Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater
A Thread of Golden Ashes by Le’Naya Wilkerson
Run Time
Approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes with a 10-minute intermission
Program Note: Setting & Worldbuilding
Earth, as we know it, in a house in the suburbs of the Northeastern United States. Any time between 2012-2016.
Irridia, the kingdom of light.
Elaysia, the kingdom of water—though most inhabitants live on land.
Inhabitants of Irridia and Elaysia are known as immortals. Immortals have the ability to live for an infinite number of years, but they are not invincible or without weakness.
This project is supported in part by the Lewis Center’s partnership with the IV Fund, which supports student independent work that explores mental well-being and mental health and gives campus audiences a chance to grapple with these matters in generative and generous ways.
Content Advisory
This production contains depictions, discussions, or allusions to violence, mental health struggles, war, and murder. Flashing lights, strobes, fog, haze, and loud noises are also common throughout.
Special Notes
No flash photography permitted. Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches, and refrain from text messaging for the duration of the performance.
Accessibility
The Wallace Theater is an accessible venue with an assistive listening system. The Saturday, October 5, performance will feature open/live captioning (CART). Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information about our various locations.
Cast
August: Dominic Dominguez ’25*
Victoria: Sophia Raes ’28
Astrid: Sophia Vernon ’27*
Atticus: Orion Lopez-Ramirez ’26*
Leander: Rowan Johnson ’27*
Sylvie: Mary Grace Walker ’27
Kanna: Jessica Waters ’26
Elliot: Moses Yang ’26*
Gus: Matthew Cooperberg ’26*
Production Team
Director: Wasif Sami ’25*
Playwright: Le’Naya Wilkerson ’25*
Set Designer: Sahaf Chowdhury ’26*
Costume Designer: Keating Debelak
Lighting Designer: Le’Naya Wilkerson ’25*
Sound Designer/Composer: Ryan Gonzales ’26
Stage Manager: Alexander Picoult ’26*
Assistant Stage Manager: Radon Belarmino ’26*
Run Crew: Annalise Schuck ’26*, Kimberlynn Bjurstrom ’26*
Fight/Intimacy Coordinator: Jacqueline Holloway
Stitchers: Wyatt Kim, Isabel Yip ’25, Charlotte Young ’27
*denotes a student minoring in the Program in Theater & Music Theater
Faculty Advisors
Rhaisa Williams, Faculty Project Mentor
Bob Sandberg, Writing & Directing Advisor
Tess James, Co-Producer and Lighting Design Advisor
Note from the Project Proposer
During my sophomore year, two months after completing a two-weekend run of the first play I ever wrote and directed, I was struck by the idea for A Thread of Golden Ashes. I didn’t know the topic or the plot or the meaning, but I saw three characters. In the following days, weeks, and months I heard them speak to themselves, to one another, and to other characters I hadn’t met before. Their conversations would happen at any moment—while I was walking around campus, while in class, while at a dance rehearsal, etc. I wrote down every word in the notes app on my phone. From this I learned of the characters’ stories, their relations, and began to feel what they did. This abrupt influx of information caught me off guard in the beginning. After all, in the moments after completing my first show I had doubts that I could write another I felt just as passionate about. What if I didn’t have any more ideas? In hindsight this was ridiculous for me to worry about—A Thread of Golden Ashes was shaping and fast.
Surely the hearing and feeling of the characters is easy to dismiss as the chaotic mind of a writer but the more I wrote, the more I discovered myself in the characters. That’s when things started to get uncomfortable. Now of course there’s pieces of a writer in all of their characters, but this for me felt different, it felt too close. There were often moments where I would have to take a break, not because of writer’s block, but because I was juggling the feelings of all the characters in the scene, all of which I understood myself. There were also moments where I could pinpoint the emotions but couldn’t put them into words. It would’ve been easy for me to alter the scenes and moods to make things lighter. However, uncomfortability is where you grow and I needed to grow as a writer to make the piece stronger.
My hope is for you to understand the characters and relate to everyone in some way. They are imperfect. They are not simply “good” or simply “bad.” They have good qualities, they have some that are not so. They’ve been burdened by grief, love, loss, stubbornness, fear, guilt, hurt. Throughout our lives we carry these same burdens with us albeit in different ways and different ratios; it’s what makes us human. In relating to the characters and watching their journeys, I also hope they make you laugh and smile. Each character has their own story and journey that affects the play and the course it takes.
This piece was born out of my own experiences and love for fantasy and mythology. In proposing this piece to the Theater Program to write and light, I had desperately wanted to bring a bit of magic to the Program as fantasy wasn’t something I saw a lot of. One of the guiding questions I had for this project was: How can fantasy be used as a device to explore reality in reference to our own mortality? Throughout this process of discovery with the cast and production team, I found that perhaps fantasy isn’t that different from reality. Although a fantasy world may work differently, the characters may face the same challenges as us, albeit their stakes are higher, and may be able to help us realize things about ourselves in reality that we hadn’t noticed before. Fantasy is often written off as a child’s genre. But while sitting at the boundary of childhood and adulthood, I realized that we don’t have to lose the child in us, we shouldn’t. Because of the child in me who made up stories with her parents and grandparents at bedtime, played pretend through adventures in the front yard, and wrote stories for her family and friends to read, I was taught that imaginations and explorations are endless. And because I was taught that, I was able to write this piece.
I would like to dedicate this production to two people whose presence in my life inspired this story— my grandmothers: Joan Richeson and Laura Wilkerson. They gave me unconditional love and fueled my imagination. From them I learned what it’s like to feel otherworldly love but also trudge through great loss. I thank God for giving me the ability to remain persistent in the writing of this piece while surrounded by their essence.
Without further ado, I would like to thank the Theater Program for taking a chance on this project. The project was not without its challenges and was truly a bit ambitious, especially with the time frame. But the growth in myself, the cast, and crew has been unimaginable. I suppose where the constraints are tight, imaginations can take flight!
To Wasif, thank you for making a daring choice by choosing this piece. I still remember our first meeting about the piece in which I was so excited that you were even interested. As we got further and further into the process, at times, it seemed that you were more passionate about the project than I was! It was a pleasure to work closely with you and watch your mind work in these past few months.
To the cast, thank you for dedicating your time, talent, and effort to this piece. Thank you for taking a chance on a new piece, accepting my many on the spot edits, and bringing the characters to life in ways I never thought possible through your interpretations.
To Alex and Radon, thank you for your blocking notes, scheduling, feedback, and numerous amazing ideas in rehearsal. Your presence in the rehearsal space and throughout this process has brought a lot of joy and insights. I couldn’t imagine either of you not being on the team!
To Sahaf, Ryan, Keating, and Allie, thank you all for your commitment in bringing the piece to life through set, sound, costumes, and props. We’ve had many meetings, shared a lot of emails, and exchanged dozens of ideas, so thank you for your time and attentiveness in the process.
To Carmelita and Milan, thank you for your time and effort spent in printing numerous drafts for the cast and crew. Thank you for making sure we had the materials we needed from the early days of rehearsals til the show to ensure a fruitful and successful process.
To Dr. Rhaisa Williams, thank you for your guidance and knowledge you’ve provided throughout this process. You’ve made me feel reassured in creating a piece like this and have contributed ideas for the production team to think about and place into the show.
To Bob Sandberg, thank you for your time in reading and discussing my drafts and revisions. Thank you for your thoughtful comments and thought-provoking questions. Leaving every discussion with you I felt like I knew exactly what I needed to add, edit, or revise. This piece would not have taken the shape it has without your assistance.
To Tess James, thank you for your time and guidance with the lighting design, especially in depicting the fantasy aspects. Thank you for also introducing me to lighting. Without meeting you in Try On Theater I wouldn’t have thought about lighting design, much less lighting my own show. Lighting this piece has been an amazing experience and I can’t imagine not having the ability to do so.
Thank you to the entire Lewis Center crew who made this production possible. From establishing the set, focusing lights, adjusting sound, and promoting the show you’ve all aided in our storytelling and ensured that our production goes smoothly.
Thank you to my family who bore with the hundreds of pages of writing and edits scattered over the kitchen table, who didn’t mind when I constantly paced around the house with earphones in my ears trying to navigate the emotional states of my characters, who provided the support and love in order for me to pursue an endeavor such as this.
Thank you to my friends, both on campus and at home who have supported me in reading drafts, providing feedback, and encouraging me.
To the audience, thank you for coming to experience the first staging of a new piece. The cast and crew assure it will be a memorable time. We hope this production touches your heart as much as it’s touched ours.
May our lost loved ones live on
In the flip of a page,
In the flicker of a light bulb,
In the mementos left behind,
In the stories of the past,
In the depth of our hearts.
With so much love and appreciation,
Le’Naya Wilkerson
Playwright & Lighting Designer
Note from the Director
Directing this play has allowed me to get to know and create with imaginative and warm people. Thank you to everyone in the company (designers, cast, and crew!) for meeting me with so much energy, curiosity, and hard work. Thank you for having my back and for taking care of me. Thank you to my mentors and advisors across campus, especially here in the Lewis Center, for welcoming my eagerness and helping me find a home here. Over these last four years, you’ve helped me grow up and grow into myself. Thank you to the production staff of the Lewis Center, whose labor lets us students take risks and explore the form as theater-makers. Thank you to Le’Naya for the incredible partnership we’ve forged together. And thank you to my family in America and India, and to my friends on campus and from home, for all the love.
Throughout rehearsal, I’ve tried my best to listen and create space for imaginative, brave, and evocative impulses. I’ve learned from Bob Sandberg, my directing advisor, to make choices that most clearly and vividly tell the story. What is this story?, you may ask. Today, I’d say that A Thread of Golden Ashes tells a story of how heart-wrenching and challenging it can be to connect with our loved ones in the wake of loss. It’s about what it’s like to rediscover love, childlike wonder, and belonging. It teaches me to face things fiercely and also to let go… things I’m still working on (and maybe always will be).
I’m grateful to have directed this play and, through the process, to have made and deepened so many nourishing friendships. Now’s the time for you, our audience, to experience our collective work. I hope the play finds you, excites you, and helps you feel.
Wasif Sami
Director
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
For more information, see the websites of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative at Princeton (NAISIP), Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater and Music Theater: Jane Cox
View a list of Program in Theater & Music Theater faculty & guest artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a list of LCA staff members.
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a list of LCA Supporters
