July 21
Plunder and Lightning
By Cindy Lou Johnson
Directed by Portia Krieger
Tina and George’s preparations for an important party are wildly derailed when their daughter Rikki shows up on the run from the cops, and Tina’s stepmother, Lola, threatens to levy charges of elder abuse. A dark comedy about greed and the urgent power of love, Plunder and Lightning examines the price to be paid for burying our sins—in the field out back.
John Pankow as George
Annie Golden as Lola
Johanna Day as Tina
Nina Grollman as Rikki
Samantha Bohrer reading stage directions
ARTIST BIOS
Cindy Lou Johnson is best known for her play Brilliant Traces which has had many productions throughout the world. Other plays include The New Americans, Propaganda, Under Cover of Darkness, The Years, Blessé, and The Person I Once Was. Her work has been produced by Manhattan Theatre Club, The Cherry Lane, Naked Angels, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alliance Theater, The Edinburgh Fringe, and the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and published by Dramatists Play Service and The Best Monologues series. She is a recipient of a National Endowment Fellowship, George Soros’ OSA grant to study in Budapest, and a Huntington Library Fellowship. She also works in film and television and won an Ace award for HBO’s “Vietnam War Stories”. Johnson is committed to the alliance between artists and their community and as a member of the 52nd Street Project wrote and directed over fifteen, one-act plays for inner-city kids.
Portia Krieger is a NYC-based director of new plays and musicals. She has directed and developed work with Clubbed Thumb, 2ST, the O’Neill, Playwrights Horizons, Roundabout, New York Stage & Film, Rattlestick, Page 73, Ars Nova, the Lark, the Juilliard School, NYMF, and others. Portia has been an O’Neill/NNPN National Director Fellow, a two-time New Georges Audrey Resident, a participant in the Drama League Directors Project, and an Ars Nova Director-in Residence. She is a Clubbed Thumb Affiliated Artist, a company member of ColtCoeur and Lesser America, and co-founder of the New Georges Jam. Associate Director of Broadway’s Fun Home and Seminar, and Almost Famous. And she is thrilled to be back at Williamstown! www.portiakrieger.com
John Pankow: Broadway credits include Amadeus, The Iceman Cometh, Cymbeline, Serious Money, Twelve Angry Men, and Kiss Me Kate. John appeared in the Off-Broadway premieres of Sharr White’s The True, Christopher Durang’s Why Torture is Wrong and The People Who Love Them, John Patrick Shanley’s Italian American Reconciliation, David Mamet’s Keep Your Pantheon, Kenny Lonergan’s Medieval Play, Peter Hedges’ Baby Anger, Israel Horovitz’ North Shore Fish, Brian Friel’s Aristocrats, and Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine. For television, Mr. Pankow played Ira Buchman in the long-running NBC comedy “Mad About You”, as well as volatile television exec Merc Lapidus on Showtime’s Episodes. Feature films include Morning Glory, Putzel, Mortal Thoughts, Married Young, The Secret of My Success, and To Live and Die in L.A..
Annie Golden was discovered by Milos Forman while on the Bowery fronting a rock band, she was then cast as “Jeannie” in the 1978 film Hair. Most recently, she can be seen in the highly acclaimed Broadway production of Into the Woods. On the television front, she can be seen in the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Other notable roles include “Norma” in Orange Is the New Black for Netflix (for which she received three Screen Actors Guild awards), the recurring role of “Ellie” on Fox’s series Filthy Rich, HBO’s “Marjorie” in the pilot Run, and “Barbie” in High Maintenance. Broadway credits include Into the Woods revival (Grammy award winner), Annie Golden Is Broadway Hunter (with book, music, and lyrics by Joe Iconis), Violet, Xanadu, The Full Monty, Ah! Wilderness. Annie was Sondheim’s original Squeaky Fromme in Assassins (Playwrights Horizons).
Johanna Day Broadway: How I Learned To Drive, The Nap, Sweat (Tony Nomination), You Can’t Take It With You, August: Osage County, Lombardi, Proof (Tony Nomination). Theatre: Des Moines (TFANA), Floyd’s (Guthrie), Peace for Mary Francis (New Group), Peter and Jerry (Second Stage – Drama Desk Nomination), Appropriate (Signature – Obie Award, The Lilly Award), Poor Behavior (Mark Taper), Realistic Joneses (Yale), Choice (Huntington), The Rainmaker (Arena Stage – Helen Hayes Award), How I Learned to Drive (Vineyard). Television: “Madam Secretary” (5 Years Recurring), “Bull, For Life”, “New Amsterdam”, “The Blacklist”, “Escape at Dannemora”, “The Knick”, “The Americans”, “Masters of Sex”, “Alpha House”, “Royal Pains”. Film: Worth, Save Yourselves, What is Life Worth, The Post, Great Gilley Hopkins, How Far She Went, The Breatharian.
Nina made her Broadway debut as Margie in The Iceman Cometh. She then went on to play Scout in Aaron Sorkin’s To Kill A Mockinbird. Nina is also a musician and comedian who has performed at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, People’s Improv Theater, IO West, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. She makes music under the moniker Softee and has been featured in publications such as Rolling Stone and Paper Magazine. A graduate of Juilliard, Nina can soon be seen in the Apple+ series, “Bad Monkey”.
Samantha Bohrer (she/her) is a recent graduate from Fordham University with a degree in Theatre Performance and a Minor in Sports Journalism. Favorite past credits include: Blood Wedding (Choreographer/Movement director), Dance Nation (Maeve), Hand to God (Jessica), and Parade: In Concert with Manhattan Concert Productions (Ensemble). In addition to acting, Samantha is passionate about sports journalism and broadcasting, having spent two of her years at Fordham as a beat reporter for the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers for the NPR-affiliate radio station, WFUV Sports. She is thrilled to be joining Williamstown Theatre Festival for the first time and cannot wait to create with such talented artists. Website: www.samanthabohrer.com.