Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?

Edward L. Simon (Man 1) is thrilled to be back at Arena Stage and returning home to the DC area! Born and raised in the land of Old Bay, he is also a graduate of The Boston Conservatory’s Musical Theatre BFA program. Recent credits include the world premiere of A Wrinkle in Time (Arena Stage), Ragtime (Signature Theatre), Into the Woods (American Stage), Hair (New Rep Theatre), Cinderella (Virginia Rep), and the world premiere of Vatican Falls off-Broadway. You can follow his blog writing on arts and politics on Substack @edwardsimon23. All his gratitude to his agents at ATB, the whole creative team, Sally, Ben, and the CKs. Go Ravens! Instagram: @edwardsimon23 

Greg Stuhr (Man 2) previously worked in DC at Studio Theatre in Three Sisters. His Broadway credits include Good Night, and Good Luck with George Clooney, directed by David Cromer; Tracy Letts’s The Minutes, and Larry David’s Fish in the Dark, both directed by Anna Shapiro; and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other notable theater includes world premieres by Ethan Coen, Rolin Jones, Keith Reddin, and Bruce Norris for the Atlantic Theater Company, Yale Rep, South Coast Rep, and Steppenwolf, respectively. He frequently collaborates with co-writer/director Jenna Ricker on projects like the acclaimed indie film The American Side, and the award-winning ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, "Qualified," which premiered at SXSW. Greg also co-created and wrote the pilot for the comedy series Luba’s Lot for Fox Television.  

Stephen Cefalu Jr. (Man 3) is thrilled to be returning to Arena after originating the role of Jonah in the world premiere of Data. Broadway Tour: Aaron Sorkin’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Select Regional: The Cherry Orchard (Goodman Theatre), Death of a Salesman (Hartford Stage), world premiere of Mary Page Marlowe (Steppenwolf), world premiere of The Gradient (St. Louis Rep). TV: Cupertino, Evil, Shameless, Law & Order: SVU. MFA Acting: Yale Drama. Instagram: @stephencefalujr

Jason Babinsky (Committeeman 2) is happy to return to "AYNOHYEB" after performing it Off-Broadway under the tutelage of Anna Shapiro. Broadway: Network, Billy Elliot (also First National Tour), and Ghost. Off-Broadway: Anatomy of a Suicide (Atlantic Theater), The Caucasian Chalk Circle (Classic Stage Company), and A Man’s a Man (Classic Stage Company). Regional: Williamstown Theatre Festival, McCarter Theatre, Contemporary American Theater Festival, George Street Playhouse, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Huntington Theatre, Alley Theatre, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, City Theatre Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, and others. Film: Contagion, You Were Never Really Here, Sweethearts (HBO), She Said, A Cure for Wellness, The Wizard of Lies (HBO), You Don’t Know Jack (HBO), and Law Abiding Citizen. TV: Your Friends & Neighbors, Elsbeth, The Good Wife, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Billions, Succession, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Equalizer, The Blacklist, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, Bull, Run the World, New Amsterdam, Elementary, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Madam Secretary, Blue Bloods, House of Cards, and others.  

John Leslie Wolfe (Chairman) last appeared at Arena Stage in Mother Courage starring Kathleen Turner, and in 2005’s Damn Yankees. Also in DC, he appeared at Signature Theatre (Titanic, Passion, Threepenny Opera, Diner, Sweeney Todd), Ford’s Theatre (Ragtime, 1776, and others), and in pre-Broadway companies of Martin Guerre and Golden Child at The Kennedy Center. On Broadway, John was in the original company of Hal Prince’s Evita, and toured nationally/internationally with the show as Juan Peron, playing DC several times. Other Broadway shows include Saravá, Passion, and Parade. For six years, John played André in The Phantom of the Opera in Las Vegas. TV/Film includes House of Cards, The West Wing, The Wire, Homicide, The Invasion, Step Up, Invincible, and HBO’s Something the Lord Made. His photography is at: www.jlwfaces.com.  

Philip Earl Johnson (Committeeman 1) was last seen in DC, and around the country, at The Kennedy Center, in the National Tour of Angels in America as Joe Pitt. At Laguna Playhouse in California, he was seen as Jamie in A Moon for the Misbegotten. Chicago area credits include Stockton in Robert Falls’s An Enemy of the People, Autolycus in The Winter’s Tale (Goodman Theatre); Kurt in Conor MacPherson’s American premiere of The Dance of Death (Writers Theatre); Tartuffe in Tartuffe (Court Theatre); Rafe in The Herbal Bed (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); and Doc in Come Back, Little Sheba (American Blues Theater, Company Member). TV credits include Chicago Fire, Empire, and Will & Grace.

Aaron Bliden (Larry Parks) is returning to Arena after appearing as Danny in Crazy Sexy Cool – The TLC Musical. Other recent regional highlights include The American Five (Ford's Theatre); An Enemy of the People, Tiny Lights (Theater J); and The Waverly Gallery (1st Stage). Aaron has worked for The Second City in several different productions, which played at Woolly Mammoth and The Kennedy Center. Additionally, he has appeared on stage at Baltimore Center Stage, Folger, Signature, Imagination Stage, Arts on the Horizon, Olney, and Forum. Aaron is a founding company member of Pointless Theatre along with some other graduates of his alma mater, University of Maryland College Park. He is one-third of the DC-based band The French Champagne. He is currently writing a rock opera.

Peter Jacobson (Abe Burrows) recently played Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman at Hartford Stage. Off-Broadway credits include Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Four Dogs and a Bone, Waiting for Lefty, June Moon, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr (Abridged), Comedy of Errors, and Taming of the Shrew (Delacorte Theater). TV work includes Dr. Taub on House, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, The Americans, Colony, Ray Donovan, Fear the Walking Dead, NCIS: Los Angeles, High Potential, Ahsoka, WeCrashed, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, FBI, Girls on the Bus, The Good Wife, Billions, The Good Doctor, Will & Grace, and Oz. Movies include Smile 2, Good Night, and Good Luck, Fly Me to the Moon, White House Down, Cars 2, Transformers, 61*, Paterno, Path to War, A Civil Action, As Good as It Gets, Deconstructing Harry, and Private Parts.

Rivka Borek (Lillian Hellman) is honored to be at Arena Stage for the first time and working alongside the entire team! Her credit highlights include plays at American Conservatory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Ars Nova, Hudson Valley Shakespeare (tour), SF Playhouse, Detroit Public Theatre, and the Edinburgh Fringe. She has also participated in workshops and readings with The O’Neill, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, Theatre for a New Audience, and New Georges. She received her MFA in Acting from A.C.T. 

Jeff Still (Lionel Stander). Broadway: Dog Day Afternoon, The Minutes, Oslo, To Kill a Mockingbird, August: Osage County, Fish in the Dark, Thérèse Raquin, Lombardi, Bronx Bombers, Job. National Tour: Mockingbird, August. Off-Broadway: Tribes, Our Town, Orson’s Shadow, Adding Machine. Regional: Harry in Born Yesterday (Guthrie), Rothko in Red (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Salieri in Amadeus (Cardinal), Dr. Sweet in Tracy Letts’s Bug (Gate Theatre, London), Howard in The Mystery of Love & Sex (Signature). Chicago: Victor in The Price (Writers Theatre), Queeg in The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Red Orchid), Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross (Pointe), 13 shows with Steppenwolf Theatre and, back in 1990, Lionel Stander in Big Game Theatre’s Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? directed, like this production, by Anna Shapiro.  

Kevin Mambo (Paul Robeson). Broadway, Off-Broadway, and tour credits include Fela!, The Color Purple, and The Book of Mormon National Tour (Helen Hayes nomination); The History of Empires at La MaMa; Fortress of Solitude at Dallas Theater Center and The Public Theater (Lortel nomination); Mlima's Tale at The Public; Ruined at Goodman Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club; The Convert at Kirk Douglas Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and McCarter Theatre; Venus and Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek at Signature Theatre; Seven Guitars and Pericles at Two River Theater; The Last Detail at Lucille Lortel Theatre; Once Around the Sun at Zipper Factory Theater; The Tempest (Helen Hayes nomination) and Radio Golf (Helen Hayes win) at Round House Theatre; and We Are Gathered and Fremont Ave. at Arena Stage. Film credits include Rustin, Nina, Cadillac Records, Rebel in the Rye, Payback, One of Us Tripped, Firing Squad, Selah and the Spades, The Southside, Henchman of Notre Dame (Best Actor), Trooper, and Man in the Mirror. TV credits include Guiding Light (two Emmys, three nominations), Hit & Run, Luke Cage, Saint X, High Maintenance, The Good Doctor, Blacklist, Happyish, Soul Food, One Life to Live, Law & Order (Original/Deadline/SVU/Trial by Jury/Criminal Intent/Reboot), Spin City, Elementary, Any Day Now, Mistresses, Family Matters, Freshman Dorm, and Great Performances. Instagram: @iammambo

Coleman Pedigo (u/s Man 1, Committeeman 2, Larry Parks) marks his first collaboration with Arena Stage. Previously on stage: Jonah (u/s) at Studio Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (u/s) with Synetic Theater, Barbecue Apocalypse with Charlotte’s Off-Broadway. Film: Christy, Toronto International Film Festival, 2025.

Joey Collins (u/s Man 2, Man 3, Abe Burrows) is thrilled to be working with Arena Stage for the first time on Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, as he is a new resident of SW DC. Locally, he has had the privilege to work at Studio Theatre, Theater J, Shakespeare Theatre, CATF, and Folger. He was in the Broadway companies of The Glass Menagerie (with Jessica Lange and Sarah Paulson), Rock ‘n’ Roll, and The Lonesome West. He was Richard Thomas’s foil in the National Tour of To Kill a Mockingbird. Favorite Off-Broadway shows are Bug (Barrow Street); Vieux Carré (Pearl); Galileo, and 1599 (Irondale Ensemble). He has enjoyed audiences at PlayMakers Rep, Yale Rep, A.C.T., Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The Old Globe, Barrington Stage, Berkshire Theatre Festival (BTCA Award), and others. Favorite film and TV work include There Is a Monster, Chest Candy, Bittersweet, Kidnapped, and Law & Order. joeycollins.net Instagram: @mrjoeycollins 

David Bryan Jackson (u/s Chairman, Lionel Stander) has acted at the Shakespeare, Folger, Mosaic, Woolly Mammoth, Studio, Scena, Spooky Action, and Signature theaters, as well as Washington Stage Guild, Washington Shakespeare Company, The Kennedy Center, and Olney Theatre Center (where he was literary manager for several years). He received a Theatre Lobby Award for his performances in Intimate Exchanges at Source Theatre and Via Dolorosa at Theater J (the latter of which he reprised in Los Angeles and Boston). He recently appeared in Breaking the Code at Central Square Theater in Cambridge, MA, where he has also designed sound and composed music for several productions. On-screen credits include the independent films Dinner with the Alchemist and Her Tango, and AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies.  

Eli El (u/s Committeeman 1, Paul Robeson) is returning to Arena Stage after performing in The Motion (2026), Fremont Ave. (2025), and The Great Society (2018). Other theater performances include The Piano Lesson (1st Stage); Testosterone, Migraaaaants (ExPats Theatre); AJAX (Scena Theatre); Radio Golf (Round House Theatre); Fat Ham (Studio Theatre); A Thirst for Freedom (Live Garra); and many more. He has completed and is currently involved with several independent film projects, including Once Upon a Time in The District, Unarmed Man, Harriet, The Meek, Last Night, THICK, etc. Eli directed The Healing Floor, DCBTF Award winner. He also directed a feature film and two shorts, The Cracked Mask and Lay Me Down. His motto is “you can learn from anyone, if only you allow yourself to.”

Eric Bentley (Playwright) was born in England in 1916, became an American citizen in 1948, in 1998 was inducted into the (American) Theatre Hall of Fame, and in 2011 won a Gold Medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Scholar, critic, teacher, performer, translator and, finally, playwright, he has had many books published and many plays and adaptations performed, the latter feature making him a star of the Samuel French catalogue. Several of his critical works have become classics, notably The Playwright as Thinker, Thinking about the Playwright, and The Life of the Drama. Today, nine of his plays are published by Northwestern University Press in three volumes entitled Rallying Cries, Monstrous Martyrdoms, and The Kleist Variations. Four more Bentley titles have recently been published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc: Round One, Round Two, A Time to Die and A Time to Live, and The Sternheim Trilogy. 

Anna D. Shapiro (Director) is a Tony Award–winning director and served as Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company from 2015 to 2021, where she remains an ensemble member. She joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in 2005 and was awarded the 2008 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for August: Osage County (Steppenwolf, Broadway, London). She was nominated in 2011 in the same category for The Motherf**ker with the Hat (The Public Theater, LAByrinth Theater Company). Other Steppenwolf directing credits include the world-premiere production of The Minutes (also on Broadway), The Unmentionables (also at Yale Repertory Theatre), The Pain and the Itch (also in New York), Purple Heart (also in Galway, Ireland), and This Is Our Youth (which transferred to Broadway). Additional Broadway credits include Of Mice and Men and Fish in the Dark, and off-Broadway’s Domesticated (Lincoln Center Theater). She directed the premiere of the Broadway musical The Devil Wears Prada with music by Sir Elton John, lyrics by Shaina Taub, and book by Kate Wetherhead. Last season, Anna directed the Tony Award–winning revival of Eureka Day at Manhattan Theatre Club. She most recently directed Eric Bentley’s Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? at City Center. Shapiro is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and Columbia. She is a professor in Northwestern University’s Department of Theatre.

Andrew Boyce (Set Designer). Recent NYC: The Monsters (Manhattan Theatre Club), Burning Cauldron of Fiery Fire (Vineyard). Broadway: Dana H. Recent DC: The Wild Duck, Frankenstein (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Woody Sez (Dupont Underground). Other NYC credits with New York Theatre Workshop, Primary Stages, Lincoln Center, Atlantic, Roundabout, among others. Regional credits with most major regional and LORT theaters across the U.S. Opera and dance credits with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Cincinnati Opera, Detroit Opera, Opera Omaha, Boston Lyric, Central City, San Diego Opera, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, among others. Yale School of Drama. Associate Professor of Design at Northwestern. www.andrewboycedesign.com

Johanna Pan (Costume Designer) is a costume and sometimes scenic designer for theater, film, dance, and opera, as well as a textile and visual artist. They first discovered theatrical design while competing in the creative thinking competition Odyssey of the Mind and has never looked back. Johanna’s artistic practice is centered around decolonizing the imagination, breaking down the notions of feminized labor, and anti-racism. They continue to harbor hope for a more sustainable humankind in the face of adversity. MFA: NYU Tisch. @jpandesign

Donald Holder (Lighting Designer) is an award-winning lighting designer whose work spans theater, television, and film. His Washington credits include Arena Stage’s Stand-Up Tragedy (Helen Hayes nomination); Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Timon of Athens, Much Ado About Nothing, and Salomé (Helen Hayes Award); and Folger Theatre’s The Way of the World. Holder has designed 64 Broadway productions and received 16 Tony nominations, winning for The Lion King and the 2008 revival of South Pacific. Recent Broadway work includes Schmigadoon!, Ragtime, McNeal, Call Me Izzy, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Paradise Square, Tootsie, Anastasia, Oslo, and The King and I. Film and television credits include Smash, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Spirited, and Ocean’s 8. He heads Lighting Design at Yale’s David Geffen School of Drama.

Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen (Sound Designers). Arena Stage: music and sound for From the Mississippi Delta, Red Hot Patriot, and others. Broadway: music and sound for Eureka Day, No Man’s Land/Waiting for Godot, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Miracle Worker, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and The Speed of Darkness; and sound for Purpose, Sweat, The Price, Larry David’s Fish in the Dark, This Is Our Youth, Of Mice and Men, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, among others. Off-Broadway: music and sound for multiple productions including sound for Ruined and Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?. They have created music and sound at many of America’s resident theaters (often at Steppenwolf), London’s West End, and at several other international venues. milbomusic.com

Brittany Bland (Projection Designer) is an award-winning projection designer working across theater, dance, opera, and live events. Her work explores projection as a conduit for empathy and reflection. She recently made her Broadway debut as the projection designer for the Tony Award–winning Cats: The Jellicle Ball, making history as the first Black woman to design projections for a Broadway production. Her work has been featured at leading regional theaters, including the American Repertory Theater, Alliance Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, and Arena Stage, where she was the projection designer for the world premiere of Ken Ludwig's adaptation of Death on the Nile. She received her MFA in Design from the Yale School of Drama.

Brittany Hartman (Hair and Wig Designer) is thrilled to be making her Arena Stage debut! She is an Emmy and Guild Award–winning hairstylist who currently manages the Saturday Night Live wig shop. She designed her first Broadway play in 2023, The Thanksgiving Play, after associate designing several Broadway musicals, including Jagged Little Pill, Sunset Boulevard, and Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. This summer, she was the key hairstylist on horror movie Possession (Paramount) coming out in theaters June 2027!

Zoë Adams (Associate Director) is thrilled to make her Arena Stage debut. A Texas-born, Brooklyn-based director, her recent directing and associate directing credits include Broadway: Bug (Associate), Eureka Day (Associate, Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play); Off-Broadway: Are You Now… (Associate), To Have and To Hold, Bigfoot! (Associate), Caroline (Associate), Red Bull Theater’s Short New Play Festival, The Christine Jorgensen Show; Regional: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz, Sister Act (Impact Arts). Zoë has directed readings of new work by Jaclyn Backhaus, Libby Carr, and Abby Rosebrock. Other collaborations include Manhattan Theatre Club, Glamour, Spoke Media, New York Stage and Film, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and Working Theater. Proud Drama League alum. MFA, Directing: Columbia University. SDC. zoecraigadams.com

Raiyon Hunter (Casting) is a New Orleans-born casting director, producer, and arts administrator whose work centers artistic excellence, collaboration, and access. She currently serves as Casting Director and Line Producer at Arena Stage, where her recent credits include Fremont Ave., Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Chez Joey, The Other Americans, and Damn Yankees, among others. Previously, Raiyon served as Casting Director at Children’s Theatre Company, where her credits included Drawing Lessons, Frozen, A Year with Frog and Toad, Alice in Wonderland, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and Morris Micklewhite and the Tangerine Dress. She began her professional artistic leadership journey as a Spelman Leadership Fellow at the Alliance Theatre, contributing to productions in capacities ranging from casting associate to director, including Do You Love the Dark?, Darlin’ Cory, Bina’s Six Apples, Good Bad People, and DreamHou$e.

Morgan R. Holbrook (Stage Manager) is a New York-based stage manager and is thrilled to return to Arena Stage after working on Chez Joey last season. Career highlights include the Tony Award–winning productions of The Inheritance, The Ferryman, and The Boys in the Band. He was also part of the original stage management team on Masquerade, the immersive Phantom of the Opera production. Most recently, Morgan was the stage manager for the New York run of Are You Now or Have You Even Been?. He'd like to thank his parents for their love and support.

Dayne Sundman (Assistant Stage Manager) is always glad to be back at Arena Stage. Some past favorite shows at Arena include Chez Joey (world premiere), A Wrinkle in Time (world premiere), The Bedwetter, Death on the Nile (world premiere), Unknown Soldier, POTUS, Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches, Catch Me If You Can, and Newsies. Other credits include The Wild Duck, Jane Anger, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (STC); Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson - Apt 2B, Murder on the Orient Express (Great Lakes Theater); Sweeney Todd, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812, and Sense & Sensibility (Idaho Shakespeare Festival). Allen Lee Hughes Fellow 2017. Baldwin Wallace University 2015.