OCT 15 - NOV 13
PONY
written by SYLVAN OSWALD
directed by KIERAN BECCIA
When Pony, a formerly incarcerated trans guy, moves to a post-industrial town to start a new life, he soon realizes that the people there reflect his own lived experiences with scarcity, isolation, toxicity, and gender identity. He starts to fall for a woman whose escapist fantasies could be a salve. Or, will this new love lead him down a path of violence?
Born out of Sylvan Oswald’s dream of writing complex, exciting roles for transmasculine actors, Pony highlights trans characters in different stages of transition, diving deep into their complex lives and many forms of love
Now in its Bay Area Premiere, helmed-by director Kieran Beccia, Pony asks whether starting over comes at the cost of forgetting the past.
Run Time: 120 min with 1 intermission
Content Warning: blood, physical violence, harsh language, self-harm, descriptions of intimate partner violence, and use of fog on stage.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
“The script contains such evocative imagery that the first time I read it I felt pulled into the gorgeous and chilling world that Sylvan created. German Expressionism is a guilty pleasure of mine and I find the way that Sylvan has utilized a modern framework that both parallels and critiques the pathos of the style fascinating. I connected to the characters’ struggle to discover their own boundaries, recognize the boundaries of others, and reckon with the consequences of boundaries being broken.
Pony, like Woyzeck, presents people who are being pushed to their limit in multiple aspects of their lives and asks when we are unable to change our circumstances, how do our circumstances change us.
Pony was the first play I ever encountered that had multiple transgender characters; to this day it is one of maybe three plays I’ve read that has characters in a variety of stages of gender transition. I’m thrilled to be able to put characters onstage who manifest stories and experiences that are less frequently recognized or authentically portrayed by the wider industry."
- Kieran Beccia, director
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REHEARSAL TRAILER
PRODUCTION PHOTOS
Photos by Ben Krantz
COMMUNITY PARTNER
Each show, Cutting Ball Theater partners with a local organization in the Tenderloin that pairs well with the theme of the play to help raise awareness and funds for said organization. For Pony, we are so honored to be partnering with The Transgender District of San Francisco. Not only the first transgender district of the world, located here in the Tenderloin, but also now an amazing org that helps so much in their community. We will be selling raffle tickets at each show to help raise some donations with winners of the raffle being gifted prizes from Aesop.
ABOUT
Founded by three Black Trans women in 2017 as Compton’s Transgender Cultural District, The Transgender District is the first legally recognized transgender district in the world. Our mission is to create an urban environment that fosters the rich history, culture, legacy, and empowerment of transgender people and its deep roots in the southeastern Tenderloin neighborhood. The Transgender District aims to stabilize and economically empower the transgender community through ownership of homes, businesses, historic and cultural sites and safe community spaces.
WORK
We focus our work toward six major program initiatives to create safe spaces for trans people that inspire economic advancement, leadership development and community.
1. TENANT PROTECTIONS: The district is actively in negotiations with the City and County of San Francisco and support housing agencies to stabilize transgender residents who are vulnerable to displacement due to development and gentrification in the Tenderloing area. In March 2021, the Transgender District launched the first Housing Opportunities for Trans Tenants (HOTT) pilot program. Through HOTT, the Transgender District successfully housed 8 individuals during the first round of the program and provided the foundation for safe and affordable housing.
2. ECONOMIC & WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: We are implementing a multi-prong economic empowerment strategy that fosters both real-time, immediate employment opportunities for transgender people with multiple barriers to self-sufficiency and sustainability; while also creating an incubator entrepreneurship program that will provide monetary and educational resources for transgender entrepreneurs aspiring to open businesses and projects in the district area. Our Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program (EAP) provides participants with a 4-week bootcamp of professional webinars, tax fillings, website and brand design, and seed funding to kick off their business idea upon graduation. Our 2021 EAP cohort consisted of 8 TGNC entrepreneurs who have successfully completed the program and became small business owners.
3. ARTS & CULTURE: We celebrate the culture, resilience and resistance of transgender people in the city’s Tenderloin area by working with transgender and gender non-binary artists to lead neighborhood placemaking efforts, art exhibitions, informative and topical panel discussions, and varied music program that are led by and for transgender people. Additionally, the district aims to be the city of San Francisco’s hub of transgender culture—and with innovative partnerships—lead more unique and impactful events, exhibitions, cultural celebrations, festivals and more—with the aim of educating the broader world on acceptance, equality and liberation of transgender people- while economically supporting transgender artists, musicians, performers, business owners, cultural workers, and more.
4. CULTURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION: We actively work with historical preservationists, the San Francisco Planning Department and California State Senator Scott Wiener’s office to identify, evaluate, and document buildings and areas of the district with significant cultural and historical assets to the transgender community. We also promote the legacy of transgender culture in the district through oral history and storytelling, in addition to partnering with archival institutions and museums that possess cultural artifacts related to transgender culture.
5. CULTURAL COMPETENCY: As the transgender community is a marginalized and disenfranchised community—both in San Francisco and worldwide—we are creating an environment that affirms the lives and authenticity of transgender people living in a world that consistently tells us we should not exist. The broader goal in our efforts towards urban beautification, placemaking, art and cultural affairs, and more, is to continue a wave of cultural shifts in which the humanity and resilience of transgender people is celebrated, and respected. As we build the infrastructure for a thriving cultural district- we also are building a re-imagined world in which transgender people are socially, culturally, and economically empowered and genocide against us is eradicated.
6. LAND USE: We actively participate in policy meetings with various San Francisco City & County government agencies to help shape and guide protective City regulations, tools and programs (such as zoning and land use controls) to promote and protect safe spaces and commercial enterprises for the transgender community. The district has successfully begun implementing our placemaking and urban beautification efforts with the City of San Francisco’s Department of Public Works and San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency to ensure renewed crosswalks, increase of sidewalk trees, increase in restroom access, and more. The district aims to create ongoing urban beautification efforts that enrich the lives of longtime residents of the Tenderloin as a reverse gentrification model.
CAST
AJ DAVENPORT she/her (CAV)
has been performing in the Bay Area since 1995. She is very honored and excited to be working on her first show with Cutting Ball Theater. AJ is a member of Custom Made Theater, Left Coast Theater, Multi Ethnic Theater and was Diva in Residence with Unconditional Theater. She leads historical walking tours with FOOT! Fun Walking Tours. http://www.foottours.com.
LAUREN DUNAGAN she/her (STELL)
is an actor and mother of three living in San Francisco. Recent Bay Area credits include Theresa in ‘Circle Mirror Transformation’ (Custom Made), Banquo in ‘Macbeth’ (Berkeley Shakespeare Co.), and the Judge in ‘The Balcony’ (Collected Works). Before relocating to San Francisco, she lived and worked in Los Angeles, where she performed with a wide range of companies including Savage Players, Ipanema Theatre Co, Syzygy Theatre Group, the Ark Theatre, the Long Beach Playhouse, and the Norris Theatre. She holds a BA in Drama from Stanford University and an MFA in Acting from UCLA. She is delighted to be making her Cutting Ball debut.
FENNER FRANK MERLICK they/them (PONY)
is an actor, director and producer living in West Oakland. Trained in ensemble devising processes, clown, Suzuki and ancient Japanese theater, past collaborators have been Theater of Yugen, FoolsFury, Ragged Wing Ensemble and Naked Empire Bouffon. Producing credits include ‘Desire Caught by the Tail’ by Pablo Picasso, and most recently the collaboratively written piece ‘The Boy Who Cried Naked’. Around and in between and sometimes with theater they are also an adventure cyclist, musician and casual host with the most.
KIAN JOHNSON he/him (HEATH)
is a trans man actor based in New York City. He was recently seen in The Fled’s workshop of “The Tragical Historie of Maximilien Robespierre”, Sarah Elizabeth Brown’s “Sassafras and the Captain”, the world premiere of Miranda Rose Hall’s, “The Kind Ones” at the Magic Theatre, The Anthropologists’ “No Pants in Tucson,” Women’s Theatre Festival’s “Occupy the Stage”, and "Lovebird Jamboree" at NYU Skirball. He is a proud Fled Company member, and can also be seen in season 6 of "Ray Donovan." Follow his artistic journey on Instagram via @kj.artboy.
JULIE KUWABARA she/her (MARIE)
is thrilled to be making her debut at Cutting Ball Theater with the cast and crew of Pony. She is an actor, comedy sketch writer, and performer. Theater companies she has worked with include: Yale Rep, Magic Theatre, Shotgun Players, Central Works, San Francisco Playhouse, SF Sketchfest, and Bindlestiff Studio.
creative TEAM
JAX BLASKA they/she (DRAMATURG)
is a San Francisco-born creative collaborator now living in Oakland/traditional Ohlone land. As a theatremaker, they create work that is collaborative & curious, queer & feminist, and balances ritual & spectacle. They hold a BA with honors from Yale University, and perform in drag as Nasturtium! the flower alien.
KIERAN BECCIA they/them (DIRECTOR)
is a Bay Area director and dramaturg focused on devised performance and the development of new works. Their work has been produced at The Forum Collective, Quantum Dragon Theater, FaultLine Theater, Fuse Theater, Dragon Theater, Utopia Theater Project, and more. A TITAN Award winner and two-time CA$H Grant recipient, Kieran is also a company member at the Oakland Theater Project, a former artistic director of the U.C. Santa Cruz poor theatre performance lab, Barnstorm, and a founding member of The Forum Collective. They currently serve as the Literary Development Director for The Forum Collective, Literary Associate for Parity Productions, and are a former Associate Literary Manager for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Kieran recently joined the Casting Collective as a Casting Associate.
VINCENT CHAU they/he (SCENIC DESIGNER)
This is their first production as a scenic designer after they graduated. Before that they was the scenic designer for The After Party, assistant designer for Pool of the Unknown Wonders, and The Arsonists, working with Miyuki Bierlein and Annie Smart. They just finished their prop observership at Shotgun Players for Man of God, assisting the prop designer Starr Jiang. Also working with Martin Flynn as his assistant for an upcoming production at Berkeley Playhouse, Matilda. They want to thanks Annie for introducing me to Kieran to be part of this production.
NICOLE "NIKKI" EGGETT they/she (STAGE MANAGER)
This is Nikki’s first show at Cutting Ball Theater. They’ve been working in theater since 2010 all over The Bay. They also got the opportunity to work at Beach Blanket Babylon in San Francisco before it closed in 2019. Most recently Nikki was the stage manager at Altarena Playhouse for their production of Quality of Life.
SYLVAN OSWALD he/him (PLAYWRIGHT)
is an interdisciplinary artist originally from Philadelphia who creates plays, texts, publications, and video. His work uses metatheatricality and formal irreverence to explore queer and trans identity. Recent projects include the theatrical essay Trainers (Gate Theatre, London) and the performance text High Winds. His plays and collaborations include A Kind of Weather (Diversionary Theatre, San Diego), Sun Ra (Joe’s Pub, Jerome Travel and Study Grant, Soho Rep Writer-Director Lab), Nightlands (New Georges), and Pony (About Face Theater, Chicago). Honors include a 2019 Guggenheim Fellowship, a Rosati Fellowship from Duke University Libraries, the Thom Thomas award from The Dramatists Guild, a Jerome Fellowship, and residencies at Sundance/Ucross, Macdowell Colony, and Yaddo.
KATHLEEN QIU she/her (COSTUME DESIGNER)
is an LA based costume designer and stylist. She is thrilled to be working with Cutting Ball once again after The Real Sappho. Recently, she has also designed SF Playhouse’s The Great Khan and Heroes of the Fourth Turning, as well as various independent short films and commercials.
PATRICK TOEBE he/him (LIGHTING DESIGNER)
has designed lighting and/or scenery for over 250 productions from Tokyo to Paris. His work includes design for opera, ballet, musical theatre, Shakespeare Festivals, and performance art. He has an MFA in Lighting and Scenic Design from SFSU and has taught at City College of San Francisco for 20 years.
JACOB ZIMMER they/he (COVID SAFETY MANAGER / PRODUCTION ASSISTANT)
is an artist, musician and poet who attended the San Francisco Art Institute and Columbia College Chicago where they studied conceptual based art and musical performance on the Oboe. Outside of the theatre, he works at the SFMOMA and Episcopal Church of St. Mary’s the Virgin.
KAYLA PIERCE she/her (TECHNICAL DIRECTOR)
CHRISTOPHER SAUCEDA he/him (SOUND DESIGNER)
SPECIAL THANKS
Your safety is our priority! That's why proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative PCR test within 72 hours is required to attend live performances in Cutting Ball Theater's 2022/2023 Season. To learn more, read our full COVID-19 Safety Plan.