Director:  Janet Werther

Dramaturg:  Teya Juarez

Stage Manager:  Elisabetta Antonacci                         

Lighting Designer:  Phoenix Hall

Sound Designer:  Kalen Stockton

Costume Designer:  Maili Novak  

Props Designer:  Hailey Adams

Intimacy Director:  Lindsay Brandon Hunter

Intimacy Choreographer:  Lana Sugarman

Sadie Everhart……………………………..……………………..Susan Curtis

Haleena Haddad…..…........................................…....Buzz Benikee, Mr. Ron Kembunkscher, US Dawn/Susan   

Julia Pitarresi……………………………..…………….....……..Patty Johnson

Alexis Qiao……………………………………..……………...…..Dawn Midnight

Anieris Rivera-Colon………………………………...……..Peaches Martin

Larisa Rivera-Vasquez..........................................Ashley Elizabeth Fratangelo

Emilia Vischi…………………………………………….........…Hank/Cooney Girl/US Patty/Ashley/Peaches/Dance Captain                               

The Secretaries was originally devised by The Five Lesbian Brothers and performed at the WOW Café Theatre—New York City’s most iconic and longest running queer feminist performance space—in 1993, before transferring to Off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop the following year. The historic ways of working pioneered by the Brothers and their compatriots at WOW are often unfamiliar to undergraduate students, whose previous performance work and training is typically centered on more traditional forms of performance from Shakespeare to musical theatre. Within the enabling frame of the Theatre Studio Ensemble format, and in collaboration with its creativity-enhancing constraints, I have endeavored to provide students with an experience that aligns with the feminist ethos of collaboration and the queer aesthetics of camp and “trash as treasure” from which The Secretaries was borne. Like the wombat, an animal that protects its home burrow by twerking predators to death with its large, bony behind, in experimental queer feminist performance we take what we have, and we make the most of it!

For more information about the historical and ideological contexts of The Secretaries, I hope you will check out the zine created by our Dramaturg, Teya Juarez. We have print copies available, and Teya’s lobby display includes a QR code that you can scan for a digital copy of the dramaturgy zine, as well!

Narratively, as you will see, this play concerns itself with the often-toxic machinations of power and hierarchy that are a staple of misogynistic, patriarchal cultures, including and especially the ways that women’s bodies and sexualities are used and abused in the service of power and control. Yet by populating The Secretaries with bodies that are not cis-male, and by limiting the appearance of male characters—even in drag—to two-dimensional stereotypes while the women of the office run wild, manipulating, coercing, and blackmailing one another as much as they support and even flirt with one another…The Secretaries demonstrates that no one is immune to causing harm, even as we each still risk of experiencing harms. I hope you will leave this show asking yourself the ways that you sometimes participate in toxic and hierarchical groupthink, and considering the ways that you can treat those around you more humanely, even when they don’t “fit in.” Theatre enables us to get up close and personal with people and characters who are like us in ways that we rarely see represented, or who are wholly unlike us, all at the same time and in the same room. To that end, a play like The Secretaries can show us that no one way of being in the world is necessarily “better” or “worse” than any other…as they say in the Big Bone Organization for Women: “it’s all in the execution!”

~ Janet Werther, Director

JANET WERTHER (they/them) is a theatre & performance artist, scholar, and educator with a primary focus on queer, feminist, and queer feminist performance histories and practices. Janet is a graduate of the UB Dance Department. They also hold an MFA in dance & choreography from Sarah Lawrence College and recently defended their PhD dissertation at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Janet has performed extensively with The Ballez Company and beyond in NYC’s experimental queer performance milieu. They are delighted to be back at UB as an Assistant Teaching Professor of Theatre. Janet is in deep awe of this cast and crew, and is deeply grateful to them all for their time, energy, and creativity!  Thanks, as well, to the entire UB Theatre & Dance Department for all of their hard work and support! Janet couldn’t do any of this without their partner, whose unflagging support makes their work as an artist/scholar possible. Thank you, Jen! Next time they’re in the director’s chair, Janet hopes to work on a show that will be age appropriate for their nearly five-year-old twins.

SADIE EVERHART (Susan Curtis) is delighted to be making her debut in UB’s curricular production season. Favorite credits include Chamber Music at UB, Brighton Beach Memoirs with Rocking Horse Productions and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Aurora Players. She is a Theatre and Communication double major with a minor in Psychology. Sadie would like to thank her family for all their love and support! More at sadieverhart.com

HALEENA HADDAD (Buzz Benikee, Mr. Ron Kembunkscher, US Dawn/Susan) (she/her) is a senior in the Law BA program, graduating Summa Cum Laude, taking up a minor degree in Theatre. Having been involved in theatre since secondary school, this marks her first production with the University at Buffalo. Haleena wants to thank her parents, her mother especially, and her family, friends, and director for their unwavering support! Enjoy the show!

JULIA PITARRESI (Patty Johnson) is a Buffalo-based actress graduating this May with a BFA summa cum laude in Music Theatre. If you ask for a blood-curdling scream or an operatic high note, she will do them both. Julia is known for her physical comedy and character acting (with a special focus in improv), though she excels in dramatic roles as well. Notable roles include: Maria/Itchy (Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play); Leanne (Puffs); Rapunzel (Into the Woods); Ursula (The Little Mermaid). Most recently, she was featured in Ujima Company’s production of Goodnight Tyler as Chelsea Notley. You can see more of Julia in Ujima Company’s production of Godspell this fall.

ALEXIS QIAO (Dawn Midnight) is a Sophomore Theatre Performance BFA at UB. This is the fourth production she has participated in at UB. Recently, Alexis was in Three Sisters as Ferapont, and in Chamber Music as the Woman Who Plays Records. This is a quite different working experience than she has had before, but Alexis is definitely having fun! She would like to thank her director, designers and castmates for making this happen. Enjoy the show!

ANIERIS RIVERA-COLON (Peaches Martin) (they/them) is a Puerto Rican sophomore majoring in Theatre here at UB. This is their very first production here, and they are excited to be a part of the performance world.

LARISA RIVERA-VASQUEZ (Ashley Elizabeth Fratangelo) is a current senior, double majoring in Theatre and Political Science. She is thrilled to be in The Secretaries for her final semester at UB, alongside so many talented people. She's so grateful to be part of this amazing cast and crew. Throughout her time at UB she has had the pleasure of being in several Departmental Productions, such as Mr. Burns, PUFFS, C'est La Vie, Dancers’ Workshop, MFA Dance Thesis Concert, MFA Dance Showcase and other independent film projects. She would like to thank Janet and her fellow cast members for this amazing experience, as this is one of her last shows at UB!!

EMILIA VISCHI (Hank/Cooney Girl, US Patty/Ashely/Peaches, Dance Captain) is a junior BFA Theatre Performance major, having transferred to UB last fall. She is very excited for audiences to see this show and she had a lot of fun working on it this semester. This is Emilia's second show here at UB. Previously, she performed in Chamber Music earlier this semester, and will be performing in Dancers’ Workshop next month. This is Emilia's first time as an understudy, and she is grateful for the opportunity to learn and perform. She would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her.

HAILEY ADAMS (Props Designer) is a junior with a major in Theatre. This was her first experience as a Props Designer as she primarily works backstage as an ASM. 

ELISABETTA ANTONACCI (Stage Manager) (she/her) is extremely excited to continue her passion for stage management on The Secretaries! Her previous stage management experiences at UB include Outrage, 9 to 5: the Musical!, Ride the Cyclone, and Ernest and the Pale Moon. She is also currently the Department Production Stage Manager for UBTHD. After graduating in May with her BFA in Theatre Design & Technology, you can find Elisabetta working on her next project, Joshua’s Boots, with Buffalo Opera Unlimited. She would like to extend a very warm thank you to Janet Werther for this unique and incredible opportunity.

PHOENIX HALL (Lighting Designer) (they/them) is a Sophomore pursuing a BA in Theatre & Math. They’ve been involved in theatre tech since 9th grade, where they primarily worked with sets. This semester Phoenix has been expanding their backstage skills by working primarily with lights, and it's been such a delight learning new things, in class and for The Secretaries. They hope you enjoy the show!

TEYA JUAREZ (Dramaturg) is a PhD student in Theatre and Performance at the University at Buffalo where her research focuses on fat embodiment and body image. She received her BA in Theatre Arts-Acting from California University, Fresno, and her Master’s in Theatre Arts from Villanova University. She previously served as the Dramaturg for the UB Theatre productions of Fefu and Her Friends and Outrage. She also performed in the Theatre Studio Ensemble production of King Henry VI Part II.

MAILI NOVAK (Costume Team) (she/her) is currently a Sophomore Theatre Design/Tech BFA hoping to pursue stage management. This semester she has also worked as Head Carpenter on Fefu and Her Friends and as the Props Manager and a Rehearsal ASM on Pajama Game. Outside of UB she was involved with Road Less Traveled Productions’ run of Our Lady of 121st Street. Maili would like to thank her friends for their continued enthusiasm and support as she consistently ducks out of movie nights in favor of sidequests to the hardware store.

KALEN STOCKTON (Sound Designer) is a first year Master’s student in Theatre and Performance at The University at Buffalo. She has worked as a Sound Designer for nearly a decade at Theatre Lawrence and the University of Kansas, and is thrilled to be making her Buffalo debut! When not making or studying theatre, Kalen loves knitting with her cats Charlie and Dot.

LINDSAY BRANDON HUNTER (Intimacy Director) is Assistant Professor of Theatre.  She holds an MA in Performance Studies from NYU and a PhD in Theater and Performance Studies from UCLA.  Her current research project focuses on performances of authenticity and realness in intermedial theater, reality television, and immersive and pervasive gaming. 

LANA SUGARMAN (Intimacy Choreographer) (she/her) is an actor, director, intimacy director, and educator with roots in Western Canada. Over the past twenty years she has acted on stages across Canada and the US. Lana is part of Canadian Actor's Equity Association, and ACTRA, and has worked in TV, commercials, and voiceover. A certified yoga teacher of 15 years, Lana integrates mindfulness and movement into her teaching.

After opening night for The Secretaries on Friday, April 11^th, stick around for a post-performance discussion! This post-show event is organized and led by the production’s dramaturg Teya Juarez (see photo/bio above), a PhD Student in Theatre at The University at Buffalo. Ms. Juarez will be joined by the show’s director, Dr. Janet Werther (see bio/photo above), as well as local experts Dr. Christine Varnado (pictured) and Heather Fansgrud (pictured), to discuss and further contextualize the show, its queer and feminist history, and our current production!

Christine Varnado (Global Gender & Sexuality Studies / English) teaches courses at UB in queer and trans studies, English literature, and early modern drama, including Shakespeare and Film (undergrad), and Studies in the Renaissance: Sex, Gender, Sexuality (grad seminar next fall!).  She has written essays about invisible sex!, getting used and liking it, queer nature, the quality of whiteness, the prefix "post-," and the importance of aftercare.  Her first book, The Shapes of Fancy: Reading for Queer Desire in Early Modern Literature, is free online, and has Claude Cahun in costume as Bluebeard's Wife on the cover.  She is at work on a book about the Scottish play and abortion politics.

Heather Fansgrud is the co-founder and current Technical Director of The Brazen-Faced Varlet’s, Buffalo’s local queer feminist theatre collective. The Varlets have been collaboratively producing queer and feminist theatre in Buffalo for nearly twenty years! As a collective, they are committed to promoting the growth of female and gender-minority theater artists.  Their work further seeks to break out of traditional and stereotypical gender roles, both onstage and behind the scenes.

Department Graphics…….……….Elisabetta Antonacci, Lisa Gallagher

Props Director……………..…………..Alexandria Connolly

Assistant Technical Directors………..…........................………….Tom Burke, Erich Frank

Costume Shop Manager………………………………….………..……..Max Levitt

Costume Technician………………………………….……………....………Judy Curtis

Asst. Costume Shop Manager/Wardrobe Supervisor..……Cindy Darling

Paint & Props Mentor………………………………...………................Marc Quattlebaum

Sound & Technical Direction Mentor……….…….………..…….…Jon Shimon

Department Chair…………….……………………….……….………....Eero Laine

Associate Chair/Producing Director……...........………..…….Lynne Koscielniak

Production Manager……………………………………………………..Rick Haug

Assistant Production Manager…….……………….......….……..Ally Hasselback

Department Administrator……………………………….........……Veronica Sedota

Senior Staff Assistant…….……………………………………......……Rob Falgiano

Administrative Assistant……..………………………………......…….Kristin Mann

The UB Department of Theatre and Dance is a proud member of the UB College of Arts and Sciences.

With a firm commitment to the advancement of creative research, experiential learning, and community engagement, the UBTHD 2024-2025 Production Season is administered by the Department of Theatre and Dance. We acknowledge our full faculty and staff for their part in preparing students for work on stage and behind the scenes.

We thank UB Center for the Arts for their support in making these productions possible.

UB Theatre and Dance wishes to acknowledge the generous continued philanthropic support of Fox Run at Orchard Park, an official contributing sponsor of the UB Theatre and Dance 2024-2025 season. 

Our season of programming is also made possible by ticket purchases and donations from patrons like you. We thank you for your continued support of our works. If you would like to further support THD, please visit: https://arts-sciences.buffalo.edu/theatre-dance/about/support.html