LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN
By Oscar Wilde
Directed by Rory Pelsue

Cast

Lady Windermere….Aisha Delilah
Lord Windermere….Paul-Emile Cendron*
Lord Augustus Lorton….Holly Little Van Straaten
Lord Darlington….Nikole Beckwith
Mr. Cecil Graham….Lia Madeline
The Duchess of Berwick….Bonniejean Wilbur
Mr. Hopper/Lady Jedburgh….Edward F. Speck
Mr. Dumby/Lady Agatha Carlisle….Dylan C. Wack
Lady Plymdale/Rosalie….Allegra Dubus-Brandolini
Parker….Adrianna Neefus
Mrs. Erlynne….Cara Olansky

*Appearing through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Creative team

Director …. Rory Pelsue
Production Stage Manager …. Amanda Martindale
Production Dramaturg …. Sophie Siegel-Warren
Company Manager …. Sierra Gitlin
Costumes …. Bonniejean Wilbur, Cailin McFarland

FUNDING FOR LADY WINDEREMERE’S FAN PROVIDED BY THE GENEROSITY OF
THE FRIENDSHIP FOUNDATION.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Oscar Wilde’s four comedies of manners—Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, and The Importance of Being Earnest—were written over a three-year period of intense creativity and new-found celebrity for the Irish writer who made a career skewering English social mores in novels, dramas, fairytales, and criticism.

If The Importance of Being Earnest is Wilde’s most perfect play, Lady Windermere’s Fan may be his most personal. Echoes of Wilde’s biography run through all four of his comedies, but no more strongly than in this play, his first commercial hit. Like Lord Windermere, Wilde was repeatedly blackmailed for his perceived sexual indiscretions; like Lady Windermere pursued by Lord Darlington, Wilde was asked to leave his wife and children by a passionate aristocratic admirer, Lord Alfred Douglas; Wilde’s clandestine homosexuality made him perpetually on the brink of falling into the “pit and precipice” of being a societal outcast like Mrs. Erlynne.

In this play, Wilde thrillingly wrestles with comedic and melodramatic conventions. As in all classic comedies, marital order is threatened and restored, yet happiness and understanding remains elusive. Plot-driving secrets remain tantalizingly unrevealed. Most radically, “bad” women are not only un-repentant, but heroic, by the final curtain.

I embarked on this project expecting to engage with the theatrical past by directing a 130-year-old play that I have loved for decades with a group of Newburyport theater legends who have been my mentors and colleagues since childhood. Yet I have found that working on this wild and wooly early Wilde play with this wonderfully dedicated company who bring so much of themselves to their work has felt more like encouraging an exciting new voice than revering a long-dead theatrical legend. With this extraordinary group of actors, I hope that Wilde’s mirror to his own society’s hypocrisy is equally reflective of our own.

-Rory Pelsue, July 2023

Meet the Cast of LADY WINDERMERE’S FAN

AISHA DELILAH AS LADY WINDERMERE

AISHA DELILAH is a multidimensional creator who grew up as a young actress in Newburyport. Raised by the Theater in the Open community, her love for acting developed into a fierce advocacy for the human spirit. She now brings that passion into her work as a Holistic Personal Trainer, assisting those who seek a more loving relationship to their bodies and themselves. In Lady Windermere’s Fan, she emerges from a years-long period of the backstage blues to engage in her favorite craft with some of her favorite people. She thanks you for being here to play with us!

Previous Theater in the Open credits include Much Ado About Nothing (2018), Cinderella in December (2018), and Antigone (2017).

PAUL-EMILE CENDRON AS LORD Windermere*

PAUL-EMILE CENDRON is an actor and filmmaker working out of New York City. Recent directing work includes feature and short length narrative films as well as documentaries, commercial, and music videos independently and through his production company, Nite4Nite. Paul studied in Russia at the Moscow Arts Theater and attended Skidmore College. Acting credits include Skintight (Roundabout Theater Company) Mary Stuart (Folger Theater), Red (Hangar Theater), and Lafayette (59E 59 Theaters). Film and TV credits include THE JUDGE (Warner Brothers), I LOVE YOU BUT I LIED (Hulu), My Sordid Affair (Hulu), and LAW & ORDER (NBC).

Previous Theater in the Open credits include Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2004), Peter Pan (2005), Romeo and Juliet (2006), Waiting for Godot (2005), The Tempest (2009), Maudslay is Haunted (various), and The Crucible (2022).
*Appearing through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

HOLLY LITTLE VAN STRAATEN AS LORD AUGUSTUS LORTON

HOLLY LITTLE VAN STRAATEN grew up immersed in the Newburyport theatre community. Her introduction to the theatre began with TITO's co-founder Theresa Linnehan. Other major NBPT influences include Anna Smulowitz, Paul Wann, Stephen Haley, Jeffrey Rath, Marc Clopton, and Gregory Moss. This marks Holly's first stage appearance in over 10 years, and she is honored and thrilled to be among such a collection of talent. Holly works as an individual and family therapist, and lives with her spouse and two children (The Van Straaten family) on the North Shore.

Previous Theater in the Open credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1994), Red Noses (1995), and Richard III (2002).

NIKOLE BECKWITH AS LORD DARLINGTON

NIKOLE BECKWITH Nikole is a Newburyport native where she got her start in the theater as a performer, some favorite credits include Charles Busch’s Psycho Beach Party (also featuring BonnieJean Wilbur and Holly Little) The Kathy and Mo Show and Yoo-Hoo and Hank Williams (also with Holly Little), all directed by Greg Moss under Independent Submarine Productions. She went on to become a playwright, TV writer and filmmaker in New York and Los Angeles, where she splits her time. She is currently on strike as a member of the Writers Guild of America.

Nikole makes her Theater in the Open debut with Lady Windermere’s Fan.

LIA MADELINE AS CECIL GRAHAM

LIA MADELINE is thrilled to be working with TITO! Past credits include: Julius Caesar (The Hanover Theatre), Pride and Prejudice (NHTP), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Firehouse Center for the Arts). @liamadeline

Previous Theater in the Open credits include Grimm (2011).

BONNIEJEAN WILBUR AS THE DUCHESS OF BERWICK

BONNIEJEAN WILBUR is an actress, director, costumer and maker of props and other whimsical things. She has worked with TITO for 30+ years with a hiatus here and there. Bonniejean is happily married to actor, director and teacher Paul Wann. Her favorite project is always the one she is working on right now!

Previous Theater in the Open credits include Petrushka’s Flying Puppet Circus (2023), The Tempest (2019), and Antigone (2017).

EDWARD F. SPECK AS LADy JEDBURGH/MR. HOPPER

EDWARD F. SPECK has a long history with Theater in the Open, having been a company member for 12 years before taking on the role of Artistic Director in 2009. His first show with Theater in the Open was 1997’s Much Ado About Nothing directed by Bonniejean Wilbur. Previous credits with Theater in the Open include Medea (Jason), The Tempest (Caliban), Antigone (Creon) and lots and lots of clowns over a decade of Pantos. He has recently been seen in Pericles with 7 Stages Shakespeare and Waiting for Godot at the Firehouse Center for the Arts. An Amesbury native, Edward now lives in Newburyport as artist in residence at the Maudslay Gatekeeper’s House, which allows Teddy and his wife to raise their young daughters on the edge of these magical woods.

Previous Theater in the Open credits as director include A Christmas Carol Panto! (2021), Adventures in Zoomland Panto! (2020), and A Peter Pan Panto! (2019), among many other Spring and Winter Pantos.

Dylan C. Wack as Lady Agatha/Mr. Dumby

DYLAN C. WACK (he/him/his) is thrilled to be returning to Theater in the Open with Lady Windermere’s Fan. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, New Repertory Theatre, the Front Porch Arts Collective, Fresh Ink Theatre, and Sparkhaven Theatre, among others. He holds a BFA from Boston University and a Certificate in Classical Acting from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Originally from Newburyport, Massachusetts, Dylan will be pursuing an MFA at the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. dylancwack.com | @dylanwack

Previous Theater in the Open credits include The Crucible (2022), Much Ado About Nothing (2018), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017), and Antigone (2017).

ALLEGRA DUBUS-BRANDOLINI AS LADY PLYMDALE/ROSALIE

ALLEGRA DUBUS-BRANDOLINI is thrilled to be joining the cast of Lady Windermere’s Fan! Credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Boston Theatre Company), Waiting for Godot (Firehouse Center for the Arts), Emotional Creature (Firehouse Center for the Arts), The Little Mermaid (Firehouse Center for the Arts), and School of Rock the Musical (Ogunquit Playhouse). She has performed in countless productions at Sarah Lawrence College such as Head Over Heels and Twelfth Night. She trained at the British American Drama Academy in London and recently graduated with a BA in Theatre and Creative Writing at Sarah Lawrence College. When Allegra is not busy performing, she works as an educator teaching drama and as a paraprofessional in an elementary school. Allegra wants to thank Rory and the wonderful cast that she feels so honored to be working with.

Previous Theater in the Open credits include The Game of Love and Chance (2022), The Crucible (2022), Antigone (2017), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017) among others.

Adrianna Neefus as Parker

ADRIANNA NEEFUS is a local actor, singer, storyteller and theatrical American Sign Language interpreter. TITO credits include Mouse #2 and Beaver in the past two winter pantos. You can catch her performing on stages all over the Boston/Northshore area in various capacities.

CARA OLANKSY AS MRS. ERLYNNE

CARA OLANSKY is originally from Boxford MA, but transplanted to Chicago IL after receiving her BA in Theatre Performance from Butler University. There she spent a semester in London studying comedy, dance, and playwriting at Middlesex University where she wrote her original script, “Rhythms of the Underground”, which made its Chicago debut with Dramatis Personae in 2008. Cara has trained with Black Box Acting Studios (Chicago IL), The Actors Studio (Newburyport MA), and 2nd Story (Chicago IL). She also holds an MSECE and advocates for the importance of the arts as it relates to social/emotional development, peer relationships, and critical thinking skills in early childhood classrooms. She currently resides in Berwick Me, raising her time raising her beautiful 18 month old daughter, Elana.

Previous Theater in the Open credits include To Kill a Mockingbird (2000),Taming of the Shrew (2004), Romeo and Juliet (2006), Julius Caesar (2018) and Poe (2022)

Meet the Creative Team of THE CRUCIBLE

RORY PELSUE, DIrector

RORY PELSUE first theater gig was as a Bumblebee in the 1991 TITO production of The Rites of Spring and he's been spending the last three decades trying to live up to that first impression. More recently, Rory has become an Obie-winning director of new and classic plays, operas, musicals, and live-stream performances. He is best known for directing the live-stream productions of This American Wife and Pulitzer Prize Finalist and Drama League Nominee Circle Jerk (and its in-person Off-Broadway remount in 2022) with the theater company Fake Friends, where he serves as Resident Director. Recent productions include the world premieres of Read to Me at Portland Stage, The Show on the Roof at Boise Contemporary Theater, and Deathbed Edition at Ars Nova ANT Fest. Rory has also directed readings and workshops at Ars Nova, Studio Theater, Primary Stages, The Jar, Culture Hub, Mercury Store, and Southcoast Repertory Theater. Rory is on the directing staff of the Metropolitan Opera, where he has worked as an assistant director on six productions. https://www.rorypelsue.com

Rory makes his Theater in the Open directorial debut with Lady Windermere’s Fan. Previous Theater in the Open credits as an actor include Twelfth Night (2015), Maudslay is Haunted (various), and Rites of Spring (various).

Amanda Martindale, Production STAGE MANAGER

AMANDA MARTINDALE has worked in various theater and music adventures over the years and is thrilled to again be working with Theater in the Open and this brilliant cast.

Previous Theater in the Open credits as Stage Manager include Game of Love and Chance (2022). Previous Theater in the Open credits as performer include Medea (2018).

SOPHIE SIEGEL-WARREN, PRODUCTION DRAMATURG

SOPHIE SIEGEL-WARREN is a Substitute Assistant Professor in the Department of Drama, Theatre & Dance where she teaches Introduction to Dramatic Literature, World Theater History, and Dramatic Literature 1980 to the Present. She received her BA from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and her MFA from David Geffen School of Drama at Yale in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism. As a freelance dramaturg, Sophie has worked on a wide range of projects in both theater and film/TV. She is currently a DFA Candidate at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, working on her dissertation in French translation.

Sophie makes her Theater in the Open debut with Lady Windermere’s Fan.