Learn more about the production, cast & creative team with a peek into the program. Read full artist bios, in-depth articles and more.
Cast
Giovanni Adams (James Watson)
is an alumnus of SCR and the Pacific Playwrights Festival and is excited to return. Last season, he portrayed Colis in the world premiere of Kemp Powers’ Little Black Shadows at SCR and Neil in Donald Margulies’ The Model Apartment at Geffen Playhouse. He was in the world premiere of Kemp Powers’ One Night in Miami (Rogue Machine Theatre, LA Drama Critics Circle Award and NAACP Theatre Award for Best Ensemble). He has participated in the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, where he worked on Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm’s Br’er Cotton and Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies and the L.A. Writer’s Workshop Retreat at Center Theatre Group. His other stage credits include Mount Misery (Cutting Ball Theater), The Recommendation and Bela Lugosi’s Dead (IAMA Theatre Company), and Miss Julie and King Lear (Yale Repertory Theatre). Recently, his solo show, Love Is A Dirty Word, developed in collaboration with Becca Wolff, premiered at VS Theatre and received Ovation and LA Drama Critics Circle awards recognition. His film and television credits include Nina, “Criminal Minds,” “Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Gary Unmarried.” Adams was born in Jackson, Miss., and received his BA from Yale University.
George Ketsios (Maurice Wilkins)
is thrilled to be making his SCR debut. His Los Angeles theatre credits include Our Town (Broad Theatre), Massoud (L.A. Writers’ Workshop Festival at Center Theatre Group), The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (The Actors’ Gang national tour) and Bury the Dead and Drums in the Night (The Actors’ Gang). His Chicago credits include work with The Hypocrites, Trap Door Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre and Greasy Joan & Co. His television and film credits include “Insecure,” “Lethal Weapon,” “NCIS: LA,” “Grimm” and “Egg Day.” He teaches on-camera classes at Keep It Real Acting Studios, is an alumnus of The School at Steppenwolf (Chicago) and trains at BGB Studio with Steve Braun. He’s very excited to be working with this wonderful cast and director Kimberly Senior. Thank you to Sharon, Leo and his friends/family for the love and support.
Anil Margsahayam (Francis Crick)
is making his SCR debut. He is a Bay Area native who attended the University of San Francisco and currently resides in Los Angeles. His theatre credits include The Clay Cart, The Comedy of Errors, Our Town, The Music Man, Quixote (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Bombay Dreams (first national Broadway tour), Baby Taj (TheatreWorks), All’s Well That Ends Well (California Shakespeare Theatre), Disgraced (Nevada Conservatory Theatre), Twelfth Night (New Theatre House), Minnie’s Boys, Hooray for What, Very Warm For May, One Touch of Venus (42nd Street Moon) and Wit and Aspects of Love (Palo Alto Players). His television credits include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Silicon Valley,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “Dr. Ken,” “Speechless,” “The Brink” and “The Common Cult.” His film credits include Feeding Mr. Baldwin, A Little Bit Pregnant, I Got This and Oh Danny Boy.
Riley Neldam (Ray Gosling)
made his SCR debut last season in The Sisters Rosensweig. He recently originated the role of Jason in the world premiere of Stefanie Zadravec’s Colony Collapse at Boston Court Pasadena. His previous regional theatre collaborations include Intiman Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, 5th Avenue Theatre and Book-It Repertory Theatre.
Josh Odsess-Rubin (Don Caspar)
is thrilled to return to SCR where he was seen earlier this season as Edward Ferrars in Sense and Sensibility. His other regional credits include Red Herring (Portland Stage Company); As You Like It (Shakespeare Orange County); Animal Crackers, Bad Jews, When the Rain Stops Falling (Cygnet Theatre); The Imaginary Invalid (A Noise Within); My Name is Asher Lev (Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati); With Love and a Major Organ (Boston Court Pasadena); The Comedy of Errors (Lake Tahoe Shakespeare); Theory of Mind (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); Richard II (Yale Repertory Theatre); A Christmas Carol (Sierra Repertory Theatre); two seasons with New Swan Shakespeare and, most recently, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (American Stage Theatre Company). His New York credits include Ars Nova, Dixon Place, HERE Arts Center, Culture Project, NYC Fringe, Keen Company and Playwrights Horizons. On-screen, he has appeared on Netflix, Lifetime and the Science Channel and in several films including the upcoming feature The Descendent. He is a proud graduate of Yale University and the MFA acting program at UC-Irvine. joshorubin.com
Helen Sadler (Rosalind Franklin)
appeared at SCR previously in One Man, Two Guvnors and The Whale. Her regional theatre credits include One Man, Two Guvnors (Berkeley Repertory Theatre); The Night Alive and Tribes (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Blood Wedding (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Daniel Deronda (LA Theatreworks); Cymbeline (A Noise Within); Sense and Sensibility (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville and Northlight Theatre); The Maids (Writers Theatre); Blasted (A Red Orchid Theatre); Buried Child and A Taste of Honey (Shattered Globe Theatre); War (Chicago Irish Theatre); and Radiance (Geffen Playhouse). Her film and television credits include the upcoming Love, Death and Robots (Netflix, produced by David Fincher and Tim Miller ); “Criminal Minds,” “NCIS,” “Revenge,” “True Blood,” “Thrill Ride,” “Too Late” and “Contagion.” Her voice work includes Jyn Erso in Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (LucasFilm) and the voice of Rey in Lego Star Wars: Rey Strikes Back (Disney XD) and multiple video games, as well as Queen Victoria in the PBS Masterpiece podcast, which accompanies the ITV series.
Creative Team
Kimberly Senior (Director)
is making her SCR debut. Her New York credits include Disgraced (Broadway); Chris Gethard: Career Suicide (starring Judd Apatow); The Niceties (Manhattan Theatre Club); Sakina’s Restaurant (Audible.com); The Who & The What, Disgraced (LCT3); Discord (Primary Stages); and Engagements (Second Stage Uptown Theatre, 2ST). Her regional credits include Christmas at Pemberley (Milwaukee Repertory Theater); The Niceties (Huntington Theatre Company and McCarter Theatre); Sheltered (Alliance Theatre); Support Group for Men, Disgraced and Rapture, Blister, Burn (Goodman Theatre); and Buried Child, The Scene, Marjorie Prime, The Diary of Anne Frank, Hedda Gabler and The Letters (Writers Theatre). Her other credits include Other Than Honorable (Geva Theatre Center); Sex with Strangers (Geffen Playhouse); Disgraced (Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre); The Who & The What (La Jolla Playhouse); Little Gem (City Theatre); and Want and The North Plan (Steppenwolf Theatre). Her television credits include “Chris Gethard: Career Suicide” (HBO). Her awards and honors include the 2016 Theatre Communications Group Alan Schneider Award; 2016 Special Non-Equity Jeff Award, for her work as a trailblazer, champion and role model for emerging artists; and a 2018 Primary Stages Einhorn Award. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. kimberlysenior.net
Cameron Anderson (Scenic Design)
is an internationally acclaimed scenic and projection designer, who has designed extensively at the world’s leading theater and opera companies. She recently designed The Niceties at Manhattan Theater Club, Huntington Theater Company and McCarter Theatre. At SCR, she designed A Midsummer Night’s Dream (nominated for a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award), Emilie and Sight Unseen. Her other recent credits include West Side Story for Norway’s Kilden Performing Arts Center and Vancouver Opera, and Simon Boccanegra for Argentina’s Teatro Colon. Her selected off-Broadway credits include Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, New Georges, LAByrinth Theater Company, Naked Angels, Ars Nova, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Les Freres Corbusier. Her regional theatre credits include Trinity Repertory Company, Two River Theater and Shakespeare & Company. Her selected opera credits include The Glimmerglass Festival, Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opera Saratoga, Central City Opera, Minnesota Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, USC Thornton School of Music, OnSite Opera (NYC), Indianapolis Opera, Manhattan School of Music, Gotham Chamber Opera, Opera Boston, Pittsburgh Opera, Indiana University Opera and The New England Conservatory. Her upcoming projects include The Niceties at Geffen Playhouse, Madame Butterfly at the Pacific Symphony, Yerma at Huntington Theater Company, Emmeline at Opera Tulsa and La Fille du Régiment at Opera Saratoga. cameronanderson.net
Elisa Benzoni (Costume Design)
is thrilled to be working with SCR for the first time. She has worked all over Southern California as well as internationally. Her select credits include Sex with Strangers (Geffen Playhouse); The Who & The What, Our Town, Tall Girls, Brahaman/I and Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir (La Jolla Playhouse); Constellations (The Old Globe); Julius Caesar, Cloud 9, Romeo and Juliet, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Reckless, Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure (University of San Diego/The Old Globe); Aubergine (San Diego Repertory Theatre); Chapatti (Laguna Playhouse); and This Beautiful City, The Loneliest Girl in the World, The Happiest Place on Earth, Ballast, Mystery of Love and Sex and Homos (Diversionary Theatre). She has been the resident designer at North Coast Repertory Theatre for three years working on Noel Coward Award-nominated productions. She holds a costume design MFA from UC-San Diego. elisabenzoni.com
Jaymi Lee Smith (Lighting Design)
is thrilled to be at SCR again after working on SHREW!; Shakespeare in Love; Orange; All the Way; Vietgone; Peter and the Starcatcher; The Stinky Cheese Man; Topdog/Underdog; Lucky Duck; and Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. She has been designing around the country for the last 20 years at theatres including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Court Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Hartford Stage, Alliance Theatre, Getty Villa, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and Lookingglass Theatre Company. Her work also has been seen in China, Italy, Spain, Scotland and Ireland. Her awards include the 2003 Michael Merritt/Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award, a 2014 Column Award, a 2016 Sage Award and a 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award. She currently is a professor of lighting design at UC-Irvine. Her website is jaymismith.com.
Cricket S. Myers (Sound Design)
is thrilled to return to SCR after designing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Kings; A Doll’s House, Part 2; The Siegel; Red; Mr. Wolf; Zealot; Trudy and Max in Love; 4000 Miles; The Fantasticks; The Parisian Woman; Sight Unseen; Elemeno Pea; The Trip to Bountiful; and Three Days of Rain. On Broadway, she earned a Tony Award nomination and a Drama Desk Award for her design of Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. Regionally, she designed at the Ahmanson Theatre (50th Anniversary Celebration, Sunshine Boys); Mark Taper Forum (Bent, Steward of Christendom, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, The Lieutenant of Inishmore); La Jolla Playhouse (The Squirrels, Guards at the Taj, Sideways, The Nightingale); Kansas City Repertory Theatre (Sex with Strangers); Kirk Douglas Theatre (Mutthouse, Endgame, Twist Your Dickens); Pasadena Playhouse (Stoneface, Above the Fold); the Los Angeles Theatre (Carrie); The Montalbán Theatre (I Only Have Eyes); The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts (Blues in the Night); and Geffen Playhouse (The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona, Play Dead, Wrecks, Some Girls). She has earned 22 Ovation Award nominations and won the Ruth Morley Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women. cricketsmyers.com
Alyssa Escalante (Stage Manager)
continues her work at SCR following last season’s Gem of the Ocean and most recently on Culture Clash (Still) in America. Her recent credits include The Bacchae (SITI Company/Getty Villa); theatre is a blank page (SITI Company); A Streetcar Named Desire (Boston Court Pasadena); Hold These Truths (Pasadena Playhouse); The Haunted House Party (Troubadour Theatre Company/Getty Villa); Criers for Hire (East West Players); Mojada: a Medea in Los Angeles (Boston Court Pasadena/Getty Villa); Cash on Delivery (El Portal Theatre); Happy Days (Boston Court Pasadena, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); and Placas: The Most Dangerous Tattoo (U.S. tour). Much love and gratitude to Mom, Dad and Hannah Minerva.
The Actors and Stage Managers employed in this production are members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.