The Best We Could (a family Tragedy 

by Emily Feldman

BNH Stage

February 7, 8, and 9, 2025

Director’s Note

Erma Bombeck said, “There is a thin line that separates laughter from pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt.” That is definitely true in the case of Emily Feldman’s beautiful play The Best We Could (a family tragedy).  It was such an interesting show to work on because I think we as a company had the sense that under all the fun of this piece there was tragedy lurking (it’s in the title after all). So we had lots of laughter at every rehearsal but it kind of felt like that laughter came with a responsibility to tell the story well. 

I am very vocal about my love for Thornton Wilder’s Our Town so when I heard Emily Feldman describe her play as “Death of a Salesman meets Our Town” I was very intrigued. Imagine contemporary versions of Miller’s characters inhabiting a world reminiscent of Wilder’s Our Town and you get a sense of how The Best We Could functions. But, while I think everyone would benefit from familiarity with Miller and Wilder’s works, that familiarity is not necessary to understand Lou, Ella, Peg, Marc, or even Maps in this play. That is because, like so many of the plays that theatre KAPOW enjoys exploring, the characters in The Best We Could represent something universal about the human experience. As Wilder himself wrote in Our Town:

“We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars . . . everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.”

So, I hope you enjoy this show and taking this journey back and forth across the thin line that separates comedy and tragedy. Both laughter and t

– Matt Cahoon, Director

theatre KAPOW presents

The Best We Could (a family tragedy) 

by Emily Feldman

Maps … Samantha Griffin
Ella ..… Molly Litt
Peg …… Alex Picard
Lou ….. Peter Josephson
Marc ….. Ray Dudley
Director …… Matt Cahoon
Stage Manager ….. Carey Cahoon
Lighting Design ……  Tayva Young
Scenic Design ….. Matt Cahoon
Zumba Choreographer … Sallie Werst
Director of American Sign Language ….. Deb McKinney
ASL/English Interpreters ….. Kristen Chenoweth-Curty and Jola Leary

Run Time: 90 minutes with no intermission

The Best We Could (a family tragedy) is presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

Originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Barry Grove, Executive Producer with funds provided by the Edgar Foundation New Play Award on March 7, 2023. Developed in the New Strands Residency, a program of the American Conservatory Theater Pam MacKinnon, Artistic Director – Jennifer Bielstein, Executive Director

Developed by the Cape Cod Theatre Project Hal Brooks, Artistic Director. A workshop production of The Best We Could was presented by New York Stage and Film & Vassar at the Powerhouse Theater, Summer 2019. The Best We Could was developed with support from SPACE on Ryder Farm.

The Company

Ray Dudley (Marc) is performing his first show with tKAPOW and he couldn’t be happier. Ray is a 3X NHTAward Winner as well as the host of the WKXL radio program NH Unscripted and has been performing on the stage for over 40 years. Some of his more notable roles were Pontius Pilate (JC Superstar), Truman Capote (TRU), Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), Big Daddy (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Oscar Madison (The Odd Couple), Captain Smith (Titanic the Musical), Narrator/Mysterious Man (Into the Woods) and John Adams (1776). He’s also been seen in commercials for Toyota, Wayfair, Hannaford, Manchester Regional Airport, NH Liquor Commission and Goodwill Industries.

Peter Josephson (Lou) is in his fourteenth season as a company member of the theatre KAPOW. An accomplished actor and director, he has been nominated for Seacoast Spotlight awards for both acting and directing, and has won two New Hampshire Theatre Awards for his roles in Penelope and Exit the King (both with tKAPOW). In addition to tKapow he has performed with the New Hampshire Theatre Project, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, and the Seven Stages Shakespeare Company, and has directed for theatreKapow, the New Hampshire Theatre Project, Threshold Stage, and Glass Dove Productions. Peter’s most recent productions with theatre KAPOW include Every Brilliant Thing, Mr. Wolf, Tiny Beautiful Things, and The Thanksgiving Play. He leads occasional acting workshops in the Michael Chekhov technique. For more than 40 years (!) he has benefited from the love and support of his wife Becky, without whom he would be a shadow of his present self.

Samantha Griffin (Maps), she/her, is an actor, playwright, intimacy choreographer, and double virgo from Southern NH. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance with a minor in Playwriting from Columbia College Chicago. Previous acting with tKAPOW: I, Will, The Rembrandt, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Other favorite credits include Sunday in the Park with George (CCC) and Seussical! The Musical (Firehouse Center for the Arts). Special thank you to her dad, Charlie, and to the dogs she’s been lucky enough to love, Maggie and Rylee. @samdgrif

Molly Litt (Ella) is an NH-based actor, voice actor, and model. She is the proud recipient of the 2021 Lady Olivier Acting Prize for Performance. Molly obtained her BA Honors in Acting from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (2021.) Molly’s previous work with Theatre Kapow includes The Thanksgiving Play (Alicia) and multiple iterations of A Midsummer Nights Dream (Bottom, Demetrius). To learn more about Molly and her work, please visit www.mollylitt.com.

Alex Picard (Peg) is an award-winning stage actor and award nominated voice over artist and is thrilled to be joining Theatre Kapow for this production. Currently an Audiobook Narrator with 100 titles under her belt, Alex is a former theatre professor and continues to act professionally in the area.  She was recently seen as Annie Wilkes in Misery at the North Country Center for the Arts and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Hatbox Theatre.  While serving as the Managing Director of the Devanaughn Theatre Company in the South End of Boston she acted professionally in the area with such companies as The Gloucester Stage Company in the English language premiere of Compromise working with Israel Horovitz, The Huntington Theatre as a resident understudy including serving as the understudy for Lisa Kron in Well, among other credits. Alex has also appeared more locally in productions with Northern Stage and The Open Door Theatre Company. For more information check out alexpicard.com or search for her on your favorite audiobook listening platform. 

Matt Cahoon (Director) is a theatre maker who specializes in Direction and Production Design. He is one of the co-founders of theatre KAPOW and during his time with tKAPOW, Matt has directed over 30 productions for the company.  He has received multiple NH Theatre Awards for his work with tKAPOW including Best Director (3x) and Best Scenic Design.  Matt has also directed at St. Anselm College, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Jean’s Playhouse, and LaMaMa Umbria.  He is a three-time recipient of the NHSCA Artist Entrepreneurial Grant Award and was named one of the Union Leader’s 40 Under Forty (back when he was under forty!). Matt has an MA in Arts Administration from Goucher College and an M.Ed. in Leadership and Management from Fitchburg State University.  Additional training includes work with Double Edge Theatre Company and the Tectonic Theater Project. After spending 18 years as the Director of Cultural Programming and Director of the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy, Matt became the Director of Theatre at New Hampton School. In July 2024, Matt was named New Hampton’s Academic Dean. 

Carey Cahoon (Stage Manager) was seen on stage this season with tKAPOW in Every Brilliant Thing, and she is pleased to don a headset once more to stage manage this production. For tKAPOW’s 2017 production of Living in Exile as Briseis she won the NH Theatre Award for Best Actress (Professional). She also won the 2017 NH Theatre Award for Best Actress as Queen Marguerite in Exit the King, and in 2014 for her roles in tKAPOW’s 3-person Macbeth. Other favorite roles include the moan in On the Exhale, Sarah Goodwin in Time Stands Still, Cassandra in Agamemnon, Hedda Tesman in Hedda Gabler, Jessie in ‘night, Mother, the Pilot in Grounded and Penelope in The Penelopiad. Carey has also performed, directed or designed with Glass Dove Productions, Boston Playwright’s Platform, Stage One Productions, the Palace Theatre, and the Anselmian Abbey Players. She holds a BA in Classics from St. Anselm College, and trained at the Atlantic Acting School, Shakespeare & Company, and with SITI Company. careycahoon.com

Sallie Werst (Zumba Choreographer) of Merrimack, NH, received her early dance training at SNHDT under the directorship of Patricia Lavoie. She graduated from Pace University’s Lubin School and Pforzheimer’s Honors College with a BBA in Marketing and a minor in Studio Art. Her dance experience is eclectic, from being on scholarship at Ballet Academy East and exploring the world of NYC house and hip hop culture, to rocking the sidelines at Superbowl XXLVI as a New England Patriots Cheerleader and sharing her love of all movement as a teacher/ choreographer in NH and across the country over the past 18 years. Sallie has performed locally with Ragged Edge, FreeFall Contemporary, Saving Grace, Nsquared Dance Company, and for numerous NHDC events all the while enjoying 15 years as a certified Zumba instructor! She is so excited to find her group exercise experience and love of the performing arts colliding at this juncture with the wonderful people of tKAPOW!

Tayva Young (Lighting Designer) is in her 15th year with tKAPOW. She is a local New England lighting designer. She has designed at The Players Ring, Winnipesaukee Playhouse, NHTP, Hackmatack Playhouse and of course  tKAPOW. She considers tKAPOW to be her theatre family and she could not have asked for a more talented, supportive and imaginative group of people to work with. She enjoys the collaboration process with so many talented individuals, bringing the magic of live theatre to all audiences. Her design work can be seen across the New England region. When she is not bringing stories to life with light, she is helping others through her Massage Business out of her home in North Berwick, ME. She has been honored with two NH Theater Awards for best Lighting Design.  She thanks each and every one of you for supporting the arts as well as her loving family for all their support and love. Enjoy the Show!

Emily Feldman (playwright) lives in New York City. Her play The Best We Could (a family tragedy) received an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and The Tow Foundation Playwrights Residency, and was included on The Kilroys List. Emily’s other recent plays include We’ve Come to Believe, Go. Please. Go., and The Oracle, which received the Kennedy Center’s Paula Vogel Award. Emily’s work has been supported by fellowships at MacDowell, The Playwrights Center, Page 73, SPACE on Ryder Farm, The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep and The Playwrights Realm. Emily’s plays have been developed by many theatres and development organizations, including New York Stage and Film, The New Harmony Project, Portland Center Stage, Alliance/Kendeda, Roundabout Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater and La Jolla Playhouse. Emily holds degrees from Middlebury College, UC San Diego and The Juilliard School.

The Best We Could is sponsored by St. Mary’s Bank.

theatre KAPOW is supported in part by a grant from the NH State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

theatre KAPOW is proud to be a Senior Fellow in the New Hampshire Dance Collaborative’s Accelerator Program and we are grateful for their support.

theatre KAPOW thanks the following people and organizations for their support of The Best We Could.

• New Hampton School
• BNH Stage
• Future in Sight
• Perkins School for the Blind
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

VISUAL DESCRIPTION

There is large, low, square platform with a geometric, map pattern on it. Four brown, wooden chairs are placed on the floor, one at each corner, facing into the square.

Every Brilliant Thing 

by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe

BNH Stage

February 7, 8, and 9, 2025

Winnipesaukee Playhouse

February 21, 22, and 23, 2025

Director’s Note

Every Brilliant Thing is a play unlike any other theatre KAPOW has produced in its 17 year history, and I think you’ll probably find it’s unlike any theatrical experience you’ve had either. As you sit here reading this, you’ve likely already been greeted by the actor performing today, the house lights are illuminating the entire room and the space is almost entirely stripped bare. Fellow audience members sit across from you, and you’ll see and hear them, be in community with them, throughout the entirety of the play. Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s text bends the boundaries between audience and actor that we typically expect we will meet in the theatre; it requires an absolute presence from everyone in the room. Just like in real life, that presence can be full of discomfort. It can be full of uncertainty, or surprises, or even mistakes; always, it is full of vulnerability and magic. 

It’s my feeling that no play should ever feel like a thing to be merely witnessed; rather, coming to the theatre should feel like a communal event and exchange, a symbiosis of energies. With this play, evoking that feeling is necessary. Every Brilliant Thing tells the story of a person grappling with their mother’s depression, and about the endless search for what makes this life worth living. So often, the answer to that question comes down to the people around us. That’s what Macmillan is reminding us by inviting you, the audience, to be a part of the story; the only way through is together.

Every Brilliant Thing reminds us how important it is to hold each other. How important it is to really look at, really listen to, really be with someone. It is so easy to feel isolated, overwhelmed, alone. It is easier than it has ever been to tune out. First and foremost, I’d like to thank you for spending your afternoon or evening here with us at the theatre. Your presence is not only necessary for this particular play, but your commitment to local arts is essential to our culture. One of the most important things we can do during challenging moments is to show up, so thank you for doing so. Secondly, I’d like to urge you to be brave; to arrive in this space, look at each other, see each other, hold each other and live in the ridiculous, uncertain, vulnerable, surprising, and magic present – together. Brilliant things are everywhere. Reasons to stay are everywhere. If you’re having trouble seeing them, maybe start by looking to the people sitting right next to you – we will help you find them.

 – Emma Cahoon, Director

theatre KAPOW presents

Every Brilliant Thing 

by Duncan Macmillan
With Jonny Donahoe

Featuring Peter Josephson (February 7, 9, and 22)

Carey Cahoon (February 8, 21, and 23)

Director …… Emma Cahoon

Stage Manager ….. Kate Dugas

Consent Consultant …… Kyrie Ellison

Costume Design …… Barbara Holbrook

Scenic Design …… Matt Cahoon

Live Musician Coordinator …… Jake Hudgins

Director of American Sign Language …… Deb McKinney

ASL/English Interpreters … Nicole Comtois and Jola Leary

Every Brilliant Thing is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection (www.dramatists.com).

Every Brilliant Thing was first produced by Paines Plough and Pentabus Theatre, on 28 June 2013 at Ludlow Fringe Festival. The play had its North American premiere at Barrow Street Theatre, New York, on 6 December 2014, where it was presented by Barrow Street Theatre and Jean Doumanian Productions.

The Company

Peter Josephson (Storyteller 2/7, 2/9, 2/22 ) is in his fourteenth season as a company member of the/atre KAPOW. An accomplished actor and director, he has been nominated for Seacoast Spotlight awards for both acting and directing, and has won two New Hampshire Theatre Awards for his roles in Penelope and Exit the King (both with tKAPOW). In addition to tKAPOW he has performed with the New Hampshire Theatre Project, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, and the Seven Stages Shakespeare Company, and has directed for tKAPOW, the New Hampshire Theatre Project, Threshold Stage, and Glass Dove Productions. Peter’s most recent productions with tKAPOW include Macbeth, Mr. Wolf, Tiny Beautiful Things, The Thanksgiving Play and Life Sucks. He leads occasional acting workshops in the Michael Chekhov technique. For more than 40 years (!) he has benefited from the love and support of his wife Becky, without whom he would be a shadow of his present self.

Carey Cahoon (Storyteller 2/8, 2/21, 2/23) was seen on stage last season with tKAPOW as Woman in On the Exhale and as Alex in Paradise Now!. She has won 3 NH Theatre Awards for Best Actress in tKAPOW’s productions as Briseis in Living in Exile Queen Marguerite in Exit the King, for her roles in tKAPOW’s 3-person Macbeth. Other favorite roles include the woman in On the Exhale, Sarah Goodwin in Time Stands Still, Cassandra in Agamemnon, Hedda Tesman in Hedda Gabler, Jessie in ‘night, Mother, the Pilot in Grounded and Penelope in The Penelopiad. Carey has also performed, directed or designed with Glass Dove Productions, Boston Playwright’s Platform, Stage One Productions, the Palace Theatre, and the Anselmian Abbey Players. She holds a BA in Classics from St. Anselm College, and trained at the Atlantic Acting School, Shakespeare & Company, and with SITI Company. careycahoon.com

Emma Cahoon (Director) is a theatre-maker dedicated to the art of asking questions. A graduate of Boston University with a BFA in Theatre Arts, Emma has worked with organizations across the country including Central Square Theater, What Would the Neighbors Say?, the Seven Devils New Play Foundry, and more. Emma is very grateful to be working with theatre KAPOW again, with her previous directing credits including A Midsummer Night’s Dream for St. Anselm College’s Shakespeare on the Green and performance credits including Life Sucks. (Sonia), The Penelopiad (Maid), and Translations (Sarah). Emma’s directing practice centers elevating and exploring dramatic texts to their fullest depths, while creating collaborative environments built on equal parts creativity, joy, and rigor, and working on Every Brilliant Thing has been a challenge and a joy for her.

Kate Dugas (Stage Manager) is a multi-hyphenate theatre maker based in New Hampshire. Their work is both physical and ephemeral as they cross between design, management and the choreographic, working as a technical director, scenic artist, stage manager and Intimacy Director. They are based in Portsmouth and started this past August as New Hampton School’s Technical Director as well as Visual and Performing Arts Faculty. Before that, they worked at the Seacoast Rep for about 6 years as Resident Stage Manager, Asst Production Manager, Scenic Charge and other odd jobs. They have a lifelong dream of driving a Zamboni and owe all their success to their two cats, Riff and Hades. 

Kyrie Ellison (Consultant) is a performance maker, Intimacy Director, and Fight Director based in New Hampshire. Her work utilizes the choreographic, through stage combat and movement, to build femme communal spaces & speculative narratives to confront oppressive forms. She’s curious about the stories we tell each other to “just get through it” and how they relate to the fairy tales and tropes made popular by writers. She is passionate about the facilitation of safe spaces for artists, audiences, and creatives to engage with their communities, both locally and globally. Her work has been seen on stage at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Bank of New Hampshire Stage (theatreKAPOW), and Sarah Lawrence College. She’s ecstatic to be working with Winnipesaukee Playhouse on another performance. Currently, she works as the Associate Director of Theatre at New Hampton School. Past credits include Witch (Winnipesaukee Playhouse), The Thanksgiving Play (theatreKAPOW), Sweeney Todd (Winnipesaukee Playhouse), Tiny Beautiful Things (theatreKAPOW), Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor (Winnipesaukee Playhouse), Mr. Wolf (theatreKAPOW), Breadcrumbs (theatreKAPOW), Weekend Warrior (Sarah Lawrence College), Athena (Sarah Lawrence College), Small Mouth Sounds (Sarah Lawrence College), Spring Awakening (Russell Sage College) & Cabaret (Russell Sage College). www.ellisonarts.com

Matthew Cahoon (Artistic Director/Scenic Designer) is a theatre maker who specializes in Direction and Production Design. He is one of the co-founders of theatre KAPOW and during his time with tKAPOW, Matt has directed over 30 productions for the company.  He has received multiple NH Theatre Awards for his work with tKAPOW including Best Director (3x) and Best Scenic Design.  Matt has also directed at St. Anselm College, the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Jean’s Playhouse, and LaMaMa Umbria.  He is a three-time recipient of the NHSCA Artist Entrepreneurial Grant Award and was named one of the Union Leader’s 40 Under Forty (back when he was under forty!). Matt has an MA in Arts Administration from Goucher College and an M.Ed. in Leadership and Management from Fitchburg State University.  Additional training includes work with Double Edge Theatre Company and the Tectonic Theater Project. After spending 18 years as the Director of Cultural Programming and Director of the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy, Matt became the Director of Theatre at New Hampton School. In July 2024, Matt was named New Hampton’s next Academic Dean. 

Barbara Holbrook (Costumer) has a BA in Theatre, an MFA in Costume Design, and a passion for creative collaborations on stage and off. She’s thrilled to be returning to theatre KAPOW for another season, continuing an artistic relationship that began in 2022. Past projects with special places in her heart include Pippin, The Secret Garden, Annie, Godspell, The Imaginary Invalid, Merrily We Roll Along, Candide, The Good Person of Szechwan, and The Man of La Mancha. Barbara’s also a certified meditation instructor, Reiki Master, yoga teacher, and co-founder of 4th Wheel Flow, where she brings all those threads together under the umbrella of energetic intelligence. She lives north of Boston in a multi-generational household where she hones her practices of love, humor, resilience, and unapologetic self-care. 

Duncan Macmillian (playwright) is an award-winning writer and theatre director whose plays include Lungs, Every Brilliant Thing and 2071. His play People, Places and Things transferred from the National Theatre to the West End in 2016. Duncan Macmillan’s other plays include: 1984, co-adapted/co-directed with Robert Icke (Headlong/Nottingham Playhouse, UK tour, Almeida Theatre and West End), The Forbidden Zone (Salzburg Festival/Schaubühne Berlin), Wunschloses Unglück, adaptation with Peter Handke (Burgtheater Vienna), Reise durch die Nacht, adaptation Friederike Mayröcker created with Katie Mitchell and Lyndsey Turner (Schauspielhaus Köln, Theatertreffen, Festival d’Avignon), Atmen (Schaubühne Berlin), Monster (Royal Exchange/ Manchester International Festival).

theatre KAPOW is in its seventeenth season and has established a reputation for presenting important classic and new dramatic literature including productions by Henrik Ibsen, Sam Shepard, Sarah Ruhl, Tony Kushner, Lauren Gunderson,  and Paula Vogel. In 2019, tKAPOW won the NH Theatre Award for Best Production of a Play for The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. tKAPOW has also won Best Production of a Play for Penelope by Enda Walsh (2014), Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies (2015), and Exit the King by Eugene Ionesco (2017). In 2021, tKAPOW was honored with a Silver Lining Resilience Governor’s Arts Award for creative and innovative solutions offsetting challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, tKAPOW became the resident theatre company of the BNH Stage in Concord, NH. 

theatre KAPOW is supported in part by a grant from the NH State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Braille material printing supported by the Henry Lord Scholarship Fund

theatre KAPOW is proud to be a Senior Fellow in the New Hampshire Dance Collaborative’s Accelerator Program and we are grateful for their support.

theatre KAPOW thanks the following people and organizations for their support of Life Sucks.

• BNH Stage
• Winnipesaukee Playhouse
• Full Circle Vinyl
• Capital Art Therapy
• Future in Sight
• Perkins School for the Blind
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
• The Jason R Flood Memorial Fund
• New Hampton Schoo

VISUAL DESCRIPTION

The audience seating creates a rectangle, so everyone can see everyone else in the room. Vinyl Records are suspended from the lighting truss above the Audience.  Full stage and house lights remain on for the performance