Teach by Donna Hoke
LOCATION
The Road on Lankershim – THEATRE
5108 Lankershim Boulevard
North Hollywood, CA 91601
(Street parking or paid lot parking at 5125 Lankershim Blvd)
Teach
By Donna Hoke
Directed by Bree Pavey
CAST
FEMALE CHRIS- Stephanie Michels*
FEMALE EMERSON- Sarah Nilsen
MALE CHRIS – Chase Cargill
MALE EMERSON- Noah Copfer
KEN JAMES- Bart Tangredi*
*Appears courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association
SYNOPSIS
Five actors, three characters, one story: Ten years ago, Ken and Chris were teacher and student. Now, they are principal and teacher, and Emerson’s suspiciously high grade gives Ken license to grill Chris until the young teacher is forced to confront both past and present.
TICKETS
No reservations or advance tickets. Admission is by donation ($15 suggested).
MEET YOUR PLAYWRIGHT
DONNA HOKE Resident playwright at Road Less Traveled Productions, Donna’s work has been seen in 46 states and on five continents. Plays include BRILLIANT WORKS OF ART (2016 Kilroys List), ELEVATOR
GIRL (2017 O’Neill finalist), THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR (Princess Grace semi-finalist), and SAFE (winner of the Todd McNerney, Naatak, and Great Gay Play and Musical Contests). She has been nominated for both the Primus and Blackburn Prizes, and is a two-time winner of the Emanuel Fried Award for Outstanding New Play (SEEDS, SONS & LOVERS). She has also received an Individual Artist Award from the New York State Council on the Arts to develop HEARTS OF STONE, and for three consecutive years, she was named Buffalo’s Best Writer by Artvoice—the only woman to ever receive the designation
Donna is also a New York Times-published crossword puzzle constructor; author of Neko and the Twiggets, a children’s book; and founder/co-curator of BUA Takes 10: GLBT Short Stories. She also serves on the Dramatists Guild Council and also as Western New York regional representative. In addition, she is a blogger, and moderator of the 12,000+-member Official Playwrights of Facebook. donnahoke.com.
MEET YOUR DIRECTOR
BREE PAVEY is a long time theatre nerd who enjoys all aspects of creating performance. She is an actor, director, producer, writer and designer, as well as Managing Director for Loft Ensemble and Producing Director for The Blank Theatre. Past credits for theatre direction include Hamlet, The Columbine Project, Now or Neverland, Hammer of the Witches, Echo & Dot, Butterflies, Doubting Thomason and King Lear.
An Interview with Donna Hoke
1: What is the name of your play?
TEACH
2: What was your first job in the theatre?
Patron! Seriously, I didn’t write my first play until a decade ago, and it was because I read about a workshop in a theater program and thought it sounded fun.
3: Do you ever model characters after real life people?
That’s a playwright’s greatest tool, imagining someone you know—very often an actor—saying your dialogue. It helps differentiate speech patterns among characters. I do this more often than I actually borrow personal details from people.
4: As an artist, what subjects tend to draw your interest?
Blurry stuff—writing stories that exist in that little space between what people like to consider absolutes.
5: Do you have other passions aside from playwriting?
I make and do crosswords, but playwriting has supplanted that in the past ten years. I did get an opportunity to merge the two interests in the coolest way this past March when Will Shortz brought me to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament and presented my play “Two Puzzles Walk Into A Bar.” It was absolutely the target audience for this pretty esoteric play, and it killed.
6: Are you currently working on any new projects?
Always! I’m working on an adaptation of a classic novel, working with a dramaturg on another play, and am in rehearsals for ONCE IN MY LIFETIME: A BUFFALO FOOTBALL FANTASY, which opens August 28 (and which is why I won’t be joining you ☹ )
7: Here’s a fun question! What is your favorite dessert?
Chocolate, not too rich.
8: Any acknowledgements or words of encouragement?
Thank you to The Road for choosing the play, and to Bree for taking the reins when I can’t be there!
9: Describe your play in 3 words!
Provocative, gender-fluid, resonant