A father and his sons spread the ashes of his wife/their mother in their backyard garden. When a giant zucchini manifests overnight, they each begin to develop language for their individual experiences of loss through their interactions with the supernatural vegetable. But can they also develop a communal vocabulary to express their grief with each other?
Benjamin Benne (he/him) ... is a Playwrights’ Center ’23-26 Core Writer and was named part of “LA Vanguardia: The Latino innovators, instigators, and power players breaking through barriers” by the Los Angeles Times. His produced plays include Alma (Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre, American Blues Theater, ArtsWest Playhouse, Curious Theatre Company, Central Square Theater, The Spot, Chance Theater, Passage Theatre Company), In His Hands (Mosaic Theater Company, First Floor Theater), Manning (Portland Stage), and What / Washed Ashore / Astray (Pillsbury House Theatre). Other forthcoming productions in 2026 include at the very bottom of a body of water (Boston Court Pasadena, LA New Play Project Winner). Additionally, his work has been developed by by the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Great Plains Theatre Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Public, Roundabout Theatre Company, The New Group, Primary Stages, Playwrights Realm, Colorado New Play Festival, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Old Globe, Two River Theater, New Harmony Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, and The Lark, among many others. He has been awarded the Ojai Playwrights Conference’s Dr. Kerry English Award, Portland Stage’s Clauder Competition Grand Prize, American Blues Theater’s Blue Ink Playwriting Award, Arizona Theatre Company’s National Latinx Playwriting Award, and KCACTF Latinx Playwriting Award, among others. He has been commissioned by South Coast Repertory and Seattle Repertory Theatre. MFA: David Geffen/Yale School of Drama. www.benjaminbenne.com
Cast & Creative Team
PERFORMERS
Caleb Andrew Cabrera
SEBASTIAN
*Michele Apriña Leavy
ANA
Alonso Melgoza
FREDDY
*Michael Torres
JULIO
with
Ixtlán Flores PUPPET DESIGN /
PUPPETEER
Sarah Jiang COMPOSER / MUSICIAN
Performer Biographies
Caleb Andrew Cabrera... is a Chicano actor, figure model, pedicabber, & Bad Hombre living in San Francisco. He has collaborated with Shotgun Players, Magic Theatre, MTC, SF Playhouse, Crowded Fire, Cal Shakes, Cutting Ball, SFIAF, Central Works, Capital Stage, Custom Made, Theatre Battery, Impact Theatre, Mugwumpin, & Pixar. His heart soars with having been invited back by Crowded Fire to tell this story about Latine grief & joy.
*Michele Apriña Leavy... has been a Resident Artist with Crowded Fire Theater since 2005, where she has developed and premiered many plays, as well as serves on the company’s Literary Committee. Her bay area theatre credits include: American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, BRAVA Theater Center, California Shakespeare Theater, Center Repertory Company, California Conservatory Theater, The Eugene O’Neill Foundation – Tao House, Marin Theatre Company, and TheatreWorks, among several others. In farther locales, she has appeared with Theatre Key West (Florida), The Elephant Theatre Company (Los Angeles), and Theatre 167 (New York City). Michele is a Senior Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of California, Davis. She also serves on the Advisory Committee of the Latinx Theater Commons, a national movement. Her favorite Crowded Fire play is The Late Wedding by Christopher Chen ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Crowded Fire credits: Actor: Top Girls, A-A-America!, Big Death & Little Death, Forever Never Comes, Sticky Time, The Bereaved, The Late Wedding, Blackademics, A Tale of Autumn Assistant Director: The Secretaries, GOOD GOODS
Alonso Melgoza... could not be happier making his Crowded Fire Theater and professional bay area debut. From the (way) east bay area, Alonso is a recent graduate from the University of California, Irvine (zot zot zot), where he earned his BFA in Music Theatre with honors in acting, previously having studied at Diablo Valley College in the east bay area. Recent Southern California credits include In The Heights (MTW), Grease, Fiddler on The Roof, and The Prince of Egypt (Moonlight Stage). Other favorite past roles include Mac (The Sweetheart Deal), Melchior (Spring Awakening) and Lorin (Gloria). He would like to thank Adin and everyone at CFT for this incredible opportunity to tell this story. Special thanks and all the love to his parents, his four older siblings, and everyone in his corner. @alonso.melgoza
*Michael Torres... recently for Marin Shakespeare played The One in Jon Tracy’s The Untime, an echo of Macbeth and a year before he was Claudius and the Ghost in Tracy’s adaptation of Hamlet. For Crowded Fire he played multiple characters in the World Premiere of Christopher Chen’s The Late Wedding. In 96, he co-founded Campo Santo where he originated roles for Dave Eggers, Denis Johnson, Jose Rivera, Jessica Hagedorn, Octavio Solis and more. An award winning actor, Michael has played at The Aurora Theatre, The San Francisco Playhouse, The Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire, Word for Word, Berkeley Repertory, Teatro Campesino, California Shakespeare, The Magic, and TheatreFirst among others and has toured the U.S.A. and Europe in shows. During the pandemic he streamed for Playground, Disbelief: a Cassandra Tale by Garett Groenveld playing Apollo and El Henry by Herbert Siguenza for ARC. He co-directed with Elena Wright The Farm by Jon Tracy for TheatreFirst. Film wise, you can see him in About Cherry as Po and as Crow in The Other Barrio. Michael is the Chair of the Laney College Theatre Arts Department where he founded The Fusion Theatre Project and Fusion25 a pre pro band of creatives. Michael holds a BA from San Francisco State and an MFA from the University of California at San Diego.
Ixtlán Flores... [bio coming soon]
Sarah Jiang... is an actor, violinist, vocalist based in Oakland, and is thrilled to make her debut with the Crowded Fire Theatre in Manning as composer and performer. Select credits include: Angustias, The House of Bernarda Alba (Oakland Theatre Project), Once (Berkeley Playhouse), Barbie Chang, I Too Sing America (SF Bay Area Theatre Co); Julie, Tinderella, Custom Made Theatre (Bay Area Critics Circle Winner). Sarah has performed for the late jazz-legend Hugh Masekela, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, and writes flash fiction in her free time.www.sarahjiang.com
CREATIVE TEAM
Carlos-Antonio Aceves
SCENIC DESIGNER
Tristan Fabiunke
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Alexandria (Alex) Fakayode SOUND DESIGN
Ixtlán Flores PUPPET DESIGN /
PUPPETEER
Sarah Jiang COMPOSER / MUSICIAN
Erin Markham
ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER
Rachel Grace Reyes Mogan
STAGE MANAGER
Meg Neville
COSTUME DESIGNER
Adin Walker
DIRECTOR / CHOREOGRAPHER
Creative Team Biographies
Carlos-Antonio Aceves (He/They) (Scenic Designer)
... is a multidisciplinary Theater Maker whose practice focuses on new plays. Selected scenic and projection designs credits include: Macbeth, The Magic Theatre; Returning to Haifa, Golden Thread Productions; Gary a Sequel to Titus Andronicus, Oakland Theatre Project; The Boiling, Magic Theatre; The Day The Sky Turned Orange, SFBATCO and Z Space; Yaga, Marin Theatre; Where Did We Sit on the Bus, Liberty Theatre Company; Sunset Baby, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre; The Displaced, Crowded Fire Theatre; BREAKDOWN, San Francisco Mime Troupe; PrEP Play or Blue Parachute, New Conservatory Theatre Center; Carrie: The Musical, (projection design) American Conservatory Theatre YC; Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, West Edge Opera; Cyrano, Aurora Theatre Company; The Boiling, Magic Theatre; and Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shotgun Players. Carlos-Antonio extends their heartfelt gratitude to the creative and production team of Manning for their commitment and efforts. Explore more of Carlos-Antonio’s past and upcoming work at: CarlosDesignsSets.myportfolio.com
Tristan Fabiunke (Lighting Designer)
... ...
is a San Francisco-based lighting designer and recent graduate from SF State. Most recently: Lighting Designer for New Canon’s production of Romeo and Juliet, Associate Lighting Designer for SF Playhouse’s production of Hairspray, Programmer and Assistant Lighting Designer for West Edge Opera 26
Alexandria (Alex) Fakayode (Sound Designer)
... is an artistic collaborator & theatrical sound designer based in Oakland & the greater Bay Area. “The Manning” marks her 2nd show with Crowded Fire, following her work as Assistant Sound Designer on CFT’s Afrofuturistic production of Shipping & Handling in 2024. She is excited to be able to bring this story to life & thanks you for supporting live theater! Alex’s work can be seen at different theater companies around the Bay Area, including: Shotgun Players, Altarena Playhouse & Lorraine Hansberry Theater.
Sarah Jiang (Musician/Composer)
... is an actor, violinist, vocalist based in Oakland, and is thrilled to make her debut with the Crowded Fire Theatre in Manning as composer and performer. Select credits include: Angustias, The House of Bernarda Alba (Oakland Theatre Project), Once (Berkeley Playhouse), Barbie Chang, I Too Sing America (SF Bay Area Theatre Co); Julie, Tinderella, Custom Made Theatre (Bay Area Critics Circle Winner). Sarah has performed for the late jazz-legend Hugh Masekela, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, and writes flash fiction in her free time. www.sarahjiang.com
Erin Markham (she/her) (Assistant Stage Manager)
... is thrilled to be joining Crowded Fire Theater as Assistant Stage Manager. Previous work with Crowded Fire includes overhire stagehand support on Limp Wrist on the Lever. This is Erin’s first time putting on the ASM hat, and she is excited to expand her toolkit as a theater maker. Erin earned a B.A. in Theater and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley and works professionally in the Bay Area and Los Angeles as a scenic carpenter, designer, and props artisan. Recent credits include Shotgun Players’s Continuity (props assistant), East West Players’s Flower Drum Song (carpenter, painter), and The Myth of the Golden Calf with UC Berkeley’s Eco Performance Lab (scenic designer). Erin is super excited to work with Crowded Fire in a new capacity and collaborate with all these wonderful artists to create meaningful work!
Rachel Grace Reyes Mogan (Stage Manager)
... is a Bay Area native Stage Manager as well as Resident Artist with Crowded Fire Theater. Recent Crowded Fire credits include Shipping & Handling directed by Lisa Marie Rollins & Leigh Rondon-Davis, Transfers directed by Ken Savage, and Church directed by Mina Morita. Other Bay Area credits include Stage Managing and Assistant Stage Managing with Cutting Ball Theater (Ondine, A Dreamplay, Hedda Gabler), Campo Santo Theater (Ethos De Masquerade, Candlestick), New Conservatory Theatre Company (Spanish Stew, Gods & Monsters) and Custom Made Theatre Co (Hooded, Or Being Black For Dummies, Tiny Fires).
Meg Neville (Costume Designer)
... is a Bay Area based costume designer whose recent credits include Private Lives at the Guthrie, Pictures From Home and Yaga at Marin THeater, Dracula and Little Women for Theatreworks, Glass Menagerie at Center Rep. meg has worked nationally and locally at Berkeley Rep, act , the Magic, Oregon Shakespeare theater. Southeast Rep, Arizona theater co, Dallas theater company. Yale rep, Hartford stage, center stage, BAM, the Public, Second Stage, Chicago opera theater, and many others. She is proud to be making her crowded fire debut.
Adin Walker (Director and Choreographer)
... Crowded Fire: choreography for Last of the Love Letters and acrobatic movement for Limp Wrist on the Lever. Prior to moving to SF, Walker was a core company member of the internationally-touring dance, puppetry, and climate-justice focused Phantom Limb Company as movement director + associate director. The company’s works include Falling Out about the 2011 tsunami and radiation disaster in Fukushima, which premiered in the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) Next Wave Festival. Walker recently choreographed Center REP’s Jagged Little Pill and Indecent and has directed and/or choreographed in the Bay Area with Golden Thread, New Conservatory, and regionally with Profile Theater (OR), Artists Repertory Theater (OR), and Chautauqua Theater (NY), among others. Walker has been a guest artist at NYU, Emerson, Yale, and Princeton, has developed new work with New York Theatre Workshop, National Queer Theatre, and Breaking the Binary Theatre, and has served as an associate to May Adrales, Shana Cooper, Dustin Wills, and Tony award-winner Rebecca Taichman. Walker recently completed a PhD in performance studies at Stanford where Walker directed and choreographed Fun Home.
Production Details
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Accessibility
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