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Plot Points in our Sexual Development

April 30, 2020

By Miranda Rose Hall
Directed by Kym Pappas

Diversionary Theatre’s final run-through of PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT by Miranda Rose Hall, directed by Kym Pappas. Featuring August Forman* and Rachael VanWormer now streaming!

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the West Coast Premiere of this production was canceled. This video was captured of the final run-through on the stage without the full support of our scenic, costume, lighting, or sound designers. Theo and Cecily are at a dire crossroads in their relationship and need to come clean with the details of their sexual histories. As they excavate their past encounters, the truth of their experiences begins to undermine the very foundation of their relationship. A contemporary queer love story, Plot Points In Our Sexual Development explores the intersection of gender and intimacy, and the dangers of revealing yourself to the person you love.

About the Writer

a person sitting on a benchMiranda Rose Hall is a playwright from Baltimore, MD. Her plays include Plot Points in Our Sexual Development (LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, finalist for the 2019 Lambda Literary Award in Drama), The Hour of Great Mercy (Diversionary Theater), and Best Lesbian Erotica 1995 (upcoming Provincetown Theater). She is currently under commission from LCT3/Lincoln Center Theater, Yale Repertory Theater, and Trinity Repertory Company. She has developed her work with Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, The Playwright’s Realm, New York Theater Workshop, Baltimore Center Stage, Woolly Mammoth, NNPN, the Kennedy Center, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, EnGarde Arts, Provincetown Theater, Two River Theater, and the Orchard Project. She a founding member and Resident Playwright and ensemble member with LubDub Theatre, a New York-based physical theater company.

Miranda was the 2013-2014 Hot Desk Playwright in Residence at Baltimore Center Stage, where she helped launch the program Wright Right Now. She has taught at Georgetown and Wesleyan University, and as a teaching artist with Baltimore Center Stage and Arena Stage. Miranda spent two years with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest, serving marginalized populations in Anchorage, AK and Missoula, MT. She graduated with her BA from Georgetown University and her MFA from the Yale School of Drama.

a woman smiling for the cameraAugust Forman* (Theo) is thrilled to be back after their Diversionary debut as Kid in A Kind of Weather. August is an actor, playwright, educator, and trans advocate based in Chicago, IL. Favorite credits include: Tiny Beautiful Things (Victory Gardens Theater); Girl in the Red Corner (Broken Nose Theatre; Joseph Jefferson Award: Best Supporting Actor); Rutherford and Son (TimeLine Theatre), The Fair Maid of the West, Elizabeth Rex, To Kill a Mockingbird (Oak Park Festival Theatre); Twelfth Night (Midsommer Flight), The Lady Demands Satisfaction (Babes With Blades), Les Innocents ((re)discover theatre). They are an Artistic Associate with Oak Park Festival Theatre and a Core Ensemble Member and Facilitator with Imagination Theater, a touring company addressing social issues with young people. August received their BFA in Acting from Minnesota State University of Mankato. Endless thanks to the entire Diversionary family for allowing me to come and play with you while simultaneously escaping the frigid Chicago winter. August is represented by Big Mouth Talent. Much love to Mom, Landree, and Layla McButters.

 

a person smiling for the cameraRachael VanWormer (Cecily) Diversionary Theatre: The Mystery of Love and Sex, Regrets Only, Birds of a Feather, Speech & Debate, Corpus Christi, Beautiful Thing; La Jolla Playhouse: Froggy (workshop), #SuperShinySara; Cygnet Theatre: Angels in America: Parts 1 & 2; When the Rain Stops Falling, The Vortex, Hay Fever, The Importance of Being Earnest, Travesties, Arcadia, The Matchmaker, The Little Foxes, Curse of the Starving Class; Lamb’s Players Theatre: Babette’s Feast, Ring Round the Moon, Silent Sky, Dinner With Marlene, An American Christmas; San Diego Rep: boom. North Coast Rep: Faded GloryA Christmas Carol; New Fortune: Henry V; PCPA TheaterFest: The Wizard of Oz, Lifeboat, The Reluctant Dragon; ion Theatre: Reason to be Pretty, In the Heat of the Night, bash: latterday plays (Critics Circle Award), In a Dark Dark House.

a woman with long hairKym Pappas (Director) considers herself the luckiest to be back at Diversionary Theatre working with this brilliant company on Plot Points in Our Sexual Development by Miranda Rose Hall. Kym is the Co-Artistic Director of InnerMission Productions. Directing credits include the San Diego Premieres of Revolt. She said. Revolt again. by Alice Birch, Gideon’s Knot by Johnna Adams, Seminar by Theresa Rebeck, Fat Pig by Neil Labute, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead by Burt V. Royal, and the World Premiere of Disappearing Act by Delia Knight (InnerMission Productions), Sonnets for an Old Century by Jose Rivera (UCSD), The Kid Thing by Sarah Gubbins and The Diary of Anne Frank Adapted by Wendy Kesselman (MOXIE Theatre), and Well by Lisa Kron (Diversionary Theatre). She directed and developed an original theatre piece, ONE with the L.E.T Youth Crew and the San Diego Domestic Violence Council. She is a member of the Pasadena Playhouse Directors Lab West. Big love to Jyl!

Yi-Chien Lee (Scenic Designer) is a San Diego based set designer originally born and raised in Taiwan. Selected design credits include The Great Leap (Cygnet Theatre), Girlfriend (Diversionary), The Winter’s Tale (The Old Globe-Globe for All), Eurydice (Open Wings Theatre), Mission Incomplete (Young Stars, New Vision), Code: Cytus (Divertimento. Media), Memory in the moonlight (Chuan Ai Performing Arts), Very Disco (The Naked Foreheads), Truth or Dare (MOD Short Film), In Search of Beckett (Double Theatre), You tube (Dead-end Flower), Representation of the Cherry Orchard (Minister of Culture, Taiwan), Everybody Black (UCSD), How to Defend Yourself, Mothers (New Play Festival). She received MFA from UCSD Theatre and Dance and BA from National Taiwan University. Her work for Moon drunk has been selected for Emerging Artist/Imagination Exhibit in 2019 Prague Quadrennial. yichienlee.com

Elisa Benzoni (Costume Designer) is thrilled to be working again with Diversionary Theatre where she has had the pleasure of designing shows such as Loneliest Girl and Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Elisa has also worked on over a hundred productions across Southern California with theaters such as The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Geffen Playhouse, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, San Diego Repertory Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre and New Village Arts. Being Italian born, Elisa has also had the opportunity to work and perfect her craft in Europe. Elisa holds a costume design M.F.A. from UCSD where she currently is an adjunct professor. www.elisabenzoni.com

Lily Voon (Sound Designer) is excited to finally work with the Diversionary Theatre family! She is a graduate from University of California, San Diego. She studied Interdisciplinary Computing & the Arts (ICAM Music) with an emphasis on recording arts and sound design, and a minor in Music. Sound Design credits include: Dance Nation (MOXIE Theatre), Herland (MOXIE Theatre), Fade (MOXIE Theatre), Anne Frank (MOXIE Theatre), Cell (Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (UCSD), 24 Hour Play Festival (UCSD), and A two People’s Names and Yanipsich Krumbach and the Infinite Day Blue (UCSD, UNPF 2014 Showcase). Assistant Sound Design credits include: In the Crowding Darkness (UCSD, WNPF 2014) and Eternally Bad (MOXIE Theatre).

Curtis Mueller (Lighting Designer) returns to Diversionary having designed The Santaland Diaries, GirlfriendHedwig and The Angry InchBull in a China Shop, The Happiest Place on Earth, Cardboard Piano, Homos, Well, 2.5 Minute Ride, Lizard BoyManhandledNow or LaterA Civil War Christmas, Amazons and Their MenMan Clan, and A New Brain. Select local credits include: Withering Heights, Margin of Error (Roustabouts Theatre Company); End of The RainbowQuality of LifeThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, I Hate Hamlet, All My Sons, Macbeth (Intrepid Theatre Company); A Weekend With Pablo Picasso, The Secret Garden, Big RiverThe 1940s Radio HourSeascape (New Village Arts). Curtis has also worked extensively with Coronado School of The Arts. Curtis holds a BFA in Lighting Design from California Institute of The Arts.

Edward Khris Fernandez (Stage Manager) Selected credits include: Vietgone LA Premiere – East West Players, Samsara LA Premiere – Coeurage Theatre, Men on Boats LA Premiere – Son of Semele, Bach, Rock, & Shakespeare XVI – The Greek Theatre, Urinetown: The Musical – Glendale Theatre, Assassins – Young Artists Forever, and Matilda – Coronado Playhouse. Proud Member of the Stage Management Association and the Los Angeles Stage Managers group. For more: edwardkhrisfernandez.com

a man wearing glasses

I’m delighted to welcome back Miranda Rose Hall after producing the World Premiere of her astonishing play The Hour of Great Mercy. Miranda’s trademark is equal doses heart, humor and intellect. Plot Points is also provocative and sexy, while subtly exploring where we stand right now in the conversation around gender. The surprising structure of her play envelopes the audience into a certain intimacy with the characters that is thrilling and poignant. There is simply nothing more queer, unique or authentic than Plot Points on the American stage today.

Photos by: Simpatika
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