April 24 – May 19, 2024
In This Program
- About the Show
- Note From Artistic Director, Idris Goodwin
- Note From Director, Anita Montgomery
- Cast and Creative
- SCT Partnerships & Engagement
- Print Edition
- More About Seattle Children’s Theatre
About the Show
This presentation of A Tale Of Peter Rabbit was made possible by the generosity of our Donors and Sponsors.
Season Sponsors
ArtsFund
Microsoft
The Shubert Foundation
Show Sponsors
Laura Buckland & Doug Young
Seattle Children’s Theatre Presents...
A TALE OF PETER RABBIT
ADAPTED FROM THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT BY BEATRIX POTTER
DIRECTED BY ANITA MONTGOMERY
Cast
KHANH DOAN* Cottontail
SUNAM ELLIS Flopsy
PILAR O’CONNELL* Mopsy
KOO PARK* Peter
ADRIA LAMORTICELLA Understudy for Peter & Mopsy
IVELIZ MARTEL Understudy for Flopsy & Cottontail
Stage Management
LAUREL NICHOLS* Stage Manager
P. ALYDA SORM Assistant Stage Manager
Creative
ANITA MONTGOMERY Director
TRISTA BALDWIN Playwright
ANDREA BRYN BUSH Scenic Designer
MELANIE TAYLOR BURGESS^ Costume Designer
CHIH-HUNG SHAO Lighting Designer
CHRIS LANE Sound Designer
FRANCESCA BETANCOURT Choreographer
Photo and video capture of any kind (including your mobile device) is prohibited during this performance.
A Tale Of Peter Rabbit is 60 minutes, no intermission.
*Actors Equity Association Member
^United Scene Artists Member, Local 829
**Stage Directors and Choreographers Society Member
Special Thanks to Our Government Partners:
4Culture, ArtsWA, Seattle Office of Arts and Culture
Summary
Beatrix Potter’s timeless tale of Peter Rabbit is given a modern twist by award-winning writer Trista Baldwin. What does it mean to be a good bunny? If everyone thinks you’re a bad bunny, can you ever be good? In this moving and adventurous reimagining of Beatrix Potter’s classic tale, Peter and his three sisters come together to tell a story of their very own.
Content Note: This show includes the death of a parent and stylistic depictions of an unseen villain using lights, shadow, and sound.
Note From Artistic Director, Idris Goodwin
Adaptation is not as easy as it may appear. While it is true, the writer has plenty to draw from, it’s no small feat to uncover something in the source material that feels new and right now. What will this new version say that all the other adaptations, or the source material itself, have yet to? Director Anita Montgomery and her formidable team have skillfully actualized Playwright Trista Baldwin’s bold and insightful approach to The Tale of Peter Rabbit, challenging antiquated binaries of sugar and spice vs. sticks and stones. Baldwin has comically liberated Peter and his sisters from the pages, giving them dimension and layers, allowing them to question, laugh, hop, and reimagine themselves anew. Originally slated to premiere before the pandemic, SCT is proud to finally launch A Tale of Peter Rabbit into the ever-expanding canon of TYA titles.
—Idris Goodwin
Note From Director, Anita Montgomery
As a little girl, I spent a lot of time at my grandmother’s farm in Pennsylvania. It was my Gam who introduced me to the magical art and tiny beings in the pages of Beatrix Potter’s beloved children’s stories. Gam loved bunnies and collected them. Though she’d cluck and fret whenever they breached barriers and ate her vegetables, never a hair on a little bunny head was ever harmed by my Gam, and I attribute my love of the countryside and the work of Peter Rabbit’s creator to her.
Beatrix Potter spent a lonely childhood in 19th century London and began sketching rabbits at nine years old from her third-floor nursery. On vacations in the English countryside, Beatrix became entranced by the tiny creatures of the woodlands, observing nature and its inhabitants with a keen and loving eye. The countryside became her chosen home, its wild inhabitants her playmates and guides, and she navigated the challenges of childhood with and through them. The gorgeous art she created sustained her and made her famous, and financially independent in her adult life.
Dramatizing a children’s book written over one hundred years ago for a Victorian audience so vastly different from our own presents some interesting challenges. We honor the glorious art of Beatrix Potter while asking some questions of the original text. That a little bunny boy would feel the need to enter Farmer McGregor’s Garden, despite the danger and warnings from his mother, seems about much more than Peter being simply a “naughty rabbit.” And if someone says you’re naughty, is that the truth about you? Any contemporary kiddo might also ask whether Peter’s sisters, Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail really do just exactly what they are told. The relationships of our bunny siblings, the recasting of a negative personal narrative, and standing up to the fears of childhood; these are some of the questions we explore in this tale of Peter Rabbit.
We’re so glad you’ve joined us for this contemporary story of children’s empowerment and familial love, generously seasoned with bunny-bounce and joy, and based on Beatrix Potter’s wonderful classic.
—Anita Montgomery
Cast and Creative
The Cast
COTTONTAIL – Khanh Doan (She/Her) is grateful to be back on the SCT stage in this delightful adaptation by Trista Baldwin. Khanh has performed in many SCT shows over the years, and some of her favorites include The Little Prince, Lyle the Crocodile, Peter Pan, Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like, and Sleeping Beauty. She has also performed at ACT Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre, Seattle Rep, 5th Avenue, Village Theatre, Artists Rep, and Portland Playhouse.
FLOPSY– Sunam Ellis (She/Her) is grateful to be a part of such a special production. Her very first acting role was a garden carrot in her second-grade class production of Peter Rabbit. Full circle! Sunam has worked on local productions and readings with ACT, Book-It Repertory, Seattle Shakespeare, Seattle Public Theatre, Sound Theatre, Theatre22, The Horse in Motion, ArtsWest, and The Seagull Project. Favorite local roles include Dorothy in Mrs. Caliban, Margery in Hand to God (Gregory Award recipient), and Bala in Sheathed (Gregory Award nominee). Sunam also teaches various theater courses at local universities, including Seattle University and UW.
MOPSY – Pilar O’Connell (They/Them) is a Latinx theatre artist from Santa Fe, NM. They graduated from Cornish College of the Arts. Locally, you may have seen them in The Tempest, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, & Luna Gale (Seattle Repertory Theatre), Twelfth Night, Henry IV, Cymbeline, Romeo y Julieta, As You Like It, The Tempest & Taming of The Shrew (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Miss You Like Hell & Our Country’s Good (Strawberry Theatre Workshop), Christmastown, The Liar (Seattle Public Theater), The Christians (Pony World), and The Nether (Washington Ensemble Theatre), along with many others. Pilar is a proud member of AEA. For Entheos always.
UNDERSTUDY PETER & MOPSY – Adria LaMorticella (She/Her) is delighted to return to the Seattle Children’s Theatre after most recently playing Liesl in Luchadora! as well as choreographing the show’s wrestling sequences. Other Seattle credits include Cat in the Hat (SCT), The Liar (Seattle Public Theater), The Tall Girls (Washington Ensemble Theatre), and 4000 Miles (ArtsWest). Adria also performs with a 90s dance group, a sketch group, and is a retired luchador.
UNDERSTUDY FLOPSY & COTTONTAIL – Iveliz Martel (She/Her) is a Chilean actor who recently graduated from the MFA in Acting program at the UW School of Drama. You may have seen her work with Seattle Children’s Theatre (Luchadora!), Seattle Shakespeare Company (The Merry Wives of Windsor), Yun Theatre (Chalk), Strawberry Jam at 12th Ave Arts (Glass. Kill. Bluebeard’s Friends), and Base Art Space where she performed Buda Errante, a solo show she co-created with Bradley Wrenn for 12 Min Max. Iveliz is also a science journalist and has developed a career as a radio reporter in her country. IG: @Ivelizacting
The Creative Team
DIRECTOR – Anita Montgomery (She/Her) is a Seattle based director, dramaturg, and speech coach. In 2016, she founded Art in Communication, www.artincommunication.com, a resource for public speakers. From 2002-2015 Anita served on the artistic staff at ACT, where she created the Young Playwrights Program (YPP), ran the literary department, and fostered several new play development partnerships. Anita teaches Dramaturgy for Directors in the MFA program at the University of Washington. She has had the pleasure of working as dramaturg and/or director on over 30 new plays by professional playwrights across the country. Favorite directing credits include the world premiere of Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World at ACT, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Pendragon Theatre in upstate NY, and Ghosted, an original touring show for high school students on mental health issues, a collaboration between SCT and Kaiser Permanente. Anita has two kids, Haze (23) and Gabe (17), both raised on theatre at SCT!
PLAYWRIGHT – Trista Baldwin (She/Her) was raised to love theater in the young actor programs of SCT and is wonderstruck to share her first play for the very young at her first artistic home. Ghosted, her last commission with SCT, toured WA state middle and high schools and is now touring nationally through Kaiser Permanente. Trista is also an awardwinning author of over 20 plays for “adults” and has been produced internationally, Off-Broadway, and throughout the U.S. She has taught playwriting at University of Washington, Shoreline College, St. Cloud State and Arizona State University. Trista is the recipient of Jerome Fellowships, the McKnight Grant, and is an alum of Seattle Repertory’s Writers Group. Trista is a co-founding director of the Workhaus Collective, producing over 25 new plays in 10 years. She is happy to once again make her home in the Seattle area, raising two children who are now somehow taller than she is.
STAGE MANAGER – Laurel Nichols* (She/Her) is “hoppy” to be here for this wonderful show! Previously at SCT: Goodnight Moon. Broadway: Mrs. Doubtfire. Regional: Disney’s The Little Mermaid, The Wiz, Mrs. Doubtfire, Austen’s Pride, West Side Story, Rock of Ages, Annie (The 5th Avenue Theatre); Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Hello, Dolly!, Songs For A New World, The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes, Newsies (Village Theatre); Revenge Song (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); King of the Yees, Until The Flood (ACT Theatre); The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (The Feast). Proud AEA member. Love to Mr. Nichols! @laurelleemarie
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER – P. Alyda Sorm (She/Her) is a Seattle-based, second-generation Khmer American theatre artist, and very excited to return to Seattle Children’s Theatre. She works in both stage and production management with various companies in the city including Intiman, Seattle Shakespeare Company, The Feast (previously The Williams Project), Sound Theatre Company, and Pork Filled Productions. Notable AEA credits: SM, The Comedy of Errors, (Seattle Shakespeare Company); SM, The Amen Corner, (The Feast); ASM, Two Mile Hollow, (Intiman). Her two rabbits are eager to see this production of A Tale of Peter Rabbit!
SCENIC DESIGNER – Andrea Bryn Bush (She/Her) is thrilled to be part of the creative team for A Tale of Peter Rabbit. As a scenic designer she has worked with many Seattle-based companies including ACT, Village Theatre, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Seattle Public Theater, and Cornish College of the Arts. She is a former Ensemble member and was a resident designer at the Washington Ensemble Theatre. Andrea is an MFA graduate from UW where she is currently on staff in the Scene Shop. She received the 2010 Gregory Award for outstanding scenic design.
COSTUME DESIGNER – Melanie Taylor Burgess^ (She/Her) is a proud Seattle Costume Designer. Occasionally, she is taken elsewhere: The Guthrie, Cincinnati Playhouse, Playmakers, Denver Center, Arizona Theatre Company, and others. She has designed costumes for 26 plays at Seattle Children’s Theatre and over 160 productions for Seattle Rep, 5th Avenue Theatre, ACT, Intiman Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Opera, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and others. She is also a professor of costume design at Cornish College of The Arts. She received the first Gregory Award for Outstanding Costume Design 2010 and again in 2019.
SOUND DESIGNER – Chris Lane (he/him) is a Music Producer, DJ, Teacher, Entrepreneur, Mixing Engineer, and award-winning Sound Designer. Born in Baltimore, Lane has served as Sound Designer for various theatrical productions across the nation. He is excited to make a return to SCT following his work on The Boy Who Kissed the Sky. His regional credits include work at: Alliance Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The Old Globe, Westport Country Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theatre Center, The Kennedy Center, and more. He is also Founder and CEO at Multiband Studios. multibandstudios.com
LIGHTING DESIGNER – Chih-Hung Shao (He/Him) is a lighting designer for live performance in the Seattle area. His most recent lighting design, English, was produced by ArtsWest and co-produced by Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble, and his next design project is the MFA Dance Concert produced by UW Dance Department. He has worked with McCaw Hall, Seattle Rep, Village Theatre Issaquah, ACT, and ArtsWest to name a few. Other selected lighting design credits include How To Write A New Book For The Bible (Taproot Theatre), Sanctuary City (Seattle Rep), Born With Teeth (ArtsWest), Comedy Of Errors (Seattle Shakespeare Company), and Measure For Measure (Freehold Theatre). shaochihhung.com
CHOREOGRAPHER – Francesca Betancourt aka “Cessa” (She/Her) is an actor, intimacy director, choreographer, facilitator, and producer. She has worked as a theatre artist and educator in Ireland, India, the Philippines, New York, Washington, Wisconsin, Maryland, Washington D.C., Florida, and internationally in the virtual world. She holds two BAs from Western Washington University in Theatre Arts and Sociology and has trained in Applied Theatre at City University of New York. Her creative work is led by trauma informed social/emotional practice, human connection, access, agency, and physical storytelling.
Seattle Children’s Theatre is a member of TYA/USA, the national center of the International Association of Theatre for Children and Young People.
SCT is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for the nonprofit professional theatre.
SCT is a proud member of International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY).
ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 50,000 professional actors and stage managers. Equity endeavors to advance the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions, and providing a wide range of benefits (health and pension included). Member: AFL-CIO, FIA. #EquityWorks.
Lighting, sound, staging, property, scenery, scenic art, and costume work at Seattle Children’s Theatre is performed by employees represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists, and Allied Crafts of the US and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC.
Seattle Children’s Theatre works with the Stage Directors and Choreographers society.
The designers at this theatre are represented by United Scenic Artists (Local USA 829) of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
* Indicates members of the Actors’ Equity Association
SCT Partnerships & Engagement
COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND EVENTS
WashMasks Book Donation Drive
April 25–May 19, 2024
Seattle Children’s Theatre Lobby
Throughout the run of A Tale of Peter Rabbit, bring new or gently used books to contribute to our book donation drive. WashMasks Mutual Aid has been gathering new books for children and youth of farmworkers in Eastern and Northern Washington. Their goal is to provide one thousand new books to each region, bringing cultural and creative joy to the children of those who feed us.
Learn more at sct.org/peter-rabbit-drive
Stage Door Store: Black Origin Plants
April 25–May 19, 2024
Seattle Children’s Theatre Lobby
Visit the Stage Door Store before or after the show to bring home some plants of your own! Black Origin Plants intentionally centers the afro-diasporic experience in creating a space of healing and connection through plants, community, and art.
Follow at instagram.com/blackoriginplants
Theatre in the Garden
May 11, 2024, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Seattle Children’s PlayGarden (1745 24th Ave S)
Join SCT as we celebrate spring and A Tale of Peter Rabbit with our friends at Seattle PlayGarden. There will be garden activities, an interactive Story Drama session, a special appearance from the cast and show, and maybe even a rabbit or two!
Print Edition
More About Seattle Children’s Theatre
Seattle Children’s Theatre