Passage

by Christopher Chen
directed by Kaiser Ahmed
March 2 – April 10, 2022

 

Q is building a new life in Country X, having immigrated from Country Y. But it’s hard to make friends in Country X — the history between the two countries is fraught, and political tensions are running high. As Q tries to navigate interpersonal dynamics, the past and present collide in a complex geopolitical landscape. And no one is off the hook. 
  
Christopher Chen’s deeply humane, exquisitely theatrical play is a kaleidoscopic examination of colonization, inspired by E.M. Forster’s Passage to India. Tense, fascinating, delicate, and dangerous, you’ll be on the edge of your seat as this political drama unfolds.
Passage by Christopher Chen

Rehearsal Photos

Cast

Patrick Agada (he/him) – F
Charin Alvarez (she/her) – B
Leyla Beydoun (she/her) – Q
Carolyn Hu Bradbury (she/her) – J / S / MOSQUITO
Tiffany Renee Johnson (she/her) – D / M
Adam Poss (he/him) – H / R / GECKO
Peter Sipla (he/him) – G

Tina El Gamal (she/her) – u/s B
Nathaniel Elfant (he/him)- u/s H / R / GECKO
Aissa Guerra (she/her) – u/s Q
Tulsi McDaniels (she/her) – u/s F
Michael Mejia (they/them) – u/s G
Flavia Pallozzi (she/her) – u/s D / M
Natalie Santoro (she/her) – u/s J / S / MOSQUITO

Production

Kaiser Ahmed (he/him) – Director
Himabindu Poroori (she/her) – Dramaturg
Jean E. Compton (she/her)- Stage Manager
Cori Lang (she/her) – Assistant Stage Manager
Yeaji Kim (she/her) – Scenic Designer
Izumi Inaba (she/her) – Costume Designer
Aija Moreno (she/her) – Assistant Costume Designer
Liz Gomez (she/her) – Co-Lighting Designer
Mac Vaughey (he/him) – Co-Lighting Designer
Michael Huey (he/him) – Sound Designer and Original Music
Rowan Doe (they/he) – Properties Designer:
Emily Altman (she/her)- Scenic Charge Artist
Stefani Azores-Gococo (she/her) – Wardrobe Supervisor
Nick Chamernik (he/him) – Head Electrician
Alexis Taylor (she/her) – Producer
Greg Geffrard (he/him) – Intimacy and Artistic Process Consultant
Courtney Abbott (she/her) – Intimacy and Artistic Process Consultant
Rachael Jimenez (she/her) – Casting
Harrison Ornelas (he/him) – Technical Director
Ellen Willett (she/they) – Production Manager

About The Cast

PATRICK AGADA (F)

Patrick Agada (he/him) is excited to be working with Remy Bumpo. Other Theatre credits include I Hate It Here and The Magic Play (Goodman Theatre); Pipeline and The First Deep Breath (Victory Gardens Theater); The Brothers Size (Steppenwolf Theatre); Something Clean (Jeff Nomination) and You For Me For You (Sideshow; Rivendell Theatre); Dutch Masters (Jeff Award, Jackalope Theatre); Choir Boy and The Play About My Dad (Raven Theatre); Superior Donuts (Open Door Theatre); Dunsinane, Q Brothers Christmas Carol and Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Jabari Dreams of Freedom (Chicago Children’s Theatre). Regional Credits include Blue Man Group (Astor Place Theatre). TV credits include Chicago Fire. He is represented by DDO Agency.

CHARÍN ÁLVAREZ (B)

Charin Alvarez (she/her) is is a Remy Bumppo Core Ensemble Member. Her theatre credits include: Skin of Our Teeth & Clean House (Remy Bumppo); I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, La Ruta, Infidel, Ordinary Yearning, Fermi (Steppenwolf Theatre); Lettie, Mojada, Oedipus El Rey, Anna in the Tropics, A Park in the House (Victory Gardens Theater); The Scene (Writer’s Theatre); 2666, Pedro Paramo, El Nogalar, Dollhouse & Electricidad (Goodman Theatre); In the Time of the Butterflies, Our Lady of the Underpass, I Put the Fear of Mexico in ‘Em, Dreamlandia, Another Part of the House (Teatro Vista); Water by the Spoonful (Court Theatre); Work of Art (Chicago Dramatists); What We Once Felt (About Face Theatre); Kita & Fernanda (16th Street Theatre); Esperanza Rising (Chicago Children’s Theatre); Two Sisters and A Piano (Apple Tree Theatre); Generic Latina (Teatro Luna); La Casa de Bernarda Alba (Aguijon Theatre).

LEYLA BEYDOUN (Q)

Leyla Beydoun (she/her) grew up in New York City and recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a BFA in Acting. Her recent credits include: BANNED (Amel) at Theatre Row, Comedy of Errors (Adrianna) at the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival, A Hero in Disguise (Lela) at The Black and Brown Theater, and Romeo and Juliet (Juliet). She is beyond excited to be joining the cast of Passage and to be making her Chicago debut.

CAROLYN HU BRADBURY (J/ S/ MOSQUITO)

Carolyn Hu Bradbury (she/her) is a Chicago-based actor and writer. Chicago acting credits include Fast Company (Jackalope Theatre); She Kills Monsters, Water by the Spoonful, Luchadora!, and Oresteia (The Theatre School). Television credits include Chicago Fire. Her short play I Come from Crowded premiered in the parks with Jackalope Theatre’s Neighborhood Narratives. She received a BA in Theater and English from UC Berkeley and a MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. She is represented by Stewart Talent.

TIFFANY RENEE JOHNSON (D/M)

Tiffany Renee Johnson (she/her) is a Chicago native and Howard University alumna with a BFA in Theatre Arts. She has a rich, deep love for storytelling and devotes much of her time and work to the stage and screen. She absolutely loves the power of story and telling the truth wrapped in it. Her theatre credits include School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play (Goodman Theatre), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and A Doll’s House (Writers Theatre), Red Velvet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Flyin’ West (American Blues Theater), Saint Joan (Poetic Forum Collective) truth and reconciliation (Sideshow Theatre), Vanya; Or, That’s Life! (Rasaka Theatre), and A Nativity Story (Congo Square Theatre). A thought she’d like to leave you with: “Tell yourself the truth and watch it become a gift of freedom.” To God be the glory. TiffanyReneeJohnson.com

ADAM POSS ( H/ R/ GECKO)

Adam Poss (he/him) is thrilled to make his RBTC debut. Television credits include a recurring role on Chicago Med (NBC), Chicago Fire (NBC), Chicago PD (NBC), The Big Leap (FOX), Paper Girls (AMAZON), Empire (FOX), Shameless (SHOWTIME), Crisis (NBC), NeXt (FOX), The Chicago Code (FOX), The Mob Doctor (FOX), and the pilots Controversy (FOX) and No Apologies (FOX). Film credits: The Middle Distance, The Drunk, The King of URLS, Speed Dating, and the upcoming feature Bar Fight. In Chicago Adam has worked at several notable theatres including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens, Writers Theatre, Silk Road Rising, and 16th Street. Regionally he’s worked across the country at the Denver Center for Performing Arts, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Studio Theatre DC, Kansas City Rep,TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, and Ensemble Theatre Company: Santa Barbara. He is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University. www.AdamPoss.com

PETER SIPLA (G)

Peter Sipla (he/him) is thrilled to debut with Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Most recently, he was seen as Janos in The Jigsaw Bride at First Folio Theatre. Other credits include Cambodian Rock Band (Victory Gardens Theatre, City Theatre, and Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Oak Park Festival Theatre), The King and I (Lyric Opera of Chicago), South Pacific (Drury Lane Theatre), ShortShakes!: Romeo and Juliet and Passion (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), Newsies and City of Angels (The Marriott Theatre), Wizard of Oz and Miss Saigon (Paramount Theatre), and work with TimeLine Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Red Tape Theatre, Steel Beam Theatre, and Disney Cruise Line. Film credits: The Gold Coast. Television credits: Station Eleven (HBOMax), neXt (Fox) and Chicago Fire (NBC). Peter is also a prolific Voiceover actor, and he facilitates a play-reading group of over 700 actors, directors, and playwrights from the US, the UK, and Hong Kong.

About The Director

KAISER AHMED (Director)

Kaiser Ahmed (he/him) is a Chicago-based theatre director, producer, teacher, and actor. Kaiser is a co-founder and the current Artistic Director of Jackalope Theatre Company. A Bangladeshi-American, Kaiser was recently named on NewCity’s “Players 2019: Fifty People Who Really Perform For Chicago”. At Jackalope, Kaiser directed Fast Company, 1980 (or Why I’m Voting for John Anderson)The Raid, and many others. Chicago credits also include the Midwest Premiere of The Late Henry Moss (The Artistic Home), Language Rooms (Broken Nose Theatre), Washer/Dryer and VANYA (or That’s Life!) (Rasaka Theatre). Regional credits include the World Premiere of Stoo’s Famous Martian-American Gumbo, an interactive and touring TYA play commissioned by Peppercorn Theatre in Winston-Salem, NC. Kaiser assistant directed Amy Morton on Guards at the Taj (Steppenwolf) and Gary Griffin on Hand to God (Victory Gardens). Kaiser is a 2015-16 Eugene O’Neill National Directors Fellowship Finalist, a 2016-17 Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative recipient, and an Associate Member of SDC. A member of SAG-AFTRA and proudly represented by Gray Talent, Kaiser has made television appearances on Fargo, Chicago Med, and others. As a teaching artist, Kaiser works with Northlight Theatre, Raven Theatre & Mudlark Theatre. Kaiser holds a BA from Columbia College Chicago’s Theatre Directing program. http://kaiserahmed.org

About The Playwright

CHRISTOPHER CHEN ( Playwright)

Christopher Chen( Playwright) is an international award-winning playwright whose works have been produced across the United States and abroad. His play The Headlands received its world premiere at Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 in winter 2020. His play Passage received its world premiere at the Wilma Theater in 2018, and its NY premiere at Soho Rep in spring 2019. His play Caught (NYT Critics’ Pick) received its world premiere at the Interact Theater and NY premiere at The Play Company. Chen received a 2017 OBIE Award for his work on Caught. Additional honors include: 2021 USA Fellow; 2020 Steinberg Award (co-winner); 2017 Lanford Wilson Award (co-winner); 2015-2016 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Foundation Fellowship for theater; Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, through which he was 2013-2014 playwright-in-residence at The Vineyard Theatre; Barrymore Award for “Outstanding New Play”; Glickman Award; Rella Lossy Playwriting Award; shortlist for the James Tait Black Award; the inaugural Ollie Award. He is currently under commission at various regional and NY theatres, including Audible, Cutting Ball Theater, Playwrights Horizons and Portland Center Stage. Chen also has an overall deal at Amazon TV.

Administrative Office

3759 N. Ravenswood Avenue
Suite 124
Chicago, IL 60613
773.244.8119

Performance Venue

Theater Wit
1229 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60657
Box Office: 773.975.8150

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