Written by Richard Greenberg
Directed by Jennifer Cooper
Produced by Tim Brown
Performance dates:
October 19 - November 10, 2018
Run time: 2h 45m
(including intermission)
Levittown, 1967. It’s the first night of an adult-ed creative writing course at the local high school. The teacher, Aaron Port, lives in Greenwich Village and reverse commutes once a week on the Long Island Rail Road’s Babylon line. His students are a bit of a mixed bag: so many potential writers, so many tales to be told. Aaron is, of course, the storyteller-in-chief, and it is his wry and rueful recollections of that season in Levittown that frame the proceedings. As the actors take on multiple roles as characters in each other’s stories, the audience is gifted with an engaging tableau of love, loss, and the yearning for understanding in 1960s suburbia. Mr. Greenberg allows all his characters their moments in the authorial spotlight, with narratives that inevitably become more and more self-revealing, as no one’s story is as simple as it first might seem.
To download the production postcard for The Babylon Line to share with your friends, visit the Downloads page of our website and look under the Production Postcard heading.
About the Playwright
Richard Greenberg is a Tony Award-winning playwright and television writer who has had more than 25 plays performed at Broadway and off-Broadway theaters. He is best known for Take Me Out, the story of a major league baseball star whose casual revelation that he is homosexual stirs controversy in his team’s clubhouse. Following a successful run in London, it swept major New York theater awards in 2003, including the Tony Award for best play. Ten years later, Greenberg’s The Assembled Players was nominated for a Tony and won the Drama Desk Award for best play. Greenberg also was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Three Days of Rain in 1998 and Take Me Out in 2003.
About the Director
Jennifer Cooper is making her Colonial Players mainstage directorial debut, coming out of CP’s 2017 One Act Festival as director of David Ives’ The Universal Language, which went on to win awards for Excellence in Directing, Outstanding Production, and Technical Excellence at the 2018 Maryland Community Theater Festival. Some of her previous directing work includes Agnes of God, Spoon River Anthology, and Tartuffe. Stage credits include Procne (The Song of Procne), Rizzo (Grease), Audrey (Little Shop of Horrors), Rita (Educating Rita), and Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins). My deepest gratitude is extended to The Colonial Players for this humbling opportunity and full support, and to a super-talented, kind, and collaborative creative team. THEY have built this — my role is simply that of compass. All my love and appreciation to Noah, who daily drives me to be better, and David, who buoys me through all of my wading. And to MB, who through all these years remembers, and reminds me who I am; THIS is because of you.
Director's Notes
I have questions. In 2018, I always have questions. Daily, the world around me causes me to wonder, guess, suspect, doubt, dig deeper, and chronically try to figure it all out. Often I wade through oceans of information, struggling to make sense of it all. And so it is with The Babylon Line. On my first read, I cried because of its depth and richness. Its characters led me to introspection and psychological Sherlock-ing. And, it continually leads me to: So. Many. Questions. The play opens with an 87-year-old Aaron Port sharing recollections of the events surrounding an autumn 1967 creative writing class, to which he traveled on the Babylon train line from Greenwich Village to Levittown, New York. What compels a man to recount the happenings of a small — seemingly insignificant — class from almost 50 years prior? What would move you to tell a story from 50 years ago, now? The central themes of this piece are universal, untouched by time: What stories do we choose to tell, and how do we remember them? Where do we find hope? What is the soil that makes us grow? Ever present, how do we connect with one other? Our playwright, Richard Greenberg, makes a very specific choice in the title and setting of this play. Here, our reference is Babylon of Mesopotamia, a place in biblical writing describing how the many and varied peoples there were able to come to understand each other. Greenberg mirrors ancient texts in his description of people of different cultures, opinions, views, and socio-political leanings, meeting up in a dingy Levittown high school, taking an evening writing class, trying to make their own stories meaningfully understood. Meaningfully understood. And, actually, I’ll leave you to the questions — and possibly the answers — you may find here with us, today. Come find me to chat. I’d love to know your questions, too. Because my goal here, with this play, in this life, is that we are ALL meaningfully understood. Only ever love.
– JENNIFER COOPER
The Cast
Ron Giddings (Aaron Port) - Ron was a creative writing teacher in a former life, so getting into this role was like falling off a horse, to some extent. He most recently appeared at CP as Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (WATCH award for Best Featured Actor in a Play) and as Edgar/Bat Boy in Bat Boy: The Musical (WATCH award for Best Actor in a Musical). He has acted in the area with Dundalk Community Theatre, Cockpit in Court, Dignity Players, Moonlight Troupers, 2nd Star Productions, Phoenix Festival Theatre, the Maryland Arts Festival, and Standing O in john & jen (John), The Musical of Musicals (Jitter), Tracers (Scooter), This is Our Youth (Dennis), and the US Premiere of After the Dance (Peter). He will next direct Gypsy at 2nd Star in the spring. A huge thank you to the cast and crew of The Babylon Line for their talents and dedication to telling this important story. “Thanks to my parents, family, and friends for being more supportive than I could ever express.”
Jack Leitess (Marc Adams) - Jack is a senior at Broadneck High School and has performed in a variety of shows both in and out of school. He is excited to perform in his second Colonial Players production after appearing as Billy Claven in 2016’s The Cripple of Inishmaan, and would like to thank the awesome cast and crew for working so hard to put together a great show. He would also like to thank his family and friends for supporting him. Enjoy the show!
Mary MacLeod (Anna Cantor) - Mary is excited to be part of the cast of The Babylon Line. She has appeared in many theater productions in the Washington/ Annapolis area over the years. Some of her favorite roles include the aging British rocker in VVVC Production’s Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll; Sister Aloysius in Dignity Players’ production of Doubt; and, at The Colonial Players, Terry Glimmer in Side Man (DCMetroTheaterArts 2015 List of Best Performances in Community Theater - Actress in a Play); Lady Boyle in Superior Donuts (WATCH Award Nominee - Cameo); Lettice Douffet in Lettice and Lovage; Nancy Shirley in Frozen (WATCH Award Nominee - Lead Actress); and Marjorie Taub in The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife. As always, she thanks her husband, Alan, and her daughter, Carter, for all their patience and support.
Lindsey Miller (Midge Braverman) - Lindsey is happy to return to The Colonial Players stage, where she was last seen as Mrs. Cratchit in CP’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol. Other recent credits include Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees, Ms. Rue Who, Herself (Bless the Lord) in Godspell, Mrs. Medlock in The Secret Garden, and Sister James in Doubt. Lindsey holds a B.A. in Theater and Vocal Performance and an M.S. in Early Childhood Education. “Thank you to the staff of Babylon for all their hard work and to Mom and my family for all the love and support. Rich, a big thank you for all the help. To Joe, I Don’t Not, Always, SPF. And hugs and kisses to my shining stars Ewan and Finnegan.”
Robin Schwartz (Joan Dellamond) - Robin is thrilled to be a part of this incredible ensemble. A graduate of Goucher College with a degree in Theatre and Communications, she spent several years teaching theater classes, directing, and managing local theater productions. After taking time to focus exclusively on her all time favorite project (being mom to two boys), she is back on stage! Earlier this year, she was honored to win Outstanding Performance from the Maryland Community Theatre Festival representing Colonial Players in Universal Language. “Special thanks to my husband for supporting me tirelessly and unconditionally, to family and friends for their loving encouragement and so much gratitude, and love to Jen and the whole Colonial Players team for the opportunity to create theater with some truly amazing people.”
Jeff Sprague (Jack Hassenpflug) - Jeff’s last appearance at The Colonial Players was in 2017’s The City of Conversation. Prior to that, he had roles in The Liar; Coyote on a Fence; 1776; Sunlight; Chapter Two; I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; Over My Dead Body; Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Kiss Me, Kate; Kindertransport; and Jekyll and Hyde. Other credits include: Blue/Orange, The Crucible, and Sight Unseen at Dignity Players of Annapolis; Thoroughly Modern Millie, Hairspray, and Anything Goes at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre; and Little Shop of Horrors at 2nd Star Productions. Directorial credits include Terrence McNally’s Botticelli and Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men at The Colonial Players. Jeff is a trial attorney in DC by day; he sends his love to Kathleen and Ollie.
Alicia Sweeney (Frieda Cohen) - Alicia was last seen at The Colonial Players this summer as Shelley in Job Loss Figures, winner of CP’s Promising Playwright contest. She also appeared in last season’s musical Nine, which earned for her a nomination for Best Lead Actress in a musical by the Washington Area Theatre Community Honors. Favorite roles include Morticia (The Addams Family), The McShane Sextuplets (Wonder of the World), and Diana Morales (A Chorus Line). Alicia will be directing the musical A New Brain as part of The Colonial Players’ 70th season next spring. Thank you to CP, Jennifer Cooper, the cast and crew of The Babylon Line, and you, the audience, for supporting live theater.
The Production Staff
Lois Banscher (Properties Designer) Lois has been involved in some 20 shows with The Colonial Players since 2009. In addition to handling props, she has assisted with ushers, set decoration, painting, costumes, coordinating talk backs after plays, and helping with special CP celebrations. As properties designer, Lois has received two WATCH nominations and the WATCH award for Virginia Woolf in 2016. Lois, along with prop bud Connie Robinson, recently teamed up for Shiloh Rules. Lois welcomes this opportunity to work on The Babylon Line with a production team that “thinks out of the box.” Many thank yous to all the behind-the-scenes folks, family members, and friends who help make these shows happen!
Nick Beschen (Set Designer) This is Nick’s first venture into the set design world. This new experience has been fun and an opportunity to learn yet another piece of the wonderful puzzle that makes theater happen. Nick would like to thank Jennifer, the director, for taking a chance on him and Edd Miller, play consultant and set designer extraordinaire, for his patience and guidance. Enjoy the show!
Tim Brown (Producer) Since retiring and becoming an active volunteer, Tim has produced a number of shows, including Lucky Stiff; Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; and It's a Wonderful Life; and was assistant producer for Boeing Boeing. Other roles have included lighting assistant and programmer for Nine and Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll. He was stage manager for CP's most recent production of A Christmas Carol. He sends thanks to all the wonderful people at this, his favorite theater, who have been so welcoming and fun to work with.
David Cooper (Sound Designer) After a 20 year hiatus, David has been re-engaging in the theater community and is excited to be involved with The Colonial Players. He has provided behind-the-scenes support on Sex With Strangers and the regional short play festival and has performed during the summer pub reading series. For The Babylon Line, he has taken a technical role, exploring the auditory world that permeated the lives of these characters in the mid-sixties and throughout their lives. “He stepped on his dreams so many times he wore out the path he needed to take to find the life he thought would just happen to him like the changing of the seasons.” - Craig Elkins
Andy McLendon (Stage Manager) The Babylon Line is the latest of many productions that Andy has stage managed since she first became involved with CP in the 1970s. She was last seen in her SM shirt with the production of Job Loss Figures. Other memorable productions with The Colonial Players include Casa Valentina, Calendar Girls, The Secret Garden, Mornings at Seven, Closer Than Ever, The Robber Bridegroom, Prelude to a Kiss, They're Playing Our Song, Enter the Guardsman, Cabaret, and Blood Brothers. Andy has volunteered for a number of jobs at CP, including conducting stage manager workshops. Again, it is exciting and rewarding to be working with such a talented and creative cast and production staff.
John Purnell (Lighting Designer) The Babylon Line is John’s second lighting design since returning to The Colonial Players, including last season’s Quartet, which won first runner-up for a non-musical at the Ruby Griffith awards. In days long gone by, John won CP lighting awards for Driving Miss Daisy and The Road to Mecca. He has also lit Isn’t it Romantic; Rebel Armies Deep Into Chad; and Red, Hot, and Cole at CP. Other lighting designs include Altar Boyz, Light Up the Stars and the 50th Anniversary Gala at ASGT, and The Dining Room, The Miracle Worker, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Deathtrap, Hexagon, The DC Bar Revue, and The Mikado at other area theaters. In his on-stage persona, John has just finished performing Officer Welch in Rumors here at CP. He recently played Warner Purcell in Bullets Over Broadway, Colonel Mustard in Clue – The Musical, and John in If Men Played Cards As Women Do. John’s wife, Claire, is very supportive of all this theater stuff and he is very grateful for her patience.
Courtney Spikes (Assistant Director) For her first production role at The Colonial Players, Courtney is thrilled to be learning the ropes from Babylon’s talented director, Jennifer Cooper. Courtney grew up in Annapolis and enjoyed performing and working backstage with CP, Severn School, and CTA. One of her favorite childhood memories at CP involved making the messy charcoal marks on the Charwoman’s skirt for so many (many) years ago! Courtney would like to thank the entire Babylon production team for welcoming her to the community, as well as her husband and son who have been so supportive.
Beth Starnes (Costume Designer) Beth has assisted in countless theater productions and enjoys working behind the scenes. Her most recent CP credit was as co-hair/make-up designer for Nine (watch nominated). One of her favorite credits is animal costume designer for 2nd Star’s Children of Eden, which won the 2014 WATCH Award for Best Costume Design in a Musical. In real life, Beth is the librarian for Southern High School, where she is passionate about digital citizenship and teen literacy. Most importantly, she is mother to three wonderful young adults: Stephanie, Austin, and Daniel (her actor who started all this). Beth would like to extend special thanks to The Babylon Line cast, Lois and Jennifer, and always her husband, Jeff, for his unwavering support of her theater endeavors.
