Dry Land
By Ruby Rae Spiegel
(Regional Premiere)
Directed by Benchmark Theatre Resident Guest Director Abby Apple Boes

September 16 - October 8, 2022
Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm with additional Sunday matinees at 2pm.

Industry Night Performance - Monday, October 3rd at 8pm
(No performance on Friday, October 7th due to the First Friday Art Celebration in 40West Arts District)

Adult content, situations and language used throughout. No children under the age of 12 permitted.

Ester is a swimmer trying to stay afloat. Amy is curled up on the locker room floor. DRY LAND is a play about abortion, female friendship, and resiliency, and what happens in one high school locker room after everybody’s left.

“Feelings seldom come singly in DRY LAND, [a] remarkable play by Ruby Rae Spiegel…Set largely in the girls’ locker room of a Florida high school, this portrait of an unlikely friendship under uncommon pressure is tender, caustic, funny and harrowing, often all at the same time…DRY LAND understands that friendships among adolescents in crisis, especially among those coming to the end of a chapter in their lives, can be as intense and ephemeral as summer storms.” —NY Times.

“Few things are as bracing as the shock of new talent…DRY LAND feels like the first step in [Ruby Rae Spiegel’s] inevitable rise…DRY LAND avoids Mean Girls clichés, turning familiar terrain into something new and vaguely scary.” —NY Post.

DRY LAND

By Ruby Rae Spiegel

CAST

AMY - Aria Summer Wallace

Aria Summer Wallace is new to the Colorado theater scene and couldn’t be more thrilled to be making her debut outside of the dinner/cocktail show environment with Benchmark! She is, however, no stranger to drama and has a strong background performing in the film and television world. She is best known for her guest starring role as “Mandy” on the Nickelodeon hit sitcom iCarly and for her role as “Roxy Hunter” in the Nickelodeon movie series of the same name. Some of her other credits include the feature film The Perfect Man, CSI: NY, Criminal Minds and Desperate Housewives. Most recently she portrayed the Prince/Pirate in the immersive Little Mermaid Cocktail Experience with Fever Productions here in Denver. She is very excited to be taking on more endeavors within this community in the near future!

ESTER - Sophie Berger

Sophie Berger is thrilled to be making her Benchmark debut in this powerful show. She is a graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, and is
originally from Denver. Previous credits include Singin’ in the Rain at CDP (Swing), The Fantasticks at THAC (U/s Luisa/Mute), and Girls Like that at CA (Scarlett). She would
like to thank Abby for trusting her with this role, the production team and cast for making such a safe space, and her family and friends
for their unwavering support. She hopes this show makes you think!

REBA - Karen Gonzalez

Karen Gonzalez is making her Denver debut and could not be happier to do it with Benchmark Theatre. She has been working on short films through Colorado Film School and moved to Denver after traveling with international performing and volunteering group Up With People. She looks forward to working with Benchmark in future productions.

VICTOR - Stevie Wise

Stevie Wise is excited to jump back into theatre with Benchmark this time around. He’s previously worked with Arts in the Open starring as D. Prince in “The Frog Princess,” Elvis Taylor in “Fractured Moonlight” with And Toto too Theatre Company and Tehuti Brown in “The Lesson” as Lion in “A Shade or Two Darker” with 1 Night 6 Plays by 5280 Artist Co-Op. Art is immensely important to him because of how it helps him think about life and the connections he’s made through art, there’s something to take away from even the smallest pieces, he hopes you can take something away from this production.

JANITOR - Peter J. Hughes

Peter J Hughes is an author, Life-Shift facilitator, and director. Peter has worked at the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Universal Studios Hollywood, Summer Repertory Theatre, The Arkansas Rep, New American Theatre; Littleton Town Hall Arts Center, Aspen Theatre in the Park (Theatre Aspen), Firehouse Theater, Vintage Theatre, The Avenue Theatre, and Abster
Productions. Directing credits include the Colorado regional premiere of August: Osage County (Denver Henry Award nomination for Best Director), On Golden Pond, The Secret Garden, The
Lion in Winter, Mame, Steel Magnolias, All in the Timing, La Cage aux folles, I Hate Hamlet, Judevine, Lend Me A Tenor, The Trip To Bountiful, Cinderella, Proof, Bakersfield Mist, The Crucible,
The Miracle Worker and Every Brilliant Thing. In the Spring Peter will be directing Tiny Beautiful Things for Firehouse Theater in Denver. Peter’s business as a Life-Shift facilitator gifts him the
opportunity to work with clients, locally, nationally, and internationally. Deemed by some as the Read It-Do It-Be It book for our times, his book At-One-Ment: Reclaiming Our Humanity is
currently making its way across the globe, and is available through Amazon. For more details please visit peterjhughes.com “Where we get shift done.”

CREATIVE TEAM

Director - Abby Apple Boes

Assistant Director - Samantha Piel

Scenic Design - Merit Willey

Light Design - Keegan Jenney

Sound Design - Madison Kuebler

Costume Design - Rachel Herring Finley

Props Design - Abby Apple Boes

Ruby Rae Spiegel (Playwright):

Ruby Rae Spiegel is an American playwright and screenwriter.

Spiegel's first play, Carrie & Francine, made its New York City premiere when she was only 18 years old. The short play was produced alongside works by Neil LaBute, Christopher During and Alexander Dinelaris as a part of 59E59's Summer Shorts Festival in 2011. The production was lauded by critics from The New York Times, The New York Post, and Time Out New York.

In 2014, her first full length play, Dry Land, premiered Off-Broadway at the HERE Arts Center in New York. Spiegel was 21 years old and still a playwriting student at Yale University at the time. Dry Land was developed at New York Stage and film's Powerhouse Theater Readings Festival and the Ojai Playwrights Festival and enjoyed a sold-out run at Colt Coeur before transferring to HERE, where it received rave reviews from critics. Tackling the challenging struggles of abortion, female friendship, and being a teenager, Spiegel's script was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Dry Land has gone on to be produced all around the United States, London, Sydney, Abu Dhabi, South Korea, and more.

Spiegel also writes for television, including episodes for The OA, Purity, Mindhunter, and The Central Park Five.

PRODUCTION TEAM

Stage Manager - Katie Hopwood

Assistant Stage Manager - Linda Quartner

Dramaturgs - Samantha Piel & Marc Stith

Scenic Carpenters - Ally Lacy & Merit Willey

Charge Artist - Merit Willey

Master Electrician - Andrew Horn

Fight Choreograhy - Neil Truglio

Production Photography - Michael Ensminger Photography

Program Design - Marc Stith

Producer & Front of House Management - Haley Johnson

Front of House Volunteers - Felicia Gabardi, Heidi Markley, Cody Nunno, Kate Poling & Pat Salas

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

April Alsup, Abby Apple Boes, Rachel Clark

Haley Johnson & Gloria Shanstrom

BENCHMARK EXECUTIVE TEAM

Executive Director - Haley Johnson

Artistic Director - Neil Truglio

Strategic & Marketing Director - Marc Stith

SPECIAL THANKS

40West Arts, Aurora Fox Arts Center, Chicano Humanities & Arts Council, Colorado Theatre Guild, The E Project Board of Directors, Lakewood BID, Redline Contemporary Art Center, The Scientific & Cultural Facilities District, University of Denver Department of Theatre, Vintage Theatre; John Ashton, Beck, Brit & Chantelle, Brandon Case, Christian Edris, Brenda Gurule, Andrew Horn, Diana & Mike Kinsey, Marcus & Mason, Bill Marino, Louise Martorano, Joseph & Mary Pirozzoli, Biz Schaugaard