written by Sophie McIntosh
directed by Nina Goodheart
produced by Good Apples Collective & Esmé Maria Ng

an Equity Approved Showcase

June 28-July 13, 2024
Alchemical Studios, 50 West 17th Street
New York, NY

cunnicularii

Mary is an expectant mother.
Mary gives birth to a rabbit.
Mary must adjust her expectations.

A piercing fable about the wonder and brutality of motherhood, cunnicularii interrogates the crushing pressure new parents face and questions how much of ourselves we can truly give to our offspring.

cast

  • Camille Umoff is currently pursuing her MFA in acting at the Juilliard School. Juilliard Credits: Deb in Snore, Iachimo/Pisanio in Cymbeline. Other select theater credits include: Maiden Voyage (New Works Provincetown), Witnesses (California Center for the Arts Escondido), How to Defend Yourself (Lincoln Center Reading, Ojai Playwrights Conference), Fun Home, Into the Woods, and She Loves Me (Yale University). Camille can also be seen on screen in Mean Girls (2024) and Cat Person, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

  • Juan Arturo is thrilled to be a part of this production! Having been attached to the project since its inception, he really does feel like a doting father. His credits include The Night of the Iguana (Signature Theater), Shane (Guthrie Theater), Clyde's (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park) as well as some select film and TV roles. He dedicates this show to his parents, who raised him to be a wonderful father to a beautiful rabbit.

  • Jen Anaya is a queer Indigenous Mexican theater/music/art/ritual space-maker, doula, teacher, energy healer and baby whisperer raised on Yavapaiv Apache, Cocopah and O'odham land. From La Mama to Harvard Art Lab, The Kitchen to La Jolla Playhouse, across LenapeHoking and Turtle Island, Jen has been weaving music, theater, art, movement and healing together everywhere they go. They’ve performed in everything from plays, web series, musicals, experimental music pieces and operas to public healing rituals and fandangos. They're a You Are Here Creations collaborator, a 2021 FORGE Fellow and a Reiki and 13th Octave La Ho Chi practitioner. When not on contract, they tend to their healing arts practice, play with their bands and have a blast at 52nd St. Project. Jen is an AEA and SAG-AFTRA member. @jenitadeluz www.jenanaya.com

  • Benjamin Milliken (Doctor/Greg) is proud to be working for the first time with Good Apples Collective to bring this story to life. Favorite recent roles include Hippolytus in Phaedra's Love, Iago in Othello, Kenneth Talley, Jr. in Fifth of July, Will in the world premiere of Here, Time Feels So and Steven in the upcoming film Maldoror. In the spring, Benjamin will graduate with an MFA in Acting from Columbia University. He dedicates his work on this production to his grandmother, Beth, whose love and radiance shine through him. www.benjaminmilliken.com

*Equity Member appearing with permission of Actors’ Equity Association without benefit of an Equity contract in this Off-Off Broadway production.

Actors' Equity Association (AEA), founded in 1913, represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org

PRODUCTION TEAM

  • Sophie McIntosh (she/her) is a New York–based playwright and theatermaker. Her writing gives voice to women and queer folks, offers empathetic insight into living with mental illness, and lovingly riffs on the cynical sincerity of young adults. Sophie is also the co-founder of Good Apples Collective, a developmental orchard for new theatrical works that she co-leads with her collaborator Nina Goodheart.

    Recent productions of Sophie’s work include the world premiere of macbitches (New York Times Critic’s Pick) at the Chain Theatre, the college premiere of Eleven Months of Nuclear Summer at Notre Dame University, and Ipswich in the Boston Theater Marathon. Sophie’s plays have also been developed by Pioneer Theatre Company, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, the 24 Hour Plays: Nationals, the Bechdel Group, and Breaking & Entering Theatre Collective.

    Sophie is a proud recipient of a BA in drama from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and is currently working toward an MFA in playwriting at Columbia University. To learn more about Sophie, visit sophiemcintoshwrites.com

  • Nina Goodheart (she/her) is a director and producer based in New York. She is passionate about creating theater that builds community, centers people of marginalized genders, and demands an emotional response. She is the proud Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Good Apples Collective with her frequent collaborator Sophie McIntosh.

    Recent directing credits include Wakeman by Jenn Grinels (developmental reading of a new musical for TBD Theatricals), cityscrape by Sophie McIntosh (world premiere at Arts on Site), before the flood by Emily Bice (world premiere at the Chain Theatre), The Wolves, Fun Home, and Man of La Mancha.

    Recent associate credits include Gabriel Byrne’s Walking with Ghosts on Broadway (resident director) and Mindplay by Vinny DePonto and Josh Koenigsberg (associate director, Arena Stage, dir. Andrew Neisler).

    She has had the pleasure of working with directors such as Diane Paulus (Jagged Little Pill, Broadway), Lila Neugebauer (Mary Page Marlowe, Second Stage), Lonny Price (Scotland, PA, Roundabout Theatre Company, and Walking with Ghosts), and Andrew Neisler (Mindplay), as well as organizations including the American Repertory Theater, NYMF, New York Stage & Film, Virgin Voyages, The 24 Hour Plays, and Climan Producing. She currently serves as Creative Associate to director Whitney White. BA Yale.

  • Esmé Maria Ng (they/he/she) is a Gaysian American playwright, producer, and dramaturg. Esmé has held literary, artistic, and producing positions at Manhattan Theatre Club, Ma-Yi Theater Company, Breaking the Binary Theatre, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Classic Stage Company, and Little Island. Their playwriting often focuses on the complexities of Asian American history, queerness and the family unit; for which they have been recognized as a Eugene O’Neill Finalist, a Lambda Literary Playwriting Fellow, and a June Bingham New Playwright Commission Recipient.

    Currently, Esmé is a writer with bylines in American Theater Magazine, a Producer's Cohort Fellow at The Tank NYC, and the associate line producer at Little Island. Their play FISH MEAT will be making its world premiere with SheNYC Theater Festival at the historic off-broadway Connelly Theater in August 2024, and their new play commission with Live & In Color, 'i know why iris chang died' will receive an industry reading in 2025.

  • Gabrielle Niederhoffer is a producer, choreographer, and dancer from NYC. Gabrielle is currently the Development Manager at Battery Dance. Previously, she was Company Manager for the Turn It Out with Tiler Peck tour, Festival Manager for Guggenheim Works & Process Underground Uptown Dance Festival, and Festival Manager for Battery Dance. Gabrielle founded DanceHaven: A Celebration of Vernacular Dance at Yale Schwarzman Center. Choreographing credits: Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812, Next to Normal, Cabaret, Gypsy, among others. As a dancer, Gabrielle has performed at Jacob’s Pillow, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Symphony Space. Gabrielle graduated from Yale University.

  • Cori Diaz is a playwright and stage manager currently studying at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. For stage management, she has worked with theaters all over the east coast, such as Long Wharf Theatre, Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute, Metropolitan Playhouse, and Hartbeat Ensemble. For playwriting, she has had her plays featured in Hartford Stage's Write On!, Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's Young Playwrights Festival, and Trinity Repertory Company's Write Here, Write Now.

  • Willow Funkhouser (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based director and movement choreographer. Select theater credits include ¡Americano! (New World Stages), The Song of Bernadette (Lea Salonga, dir. Christopher Gatelli), and works developed and performed at Soho Playhouse, MCC Theater, The Flea, Keen Company, Delaware Rep and Syracuse Stage. Willow holds a degree from Syracuse University where she developed a course of study in intimacy choreography alongside directing and has served as the intimacy coordinator for dozens of short and feature films. She is also a script reader for the literary management team at Primary Stages.

  • Caro has been a fan of Good Apples Collective since seeing cityscrape last year, and is delighted to now be joining as Assistant Stage Manager. Recent stage management credits include Musical Chairs and Pericles, Prince of Tyre. Favorite student credits include Drums in the Night (SM) and A Little Night Music (ASM), both with the Vassar College Drama Department.

  • Mo Holmes is a black queer Southern theatremaker, born in San Antonio and raised on the long stretch from Texas to Alabama. As a dramaturg, she has supported new work development with the Guthrie Theater, the Jungle Theatre, the History Theatre and Columbia School of the Arts. As playwright, she is an Atlanta Opera 96-Hour Opera Project commissioned finalist and an O’Neill National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist. Her other work has been developed at Vertigo Theatre, the Playwrights Center, Minnesota Opera, Everwood Farmstead Retreat and Center for Performing Arts. Current MFA candidate: Playwriting, Columbia.

  • Evan is an NYC-based scenic artist and designer. They are a recent graduate of the Boston University Scene Painting Certificate program. BFA: University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. New York work includes things from Off-Broadway, fashion runways, commercial events, and more. They could not be more thrilled to work with this team on this show.

  • Paige Seber is a New York City based lighting designer for live performance. Recent credits include Titanique (The Daryl Roth), Wolf Play (Rec Room Arts), Is Anyone Alive Out There? (Minetta Lane), Blackbirding (WP- Pipeline Festival), What Else Is True (Egg & Spoon), Ready. Set. Play! (Virgin Voyages), The Consul (SF Conservatory of Music), Powerline Road (Theatre NOW), cityscrape (Good Apples Collective), The Slow Dance (59E59), and Swann: A Digital Opera Short (Catapult Opera). Paige is a proud member of United Scenic Artists 829. For more about her work, visit seberlighting.com.

  • Saawan Tiwari (Costume Designer) is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan. Beyond designing, they teach through Roundabout Theatre Company. Credits: Off-Broadway- The Gospel According to Heather (Theatre 555). Additional credits - Picher Project (Dixon Place), Hip Hop Cinderella (New Victory Theatre), Footloose (American Stage), Bruise and Thorn (Pipeline Theatre Company), Far From Canterbury (Barnstormers Theatre). Saawan is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ and AAPI communities. saawandesigns.com

  • Max Van is in the pursuit of being a jack-of-all trades, master of theater. He has worked on more than 40 productions and concerts, serving various key roles as projection and scenic designer, sound and production designer, technicians, and more. Max’s photography has been recognized with prestigious honors, including a Gold Key Portfolio Award, and Silver Medal with Distinction by the Scholastics Art and Writing Awards (2020). For more, find him on instagram @max.van_ or on his website. https://maxvandsgn.myportfolio.com/

  • Maria Shaughnessy is a harpist and composer based in NYC. A recent graduate of Barnard College, her interests lie primarily in improvisation practices, reactive performance, and, often, trying to make the harp sound as ugly as possible. During her time in college, Maria split her time between managing WKCR, Columbia's Student Radio Station, performing in orchestras and productions around campus, writing her thesis on Critical Improvisation Studies, and composing for ensembles such as Ekmeles vocal ensemble and the Decoda Artist Collective.

  • Founded in 2007, Emily Owens PR has represented hundreds of productions Off and Off-Off Broadway. With over 15 years of experience, Emily has built a solid reputation for representing ambitious new work, and a strong track record of securing high-profile media coverage for early-career playwrights.

    Emily's clients have been nominated for Drama Desk Awards (The Navigator in 2012; The Man Who Laughs in 2013), won Obie Awards (Kate Benson and Lee Sunday Evans in 2015 for A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes; Horse Trade Theater Group in 2015 for The Fire This Time Festival), and received rave reviews in The New York Times, Time Out NY, New York Magazine, The Village Voice, The Wall Street Journal, NY Post, NY Daily News, and The New Yorker, among others.
    ​
    Previous clients have included numerous theatre festivals, performing arts venues, and producing organizations. http://www.emilyowenspr.com/

A NOTE FROM THE DRAMATURG

In February 2020, ABC removed an ad from airing during the annual televised Academy Awards. The ad featured a woman postpartum, walking gingerly to the bathroom to use personal care products from the company Frida. Her crying baby is unseen; instead the camera follows her wincing and waddling, her struggle and exhaustion. A similar ad allowed to air during the 2021 Golden Globes demonstrates the struggle and pain of breastfeeding, reminiscent of comedian Ali Wong’s raunchy standup revelation: “your body is a cafeteria now.”

The story of Mary Toft–the woman from Godalming in Surrey who in 1726, with the assistance of her husband, neighbors and mother-in-law, fooled doctors locally and in London into believing she birthed animal parts and baby rabbits–is at the heart of cunnicularii. But Mary’s postpartum journey in Sophie McIntosh’s play resonates with our current cultural revision of what it means to be a new mother in all its complexity: excitement, yes, but also ambivalence, anxiety, depression, grief, restlessness, pain. Even trauma and horror!

This fear surrounding all that we can’t control in pregnant and postpartum bodies–from blood to bunnies–manifests in the shared folklore of our culture, emerging like Rosemary’s Baby from unexpected places: Frankensteinian monster movies, pristine nativities in mangers, tabloid obsessions with celebrity bodies “snapping back,” and matter-of-fact commercials banned from primetime. It trickles down into our real lives and beliefs, shaming parents out of speaking honestly and asking for help during what is now considered the fourth trimester.

Yet 10% of the reproductive-age population is pregnant every year. Only recently has medical science recognized the transition to becoming a parent as “matrescence”–a stage of life with permanent physiological and neurological changes akin to adolescence, that requires its own specialized treatment alongside neonatal care. As research and understanding continue to develop, our long-held beliefs will necessarily be challenged. cunnicularii brings us together to mark this shift and lead us in a ritual recognition of what is human and true: when things we don't understand scare us, self-love community support give us the confidence to cope.

-Mo Holmes, production dramaturg

RESOURCES

Collected below are several resources intended to educate community members on how to best support friends and loved ones who are grappling with postpartum depression and the adjustment into parenthood.

Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL) for Performing Arts + Media

Parent Artist Advocacy League for Arts + Media (PAAL) is a national community, resource hub, and solutions generator for individuals with caregiver responsibilities and institutions who strive to support them.

Postpartum Resource Center of New York

The Postpartum Resource Center of New York provides free, confidential support for birthing parents experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

4th Trimester Project  –  Postpartum Toolkit Materials

The 4th Trimester Project Team has tested and launched maternal health postpartum tools to support women in their postpartum recovery and journey to motherhood. Their website include resources, training, tools, and guides.

Office on Women’s Health  –  Talking Postpartum Depression

The Office on Women’s Health offers a collection of firsthand accounts from birthing parents who have struggled with and sought help for postpartum depression.

Postpartum Support International  – Mind the Gap Initiative

Postpartum Support International is working with a coalition of women, families, and leading organizations to increase research and funding and improve awareness and access to prevention, education, screening, diagnosis, treatment and support services for pregnant and postpartum women and their families.

The International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health

The International Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health was formed at an international conference in 1980 for the purpose of bringing together different strands of research in puerperal mental disorders. Their website includes several helpful resources for the public.

SPECIAL THANKS

We would like to extend our gratitude toward the following individuals for their help in making this production possible:

Leslie Ayvazian

Maggie Bofill

J. Anthony Crane

Vinny DePonto

Jules Deschryver

Marianna Gailus

Lisa and Marc Goodheart

David Henry Hwang

Julia Jaffe

Joanne Kelly

Ezra Levine

Gwen and Michael McIntosh

Moon McIntosh

Maria-Christina Oliveras

Dan Rudin

Ali Sousa

Grace Walker

Leah Plante-Wiener

Good Apples Collective is a grateful recipient of Materials for the Arts and a proud member of Broadway Green Alliance. PR for cunnicularii is provided by Emily Owens PR.