From The Skeleton Rep:

In a cultural, political, and economic moment of deep divide, Wendell and Pan is a story about a multiracial family fighting for their individual voices, as well as their ability to remain a unit - even when they’re not sure how. We at The Skeleton Rep believe that audiences and creators alike need a safe way to express our stories, especially the challenging ones.  We know that the catharsis of a shared experience through the telling of such a story as Wendell and Pan can offer the necessary release from the noise of our times, a moment that is loud, chaotic, and anxiety-producing.  Fortunately, this compelling family dramedy offers the joy of childlike magic, leaving the audience moving between the wonder of youth and the tension of growing up. 

From Katelynn Kenney, playwright:

This play was an exploratory mission for me. It’s one of my attempts to understand a family in grief, individuals searching for some moment of connection, or even correction. Perhaps more than occasionally, death, mental illness, and thoughts of suicide seep into my work. Young people are not often explicitly taught about these things. They experience it first through their own thoughts, through their classmates’ experiences, through stories. A first death can shake your foundation, and there is no normal there. There is only the individual experience and it can be a strange thing to navigate. But if we tell more of these stories, maybe we’ll feel a little less strange, a little less alone. Wendell and Pan also allowed me to dabble in rebuilding a classic in my own way. Ever since I knew I wanted to act, I wanted to play Peter Pan. But you never see a little brown Pan flying around. Maybe part of it stemmed from that — my own selfish desire to see myself or another person of color play Pan. But I saw her… and Wendell followed soon after. I realized I wanted to tell a story with elements of the literary classic, with pieces of the myth, with similar themes running through its veins, but with a different face, and shape, and energy. I didn’t want to cast actors of color in Peter Pan, I wanted to give them a new Neverland in which to play.

The Skeleton Rep is a developmental theater company with a mission to explore modern myth in new works.  Since its founding in 2015, TSR has produced seven shows, including Devices of Torture by Caroline Bennett (a Theasy “Best Bet” for FringeNYC ‘18); Hungry by Lia Romeo (The Tank); The Inconvenient Miracle: A Mysterious Birth Musical by Emily Claire Schmitt, Emily Rose Simons, and Ria T. DiLullo (New York New Works Festival); Void by Katelynn Kenney (The Tank); House of Andronica: A Titus Redux adapted by Miranda Poett (New School for Drama); Whatchamacallit: A Play About Jesus by Emily Claire Schmitt (The Secret Theater); and Awake & Love by Britton Buttrill (The Access). In addition to full productions, The Skeleton Rep has also presented 20 new plays through its reading & development lab, The Salon Series. 

From Katelynn Kenney, playwright:

The idea began my sophomore year of college when my grandpa died. It started as mental pictures and sensory clippings of his home, of his hospital room, of my family, of him. I had never been that close to death before and that desperate to connect. The words came when I took my first playwriting class and wrote a short play called “Fireflies.” Full of shadows and fireflies and a magical quest and death, the script haunted me. And then I saw Pan and I saw Wendell, and I knew it was their story. I began writing the script in earnest in my classes at ESPA. I submitted it to ESPA Drills. Then I submitted it to The Skeleton Rep, and Ria wanted to talk with me about the work. So we talked—a whole Ria-notebook ago—about a young script with all the right things bopping around that just needed more refining, more defining. She unlocked the next revision for me, and I wrote a fresh draft for my first Skeleton Rep salon. 

Ria, Director:

Ria T. DiLullo is a theater director & creative developer based in NYC, her hometown. As artistic director of The Skeleton Rep, her mission is to explore modern myth, in particular through new works and a specific attention to the body. The Salon Series is The Skeleton Rep's development lab, where Ria opens up her home to a new script that's ready to be heard by a supportive community, which ends in a party. Many of the shows that she has produced and directed originated as a salon. Ms. DiLullo is also the recipient of a directing fellowship at MTC ('17 - '18) and a Rockwell Scholarship for directing at Primary Stages ESPA ('16 - '17). She is currently in residence at The Tank, a Manhattan-based multi-disciplinary arts presenter and producer.  Favorite full productions include Devices of Torture by Caroline Bennett and the still in-development The Inconvenient Miracle: A Mysterious Birth Musical, by Emily Claire Schmitt, Emily Rose Simons, and Ria T. DiLullo, which was part of BEAM 2018 in London and New York New Works Festival 2018.

Katelynn, Playwright:

Katelynn Kenney is a Filipino-American playwright from the Midwest who grew up running around Air Force bases across the US and overseas. Her produced plays include VOID (The Skeleton Rep), ASWANG (Claire Donaldson New Play Festival), GAMES (Augustana Collaborative Theatrical Society’s Nightmare on Student Street), and MUSE (Manhattan Repertory Theatre). Her full-length plays VOID and GOBLIN GIRLS both had readings at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School of Performing Arts. GOBLIN GIRLS and WENDELL AND PAN were further developed as a part of The Skeleton Rep's Salon Series. VOID was a 2017 Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist and had a Workshop Production at The Tank (dir. Benjamin-Ernest Abraham) in June of 2018. Her plays share a dark comedic bite and a healthy dose of magic. Kenney was also a semi-finalist for Ars Nova’s 2018 Play Group and a finalist for the 2018 Greenhouse Residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm. She continues her studies at Primary Stages (Rockwell Scholar ‘17-’18), with industry professionals including Leah Nanako Winkler, A. Rey Pamatmat, Melissa Ross, and Edwin Sanchez, and received her B.A. from Augustana University, with majors in theatre, English, and a minor in journalism. 

 

Ben, Producer/A.D.:

Benjamin-Ernest M. Abraham is a stage director and producer based in New York City. His work has been seen at the Cherry Lane Theater, The Barrow Group, the Workshop theater, The Tank the Kraine Theater, and the Dixon Place. Recent directing/producing credits include: Void by Katelynn Kenney (Director/Producer), The Vengeance Room by Michael Hagins (Producer/Assistant Director), The “My America” Plays (Producer), Glorious Virtue by Timothy French (Director), and A Crisis Called New York by Alisha Espinosa (Director).  Ben is also the currently the Director of Artist Support Initiatives of Step1 Theatre Project, an organization that is dedicated to supporting emerging artists of diverse backgrounds.