
World Premiere
WIPEOUT
by Aurora Real de Asua
Directed by SHANA GOZANSKYº
For her seventy-seventh birthday, Gary knows exactly what she wants: to go surfing. There’s only one problem: She’s never touched the water. But with the help of a hot-rod teenage surf instructor and her two best friends, Gary’s ready to conquer the unknown. Taking place on surfboards in the Pacific Ocean, Wipeout is a septuagenarian surf comedy about what it takes to hang ten.
This break-out new play by Aurora Real de Asua has been workshopped at Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, et al. before arriving on Gloucester Stage’s shore. Directed by Shana Gozanskyº (GSC’s Barefoot in the Park) Wipeout runs July 5 – 28 at Gloucester Stage Company 267 East Main Street, Gloucester. Showtimes are Wednesdays & Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm, and matinees Saturdays & Sundays at 3:00pm.
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Critical Praise for Gloucester Stage’s World Premiere of Wipeout
“GSC Hangs ten… thanks to it’s bitchin’ production of Wipeout”
“The women of Wipeout ride the swells of life“
“Hilarious and Believable. The women are just as playful as the stage.”
“Wipeout transforms into one lively surfing safari”
“More than an albeit Hilarious Floating Comedy of Manners“
“Moving and Funny Look at Enduring Friendships”
Trailers and Behind the Scenes videos for Wipeout
Meet the Creative Team

Aurora Real de Asua / Playwright
Aurora Real de Asua is a playwright, filmmaker, and performer. Her play Wipeout will receive a rolling world premiere in 2024 through the National New Play Network, with productions at Rivendell Theatre, B Street Theatre, and Gloucester Stage Company. Wipeout was developed at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, New Harmony Project, the Old Globe, and Rivendell. Her other plays have been developed with The Playwright’s Realm, Victory Gardens, Chicago Children’s Theatre, and sideshow theatre. Her short film Heartsong debuted on Short of the Week and screened at various festivals. It is available to stream on Mitú.tv. She holds a BA in Theatre from Northwestern University and an MFA in film from Columbia University.

Shana Gozanskyº / Director
Shana Gozansky is a freelance director & teaching artist. She has directed at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Gloucester Stage Company, The Hangar Theatre, and at venues throughout Boston & NYC. She has held teaching and/or directed at various colleges and universities in Boston and beyond. Shana holds a MFA in Directing from Brown University/Trinity Repertory and a BA in Theater from Bard College, was an Artistic Associate at The Hangar Theatre, an Artist-in-Residence at both chashama and The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Shana is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, is a Drama League Directing Fellow, and an Associate Member of SDC. She also writes books for children. Shana lives in the Boston area with her spouse, 9 year-old kid, and a dog that looks like a cow named Miss Piggy.
Meet the Cast

Cheryl D. Singleton* / Claudia
Cheryl is very happy to return to Gloucester Stage in this world premiere production of Wipeout. She has previously appeared here in Stew and To Kill A Mockingbird. Selected additional theater credits include work with The Front Porch, The Huntington, Boston Lyric Opera, SpeakEasy Stage Co., Plays in Place, Wheelock Family Theatre, Lyric Stage Co., Manhattan Theatre Club, New Repertory Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Co., American Repertory Theatre and Queer Soup. Cheryl has appeared onstage as a narrator with the Boston Pops for both their July 4th and Christmas shows. Selected film and television credits include: Invitation to a Bonfire (AMC), She’s Gotta Have It (40 Acres and A Mule), and Castle Rock (Hulu). A proud member of SAG-AFTRA, Cheryl has also done commercial and voiceover work and serves the Boston theater community through the Theatre Community Benevolent Fund (TCBF), a source of grants for community members in crisis.

Noelle Player* / Wynn
Noelle is thrilled to be returning to the stage after raising her fabulous 20 year old twins! Wipe Out! is Noelle’s debut as a New Englander after her recent move to North Weymouth. She attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Worth Gardner and Circle-in-the-Square Professional workshop. International Companies: CATS! (Grizabella & Jenny-any-dots); Hey, Mr. Producer (Featured Singer). National Tours: Cabaret (U/S Sally Bowles and Fraulein Kost); Jesus Christ Superstar (Contortionist Tormentor). Regional Theatre and Summer Stock: Theatre Under the Stars: Victor/Victoria (Street Singer); Allenberry Playhouse: Sugar Babies (Soubrette), Beehive (Janis Joplin, Brenda Lee & others); Candlewood Playhouse: Godspell (Turn Back O Man); Rocky Horror Show (Magenta) Joseph and the Amazing…( Narrator u/s & Ensemble) Surflight: Gypsy (Rose); Sound of Music (Maria); Falmouth Playhouse: Evita (Eva Peron). A special thanks to Rudetski, Howie, Natasha, Jo and Randy for giving me the extra push to get back on the boards. My eternal gratitude to my husband and our twins. I could not do anything without your love and support. Mom, this one is for you & the ladies!

Karen MacDonald* / Margaret ‘Gary’
Karen returns to Gloucester Stage Company having appeared in The Apple Family Plays: Sweet and Sad and The Last of the Red Hot Lovers and directed An Ideal Husband and The Woman in Black. Recent credits include A Christmas Carol and Gaslight at Merrimack Rep, Rooted at the Lyric Stage, Heroes of the Fourth Turning at Speakeasy Stage, Common Ground Revisited at the Huntington Theater. Regionally, she has also appeared at Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Greater Boston Stage Company, Trinity Rep, Gamm Theatre, New Rep, Portland Stage, Boston Playwrights Theatre, Boston Theatre Company, Sleeping Weazel, The Vineyard Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Shakespeare and Co. and Berkshire Playwrights Lab. A Founding Company Member of the American Repertory Theatre, she appeared in 74 productions, including The Sea Gull, Mother Courage and her Children and No Exit.On Broadway, she understudied and performed the role of Amanda Wingfield in John Tiffany’s revival of The Glass Menagerie. Nationally, she has performed extensively. Credits include Hartford Stage, The Maltz Jupiter Theatre, The Alley Theatre and Berkeley Rep, among others. She is the recipient of several IRNE Awards and Elliot Norton Awards for her performances. She received both The Robert Brustein Award for Sustained Achievement in The Theater and the Elliot Norton Prize for Sustained Excellence. She taught at the Harvard Extension School and was a faculty member of Theatre, Dance and Media at Harvard for 22 years.

Thomas Bilotta / Blaze
Born in White Plains, NY, Thomas recently received his BFA in Acting, from Boston University. He also completed the semester program at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). Thomas was lucky enough to be a part of an Off-Broadway production of I Hate Hamlet last summer at the Rattlestick Theater, NYC. He wants to thank his family and friends endlessly for their continued love and support, as well as you for coming to see this amazing show!
@thomasbilotta email: thomasbilottaacting@gmail.com
Meet the Production Team
Aubrey Dube / Sound Designer
Paradise Blue, The Thin Place, Stew (Gloucester Stage Company); Queens, Torch Song, The House of Ramon Iglesia (Moonbox Productions); Toni Stone, Fat Ham, Clyde’s, The Bluest Eye, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Huntington): Trayf, Good (New Rep); Vinegar Tom, Monster, Serious Money, Pentecost (PTP/NYC), Winter People (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre); Fences (Umbrella Theatre); Morning Noon and Night, Downtown Crossing, Vietgone (Company One); Simona’s Search (Hartford Stage) The Fortune Teller (Chuang Stage); A Case for the Existence of God, Potus (SpeakEasy Stage) Trouble in Mind (Lyric Stage); A Taste of Honey (Boston Center for American Performance). University: Cymbeline, Pilgrims of the Night (Suffolk University); Orlando (Brandeis University); Antipodes, Love and Information, As You Like It, Sensitive Guys (Northeastern University); Education: MFA in Sound Design (Boston University). @footballpowerhour
Carolyn Ferris / Properties Designer + Apprentice
Carolyn is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with majors in both Theater and English, as well as a certificate in Professional Writing and Technical Communication. With most recent work as both the lead Stage Manager and Assistant Production Manager for the UMass Theater department, she focuses in management, but extends her skills to technical areas such as costuming, lighting, and hair and makeup. Recent credits include Twelfth Night – Directed by Milan Dragicevich (Stage Manager), Mother and Me – Melinda Buckley (Stage Manager), The Insanity of Mary Girard – Directed by Liv Darling (Hair and Makeup) and many more. Please visit cferrisportfolio.com for a more in depth look at her work! Carolyn is thrilled to be with Gloucester Stage and excited for opportunities to come!
Jennifer Greeke / Costume Designer
Jen is excited to be back with GSC. She has previously designed The Thin Place, Love From Halifax and Think Of Me Tuesday for GSC as well as Spongebob Squarepants The Musical, Midsummer Night’s Dream, James And The Giant Peach and Holiday Delights for GSC’s youth company. She designed Mass Opera’s The Magic Flute and La Traviata. Jen has been the Costume Designer for Bosoma Dance Company since 2018. She is also currently designing Lanes Coven’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Servant of Two Masters.
Jenna McFarland Lord / Scenic Designer
Gloucester Stage Co.: Over 50 shows from 2002- present including: Stew, Grand Horizons, Between the Sheets, 39 Steps, Cyrano, New Electric Ballroom, North Shore Fish, Driving Miss Daisy, Belle of Amherst, Round and Round the Garden. Other Selected Area Credits: Boston Lyric Opera: Cenerentola; Lyric Stage: Sister Act, Fabulation, 5 Years,Twelfth Night, Warrior Class, November, This Wonderful Life, SpeakEasy Stage Co.: POTUS, The PROM, BLKS (Elliot Norton for Design),Shakespeare in Love, Men on Boats, Bootycandy, The Color Purple, The Drowsy Chaperone; 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: Paradise, The Convert Off-Broadway: La Mama: Man in Snow New York Playwrights Lab: The Secret of Mme. Bonnard’s Bath. Ms. McFarland Lord designs for several area colleges and is currently the set design teacher at the Boston Arts Academy, a public high school for the arts. (she/her)
Leanna Niesen / Asst. Stage Manager + Apprentice
Leanna is a recent graduate of Muhlenberg College with a B.A.in Theatre and Dance with concentrations in Stage Management and Choreography. She has had the opportunity to stage manage a diverse range of projects, including dance productions, small plays, large-scale musicals, student-produced work, and devised pieces. Favorite credits include Head Over Heels (PSM, Muhlenberg College), Local Girls (PSM / Choreographer, Muhlenberg College), and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (ASM, Capital City Theatre). She recently spent a summer as a Stage Manager and Counselor at Stagedoor Manor. In addition to her work as a stage manager, Leanna has experience in choreography, theatrical intimacy, and technical theatre. She is excited for the opportunity to work and learn alongside other emerging professionals at Gloucester Stage Company!
Marsha Smith* / Production Stage Manager
Marsha is from a small farm in southern NH and earned her degree from Emerson College. She has been working professionally in and around Boston, with a few brief stops in NYC and beyond, for over 20 years. Marsha loves her work and thanks her friends and family for the lifetime of support they have given her.
Yijia Yu / Asst. Director + Apprentice
Yijia has been doing theater throughout high school and college. She recently graduated Brandeis University with a double degree in Anthropology and Theater. Yijia assistant directed Without Blinking: A Devised Participatory Performance About Climate Action, Stupid F*cking Bird, and Twelfth Night at Brandeis Theater Department. She also directed Mountain Language by Harold Pinter for her senior thesis. She is exited to join Gloucester Stage this season!
Kat C. Zhou^ / Lighting Designer
Kat is an NYC-based lighting designer for live events. GSC: Stew; Mr. Fullerton, Between the Sheets; Reparations; and Tiny Beautiful Things. OFF BROADWAY: The Butcher Boy (Irish Repertory Theater). REGIONAL: Waitress (Cape Playhouse), The Heart Sellers (Huntington Theater Company), Sweeney Todd (Moonbox Productions), Little Women (Perseverance Theatre); and The Chinese Lady (Central Square Theatre), for which they received an Elliot Norton prize. OPERA: The Monkey King (White Snake Projects), X: the Life and Times of Malcolm X (Odyssey Opera). DANCE: Cinderella (Ballet Rhode Island), With Care (AMOC). She received an MFA from Boston University and an AB in mathematics from Harvard College. More info: katzhoudesign.com
Critical Praise for Rolling World Premiere of Aurora Real de Asua’s Wipeout
“a reminder that there is no age limit on adventure”
“Wipeout is definitely worth the ride.“
“Hope springs eternal at all stages of life in poignant Wipeout”
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association (AEA)
ºThe Director is an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC)
† Represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE
WIPEOUT is presented by special arrangement with the Playwright.