Regional Premiere
MOON MAN WALK
by James Ijames
Directed by Lyndsay Allyn Cox
WBUR’s “13 theater productions to see this fall” – Jacquinn Sinclair
Travel to the moon and back as Spencer revisits his childhood home in Philadelphia following his mother’s passing. With the help of the unfettered Petrushka, along with the haunting memory of his mother, Spencer dives into the mystery of his youth and uncovers the true identity behind his estranged father. Journey through time and space as we discover how our pasts shape, protect, and connect us all in this time-bending, regional premiere drama.
Written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright James Ijames and directed by Lyndsay Allyn Cox (Tiny Beautiful Things), Moon Man Walk runs September 10 to 26. All performances are at the Natti-Willsky Performance Center – 267 East Main Street, Gloucester. Showtimes are Wednesdays – Saturdays at 7:30pm, with matinees Saturdays & Sunday at 2:00pm.
SEPTEMBER 10 – 26
Performances
7:30 pm, WED – SAT
2:00 pm, SAT + SUN
Preview Performances
September 10 + 11 @ 7:30 pm
Champagne Opening
Saturday, September 12 @ 7:30 pm
Artist Talk Backs
September 19 + 26 @ after the matinee
Critical Praise for James Ijames’ Moon Man Walk
“Moon Man Walk provides the kind of artistic quality that the … arts community needs to not only achieve with new works but invest in.”
“A sweet, funny, tender meditation on love, connection, and the people in our lives we need to get by.”
“Mix of sass and whimsy undergirded by the melancholy of loss.”
Trailers and Behind the Scenes videos for Moon Man Walk
Meet the Creative Team
James Ijames (he/him) / Playwright
James Ijames is a Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony Award nominated playwright, director, and educator. James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago, IL), Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright’s Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.
James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ….Miz Martha, a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient and a 2023 Tony nominee for Best Play for Fat Ham. James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective.
He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Columbia University where he serves as head of playwriting. He resides in South Philadelphia and the Morningside Heights neighborhood in New York, NY.
Lyndsay Allyn Cox (she/they) / Director
Lyndsay Allyn Cox, she/they is a Boston based director and producer. Gloucester Stage directing credits: Tiny Beautiful Things. Other notable directing credits: Lizard Boy (SpeakEasy Stage), Joy and Pandemic (Associate Director – The Huntington), Chicken and Biscuits (Front Porch Arts Collective), Splash Hatch on the E Going Down (The Nora Theatre Company). Notable regional acting credits include: The Huntington: Common Ground Revisited, Our Daughters, Like Pillars, Witch. SpeakEasy Stage Company: Fairview, Men on Boats. Lyric Stage Company: Fabulation (or the Reeducation of Undine), Barbecue and By The Way, Meet Vera Stark. Actors’ Shakespeare Project: Bright Half Life. Greater Boston Stage Company: The Three Musketeers. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre: Winter People. Moonbox Productions: Caroline, Or Change. Company One: The Overwhelming, Leftovers. Lyndsay is a 2023 Elliot Norton Award Outstanding Director nominee for Chicken and Biscuits and a 2022 Elliot Norton Award Outstanding Director winner for Tiny Beautiful Things. She is the former Producing Director at The Huntington where she cast and produced several award winning productions including: Leopoldstadt, John Proctor is the Villain, Fat Ham, and The Band’s Visit. In 2019 She was named to WBUR’s inaugural ARTery 25 for her impact on Boston’s arts and culture. Member of Actors’ Equity Association. Lyndsayallyncox.com @lyndsayallyn
Meet the Cast
Dom Carter* / Spencer
Dom is very excited to be in this production of Moon Man Walk with Gloucester Stage, coming off his previous roles in Breaking The Code at CST as Detective Miller & MLK at Front Porch Arts Collective in The Mountaintop. Credits: played Spec in Toni Stone ( Huntington Theatre); played Cassio in Othello (Dream Role Players); played Dayton in Fairview (SpeakEasy Stage); played MLK in The Mountaintop (Chenago River Theater); played Rashad in The Light & Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Lyric Stage); played Dr Steward in Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really & Gabriel in August Wilson’s Fences (Umbrella Stage Company); played Angel in Jesus Hopped the A Train (DASH Award nomination for Best Actor), played Henry Brown in RACE (Hovey Players); played George in All My Sons (Elliot Norton Award nomination for Best Ensemble), American Association Community Theatre (AACT) Best Actor for MLK in The Mountaintop; played Artemidorus in Julius Caesar (Praxis Stage); played Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet (Underling Theater Company); played Michael in The Greater Good (Company One); Education: Atlantic Acting School in New York (Alumni) AEA member based in Boston/New York. Award: Winner of The Elliot Norton for MLK in The Moutaintop (Best Performance)
Kalala Kiwanuka-Woernle / Esther
Kalala Kiwanuka-Woernle is an actor based in Boston. She studied acting at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Arts, and received her B.A. in Theater from Macalester College. Her professional theater credits include appearances at Penumbra Theatre (Flex, Spittin’ Seeds, Sugar in Our Wounds), Open Window Theatre (The Originalist), The Southern Theater (Reasons for Moving), and The Strand Theater (We Move in Color). Kalala is best known for playing Hannah in Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay.” Additionally, she has appeared in feature films, “Cotton Fever,” “Jane’s Bachelorette Weekend,” and “Fakes.” As well as the short films, “Abandoned Buildings,” “Emily’s Bridge,” and “OURS.” Kalala is thrilled to make her Gloucester Stage debut and would like to thank Lyndsay, Rebecca, and the entire cast and crew.
Lorraine Victoria Kanyike* / Petrushka
Lorraine Victoria Kanyike is a versatile artist hailing from Boston, MA. Past credits include: TV: “P-Valley” (S2&3); THEATRE: LIFTED (Wellesley Repertory Theater and part of Boston’s UFOT Cycle), Her Portmanteau (Central Square Theater & The Front Porch Arts Collective), CLYDE’S (The Huntington), BLKS (Speakeasy Stage), Chicken & Biscuits (The Front Porch Arts Collective). Lorraine is thrilled to be back in her home state making her GSC debut. All power to all people. IG: @sunbeam.queen
Dereks Thomas* / Astronaut
Gloucester Stage: Paradise Blue, Off-Broadway: Ghost Stories: The Shawl & Prairie Du Chien, Atlantic Theater Company. Regional: Blues for an Alabama Sky, Someone Will Remember Us, Becky Nurse of Salem, August Wilson’s Fences, Gem of the Ocean, and Radio Golf, La Cage aux Folles, A Christmas Carol (2022), Trinity Rep; Passing Strange, Studio Theatre; The Lily’s Revenge, The Light Princess, The Donkey Show, American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.); Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars, Actors’ Shakespeare Project. International: The Imaginary Invalid, Moscow Art Theatre. Television: “Cupertino” (CBS); “Prodigal Son” (FOX). Film: Coaled Blood. Education: MFA, Moscow Art Theatre (A.R.T. Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University). BS, The Citadel. www.dereksthomas.com
Meet the Production Team
Dahlia Al-Habieli / Scenic Designer
Recent credits include designs for the Wilma Theater, Trinity Rep, Dallas Theater Center, Virginia Stage Company, Playmakers Rep, and Gulfshore Playhouse. She currently teaches at Bryn Mawr College, and has held faculty positions at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, Albright College, and Wake Forest University. Learn more about her work as an artist and educator at www.eloquentaction.com.
Zoë Sundra / Costume Designer
The Huntington: Eureka Day, Don’t Eat the Mangos, John Proctor is the Villain; also assisted on designs for Fat Ham, The Art of Burning, Witch. Regional: Chicken and Biscuits (Front Porch Arts Collective); But Not Buddy, The Addams Family (Wheelock Family Theatre at BU); Bombitty of Errors, Bright Half Life (Actors’ Shakespeare Project). Zoë is also a fiber artist and creates work under the name She Said Embroidery. She lives in Watertown with her spouse and fur children. zoesundra.com @shesaidembroidery
Lindsay Alayne Stevens / Lighting Designer
Lindsay Alayne Stevens (she/her) is excited to join GSC as the lighting designer of Moon Man Walk. Her credits span theaters across the country, from La Jolla Playhouse to InterAct Theatre Company. She is the Resident Designer for the New York productions of the SheNYC Arts Festival. A multidisciplinary artist and writer, she holds an MFA in Theater Design from UCSD (’21) and BFAs with High Honors from Marlboro College in Theater, Photography, and Writing (’17). More information at lastevensdesign.com.
Aubrey Dube / Sound Designer
Gloucester Stage Company: Dalloway: First Love, The Glass Menagerie, Paradise Blue, The Thin Place. Boston Playwrights’ Theatre: Winter People, The Recursion of a Moth. Lyric Stage: Crumbs From the Table of Joy, Trouble in Mind. Lyric Back Stage: Made You Look and Party Bots. The Huntington: Clyde’s, The Bluest Eye, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Fat Ham. New Repertory Theater: Trayf, Good. Moonbox Productions: Queens and Torch Song. PTP/NYC: Vinegar Tom, Monster, Serious Money, Pentecost. Umbrella Theatre: Fences. SpeakEasy Stage Company: POTUS. Company One: Downtown Crossing and Vietgone. Boston Center for American Performance: A Taste of Honey. Suffolk University: Cymbeline and Pilgrims of the Night. Brandeis University: Orlando. Northeastern University: Antipodes, Love and Information, As You Like It, Sensitive Guys. Boston University: Delirium, Daddy Issues, The Hothouse.
Leah Marcil / Props Designer + Apprentice
Hi my name is Leah Marcil! I’m 21 years old and I just graduated with a BA in Anthropology and Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies from the New College of Florida. I’m originally from Lakeland, Florida but recently relocated to Fort Pierce, Florida. In my spare time I enjoy playing video games, sewing, and listening to music. However, my true passion lies in live entertainment whether it be stage shows or concerts. I also love being a part of the physical story-telling process that theatrical production offers and being exposed to new perspectives, so I am incredibly excited to begin working as the Production Apprentice at Gloucester Stage!
Leanna Niesen / Intimacy Director
Leanna Niesen is delighted to be back at Gloucester Stage after spending a summer as an apprentice and stage managing No Child… last season. She is a Boston-based stage manager, intimacy director, and choreographer currently working as a Staff Stage Manager at Boston Conservatory. Recent credits include working as Assistant Intimacy Director for A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), and Intimacy Director for Mox Nox (Moonbox Productions), Fun Home and 35mm (Muhlenberg Theatre Association). Leanna is a graduate of Muhlenberg College.
Jazlynne Williams* / Production Stage Manager
Jazlynne Williams (Production Stage Manager) is very excited to make her Gloucester Stage debut with this stellar and heartwarming play. Previous regional credits include: Darker the Night, Brighter the Stars (PSM), Rocky Horror Show (PSM), Steel Magnolias (PSM), Matinicus (PSM), A Christmas Carol (PSM), Birthday Candles (PSM), Jersey Boys (ASM), Mother Russia (ASM), and Dial M for Murder (ASM). Jazlynne also spent 6 months at sea as a stage manager with Virgin Voyages! She is a proud University of Central Florida alumni, and holds a BFA in Stage Management. She wants to send love and many thanks to her mom, dad, Korrah, and Trace. She also thanks her boyfriend, Will, for his unwavering support during her theatrical ventures! jazlynnewilliams.wixsite.com/mysite
Emily Coccovizzo / Assistant Stage Manager + Apprentice
Emily Coccovizzo is a New Jersey native excited to expand her skills as a Stage Management Apprentice! In May of 2025 Emily graduated from Loyola University Maryland with a Bachelors of Arts in theatre and forensic science. At Loyola, Emily had the privilege to Stage Manage a student directed production of Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic and Assistant Stage Manager RENT at Iron Crow Theatre and its transfer to the M&T Bank Exchange at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center, home of the Hippodrome. Since graduating, Emily has moved home and focused on bringing theatre to her community, working on many shows throughout the state, including the East Coast premiere of Althea & Angela. Emily is passionate about making theatre accessible to everyone who wants to participate. She cannot wait to join the GSC team! IG: @awesomemily15
2026 Season Partners
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
ºThe Director is a Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC)
^Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE
MOON MAN WALK is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service. www.concordtheatricals.com