November 27 – December 28, 2024 | Jewell Mainstage Theatre
Now Playing in the Isaac Studio
Taproot Theatre
In This Program
- About The Play
- Director’s Note
- Company
- Taste of Show
- Dramaturgy: Writing for Laughs
- A Quiet Evening with an Improving Book...
- Lobby Gallery
- Print Edition
- More About Taproot Theatre
About The Play
Playing in the Jewell Mainstage Theatre
Cast
(In Order of Appearance)
Reginald Jeeves
Richard Nguyen Sloniker*
Bertie Wooster
Calder Jameson Shilling
Richard ‘Bingo’ Little
William Eames
Aunt Agatha
Kim Morris
Lady Bittlesham
Nikki Visel
Claude Wooster
Joe Moore
Mabel Goggin
Rachel Guyer-Mafune
Understudies
Reginald Jeeves
Jon Lutyens*
Bertie Wooster
Joe Moore
Richard “Bingo” Little & Claude Wooster
Giao Nguyen
Mabel Goggin
Rebecca Gelzer
Aunt Agatha & Lady Bittlesham
Llysa Holland
Production
Director
Karen Lund**
Assistant Director
Amanda E. Rountree
Scenic/Sound Design
Mark Lund
Costume Design
Kilah Williams
Lighting Design
Tucker Goodman
Stage Manager
Mackenzie Breda*
Dialect Coach
Marianna de Fazio
Dramaturgy
Sonja Lowe
Setting
The living area of Bertie’s flat in Mayfair.
Happy Christmas, Jeeves is approximately 2 hours, including one 15-minute intermission
* Appearing through an agreement between this theatre, Taproot Theatre Company, and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
**The Director and Choreographer are members of the STAGE DIRECTORS AND CHOREOGRAPHERS SOCIETY, a national theatrical labor union.
Director’s Note
The well-known British actor and comedian, Stephen Fry, wrote a lovely tribute about the author and humorist P.G. Wodehouse, stating that reading him
The question every Producing Artistic Director must ask about the plays they present is, “Why this story? Why now?” When I considered bringing the wit of Wodehouse to our stage during this holiday season, Mr. Fry’s words came to mind; as a director, I didn’t just want to laugh, I needed to laugh, and this delightfully silly romantic comedy was a balm to my soul. I reveled in the chance to linger with its kind characters in its gentle world.
If you feel a similar longing, I am SO excited to welcome you to Happy Christmas, Jeeves. Local playwrights Heidi McElrath and Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey have lovingly collected a troupe of classic Wodehouse characters and sent them romping through a zany holiday adventure. Like a big box of Christmas candy that you treat yourself to once a year, this script is light, sweet, and satisfying.
It’s an honor to bring this brand-new work to the Taproot stage. I’m confident it will delight audiences in theatres for many holiday seasons to come, but YOU are the very first audience to experience it.
Welcome! We invite you to relax, enjoy, and laugh along with us. And thank you for making Taproot Theatre part of your family’s festivities during this holiday season.
Enjoy the show!
Karen Lund
Company
Cast
William Eames (Richard “Bingo” Little) is thrilled to be making a return to the Taproot stage in Happy Christmas, Jeeves! His most notable work with Taproot Theatre includes The Book of Will, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, and A Woman of No Importance. Enjoy the show!
Rachel Guyer-Mafune (Mabel Goggin) is elated to make her Taproot debut! You may have seen her play on stage at Seattle Repertory Theatre, ACT Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, ArtsWest, Seattle Public Theater, and Washington Ensemble Theatre. Endless love to her family who support her through every facet of life.
Joe Moore (Claude Wooster) is thankful to be welcomed back to Taproot after previously having understudied in The Book of Will and How to Write A New Book for the Bible. He has previously been seen onstage in Seattle at ACT, ArtsWest, GreenStage, and Seattle Public Theater. Joe is also a proud co-founder of Northwest Original Works Theatre. Love to Mom, Dad, Levi, Molly, and a cat named Nut.
Kim Morris (Aunt Agatha) is delighted to be performing with this fantastic cast and crew, as well as adding to her 40-plus years of performing on the Taproot stage. Kim was last seen as Aunt Caroline in Black Coffee. Some of her favorite Taproot shows include Arsenic and Old Lace, Silent Sky, The Foreigner, All My Sons, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Lost in Yonkers. Kim also teaches with Taproot’s Acting Studio, working with our youngest actors, PreK-2nd grade! Big love to my family! 1 Corinthians 10:31
Calder Jameson Shilling (Bertie) was last seen at Taproot as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position. Selected Taproot credits include Jeeves Takes a Bow (2023), and See How They Run (2022). Calder is overjoyed to be returning to the world of PG Wodehouse to reprise his role as Bertie Wooster!
Richard Nguyen Sloniker (Reginald Jeeves) is happy to return to Taproot Theatre. Favorite roles include Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (Book-It Repertory Theatre), Black Beauty in Black Beauty (Seattle Children’s Theatre), and Hercule Poirot in Black Coffee (Taproot Theatre). Video games: Halo Infinite, Guild Wars 2, and Destiny 2. MFA: University of Washington.
Nikki Visel (Lady Bittlesham) was last seen on the Taproot stage in The Book of Will. Other Seattle-area credits include Seattle Public Theater (Pipeline, Proof), Harlequin Productions (Clybourne Park, Until the Flood), Seattle Shakespeare Company/Wooden O (Pericles; Henry IV, Part 2; Julius Caesar), and ArtsWest (Distracted). Her original work has been seen at On the Boards. Nikki is also passionate about her work with Path With Art, where she teaches acting and personal storytelling (pathwithart.org).
Understudies
Llysa Holland (Lady Bittlesham/Aunt Agathat u/s) is a co-artistic instigator of theater simple, performing at over 50 festivals on four continents. Delightfully closer, she is grateful to return to the Taproot stage (The Book of Will, Enchanted April, Charley’s Aunt, Diana of Dobson’s) with this delightful crew. (Summer 2025: WONDERLAND, a park adventure! theatersimple.org)
Rebecca Gelzer (Mabel Goggin u/s) is joyed to return to Taproot after understudying Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley last December. Recent credits include Harlequin Production’s Pride and Prejudice and InD Theatre’s Men on Boats. She sends love and gratitude to her family and friends, but most especially to her grandmother Lorelei.
Jon Lutyens (Reginald Jeeves u/s) was last at Taproot in A Civil War Christmas, and elsewhere recently in ACT Theatre’s A Christmas Carol, Thalia’s Umbrella’s Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, and Seattle Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. When not onstage, Jon works with educational theatre programs. Jon is a WWU graduate and proud union member.
Giao Nguyen (Richard “Bingo” Little & Claude Wooster u/s) is a Vietnamese-American actor/filmmaker/director, and he is thrilled to be joining the incredible team for Jeeves this Christmas. Previous works include Hark the Harold (Taproot Theatre Touring), Spider’s Web (Centerstage Theatre), and Sweeney Todd (Vashon Repertory Theatre). Huge thanks to Heidi, and all love to everyone in his corner. More at giao-nguyen.com
Production Team
Mackenzie Breda (Stage Manager) (she/her) is a freelance Seattle stage manager and theatre technician. She has a Theatre Design and Technology degree from Seattle Pacific University. She is so excited to be back at Taproot this Christmas! Other credits include work with Acrobatic Conundrum, UW Drama, Seattle Public Theater, Seattle Historical Theatre Project, and The Feast. She also does live event work around Seattle. Much love to her family and friends! mackenziebreda.com
Marianna de Fazio (Dialect Coach) has coached 15 productions for Taproot through the years. Favorites include The Beams are Creaking, Dracula, and The Hello Girls. She coaches at theaters and schools around the region, as well as individuals in accent modification and public speaking. You’ve also seen Marianna on stage at Taproot, most recently in As It is in Heaven. You can also hear Marianna's work in A Christmas Carol at ACT, or catch her onstage in Letters from Max at Seattle Public Theater in February. mariannadefazio.com
Tucker Goodman (Lighting Designer) is the Director of Theatre Production at Seattle Pacific University. Outside of SPU, he has recently designed lights for Taproot Theatre Company (A Charlie Brown Christmas) and scenery for Seattle Shakespeare Company (Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Comedy of Errors), Butler Opera Center (Carmen), and Cape Fear Regional Theatre (Welcome to Arroyo’s).
Sonja Lowe (Dramaturg) has a BA in Theatre from Seattle Pacific University and a MLitt in Dramaturgy from the University of Glasgow. She is the Literary Manager and Resident Dramaturg at Taproot Theatre Company and also contributes dramaturgical research to other regional theatres in the Pacific Northwest.
Karen Lund (Producing Artistic Director) has been on the Taproot staff since 1993 and became Taproot’s Producing Artistic Director in January 2021. Taproot was recently voted the Seattle Times People’s Choice Best of the Northwest for Theatre 2024, and recieved the 2024 Gregory Award for Outstanding Performing Arts Organization of the Year. Recent directing work includes Taproot Theatre’s Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position, the award winning production of The Book of Will, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, The Hello Girls, and A Woman of No Importance. She has also directed at several theatres around the country and coast to coast. She is the past president of the board of directors for Theatre Puget Sound, a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union (SDC), a professional voice-over artist, and the recipient of numerous theatre and film directing awards. Karen thanks her amazing family, Mark, Jake, and Hannah.
Mark Lund (Scenic & Sound Design) has designed many things in many places. Recent favorites include The Book of Will, The Hello Girls, A Woman of No Importance, Black Coffee, and Daddy Long Legs. Other design work includes Seattle Shakespeare, Book-It, and award-winning short films. Mark has also voiced hundreds of regional & national projects including T-Mobile, The North Face, NHL, FedEx, Amazon and many years as Falco Lombardi in Starfox and Smash Bros for Nintendo. Love to Karen, Hannah, and Jake.
Amanda E. Rountree (Assistant Director) is a director and artist with a passion for stories that expand the traditional canon, and stories that center memory, myth, and ritual. Select directing credits include Ellen McLaughlin’s The Oresteia; Photograph 51, (UW School of Drama); Glass. Kill. Bluebeard’s Friends. (Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s SJAM); Medea (The Homespun Players); and The Crucible (New Threads Theatre Company). She has also worked with Copious Love Productions, Seattle Public Theater, and Critical Mass Performance Group, and is thrilled to be back at Taproot after assistant directing My Lord, What a Night. MFA Directing, University of Washington. aerountree.com
Kilah Williams (Costume Design) manages the costume shop at Taproot Theatre and works as a costume designer and maker around the Pacific Northwest. She hails from Louisiana but moved to the great state of Washington after finishing her education in Texas, Cardiff, and Milan. Locally she has worked with Island Shakespeare Festival, Seattle Academy, IAJ Media, Chrysalis Circus, Reboot Theatre, and others.
Playwrights
Please see Playwright’s bios in Dramaturgy.
Equity
Actor’s Equity Association (“Equity”), founded in 1913, is the U.S. labor union that represents more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers nationwide. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theater as an essential component of society and advances the careers of its members by negotiating wages, working conditions, and providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Actors’ Equity is a member of the AFL-CIO and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. #EquityWorks
Production Crew
Crew
Assistant Stage Manager
Ethan Swim
Property Master
Andrea Spraycar
Stage Manager/Crew Swing
Grace Heller
Casting
Casting Director
Bretteney Beverly
Costume Staff
Dresser
Luna McMeen
Draper
Martha Mitchell
Stitcher
Scían Hayes
Wig Designer
Joyce Degenfelder
Scenic & Lighting Staff
Master Electrician
Aiyana Stephens
Scenic Carpenter
Tim Samland †
Light Board Operator
Matthew Ray
Sound Board Operator
Andi Villegas
Electricians
Clint Bull, Rob Falk, Matthew Ray
Scenic Strike/Load-In
Elisabeth Chapman †, Theresa Oborn †
† All stage work performed by employees represented by I.A.T.S.E., Local No. 15.
Taste of Show
Stop by concessions before the show to pre-order your intermission refreshments.
Taproot’s concessions menu features Pacific Northwest wine and beer, non-alcoholic beverages, and a variety of snacks, including specialty items chosen specifically for this show.
Food & Drink Specials curated for Happy Christmas, Jeeves:
Snacks
Toffee Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Lá Liath Bakery)
Jammy Dodgers
(Lá Liath Bakery)
Simple Scone with Jam + Butter
(Seattle Scone Co.)
Featured Beverages
Drones Club – Bourbon / Maple Syrup / St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram / Walnut Bitters
• A playwright special by Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey
The Mabel Gløggin (non-alcoholic spiced Gløgg) Juices / Spices / Tea
• Developed by Taproot Communications Manager, Daytona Danielsen
Dramaturgy: Writing for Laughs
Playwrights Heidi McElrath and Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey have a long history in the Pacific Northwest theatre community. We asked them to share a bit about themselves and their experience bringing the world of British novelist and humorist P.G. Wodehouse to life on stage.
How did you meet and where did the idea for this collaboration begin?
Heidi: My first ever dramaturgy job was for Taproot’s Bach at Leipzig, and Nathan was in the cast! But we didn’t really get to know each other until I was dramaturg for Jeeves Intervenes, which he directed. That project was a great experience, so when Nathan approached me to work on a holiday show together, it was an easy yes. He has more experience in playwriting, but I had just finished the deepest of Wodehouse dives, so I got to bring all the little details that make these stories so fun.
Nathan: What Heidi said….We had such a good time working on Jeeves Intervenes that we chatted about putting our heads together on a holiday adaptation of the Jeeves stories. The holiday season just beautifully lends itself to hijinks and mayhem, so we thought it would be a beautiful marriage of setting and characters.
What do you love about Wodehouse’s writing?
Nathan: I always find that the key to comedy is surprising the audience or reader, and Wodehouse is the master of this. He sets us up so beautifully with expectation after expectation, only to subvert those expectations to hilarious effect. I also love that his works are harmless, family-friendly fun! No one is being maliciously mocked, there is no true villain, there is only Bertie getting himself into progressively challenging straits while Jeeves patiently waits to save him.
Heidi: For me it’s all about the wordplay and the essential goodness of the characters. Bertie and his pals aren’t always the smartest, but they tend to be very kind and generous. Agatha is harsh, but she’s doing what she was taught to protect her family. Jeeves is brilliant, but not snooty. They really do all care for each other. Stephen Fry calls Wodehouse “sunlit perfection” and that says it all, I think.
What is the particular challenge of translating Wodehouse to stage?
Nathan: I would say there are two large challenges—the first is that Wodehouse is the master of the short story form, which is delightful as a reader. Unfortunately, it means that as an adapter to the stage, we typically have to combine 2–4 pieces together to get a full-length play. Much of my adaption work has been from longer novels, so I’m editing and trimming. With Wodehouse, we had to do the reverse-embellish and combine. The second major challenge that I found with adapting Wodehouse was creating the climactic dramatic action. Jeeves and Wooster stories tend to follow a pattern: Bertie has a friend in need of assistance, Bertie attempts to give it, everything goes wrong, and Jeeves is there to save the day. In a longer format, like a full-length play, we want to build to a dramatic, climactic conclusion, sometimes involving a chase or a confrontation between characters. Those aren’t written into the source text, so they have to be earned as we ramp up the conflict.
Heidi: I totally agree with Nathan, of course, but to add on, I’ll ring back to my last answer here: wordplay. There are many people who argue that Wodehouse at his heart is unadaptable. The easiest example of this is his recurring character Rupert Psmith. Mr. Psmith added the P to his surname to distinguish himself from other Smiths, but always notes that the P is silent, like in pshrimp. It’s harder to do a joke like that verbally.
Do you have a Wodehouse quote that you love?
Heidi: Of course I love all the aforementioned Psmith business, but I’ll add this quote, “I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” My wordplay king.
Nathan: There are SO many, but I truly enjoy this one:
“Bertie: What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this?
Jeeves: There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter.”
Nathan Kessler-Jeffrey serves as the Executive Artistic Director at San Juan Community Theatre in Friday Harbor, WA, but moonlights as a playwright with an emphasis in adapting classic literary works for the stage. He has directed numerous mainstage and touring shows for Taproot as well as productions for ACT, Driftwood Players, American Globe, Seattle Play Series, Abilene Shakespeare Festival, and others. Taproot audiences may remember his time onstage in The Great Divorce, The Beams are Creaking, Diana of Dobson’s, Bach at Leipzig, and the best costume he’s ever worn as Valere in Tartuffe.
Heidi McElrath is a playwright, printmaker, general enthusiast, and Master of Shakespeare Studies (according to Stratford-upon-Avon’s Shakespeare Institute). For Taproot Theatre, Heidi dramaturged Bach at Leipzig, Camping with Henry and Tom, and Jeeves Intervenes, in whose rehearsal room this project began! She is a proud founder of Lucky Panda Presents and has worked with TeenTix, The Co-Conspirators, Seattle Public Theater, The 5th Avenue Theatre, Lamb’s Players Theatre, the 14/48 Projects, Bread and Puppet Theater, and the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as spending many joyful years on staff at Seattle Shakespeare. She takes very seriously the human need for silliness, and this is her professional playwriting debut.
A Quiet Evening with an Improving Book...
Playwright Heidi McElrath recommends…
Jeeves in the Springtime
This story has the first incidence of Bingo pretending Bertie is Rosie M. Banks! It also reveals that Jeeves might sometimes have ulterior motives for his brilliant schemes. Published as part of “The Inimitable Jeeves,” 1923
Bingo and the Little Woman
Bingo falls in love for real after countless infatuations. After this, Bingo is happy and cared for by his brilliant wife for the rest of the stories! She really does keep him “out of the soup.” Published as part of “The Inimitable Jeeves,” 1923
The Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustace
Twins Claude and Eustace are Bertie’s most rambunctious relatives (combined into one cousin in our play)! This story has them being shipped off to the colonies, which they do everything in their power to avoid. Published as part of “The Inimitable Jeeves,” 1923
Want more? Here are some other favorites!
Comrade Bingo
Here we find more of Bingo’s romance silliness, as well as seeing just how far Bertie will go to support his friends. Published as part of “The Inimitable Jeeves,” 1923
Bertie Changes His Mind
I like this story because it’s the only story narrated by Jeeves! The others are all narrated by Bertie, but this is a great chance to get inside that once-in-a-generation mind. Published as part of “Carry On, Jeeves,” 1925
Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit
This story is still under copyright, so it wasn’t a source for Happy Christmas, Jeeves, but it’s a very silly romp including punctured water bottles, a cancelled trip to Monte Carlo, and Bertie in love! Published as part of “Very Good, Jeeves,” 1930.
Lobby Gallery
Finding Whimsy in the Unexpected: Paintings by Steffanie Lorig
November 25 – December 28
If ever there’s a time for whimsy, it’s at Christmas. We love the images of Santa and elves and flying reindeer. We relish the sparkle of tiny lights and tinsel on trees brought indoors. We celebrate life and family and cherish their faces around our tables.
The paintings Steffanie Lorig creates play on all those elements, exploring figures and fantasy, referencing dreams and surprises. Just as the unexpected — and honestly, the chaos — of Happy Christmas, Jeeves brings smiles to our faces, Steffanie’s whimsical works will do the very same.
“I have always seen faces in random things. The word for this is “pareidolia.” It sounds more like a disease than a blessing, but it’s something I’ve enjoyed all my life — I see sleeping giants in rock formations; a wink in the folds of a crumpled-up towel; a cat in spilled tea.
“In my art, I take this inclination a step further, deliberately creating textured chaos, then making correlations and coaxing out whimsical and dreamlike forms and figures. To eliminate control and increase happy accidents, I often use found objects to apply or remove the paint and then shape what appears into meaning. The resulting folkloric subjects are often ambidextrous — featuring faces within faces within figures.
“By taking generous creative liberties and playing with logic-defying juxtapositions, I explore the relationship between chance and order. In an intersection between modern expressionism, outsider art, and surrealism, the final paintings are multi-layered, embracing the unexpected and unpredictable, challenging the viewer to seek out the unexpected.”
Steffanie is based in Seattle, Washington and is a designer for an international consulting firm. She founded a social enterprise called Art with Heart that helped over 155,000 children around the world and authored eleven books aimed at improving mental health through creative expression. She has a B.A. in visual communication and design from Northern Arizona University.
All items are for sale unless marked by a red dot or NFS. Please visit steffanielorig.com to contact the artist for purchase and to view more of her work.
— Gina Cavallo, Curator & Director of Development, Taproot Theatre
Announcing the 2025 Season: Timed Exposure!
New subscriptions available now!
4-Play and 3-Play subscriptions are available for the 2025 season.
Welcome to Taproot Theatre Company’s 2025 Season: Timed Exposure! This season, the stories on Taproot’s Mainstage are all about revealing truths from the past to give us hope for the future. Timed Exposure is a collection of stories reminding us that history is never static, and everything is connected.
Up Next in the Isaac Studio Theatre
Lewis and Tolkien
By Dean Batali
Directed by Karen Lund
Regional premiere! In the cozy Eagle and Child Pub, renowned authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien joust over pints and memories. Years after the Inklings, they have grown distant, diverging in matters of theology, marriage, and literature. In this fictional encounter, they delve into their personal and professional rivalries, igniting the stage with their wit and wisdom. 14+
January 22 – February 22, 2025
Grab Your Seats!
The best seat in the house…is the one with your name on it!
Taproot Theatre is YOUR theatre — what better way to celebrate that than through this legacy opportunity!
$1000 per named seat • Fewer than 60 left!
Winter Acting Camps and Classes available now!
Register today!
Winter Acting Classes begin February 3. These 9-week classes for kids in Pre-K through 12th grade culminate in a performance for friends and family.
Midwinter Break Camps run February 17 – 21 for kids in grade K – 12.
A Holiday of Gratitude!
What a year it has been! Challenging? Yes. But hopeful? Oh yes, definitely yes, and that’s because of people like you!
As you’ve likely heard from us, theatres across the country are struggling right now, and Taproot is no different. Even with increasingly strong attendance numbers, the 2024 cost of doing business continues to outpace Taproot’s ability to keep up. Simply put, it costs more than ever to fulfill our mission and produce all the programming Taproot’s community has come to value.
To meet the needs of our new reality, we began a very special fundraising campaign in the early months of 2024. Since then, we’ve made huge strides, beating monthly goals and raising more money by August than all of last year. But Taproot’s fiscal year ends on December 31, so now is the critical time to reach our $1.95 million goal.
The extraordinary support of patrons like you has a huge impact on so many!
This holiday season, let us share with you how grateful YOUR theatre is for YOU. We work hard every day to make this theater building as welcoming, comfortable, and engaging as possible, and you come to see us and enjoy that! We also love to chat with you in the lobby, go to coffee and catch up, or take a phone call to assist with a question. We love to hear your ideas and thoughts on performances, on our concessions, on the art in our lobby, or on anything else we do.
To make sure we can provide this experience to as many people as possible, we ask you to consider a gift before the end of 2024. Will you help us reach our $500,000 End-of-Year Goal?
Thank you for your generosity and support!
In the words of the inimitable Jeeves, Happy Christmas!
Print Edition
More About Taproot Theatre
Taproot Theatre
Staff and Board
Directions and Plan Your Visit
About Taproot Theatre
