Mother Russia

In This Program

• From the Artistic Director
• About the Show
• For Our Patrons
• Cast
• Creative Team
• How’d We End Up Here?
• An Interview with Mother Russia’s Scenic & Costume Designer, Misha Kachman 
• Print Edition
• More About Seattle Rep

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Seattle Rep and our production of Lauren Yee’s Mother Russia. Today’s play is the 65th new work to have its world premiere on a Seattle Rep stage. Yee, who has become one of our country’s most produced playwrights (The Great Leap, Cambodian Rock Band, King of the Yees), has spent the rehearsal process here in Seattle, crafting her hilarious and provocative new play in collaboration with our Seattle Rep artistic team, designers, crew, and cast. And as one of the first audiences to ever experience this piece, you’re playing a unique role in its future life, which is already slated for new productions in the coming year at theaters near and far.

Investing in the creation of new work has been a vital part of Seattle Rep’s DNA since our founding in 1963. Over the decades, we have developed more than 200 new plays and musicals through productions, staged readings, and writer’s residencies. In fact, Lauren Yee began developing Mother Russia (then called Untitled Russia Play) during a weeklong workshop with Seattle Rep at what is now known as the Colorado New Play Festival back in 2017, followed by a workshop here in 2018. Among the works we have fostered are many which have become Seattle Rep’s best-known and most-loved productions, including the internationally renowned, still-nationally-touring musical Come From Away, as well as plays by iconic playwrights like August Wilson, Neil Simon, Robert Schenkkan, and Wendy Wasserstein. 

When I think of Wilson writing new drafts of his play for Seattle Rep in a nearby café, or Wasserstein working in our rehearsal hall on a staged reading with the likes of Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore, I’m reminded that now-classic literature like Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman or even William Shakespeare’s Hamlet were once just new works in development—requiring the faith of a theater company, the tireless craft of a playwright, and an audience willing and curious enough to take a chance on something untested and unfamiliar in exchange for the thrill of discovering something new and enduring.

As we look to the future, our commitment to developing new work in alignment with our mission, vision, and values has never been stronger. In 2020, Seattle Rep announced that we would commission twenty new plays by 2030 (“20x30”), and we are on pace to exceed that number long before the decade’s end. We currently have a dozen new plays under commission by top playwrights in various stages of development, in a thrillingly dynamic range of styles and subjects, and each with something relevant and meaningful to say (or ask) about our world.

Over the past eight months, we held developmental workshops for four wildly different projects: a final pre-rehearsal workshop for Mother Russia, during which Lauren Yee prepared the script for production and made radical changes to the text; a staged reading of Seattle Rep-commissioned writer Amy Freed’s historical comedy The Hildegard Play about the medieval prophet, poet, and polymath Hildegard of Bingen; a staged reading of Benjamin Benne’s poetic, movement-fueled Seattle Rep commission (newly titled Wave After Wave), about the lifecycle of two cousins over the course of 100 years, which was previously shared with audiences here in a January 2024 reading; and two concert presentations in New York City of a deeply moving new musical based on the beloved young adult novel Freak the Mighty. 

This spring, we’ll hold public readings of two new plays: Frank Abe’s timely adaptation of No-No Boy, John Okada's classic twentieth century novel about Japanese American resistance to internment, and a riveting drama about physicist Lise Meitner called Fission, which was inspired by the popular Lost Women of Science podcast. I am excited to share that our 2025/26 Season will feature the world premiere of a new play for all ages by MacArthur "Genius" Award-winning playwright Larissa FastHorse in a co-production with our friends and neighbors at Seattle Children’s Theatre.

Expect to hear more about these and other new works as they advance through the development process toward productions at Seattle Rep or beyond. For now, thank you for being part of this journey in the life of Lauren Yee’s one-of-a-kind new play, Mother Russia.

Until next time,

Dámaso Rodríguez
Artistic Director 

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Dámaso Rodríguez   |   MANAGING DIRECTOR Jeffrey Herrmann

WORLD PREMIERE

By
Lauren Yee

Directed By
Nicholas C. Avila

* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Originally Commissioned by
Lincoln Center Theater

Developed at the
2017 Perry-Mansfield New Works Festival

Developed and World Premiered by
Seattle Rep

Producing Partners

Stephen Behnen, Mary Hornsby & Julia Behnen

Joanne R. Euster

Charlotte Lin & Robert Porter

Jeanne Sheldon & Marvin Parsons

Nancy Ward & Toby Bright

Anonymous

Production Sponsor

The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation
Theatre Visions Fund

Season Sponsor

March 6 – April 6, 2025 | Leo K. Theater

We welcome you to take pictures of the set before and after the show.

Share Your Photos 

#MotherRussiaSREP
@seattlerep

Photography, recording, and use of cell phones are strictly prohibited during the performance. 

Mission 

Seattle Rep collaborates with extraordinary artists to create productions and programs that reflect and elevate the diverse cultures, perspectives, and life experiences of our region. 

Vision 

Theater at the heart of public life.  

Values 

Artistic Vitality
Sustainability
Generous and Inclusive Practices 

Code of Conduct 

Seattle Rep is committed to being a racially, culturally, and socially just organization. We promote equity, diversity, and inclusion in all aspects of the work we do, and uphold a safe environment wherein all people are welcome to our space and are treated with respect and dignity.

It is our expectation that all patrons and those affiliated with Seattle Rep will align with this code of conduct and we reserve the right to relocate or remove any person from our theater who disregards this expectation.

Land Acknowledgment 

Seattle Rep acknowledges that we are on the traditional land of the Coast Salish people. We honor with gratitude the land itself and its innumerable stewards, past and present. We recognize Washington’s tribal nations, all of the Tribal signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott, and the urban Native communities who continue to live and thrive in this space. This acknowledgment does not take the place of authentic relationships with Indigenous communities, but serves as a first step in honoring the land we are on and the people and cultures it has nurtured.

Learn more about how Seattle Rep is working to support and build relationships with Native communities.

Emergencies 

In an evacuation, wait for an announcement for further instructions. Ushers will be available for assistance. Familiarize yourself with the exit route nearest your seat.   

Accessibility 

Seattle Rep is committed to accessibility for all and will work with patrons to accommodate requests. We offer a variety of options to help make our performances accessible.

ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES: We offer select English and Spanish Open Captioned, Audio Described, ASL-Interpreted, Sensory-Friendly, and mask-required  performances. Find dates here or contact the Box Office for more information.

HEARING LOOP: Seattle Rep is equipped with hearing loops that transmit sound directly to t-coil enabled hearing devices. There are also receivers and headphones available to borrow at Coat Check. Look for the Hearing Loop signs which indicate coverage at performances, ticket windows, concierge, and concessions.  

WHEELCHAIR SPACES, WIDER SEATS (BAGLEY), TRANSFER SEATS, AND ADDITIONAL SEATING OPTIONS: Please see an Usher or House Manager to see what accessible seating options are available for your performance.  

SENSORY GUIDES & KITS: Scene-by-scene guides of the sensory impact of this show and kits containing headphones, fidgets, sunglasses, and communication cards are available at Coat Check.  

LARGE PRINT & BRAILLE PROGRAMS: Available at Coat Check. 

ALL GENDER RESTROOMS are located on the second floor of the Leo K. Theater and a single-stall restroom is located near the Bagley Wright Theater restrooms on the first floor.  

WELLNESS ROOM is located near the Bagley Wright Theater restrooms on the first floor.  

Contact Us 

BOX OFFICE 
Call 206.443.2222
Text 206.565.2996 

ADMINISTRATIVE
206.443.2210 

ADDRESS 
155 Mercer St.
Seattle, WA 98109 

Andi Alhadeff

Katya

Andi Alhadeff (she/her) is a local performer and costumer. She is honored to be sharing and exploring this story, with these artists, on this stage. She was last seen at Seattle Rep playing Chana in Indecent. Select credits: Prospect Theater Company (Off-Broadway), Jasper in Deadland (Persephone); The 5th Avenue Theatre, Ragtime (Emma Goldman) and RENT (Joanne); Seattle Shakespeare Company, Twelfth Night (Olivia). She received her B.A. in theater from Northwestern University. She is incredibly grateful to her friends and family for all the support and beauty they bring to her life.

Julie Briskman

Mother Russia

Roles at Seattle Rep include Beard of Avon (Anne), Tiny Beautiful Things (Sugar), and Indecent (Vera). She is Co-Founder and Artistic Producer of The Seagull Project and was last seen as Charlie in the company’s highly acclaimed adaptation of The Lower Depths. Other theaters include Yale Repertory Theatre and Guthrie Theater, where she was a company member for seven seasons. Julie is a recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship for career excellence in acting, as well as the Ten Chimneys Fellowship with Olympia Dukakis, who became her dear friend and mentor in all things Chekhov.

Jesse Calixto

Dmitri

Jesse Calixto is a Latinx actor, musician, and playwright who graduated from the University of Idaho with a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance. He is excited to be back at Seattle Rep! He was a member of the understudy cast for I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter during the 2022/23 Season. Recent credits: Love’s Labour’s Lost, Comedy of Errors, Henry IV (Seattle Shakespeare Festival); Titus Andronicus, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Cyrano de Bergerac (Island Shakespeare Company); Irma Vep (Intiman Theatre); and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (GreenStage). He sends love to Taylor and Bella. @calixtojesse

Billy Finn

Evgeny

Billy Finn is thrilled to make his Seattle Rep debut in Mother Russia! Previous Seattle credits include Sherwood (Village Theatre) and A Christmas Carol (ACT). New York credits include appearances at Irish Repertory Theatre, Ars Nova, Playwrights Horizons, and others. Regional credits include The Wanderer (Paper Mill Playhouse); Macbeth in Stride (American Repertory Theatre); Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Million Dollar Quartet (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); King Lear, Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare Theatre Company); and many others. @billythefinn

Lauren Yee

Playwright

Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band premiered at South Coast Repertory, with productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, and Signature Theatre. Her play The Great Leap has been produced at Seattle Rep, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Steppenwolf Theatre, Atlantic Theater Company, and others. Honors: Doris Duke Artist, Whiting, and Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association Awards; Horton Foote and Kesselring Prizes. TV: “Pachinko” (Apple), “Soundtrack” (Netflix), “Interior Chinatown” (Hulu), “Billions” (Showtime), “Clipped” (FX). B.A. Yale, M.F.A. UCSD. laurenyee.com

“Mother Russia” Finds a Home at Seattle Rep

A feature on bringing the world premiere of a quirky and provocative comedy to Seattle. | By Todd Matthews

Encore+Encore Media Group

Nicholas C. Avila

Director

Nicholas C. Avila is thrilled to be making his directorial debut at Seattle Rep for the world premiere of Mother Russia. Nicholas has directed at theaters including Center REP, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, and Chance Theater, among others. Nicholas would like to give special thanks to the cast, crew, leadership, and staff for all of their support and care in making the telling of this story possible. Nicholas is a proud graduate of the Yale School of Drama’s M.F.A. Directing program.

Misha Kachman

Scenic & Costume Designer

Misha Kachman is grateful to be back at Seattle Rep after designing Two Trains Running (2018). Misha has worked at Arena Stage, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Court Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Opéra royal de Versailles, Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Opera, Syracuse Stage, Theatre for a New Audience, and Wilma Theater, among many others. He serves as Professor and Head of M.F.A. Design at University of Maryland. mishakachman.com

Peter Maradudin

Lighting Designer

Previous work at Seattle Rep includes Anna in the Tropics, Romeo and Juliet, and The Beauty Queen of Leenane, among many others. Broadway credits include Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Kentucky Cycle. Off-Broadway credits include Threesome, Hurrah at Last, and Ballad of Yachiyo. Peter has lit over 350 regional theater productions for Guthrie Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Mark Taper Forum, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory, and Portland Center Stage, among many others. He has also guided over 200 architectural lighting projects to completion.

Vincent Olivieri

Sound Designer & Composer

Vincent Olivieri is excited to make his Seattle Rep debut! Broadway: High and contributions to Radio Golf. NYC and Regional: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Geffen Playhouse, The Public Theater, Second Stage Theater, South Coast Repertory, Syracuse Stage, Virginia Stage Company, and Yale Repertory Theatre. He’s created designs for world premieres by Kirsten Greenidge, Lauren Gunderson, Charles Mee, Tira Palmquist, Christopher Oscar Peña, Christine Quintana, Adam Rapp, Theresa Rebeck, and August Wilson. M.F.A. Yale School of Drama.

Alyssa Kay

Fight Choreographer

Alyssa Kay (she/her) is a fight/intimacy director, actor, and movement coach from the Pacific Northwest. Her work was last seen at Seattle Rep in Little Women and Selling Kabul, and her choreography has been seen at theaters across the Puget Sound including Seattle Shakespeare Company, Village Theatre, Taproot Theatre Company, Tacoma Opera, Harlequin Productions, and more. Alyssa is a graduate of the University of Washington School of Drama, an Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, and a founding member of Pacific Northwest Theatrical Intimacy. alyssakay.net

Jessica C. Bomball

Stage Manager

Jessica (she/her) is delighted to be back at Seattle Rep. Regional theater highlights include The Skin of Our Teeth, Little Women, Lydia and the Troll, Bruce, Teenage Dick, Indecent, Tiny Beautiful Things (Seattle Rep); Once on This Island, Becoming Dr. Ruth (Village Theatre); The Secret Garden, Disney’s Aladdin, and A Christmas Story: The Musical (The 5th Avenue Theatre); The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Seattle Children’s Theatre); A Christmas Carol (ACT); Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika (Intiman Theatre); and King Lear (Santa Cruz Shakespeare).

Special Thanks

ACT Theatre
Misha Berson
Joshua Kahan Brody
Mikhail Fiksel
Scout

A Brief Timeline of American Companies in Russia

Mother Russia takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia in autumn 1992, three years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and almost a year following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Below are some key moments in the U.S. and Russia’s trade relationship over time, especially during Russia’s transition from Communism to capitalism. 

1763

Trade between Russia and the American colonies begins when the Wolfe, an American merchant ship, makes the first direct voyage from Boston to St. Petersburg, carrying a cargo of sugar, indigo, rum, mahogany, and sassafras. 

1980s

In response to rapid industrialization in Russia, major American businesses like Singer, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and New York Life Insurance establish subsidiaries there.

1917 

The Bolshevik Revolution marks the ascendency of Communism and the establishment of a new republic in Russia. Five years later, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and what are now Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia sign a treaty to create the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.). 

1918–1989 

The Soviet government implements a centrally planned economy, which heavily controls foreign trade, prioritizes domestic production, and imposes significant restrictions on U.S. businesses. The Cold War fuels suspicion toward American companies, which face added scrutiny for potential espionage activities. In 1972, PepsiCo establishes a groundbreaking trade deal with the Soviet government by agreeing to manufacture Pepsi in Russia in exchange for marketing and importing Soviet liquors to the U.S., but Western brands remain mostly unknown to people living in the former Communist bloc.

1989–1990s 

With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Iron Curtain begins to collapse, and by 1991, so does the Soviet Union. New capitalist economic policies begin moving Russia toward a market economy and open the door for foreign companies to operate freely (though Russian consumer spending is hampered by massive inflation and a sustained economic recession). 

2022  

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, McDonald's announces that it will sell its Russian business. Since then, hundreds of American consumer brands have also exited Russia, including Ford, GM, Nike, and Starbucks, while others have suspended sales there, such as Apple, Goodyear, and Levi Strauss. 

A Snapshot of St. Petersburg in Transition

Beyond the Stage

An Interview with Mother Russia’s Scenic &
Costume Designer, Misha Kachman 

We sat down with Misha Kachman, who was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, to explore how his designs for this show draw on his personal experience. 

Seattle Rep: What was it like living in St. Petersburg during the transition from Communism to capitalism? 

Misha Kachman: I was in my late teens and early twenties. It was very interesting, but also at times scary, disorienting, amusing, baffling, exciting, and terrifying. It was never boring. Money was always scarce, and I would have said that we lived paycheck to paycheck except for the fact that we didn’t have bank accounts. Russia was basically a cash economy until around 1999–2000, by which time my family and I had already left. The thing is, we really didn’t know how truly poor we were until the economic reforms began. 

I grew up in the 1970s in a single room in a communal flat, a room I shared with my parents, my twin brother, and a baby grand piano, but I didn’t feel particularly poor when I was a child. The sudden abundance of largely unaffordable consumer choices was disorienting and, for many, quite baffling. For instance, at some point in the early nineties, the TV would run a relentless stream of commercials for Head & Shoulders shampoo. Who, before the fall of Communism, knew that dandruff was such a massive problem?  

There was very little predictability and security of any sort, but there was freedom, and there was hope. 

SR: How did that experience influence your designs for this show? 

MK: I certainly had very little need for what designers call “research” because I have a very vivid memory of what everything used to look and feel like—streets, facades, trash, people’s faces, hair, clothes, etc. Strange juxtapositions of old Soviet apartment blocks and sleek advertisements for Western brands most people couldn’t afford yet; swarms of street vendors and kiosks next to subway stations; luxury German cars driven by men wearing burgundy dress coats and black turtlenecks who had brick Motorola cellphones demonstrably glued their ears while navigating gargantuan potholes and deteriorating tram tracks in the middle of St. Petersburg streets. 

SR: Is there anything you want the audience to know? Anything you hope they take away? 

MK: First, I hope they laugh a lot. I think Lauren’s play is very funny. Second, I can’t think about this production outside the context of what has transpired in and with Russia over the decades that followed. Particularly in the light of Russia’s war in Ukraine, which will have lasted a full three years by the time Mother Russia begins performances. But then again, as Russian philosopher Pyotr Chaadaev put it back in 1831 in his “Philosophical Letters,” Russia "represents nothing more than a gap in the rational existence of humanity.”

Support for Seattle Rep’s New Works program has been generously provided by the following donors and funders who have made contributions to support new play development and recent world-premiere plays at the Theater, including Lydia and the Troll, Mr. Dickens and His Carol, and today’s production of Mother Russia.

Stephen Behnen, Mary Hornsby & Julia Behnen 
Joanne R. Euster 
Jay Hereford & Margaret Winsor 
Winky‡ & Peter‡ Hussey 
Leslie Lackey 
The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund
Charlotte Lin & Robert Porter
Sandy McDade 
Jeanne Sheldon & Marvin Parsons
Helen R. Stusser 
Nancy Ward & Toby Bright 
Anonymous 
—
Shawn and Lynne Aebi
Avennia
Baird 
Coldstream Wealth Management
The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation
Sharon Lamm
National Alliance for Musical Theatre
Megan & Greg Pursell 
David Robinson 
Laurette & LeRoy Simmons 
Singhal Family  
Anonymous 
—
Rita Calabro & James Kelly  •  Blanca Chavez  •  Hermila Chavez • Cara Joy David  •  Ed & Joanne Ellis  •  Edie Harding & Dave Smith • Llyn Kawasaki  •  Kelly Kemmerling  •  Erika Lu  •  Mary Anne Stusser • Marj Press  •  Ruth Solnit & Emma Franklin • Laura Stusser-McNeil & KC McNeil  •  Susan Way & Clark Sorensen • Go West Youngblood  •  Anonymous (2) 

‡ Deceased

It takes a village to develop a play from an idea to a fully realized production. Your gift toward New Play Development at Seattle Rep is a direct investment in this process and the playwrights themselves, allowing them time and creative space to develop their work. 

Donate and Support New Work!

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