GREENHOUSE READING SERIES 2024

Featuring new works by MA/MFA Creative Writers at SFSU

Produced by Adam L Sussman

With plays by Ferdos Heidari, Marina Lee, Lynn Mari, Ben Zingos

Directed by Ciera Eis, Hasti Jafari Jozani, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Adam L Sussman.

I've been lucky enough to direct workshop readings for SFSU's Greenhouse series in the past, but this year I got to produce the reading series, direct a workshop, and teach the Greenhouse course on developing new work. Workshopping new plays is one of my passions, and SFSU's writers are brimming with talent and big ideas.

In addition to pairing this year's writers with a stellar roster of directors, we were able to bring in guest respondents from the community to provide individual feedback.

MATILDA

Book by Dennis Kelley, Music and Lyrics by Tim Minchin

Directed by Adam Sussman

Choreographer: Maggie Grogan

Music Director: Justin Pyne

Set: Yusuke Soi

Costumes: Greet Jaspaert

Hair and Make-up: Y Sharon Peng

Sound: Dino Adani

Technical Director, Lighting, and props: Aya Matsumoto

When I needed to select the first musical I would direct at Castilleja School, one came immediately to mind: Matilda. I've always loved Roald Dahl's pitch black fairytale of a young girl fighting the impossibly awful adults in her life. and genius Tim Minchin's witty songs results in an irresistible show. Like so many of the theater pieces I'm drawn to, Matilda is really about family. Both Matilda and her endlessly sweet teacher Ms Honey, find refuge from their abusive families in each other. In finding their chosen family, Matilda and Honey are able to confront their tormentors and live happily ever. This was also the largest cast show I've ever directed: 45 performers!

“…funny, irreverent and insightful in its wacky take on the Resurrection, with a topnotch three-person cast and terrific direction by Adam L. Sussman.” —Jean Schiffman, SF Examiner

”Lo’s rough and tumble comedy, spiced with deadpan seriousness, takes us to groundbreaking ways of seeing religion.” — Patricia L Morin, Theatrius

Cast: Perry Fenton, Tony Ortega, Maria Marquis, Tony Ortega.

Creative Team: Tessa Corrie (Assistant Director), Brooke Jennings (Costumes), Kristen Matia (Fight Choreography) Brittany Mellerson (Lights and Sound), August O’Donnell (Stage Manager), Sarah Pykitt (Set and Projections), Jack Elliot Smith (Props).

An irreverently reverent biblical buddy comedy about faith and friendship. Zac and Siah follows Jesus’s titular friends, who also engineer special effects for his miracles. But Zac and Siah aren’t amoral conmen, they love Jesus, and believe fervently in his teachings. After Jesus is crucified, they must put aside their shock and grief to stage the resurrection to keep Jesus’s message alive. To do this, they must steal Jesus’s body and transport it across the desert. Along the way they tangle with their own doubts, a fig-obsessed Centurion guard, and perhaps an actual miracle…

Developed with the assistance of Tiger Bear Productions, TBA’s CA$H Performs grant, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

Cast: Laurie Bushman, Diana Guizado, Daniel Nkoola, Roxanna Taylor.

Creative Team: Laurel Elliott (SEL dramaturg) Jerome Gentes (producer), Jon Haas (video game and media design), Laurel Kelsey Tremewan (stage manager), Wallace Yan (props and costumes).

During the pandemic, I helped families with their childrens’ remote learning. I witnessed first hand the effects social isolation had on kids’ social-emotional growth, starved of opportunities to play with their peers during lockdown. Theater is an exceptional way to develop SEL skills, and I wondered if it was possible to create a piece of virtual live theater that facilitated play-based connections between kids, helping develop the social emotional grown they so desperately needed.

To answer this question I assembled a creative team of seasoned theater makers (myself and Laurie Bushman of Castro Sign-alongs), creators of interactive immersive experiences (Jon Haas and Drew Paryzer of Meow Wolf, Jerome Gentes of Tiger Bear Productions) and a child mental health expert (Laurel Elliott) to create a unique experience that was part video-game and part interactive Zoom performance.

The result, Intro To Being Here, began with audience members playing a video game where they created an emoji-like character that represented a category of mundane thing in the world (i.e. dog, rock, flower water). Audiences then attended a live Zoom performance set in cyber space, where the MC (the Professor) explained to these newly created characters (now played by actors) that they were about to leave their virtual world for the real world. Teams of kids then collaborated in breakout rooms to help these characters figure out what specific version of thing they were and how they could overcome their fears of leaving the safety of their virtual home.

The feedback from children and their parents was effusive, and we hope to find a producing partner that wants to make an IRL version of the show.

“One of the top six productions of 2020” —SF Chronicle.

“How to Transcend a Happy Marriage’ is the love and mating ritual we all need…Under Adam L. Sussman’s refined direction, the cast seem to swell, as if their molecules are bouncing around inside them, pushing them ever outward.” —Lily Janiak, San Francisco Chronicle

”The acting by the top-notch Custom Made cast, under Adam L. Sussman’s masterful direction…makes for a thoroughly enjoyable evening of theater.” — Jean Schiffman, San Francisco Examiner

Cast: Fenner, Hilary Hesse, Celeste Kamiya, Karen Offereins, Malcolm Rodgers, Nick Trengrove, Louel Senores, and Matt Weimer.

Creative Team: Moy Ahlers (Props), Quinnton Barringer (Scenic), Elton Bradman (Sound), Maya Herbsman (Intimacy), Kathleen Qiu (Costumes), Weili Shi (Lights), Kelsey Tremewan (Stage Management)

A meditation on love, marriage, and polyamory, Sarah Ruhl’s hilarious play sold out an extended run at Custom Made Theatre. In “Transcend” Ruhl uses her trademark wit and theatrical flair to lovingly dissect the emotional limitations of monogamous heterosexual marriage. Stage directions call for a 7-person orgy which is ”seen through words rather than bodies.” Another instructs: “a forest appears on the wall, the living room dragged away.” It was a dream to work with such a talented cast and crew (including Intimacy Director Maya Herbsman) on these provocative challenges.

Directed by Adam L Sussman

Written by I-Chia Chiu

Dramaturgy by Lena Barnard

Stage Management by Brittney Dolan

Set, lighting and property design by Rachel Atkinson

Costume design and aromaturgy by Laura Gonzales

Music by Brisa Shaw

Projection design by Mingxiang Ya

Sound design by Mikaela Kalerek

Developed and featuring: Ryan Cruz, Frances Garnett, Diana Guizado, Devin Ramirez, Eleanor Webster

An immersive, interactive meditation on foreignness, home, and the fragility of life. a place called the middle, follows an island of immigrants navigating the ever-present memories of their past life in their new surroundings.

The Tiny Banger written by Lane Stanley, Directed by Adam L Sussman

Produced by Trinity Street Players in partnership with Community First and University United Methodist Church. December 7-20 2018.

Projection Design by Logan Smith, Sound Design by Jessica Sell, Music by John Birimbas, Set and Lighting by Steve Williams, Costumes by Ann Zarate. Stage Manager Alexis Williams, Dramaturges Pirate Joe, Elise Peterson, Assistant Director Jake Brinks.
Featuring: Amani Alexander, Juliet Embry, Elizabeth Mason, Sean Moran, Brandon Pegrom, Ray Roberts, Khali Sykes, Alaithia Velez. Musicians: Chelsea M Daniel and John Birimbas.

The Tiny Banger uses Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp character and film aesthetic to examine the criminalization of urban homelessness. Banger was initially developed over the summer of 2018 in a series of readings and conversations with members of Austin’s homeless community.

The plot: Dope Fiend is left to raise his child, The Tiny Banger, on the streets after his partner is arrested on a shoplifting charge. As the mayor of Austin attempts to “clean up the city” through initiatives designed to push out the homeless community, the silent film world of the characters strips away revealing the harsh realities of our broken social safety net and criminal justice system.

A full production of The Tiny Banger was performed at Trinity Street Playhouse in Austin with two smaller, stripped-down performances at homeless resource centers in and around Austin.

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

DIRECTED BY ADAM L. SUSSMAN

PRODUCED BY UT DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE NOV 14 - DEC 2ND 2018

“One of the best Shakespeare productions I have ever seen and certainly the most contemporary…turns [The Merchant of Venice] from a painful reminder of historical stereotypes into an even more painful, desperately urgent exposé of our contemporary prejudices” -Andrew J. Friedenthal, The Austin American-Statesman

As a Jewish theatre artist, I’ve always been fascinated with Merchant. Despite obviously anti-semitic aspects of Shylock’s character, I’ve always believed the play holds great power to illuminate how prejudice operates across society. This production brought the story into the 21st century, reimagining the accepted interpretations of the characters. Shylock, no longer an avaricious schemer but a devoted parent trying to provide for her daughter and support her community. Portia finds herself trapped as the star of a Bachelorette-style reality TV show, a position she learns to exert for her own gain.

LIGHTING DESIGN BY AARON CURRY / MEDIA DESIGN BY JESSE EASDON SET DESIGN BY TUCKER GOODMAN / COSTUME DESIGN BY JESSI ROSE MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN BY MICHAEL ZAPRUDER STAGE MANAGER SKYLER TATEN ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS BRITTNEY DOLAN AND WALTER REYES ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ALY REDLAND

by Paz Pardo

Directed by Adam L Sussman

Milton, Mi is a quietly observed cringe comedy about two poets in an unhappy long-term relationship, with an ever-expanding maximalist metaphor on top. This metaphor takes the form of a free-verse spouting slug whose arc, according to the playwright, is to “eat the play.” It was a joy to work on combining these wildly distinct styles in Paz’s brilliant script. Finding an aesthetic that could deconstruct itself lead to some exciting discoveries, among them a growing army of bodysuit-sporting slugs.

Set by Zoe Anderson, Lights by Aaron Curry and Mercedes McCleary, Sound by Ben Campbell and Carolina Peres, Music by Tyler Clark, Costumes by Jessi Rose. Stage manager Jazmyn Castillo.

by Kimberly Belflower.

Directed by Adam L. Sussman.

Set design by Camryn Dewet, Media design by Alex Gandel, Costume s by Lirit Pendell, Lights by Mercedes McCleary, Sound by Phillip Owen, movement work by Isaac Iskra, assistant director Kevin Poole.

A play exploring wild women through three interweaving narratives. Among the joys of this production—besides getting to collaborate with the phenomenal Kimberly Belflower— was staging a slow dance between Emily Bronte and Slenderman, and another in which all the Brontes roller-skate to KC and Jojo’s “All My Life.”

Created and directed by Adam L Sussman with text from Thom May, Hannah Kenah, Adam Sussman and Lane Stanley. Dramaturgy by Katie Van Winkle. Set and media design by Kate Ducey, Lighting by Jake Brinks, Sound by Eli Weinberg. With Will Kachi, Brigid Ludwig, Elise Martin, Katie Van Winkle. Presented as part of the 2017 Cohen New Works Festival at UT Austin

Daniel / Rose is a performance piece about neurodiversity, family, and the American theatre. Daniel/Rose follows the lives of two real-life figures: Arthur Miller and Inge Morath’s son Daniel, and Tennessee Williams’ sister Rose. Daniel Miller was born with Down syndrome in 1962 and sent to an institution within weeks of his birth. He would not see his famous father again for over two decades. Rose Isabel Williams was diagnosed with Dementia Praecox (schizophrenia) in her late teens, also institutionalized, and at the age of 26 lobotomized, leaving her permanently intellectually disabled. Tennessee, guilt-stricken at not being at home to intercede on his sister's behalf, would make Rose his muse drawing on her as the basis for a number of his characters.

Drawing from the plays of Miller and Williams, biographies, primary documents in the extensive Miller and Williams archives at UT’s Harry Ransom Center, and developed with the participation of residents of The Down Home Ranch, Daniel / Rose seeks to embrace these historical figures onstage fully as part of a theatrical family.

This play is continuing to develop with subsequent drafts generated after this workshop production.

Directed by Adam L Sussman, Music by James Parker, Libretto by Travis Tate, Dramaturge Jeffrey Gan. Lights and Set Design by Iman Corbani, Costumes by Jessi Rose. Featuring Jawan Jenkins and Ellie Jarrett Shattles. Presented as part of the 2017 Cohen New Works Festival at UT Austin.

A chamber opera set during Hurricane Katrina that examines the legacy of New Orlean’s complex racial history. James, Travis and I set out to tell a story rooted in the real-life experience of Katrina survivors, that resisted prevailing narratives about the breakdown of law and order. Drawing inspiration from Voices from the Storm, Spike Lee’s When The Levees Broke, and Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster, When New Orleans… follows two strangers, one white, one African American, stranded on a roof together trying to survive the aftermath of the storm. Over the course of the opera, these strangers argue, alienate and confide in one another, plot rescue and debate the existence of God. In the end, they are able to see the city through each others’ eyes, finding mutual strength that helps them survive.

Winner 2016 Theatre Bay Area Award for Best Anthology Production

“Poignantly directed by Adam L. Sussman”

George Heymont, HuffingtonPost

Directed by Adam Sussman and Laylah Muran de Assereto. With works by Madeleine Butler, Steven Hill, Vaughn Hovanessian, Bill Hyatt Carol Lashof Rod McFadden, Lorraine Midanik, Patricia Morin. Lighting Design by Sarina Renteria, Set Design by Ellen Chesnut, Sound Design by Annemarie Scerra, Props and Costume Design by Genevieve Perdue, Stage Manager Arashi Veronica Cesana. With Alexaendrai Bond, AJ Davenport, Amber Glasgow, Rick Homan, Brian Levi, Miyoko Sakatani, Louel Senores. Produced by Playwright’s Center SF at the Exit Theatre, 2016.

Playwright’s Center SF has a robust producing program developing short and full-length work by playwrights of all levels of experience. Sheherezade served as a yearly showcase of their short work and I was happy to split the these eight shorts with Laylah Muran de Assereto, each of us directing four. My eclectic half of the evening included work about a sixites radical coming out of hiding (A Comfortable Life, by Madeleine Butler), a couple wrestling with their sexual identity as one half transitions (By Any Other Name, Carol Lashof), a comedy about the gig economy (New New Economy, by Steven Hill) and a powerful family drama about a fallen soldier (How to Make a Video, by Bill Hyatt).

“…embodies the best of comedy, melancholy, challenge, love, and longing”

Barry David Horwitz, Theatrestorm

A site-adaptive piece directed by Adam L Sussman, written by Anthony Clarvoe, Music by Jenny Holland, Design by Theo Knox. Featuring Thomas Arndt, Perry Fenton, Wendi Gross, Jenny Holland, Michelle Owen, Lydia Raag, Soren Santos, Marlene Yarosh. Produced by Ragged Wing Ensemble at Mountainview Cemetery in Piedmont, The Uptown Art Park in Oakland, and Live Oak Park in Berkeley 2013.

Buried in the Body was written by Anthony Clarvoe and developed through Ragged Wing Ensemble’s singular process of physical composition and sensory exploration. Ragged Wing annually reworks a classical myth about death and we took the traditional European ghost story as our starting point. Playing with concepts of the uncanny, genetics, animating spirits, and time-space anomalies we created a piece that started with a song and ended with a food fight. Body began its run at Piedmont’s historic Mountainview Cemetery with a spectacular procession leading the audience through the picturesque surroundings to our performance site.