Welcome to The Arboretum Experience! We are thrilled to launch our fall programming with this outdoor experience that has been created through an extraordinary collaboration among artists from Greater Boston and across the country.
This project builds on past collaborations between the A.R.T. and the Arnold Arboretum that most recently included Diana Oh’s Tree Planting Ceremony. As we resume in-person experiences this year, I can think of no more inspiring setting than the magnificent 281 acres of the Arboretum to connect with each other and the natural world. I would like to thank Arnold Arboretum Director Ned Friedman and the Arboretum staff for their partnership on this project, and for so enthusiastically inviting this group of artists to create work that allows us to experience trees, meadows, gardens, streams, and ourselves in new ways.
Centering resilience, healing, wellness, and joy, this project amplifies the A.R.T.’s commitment to public health and the Arboretum’s invitation to access urban greenspace as a fundamental human right. Thank you for joining us for this special outdoor experience, and we look forward to seeing you back in the theater later this fall!
Diane Paulus, A.R.T. Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director
American Repertory Theater
Presents
in collaboration with The Arnold Arboretum
THE ARBORETUM EXPERIENCE
Production Sponsors
The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund
Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation
This production is supported, in part, by The Robert Brustein Endowment Fund for New Works
Development Support
Harvard University Committee on the Arts
Opening day at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University on August 21, 2021.
American Repertory Theater 2021/22 Programming support is provided by Harvard University, The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund, The Shubert Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Bank of America, Barton & Guestier, Meyer Sound, and JetBlue.
A.R.T. 2021/22 Programming is supported in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, which receives support from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
A.R.T. 2021/22 Programming is dedicated to the memory of Karen Mueller in recognition of her many contributions to the theater.
Cast
Ensemble
Maria Hendricks
Ensemble
Maria Hendricks
(she/her) A.R.T.: Debut. Most recently honoring her Mashpee Wampanoag Family, originating the role of Sipu in Listen to Sipu, New Repertory Theatre. Off-Broadway: Six Nights in the Black Belt (Ruby Sales), Negro Ensemble Co.; Six Nights… (Church Soloist), Theatre at St. Clements. Regional: Nunsense (Sister Hubert), The Palace Theatre; Dead Man’s Cell Phone(Carlota), Saco River Theatre; Caroline, or Change (Radio 1), Moonbox Productions/BCA; Between Riverside and Crazy (Church Lady), Virginia Repertory Theatre; The Clean House (Matilde) Threshold Stage Company; La Llorona, Fresh Ink Theatre. Upcoming: I Am This Place, Plays in Place/
Ensemble
Jaime José Hernández
Ensemble
Jaime José Hernández
(he/him) A.R.T.: The Arboretum Experience. Theater: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Much Ado About Nothing, Hub Theatre Company of Boston; Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Chelsea People, Apollinaire Theatre Company; Vicuña, Zeitgeist Stage Company; SLAM BOSTON, Open Theatre Project.
Ensemble
Becca A. Lewis
Ensemble
Becca A. Lewis
(she/her) A.R.T.: The Arboretum Experience. A.R.T./
Ensemble
Greg Maraio
Ensemble
Greg Maraio
(he/him) A.R.T.: The Arboretum Experience. Regional: Finish Line, Citi Performing Arts; Significant Other (IRNE nomination), Casa Valentina (IRNE and Elliot Norton nominations), Necessary Monsters, SpeakEasy Stage; The Book Club Play, Brawler (IRNE nomination), Faithless, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre; Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Nora Theatre Company; Wolf Play, Colossal, Splendor, The Good Negro, Mr. Marmalade, The Gibson Girl, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Company One Theatre; Education: BFA, Lesley University.
Ensemble
Micah Rosegrant
Ensemble
Micah Rosegrant
Micah (they/them) is a twink poet who carves queer divinity through breath, word, and movement. They are cousin and learner with all life, glitching their myriad selves to shape change as a spirit guided by relation, a Co-Director at Arts Connect International, and an online avatar @micah_pdf. Previous A.R.T. collaborations include: Creating Equal (Steering Committee); Making Democracy Work with the Harvard Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (Co-Creative Ensemble); Dragon Cycle (Assistant Director); and Clairvoyance (Love Nurse). Photo: Meghan Cronin.
Ensemble
Sarah Shin
Ensemble
Sarah Shin
(she/her) A.R.T.: The Arboretum Experience (Actor), Clairvoyance (Love Nurse), Moby-Dick (Choreography Assistant). Regional: The Three Musketeers, Greater Boston Stage Co.; Othello, The National Women’s Theatre Festival; Camp Strangewood, Sparkhaven Theatre; Writer’s Retreat, Primetime Theatre. Collegiate: Runaways, Beowulf: A Thousand Years of Baggage, Something Else: A Love Cycle, Our Town (Emily Webb), Boston University. Education/Training: BFA in Theatre Arts, Boston University.
Ensemble
Shanelle Chloe Villegas
Ensemble
Shanelle Chloe Villegas
(she/her) A.R.T.: The Arboretum Experience. Regional: Othello (Montano), Actors’ Shakespeare Project; Autumn (Melissa Longley), Shakespeare & Company; Last Catastrophist (Lucia), Fresh Ink Theatre; School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Nana; 2020 Elliot Norton Nominee for Best Ensemble), Speakeasy Stage Company; Macbeth (Fleance/Angus), Actors’ Shakespeare Project; Educational: Classic Repertory Company, New Repertory Theatre. Education: BFA in Contemporary Theater, Boston Conservatory at Berklee.
The Audio Plays
Audio plays Recording Engineer: Erich Haygun
Audio plays Mastering Engineer: Will Dailey
Ramona the Fearless Goes for a Ride, a fairytale
Written by Eliana Pipes, Kirsten Greenidge, and Mwalim*7)
Composer and Sound Designer: Will Dailey
Ramona: Shanelle Villegas
Driver Mel: Sarah Shin
Nana Helen: Maria Hendricks
Xavier: Jaime José Hernández
Amaryllis: Becca Lewis
Pearl: Micah Rosegrant
Flroot: Greg Maraio
Your Fingers Will Reach So Your Voice Can Sing, a proverb
Written by MJ Kaufman, Eliana Pipes, and Kirsten Greenidge
Sound Designer: Erich Haygun
Composer: Eric Seligman
Ellis: Micah Rosegrant
Julie: Sarah Shin
Rick/
Liam/
Photographer/
Robbie: Maria Hendricks
After and Still, a ghost story
Written by Sam Marks, Melinda Lopez, and MJ Kaufman
Composer & Sound Designer: Cliff Notez
Grayson: Jaime José Hernández
J: Micah Rosegrant
Sara: Becca Lewis
Emcee/
Cassie/
Reverend/
Manny/
In Bloom, a myth
Written by Mwalim *7), Sam Marks, and Melinda Lopez
Sound Design: Erich Haygun
Composer: Eric Seligman
Major: Shanelle Villegas
Percy/
Robbie/
Binnie/
Oscar/
Izzy/
W.T./
The Movement Meditations
Movement Meditation Composer and Sound Designer: Tim Hall
Mastering Engineer: Cliff Notez
Created and narrated by Peter Chu:
Living, Breathing, Being
Breathing
Qi Gong Shaking
Hug a Tree
Created and narrated by Jerron Herman:
The Conference of the Trees
Cockspur Hawthorn
Bald Cypress
Gingko
Created and narrated by Jill Johnson:
Family of Trees
Draw Joy to Sorrow
Joy Dance Party (music by David Poe)
Created and narrated by Nailah Randall-Bellinger:
Meditating on the Katsura Tree
Togetherness
The Creek by the Dawn Redwood Trees
Created and narrated by Lonnie Anela O’kalani Neff Stanton:
Amongst the Pines
Carry On
Pups & Pollinators
Additional Staff
A.R.T. Summer Internship Program
Shirley Chen, Harvard College ’22, Dramaturgy
Karina Cowperthwaite, Harvard College ’23, Dramaturgy
Emi Park Cummings, Harvard College ’24, Dramaturgy
Rosalind Delaura, Harvard College ’22, Dramaturgy
Odessa Deng, Harvard College ’23, Marketing
Madison Fabber, Harvard College ’22, Dramaturgy
Michelle Liu, Harvard College ’24, Dramaturgy
Bryce Reynolds, Harvard College ’24, Dramaturgy
Connor Riordan, Harvard College ’23, Producing
Arsh Sekhon, Harvard College ’23, Producing
Eileen Tucci, Harvard College ’24, Marketing
Katarzyna Zarzycka, Harvard College ’22, Dramaturgy
These internships are made possible through support from the Harvard University Office of Career Services.
Special Thanks
Ned Friedman, Amy Heuer, Sheryl White, Michael Dosmann, and the staff of the Arnold Arboretum
Leslie and her team at The Record Co.
