Land Acknowledgement

Theatre@First rehearses and performs on the ancestral land of the Pawtucket and Massachusett tribal nations. We honor these communities and the elders of these nations—past, present, and future—and recognize the enduring relationships between Indigenous and Native communities and their traditional territories. We extend our respect to citizens of these nations who live here now, to their ancestors who have lived here for over five hundred generations, and to all Indigenous people.

We affirm that this acknowledgement is insufficient. It does not undo the harm that has been done through violence and injustice over the past 400 years and that continues today. We recognize that land acknowledgements are only a small yet important step towards ensuring a culture of respect, truth, and accountability in our community.

We commit ourselves to working toward a greater understanding of our relationship with this land and its people, and to sharing this growing understanding with the Theatre@First participants and audience.

About Theatre@First

The mission of Theatre@First is to work together to provide a fun, friendly, and creative theater experience for cast, crew, and audience alike. We welcome volunteers at all levels of experience and offer a supportive environment in which to work, play, grow, and explore new areas of the theater arts. We offer affordable and eclectic entertainment to the community, aiming to surprise, delight, entertain, and educate our audiences.

We fill an important niche in the vibrant Davis Square arts scene, drawing upon the talents and contributions of individuals and organizations throughout the community to provide a venue for thought-provoking and entertaining performing arts for all those who love to be on either side of the curtain.

Each production we undertake is the dream of someone in our community. When you support Theatre@First you make these dreams a reality for our participants and the wider community. Please help us to continue this work through your generous donations.

Robin Abrahams (Actor) made her T@F debut in 2018 in R.U.R. as Dr. Gall, a roboticist brilliant enough to create a robot with free will and stupid enough to do so and then piss it off repeatedly. Other T@F roles include The Duke in The Revenger's Tragedy, Vera Martin (She Kills Monsters), and Dr. Adler (Web of Murder). Robin's play None Escape (The Island of Dr. Moreau), a modern-day adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic, will premiere at T@F in March. Offstage, Robin is best known as advice columnist Miss Conduct in the Boston Globe Magazine, a position she retired from in February after 20 years

Mel Abrams (Actor) is always excited about a 24h show.

Vidisha Agarwalla (Publicity/Actor, she/her) is a creative with a passion for acting, dancing, and standup. Her favorite roles include Bijlis dancer for Boston Bollywood Season 13, Co-Founder of Boston Media Artists Collective (@bostonmediaartistscollective), Mashal in Jado Jehad (Boston Playwright's Theatre), Bianca in Othello (Dream Role Players), and Cece in This is Treatment (Northeastern Theatre Department). Connect @vidisha.5 on Instagram.

Hannah Baker (Actor) has two previous 24-hour theater credits: Inspector Chartreuse in The 24-Hour T Ride (2024) and Actor One in Giving@First 2020. She has also participated in theater that took a little longer to rehearse. Thanks to my beloved cat, Chester.

Annie Barnett is excited to be part of this 24 hour show with T@F!

Tofer Carlson (Writer, he/him) is a playwright, actor, birder, photographer, and math teacher working out of Woburn, MA. He has had one-act plays produced in festivals around the country (and Denmark!). Tofer began writing for the stage in 2003 after a long series of half-novels and not-quite-stories, and never looked back. This is Tofer’s fourth time participating in Giving@First.

Mack Carroll (Actor) has been acting regularly for 19 years, not counting the children's production of Grease where he played Kenickie (technically his first role). He is excited to see what will happen this time! 

Audra Congress (Actor) does not, in fact, work for the US government. She is looking forward to some on stage experience after several shows working behind the scenes. She previously been props manager for T@F's The Impracticality of Modern Day Mastodons and the current None Escape, worked costumes for Festival@First 12 and was assistant stage manager on for A Lion in Winter (Theater UnCorked). 

Ben Cordes (Director) is thrilled to return to T@F for his fifth Giving@First festival after a long time away. The siren call of the Unity basement, the warm and welcoming T@F community, and fundraising for a cause was altogether too good to resist. Sure, it ain't Shakespeare, but isn't that the point?

Peter Duerst (Actor) is a software engineer and theater maker, variously acting, directing, and carpentering. Previously with T@F, Peter acted in Festival@First 11, directed The Prince's Shadow in Festival@First 12, and was Co-Technical Director of Water by the Spoonful. Peter has also acted with PMRP (Halloween 2023) and the Quannapowitt Players (Comedy of Errors). He's done assistant stage managing with PMRP (Women Behind the Curtain) and Company One (The Interrobangers; Morning, Noon, and Night). Currently, Peter is the Assistant Director of None Escape - The Island of Dr. Moreau: T@F's upcoming mainstage show with performances from March 14th – 29th.

Aparna Gopalan (Writer, she/her) is a journalist, organizer, and cat enthusiast who dabbles in community theater when she isn't agitating for a free Palestine. This is her first time writing fiction of any kind.

Alex Gorowara (Actor) is excited for his first 24-hour show. You may have seen him previously in other T@F productions (The Impracticality of Modern Day Mastodons, Festival@First 12: Love is Love), in a Post-Meridian Radio Players Halloween show (Night of the Living Dead, The Inexperienced Ghost), or in the local Live-Action Role-Playing community.

Theresa Griffin (Actor) is pleased to be performing again with T@F. Favorite performances with T@F include Big Stone (Eurydice), Lyubov (The Cherry Orchard), and Scratch (Love and Deviltry: F@F12). Offstage, Theresa is a medical writer and childless cat lady.

Mike Haddad (Writer) has been acting, directing, and writing for the stage for over 25 years. He wrote his first 10 minute play junior year in high school thanks to the wonderful tutelage of Kevin Kynock. Since then, he has written over two dozen ten minute plays for a variety of companies including Hovey, T@F, Theater to Go, and FUDGE. His play Betrayal of a Kiss won best play at the FUDGE new works festival. 

Elizabeth Hunter (Director) is the Artistic Director Emerita of Theatre@First, which she founded in 2003. She has directed a dozen of our mainstage productions from Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (2004) to Hamlet (2019), as well as several staged readings and special events, and has appeared on our stage many times. She is currently directing Much Ado About Nothing at the Somerville High School and looking forward to directing The Tempest with T@F in June. Elizabeth is deeply grateful to the new T@F leadership team for guiding our community into its next era.

Delphine Kaiser (Festival Director, she/her) is known for wearing too many hats at T@F because she can't say no to helping make awesome theater happen. She's excited for everyone to see the magical nonsense that is barely rehearsed theater with wacky writing constraints. Love to Sam and Selene.

Lauren Kimball (House Manager) has been volunteering with T@F since 2023 and is currently serving as Production Coordinator for the company. She snuck onstage as part of the Ensemble in The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons last year. Giving@First marks her sixth time as House Manager, which she adores because it allows her to live out a version of her dream of owning a bakery. Look for treats at concessions!

Karla Goo Lang (Actor) made her T@F debut in last summer’s Festival@First 12: Love is Love and is delighted to be returning for Giving@First—her first show of this type! Favorite prior roles include Waverly in The Joy Luck Club (Umbrella Stage Company), Texas/“Two Ladies” in Cabaret (Milton Players), and April in Company (Longwood Players). Love to S and J.

Andy Lebrun (Actor) is UP FOR THE CHALLENGE! Bring it on, he can do it! 12 hours to memorize 10 minutes of show? That's more than an hour per minute! That's nothin'! WOOHOOOO! (This is not nearly his first 24-hour-play rodeo. Wait, will it be *about* a rodeo? Nobody knows!)

Xuan Li Leong (Stage Manager, she/her) is currently stage managing for T@F's upcoming mainstage show, None Escape - The Island of Dr. Moreau. She also stage managed with T@F last year (The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons, Festival@First 12: Love is Love). She participated in a 24h playwriting competition once, but is MUCH happier being the stage manager, not the playwright.

Jamie Lin (Writer) is a Taiwanese-American theater artist originally from the Bay Area and a member of Boston's Asian American Playwright Collective (AAPC). Her works have been produced by CHUANG Stage, Pao Arts Center, AAPC, Brandeis University, T@F, and as part of the Boston Theater Marathon. She is passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion & accessibility and serves as Theatre@First’s EDI Coordinator. Offstage, she is a graphic designer and avid D&D player.

Jason Merrill (Actor) played a corpse at the last Giving@First; perhaps this time around you will hear him speak!

Daniel "Rourkie" O'Rourke (Technical Director, they/them) is the Communications Director at T@F. They have experience both on and off the stage, as an actor and as production staff in regional theaters across New England. When they aren't writing music, Rourkie enjoys LARPing, hiking, tabletop gaming, and showing off their cooking skills on social media!

Emily Osterloh (Director) is excited to be directing another short play for T@F, having directed Speak Now for Festival@First 12 this past summer. She is the Fundraising Coordinator for Theatre@First and is grateful that her job as a Code Consultant led her to this community. While preparing for her engineering certification exam, she's happy to dabble in a bit of theater in between, even for just 24 hours!

Amanda and Steven Owens (Writers) are really two raccoons in a trench coat living in Natick, spending their time reading, writing, working on spreadsheets, and raising 2 raccoon cubs.

Mary Parker is the Managing Director of Theatre@First. She has directed several shows for the group, most recently Web of Murder. She loves helping new directors learn where the bodies are buried. 

Erika Reinfeld (Writer) has worked with T@F off and on since 2004 as an actor, director, producer, stage manager, choreographer, and playwright. By day (and sometimes night), she manages the public outreach program at MIT’s astrophysics research center. By night (and sometimes day), she serves as a member of the Medford School Committee. This is her second Giving@First production.

Santiago Rivas (Director) is happy to start his 20th season directing his sixth Giving@First production. A seasoned veteran of T@F, he's acted (Equus, Tartuffe, Henry V), directed (Bare Bones), produced (Mastodons), and house managed (Cherry Orchard). When not awake for 24 hours straight, or counting the organization's money, he is a SDET, husband, father, and Latin lover.

Brian Rust (Writer) is a performer and writer whose co-written larp featuring goats and multiple Elvises, Compost Tales: the Lost Religions, won the Iron GM competition at Intercon O. He hopes to bring a similar energy to this event.

Amelia Smith (Actor, she/her) is so happy to be performing in this wonderful fundraiser! You can also catch her soon in T@F’s production of None Escape this March. You may have spotted her last summer in Dream Role Players’ Richard III, PMRP's 13th Summer Mysteries, or T@F's Marian. Offstage, Amelia works as an engineer at a nuclear fusion company and will talk endlessly about magnets, plasma, and sustainable energy given the opportunity. Shout out to my two cats and my incomparable partner, Robert! 

Robert Thorpe II (Actor, he/him) is delighted to be returning to T@F for this 24 hour show after performing in The Prince’s Shadow for Festival@First 12. Other recent credits include Valère in Tartuffe (Hub Theatre), Ludovico in Othello, Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Dream Role Players), and Lucianus in Hamlet (Apollinaire Theatre). When not on stage you can usually find Robert writing code, playing DnD, or chilling with his cats Nox and Dora.

Alexis Urrata (Actor) is thrilled to be performing in their first 24-hour show! Recent past credits include Jolie in A Gravediggers Picnic at Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative's Play Festival, Megan in Puffs, and Martha in Charlotte's Web at Epping Community Theatre! Outside of theater, they enjoy reading, going to museums, and traveling!

Renée Walsh (Actor) has been with T@F since 2005, appearing onstage in 8 mainstage productions. Favorite roles include Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing (2008) and Mrs. Boyle in The Mousetrap (2015). Renée's looking forward to seeing what this "nonsense" is all about, and can't wait to be a part of it!

Jaclyn Wilson (Actor, she/her) spends more time behind the scenes than acting these days, but is thrilled to be doing another 24-hour show after acting in The 24-Hour T Ride last year as Finance Bro and Narrator. Other favorite stage credits include stage manager with T@F's sister group PMRP, Stage Manager (the character) in Curtains (Next Act at MIT), Callie in Stop Kiss (MIT Shakespeare Ensemble), and Celia Copplestone in The Cocktail Party (MIT Shakespeare Ensemble).

Bey Woodward (Director) has been involved with T@F since 2008 when she played the Friar in Much Ado About Nothing. Since then she has been on and off stage for several productions. Tonight she puts on her director's cap for her third Giving at First.

Joey Woodward (Actor) has been involved in thater since she was a small child. More recently she was part of the Monster Core in Percy Jackson's Lightning Thief, and Stephanie (a thespian) in High School Musical. Both productions were with the Young Co of Boston Stage Company. Joey is a 2nd generation generation Firstie, making her T@F stage debut.