August 4
Wipeout
By Aurora Real de Asua
Directed by Maggie Burrows
It’s Gary’s 77th birthday and all she wants to do is surf. The only problem? She’s never stepped foot on a board before. But with the help of a hot-rod teenage surf instructor and the company of her two best friends, Gary is about to go on the ride of her life. As the three women navigate the currents of the Pacific, they must confront seven decades of secrets and sacrifices, not to mention the odd jellyfish or two.
CAST
Becky Ann Baker as Margaret
Candy Buckley as Wynn
Brett Gray as Blaze
Emily Kuroda as Claudia
Gabrielle Policano reading stage directions
Aurora Real de Asua is a playwright, filmmaker, and actor based in New York. This past year she has workshopped Wipeout at The Old Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival and Rivendell Theatre’s Fresh Produce Series. She’s also had the pleasure of developing her work with The Playwright’s Realm, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Victory Gardens, sideshow, Greenhouse Theatre, and Story Theatre. She is a 2020 Elizabeth George commission at South Coast Repertory. Her one-woman play Aping Jane was a finalist for 2020’s BLANK Theatre’s Future of Playwriting Prize. Her short film Heartsong debuted on Shorts of the Week, and has gone on to screen at the New York Latino Film Festival and the Midwest Film Festival, where it won two awards. She received a BA in theatre from Northwestern University and is currently getting her MFA in film at Columbia University.
Maggie Burrows is a film and theater director living in New York City. She has directed and developed works with Playwrights Horizons, The Atlantic, NYTW, WP, Williamstown Theater Festival and The Geffen Playhouse. Member Lincoln Center Directors Lab, nominee for Yale’s Sudler Prize, 2018 Sagal Directing Fellow at Williamstown Theater Festival, and the 2018-2020 BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage. Select credits: Legally Blonde (MUNY), Man of God (Geffen/Williamstown), Indecent (Juilliard), Trayf (Geffen), Damsels (Williamstown), The Sound of Music (Northern Stage), Spacebar (Wild Project). Associate Director: My Fair Lady (Beaumont), The Taming of the Shrew (Delacorte) and Constellations (MTC). Film: Condolences and the GOTV video for Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote organization.
Becky Ann Baker may be most recognized for her mothering skills, or lack thereof, on two Judd Apatow series, Freaks and Geeks and Girls (earning Emmy and Critics’ Choice nominations in the latter as mom to Lena Dunham’s ‘Hannah’). Most recently she featured on “Ted Lasso,” “Billions,” “New Amsterdam,” and “Big Little Lies” and has had memorable spots on “Brockmire,” “The Good Fight,” “Gotham,” and “Younger”. On screen she’s worked with directors Ridley Scott (White Squall), Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black), Sam Raimi (A Simple Plan) and Steven Spielberg (War of the Worlds). Recently, she has filmed Holler and All Happy Families. An acclaimed theater actress as well, Becky was a member of the original companies of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Titanic and Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins as well American theater classics All My Sons and A Streetcar Named Desire. Recently she co-starred with Frances McDormand in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People and was part of the acclaimed production of The Hairy Ape at the Park Avenue Armory.
Candy Buckley. Most recently Fraulein Schneider in Cabaret at Barrington Stage and The Witch in Sarah Ruhl’s Becky Nurse of Salem at Lincoln Center. Broadway: Thoroughly Modern Millie, Scandalous, Cabaret, After the Fall, Ring Round the Moon. Off-Broadway: Drama Desk nomination for The Petrified Prince at The Public, all-female Taming of the Shrew at The Delacorte, The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters Playwright’s Horizons. Regionally: A Delicate Balance The Guthrie, Vanya + Sonia + Masha + Spike The Old Globe, Company Buck’s County Playhouse, Kill Local La Jolla Playhouse. Company member four seasons American Repertory Theater: Hedda Gabler, Macbeth, King Lear, Misalliance. Company member 11 seasons Dallas Theater Center: All the King’s Men, The Cherry Orchard, Lady Audley’s Secret. TV + Film: The Kill Room with Uma Thurman, Rare Objects with Katie Holmes, “Treme,” “The Americans,” “Blue Bloods,” “WeCrashed.” Recipient: Princess Grace Statuette for outstanding achievement in theater.
Brett Gray. Brett can currently be seen as a series lead, in the Boots Riley’s highly anticipated new Certified Fresh new series “I’m A Virgo,” currently streaming on Prime Video. The series is a coming-of-age joyride about Cootie, a 13ft tall young Black man in Oakland who has been sheltered his whole life and explores the outside world for the first time – Brett plays one of his friends and offers the comedic relief in the series. It is such a fun, fantastical show that covers friendships, finding love, navigating awkward situations, and even encountering a real-life superhero. Brett’s role is integral to a plotline that centers around the social justice movement. Brett is best known for his hilariously charismatic performance as “Jamal Turner” in Netflix’s hit series “On My Block”, which garnered critical acclaim when it debuted in early 2018. On the heels of that show, Brett has been able to gain millions of fans all over the world. On the dramatic side, Brett has also appeared in the Emmy winning limited series from Ava DuVernay “When They See Us” in addition to his work on stage in an off-Broadway production of The Secret Life of Bees. Another huge passion of Brett’s is music. He released his last EP “Blue” in 2020. Brett formed the idea off of the well-known “blue periods” from artists like Picasso and Joni Mitchell and drew upon the emotional revelations that most experienced in lockdown during the pandemic. The tracks range from soulful R&B to more upbeat hip-hop/dance beats, something for everyone but with a common through line that speaks to his aesthetic.
Emily Kuroda worked at South Coast Rep (Tiger Style, Fast Company, Our Town, Ballad of Yachiyo), TheatreWorks (Language Archives, Calligraphy), New York Theatre Workshop (Endlings), Yale Rep (Today is My Birthday), Pan Asian(Brothers Paranormal), American Repertory Theater (Endlings), Page 73 (Today is My Birthday), Actors Theater of Louisville (we, the invisibles), Huntington Theater (Tiger Style, Woman Warrior), Artists at Play (Two Mile Hollow), Alliance Theater (Tiger Style), Sundance Theater Lab (Today is My Birthday, A Cage of Fireflies), East West Players (46 productions), Kirk Douglas, Mark Taper Forum, Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle Rep, Singapore Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, The Doolittle, LATC, Zephyr, LA Women’s Shakespeare Company, and the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival. Selected TV: “Mrs. Kim” in Gilmore Girls, “The Power,” “All Rise,” “The Good Doctor,” “The Resident,” “Drop Dead Diva,” “Sequestered,” and as “Sister Veronica” in the upcoming series “The Power” for Amazon. Recent Films: Kimi, Adopting Audrey, Take the 10, Party Boat, Red, Yellow Face and Sensei. Awards: – Dramalogue Ikebana, The Maids, Minamata, The Golden Gate, and Visitors from Nagasaki – LA Commendation (About Love) – Garland Straight As a Line. Entertainment Today (Winter People).
Gabrielle Policano is a New York based actor and poet. A recent graduate of Boston University’s BFA Acting program, her theatre credits include Let the Right One In (Berkeley Rep) and Richard II (Luna Stage). She is also an award-winning spoken word poet, having performed regularly with the Inspired Word and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. gabbypolicano.com