LEGACY THEATRE presents
“THE DIARIES OF ADAM AND EVE”
A Play by DAVID BIRNEY and MARK TWAIN
with
ROD BROGAN*
MARIAH SAGE*
JONATHAN ONYANGO
CHRISTINE VOYTKO
Props Designer COLLEEN CALLAHAN
Costume Designer ELIZABETH BOLSTER
Scenic & Lighting Designer JAMIE BURNETT
Assistant Stage Manager NICK FETHERSTON
Production Stage Manager SARAH PERO
Director KEELY BAISDEN KNUDSEN

Production Photos

Who’s Who

KEELY BAISDEN KNUDSEN (Director / Artistic Director & Co-Founder) An award-winning director, Keely has performed, directed, and choreographed internationally in plays, musicals, operas, and dance companies in hundreds of theatrical productions and has performed in 48 of the United States and in the UK. Realizing her vision of a new theatre company on the Connecticut Shoreline, Keely’s ideals of inspiring, inclusive work that uplifts the human spirit and connects communities formalized in the creation of the Legacy Theatre with Co-Founder Stephanie Stiefel Williams, a performing colleague and dear friend. Keely has directed, choreographed, and taught a myriad of performing arts courses at such institutions as Quinnipiac University, Yale University, Fairfield University, Hartt School of Drama, Southern Connecticut State University, Westminster College, and was the Director of Education of New Haven’s acclaimed Elm Shakespeare Company for several years. Additionally a composer/lyricist and playwright, she is a member of ASCAP and a writer/curator for Rewls Productions (www.rewlsproductions.us). Her directing has been heralded by the Arts Paper as “…visually striking, emotionally moving” and “captivating” and of her direction of Hamlet it was said, “Knudsen has made the notoriously difficult Shakespearean language accessible.” Her creation of the Wheel Life Theatre Troupe has been an especially rewarding program as she acts and directs with those who ambulate with crutches and wheelchairs. Her BFA is from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, at which she graduated first in the class, and she received her Master’s Degree in Drama on full scholarship from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Keely, her husband Brian, and five children (Saviah, Liviana, Wynter, Emery, and Reeves) reside in Guilford, CT.

ELIZABETH BOLSTER (Costume Designer) has been the Wardrobe Supervisor at the Yale Repertory Theatre since 2002 where she enjoys working backstage and training student work study crews. Outside of her job at Yale she is an illustrator, and Costume and Scenic designer whose work has been seen at Elm Shakespeare Company, Yale Baroque Opera Project, and Trinity College Hartford. Previous Legacy credits include costume designs for Deathtrap, Just Desserts, The Last Five Years, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and The Play That Goes Wrong. Professional training: MFA in Costume Design from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at SUNY Purchase, and a BFA in Performance Production from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA.

JAMIE BURNETT (Scenic & Lighting Designer) is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, recipient of the 2005 New Haven Arts award, and Founding member of The Elm Shakespeare Company. Lighting Designer at Elm Shakespeare for 26 years and Set Designer until 2009. Lighting Design credits include International Festival of Arts and Ideas 2018, Requiem for an Electric Chair; Iseman Theater 2017, Never Stand Still. CCT: Skeleton Crew, Rasheeda Speaking, Jesus Hopped the A Train, Sunset Baby, Topdog/Underdog. SCSU: Stop Kiss, Much Ado About Nothing, The Boyfriend, and Our Country’s Good. SHU: In The Heights, Jesus Christ Superstar. Citywide Open Studios: New Haven Armory; Projects2k: Stamford Train Station Façade Lighting; Producer/Lighting Designer/Production Manager for Terra Tractus (The Earth Moves) (2005), Terra Mirabila (2001), Terra Lumina and Terra Continuum (1999): performed in the Stony Creek Granite Quarry; PNM’s Branford Luminata (2010) lighting Branford Green Town Hall. His company, Luminous Environments, specializes in theater and TV studio renovations and public art installations involving specialized lighting. Recent projects: Branford HS Theater, Fairfield Community Theater, and Legacy Theatre.

RICH BURKAM (Master Carpenter) came to Connecticut to study music and music recording at UNH. He played in bands such as 4:20, Space Cushion, and Over The Line. His studies continued, learning to be a luthier under Barry Lipman and Chris Tatalias, giving him a taste for fine woodworking. Richard now owns a woodshop that makes fine furniture, in a space which is shared with lighting designer Jamie Burnett. Together they have built sets for many production companies, including Elm Shakespeare, Yale Baroque Opera Project, and many small black box theater productions.

COLLEEN CALLAHAN (Props Designer) is thrilled to be returning to the Legacy Theatre Team! She is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a degree in Theatre Arts. Her previous Legacy experience includes The Play That Goes Wrong (Props Designer), The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) (Props Designer & Assistant Stage Manager), Beauty and the Beast (Assistant Props Designer & Wardrobe Supervisor), and A Christmas Carol (Assistant Stage Manager & Wardrobe Assistant). Her other experience includes Yale Baroque Opera Project’s Dido and Aeneas (Assistant Costume Designer), Yale Opera’s The Rape of Lucretia (Run Crew), and WCSU’s Hand To God (Assistant Costume Designer).

NICK FETHERSTON (Assistant Stage Manager) is happy to serve as the ASM for this production, having previously done so for Legacy Theatre’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Nick is primarily an actor operating out of the New Haven area. Notable credits of his include Jonathan in The Play That Goes Wrong, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Legacy Theatre), Mack in Fairview (Collective Consciousness Theatre Company), and Don John in Much Ado About Nothing (Captial Classics). He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University as well as an alumnus of The National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Nick also serves in many other roles at Legacy Theatre including being the Box Office Manager as well as an instructor for various acting classes. Website: nickfetherston.com Instagram: @nfetherstonblue

SARAH PERO (Production Stage Manager) Born and raised in New Haven, CT, Sarah has been involved with local community and professional theatre for 20+ years. Acting at the age of 10, and directing at 16, Sarah received her BFA in Theatre, with a concentration in Directing from the University of Rhode Island. Right after college, Sarah was a part-time drama teacher in New Haven Public Schools and also taught theatre classes with Performing Arts Programs (South Windsor, CT). Sarah then worked at the Music Theatre of CT (Norwalk, CT) School of Performing Arts, wearing many hats as Administrative Manager, Teaching Artist, Director, Music Director, and Choreographer for the school. Sarah also managed the Box Office and was the Resident Sound Designer for MTC’s Professional Main Stage. Following MTC, Sarah worked as Administrative Manager at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre (Bridgeport, CT). As a Production Stage Manager for various Theatre Productions in Rhode Island and Connecticut, some of her favorites include: Tick, Tick... Boom!; Little Women: The Musical; and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Sarah started Stage Managing at Legacy Theatre in 2021 and officially joined the team as the full-time Production Manager in 2022.

ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION (AEA) was founded in 1913, and AEA represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers in the United States. Equity seeks to advance, promote and foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. AEA is a member of the AFL-CIO, and is affiliated with FIA, an international organization of performing arts unions. The Equity emblem is our mark of excellence. www.actorsequity.org

SPECIAL THANKS FOR MARK TWAIN’S THE DIARIES OF ADAM AND EVE
Elena Cahill, Michael Campbell, Adam Jackson, Jacques Lamarre, The Mark Twain House and Museum, Long Wharf Theatre