The background is Broad Street in Philadelphia, with City Hall in the background. In the forefront there is a collage of people doing different activities and looking different ways. The image reads in different colors “The Bullet in the Brain”, “A staged reading”, “By: M. Rayne Smith Direction By: Ang(ela) Bey”. In a block on the bottom it reads “Caplan Studio Theater November 30, December 2 | 2023 | 7:30 P.M. / December 3 | 2023 | 2 P.M.”.

The Bullet in the Brain

The background is Broad Street in Philadelphia, with City Hall in the background. In the forefront there is a collage of people doing different activities and looking different ways. The image reads in different colors “The Bullet in the Brain”, “A staged reading”, “By: M. Rayne Smith Direction By: Ang(ela) Bey”. In a block on the bottom it reads “Caplan Studio Theater November 30, December 2 | 2023 | 7:30 P.M. / December 3 | 2023 | 2 P.M.”.

The Bullet in the Brain

By M. Rayne Smith

Directed by Ang(ela) Bey

 

Tickets Available Now. 

 

PRODUCTION TEAM

M. Rayne Smith (Writer)

Ang(ela) Bey (Director)(they/all) is a Black, Queer multidisciplinary artist born and raised in Southwest Philadelphia. Their art imagines liberated futures for Black folx. The inaugural theatre scholarship recipient and 2019 graduate of Ursinus College, Ang is grateful to have worked for over fifty arts and culture institutions nationwide. Rayne’s most recent playwriting commission, On Buried Ground with the Christ Church Preservation Trust, received a grant from the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. Rayne was recently awarded an Art & Change Grant from the Leeway Foundation for development of their play "WhatWhiteJesusDo?" with collaborator and partner Ryan Rebel. Angela is a Barrymore-nominated actor and director and F. Otto Haas Award Finalist through Theatre Philadelphia. Rayne/Ang(ela) is Co-Artistic Director of Shoe Box Theatre Collective and founder of Upstream Performance Collaborative, two scrappy, local theatre companies comprised of even scrappier, extraordinary emerging artists and loved-ones.

Steve Pittman (Composer)

Lindsey Silver (Stage Manager)

Pamela White (Assistant Stage Manager)(she/her) is a Freshman Directing, Playwriting, & Production major. This has been Pam's first show at UArts. Endless thanks to Lindsey Silver for everything they have taught her, and to the Bullet team for giving her an amazing introduction to UArts theater!

Nora Gair (Intimacy Choreographer)(she/her) is a director, intimacy professional, and teaching artist spreading joyful consent-based practice and radicalizing classics through her work. INTIMACY: Fulton Theatre, Quintessence, UPenn, UArts. UPCOMING: EQUUS / Fulton Theatre. DIRECTING: UArts, Id Circo, Walnut Street Theatre School, PlayLab @ ATLouisville. UPCOMING: Holmes & Watson / Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. BFA Carnegie Mellon. cutt.ly/noragair

J. Alex Cordaro (Fight Choreographer)

Teayra Bowden (Season Dramaturg)

Jaden Alvaro Gines (Assistant Season Dramaturg)

Savannah Reich (DPP Mentor)

Joey Rice (Music Consultant)

Marie Laster (Set Designer)(she/her) is based in New York and Philadelphia. Past UArts credits include The Last Five Years. Scenic design credits include What the Constitution Means to Me (Arden Theatre), one drop cool (Moxie Arts NY & WP Theater), Chicken & Biscuits (TheatreSquared), All My Mothers Dream in Spanish (Azuka Theatre). USA 829

Miles Ellis Novotny (Props Head)

DeAnna Howard (Lighting Designer)

Ethan Paone (Assistant Lighting Designer, Programmer)

Becky Wetzel (Costume Designer)(she/her) is currently a Graduate Student for Costume design at Temple University. Her past regional productions include Xanadu (TU), Into the Woods (TU), and Dance Nation (TU). As well as Abu Hassan/Goyescas (DVOC), Leibovar (DVOC) and the UCDC spring performance 2023(UC). She also is a proud member of the costume shop for Upper Darby Summer Stage. Her upcoming works are Airness (TU) and UCDC spring performance 2024(UC). Thank you to the UArts costume shop and cast and crew of BITB.

Taylor Jedlinski (Sound Designer)

Troy Martin-O'Shia (Production Electrician)

Joe Fasciano (Technical Director)

Anna Sorrentino (Costume Shop Manager)

 

CAST

Fern Morehouse (Sol)

Rain Macedonia (Amber/John F. Kennedy)

Selena Luca (Lisa/Jackie Kennedy Onassis)(she/her) is a Sophomore Musical Theater major. Past UArts Credits include Act One: A First Year Exhibition. Regional: Washington D.C. : Cherry Blossom Parade, Hannibal Lokumbe “First Breath, Last Sigh” Premier, CAPA Musical “The Wiz” (The Messenger), CAPA Musical “Into The Woods”(Ensemble).

Alexa Kent (Doris/Septa Voice/Margo/Marilyn Monroe)(she/her) has a BFA in Acting for Film/TV/Voice-Overs/Commercials from Pace University. Recent Theater credits include Emeraldin (OMG! Studios Philly), The Grieving Project Musical (Christina Eskridge). Commercial: Homage To Fromage (Ruckus Marketing). Film: Internal Deception of Happiness (Lauren Young), Soul Ties (Christine Johnson). Endless thanks to UArts and Ang Bey.

Caitlin Wisneskie (Justice/The William Penn Statue)(they/she) is an actor and theater artist located in Philadelphia. They are a graduate of Temple University. Past credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch (ASH Theater), A Seance for Mae West (Aporia Artists Collective), Ms. Martin’s Malaise (Azuka Theatre), and more. They’d like to thank UArts as well as family and friends for their unending support.

Daniel Burgess (Stage Directions)

 

BAND

Steve Pittman (Bass)

Tim Acampado (Trumpet)

Joey Rice (Piano)

 

CREW

Julia Hancock

Erin Donovan

 

About: 

After taking a leave of absence from college, Sol returns to Philadelphia to find memories from their semester off in Dallas sticking to them. They try desperately to reclaim the old version of themself but after running into their ex at a party, Sol encounters (The Actual) John F. Kennedy who is on a mission to find the missing half of his brain. 1963 Americana is used as a launchpad into 2023 reality to interrogate the repercussions of American gun violence on queer Gen Z adults. The Bullet In The Brain tackles the collective trauma of a generation, asking the question, “How do you heal a wound that never stops bleeding? 

 

Content Disclosures: Loud noises, flashing lights, explicit language, Theatrical language surrounding gun violence and depictions of physical violence.

 

University of the Arts

Kerry Walk, President

Kikau Alvaro, Interim Dean, Ira Brind School of Theater Arts

Aanika Allen, Assistant Dean, Ira Brind School of Theater Arts

Madison Claus, Senior Administrative Assistant

Krista Apple, Program Director, Acting

Amy Dugas Brown, Program Director, Directing, Playwriting and Production

Thom Weaver, Interim Program Director, Theater Design & Technology

Jacob Brent, Interim Program Director, Musical Theater

Quinn Bauriedel, Program Director, Pig Iron School MFA in Devised Performance

 

Nick Embree, Associate Professor 

Sarah Sanford, Assistant Professor 

Issac Byrne, Visiting Assistant Professor 

Kyle Metzger, Visiting Assistant Professor

 

Lindsay Cram, Associate Producer

Joe Fasciano, Technical Director

Troy Martin-O’Shia, Production Electrician 

Anna Sorrentino, Costume Shop Manager

Larry Fowler, Sound Practicum Instructor

Chris Haig, Technical Practicum Instructor

Rebecca Kanach, Costume Practicum Instructor

Juliana Luber, Audience Services Coordinator