Made Possible in Part by:
The Marla & Clifford Robinson Family Fund
THE DING DONGS
by Brenda Withers
Directed by REBECCA BRADSHAWº
WBUR’s Jacquinn Sinclair interviews Rebecca Bradshaw
The Boston Globe’s Christopher Wallenberg interviews Brenda Withers
When sweet-faced strangers show up on a suburban doorstep, the tight-lipped homeowner finds their story suspicious: the house, they claim, was their childhood home and they’ve come in hopes of getting a quick peek. As they cheerily muscle their way across the threshold, it becomes clear the couple has no intention of leaving. Comedy, Ages 13+
THE DING DONGS, a comedic thriller by Cape Cod playwright Brenda Withers (The Office, Matt & Ben, Cyrano) runs from August 11 to 27. Directed by incoming Artistic Director, Rebecca Bradshaw, this witty comedy is a lesson in how power evolves and intimidation works as strangers at the door turn out to be not only strange, but dangerous.
Performances are Wednesday & Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm, and matinees Saturday & Sunday at 3:00pm indoors at Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester MA.
Critical Praise for Gloucester Stage’s THE DING DONGS
“will keep you on the edge of your seat from lights up to fade out and leave you dying to talk about it”
“The trio of actors, Gregory, Steinhagen, & Nacer are a seamless ensemble.”
“at times hilarious, as well as wickedly witty… it is a thriller worthy of Stephen King”
Meet the Creative Team
Brenda Withers / Playwright
Brenda Withers is a writer, actor, and founding member of the Harbor Stage Company. Her plays have been developed and produced at places like Northern Stage, Urbanite Theatre, Two River Theatre, Portland Stage, and Amphibian Stage Productions. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College, a recipient of the Clauder Prize and an Edgerton New Play Award, and a recent Huntington Playwriting Fellow.
Rebecca Bradshawº / Director
Rebecca Bradshaw built her career in Boston as a theatre director, producer, educator, casting director, and advocate. She has directed productions for the Huntington Theatre Company, Kitchen Theatre Company, Lyric Stage, The Nora Theatre Company, SpeakEasy Stage, Greater Boston Stage Company, A.R.T. Institute, Emerson College, Bridge Rep of Boston, Central Square Theatre/MIT, Weston Drama Workshop, The Umbrella Center for the Arts, Fresh Ink Theatre, among others. Bradshaw spent eight seasons producing at the Huntington Theatre Company, where she handled line producing, casting, and developing new work. She is a part of the Affiliated Faculty of Emerson College teaching directing and producing, and has taught casting seminars at Harvard University, Suffolk University, Boston University, Brandeis University, Lesley University, and Boston Conservatory. She comes to Gloucester Stage after acting as the Producing Artistic Director at the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY. Bradshaw is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers union.
Meet the Cast
Karl Gregory* / Joe
Karl Gregory is an Award-Winning Actor, as well as an Award-Winning Bartender. Go figure. NYC Theater: From White Plains (Fault Line Theatre, GLAAD Media Award), FROGS (Fault Line Theatre), Mother’s Day (FringeNYC), BecauseHeCan (Personal Space Theatrics), The Servant of Two Masters (PS122). Regional Theater: Ever So Humble, The 39 Steps (Hangar Theatre), Testosterone, The Wetsuitman (Cherry Arts) The Taming of the Shrew (SFSTL), The Importance of Being Earnest (Trinity Rep). Karl has been seen in over 50 productions with Kitchen Theatre Company, favorite shows include: Every Brilliant Thing, Buyer & Cellar, Peter and the Starcatcher (SALT Award), Gutenberg! The Musical!, Fully Committed (SALT Award), SantaLand Diaries, Swimming In The Shallows, as well as title roles in A Perfect Ganesh, The Cripple of Inishmaan, and The Servant of Two Masters. TV: ALPHA HOUSE, NIGHTCAP. He recently wrapped a feature film in Provincetown titled “Best Place In The World”. BFA- Syracuse University, MFA- Brown/Trinity Rep. Karl splits his time between Ithaca and Provincetown with his husband, Andrew. www.karlgregory.com
Nael Nacer* / Redelmo
Nael Nacer returns to The Ding Dongs after performing in it at the Kitchen Theater Company in Ithaca, NY this past winter. Previous GSC credits include: Tiny Beautiful Things, True West, Bank Job, and The Flick. Other recent credits: The Orchard w/ Jessica Hecht and Mikhail Baryshnikov, directed by Igor Golyak (Arlekin Players/B.A.C), Angels in America (Bedlam/CST), Macbeth, The Tempest (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Equivocation (Actors’ Shakespeare Project); People, Places & Things, Small Mouth Sounds, A Future Perfect, Tribes (SpeakEasy Stage), Romeo and Juliet, A Doll’s House, Bedroom Farce, Come Back, Little Sheba, Awake and Sing!, The Seagull, David Cromer’s production Our Town (The Huntington); The Seagull (Arlekin Players Theatre); The Return (Israeli Stage); Tiny Beautiful Things, 45 Plays for 45 Presidents, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Merrimack Rep); Calendar Girls (Greater Boston Stage Company); Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, Intimate Apparel, Animal Crackers (Lyric Stage); A Number, Lungs, The Kite Runner, Pattern of Life (New Repertory Theatre); Rhinoceros, Windowmen (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); and Shear Madness (Charles Playhouse). Nael is the recipient of multiple Elliot Norton and IRNE awards for his work, and is a resident acting company member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, as well as a private monologue coach with My College Audition.
Erica Steinhagen* / Natalie
Erica Steinhagen (she/her) is thrilled for the opportunity to work with Rebecca again, and to bring this play to Gloucester audiences, along with two of her favorite actors and humans. Regional Theatre: Most recently, Heidi in What the Constitution Means to Me (Kitchen Theatre and Hangar Theatre). At the Kitchen Theatre: The Ding Dongs, Hurricane Diane, Cry It Out, Hand to God, The Drunken City, Dario Fo’s We Won’t Pay!, Nora, Bed and Sofa, The Servant of Two Masters, among others. At the Hangar Theatre: Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, Kinky Boots, Ever So Humble, The Sound of Music, Cats, Beauty and the Beast, My Fair Lady, and her one-woman cabaret Imagine My Surprise. With The Cherry Arts Collective (founding member): White Rabbit Red Rabbit, George Kaplan, title role in The Snow Queen, A Day, and What Happens Next. Other select Regional Theatre: Stage Kiss (Cider Mill Playhouse), The Best of Kathy and Mo, Wider than the Sky, Antigone, (Civic Ensemble) The Drowsy Chaperone (Human Race Theatre Co.), and the one-woman play The Unfortunates. Erica also runs the Erica Steinhagen Voice Studio out of Ithaca, NY. For Matthew, Summer, N&N, WF, and her chosen family, all. ericasteinhagen.com
Meet the Production Team
M. Berry / Lighting Designer
M Berry (they/them) is a lighting designer and theatre maker based in Boston. They are overjoyed to be making their GSC debut with such a fantastic team. They currently work as Lighting Design Assistant at The Huntington, in addition to freelancing as a designer, assistant, and technician. Recent designs include Chicken & Biscuits (Front Porch Arts Collective), Hurricane Diane and Do You Feel Anger (Kitchen Theatre Company), and The Day We Saw Everything (Lyric BackStage). As assistant lighting designer, recent projects include The Lehman Trilogy, Clyde’s, and Joy and Pandemic (The Huntington). See their work at meberrydesign.com
Julian Crocamo / Sound Designer
Julian Crocamo is a composer, songwriter, theatrical sound designer and audio engineer based in Portland, ME. He releases rock music as After Three Seconds and makes beats as thirdsecond. Julian is the engineer and composer for the podcasts No Cartridge Audio and The Sisters in Crime Writers’ Podcast. His theater work includes credits with The Huntington Theatre Company, The Kitchen Theatre Company, Brown Box Theatre Project and Off the Grid Theatre. Julian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Industry and Recording Technology from York College of Pennsylvania.
Camilla Dely / Costume Designer
Camilla Dely is a costume designer and visual artist born and raised in South Africa. She came to theater through the scrappy, experimental performance world of Philadelphia, where she fell in love with movement improvisation and made original performance with wild, multidisciplinary collaborators. She is equally fueled by poetic texts and devised processes, and is interested in stories that concern the limits of our humanity, questions of violence + justice, and the stunning messiness of human beings. True loves include: charcoal, glitter, the floor, and the quirky, idiosyncratic stories we carry in our clothing. She received her BA in Theater from Bryn Mawr College, and her MFA in Design for Stage and Film from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She was a core company member at the Orchard Project in Hunter, NY, and an alum of Headlong Performance Institute in Philadelphia, PA.
Ally MacLean* / Production Stage Manager
Ally MacLean (they/them/theirs) is a Boston area stage manager and health and safety management professional. They are thrilled to be making their Gloucester Stage debut! Ally is a proud graduate of Emerson’s BFA Stage and Production Management program. They have multiple stage management credits with the Huntington, American Repertory Theatre, SpeakEasy Stage Company, Wheelock Family Theatre, Moonbox Productions, New Repertory Theatre, White Heron Theatre Company (Nantucket), and Dreamland Stage Company (Nantucket). They have multiple film and TV credits with Kameo Health Inc. as a Covid Testing Production Coordinator. Outside of the entertainment industry, Ally loves working at Emerson College’s Commencement Office, going on adventures, enjoying the Salt Life, sailing on Quinobequin, and browsing social media @TheAllyAvery.
Zoe Stanton-Savitz / Assistant Stage Manager
Critical Praise for Brenda Withers’ THE DING DONGS
“The shift in our perception of the characters is artful”
“As the action develops, the tension thickens.”
“open ground where anything might happen –– and does.”
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
ºMember of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC)
† Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE
This production was originally produced by the Kitchen Theatre Company