On the edge of the Wyoming wilderness, the last guests linger late into the night at a celebration for the new President of their conservative Catholic college. Reunited after seven years, the friends toss back whiskey and name-check Thomas Aquinas, Hannah Arendt, Steve Bannon, even Bojack Horseman, tracking their distance from each other and the people they thought they’d be by now. Will Arbery’s portrait of white conservatives trying to make sense of where they, and their country, stand is an incisive yet personal look at the intelligence and despair of the Catholic right.
Runtime: 2 hours and 10 minutes with no intermission
In the interest of welcoming people with a wide range of needs and life experiences, Studio offers a bit of information on what you will encounter in the play. Use this information as it is helpful to you.
Environment Warnings: This production of Heroes of the Fourth Turning contains the use of herbal tobacco, a fabricated animal carcass, haze, low lighting, a small amount of vomit, loud noises, and gunshot sound effects.
The guns onstage in Heroes of the Fourth Turning are props and cannot fire bullets. All gunshot noises are sound effects or a blank fired offstage.
Heroes of the Fourth Turning is generously underwritten by Teresa and Dan Schwartz.
Will Arbery is a playwright from Texas + Wyoming + seven sisters. His play Evanston Salt Cost Climbing will have its New York premiere at The New Group in Fall 2022, and Corsicana premiered at Playwrights Horizons in Summer 2022, directed by Sam Gold. He also writes for HBO's Succession.
His play Heroes of the Fourth Turning premiered at Playwrights Horizons in Fall 2019 it was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and winner of numerous awards, including the 2020 Obie Award for Playwriting, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play and the Outer Critics Circle John Gassner Playwriting Award. Will also won the Whiting Award for Drama in 2020.
Will’s other plays include Plano at Clubbed Thumb, You Hateful Things at New York Theatre Workshop’s Dartmouth Residency, and Wheelchair published by 3 Hole Press. He’s currently under commission from Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Audible. He’s a member/alum of New Dramatists, The Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, Page 73’s Interstate 73, Colt Coeur, Youngblood, and Clubbed Thumb’s Early-Career Writers’ Group. His plays have been developed at Clubbed Thumb, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, Vineyard Theatre, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Cape Cod Theatre Project, The New Group, Ensemble Studio Theatre/Youngblood, The Bushwick Starr, the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, and Tofte Lake Center.
(As of July 2022)
Sivan Battat (she/they) is a theatre artist and community organizer who began their career at Studio as an Artistic Apprentice. Sivan has developed work with companies including Roundabout Theatre Company, New York Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater Company, Ars Nova, National Queer Theater, New Georges, the Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Park Avenue Armory, New York Stage and Film, Cape Cod Theatre Project, MCC Theater, and more. Recent credits include Assistant Directing Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress on Broadway; the New York premiere of Girlfriend by Todd Almond with music by Matthew Sweet for the Drama League’s DirectorFest; Coexistence My Ass! by Noam Shuster at Harvard University/National Tour; Baba Karam by Sanaz Toossi and McArabia by Sevan K. Greene for Atlantic Theatre Company’s Middle Eastern MixFest; East o’, West o’! by Michelle J. Rodriguez for Ars Nova’s ANT Fest; and Who the Fuck is Ahmed by Michael Zalta for LaGuardia Performing Arts’s Rough Draft Festival. Sivan is the Associate Artistic Director of Noor Theatre, a company located in New York City in residence at New York Theatre Workshop. Noor is an Obie-winning company dedicated to supporting, developing, and producing the work of theatre artists of Middle Eastern descent. In the 2021-2022 season, Sivan was the Directing Fellow at Roundabout Theatre Company, the Leo Shull Musical Directing Fellow with the Drama League, and a member of Theatre Communications Group’s Rising Leaders of Color cohort. She will direct the upcoming world premiere of Layalina at the Goodman Theatre. sivanbattat.com.
(As of June 2022)
Gregory Connors is an actor and mechanical engineer based in New York. He has performed Off Broadway in Coriolanus at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park and can be seen on television in The Good Fight (Paramount+), FBI: Most Wanted (CBS), and The Blacklist (NBC). He received his MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and BS in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Akron
(As of August 2022)
Sophia Lillis had her breakout moment playing Beverly Marsh in It (2017) and reprised the role for the film’s sequel It Chapter Two. Sophia is also known for portraying the younger version of Amy Adams' Camille Preaker in Sharp Objects (HBO) and her performance as the title character in Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase. Sophia played the title role of Gretel in Orion Pictures’ Gretel & Hansel, directed by Osgood Perkins, and was the lead in the Netflix original series I Am Not Okay with This, created by Jonathan Entwistle.
Most recently she wrapped production on Wes Anderson's next feature Asteroid City starring alongside Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, and Scarlett Johansson; and the independent feature The Adults opposite Michael Cera. Sophia will star in the upcoming Paramount film Dungeon's & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves opposite Chris Pine and Hugh Grant, which will be released in March 2023.
(As of August 2022)
Louis Reyes McWilliams (he/him) is an actor, writer, and teaching artist. He has appeared Off Broadway in Coriolanus at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park, Anna Karenina: a riff at The Flea, and The War Boys at Columbia Stages. His regional credits include Teenage Dick at Huntington Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and Pasadena Playhouse; Little Women at Dallas Theater Center and The Old Globe; No Cure at Playwrights’ Center; A Christmas Carol and An Iliad at Trinity Rep; Unknown Soldier at Williamstown Theatre Festival; Macbeth at Berkeley Repertory Theatre; and A Tale of Two Cities and Jane Eyre with the Bread Loaf Acting Ensemble. His writing has been workshopped and produced at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Brown University/Trinity Rep, and Stanford University. He received his BA from Stanford University and his MFA from Brown University, where he was the 2019 Richard Kavanaugh Fellow. louismcwilliams.com
(As of August 2022)
Laura C. Harris (she/her) returns to Studio Theatre after appearing as Lauren in Kings, Edward/Victoria in Cloud 9, Mandy in Time Stands Still, Gena in Bachelorette, and Lydia in Red Speedo. Other DC credits include The Heiress at Arena Stage; Silent Sky at Ford’s Theatre; Fairview at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, NSFW, Seminar, Amadeus, Young Robin Hood, and 26 Miles at Round House Theatre; The Flick and Tender Napalm at Signature Theatre; Cry It Out at Everyman Theatre; Vicuña & The American Epilogue at Mosaic Theater Company; Awake and Sing! at Olney Theatre Center; Love and Information, Passion Play, and World Builders at Forum Theatre; Our Class at Theater J; and The Winter’s Tale and The School for Scandal at Folger Theatre. Laura is a member of the acting company of the nonprofit Only Make Believe, and a graduate of Middlebury College. lauracharris.com.
(As of July 2022)
Naomi Jacobson is an affiliated artist with Shakespeare Theatre Company and a Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company member of 25 years. Selected credits include The Children and The Remains at Studio Theatre, The Guardsman at The Kennedy Center, Born Yesterday at Ford’s Theatre, Mary T. & Lizzy K. at Arena Stage (world premiere), Richard III at Folger Theatre, Becoming Dr. Ruth at Theater J, Cabaret at Signature Theatre, The Critic / The Real Inspector Hound at Guthrie Theater, Pericles at Goodman Theatre, Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet) at Milwaukee Rep, Shakespeare in Love at Baltimore Center Stage, Bad Dog at Olney Theatre Center, and Ten Chimneys at Arizona Theatre Company (world premiere). Naomi’s received three Helen Hayes Awards and 12 nominations, the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, the Anderson-Hopkins Award for Excellence in Theater Arts, and a DC Arts Commission Individual Artist Grant. Voiceover work includes NPR, PBS, Discovery Channel, and the Smithsonian Institution. naomijjacobson.com. On social media at @naomijactive (Instagram).
(As of August 2022)
Olev Aleksander is making his Studio Theatre debut. His theatre credits include Murder on the Orient Express at Ogunquit Playhouse, Good Television at Zeitgeist Stage Company, Macbeth at Fab Marquee Productions, Beyond Therapy at Little Fish Theatre, Twelfth Night at Shakespeare by the Sea, and Mister Roberts at The American Century Theater. TV credits include The Blacklist and The Hunter’s Anthology. He has appeared in numerous short films, notably The Fifth Horseman, nominated for a National Student Production Award (Best Drama). Voice-over work includes the popular video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Olev studied with Seth Barrish and Lee Brock at The Barrow Group in New York City and with Howard Fine at the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Los Angeles. olevaleksander.com.
(As of September 2022)
Sarah Boess (she/her) is an actor, director, and producer. Recent performance credits include Little Things at 11th Hour Theatre Company, Measure for Measure at Brown Box Theatre Project, The Honey Trap at Boston Playwrights' Theatre, and Chicago at The Broadway Theatre of Pitman. Sarah currently serves as the Artistic Director at Sanguine Theatre Company and has worked on producing teams with Manhattan Theatre Club, The Civilians, and Samuel French. She is the co-founder of Tredyffrin Performing Arts, a non-profit arts education program, and currently leads The Civilians’ Investigative Theatre education series. BFA Boston University. Connect with her at SarahBoess.com or on Instagram @Sarah.Boess.
(As of August 2022)
Ethan Williams is an actor and playwright based in Boston, MA who is making his Studio debut in Heroes of the Fourth Turning. His regional theatre credits include And Your Little Dog Too and Romeo and Juliet at Apollinaire Theatre Company, Power Play at Artists’ Theater of Boston, Red at Unified Theatre Company, and Corpus Christi and Slipping at Richmond Triangle Players. Ethan recently graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Acting. He would like to thank his friends and family for their unconditional support.
(As of August 2022)
Rebecca Ballinger is an actor and comedian. Her past credits include The Outsider and Shakespeare in Love at The Keegan Theatre, A Civil War Christmas and The Member of the Wedding at 1st Stage, Every Christmas Story Ever Told and Beehive at NextStop Theatre Company, as well as Make Way for Ducklings and Fairytales in the Sun at Adventure Theatre MTC. Becca has a BA in Theatre from the University of Maryland. RebeccaBallinger.com.
(As of August 2022)
Liz Weber’s credits include Company (Joanne) at The Cumberland Summer Theatre, The Music Man (Eulalie Shinn) at The Kennedy Center, William Walton’s Façade (Narrator) at Barns of Rose Hill, Grand Hotel (Russian Ballerina U/S) at Signature Theatre, Helen on Wheels (Helen) and Prepping for Widowhood (Thelma) at Best Medicine Rep Theater Company, and Steel Magnolias (Ouiser) at Kensington Arts Theatre. Liz worked in radio for many years, hosted a radio show called Sunday Showtunes on 99.5FM, and voiced commercials and production for Clear Channel Radio DC area stations. She toured nationally with Music Theatre Associates, garnered a Helen Hayes nomination for Me & My Girl, and is a graduate of the Catholic University of America.
(As of August 2022)
Yu Shibagaki is a New York-based set designer originally from Nagoya, Japan. Her recent credits include Sense and Sensibility at American Players Theatre; The Royale at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; School Girls; or, the African Mean Girls Play at Goodman Theatre; I, Banquo and I, Cinna (the poet) at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Dishwasher Dreams at Hartford Stage and Writers Theatre; Her Honor Jane Byrne at Lookingglass Theatre Company; and more. She is a USA 829 member. Yushibagaki.com
(As of July 2022)
Debra Kim Sivigny (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer based in Washington, DC. She was the costume designer for TempOdyssey at Studio Theatre. Her recent designs include scenic design for Sense and Sensibility at Everyman Theatre; Head Over Heels at Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma; and Tuesdays with Morrie at Theater J; costume and scenic design for The Royale at Olney Theatre Center and 1st Stage Theater; and costume design for Waiting for Godot at Barrington Stage Company and Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at Hangar Theatre. With The Welders, she wrote and designed the set for Hello, My Name Is..., an immersive event about Korean adoptees which was exhibited at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019. She is the recipient of a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Set Design and a five-time nominee for the award. Debra is an Assistant Professor of Scenic and Costume Design at George Mason University. debsivigny.com
(As of July 2022)
Amith Chandrashaker has worked with The Public Theater, Second Stage, Theatre for a New Audience, Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Ars Nova, Soho Rep, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Atlantic Theater Company, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Colorado, and The Atlanta Opera. Amith has worked on dance pieces by Alexander Ekman, Liz Gerring, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and Rennie Harris. He is the recipient of a Drama Desk Award and a Henry Hewes Design Award. Amith is an Assistant Professor of Lighting at the University of Maryland.
(As of July 2022)
Sinan Refik Zafar (he/him) was the sound designer for the Broadway and national touring production of What the Constitution Means to Me. Off Broadway, he has worked with MCC Theater, Second Stage, The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater Company, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Clubbed Thumb, Rattlestick Theater, and The Movement Theatre Company. Work with Regional theatres include The Kennedy Center, Guthrie Theater, Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and more. sinanzafar.com
(As of July 2022)
Deb Thomas is a props and set designer for theatre, television, and film. From 2009 to 2019, she was Studio’s Props Director. Studio credits include properties design for John Proctor is the Villain, Pass Over, Love! Valor! Compassion!, Sylvia, and SubUrbia, set design for Terminus, and assistant set design for Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Additional credits include properties design for The Till Trilogy, Marys Seacole, Eureka Day, and Milk Like Sugar at Mosaic Theater Company and The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife and Freud’s Last Session at Theater J. She was a sculptor and sculpture consultant for TLC’s DC Cupcakes (2010-2013) and a Washington Bureau set designer for TV Tokyo, as well as doing the original set design for Discovery Channel’s Puppy Bowl. Work includes production design for Dolley Madison and art direction for Alexander Hamilton (PBS American Experience), and set and props design for Jamestown: Against All Odds (Discovery Channel's Moments in Time).
(As of August 2022)
Robb Hunter has directed movement and violence for many Studio productions including Pass Over, Vietgone, The Effect, Hand to God, Bad Jews, The Motherfucker with the Hat, Reasons to Be Pretty, Invisible Man, Superior Donuts, Red Speedo (Helen Hayes nomination) and The Walworth Farce (Helen Hayes nomination). He has also directed movement/violence for Shakespeare Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Helen Hayes Award for HIR and nomination for An Octoroon), Signature Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Washington National Opera, Ford’s Theatre and many others. He is a member of SDC, AEA, SAG/AFTRA, and is recognized as one of only 20 Fight Masters by the Society of American Fight Directors. He is on faculty at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting, is the Choreographer in Residence at American University and is a teaching artist for the Studio Acting Conservatory. His prop company, Preferred Arms, supplies prop weapons to theatres nationwide. preferredarms.com.
(As of August 2022)
Adrien-Alice Hansel (she/her) is the Literary Director at Studio, where she has dramaturged the world premieres of John Proctor is the Villain, I Hate it Here, Queen of Basel, No Sisters, I Wanna Fucking Tear You Apart, Red Speedo, Dirt, Lungs, and The History of Kisses, among others, as well as productions of The Hot Wing King, White Noise, Tender Age, Flow, Until the Flood, 2.5 Minute Ride, Cry It Out, Translations, Curve of Departure, Wig Out!, Straight White Men, Hedda Gabler, Jumpers for Goalposts, Bad Jews (twice), The Apple Family Cycle, Invisible Man, Sucker Punch, The Golden Dragon, and The New Electric Ballroom, among others. Prior to joining Studio, she spent eight seasons at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she headed the literary department and coordinated project scouting, selection, and development for the Humana Festival of New American Plays. She is the co-editor of eight anthologies of plays from Actors Theatre and editor of 11 editions of plays through Studio. Adrien-Alice holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
(As of August 2022)
Alison McLeod (she/her) is a stage manager and activist whose credits include the National Music Theater Conference (Eugene O'Neill Theater Center); Bakkhai (Baltimore Center Stage); How to Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens Theater); Hamlet (Gloucester Stage Company); Djembe! The Show (Apollo Theater, Chicago); Assassins (Flint Repertory Theatre); Julius Caesar (Montana Shakespeare in the Schools); New Stages Festival (2016, 2017) and Twist Your Dickens (Goodman Theatre); and 1984, The Compass, Between Riverside and Crazy, Straight White Men, and BLKS (Steppenwolf Theatre Company).
(As of August 2022)
Taylor Williams (Casting Director) is an Artios Award-winning Casting Director who has cast various productions across the country. Broadway credits include POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive; Slave Play (remount and original, Center Theatre Group, New York Theatre Workshop); Is This A Room and Dana H; and What the Constitution Means to Me (New York Theatre Workshop, Barrow Street, National Tour). Benefit credits include The Great Work Begins featuring scenes from Tony Kushner’s Angels in America for amfAR and Ratatouille: the TikTok Musical for the Actors Fund. Taylor is the resident casting director at Page 73 Productions. Notable productions include On Sugarland, Sanctuary City, and Othello with Daniel Craig at New York Theatre Workshop; Whitney White’s The Amen Corner at Shakespeare Theatre Company; Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! for Fisher Center at Bard and its current national tour; and Aleshea Harris’ Is God Is at Soho Rep.
(As of August 2022)
