2024-25 Season

Much Ado About Nothing

Posted on April 24, 2025August 8, 2025 by Annie

by William Shakespeare
Directed by Vince Tycer

Apr 24-May 4, 2025
Nafe Katter Theatre

Shakespeare returns to the CRT stage with the sassy rom-com Much Ado About Nothing. Don Pedro, Claudio, and Benedick have arrived in Messina after a decisive victory on the battlefield. Claudio falls for their host’s daughter, Hero, while Benedict falls into a battle of wits with Hero’s cousin, Beatrice. Beatrice and Benedict want nothing of love, but their friends have another idea. Replete with hijinks, intrigue, mistaken identity, and a conniving ne’er-do-well, this delightful comedy is the most fun you can have onstage without swords.

Vince Tycer

Director

Vince Tycer is an Assistant Professor in Residence within the UConn Drama Department for the Performance/Acting Area. He previously served as the Director of Two Year Studies at Drama Studio London and as a Visiting Lecturer at Westfield State University. He has earned an MFA in Directing from UC-Irvine, MBA from Cal State – Dominguez Hills, a BA in Dramatic Writing from Cal State – Los Angeles and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Acting from Drama Studio London.

He has worked in the UK, Europe and in the US. As a director he staged the first full production of Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus at the Rose Theatre Bankside since the time of Marlowe and Shakespeare. He has directed a number of Shakespeare’s plays including Titus Andronicus at the Camden Fringe Festival in London. Vince has performed internationally at London’s Leicester Square Theatre, Bournemouth Pavilion, Romanian National Theatre Festival and the Wroclaw Puppet Theatre in Poland. In the US, he has worked in theatre and film. Recent acting roles include Berowne in Love’s Labour’s Lost for Saratoga Shakespeare Company and David Burke in the feature film Chappaquiddick.

Noah Ilya Alexis Tuleja

Equity Guest Artist

Actors’ Equity Association member Noah Ilya Alexis Tuleja is a professional actor, director, and fight choreographer who has worked with the Bread and Puppet Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, CBS Television, Long Wharf Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, Actor’s Shakespeare Project, and the Montana Repertory Theatre. Selected Regional Credits: Malvolio in Twelfth Night (Saratoga Shakespeare Company); Gray in The Broken Machine and Nicodemus/Lady Enid in The Mystery of Irma Vep (Silverthorne Theater); Claudius in Hamlet (ArtFarm); Clown #1 in The 39 Steps (New Century Theatre); Hamel in Out of Sterno (Gloucester Stage Company); Sicinius in Coriolanus (Actors Shakespeare Project); He is Chair of the Department of Film Media Theater at Mount Holyoke College and the Founding Director of The Players Project in residence at the UMass Amherst, Arthur F. Kinney Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies.

Design & Production Team:

Scenic Designer:  Christina Garner
Lighting Designer:  Cody Tellis Rutledge
Costume Designer:  Frederick Windross
Sound Designer:  Jake Neighbors
Properties Manager: Aly Schwartz
Original Music Composition and Rearrangements: Travis Lavigne

Production Stage Manager: Alison Savino
Stage Managers: Aurora Courcy and Caelyn Dorsey
Assistant Stage Manager: Anna Tenner

A collage of design inspiration for Connecticut Rep's production. In white text "Much Ado about Nothing Design Inspiration" above the portraits of the design team.

The Cast:

Hero: Sandy Borrero Hernandez
Beatrice: Kat Corrigan
Margaret: Mariangelie Vélez
Ursula: Grace Darling
Leonato: Noah Ilya Alexis Tuleja , Equity Guest Artist
Don Pedro: Bryan Anderson
Count Claudio: Evan Wolfgang
Benedick: Will Naraghi
Don John: Ben Lewin
Borachio: Christopher Cazarin
Conrade: Danny Kelly
Balthasar: Dayo Garritano
Antonio: Siommara Guadalupe-Hill
Dogberry: Katherine Berryhill
Verges: Tyler Ely
Sexton: Donte Warren
Friar Francis, 2nd Watch: Julia Smith
Messenger: Lia Crosby
First Watch: Jiahui Guo
Seacoal: Evelyn Whitley

Show Photography:

©Mattais Lundblad

Collection of images from the CRT production of Much Ado About Nothing. The vibrancy of the scenic and lighting elements, and the costuming are highlighted.

Promo of the CRT Production:

CRT holds production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing
– Pierce Colfer, The Daily Campus

Pocatello

Posted on March 27, 2025August 8, 2025 by Annie

By Samuel D. Hunter
Directed by Paul Mullins
Mar 27-Apr 6
Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre

Eddie manages an Italian chain restaurant in a city being paved over with strip malls and franchises. As pressures mount, he strives to keep his hometown feeling like home, one soup and salad special at a time. A heartbreaking comedy about love and connection in a shifting world.

“[Pocatello is] about family and the longing for a human connection in a town that is both specific and also serves as a stand-in for modern America.” -Samuel D. Hunter, Playwright

Paul Mullins

director

Paul Mullins is a theatre director based in New York City. He is an associate artist at both Santa Cruz Shakespeare and The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey where he has acted and directed for thirty years. For SCS he has directed King Lear, Twelfth Night,The Agitators, Pride and Prejudice, Love’s Labor’s Lost, The 39 Steps, Hamlet and Henry V. He has also directed plays for The Old Globe, Chautauqua Theater Company, Jewel Theatre Company, The Studio Theatre in Washington, DC., Dorset Theatre Festival, Portland Stage Company, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, American Stage, The Yale School of Drama, NYU Grad Acting and The Juilliard School.

Design & Production Team:

Scenic Designer: Zach Farmer
Costume Designer: Emma Sowards
Lighting Designer: Cody Tellis Rutledge
Sound Designer: Abigail Golec
Props Manager: Miranda Fyfe
Dramaturg: Nora Hodzic

Production Stage Manager: Alison Savino
Stage Manager: Sam Hosler
Asst. Stage Manager: Max Moore

A collage of design inspiration for Connecticut Rep's production of Pocatello (Spring 2025) interior photos of typical Italian restaurant chains, small towns, waiters, line cooks, and food. Portraits of the design team under the text "Pocatello Design Inspiration."

The Cast:

Eddie: Chris Martin
Doris: Carol Halstead, Equity Guest Artist
Cole: Dale Rose, Equity Guest Artist
Max: Djanne Martinez
Isabelle: Eliza Anderson
Troy: Daniel Pawlyk
Tammy: Halli Gibson
Nick: Zach Russell
Kelly: Akur Oryem
Becky: Aly Liew

Show Photography:

©Mattais Lundblad

A collage of production photos from Connecticut Rep's production of Pocatello (Spring 2025.)A young woman with her feet on the chair reads a book; the staff sing Happy Birthday to an unimpressed elderly patron; two women struggle to order; a waiter helps a gentleman off the floor after a fall; a waitress sits to eat a leftover salad; two brothers have a heated moment.

Reviews:

“This is one of life’s hard lessons especially when you believe you can change the results by throwing in the cards life deals you, get a new hand, and change the outcome. that reads like a folk tale.” – Bonny Goldberg, The Connecticut Critics Circle

“Some truly unexpected moments of pent-up rage, expressions of affection and other emotional moments that are beautifully written.” – Christopher Arnott, Hartford Currant

The Old Man and The Old Moon

Posted on November 16, 2024August 20, 2025 by Annie

A banner of a night sky with darker shades of blue and purple filled with stars. A gold crescent moon and three gold stars attached to strings above the image of a ship in blue water ocean waves. "THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON" and "Book, Music, & Lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co" in white text.

Book, Music, & Lyrics by PigPen Theater Co
Directed by Matt Sorensen
Music Direction by Dmitriy Glivinskiy

Nov 16-23, 2024
Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre

“This is a story of time and tides and quests, the sort of fable on which mythologies and religions are founded … [PigPen] asks us to appreciate the finer arts of wild storytelling, while speaking to the childish mind in all of us.” ~ The New York Times

Matt Sorensen

director

Matt Sorensen is a puppeteer, theater artist, educator, filmmaker, and museum exhibition curator and designer based in Connecticut and New York. He is a Visiting Professor in Dramatic Arts with the Puppet Arts Program at the University of Connecticut. His company, Puppet Bucket Productions, has designed and built puppets for theater and film around the world.

Matt creates theatre that blends puppetry and live actors, using visual diversity to encourage an active mind and an open heart. Matt is an advocate of compassion, and presents the human condition with an eye fixed on human rights. Matt’s objective is to provide spectacle to delight all ages, while guiding audiences through difficult topics with a whimsical, gentle heroism.

“Puppetry touches our hearts in a unique way, transcending the barriers that exist within live human storytelling. My work uses puppets to explore the idea of “otherness” within society and intends to erode the pillars of prejudice and hate.”

Design & Production Team:

Scenic Designer: Miranda Fyfe
Costume Designer: Jordan Au
Lighting Designer: Hannah Corbett
Sound Designer and Engineer: Jake Neighbors
Puppet Design: Mel Carter, Harley Walker
Technical Director: Hannah Trobaugh

Production Stage Manager: Alison Savino
Stage Manager: Aurora Courcy
Assistant Stage Managers: Ashlyn Liedke, Remi August, K-Lee Brousseau

A collage of smiling headshots on a black background of the creative team of Connecticut Rep's production of The Old Man and The Old Moon (Fall 2024). "THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON" and "CREATIVE TEAM" in white text.

The Cast:

The Old Man – Sadie Aiken
The Old Woman/The Young Woman – Ian Rothauser
Matheson – Mark Sadowski
Llewellyn – Siommara Guadalupe-Hill
Mabelu – Jerry Harney
Callahan – Gianna Nichols
Cookie – Brandon Collado
Captain – Mel Carter
Perry, Butcher – Alyson Liew
Clerk – Donte Warren
Mickey – Allison Free
Solomon, Rebel One – Vincenzo Faruolo
Bartley, Rebel Two – Sol Ramirez
Bartender, Fish Monger – Ella Niewood
Fine Lady – Aidan McNamara
Boatswain One – Amy Liou
Boatswain Two – Lily Rose Mindenhall
Ben – Garrett LaBranche
Ghost Singer – Harley Walker

Understudies: Christoher Cazarin, Grace Darling, Tyler Ely, Djanne Martinez, Will Naraghi

A collage of design inspiration for Connecticut Rep's production of The Old Man and The Old Moon (Fall 2024), including hanging lanters, hot air balloons, ships, water, and 20th century sailor uniforms. "THE OLD MAN AND THE OLD MOON" and "INSPIRATION" in white text.

Show Photography:

A collage of production photos from Connecticut Rep's production of The Old Man and The Old Moon (Fall 2024). An actor wrangles a dog puppet; two actors stand shadowed in a ring of light; an actor stands holding a hat to their chest; two actors in sailor and pirate costumes embrace; two actors smile in a shopping cart; two other actors hold puppets and smile at one another.

Review:

“… an adventurous comedy that reads like a folk tale.”
– Bonnibel Lilith Rampertab, The Daily Campus

The Moors

Posted on October 10, 2024August 7, 2025 by Annie

By Jen Silverman
Directed by Kristen Palmer

Oct 10-20, 2024
Nafe Katter Theatre

Two sisters and a dog live out their lives on the bleak English moors, dreaming of love and power. The arrival of a hapless governess and a moor-hen set all three on a strange and dangerous path. The Moors is a dark comedy about love, desperation, and visibility.

Kristen Palmer

director

Kristen Palmer is a playwright and director and has taught theater and writing for over 25 years. Her plays have been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, and elsewhere and are published by Broadway Play Publishing, Original Works, and Stage Partners. She is an alumna of the Women’s Project Lab, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and has been a William Inge Playwright in Residence, a Dakin Fellow at the Sewanee Playwright’s Conference, a Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and a Dramatist Guild Fellow. She is a New Georges associate artist and spent her 20s making theater as a company member of Printer’s Devil Theatre in Seattle. Directing highlights include Creature by Heidi Schreck, She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen, and This Random World by Stephen Dietz. She holds an MA from NYU and an MFA from Hunter College where she studied with Tina Howe and won both the Zarkower and Goldberg Prizes. She has created theater and directed projects with youth in schools, prisons and community programs around the country and served as Artistic Director of Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater, Middletown, CT from 2013-2018. She is currently Head of Theater at the Greater Hartford Academy of Arts Half-Day Program.

Design & Production Team:

Scene Designer: Zach Farmer
Costume Designer: Adriana Gonzalez-Hernandez
Sound Designer: Dennis Dowding
Lighting Designer: Noah Ciccimarro
Props Manager: Gino Costabile
Music Coordinator: Travis Lavigne

Production Stage Manager: Alison Savino
Stage Manager: Caelyn Dorsey
Assistant Stage Managers: Emily Hopkins, Janai Negroni

A collage of inspiration imagery on a black background from design presentations for Connecticut Rep's production of The Moors (Fall 2024) featuring Scenic Design by Zach Farmer, Lighting Design by Noah Ciccimarro, Costume Design by Adri Gonzalez Hernandez, and Sound Design by Denis Dowding. Pictures pull from the 19th century with Victorian Gothic influences and capture the cold, unforgiving life on the English Moors. "THE MOORS DESIGN INSPIRATION" in white text. A QR Code is located at the bottom of the collage next to the sound design section.

The Cast:

Agatha – Kat Corrigan
Huldey – Lily O’Neil
Emilie – Morgan Hrymack
Marjory – Katherine Berryhill
Moor-Hen – Cipa Frost
Mastiff – Evan Wolfgang

Understudies – Eliza Anderson, Lia Crosby. Daniel Pawlyk Julia Smith, Evelyn Whitley

Show Photography:

A collage of production photos from Connecticut Rep's production of The Moors (Fall 2024) featuring the cast and designs from the creative team. Huldey the maid pours tea for the guests; Huldey straddles Agatha in a murderous scene; Agatha in a slick bun and red gothic attire looks out; Emilie the governess sits reading; the characters sit in the parlor; the backdrop illuminates in a golden orange haze revealing the shadow of a deer looking upwards; The Mastiff and A Moor-hen sit together.

Reviews of the CRT Production:

“One minute you will be laughing and on the edge of your seat, and then the next, stunned and on the verge of tears.”
– Benjamin Lassy, for The Daily Campus

“Get ready for one howling good night of live theater”
– Howard Steven Frydman, for The Howard