The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater and Music Theater at Princeton University presents Anon(ymous) by award-winning playwright Naomi Iizuka, a poetic and action-packed retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey with a modern twist that explores displacement, the search for belonging, hope and resilience, and the power of friendship. The production is directed by faculty member Bi Jean Ngo. Performances are November 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9 at 8 p.m. at the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place. Tickets are $20 and $10 for students, available through the McCarter Box Office. The Berlind Theatre is fully accessible with wheelchair and companion seating and an assistive listening system. The November 8 performance will be open captioned. Guests in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week prior to the event date.
Anon(ymous) follows a young refugee named Anon, separated from his mother, as he journeys through the United States, encountering a wide variety of people—some kind, some dangerous and cruel—as he searches for his family. From a sinister butcher to beguiling barflies to a sweatshop, Anon must navigate through an ever-changing landscape in this adaptation of The Odyssey.
Aabid Ismail ’25 (foreground) as Anon in rehearsal for the Lewis Center’s production of Naomi Izuka’s play Anon(ymous) joined by fellow cast members (left to right) Kate Stewart ’25, Kristen Tan ’26, and Tima Alshuaibi ’28. Photo credit: Jon Sweeney
This production has been created through the collaborative efforts of an ensemble of actors comprised of students and staff members from the Princeton University community, with each cast member playing multiple roles. It is also part of a for-credit course, “Theater Rehearsal and Performance,” taught by Ngo through which students create and embody characters using physical theater, voicework, and script analysis.
Director Ngo and faculty member Aaron Landsman, who is co-producing the show, noted that the selection of this work for the Theater Program’s fall production helps to bring a perspective on a critical issue of concern for Princeton students and the wider community around immigration, the experiences of refugees, and a central human need to find home and community. Ngo, whose family fled Vietnam after the war, and members of the design team bring their own experiences of these issues to the project.
“In working on this play in which a displaced teen seeks a sense of home, friendship, family, and compassion, I got to witness how this cast embodies those qualities,” said Ngo. “At every rehearsal, the student cast, along with a University community member, created a supportive and collaborative environment and demonstrated the kindness and patience required to bring this story to the stage. This world can often feel harsh and divisive. Anon(ymous) invites us to consider how those who society might deem as invisible and anonymous are fully realized human beings with names and unique stories.”
Ngo is an actress, director, and member of Actor’s Equity Association. She is based in Philadelphia and has appeared at 1812 Productions, InterAct Theatre, Theatre Exile, Arden Theatre, Walnut Street Theatre, Theatre Horizon, and Delaware Shakespeare, among others. She holds a M.F.A. from The Actors’ Studio Drama School and a Bachelor of Science in Film and Television from Boston University. She received additional training in physical theater, the classics, and originating ensemble and solo work at Dell’Arte International, The Suzuki Company of Toga, Shakespeare and Company, and The Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski. Ngo is a recipient of the Fox Foundation Fellowship Award administered through Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and she has received the F. Otto Haas Emerging Artist Barrymore Award. She is an associate member of the Wilma Theater’s Hothouse acting company, a member of 1812 Production’s Creative Core, and was a founding member of Philadelphia Asian Performing Artists. Last spring, Ngo directed the Lewis Center’s production of King of the Yees by Lauren Yee.
A pre-show conversation with playwright Naomi Iizuka and Barbara Graziosi, Princeton’s Ewing Professor of Greek Language and Literature and Chair of the Classics Department, will be presented on November 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the Berlind Rehearsal Room at McCarter Theatre Center. The conversation, cosponsored by the Classics Department, is free and open to the public; no tickets or registration required.
Author of more than 25 plays, Iizuka’s work has been produced at theaters across the country including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Goodman, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, the Guthrie Theatre, Cornerstone, Children’s Theater Company, the Kennedy Center, the Huntington Theater, Portland Center Stage, the Public Theatre, Campo Santo + Intersection for the Arts, Dallas Theatre Center, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Soho Rep. Her past association with Princeton includes a 1998 Hodder Fellowship and being named a Roger S. Berlind ’52 Playwright-in-Residence in 2016. Among her other awards are a PEN/Laura Pels Award, an Alpert Award, a Joyce Foundation Award, a Whiting Writers’ Award, a Rockefeller Foundation MAP grant, a McKnight Fellowship, a PEN Center USA West Award for Drama, and a Jerome Fellowship.
The cast includes students Tima Alshuaibi, Avi Chesler, James Han, Destine Harrison-Williams, Aabid Ismail, Ash Jackson, Oriana Nelson, Chloe Ng, Kate Stewart, and Kristen Tan, along with Chris Twiname, administrative coordinator of Princeton’s Stanley J. Seeger ’52 Center for Hellenic Studies.
In addition to Ngo and Landsman, the professional production team includes Yoshinori Tanokura as set designer, Ariel (Liudi) Wang as costume designer, Nathan Leigh as composer and sound designer, Jaqueline Holloway as fight and intimacy director, and Milan Eldridge as stage manager. Students on the production team include Elena Milliken as lighting designer, Matthew Ciccone as set design fellow, Matthew Cooperberg as assistant director, and Oriana Nelson as assistant stage manager for the rehearsal process. Additional faculty advisors are Jane Cox and Tess James.
Anon(ymous) is produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.
Visit the Lewis Center website to learn more about this event, the Program in Theater and Music Theater, and the more than 100 public performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts, lectures, and special events presented by the Lewis Center each year, most of them free.
