THE CHILDREN – CLOSED

SAN DIEGO PREMIERE  |  NOV 6 – DEC 4, 2022

By Lucy Kirkwood | Directed by Kim Strassburger

Two retired nuclear scientists reside in an isolated cottage by the sea. The world around them may bear the scars of a disaster, but they’re going to live forever on yogurt and yoga. Then an old friend arrives with a frightening request, and this riveting play turns on a dime.

Previews | November 6 & 10, 2022 

Opening Night | November 11, 2022

ASL Performance | November 27, 2022

There will be no performance on Thursday, November 24 in observance of the holiday.

Note: $15 RUSH tickets available at the Box Office 1 hour before each performance.

Lucy Kirkwood (Playwright) she/her is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. In 2009, Lucy’s play IT FELT EMPTY WHEN THE HEART WENT AT FIRST BUT IT IS ALRIGHT NOW was produced by Clean Break Theatre Company at the Arcola Theatre. The play was nominated for an Evening Standard Award for Best Newcomer and made Lucy joint winner of the 2010 John Whiting Award. NSFW premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 2012, starring Janie Dee and Julian Barratt. CHIMERICA premiered at the Almeida Theatre in 2013 and subsequently transferred to the West End, earning Best New Play at the 2014 Olivier and Evening Standard Awards, as well as the Critics Circle Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Recent work includes MOSQUITOES (presented by special arrangement with Manhattan Theatre Club), which opened at the National Theatre, London, in summer 2017; and THE CHILDREN, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 2016. THE CHILDREN opened on Broadway in December 2017.

Kim Strassburger (Director) she/her is happy to be returning to MOXIE Theatre. Directing credits include HANDBAGGED (Moxie Theatre); SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award-Outstanding Direction of a Musical), MASTER CLASS, PASSION (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award Nomination-Outstanding Direction of a Musical), GREY GARDENS, GYPSY (San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Nomination-Outstanding Direction of a Musical) and DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE (Ion Theatre); BULL IN A CHINA SHOP, A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS and A NEW BRAIN (Diversionary Theatre); BOOK OF LEAVES and ROMEO, ROMEO AND JULIET (Roustabouts Theatre Company); 8 SONGS FOR A MAD KING (San Diego Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Special Event and 2017 Best of Festival-San Diego International Fringe Festival-Bodhi Tree Productions); GUTENBERG THE MUSICAL! (Backyard Renaissance); SEASCAPE and a concert staging of LITTLE WOMEN: THE MUSICAL (New Village Arts); THE WOMAN IN BLACK (CSU San Marcos). Kim studied Shakespeare at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA), is a graduate of Catholic University of America and UCSD, and is a member of the 2014 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Kim has also served as an Artistic Trustee for Diversionary Theatre and teaches theatre at the Coronado School of the Arts.

Cast & Creative Team

Vanessa Dinning (Hazel) she/her works as an actor, director and voice & dialect coach throughout San Diego’s performing arts community. Locally, she works with Cygnet, Moonlight, San Diego REP, The Old Globe, SDMT, San Diego Symphony, San Diego Opera, Backyard Renaissance, Lamb’s, and Bodhi Tree Concerts among many others. In her native UK at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Royal National Theatre and many others. Some favorite roles include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena), As You Like It (Rosalind), Othello (Iago), Much Ado (Beatrice), Blood and Ice (Mary Shelley), Our Country’s Good (Mary), City of Angels (Donna/Oolie), Into The Woods (The Bakers Wife), Company (Amy), Betrayal (Emma), My Sister in this House (Christine), Outside Mullingar (Rosemary) and was to have appeared in the sadly cancelled The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for San Diego REP.

Catalina Maynard (Rose) she/her is making her MOXIE Theatre debut. Locally, Catalina has worked at the San Diego REP, Cygnet Theatre, Moonlight Theatre, North Coast Rep, New Village Arts, La Jolla Playhouse, and the Old Globe and was an iON company member for eight years. Regional work: Mark Taper Forum, Yale Rep, Denver Center, PCPA, TheatreWorks, Mixed Blood Theatre, The Children’s Theatre Minneapolis, Arizona Theatre Co., and Off-Broadway at the Peter J. Sharp Theatre, to name a few. Recently, Catalina directed Karen Zacarias’ play, Native Gardens, for PCPA at the Marion Theatre and the Solvang Festival stage. Catalina is a former Marshall Artist in Residency at UC San Diego, focusing on social justice work for the stage, and a two-time recipient of the Craig Noel Critics Circle Award for acting. Currently, she is a Learning Specialist in Narrative Medicine for the UniversityLink Medical Science program at the University of California San Diego. 

Neil McDonald (Robin) he/him is making his MOXIE Theatre debut. New Fortune: As You Like It, Henry V, Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Poor Players: Romeo and Juliet, Measure for Measure, The Tempest, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Antony and Cleopatra, Merchant of Venice, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, & Merry Wives of Windsor. Other San Diego credits: Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (2014 Aubrey Award winner), Postmortem, How the Other Half Loves, The Tempest, What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Britannicus, Hairdresser on Fire. Glasgow credits:  Hated Nightfall (Scottish premiere), Mort.  New Fortune Theatre (Perth): Merchant of Venice, King Lear, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth.  Other Perth credits: the title role in Dracula, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, Miss Bosnia, Medea, and Hamlet (in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead).

Assistant Director: Sandy Campbell (she/her)

Stage Manager: Gabby Stryker (she/her)

Assistant Stage Manager: Danielle Dudley (she/her)

Set Designer: Julie Lorenz (she/her)

Costume Designer: Carmen Amon (she/they)

Lighting Designer: Ally Wood (she/her)

Assistant Lighting Designer: Minerva Josiff (she/her)

Sound Designer: MaeAnn Ross (she/her)

Assistant Sound Designer: Sasha Gomulka (she/her)

Props Designer: Rai Feltmann (she/they)

Technical Director: Robert Malave (he/she/they)

Dialect Coach: Jo Anne Glover (she/her)

Intimacy Coordinator: Kandace Crystal (she/her)

Wig Designer: Missy Bradstreet (she/her)

Production Manager: Desireé Clarke (she/her)

THANK YOU TO OUR SEASON 18 SPONSORS!

EDITH BENKOV  |  BETH A. GOODMAN  |  WENDY NASH