Honorary Producers: Paige Willan & Laura Birchler
Associate Producer: Rebecca Bradbeer |
by Royall Tyler
directed by Ann Garner 
Written in 1787, "The Contrast" was America’s first comedy and an indisputable hit in its time!
The sentimental Maria is unhappily engaged to Dimple, a dandy whose recent European tour has given him expensive tastes and a tendency to flirt with her friends. They all seem on track for a life of misery until Colonel Manly and his salt-of-the-earth waiter Jonathan arrive in town to disrupt this disreputable plot. Fresh from the American Revolution, this 18th-century gem is a comedy of manners that helped define what American manners were to become. 
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DESIGN/PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director: Ann Garner Stage Manager: Jessica McNamara Assistant Stage Manager: Reed Scott Costume Designer: Austin Ginsberg Set/Props Designer: Hunter Smith Assistant Set/Props Designer: Courtney Miller Lighting Designer: Nick Wacksman Sound Designer: Finn Powers Production Manager: Hunter Smith Master Electrician: Heather Griffin Electricians: Julia Maggio, Alexa Pennington |
CAST (In order of appearance):
CHARLOTTE - Jenna Kuerzi * LETITIA - Eliza Carson MARIA - Brittany Onukwugha VAN ROUGH - Nathan Foley COLONEL MANLY - Zachary Valdez * JONATHAN - Kevin McCann JESSAMY - Brandon Tyler DIMPLE - James Kern JENNY - Megan McDermott * *This actor appears courtesy of the Actors Equity Association |
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I first read The Contrast over a decade ago, and I remember being surprised by how funny it was. Not just funny for an old play, but genuinely funny. It was also an important play, for all its silliness. It was the first American comedy, written in the same year as the Constitution was adopted (1787), and it was wildly popular for many years. Royall Tyler cleverly uses the tropes of the European comedy of manners (proven entertainment) to skewer European manners and contrast them against a newly-developing American identity. It also gave us the brand new stock character of the "Stage Yankee," here called Jonathan, a sometimes-naive, basically good-natured, always independent, down-home sort of a guy. We see this character crop up and morph over the years, from the title character in Our American Cousin (the play Lincoln was watching when he was assassinated) to Woody on Cheers and beyond.
One of the things I love about old plays is that they give us direct access to the people who lived in the period in which they were written. A society's entertainments are a really good record of that era's joys and anxieties. If the play was popular, as The Contrast was, we have an even better barometer of what those people were thinking and feeling, and what they valued. What seems really clear to me with The Contrast is that, after eight years of war and the expulsion of an oppressive global power, what people craved was celebration; what they worried about was losing their hard-won freedom; and what was on their minds was what it meant to be "American." |
It's the 250th Anniversary of America, and we're in Philadelphia, so we are awash in narratives about the founding of America. The Contrast offers us one that comes with the immediacy of having been there. PAC's ongoing mission is to unearth these forgotten gems, polish them up and show you how they sparkle. I also hope that connecting with this play helps in some way to make sense of our own time. But mostly, I hope you enjoy the show!
- Ann Garner, Director
- Ann Garner, Director
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Jenna Kuerzi - CHARLOTTE
Jenna is an actor, singer, director, and candlemaker. PAC debut! Recent Regional Credits: Camp Siegfried* (*Barrymore nomination: Outstanding Leading Performance in a Play, Theatre Exile), RENT, Bonnie and Clyde, Grease* (*Barrymore nomination: Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Musical. Media Theatre), GayMis* (*Barrymore Win: Outstanding Ensemble in a Musical. Jaffe St. Queer Productions), Proof, Steel Magnolias (Act II Playhouse), A Bottom's Dream, King Lear, Twelfth Night, All's Well, (Shakespeare in Clark Park), Mrs. Harrison, Over the River... (Montgomery Theatre). As well as work with the Arden, Surflight, EgoPo, Delaware Theatre Company, PlayPENN, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, and Playhouse at St. Luke's. Jenna's solo show Johnny Depp! A Retrospective on Late Stage Capitalism has been performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Tank and in.confidence club in NYC, the Museum of Comedy on London's West End, Theatre Exile, City Theater Company, and independent pop-up bar performances at Fergie's Pub. jennakuerzi.com |
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Eliza Carson - LETITIA
Eliza (she/her) is a Philly based actor, educator, and designer. Originally from Massachusetts, she graduated from UConn with a BFA in Acting. In Philly she has performed with The Lemonade Stand (Girlfails) and Paper Doll Ensemble (The Pecking Order), understudied at The Walnut Street Theatre and Montgomery Theatre and toured locally with Family Stages, nationally with Enchantment Theatre and internationally with Pickles Company. She has also performed with Capital Classics and Elsewhere Shakespeare. She also devises with Spite Theatre and Paper Doll Ensemble. |
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Brittany Onukwugha - MARIA
Brittany (she/her) is a Barrymore Award nominated actor, dancer, and theatre maker based in Philadelphia/NJ. Some Regional Credits: Julius Caesar (Decius Brutus/Messala, Delaware Shakespeare Festival), An Army of Lovers (Chloe, Azuka Theatre), The Complete Works of Jane Austen Abridged (Self, Tiny Dynamite), To Reach Across a River (Batya, Theatre Ariel), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Titania/Hippolyta, Arden Theatre). She's also worked on productions in roles such as Dramaturg, Associate Choreographer, Dance Captain, Fight Captain, and is the Associate Producer of the Tony Award Recipient Wilma Theater. Website: brittanyonu.wordpress.com Social Media: @brittanyonu |
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Nathan Foley - VAN ROUGH
Nathan is a Philadelphia-based actor and voiceover artist. He has worked with EgoPo Classic Theater, Lantern Theater Company and Mendelssohn Club. He is delighted to be returning for his seventh (7th!) show with PAC. |
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Zach Valdez - COLONEL MANLY
Zach is very happy to be returning to PAC in The Contrast. Previous PAC credits include The Inheritors and Eli Lynn's adaptation of Cato: Remixed. Zach graduated from Rowan University in 2021 with a concentration in acting, and has been very grateful to call Philadelphia his home. He has worked at theatres such as Theatre Exile, Lantern Theatre Company, Delaware Shakespeare, Quintessence Theatre Company, Ego Po Classic Theatre, and Shakespeare Dallas. |
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Kevin McCann - JONATHAN
Kevin is an actor in the Philly area. Previously he has worked with New Light Theatre (A View From the Bridge, Othello), EgoPo Classics (Waiting for Lefty, Turds in Hell), Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (All that Fall), The Lemonade Stand (welp.), Indecorous Theatre (Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night), Commonwealth Classics (Measure for Measure), Philly Young Playwrights, PWTF, a variety of Fringe Productions, and Arden Theatre (Understudy for Indecent). Additionally Kevin is game master on Wing Women, an award winning podcast about fighting nazis and being queer in World War 2, based on the historical Night Witches. |
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Brandon Tyler - JESSAMY
Brandon graduated from Northern Kentucky University in 2015 and moved to Philly the year after in 2016 and has been working on and off with local theatres and in Connecticut ever since. Brandon is very excited to be joining PAC for the first time with this production. Most recently, he appeared as Jack in Dear Jack, Dear Louise at Hedgerow Theatre in Media. Prior to that, some other favorite roles include Brian in Mercury with Fever Dream Rep and A Midsummer Night's Dream as Demetrius again with Hedgerow Theatre. |
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James Kern - DIMPLE
My work is fueled by the incredible people that surround me. Thank you Mom for being my biggest advocate. To my Wife who's patience and brilliance inspire me. Asher, my Son, for reminding me of the world's magic. To my Dad, I discover more about your brilliance everyday. Upcoming: Directing, The Horrors of Gentil and Directing a surprise at ACT II |
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Megan McDermott - JENNY
Megan was previously seen in PAC’s reading of The Poor of New York and is thrilled to be back with PAC and this wonderful ensemble! Off Broadway: Sweet Bird of Youth, Big Love, and The Three Sisters. Select Regional: Proof, It’s Only A Play, Chapter Two, and Time Stands Still (Act II Playhouse). A Comedy of Tenors, Vanya, Sonia, Masha, & Spike, and Laughter on the 23rd Floor (Bristol Riverside Theatre). Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson Apt. 2B (Playhouse on Park), The Learned Ladies (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ), Playboy of the Western World, The Tinker’s Wedding (Quintessence Theatre), Time Stands Still, The Glass Menagerie (Delaware Theatre Company), The Importance of Being Earnest, Crimes of the Heart (Barnstormers), In The Next Room/Vibrator Play, The Three Sisters (PICT), Amadeus and Shakespeare in Hollywood (Wilma Theater). |
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