the book of liz
by amy and david sedaris

Presented by The Yard Repertory

program

Production Team/Crew

Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Ennis

Assistant Director . . . . . . . . . . .Yesenia Rego

Lighting/Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Fairfield, Gal Petel

Stagehand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jaime Rockafellow, Nath Milburn

Producer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brett Johnson

Musical Director . . . . . . . . . . . . Frank Fairfield

all songs written and performed by Frank Fairfield

Theatre Ops Manager . . . . . . . Isaac Landfert

Summary

Sister Elizabeth Donderstock is sweaty, and Squeamish—part of a remote ascetic religious community called Cluster Haven—and has been her whole life. She’s the inventor of the locally-adored cheese balls that sustain the existence of her parish. After realizing her contributions go unnoticed by the leaders of Cluster Haven, she decides to try her luck in the outside world.

Scene List

Scene 1: Parish Meeting House

Scene 2: Parish Kitchen

Scene 3: Side of the Road

Scene 4: Parish Meeting House

Scene 5: The Caravan/Oxana and Yvone’s Place

Scene 6: Plymouth Crock Family Restaurant

Scene 7: Parish Kitchen

Scene 8: Plymouth Crock Family Restaurant

Scene 9: Doctor’s Office

Scene 10: Parish Kitchen

Scene 11: Parish Kitchen

Characters

Reverend Tollhouse

Sister Elizabeth Donderstock

Brother Nathaniel Brightbee

Sister Constance Butterworth

Oxana

Yvone

Visil

Brother Hesikiah

Duncan Trask

Donny Polk

Cecily Cole

Sophisticated Visitor

Rudy Bruton

Doctor Barb Ginley

Ms. Yolanda Foxley

cast bios

Pascal Boulet is an actor originally from Paris who moved to LA from NY. There he worked in comedy shows and plays around the city. His credits include Uncle Bob, Naturally Phenomenal, Satire off-Broadway and Fifty Shades of Greyroom. In LA he worked with Dean Productions Theatre on putting up a production of The Importance of Being Earnest in Brand Park to benefit a charity that helps children with cancer and was involved in various movies and shorts as background, writer, director and actor. You might see Pascal as Brother Nathaniel Brightbee or Duncan Trask.

Calvin DiLibero earned a BA in screenwriting from Emerson College where he also wrote and performed sketch comedy. Since graduating in 2019, he’s been slugging it out in the entertainment industry. He’s super stoked to have found The Yard Repertory and to be a part of this wonderful creative community. You may see Calvin as Brother Nathaniel Brightbee or Donny Polk.

Skylar Gaines is thrilled to be participating in The Yard Theater’s triumphant return to live performances following the *ahem* state of the world. If you were watching virtual theatre throughout the pandemic, you may have seen them in Cloud Theatric’s Lady Windermere’s Fan (Arthur Windermere) or The Red Line (Connor Whitten). Pre-lockdown, they could be seen in Assassins (John Wilkes Booth), Young Frankenstein (Frederick Frankenstein), and Butterflies are Free (Don Baker), the latter being another show they were blind in. They’d like to thank their friends and family for their support and for likely being the only folks who’ve read this far.

Shev Glaser Elisheva is a recent grad of Emerson College with a BFA in Theatre and Performance. She has most recently been seen in Cut, a short film that premiered at Screamfest, as well as Is This The One? A short film that premiered at Outfest. This spring, she will be seen in the feature film Maybelline Prince. Elisheva runs the video department for The Happy Broadcast both on TikTok and Instagram. You may see Shev as Sister Elizabeth Donderstock, Sister Constance Butterworth, Oxana,

Anna Gould is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Acting. She has also done intensives at Second City, American Academy of the Dramatic Arts, and the Goodman Theatre. She has recently played Lady Windermere in Lady Windermere’s Fan and Dance Captain/ Ensemble in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”. She would like to thank her wonderful family for always supporting her dreams and letting her try out weird accents on them.

Dave Hawthorne has been performing for over 50 years including doing stand-up comedy with Billy Crystal in We The People, acting in various tv shows and films, as well as writing for shows and comedians such as Jay Leno. But the best thing Dave says he’s done in his 50 year career is create the Yard Theater company with his best friend John Ennis and all the wonderful actors. 

Ari Holub is a lifelong performer, mostly as a musician, and more recently as an actor and comedian. He is a dropout of several top-notch theater arts programs. He has been with The Yard since September 2021.

Brett Johnson is a Boston-by-way-of-Nairobi-raised actor and comedian. He’s  performed stand-up at clubs and festivals across the U.S., is cofounder of the award-winning comedy video team Brainfox and his critically-acclaimed solo show BRETT JOHNSON: POLY-THEIST has toured 20 American cities and a month-long run at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Brett is co-manager of The Yard Theater and you may catch him as Yvone, Rudy or Donny in The Book of Liz.

Doug Anthony Jones was born in Canada and raised in Los Angeles. He regularly performed improv and sketch comedy at UCB Theatre in Hollywood from 2005 to 2012. Besides dozens of TV commercials, he has appeared on the Emmy award winning TV series Parks and Recreation and Drunk History.

Julianne Kolb is an actor, writer, improviser and honest to god LA native who is thrilled to be part of the Yard's repertory company. She joins the Yard from UCB where she completed the improv program and formed part of the cast of the Character Team Costello. She has also studied cold reading with Doug Warhit and scene study with Lynette McNeill. She feels equally at home in a theater and on a karaoke stage, and is excited to perform for you on Saturday nights!

Nath Milburn is a cartoonist, filmmaker, and foodie from Kentucky who focuses mostly behind the camera or curtains. Maybe you'll see him on stage, maybe not. Nath graduated from Savannah College of Art & Design in 2010 and has been in LA since 2014. He’s worked for Nickelodeon, Fox, Disney, Adult Swim, and plenty more. Find him at lilbakerfilms.com or nathmilburn.com.

Yesenia Rego is an actor, director, and miniaturist. She has a BFA from Emerson College and is a national finalist for poetry recitation. She’s built Star Wars sets for Hasbro at ComicCon and done stand-up in greasy burger basements. Her documentary about sugar cane villages in the Dominican Republic has been screened internationally. She sings in a rock band and is excellent at the Playstation 4 game, Rock Band.

Rosie Ryden is an actor, singer-songwriter and visual artist. She received her BFA in Theatre & Performance from Emerson College in May of 2020 and trained with the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center as well as NHSI Cherubs at Northwestern University. After returning home to her native Los Angeles, Rosie is so grateful to have found a way back on stage as of July 2021 with The Yard Theater’s Repertory Troupe. Her recent roles include: Liz, Sister Butterworth, and Oxana (aka Mr. Peanut) in “The Book of Liz” by Amy and David Sedaris.

Kyle Tomlin is an actor, writer, comedian, and improviser. Kyle has been acting professionally in Los Angeles since he was two, and has been a member of SAG-AFTRA since he was 7. He graduated from DePaul University with a BFA in Film and Television, concentrating in Comedy FIlmmaking. Kyle is also a graduate of the Conservatory Program at the Second City Chicago and studied comedy and improv at The Second City, The Groundlings, and UCB. You can catch him performing standup around LA and as a member of the acting repertoire at the Yard Theater. 

TJ Wright is a former NFL player and current trap rock artist, actor and model. He’s excited to further his development as an actor here at the Yard Theater.

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Special Thanks

Martin Olson

Anthony Miguel

Philip Sgriccia

Wanda Rego

Bob Schad

Allen Price

Joan Lyons 

Chelsea Spirito 

Brett McCabe 

Sage Guyton 

Geena Santiago 

Jesse Abbruzzese

Augustus Viveiros 

Joel Samataro 

Jordan Wold 

Dawn Cody

Lee Ann Cone

Jill Kimball 

Alison MacLean

Christopher Good

Callie Webb 

John Pemberton 

Wandie Kabule 

Durian Songbird

Stephen Cohen

Jordan Wold

Charlie Fonville

EBS FRAM