to give other actors a platform through which to showcase themselves on their own terms, offering full agency and support. This play marks an escalation of their ambitions into fully-produced work, and furthers the company’s mission by placing its core value at the forefront: community. The nine actors who form this ensemble have worked tirelessly to bring texture and nuance to this gorgeous script by Bathsheba Doran, and it’s been my great pleasure to work with each of them, as well as our fiercely inventive design team.
Kin premiered at Playwrights Horizons in 2011, in a well-loved production directed by Sam Gold. This production marks an opportunity to revisit the play with fresh eyes and new perspective, thirteen years later. When I sat down with the script in search of the inciting impulse for our revival, I realized that what was once a very current play about love and relationships in the modern age had matured into a period piece about the early 2000s. I was struck by the uncanniness of the references to technology contained therein: reminders of a world deceptively similar to the one we live in today, and yet different in key ways. Phone calls are a faceless enterprise, text messages are sent via clumsy, physical buttons, and Facebook is still the next big thing. If Kin is about a moment in time when technology was making the great distance of the world feel more traversable and less mysterious than ever before, I think we now find ourselves in a future where that same technology has led to our further isolation. The loneliness of the long-distance phone call has been replaced by the ersatz togetherness of the FaceTime or the Zoom. It’s not the full meal, and we lose something when we allow ourselves to pretend that it is.
Kin celebrates the face-to-face conversation. It honors the communal event. It reminds us why we gather in the theater: to share and to witness.
Thank you for being here, sharing this space with us.
Spencer Whale
MEET THE CAST & CREATIVE TEAM
Sophia Castuera* (Anna)
Sophia is an actor and award-winning filmmaker based in Brooklyn. She graduated from the Terry Knickerbocker Studio in 2021, then made her New York stage debut in the American premiere of the chamber-musical Trojan Women. In 2023, her directorial feature debut, "august at twenty-two," was acquired by Gravitas Ventures and lauded by The Guardian as “a commendable first outing.” She has a feature in development with hopes to shoot in 2025/2026. Other credits include: The Saint and the Football Player (Mabou Mines), Romeo and Juliet (Underlings Theatre Co.), “Tides” (Justin Cirulli), “Cycle” (Cubie King). She hopes to create art that explores her Mexican heritage one day. Much love to the entire cast and crew of Kin! Thanks for making MOS’s inaugural production such a beautiful adventure.
Joe Penczak* (Max)
Joe is a member of both the American and British Shakespeare Associations, where he has run workshops on aspects of Shakespearean acting in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Portland, Jacksonville, and Belfast, Northern Ireland. He has performed internationally (Shylock in Venice, Italy; Claudius in Elsinore, Denmark; and Brabantio in Reading, UK) and domestically - including Duncan for Commonwealth Shakespeare, Boston; Chorus/Exeter in Henry V at Actors Shakespeare Theater, NYC; Shylock for Valley Shakespeare, CT; other Shakespeare roles include Macbeth, Hamlet, Richard 2, Richard 3, Petruchio, Brutus, Malvolio, and Sir Toby Belch. Non-Shakespearean roles include Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar, O'Brien in 1984, Valdimir in Waiting for Godot, Clov in Endgame, Long John Silver in a stage adaptation he wrote of Treasure Island, and Morton Kill in A Lie Agreed Upon (An Enemy of the People). Film/tv credits include appearances as Karl Marx in "Marianne and the Rebels", Louis in "Eephus" (2024 Cannes premier), Leon Friedman in "The Storied Life of AJ Fikry" with Lucy Hale, Kunal Nayar, and Christina Hendricks, and head ref in "Wolves" with Michael Shannon, John Douglas Thompson, and Carla Gugino. He also appears in the usual NYC tv shows "Law & Order," "Long Bright River," and "Only Murders In the Building."
Melissa Hurst* (Linda)
Melissa’s New York Theatre credits include For Your Age at the Go Solo! Festival 2023, Utility at Rattlestick Playwright’s Theatre and Lincoln Center’s Claire Tow (NY Times Critic’s Pick, Yale Drama Prize), Science Park at Target Margin, Leah the Forsaken at Metropolitan Playhouse, Delta in the Skies (with Austin Pendleton as God), One Neck (with Allison Janney) at the Atlantic Theatre Company, The Houseguests by Harry Kondoleon (Obie Award, Best Play), Cause Celeb! (with Charles Busch, Marylouise Burke) at Joe’s Pub, The Foul Seduction at Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the original production of Len Jenkin’s Dark Ride at Soho Rep. Regional credits include plays by Edward Albee, John Steinbeck, Tennessee Williams, William Inge, Noel Coward, and Alan Ayckbourn at The Alliance, Hartford Stage, GeVa, Pittsburgh Public, Woodstock Theatre, and 20 productions with Dorset Theatre Festival. TV: "Law and Order" and "Guiding Light" (recurring role). Recent Film: "On Purple," "Bleeck," "Muddy Goes to College," "Free Yourself with Emojis" (newyorker.com) and "Goldstar, Ohio" opposite Michael Emerson. Melissa graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy high school and is an alum of NYU Tisch Grad Acting, where she studied with Olympia Dukakis and Ron Van Lieu.
Iliana Guibert* (Kay)
Recent theater credits include, Anna in the Tropics Bay Street Theater, 26 Miles Gulfshore Playhouse, Superstitions directed by Jenna Worsham, It's Okay MCC's Youth Co. and Voices from a Pandemic for Notch Theatre Co. Some screen credits include, "Law & Order:SVU" and "Organized Crime," "City on a Hill," "Quantico," "Blue Bloods" and "Carnitas" which just won best dark comedy at NYWIFT’s online festival.
Eli Mazursky (Sean)
Eli Mazursky is an actor/writer/producer based in Brooklyn. He attended Boston University’s School of Theatre with a concentration in acting. He also attended the 2-year acting program at the William Esper Studio upon arriving in NY. He’s worked as an Art Director and Production Supervisor for film (including "Somewhere in Queens" for dir. Ray Romano, "Three Women" for Showtime) and commercial projects (including Google, Dodge, and Zara). He has a passion for the collaborative nature of storytelling through theater and film. Eli has dreamed for a long time of being part of an organization that creates affordable opportunities for actors to learn and showcase their talent. He strongly believes Making Our Space has the power to create a home for a formidable community of storytellers in NYC.
Ellie M. Plourde* (Helena)
Ellie M. Plourde is an actor and producer. She began performing as a child actor at North Carolina Theatre, on set at Screen Gems in "The Dress Code" (Dir. Shirley MacLaine), and in various commercials and voiceovers. She studied theater at University of the Arts and graduated from the Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Recent credits: Young Bessie in Bettinger's Luggage (AMT Theater), Mrs. Winsley/Nurse in Stop Kiss (Murmuration Theatre), Midge in Wedding Blues (Players Theatre), Eurydice in Polaroid Stories (Allen’s Lane), Dora Maar in The Artists’ Women (Philly Fringe). She's also appeared in several indie films. Ellie's interest in socio-politically relevant work inspired her to direct and produce both the Philadelphia and NYC sold-out runs of This Is Not About 9/11 (SoLow Festival), written by Sarah Van Auken. She is also a Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Making Our Space Theatre Co. and so grateful to be playing Helena, a character so near and dear to her heart.
With profound gratitude, I thank my kin: Eli, Sophia, and Shay, my most trusted collaborators and enduring sources of inspiration. Your partnership has been a cornerstone of my creative journey, and I’m eager to see where the road ahead will take us. Spencer, your keen insight, thoughtful guidance, and unshakable belief in me have been transformative. This performance is as much yours as mine, and I hope to bring stories to life with you for many years to come. To my friends, who have stood by me with unrelenting support, your faith sustains me in more ways than I can express. To my team at Oxford Talent Management, your trust in my work keeps me grounded and focused on what truly matters. To my father, Roy, my cousins Emily and Suby, my in-laws Brenda, Steve, Jen, Shawn, Aunt Linda, and Uncle Fred, your constant encouragement and love have been a wellspring of hope, fueling my vision for what lies ahead. And to my husband, Aaron—your steadfastness, love, and partnership are my bedrock. None of this would be possible without you by my side. Thank you, from the depths of my heart, for everything.
IG: @elliemplourde // Website: www.elliemplourde.com
Shah Motia (Simon/Gideon)
Shah Motia just completed his feature film debut as the lead in "Water From A Stone," the directorial debut of Luis Ferrer, scheduled for a 2025 release. On stage, Shah has performed at The Cell (The Smallest Sound in the Smallest Space, premiere, lead); The Brick (Sleeping Car Porters, a New York Times “Critic’s Pick”); La MaMa (Everyday Murder), and Theater for the New City (Condo Rondo). Shah is also guitarist for the band Ex Models. Their unique meld of avant-garde, industrial, and post-punk has received wide critical acclaim from New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, Pitchfork, NME, and many other outlets. The band is completing its fourth album. Shah is a 2019 graduate of the Terry Knickerbocker Studio conservatory.
Timothy Wagner* (Adam)
Timothy Wagner is the second of five siblings and grew up in Cincinnati. He is a graduate (BFA, 1980) of the NC School of the Arts and worked professionally until 1988, performing at regional theaters in High Point (NC), Kansas City (MO), and Portsmouth (NH). He was a resident company member of NC Shakespeare Festival from 1979 through 1982. After 30+ years as an NYC business executive, Tim re-entered the acting world in 2021. NY credits include Stupid F*cking Bird (MCS Studio), Romeo & Juliet (Stella Adler Studio); Tiny Demons (Wonderhorse Theater) and Fool For Love (Douglas Fairbanks Theater). TV & Film credits include "Law & Order" (Atty. Menton) and the short films "SERVED" (Warden Hammer) and "AWAKE" (Dr. Hill), both of which won awards on the indie festival circuit. Thanks to Fran, Benno, Jules and Puja for your love and support.
Yuka Taga (Rachel)
Yuka Taga is a second-generation Japanese American actor born and raised in New York City. Her parents immigrated from Tokyo in the early 80’s; her father is a musician, and her mother, a retired painter. Amidst the untamed melting pot of New York City, Yuka found herself existing in undefined spaces between disparities of culture, class, and society. Her upbringing inspires her work as an actor today. She wishes the characters she portrays to be a mirror of the most human qualities of people, honoring each of their complexities and individualities. Some of Yuka’s recent credits include "Magic Hour" (Tribeca Film Festival), "Drifter" (Screamfest LA, Chain Film Festival), "Don't F*ck With Ba" (Toronto International Film Festival), and various off-off broadways including the 2023 One Act Festival at Chain Theater. For her third return to the Chain Theater, she is very excited to bring life to the production of Kin.
Spencer Whale (Director)
Spencer Whale is a Brooklyn-based director and playwright focused on developing subversive new works and unearthing fresh, queer readings of classics. Most recently, he was Assistant Director on Broadway’s Lempicka, directed by Rachel Chavkin, and Director on Vile Isle at the Tank. He received his MFA from Columbia, where he studied under Anne Bogart, whom he assisted on SITI Company’s farewell tour revival of The Medium. Productions at Columbia included his original play Cuck, Cuck, Bull; Justin Halle’s Vile Isle and Cowgirl; The Two Noble Kinsmen; and Vanya: An Active Analysis Workshop. He’s a past Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club, Directing and Producing Fellow at City Theatre, and Lab Company director at the Hangar Theatre. Other favorite productions include Sam Morrison’s Hello, Daddy! for Dixon Place’s HOT! Festival; LUNGS, Fun Home, Big Fish, and Quentin Crisp: The Last Word in Pittsburgh; and Titus Andronicus and subculture at Cornell. Spencer has also worked with the Pittsburgh Public, Quantum, and Kinetic Theaters; Pittsburgh CLO; Hiawatha Project; and THE TRIP.
Michael Lewis (Scenic Designer)
Michael Lewis is a scenic designer for theatre and opera. He earned his Master of Fine Arts from the Department of Design for Stage and Film at New York University/Tisch School of the Arts. Recent productions include set design for Orpheus in the Underworld at Manhattan School of Music, Dialogues des Carmelites and Florencia en el Amazonas at Eastman Opera Theatre, and a double bill of Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi at NYU/Steinhardt. Broadway credits include associate set design for Days of Wine and Roses at Studio 54, and upcoming associate set design for English at the Todd Haimes Theatre. Michaelbennettlewis.com
Yichen Zhou (Lighting Designer)
Yichen Zhou is a theatre designer working mostly with lighting and scenic. Recent credits include: Invasive Species (Vineyard Theatre; The Tank); The Thin Place (Chester Theatre Company); Vile Isle (The Tank); The Far Country (Yale Rep); The Rasa Project (National Sawdust); Marys Seacole, Ghosts, Furlough’s Paradise, Twelfth Night (Yale).
Website: www.zhouyichen.design | Instagram: @yichen.zhou.design
Evdoxia Ragkou (Sound Designer)
Evdoxia Ragkou holds an MFA in sound design from the School of Drama at Yale and is an East Coast-based composer and sound designer. She has worked in venues such as TheaterWorks Hartford, Rattlestick Theater, Yale Repertory Theater, Weston Theater Company, Audible (Asst.), Playwrights Horizons (Asst.), and 59E59 (Asst.). She has also written music for dance and film. https://evdoxiaragkou.com/
Marianne CD Needell (Costume Designer)
Marianne CD Needell is a Brooklyn-based designer and NYC native who has worked as a fashion designer in NYC since 2014. She is currently a freelance designer working on a variety of projects for companies both small and large. While her principal focus is fashion, she has a history in costume design, which began in high school and continued through her time at Cornell University. Most recently, she has costumed productions at Columbia University, including new works, Cuck, Cuck, Bull (Dir. Spencer Whale) and Vile Isle (Dir. Spencer Whale) and the classic Far Away (Dir. Samuel Gibbs). Her city upbringing exposed her to a plethora of styles and artistic expressions and a life of subway riding has trained her as a keen observer. Her costume design work filters those observations through a fashion lense. She views costume design as an essential world building tool and strives to create costumes that enhance both actor and performance. Her creative passion extends beyond textiles to include graphic design, figurative sculpture and running TTRPGs.
@marianne.makes
Eitan Acks (Associate Lighting Designer)
Born and raised in San Diego, Eitan has introduced himself as half scientist, half theatermaker since at least high school. He graduated in 2021 with a B.S. in chemistry from Yale, where he used his electives to study the history of American musical theater and spent all of his free time (and more) working on student productions. Falling in love with Lighting Design was inevitable - the intersection between chemistry [the branch of science dealing with the physical properties and interactions of substances] and chemistry [the complex emotional or psychological interaction between people]. Light tells stories and evokes lived experience.
When not in the theater, Eitan works part time as a scientist in bioassay development at Detect. He loves musical instruments, croissants, and cats!
Charley Layton (Dialect Coach)
Charley Layton (BFA Drama NYU, BA Linguistics Brooklyn College) is a professional speech/dialect coach (recently: The Who’s Tommy, Beetlejuice, Ain’t Too Proud, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Kinky Boots, Escape to Margaritaville, and Jersey Boys). He is a faculty member of the Atlantic Theater Company Acting School www.charleylayton.com
Leana Gardella (Intimacy & Fight Director)
Leana Gardella is a Fight Director, Intimacy Director, and Performer based in NYC. Select Credits: The Devil Wears Prada the Musical at the Nederlander in Chicago (ID), Our Class at BAM and CSC (ID/FD), Belfast Girls at Irish Repertory Theatre (FD/ID), Marie It’s Time at HERE Arts Center (ID/FD), Richard III with Soho Shakespeare Company (FD), Sway at The Flea Theater (FD), macbitches at the Chain Theatre (FD). www.leanagardella.com
Isabel Schwartzberg* (Stage Manager)
Isabel is thrilled to be part of the KIN team! Broadway: Leopoldstadt, Diana. Off-Broadway/NYC: Medusa (NAMT), Scarlett Dreams (Greenwich House), Amid Falling Walls (NYT Folksbiene), SWAY (The Flea), Sandra (Vineyard Theatre), Like the Wind (Soho Playhouse & The Brick), Walk On Through: Gavin Creel at the Met (Met Museum), I Put A Spell On You (BC/EFA), Public Theater, ElsieFest.
Shay McWeeney (Associate Producer )
Shay McWeeney is an actor whose recent NYC debut was in A Witch’s Brew at The Producer’s Club. She graduated from Point Park University with a BFA in Acting and an Applied Music Minor where her favorite roles included Mary Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life and Imogen in Much Ado About Nothing. Before undergrad, she also studied at The American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. Beyond acting, she is thrilled to serve as Associate Producer for Making Our Space Theatre Company. She believes that storytelling's power lies in its ability to immerse audiences in emotions, relationships, and contexts outside their daily experiences, fostering empathy and potentially driving change. Website: www.shaymcweeney.com / Instagram: @maryshaymcweeney
THIS IS WHAT COMMUNITY LOOKS LIKE
we couldn’t have done this without the generous support from our ever-growing chosen family
Nathan Flower, The Flea Theater, Matt Butcher & Rebecca Posner, Jessie Lunk, Nick Pennington, Someday Bar, Pentire, Spirited Away, Christina Swanson, Aubrey Lace Taylor, Kathania Joy, Kristin McWeeney, Haley Jenkins, David J. Baldwin, Grace Giffune, Amir Mosallaie, Shenuque Tissera, Tina Gulati, Brynn Owen, Joshua Elias Palmer, Isaac Byrne, Alexandra Fessler, Neil Ross, Christopher Pappas, Kevin McWeeney, Wray White, Jam K Sharpe, Alex Highsmith, Aubrey Casazza, Abi Lieff, Lia Bonfilio, Kathleen Donachie, Jason Wilks, Rhea S Cohen, Mary Elizabeth Monda, Shawn Picard & Jen Titus, Case Barden, Kristiana Priscantelli, Sam Ellameh, Axl Dominguez, Kim Fuller, Scott Keyes, Anant Das, Cait Ferreira, Matthew Proulx, Denes Kane, Bang Bros, Jaden Kauhale, Armaan Virani, Erin Mazursky, Fred & Linda Vigorito, Ian Duncan & Megan Carey, Leigh Zaleon, Maddie Ryan, Stephen & Brenda Plourde, Lorie Van Auken, Kathleen Borrelli, Benjamin Dworken, Carol Bennett, Marie Hotta, Christopher Amaya, Melissa Rainey, Anna Jackson, Kym Sawtelle Castuera, Dylan Murphy, Matthew Evans, Jared Witbeck, Amy Cooper, Emily & Suby Ross, James Oxford, Evan Rosen, Justin Cirulli, Lilla Pivnick, Audre Bennett, Ali Edwards, Patrick Redmond, Ashley Sawtelle, Caroline Granoff, TJ Stone, Reina No Buena, Boys Go To Jupiter, Fred & Jean Ruttenberg, Roy Ruttenberg, Mike Lee, Theatre 4 The People, Haley Rice, Isaac Byrne, AMPD, Stage Whisper Podcast, TDF, Mandee Marquee, Evil Thespian, Iman Louis-Jeune, Maria Mazursky, Javere Green, Quick Color Lab, Gama Valle, Em Strasfeld, Materials for the Arts, The Tank, Jeremy McClelland, Coz Salon, Mark Fisher Fitness, Actors Federal Credit Union, Jack Doyle’s Irish Pub, Giuditta Lattanzi, Gianna Collier, Joyce Trzoniec, Elena Freck, Sarah Hutchinson, Heather, Matt, Hunter, Freddie, Myers Neurofeedback & Counseling, LLC, Keith Haas, Oliver Brooks, Clare O’Malley, The Drama League, Theaterlab, Laureen Claire Circosta, Bubbys, Mia Rose Kavensky, Rick Dumont, Charlotte Arnoux, Actors Equity Association, Terry Knickerbocker Studio, Amy Lord, The Chain, Kirk Gotowski, David Zayas Jr., Nicole Stewart, Melanie & Allan Nelkin, Don & Maria Mazursky, Glenn & Hilda Tashiro, Covenhoven, Eli Percy Photo, Maia Novi