2021 Season Recap
THE SUBURBS
Thrown Stone presented our 2021 season in partnership with The Keeler Tavern Museum and History Center, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, and West Lane Inn. Three world premieres performed at the three Ridgefield landmarks, August 28 – September 12, 2021.
Commissioned as short, site-specific works by Catherine Yu, Tony Meneses, and Phanésia Pharel performed as a single “roving production” (where the audience follows the action from location to location). In this very unusual year, we made a very unusual commitment to commission and present three world-premieres within the span of just nine months. Because of the extraordinary talent and perseverance of our artists, the result was an uncannily fresh take on the identity and destiny of our community.
An Education finds a famous young academic giving a lecture on the value of the classics to the Ridgefield Board of Education. His vision of antiquity is radically inclusive, but as a person of color, will he ever truly be seen? Catherine Yu’s new play considers “what we’ve lost to spectacle” in a world where the classics and white supremacy have become entangled.
The Caterers by Tony Meneses was in homage to Jean Genet’s The Maids, and features a diverse group of young workers catering an engagement party at the Aldrich some fifty years in the future. Working while on display in extravagant party gowns, and confronted with “high-society hi jinx,” they fantasize about what it must be like to be the protagonists in their own narratives.
Should We Dance Instead? follows Ned and Betsy Armstrong — the now-famous operators of the Ridgefield Underground Railroad — resurrected in today’s world, where their family homestead is on the market for $28 million. In Phanésia Pharel’s captivating new play, the Armstrongs reclaim their moral legacy and more importantly, their own happiness.
Performances were set outdoors specifically to help reduce the risk of Covid transmission. Working under Actors’ Equity Association’s Fully Vaccinated Safety Rider, four staff members were certified as Covid Safety Officers, and with the input of our company members, developed safety protocols that met or exceeded the union’s requirements. Testing was a critical part of our plan, which was generously provided by RVNAhealth.
Democratizing Our Season Selection
As part of her summer internship, Talia Hankin blogged about The Suburbs. Her five pieces covered the process and the experience of making new theatre from the perspectives of the audience, the creative team, the interns, and the cast. In On Democratizing Season Selection, she told the story of our nascent process for evaluating new plays. Company Manager Pippa Walton worked with Co-Artistic Director Jonathan Winn to fuse a New Economics Foundation audience experience framework with categories from the National New Play Network’s New Play Exchange (NPX) into an easy-to-complete questionnaire for readers and audience members. The hope was that the survey would provide structured and meaningful feedback for Artistic Directors as they evaluate material for future seasons.
A lot of completed questionnaires were needed to test that hypothesis. Enter Ridgefield High School students Evelyn Carr and Liam Huff, who read and evaluated over 30 new plays in three weeks, as part of their summer internship curriculum.
When the initial results showed promise, Walton and Winn presented an early draft of the questionnaire at a meeting of the National New Play Network. Member companies offered their feedback and requested copies of the questionnaire for their own testing. The modularity of the format and the adaptability of the questionnaire indicates numerous use cases, from literary departments in larger theatres, to collecting audience feedback at readings and workshops. What started in Thrown Stone’s 2021 high school intern program could benefit theatres across the country.
Providentially, one of the plays evaluated over the summer was Hysterical! by Elenna Stauffer. Evelyn Carr discovered it in a NPX search for material that centers female characters, and it quickly made its way to the top of our list.
Thrown Stone’s 2022 season will feature two New England premieres to be performed in repertory July 14 – August 6, 2022: Athena by Gracie Gardner, and Hysterical! by Elenna Stauffer. Athena, 2018 New York Times Critic’s Pick, was originally commissioned and performed by the Hearth Theatre. Hysterical! by Elenna Stauffer had its premiere at FringeNYC 2016, and was discovered for Thrown Stone by Evelyn Carr.
“I stumbled across Hysterical! while searching for female-centered plays, particularly plays focused on young women,” said Carr. “It’s such an entertaining and informative piece of art and definitely stays with you long after it’s over.”
Both plays candidly and poignantly explore the absurdity, the agony, and the swagger of adolescence and athletics — from a girl’s point of view. Both plays will be directed by acclaimed director and Fairfield, CT resident, Tracy Brigden.
Athena by Gracie Gardner
Mary Wallace and Athena are brave, and seventeen, and fencers, and training for the Junior Olympics. They practice together, they compete against each other, they spend their lives together. They wish they were friends.
Hysterical! by Elenna Stauffer
It’s the Bandits’ best year EVER! Until… one by one, the cheerleading squad succumbs to a mysterious illness. As the traditional pecking order is upended, the girls’ relationships are tested. With a deceptively comedic first act, Hysterical! addresses serious subject matter, examining the vulnerabilities of teenage girls and the poignancy of life on the cusp of adulthood.
The Commission Continues
AMMI
Workshops and readings of Jacqueline Goldfinger’s new work, Ammi: Reframing America will continue in 2022. Collaboration with noted Ammi Phillips historian and collector Barbara Holdridge, and The American Folk Art Museum, has been fruitful, and we look forward to inviting you to take part in the development of this new play. We are grateful to Daniel E. Offutt III Charitable Trust for their continued support of this work.
Girl in Red Dress with Cat and Dog (Detail). Ammi Phillips 1830-1835Kolton Harris, Kevin Mambo, and Kate Schardt Join Thrown Stone’s Board
Mr. Harris currently serves as Program Associate for the Connecticut Office of the Arts. Formerly the Artistic Director and current chair of the board of Writer’s Block Ink, a social justice youth theatre in New London, CT, Harris is also an accomplished recording artist, producer, and musician.
“I’m elated to join the innovative fabric of Thrown Stone as we embark on the journey of generating an environment conducive to powerful imaginative theatre that can instigate real change in the world.”
Mr. Mambo starred in the Broadway production of the musical Fela!, appeared in numerous productions of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage across the country. He recently appeared on the Netflix series Luke Cage and Hit & Run; and just completed shooting the Barack and Michelle Obama-produced biopic, Rustin, directed by George C. Wolfe.
“The theatre is a well where we as humans come to see our reflection, and to be nourished. It changes our perspectives and is often a living snapshot of our most intimate moments and concerns. A place where we speak the unspeakable. With this, there is an amazing ability to impact those around us.”
Ms. Schardt is a global leader with over 18 years of insights and analytics experience. Currently the Senior Director of Global Insights at PepsiCo, Schardt is focused on raising the bar on creative & brand excellence through digital technology and partnerships. She previously worked on Unilever’s global brands at Nielsen.
“I am excited to be joining at this time — as the prolonged pandemic has tried and tested us all — when driving connections within our community is more vital than ever. Thrown Stone has a critical role to play in bringing our community together and driving engaging and thought-provoking conversations.”
| A | Donations & Grants | $129,700 |
| B | In-Kind Donations | $29,000 |
| C | Ticket Sales, Concessions, Other | $35,800 |
| Total | $194,500 |
| A | Production, Space Rental, Marketing | $47,100 |
| B | Artist and Other Salaries | $76,600 |
| C | Commissions & Licensing | $17,800 |
| D | Development | $3,900 |
| E | General Operating | $3,400 |
| Total | $148,800 |
FROM THE PLAYWRIGHTS
“Working with Thrown Stone was a fantastic experience for me. They reached out, took a risk, and I’m deeply grateful for the connection they made with a fellow artist far away.” — Ross Dunsmore, Milk, 2017
“I wish that all theaters were as exuberant and innovative as Thrown Stone. They understand that both today’s audiences and the future of the American theatre rest on producing a wide-range of new work that exemplifies the breadth, depth, and spirit of the American experience.” — Jacqueline Goldfinger, The Arsonists, 2018
“I am so grateful for my experience with Thrown Stone. The whole performance was a dream. I was thrilled with the level of talent they were able to bring in, from the set design to the actors. They really tried to find ways to make the production benefit the writer, and they saw the script to its fullest vision.” — Karina Cochran, Where All Good Rabbits Go, 2018
“Thrown Stone is an incredibly dedicated group of artists who champion complex, vital new work. I was so honored to have a play in their season, and although I live far from Connecticut, I felt very included in the process and production. Every writer should send them plays!” — Anna Moench, Birds of North America, 2019
“Jason and Jonathan clearly create an environment that demands integrity, and it shows: Thrown Stone has quickly established itself as a true playwright’s theater, where today’s playwrights WANT to be programmed. I am very grateful to Thrown Stone for having me, and I’ll be very eager to work with them again!” — Molly Smith Metzler, Cry It Out, 2019
“Thrown Stone is a brilliantly nimble theatre company that is truly a blessing to work with. I am full of gratitude for the experience I had with the Thrown Stone staff and company and admire the level of craft and attention they gave to ensure a positive experience for the artists and their community.” — Catherine Yu, An Education, 2021
“Working with Thrown Stone was a miracle. By which I mean all the circumstances that led to our show felt against all odds (a pandemic, severe weather, and for me beating my head against a wall trying to solve the ending of my play!). But through all that we came out on the other side with a beautiful production and collaboration. This was one of the loveliest experiences and groups of people I’ve ever had the privilege to work with, hands down.” — Tony Meneses, The Caterers, 2021
“Thrown Stone is one of the most organized and thoughtful theaters I’ve had the privilege of working with. My Suburbs commission was the closest thing I’ve felt to magic. I am so excited to see how Thrown Stone challenges the American Theatre in the next ten years. They are committed to taking meaningful risks.”
— Phanésia Pharel, Should We Dance Instead?, 2021