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How I Learned To Drive

Production Credits

Cast
Caroline Loftus (she/her) | Li’l Bit
Sean Gordon (he/him) | Peck
Mikayla Schaefer (she/her) | Female Greek Chorus
Shelby Kline (she/her) | Teenage Greek Chorus
Dixie O’Connell (she/they) | Male Greek Chorus

Crew
Mari (she/her) | Director
Noah Rigby (he/him) | Stage Manager
Marli Worden (she/her) | Assistant Stage Manager
Ghost Nostalgia (he/him) | Artistic Director
Tess Walsh (they/she) | Dramaturg
Mitch McCoy (he/him) | Intimacy Director
Kim Hernàndez (she/her) | Costume Designer
Jenna Karnatski (she/her) | Costuming Assistant
Sydney Nocerino (she/her) | Light Board Operator
Nicole Bass (she/her) | Design Consultant
Chance Johnson (they/them) | Photographer
Eric Cipriaso (they/them) | Visual Artist

Content Advisory

This play includes themes/mentions of alcoholism, PTSD, misogyny, sexual assault, pedophilia, and incest.

Scenes 1 and 15 include simulated sexual assault of a minor by a family member.

NYS Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline: Call 800.942.6906, or text 844.997.2121

Director’s Note

Director’s Note: In the Summer of 2020, shortly after I discovered this play, a list of names of people who have assaulted/abused individuals at Purchase was anonymously posted on social media. The list was long, overwhelmingly male, and included both students and faculty members. In response to this list, Purchase said they could not address such claims and that any sharing of the list was a violation of their code of conduct.

I am tired of seeing women in my community and all over the world be treated like our lives, our bodies, our autonomy, our existences don’t matter. We deserve to feel safe and protected. We deserve to tell our stories without shame.

This is for the survivors of Purchase, and for survivors everywhere.

Creative Team Profiles

Caroline Loftus (she/her) (Li’l Bit) is in her last semester at Purchase College. She is a Theatre and Performance major with a double minor in Sociology
and Economics from NYC. Past credits include A Robot Wrote This (Millie), The Wolves (#8), Skriker (Black Annis) GYPSY (Electra), and Our Town (Emily). Give all the hugs, look out for one another. Thank you Mom, Dad, Tuck, Amy and all the family I’ve been lucky to find scattered around, I love y’all to the moon and further.

Sean Gordon (he/him) (Peck) is a fourth year BA theatre and performance major from Albany, New York. Purchase stage credits include: Dance Nation (Dance Teacher Pat), A Robot Wrote This (Cast member/Deviser), Always Plenty of Light at the Starlight All Night Diner (Dr. Moxie), and Short Eyes (Clark). Other credits include ‘The Best Man’s Privilege’ [short film] (Groomsman ), ‘City Limits’ [short film] (Asshole), “Sow A Little Tenderness” [film] (The Director), and Castaway: Hamlet (or the Life Rendering Pelican) (Castaway 6/Laertes). Thanks so much to his friends and parents for their consistent support and to the Odd Bat Network. H2-2 baby!

Mikayla Schaefer (she/her) (Female Greek Chorus) is a senior Theatre & Performance major with a concentration in acting. This is Mikayla’s senior
project, and she will be graduating in Spring of 2021 under the Conservatory of Theatre Arts with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre & Performance and a minor in Playwriting. This is Mikayla’s debut performance at Purchase College. Some of her past credentials include; Veronica (God Of Carnage), Petra (An Enemy of the People), Graziella/Dance Captain (West Side Story), and Kaya in Meet Cute On Dance World, which won Best Experimental Short Film at the Adirondack Film Festival in 2020. Mikayla serves as President of Purchase Musical Theatre Club, and is a comedian performer with Purchase Stand-Up Comedy Club. Mikayla is honored to be on this team of talented and creative collaborators. She would like to thank her Mom, Dad, brother, and friends for supporting her.

Shelby Kline (she/her) (Teenage Greek Chorus) is a senior studying theatre and performance with a concentration in acting. She has been doing theatre since she was 8 years old! Her favorite roles have included Martha in WHITE CHRISTMAS and ensemble in 42ND STREET. At Purchase, she has been involved with the show choir, choreographing several numbers for that, as well as being one of the Purchase College cheer captains this year. She is insanely proud of HILTD and the cast of the show, enjoy!

Dixie O’Connell (she/they) (Male Greek Chorus) is a third year Theatre and Performance major hailing from The Jersey Shore. Past acting credits at SUNY Purchase include: The Wolves (#13), A Robot Wrote This (Margueritte Spangler), and Dance Nation (Maeve). Dixie would like to thank the wonderful cast and crew for their hard work as well as her friends and family. H2-2 Baby!

Mari (she/her) (Director) is a senior Theatre and Performance major from the Bronx. How I Learned to Drive is her directorial debut at Purchase. She is apart of a queer art collective known as the Odd Bat Network and has collaborated with them on many projects including their latest film Sow a Little Tenderness (2021). She is directing an upcoming production of Marisol in Spring 2022. She sends all her love to her family, blood and chosen.

Noah Rigby (he/him) (Stage Manager) is a senior Creative Writing major at Purchase, with a double minor in Playwriting and Theatre & Performance from Auburn, NY. This is his second production working as a Stage Manager at Purchase, and third show as an overall contributor. In the past he primarily focused on the writing of plays and aiding in pre-production. He is excited to be expanding his horizons and working alongside such kind and talented artists. Outside of theatre, his works of prose and poetry can be found in Chaotic Merge, Italics Mine, and Gutter Mag. He has won multiple awards for his playwriting. He would like to thank all of his lovely friends, the cast and crew, and all of the audience members for opening their hearts and allowing HILTD to share such a vulnerable and powerful story with them. Special shout out to Marli Worden for her work as an outstanding ASM.

Marli Worden (she/her) (Assistant Stage Manager) is a third year Theatre and Performance/Arts Management double major from Rochester, NY. Her past Purchase credits include: Little Hidden Worlds (Stage Manager), The Bear (Stage Manager) and Gruesome Playground Injuries (Stage Manager). She’d like to thank her friends and family, specifically her dog and her brother, as well as the wonderful cast and crew for all of their support. She’d also like to thank the songs DARE by Gorillaz, Special Girl by dodie and the season 1 opening of Attack on Titan for giving her the god complex that she needs to keep her going in life.

Ghost Nostalgia (he/him) (Art Director) is a recent graduate of the BFA Film Conservatory from Harlem, New York. Film credits include: Sow A Little Tenderness (Director/Writer) & To Live In Pink (Director/Writer). Theatre credits include: Little Shop of Horrors (Assistant Director) and Fame (Assistant Director). Here to represent the lovers, the people, and the misunderstood.

Tess Walsh (they/she) (Dramaturg) is a sophomore double major in THP and Anthropology. They were previously dramaturg on the senior project production of Eurydice last semester, and are a graduate of the Wendy Wasserstein Program at TDF. They’d like to thank their friends, family, and the entire cast and crew for putting up with them. They love Lady Gaga. They think she’s a really interesting artist.

Kim Hernández (she/her) (Costume Designer) is a fourth year theatre & performance major specializing in makeup. She is from Brooklyn, New York. Purchase Credits include: directing & starring in Just a Ballad written by Leila Wilson, A Walrus in the Body of a Crocodile (Costume Designer) and starring in her senior project Marisol by Jose Rivera in Spring 2022. Other credits include Dracula (Lucy), BLOOD BROTHERS (Mrs.Lyons), GREASE (Patty) and A CHORUS LINE (Judy).

Jenna Karnatski (she/her) (Costuming Assistant) is a junior Theatre and Performance and Arts Management major. Her most recent credits include TO FIND WHAT MATTERS, an original musical written by a local theatre company and The Man Who Came to Dinner with Standing Ovation Players. This is her first time working as a costume assistant. She thanks her friends and family for all of their support, especially her roommates. H2-2 baby!

Sydney Nocerino (she/her) (Lightboard Operator) is from Queens, New York and is a third year Theatre and Performance and Journalism double major. She has done the lighting operation for A Robot Wrote This as well as acted in the mainstages The Wolves and Dance Nation. Good luck to the roomies, H2-2 baby!

About the Conservatory of Theatre Arts

In our teaching and art, the Conservatory values inclusiveness, equality, and excellence. Upholding all of our training is our aim to train and graduate citizen artists: multifaceted people with a strong sense of purpose in approaching an arts education.

What is a citizen artist? Citizen artists seek to discover how their unique voices can contribute to our world. They understand what it means to be an artist, and what they are here on earth to say and do and make.

The Conservatory trains future citizen artists in three degree programs:

+ BFA Actor Training. The BFA is an intensive professional training program offered to a highly select and diverse group of students. The professional training is anchored in four years of study in acting, voice, speech, and movement, complemented by offerings in dramatic literature and analysis, history of the theatre, stage combat, improvisation, mask work, acting for the camera, and the business of acting. As one of five schools in the Consortium of Professional Theatre Training Programs, Purchase is one of a handful of colleges in the world capable of training artists at this level—and of drawing a faculty from the ranks of professional theatre

+ BFA in Theatre Design/Technology. Emphasizing studio and classroom training, our professional training program in theatre design/technology gives students the guidance and support of established and theatre industry professionals. Many of our alumni are recognized at the top of their field, and have received Tony, Emmy, Obie, and Drama Desk Awards, among other honors. Quite literally, Purchase grads are working in or have worked in every theatre on Broadway, in all tristate venues, and with countless touring productions

+ BA program in Theatre and Performance. From traditional theatre to cutting-edge interdisciplinary work, the theatre and performance major encourages creativity, intellectual curiosity, social engagement, and critical thinking. The core requirements combine scholarship and practice to provide students with a strong foundation in theatre history and dramatic literature, with mandatory stagecraft/production courses. Theatre and Performance majors are encouraged to expand the scope of their education by studying abroad, as well as pursuing coursework in other programs of study within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Purchase College