Playbill
PORTRAITURE
a new play written & directed by
Margaret Van Sant
The Art House
214 Commercial Street
Provincetown, Massachusetts 02657
October 15 - 18 (Wed. - Sat.) at 7:00pm
October 19 (Sun.) at 2:00pm
Portraiture
Margaret Van Sant – Playwright / Director
CAST:
Susanna Creel - Sylvia Santos
Lynda Sturner – Alice B. Toklas
Kimberly Lajoie – Mabel Dodge Luhan
Mary Chris Kenney – Gertrude Stein
Portraiture is approximately 80 minutes in duration.
There will be no intermission.
Please silence personal devices before the show begins.
No recording of any kind is permitted during the show.
Portraiture contains strong and offensive language that has been replicated from historical texts authored by Gertrude Stein. These opinions and language choices in no way reflect the opinions and language preferences used by the actors expressing them, the playwright/director, or the creative team.
Production Team
Margaret Van Sant - Playwright / Director
Will Oxtoby - Stage Manager
Jim Dalglish - Producing Artistic Director / Dramaturge / Sound & Projection Design
Chris Racine - Lighting Design / Stage Manager
John Killwey - Set Design and Construction
Bill Jacobs - Set Design and Construction Assistant
Tami Trask - Costume Design
Robin Joyce Miller – Script Advisor
Donna Rockwell – Poster Design / Illustrations
PARTNERS:
Richy Pugh - Rainbow Event Productions
Women’s Week Provincetown
About Helltown Players
Helltown Players is a collaborative of dramatists and theatre enthusiasts from the Outer Cape whose mission is to produce new plays written by Cape Cod playwrights.
Helltown Players was founded in the Spring of 2023 by eight playwrights and theatre enthusiasts with Outer Cape connections who wished to support local, home-grown theatre.
Helltown Players is a registered non-profit corporation with the State of Massachusetts. Helltown Players is a registered tax-exempt non-profit under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRS).
Helltown Players Trustees
Jim Dalglish - Founder/Producing Artistic Director/Trustee
Ian Ryan - Secretary/Treasurer/Trustee
John Dennis Anderson - Trustee
Lynda Sturner - Trustee
Margaret Van Sant - Trustee
Meryl Cohn - Trustee Emeritus
Gary Garrison - Trustee Emeritus
Fermin Rojas - Trustee Emeritus
Helltown Players Benefactors
Helltown Players thanks the following individuals and organizations for their support. We would not have succeeded as an organization without you!
Scott Allegretti
Jerry Birdwell
Karen von Bismarck
Barbara Boone
Jadah Carroll
Maureen Condon
Meryl Cohn
Kevin Chandler
John Greiner-Ferris
Jarice Hanson
Elizabeth Hogan
Wendy Levine
Jane Macdonald
Delane & Richard Moser
Pamela Painter
Judith Partelow
Rob Phelps
Carl Pritkat
Laurence Ramin
Fermin Rojas
Patrick Riviere
Mike Syers
Victor Stein
Wenifred Watson
The Jaqueline I. Kroschwitz Fund
Joan Patchen Art and Activism Fund
Provincetown Local Cultural Council
Mass Cultural Council
Cape Cod 5
Special Thanks To…
Richy Pugh & Rainbow Event Productions
Women’s Week Provincetown
Mass Cultural Council
Mass Cultural Council Card to Culture
Jenn Pina and Cape Cod Theater Company - Home to the Harwich Junior Theater
Provincetown Dental Arts / Scott A. Allegretti, D.D.S.
Cape Cod 5
Dennis Memorial Library
Harwich Community Center
Yale University Library System
Bill Jacobs
John Killwey
Lynda Sturner
Rob Phelps
Ian Ryan
Mark Downey
Benton Jones
Eric Strzępek
Joyce Groemmer
Development History & Acknowledgements
Margaret Van Sant would like to thank all of the theater talent who helped to develop Portraiture. Ernie Joselvitz and the Playwrights Forum (Washington, DC, 2010), Goddard College faculty advisors Pam Hall, Devora Neumark, Erica Eaton, and Daniel Alexander Jones (2010), directors Bart Murell (Provincetown Playwrights Festival, 2012) and Nina Schuessler (The Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Festival, 2023) and the actors who have participated in these readings as well as the Kaplan Prize finalist reading (2022): Braunwyn Jackett, Racine Oxtaby, Lee Roscoe, Judith Partelow, Laura Esterman, Sara Sneed, Phoebe Otis, Jen Cabral, Jadah Carroll, and John Shuman.
Creative Team Bios
(Alphabetical by last name:)
Susanna Creel
Sylvia Santos
Susanna Creel is a Performing Arts major at Cape Cod Community College and is thrilled to be working with such wonderful theater people. Some of her favorite roles include The Mistress in Evita (CCftA) Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof (CCftA), Alice Murphy in Bright Star (Tilden Arts), Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family (CDG), Phoebe D’Ysquith in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (APA), and Emily Webb in Our Town (ETC). In 2022 Susanna received an EMACT/DASH nomination for her performance as Emily in Our Town with Eventide Theater Company, and in 2024 received an Irene Ryan Acting Award nomination for her portrayal of Alice in Bright Star. When she’s not onstage, Susanna works as a licensed massage therapist and is passionate about helping others find calm and connection through her work. @ohsusannarose
Jim Dalglish
Dramaturge / Founder / Producing Artistic Director / Trustee
Jim is a playwright, director, filmmaker, and producer with more than 30 plays and films to his credit. These works have been produced and screened around the world and have won awards in New York, Boston, London, and Dublin. A few of his plays have been anthologized in best play collections. Jim has directed more than two dozen theatrical productions, five of which he also independently produced. He has been employed by a variety of theaters in New England as a managing director, marketing director, and box office manager. Jim has a master’s degree in creative writing/ playwriting from Brown University. His thesis advisor was Paula Vogel. When he isn’t busy writing, directing, or producing plays and films, he and his husband Rob Phelps enjoy sailing Delphina – their 17-foot O’Day Daysailer – along the sheltered harbors of New England.
Tami Trask Good
Costume Design
Tami has been costuming productions at various local theaters for more than 30 years, including recently Pippin and The Importance of Being Earnest at Eventide Theatre Company and Fiddler on the Roof and Always, Patsy Cline at Cotuit Center for the Arts. When she’s not working in the theater, Tami works with private clients, specializing in creating custom garments, or is planning her latest home renovation project. It’s been a pleasure working with Jim again and for the first time with Margaret, and has enjoyed spending time with this talented and lovely cast!
Bill Jacobs
Design and Construction Assistant
Bill Jacobs is a director, writer, cinematographer and producer living full-time in Wellfleet, MA. Bill worked many years at Columbia, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles before starting his media production company, Shooting Star Creativeworks. Currently, Bill is in the final stages of postproduction on the independent feature film, When the Moon Was Twice as Big, a project that he wrote and directed, and coproduced with his husband, John Killwey.
Mary Chris Kenney
Gertrude Stein
Mary Chris (M.C.) first was seen on PTown stages in 2001 as, "the female Greek chorus" (love multiple roles!) in Truro resident/award winning playwright, Paula Vogel's "How I Learned to Drive" under the direction of Patrick Falco (former Tennessee Williams Festival director) with Stephen Carey (The Wardrobe) as her dresser. Became a member of "The Deviant Women" troupe at Marge Conn's long running theater at PTown Inn: there favorite role , "Typhoid Mary " by Carolyn Gage. Most nostalgic role: " The Female Caller" in Durang's "For Whom the Southern Bell Tolls" staged upstairs from Napi's with "Purlene DuBois" as "the M.C.” and Tony Jackman as set designer. Being in the company of playwrights as a reader for: Jim Dalglish, Candace Perry, Lynda Sturner, Gerry Thompson, Margaret Van Sant, and Meryl Cohn cemented her love for PTown theater. Just continued recently with the "TimeShare " writers/players under the direction of Gary Garrison and Brittany Rolfs — first time at the new theater. Dedicate performance to my chosen family here, especially the beloved Sewell Whittemore, my 1st Stage Manager.
John G. Killwey
Set Design & Construction
After 23 years in corporate business focusing on claims legal, John transitioned into the entertainment industry, co-producing the independent feature film When the Moon Was Twice as Big with his husband, Bill Jacobs. As co-owner of Shooting Star Creativeworks, a media production company, John has coordinated with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG/AFTRA), scouted locations, and used his expertise in carpentry and design to craft exceptional movie sets and props. Since relocating to Cape Cod, John has expanded his creative pursuits, producing set pieces for critically acclaimed theatrical productions. For him, life is a creative adventure—and he's loving every moment of it!
Kim Lajoie
Mabel Dodge Luhan
Kim has performed locally and regionally across New England for over 40 years. Favorite recent roles include Kim in Kimberly Akimbo, Lily in 6 Dance Lessons in 6 Weeks, the Art Critic in Bakersfield Mist, Miss Tweed in Somethings Afoot, Sonia in Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike, Chris in Calendar Girls and Bobby in City of Angels. Locally she has been seen in Love, Loss and What I Wore for the Sandwich Arts Alliance and Melissa in Love Letters for Woods Hole Theatre Co. Kim has received NHCTA award nominations for Best Actress in Calendar Girls and Best Supporting Actress for Almost Maine. Kim is a silver level ballroom dancer and lives in Pocasset with her incredibly talented husband Steve, and their rescue dogs Teddy and Ginger.
Robin Joyce Miller
Script Consultant
Robin Joyce Miller is a retired educator, artist, author, poet, and public speaker, who taught for 30+ years in the NYC school system. She spent the first half of her career teaching learning disabled students and the next half as an art teacher. Miller was also a NYC Blueprint for the Arts Facilitator, leading workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum.
After retirement she and her husband have maintained two residences in NYC and Cape Cod. After George Floyd’s murder, Robin and her husband, James, began presenting a BLM Series with the Cotuit Center for the Arts. These programs focus on African/African American history and are available to the public on Cotuit on Demand - YouTube. She is on the Bd of Directors at the Cotuit Center. Miller is also a Peace and Racial Harmony advocate. She speaks at churches, schools, universities, and libraries on the subject of race. You can view more of Robin’s work on www.robinjoycemillerart.com.
Will Oxtoby
Stage Manager / Board Operator
Will Oxtoby has worked as a stage manager and stagehand with the Provincetown Theater, the Academy Playhouse, Peregrine Theatre Ensemble, and the O’Neill Festival of New Works. Recent credits include VANYA, SONIA, MASHA & SPIKE; THE SECRET GARDEN and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. He previously performed onstage for a time before focusing on backstage work, and he is excited to be part of this production.
Lynda Sturner
Alice B. Toklas
Lynda Sturner is an actress, playwright, director and producer. Acting roles include: Broadway 1964 : Oliver, Off Broadway 1970: The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds. In Provincetown: Anna Christie, The Food Chain, A Perfect Ganesh, The Allergist’s Wife, Wit, Ryan Landry’s The Gulls; and GAMMA RAYS. AWARDS: Best Actress : 2009 Gamma Rays; Best Actress the Dublin International Gay Theater Festival for her play Super-Lubricated co-written with Jim Dalglish. Audience choice award at the Edward Albee Last Frontier Festival, Kaplan Prize, and Cape Cod Award A Talented Woman written with Jim Dalglish. She produced The Direct Line Play and previously served as Artistic Director of the Provincetown Rep and Playwright’s Forum NYC. She was past president and founding member of The League of Professional Theater Women, NYC and proud Trustee of Helltown Players.
Margaret Van Sant
Playwright / Director
Margaret Van Sant is a playwright, theater director, festival organizer, educator, and the Artistic Director of Provincetown Dramatic Arts (PDA). PDA produces the annual O’Neill Festival of New Works that focuses on the development of scripts by Cape based playwrights. Van Sant also wrote “Goody, the Witch of Eastham”, “Pulse”, presented with the four plays in “Quickies” in Provincetown and Dublin, “The Test”, read at Theater J in Washington, DC, and “The Pennimans”, a historical play about a whaling family developed for radio broadcast on WOMR. Van Sant has directed at Virginia Stage Company, Long Wharf Theater, Arena Stage, Yale University National Conference on Portuguese Theater, Berkshire Theater Festival, Provincetown Theater, and Payomet Center for the Performing Arts. She is a member of the Stage Directors and Chorographers Society and a Trustee of Helltown Players.
Portraiture World Premiere Production
VENUES:
Cod Museum of Art
D’Alessandro Auditorium, Dennis, MA
May 2 - 4, 2025
Cotuit Center for the Arts
Sigel Black Box Theater, Cotuit, MA
May 22 - June 1, 2025
WOMR Provincetown
Davis Space (2nd Floor), Provincetown, MA
June 5 - 7, 2025
CAST:
Kristin Stewart – Sylvia Santos
Karen McPherson – Alice B. Toklas (May 2 - 24)
Bonnie Fairbanks – Alice B. Toklas (May 29 - June 7)
Anna Botsford – Mabel Dodge Luhan
Kathleen Larson Day – Gertrude Stein
Portrait Permissions…
Gertrude Stein painted by Francis Picabia, Alice B. Toklas by Dora Maar, and Mabel Dodge Luhan by Mary Foote. Images used with the permission of the Yale University Library.
Partners and Sponsors…
Registered Nonprofit
Helltown Players is a nonprofit corporation registered with the state of Massachusetts and is a registered tax-exempt nonprofit under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRS).
