Radio Golf Program

Greetings from Peace Mountain Theatre Company

Happy New Year 2022! It is so good to greet you in this new year. Yes, we are still dealing with COVID-19, in all of its variants. But, if you are vaccinated and boosted, things are in most cases, much better. The main thing to celebrate is that theatre is back after almost two years in the dark. We missed presenting to you, our audience, and you missed seeing us live on the stage. We know this by the reception shows on Broadway and here in Washington received this past fall. Our own show, Disgraced, performed here at The Writer’s Center, was critically acclaimed to sold-out performances.

We hope you enjoy our current production of August Wilson’s play Radio Golf, a winner of the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play addresses issues faced by black leaders in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, as they work to revitalize the neighborhood they grew up in without destroying an important historic part of the community. The play reflects the gentrification issues that face so many attempts to revitalize our cities, in this case, those facing the issues are the Black leaders in the community.

We complete this season’s triad of shows in May with Edward Albee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Three Tall Women. You won’t want to miss this wonderful masterwork portrayal of three women – aged and facing senility, middle-aged and cynical, young and self-assured. The Wall Street Journal reported it as “An extraordinarily brilliant new play…the best, most forceful play [Albee] had given us.”

I want to thank the cast and crew of Radio Golf, The Writer’s Center, and our volunteers for making Radio Golf a success. We could not have done it without them! I also want to thank our supporters: those who have subscribed as Friends of Peace Mountain Theatre Company and those who have made contributions to us. We are a non-profit theatre and depend on your financial support, as well as ticket revenue, to put on these productions. I also want to thank you, our audience, for your patience and cooperation with our COVID-19 protocols, put in place to protect you, our cast, and our staff.

Sincerely,
Hal Freed, Producer and President
Peace Mountain Theatre Company

Playwright: August Wilson

August Wilson (1945 -2005) was born Frederick August Kittel in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and became one of the most acclaimed playwrights in America. His father was a German immigrant and his mother, Daisy Wilson, was African-American. Although he grew up in an ethnically diverse neighborhood inhabited predominantly by Blacks and Jewish and Italian immigrants, his biracial heritage made him feel as if he fit into neither Black nor White culture and he struggled to find a sense of belonging well into his adulthood. He dropped out of several high schools, spent a short time in the Army, and worked at various odd jobs as porter, dishwasher, short-order cook, and dishwasher.

With it all, Mr. Wilson was a voracious reader; his extensive use of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh resulted in its later awarding him an honorary high school diploma. He never formally studied theater and often said that he “got his education from the four B’s: the blues; the art of painter Romare Bearden and the writing of poet Amiri Baraka; and writer/poet Jorge Luis Borges. ‘The foundation of my playwriting is poetry,’ Wilson once said.”

He is best known for his series of ten plays, collectively called The Pittsburgh Cycle or The Century Cycle, which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the Black community in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. These plays, one for each decade of the 20th century, vividly bring to life the voices of the people, the cadence and rhythm richly expressing the joy and anger, humor, and sadness that was the daily life in the Hill District over the past100 years. Radio Golf was the last play of the cycle, premiering in 2005. Sadly, it was also the last play to be written by August Wilson; he died only a few months after its premiere. His work has been recognized with the highest awards in the world of theatre: Pulitzer Prizes for Fences and The Piano Lesson; New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, and Jitney; and the Tony Award for Fences. At Mr. Wilson’s death, playwright Tony Kushner wrote, “The playwright's voice in American culture is perceived as having been usurped by television and film, but he [August Wilson] reasserted the power of drama to describe large social forces, to explore the meaning of an entire people's experience in American history.”

Director's Notes: Eleanore Tapscott

With Radio Golf, esteemed playwright August Wilson completes his Pittsburgh Cycle, a decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience. Set in 1997 in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the action of the play takes place in the Bedford Hills Redevelopment office, where an upper-middle-class African-American politician has a plan to revitalize this community and become the city’s first black mayor. The play asks us to consider not only what price assimilation, but how do we reconcile the tensions that arise when political and business success threaten family history and community heritage.

For me, what has been most exciting about working on this play is the remarkable attention with which August Wilson depicts these characters who offer various perspectives on individual achievement and the pursuit of business/professional success versus acknowledging one’s heritage and doing right for the larger community. Wilson writes with such power and poetry. The language in this play is incredible. Each of the play’s five characters has at least one moment of grand poetic language where they bare their souls and share their humanity. That is a key point in Wilson’s work – showing that African-Americans are people with their own culture and history distinct from other cultures, but fundamentally having the same needs as others. We want to be part of the larger community. We want to be valued and seen. As one of the characters in the play says: “I am not invisible. I am here.”

Radio Golf, as are all the plays in the cycle, is relevant now because we continue to fight forces that are against us. Blighted communities with limited (or no) resources, bad air, tainted water. We continue to battle that our history in this country, with its legacy of racism, be told.

Eleanore Tapscott

Director

Characters

HARMOND WILKS
MarQuis Fair

MAME WILKS
Nefertari Rasaq

ROOSEVELT HICKS
Robert Freemon

STERLING JOHNSON
Mack Leamon

ELDER JOSEPH BARLOW
Addison Switzer

Setting

The Hill District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The Office of Bedford Hills Redevelopment, Inc., in a storefront on Centre Avenue

Time

1997

Technical and Production Support

Producer

HAL FREED

Director
ELEANORE TAPSCOTT

Stage Manager
ARIANA COLLIGAN

Set Designer/Master Carpenter
STEVE LESHIN

Assistant to the Master Carpenter,
Assistant Stage Manager
HAMZA ELNAGGAR

Properties and Set Dressing
ANDY REILLY

Lighting Designer
DON SLATER

Sound Designer/Light, Sound Operator
MATTHEW DATCHER

Costume Designer
STEPHENIE YEE

Marketing Director
PERI SCHUYLER

Marketing Team
SHANANIGENZ, LLC

DAVID DUBOV

STEPHENIE YEE

Commercial Ads
HAL FREED

Photographer
BRAD BALFOUR

Ticketing Manager
KEN PARETZKY

Program
PERI SCHUYLER

SHANANIGENZ, LLC

Cast

MarQuis Fair (Harmond)

MarQuis is thrilled to have the privilege of joining his first production with Peace Mountain Theatre Company. He has been a mainstay as an actor in the DMV theater scene appearing in such productions as Restoration Stage's Chocolate Covered Ants and The Very Last Days of The First Colored Circus, Rockville Musical Theatre’s Hairspray, Saint Marks Players’ South Pacific, and Motherhood Out Loud at the Greenbelt Arts Center. Mr. Fair also hosts a popular podcast “So...Here's the thing...”

Robert Freemon (Roosevelt)

Robert has participated in a number of shows in Florida, including RQL Production's (Rory Lawrence Productions’) Fighting God and A Raisin in the Sun at the Straz Center in Tampa. At the DC Black Theatre & Arts Festival in 2019, he played Turner Davis in Tears of the Soul, which won Festival Favorite in the full-length play category. In 2021, he played Dr. Martin Luther King in Rockville Little Theatre’s live-stream production of The Mountaintop, and most recently, led the cast as Clay in Clay’s Place: Inside my Blue Mind at the Chesapeake Arts Center. Robert is an avid reader, drummer, and stand-up comedian. He remains dedicated to furthering his skill sets with his role as Roosevelt Hicks in Radio Golf.

Mack Leamon (Sterling)

Mack is thrilled to be making his debut at Peace Mountain Theatre Company. His recent theater credits include: Fences (Little Theatre of Alexandria); Detroit '67 (Strand Theater); Heard It Through the Grapevine - Motown Moments Tribute (The Finest Performance Foundation); Two Trains Running (Spotlighters Theatre); A Raisin in the Sun (Arena Stage); Stick Fly (Ankh Repertory Theatre); Radio Golf (Hard Bargain Players).

Nefertari Rasaq (Mame)

Nefertari is a storyteller in every form of the word. As a spoken-word artist, actor, and editor she is a communicator at her core! With most of her recent theatrical work being in off-off-Broadway productions in New York City, Nefertari is deeply excited to be a part of a growing list of truth-telling theatrical productions in the DMV (including most recently Clays’ Place: Inside My Blue Mind at the Chesapeake Arts Center, presented by the AngelWing Project). She is delighted to be working with such a dedicated ensemble at Peace Mountain Theatre Company.

Addison Switzer (Old Joe)

Addison Switzer makes his Peace Mountain Theatre Company debut with this production of Radio Golf. A big August Wilson fan, he has also appeared in Two Trains Running at the Kennedy Center and Jitney at Fords Theatre. Other productions include Watch on the Rhine at Arena Stage, A Lesson From Aloes and the “Irish Twist on a Midsummer Nights Dream” at Quotidian Theatre. Addison has also been seen as Country in HBO’s critically acclaimed The Wire, and more recently in the first season of SWAGGER! on Apple TV+. Addison gives thanks to his family for their constant love and support. Also thanks to this amazing cast and director for sharing their talents and their passion.

Production Staff

Hal Freed (Producer): Hal brings a career’s worth of program management experience in the business world as well as leadership positions in non-profit organizations. He has been the producer of many PMTC productions including Collected Stories, All My Sons, A Delicate Balance, Lost in Yonkers, A Shayna Maidel, Other Desert Cities, and, most recently, Disgraced. Hal is also President of the Peace Mountain Theatre Company.

Eleanore Tapscott (Director): Eleanore is a classically trained actress and director, who has directed for various metro-DC theatres. Most recently she directed Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye at Dominion Stage, August Wilson's Fences at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, and Lynn Nottage’s By the Way, Meet Vera Stark at The Colonial Players of Annapolis. Ms. Tapscott is also the Executive Director of The Actors’ Center in Washington, a service organization created by and for theatre artists of all types. She thanks PMTC for the opportunity to stage the last play in August Wilson’s masterful Pittsburgh Cycle, a series of 10 plays charting the African-American experience throughout the 20th century.

Ariana Colligan (Stage Manager): is very excited to be supporting backstage and a part of the production staff of Radio Golf. She has worked in various production capacities at theatre companies around the metropolitan DC area, including Strand Theater Company, Providence Players, Globe Openstage, and recently as a sound operator with GALA Hispanic Theatre. Most recently Ariana appeared onstage as Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! with the Providence Players. She is very grateful for this opportunity!

Steve Leshin (Set Designer/Master Carpenter): Steven has led and contributed to building sets for many theatre companies in the Maryland-DC area; he is glad to work with Peace Mountain Theatre Company again, having served as Master Carpenter or Set Designer for several productions including All My Sons, A Delicate Balance, A Shayna Maidel, Other Desert Cities, and, most recently, Disgraced.

Hamza Elnaggar (Assistant to Master Carpenter, Assistant Stage Manager): Hamza will be familiar to PMTC audiences as he performed in PMTC’s most recent production, Disgraced, in November 2021. He also appeared in two of our Educational Outreach Programs, The Other and The Opioid Crisis. More recently, he was in Sandy Spring Theatre Group’s virtual production of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband.

Don Slater (Lighting Designer): Don studied technical theatre with a concentration in lighting at the University of Pittsburgh. He was Quotidian Theatre Company’s resident lighting designer for over 20 years and has worked with a number of other companies in the Washington metropolitan area and in venues ranging from the DC Arts Center to Wolf Trap. Most recently he was lighting designer for PMTC’s production of Disgraced in November 2021.

Matthew Datcher (Sound Designer): Matthew is the sound designer at Hexagon. His sound designs have been heard in A Christmas Story at Rockville Little Theatre, and Doubt and Hobson’s Choice at Quotidian Theatre Company. Most recently he was the sound designer for PMTC’s production of Disgraced in November 2021. He has also appeared on stage in Like the Last at Silver Spring Stage, Hotline and Goode Grief at Montgomery Playhouse, and War of the Worlds at Sandy Spring Theatre Group.

Andy Reilly (Properties and Set Dressing): After an extended internship with the Anacostia Playhouse, during which he served as Properties Designer and Set Painter, Andy became the Facilities Manager at the Playhouse. As a lifetime DC resident, Andy has served as both Costume Designer and Production Assistant for Capitol Hill Day School's annual 6th grade musical and designed costumes for Shakespeare For The Young.

Stephenie Yee (Costume Designer): Stephenie has a background in both film and theater, and is also an experienced costume designer in the DMV. She is happy to be back costuming for PMTC for the third time, having been the costume designer for Other Desert Cities and A Shayna Maidel. Among other previous costume design credits are: She Kills Monsters and Yellow Face (Silver Spring Stage); Man of God (Strand Theatre Company), and Vanya, Sonia, Masha, and Spike (Sandy Spring Theatre Group). Stephenie is also a member of Peace Mountain Theatre Company Board.

Peace Mountain Theatre Thanks Our Supporters

We appreciate the generous contributions of the following supporters:

CORPORATE ADVERTISERS

Accessible Beltway Clinics

Kaizo Health Chiropractic Rehabilitation

Sharon Gross, Long and Foster, and Christie’s Realtors

FRIENDS OF PEACE MOUNTAIN THEATRE COMPANY

CO-PRODUCER

Sunitha Venugopal, in memory of Peter Caress

PLATINUM MEMBERS

Harold and Laurie Freed

Nancy Lark

GOLD MEMBERS

Suzanne and Aaron Auerbach

Judd Kessler and Carol Ferris

Ken and Yvonne Paretzky

Peri and Fred Schuyler

Rita and Barry Wertlieb

SILVER MEMBERS

Edward Caress

Marla and Vic Cohen

Fran and David Levin

Carol and Gary Plushnick

Hanna Lee Pomerantz

Elaine Steppa

BRONZE MEMBERS

Marcia and Abe Akresh

Harriet and Jerry Breslow

Louis and Kathy Pangaro

Frank Schubert

Phyllis and Allen Weltz

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Hal Freed

President

Peri Schuyler

Vice-President

Stephenie Yee

Secretary

Aaron Auerbach

Treasurer

Laurie T. Freed

Artistic Director

Ken Paretzky

Member, Ticketing

Rita Wertlieb

Member, Development

Jacqueline Youm

Member

SPECIAL THANKS

Ben Auerbach

Al Bolden (WBTZ Radio DJ Voice)

John Decker

Suzanne Fefer

Allan and Hannah Fisher

Ari Knauer

Gary and Stephanie Knauer

Howard University, Department of Theatre Arts

Yvonne Paretzky

Sharon Rifkin

Fred Schuyler

SAVE THE DATES

Three Tall Women

by Edward Albee

Thursday, Fridays, Saturdays,

and Sunday Matinees

May 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22

at The Writer’s Center

Bethesda, Maryland