Inherit the Wind

ALEX DE BARD

u/s Rachel

Alex De Bard (u/s Rachel)’s DC credits include A Wrinkle in Time at Arena Stage; Hair, Private Jones, Passing Strange, Into the Woods, Rent, Gun & Powder at Signature Theatre; Tick, Tick… BOOM! (Helen Hayes nomination for Out-standing Supporting Performer) at Monumental Theatre Company; Hello, Dolly!, Frozen, Kinky Boots, A.D. 16 at Olney Theatre Center; Little Women, First Date at NextStop Theatre Company; Amazing Grace at Museum of the Bible; The Velveteen Rabbit, Elephant & Piggie, Fancy Nancy, and Blueberries for Sal at Adventure Theatre. Regional: I And You at McCarter Theatre and Private Jones at Good-speed Musicals. Education: CUA, BM. Upcoming: I And You at Olney Theatre Center. Instagram: @alex_debard and @debardvoiceandacting

JORDAN FRIEND

Ensemble

Jordan Friend (Ensemble) is a New York–based actor, singer-songwriter, and play-wright. Arena Stage debut! DC Area: A Hanukkah Carol (Round House Theatre, world premiere); A Delicate Ship (4615 Theatre); Disgraced (NextStop Theatre). Regional: Rock of Ages (Sharon Playhouse, Connecticut Critics Circle Award); The Winter’s Tale, Sense and Sensibility (American Shakespeare Center); Mystic Pizza (La Mirada/West Coast Tour), Company (The Spot). Jordan is currently developing Again & Again & Again, an original solo rock musical about OCD (first conceived and performed during lock-down as a virtual tour). His music can be streamed on all major platforms; his debut EP, The Spinning Season, releases this spring. Cabaret/Performance Fellowship, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. BFA, Ithaca College. To Mom, Dad, Yale, Peggy, and Gabrielle, with love. www.yourfriendjordan.com Instagram: @jordanwfriend

BILLY EUGENE JONES

Drummond

Billy Eugene Jones (Drummond) previously appeared in Arena Stage’s production of Stick Fly. Broadway credits include Our Town, Purlie Victorious (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Fat Ham, A Soldier’s Play, The Book of Mormon, A Raisin in the Sun, The Trip to Bountiful, The Big Knife, The Mountaintop, Passing Strange, Radio Golf, and Gem of the Ocean. Off-Broadway credits include Fat Ham (Public Theater, Obie Award); On Sugarland (NYTW, Obie Award, AUDELCO Award for Best Actor, Drama Desk nomination for Best Actor); Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (Manhattan Theatre Club); Much Ado About Nothing (NYSF); Pitbulls (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater); The Jammer (Atlantic Theater Company); In the Footprint (The Civilians); Waiting for Godot and Three Sisters (Classical Theatre of Harlem). Billy is a graduate of Yale School of Drama.

ALYSSA KEEGAN

E.K. Hornbeck

Alyssa Keegan (E.K. Hornbeck) is an actor, mental health coach, dancer, and visual artist. They are the creator/owner of Empowered Performer Project, providing somatic education for performing artists. Their theater credits include Twelfth Night, Richard III at Folger Theatre; Scenarios, Contractions at Studio Theatre; Come From Away at Ford’s Theatre; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Helen Hayes Award for Best Actress), How I Learned to Drive, Becky Shaw at Round House Theatre; Gloria, Botticelli in the Fire, Shipwreck at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Vanity Fair at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Digging Up Dessa at The Kennedy Center; and working with the Labor Heritage Foundation in honor of laborers during the pandemic. TV credits include Law & Order: SVU, New Amsterdam (NBC), and Bull (CBS). They are the voice of Reagan Somerset in K.F. Breene’s bestselling book series, Demon Days, Vampire Nights.

REBECCA MADEIRA

Rachel

Rebecca Madeira (Rachel) is so happy to return to Arena Stage! She was last seen at Arena in the world premiere of A Wrinkle in Time as Ensemble / u/s Mrs. Which. Other credits include A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as u/s Philia and Sweeney Todd as Swing at Signature Theatre; Anything Goes as Hope at Milton Theatre; Seussical as Gertrude at Light Opera of New Jersey; and Amadeus as Constanze at Algonquin Arts Theatre. She holds a BA in Music from Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts, and she was a finalist in the 2025 Lotte Lenya Competition. Love and thanks to her family!

ALINA COLLINS MALDONADO

u/s Ensemble

Alina Collins Maldonado (u/s Ensemble) most recently appeared as Olivia in Twelfth Night and Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet at the Folger Theatre. DC credits include Everybody, Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare Theatre Company; BLKS at Woolly Mammoth; Native Gardens (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Lead Performer), El Paso Blue, Mariela en el desierto, Los empeños de una casa at GALA Hispanic Theatre; world premieres of Something Moving at Ford’s Theatre; and Where Words Once Were, Digging up Dessa at The Kennedy Center. She has also appeared in productions at 1st Stage, Imagination Stage, Rep Stage, and Forum Theatre. Artistic residencies include The Clarice Smith Artist in Residence and The NextLOOK Artist where she developed her one-woman show, No Salgas Con El Pelo Mojado. www.alinacollinsmaldonado.com Instagram: @alina_cm_

DAKIN MATTHEWS

Brady

Dakin Matthews (Brady) Arena Stage: Debut. Broadway: Camelot, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Iceman Cometh, Waitress, The Audience, Rocky, The Best Man, A Man for All Seasons, Shakespeare’s Henry IV. Off-Broadway: Henry IV (TFANA); Freedomland (Playwrights Horizons); Hostage, School for Scandal, Women Beware Women (Acting Company). Regional Theater: 250 productions. Film and Television: 30 films (including True Grit, Bridge of Spies, Lincoln, and Zero Charisma), 300 TV appearances (including Gilmore Girls, King of Queens, The Gilded Age, and Étoile). Dakin is founding member of the Antaeus Company, Acting Company, and Sam Mendes’ Bridge Project; an award-winning playwright, dramaturge, and translator of Spanish Golden Age plays; a Shakespeare scholar and teacher of Shakespeare master classes around the world; and an Emeritus Professor of English (CSUEB).

ETHAN MILLER

u/s Cates, u/s Ensemble

Ethan Miller (u/s Cates, u/s Ensemble) is thrilled to be returning for his second show at Arena Stage! Previously, Ethan played Joshua in Watch on the Rhine. Other DC credits include Prayer for the French Republic (Theater J); The Waverly Gallery, The Chosen, The Last Match (1st Stage); and Dory Fantasmagory (Imagination Stage). New York credits include This Much I Know (59E59). Other regional credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theater at Monmouth) and Paint Your Wagon (Jackson Hole Playhouse). Notable film credits include Citified (Blue Rocket Productions) and Devils (West Egg Media).

NOAH PLOMGREN

Cates

Noah Plomgren (Cates) is very happy to be making his Arena Stage debut in the company of these brilliant artists and theatermakers. Most recently, Noah appeared Off-Broadway in Anna Christie at St. Ann’s Warehouse, and on Broadway in Dead Outlaw. Other favorite credits include the national tours of Finding Neverland and Hair; Galileo (Berkeley Rep); Sweat (The Guthrie); Grounded (Metropolitan Opera); Sense and Sensibility (Cape Playhouse); All is Calm (Alabama Shakespeare Festival); Cabaret (Ogunquit Playhouse); Noises Off (Pittsburgh Public); and others at Goodspeed, The REV, Bay Street Theater, City Theater Company, and Hangar Theatre. Television credits include Law & Order: Organized Crime. Education: Carnegie Mellon. Instagram: @plomegranate

NATALYA LYNETTE RATHNAM

Ensemble, u/s E.K. Hornbeck

Natalya Lynette Rathnam (Ensemble, u/s E.K. Hornbeck) is thrilled to be back at Arena for this production! DC: The Age of Innocence, POTUS, Our War (Arena Stage); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Everyman Theatre);  Lend Me A Soprano, A Nice Indian Boy (Olney Theatre); A Wind in the Door, Kid Prince and Pablo, The Wings of Ikarus Jackson, Mockingbird (Kennedy Center); Death of a Salesman (Ford’s Theatre); The Last Match, The Phlebotomist (1st Stage); 4380 Nights (Signature Theatre); Bars and Measures, Shame 2.0, When January Feels Like Summer (Mosaic Theater); Trojan Women (Taffety Punk). Helen Hayes nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor and Ensemble. Regional: The Ceremony (Chuang Stage, Boston); Dracula: A Feminist Revenge (Actors Theatre of Louisville); The Figs (American Stage, FL); It’s Christmas, Carol! (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Illyria, Julius Caesar (VA Shakespeare Festival).

TODD SCOFIELD

Ensemble, u/s Brady

Todd Scofield (Ensemble, u/s Brady) DC Area: Holiday, City of Conversation, Sovereignty at Arena Stage; King Lear, Guys and Dolls, Our Town, Richard III, others at Shakespeare Theatre; Romeo and Juliet as Capulet, Tempest as Caliban, Hamlet, Othello, Henry VIII, Merry Wives of Windsor, others at Folger Theatre; Ink, Oslo, The Book of Will, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, others at Round House Theatre; Ragtime at Signature Theatre; Mister Roberts at Kennedy Center; also Theater J, Studio, Ford’s, Olney, Adventure Theatre, Imagination Stage, and Everyman Theatre. Regional: Arden Theatre, PlayMakers, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Charlotte Rep, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Television: recurring role in The Wire.

TRISTAN TURNER

Ensemble

Tristan Turner (Ensemble) is thrilled to be making his debut at Arena Stage with such a prominent piece of American theater. Past credits include the world premiere of Pru Payne (Arizona Theatre Company), Twelfth Night (Utah Shakespeare Festival), and A Raisin in the Sun (South Coast Repertory). Tristan has also made appearances on All American (The CW), The Residence (Netflix), and starred in an indie film that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2025. He would like to thank God, his family, and his close friends for continuing to be his North Star. Follow his journey on Instagram @tristanturn or on TikTok @turnerhudo.

HOLLY TWYFORD

Ensemble

Holly Twyford (Ensemble) is thrilled to be back at Arena for her 10th production, having previously appeared in The Plough and the Stars, Arcadia, The Miser, An American Daughter, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Play), among others. Holly has performed in over eighty productions in theaters in and around the Washington area, including Signature Theatre, Studio Theatre, Round House Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and, most recently, at Shakespeare Theatre in Guys and Dolls. Holly has received many Helen Hayes Award nominations and has won Outstanding Actress four times. She was honored with Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Emery Battis Award for Acting Excellence for her portrayal of Anna in Harold Pinter’s Old Times. Holly is proud to be a Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, a member of the Studio Theatre’s Cabinet, and a Ford’s Theatre Associate Artist. She has worked on commercials, voiceovers, educational films, training films, TV, and independent films. Holly is proud to be a resident of Washington, DC.

JAMES WHALEN

u/s Drummond, u/s Ensemble

James Whalen (u/s Drummond, u/s Ensemble)’s theater credits include The Heiress, The Little Foxes at Arena Stage; Uncle Vanya, King Lear at Shakespeare Theatre Company; The Inheritance, Small Mouth Sounds, NSFW at Round House Theatre; Daphne’s Dive, Ragtime at Signature Theatre; Shipwreck at Woolly Mammoth; And Then There Were None, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ghosts, Tribes, The Dresser, The Beaux’ Stratagem, Time Stands Still, Betrayal, The Cripple of Inishmaan at Everyman Theatre; True West, Boeing Boeing at Rep Stage; Colossal, DA at Olney Theatre Center; The Sisters Rosensweig, The Argument, Race at Theater J; Dracula at Actors Theatre of Louisville; Porgy and Bess at Washington National Opera; Shear Madness at The Kennedy Center; Fabulation at Mosaic Theater Company. TV/Film: Law & Order: SVU, House of Cards, Veep, I Love You...But I Lied, Money Matters, Mistaken, A Beautiful Mind.

JEROME LAWRENCE AND ROBERT E. LEE

Playwrights

Jerome Lawrence (1915–2004) and Robert E. Lee (1918–1994) (Playwrights) whose collaboration spanned more than fifty years, were among the most prolific teams of playwrights in the history of the American theater. Since its 1955 Broadway premiere, their Pulitzer-nominated Inherit the Wind has been translated into 34 languages and celebrated for its continuing relevance. Among their other major stage works are The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, the play and the film of First Monday in October, Auntie Mame, and the books for the musicals Mame and Dear World. Lawrence and Lee were inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1990, and that same year became members of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the Kennedy Center. In addition to receiving recognition for their work in the theater, they have also been honored for their contributions as writers for radio, television, and film. In an effort to encourage new work for the stage and to honor the Dallas producer who gave Inherit the Wind its first production, they created the Margo Jones Award in 1961 and co-founded the American Playwrights Theatre a few years later. In 1986, the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute was established at The Ohio State University. The Institute houses an outstanding and growing collection of memorabilia and personal papers of theater artists from all over the world. Dedicated teachers of playwriting, Lawrence and Lee hoped to communicate to their students a passionate belief that the theater must deal with ideas and issues of social significance. “All of our plays,” they wrote, “share the theme of respecting the dignity of the individual, and our perpetual battle against limitation and censorship.”

RYAN GUZZO PURCELL

Director

Ryan Guzzo Purcell (Director) is honored to be making his Arena Stage debut with a play that Zelda Fichandler directed. He is the Founding Artistic Director of The Feast, committed to bigger plays and bigger paychecks. With The Feast, he has directed reimaginings of work by Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Lillian Hellman, and Oscar Wilde, among others. Other theaters include Intiman Theatre, LANGSTON Seattle, and A.C.T. The Magic Theater in San Francisco, where he also served as Associate Artistic Director. He has developed and directed world premieres with Christina Anderson and Mfoniso Udofia, and a world-premiere adaptation of Elmer Rice’s The Adding Machine that used Artificial Intelligence to influence a script about humans being replaced by machines. His mission is to create theatrical spaces where people are not commodities and time is not money. www.the-feast.org

TANYA ORELLANA

Set Designer

Tanya Orellana she/her (Set Designer) designs performance spaces for theater, opera, and immersive experiences. Her work has been seen in venues across the U.S., including Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theater, The Huntington, The Guthrie, Pasadena Playhouse, and The Greek Theatre. Select credits include Fun Home directed by Logan Ellis (The Huntington); Octavio Solis’ Mother Road directed by David Mendizábal (Berkeley Rep); Shayan Lotfi’s What Became of Us directed by Jennifer Chang (Atlantic Stage 2); María Irene Fornés’ Fefu and Her Friends directed by Pam MacKinnon, Qui Nguyen’s Poor Yella Rednecks directed by Jaime Castañeda (American Conservatory Theater); and For the People by Larissa FastHorse and Ty Defoe directed by Michael John Garcés. She received her MFA in Scenic Design from CalArts and is a recipient of the Princess Grace Fabergé.

AN-LIN DAUBER

Costume Designer

An-lin Dauber (Costume Designer)  is a set and costume designer based in New York and Seattle. Designs in New York include Paul Swan is Dead and Gone, What You Are Now (The Civilians); Letters That You Will Not Get (American Opera Projects); El Mentiroso (Arts On Site); H*tler’s Tasters (New Light Theater); Salesman之死 , June is the First Fall (Yangtze Repertory Company); and By The Queen (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). Recent regional designs include The Odyssey (A.R.T); As You Like It (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); and Primary Trust (Guthrie Theater). In Seattle, she is a company member of The Feast and an Assistant Professor of Costume Design at the University of Washington. MFA Yale School of Drama. Proud member of USA 829. anlindauber@gmail.com

XAVIER PIERCE

Lighting Designer

Xavier Pierce (Lighting Designer)’s professional credits include Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Public Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Guthrie Theater, McCarter Theatre Center, Long Wharf Theatre, Alley Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Arden Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, PlayMakers Rep, Westport Country Playhouse, TheatreWorks, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Alliance Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Portland Center Stage, George Street Playhouse, Syracuse Stage, Two River Theater, Olney Theatre Center, Intiman Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, Triad Stage, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte, and Crossroads Theatre. Xavier is a graduate of New York University Tisch School of the Arts MFA in Design Stage and Film.

PAUL JAMES PRENDERGAST

Sound Designer and Original Music

Paul James Prendergast (Composer & Sound Designer) Previously at Arena Stage: Mother Road and Roe. Broadway credits include All The Way, The Great Society, Julius Caesar, and Manahatta. Select regional credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival (25 productions), Guthrie, Seattle Rep, Yale Rep, Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Rep, Long Wharf, Geffen Playhouse, Denver Center, Hartford Stage, Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory, American Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse, Alley, Alliance, McCarter, Cincinnati Playhouse, and Chicago Shakes. His commercial work includes extensive theme park and museum installations and multiple national tours with Diavolo Dance Theater. Paul’s accolades include Grammy and Drama Desk nominations, Broadway World, Ovation, Drama-Logue, Garland, Gregory, Footlight, and Gypsy awards. His work as a singer/songwriter has appeared in films, on recordings, and in music venues nationwide.

tbd casting co.

New York Casting

tbd casting co. / Stephanie Yankwitt, Margaret Dunn, & Tanis Parenteau (New York Casting) Inaugural collaboration with Arena Stage. Work in the DC area includes Public Obscenities at Woolly Mammoth; The Brothers Paranormal at the Olney Theatre Center; and Babbitt and Here There Are Blueberries at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Current work in New York includes Watch Me Walk (Soho Rep); The Emporium (Classic Stage Company); Henry VI (NAATCO / The Public Theater); Canciones (Radical Evolution); and Jesa (Ma-Yi/The Public Theater). Selected film/television credits include Alessandra Lacorazza’s 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning film In The Summers, as well as the upcoming independent feature films Still Life and The Year of the Monarchs (Lexicon). tbd casting co. casts regularly for La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Tectonic Theater Project, NAATCO, and Soho Rep. Instagram: @tbdcastingco

RAIYON HUNTER

DC Casting

Raiyon Hunter (DC Casting) is a casting director, producer, and arts administrator from New Orleans, Louisiana. She currently works as the Casting Director/Line Producer of Arena Stage. Previously, she worked as the Casting Director of Children’s Theatre Company and the Spelman Leadership Fellow at the Alliance Theatre where she has contributed to a multitude of shows in varying capacities, ranging from casting associate to director on productions such as Do You Love the Dark?, Darlin’ Cory, Bina’s Six Apples, Good Bad People, Confederates, and more. Additionally, she has been in residency at Oregon Shakespeare Festival under Nataki Garrett and The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis under Hana S. Sharif.

CHRISTI B. SPANN

Stage Manager

Christi B. Spann (Stage Manager) has been working as a stage manager in DC since 2011. Recent productions include Damn Yankees, Death on the Nile, The Age of Innocence, and We Are Gathered. She previously spent 12 seasons on the stage management staff at the Denver Center Theatre Company and has also worked with the Great River Shakespeare Festival in Winona, MN and Virginia Repertory Theatre in Richmond, VA.

STEFANIA GIRON ZULUAGA

Assistant Stage Manager

Stefania Giron Zuluaga (Assistant Stage Manager) returns to Arena Stage following last fall’s Damn Yankees and last season’s The Age of Innocence. Regional credits include The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Signature Theatre); Murder on the Orient Express, Destiny of Desire (The Old Globe); Something’s Afoot, Songs of the Moon, Into the Woods (The 5th Avenue); Quixote Nuevo, Fat Ham, The Tempest, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Seattle Rep); Quixote Nuevo, Seussical (South Coast Rep); A Christmas Carol (ACT); Little Shop of Horrors, Mamma Mia!, and The Book Club Play (Village Theatre). Education: Seattle University.

THE FEAST

The Feast (formerly the Williams Project) is a ten-year-old artist-driven theater company that prizes virtuosic artists working in extremes; pays those artists really well; and builds maximalist, collectivist, welcoming events. We do this by producing 2-3 productions per year that pay artists a living wage, while offering pay-what-you-can tickets. Our repertoire features reimaginings of classic works by playwrights such as James Baldwin, Federico García Lorca, Lorraine Hansberry, and Oscar Wilde. We are the best-paying small professional theater in the United States. In our ten-year history, we’ve paid artists over a million dollars.