Hi. How’s it going? I’m Kristi Szczepanek. Artistic Director of Brown Paper Box Co. and resident Mama to all our company members. Before you settle in for this performance of EVERYBODY, have you gotten yourself a drink? Gone to the bathroom? (And washed your hands?) Great job!
 
If this is the first show you’re seeing with us, welcome to our corner of the theatre world! And if you’ve been here before, welcome back. It’s great to see you.
 
From the minute we started reading this play, we knew wanted to produce it. Not only does it deal with huge, universal themes like death and what it means to live a full life (and honestly, who isn’t thinking about those right now?), five of the actors have no idea what character they’ll be playing from night to night. The mystery! The intrigue!
 
I’m told honesty is important in leadership so if I’m being honest, those aren’t the only reasons we picked this show. We picked it for all of the above reasons of course, but also because times are tough for a non-profit theatre company and we knew it would be relatively inexpensive to produce. Part of our mission at Brown Paper Box includes smart, simple design because we believe that the story is the thing that should stand out. But even smart, simple design costs money.
 
If you enjoy the show today, I hope you’ll consider tossing a few bucks in the donation bin on the way out. No donation is too small (and none is too large…) We appreciate each and every penny given to us.
 
If you’re interested in becoming a season donor, please talk to the Box Office staff or visit our website at www.BrownPaperBox.org. We have some super secret perks that are only available to season donors and I promise they won’t disappoint!
 
Above all, I hope this performance will spark great conversation for you in the coming days. Whether it’s with the person you came with or the friends you’ll tell to see the show (please tell your friends!) We could all use a little more conversation with each other and I think this show has some pretty big ideas to unpack.
 
Thank you for coming. We appreciate you. Enjoy the show!
- Kristi Szczepanek

Q) What is your role in EVERYBODY? 
A) My role is Time.

Q) EVERYBODY can be performed a variety of 120 different ways based on its nightly casting concept. How has this rehearsal process been for you so far?
A) My role is not determined by lottery, but it has been very fun to see how different people perform the roles and make them their own.

Q) What have you learned the most while working with Erin and your cast mates? 
A) I’ve learned that a role does not have to be performed the same way twice, and people have different performance styles.

Q) EVERYBODY features the ideas of Love, God, Kinship, Friendship, Death, Understating, etc. and personifies them as everyday people. Which idea is speaking to you the strongest recently?
A) I think Cousin speaks to me the most because I have very close relationships with my cousins. I love spending time with my cousins and I go to them if I have a problem.

Q) What about this production is special or why should audiences come see it? 
A) This production makes you think about how you’re spending your life and if you want to change anything your doing. You want to enjoy every second of it.

Q) What is your role in EVERYBODY? 
A) I play Death.

Q) EVERYBODY can be performed a variety of 120 different ways based on its nightly casting concept. How has this rehearsal process been for you so far?
A) Slightly less cumbersome than my fellow ensemble members. While Death presents it's own set of challenges, my five castmates who rotate the roles deserve all the praise and credit I can muster for what they've accomplished during this process. I'm amazed every night I get to watch them. They memorized the entire script and don't know who they're playing until they draw the roles during the lottery. They're the real MVPs and to see their dedication to getting the lines down is inspiring and they are beautiful to watch each night. 

Q) What have you learned the most while working with Erin and your cast mates? 
A) It really kind of depends on what your definition of the word 'most' is. I've learned so much from Erin and my castmates, that quantifying it would be near impossible. I believe the value of love and acceptance have been two of the greatest lessons I've seen come into play time and time again. To see the kindness that exudes from our cast and crew, feels my heart with joy every night. Erin leads by example and I'm grateful to get to work with someone who truly has a heart for such deep, meaningful work. It's exciting walk in to rehearsal every night and get to explore.

Q) EVERYBODY features the ideas of Love, God, Kinship, Friendship, Death, Understating, etc. and personifies them as everyday people. Which idea is speaking to you the strongest recently?
A) Love. Unequivocally, love. As we deal with the process of dying each night, you start to see the fragility of life and relationships. We're surrounded by chaos and maelstrom at this moment in time and people seem to hate each other for no other reason than they just want to hate someone. We'll get through it, but if there's one thing we can do to help speed up the process, it's to give of ourselves and give freely. Be the light, be the change. Work towards a better world. Because, at the end of the day, we're all dying, but we don't have to die alone.

Q) What about this production is special or why should audiences come see it? 
A) There are 120 different variations to this show. You'll have to come AT LEAST 5 times for the chance to see everybody play Everybody. And even then, nothing's guaranteed. Just like life.

Q) EVERYBODY can be performed a variety of 120 different ways based on its nightly casting concept. How has this rehearsal process been for you so far?
A) This process has been completely different than any process I've ever done. There is no sitting back and waiting for your scene - the scene you are watching may be a scene you will be performing, and the scene you are rehearsing may not be the scene you perform because if you do get to perform it, it may be with someone other than you rehearsed it with, so we all have to track each others choices, even though we all present a different Everybody. I have loved every minutes of the process because the only thing you can do is just give over to the process - and trust every single person you are working with, and that I do. This cast has just been awesome!

Q) What have you learned the most while working with Erin and your cast mates?
A) I have learned so much from everyone. First, Erin is one of the most patient and articulate directors that has ever been my pleasure to work with, she fully understands the challenge of this process and has been so supportive in terms of our own discovery and helping us give shape to those ideas. As to the rest of the cast - it's as if we are all in this very small boat together without any oars, but together we can figure out how to get to land...and we are doing it, man, we are doing it!

Q) EVERYBODY features the ideas of Love, God, Kinship, Friendship, Death, Understating, etc. and personifies them as everyday people. Which idea is speaking to you the strongest recently?
A) All of the concepts have had some serious rethinking and attention in rehearsal, but personally I am really struck by LOVE - how its impatient, but so not, but most important how LOVE is always there, but Everybody doesn't recognize it. As a human being looking at LOVE, I wonder, why is it so hard for us to Love each other? Why are we so afraid of love, or think that it isn't there, when we should be embracing it because it is always there! One of my favorite lines in the play is: "I loved them better [my friends], than my Love alone" because it points to a human dilemma - we don't recognize this incredible gift that we have been given, the enormous capacity to love.  In light of everything that is going in the world right now - we need to lean in, and lean in hard on LOVE. It's right there. And favorite role? I hate to play favorites, but I do love the sass and presence of STUFF. But. I also love the genius amalgam of Everyone's friends in FRIENDSHIP.

Q) What about this production is special or why should audiences come see it?
A) Aside from stellar cast? Compelling script? You could see this show multiple times and you will literally get a different production, a different take-away each time.

Q) What is your role in EVERYBODY?
A) I play one of the Somebodies, which means by the end of the production, I'll *hopefully* have played Everybody, Friendship, Kinship, Cousin, Stuff, Mind, Senses, Beauty, and Strength, along with A, B, C, and D. If you don't understand what any of this means, you should come see our show!

Q) EVERYBODY can be performed a variety of 120 different ways based on its nightly casting concept. How has this rehearsal process been for you so far?
A) Haha it has truly been one of the more challenging role(s) I've ever taken on. There is always some point at every rehearsal where someone makes a comment about line memorization anxiety, and everyone replies with some sort of "Thank god! Me too!" response. But aside from that, jumping from role to role has made me both excited and scared (thanks, Sondheim), always keeping us all on our toes. The themes of the show itself are quite heavy, and so we try to surround those darker moments with energy and connection. Understanding each of these characters individually definitely feels like a sort of "Alice in Wonderland" journey. Many of these characters, besides Everybody, don't come with much back stories. So we get to make them up ourselves, which is half the fun of this show for me!

Q) What have you learned the most while working with Erin and your cast mates?
A) This is my second show with Erin, but my first with this cast of people. What I love so much about this cast is how truly different and unique we all are. No two of the same character are really alike for anyone, which is so great for all of us. There's no sense of competition or feelings of "copy-cating" someone's version of a role. I love observing and going through everyone's individual discovery process because they're all so different. I'm also the self-proclaimed cast-clown, so that's what I bring the to table. Hopefully no one disagrees with me. They better not...

Q) EVERYBODY features the ideas of Love, God, Kinship, Friendship, Death, Understating, etc. and personifies them as everyday people. Which idea is speaking to you the strongest recently?
A) Definitely Understanding. I've been experiencing a lot of change in my life this year, both good and bad. So if there were overwhelming moments where it seemed too much, I just had to remind myself that everything happens for a reason, and things work out the way they're supposed to. 

Q) What about this production is special or why should audiences come see it?
A) Well, I can 99% guarantee you that if you come once, you will not see the same casting any other night. If you come for a second show and it's the exact same cast, I'll buy you a beer. So that's a good reason come. But in all seriousness, everyone has had such a large job to take on that we're just so excited to celebrate that achievement with audiences with a different cast every night and explore the myriad of colors that this show takes on. 

There are only 4 more chances to see our Reader Recommended production of SPEECH & DEBATE. Want to see it at a discount this final weekend? Use promo code MATTRESS for buy-one-get-one tickets to this weekend's performances.