Made Possible in Part by:
Mollie & John Byrnes
GRAND HORIZONS
by Bess Wohl
Directed by ROBERT WALSHº
Bill and Nancy have been happily married for fifty years. They can finish each other’s sentences and anticipate each other’s every sigh, snore, and sneeze. As their adult children descend on the Grand Horizons senior living community – they are forced to reexamine everything they thought they knew about their parents’ happy lives. A powerhouse comedy that explores a family turned upside-down and takes an intimate look at the wild, unpredictable, and enduring nature of love.
Robert Walshº will be returning to Gloucester Stage to direct Bess Wohl’s Tony Award-nominated play Grand Horizons, and powerful argument for the full humanity of women in our culture, runs July 29 to August 21. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Saturday and Sunday at 3:00 pm indoors at Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, Gloucester MA.
JULY 29 –
AUGUST 21
Performances
Wednesday – Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday + Sunday, 3:00 p.m.
Talk Backs
August 7 + 14
Champagne Opening
Sunday, July 31
Run Time
Around 2 hours w/ Intermission
Critical Praise for Gloucester Stage’s GRAND HORIZONS by Bess Wohl
“Plum and Snee have a way of expanding any play’s horizons. Plum has a rare ability to virtually stop your breath… That quality dovetails nicely with Snee’s skill at wringing every ounce of humor from a line.”
“GRAND HORIZONS at the Gloucester Stage Company is a wild, funny, and sometimes wonderfully touching ride.”
“A funny, warm-hearted, honest play. Paula Plum and Richard Snee are at the top of their games. It’s fun to watch them play off each other. There’s plenty of humor and plenty of laughs. But it packs a poignant punch, nonetheless.”
Meet the Creative Team
Bess Wohl / Playwright
Bess Wohl’s plays have been produced or developed at theaters around the country, including the Williamstown Theatre Festival, People’s Light and Theatre Company, Center Theatre Group, the Contemporary American Theater Festival, the Pioneer Theatre, the Pittsburgh Public Theater, the Northlight Theater, TheaterWorks New Works Festival, the Geffen Playhouse, the Vineyard Arts Project, Ojai Playwright’s Conference, the Cape Cod Theatre Project and the New York International Fringe Festival. Her play AMERICAN HERO had its world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, directed by Leigh Silverman. She also worked on PRETTY FILTHY, an original musical about the adult entertainment industry, in collaboration with the composer/lyricist Michael Friedman and the Civilians. Her other plays include CATS TALK BACK, IN, BARCELONA, and TOUCHED. Her work has been supported by the MacDowell Fellowship, PlayPenn, and the Sewanee Writer’s Conference. She is a member of the Ars Nova Play Group, and has been the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club and Center Theatre Group. She also writes for film and television. She completed an adaptation of the bestselling novel “The Luxe” for Paramount Pictures and has developed original television pilots for Fox, HBO, and USA. Bess is a graduate of Harvard, magna cum laude, where she studied with Seamus Heaney and Jamaica Kincaid, and was awarded the Rona Jaffe Writing Prize and the Tennessee Williams Scholarship. She earned her MFA from the Yale School of Drama, where she was a recipient of the Rebecca West Scholarship. She is originally from Brooklyn, New York, and divides her time between New York and Los Angeles.
Robert Walshº / Director
Gloucester Stage Company directing credits include: Think of Me Tuesday, The 39 Steps, My Station in Life, Cyrano, The Rainmaker, Bank Job, Songs For A New World, The New Electric Ballroom, North Shore Fish, Fighting Over Beverley, The Widow’s Blind Date, The Primary English Class, Our Town. Gloucester Stage Company acting credits include: Gloucester Blue, Sins of the Mother, The Subject Was Roses, The Barking Sharks, Two for the Seesaw. Producing Artistic Director, American Stage Festival: Bus Stop, Intimate Exchanges, Jacques Brel…, and Lend Me a Tenor, among others. Artistic Associate: Actors’ Shakespeare Project: Richard III, As You Like It, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Coriolanus, Twelfth Night, Measure For Measure. Other productions directed include: Othello (Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey); Round and Round The Garden, Table Manners, K2, Later Life, Holiday Memories (Merrimack Rep); Rancho Mirage, Race, Speed-The-Plow, True West (New Repertory Theatre); The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, The Goatwoman of Corvis County (Shakespeare & Co.); Misalliance, A Life in the Theatre (Two River Theatre Co.); I Hate Hamlet (StageWest); The Little Foxes (Barter Theatre); and Of Mice and Men (Greater Boston Stage Co.), among others. Roles in recent feature films include: Black Mass, and the upcoming Fourth of July and A Playful Romance. Robert directed the on-field ceremonies for the ’99 All-Star Game at Fenway Park. He is on the faculty at Brandeis University.
Meet the Cast
Paula Plum* / Nancy
Paula Plum is a 30-year veteran of Gloucester Stage Company, first appearing in 1990 as Winnie in Happy Days and most recently seen on the GSC stage throwing appetizers at her husband, Richard Snee, in Barefoot in the Park. GSC Directing credits include I’m Not Rappaport, Out of Sterno, and The Last Schwartz. Paula is the recipient of seven IRNE awards, 2007, 2017 & 2020 Eliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actress, the 2004 Eliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, and the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University. In 2009 she was one of five actors nationwide to receive the Fox Actor Fellowship in association with SpeakEasy Stage. As a founding member of the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Plum has played Cleopatra, Beatrice, Lady Macbeth, and Phèdre and served as their Interim Artistic Director in 2018. She has appeared regionally at the Lyric Stage, the American Repertory Theatre, the New Repertory Theatre, Merrimack Repertory, the Huntington Theatre, Gloucester Stage Company, and Elm Shakespeare. Film credits include: Mermaids, Malice, Next Stop Wonderland, and Irrational Man directed by Woody Allen. Upcoming films include: About Fate with Emma Roberts and Fourth of July written and directed by Louis C.K. Television: Science Court (three seasons ABC) and co-creator and star of The Dick & Paula Celebrity Special for FX (another husband / wife collaboration!) From 2003 through 2019, Paula served as Artistic Director of WGBH’s A Christmas Celtic Sojourn featuring Brian O’Donovan. Ms. Plum is a cum laude graduate of Boston University and has studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, the Dell’Arte Institute, and École Phillipe Gaulier, Paris. She has been published in American Theatre magazine and is married to actor Richard Snee. Paula is a professional acting coach at paulaplum.com and the current Interim Artistic Director of Gloucester Stage. She and Richard have been happily married for a very long time.
Richard Snee* / Bill
Gloucester Stage credits include: Auld Lang Syne, Table Manners, Living Together, Round and Round the Garden. Regional include: Othello (American Repertory Theatre); Present Laughter, Sisters Rosensweig (Huntington Theatre Company); Uncle Vanya, Boy Gets Girl, Something in the Air, A Christmas Carol (Merrimack Repertory Theatre). Richard has been a member of the Boston company of Shear Madness since 1987 and is a founding member of the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, and has appeared in several of their productions including Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Cherry Orchard, Richard III, and Comedy of Errors. He has also performed at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, SpeakEasy Stage Company, the Nora Theatre Company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, the Wilbur Theater, Hasty Pudding Theatricals, and a lot of other places over the last thirty years. His film credits include Gone, Baby, Gone; The Company Men; My Best Friend’s Girl; Never Met Picasso; Treading Water; Mr. North; and Teacakes or Cannoli. Richard’s television credits include voicing characters for several animated series including Science Court; Dr. Katz; Home Movies; and Hey, Monie! Richard and his wife, Paula Plum, helped create and starred in the FX network’s animated series, The Dick and Paula Celebrity Special. She was “Paula.” He was “The Dick.”
Marissa Stewart* / Jess
Marissa is an actor and teaching artist hailing from sunny San Antonio, Texas and currently based in NYC. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Theatre Studies with an associated study in Psychology from the University of Evansville as well as a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the America Repertory Theater Institute at Harvard University. Some of her favorite credits include playing Horatio in an all-female cast of Taming of the Shrew, Juliet for a touring program at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival as well as performing Thornton Wilder’s short plays at the Moscow Art Theater. Outside of acting, teaching, or dancing, Marissa’s ideal day would consist of surfing all day long and then curling up on the couch watching Survivor re-runs while eating Pad Thai and mango mochi. She is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Greg Maraio* / Brian
A Boston native, Greg is delighted to be making his Gloucester Stage debut. Regional: The Inheritance, Significant Other (IRNE nomination), Casa Valentina (IRNE and Elliot Norton nominations), Necessary Monsters, SpeakEasy Stage; The Arboretum Experience, The American Repertory Theater; Finish Line, Citi Performing Arts; The Book Club Play, Brawler (IRNE nomination), Faithless, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre; Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Nora Theatre Company; Wolf Play, Colossal, Splendor, The Good Negro, Mr. Marmalade, The Gibson Girl, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Company One Theatre; Noises Off (Dash nomination), The Footlight Club. He will also be joining the cast of the world premiere of Pru Payne by Steven Drukman at the Arizona Theatre Company in 2023, a play he’s been helping to workshop since 2019. Education: BFA, Lesley University.
Cristhian Mancinas-García / Tommy
Cristhian Mancinas-García (He/Him/His) is excited to make his Gloucester Stage Company debut! Previous favorite credits include David Henry Thoreau in Nature: A Walking Play (Tiger-Lion Arts); Rae Chio/Reynaldo in Noir Hamlet (Centastage Productions); Mr. Black in The Wild Party (Moonbox Productions); Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages (Marblehead Little Theatre); Pablo Picasso in Picasso at the Lapin Agile (The Wellesley Players). Cristhian has been doing theatre both in México and the US for over 20 years. He also plays the role of software engineer for a financial firm in Boston. www.cristhianmancinas.com
Jeremy Beazlie* / Ben
Jeremy Beazlie is very excited to be making his Gloucester Stage debut. He grew up in New Albany, Indiana, learning and performing classical theatre, making independent movies and playing in rock bands. His credits include, Katurian in The Pillowman, Jim in The Glass Menagerie (Insomniac Productions), George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life (Rhinoleap Productions), Steve Enloe in The Radiant Abyss (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Kennedy Center) Lee in True West (Walden Theatre), Ingram Frizer in Murdering Marlowe (Access Theatre). Film/TV credits include WTC View, The Gamekillers (MTV) and Whoopi (NBC). He recently moved to Massachusetts from New York City and is a proud graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts.
June Kfoury / Carla
June is very excited to be at Gloucester Stage for the first time. She has appeared in a variety of plays, musicals and opera in Greater Boston as well as in summer stock in Central Massachusetts. Recent roles include Claire in Steel Magnolias, Gingy in Love, Loss, and What I Wore (Hub Theatre of Boston), Douglas in Henry IV (Praxis Stage), Sir Edward Clarke in Gross Indecency, Bev/Kathy in Clybourne Park, Julienne Tessman in Hedda Gabler, General Cartwright in Guys and Dolls (The Longwood Players), Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, (Happy Medium), Marie Cote in Reflections of a Rock Lobster (Boston Children’s Theatre), and Sister Irene in Sister Act (NextDoor Theater). She has also just understudied the role of Margaret for SpeakEasy stages’s production of The Inheritance.
Craig Ciampa / Understudy Ben / Brian / Tommy
Craig is so happy to be involved in his first Gloucester Stage Company production. Previous credits include: Blood on the Snow (Boston Historical Society), Blinders (Flat Earth Theatre), Oleanna, To Kill a Mockingbird, Glengarry Glen Ross (The Umbrella), Good People, The Pillowman, The Lyons, Ideation (Hovey Players) Silent Sky (Vokes Players), Of Mice and Men, Dracula, Frankestein (Quannapowitt Players) Rabbit Rabbit, Macbeth, Mr. Marmalade, The Reindeer Monologues, Reservoir Dogs. Previous Apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Kristina Kourkoulos / Understudy Jess
Kristina (she/her) was born and raised in Clearwater, Florida, and is a recent graduate of the University of South Florida, Tampa. She is currently the Marketing Apprentice at GSC, but she is no stranger to the stage. Most recently, she performed on stage in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Mrs. Shears/Mrs. Gascoyne) at TampaRep. A few of favorite past roles include Rose Weiss in A Shayna Maidel, Tilly Evans in She Kills Monsters, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mary Poppins in Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, and Morse in One Flea Spare. Short Films: Pursuit (2022), The Butterfly Garden (2018). She has directed a staged reading of Dry Land, and assistant directed The Wolves and an original devised piece, Magnetic North. @kristykourkou kristykourkou.com
Pauline Miceli / Understudy Carla
Pauline Miceli is a native of Dublin, Ireland where she studied at the Brendan Smith Academy. She appeared in I Remember Mama, Affairs of State, Juno and the Paycock, and In the Shadow of the Glen at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. She received her BA in theatre from Salem State University. Some of her favorite roles include Mrs. Clackett in Noises Off, the messenger in Oedipus the King, Lyubov Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, the mother in Riders to the Sea. As co-founder of Cape Ann Theatre Collaborative, she directed Sylvia, Leading Ladies, The Weir and An Inspector Calls at The Gorton Theatre. Additionally, her other roles include Charlotte in Beyond Therapy, Chris Gorman in Rumors, Emory/Miss Fern in The Bad Seed.
Meet the Production Team
Anshuman Bhatia † / Lighting Designer
Anshuman design’s for Opera, Theater, and Dance have been seen at Santa Fe Opera, Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts, Dublin’s Civic Theater, The McKitrrick Hotel, Soho Rep, The Public, The Atlantic, Arena Stage in Washington D.C., The Park Avenue Armory, Bard Music Festival, WP Theater, The Juilliard School, Madison Opera, Kentucky Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Opera Omaha, Writers Theater, Classic Stage Company, HERE Arts Center, LoftOpera, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Keen Company, Pacific Symphony, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, Virginia Arts Festival,. M.F.A. NYU. www.bhatiadesign.com
Lauren Corcuera / Properties Designer
Lauren Corcuera is a Boston-area theater designer and technician who has found a home with props. Returning to Gloucester for the summer is something that Lauren looks forward to! Gloucester Stage credits include: The Agitators, Barefoot in the Park, Tiny Beautiful Things, Seared. Other select prop credits: Little Shop of Horrors, Murder on the Orient Express, The Cake, the Treasurer, Be Here Now, The Last Five Years, Mr. Parent, the Light (Lyric Stage), Stupid F***ing Bird, Next to Normal, Into the Woods (Emerson Stage), Circle Mirror Transformation (Brandeis University). Lauren is currently the assistant prop director at Emerson College.
Dewey Dellay / Composer/Sound Designer
Dewey Dellay is happy to be back in live theater at Gloucester Stage following his previous engagements here for Think of Me Tuesday and Baskerville. Some other shows in the area he has composed and designed for are The Inheritance (SpeakEasy Stage); Be Here Now (Lyric Stage Company); The Merchant of Venice (Actor’s Shakespeare Company). Dewey is the recipient of the Elliot Norton award for Outstanding Design and an IRNE for Best Sound Design. Other credits include composing for 5 seasons of “Our America with Lisa Ling”, National Geographic Explorer shows, Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers team, and numerous digital children’s books by Live Oak Media.
Elise Joyner / Assistant Director
Elise Joyner is a director and stage manager based in the New York/New Jersey area. As a graduate from Kean University, she received a B.F.A. in Theatre Design and Technology. Elise’s theatre journey began in high school as a stage manager, which continued throughout her college years. In her senior year in 2019, Elise co-directed dEAD dOG pARK with Megan Tobias for KTC Second Stage. Directing became a passion for Elise, and dEAD dOG pARK was nominated for Best Direction of a Play in the 2019 BroadwayWorld NJ Awards. Since then, Elise has been the directing apprentice for Premiere Stages’ Yasmina’s Necklace and the Assistant Director for Kean Theatre Conservatory’s PARADE. Most recently, she had the opportunity to be a Production Assistant for A.R.T.’s revival of 1776 directed by Diane Paulus and Jeffery L. Page. Elise is excited to continue her journey with Gloucester Stage!
Chelsea Kerl / Costume Designer
Chelsea Kerl is a Boston based freelance artist; she received her MFA in Costume Design from Boston University and previously attended the University of Maryland. Previous designs at Gloucester: Tiny Beautiful Things, Native Gardens, Ben Butler, Madame Defarge, To Kill a Mockingbird, Man in Snow, Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some!), A Measure of Normalcy, and Gloucester Blue. Chelsea is the costume shop manager, resident costume designer, and costume design professor at Wellesley College and Wellesley Repertory Theatre; she also teaches at Bridgewater State University and has often worked in the costume shop of the American Repertory Theatre. Select recent designs include- Huntington Theatre Company: Witch (Elliot Norton Award Winner, Outstanding Design: Large Theatre), Wheelock Family Theatre at BU: Willy Wonka; SpeakEasy Stage Company/Front Porch Arts Collective: Pass Over; Company One/American Repertory Theatre: Greater Good. More of her work can be seen at www.chelseakerl.com.
Jenna McFarland Lord / Scenic Design
Scenic Design for Gloucester Stage: Over 50 shows from 2002- present including: 39 Steps, Cyrano, New Electric Ballroom, North Shore Fish, Driving Miss Daisy, Belle of Amherst, Round and Round the Garden. Other Area Credits: Lyric Stage: Last 5 Years,Twelfth Night, Warrior Class, Groundswell, November, This Wonderful Life. SpeakEasy Stage Co.: BLKS (Elliot Norton for Design),Shakespeare in Love, Men on Boats, Bootycandy, The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone , The Great American Trailer Park Musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Actors Shakespeare Project: Hamlet, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Macbeth. New Repertory Theatre: Collected Stories, Cherry Docs, Greater Boston Stage: Calendar Girls, Distant Music, Something’s Afoot, Guys on Ice, The Mousetrap. Central Square Theatre: Brundibar, The Convert. Off-Broadway: La Mama: Man in Snow. New York Playwrights Lab: The Secret of Mme. Bonnard’s Bath. Ms. McFarland Lord is currently the set design teacher at the Boston Arts Academy, a public high school for the arts. jennamcfarlandlord.com
Pat-Rice Rooney* / Production Stage Manager
Pat-rice Rooney is stoked to be returning to Gloucester Stage this summer as the AEA Production Stage Manager of Grand Horizons. Recent Gloucester Stage Credits include Think of Me Tuesday, (PSM*) Seared (ASM), Tiny Beautiful Things (ASM) and The 39 Steps (ASM). Recent Boston Area Credits include Company One’s and The ART’s Black Super Hero Magic Mama (PSM). Lyric Stage Company’s The Book of Will (ASM*), Greater Boston Stage’s All is Calm (ASM*) and Moonbox Productions Rocky Horror Show (PSM*) She graduated from Millikin University with a BFA in Stage Management in 2020. She’d like to thank everyone at Gloucester Stage Company for their trust and this opportunity. Claire R for dealing with her shenanigans and Mum, and Duck for their unyielding support. Hope you enjoy the show!
Claire Russell / Assistant Stage Manager
Claire Russell is a graduate of Gonzaga University where they earned a BA in Theatre Arts with a design, tech, and management focus. In addition, Claire earned minors in Special Education and Interdisciplinary Arts. They spent their undergraduate career stage-managing numerous productions. Their training also included a little of everything else from acting and props design to lighting design and directing. Claire spent their senior year stage-managing the fall musical and working to create a resource website for ability inclusive arts production that was shared with the Gonzaga community. Claire is looking forward to continuing to develop their stage management philosophy and skills as well as continue working on learning about and promoting ability inclusive performance opportunities for diverse audiences.
Molly Shaughnessy / Costume Assistant
Molly (she/her/hers) BFA ’22 Theatre Design/Technology. Recent Credits: Mr. Fullerton Between the Sheets (Assistant Costume Designer), Emerson Stage Credits: As You Like It (Wardrobe Supervisor), Next to Normal (Wardrobe Supervisor), Everybody (Wardrobe Supervisor), Into the Woods (Costume Designer), This Golden Day (Costume Designer), Amanuensis, or The Miltons (Co- Costume Designer), Spring Awakening (Assistant Costume Designer), Augusta and Noble (Assistant Costume Designer). Emerson College credits: Emerson Independent Video’s Russian Roulette (Costume Designer) and The 39th Annual EVVY Awards (Wardrobe Stylist Assistant). Thank you to my family and friends for all of their continuous love and support.
Critical Praise for GRAND HORIZONS by Bess Wohl
“Grand Horizons is a sweet, sweet delight.”
[Grand Horizons] “is a rollicking play, as uproarious as it is compassionate and wise.”
“Damn funny, and very on-point.”
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
ºMember of Stage Directors & Choreographers Society (SDC)
† Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE