Prepared

by Keiko Green '22

directed by Jon Reimer/PhD/MFA '21

This show is presented as part of the Wagner New Play Festival, an annual festival of new works by MFA playwrights, in collaboration with MFA/PhD directors, actors, designers, stage managers, and dramaturges. This year, for the first time, the the WNPF will be presented virtually. The festival will include four audio plays, including this piece, and one animated work.

How to Listen

This audio play will be available to stream beginning June 8 @ 6:00am. On that date, you, the audience, are free to stream it on this webpage and on iTunes and Spotify. Click the links below to stream the festival trailer and subscribe to our channel to stay updated.

Content Warning

This play contains themes and an audio depiction of death by suicide, depression, and strong language.

The Cast

The Creative Team

Director's Statement 

For some people, being prepared is how they find the slightest semblance of comfort in an otherwise anxiety-inducing world. I can certainly relate: I was in Japan during the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. I remember at the time feeling that I was glad I had an earthquake emergency kit with canned goods and medical supplies, but also like a fool that I hadn’t prepared more… more substantial food, emergency cash… toilet paper! So, when the COVID-19 pandemic began, it felt a lot like being back in Tokyo in 2011. And once again, I was left feeling like I was grossly unprepared for the unexpected catastrophe, but this time that I should have known better. I learned — like a boy scout learns to be prepared — that one should always plan for the worst, so that when the unexpected happens one can survive. While a lack of toilet paper or cleaning products turned out to not be the end of the world, it really has gotten more people than ever before thinking: what would happen if…? Keiko Green has brilliantly imagined with her trademark sense of humor and sharp wit a time after the end of the world as we know it in which the most prepared people, the boy scouts, survive. And then what? What do you do when all your preparatory skills leave you in-tact on the other side of the apocalypse? Where do you pick up from there? What can you expect, or anticipate, or plan for from then on? Anything, or nothing? And what for? If we don’t laugh, we cry… so, let’s laugh, and then maybe we can imagine past the imaginable point of survival, through the Sad, and find the unforeseeable hope beyond our expectations.

About the Playwright

Keiko Green is a Nintendo-loving 2nd-year MFA Playwriting student. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a bilingual household (Japanese and English), writing often about the collision of cultures. She received her BFA from NYU with a focus on Experimental Theatre. Keiko lived in Seattle for six years, where she is still a Core Company Member at ACT Theatre and a former member of the Seattle Repertory Theatre's Writers' Group. Her plays have been developed and/or produced by ACT Theatre, the Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, Playwrights Realm, and Actors Express. Honors include the Gregory Award for Outstanding New Play, the Amy Award, and Finalist status for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Neukom Playwriting Award, Blue Ink Prize, and others. As an actor, Keiko has worked across the country in new works (her favorite) and lots and lots of Shakespeare. Please check out her other WNPF piece, the animated comedy End Days!

About the Director

Jon Reimer received his doctorate from the Joint Ph.D. program in Theatre and Drama at UC San Diego and UC Irvine, and is currently an M.F.A. Directing candidate at UC San Diego. He is also a graduate of Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where he earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts (Directing and Design) with a minor in Religion (Asian Studies). His UC San Diego credits include Letters From Cuba (Dramaturg), Orestes 2.0 (Production Consultant), The Skriker (Director), Baby Teeth (Director WNPF 2017), Scenes from an Execution (Director), Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika (Director), Boston Marriage (Director), Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches (Co-Director), The Cherry Orchard (AD/Dramaturg), Borealis (AD/Dramaturg, WNPF 2015), and Golden Boy (acting in the roles of Mickey/Frank). Jon’s research interests include traditional and modern Japanese performance, Meisner-based acting techniques, and inter/intra-cultural theatre.

Cast Bios

Lily Eichner (Agatha) is a third-year BA theatre major and a first-year transfer from Sacramento. This is her first UC San Diego production. Select credits: Macbeth (Falcon's Eye Theatre); Alice in Wonderland (Falcon's Eye Theatre).

Spencer McCabe Hunsicker (Bear) is a first-year MFA student from Salt Lake City, UT and holds a BFA in acting from BYU. UC San Diego credits: Uncle Vanya. Regional credits: Mary Stuart (Pioneer Theatre Company); Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Noorda Center); Daddy Long Legs (Hale Center Theatre Orem); This is Our Youth (SLC Fringe) A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night (Creekside Theatre Festival). BYU credits: Servant of Two Masters, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Crucible, The Mill on the Floss, The Mousetrap, Company.

Noah Israel (Todd) is a second-year MFA student originally from outside of Baltimore, MD. He holds a BA Theatre and a BS in Neurobiology/Physiology from the University of Maryland: College Park. UC San Diego credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, HEAP, Orestes 2.0. Other selected credits: The 39 Steps, Sweeney Todd (Rep Stage), Legally Blonde (Keegan Theatre), Aquarium (Imagination Stage), Big River (Adventure Theatre/Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma), Hairpsray, Beauty and the Beast, Oklahoma! (Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre).

Noah Keyishian (Scoutmaster) is a first-year MFA student from Bloomfield, New Jersey. UC San Diego credits: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Theater credits: Are You There? (Humana Festival of New American Plays); Tell the Truth; A Christmas Carol; Dracula; The Brief History of Francois Le Chou Chou (Actors Theatre of Louisville); and Favors (Manhattan Repertory Theater). Film credits: Happy Yummy Chicken; That Thing I Had That One Time; Status-Driven; Sasquatch; Separation Celebration; Wax Lover’s Playlist.

Creative Team Bios

Amir Aftabi (Assistant Director) is fourth-year undergraduate studying Theatre and Political Science. He was born and raised in Orange County. Amir transferred from Irvine Valley College where he starred in King Oedipus, Voice of The Prairie, West Side Story and Zombie Dearest. Amir has also been in a variety of foreign and independent films including Permission, Party Favors and Open Mic.

Piper Fullington (Assistant Stage Manager) is a third-year BA theatre major and political science minor. UC San Diego credits: Uncle Vanya (Production Assistant)

Stephen Jensen (Sound Designer) is a UC San Diego Theatre & Dance alumnus. Credits include: In Strange Woods (Podcast), Orestes 2.0 (UCSD), Girlfriend (Diversionary Theatre), Evita (ACT of CT), Broadway Bounty Hunter (Associate), Rock of Ages (Associate, Off-Broadway), Into the Woods (Associate, The Hollywood Bowl), Mamma Mia (Assistant, The Hollywood Bowl), Jagged Little Pill (Intern, Boston and Broadway).

Joseff Paz (Assistant Stage Manager) is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Theatre & STEM. UC San Diego credits: Balm in Gilead, The Gradient and The Jefferson Middle School Monthly (Crew, WNPF ‘19), Everybody Black (Costume Crew).

Emily Searles (Production Stage Manager) is a second-year MFA student originally from the East Coast. She holds a BA in Business Administration and Theatre from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. UC San Diego Credits: Uncle Vanya, Letters From Cuba, Much Ado About Nothing, Balm in Gilead, Peoria (Lab 2020), Someone With Nerve (Lab 2020). Other Select Credits: Anything Goes, My Fair Lady (Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre), Brigadoon, Ubu Roi, How I Wonder, Salome (Muhlenberg College), Little Shop of Horrors (Windham Theatre Guild).